Tooth and Claw
Redd leaned forwards and sniffed the crisp autumn air. She caught a whiff of human scent, leading off into a thick clump of trees. It was fresh – which was a welcome discovery. After travelling for an entire day, with only breaks for meals, it seemed like Redd and her team of PSEF operators had finally found a lead.
"That's it!" she whispered to Yona by her side. Yona grinned expectantly, licking her lips.
"I can't believe I get to fight 'em again. I mean, once is enough. But twice? Chara's spoiling me."
"Ms. Charybdis," Jayken corrected. "But you're right. It's a miracle she didn't kill us all for failing to bring them back the first time."
"Charybdis may be passionate, but she's also logical. You two are valuable to the success of this mission, and she wouldn't throw away Hydra's most precious pawns," Redd replied.
"Hey, hey! I'm not a pawn. I'm more a queen. Check and checkmate," Yona bit back, guffawing in her high-pitched hyena laugh.
"Shh! Keep it down. You don't want to botch this again," Redd growled, baring her wolfish fangs at Yona. Yona's fur stood on end and she shut up immediately.
"Don't take this lightly. We've only got one chance. And besides, have you even noticed where the trail leads? It's into a large cluster of trees, which could mean a possible terreant nest. In addition to those humans, we also have to watch out for ferals. Remember that we're in uncharted, alien territory here. There's no telling what we'll come across."
"Hm. Smart kid," Jayken said approvingly.
"Hm. Dumb adults," Redd deadpanned back, but not without letting a slight smile play on her lips.
"Aaaaanyway. Let's not get sidetracked. If we have to go through a terreant nest, so be it." Redd steeled her resolve and began to walk forward, the rest of the assassins and scouts following nervously in her footsteps.
They're like robots, Redd mused to herself in the disgust. Hardly any of them had even mouthed a single word since the beginning of the operation. They were trained to do their duty and do it efficiently and swiftly. Which, of course, Redd respected, but to be honest she didn't really mind Yona and Jayken's lighthearted company. But she couldn't let herself admit that. It made her weak.
As Redd and the others traversed through the thick clump of mossy trees covered in dark green, she felt something was off. Yona noticed it too, as well as a rookie voxen assassin next to her. They sniffed the air, catching a whiff of something unpleasant, but faint enough to be easily missed.
However, that scent was quickly covered as the wind suddenly changed direction ever so slightly – in just the right direction that the scent was downwind, and also hid the various other scents of the humans hiding in the trees.
Suddenly, the wind shifted again, completely disappearing as the strong stench of human assaulted Redd and Yona's noses. They reeled at the sudden smell before realizing they were being pushed to the ground by an invisible force. Yona felt the fur on her back separate as it was pressed down, and realized the force was wind.
Yona was able to struggle back to her feet, but the rest of the operators weren't so lucky. Even Redd couldn't withstand Axel's air magic.
Silas, watching from behind a shadowy enclave in the bark of a nearby tree, couldn't believe his eyes as he peeked out from under the canopy. Axel was able to overpower several specially trained operators at once… with air! And not only that, but he'd improved so much in such a short time. Silas felt useless in comparison. Axel had said with full confidence that he'd be able to execute his step of the plan, but now doubt started to creep into Silas' mind.
Would he be able to do the same?
There was only one way to find out. Silas closed his eyes as he heard the strained grunts and felt all the eyes of the other Last Stand members baring down on his back. He focused on his breath and his heart – slowing his breath an emphasizing his exhales and inhales. His heart rate began to naturally follow his breathing, and soon he was calm, even though he was shaking.
Adrenaline pulsed through his veins, but so did his mana. He drew both out in front of him, staring straight at the ground beneath the monsters' feet. He felt the mana all around him, swimming through the trunks of the trees around him, and even saw the great balls of mana clustered around the dormant terreants, bound to be woken by this commotion.
It was just like shaping the rock container for the water. It was just like putting a hole through the boulder. It was just a bigger terraform than usual. He saw the ground underneath the operators begin to shift as the soil gave way and began to retreat into the ground.
He was doing it! He was actually doing it.
Axel pressed harder with his air magic as all 15 of the operators were forced into the hole.
Now was the hard part. Silas grit his teeth as he willed the walls of the pit he'd just made to close in on the trapped operators. He called for the mana that pulsed through the cracks in the ground like blood through veins, pleading for it to do his bidding. Move, he commanded it.
The walls of the pit began to creep closer like an advancing army. They bore down open the operators, filling in the gaps between them. Soon, they were all trapped in an earthy prison as Silas filled in the hole with his magic. Only the heads remained above ground.
Completely exhausted, Silas saw the ground several feet beneath him and began to sway silently. His vision swam, blurring before his eyes as he lost sense of reality. He felt he was falling but couldn't tell if he truly was or not.
Suddenly, he bumped into something hard as a strong and sturdy force caught him by the stomach and set him upright. His vision began to restore itself as his eyes refocused. Julia and Jasper had been quick to react – they'd predicted this would happen and had taken the nearest trees just in case.
Unfortunately, in doing so Julia and Jasper had revealed Silas' position, rustling the leaves and branches noisily and taking him out from underneath the shaded cover.
"Over there! They're over there!" one of the operators shouted, his lungs strained by the force of the dirt pressing in on his chest.
Jasper cursed under his breath as several of the operators' eyes began to glow. Silas's eyes widened as he saw cracks begin to appear in the earth he'd shifted. Bright lights began to even emanate from some. Now that his mana was spent, he couldn't hold it down.
He hadn't planned for that. Of course he'd run out of mana quickly. What had he been thinking? It was Rekka who'd suggested the plan, but he should have brought it up. If they were captured it would be entirely his fault.
Silas was fine with being captured. He was scared to death of being blamed for it.
Yona was the first one to break free of the earthly prison that held her. However, Axel's air magic was still strong enough to keep even her stooped. Her claws were rooted to the ground as she dropped to all fours to mitigate the pressure.
The terreants had finally been awakened – such a cluster of hot, warm bodies in front of them made them hunger. Instinctively they began to reach out their branches to the massive energy source, hoping to feast off the mana and heat. It was one of the best catches they'd ever had in their century-long lifetimes. So many ample, young bodies…
Their razor-sharp teeth sliced through the air as Axel guided their branches forwards with his air magic, while keeping everyone else down.
Silas was so speechless he even ceased to think. He saw the branches shoot out quicker than even he could run. They plunged through the air like grappling hooks, latching onto the nearest operator.
Each terreant bit down hard on their prey, some even draining the blood out of multiple operators at the same time. They screamed at first until their vocal cords failed them and their voices left their bodies. There were several more gruesome ways to die, but Silas couldn't help but turn away as he saw the eyes of several operators dull and roll back into their pale heads. He witnessed a couple operators with human-like skin have it dry and wrinkle, until the outlines of their skeletons were visible through their clothing. Through the branch-like tubes he saw bulges of blood travel out from their husks and into the terreants' trunks.
Perhaps it was his mana usage earlier, but Silas suddenly felt bile rising in his throat. His mouth opened reflexively, but he forced it shut as the bile stopped just before his tongue and began to slide back down his esophagus. A few chucks of half-digested fruit flew onto his tongue and he quietly coughed as it dribbled out of his mouth, his nose burning.
A shout, one not of despair but of determination, snapped Silas out of his daze. To his surprise, three of the operators had shaken off the terreants' assault. With a jolt, Silas realized that several of terreants' branches lay shredded and twisted on the ground, splattered with blood. He recognized the faces of two of the operators – the hyena girl and the fox in the odd-looking suit. The third was a very young-looking girl with a giant fur coat and wolfish ears. She was snarling ferociously, and Silas could see the beginnings of fur strands poking out from beneath her human-like skin.
"H-help!" Evelynn cried, holding an unconscious Axel in her arms. Realizing they'd completely forgotten about him, Jasper and Julia leapt nimbly through the trees with superhuman agility and grace to arrive at Axel's side.
"Damn. Clever bastards," Redd cursed, clenching and unclenching her fists deep within her spacious gloves. She knew that she shouldn't. She knew Charybdis would scream at her and even fire her if she so much as laid a finger on her precious test subjects. But she had no choice – the restraint that she'd trained over her short career was gone now, sucked out of her by the terreants. Her adrenaline pulsed through her veins free and uninhibited.
"How dare they," she muttered to herself, the world blurring as her perception faded to only herself. Her heart pounded in his small chest, shaking her body like an earthquake. "They think they can outwit me?"
Her hands began to throb until the sound of bones grinding and screeching against each other, cracking out of position broke the silence. They snapped, as if they were broken chains tying her down, restrictive no more. The terreants ceased their assaults like they were scared of the monster this girl was becoming. They backed off from even Yona and Jayken and the other few surviving operators, too scared to get anywhere near the sudden burst of raw magical power that began to emanate from Redd.
"The Silver Devil…" Yona whispered. Until now, she'd never understand the nickname. Redd was one of the most elite and feared assassins of PSEF, but Yona, being a veteran bounty hunter, had never taken her reputation seriously. But now, the fear that Yona felt was not one that exhilarated her but froze her in her tracks and chilled her to the bone – an act even Evelynn's daggers had failed to do.
Redd's spine bent forwards, curved at such an angle it would've snapped if it were still human. Her legs bent forward, her ankles extending as she stood on her toes – now sharp white claws that poked menacingly through the torn leather of her shoes. Digitigrade legs held upright by a hidden adjustable metal brace supported a large furred chest with an expansive and overbearing ribcage. Redd, first petite in height, now towered over everybody else, even Julia.
The Lykan-trans assassin reared her wolfish head, her ears pressing down against her skull. She bared her teeth at the figures in the trees. Her gigantic hands were now more than enough to fill her spacious gloves, and she unsheathed her razor-like claws.
"No way she can reach us up here…" Jasper mumbled to himself, knowing it wasn't true.
Suddenly, Redd dropped to all fours, dispelling in an instant any remnants of Axel and Silas' magic. Silas felt the bond between his mana and the earth shatter, repelling him back slightly. Redd steadied herself, pawing the ground with her lethal claws. In one fluid motion, she stretched them out and jumped.