I could see Rey's facial muscles flex as he gritted his teeth. His breath quickened, and his eyes darted between me and the tree line.

Well, there goes my plan, but at least the bait volunteered itself.

"I suggest we get moving if you want to see them alive."

"You won't bullshit your way out of this one," he said, raising the gun slightly.

"Do you think I'm bullshitting right now?" I asked, looking him in the eyes.

As our gazes met, another scream echoed through the night.

"You go in front where I can see you!" he said, pointing the weapon and gesturing for me to go in front of him.

I shrugged and did as he said. We jogged through the forest in the direction of the scream, and I used the time to cast Wailing Armour on myself.

Apparently, Peter decided to come early, as it only took us around two minutes to get there.

But it was clear we were two minutes too late. We arrived at a smaller clearing in the forest. The ground here was slightly raised, creating a cliff over the river. The first person I saw was Cecil lying next to a tree. Burn marks were visible on his body, snaking on the skin in strange patterns, a telltale sign of a thunder attack landing square on his chest.

Victor lay further away, in a small pool of his own blood, still conscious, but not for too long. Beside him, Liz was crying. She was trying to help him, trying to stop the massive bleeding, her own ankle bent at an angle.

The last person was Mercy. She jumped away from a swing of the arm. The small camera flew out of her hand and down the cliff into the river.

She almost followed the device as she was cornered against the cliff.

Blue snakes of electricity lit up the night as thunder started to dance over the mutant's body.

It was a shit show, and to make it worse, the creature was already enraged. No baiting it while hiding now. But the strategy didn't change. The first strike would be crucial.

Before I could start casting or even want Rey, I heard the trigger click and the loud explosion of a bullet being fired. He emptied the entire magazine into the mutant in a few seconds.

That did the job, drawing its attention away from Mercy and directly onto me and him.

Change of plan.

There was a spark of recognition on the strange faces covering the twisted flesh. The expressions on the mutant weren't the friendly kind.

"Weave between the trees!" I shouted to Rey, hoping he would at least buy me some time.

I then dived in another direction, blocking a lightning snake with a shield and then disrupting the spell, now knowing what it would do.

The mutant looked confused among all the targets, but finally picked me, barreling in a straight line. I dropped my backpack to the ground, opening it in the process, allowing the surviving skeletal mice to crawl out of it as I prepared to dodge.

I cast Death's Grasp in the process.

But the moment the skeletal hands burst from the ground, the creature also jumped to the side, releasing a smaller burst of magic. It looked like I wasn't the only one who learned.

I cast a shield and ducked under the lightning flying toward my head.

I caught Rey in the corner of my eye. He was taking in the entire scene, unsure of what to do. He was slowly edging his way toward Cecil, lying on the ground, while keeping the mutant in his field of vision.

I released an overcharged Cutting Storm as a mouse jumped to meet a soul-destroying bird. The spell bought me some time to orient myself.

For my plan to work, I needed time for casting. I swept my gaze over the scene, taking everything in. There was a broken camera with a shattered lens. More equipment dropped on the ground in a pile. A notebook—and a shotgun.

I did a double-take.

There it was with the equipment, a double-barreled shotgun lying in the grass. A small pistol wasn't enough to properly wound the creature, but a shotgun had a chance.

The monster was focused on me. It was the best moment.

Silent Message.

"Rey, if you want to live, pick up that shotgun and shoot it when I give the signal," I sent.

The man froze and then looked to me as I was casting Burning Breath to slow down the mutant.

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His eyes were filled with confusion and disbelief, but, as always, his decision-making was on point. He turned from Cecil and went for the weapon. His muscles were tight, and his breath quickened, but his hands didn't shake.

I saw him load it with something from the backpack and approach the forest where I was currently having a standoff with Peter. We were both readying another wave of attacks.

I used another Silent Message to point Rey behind a larger tree as I prepared my barrage.

He made it just as Peter was starting to cast thunder magic while approaching me.

To its surprise, I closed the distance.

A massive spear of thunder materialized and flew at me—only to meet a large rock thrown right into it with Force Control.

Before another attack could be made, I cast Pierce right into the eyes.

The spell flew in a straight line as the mutant easily dodged to the left. I then followed it with Death's Grasp, casting it so that the creature was forced to step back.

Some of the hands managed to grasp it before an explosion of magic smashed them to the side, but it was enough to buy me time for a cast of the easiest third-circle spell I knew.

Using the staff for Force, I flung myself into the mutant.

Force Explosion.

A wave of force erupted from me—enough to send the thing flying onto its back. It rose quickly, but that moment of surprise was enough, as a loud shot from the double-barreled shotgun sounded in the air.

He managed to wound it. The magic covering the body stopped the pellets from penetrating any deeper, but it was uneven—the impact was enough to scatter blood as the buckshot tore the skin of one of the hands.

The mutant roared as I dived to the ground and smeared the blood on myself before using the staff to fire a Pierce spell to get its attention, and prepared to run.

Peter fired a barrage of thunder toward Rey, but the man was already behind the tree.

The mutant stopped, unsure who to pursue.

It was the perfect time for me.

Blindness of the Seven Hells once again started to weave itself into the lower face. This time, slower—the creature had learned and would be on the lookout for it. That's why I needed the minds distracted, and Rey came at the perfect moment, as he waited for the mutant to turn to me and fired another shot into its back. This time, a shield of thunder materialized, but before the creature could turn to him, I fired Magic Missiles aimed at the eyes of the faces.

Physical attacks were easily stopped by magic, but the initial wound from the gun convinced the creature that it was dangerous enough.

I slowly wove the curse as we continued to fight. I was running out of spell slots and had to make sure it didn't get the idea of going full force against Rey, but it was wary of turning its back to me, preferring to let Rey fire into its back.

We both hid behind trees. I noticed that the creature also stopped attacking, and its flesh began to stitch itself together. No matter, it didn't seem to do anything about the curse.

"What the fuck is that?" shouted Rey from behind one of the trees.

"Your murderer!" I shouted back, keeping my eyes on the enemy. It seemed to listen to our conversation. "It's the preacher's son!" I added, and it sharply turned to me.

"Oh, fuck. What did you get me into?" he screamed.

"A good fight!" I screamed back and jumped from behind the tree, seeing a large thunderbolt slam into it as a small explosion showered me with splinters.

And then it finally happened: the curse clicked into place.

The mutant screamed.

The first part of the plan was completed. Now, to distract it once again for a much tougher curse.

I hoped that would be much easier now.

But I was wrong.

It really did learn from our last battle. And knowing its mobility was tied to its ability to dictate the tempo, it wasn't going to let me use the same strategy.

Ribbons of vibrating purple magic exploded from the twisted body and created a second form around it—like a thunder dragon-styled armour over the flesh. I had no idea what level that spell was, but the density was easily around fourth-tier.

"Fuck," I screamed, and prepared for defense.

The armour helped with movement as, with the sound of a thunderclap, the mutant arrived in front of me.

I would not be able to dodge that one.

I dual-cast a Shield and added another one from the staff, seeing the hook fly at me.

The first shield broke, followed by the second. I barely managed to move as the third shattered as well.

The hook slammed into me and stopped at the Wailing Armour. The strength of the attack sent me flying as my own spell weakened.

I cut off the pain. Using all of my will, I focused on casting another Armour while still in the air.

My body hit the ground as the new spell lit up. Bouncing off the forest floor, I finally stopped with a slam into a tree. Thankfully, the armour stopped my ribs from breaking, although the impact was enough to knock the air from my lungs.

I immediately jumped to my feet and saw that at least the spell on the mutant became much more translucent. Apparently, it couldn't move in an instant and land attacks like that indefinitely.

Thank fuck for that.

The creature was approaching once again. It ignored another shot from the shotgun and came at me.

'Fuck it—now or never,' I thought and prepared to cast the last curse. Just like I did previously, while weaving between attacks in close quarters, I would do the same here.

I cast Panther's Agility. It didn't do much with my now natural high speed, but I'd take anything here. I then rotated my right arm, letting a tattoo of a face with two normal eyes and a third blind eye show on the skin.

The mutant was approaching.

Just as I was about to start weaving the curse, we both saw some movement to the right. Both the thing and I turned, only to see a strange sight. It was a grey cat accompanied by four people.

They were all naked and pale with large, inflated bellies, as if pregnant. The new group moved strangely, wobbling from side to side as the cat was riding the largest one like a mount.

One of the four tilted forward and ran toward us, claws ready for a strike, although I didn't sense much danger from it.

Was it running at me, the mutant, or both?

I couldn't tell.

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