A few days before the rain, the air was thick with its promise. Raif crouched near the edge of the central firepit, watching smoke drift into the grey sky. Kael stood to his left, silent as ever, while Rix tapped a charcoal stick against his palm, pacing slowly in a tight circle.
The orb floated above them, inert for now.
[System Quest – "Territorial Gambit"]
[Engage the jungle's control points directly. Spiral growths must be located and destroyed.]
[Progress: 0%]
[Reward: KE + Unknown Advantage]
Rix crouched down and drew a rough map into the dirt, lines arcing outward from their current position. "Four small spirals. One anchor spiral," he said, punctuating each point with a jab. "Each small site houses a larger version of the Sporeback Lurker. Dormant, but pulsing with energy. The spiral patterns surrounding them match the one from our first encounter."
Raif studied the marks. "And the anchor?"
"We found it a day ago. South-east of the clearing. Different. Bigger. There are… growths around it. Tendrils. It's not just defensive, it's feeding."
Kael knelt beside Rix and scraped a circle around the anchor's symbol. Then a second ring. Then a third. He tapped each with the edge of a flat stone.
Raif frowned. "What does that mean?"
"He's saying it's layered," Rix translated. "A fallback node. A core defence. If we strike that first, we may trigger a response we can't control."
Raif folded his arms, silent for a moment. "You want to hit the smaller spirals first. After the assault."
"Yes. If we're right, the jungle just spent its entire defence budget throwing everything it had at us. These things were left behind, either too big to move, or too important to risk."
"And if we're wrong?"
"Then we die in the jungle," Rix said simply.
Kael looked up at Raif. For once, his expression was not unreadable. There was something like urgency there, faint but steady.
Raif exhaled. "We take them down the moment the assault ends. All of them. But we do it fast. No distractions."
Rix nodded. "That gives us the highest probability of success."
Raif looked at Kael. "You'll lead?"
Kael dipped his head once.
Behind them, Mira passed by with Naera, both carrying water back toward the shelters. Mira glanced sideways, briefly slowing when she saw the three gathered. Raif caught her gaze for a heartbeat, just long enough to see the shadow still lingering behind her eyes. She looked away.
Raif turned back to the map. "We hit hard. We hit fast. And we don't look back."
Kael swept his hand across the drawn spirals, smudging them out.
"Right," Raif murmured.
The three of them looked at each other. The unknown future, and the desperate present, muddled together like dirt and water.
Back in the present, where rain hails down like spears from heaven. Where each second could be the last. Raif stands barely in the rain, as he remembers the plan they had spoken about.
"Now!" Raif barked, mud still dripping from his hair. The Alpha had barely fallen, its final howl still ringing in his ears. He turned sharply and sprinted toward the jungle's edge, Kael and Rix already moving ahead.
Kael led in silence, weaving through the foliage like it was his native tongue. Rix followed at an agile but cautious pace, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to mark their route. Raif brought up the rear, gripping his weapon tighter than necessary, lungs still aching from the battle.
The jungle pressed around them with eerie silence. Not the kind that offered peace, this was a silence that listened. Rain pattered through the canopy above, soft and rhythmic, but the ground was drier than expected. Where before the underbrush had been dense and wild, now it seemed parted, shaped as though something massive had passed through not long before.
They kept low and moved fast, guided by Kael's gestures. He raised his hand suddenly, halting them beside a moss-covered rise.
Beyond it: the first spiral.
It was nestled in a hollow, surrounded by fungal growths that glowed faintly under the overcast sky. In the centre loomed the Sporeback Sentinel, larger than any Lurker they had faced. It pulsed slowly, its breath a sick rhythm that made the hairs on Raif's arms rise.
Kael pointed to a protrusion on its chest, partially hidden beneath a web of green-black mycelium. An orb. They didn't need to think about it. That was their target. It was like the cross on a map. There was no mistaking it.
Rix crouched beside a twisted root, murmuring, "Still dormant. Let's not wake it."
Raif nodded, then approached in a wide arc. He signalled Kael to flank and Rix to keep watch.
Raif stepped carefully over a tangle of vines and struck. His spear drove through the membrane with a wet pop. The orb cracked, first a hairline, then a shattering burst.
The Sentinel convulsed, letting out a shuddering exhale. No spores. No counterattack. It sagged inward, deflating as if it had never lived at all.
Kael gave a single nod and motioned forward.
"One down," Rix muttered, and they moved on.
They descended into thicker jungle. The rain grew heavier. Roots pulled at their feet and brambles caught their arms. The jungle no longer felt passive. It was watching.
The second spiral came quicker than expected, perched within the curve of a sunken ridge. This one was active, its arms twitching, its head slowly turning though its eyes remained closed.
Raif held his breath. Kael moved first, slipping through shadows. Rix crept left, eyes flicking constantly.
Kael reached the orb with little resistance. He drew his stone blade and pried beneath a thin layer of decay.
As the blade slipped beneath the orb's root, the Sentinel twitched violently. Kael drove the blade in.
A sharp hiss escaped the creature, but again, no spores, no scream. The orb cracked, and the Sentinel slumped.
Raif exhaled slowly. "Keep moving."
They began to understand the pattern. The jungle was not retaliating. Not yet.
The third spiral was half-submerged in a shallow mire. Visibility was low, with fog rolling through the trees. Kael hesitated at the edge, then signalled caution.
Raif stepped forward, and the ground hissed beneath him. A spore pod erupted with a burst of blinding dust. He stumbled back, coughing. Rix grabbed his arm, pulling him into cover.
More pods bloomed around the spiral's perimeter. A trap. Not a creature this time, but the terrain itself.
Kael took the long path around, leaping between exposed roots. With delicate precision, he reached the spiral's edge. The Sentinel within had no legs, just a torso fused into a stalk of hardened mycelium.
He waited for a signal. Raif raised a hand, nodded.
Kael struck.
Another orb burst. Another Sentinel fell.
Three down. But the jungle was shifting. The light had changed, as if reacting to the culling.
Raif could feel it in his chest: something was watching now.
"Move fast," he said, voice low. "Don't stop again unless we're at the spiral."
They disappeared into the trees, rain falling harder around them, and after a few twists and turns, a fourth fell, but it wasn't the end. The largest one was left.
The path bent southward as Kael picked up speed, his steps unusually clipped. Raif followed closely, sensing the urgency in the scout's movements. Rix stayed quiet, glancing behind them now and then. The jungle was no longer asleep.
Thick roots gave way to unnatural spirals in the terrain, and the air itself tasted like rot. A faint green haze clung to the trees ahead, subtle at first, then growing denser as they approached the final spiral.
Kael slowed abruptly and dropped into a crouch. Raif mirrored him instinctively, peering over a fern-veiled ridge.
The final spiral lay in a natural basin, larger than any before. Thick vines coiled outward like veins from the central Sentinel, no longer exposed, but wrapped tightly in layers of dense, fibrous growth. The mycelium pulsed slowly, each beat accompanied by a soft tremor in the ground.
But that wasn't what made Raif tense.
Three figures moved between the roots. Creatures, but not quite like the others. Their bark was darker, almost black, and their bodies were marked with spiralling scars. One had a twisted, withered jaw. Another's back was covered in overlapping chitinous plates that clicked softly when it turned.
The creatures stood still. Watching.
Kael gestured low, a flat palm toward the ground. Don't engage.
Rix whispered, "They're guarding it. And the orb's… gone. Or covered."
Raif scanned the base of the spiral. No visible orb. No clear weak point.
The vines wrapped the Sentinel like a cocoon. Unlike the others, this one didn't pulse in pain or sluggish breath. It was dormant in a different way, sealed.
Raif leaned close to Rix. "You think this is deliberate?"
"Yes," Rix murmured. "If the others were meant to be destroyed, this one's meant to be held."
Kael turned slightly, his eyes meeting Raif's. There was tension in his posture. Unease.
The creatures did not move. They stood like statues, one perched atop a fallen branch, another crouched low, almost blending into the roots.
Raif considered their options. They could try to breach the spiral, hack through the vines, draw out the orb. But there was no guarantee the orb still existed.
Rix shook his head slowly. "We don't have time for a full fight. Not here. We've done enough. If we're right, this one might be… something else. A fuse, or a fail-safe."
Raif studied the jungle's silence. No breeze. No birds. No signs of the chaos that had defined the earlier spirals. Just tension.
He lowered his spear.
"We leave it," he said quietly. "We return."
Kael hesitated, then nodded.
As they turned away, the spiral's heart pulsed once. The vines tightened, sealing the cocoon further.
None of the guardians followed. None moved.
They vanished back into the trees, the path home now feeling heavier than before.
By the time they neared the perimeter, the rain had softened to a drizzle, though the skies still threatened more. Raif stepped through the last line of ferns, boots squelching in mud, eyes sweeping the clearing. The structures stood. Smoke curled from the fire pit. The assault was over.
He exhaled, not relief, something closer to suspended breath finally released.
Goss was the first to spot them. He lifted a hand from where he sat, sharpening a weapon beneath the eaves of the mud shelter. "Back already?"
Raif nodded and glanced toward the orb. It had floated higher since their departure, its surface now tinged with a low, pulsing green light.
A system message unfolded before them.
[System Quest Complete – "Territorial Gambit"]
[Engage the jungle's control points directly. Spiral growths must be located and destroyed.]
[Progress: 100%]
[Reward: +20KE + Jungle Resistance Dampened, Territory Hold Increased, ??? Delayed]
[Progress toward zone pacification: 50%]
Another pulse shimmered through the orb. A ripple moved through the jungle beyond the clearing's edge, subtle, but felt.
Naera emerged from the shelter, her brow furrowed. Behind her, Mira stood, arms crossed, gaze sharp.
"You did it," Mira said, her voice low but steady.
Raif gave a short nod. "Four spirals destroyed. Fifth one… wasn't needed."
Rix looked toward the trees. "Not yet."
Kael said nothing, but his eyes scanned the jungle wall. He didn't seem settled.
Goss grunted. "So we hit the roots, and now we wait to see what regrows."
Raif stepped forward, facing the orb directly.
The system pulsed once more.
[Jungle Assault – Complete]