PSTH: Chapter Thirty-Four

And so, we come to the end of our miniseries! So sad to see you all go… But we’re going out with a bang. Or maybe I should say, going out with a flash? Hah! Radiance, also known as light, transcendence, celestial, and a handful of other things, is a strange one. It covers light magic, meaning it has its own versions of illusions and such, it can do some minor healing spells as well, and it also covers a sort of ‘radiant’ power that doesn’t seem to exist in the pre-magical world. It’s not quite radiation, nobody is going to develop a cancer from being hit by Light Ray. But it does share some similarities, namely, its ability to peirce through almost anything. In fact, the only type that actually resists radiant magic is null, the most boring and basic of all magic types. Strange, huh? Alright, let’s delve more into the radiant power after a quick public service announcement! 

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Final entry in a video essay series about essence types and their unique factors, 454 Modern-Era

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An instant later, a second scream ripped through the night. I bolted out of my sleeping bag, letting out a squeak as I did. It wasn’t exactly the most dignified of noises, but I wasn’t able to stop it.

During the handful of seconds where I fought with the buttons holding my tent flap together, my mind began racing. It was possible that this was a pallid folk, and if it was… I did not have the time to handle the implications of that. It was possible that the scream had come from Gabby, who had just been messing with us, but that seemed a pretty cruel prank to pull on people who you were guiding through the forest. I certainly wouldn’t have risked it. Maybe it was a wild animal that had gotten in and frightened someone? 

Then I got the tent flap open, ducked outside, and felt the blood drain from my face. A slender figure, as pale as the surface of the moon, was backing out of the camp, taking long, loping strides. It looked human, but also not human at the same time. Its ears were sharp and pointed, like depictions of a fantasy elf, its eyes were pitch black and covered in a thin white film, and its hands were disproportionately large, ending with long, sharp claws, almost like they were carved of bone. I felt something flowing out of me as the pallid folk’s eyes shifted to look at me. 

Then Scales and Hex adopted their battle forms, the bright glow of their pneuma helping to illuminate the surroundings. Some of the fear dissipated, but not all of it. The pallid folk fell forward until it was crouched on all fours, like a child running up the stairs. It stood there, staring at me silently.

The stillness was broken as Gabby, Laurel, River, and Gawain, and the assorted mass of Primals that traveled with us burst from their own tents, and Gabby’s power swelled to fill the space. She lifted one hand and a beam of white and gold light shot from her palm, landing on the creature – some sort of radiance spell. As it struck, the pallid folk turned and sprinted out of the camp, running on all fours and letting out a sound almost like a screech owl. Within moments it had faded away into the shadows of the night. A moment later, Isabella and Alberton emerged from their tent, looking shaken beyond belief. 

I looked around, my heart hammering. Gabby was running a hand through her short cropped hair, muttering something under her breath that sounded like either a curse or a prayer. River and Laurel both looked shaken, but Gawain looked…

Well, if I was only judging by his face and demeanor, he seemed to hold the same unshakeable confidence that he always seemed to possess. But there were smaller signs in his body language that seemed abnormal, at least based on the short time that I’d known him. The fingers of his left hand were twitching oddly, as if he was about to direct a spell or command his Primals to attack, and his right hand was fiddling with the storage gems on his belt, even though both his Primals were out with him. Stranger still, his complex amalgam of both core and raw essence was rolling, bubbling, and pulsing through the air around him. 

“It’s gone,” Gabby said, her voice hard. “It doesn’t seem to like radiant magic. Makes sense, it’s got bad vision, so… makes sense.” 

She had just repeated herself, but I couldn’t exactly blame her. I was pretty shaken as well, and I wasn't responsible for making sure that everyone got out of here alive.

“Gryphon has a radiant spell. He and I can take part of a watch,” Gawain said, his voice hard and firm, despite the fear that bubbled under the surface.

As the pair of them discussed trying to set up some sort of watch rotation between them, I looked over at Isabella and Alberton, taking them in. They were both still pale, but looked otherwise unharmed. 

“Are you two alright? It was you all that I heard screaming, wasn’t it?” 

“We’re alright now,” Isabella said, shaking her head no as she did. I was no psychologist, and I knew body language wasn’t the kind of foolproof tell that some people seemed to think it was, but I didn’t think that shaking her head no while saying she was fine was the healthiest sign.

“Just fine,” agreed Alberton, in a tone that was even less convincing than his wife. 

“It wasn’t a pallid folk,” River said. I turned and looked down at him. Down, because he had crouched in the dirt, and was holding a spell between his cupped hands. The spell was flickering, 

“What do you mean?” Laurel asked. 

“Well. I don’t think it was a pallid folk,” amended River. “If it was, then the pallid folk was a magian.”

“Explain,” Gabby said, turning to face him. River looked up at her, and held up his cupped hands. 

“There are traces of shade and arcane anima in the area. I can’t determine exactly what spells were used, diagnostic spells capable of that feat are beyond my current abilities. But there was definitely shade and arcane anima being used. Strong, but not absurd. Maybe level… seventeen? Give or take a level or two in either direction.” 

That seemed to cause a bit of the tension to seep out of Isabella and Alberton. They turned and faced one another, and while I didn’t catch the fullness of their conversation, I did catch something about it being just like that time with the Fearfeasters in Rainforge. I perked up – those were epic-rarity Primals, and I wondered if Isabella had gotten a sketch of them. 

“I’m not an expert in wards or defensive magic, not by a long shot, but I can probably put up some simple defenses around the camp, especially if I can access the net and get my notes from last semester,” River said. “It’s not anything fancy, it won’t stop them – it? He? She? They? Something else? Whatever. It won’t stop an approach, but it will diminish the effectiveness of arcane essence within the area.” 

“That would be just lovely dear,” Isabella said. “Do you need some flags? We have some simple alarm flags in our bags. They’re old and out of charge, but…” 

“Perfect,” River said, even as he started breaking apart his Augpad and preparing to boost the signal. “This will take me a while to set up, maybe… four hours? Five? Depends on how fast I can parse my notes. Can someone else guard the camp while I’m working?” 

“Laurel and I will take a watch shift for two hours, then Gawain and Aiden will take a two hour shift,” Gabby decided. “If you need more time, that’s fine, I’ll take that shift alone.” 

She turned and began shooing everyone off, making sweeping gestures with one hand as she did. I nodded and headed back to the tent. This time, neither Hex or Scales went into their storage gem, instead laying about with me as I tossed and turned restlessly. Despite the statement from River that it was a magian, not a pallid folk, I was less certain. After all, if they’d come to be through warped, unethical experiments by an Obsidian King, then the creature being a magian wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. I was barely able to sleep at all, and what sleep I got was fitful. It felt like hardly any time at all before Laurel woke me, and I took a seat around the low campfire, across from Gawain and perpendicular to River. Gawain nodded at me as I took my seat, which somewhat disrupted the process of tying his hair up in a bun. 

“It wasn’t a pallid folk. I told you, there’s no such thing. It was just a magian. Perhaps they are using this to obscure illegal activity, frightening off people who approach.” 

Gawain’s voice was low and quiet, carrying over the campfire, but only just. It sounded confident, but there was a note of uncertainty in the back. He might just be trying to convince himself. 

“Maybe,” I said. “Who knows? Maybe it was a Fearfeaster.” 

“Those aren’t native to this area; the essence hearts here don’t produce them,” Gawain said dismissively. A moment later, he continued. “But maybe. Perhaps a cruel tamer had one, and it broke the bond here, fleeing, and now seeks revenge on people by scaring them. Or it could be another Primal that is capable of converting emotions into essence. It’s an unusual gift, but not an unheard of one.” 

“Exactly,” I said, before we lapsed into silence again. We fell into a quiet contemplation for a long moment after that, until Gawain’s eyes snapped wide and his breathing grew tense. He didn’t shout or scream, but there was an instant of fear visible on his face. Then he bolted to his feet. I leapt to my feet as well, spinning, and out in the dark woods, just beyond the light that was shed by our campfire, I saw it. There was a figure on all fours, with long, thin limbs. It wasn’t the same pallid folk as last time, but it was clearly the same sort of figure. Its limbs were much more spindly, its face was more squished, like a bulldog’s, and its feet were twice the size. My stomach dropped, and once again, there was the sensation of something being leeched from me. 

Then there was a flare of light as Scales, Hex, Gryphon, and Gabis all assumed their battle forms in unison. Once again, the fear faded a bit, but not entirely. This time, I was more prepared, and there was less fear in the first place. That was the only reason that I noticed the tugging sensation on my spirit fading away to nothing. 

“Wait, it's–” I started to say. Before I could finish, Gawain thrust his hand forward. He said something, though I couldn’t tell exactly what. Maybe it wasn’t a word at all, but a command sound, like how certain people use whistles to work with dogs. As soon as the sound left his mouth, Gryphon’s mouth began to glow, and the radiant spell that he’d used against Hex before erupted through the woods. In the dark of night, it was like a beacon, lighting the woods up for what felt like miles, and I was left rapidly blinking, unable to see anything around me. I stumbled, tripping over my own feet. The thing out in the woods screamed, the sound a hair-raising one that was clearly and utterly inhuman. 

Then a force slammed into Hex, and I felt her pneuma start to dip. I still could barely see, but Gawain shouted something else, a command to one of his primals, and another flash of light erupted through the night. Perhaps he thought that because we were already blind, it was a good idea, but it only seemed to anger the thing out in the dark more. It must have turned its attention from Hex, who it had been targeting before, because I heard Gawain let out an ‘oomph!’ sound. A heavy weight slammed into me, and I stumbled. 

My legs hit the log behind me and then Gawain and I were tumbling backwards. Though we weren’t camped on a cliff, this was still a mountain, and there was a slope not too far from the camp. If I’d had my vision, it wouldn’t have been an issue, but as things were,  I couldn't guide my steps or our fall. Within moments, we were slipping on the wet ground and leaves, and we were falling through the thick brush and heavy foliage of the autumn deep woods. I flared my pneuma into a shell around me, trying my best to protect my body. We slammed against what had to be a tree, causing my pneuma to dip. A moment later, my head slammed into a stone, and I felt the last of my pneuma go out. Then we crashed against a boulder, bringing us to a dead stop. It was that stop that did it, though: something in my leg crunched, and pain exploded through my body.