Summers sprinted down the street. Gunshots echoed around him, Mia’s men weren’t just sitting idle, the city was in a full panic now. He was trying to find a safe path back to the city’s center when a series of shots peppered the wall behind him.

“Shit!”

He fell into a tumble, finding two of the black-eyed soldiers opening up on the crowd nearby. Summers aimed and fired, taking both men out in an instant.

Someone screamed nearby, Summers tried not to sigh as he picked himself up and started forward. Some of the cities’ guard were trying to deal with a group of people that had clearly been infected. Black eyes wild as they clawed at the guard’s armor. He only hesitated an instant before sending a burst of fire into the insane civilian’s heads.

“The blood makes you crazy!” Summers shouted to the guards. “Don’t let it touch you!”

The ground shook, tearing Summers’ attention away. The creature was standing now, towering over the stout buildings around it.

With a clear view, he could see now that the body wasn’t humanoid so much as a snake-like mass of limbs and faces. More importantly, it was moving fast, with far more purpose than he’d expect. Its long tail blocking off crowds of people from escape. Probably Mia’s doing. He needed to kill that woman before this attack got enough momentum.

But first, he needed to get its attention, and bullets weren’t going to be enough. Summers looked back to see the still stunned guards staring at the creature. He snatched the spear out of the closest man’s hand, launching it at the creature with as much force as he could muster. It slammed into its flesh with a resounding thud, leaving a sizable dent and rocking the monster to the side, if only slightly.

That was a lot more effective than he would have expected.

The creature turned, pointing several dozen of its faces a towards Summers.

Summers spared a glance to the unarmed guard.

“. . .You should probably run now.”

They didn’t need to be told twice.

The creature uncoiled, flattening the buildings between Summers and itself in its rush towards him. Thankfully, as big as it was, it was still slow. He darted forward, back towards the town center, forcing the creature to curl in on itself. Its entire mass shifted, blocking his path forward.

Good, if it was protecting that area, there was a good chance Mia hadn’t left the spot he’d last seen her. Summers broke off his charge as a tendril of arms as large as his torso swiped at him.

He keyed his radio.

“Asle, can you get me to the town’s square?”

Asle felt helpless watching the city below. It was chaos. People ran from the monster as it rampaged through the cities’ center. Her mind strained as she created one “portal” after another from her rooftop vantage, trying to lead those that were brave enough to use them out of the city. It was a scale she’d never really thought she could accomplish, but necessity had taught her much.

Worst of all, she understood what the creature was. It was a collector, something used to haul biomass long distances, sub-sapient, more of an animal than anything. That worried her because she wasn’t even sure what half those words meant.

“Grab the injured! Get them out of here!”

Asle heard a man’s familiar voice from below, cutting through the screams of the crowd.

She looked down to see Asmund, bloodied spear in hand, leading a group of his men through the streets. He was rallying the guard.

“Should we help?” Roan asked from beside her.

“No,” Synel answered, her teacher was glancing at the chasm behind them. The roof giving way to sheer cliff and the river below. “Stay here for now, we need to support him as we can.”

She nodded, trying to keep her concentration.

Then Asle’s radio crackled, Summers’ voice coming through. “Asle, can you get me to the town’s square?”

She turned her attention back to the creature, Summers was ducking and weaving through the monster’s mass, trying to press through as it did everything in its power to pin him down. Asle saw his target. He was heading for the lieutenant.

Asle repressed a smile as she willed the space behind Summers to connect to the town center.

Summers dodged a tendril as large as his torso, only to find the space behind him changed. Asle had come through for him. Summers bolted for the portal, stopping as he found a very bloody, very surprised Mia on the other side.

“How?” Mia asked, confused.

Summers ignored her, raising his weapon to her head before she could react.

“Call it off, now!”

“You. . . you don’t understand. None of your kind understand!”

“Call. It. Off!”

Mia hesitated, then her expression hardened, she lunged for him, hand snapping out to grasp the barrel of his gun just as a shadow suddenly fell over them both.

She was about to crush them both.

Summers dove back into the portal Asle had opened, only just clearing the distance as a meaty crunch resounded through the city.

The portal collapsed, and all at once, the city fell quiet. He looked at the creature looming in the distance. Then, his empty hands. Mia had taken his gun with her.

“Ah shit. . .”

The abomination exploded into motion, screaming as it lashed out in Summers’ direction. It was wild, uncontrolled, and focused entirely on him.

He might have just made things worse.

Asle watched in horror as the creature began to rampage with Summers at its center.

“Leaving, now!” Roan said from beside her, grabbing her arm.

Synel looked inclined to agree.

“We can’t! He’s still-” Asle was cut off as the collector slammed its mass into the ground, nearly throwing her off her feet despite it being so far away. Roan wasn’t so lucky, the boy falling behind her. Asle didn’t pay attention to that, she needed to act, now.

Asle raised her hands, concentrating. She had the same power she’d seen Summers use to kill a creature of myth. She’d seen what had happened, and everything told her that she could do it as well.

All she needed to do was use her power wrong.

Asle poured all her willpower into creating a portal beside the head of the snake-like creature in front of her, shaping it with her will as she linked it with the sky far above. As the power began to swell in her mind, Asle clamped down on it, and pulled with everything she had, willing something to break.

Unfortunately, she broke first.

CRRRRK!

The world itself seemed to shift, a pulse of energy tearing through the city’s center as the creature suddenly screamed. Blood began to run down Asle’s face, strength leaving her body as she felt herself collapse into someone’s arms.

“Asle!” Her teacher yelled.

She could only hear the woman distantly. Even as her eyes drifted up, looking at the bleeding, but still whole creature. It was no longer looking at Summers, instead it was heading right for them.

Summers felt more than heard the blast. An inhuman scream resounded around him, he looked up to find the massive abomination already moving, its head gushing black blood as it moved in the direction he’d come from. Moving to where the others would be.

“Shit!”

Summers took off after the creature, slow as it was, it wasn’t difficult to catch. Stopping it, however, was another story. This thing was acting like a wild animal, without Mia’s control it was going after the largest threat. And if what just happened was what he thought it was, that was Asle.

Summers poured on the speed as the creature crawled towards the building. He managed to catch the tail end of it, lifting himself up onto its back, tearing off the clawing limbs that tried to pin him in place.

He just needed to slow it down enough for the group to escape.

Summers pressed his hand into what he thought served as the creature’s spine and willed it to stop. The creature slowed as its back end was frozen in place, but it didn’t stop. He strained as he watched it struggle up the stout home Synel was perched on, the group trying to pull Asle from the roof.

Guards in the streets stabbed at the partially crippled creature, only to be thrown away or have their weapons snatched from their hands by its many flailing tendrils.

Summers felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him as the monster pressed forward.

All at once, Summers’ hold on the creature failed. He was thrown off as it lurched forward, lunging for his friends as they skirted the edge of the canyon. Roan shoved Synel and Asle to safety, only for one of its many limbs to grab the boy. Summers ignored his fatigue, rushing up to help the kid as blood began to pour from his chest, fingers and teeth scraping at his skin.

He reached Roan only a second later, pulling him free with surprisingly little resistance, the boy’s skin a tapestry of blood and black ichor.

Summers pressed a hand to Roan’s neck, searching for the hamr inside him so he could pull it out like he’d done for Asle. He could still save him.

“Stay with me kid, don’t-“ Summers stopped as Roan looked up at him, the boy’s eyes were as normal as ever. “What-”

A scream of pain from the creature cut him off. It recoiled, black skin bubbling from the place he’d just pulled Roan.

No, from where the kid’s blood had touched. Summers watched as the creature’s black skin began to liquify at an alarming speed, as if his blood were acid. Summers daze was broken as a man rushed past him, stabbing a spear into the creature.

It was Asmund, the old man shoving the spear’s tip into a face at the creature’s side. More guards joined in, attacking with a ferocity unlike any Summers had seen.

The creature struggled, pressed back to the edge of the canyon. Only to stop as it realized there was nothing but a sheer drop ahead of them.

Summers shoved Roan into Synel’s arms.

“Watch him!”

He snatched a spear from the ground, launching himself onto its back and shoving it into the creature’s head. He twisted the spear, creating a hole large enough for him to fit an arm inside. The creature writhed in protest, but Summers held on. Even if his body felt like it was made of lead, he could manage one last push.

Summers’ world expanded as the creature’s body lit up in his senses. He willed it forward. This time, it was enough.

Summers felt its mass tip over the edge of the canyon. He wrenched his arm free, allowing gravity to do the rest of the work as he sprinted down the length of the creature. Hands grasped for him as he lunged for the canyon’s edge.

He only just managed to make it as the rest of the creature tumbled into the abyss below.

Summers only made it a few more steps before he dropped to his knees, trying to catch his breath. By the time he looked up, he found the surprised stares of several dozen guards, Asmund, as well as his friends waiting for him. A loud crash resounded behind him as displaced dust and air rushed up from the canyon floor. Summers picked himself up after another second, glancing over the edge. The creature lay unmoving at the bottom.

“. . .Did that kill it?” Synel asked.

Summers kicked a large brick, sending it to land on the creature with a loud, wet thud. He fell back onto his ass, utterly exhausted.

“I don’t think so. But it’s not going anywhere.”

Summers turned to the others. Synel was cradling a bloodied Asle in one arm. He tensed seeing the blood on her chest, but it looked to have just been her nose. The girl was breathing fine, if ragged.

Roan, on the other hand, looked like he’d gotten into a fight with a lawnmower. But he was standing on his own power.

Summers got shakily to his feet, heading over to them as Asmund was ordering his men around. He only just managed to hear something about collecting fuel. Not a bad plan to take out an immobile monster.

“Everyone okay?” Summers asked the group.

“I really, really don’t want to do that again.” Roan said.

He hesitated, watching Roan. Something the boy had done had affected the monster. No, more than affected it, it was like he’d thrown a bucket of acid on it.

“Roan. . .” Summers started. “What did you do to that thing back there?”

“What do you mean?”

Summers considered him before dropping the subject, it could wait.

“Never mind.” Summers looked at Asle’s bleeding form. “How is she?”

“She’s an idiot that did something impossibly stupid.” Asle weakly hit her in protest. “But if she has the strength to complain she’s fine enough.”

Summers could already see Asmund barking more orders to his men.

“All right, let’s find somewhere to rest. I need to collapse.”

Summers was utterly spent, just walking was starting to tax him. It was best that they kept a low profile after his little display. The group moved off, trying to get out of the guard’s way. They’d leave the rest up to the city.