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Chapter 23: Night of the Nightmare Stalkers

  Chapter 23: Night of the Nightmare Stalkers

  Night descended with terrible swiftness. The dense canopy of the redwood forest blotted out the final scraps of twilight, leaving the ground in an almost tangible darkness. An eerie glow flickered through the massive trunks, and Joseph felt the hair on his neck prickle at the unnatural lights. Despite his advanced magi-tech rifle and the augmented gem in his wrist, apprehension gnawed at him. There was a suffocating menace in the air, as though the forest itself had become hostile.

  He risked a glance at the woman crumpled where he had set her down—Elaine, still unconscious. Her face looked peaceful despite the chaos stirring all around. Closer by was Xin-ta, the beast-woman whose spear still dripped with the blood of fallen soldiers from earlier. She no longer radiated that quiet confidence; losing her ability to manipulate mana had rattled her deeply. He watched her square her shoulders, forcibly steeling herself for the fight.

  Suddenly, another ripple of laughter echoed through the redwoods. This time, the pitch varied—like some deranged chorus of mocking voices. Joseph’s breath caught in his throat.

  Joseph swallowed hard, not liking how her voice turned sharp with dread. “That laughter—that’s them?” he asked, a cold knot forming in his stomach.

  Xin-ta nodded slowly, knuckles whitening on her spear. “I never thought I’d face more than one. Not like this.” Her clan had warned her since childhood of the dwellers in the Deep—some real, some almost mythical. This breed, the “Nightmare Stalkers,” was among the worst. She had not only heard the cautionary stories but, years ago, had once glimpsed a single Stalker prowling a distant part of the forest. That single fleeting encounter had been enough to sear fear deep into her bones.

  Joseph frowned, scanning the dark tree line. “So… are they just animals? Bandits? I’ve never seen anything move like that in the forest.”

  She shook her head. “They’re predators—cunning, magical, and cruel. They hunt in ways that make even the bravest warrior quake.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “Now hurry. This place is no good; we need open ground… or an outpost.”

  As if in response, a mocking echo of laughter rippled through the branches overhead, multiplied and distorted. This time, it seemed to come from several directions at once. Xin-ta’s tail lashed nervously. When she spun around, she spotted the faintest glow—like smoldering cinders—peeking out from behind a cluster of redwoods.

  “There are… five sets of eyes,” she rasped, dread twisting her gut. “They never hunt in packs of five. Something is very wrong.”

  A shrill cackle broke the night’s silence, followed by a crackling burst of flame. Joseph’s eyes widened as orange light reflected off scaly forms darting between trunks. Tall but unnaturally lean, jackal-faced silhouettes wove around them, bright eyes shining with hellish gleams. Their scrawny frames were offset by unnerving grace; each step possessed an almost boneless fluidity. No sooner did Joseph fix his sights on one than it flicked out of view, hidden behind a root or trunk.

  One of them cackled in a sing-song voice that was too human to be natural. As the echo died, a second voice seemed to mimic Joseph’s own tone, calling out a plaintive “Help me!” from somewhere deep in the woods. A chill swept across his arms; the voice was so close to his own that it set his teeth on edge.

  “They… they mimic prey,” Xin-ta said shakily, her golden eyes scanning the gloom. “Sounds of pain, fear, or even a voice they’ve just heard. It’s how they break your mind.”

  Joseph exhaled, pressing the butt of his rifle tighter to his shoulder. “Frail or not,” he muttered, “we still have to see them to shoot them.”

  Just then, the world erupted with orange light. One of the Nightmare Stalkers spewed a short burst of crimson-tinged flame at the base of an old redwood. Dry bark caught fire, sending sparks showering across the undergrowth. The flickering flames momentarily illuminated five lithe silhouettes weaving amid the trunks. Glowing coals for eyes. Gnashing jaws. Barbed tails thrashing the air.

  Xin-ta snarled, the primal sound more bestial than Joseph had ever heard from her. “Stay away,” she spat, brandishing her spear. With her mana gone, she had only her physical prowess. But Xin-ta was no mere human. Even without magic, her body was a finely honed weapon—enhanced muscles, advanced reflexes, a prehensile tail for balance. She dropped into a low stance, ready to lunge.

  They didn’t have to wait long. The first Stalker sprang forward on digitigrade legs, launching itself at the pair with a sudden burst of speed. Joseph squeezed the trigger. A bright flash from his rifle crackled the air, and the recoil thudded into his shoulder. The creature twisted mid-leap, so quick and agile that Joseph’s shot only grazed its side. It let out a gravelly screech and bounded away, leaving oily droplets of blood spattering the ground.

  No sooner had the first retreated than two more charged from opposite sides. They zigzagged among the looming trunks to disorient him, flames flickering at their clawed fingertips. Xin-ta roared and rushed the closer one—a blur of fur and muscled grace. Her spear lashed out in a precise arc, slicing the creature’s flank, but again it darted aside with unnatural quickness. A swirl of sparks flared from its maw, forcing her to retreat or be scorched.

  She felt a surge of triumph that her blow had landed, but it was short-lived. A mocking chorus of howls echoed through the forest, and embers rained down around them. The Stalkers were systematically surrounding Joseph and Xin-ta, driving them into the center of a firelit ring. Even Elaine, still unconscious, lay perilously close to one of the creeping flames.

  “They’re herding us,” Joseph growled. He shifted sideways, putting himself between a pair of glowing eyes and Elaine’s prone form. “Xin-ta! We can’t let them cut us off.”

  She nodded, panting. Sweat beaded her brow, half from the flames, half from raw fear. “We need to break their circle—drive them back.” Her amber eyes darted to Elaine for a heartbeat. “I’ll guard her. You—shoot.”

  Joseph needed no further urging. He thumbed a switch on the rifle, feeding a greater surge of energy from his gem into the weapon. Light arced along its barrel. Suddenly, from the shadows to his left, a Stalker lunged. Its maw gaped to reveal a flicker of internal fire. With catlike speed, it swept a clawed hand in an attempt to rake Joseph’s face.

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  He squeezed the trigger. The high-energy shot ripped through the creature’s chest, spattering dark blood against a nearby trunk. A strangled cry wrenched from its throat, and it collapsed in a heap of dusty scales. One down.

  But there was no time to relish the victory. Two more of the beasts sprang into the flickering ring of light, jaws snapping. One dashed for Elaine, as though sensing easy prey. Xin-ta moved purely on instinct, vaulting over a half-burned log. She landed in front of Elaine and met the Nightmare Stalker head-on with her spear. Their collision sent them both tumbling. She hissed, twisting her body in mid-roll to throw it off. Despite its scrawny frame, the creature clung to her spear shaft like a cornered wolverine, jaws snapping with unholy fervor.

  Somewhere to her right, the forest exploded with gunfire. Another of Joseph’s shots lit the gloom, and a second Stalker shrieked in rage. Xin-ta tried to flip free, but the one on top of her spat a jet of flame from its open jaws. She barely dodged, feeling the scorching heat nip at her furred ears. She managed to wedge one foot against the beast’s chest and kicked it back with all her might. It skidded across the soil, scrambling upright with a hiss, but the momentary distance allowed her to regain her stance.

  “Find a weakness!” Joseph barked over the chaos. He swung his rifle around, scanning for the next threat. The ring of flames now scorched the undergrowth, sending a cloying smoke curling upward. The flickering blaze illuminated the gnarled shapes of the last three Stalkers lurking among the trunks.

  Xin-ta’s mind reeled. She recalled the clan’s old warnings: Their bodies are weak… but their minds are cunning. Do not let them fill your head with fear. She took a steadying breath. That was easier said than done, with the unearthly howling echoing all around them.

  Suddenly, a new chorus of voices erupted—this time, the tortured cries of someone who sounded like Elaine. “Help me…” the voice wailed. “I’m burning…”

  Joseph’s head whipped around, heart lurching, but he saw Elaine still lying motionless on the forest floor, untouched by any flame. The Stalkers were simply toying with them, spinning illusions and stoking terror. But the distraction worked—one of the beasts darted forward with uncanny speed, jaws parted in a silent snarl. Joseph leveled his weapon just in time, a flurry of gunfire erupting in short bursts. Sparks flared as bullets ricocheted off a nearby trunk, but at least one shot found its target. The Stalker stumbled, hissing, a fresh wound glistening along its scaly flank.

  Xin-ta used the opening. With a guttural war cry, she bounded in and drove her spear beneath the creature’s ribs, twisting hard. It let out a pained wheeze, embers glowing on its breath, then went limp on the shaft of her weapon. She yanked the blade free, her chest heaving.

  “That’s two!” she rasped, half-lost in the haze of adrenaline.

  There were still three more. Joseph caught movement at the corner of his eye—one Stalker scuttled along a fallen trunk, edging around the flames that now surrounded the clearing. He took aim, but the creature sprang off the log and disappeared into the darkness before he could fire.

  “They’re trying to pick us off from different angles,” Joseph muttered, shifting to keep Elaine at his back. Another swirl of maniacal laughter rained from the branches above, though the canopy was too thick to see anything. “Xin-ta, we might have to run.”

  She bared her teeth, the bioluminescent veins under her skin flickering with adrenaline. “Where? We can’t risk them following us deeper into the forest, and we’re too far from the outpost. I won’t leave her defenseless.” She jerked her head at Elaine.

  A shriek tore through the clearing as one of the three remaining Stalkers leaped onto a low branch and spat a swirling gout of fire at Xin-ta. She dove aside—yet even in mid-leap, she managed to hurl her spear. It whistled through the air and impaled the creature’s thigh. The beast toppled off the branch with a pained shriek, its flames sputtering in a wild arc that caught a patch of brambles on fire. Smoke and chaos thickened.

  Joseph didn’t hesitate. He pivoted, squeezing off several shots in rapid succession at the fallen Stalker. Two bullets buried themselves in its torso, and it lay still, scaly limbs twitching. Three down.

  A flicker of movement at ground level—another beast! This one sprang for Elaine with all its speed, evidently aiming to seize the “easy” target. Joseph’s heart lurched, but Xin-ta was faster. Relying on her preternatural reflexes, she crouched low and tackled the Stalker mid-lunge, sending them both crashing away from Elaine. It snapped at her face, a claw raking across her arm, but she ignored the pain. With an enraged bellow, she drew her hunting knife and plunged it beneath the creature’s jaw, cutting short its screams of terror.

  Four down.

  Now only one remained—a master of illusions, it seemed, for the scorching ring of firelight revealed nothing but flickering shadows. Each new swirl of flame cast dancing silhouettes across the redwoods. Yet the final Stalker was nowhere to be seen. For a moment, Joseph dared to hope it had fled. Then, a ragged voice sounded in the gloom, echoing eerily:

  “Nnngh… please… no more…”

  It was Joseph’s voice again, twisted in agony, bouncing around the smoldering trunks.

  “Show yourself!” he roared, weapon at the ready.

  Xin-ta crouched, panting, her tail lashing. A fresh streak of blood colored the fur on her arm, but her eyes blazed. She refused to let fear paralyze her. She forced her ears to tune out the ghostly mocking, instead listening for leaves crunching, twigs snapping—any real sign of movement.

  A low hiss to her right. She spun just in time. The last Stalker lunged from behind a fallen tree, wisps of flame dancing at its fingertips. Xin-ta thrust her arm out to ward it off, but it twisted aside, spitting a burst of fire aimed straight at Elaine. Her eyes went wide—she was too far to intercept.

  Joseph reacted faster than he ever had in his life. He hurled himself between Elaine and the incoming flames, bringing up his rifle as if it were a shield. The impact of fiery magic sizzled against the metal plating and singed his armor. For a heartbeat, white-hot pain blinded him. Then he felt the scorching claws of the creature dig at his side, trying to climb over him for Elaine.

  Adrenaline surged, and Joseph shoved the muzzle of his rifle against the Stalker’s torso. He pulled the trigger. The rifle’s gem flared brilliantly, unleashing a roaring discharge of mana-infused rounds at point-blank range. The Nightmare Stalker let out a tortured scream as it was thrown backward, smoldering holes punched through its narrow chest. It collapsed onto the forest floor and went motionless, red eyes dimming to black.

  Five down.

  For a long moment, neither Xin-ta nor Joseph spoke. Their chests heaved, lungs burning from smoke and exertion. The once-quiet stand of redwoods was now dotted with small, dancing flames, the flicker lighting the battered clearing like torches. Thin columns of smoke rose into the canopy, while the charred remains of the final Stalker lay on the ground.

  Xin-ta slowly approached, knife still held in a trembling grip. She nudged the carcass with the tip of her blade, verifying it wasn’t feigning death. After confirming it was gone, she exhaled shakily and wiped the sweat from her brow.

  “Is… is Elaine all right?” she rasped, eyeing Joseph’s scorched armor.

  He knelt beside the unconscious woman, checking her pulse with shaking fingers. “Alive,” he breathed. “No burns.” Relief washed over him, and the tension coiled in his muscles finally began to release.

  In the distance, the unholy laughter had ceased. No more mocking voices echoed among the towering redwoods. But the night was far from silent—embers crackled in the undergrowth, and the faint calls of real forest creatures crept back in.

  Xin-ta’s ears twitched at those gentle night-sounds. “We need to keep moving,” she whispered. “Others may come. They never move in packs of five… but that doesn’t mean more aren’t out there.”

  Joseph nodded, gently scooping Elaine into his arms again, ignoring the searing ache where his armor had scorched through to skin. “Let’s get to that outpost… fast.”

  Together, they trudged forward, leaving behind the charred remains of five Therolupus ignescens—and the scorched patch of forest that bore witness to the horrors they could unleash. Smoke drifted upward into the dark canopy, carrying with it the last traces of haunting mimicry. In their wake, the Redwood Forest seemed to exhale, a momentary respite from the nightmare. But Xin-ta and Joseph both knew the dangers below the surface were only beginning to stir.

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