Bursting into the tent, Chase nearly collided with Shiva as she stood abruptly, her chair clattering to the ground. Her hand flew to the hilt of her curved blade—a reflexive motion—before recognition flickered in her exhausted eyes. "Speak," she commanded, voice razor-sharp. Chase didn't miss how her gaze darted to the tent flap behind him, calculating escape routes.
"They're *inside* the guard," Chase hissed, low enough that only she could hear. The medicinal reek of crushed dreamroot leaves stung his nose as he leaned closer. "One in seven. Their eyes—grey, dead. They move wrong. Smile wrong." His claws unsheathed with a wet click, black talons glistening under the oil lamps. "Something's wearing them like fucking suits."
Shiva's knuckles whitened around her dagger hilt. Behind her, the healer's assistant dropped a clay vial—it shattered, filling the tent with the coppery tang of bloodmoss tincture. "You're certain?" Her voice was steel wrapped in silk. Chase saw the moment she believed him; her pupils dilated, throat bobbing as she swallowed a curse.
Outside, the camp noises took on new menace—the clank of armor now sounded like chitinous legs scraping together, laughter turned to mimicry. Donnie burst through the flap, dragging Damian by his pauldron. The warrior's face was still creased from sleep, but his twin axes were already drawn, edges humming with latent energy. "They're *nesting* in the barracks," Donnie spat. "Andrew's burning the south supply tent—only way to flush them out."
Shiva's tent flap billowed without wind. Three figures stood silhouetted against the dying sun—too tall, shoulders dislocated downward like hanged men. The center one stepped forward, its jaw unhinging with a wet pop. "You should have *run*," it gargled through a throat full of writhing tendrils.
Suddenly, the creatures grew in height, ripping apart the platemail armor they had, their eyes were inky black sockets, Jaws way too large, they had tall skinny figures with grey skin, large clawed hands.
Chase felt his stomach drop as their bodies elongated grotesquely, vertebrae cracking like snapping twigs as they unfurled to their true height—nine feet of sinew and jagged bone. The one in front licked its lipless mouth with a tongue that split into three barbed tips, each dripping something viscous that sizzled where it hit the tent floor. "Little demons," it crooned, voice layered with a chorus of otherworldly whispers. "You smell... *familiar*."
Shiva moved first—her curved blade flashed silver, severing the thing's outstretched hand at the wrist. Black ichor sprayed across Chase's face, burning like acid. He roared, demon claws shredding through his gloves as he lunged, driving talons into the creature's chest. The flesh parted like rotten fruit, but no blood came—only a swarm of centipede-like tendrils that latched onto his forearm, burrowing under his skin.
* Outside of Shivas tent*
Damian had finally gotten his helmet on properly and Andrews mask and gloves were set. He threw on his hood.
"How does this even happen so quickly?" Damian said. 'Of course it must've known we've caught it. Chase was staring like a he could burn a hole through it' Donnie thought in realization "it knows"
Damian was confused. "What do you mean *it knows*?" He asked.
Donnie didn't answer—his dagger was already buried in the throat of a passing guard whose eyes had just flickered grey. The man didn't bleed. He *split* open down the middle, his skin sloughing off like wet parchment to reveal a writhing mass of jointed limbs and needle teeth.
Andrew began getting his water magic ready. Damian added fire to his axes.
Chase's claws tore through the creature's chest cavity—only for his fingers to close around something pulsing and gelatinous. The thing's jaw unhinged impossibly wide, releasing a shriek that vibrated Chase's teeth like tuning forks. He recoiled, ripping his arm free with a wet tear, tendrils still wriggling in the meat of his forearm.
Behind him, Shiva's dagger found the second creature's throat—but steel met no resistance. The blade sank hilt-deep into grey flesh that *melted* around the metal, swallowing the weapon whole. "Fuck!" she spat, barely yanking her hand back before the creature's skin could engulf her fingers.
Chase decided to buy both hellfire and mind tricks. He needed everything he could get.
The tent flap behind them burst into flames as Andrew strode through the inferno, water swirling around his fists in razor-thin rings. "Barracks are crawling with them," he panted, eyes darting to Chase's bleeding arm. "They're—"
A wet crunch cut him off. The third creature's head spun 180 degrees, neck elongating like stretched taffy, and spat a glob of black mucus straight at Andrew's face. Damian's axe intercepted midair, the enchanted blade igniting the substance into a screaming fireball that dissipated into acrid smoke.
Chase felt the hellfire ability in his veins, using it to Melt the creatures trying to burrow into his arm.
The thing screeched, its body spasming as the tendrils inside him combusted into blue flames. Chase stumbled back, watching as the fire spread up the creature's elongated limbs, its flesh bubbling like molten wax. The stench of charred meat and something sickly sweet—like rotting fruit left in the sun—filled the tent.
Shiva didn't waste the opening. She wrenched her dagger free from the dissolving mass of the second creature and lunged for the third, driving the blade upward through its gaping maw. Black ichor sprayed across her face, but she didn't flinch, twisting the dagger until the thing's skull split like overripe melon.
The camp outside erupted into chaos—screams, the clash of steel, and the wet, tearing sounds of flesh being rent apart. Chase staggered to his feet, his forearm still smoldering with residual hellfire. "They're coordinated," he hissed, watching as the three fallen creatures' remains slithered toward each other, merging into a pulsating heap of sinew and teeth.
"They seem more vulnerable to burning and less vulnerable to cutting." Shiva was so focused on the combat that she was willing to ignore the fact that Chase could emit fire from his body, and that his arm was rapidly healing before her very eyes.
"Yeah, no kidding." Chase replied, his eyes darting around for any more of these creatures. The tent was silent, save for the sound of their own heavy breathing and the bubbling sound of the creatures' dissolving bodies.
Chase turned to Shiva, his eyes glowing a dull red as he activated his Mind Tricks ability. "We need to get out of here. Now."