I woke up as rays of light shone their way into the small tunnel we used as a shelter. At the entrance stood Alice, struggling to keep herself awake, but still keeping watch since I woke her in the night. It’s harder at the beginning.

I looked over to the girl lying next to me. The veins had spread even further, covering her entire torso and part of her neck by now. Today’s the last day. I walked up towards Alice who shot around at the sudden noise behind her.

“You’re awake.” When she realized it was me she calmed down. “Guess it’s time to go to the tree then.”

“You stay here. We can’t take her with us while climbing, but we can’t just leave her here either.”

Alice seemed to want to stop me, struggling in internal conflict. “But it’s me who led us in this situation.”

“Can you take care of the cranes without getting poisoned yourself?”

She bit her lips, thinking about the possible outcomes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Okay.” She spoke in a weak tone, still unsure if this was the right way.

I stepped outside, feeling the cold and wet air. The sun rose at the horizon, lighting the land for a brief period before it will rise above the cloud. The storm which brew in the distance grew bigger and bigger, already reaching into the bog. Soon this island will be covered be its clouds too.

I rushed forward, the light in my back competing, trying to be faster than me as we raced towards the tree. Only the wind gave us company in this time, where nocturnal monsters went to sleep, and the others still weren’t awake.

While intelligent monsters where dangerous to fight against as they set up things like ambushes and defenses, making groups to patrol throughout the night, it was relatively easy to get through the territory of beastlike monsters. Though that didn’t mean that these were harmless as they needed traits strong enough to fight for their survival like poisons, hard shells, or sharp claws.

Soon the light left me behind, crawling faster and faster over the island, shrieks coming out from here and there as the beast awoke, before the sounds of fluttering wings, thousands of them, started to drown out everything else. It started with a few, flying outwards the tree, before it turned into a mass, weaving in the sky.

Then a cry pierced through the air, shrill and sinister. For a moment everything stopped, silence engulfing the island, before the cranes answered the call of their mother, turning to leave the island in all directions, a few circling downwards to search the island for any prey stupid enough to wander this land. Just come at me.

I rushed forward. These things didn’t know yet that they were no longer the apex hunter at the island. Cranes flew down all around me, hunting the beast that came out of hiding searching for their own food. A few came to me, ready to hack at me with their claws, only to turn into fried chicken when they crashed into my fire, twisting their bodies while crashing into the ground. But they’re only dangerous if they could come near oneself.

The only problem left in my way to the tree were the other beasts, fleeing from the cranes and stampeding their way through everything or those small enough to hide in the grass, preying on those bigger than themselves by taking them down through a surprise attack.

I got nearer and nearer to the tree, stopping the bigger ones, troublesome to kill in a short time, with a Firewall and redirecting them while I crushed the weaker ones which tried to prey on me. These ones aren’t any trouble. At least I thought so.

I felt them before I could see them. The earth trembled beneath me, nearly making me miss a Fireball I aimed at an attacking crane. As I struggled to keep my balance while fighting off the remaining cranes dirt shot up around me. Giant scarlet mandibles dug through the soil, coming out of the ground. I broke into a run as giant ants came out, taking a look around and searching for the nearest prey.

Quickly after me I felt the ants, the ground trembling at their sheer mass. I heard the cranes attacking the ants, their claws clanking against the carapace. Tear each other apart and leave me alone! Some ants stopped, snapping with their mandibles at the cranes trying to bite their quick attackers. But just as they couldn’t harm the cranes the cranes couldn’t tear through the carapace of the ants.

I spun around, erecting another Firewall to keep them away from me, at least for a few seconds. However, they just charged right through, their carapace burned black but still holding them together. Damn, I hate beasts like these.

I turned around again, charging at them tree. Now that I got near, I had a clear view, seeing the vines crawl around it, big enough to serve as a platform to walk upwards. I dashed forward, the ant right behind me, before I jumped at a nearby root, lifting itself out of the ground before flowing into the trunk. Of course, this didn’t stop the ants as they just began to crawl upwards, onto the root, following me.

“God, search yourself some other prey!” I cursed at the ants while hurrying upwards, jumping from on root to another, before switching over to the vines. As I made my way upwards, the ants following my every movement, cries rang out from the cranes, calling for support as their nest was in danger. They dived towards me in masses, swiping at me with their claws. I erected my Flame Shield stopping them from poisoning me, but they also stopped me from advancing forward.

All the while the ants crawled further upwards, their legs clacking against the bark of the tree. The cranes also came down onto them but for any ant that fell down another two made their way upwards, towards me and the nest. Seems like their fight down there alarmed their whole colony.

I felt my shield cracking under the pressure emanating from the cranes attack, the ants just behind my back. And with danger coming from both sides I did the only sensible thing. I jumped downwards. When I fell down the cranes let off, believing that gravity would do the rest for them. The ants on the other side just crawled onwards, unable to stop now.

I felt the wind rush around me as I fell. I conjured a Flame Whip, lashing out at a nearby vine while gripping at the other end. My bones cracked at the sudden stop before my body rushed towards the tree as the pull of gravity was diverted. But just like my body the vine was stressed by the sudden pull, snapping just before I crashed into the tree.

I set my fist aflame before ramming it into the bark, ripping it as I crashed downward. While the flames burned most splinters in seconds some still stabbed into it. My freefall ended when I crashed into another vine, my legs stinging while my hand was turned into a bloodied mess. Natural healing should take care of this. Hurting all over my body I set into motion once more, a clash of species above me.