The creature struck without warning, its acid-secreting tail lashing forward with frightening speed. Its target was clear. It was Maria whose composed demeanor marked her as the greatest threat among the scattered expedition members. The tail cut through the rain-heavy air with lethal precision.
An azure glow that enveloped around Maria with mana in response. She had initiated a full-body mana enhancement, a technique Anton had seen her used once when she was carrying him back to his house. The practice was rarely employed except for emergencies due to its voracious consumption of magical reserves. A mage couldn't maintain such enhancement for more than a few precious minutes without risking complete mana depletion.
Maria used the technique with surgical precision, activating it in controlled bursts measured in seconds rather than minutes. Her movements became fluid grace as she pivoted away from the creature's strike, avoiding not only the physical impact of its tail but also the caustic spray of acid that followed in its wake.
"Attack!" she called out, her voice carrying the unquestioned authority of command.
The team responded with practiced coordination that spoke of countless battles fought together. Haldir vaulted onto a low-hanging branch of a nearby oak, scaling the tree with remarkable agility to secure elevated terrain. From this vantage point, he could rain arrows down upon the aberration while remaining beyond immediate reach of its attacks.
"I've got visual on its vulnerable points," he called down, already nocking an arrow. "The flesh seems thinner at the junction where different creature aspects merge!"
Ruk and Zog moved with synchronized purpose, circling wide to approach the monstrosity from opposing flanks. Despite his injury, Ruk showed no hesitation, gripping his spear with white-knuckled determination. Zog's massive frame moved with surprising grace as he positioned himself opposite his comrade.
"On my mark!," Ruk called to his companion. Zog nodded grimly, his eyes never leaving the creature's shifting form.
Anton retreated to a position that balanced tactical distance with spell range, his mind already weaving the rune of his most reliable offensive magic, magic missile. The familiar tingle of arcane energy gathered at his fingertips as he adjusted the rune into precisely calibrated missiles.
Maira unleashed a blast of frost rays toward the creature's extended tail. Crystalline patterns formed momentarily on the appendage where her spell struck, but the creature's constantly shifting flesh prevented deep penetration of the freezing effect. The frost melted away almost immediately, leaving no visible damage.
Maria cursed under her breath. "It's developing countermeasures to our attacks!" she shouted to the others.
Taking advantage of the creature's focus on Maria, Ruk and Zog executed their pincer maneuver. With its tail still extended from the attack on Maria, the abomination couldn't defend its flanks effectively. It swiveled its chameleon head in both directions, tracking the approaching warriors with independent rotating eyes.
The crystal claws it had transformed similar to the bears they'd slain days earlier slashed through the air in wide defensive arcs. The crystalline claws reflected what little light penetrated the forest canopy, creating brief rainbow patterns that would have been beautiful under less lethal circumstances.
"Now!" Anton shouted as he completed his spell, making instantaneous adjustments to the trajectory and velocity of each arcane projectile. Anton precisely targeted magic missiles at the creature's bulbous, rotating eyes.
The missiles streaked through the intervening space, leaving trails of sapphire light in their wake. They struck with unerring accuracy, detonating against the creature's ocular organs in rapid succession. The resulting magical concussion temporarily blinded the monstrosity, causing it to emit a screeching wail that contained elements of every creature it had consumed.
"Perfect shot, Annie!" Maria called, already preparing her next incantation. "Ruk, Zog—strike while it's disoriented!"
The creature thrashed wildly, its crystal claws slashing in random patterns as it attempted to defend itself without visual guidance. Its movements, while dangerous, lacked the calculated precision of its earlier attacks.
Ruk and Zog, veterans of countless engagements, recognized the pattern of blind defensive strikes. They deftly maneuvered around the creature's frantic defense, timing their approach through gaps in its erratic movements.
"In three," Ruk called to his partner. "Two. One."
With synchronized precision, they drove their spears deep into the creature's amorphous torso from opposite sides. The weapons penetrated what appeared to be the junction between its chameleon upper body and viper lower half. The point they deem to be potentially vulnerable.
"Hold formation!" Maria commanded as viscous fluid erupted from the wounds, splashing onto the forest floor where it hissed and bubbled against fallen leaves.
Taking advantage of the creature's momentary distraction, Haldir loosed a perfectly aimed shot from his elevated position. The arrow struck true, embedding itself deep in the creature's chameleon head, penetrating what would have been the brain in a natural animal.
"Head shot!," Haldir reported clinically, already reaching for another arrow. "But I doubt it will be sufficient."
Maria, now positioned safely beyond the creature's immediate reach. Her hands glowed with accumulated power as she prepared to release what appeared to be a more potent version of her earlier frost spell.
The creature's body convulsed violently in response to the multiple wounds inflicted upon it. Its flesh began to undulate and flow like liquid, the injured portions shifting position as fresh, unharmed tissue moved to replace them. The process was grotesque to behold. This fundamental violation of natural law made Anton's stomach lurch.
The creature's movements became increasingly erratic, its tail whipping through the air with renewed ferocity. Ruk narrowly avoided being struck as he attempted to retrieve his embedded spear, the appendage passing so close to his head that he could feel the displacement of air against his cheek.
"Disengage!" he shouted to Zog, recognizing the deteriorating tactical situation. "It's going berserk!"
Both warriors immediately retreated from close quarters, abandoning their embedded weapons rather than risk the precious seconds required to extract them. The creature's thrashing intensified, its body twisting in unnatural contortions as it worked to expel the foreign objects and repair the damage they had caused.
"Just like before," Anton called out, his voice tight with both fascination and revulsion. "It's using regeneration!"
"It's trying to heal," she announced, her decision made with characteristic swiftness. "Now's our chance—run!"
Maria came to this decision after analyzing the situation with the cool calculation of an experienced leader. The momentary advantage they had gained was rapidly disappearing as the creature adapted to their attacks and repaired its injuries. Their initial assault had wounded but not crippled it, and now it was becoming more dangerous as rage and pain drove it to greater violence. The best course of action was to retreat.
No one questioned the order. All five team members immediately broke formation and sprinted toward the thinning forest edge visible through the trees.
Their retreat had dissolved any semblance of tactical formation. The carefully honed positioning that had served them throughout their expedition was abandoned in favor of raw survival. They remained loosely clustered. Ruk and Zog remained at the rear despite their injuries, Anton and Maria in the middle, and Haldir at the vanguard, his scout's instincts guiding them toward the quickest path to safety.
The relative silence of their flight was shattered by an unholy roar that reverberated through the thinning forest. The sound contained impossible harmonics. It blended voices of every creature the abomination had consumed, twisted into a single cry of rage and pain.
Anton couldn't resist glancing back, scholarly his momentarily overriding his fear. What he witnessed chilled him more thoroughly than any rain could have.
The creature was undergoing another transformation, but this one appeared involuntary and agonizing. Great chunks of its amorphous flesh sloughed away, dropping to the forest floor where they continued to writhe independently for several seconds before dissolving into putrid sludge.
Within moments, the creature had vanished from sight entirely, leaving only the faint distortion of air and raindrops to mark its presence.
"It's gone invisible!" Anton shouted, his voice cracking with urgency. "A complete adaptive camouflage just like mimic chameleons!"
Ruk released a pained grunt that might have been a laugh. "Thank the Gods the rain hasn't stopped," he called forward, his breath coming in labored gasps. "At least we can track its movement through the water disruption."
"Don't be too comfortable regardless," Maria interrupted, her voice carrying the edge of command despite their chaotic retreat. "Remember it can also dive into shadows like those wolves did. Visual tracking may become irrelevant if it decides to travel through the shadow."
Her reminder sobered them all. The creature they fled was not merely a physical threat but a composite of the forest's most lethal predators, each dangerous individually, but in combination, potentially unstoppable.
The attack came without warning. Not the physical assault they had been bracing for, but something far more insidious.
Globules of virulent green acid arced through the rain-heavy air toward them, each droplet sizzling as it connected with water. The acid vipers they had dispatched days earlier had been capable of spitting venom several yards, but never with such volume or precision. The creature had not merely copied this ability—it had enhanced it.
"Incoming!" Anton shouted, but his warning came too late.
The acid spray caught five of them mid-stride, their anticipation focused on direct physical threats rather than ranged chemical assault. Haldir took a splash across his dominant right arm, the acid immediately eating through his leather bracer and into flesh beneath. Zog grunted as several droplets struck his abdomen, burning through his armor to the hardened muscle underneath.
Maria's instincts saved her from the worst of it. As the first droplets appeared in her peripheral vision, she raised her arm reflexively to shield her face. The majority of the acid splashed against the intricate bracelet that Anton bought her as a protective charm. The bracelet hissed and blackened as the acid made contact. Only a few stray droplets reached the skin of her forearm, though these were enough to elicit a sharp cry of pain.
"Keep moving!" she commanded through gritted teeth, clutching her injured arm against her body while maintaining her pace.
Anton's mind raced through possible countermeasures. The creature was now employing ranged attacks while remaining invisible. It was a devastating combination that would quickly wear them down before they could reach safety. They needed to do something to level the field, even if only temporarily.
"Everyone close your eyes!" he shouted, his fingers already forming the patterns of his modified Candlelight spell.
Without slowing their flight, the team immediately squeezed their eyes shut, trusting Anton's instruction without hesitation.
The spell burst from Anton's outstretched palm with explosive force, far beyond the standard illumination effect. A nova of blinding white light erupted in all directions, temporarily transforming night into day. Unlike his previous casting, Anton had removed all constraints on intensity while sacrificing duration which led to a magical flashbang designed to exploit the shadow aspects of their pursuer.
A shriek of agony erupted from behind them, confirming Anton's theory that the creature had retained the shadow wolves' vulnerability to intense light. The sound was unlike anything nature intended, a discordant blend of animal cries and something more alien that sent shivers down Anton's spine despite their desperate circumstances.
"How long will it be stunned?" Ruk asked, his professional soldier's mind immediately seeking tactical advantage.
"Not long enough," Anton replied grimly. "It's not a pure shadow creature so three seconds, perhaps five at most."
They continued their flight through the increasingly sparse trees, each footfall bringing them closer to safety. Haldir, despite his injury, maintained his lead position, his scout's endurance evident in his steady pace. He glanced over his shoulder, assessing their formation and the distance they had gained during the creature's momentary incapacitation.
"It's recovering already," he called, his keen eyes picking out subtle movements in the rain-pattern behind them. "And it's faster than us. I can see how it's moving. We can't outrun it like this."
Ruk nodded grimly, having arrived at the same conclusion. "We need a new approach," he shouted toward Maria. "You're the leader. Make the call!"
Maria's face reflected the terrible weight of command. For a heartbeat, Anton saw genuine fear flash across her features before being subsumed by resolute determination.
"Split up!" she commanded, her voice carrying the finality of irrevocable decision. "We divide its focus. Force it to choose targets!"
The pronouncement sent a chill through Anton that had nothing to do with the persistent rain. Separation meant vulnerability, meant facing the possibility that not all of them would survive to reach the city walls.
Zog's solemn answer of "We won't be," to his question at the expedition's start when Anton asked "What if we're separated" now haunted them like a cruel prophecy as they faced the worst scenario imaginable. The forest's dangers had forced their hand; against everything they believed, they had to split up.
"Listen carefully," Maria continued, never breaking stride. "Haldir, head northwest toward the city. You're fastest so get reinforcements and lead them back to us."
The scout nodded sharply, already adjusting his trajectory.
"Ruk, Zog, you two to the northeast together. Your combined strength gives you the best chance if it follows you."
"And you two?" Ruk asked, concern evident beneath his professional demeanor.
"We'll continue straight ahead," Maria replied. "Anton's light magic gives us an advantage if it pursues us."
The group fragmented like a dropped crystal. Haldir veered sharply northwest, his lithe form quickly disappearing among the scattered trees. Ruk and Zog broke northeast, the larger warrior supporting his injured companion without sacrificing speed. Anton remained with Maria as instructed, their path holding true towards North.
Behind them, the creature hesitated at the unexpected division of its prey. For precious seconds it remained motionless, its camouflaged form betrayed only by the rain pattering against its invisible mass. Then, with terrible deliberation, it made its choice.
It pursued Anton and Maria.