Smoke billowed in thick waves as fire consumed the shell of the old, forsaken building. From the wreckage came screams – ghastly, guttural cries not of men, but of monsters, undeterred by the trap that had been sprung upon them.
From the shadows emerged a swarm of bodds. Dozens crawled from cracks and fissures, their grotesque forms slithering into view. Not only did the towering adult bodds gather in force, but their smaller, juvenile kin joined them – leaner, quicker, and tinged with a pale, bluish hue that shimmered faintly in the firelight.
They descended upon the scene, feasting on the remains of their own who had perished in the blast. But before their frenzy could reach its peak, something streaked past them – a blur, swift and commanding.
Though dwarfed in size by the bodds, the moment this figure appeared, the creatures recoiled. Their snarling mouths fell silent, their heads bowed low in instinctive submission. One young bodd, slow to react, was struck by a sudden kick and sent whimpering back to its parent.
Clad in heavy robes, an entity climbed over the collapsed structure. As it approached, the flames seemed to shrink and die, as though afraid of its presence.
'Pathetic,' the figure muttered, its voice low and venomous. 'Must I instruct you in even the simplest of tasks?'
Its eyes – flashing red and yellow – scanned the horde, instilling dread in every beast it met. The bodds shrank further, grovelling before it.
'Amazat!' it shrieked, extending a clawed, skeletal finger from beneath its sleeve. 'Amazat!'
The creatures hesitated, then slowly retreated from the figure. When it repeated the command a third time, they scattered in the direction it had indicated.
The ground trembled – not with the force of an explosion, but with the weight of movement. Dust rose in thick clouds, spreading like a grey shroud over the city of Ranzomeron. The bodds surged forward, infesting every ruin, every alley, every surviving column and street.
Their goal was simple: a resonance.
To them, it was noise – grating, maddening noise. But the robed entity's voice drove them onward, compelling obedience. Though dim-witted, the bodds could not resist its command. They obeyed, reluctantly yet without question.
One bodd surged ahead of the rest. Agile and swift, it navigated the debris with ease, closing in on the source of the resonance. The closer it drew, the more unbearable the sound became.
It was near – just beyond a ruined structure.
With a burst of speed, the bodd rounded the obstacle, leaping toward its target. But before it could strike, an ice shard pierced its skull, embedding deep into its eye. It shrieked once, then collapsed, lifeless.
'They've found us!' someone shouted. 'We need to move – now!'
'Riniock, run!' another voice urged.
'Go! I'll try to block their path!'
Riniock clasped his hands and summoned a blade of compressed air, launching it at a nearby building. The structure crumbled, collapsing into the street and forming a temporary barricade.
But it was only a delay.
The bodds began to climb, scaling the ruins with ease. Riniock had seen their climbing prowess before – he had expected this.
He waited, watching the rooftops and ledges where they would emerge. And when they did, he struck.
With precise casting, he conjured jagged ice spikes, placing them across rooftops, beneath overhangs, and along the street. The traps worked – several bodds impaled themselves, shrieking as they fell.
'Riniock!' a voice called from behind.
He turned and fled, sprinting toward a section of the ruins where his companions had gathered.
Lodras and Hadfarr knelt, hands pressed to the ground. Ulred and Linry stood nearby, focused on their tracking efforts.
'What are you doing?' Riniock asked as he approached.
'Trap,' Lodras replied, eyes narrowed in concentration.
'Similar to the one before,' Hadfarr added, brushing dust from his hands as he stood. 'This one triggers on proximity. And look.'
Riniock glanced down. Beneath Hadfarr's foot was a grate leading to the sewers. He peered into the darkness – there was no visible bottom.
'Looks solid,' Riniock said, moving toward Linry. 'Any leads?'
She nodded, though her expression was troubled. Her gaze was fixed on an entrance carved into the elevated ground ahead.
'Traces of Irgod's signature lead inside,' she said. 'But the medallion's picking up signals from that castle too.'
Above the rise loomed a massive fortress, its spires stretching high above the ruins. If Irgod's trail led both here and there, it meant he had a significant head start.
'If I'd noticed this earlier, we could've taken a different route…'
But time was slipping away. Lodras and Hadfarr rushed over.
'They're almost here.'
'Did you set the trap properly?' Ulred asked. 'It should buy us some ti – '
An explosion cut him off, the shockwave rattling their bones. Without hesitation, the group exchanged glances and bolted into the tunnel.
Midway through, Ulred stopped and gathered his odh.
'Ulred?' the others called.
'Go. I'll be right behind.'
He raised his hands and collapsed the entrance, sealing it with rubble. Silence followed, broken only by the sound of claws scraping against stone – the bodds, desperate to break through.
The group halted at a clearing within the tunnel, gasping for breath.
'That was close…'
'Good thinking, Ulred,' someone said. 'We might be able to explore more freely now. Let's see where Linry's medallion leads.'
The path ahead was darker than expected, the collapsed entrance cutting off all light. Visibility was limited to the ground beneath their feet.
'Anyone know a light spell?' Riniock asked.
'I've got one. Just a moment…'
A small orb of light formed in their midst, casting a dim but sufficient glow.
Before they could proceed, Riniock tugged at Linry's sleeve. She was distracted, her eyes fixed on the shadows ahead.
'What is it?' he asked.
'I saw something move…in the darkness over there.'