She didn’t know.
While she was contemplating the changes these people underwent, she still searched for them. In reality, it was much harder to pick out any individual mesmer in this area because the whole place was covered in their sickly taint. She dropped her mana sense because looking at it made her feel ill. Instead, she relied on her heightened senses, trying to block out the horrible stench that pervaded the place. If you couldn’t wash properly, it was only natural that you would stink. Funny how she’d been too preoccupied with staying alive before that she never paid a lot of attention to the smell.
So she hovered above what she felt was the center of the trees, trying to pick out anything abnormal. She finally gave it up as useless to attempt spying from the sky. Darkness wrapped like a cloak around her, she descended quickly in the deep shadow of one of the large trees. She remembered that once she touched the ground, she’d be able to use earth magic to search for any chambers below ground.
What she hadn’t expected as she lowered were mesmer coming out of the woodworks. She silently cursed, realizing they were drawn to her magic, even darkness. She paused in midair, trying to count the mesmer who were scrabbling on the ground and up the trees. So much for her misdirection.
Her danger sense was screaming at her, and she felt the air current behind her shift. Turning her head, she saw three mesmer jumping for her, claws outstretched despite their inability to see her through the darkness.
With a growl, she lashed out with lightning. The bright light forked, seeking the path of least resistance, drawn to the small metal bits still attached to their bodies. The mesmer revealed expressions of surprise as they were thrown back through the air, falling limply, the paralysis of her strike not allowing them to move their limbs.Before they could hit the ground, other mesmer leapt into the air, catching them before turning eyes glowing with anger upon her.
Legs tensed as they watched her descend ever further, and she was only twenty feet from the ground. “Come to ussssssss...” They hissed, and she smiled in grim determination. They would get what they wanted. Feeling like she shouldn’t waste the opportunity of them all watching her with such curiosity and anger, she reached into her magic, readying her burst.
The shadows dissipated as she released her hold on them, replaced by a sudden burst of light as she glowed like the midday sun. Hisses of outrage and dismay escaped their lips as they were blinded. They shielded their eyes or ran backwards, trying to duck behind trees to lessen the blow of her radiance. She ruined everyone’s night vision, even her own.
Thankfully, her eyes weren’t as sensitive to the light as theirs, so she recovered more quickly, landing on the ground in a spot that’d been vacated. She needed to act quickly, given that she was sure her shining beacon would draw back those she’d sent on a wild goose chase. The only question was how long it would take them to return.
“Attack!” The guttural voice forced those who’d been displaying some hesitation to start jumping towards her in a frenzy, and she realized that even among the mesmer, there were those in charge. At the same time, she heard the voice tempt her, “Releassssse the light…”
Her brightness dimmed for a second before she sent out an even brighter pulse, causing the mesmer to hiss in alarm and momentarily shy away again. He wanted her to release the light? Fat chance! Still, now that her feet were on the ground, she sent out a pulse of earth magic, mentally mapping the ground in her vicinity.
She turned to her left, spotting an unassuming tree with a stone building at the base. The tree looked like it had grown through the building, tearing it in half, but she knew that was the entrance now. She stepped in that direction, only to have her knees buckle slightly from the impact of a head-sized stone striking against her wind barrier. It bounced off, but the force still made her stagger. In that brief moment, she saw the mesmer jumping at her like a tide once more.
“Dream…ON!” She felt the energy leaving as lightning exploded outwards from her body in all directions. A thunderous boom assaulted the ears of every living thing in the vicinity, and she felt her own eardrums rupture as she fell to her knees from the shock and pain. Bodies littered the forest floor around her as she blinked away the bright sunspots that were the remnant of her lightning wall.
She’d killed a large swath of enemies, and the rest seemed to be in a similar condition as her, clutching their heads carefully, or not so carefully in a few cases. She screamed in pain as she felt claws raking across her back. Her disorientation completely dissipated her normal wind wall shielding, and one of the mesmer still had enough willpower to attack her. Probably one of the ones that had been further away.
As she felt the claws cleave through the material of her clothes she lurched forward, pulling herself away from the mesmer as she turned. A dagger had no sooner appeared in her hand before it was thrown, embedding itself in the forehead of the mesmer that left a bloody trail across her back. It seemed surprised that she was able to counterattack, the shock on its face evident as it shuddered to a stop before falling.
She forced a wind wall up around her in a bubble, sending a burst of healing magic through her back and ears to stop the bleeding. Her head still felt like it was ringing, but she could hear the shouts of angry mesmer, along with the groans of pain of those who’d been injured, but not killed. She finished healing her ears, shoving a piece of meat into her mouth from her ring. They still felt sore, tender, but at least she had her balance back.
The mesmer were starting to warily regroup, but her eyes were for the group blocking her way. She felt more rocks hitting her bubble, though now that it wasn’t wrapped directly against her, she didn’t stagger. She knew she would only be able to hold it for so long before they figured out how to breach it.
Still, a smirk lifted the corner of her lips as she looked at them and muttered, “Yippee ki yay, mesmer.” She lifted her hand and metal appeared as they shifted back nervously, but they obviously weren’t prepared for her next assault.
Her fingers squeezed the trigger, unleashing fiery armageddon upon the forest. She pivoted, sending the flames in a full 360. The screams of pain as their flesh burned from their bones echoed in the forest. The dead trees caught flame, unable to resist the blistering heat. The living trees beyond the circle of dead ones were more resistant, but she figured it was only a matter of time. The very air seemed to burn as she began to run.
Her bubble of air protected her, any residual fire being absorbed by her for energy as she sprinted towards the underground entryway. Any mesmer still alive retreated from the flames, trying to get away from the living hell she’d created. She stepped and jumped over the blackened bodies spread like ragdolls, forcing down her gag reflex and circulating the air so that she didn’t get choked by the smoke from the fire.
Thankfully, once she passed the stone entryway, the fire’s influence dimmed. Though the air warmed up, it wasn’t superheated like the outside. The heavy walls blocked the majority of the fire, even as the surrounding trees burned.
She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but a room with nothing more than a large hole in the center of the floor was not it. There weren’t even any guards...which meant one of two things. Either they’d been drawn out by the fight, or they were down below with the prisoners.
“Leroy freaking Jenkins.” She mumbled under her breath, choking back the cough. She hadn’t been able to help inhaling some of the smoke or soot as she passed, and her throat felt dry and dusty. She tried not to think about the fact that she’d probably inhaled the cremated ashes of what were once humans. With that oh so pleasant thought running through her mind, she jumped into the pit of darkness.