The air thrummed with a sharp, electric hum, like a wire pulled taut, as glowing vines pulsed green along the ravine's jagged edge. James stood rooted, his shortsword appearing in his grip, boots sinking into mud thick with blackened leaves and the sour reek of decay. Mara's broadsword hovered where it had struck the Barrier around Kael, her face carved with accusation, branding him the Echo. Kael's dagger glinted, smoky tendrils curling in his eyes as he snarled a denial, his lean frame coiled like a spring. Torren and Lila stood tense, axe and spear poised, their eyes darting with unease. Behind them, nearly forty soldiers spread across the ravine's lip, their weapons catching the dim, misty light, their murmurs rising like a tide of doubt. The system's timer burned in James's vision: [Time left: 12:39:07 hours]. Mara's accusation felt too sharp, Kael's defense too little, and the soldiers' growing restlessness only thickened the air.
"What proof do you have?" James asked, voice steady despite the pulse in his temples, eyes locked on Mara's rigid stance.
She turned, her gaze cold as slate. "His tracks led us nowhere. Circles, dead ends. He's covering for the Echo."
Kael stepped back, dagger raised, his voice low and biting. "That's nonsense, Mara. I've followed your orders, tracked every sign. You're the one acting off."
Torren's axe dipped, his bearded face creased. "Mara, you got something solid?"
Lila's spear tilted, her sharp eyes flicking between them. "Yeah, what's this about?"
Mara's jaw tightened, her fingers flexing on her sword hilt. "His eyes. Look at them. Not human." She lunged, her blade slicing through the mist in a silver arc. Kael parried, metal screaming against metal, sparks flaring like fireflies. The hum spiked, vines along the ravine writhing like woken snakes. James's mind sharpened, his heightened senses cutting through the chaos like a lens. I can't let Oracle slip. He whispered, "Foresight." A vision flashed: Mara's form blurring, shadows stretching, tendrils leaking from her skin like spilled ink shooting at the others.
"Barrier!" James called, domes snapping over Torren and Lila as vines erupted from the earth, their thorned tips dripping green venom. Mara spun, her eyes now black voids, smoky wisps curling from her skin like smoke from a dying fire. She wasn't Mara. The Echo had worn her face like a mask.
"You're quick, healer," she hissed, her voice a layered chorus, like whispers trapped in a storm. "Too late." Her broadsword twisted, morphing into a jagged black blade, its green veins pulsing in time with the vines. Vines surged, coiling around Kael, pinning his arms as he cursed and slashed. Torren and Lila hacked at the tendrils, their Barriers holding, but the Echo glided toward James, her form half-smoke, blade gleaming with a sickly light.
He dodged. Foresight still in effect, his vision showed a vine aiming for his leg, its thorns glinting like needles. "Barrier," A dome flared, tight and solid, blocking the strike. The Echo's blade crashed against it, the impact rattling his teeth, but his essence held, sharpened by his recent class upgrade. She's the heart of this, he realized. The gas, corrupted plants, and vines all flowed from her, a web spun under Mara's guise.
"Barrier. Mend." A dome freed Kael, Mend's golden glow sealing his cuts. The effort scorched James's essence, his vision swimming, but he steadied his focus. Kael broke free, his dagger flashing as he joined Torren and Lila.
"Thanks for the protection. How'd you see that coming?" Kael asked, slicing a vine with a flick of his wrist.
James shrugged, keeping it vague. I can't expose Oracle. "Just felt something was off." He pivoted, dodging a soldier's wild axe swing as the battle exploded.
"Here. Drink this. I don't owe you anymore." Kael said as he tossed a bottle, dashing into the fray.
[Minor Bottle of Essence (E-) Acquired]
James immediately opened it and downed the small potion, feeling refreshed.
I didn't realize there were items like this.
The ravine became a maelstrom. The forty soldiers charged, their shouts tearing through the air: "The leader's turned!" "It's the Echo, surround it!" Swords clashed against writhing vines, axes splintering tendrils that burst from the mud like living traps. Gas clouds rolled from the depths, stinging eyes and blistering skin, soldiers coughing as boils bloomed on their arms. James wove through the fray, his shortsword severing a vine coiling toward a fallen archer, her bow still clutched in her hand. "Barrier" he cast, shielding a trio of fighters as they pressed forward, their shields raised against a barrage of smoky tendrils. Not worrying about running out of essence anymore, he dual cast Mend healing a soldier's gashed arm, the green corrosion fading under his glow.
Kael darted through the chaos, his dagger a blur, carving through vines with lethal precision. Torren's axe cleaved a path, splintering shadows, while Lila's spear pierced a smoky duplicate that dissolved into mist. The Echo's blade swept in wide arcs, sending soldiers sprawling, their cries sharp with pain. Arrows flew from the rear, sinking into her smoky form, each hit drawing a shriek that vibrated the air. James dodged a lashing vine, his Barrier cracking under the impact, and countered with a shortsword thrust that grazed her shadowy arm. The contact was like plunging his hand into ice, but it forced her back a step.
Her blade's the key, he thought, recalling the pulsing core of the plant he'd fought. Shatterpoint could hit it, but I don't know how much essence will be consumed. The dead soldier's face flashed in his mind, his previous failure from drained essence. He needed precision, strength, to avoid that loss again. The soldiers tightened their formation, their shouts fierce as they pressed the Echo, their steel a wall against her corruption.
Something shifted. A low rumble shook the ravine, and the vines slowed, their pulses dimming. The Echo's laughter faltered, her black eyes flicking to the ravine's depths. A soldier shouted, "Something's moving down there!" James risked a glance, seeing shadows coalesce below, not the Echo's. Something else, older, hungrier. Another threat? His heart pounded, but he refocused. The Echo was the priority.
He stepped forward, shortsword raised, mentally preparing himself. The Echo's eyes locked on his, her smile cold and predatory. She lunged, her jagged blade gleaming, the ravine's hum roaring as the ground trembled beneath the weight of the battle.