ELDRITCH NIGHT (Rough Draft)

Chapter 42: Sky Meets Earth

The pack of beasts broke through the line of trees as a darkness sank in around us. The dome was thickening, and the sparks of energy it produced had become even more unstable and active. The sky was slowly shifting into a deep black fog that jumped and rolled like a tumultuous ebony sea beneath the crimson crackling hum of Zeus's fury.

As the dome thickened the borders were slowly shrinking and the edge of the dome gradually inched ever closer.

The earth moved and nearly shook me from my feet as the din of hundreds of thunderous hooves vied and harmonized with the howling gale to create a symphony of discordant chaos. It was a music of opposites, the furious cords of a raging sky meeting the unrelenting percussion of the quaking earth.

The air was filled with upturned dirt and missiles made from rock and small debris that pelted my back and obscured my vision.

As the quiet light faded into clamorous darkness the cries of demons rose up to meet it, as if the world had descended into Hell. If I had to stand before those fiery gates, I would not abandon hope. I would storm the cellars of hell with my head held high.

Hooved beasts charged at me with long and twisting horns that protruded from their heads in numerous spirals ending in jagged tips and cruel sickle like hooks. The behemoths had four shaggy legs attached to thick and muscular bodies that were covered in a layer of short, dark fur. Their heads were snarling masks of rage and folded flesh behind a Cheshire grin of large triangular teeth.

The largest of the beasts slowed as it threw its head back in a roar. The howl seemed almost mournful and was loud and clear enough for the challenge to rise above the pandemonium that shook both earth and sky. Its head was hidden beneath a matted mane of red hair and its single eye glowed bright orange with dancing light, as if a wildfire burned within it. Three red lines crossed its face and ended where its second eye should have been. The eye was nothing but torn and empty tatters covered by a red and angry wound still unhealed and oozing.

The short fur on the creature's back was purple, dark enough to be almost black. Unlike the hooves that most of its followers had, this beast's feet were clawed and left massive gouges in the earth behind it. It had a proud and regal air, as if it were a paragon of its species.

As this king of beasts continued to wail the rest of the pack charged forward, bending around and even leaping above their leader to reach me, their prey. I would not merely stand still and expose my neck, however. I didn't need to fight them all. I merely needed to delay them long enough for Telvy to finish or for her sisters to return.

My priority was to annoy and distract the monsters enough that they ignored the archmage. I had no illusions that she would stop to aid me before her work was complete. The life of her sister meant much more to her than my own, just as I valued my own life above hers or any obligations the Peacekeepers believed I owed them.

Eldritch energy was much thicker close to the border of the dome than it had been at the Yorktown. Despite the dome blocking off and siphoning away every trace of ambient energy, the area of crackling lighting that was powering the formation bled energy like waste heat from a generator.

I used Eldritch Mimicry to hide Telvy and my Companion in the illusion of a granite boulder. I had been sent on this mission weaponless, but I had collected the rifle dropped by the injured Peacekeeper after her impromptu flight.

I had some training in Peacekeeper weaponry, but I had never held a piece of tech this advanced. I knew that it had many alternate modes of fire and could even transform into different configurations, but I had no idea how to access them. I would have to content myself with an oversized machine gun with near limitless ammo.