42: A Sister’s Guild of Hunters

42: A Sister’s Guild of Hunters

At the edge between a towering mountain range and an expansive set of plains, a pseudo war had broken out. On the right, in the distance, a massive dragon torched the waves of misshapen monsters rushing towards it. The rider atop the dragon wielding a lance made of light cut down the survivors. Near the pair sat a bear. By now, it had grown to a size comparable to the emperor dragon. It swept its paws and cleaned up any stragglers attempting to escape.

On the left side of the battlefield, two people sat in meditative-like positions. Behind one sat a mystical gate reaching into the sky. Its doors sat wide open as a random assortment of spirits came rushing through. The other, acting as a guard, manipulated the ground to send waves of nature cascading into the enemy lines. Wooden spikes, poisonous seed bombs, carnivorous flowers, and more. Their attack covered all the bases.

Together, these four kept the two flanks under control. They funneled as many monsters as they could to the center of the battlefield. Here, in the centermost section of the battlefield, a storm of glimmering lights and carnage filled the scene.

Roxanne stood in the center of the battlefield, an orchestra conductor as she remained unarmed. Green light flooded out from her eyes and wreathed her hands. Her mouth, though, murmured orders to the twelve spirits she controlled.

“It’s rare to see Roxanne go full out,” The woman manipulating nature sighed. She sent a wave of vines forward, wrapping, then throwing a wave of enemies in Roxanne’s direction. “How are your spirits doing, Deuce?”

“They’re doing well... I think,” Deuce grimaced as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. “The mental load of hundreds of spirits is nothing to scoff at, even if they’re all weak.”

“I mean, among the hundreds, there’s got to be some strong ones, yeah?” The woman scratched her chin.

“So far, no, I think some of the stronger ones might’ve been scared off by Roxanne’s spirits,” Deuce shook his head. “Not that I really know though, I only control the gate, it's random what comes out.”

The woman raised an eyebrow before focusing back on her job. “Well, just let me know I guess. I’m just here to guard you. Close the gate if you need to rest, the battlefield is under control, even though we’re probably losing against Gideon and Alara.”

“No, no, here’s what you don’t understand, Hazel,” Deuce shook his head. “I can’t close the gate now. I’ll push through. It’s only a matter of time before a stronger spirit comes out. It’s as they say, most people quit right before they hit it big.”

“... Worrying, but you do you,” Hazel let out an exasperated sigh. “I just want to go home...”

A super-sized rabbit leapt around, crushing monsters underneath with each movement. A master of hit-and-run. Overhead coiled a massive dragon, sweeping through and dominating the battlefield with its size and power. The rest, the snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig all followed suit, carving out their own sections of the battlefield. Each a deadly weapon under Roxanne’s control.

Minutes ticked by, and after another ten minutes of fighting, everything cooled down. Deuce’s gate closed with a BANG and Roxanne unsummoned her twelve spirits. Hazel cleaned up the last of the stragglers by summoning giant carnivorous plants right beneath them. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. With chomp, another monster disappeared, never to be seen again.

“Good work everyone,” Roxanne wiped her forehead as everyone gathered around her. “Brilliant strategy as always, Alara, thank you for your advice.”

“Of course,” Alara bowed. “It's my honor.”

“No need to be formal,” Roxanne laughed while letting her brown hair down from its ponytail. “Any updates from the investigation group?”

“I sent Cael over there after the battle ended,” Alara spoke up, “He just let me know that they finished their investigation just a little while ago. They’re packing up their evidence right now.”

“Cool, cool, so let’s just meet them at our base camp,” Roxanne thanked Alara once more. “Now, Gideon, do you still have enough energy?”

“Of course!” He laughed, taking a few steps back to put some distance between him and everyone else. He shouted “BEAR CAR!” and transformed into a... large bear with an exhaust pipe. The sound of an engine revving filled the air as he smiled. “Hop on!”

“What kind of bear is this...” Alara shook her head in confusion as she, along with everyone else, hopped on. The bear car took off the moment everyone grabbed on, zipping across the field at race car speeds. “I’ve never heard of a bear with an engine? What is this fictional bear nonsense...”

“Just don’t question it,” Roxanne laughed, “You’ve seen more crazy things from my younger sister.”

“But I expect it from her, it fits in her power! I never expected that Gideon would actually be able to recreate the random transformations she came up with...” Alara facepalmed. “At least it helps our team...”