The figure took a few more steps before slowing. Wendell didn’t dare to look, though he knew he must. What if it had spotted them. A whole flock of small black birds seemed to race from the tall grass then, beating their wings hard to escape whatever strange energy neared.

The knight’s torso rippled, like still water displaced by a stone. It snapped in two, tearing open under the man’s left armpit to form a giant maw that stretched from there to its opposing hip. Wendell’s eyes seemed to mimic those of a cat in the seconds that followed, shocked to his very core as the beast closed its jaws about a handful of birds that had made the mistake of racing by the knight.

With the utmost care, the pirate ducked lower, careful not to make a sound. His free hand reached out, taking Kes’tral’s, ready to run or fight, anything but die.

The weightless footfalls of the creature went by them as it carried on through the grasslands, off into the distance, seemingly following the path they had formed in the grass, only to travel the wrong way down it.

Wendell’s heart was pounding. He squeezed his eyes shut, concerned the dark thing might return to devour them as it had the birds. “You still want to camp here?” He asked, staring across at the woman.

Kes joined Wendy in speechless horror. Everything about the creature screamed it’s wrongness. It did not belong here, on this plane of existence. Like the arachnids a few nights before it had been called forth from the place of nightmares. She held his hand tight, squeezing and not ashamed to admit her own fear.

She didn’t move as she watched the tall knight, if that’s what it was at all, stalk through the grasslands. It was following their trail. How long before it returned to them. Eyes as wide as an owl, Kes looked around at Wendy.

The woman sucked in a breath. “We have to kill it,” she said with more ferocity and determination than she felt. “How can we ever rest, knowing that it might return to us?” Her voice was a low murmur. She felt the loss of those birds, their lives over with the single beat of their wings.

Did Wendy have any ranged weaponry? Kes didn’t want to get close enough to touch.

The woman had left the man blinking at her. Truly, he thought, she was mad. To face that thing was to invite certain death. He wondered how many travellers it had fooled before almost finding them.

You can’t be serious,” Wendell said. “Kes’tral that thing will kill us, of that I have no doubt.” His words didn’t seem to dim the light in the woman’s eyes. He knew her, was beginning to understand how much she cared, even if it did little to inspire him.

“Damn it, Kes’tral,” he cursed her.

The pirate raced back to fetch his torch and tinderbox, hurrying the items into the woman’s hands to prepare. They may need that fire yet. He took his bow then and pulled one of the elemental arrows from their keep. Holding the stave, he lined up a shot, willing the arrow to fire far and true.

Once Kes’tral was ready, Wendell loosed the arrow, which caught fire as it whizzed through the air, catching the shoulder of the beast who posed as a man. The creature turned sharply with a roar, looking about for who or what had struck it.

Wendell had ducked down to prepare a second arrow. “I don’t think that worked,” he muttered, perhaps fire was not their best bet.

“If we don’t stand against it, then it will spread.” Kes’tral reminded him of his earlier words and intention to help save the world, to try and heal it. Truly, it was an abomination and she felt it pass like a wave of illness. She could almost smell it on the air, something festering and rotten. Although that could have been her imagine and her sheer determination to despise it.

Wendy cursed and she couldn’t blame him either. Kes wondered if he would leave her at this point, return to his boat and sail away. She watched his face, hoping that he would stay. With faith that he was a braver man then he gave himself credit for. It turned out that she was right and she smiled. He was brave, it was time that she was too.

Kes has always avoided the elemental magics. Summoning water in the desert had been an act of desperation, so what was this. She clutched her hands around her staff and stood, nodding that she was ready. The woman inhaled and centred herself, focusing her attention on the blazing arrow that lit across the dusk. It landed with a thud in the distance and she heard the creature twisting in the grass.

It was coming back. It looked like a man. Tall, almost handsome but mostly non-descript. He had dark hair and eyes and walked with a swagger that she found familiar. He appeared like a stranger from the grass, hands raised in surrender.

“Who goes there?” He called and even smiled, with a slightly hopeful and whimsical expression. Behind him, she could sense the fire catching in the grass. Maybe this hadn’t been the best idea.

“Kill him,” Kes murmured silently. They couldn’t be taken in by the mimic. Not if they wanted to live.

Panic and adrenaline were an intoxicating mix, especially when panic was undone by fleeting moments of bravery. While there was space between them and the thing that was sure to kill the pair, Wendell found that he had time to think, to consider his next move, but he would not waste it. As soon as an arrow left his bow, a second was stung up and ready to be fired.

When the thing spoke, Wendell went pale, how was that possible? These beasts could both take familiar forms and understand their language? It seemed to cycle through a number of different dialects, trying to coax them from the safety of their hiding place, which Wendell knew wouldn't be safe for long if they remained.

“We split up,” he whispered, “I’ll led it away…” His words were somber, believing they had no chance of winning this. At least one of them should survive, Wendell thought. Kes’tral had the ability to take to the wind, it only made sense that she should be the one to get away.

He crawled through the grass to her left. The man didn't stop to look back.

“Please help me,” the creature called.

“I’ll help you, friend,” Wendell replied as he rose, a good fifteen metres from where he had left Kes’tral.

He stood holding his bow, another burning arrow linked to it. The arrow was fired and the beast struck again. It screamed out in agony, more man than creature. Wendell had killed his fair share of men in his lifetime. One never got used to the screams though.

The pirate ducked down and was on the move again. When he rose this time, he was almost thrown off balance at the sight of how close the beast was. He loosed an arrow, this one clumsy. The element it took on was ice, seeming to match his fear. The mistake had worked, however, slowing the beast just long enough to give Wendell the opportunity to run, which he did.

Wendy made his plan clear and was moving before she could protest. If Kes had understood his thoughts at that moment, she would have been horrified. She was frightened, but she didn’t believe they were doomed. There was always hope. So she let the man go and edged more towards the other direction, doubling the distance that he put between them.

The next arrow shot and then the next. Wendy moved fast through the grasses and he was was sneaky too. He called out the mimic, but seemed to fumble his third shot. Kes stood then, whistling. The note was long, loud and clear and she reached with her ability, searching for the fire within the grass.

She had told Wendy she would need to learn how to manipulate the elements, well, she reasoned, there was no time like the present. With the fire caught in her mind, she willed it to grow. The mimic had turned, the man stomping through the grass towards her. Unable to move while she concentrated on her task, Kes felt her heart flicker with fear. The man drew closer, and closer and she remained where she stood, staff held between her hands.

Before he was two strides away however, a line of fire snaked through the grass before her feet. It cut her off from the mimic, who screeched, reeling backwards. Kes took her chance to flee. She sprinted away, stumbling in the long grass before she could turn. The line of fire had been a deterrent but it was only knee high. She poured her power into the blaze and lifted her hands. The line rose to the height of her shoulders. She spun the staff in a slow circle as the mimic tried to run around the line. The fire spread, racing to snare the creature before it could escape.

The long sharp whistle had stopped the mimic, though Wendell continued his sprint, his heart not ready to stop. When he no longer heard the creatures footfalls behind him, he dared to glance back, finding that instead it raced towards Kes’tral.

“No!” He yelled, at the top of his lungs, but it did not slow the mimic, his new target locked in.

Wendell fumbled with his arrows, causing them to spill all over the ground. He bent to retrieve one, strung it to the bow and took aim. His vision blurred, a bead of sweat having spilled into his eye. He rubbed at it with the back of his hand and blinked hard, trying to focus on the shrinking body as it ran towards Kes’tral.

Fire exploded from the grasses, snaking through the tall grass to halt the mimic just long enough for Wendell to take his shot. The arrow zipped through the air, closing the distance between prey and hunter in the blink of an eye. The mimic was struck in the centre of its back, causing it to cry out and drop its form, taking on its true appearance.

The large, black beast was fearsome, even from where the pirate stood, staring. He could only imagine what was going through Kes’tral’s mind right now. Its black maw opened, showing row upon row of razor sharp teeth. Wendell dropped his bow, taking his axe in hand. He fetched up a long dagger from his pack and ran towards the creature.

The black thing seemed to scream at the sky, as if to bark out commands at the clouds. The wind died down, causing Wnedell’s steps to slow as a familiar scuttling sound rang in his ears, whispering through the grasslands.

“Spiders…” he mouthed, and darted towards the wall of fire, taking a swing at the black beast as he passed it. “We need to form a ring of fire!” He called to Kes’tral. “Its summoning them!” He shouted, and pointed out towards the distant rolling hills, turned black as hundreds of the oversized spiders seemed to crawl out of nowhere, headed straight for them.

Her manipulation of the flame had left her drained. Then Wendy came charging out from the darkness like a conquering hero from the ancient stories. The firelight flickered on his face, his features stern and hiding his terror well. Her own fear, she was sure, was imprinted on her features. The split creature screeched aloud and the sound was deafening.

Kes found herself running towards the man. Suddenly, the screaming stopped. Was the animal dead? She almost ran into Wendy, tripping over her feet in the long grass. A ring of fire. Sure. It was just that easy. Dizzy, she reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder. Fire was hard, but working the landscape was more natural for her. The grasses around the mimic seemed to spring into the air as it writhed and twisted against the flames. The foliage extended, wrapping around the beast till it was covered and dropped, crawling over the ground it screeched.

A ring of fire? Dizzy, Kes dropped to her knees. She moved her hand towards the flame and the semi- circle it had made. It was too close, but the skittering sound of a hundred arachnid abominations we’re getting closer. She shouted; screaming herself as she pulled the fire along the ground, casting it in a sweep of her arm. Truly, she tried to give Wendy what he had demanded but her reach only extended so far. She managed a circle that was three quarters closed before she sagged. Her hands landed in the dirt. They were surrounded by the fire. The smaller creatures on the far side, but the mimic beast with them. And the circle wasn’t closed. It wasn’t just the dark night that made things difficult to see. Kes rubbed a hand across her eyes, the dizziness made everything blurry.

He caught the woman, forcing her to stand, there was no time to be weak, not now. This had been her hope, her desire to save the Plains of Boahr that had kept him here, she couldn’t back down now. He wouldn’t let her. Wendell smashed his hand axe into the creature’s skull once Kes’tral was on her feet, at least, he thought it was the skull. The black beast seemed to have no beginning or end. It’s black, shadowy flesh was malleable though, caving in under his powerful blows.

After a time, it lay still, burning and silent. Wendell believed they had achieved what they had set out to do. He looked back at Kes’tral to find her in a heap on the ground, exhausted by the use of her powers. He had to act, the giant spiders were closing in and fast. The pirate leapt through the flames, making a dash for his abandoned torch. Taking it up, he saw to it that the end was lit and returned to the edge of the fire, closing the gap between the two ends of the circle as fast as he could.

“Kes’tral!” He yelled, he knew she was tired, but he needed her help. She had to stop the flames from closing in on them.

The spiders stopped beyond the wall of flames, circling the pair, looking for some gap in the wall. One or two of them braved the leap, only to catch fire, hot enough to cause their legs to curl up and become useless. They made for easy kills, the man’s axe dispatching any who dared to leap into the ring with a single swing.

He was stronger then she could have imagined. Dragging her back to her feet, then saving them both with his quick thinking. But she felt very distant from the man. As though she was floating away with the smoke that rose from the fire. It had been a foolish idea and a desperate attempt. Using magic she was not used to, had never tried before had done more then just exhaust her. There was always a price.

He shouted for her and summoned her back. She climbed to her feet, hands wrapped once more around her staff. It took all of her will, to keep the fire back from where they stood. It was a command, and one she was forced to maintain. One of the spiders dropped through the flames and she slammed the butt of her staff into its crown, crushing it with a satisfying crunch.

She advanced on the wall and it retreated, rolling back over scorched earth and the spiders against it. They twitched, trying and failing to flee. The circle expanded as she walked, flexing out. It left an expanding line of black ash in its wake. The dead grasses turned to dust beneath her boots as she staggered. The sudden expansion of the circle had rolled over any number of arachnids. Any that survived the fire wall were weak and she followed the inside wall, careful to dispatch anything that still looked alive. Grateful that she wore her boots and here feet weren’t bare.

Ash coated her feet and rose in a cloud. She was filthy from it and the scent of charred grass and void bodies filled the air.