Great Hunt: Ravenflight

Somehow, nightfall brought even more darkness. It had to be night by now, anyway. Hours had passed since she’d arrived at the village, and the monster was practically at its gates now. 

At least everyone had finally gotten out; Anjali and Levi – along with a few other mages that arrived later to help them – had made certain of that. The child had been returned to his mother, safe and sound, though the reunion had been tearful; Leviathan had returned to Morgana’s side back at the outpost, no doubt to check up on how the Oracle was healing. Levi had filled her in on the extent of Morgana’s injuries while they were scouring the abandoned village. Anjali didn’t know Morgana all that well, but she’d never personally had a negative interaction with the younger woman. She wished her no agony, and a broken wing certainly sounded like agony. 

Anjali had no one to return to at the moment, save for her horse, and so she’d thrown herself straight into the battle. 

After all, rumor had it that the beast was weak to light-based magic, and she had plenty of that to offer.

She spurred her horse towards the monster; those massive tentacles and dark, glittering vortex of shadows around it made the abomination easy to keep track of. The closer she got to the beast, though, the worse that impending feeling of dread and sorrow grew. It was like a massive, weighted blanket being draped over her shoulders, wrapping tighter and tighter around her until it threatened her ability to breathe. It wasn’t real, she had to remind herself. It was merely a shield for the monster, an attempt to deter anyone from getting too close. Even her horse seemed uneasy; he kept shaking his head and huffing in disdain, as if trying to fend off a horde of flies instead of whatever psychic magic bullshit this was. 

As they rode up a low ridge, the full beast finally came into view, and Anjali saw it up close for the first time. She was appalled by the amalgam’s sheer size, and abhorred at how downright ugly it was. She’d seen a handful of monsters – truly corrupted monsters – in her lifetime, and yet the feeling of awe she got whenever she saw one for the first time never really went away. Were she not on horseback, it would’ve been enough to stop her in her tracks, but her horse carried on, allowing Anjali to simply take it in.

This monster had an entirely different presence from Aleister. Where the giant skeletal giraffe had simply watched as it towered menacingly over the fairgrounds, this one had a bloodlust. It was angry, the kind of anger that came with the overwhelming realization that there was nothing left for you in this world, so what did it matter if you corrupted? It was an anger that reminded her dimly of Hagia, of the horrific worm towering over the glittering marble of Faline just as this eldritch beast towered of the lush canopy to the Sunless Jungle. 

That anger was almost infectious, but this time, Anjali was determined to use the feelings caused by the monster against it. These false emotions weren’t going to get to her anymore. She added to anger stirring within her with memories of all the monsters that had devasted Ivras since Hagia. Stars above, the Archmage’s corruption had only been two years ago; how many monsters had risen since then? Each of them had left such devastation in their wakes before meeting their respective executions. Here she was once more in the Sunless Jungle, hunting a disgusting, skeletal beast, but maybe this time she could make a difference. Maybe this time, no one would have to lose their home, or worse: their life.

There were already a handful of mages that had intercepted the monster, and they were doing what they could to slow its trajectory before it could wreak too much damage to the village. 

She didn’t immediately recognize any of their magics, but as she closed in, a bright blue light lit up the surrounding area, and the tiny hairs on the back of Anjali’s neck stood on end. A moment later, there was a resounding CRRRACK, and the monster was engulfed in a pillar of electricity. The thunderclap, combined with the raven skull’s shrill, pained cry sent Anjali’s horse rearing, and she was thrown from his back for the second time that day. With the air knocked out of her lungs and her ears ringing like she’d just flashbanged herself, Anjali curled inward, groaning in pain. Her steed’s hooves battered the ground nearby as he circled her anxiously; at least he never went far. As she peeled herself from the earth, she spat into the dirt; her saliva was tinged with red and she realized she’d bitten her tongue. Fuck that was going to hurt once the adrenaline wore off. 

She finally made it to her feet, though her chest still heaved as she struggled to catch her breath, and her throat burned with the effort. She turned to her horse, but didn’t climb back into the saddle this time. He’d proven that the monster’s influence had him too on edge for her to be able to trust his soundness in this fight. Instead, she delivered a quick slap to his hindquarters to send him away from the battle, and the stallion obeyed with a sharp whinny, charging off the way they’d come.

There was another flash, and a flurry of deep blue and gold feathers darted away from the monster, electricity crackling around their arms. She recognized those vibrant wings from the battle against the Wasting Miasma, a mage with the ability to call lightning. Ramman, she thought his name was? 

He soared through the air with a deft nimbleness, dodging the beast’s lashing tendrils and those tiny green meteorites. Anjali thought he’d made it just out of the monster’s reach, when one of the massive tentacles caught him across the shoulder and sent him spiraling toward the ground at an alarming rate. She winced as he hit the mud, and thought for a moment of Morgana, who’d met a similar fate. The monster’s attention zeroed in on him, and it took a few steps in the fallen mage’s direction, the ground trembling beneath its heft. Anjali broke into a hard run, holding her hands out in front of her and focusing on the tingling in her fingertips and in the center of her forehead as she prepared her magic. 

The beast’s long, tentacled neck curved back as it prepared a jab from its mighty beak, aimed directly at the winged mage as he scrambled in vain to get back up. Just as it was ready to strike, Anjali launched the energy forward, and a ball of cold white light hurled toward the monster. The orb exploded in its face, sending the giant bird staggering backwards as it was both blinded and deafened. Sparks danced at the corners of Anjali’s vision, and she shook her head in an attempt to clear the fuzziness that clouded her mind. Since fighting the Wasting Miasma, Anjali felt that she had a finer control over her powers, had leaned to cope with some of its ill effects, but not all of them. She nearly stumbled in her sprint toward Ramman, but thankfully managed to keep her balance. 

She slid to a halt a few feet away from him, and launched another ball of white light at the beast for good measure. With it temporarily disabled, the Sparkweaver turned to Ramman and noted him reaching toward a feather-topped staff in the dirt nearby. She bent down to pick it up, and then offered the winged mage her other hand. “That was a nasty fall,” she commented. “You alright?”

“Think so,” he said, his voice weak but not broken, and he accepted her outstretched hand. Anjali felt static run up her arm as he did so, and she resisted the urge to yank her hand back, the shock startling her. She helped the man to his hoofed feet, her other hand hovering behind his back until she was certain he could stand on his own. Once she was convinced, she extended his staff to him. Ramman took it and immediately leaned his weight on it. “Thanks,” he said, mirthful gratitude filling his blue eyes as he met her gaze.

Anjali nodded and took a few steps away from him, that staticky feeling still prickling at the back of her neck. “Mhm,” she said, glancing back over her shoulder at the monster, who seemed to have finally regained its bearings. “No time to stand around,” she added quickly, inhaling deeply as she readied another blast of energy. “If you can still fight, fight. If you can’t, better get out of here.” Without waiting for a response, nor offering to help him get to safety, she started running in the monster’s direction and let white light engulf her as she launched another attack at the wicked beast. She might’ve been a little late to the party, but she was just getting started.