The battlefield was chaos. Fog pressed in like a living wall, smothering the moment in silence. Solara stood at the centre, blade in hand, eyes narrowing. Caelan was gone, dragged off by that giant. That left her — and three most likely half-petrified fighters behind her.

  “Hold a staggered line on my left,” Solara called without turning. She slid one foot back, catching a testing swipe and shaving fog off its edge. “Nobody crosses my lane unless I say.”

  She was twenty paces to their right in the open, just shy of the treeline. The trio formed a line on some fallen pines at their backs, fighting in her wake. No birds. No insects. Just a gentle wind in the grass and steel against fog.

  “Breathe,” she groaned to herself, eyes locking on the monster’s void-dark eye socket through the shifting fog. Her voice cut through the noise, steady as stone. “We’re not dead yet. Remember that.”

  Veyra tightened her grip, Braen shifted uneasily, and Takeshi, well, he was running, blaming the world. Solara didn’t bother looking back. She could feel what she thought was their fear, but fear was exactly what she needed from them right now.

  Solara knocked the next cut off-line with a short, ugly parry. “Veyra—joints first. Braen—shield high. Takeshi—no heroics. Breathe.”

  The emerald monster moved in the fog, its shape flickering like a nightmare half-dreamed. Solara raised her guard, blocking only, letting the smaller strikes thud against her arms and blade. She couldn’t afford to think about Caelan now—not while this thing pressed without signs of slowing. Each glancing hit reminded her she had no room for mistakes in this moment. What did you see, Caelan? Why time it so exactly? There has to be something I haven’t noticed…

  She ducked low, weaving to her side as the monster’s fog-forged sword scraped past her cheek.

  She fell slowly back toward the tree line, using the trunks as cover as the emerald’s blade carved strips of bark beside her. “My zone is the forward tree line,” she called. “Keep to your positions for now. For every pace I take past that line, you fall back ten and reset,” she added, not even sure they could hear her over the noise.

  Splintering bark from the emerald’s strikes began to fill the battlefield, layered over the metallic screech of her sword clashing against the hardened fog-blade it wielded as she deflected however she could. What do I actually have right now? she thought, sidestepping as the edge of its strike grazed her arm. Caelan’s out—I can’t expect even him to walk away from that thing quickly enough. Next, the triplets. If we haven’t heard from them by now, that means Keira might actually be down. For now, they’re all out of action.

  Branches snapped under the emerald’s steps, steel ringing with each desperate block as the emerald refused to give up ground on its push. All she could do was worry about the rest of the battlefield.

  The left flank is still holding. They’ve managed three White Deaths so far—Braen’s carrying most of the heavy hits, with Takeshi feeding them into her whenever she’s free and Veyra taking whatever free shot opens up. It works, but it’s not fast enough.

  Another swipe tore through the air; Solara barely rolled clear, bark spraying past her face. She’d drifted as close as she could to the tree line, hugging it as her only advantage right now. The others stayed focused on the remaining four White Deaths that had luckily stuck to them instead of peeling off to support the emerald.

  Solara feinted left, then cut a shallow thrust towards the emerald, a thin line through the fog, testing to see if it would trade its sword for a shield in that moment. “Do not come to me. Make them come to you. I’m the hook; you’re the net.” I can only hold this off for so long. Even with Caelan here, this would still be brutal.

  Her thoughts churned as fast as her blade met each strike. Caelan looks like a reckless idiot to the world, she thought, deflecting another crushing blow. No matter what comes at him, he adapts. The emerald’s fog blade shallowly sliced across her right arm, drawing a sharp line of pain. She hissed, gritting her teeth while shifting her stance, angling to deflect instead of absorb.

  Think. When Keira disappeared, just for a heartbeat, the fog shifted, adapted, then snapped back. And when Caelan charged, did it form the sword in response to his? He also had a clear speed advantage over it, yet he admitted he needed help finishing it. What was it you saw? There’s a limit hidden in there.

  Braen shouted from the back, pinning a White Death’s neck with her warhammer haft. “What are we actually doing here, Sparkles?!”

  Solara never broke focus from the emerald, steel ringing as she parried another swing. “Keep fighting! I need you to hold those things—we can’t split our focus further. Once you’ve handled those, we’ll take this thing together.”

  She bound strike to strike, parry to parry. “Braen—count three more. Veyra, take the angle, not the hit. Wear them down for Braen and Takeshi.”

  Takeshi, chased by two White Deaths, sprinted past, crying, “I hate you all so much!”

  “Keep doing what you’re doing,” Solara murmured. “How in the stars have they lasted this long?”

  As Braen pulled her haft tighter, a loud crack rang out before the White Death began to fade. Braen dusted herself off, getting back to her feet, and grinned. “You know, these things would be great pets if you ignore the bitey bitey.”

  Another lunged from her blind spot, but Veyra’s arrow pierced its leg mid-leap, twisting it off course. Takeshi, face blanketed in mud and tears, squeezed off a desperate few shots from his sidearm, one lucky round grazing a White Death’s eye.

  As he ran past with the two White Deaths on his heels, Braen finished tidying herself down, lifted her tower shield from its top, and swung it around, smashing one of the White Deaths on his tail to the ground as it began to tremble from the impact.

  She raised her voice over the chaos, eyes never leaving the emerald. “We need to sync our attacks! Caelan found its weakness—it can’t control infinite fog. One planned strike, together, will break it!”

  She stepped through a cut, clipped the forming sword at the wrist, and reset. “Spread them out—one each. Braen, rip yours apart. Veyra, hold one and take any shots you can to slow it. Takeshi, great job!”

  Takeshi ran in terror, shouting back, “Oh, SCREW YOU!”

  “Don’t mirror it, stagger. If it changes, pivot—do not chase.” Twenty paces out, alone in the open, she held the emerald’s attention anyway. Its blows came down unrelentingly, daring her to remember where the true threat lay.

  Solara’s arms trembled under the monster’s weight. Her boots slid through the dirt, knees buckling under the crushing weight of pure force—yet for a heartbeat, her mind drifted.

  Back to the shade of a tree, sweat running down her neck, both she and Caelan half-dead from training.

  “So how do you want this to work exactly?” she’d asked, staring at him like he’d hidden the whole plan in his smirk. “I see how you run with them, and honestly? Just watching makes my brain hurt. How do I fit into that? Because I’m not sure I can do what you do.”

  Caelan had only laughed, low and warm. “Well, yeah. Obviously, you can’t do what I do. You’re… normal compared to me. But that’s what makes you you, Solara—I never wanted another me. Just show them who you are. They’re good people. I know it might be hard—it was for me at first—but they’ll be there when you need them to be, even if you don’t ask. So just be you, and leave the crazy, batshit stunts to me.”

  She’d leaned against his shoulder then, too tired to care about propriety. “Why can’t you always be like this?”

  He’d scoffed. “Because you’d be bored out of your skull if I didn’t make a mess once or twice a day just to give you something to yell about.”

  She’d giggled, soft, almost private. “You know… if you were a foot taller, I might actually think about it.”

  “Pfft. In your dreams, bitch.”

  The memory broke as her knee hit dirt, the emerald’s next swing crashing down. Solara caught it on her blade, teeth clenched, sweat stinging her eyes. And despite the weight pressing down, she smiled.

  “Shut up, you weirdo,” she hissed, forcing the strike back an inch. “You totally would.”

  Solara raised her voice over the chaos, blade locked against the emerald’s crushing weight. “I need you all to trust me—I’ve got a plan!”

  Takeshi’s voice climbed almost comically high. “Can we be quick about it? Why do everyone’s plans end with me being chased?!”

  Veyra loosed another arrow, sweat streaking her face. “Stop your moaning, Takeshi. If you help, this might be quicker. It’s not like we’re out here having a picnic either.”

  Braen’s tower shield smashed into a White Death’s skull with a thunderous crack. She grinned, shouting, “You just say the word, little redhead!”

  “I’ll keep holding this thing off,” Solara snapped, twisting aside as the emerald’s fog blade carved into the dirt. “I’ll guide each of you through the fastest way to finish those monsters, understood?”

  Solara’s smile stayed; her tone didn’t. “Form on me when you finish the plan, then I’ll call. Eyes front—we’ll get to the other side.”

  Solara rolled clear of another blow, boots skidding, then sprang up to meet the emerald head-on. She let out a breathless laugh as steel rang against fog. For just a moment, she thought: There’s no denying it—they’re definitely complete morons. I don’t know if it’s because he’s good at finding great people, or because being around him makes them great. Either way, that dream you have, I don't believe you will be able to run from it for much longer.

  “Right then,” she called. “Calm down—and we’ll get through this!”

  Her blade locked again with the emerald’s, sparks and fog scattering as she shouted across the clearing. “There are only three left! Position yourselves now—Braen, crush them and move to the next! Keep the others busy!”

  “Veyra, eyes left—take its knee. Braen, close it into the tree line—you can handle it there. Takeshi, two-round bursts only.”

  Takeshi nearly choked as he stumbled back, sidearm popping off a round into the trees. “Why the hell do I need to keep it busy?”

  “I’m almost dry over here!” he yelped. “Mag’s light—six rounds left!”

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  “Understood,” Solara snapped, knocking a thrust wide. “Drag them past the tree line like Braen—don’t get pinned.”

  Takeshi blurted, “But why does it need to be me? Tell me—was it that idiot? Did he put you up to it? He always uses me as his goddamn bait!”

  “Because you’re the one who keeps begging to run away!” Solara shouted back, forcing the emerald’s blade wide with a sharp twist. “Might as well burn off some of that energy for our advantage. Besides, there’s not much difference between one chasing you and three. And if one of them does catch you, we’ll raise a drink in your memory later!”

  “Aww, screw you, lady! Worry about your own problems over there!” Takeshi yelped, firing blind as he ducked behind a fallen tree to avoid the White Death’s claws.

  “Great idea,” Veyra cut in over him, loosing another arrow. “Can’t believe I haven’t thought of that before. So, weak points, you said? Hey, Takeshi, get running.” She let fly, the shaft burying into the dirt inches from Takeshi’s boots.

  “What the hell was that?!” Takeshi shrieked, darting sideways as another White Death lunged for him.

  “Well, she did say to aim for the weak points,” Veyra called back sweetly. “Not my fault if it’s you, Takeshi. Better get running!”

  “Aww, screw all of you!” he howled. “If it’s not that idiot’s brand of stupid, it’s the rest of you!” Another arrow struck just in front of him, making him stumble.

  “Eyes up, both of you,” Solara cut in, carving a notch through the fog rim. “Veyra, punish overstepping. Takeshi, if you slip, crawl right—Braen owns that lane.”

  Braen only laughed, pinning the bottom edge of her tower shield down on a White Death’s neck with a crunch. “Don’t worry yourself, our little nerd. I’ll squash them like flies if it gets too hard. Now run along and keep them busy—because I don’t think Veyra’s ever given two warning shots before.”

  Takeshi gulped, then bolted, sidearm flashing as he pulled the White Deaths away, his voice cracking into the trees. “I goddamn hate you all!”

  Solara grimaced, her arm throbbing as she shoved the emerald’s blade aside. Damn, even a graze from this thing is dangerous. Every movement sent jolts through her muscles. She ducked under a sweeping strike, using a tree trunk as cover as the fog-arm cleaved through it, splinters spraying. I can’t match Caelan’s raw speed, so I have to play to my strengths. This thing adapts too fast—always reshaping itself to counter whatever it faces. They act mindlessly, but it’s not that. They’re emotionless—pure reaction, pure adaptation. That’s its weakness. Keep it contained, keep it from breaking us. Worst case, I might need to use it. Hold for now—that’s all I need to focus on.

  Takeshi, with two White Deaths snarling at his heels, fired wildly over his shoulder. “Shit—you’re just as fucking awkward as the rest of them! Just spit it out before I die over here!”

  Veyra swung from a low branch, loosing an arrow into a White Death’s leg as another pursued her with two shafts already lodged in its eyes. “No need to be so rude, shit-for-brains. And you wonder why you’re single.”

  A deafening crack followed as Braen slammed her warhammer, crushing the White Death’s skull into the dirt. She turned with a bright smile and a death-glare all at once. “Little ones—quiet down so I can hear our sparkly princess over there. If you don’t…” She hefted her hammer free of the ground. “…you can handle those yourselves. Try, for once, to be like our captain and do it without moaning.”

  Veyra sighed, brushing sweat from her brow as she skipped along the tree branches, a White Death covered in arrows crashing after her. “Well, she was bound to come out sooner or later.”

  “Braen, you do know it’s only a nickname, right?” Takeshi screamed, still running in circles with monsters on his tail. “I swear to God, keep that hammer away from my feet this time!”

  Braen locked eyes with him, voice low and deadly calm. “Be quiet, little Takeshi. Or do I need to repeat myself?” She yanked the bloodied hammer loose, never breaking her stare. Then she grinned and barked, “Now send me one of those little puppies my way so I can crush its skull!”

  Takeshi bolted past her with a White Death snapping at his heels. One swing of Braen’s tower shield smashed into its head with a sickening crack, leaving it dazed and reeling. Braen stalked toward it, calmly cracking her neck. “Puppies who can’t control themselves need to be taught a lesson.”

  Just as Takeshi finally slowed, thinking he might be safe, Veyra sprinted past him, giggling. “Hey, Takeshi, be a babe and watch that for me!” she called, as he looked back to see an enraged White Death charging straight at him. He started running again, screaming, “JUST STOP IT, PLEASE! I WANT TO GO HOME!”

  The emerald whirled, unleashing a flurry of slashes. Each strike was faster, sharper, leaving deeper and deeper grazes on Solara’s arms and shoulders as she ducked, deflected, or slipped behind tree trunks that splintered and cracked around her. I can take the pain. Just keep it short—I have to avoid using it, I promised. Don’t match it blow for blow—bleed time out of it, hold it steady.

  She swatted away another strike and shouted across the field, “Takeshi, stop messing around and free up Veyra! Give her room to cover Braen!”

  Takeshi, dodging another snapping maw, yelled back, voice climbing, “Did I do something to piss you off, Sparkles, or do you just find it funny like he does?!”

  Before he could trip over his own feet, Veyra dropped in front of him, loosing an arrow that clipped a White Death’s leg and sent it stumbling. “Stop whining—it’s working. Work pays, remember?”

  Takeshi skidded, nearly colliding with her, and flailed his arms as he screamed, “As long as we’re clear, I’m MVP here!” Over the clash of steel and snarls, the sound of three people quietly snickering drifted across the battlefield.

  “Braen, Veyra—tidy that one up before he cries any more, if you wouldn’t mind,” Solara called, trying not to laugh.

  Takeshi muttered to himself, fumbling around in his satchel as he ran.

  “Seven… I’ve found seven of these since we got here!” he ranted, words tumbling out. “And you idiots know these are my only advantages! If you actually got me the resources to make things, we might not be this screwed all the time—it’s not like I don’t have a PhD or anything!”

  He hurled a flash grenade behind him. A blinding flare erupted, sending a White Death staggering into a tree with a pained yelp. Pumping his arms like a runner at the finish line, he bellowed, “This is why I was guild leader in our MMO—stunts like that! This is why you never underestima—”

  Too busy gloating, he ran straight into a low branch with a solid thunk and fell on his arse.

  “Ha! Idiot!” Veyra laughed, losing another arrow past his ear.

  “Now, Braen,” Solara said, steel grinding as she caught another emerald strike. “End it.”

  “Nerd. Sparkles. Be quiet,” Braen barked at Takeshi without looking back. “Keep that shit for the Captain—I’m not warning any of you again today.”

  Still circling the emerald, Solara risked a glance their way, almost horrified. “What has got into her? I thought she was the nice one.”

  Veyra came sprinting toward Braen just as the larger woman drew her warhammer back for a swing at the wounded White Death. Veyra planted a foot on the hammer’s haft, vaulted up and over Braen’s shoulder, and fired three arrows in a tight burst into the charging beast’s exposed back. It slipped mid-charge; Braen’s follow-through met it cleanly, her warhammer smashing through its spine as it burst into golden orbs mid-air, dropping bricks of scrap bars across the ground.

  “Damn, big dawg,” Veyra laughed, brushing her hair back with a grin. “Thank that weirdo goddess you’re on our side.”

  Braen hefted her tower shield again, eyes cold but smiling faintly at the archer. “Aww, my cute little Veyra. Next time you climb me like a frame without asking, just remember—accidents happen. And you might not look so cute afterwards. Now stop being mean and go help Takeshi.”

  Veyra pouted, kicking at the dirt as she trudged after Takeshi and his newly rediscovered urge to run and scream. “Hey, idiot—sorry, Doctor idiot—want to hurry that thing up before Braen actually gets annoyed? I hope you know this is all your fault for messing around!”

  Takeshi ran like hell, the two remaining White Deaths snapping at his heels. “Come on—don’t leave your good old friend Takeshi to hang like this—please, I didn’t mean it earlier,” he whimpered. “Help me? I didn’t mean to call you old!”

  Veyra broke into a run toward Takeshi, shouting, “Good—and you’d better be sorry to Braen! This is all your fault, she’s angry now!” She sprinted after the nearest White Death, vaulting up behind it. The moment she left the ground, the beast lunged for Takeshi as he curled up on the floor, screaming.

  She loosed one arrow into the roof of its mouth and a second into its back. The White Death crashed down in front of Takeshi as he fumbled for his pistol.

  “I’VE GOT IT!” he yelled, firing a round point-blank into its head.

  The White Death roared in his face instead of dying cleanly, forcing him to flinch back. He yanked the trigger again, another shot hammering into its skull. The beast’s claw rose above him as he kept pulling the trigger, but only empty clicks answered.

  The White Death shuddered, then toppled sideways and began breaking down into golden orbs.

  Takeshi lay there panting, then threw up his hands. “That was my kill—did you all see that? I took one of them down!” He let out a long, shaky sigh and flopped back. “Can’t we just go back to those smaller black fog wolf monsters? Man, they went down a hell of a lot easier than this thing.”

  Braen wandered over with a beaming smile, holding a hand out to Takeshi. “Aww, my little Takeshi, it’s so nice of you to say that. I’m glad to hear it. Just one slight issue…”

  Takeshi swallowed. “What issue?”

  Her smile didn’t move; her voice turned to thunder. “It doesn’t explain why you are lying on the ground like a goddamn worm. So stop embarrassing us. You can mock the Captain whenever you like, but at least when there’s a challenge, he faces it with a smile on his face.”

  “Damn, that’s harsh, big dawg…” Veyra said, shouldering past with a pout.

  Braen tilted her head at her. “And let’s not even begin with your problems, my cute little angel.”

  Somewhere behind them, steel shrieked against hardened fog—Solara still holding the emerald alone in the treeline.

  “Great work, you three,” Solara called without turning, blade grinding against the emerald’s fog-edge. “But I can’t keep this up forever. It’s been—what—four minutes?”

  Braen snorted, shouldering her shield. “OUR Captain would’ve done it without complaining. And you’re taller than him. Put up with it. I’m not done over here.”

  Solara knocked a cut off-line, a little taken aback. “Did I piss you off or something? Focus, please.”

  Veyra drew to anchor, focusing down on the emerald. “Don’t mind her. She gets like this when she’s in the groove—nothing personal.”

  But before Veyra could finish, Solara shifted to deflect another of the emerald’s strikes—only for the monster to suddenly fold the fog-sword back into itself and break away, sprinting straight for the archer.

  Why has it changed now? What’s different? Why— Her gaze snapped to Veyra’s bow as it came up. That’s it. It prioritises ranged first. That’s why it ignored us when it arrived—Keira’s shot was the highest threat at that moment.

  “Veyra—keep your bow on it, don’t fire! Braen—intercept! I’ll be there! Takeshi, do something!”

  Braen became a streak of steel, warhammer arcing. It slammed into the emerald’s core with a bone-shaking boom—but the thing dug its feet in, caught the haft with both fog-hands, and killed her follow-through cold.

  “Braen—right!” Veyra snapped.

  Braen shifted onto her left foot, opening the flank. Veyra’s arrow hissed past her shoulder toward the exposed head—

  “Don’t fire!” Solara screamed, too late.

  A third fog-arm burst from the emerald’s shoulder, swatting the arrow out of the air, twisting it and hurling it back. It skimmed Veyra’s cheek and sheared a tree in half behind her as the emerald slipped past Braen, still sprinting like Veyra was the only thing that existed.

  Mid-run, the fog hardened into a spear in its hands.

  “EVERYONE, EYES!” Takeshi yelled. “Braen, follow through! Solara, get there!”

  A flash grenade clattered at the emerald’s feet and detonated in a blinding burst. The monster screamed, a horrible, tearing sound, as the fog around its body spiked outward, its charge stalling for a heartbeat.

  Braen hit it in that instant, driving her tower shield into its midsection and pinning its lower body to the ground.

  Solara sprinted in, legs burning. Sorry, Caelan. I need to use it.

  Veyra watched, wide-eyed, as Solara seemed to take a step into mid-air. A small, glass-like pane flickered into existence beneath her boot, then another, higher, then another, carrying her up above the tree line.

  “Where are those… what are those?” Veyra breathed.

  Solara reached the height above the pinned emerald, turned her body in the air, and kicked off one final pane. She dropped like a comet, sword point down, and drove the blade straight through the emerald’s head.

  The impact hit like a falling star. The ground around the clearing shattered and cracked, shockwaves rippling through the dirt beneath their feet.

  “What the shit, Solara?!” Veyra yelped, eyes wide. “Also, why didn’t you say it could throw my arrows back at me? That was—that was close.”

  Takeshi trudged up, hands on his knees. “Do you know how much those flash grenades cost to replace? That’s right—we can’t, since someone got everyone drunk and we forgot what zone they spawn in. I want the big cut this time. You all saw me use them, so tell Captain Idiot and his mini-me they owe me.”

  Braen slung her warhammer and rolled her shoulders. “Maybe next time we lead with me handling little things like this…”

  Everyone froze. Solara doubled over and threw up.

  They were on her in a heartbeat. Braen’s voice softened so fast it was whiplash. “Aww, my sparkly little princess—are you alright? Can I get you anything? Here, water.”

  “Thanks,” Solara muttered, swishing and spitting, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

  Takeshi crouched by the corpse—if you could call it that—and prodded the collapsing fog with a stick. Veyra dropped beside Solara, still breathing hard. “Spill it. What the hell was that? I saw it for a second—then nothing.”

  Solara spat again, grimacing. “Please don’t tell Caelan about this. Seriously. I cannot be bothered with that talk again. Oh god—” She swayed. “Caelan!”

  The fog around the corpse hardened. An emerald sheen crawled across its surface—then a shockwave kicked like a cannon, flinging them all to the ground.

  What the hell was that? Solara thought, vision tunnelling, as the emerald’s remains turned to a darkened, rock-like shell. The world seemed to drain of colour.

  Not now. He needs—