"...Time to get to work.."

Argent uttered quietly to himself as Gauge disappeared into the forest. It was no laboratory or shop, but soon the small enclosure in the woods was alive with the sounds of careful work and bubbling solutions. Argent's bright eyes focused intensely on each measurement, each small spoonful of powder and vial of liquid. He maneuvered skillfully around the campfire and his tools, monitoring both a hearty pot of stew and his developing alchemical solution with equal attentiveness. Luckily, the simple meal had reached the point where it required little more than a bit of heat management around the coals and the occasional stir, leaving Argent to hone the finer details of his craft. The portions of herbs and supplies he had purchased from Eophi were spread along the ground beside the large stone he was utilizing as a table, his alchemist's kit propped open against the stump which was his chair. Two running burners hummed with low magical flames, vastly different containers held in their clamps. One an open beaker filled with a small amount of crystal clear substance, the other an enclosed sphere filled with stems, with a sealable port for adding ingredients and a single valve for pressure release. Connected to this valve, Argent had run a section of spiraling copper tube which led downwards into a separate beaker. Tapping the side of it lightly, he watched as small droplets of liquid fell into it, consisting mostly of water but with a steadily growing film of oil separating along its top. Removing the sphere from the flame for a brief moment in order to open up the seal, he added the last of the Silverstem that had been purchased, nodding his head with confidence.

"That should give us enough oil for a base..."

He thought out loud, leaving that apparatus to do its work. It was a simple way of distilling oil from the Silverstem plants, but he lacked the proper setup to effectively extract it mechanically without a press. Doing it this way would take time, but time was what he had. Moving now to the other beaker, Argent used a small silver spoon to agitate the ether inside, before turning to his remaining herbs and reaching for several clusters of small white flowers. Laying them into the groove of a mortar and pestle, he began to grind them with the wheel until there was little left but pulp. Scraping out the finely crushed residue and adding it to the beaker each time, he ground down each cluster until none remained. Letting the substance heat for a time within the beaker, he carefully managed the level of flame to maintain a dull simmer, never quite permitting it to reach a full boil for fear of it exploding. Once the liquid inside had changed colours from clear to a very faint shade of gold, Argent flipped a mesh strainer over the top and poured the contents into a fresh beaker. Reapplying it to the heat and measuring out a single portion of finely powdered emerald dust, he stirred it into the solution and reached into the aether plane. [Enhance Reaction]; his internal kai swept through the ingredients and swiftly bonded them together, resulting in something akin to a thick green syrup. Once it reached a sufficient level of viscosity to satisfy the Alchemist, he placed a cap to vent steam and fumes away from the heat source atop the beaker, and permitted it to slowly cook down until only a hard crystalline crust remained on the bottom.

"Looks like you've been busy."

Argent looked up at the familiar voice, watching as Gauge stepped out from the surrounding woods and settled into a sitting position on the other side of the fire. Two things caught the alchemist's attention in that moment, and he wasn't sure which to comment on first, the stings along the side of his companion's face and neck or the stone at his waist.

"I didn't know you had a waystone."

He went with the second option, deciding to avoid the injuries for the moment. He didn't want Gauge to get defensive about being 'coddled'. The rogue glanced down at the item and gave it a gentle pat.

"Sure do. Won it in a dice game."

Argent wasn't sure he liked how pleased the older boy seemed with himself at that piece of information. Nor did he want to know what kind of money had been on the tables. Waystones were simple but valuable pieces of equipment that were highly prized by adventuring types. Enchanted with locational arts which permitted anyone to bond them with specific spots, so long as they could channel kai into the stone. Each time the stone was bound to the essence of a place, one of its sides would always point the way back towards it, no matter how far the separation. He had heard that some had as many as twenty sides, and that more intricate waystones could even calculate the general proximity from a saved point and represent the distance with differing colours of light.

"I bound it to all the good spots I found to set our traps tomorrow. We should be able to get things moving pretty quickly... What about you? How's the oil coming along?"

"Slowly but surely. Food is ready, though."

"You're a saint."

Gauge gave Argent a pat on the back, digging into his gear for a simple mess kit. Ladling a portion of stew into his bowl, the rogue sat back and tentatively blew on a few spoonfuls, making sure not to burn himself. It was simple but filling, a thick mixture of potato, onion, carrot, lentils, and beef jerky. It had a smokey flavour from the meat, which hadn't fully re-hydrated, resulting in large and chewy bites.

"So walk me through this. What am I looking at?"

He gestured with his spoon over at Argent's workstation. Argent followed the gesture and took it up himself, pointing first to the glass orb filled with boiling down stems.

"That's in the process of distilling the Silverstem oil we'll use as a base. Very versatile with a high smoke point, it's actually great for cooking."

Picking up the beaker next, he held it up against the firelight and turned it slowly to allow the crystal formations inside to cast a swath of green reflections around the clearing.

"And this... Is a finished catalyst. An Emerald Catalyst, to be specific. One of the most general types, it's a simple arcane compound created by infusing powdered emerald with the world energies of Etrisiel flowers, which contain order-type kai. After letting the crystals reform their structure, they can be used to cause the mirroring or inversion of specific alchemical traits."

Gauge said nothing, staring silently as he put another spoonful of stew into his mouth.

"Which is necessary, because--"

Argent reached for the last pile of plant life, unfastening the twine around their cloth wrapping to reveal heavy stalks topped with large gold and orange flowers. The petals seemed to give off a subtle glow of inner light, a perfume-like smell wafting upwards from the opened package.

"--We're going to emulsify these Danium Blooms with our Silverstem oil. Their nectar is particularly sweet, considered a type of ambrosia even, and it is a favourite of various Fae and Sylvan creatures. But! More importantly, their effects and properties are based in elemental-type kai."

"... Why is that most important? Elemental-type kai is pretty common isn't it?"

"It is, yes. But Danium nectar is compatible with our catalyst's inversion properties."

"Meaning?"

"Think about it. What's on the opposite side of the Arcanasphere from the Elements?"

"Ah.."

While Gauge attempted to visualize, Argent had already drawn out his notebook, quickly flipping to a blank page and scrawling out a depiction of the basic Arcanasphere. Drawing indicator lines across the sphere, he added several notes to the illustration and held it up.

****************

****************

"If you mirror Element, the result will be Arcane. The catalyst will alter the oil base from an elemental mixture nourishing to Fae, to an arcane one that is harmful to them. We'll be changing our emulsified Danium Oil into a crude Arcanum Oil."

"Alright.. So.."

Gauge paused, looking over the remaining supplies while Argent fixed himself a helping of stew.

"Why did we need those powders, then?"

He questioned, causing Argent to look up from his steaming bowl of food.

"Those are for the final step."

"There's more? What's wrong with the Arcanum Oil?"

"Well, nothing, per-say... But it isn't very refined, due to the limited processes at our disposal."

Argent explained in between bites, neglecting to mention the substantial impact his unique art served in boosting the effectiveness. It was part of the reason he wanted to eat and rest before completing the process. The more kai he could siphon into [Enhance Reaction], the closer they would come to having a truly lethal toxin. Making something like this out in the middle of a forest with only a basic alchemical kit was not something just anyone could do.

"Arcanum Oil would be effectively harmful against Fae, and by association our Jellycaps. But don't forget that the Jellycaps themselves aren't truly Fae creatures, they're Animates. They aren't something that can just 'be poisoned' the same way a living species can. The effectiveness of a toxin would be relatively minimal."

Gauge frowned, biting down absently on the head of his spoon and letting it hang from his mouth as he scratched his head with one hand, taking Argent's notebook in the other and looking over the diagram.

"I asked Eophi for cold iron and lodestone powders. Why?"

Argent asked, encouraging the contemplation.

"Kioku's tits, I don't know.. Ugh.."

Gauge fussed lightly, though he continued to consider the question.

"Cold iron is strong against Fae and Demons. Lodestone is... Ahh.. Well, it's anti-magick, isn't it?"

The alchemist nodded.

"You're more or less two for two. Spot on for cold iron, close with lodestone. Lodestone is an anomaly, a unique iron offset found in veins marbled with red ochre. It's described in many ancient texts as being the 'Bone of the Gods', though the true implications of that title are widely debated... Regardless. It acts as a sort of.. Overload.. For world energies? It resists them and then repels them, very subtly, but often enough to cause a 'short circuit'. This inexplicable property makes it extremely dangerous to magical creatures, and very resistant to arts, though it isn't technically anti-magick in the strict sense.."

"So, it will short out the energy source of an animate?"

"Mhm. Not always completely, of course. It will depend on size, strength, origin source, the works. But it will certainly deal damage, and it will eliminate the need to directly strike the core itself."

Argent dished out the final portions of stew between the two of them, emptying the pot as he spoke and setting it aside.

"Long story short, I'm going to fuse the two into anima steel, and use it to augment the oil. The end result will be something equally deadly to both Fae and Animate; making it ideal for our targets."

Gauge nodded, though the way he stared down at the notebook made it questionable as to whether or not he had fully processed the information. After a while he handed it back to Argent, settling down to polish off the last bit of their evening meal with a satisfied yawn.

"As long as it kills 'em."

He said simply. Argent chuckled a bit, and the two sat in comfortable silence for a time. Only the sounds of their silverware against their bowls and the bubbling of distilling oil filling the camp alongside the dull roar and crackle of the fire. Their day had brought them far, considering that only this morning Argent had been roused from his bed back at the academy dorm. Now it was just the two of them. Set out into the depths of a foreign woodland, mountains looming in the distance as the sun dipped gradually towards their peak. The alchemist watched the waning orb of light through the forest canopy for a time, leaning back and stretching his arms wide over his head.

"I'll take first watch."

He stated, raising a hand and shaking his head as Gauge turned to look at him.

"I need time to monitor the solutions and finish the last bits of the process. This way, by the time you've slept, things should be finished and you can apply the oils while I rest. We should both be able to get four or five hours of shuteye before dawn starts to break, assuming we don't have any trouble during the night... So if you're able to get things coated down, we'll be set to get hunting as soon as there's enough light to safely move about."

The rogue hesitantly agreed. It was a sound plan logically, following the most efficient order of things. Soon any worries or hang ups were lost to the last lights of the evening, as Gauge set out his bedroll beside the fire and curled up in his cloak. Argent dutifully kept about his work as darkness fell, his labors illuminated by the dancing fire, which he occasionally stoked and fed. As the hours passed, he separated the Silverstem oil from its vessel, roughly mincing the Danium Blooms and stirring them together along with a few supporting ingredients such as phosphorus and salt. Heating the mixture for a time before straining and squeezing what remained of the blooms, removing them from the liquid before carefully applying the emerald catalyst. As the solution began to inwardly churn, he fed it spoonfuls of the anima powder he had created on the side, steadily pushing energy into the mixture as he did so. [Enhance Reaction]. His arts burned through the palms of his hands, flowing through him and into the oil. He gave up as much internal kai as his arts capacity could manage, pushing himself to the limits of his casting threshold until small specks of light swam at the sides of his vision.

The ending result was a full bottle of rich, earthen oil. Like a hearty topsoil mixed with amber, it shone with a translucent brown hue which distorted the light and cast swirling shadows along the treeline where the illumination from the fire passed through it. Argent held it aloft and swirled it gently for a few moments, ensuring that the composition was uniform. The speckles of cold iron and lodestone, now effectively bonded as flecks of anima steel, danced through the oil like tiny stars. Pleased with the outcome, he fixed the bottle with a stopper and carefully set it aside. Cleaning up his workspace until the end of his watch, Argent packed up all his equipment and materials save for the used vessels and beakers, which would need to be washed out in the river come morning, before gingerly reaching over to nudge his companion's shoulders. Gauge awoke quickly, stony blue eyes opening and immediately assessing the campsite before he said anything in response.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, no problems. It's all ready for you."

The rogue relaxed a bit and rubbed his eyes, slowly sitting up.

"...Stellar."

His voice seemed calm and content despite the grogginess in his tone, and Argent smiled. It was nice to see Gauge a little more relaxed like this, in a way that only this sort of setting could provide. The bonds of adventuring and traveling together were strange and subtle things, things which not much else could emulate. It was an experience that could only be gained through moments like this, here and now. Switching over with the rogue, Argent set out his own sleeping area and settled down into a comfortable position as the gentle sounds of cloth and metal tickled the edges of his hearing. Like an intermittent white noise, he listened to Gauge work for a time, before drifting off into sleep without even realizing it had come.

It was the sounds of birds and scraping cookware that woke him, and not so much the dappled morning light. The faint illumination was still in the earliest frames of dawn, a gentle blue and white light which painted the forest with a surreal softness. Rolling over and looking around the camp, Argent found the source of the dull raking noises to be Gauge pushing a wooden spoon across the bottom of their cast-iron pan, which was full up with a simple hash.

"Morning."

"..G'morning.."

Gauge initiated, and Argent responded in kind. Before he could truly get his bearings, the rogue was already handing him a heaping plate of the pan-fried potatoes, scrap sausage, and onions.

"Eat up. We've got jellycaps to hunt."

After their meal the day began with a short hike to the riverside in order to refill canteens and waterskins, as well as wash up their various portions of gear and cooking implements before depositing the remainder of their unneeded belongings at camp. Suiting up with their immediate weaponry and items, Argent made due with only what he had strapped to his body and belt, whilst Gauge carried a small sling bag beside his quiver. Utilizing the points set in the rogue's waystone, the plan was to circle through the woods and set a series of netted spike traps while following a wide path that would lead them back to camp, killing any jellycaps encountered along the way. Then, after a midday meal, they would be able to circle through again on repeat.

Moving to the first point without complication, Argent kept watch while Gauge set the machinations of the trap, 'baiting' it with a few stalks of Danium. The aromatic scent of the golden lilies wafted on the downward winds from the mountain, heavy upon the air in the clearing. Satisfied with their work, the duo departed for the next spot without incident, performing the same steps as before and moving quickly onward towards the third.

"Hold up, I've got something."

Gauge spoke up, holding an arm out to stop Argent in his tracks. The two crouched down, the alchemist straining his ears to listen intently for sounds of movement whilst Gauge zeroed in with his arts.

".. Only two of them? What is going on..."

He grumbled, earning a shrug from Argent as they both handled their bows. Letting Gauge take point, the X13 classmates stalked their prey with killing intent through the trees, the hefty vegetation making it difficult to obtain a distanced line of sight. By the time the creatures came into view, they too had become aware of the boys. Bounding on their mutated stalks, the Jellycaps came bursting through a thicket with unbridled aggression, their mouths chittering and snapping violently.

"Here goes nothing!"

Gauge shouted out, smoothly drawing the weight of his bow and loosing an oil-coated arrow with a pronounced 'twang'. The projectile soared through the space and struck one of the animates in its top, the impact knocking the creature briefly back. The Jellycap hissed and made to resume its attack, before suddenly appearing to stutter on the spot, withering inwards on itself. The mass of its body became shrunken and sickly as it wailed out a dying screech.

"Hah!"

The rogue grinned, highly pleased by the result of their efforts. Argent fought not to let his own smile impede his aim as he drew back on his bow, his archery was rudimentary compared to Gauge, but at this distance even he could strike his mark. The arrow struck true with similar effect, the jellycap sinking to the earth and writhing around in spasms. Incapacitated enough so that finishing it was a simple matter, as Gauge burnt the remainder of its life away with [Shadow Spew]. Once the last of the struggling had ceased the pair set about harvesting the creatures, but the fruits of their labor proved unfavourable as Gauge clicked his tongue in dismay.

"This is really starting to irritate me... At this rate we're losing money, not making it."

"...Hm... The aether isn't bad, though."

Argent replied from the side, pulling himself back from his trance.

"That's nice, but aether isn't going to get us food and equipment."

"True."

"The more this goes on, the more I feel like we're being led by the nose."

"How's that?"

"These things are nuisances, but they aren't nearly as bad as the contract made things sound.. And the reward is so tight-pursed. Are you sure they aren't just taking advantage of us?"

Argent frowned. It was true that the woods certainly didn't seem to be 'swarming' with animates in any sense of the word... But that was only a part of it. They had sighted very little wildlife, and no other monsters, implying that something was exerting enough pressure over the environment to keep them all away. Was it simply the constant years of work in the orchards? Had the townsfolk traveled the area for so long that most other things knew to stay away? That part of the equation did bother him, but as for the potential revenue...

"No, this is normal. Vitra Argonite is temperamental, it fuses only inside entities that are both arcane and organic, and we're pretty far south... The residual chaos here isn't near what it would be directly around Tenebris, or central Orodae. The likelihood of argonite forming is lower."

"Tch.. I still don't like it."

"Bear with it. We'll come out ahead, trust me."

"For your sake, I hope so. You're the one buying ingredients and using up your supplies."

"I'm also gathering fresh ones."

Argent said with a shrug, unphased by the line of financial implications. Examining the tip of the arrow he had used to down the jellycap, he determined it to be still in usable condition and tucked it away separately from the still coated projectiles. Exactly how much the oil itself would have been worth thanks to the influence of his unique art was something Argent saw fit not to mention at this time. For him this was an outing as much as anything, an adventure. A chance to help the common people and see some small part of the world where he had never been before. It wasn't long before they were back on their way, accomplishing the loop with a full complement of emplaced traps. Stopping at camp for only a short break, they munched on what was left of the fruit Lea had given them the day before along with some dry snacks from their rations. Afterwards Gauge walked Argent through a few archery pointers, helping refresh the alchemist's skills and memory a little while they gave the traps time to do their work. Their circular path took just shy of two and a half hours to navigate when moving at a casual pace, with no more than fourty minutes travel between points. Spending an hour at camp would give the first trap around a four hour window to attract a victim before they returned to it, and so on with each of the others if they kept the same pace.

"Alright."

Argent tucked his bow around his shoulder, satisfied with the small refresher course Gauge had given him.

"Time to get to work."

It was as though their previous conversation about long-term results had borne itself as a prophecy, much to Gauge’s delight.  The first trap had entangled a singular Jellycap, with a second bouncing around the vicinity beneath attempting to reach and consume the suspended danium blooms.  A well-placed and well-oiled arrow felled the animate, and upon examination the jellycaps yielded a small shard of argonite.  The second trap had managed to ensnare a pack of three, all dead to the toxin laced spikes tangled throughout the netting.  They relinquished a bounty of two more pieces, bringing the total argonite haul of the venture to a small handful of five misshapen stones.  The third trap broke the streak, untouched and untriggered, and the fourth…

“...Uh..”

Gauge looked up at the dangling netting as it thrashed and waved in the air beneath the pressure of the struggling Jellycap.  The creature hissed and snapped its jaws, lacking the intelligence to attempt biting specifically through the netting even if the placement and design of its mouth would have properly enabled it to do so.  Its stings hung from the net, waving wildly in the air as it swung itself back and forth.

“That can’t be right…”

Argent stated flatly, looking over the netting from a distance.  The spikes had very clearly embedded themselves within the animate in several places, forced even deeper into its organic matter by the creature’s violent resistance to its enclosure.  Gauge picked up a stick and poked at the thing, drawing a new volume of angry hissing.

“Must be a strong little sucker.”

“No, there’s no way.  This should have definitely killed it.”

“Didn’t you say the effects could vary depending on size and strength?”

Gauge replied, looking unconcerned as he tossed the stick aside and reached for his bow.

“Yes, and it can, but.. But this one isn’t any bigger than the others, is it? And look at how many spikes it caught, the anima oil should have absolutely been lethal.”

“Eh.. Maybe I didn’t coat them well enough?”

“...I don’t--”

Argent’s thought was interrupted by the vibration of Gauge’s bowstring, as the rogue loosed an arrow into the net-bound jellycap’s central stalk.  The creature screeched with tremendous volume, but otherwise continued to do as it had been.  The pair watched it intently for any signs of reaction to the oil, but none seemed to occur.  Huffing, Gauge began to nock another arrow, stopped only by Argent reaching out to push down the haft of his bow.

“Something’s wrong, Gauge.”

He shook his head as he spoke, gesturing for the rogue to save his arrows.  The two of them stood in stalemate for several minutes, lost in thought amidst the disconcerting chatter of the creature hanging captive above them.  Argent’s mind raced for a solution, but was coming up embarrassingly blank, unable to find a single reason in all his stores of knowledge as to why the anima oil wouldn’t be working.  He found himself wishing for the bestiary tucked away in the bottom of his pack back at camp despite knowing full well that he had read and re-read the entire section on Jellycaps a half dozen times since last night, as though somehow the book might have the answer he was missing.

“Whatever, we can worry about it later.  For now, it just needs to die.”

Gauge said with a shrug, stepping a pace forward and holding out his hand.  [Shadow Spew]; his internal kai manifested itself in streams of darkness, rushing outwards and engulfing the netting which contained the jellycap.  The energies swirled around it in a deep cloud, obscuring vision as the creature hissed.  Suddenly the branches holding the trap began to creak, writhing tendrils of fungal root swinging out from the smog as the entire apparatus begin to give way.

“Gauge! Look out!”

Argent shouted in alarm, grabbing the rogue by the shoulders and throwing him away from the area just as the trees above snapped beneath the over encumbrance.  The falling branches narrowly missed the alchemist, but his respite was short, as a flailing tendril from the depths of the shadows swung outwards and caught him across the waist, throwing him across the enclosure with impressive force.

“What the hell?!” 

Gauge sputtered, shielding his face as he watched Argent tumble like a ragdoll. [Sense Aura].  Activating his arts in order to see through the haze, alarm sank into his body like a lead weight as a very different, very large signature greeted him from the depths.  Silver and black energies moved in jagged waves, sprawling with purple snarls and tangles which wrapped around them and fastened them together.  Whatever it was, it was entirely different from the spiral patterns of green and silver displayed by the other jellycaps.

Raising his bow to the ready, Gauge regretted now having oiled all of his standard arrows. Not wanting to waste any of them on something that clearly didn’t sustain damage from it, he reached instead for a pair of razor arrows from the lower compartment of his quiver.  Nocking them both in a salvo, he fired into the body of the swirling energy and listened for a hit.  What greeted him instead was the sudden feeling of something snaking its way around his ankle and wrapping him up to the calf.  Looking down in panic, he shifted his vision back to normal, gritting his teeth as the tendril which had found him yanked him forward and off of his feet.  A tremendous roar came from the creature now, displacing the remaining shadow.  The Jellycap, or whatever it had been, had grown in size to nearly four meters tall. Roots and vine-like appendages sprang from its body and dug deep into the earth, embedding it in the clearing. Its mouth had become a single, massive slit down the length of its stalk.  A black hole lined with teeth, spread wide as it yanked Gauge towards itself yet again, reeling him in like a fish.

“Kioku’s tits..!!”  

The rogue swore, struggling to nock another shot.  Fighting against the tendrils which sought to encompass his lower half, he prepared another salvo and fired three more arrows into the creature, two of which sunk into its flesh with very little effect, whilst the third vanished entirely into the depths of its maw.  

“..Fuck!”

“Hold on!”

Argent appeared from the side, his hair and face bloodied from a narrow cut along his brow. The streaks of crimson set richly against the white of his hair and dribbled over one eye, which he held shut out of pain and irritation as he attempted to wrap one arm underneath Gauge’s own.  With his other hand he wielded one of his seax knives, hacking at the base of the offending tentacle viciously whilst narrowly missing the tip of Gauge’s boots.

“Careful, careful!”

The rogue yelped, finally twisting himself away as his bonds became weak enough to snap.  It could not have come any sooner, as in that moment the monstrous shroom whipped the damaged tendril back and into its own mouth with a freakish howl.  Standing his ground, Argent drew a pistol with his free hand, taking aim at the creature and channeling his arts.  The blasting shell loaded within struck with impunity, blowing a hole into the monster’s stalk upon entry.  The thing yowled its unearthly scream and swung a root around, broken tree branches grasped in its strands as it wielded them like clubs.  Argent threw himself to the ground, narrowly avoiding being clobbered as Gauge rolled through a dodge in the background, placing himself behind a tree to protect himself from all the debris being hurled around. 

“Argent! I can’t hurt that damn thing!”

He yelled out at the top of his lungs, even as he swung out around the edge of the tree he was using as cover to send another arrow at their opponent. A piercing arrow this time, he watched as it sunk so deep into the mushroom’s top that it all but disappeared from sight.

“I know. I’ll handle it!”

Argent yelled back, though his hands struggled to keep up with the actions in his mind.  With one eye clamped tightly shut beneath the flow of blood, and the added dizziness of being struck and thrown about, the alchemist was struggling with his depth perception and coordination. Added to this, he could not sacrifice the totality of his vision to focus on what he was doing, having to constantly be on the watch for the lashing vines of the creature.  Jamming his seax back into its sheath, he took off at an oblique angle, running along the side of the clearing while loading another shell into his weapon.  Forced to stop and roll once this was done, he managed to avoid being caught by a tendril straight on, only to have a second sweeping blow knock his feet out from under him.

“Argent!”

The tendril wrapped around his ankles and swung him inwards, knocking the wind from his lungs as he hit the earth only a few meters short of the creature’s mouth.  

“ARGENT!”

Gauge’s voice swam in his head, muted by his own wheezing as he struggled for air, rolling over to face upwards.  The mushroom was pulling him in quickly, having learned from its previous failure or perhaps just becoming more aggressive as the battle went on.  Behind him he could hear the heavy footfalls of his companion sprinting in his direction.

“D-don..t…”

“What?!?”

“Don’t... come close! Get DOWN!”

The words broke free of his lungs as the air finally found its way.  From the depths of his pockets, Argent’s off-hand came up clasped around a trio of circular bomblets, tightly wrapped, which he threw outwards towards the creature’s maw.  Taking aim towards the gaping hole of teeth, he steadied himself at the last moment, finding the natural pause in his laboured breaths… and pulled the trigger.  The flame shell sprang forth from the barrel in a piercing ball of fire, surging forward and engulfing the caltrop grenades.  The powder within the bomblets erupted under the stimulus, causing an explosion which pressurized and de-pressurized the entire clearing in a wave of heat. The shrapnel tore the area, and Argent winced as he felt several pieces of hot iron embed themselves in his legs and shoulder.  Without the luxury of time to nurse them, the alchemist struggled to pull himself away from the enemy when suddenly he felt the strong lift of Gauge’s support underneath him.  

“Easy, i’ve got you.. I’ve got you.”

He said repetitively, dragging them clear of the small fires which smoldered around the battlespace.  As the smoke and dirt cleared away, the large animate was revealed to be a mutilated stump emerging from the earth, the upper portions of its being all but blown entirely away.  Hanging in tattered shreds from the explosion which had gone off inside.  Argent let out a heavy gasp, letting the relief wash over him as he gave up on fighting his body’s physiological responses to the results of the battle.  Pain came and went with his heartbeat, as though each heavy pump, each wave of fresh blood caused him to feel every injury and then fade to numbness.  

“Here.. Drink.”

Gauge was saying, taking one of the potions from Argent’s belt and opening it for him.  The alchemist shook his head, wincing as he raised an arm to push the bottle away.  

“Not yet.”

“You’re bleeding everywhere!”

“There’s.. Metal. Iron scraps in my wounds. Those have to come out first.”

Gauge swore, re-corking the bottle and slotting it into his own belt as he reached for his tools.  

“This is not what these were intended for.”

He said through grit teeth, as he began to use the torsion wrench and a hooked pick from his thieves kit to begin digging into the wounds.  Argent hissed in discomfort, struggling not to swear himself as the pieces of metal were dug loose, causing even more damage on their way out.  Luckily their distinctive caltrop-shape and solid construction meant they were obvious to find and remove.  Once they were gone, he downed the healing potion as quickly as he could swallow it without choking.

Slowly, very slowly the wounds began to heal as the two sat leaned up against a tree, staring at the remains of their foe.  Its lifeless husk somehow seemed as if it were already beginning to stink, a sour, rancid smell.

“What the hell was that?”

Gauge asked, looking to Argent for some kind of answer.  Argent could only shake his head in reply.

“I have no idea… But the problems here are much different than we thought.”