Ether and Demon stood shoulder to shoulder, keeping their heads high inside the opening chamber. Ferals growled and stared above them, keeping a sense of anger in their throats.
Hara emerged from the darkness, her fists were closed. "An Olavin-Faa Forest Stalker hides above us, we can sense it."
"A what?" Demon asked.
"Qillur, giant creatures with legs big enough to be considered trees. They wrap an area in silk then wait for it to break. If we do not take care of it, we are trapped inside," Hara answered.
Tellendor ignited, setting fire to Ether's hand. "Well, are you ready?"
Syndicate Dust engulfed Demon's entire frame, telling his brother he was ready. Together, they broke through the dirt ceiling. Once they were on their feet, Ether ignited the rest of his body.
Bright flames torched the world around them, bringing light to a world that has not seen any sort of light in thousands of years. Among the dark brown trees, black 'trees' loomed.
Demon studied these trees closely, realizing just how odd they were. Small spikes served as branches for it, but also to weave the silk.
"Here it is, at least one of the legs. Where is the -" Ether paused.
Somewhere over the trees, a tarantula-like body hung over them. Both fangs rubbed against each other, getting the venom ready for injection.
The brothers noticed the texture on the creature's body, it was like tree bark. Rough and tough, serving as a shield against whatever tried to attack it. And they were right.
Bark did grow on them, but as an exoskeleton. Further tricking victims into believing one of its several legs was an actual tree instead of the foot of a lurking predator.
"We'll... what's the plan?" Ether asked.
"Plan means we have put thought into it. What we are doing right now is improvising," Demon answered.
One of the creature's legs came over them like a falling tree, impacting the ground like one. The Ferals below felt the force as the ceiling trembled and they fell on each other.
Wings formed from the purest of flames grew out of Ether's back, giving him fight to the same leg. He danced through the drowned out sky as the creature began to rotate.
Before it could move the leg, Tellendor punctured the exoskeleton and began boiling the instinct-like flesh underneath. The creature cackled, moving both of its fangs while trying to shake Ether off.
Demon watched from afar, keeping a slow pace on as he watched what the Qillur was going to do next. Until the Syndicate Dust alerted him of an incoming threat.
A leg was barreling towards him, ready to crush him beneath its weight. In response, Demon geared up a punch. His eyes narrowed, waiting for the opportunity to strike.
Right as the leg was landing on him, he let the punch fly. A powerful pulse shook the neighboring trees, which led to the leg being crushed from the bottom-up.
The Qillur cackled, two of its several legs were injured. It understood the smartest course of action was to escape. However, it was unsure if that even was possible.
Ether formed a burning sphere in his hand, it was tiny and innocent. He smiled at it, before slowly turning his attention to the looming threat.
All the Qillur remembered after was feeling immense pain as its organs were going up in flames. The orb had two parts, the primary blast and the inferno that followed.
It was like lighting a forest on fire, except the forest was a single beast. The Qillur cackled, realizing escape was impossible. So it resorted to it's only option: kamikaze.
Demon planted his foot beside Ether, who kept a smile on as he watched the beast go up in flames. Black dust formed a dome around them, protecting the brothers from what came next.
Sure enough, just like Demon's gut told him, the beast exploded. Sending acid and body parts everywhere. It smelled like rotting corpses were left inside a warm room for weeks on end.
For Ether, this smell was disgusting and unbearable. But for Demon, this brought him memories of being inside the Distorted Mind.
"Wh - what the fuck!?" Ether began to laugh.
"It knew survival was not a possibility, so it went out in style. At least it left a mark - albeit a rather unpleasant one. But oh, the memories," Demon added.
Both siblings stared at the world around them. Almost invisible silk decorated the trees, while acid burned them away, and pieces of the original creature laid across the area.
"Now that I've gotten used to you again, welcome back. What brought you here?" Ether asked.
"The Nine," Demon got on one knee to examine a piece of the Qillur's bark. "Wonder what this could do if I added my twist to it?"
Ether watched from a safe distance. "Have you mastered the art of creation? Sounds like you did."
Demon looked over his shoulder, peering through the crack in his helmet. "If only. All I have access to is my abilities as a Distorted. Nothing has changed since we reunited back in Digon."
"Ah, well, right. So, Distorted, huh? You know, coming back brought a lot of good things with it. I remember you did that thing with Jakery and brought him back," Ether continued.
"Necroclysm? I was taught to recreate. Nothing about that involved me making a new creation," Demon corrected.
"Of course, right," Ether sighed. "L - let's head back inside and figure out our next move."
Demon nodded. "Yes, Hail-Heart. That's where we must strike."
"Why?" curiosity was strong in Ether's voice.
"I'll explain soon. Head inside and gather up the elites. I will get there after I am done out here," Demon replied.
Not wanting to annoy his brother anymore, Ether parted the dirt that sat on the foot of a tree. Allowing him to dig into the den where everyone remained.
He instantly got to work on rallying up their forces, getting ready for whatever plan his brother was going to hatch up.