Blood rose from the pack leader’s wounds and mouth, forming sharp streaks of red in the air. Its power built, an assault on Hump’s soul. He slammed his staff into the ground and leant heavily against it, gritting his teeth as his essence was thrown into turmoil. He formed a barrier from his will, envisioning it around himself and pressing back against the attack.

He didn’t waver. As strong as its intent was, he’d felt stronger. It was no dragon, no prince of darkness. While it bombarded his defences, it lacked the refinement of Vivienne’s aura, or the sheer force of Kassius’. Whatever fear he felt, he threw into the river where it could do him no harm. And he called upon his essence. Warmth rose from his core, sweeping through his body and out of his arm, lighting up the runes and focus of his staff with the blue of pure essence.

At the creature’s left flank, Bud and Dylan had taken a couple of steps back, the creature’s aura seeming to have more effect on them. Celaine on the other hand seemed unaffected. An arrow already on her bowstring, she drew it back, the tip flaring with the silver light of Power Shot.

Hump took aim with his own spell.

“Focused Blast,” Hump shouted a ray of energy pierced through the air as Celaine’s arrow shot forward.

The beast moved with an unnatural grace for something of its size, reacting the moment they attacked. Its aura vanished as it dived straight at Celaine, leaving a trail of blood vapour in its path. It ducked Celaine’s arrow, the shot barely piercing the skin of its shoulder, catching on one of its malformed bones beneath. But Hump’s Blast struck the creature square in the side.

The creature grunted as it was half lifted into the air from the force, its long, lithe body nearly toppling. Barely, it managed to catch its balance, whirling on Hump, eyes burning with hate.

As it lurched at him, he drew essence to his staff, jabbing it forward as he envisioned the essence channels of his spell before him. “Shield.” The creature collided with the translucent barrier a foot beyond his staff and reared up with a snarl. The force sent Hump stumbling back, and he readied another Parry Shield for when it came at him again.

At its rear, Bud had left his daze and was quickly closing the distance. Frostfire filled the air around him and blazed along his sword. The creature must have sensed it, as it turned again, snarling. It tried to dodge back, but Celaine’s arrow caught it in the knee, tripping it. Vines sprung from the ground—four of them—all wrapping around a single leg like vipers.

Hump saw his moment and raced back down the slope to the formation he’d prepared earlier.

“Force it down the slope,” Hump shouted over his shoulder. He saw the beast shrieking in panic and fury, ripping both the ground and vines out of the dirt in great big shreds.

Only it was too slow. Bud closed the distance with essence empowered speed. His Heart of Frostfire aura washed forward, caking the beast in a crust of blood-red ice. And then he was upon it, his blade carving a long gash along its leg. Ice formed immediately along the wound, impeding the motion of its hip. A wound like that wouldn’t heal so easily.

Hump slid to a stop, nearly losing his feet as he stabbed his staff into the base of the Earthen Grasp formation.

He turned to see the creature wailing as it tried to retreat, yanking its leg in a panicked frenzy and swiping at Bud with its uninjured claw. The knight dodged back as Celaine peppered its rear with arrows, a dozen or so already protruding from its body. Where the ice hadn’t frozen them shut, blood ran from its many wounds even as they healed, coating its leathery skin in dark red stains.

The creature feigned a charge at Bud. As strong as the knight was, the creature had mass on its side. He retreated, and in a flash of movement it whirled once more on Celaine, launching itself at her in a wild frenzy.

A flash of green light exploded from Celaine’s boots, launching her back out of reach. The beast landed, tearing the dirt to smithereens through weight and claws. It was close, just barely beyond his range.

Dirt and stone flew through the air and Hump saw a chance. He stretched his hand out for it, throwing his essence at it and tightening his grip, grasping it with his will. Bronze shimmered within each stone and fragment of dirt.

“Rockshot,” he snapped, tossing it back into the creature’s face with a burst of essence and buying Celaine a moment more as it shook the dirt from its eyes.

When it came at her again, she dodged easily, moving with a smooth calmness that made it seem as if she saw every action the creature made in slow motion. More than that, she was almost gliding across the forest floor, her feet streaming green. When it pounced at her, she stepped aside, then ducked the swipe that followed. In a furious lurch, it snapped for her legs, but she was already well out of reach, leaping through the air as she aimed an arrow straight at its face. There was a crack like thunder as its jaws closed on empty air. Essence must have infused the bite, because a sweeping shockwave of blood essence expanded from its mouth, sending her arrow flying.

It crouched low, legs poised to pounce and give chase.

“No you don’t,” Hump growled. He flooded essence into his formation, the runes lighting up with bronze energy. He made a claw with his hand as if the very weight of the world was in his grasp. He strained against the weight, essence surging from him in a wave of warmth that left a cold chill in his core. Beneath the creature, the ground cracked and shimmered. He heaved, and there was a rush like an avalanche. A giant hand erupted from the earth, closing tightly around the creature’s torso.

There was no hesitation as Celaine propelled herself into the air with Spring Step. The creature fought against Hump’s grip, earth and stone crumbling bit by bit from his manifested hand. Cracks formed. But it wasn’t enough. Celaine reached the peak of her jump and let loose a volley of arrows in a blink. One in the eye, throat, and knee. The beast wailed, the sound loud enough to hurt Hump’s ears. He clenched his fist tighter, his earthen fist shining with essence as he channelled more into the spell. The force cut the creature’s wail short.

Dylan somersaulted overhead and brought his staff down upon the creature’s skull with a resounding crack. The beast went limp in Hump’s grip, its legs like jelly as it struggled to keep its feet. Balanced on its back, Dylan changed to Aspect of the Bear and struck again, harder this time. It twisted, trying to rip him from its back, but Celaine dashed up beside it, three arrows on the string, each glinting silver. She released it into the exposed flesh just behind its ear, the arrows piercing deep.

The creature slumped, its body going still. For a few seconds, Hump held it aloft, half expecting some more blood magic to bring it back. When nothing happened, he released the spell. Where the arm cracked and the hand crumbled, bronze light exploded in streams of smoke, dissipating into the air. It all collapsed at once, crashing to the ground, the pack leader’s lifeless corpse along with it.

Celaine stumbled back and collapsed against a tree, catching her breath. “Well that was unexpected,” she said breathily.

Hump glanced at her, surprised to see her so out of breath. Essence shimmered faintly beneath her skin, a sign of just how much she must have channelled in the fight. The combination of Hunter’s Instinct and Spring Step must be more taxing than he’d realised.

With the fight over, Bud secured the area, checking each of the smaller pack members for signs of life. “What are these things?”

Hump stared at the corpse of the pack leader, essence rising from its wounds like a blood mist. Its body seemed to deflate, the bones and muscles collapsing as the power that fuelled its transformation faded.

“Absolutely no idea,” Hump said. “I’ve never seen or heard of them, and for a creature so large and… conspicuous, that shouldn’t be the case this far south. A pack of these larger ones and we’d have been in some serious trouble.”

“They’re certainly not native to this region,” Dylan said, checking a long wound along his forearm. It ran with blood.

“I agree. Large predators like this are well documented if they’re found anywhere within Alveron’s borders. I’d have read about them, I’m sure.” He nodded toward Dylan’s red-stained arm. “You alright?”

Dylan held up his elbow and inspected the long wound. “I’ll be fine once I have a chance to rest. My first blessing isn’t much good for immediate healing, but I can recover from minor wounds like these by cycling nature essence for an hour.”

“Okay, good to know.”

Bud stood awkwardly over some of the skeletal remains near the cave entrance.

“You find something?” Hump asked.

Bud bent down and pulled something out from the dirt. He held out his hand, dangling a medallion from his finger for them to see.

The silver trinket was stained with blood.

“That’s an adventurers’ guild medallion,” Celaine said.

Hump’s eyes widened. “The missing adventurers. They must have been here!”

“Or they still are,” Dylan said. “There’s a lot of bones here.”

Celaine hopped to her feet and brushed the damp dirt and grass from her. She walked over to Bud’s side and inspected the remains. “It’s hard to tell how old this is, but there’s still flesh on the bones. I’d say a week or so.”

“That lines up with when Kastin told us they went missing,” Dylan said. “I guess they’re not cultists after all.”

Hump frowned. “It’s not uncommon for summons to turn against their summoner. If anything, this supports the idea of a summoning gone wrong.”

Bud walked further up the hill, searching the ground. “They’re official adventurers, Hump. Or at least one of them was. It’s more likely they came here after finding evidence of monsters in the area and were killed in the process. If we keep looking, we might find more medallions.”

Smoke still drifted from the cave as Bud crested the hill. He went suddenly still, bringing up his sword defensively. “There’s a spirit,” he said calmly. “Nobody make any sudden movements. I don’t think it’s noticed us.”

They each readied their weapons. Dylan was the first to reach Bud’s side. The two of them held their position, peering into the cave. Hump came up behind them a second later. At first, all he saw was shadow, but as his eyes adjusted, he was able to pick out a black spirit from the darkness and stone. It floated over the dead and charred remains of the first pack member they’d slain, a stream of essence and blood rising from the corpse, disappearing into the hood of the spirit’s cloak.

“It’s eating it,” Dylan whispered.

Bud stepped closer, sword ready. Still, it didn’t react. He waved a hand, trying to get its attention, but the spirit was focused on only one thing. “It’s completely oblivious.”

Hump stepped closer and studied the creature’s appearance. Shadowy wisps smoked from the bottom of its cloak-like body. In the light of its essence, he thought he glimpsed a face beneath its hood.

“It’s the same,” Dylan said, flabbergasted. “How could this spirit be in the same place as these other monsters?

“It lines up with the recent spirit wave,” Hump said. “The bones, I mean. It’s been eight days. Perhaps our missing adventurers attempted to summon spirits and got more than they bargained for. It would explain the presence of both monsters.”

“Or it’s a dungeon,” Bud said. “That would also explain the presence of both monsters.”

“Maybe,” Hump said, though he wasn’t convinced. Dungeons were usually a little more… obvious. Though perhaps this was a dungeon in its early form. In which case, it was easy to check for. He backed down the hill. “Give me a minute and leave the spirit be. Let me try something.”

He hurried over to where he’d stashed his pouch in the base of a tree and put it back over his neck. After a quick check on his egg, he took out the herbs for Magic Eye. If this were a dungeon, he’d know from the essence. Taking care, he was far enough from the spirit that his essence wouldn’t set it off, he muttered the incantation, and the bundle set to smoulder. Hump breathed the smoke in deeply.

The effect of the spell was instant. The forest came to life with bright lines of all colours—the lingering essence of their fight. Essence still rose from the pack leader’s body, the same blood essence he’d seen back in Lakewood. As he turned back to his party, his eyes widened.

A faint haze of essence surrounded the rock formation and poured from the cave entrance. That alone wasn’t uncommon—caves were often found with essence stones—but something about this was different. The colour was almost that of pure essence, but there was a purple undertone to the blue, and it was darker than it should have been. Within, he noticed flecks of colour, the various affinities shining through. He reached out to touch it with his senses, drawing the power to him with an effort of his will. It moved like pure, ordinary essence.

“There’s a strange essence here,” Hump said. “It’s very faint. I don’t think it’s enough to spawn anything, let alone form a dungeon, but I’ve never seen essence like it.”

“What do you mean?” Celaine asked. “How can essence be strange?”

“I… I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it. It feels like pure essence, but the colour’s wrong.”

“Any ideas what it could be?” Bud asked.

Hump shook his head, dumbfounded. “An artefact, maybe? Not one I’ve ever heard of though.”

He returned to the top of the hill and studied the spirit.

To his Magic Eye, its black form looked white as steam; its body entirely made up of essence, a soul without physical form. Only its head was brighter, a point of white light that shone starkly against the black essence of the cave.

“The cave is full of it,” Hump said. “It could explain why we’ve found monsters and spirits here if I’m wrong about it being a summoning though. They would be drawn to the essence rich environment. I might know more once we’ve gone inside.”

Even as the words escaped him, his stomach twisted.

He’d known they would need to do this anyway. Even with the monsters slain, they had to be sure they’d got all of them, and that there were no survivors down in the den. It was more than that now though. It was too much of a coincidence to find the spirits in the same place as this strange essence. The fact that they’d found other monsters here too just made Hump even more sure that something was very wrong.