The Mimic in Monsterland

Daila walked out on the battlefield, vials of various viscous and vibrant liquids interlocked between her fingers. A red wolf who apparently didn’t make the connection between her and the mass destruction she just caused lunged at her. Without missing a beat, she flung a light green vial into the wolf’s gaping maw. It crunched down on the vial instinctively, green goo burst out of its mouth. It stopped in its tracks and whimpered, all of its previous aggression vanished as its ears drooped. Then its jaw began to melt. The acid coursed through the rest of its body; its stomach collapsed to the ground. Until finally the once frightening beast was reduced to a nasty pile of red fur and molten flesh.

Fury and hate blazed in Daila’s eyes, accompanied by a wicked smile as she tossed out more vials amongst the monsters. Explosions of wild colors painted the field in abject violence. Like a no holds bar paintball fight to the death.

“Wha?” My mouth opened slightly as my now thoroughly exhausted mental state tried its damnedest to piece together what was happening before me. Daila, the most professional woman I’ve ever met, a woman whose very existence begged for the invention of the pantsuit, wore the same expression as a comic book villain. Those eyes brought fear into my heart and I wasn’t even the target of their ire.

Behind her stormed a mass of other soldiers that streamed into the field. The monsters that fought to get to the building were forced to turn around and deal with the new threat at their rear. The immense pressure from the horde of beasts that nearly overwhelmed our small defense force evaporated as they had an entirely new problem to deal with.

I had to stop myself from slumping over completely as relief washed over me like a flood. Daila tossed out a few more concoctions, smaller more targeted blasts now. She slowed down on the wanton destruction once more of the reinforcements entered the field. Avoiding friendly fire and all that.

Her gaze shifted over to the building and then rested on me. The wild smile waned and her neutral expression returned, though her eyes still held that fury, but a chilly one now.

I straightened out of pure respect and instinct (fear, it was 100% fear). As she walked over I examined her outfit. It wasn’t the tucked in shirt and pants she normally wore. White leather armor that matched her hair and fur perfectly along with two bandoliers slung across her shoulders, filled with those dangerous vials. A single black belt held some small knives on her waist.

What shocked me the most about her entire get up was even with all of the colors colliding on the battlefield as her alchemical bombs went off, her white hair, fur, and armor remained unblemished, pure shock white. Not a single drop of color aside from the vials themselves. She spoke up once she was close enough.

“Liam, is that you?” She asked cooly. Right, she hasn’t seen this form.

“Yes ma'am,” I said, scratching my cheek.

“Hmm.” She frowned. “Why are you here?”

I leaned to the right and looked at the battle ensuing. “Are you sure this is the best time to talk? Should we not help with that?” I pointed at the battle.

Without turning to see, she spoke. “No, it will be fine. We brought an ample amount of troops from the Barracks to handle this minute mishap. And that oaf…” She paused and closed her eyes for a moment. “Excuse me. Jaren will have this mess cleaned up shortly. I’m more concerned as to your being here. Especially unaccompanied.”

Her words hit like a truck. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the fight today being classified as a small mishap. Sure, it wasn’t the same level of warfare as that raid was but it was still brutal. A bloodied torso flashed into my head. I shuddered for a split second then stopped, then swallowed the discomfort that came from the vision. Now wasn’t the time to process that.

I leaned over to view the battlefield again. She was right. The soldiers were stomping the monsters now, pushing them back to the hole they climbed through. But I didn’t see any signs of Jaren. I only caught a glimpse of his fighting style this morning, but it definitely seemed like one that would be hard to miss.

I gave her the rundown of what happened this morning, and how I was training with Jaren and Terl. How the first explosion went off and Terl brought me to the battle. How he took over for the crew there and gave me the mission to find the guard sergeant. And how the sergeant told me to protect this door.

She let her hair down while I answered, which was much longer than I first thought. It fell past her shoulders, stopping somewhere along her back. She tied it back into the bun she usually kept it in.

“Are there people in the building? Civilians? Children?”

I nodded. “That’s what Ghrond, the sergeant, said.”

The muted fury in her eyes ignited once more. “Those damnable beasts attacking the children. Should have boiled more of them alive.” She rubbed one of the vials hanging on her chest, a brilliant sky blue elixir. She shook her head. “Wouldn’t be enough.”

Her grin began to reshape until she remembered I was here. She coughed and then cleared her through.

“Whose in charge here now?” She asked her previous anger subsiding.

“Umm, Ghrond said a name but I can’t remember it started with a G. Here let me get who I fought with.”

I ran back to where Jomi’s crew were defending. They were in the middle of licking their wounds as it were. Some of the other wall guards joined them. The strange pupil medic was making some rounds to everyone. It also looked like someone brought the ice mage over. She slept off to the side.

“Jomi, this is…” Jomi cut me off.

“Lt. Underbrush!” Jomi’s right hand landed on her shoulder, the Laurelhaven salute. “Thank you for the assistance.”

“You are with the guards, soldier?” Daila asked.

“Yes ma’am!”

“Give me a full rundown. Do not leave out a single detail.”

I sat down on the ground while Daila spoke with Jomi. I closed my eyes and relished the opportunity to rest. Until an aroma tickled my nose.

——

Fennel’s blade ran through another monster's side, while two arrows pierced its skull. It dropped to the ground. Fennel breathed in. The battle was going well which only made sense. The amount of monsters was nothing to be concerned about. It was maybe five hundred, nothing for this many squads from the Fourth. The Second Legion fought as well. They had similar training schedules to the Fourth and hit the field with us.

These monsters didn’t stand a chance.

Fennel caught sight of another boar making a charge for the broken wall and readied to chase after it. But an axe blade collided with its side. Zaner grunted, then looked over at me and snorted derisively. Nothing new there huh?

Fennel looked out over the field. Other squads battled amongst the shrinking groups of monsters. But he didn’t move. He followed the orders given to him by Terl. Protect the Groundsmen, the crafters guild that specialized in battlefield constructions and repairs. They were the ones who created every medic station and command station in raids, as well as repairing any constructions or equipment damaged in a raid. In this case, they were patching the hole created by the monsters.

Fennel turned and looked at the hole. It was the size of a small home, big enough to let in ten monsters at a time. The Groundsmen had already patched half of it up now and it wouldn’t be much longer until they finished.

Fennel and examined the destroyed half. Scorchmarks covered it, confirming what the initial reports said. An explosion broke through the massive roots and trees that made up the wall. His face scrunched up in confusion. He looked at the monsters in the Academy Field.

“It doesn’t add up,” Fennel said to himself.

“What doesn’t boss?” Lukans walked up to Fennel, his bow unsheathed and an arrow ready to be knocked.

“The explosion that broke through the wall. What caused it?”

“Umm…the monsters, like they always do,” Lukans replied.

Fennel looked at Lukans and then back at the monsters in battle. “But none of the monsters here are capable of that. The invading monsters are the same from the raid, barring the Crimson Vulfs. And none of them are capable of this kind of destruction. Not a single monster here is fire attuned. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe it's one of the monsters on the other side of the wall. One of the ones General Holdsburn’s dealing with right now. Maybe it couldn’t fit through the hole it made. Or it was following raid rules and waited for the weaker ones to pile through first.”

Fennel sighed. “Maybe,” Fennel said, unconvinced by his squadmate’s reasoning. He stared up at the hole. The Groundsmen were already patching the last quarter of the hole. It was mostly the work of a few earth elemental splicers and a Dryas gene elf making the repairs. Rocks jutted out of the ground and then were intertwined together by large roots, closing up the hole. It wasn’t a permanent fix, the actual guild in charge of the repairs would come in the week and make those repairs. This was just to make sure no monsters could get through now. A posting of Legionnaires and wall guards would stand watch until it was complete. And knowing Uncle Herman, he will stand guard the whole time.

Green arcs of light flew through the air on the other side of the hole. Jaren and a small squad of elites from the Fourth and Second were cleaning up the other side.

His eyes drifted up to the rest of the wall. He looked at the top, where the walkways for the guards were. His eyes moved down the path and then stopped at the guardhouse sitting less than a mile down.

The guards posted there should have seen this many monsters coming from the Forest minutes before they arrived, let alone blow up the wall.

His mind whirled as Fennel’s mind tried to come up with a conclusion. But he really didn’t like the answers it was proposing.