ELDRITCH NIGHT (Rough Draft)

Chapter 24: Aftermath

It was almost peaceful, the stillness. No one moved or dared even to breathe. The previous chaos and the clamor of battle, gunshots, and explosions had been overwhelming in its intensity, yet for a brief moment everything was muted and tranquil. A faint ringing noise in my ears and the thumping of my heartbeat kept time as everything else appeared to move in slow motion.

I closed my eyes. I breathed deeply, slowing my pulse.

My eyes opened. The peace didn't end so much as it exploded into motion. Someone shouted, and my damaged hearing was invaded once again by the booming cracks of gunshots. Time moved once more.

The wave of creatures was not as large as I had expected, I estimated their numbers at just over thirty. Most of the monsters were bipedal, with only a few quadrupeds rounding out the numbers. Among them were two direwolves, much like the ones I had fought earlier. I felt a cold shiver as I reflected on the memory.

The curved ramp they charged down was narrow, steep, and littered with holes and debris. This caused several of the creatures to stumble or jostle each other as they tried to push past. At no point during the battle on the Ravenel bridge had I witnessed such poor coordination from these creatures. Even the irregular terrain didn't explain it. They weren't working together and seemed to be running in a blind panic.

It was an opportunity that I immediately seized. Operating on sheer instinct, I used Eldritch Mimicry to copy the Tanglefoot spell. I'd yet to use the spell in a real battle, as it required contact with the earth. The smoky illusions created by Eldritch Mimicry, however, had no such restrictions. It would be weaker than the real thing, but I didn't need to entangle them, merely tripping them up for a fraction of a second would create openings for my allies to exploit.

The air was still thick with energy, it had an almost greasy feeling to it. It was like a web of tendrils made of black, oily tar floating in the air connecting and flowing through everything. I was able to capture and contort these tendrils, shaping them into the form I wanted.

Thin vines snaked up from the ground beneath the charging monsters. Each vine was as thick as a thumb, and roughly as long as I was tall. They were smoky black and tinged with red, like embers burning in charcoal. Long curved barbs grew from each vine, drawing blood as they constricted and pulled at the limbs of the creatures caught in their grasp.

The monsters charged through them as easily as if they were tissue.

I had reached the limit of the spell, but I wasn't finished. I used the spell as the base, it was a template to give shape to what I wanted. A shortcut that saved me from having to perfectly visualize it in my mind. I then took control, feeding power into each tendril. They grew larger. Thorns bit deeper. Vines held limbs longer and tighter.

Most of the creatures continued to charge, unhindered except for a few shallow cuts. One of the wolves lost an eye but kept moving forward, barely slowed. A few of the bipedal creatures, however, were not as lucky, crashing down into the pavement halting their charge and slowing those behind them. Vines quickly entangling them as thorns bit into their flesh – sinking deeper the more they struggled.

I turned back towards those that had made it through. I had stopped only four, but I had succeeded in breaking the charge. The creatures were now more staggered, coming in groups rather than all together.

Catayla took out the closest enemies with quick bursts from her rifle. I saw several of the bridge guards firing into the crowd of monsters, while Worthy and the woman with the giant club ran out to meet the charge.

Tiller's revolver began a quick dance, the crash of gunfire tapping out at a measured pace. Each shot striking an eye, a head, or an exposed throat.