To Fight Against Fate

No more meat puppets attacked during the night.

Nor did they attack as Priscilla's party grew closer and closer to the head of the river. The eerie silence of the forest grew more and more oppressive as they came upon the blackberry brambles. Their thorns were sharp, but the brambles seemed overly full of berries, with many scattered on the ground, their red juices staining the dirt.

If the directions Ferine gave them were accurate, it was only another fifteen minutes of walking before they faced down whatever was coordinating attacks on Crystal Falls. Based on the sun, it was nearing mid-afternoon, so they'd hopefully have good lighting for when they fought. It was a little chilly today, the wind nipping at your nose and ears to punish you for exposing them.

They decided to take a moment of rest before they engaged the enemy.

Priscilla still wasn't sure they were about to face – based on what they've encountered so far, all signs pointed to some sort of elemental or a water based necromancer, neither of which would be easy to defeat. To truly beat an elemental, you had to destroy its core of power, of which they tended to be very protective of, and necromancers were nasty sons of bitches because they could hijack another's body and take control of their soul, making a quick getaway in an innocuous creature before they came across another human to swap into.

"When we defeat the monsters," Kavil suddenly said, soft voice breaking the silence as he stared contemplatively at the berries, "I want to pick a whole bundle of these berries and make jam."

Priscilla was startled out of her thoughts, but she smiled at the sudden proclamation, already imagining the sweet taste coating her tongue, her mind conjuring an image of a bagel laden with cream cheese and jam. "Can I have the first taste test?"

"You might have to fight Sulaiman for it," Kavil said in a teasing tone, his smile sly as he looked at Sulaiman, "as I plan to use an absurd amount of sugar."

Sulaiman paused in his scan of the perimeter to give Kavil an unimpressed look.

"Priscilla can have it all," Sulaiman said with a sniff, like he was offended by the offer. "I have no need for sugary things."

Illnyea snorted, giving Sulaiman a sideways glance and a smirk.

"The cat's out of the bag, Sul," Illnyea said solemnly, like she was delivering grave news. "We all know you'd only eat sweets for every meal if given the opportunity."

Sulaiman glowered at Illnyea and when Priscilla chuckled, he turned the glare on her, like he somehow blamed Priscilla for all of this. She waggled her eyebrows at him, enjoying how he was the butt of the joke.

"You're all fools," Sulaiman said, sticking his nose up in the air like he was too good to consort with such common rabble.

"We're your fools," Kavil said in a sing-song voice, the sly smile turning into a grin. "You're stuck with us!"

Sulaiman sighed deeply, likely regretting how his life choices brought him to this point.

The levity brought by teasing faded as they began a last minute check of their supplies. It was decided to leave the pack by this patch of brambles, as it would only get in the way during a fight. Illnyea tucked the water repelling artifact into her bracer, and then they were off.

The head of the river that fed into Crystal Falls would be beautiful in another life.

It was a quiet, shaded oasis to rest at and dip your feet in, large enough to swim comfortably without worrying about getting too far from the shore. Old oaks lined the shoreline, their canopies leaving just enough space in the breaks to see the sky above. The view of the moons at night was likely beautiful if you floated on your back in the small lake, a scene straight from a fairytale as the stars stretched high above you.

But those magnificent oaks looked withered and their branches bare of any leaves despite it only being early fall. Amongst their trunks were countless corpses, some were only skeletons, picked clean of every strip of muscle and Priscilla spotted what could only be a human skeleton half-pulled into the water. But most were dehydrated husks like the bear had turned into after they destroyed the tether, little more than skin and fur hugging bones. All shapes and sizes of beasts lay there, from a small cluster of squirrels, a dull colored starling, to what looked like a juvenile moose, a boar, and even another black bear. The likely once pristine waters were a murky red, the color of watered down blood that had been drained from the once flourishing forest.

The blades of brown grass beneath their feet crunched, the brittle, water-starved plants crumbling beneath the pressure.

None of the corpses twitched as they cautiously approached, and Priscilla didn't see any sign of monsters attempting to burst from the murky waters. She also didn't see any sign of a power source that indicated an elemental lived here, so she kept her eyes on the corpses in case it truly was a necromancer.

When they were within fifteen feet, the waters began to churn ominously. Everyone froze, bringing their shields and weapons up.

Instead of launching at them, the water shivered and slowly rose upwards, its form amorphous as it defied gravity.

Priscilla was so focused on what the water might turn out to be that the sudden flash of pain that went across her front stole away her breath for a moment. The creature was using magic to change its form, and when Priscilla tried to narrow down where it was emanating from, her stomach sank as all signs pointed to the bottom of the lake.

The water smoothed out into a human-esque form, though the proportions were off. The arms were just a little too long, the hands stopping just before the knees, and the neck was a little too short. The head was tilted at an unnatural angle as two purple lights burned where eyes should be, and the features were almost familiar, but that feeling faded as a smile stretched across its face so far it literally split the face in two.

"Welk-cum," the creature said, its voice watery and guttural in a way that made Priscilla's teeth ache. But the appearance finally confirmed which of her theories was correct — if this creature wasn't some sort of corrupted water elemental, Priscilla would eat her bat.

"Huuu yu?" the creature continued, its head tilting the other way like a broken doll. It was staring at Illnyea, and Priscilla wasn't about to let yet another creepy mother fucker focus on her sister when she could do something about it.

Priscilla took a deep breath and held her head high. All signs pointed to the elemental's core being at the bottom of the lake, far out of their reach. She would be useless in the battle because it would be suicidal to jump into the lake, but she was confident at being a distraction if nothing else.

"It's real fucking rude to ask for someone's name without first introducing yourself," Priscilla said even as her friends shot her looks all in the same flavor of 'what the fuck are you doing?!' Asha tightened around her hand, its determination twining with Priscilla's, and she took comfort in knowing that no matter what, Asha would be by her side.

There was a watery giggle that echoed through the air, reverberating through the trees.

"Am pow-aa," the elemental said, its gaze now locked onto Priscilla, just how she wanted. "Am keeng."

Priscilla snorted, acting unaffected even though the pressure of the elemental's focus was a little suffocating.

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"Which is it?" Priscilla asked, tossing her hair. "Are you power or are you king? To me, you seem to be an elemental lurking in the lake."

She took the moment to point at the lake as she glanced at her friends pointedly.

The elemental seemed confused by the question. A look of fierce contemplation stole over Sulaiman's face, as he was the first to understand what Priscilla was getting at. His lips firmed, and Priscilla trusted him to figure out how to solve the problem. Illnyea shifted to the side, teeth worrying at her lip, and Kavil looked like he was doing his best to remain calm as he followed her, just a half-step behind.

"Am kieng," the elemental said, its pronunciation a little better the second time.

"Yeah, king of what?" Priscilla asked, stalling for time as her friends kept minutely shifting their position. "Because I'm sure as hell that no one has crowned you, unless the fish proclaimed you king of the lake."

The elemental's wide smile turned into an exaggerated frown.

"Am king," the elemental said fiercely, its purple gaze burning like cold fire. "Bow."

The word hummed with power, magic surging as the waters churned more fitfully.

"You're not my king," Priscilla said sweetly, tightening her grip on her bat, "so vive le révolution, you elemental bastard."

The elemental growled. The sound shook Priscilla's bones as watery tendrils rose out of the water, slinking into the corpses nearest the shore, entering through empty mouths and noses.

"Die," the elemental snarled, its human form falling away as more water rushed up to consume it. The elemental ballooned in size and then a three headed hydra made of water was hissing, its gaze locked onto Priscilla.

Well, shit.

Controlling that many animals was sure to pull the elemental's attention in enough directions that Priscilla could stay one step ahead, letting the others figure out how to destroy the core.

It was time to put her fancy footwork to work.

…

Sulaiman raised his shield, blocking the boar that had charged at them the moment the elemental took control of it. Illnyea heard the impact of something heavy hitting metal, but she couldn't worry about him — right now, he probably had the best chance of surviving out of everyone with the way he could burn away the attacks. He couldn't use any large scale fire attacks because the ground was so dry, any stray spark would consume the nearby kindling and start a forest fire.

Priscilla was now engaged in a game of cat and mouse as the hydra's head snapped forward, attempting to catch her in its maw. She pivoted, sticking out her tongue as she dashed away.

Illnyea's heart lurched as Priscilla once again put herself square in the enemy's sight, uncaring that she was assuming the most dangerous position on the battlefield. Priscilla's tongue was always so sharp, finding ways to irritate creatures that were barely capable of speech, and she seemed to not have a care in the world, almost laughing as she kicked a reanimated rabbit out of her way.

But if Priscilla was distracting the elemental, and Sulaiman was taking on the bulk of the creatures, it was up to Illnyea and Kavil to figure out how to stop the elemental. Though Priscilla was the expert in monsters, Illnyea wasn't totally ignorant, and knew that you had to destroy an elemental's core to stop it. The fact the core was in the lake was what made that one simple step far harder than she wished it was.

A reanimated deer charged Illnyea, and she cut through one of its front legs before kicking into the lake. That wouldn't be a permanent solution, but they needed breathing room and couldn't afford to get overwhelmed.

"We need to destroy the core," Illnyea said.

"How do we do that?" Kavil asked, his voice strained as he hit a squirrel with the shovel, sending it into the water with a small splash.

"I…" Illnyea swallowed hard, her mind failing her as she beat back a badger, slicing it in two halves. "I can jump in?"

"That's incredibly stupid," Kavil said, his tone blunt.

Illnyea winced, but she knew he was right. There was a yelp and Illnyea glanced to see that Priscilla had just barely gotten out of the way from another snap of the hydra's jaw, scrambling over a tree stump.

"Why don't you use your earth magic?" Kavil suggested, dodging an owl and smacking it with the shovel with a grunt. "Like I'm trying to feel the water — maybe you could sense where the core is and destroy it remotely?"

The fear that rose up in Illnyea at the suggestion was so strong that she froze, her heart skipping a beat. A floaty sort of panic tried to wrap itself around her hands, making them shake. She couldn't use magic – so many things could go wrong when the core was destroyed, another burst of magic that would set her own spiraling once more, and she could very well open up a sinkhole, leaving them at the elemental's mercy.

A deer ran into Illnyea's side, but it was a doe, so she was simply knocked off balance instead of gored. Kavil let out a shot and slammed his shovel into the deer's head, snapping it to the side.

Pushing away the panic, Illnyea rolled to her feet and slammed her shoulder into the deer, knocking it into the water. It disappeared within a second, proving the murky depths were far deeper than Illnyea thought they were.

"Are you okay?" Kavil asked, and Illnyea felt so ashamed.

She had given the healer a pep-talk to believe in himself, and here she was, so caught up in how she was sure to fail that she had put them both at risk.

Illnyea stood up, unable to bear looking at Kavil and kept her gaze on their surroundings. The corpses were attempting to surge towards Sulaiman, who dispatched them with efficiency, his sword a flaming blur. But he couldn't keep up that pace if the monsters surrounded him, and Illnyea's gut clenched with guilt at her hesitation.

"I'm scared," Illnyea confessed, shameful tears pricking her eyes, "last time I – I used magic, I nearly died, and… and – "

Kavil gripped Illnyea by the shoulder, and Illnyea was forced to meet his eyes. He was serious, eyebrows a stern line as he glanced over her face.

"I'm here," Kavil said, his grip tight enough to ground Illnyea, "and I won't let you go out of control – if you feel like you're going out of control, tell me, and I can help. You're not alone, Illnyea. I'm here to watch your back and I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

Illnyea's throat was tight, lips quivering with poorly suppressed emotion. Kavil wasn't a fighter, was barely proficient with a shovel, but his words brought her such acute comfort that tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Okay," Illnyea whispered, wiping away her tears, "okay, I'll try."

"I believe in you," Kavil said, squeezing her shoulder once more before readjusting his grip on the shovel. He looked at the lake and swallowed before straightening his shoulders. "I'll see if I can wrest control of the water from the elemental while you do that."

As Kavil pulled out his personal waterskin, Illnyea nodded and sank to her knees. She dug her fingers into the damp earth as she took a deep breath. Technically, she didn't need to touch the ground to manipulate it, but it always helped her to focus her magic.

Please let this work, Illnyea prayed to whatever god was listening, and reached for her magic.

It was like an eager puppy welcoming its owner home, nearly purring as it flooded through her body. Illnyea tried not to flinch as it flowed down her arms, following the lightning marks that now stained her skin. But the magic did not spiral out of control, nor did it have the hungry, angry feeling it once had, instead feeling solid as stone.

Slowly, Illnyea pushed her magic into the ground, expanding her awareness through it as she worked towards the silty ground beneath the lake. Like always, it was hard to manipulate earth that was so saturated with water, but Illnyea pushed past the resistance because everyone was counting on her.

There was a thud that drew Illnyea's attention and she glanced up.

…

Priscilla had been constantly moving since the elemental started launching attacks against her, leaping to and fro to stay just out of reach. The attacks weren't slow, but once it snapped its jaws forward, it couldn't change direction and follow Priscilla when she dashed to the side.

She was panting, her lungs beginning to burn as she didn't get a single moment to rest, but she kept putting one foot in front of the other. Priscilla leapt over a tree root, ducking her head as the hydra's head crashed into the tree right behind her and sent out a spray of splinters. When Priscilla spared her friends a glance to see how they were faring, it seemed like Sulaiman was doing well and that the beasts were focusing on him, and Illnyea was kneeling down with her hands in the ground as Kavil stood protectively above her, pouring out a waterskin into the churning river's head.

All it took was one mistake, one misstep for a fight to go wrong.

Priscilla hadn't been looking at the ground for a total of three seconds.

In those three seconds, a reanimated squirrel leapt from behind a dried out fern, wrapping itself around Priscilla's ankle. It knocked her off balance, sending Priscilla stumbling hard to the ground and her knees and palms stung from the impact.

Asha pulsed with panic, shifting to expose spikes along Priscilla's knuckles, as Priscilla tried to push herself back to her feet.

But the cat finally caught the mouse.

A maw of water wrapped around Priscilla, swallowing her in a single gulp.

…

And Illnyea screamed.