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PREVIOUS | GHOSTLIGHTS | NEXT

    “Well, good news, we can see it!” Trixie yelled over the roaring flames, running after the hovering spears. The quick thinking to tie their glowing ghostlights to projectiles let them track the invisible Basilisk but did nothing to stop its rampage.
    “It’s still heading for the tree!” Icy screamed overhead, veering around the worst smoke while Seelie clung to his back for dear life. His ears perked as Seelie tapped on his shoulder, and he nodded before swooping down to the ground.
    The rest of the Ghostlights pulled to a stop next to their leader as Seelie wheezed, coughing against the smoke before they shook their head. “We can’t stop it.”
    Eclipse bore his teeth in a snarl. “Oh, so you’re a quitter now–”
    “Now is not the time!” Grey snapped before nodding to Seelie, even as his ears pinned back.
    Seelie’s teeth grit as they slid from Icy’s back, turning to face their team. “We can stop the Basilisk but not the fire. The tree doesn’t have a Seal. It’s going to catch alight– it's forfeit. But the people aren’t.”
    As they spoke, the rest of the expedition stopped with the Ghostlights. Lady Maria was at the front of the group, her white hair stained grey from the soot and smoke. Her eyes narrowed at Seelie, who immediately dropped into a bow.
    “Lady Maria, you’re the Matron of Deadman’s Cove– we follow your orders, whatever they are.”
    Lady Maria didn’t say anything.
    From behind her, Rocky stepped forward, resting a hand on the Matron’s shoulder. “The kid’s right– the tree matters, but not as much as the people she protects. She wouldn’t want us putting her above the colony.”
    Maria’s gaze trailed from Seelie bowed before her to the gravekeepers surrounding her, all covered in ash. Her pale eyes burned gold in the firelight.
    “...We have to evacuate.”
    There were no arguments, no muttering about the absurd scope of the plan– everyone simply steadied their grip on their shovels as team leaders stepped forward, awaiting orders.
    Lady Maria stood tall, her shovel planted firmly beside her as she began. “We need as many fighters as we can to hold off the–”
    “–Basilisk–” Bashio cut in at Maria’s hesitation.
    “–The Basilisk. We stall. The swiftest of us go and alert the Cove. Tell them to head east along the path to the Grove and escort them there. Only fight the fires directly endangering the evacuation routes or civilians.”
    Toward the front of the group, Baisho stepped forward. “The Basilisk’s heading for the greatest source of ether– the tree. It shouldn’t attack anything unless they get in its way, or they’re a good meal.”
    Rocky’s eye went wide. “The Land of the Dead–”
    “Is not our priority,” Lady Maria hissed even as she flinched, her words wounding her. “We rescue civilians, we rescue the willows, we rescue the tree– in that order. Am I clear?”
    “Clear!”
    “At arms then!” Lady Maria roared, the gems on her shovel blood-moon red in the firelight as she raised it high. “Tonight, we HUNT!”
    Immediately, the expedition kicked into action. Team leaders whipped back around to their teams, shouting orders and gathering supplies before running after the Basilisk. Baisho darted right off once Maria finished, leaping through the path of destruction leading toward the predator.
    Off to the side of the group, Fayrhen Lupine stood a head above the rest. He cupped his hands around his mouth, calling, “Anyone experienced in uprooting Spirit Willows– with me. ‘No use saving them if we kill their roots.”
    Seelie turned back to the Ghostlights, looking them over, before narrowing in on Sí and Myr. The loose ends of their hastily tied bandages whipped about in the wind. Even with all the ash in the air, the smell of burnt flesh and fur cut through it.
    “We can send you two to the evacuation point– you’re already hurt,” Seelie hissed as they looked the two folks over.
    But Sí was having none of it. “We’re hunting, with or without your permission.”
    Myr glanced over at the traveller, looking a lot less sure about that, but he still nodded. “I’m sticking by Sí.”
    Seelie sighed, but they waved the Ghostlights together, their two injured included. They all gripped their shovels tight as they ran after the hanging lights, vaulting over downed trees and around burning debris.
    The Basilisk roared in the distance, a burbling noise of something howling in a pot of boiling water— the noise of something suffering.
    Something dying.
    As the Ghostlights crested the hill, they had to veer around more and more clumps of viscous molten ether until they were jumping over puddles and streams of it. Finally, they caught up to the source– blood poured from the spears and arrows embedded in the Basilisk, slowing it enough for the team to catch up.
    But it didn’t slow it enough– the Basilisk was already at the Elder Tree’s sprawling roots, and its flames began to lick and catch at the willow’s bark.
    “Did you grab those buckets you were talking about?” Seelie turned to Trixie, who stopped dead in her tracks.
    “...Please, don’t tell me our master plan is ‘drop a ‘lil water on it,’” Trixie deadpanned, a look of horror dawning across her face as she glanced down at all four buckets she’d grabbed in the chaos. “...We’re gonna need a bigger bucket.”
    For the first time in the hunt, Seelie smirked.
    “Is that a big enough bucket for you?” They swung their shovel around, pointing the blade toward the dam upstream. Though singed and cracking from the heat, the wooden structure still held. Unfortunately.
    But the Ghostlights could fix that.
    “Where’s this side of our team leader been?” Eclipse whistled with a wicked smile. “I’m all for plan ‘extreme property destruction.’”
    “If the infrastructure is already forfeit, I’m not above using it for our purposes,” Seelie huffed before turning to the team. “Sí, Myr– you’re with me in taking down the dam. I need the rest of you to keep the Basilisk busy and in the flood path.”
    Grey suddenly perked up, glancing down at the thick undergrowth at his feet. “If you can keep its temperature down, ‘keep the plants wet, I can entangle it.”
    Seelie nodded sharply, grabbing their shovel in both hands. “Let’s go then!”
    And so, the Ghostlights went.
    Trixie chucked the extra buckets at their team, which landed in Eclipse, Icy, and Myr’s hands. Icy nodded and took to the sky with a flap of his wings, with Eclipse following behind on foot. They didn’t need to sneak around– the Basilisk was so large that it didn’t notice the folk charging toward it, nor the ones circling in front.
    The Basilisk only turned around at Trixie’s whistle, giving it only to burble before Icy dumped a bucket of water over its head.
    And the ground burst open beneath it, roots twisting and clawing their way up the Basilisk’s body.
    Grey’s voice cut through the wildfire’s roar, dark magic spilling from his hand and tongue as he chanted unintelligible magical orders. Though the plants had begun sizzling, the entangle held firm.
    Eclipse and Trixie chucked water the second they started smoking.
    Though the Basilisk howled and twisted, the entangle kept it pinned, and Icy, Trixie, Eclipse, and Myr kept it from burning. It could do nothing as Sí and Seelie’s shovels cracked against the dam, creating spiderwebs in the structure.
    But despite the Ghostlights’ swift action, they weren’t fast enough.
    The wildfire closed in.
    Trixie paused mid-scoop, glancing up at the Basilisk’s tail before her. She’d kept the magicked plants wet, but the grass beneath them started to smoke and catch.
    She didn’t even have time to blink before a wall of fire shot up in front of her– and behind Grey’s back. The magician’s eyes were screwed shut as he concentrated, clutching at the base of the entangle thrashing around his feet.
    ‘The only part of the spell that they hadn’t wetted down.
    Trixie shouted as it caught alight.
    “GREY!”
    She dropped her bucket and charged, slamming Grey to the ground. The fire roared over top of them.
    And Trixie screamed.
    The entangle spasmed once before falling still.
    Immediately, the Basilisk began to rip itself free. Its arm tore upward, taking a swipe at Icy, who barely swerved out of the way. His bucket spilled way off target as he darted back out of reach. “IT’S LOOSE!”
    “OH, NO SHIT!” Eclipse swore as he tossed his bucket aside to whip out his shovel. He drove it into the Basilisk’s tail with all his might, trying to pin it himself–
    He barely got the blade in before the tail cracked against his side.
    Eclipse went down with only a gasp of shock before his head slammed against the ground.
    From atop the dam, Myr wailed. “THE DAM’S GOING DOWN– ICY!”
    “I’VE GOT HIM– DO IT!”
    Though Myr hesitated, dropped his bucket, and raised his shovel.
    Beside him, Sí nodded and raised her’s high.
    Seelie held up a hand, their mismatched eyes glued on Icy as he dove. Their paw hung there, backlit against the red moon, until Icy paws curled around Eclipse and yanked upward.
    “NOW!”
    And the two shovels fell, cracking open the dam and calling down a curtain of water.

**Characters Depicted:**
- Eclipse -- MinTea-Leaves
- Grey -- LiteralCryptid
- Icarus -- Grimsby Grove Predator
- Icelos "Icy" -- MinTea-Leaves
- Muirín “Myr” -- twooost
- Seelie Hollow -- justspillingcoldtea
- Síofra twooost
- Trixie Treet LiteralCryptid
- Rocky -- Grimsby Grove NPC
- Baisho -- Grimsby Grove NPC
- Fayrhen -- Grimsby Grove NPC
- Maria -- Grimsby Grove NPC

-------------------------------------------

Sketch: justspillingcoldtea
Lines: twooost
Flats: LiteralCryptid
Shading: justspillingcoldtea
Bg: MinTea-Leaves
Finalization: MinTea-Leaves
Story: MinTea-Leaves
-------------------------------------------
Damage: 11 (7 team members, 4 gravekeeper cameo)
Word Count: 1551
34/701 Acorns
Acorn Tracker

Description
PREVIOUS | GHOSTLIGHTS | NEXT

    “Well, good news, we can see it!” Trixie yelled over the roaring flames, running after the hovering spears. The quick thinking to tie their glowing ghostlights to projectiles let them track the invisible Basilisk but did nothing to stop its rampage.
    “It’s still heading for the tree!” Icy screamed overhead, veering around the worst smoke while Seelie clung to his back for dear life. His ears perked as Seelie tapped on his shoulder, and he nodded before swooping down to the ground.
    The rest of the Ghostlights pulled to a stop next to their leader as Seelie wheezed, coughing against the smoke before they shook their head. “We can’t stop it.”
    Eclipse bore his teeth in a snarl. “Oh, so you’re a quitter now–”
    “Now is not the time!” Grey snapped before nodding to Seelie, even as his ears pinned back.
    Seelie’s teeth grit as they slid from Icy’s back, turning to face their team. “We can stop the Basilisk but not the fire. The tree doesn’t have a Seal. It’s going to catch alight– it's forfeit. But the people aren’t.”
    As they spoke, the rest of the expedition stopped with the Ghostlights. Lady Maria was at the front of the group, her white hair stained grey from the soot and smoke. Her eyes narrowed at Seelie, who immediately dropped into a bow.
    “Lady Maria, you’re the Matron of Deadman’s Cove– we follow your orders, whatever they are.”
    Lady Maria didn’t say anything.
    From behind her, Rocky stepped forward, resting a hand on the Matron’s shoulder. “The kid’s right– the tree matters, but not as much as the people she protects. She wouldn’t want us putting her above the colony.”
    Maria’s gaze trailed from Seelie bowed before her to the gravekeepers surrounding her, all covered in ash. Her pale eyes burned gold in the firelight.
    “...We have to evacuate.”
    There were no arguments, no muttering about the absurd scope of the plan– everyone simply steadied their grip on their shovels as team leaders stepped forward, awaiting orders.
    Lady Maria stood tall, her shovel planted firmly beside her as she began. “We need as many fighters as we can to hold off the–”
    “–Basilisk–” Bashio cut in at Maria’s hesitation.
    “–The Basilisk. We stall. The swiftest of us go and alert the Cove. Tell them to head east along the path to the Grove and escort them there. Only fight the fires directly endangering the evacuation routes or civilians.”
    Toward the front of the group, Baisho stepped forward. “The Basilisk’s heading for the greatest source of ether– the tree. It shouldn’t attack anything unless they get in its way, or they’re a good meal.”
    Rocky’s eye went wide. “The Land of the Dead–”
    “Is not our priority,” Lady Maria hissed even as she flinched, her words wounding her. “We rescue civilians, we rescue the willows, we rescue the tree– in that order. Am I clear?”
    “Clear!”
    “At arms then!” Lady Maria roared, the gems on her shovel blood-moon red in the firelight as she raised it high. “Tonight, we HUNT!”
    Immediately, the expedition kicked into action. Team leaders whipped back around to their teams, shouting orders and gathering supplies before running after the Basilisk. Baisho darted right off once Maria finished, leaping through the path of destruction leading toward the predator.
    Off to the side of the group, Fayrhen Lupine stood a head above the rest. He cupped his hands around his mouth, calling, “Anyone experienced in uprooting Spirit Willows– with me. ‘No use saving them if we kill their roots.”
    Seelie turned back to the Ghostlights, looking them over, before narrowing in on Sí and Myr. The loose ends of their hastily tied bandages whipped about in the wind. Even with all the ash in the air, the smell of burnt flesh and fur cut through it.
    “We can send you two to the evacuation point– you’re already hurt,” Seelie hissed as they looked the two folks over.
    But Sí was having none of it. “We’re hunting, with or without your permission.”
    Myr glanced over at the traveller, looking a lot less sure about that, but he still nodded. “I’m sticking by Sí.”
    Seelie sighed, but they waved the Ghostlights together, their two injured included. They all gripped their shovels tight as they ran after the hanging lights, vaulting over downed trees and around burning debris.
    The Basilisk roared in the distance, a burbling noise of something howling in a pot of boiling water— the noise of something suffering.
    Something dying.
    As the Ghostlights crested the hill, they had to veer around more and more clumps of viscous molten ether until they were jumping over puddles and streams of it. Finally, they caught up to the source– blood poured from the spears and arrows embedded in the Basilisk, slowing it enough for the team to catch up.
    But it didn’t slow it enough– the Basilisk was already at the Elder Tree’s sprawling roots, and its flames began to lick and catch at the willow’s bark.
    “Did you grab those buckets you were talking about?” Seelie turned to Trixie, who stopped dead in her tracks.
    “...Please, don’t tell me our master plan is ‘drop a ‘lil water on it,’” Trixie deadpanned, a look of horror dawning across her face as she glanced down at all four buckets she’d grabbed in the chaos. “...We’re gonna need a bigger bucket.”
    For the first time in the hunt, Seelie smirked.
    “Is that a big enough bucket for you?” They swung their shovel around, pointing the blade toward the dam upstream. Though singed and cracking from the heat, the wooden structure still held. Unfortunately.
    But the Ghostlights could fix that.
    “Where’s this side of our team leader been?” Eclipse whistled with a wicked smile. “I’m all for plan ‘extreme property destruction.’”
    “If the infrastructure is already forfeit, I’m not above using it for our purposes,” Seelie huffed before turning to the team. “Sí, Myr– you’re with me in taking down the dam. I need the rest of you to keep the Basilisk busy and in the flood path.”
    Grey suddenly perked up, glancing down at the thick undergrowth at his feet. “If you can keep its temperature down, ‘keep the plants wet, I can entangle it.”
    Seelie nodded sharply, grabbing their shovel in both hands. “Let’s go then!”
    And so, the Ghostlights went.
    Trixie chucked the extra buckets at their team, which landed in Eclipse, Icy, and Myr’s hands. Icy nodded and took to the sky with a flap of his wings, with Eclipse following behind on foot. They didn’t need to sneak around– the Basilisk was so large that it didn’t notice the folk charging toward it, nor the ones circling in front.
    The Basilisk only turned around at Trixie’s whistle, giving it only to burble before Icy dumped a bucket of water over its head.
    And the ground burst open beneath it, roots twisting and clawing their way up the Basilisk’s body.
    Grey’s voice cut through the wildfire’s roar, dark magic spilling from his hand and tongue as he chanted unintelligible magical orders. Though the plants had begun sizzling, the entangle held firm.
    Eclipse and Trixie chucked water the second they started smoking.
    Though the Basilisk howled and twisted, the entangle kept it pinned, and Icy, Trixie, Eclipse, and Myr kept it from burning. It could do nothing as Sí and Seelie’s shovels cracked against the dam, creating spiderwebs in the structure.
    But despite the Ghostlights’ swift action, they weren’t fast enough.
    The wildfire closed in.
    Trixie paused mid-scoop, glancing up at the Basilisk’s tail before her. She’d kept the magicked plants wet, but the grass beneath them started to smoke and catch.
    She didn’t even have time to blink before a wall of fire shot up in front of her– and behind Grey’s back. The magician’s eyes were screwed shut as he concentrated, clutching at the base of the entangle thrashing around his feet.
    ‘The only part of the spell that they hadn’t wetted down.
    Trixie shouted as it caught alight.
    “GREY!”
    She dropped her bucket and charged, slamming Grey to the ground. The fire roared over top of them.
    And Trixie screamed.
    The entangle spasmed once before falling still.
    Immediately, the Basilisk began to rip itself free. Its arm tore upward, taking a swipe at Icy, who barely swerved out of the way. His bucket spilled way off target as he darted back out of reach. “IT’S LOOSE!”
    “OH, NO SHIT!” Eclipse swore as he tossed his bucket aside to whip out his shovel. He drove it into the Basilisk’s tail with all his might, trying to pin it himself–
    He barely got the blade in before the tail cracked against his side.
    Eclipse went down with only a gasp of shock before his head slammed against the ground.
    From atop the dam, Myr wailed. “THE DAM’S GOING DOWN– ICY!”
    “I’VE GOT HIM– DO IT!”
    Though Myr hesitated, dropped his bucket, and raised his shovel.
    Beside him, Sí nodded and raised her’s high.
    Seelie held up a hand, their mismatched eyes glued on Icy as he dove. Their paw hung there, backlit against the red moon, until Icy paws curled around Eclipse and yanked upward.
    “NOW!”
    And the two shovels fell, cracking open the dam and calling down a curtain of water.

**Characters Depicted:**
- Eclipse -- MinTea-Leaves
- Grey -- LiteralCryptid
- Icarus -- Grimsby Grove Predator
- Icelos "Icy" -- MinTea-Leaves
- Muirín “Myr” -- twooost
- Seelie Hollow -- justspillingcoldtea
- Síofra twooost
- Trixie Treet LiteralCryptid
- Rocky -- Grimsby Grove NPC
- Baisho -- Grimsby Grove NPC
- Fayrhen -- Grimsby Grove NPC
- Maria -- Grimsby Grove NPC

-------------------------------------------

Sketch: justspillingcoldtea
Lines: twooost
Flats: LiteralCryptid
Shading: justspillingcoldtea
Bg: MinTea-Leaves
Finalization: MinTea-Leaves
Story: MinTea-Leaves
-------------------------------------------
Damage: 11 (7 team members, 4 gravekeeper cameo)
Word Count: 1551
34/701 Acorns
Acorn Tracker