Flareon's rage, though momentarily checked by Seren's intervention, still simmered beneath the surface, a volatile heat. He took a ragged breath, glaring at the terrified, injured Fujina slumped against the support beam. Seren maintained her watchful stance, the Lumecryst on her wrist still glowing faintly, a silent warning.
"The others..."
Flareon's voice was low, a dangerous growl.
"Boltar. Gravus. Ferran. Are any of them... with you? Part of this... Unsealed filth?"
The accusation hung heavy in the dusty air.
Fujina shook her head vehemently, wincing as the movement jarred her injuries.
"No..."
She choked out, her gaze darting nervously between Flareon's burning eyes and Seren's steady ones.
"None of them."
She took a shallow, painful breath.
"We are careful. We operate in shadows. Recruits are... chosen. Tested."
Flareon pressed, his voice cold.
"How many of you traitors are there? Spitting on our ancestors' sacrifice?"
Fujina hesitated, her eyes flicking towards the darkness beyond the warehouse.
"I... I don't know the exact number. Not all cells are connected directly. But... at least thirty. Maybe more."
Thirty. At least thirty Sorcerai bound by this twisted faith, actively working against the very foundations of their society, perhaps even seeking to unleash the chaos they believed to be their true source of power. Flareon felt a fresh wave of nausea. It was an organized heresy. His frustration mounted, a bitter taste in his mouth.
Just as Flareon's frustration threatened to boil over into another outburst, a new sound pierced the relative quiet of their confrontation. Screams. Not the usual muffled shouts of distant squabbles or ration disputes, but raw, piercing shrieks of undiluted terror, erupting from the streets just outside the warehouse.
Flareon scoffed, turning away from Fujina with disgust.
"More of them."
He spat, dismissing the sounds.
"Let them. It's what they deserve."
His anger and betrayal left little room for empathy for the chaotic city outside.
But Seren frowned, her head tilted, listening intently. These screams felt different. Sharper. More visceral. Tinged with a quality of horror that went beyond simple desperation.
"Flareon... wait."
She said, moving cautiously towards a grimy, broken window near the warehouse entrance, peering out into the gloom-filled street.
The scene outside was illuminated by the flickering orange glow of nearby fires and the dim, unreliable emergency lights. People were running, scrambling over rubble, their faces contorted in pure panic. But it wasn't a riot. They weren't fighting each other. They were fleeing.
And then Seren saw what they were fleeing from.
Her breath hitched, a small gasp escaping her lips. Her hand flew to her mouth, stifling a cry of disbelief and revulsion.
"By the Watcher..."
She whispered, her eyes wide with horrified fascination.
Lumbering awkwardly through the debris-choked street, leaving trails of smoking, viscous slime, were creatures unlike anything she had ever conceived. They were roughly humanoid in shape, perhaps two meters tall, but their forms were grotesque parodies of life. Their bodies seemed to be composed of semi-molten rock, a thick, sluggish magma-like substance that oozed and shifted with their movements, glowing with an internal, dull red heat. Patches of cooling, obsidian-like crust flaked off as they moved, revealing the incandescent viscera beneath. Their heads were misshapen, featureless blobs, save for gaping maws that dripped with the same molten slag. They had no discernible eyes, no obvious sensory organs, yet they moved with a clear, predatory purpose towards the fleeing Versari.
As Seren watched, one of the creatures reared back, its grotesque maw stretching impossibly wide. With a sickening, gurgling sound, it vomited a torrent of incandescent, molten rock. The searing liquid arced through the air, splattering across a makeshift barricade where several Versari had tried to make a stand. The wood and scrap metal burst into flames instantly. Screams of agony cut through the night as those caught by the molten spray were engulfed.
"They're... hideous."
Seren managed, her voice trembling, unable to tear her eyes away from the horrifying spectacle.
"Living magma... attacking people... They're... vomiting fire..."
As Seren stared, transfixed by the grotesque magma creatures, one of them, its featureless head swiveling clumsily, seemed to lock onto the faint light spilling from the broken warehouse window where she stood. It let out a guttural, bubbling roar, a sound like rock grinding against rock, and changed direction, lumbering with surprising speed towards their building. Others nearby followed suit, their molten forms oozing eagerly towards the new potential prey.
"They see us!"
Seren cried out, stumbling back from the window, her face ashen.
"They're coming here!"
Flareon spun around, his momentary shock at Fujina's confession instantly eclipsed by the immediate, visceral threat. He glanced towards the warehouse entrance, then back at Fujina, who lay slumped and bleeding against the support beam, her eyes wide with a fresh wave of terror.
"We can't take her!"
He yelled at Seren, already moving towards a partially collapsed section of the back wall that might offer an escape route.
"Move!"
Seren cast one last, fleeting look at Fujina. Flareon was right. They couldn't save her. She turned and scrambled after Flareon, leaving Fujina alone in the dusty darkness, the guttural roars of the approaching magma creatures growing louder.
They found a narrow gap in the back wall, barely wide enough to squeeze through, leading into a debris-choked alleyway. As they emerged, two of the molten monstrosities, having already breached the main warehouse entrance, lumbered into view at the alley's mouth, blocking their direct escape to the wider street.
"Get back!"
Flareon snarled, thrusting Seren behind him. He unleashed a concentrated blast of fire, a searing torrent aimed directly at the closest creature.
The flames engulfed the magma being, roaring around its molten form. But to Flareon's horror and disbelief, the creature barely seemed to react. It stumbled back a step from the sheer concussive force, but its form remained intact, oozing and bubbling, undeterred. It let out another guttural roar and continued its advance.
"My fire... it's doing nothing!"
Flareon yelled, a note of panic creeping into his voice.
The creatures were closing in, their heat radiating outwards, making the air shimmer. One of them reared back, its maw gaping, preparing to spew its molten payload.
Seren, seeing Flareon's power fail, reacted with desperate courage. Clutching the Lumecryst bracelet, she focused her will, drawing on the Arcane knowledge she had been so diligently, secretly, practicing. Her hand shot out, palm open.
A shimmering pulse of invisible force erupted from her outstretched hand, slamming into the closest magma creature. It didn't vaporize it, didn't burn it, but the sheer concussive impact sent the two-meter tall monstrosity staggering backwards several paces, its molten form rippling and distorting. It lost its balance, stumbling clumsily into its companion.
The second creature, caught off guard by the unexpected force, was also pushed back. Their advance was momentarily halted.
Flareon stared, momentarily stunned by Seren's effective display of power. He saw his chance.
"Now! Run!"
They scrambled through the gap, Flareon leading, Seren close behind, her breath coming in ragged gasps, the Lumecryst still glowing faintly on her wrist. The alley opened into a wider, rubble-strewn square, but any hope of a clear escape route was instantly dashed.
More of the magma creatures were lumbering into the square from multiple directions, their guttural roars echoing off the shattered building facades, their molten bodies casting an eerie, dancing red glow on the ruins. They were converging, their movements clumsy but relentless, cutting off potential exits. Flareon and Seren skidded to a halt, finding themselves facing a growing horde, dozens of the grotesque beings slowly, inexorably, closing in.
"Trapped!"
Flareon spat, his eyes darting frantically, searching for a way out that didn't exist. He tried another blast of fire, a desperate, wide arc aimed at the nearest cluster of creatures, but it was like throwing water at a furnace. The creatures just kept coming.
Seren unleashed another kinetic wave, pushing back two of the closest monstrosities, but more immediately shambled forward to take their place. Her power, while effective, was draining, and she was vastly outnumbered. Despair began to set in. They were cornered, their escape routes sealed by a tide of living magma.
Just as one of the creatures lunged, its dripping maw aimed at Flareon, a shadow fell over the square. A deafening CRUNCH echoed as something massive slammed into the center of the advancing horde.
A huge boulder, easily the size of a small land-car, arced through the air and landed with devastating force, crushing several of the magma creatures beneath its weight. The remaining creatures stumbled back, momentarily disoriented by the sudden, violent impact.
Flareon and Seren stared, dumbfounded. Where had that come from?
Then, from the direction the boulder had originated, stepping out from behind the crumbling corner of a multi-story ruin, came their answer.
It was Gravus, his expression grim, his hands still caked with rock dust from manipulating the boulder. Beside him, electricity crackling around his knuckles, stood Boltar, his eyes scanning the remaining magma creatures with fierce intensity. And Ferran, his stance solid, holding a shield fashioned from salvaged metal.
The three Sorcerai were perched on the broad, powerful shoulders of an immense Morphai. He stood a towering three meters tall.
This was clearly a Morphai who had mastered a level of physical transformation, embodying a raw, primal connection to form and mass that was breathtaking to behold.
"Get clear!"
Gravus bellowed, his voice carrying easily over the remaining guttural roars of the magma creatures.
"We'll hold them!"
The momentary relief brought by their comrades' dramatic arrival was short-lived. The magma creatures crushed beneath Gravus's boulder began to stir. Their molten forms, though flattened and distorted, oozed and bubbled, slowly reforming, pulling themselves back into grotesque semblance of their original shapes. Their incandescent bodies seemed to possess a horrifying resilience, able to absorb and recover from even catastrophic physical damage. They weren't dead, merely inconvenienced.
"They're reforming!"
Seren cried out, pointing towards the squirming, molten masses.
"Korbin! Get them!"
Gravus yelled, gesturing towards Flareon and Seren.
The giant Morphai, Korbin, rumbled a deep, guttural assent. With surprising speed for his immense size, he strode forward, his massive hands outstretched. Flareon and Seren didn't hesitate. They scrambled onto Korbin's offered palms, which were easily large enough to accommodate them both, feeling the strange, resilient texture of his transformed flesh beneath their feet. Korbin lifted them effortlessly, raising them high above the advancing horde, out of immediate reach of the spewing magma.
Korbin carrying them swiftly through the ruined square. The remaining magma creatures, recovering from Gravus's initial attack, lumbered after them, their guttural roars echoing through the night.
As Korbin moved, Seren, perched precariously on his hand, continued to unleash kinetic waves, pushing back the closest pursuers, creating small pockets of space. Ferran deflecting the worst of the molten splashes that arced towards them. Boltar frustrated, hurled bolts of lightning at the creatures, but like Flareon's fire, the electrical energy seemed to discharge harmlessly against their incandescent forms, causing little more than brief, intense flashes of light.
They burst out of the ruined square and onto one of the main thoroughfares leading towards the eastern perimeter wall, Korbin's ground-eating strides covering distance rapidly. The sounds of pursuit began to fade slightly behind them. Hope, fragile but fierce, rekindled.
They were nearing the massive, blast-scarred gate of Starbreach, the air already feeling marginally cleaner, less choked with the dust and smoke of the inner city. Seren, still scanning for threats, suddenly winced, her hand flying to her ear, her brow furrowing in pain.
With no warning, no visual precursor, something immense ripped past overhead. This was a blur of motion, a colossal shadow that blotted out the stars for a fraction of a second, moving at a speed that defied comprehension.
The shockwave hit them a split second later.
It was a physical blow, a wall of compressed air that slammed into Korbin with brutal force. The giant Morphai staggered, roaring in surprise and pain, his massive frame momentarily losing balance. Flareon and Seren were nearly thrown from his hands, clinging on desperately. The Sorcerai on his shoulders were buffeted violently.
The sound that accompanied the shockwave was deafening, a deep, tearing roar that wasn't a vocalization but the sound of the very air being ripped apart. It hammered at their eardrums, reducing all other sounds to nothing. Seren cried out in agony, clapping her hands over her ears, but it was useless against the overwhelming sonic assault. Flareon felt a sharp pain in his own ears, a disorienting pressure that made the world tilt.
The shockwave tore through the ruined city like an invisible scythe. Shattered windows in nearby buildings imploded inwards or exploded outwards in showers of synth-glass shrapnel. Precariously balanced sections of collapsed structures groaned and shifted, some giving way entirely in clouds of dust. The violent wind in the wake of the object's passage, whipped debris through the air like deadly projectiles.
Even the massive wall didn't escape unscathed. Sections of the thick ferrocrete cracked audibly. One of the already damaged turret emplacements, weakened by previous attacks, tore loose from its mountings and crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact. A new, jagged breach appeared in the wall, smoke and dust pouring from the fresh wound in Starbreach's defenses.
Korbin, despite his immense strength and stability, was knocked to his knees by the force of the shockwave. Flareon and Seren were thrown clear, tumbling onto the hard, debris-strewn ground. The other Sorcerai were similarly dislodged, landing heavily.
Dazed, ears ringing, Flareon pushed himself up, spitting out dust. The world swam before his eyes. He saw Seren curled on the ground nearby, moaning in pain, her hands still pressed tightly to her ears. The immense sound had faded, leaving behind a ringing silence and the lingering sense of utter violation.
Flareon hit the ground hard, the impact jarring through his already bruised body. He pushed himself up, shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears and the spots dancing before his eyes. The air was thick with dust, the acrid smell of pulverized concrete filling his nostrils.
He scrambled towards where he'd seen Seren fall. Found her curled on her side a few meters away, amidst a fresh scattering of rubble dislodged by the shockwave. Her hands were still pressed tightly against her ears, her face pale and contorted in pain, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Seren! Are you alright?"
Flareon yelled, kneeling beside her, his voice sounding distant and muffled even to himself. He gently touched her shoulder.
She flinched, looking up at him with wide, terrified eyes. He could see her lips moving, forming words, but he couldn't make them out clearly over the lingering roar in his own ears. She seemed to be straining to hear him, a look of intense concentration mixed with pain on her face.
He leaned closer, shouting again, trying to project his voice.
"Seren! Can you hear me?"
She winced, shaking her head slightly, then pressed her hands harder against her ears before slowly lowering them. She looked at him, her expression a mixture of agony and desperate frustration.
"Barely..."
Her voice was a thin, strained whisper, barely audible even to herself.
"So loud... ringing... hurts..."
The realization hit Flareon with cold certainty. The sheer intensity of that sonic blast... her eardrums were likely damaged, perforated even. She would have felt the sonic impact far more acutely than the rest of them.