Rick stood inside the “command post” the Hunters used and felt like he’d entered a primitive air traffic control tower. There were women, maidens, seated near a table with a map of the village. Others stood at the edges, peering into the darkness. The wooden watchtower looked quite busy. Rick was very sure he didn’t remember spotting this structure from anywhere in the village. And he should have. It was practically as tall as the radio tower right across the street.

But they couldn’t have built this overnight, right?

Despite the altitude, the heavy rain and darkness made it hard to see what was happening out and around the village. The fact that the inside of the tower had absolutely no source of light also struck Rick as odd. It was just barely dim enough to be able to make out the details on the map the maidens were muttering over. There were pieces of wood on the map, which Rick had to guess were their forces.

In the darkness, even if dry and with a roof over their heads protecting them from the rain, the wind blew with chilly determination.

“Sir, confirmed sighting, first part of the first wave coming from the North,” a maiden in the corner whispered. Her back was turned towards everyone else, her skin a bright red, two antennae bobbing above her head. The lack of clothes on her figure made Rick feel there was something off about her.

“Let them through.” Huge nodded, and he turned towards them. There was a moment as his gaze lingered on Mr. Gabriel. The old man was standing near the railing and staring out into the dark.

“A couple machine-gun nests would do you lot some good,” the old man spoke with a scowl.

“Small calibers are only effective against humans, larger calibers only work if you catch them by surprise,” Huge replied, not missing a beat, moving to stand next to the man and stare into the darkness outside. “An elemental gun could handle the weaker maidens out there and might hurt the stronger ones, but each bullet costs more than what I make in a year.”

Thunder streaked through the sky, and for an instant, Rick managed to see the village underneath. The streets were empty; every house had its windows locked. From this vantage point, he could see the roofs were made of black slate rock, but some of them had flat rooftops that were currently being occupied by what he guessed to be the Hunters.

“Why are you letting them penetrate the village?” The old man frowned as he’d spotted movement in the streets.

“Ferals are not a coordinated force. They’re closer to a mob. They are all running away from something, or to something.” Huge pointed towards one of the streets below. Rick had to frown to see it, but there were figures running through. And they were moving fast, fast enough Rick almost missed them entirely. “This one is running away.”

“From what?”

“Sir!” the red-skinned woman spoke out. “Two flocks, northeast. At least one Thundrix. West-bound heading.”

Huge’s face tightened. “Wait for confirmation, do not engage.” The man leaned forward, staring into the darkness swirling under the howling winds. “Feral status?”

“Two minutes for contact with the main body.”

“Frenzy?”

“Not confirmed.”

The massive man stood firm, but from behind, Rick could see how his neck tense. Another bolt of lightning streaked through the clouds above, and Rick could make out more figures running through the village. They moved quickly, ignoring the houses. They raced down the streets and out the other side. The young teacher frowned as he stared in the direction Huge was looking at. He could barely make out the tree-line at the edge of the village. There was too little light to see much else.

“The first dissuasion barrier confirms they’re not frenzied!” The red-skinned woman confirmed. “The ferals are not frenzied, sir.”

Huge didn’t sigh, but his shoulders relaxed a millimeter. “Keep the gates open, do not engage.”

With his words came another roll of thunder. “They’re here,” Mr. Gabriel spoke with a frown.

Tomas gasped, and Rick could see why. Through the dim light of the streaking lightning above, he managed to see them. Shadows, figures- where he had once seen dozens, there were now hundreds. But what drew a chill through him was that even with the rain hammering against the roof above their heads, he could still hear it, the rumbling of a stampede.

From between the streets, a spark of light caught his attention. Rick turned towards the source, but it was gone the moment after, too fast for him to spot anything.

“Come on…” Huge whispered under his breath, gripping the railing with pale knuckles, the wood groaned under his fingers, the man was staring in the same direction the light had come from.

A second spark emerged from a closed location. One of the shadows had been the source, throwing a bolt of fire that made the other figures move away and run all the faster.

“Come on…”

There was a trickle of cold sweat down Rick’s spine. The number of flashes of light happening within the village were increasing. The ferals appeared to be using their powers to defend themselves from the stampede.

“The flocks changed direction! Heading our way! Five minutes to contact.”

“Shit.” Huge grit his teeth. “Wait for my order.”

The man turned to stare into the storm.

“Sir, three Thundrixes confirmed.”

“Do not engage, hold!”

“But-”

He did not turn to look at the hesitant woman. “I said hold!”

The number of sparks of light within the village increased. The more ferals were being funneled down the streets, the more they were bumping into one another. And the more they were bumping, the more some of them would lash out. They produced fire, lightning, flashes of green and purple, streaks of power that felt like sparks trying to light a flame.

Small bursts that died as quickly as they came, and that urged the stampede onwards.

“Three minutes.”

“Hold!” The wood of the railing splintered, Huge’s jaw tight.

Thunder rumbled across the sky, and for a fraction of a second, Rick could swear he saw one of the clouds moving. A black mass that was headed their way. A lightning bolt exploded from one of them, and unlike any other lightning Rick had ever seen, it flew diagonally towards the ground, towards the forest. It struck one of the trees, knocking it over, the downed log bursting into flames and casting an eerie red glow onto the mass of shadows that were running down the hill. A quick glance confirmed that most of the ferals weren’t even going through the village. Was something funneling the bulk of them away?

“Sir!”

“HOLD!” He roared, turning away from the dark approaching cloud and looking towards the forest from where the ferals were streaming through.

From the darkness between the trees, there was a bright flickering flame.

“Menace confirmed, fire element, two minutes to engage first dissuasion barrier!”

“Open fire! Knock those birds out of the sky!”

And then there was light.

A small sun had ignited atop the village directly above the radio tower. Its reddish glow cast the clouds above in bloody streaks of light, and from this tiny sun, a singular beam of light shot forward at impossible speed. The rain ignited upon contact with the light, a screaming steaming explosion that shrieked as the fire traced a direct path through the sky towards the approaching black cloud. It punched through, and in that instant Rick realized it was no black cloud but at least a hundred flying figures. They scattered as soon as their formation had been pierced.

And at exactly that moment, dozens of rooftops lit up. Streaks of white light arched upwards with such speed they’d impacted against the targets kilometers away, faster than any bullet could have been able to. At first, Rick thought they were no more than giant spotlights flashing into the incoming flock, but seeing the flying figures bursting into flames and dropping from the sky, he figured it was something far more dangerous than just normal light.

Screams and shrieks could be heard down below. All too suddenly, the stampede accelerated. If there were flickers before, it had now become a veritable light show. The screams down below became louder, some of the abilities being used striking with more intent than to merely scare others away.

“Status.”

Two bolts of lightning bursts out of the flock of birds, aimed towards the source of the red beam that had punched through them.

“One Thundrix downed, one remains.” Another pause. The flickering fire that Rick had seen between the trees was growing closer. “Menace contact confirmed, Pyrebear. Only one.”

“Fuck me.” Huge’s eyes widened. “Ursines?”

“None spotted.”

“Bullshit.” The man spun around, leaning over the railing and staring down at the hundreds of ferals running through. His eyes narrowed. “Confirm archer teams.”

The red woman tensed. “Team two does not respond.” The maidens around the map scrambled to start drawing lines on the surrounding streets of the pieces that likely represented said team.

“There are Ursines in the village! Close the front gate!” Huge snapped. “Start the purge, flush the ferals out before we get a frenzy on our hands.”

“But the flock-”

“Miranda can handle some damn birds, get those Ursines out of the village or we’re going to have a bloodbath on our hands.”

A second fiery red streak pierced through the sky, its shrieking path bringing an end to more of the flying ferals.Chapter 086 [Rick]