Evantra watched as her handhold tumbled to the street below, the loose brick shifting free of its position. She winced, gritting her teeth as she struggled to stabilise herself, before reaching for another.

  No one emphasised just how important manoeuvrability was when you were a scout. Especially when the terrain you were situated in was the lost territories – replete with rubble, collapsed buildings and Veilcreatures.

  Evantra turned towards the glittering green eyes that watched her as she struggled to scale the wall to join Guinevere, where she was perched. Evantra let out a gasp when she finally managed to cling to the edge, hoisting herself up without Guinevere’s assistance.

  Evantra’s thoughts turned inwards as she began to set up her sniper rifle, adopting a prone position.

  It seems like she’s perfectly content for me to learn the hard way. No easy passes.

  Besides, I still don’t have the slightest clue what Caliburn are looking for out here.

  “You’ll do a whole lot of waiting around as a sniper. That is, before you get the cybernetics that will let you keep abreast of the main group. You’re going to have to keep up if we move quickly.”

  Evantra nodded her understanding, keeping a keen eye on the street ahead. They hadn’t encountered any Veilcreatures so far, which had surprised her.

  “Is it usually so quiet out here?”

  Guinevere didn’t respond, her green eyes shimmering slightly in the darkness as she scanned the street. It seemed like she was content to ignore Evantra’s question.

  “Lancelot, the first junction is clear. Veilcreature density within expectations, you’re free to advance.”

  Looks like she somehow activated her comms with a visual command. I didn’t see her make any move to reach for equipment. That would be very convenient.

  Evantra briefly triggered her own interface, willing it into existence to review the number of remaining Veilsouls she had left.

  Ghostslayer Rank: Ghoul (Level 7)

  Active catalyst: Darkstalker (level 1)

  ·  [Razor claws]

  ·  [Darkvision]

  ·  [Clot acceleration]

  Reserve catalyst: Ionian Mimic (level 5)

  ·  [Conceal]

  ·  [Object mimicry]

  ·  [Stonerooted]

  Rituals:

  ·  [Ritual of consumption]

  ·  [Ritual of Veilsight]

  ·  [Ritual of concealment]

  Veilsouls: 7

  I expended quite a lot of them, testing the limits of the rituals. If the rest of the raid is this quiet… It’ll be difficult to replenish—

  “Contact,” Evantra whispered under her breath, sighting the very first Veilcreature of the night. She watched as the group of gnomes emerged from around the corner of the road leading off to the left of her position. They took a right turn and began ambling in the direction of the main force.

  “I’ll leave them to you. The advance scouts have run into elementals – I’m advancing to their position to provide support. Remember the lessons. Hold this position until Lancelot instructs you to move.”

  Evantra watched as Guinevere's skin shimmered for a half-second before the woman disappeared into nothingness, having activated her camouflaging tech. As silently as she had entered the church, Guinevere descended into the night to support the advance party.

  No more hand-holding.

  It was nothing she didn’t expect.

  Evantra zeroed in on the gnomes. They had the same appearance of the creature she had killed in the junkyard – with dark grey skin, red eyes and bald foreheads, rising to about her torso in height.

  She depressed the trigger of her sniper rifle and watched in a flash of suppressed gunfire as her shot entered the side plane of the first gnome’s skull. The creature lurched to the side, but before its companions had a chance to react, Evantra had already sighted the second creature.

  [Stonerooted]

  Her body locked up, providing her with a degree of supernatural precision, negating the need for her to account for her breaths. Another gradual and steady depression of the trigger, and the next gnome went down just as easily.

  The final gnome desperately began searching its surroundings, turning its gaze to the rooftops in search of what had just ended its companions’ lives. The creature shrieked, and the silence encasing the junction was shattered with its cry. It ended a second later as Evantra placed a bullet in the ridge of its brow. When the night fell silent once more, Evantra took the opportunity to recharge her partially loaded magazine before slotting it back into the rifle. All the while, she scanned the junction for approaching creatures.

  “Evantra, we heard gunfire. Any creatures in sight?”

  Lancelot’s voice reached her through the earpiece she had been supplied with.

  “Just three gnomes – no other creatures.”

  “Advance to the next junction – join Guinevere. We’ll reach your position in two minutes. They’re locked up with lesser elementals.”

  Evantra signalled her assent and grimaced when she realised that she would have to make her way back down from her perch. After surveying her surroundings, ensuring that no other creatures had been drawn by the gunshots, even suppressed as they were, she resumed her climb to the bottom floor.

  Upon reaching the ground floor, Evantra pushed forwards, bolting quickly across the junction. Her Nagantra was in her hands as her close-range “solution” if any creatures managed to sneak up on her. The streets were eerily deserted, and she recalled Noelle’s words when the girl had told her about the behaviour of Veilcreatures.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  It usually meant the presence of something really menacing in the area that deters other creatures.

  Evantra gritted her teeth and moved to Guinevere’s position.

  ***

  The sounds of gunfire greeted her after working her way down another street, absent of Veilcreatures. Her eyes widened as she peeked around the corner, noticing a slew of elementals that were engaging Caliburn’s operatives from across the street. The soldiers were taking cover in the lobby of a building as rocks and rubble were hurled in their direction by a lesser earth elemental, similar to the ones she had encountered in the Sahara. Only now, it was far deadlier being in its element, the debris around it serving as ammunition while simultaneously guarding it from gunfire.

  Stay calm. Think. I need to find a vantage point, not to run in blindly.

  Evantra scanned her surroundings, finding a building that was still standing, which had windows faced in the direction of the gunfight. Evantra ran towards the stairwell, making her way up to the fourth floor – having assessed that it would give her a sufficient vantage point.

  When she reached the floor, she held her Nagantra out in front of her, creeping on the balls of her feet, alert for even the slightest of sounds in her periphery. It was an office building with large glass sections – many of which were now shattered, giving her a view of an empty floor.

  Evantra rushed to a shattered window and crouched, using the windowsill to support her rifle. She sighted the earth elemental locking down the soldiers under cover, and gradually depressed the trigger in conjunction with [stonerooted].

  The gunshot rang out, and she watched in satisfaction as the lead elemental’s head exploded from her shot, bypassing the debris it had angled to block the squad’s bullets. The rubble encircling it dropped ineffectively to the ground.

  Level up: level 8 [Ghoul]

  Yes! It’s been so long, I almost forgot that I could level.

  Evantra shifted her efforts to the wind elementals flanking the downed lesser earth elemental – precise shots finding the centre of their translucent masses with ease, while they were preoccupied with the entrenched Caliburn force.

  Evantra’s excitement was subdued by a deafening roar that echoed down the streets. It disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived, leaving her hypersensitive to the sounds of wind jostling debris in her immediate vicinity. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest, and she tried in vain to search the skies – there was nothing on the road remaining that had caused it.

  “Wyvern and elementals inbound. We’re heading to a tower one street away. Evantra, provide covering fir—”

  Evantra heard the crash of a door behind her, and she whirled, depositing her sniper rifle at her feet as she rushed to withdraw her Nagantra. She watched as two salamanders started barrelling through the remains of frosted glass towards her.

  Evantra waited.

  She watched as the lead salamander halted in its advance a distance away from her, dropping open its maw to reveal the familiar sight of magma gurgling within, which it was collecting into a projectile to spit towards her.

  As soon as its jaw opened, Evantra fell prone, sending a precise hail of bullets spearing into the roof of its mouth and into its brain, having found the right angle. The first creature dropped, and the other behind it slammed through its companion, heedless of its sudden death. The salamander lunged towards her, and Evantra – having experienced the nature of their movement once before, lurched precisely to the side just as its jaws came down upon empty space.

  When the creature whirled around towards her, all it was greeted with was scattered debris and the remains of furniture. The creature growled in frustration, and as it opened its jaws, a small cabinet flickered into the form of a crouched Evantra, her arm already extended and ready to unleash the next flurry of bullets.

  After the short racket of gunfire, Evantra paused to regard the fallen salamanders, a sense of exhilaration blossoming in response to the successful hunt.

  Strategy, training and reality-breaking skills.

  I was torn apart by them the first time I faced them. I may not have gained any huge combat upgrades by way of skills, but the knowledge alone, paired with more combat experience, made all the difference.

  Especially the close combat training.

  Resisting the urge to linger further, Evantra swept up her sniper rifle and ran down the stairs to reposition – seeing as Caliburn had taken care of the remaining elementals in the time she had been tied up with the salamanders.

  ***

  Guinevere nodded towards her, gesturing towards the beast that prowled the heights of one of the fallen buildings.

  The wyvern.

  The creature was the size of a small private jet. The building it was perched on looked like it had been under construction when the Mythic Veilsurge hit LA. Collapsed cranes and construction equipment still remained in the vicinity, scattered beneath the rubble covering the plot.

  “Good job. We cleared out all the stragglers, and the main force was able to advance unimpeded. Once they arrive, they’ll kill the beast. Hang back and watch how they deal with it.”

  “We aren’t going to help them?”

  Guinevere shook her head.

  “One fireball from that thing in our direction and this building collapses if we aren’t fried first. We take care of any other opportunistic stragglers that swoop in, taking advantage of the wyvern’s presence. Let Galahad draw the heat off us, and maybe if it's preoccupied, you go for its weak points. Its hide is bulletproof – even to your Veilseeker.”

  Of course it is.

  “Things can escalate in a split second. Stay here, be on your guard.”

  The tentative plan was for the main body to split up and take cover on either side of the road. Their objective was to draw the wyvern away.

  To what end?

  Guinevere had failed to elaborate upon that small detail.

  Which meant that whatever Caliburn was looking for was within that building. Evantra bit her lip, attempting to infer anything that was possible from the nature of the mission that could assist her in discerning Caliburn’s intention.

  For one, they seemed to have a pre-established location in mind that they made a beeline towards. Beyond that, having spoken to some of the other soldiers, no one had been apprised as to the mission’s nature. She also didn’t think it was a coincidence that there just so happened to be a wyvern positioned on the side of the building that Caliburn had zeroed in on.

  Did something attract it here?

  Evantra watched the beast’s claws sink into the concrete like it was butter, as it crawled along its side up onto a vacant floor. It was a miracle that it was still standing, let alone bearing the wyvern’s weight.

  A wyvern this large is about the level of a [banshee] or [wendigo] – the level 25 – 35 range.

  The thought of being able to take down this thing solo boggles my mind. Although it seems like Lancelot is supposed to be able to manage it solo, seeing as he’s [banshee] rank.

  “They’re here.”

  Evantra jolted upright at Guinevere’s words. She angled her sniper towards the main body.

  What are they—

  Evantra watched as a small detachment of soldiers opened fire at the wyvern in the middle of the street. Four soldiers, all of them isolated, organic and unequipped, began peppering the wyvern ineffectively with their rounds.

  “They’re going to get kill—”

  “Quiet.”

  Guinevere’s voice cut through the din, silencing her with a cold edge to it. Evantra watched her grip tighten around the grip of her sniper rifle as the beast descended into the street below, snapping open wide wings to glide down.

  That was when Galahad emerged.

  It seemed there was a reason that Galahad and Lancelot hadn’t matched their pace, pushing through with the advanced parties.

  He had some heavy equipment. Along with the heavy machine gun he was equipped with, the soldiers at his side deposited a launcher beside him, prepped and ready to fire.

  Galahad targeted the webbing of the creature’s wings and began firing his heavy machine gun. Even from three stories up, Evantra could feel the vibrations that his weapon generated, the thumps travelling into her bones.

  She watched as the creature’s wings began to tear. Small, bloody holes widened as the bullets permeated its membrane, the creature struggling to maintain its trajectory with the damage inflicted on its wings. The wyvern crashed into the street below, sending debris flying. Evantra watched as one of the soldiers who had lured the beast from its perch was rammed by flying debris and sent sprawling.

  Soldiers emerged from cover on either side to drag the injured man away from the fight.

  Lancelot walked out from cover and waited.

  The wyvern roared – more in anger than in pain, and opened its maw to unleash a jet of flame straight towards the Ghostslayers – with eerie similarity to the salamander’s ranged attack. Evantra watched as Lancelot calmly undid the firing pin of a grenade and tossed it in a neat arc straight into the creature’s jaw.

  The grenade exploded, and Evantra watched as bloody teeth fragments were pushed out of their place from the brief explosion of flame that resulted.

  The creature screamed.

  She winced as she felt her ears ache.

  Evantra blinked away the daze the creature inflicted, turning back towards Guinevere.

  The Ghostslayer was gone.