SoS B1 C3 X2: Eye Shine
Ulysses tapped on Don’s shoulder and pointed his eyes to the top of the pillars. Ulysses then pulled his gun from it’s holster, took aim, and fired. He didn't know who, or what, it was, nor did he care, all he knew was it wanted them dead.
The silhouette wasn't particularly far away, but it was dark. Ulysses took aim for the glints of its eyes, and fired again.
It gave a bone-chilling screech as it was hit, a shriek which blended into the roll of thunder which followed. The lightning flashed behind the creature, allowing Ulysses to appreciate just how monstrous and grotesque it was. Limbs were out of place, and light pored through holes in its corpulence. It moved too quickly for its shape on limbs that were like long trunks of a tree. Another flicker, and it seemed like the top of the pillar was alive.
There were dozens.
And suddenly the abominations were on them in swarms. They had been lurking atop the pillars and rocks, and now moved between them, limbs lurching, bodies twisting, motions serpentine as they kept pace with the heros. Were the pillars not here to slow them down they could've outstripped the abominations instantly.
Ulysses took the gun from his side and started firing towards the eyes. His gunfire sparked light, and he saw the creature. A small sliver of fear struck him. "And here I thought all we had to deal with was zombies," Ulysses whispered underneath his breath.
Donald held his hands steadily on the bike's controls. Running from horrific beasties hadn't been part of his vehicular operations training. Not that he'd really attended it, preferring to play cricket with a few of his mates. He'd learned a few things about driving, and they were helping right now, he figured.
Taking advantage of how having to bob and weave through the pillars slowed them down, the abominations kept pace with Don and Ulysses. One of them, the one Ulysses had shot, lurched down from its elevation with clawed hands feet scrabbling at the pillars. It screeched, locked its soulless eyes onto Ulysses, and lurched out with extra hands.
Ulysses saw the attacks coming and moved so they hit his armor, and they hit hard. Keeping his eyes towards the top of the pillars, he prepared to open fire.
Allarah noticed the beasts just a moment before she heard the crunch of metal and saw the flash of light. She gripped Laemon.
Laemon kept his head down and his eyes forward, leaning into the turns despite grav-bikes not benefitting from it.
One among the swarm clambered down from the higher reaches of the pillars. Its peers blocked out the sky with the magnitude of their swarm and bulk, and so the one was difficult to see until it was already atop them. Two of its limbs unfolded and lurched out at Allarah and at Immuena's bike.
Laemon saw the appendage coming down, practically whistling through the air, and swerved last moment. The blow still landed, slamming into her back with such force that she was driven into him and he heard her wind forced out.
She felt the bike shift hard as she struggled to breathe, just barely managing to stay on. Inhaling sharply to catch her breath, she noticed a popping sensation in her ribs. Another shot like that could knock her out of the game
Without hesitation Tskhan reacted and readied his halberd. The monstrous beast's limbs didn't meet Immuena, nor the bike nor Tskhan; but his halberd. The blade spilt it's targets gnarled appendage leaving a gushing wound.
Immuena saw an opportunity in the earth, rather on it, and decided to shoot Tskhan a quick divination message.
<Jumping the bike so you can hit a vital, trust my driving and react when optimal. Surviving equals winning.>
At the apex of the jump, she tested if the ghost pulse was meant for these monstrosities.
She flipped up the toggle cover and smacked the button. She felt the effect rather than saw it, a shudder in the machine between her legs. The creatures visibly recoiled, but did not entirely abate. Those not attacking kept back, and the one continuing to attack did so in a more guarded manner.
Seeing his chance to strike he lunged off the back of the bike, halberd in hand, and plunged it into the wounded monster's torso riding the monster to it's impending fall.
The creature's grip faltered as Tskhan's blade pierced it. It stumbled, then fell from its perch to the ground. It hit the ground as Tskhan landed back in his seat, and the friction of the dirt wrenched it from his blade. It was lost to darkness as the grav bike outpaced it.
Hesitant to dart forward after the pulse, the remainder of the swarm screech at the 4, but do not yet attack. One beast is undaunted, and continues to attack Allarah.
More lurched down to take the place of the fallen. Three, to be exact, all of time coming in from behind Immuena's bike and closing fast…
Over by Don and Ulysses, they were facing the same worry. Another lowered itself down in front of Don, several feet out, twisted limbs poised to batter at his head as he passed.
Allarah adjusted her grip on Laemon to keep from falling and to ease pressure on her ribs. More beasts had appeared and in a panic she slammed her hand down on the pulse button, however, it was ineffective because she was out of range. She then started mulling over how to increase the output of the pulse.
Tskhan parried the first of the beasts brave enough to attack, knocking it's arm away taking a sizable chunk of oozing meat from the creatures limb. Another beast lunged forward to replace the first. When he parried the second attack, he cleaved off a section of the beast starting below it's right arm and reaching the top of it's head; it's skull was mostly still in one piece, minus half of what one might call a face. Another beast quickly sprinted and lunged forward to attack Tskhan, he managed to smack the beast with his halberd to stop its attack and slam it to the ground.
Allarah looked back and saw the largest beast lunge at Tskhan. She could tell it would hit him if nothing was done. Tskhan couldn’t block or dodge, and Immuena had her hands full. She focused on the beast and struck out with all the force her vectors could manage, trying to knock it aside. The beast slipped, clawed nails scrabbling at the pillars. For a worrying moment it seemed as though the monstrosity was going to recover, but then it flailed out again to attack Tskhan, sacrificing its footing on a failed attack. It fell, and slipped out of sight into shadow.
For a moment, it looked hopeless. The beasts, seemingly unphased by the loss of their own, swarmed in ever-greater numbers, tens of them lurching down now. Fetid lips pulled back over teeth shaped like tombstones. They sounded off with screams that tore through the night, and suddenly, they were gone. All at once they broke off. Screams became concerned cries, now bereft of loathing and instead pregnant with fear.
Laemon cycled down his bike as the stone pillars clustered closer and closer together, woven into walls by overgrowth. The sky was quite nearly blotted out, and the bikes were their only source of light.
He came to a stop at the foot of a cliff that stretched up into the shadow. Carved into it was all manner of facades. He regarded it, then turned back to the others.
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