Spears of Darkness

As we continued on our merry journey, carefully rationing our food and taking breaks at measured individuals, the days blurred into weeks. Save for the pangs of hunger that assailed us and the sobering knowledge that our food supply was dwindling despite our best efforts, the journey was surprisingly… enjoyable. We were careful to not overstrain ourselves and I reveled in the comfort and ease with which I could walk, move and act, far from the grueling days when we had been running for our lives, our fraying bodies forcing us to dance on the edge between wearied existence and peaceful nonexistence. 

We met few, if any, creatures while we were circling the encampment and even after we had left it some distance behind, in no small part due to the Life Elementals' influence warning potential foes away. We walked in silence, or occasionally the other two made small talk while I wandered a bit away, lost in my own thoughts. 

However, at some point, when our food supplies finally hit rock bottom, I was forced to refocus on the grim reality of our situation. We were by now a few days' walk from the Life Elemental camp and clearly turning back to ask for aid was not an option - not that it would have been granted anyway. When we had been on the edge of the encampment and about to leave it behind, we had politely asked for some aid, which they refused with the absurd reasoning that 'life must find a way'.

 I clearly understood they deemed us below their consideration, but my fellow travelers thanked them for their teachings and seemed to sincerely believe what they had said. Internally rolling my eyes at how shallow they were, we had departed from the area while I mentally cursed the pretentious beings. Now, I was kicking myself for not having wheedled harder for some food, because we were going to have more than a few problems trying to find any real food anywhere.

In a few days, tensions were already on the rise as increasingly heated arguments were made regarding our next course of action. However, with neither of the two able to come to an agreement and my unwavering stance of neutrality, we walked on in brooding silence, punctuated only by the growls of our stomachs. 

Fortunately or unfortunately, before things came to head, we were given a common enemy to unite against. A persistent but cowardly packs of creatures that we were forced to defend ourselves against started tracking us a few days after our reserves ran out. They weren't all that strong - in a head-on fight, a few spells would have wiped all of them out, but instead they lagged some distance behind, retreating as we approached and very carefully staying out of spell range. 

Virtually all spells weakened as distance increased, with very few able to retain any significant form of strength at long range, which left us unable to effectively deal with them. Worse still, they kept us from being able to sleep in rotations of one, requiring two people at a time to watch them as they circled us when night fell and we rested. This reduced the time all of us had to sleep and made our situation even worse. All our efforts came up short, even after casting multiple spells with careful preparations, we barely took out a fraction of the pack.

As we got weaker every day, they got bolder, taunting us to cast spells and drain ourselves further. More than one of them had sent themselves to a foolish end this way, but neither did it bode too well for us. At some point, we couldn't even afford to sleep during the nights, all of us staying on guard in preparation of making a last stand.

During one of these tense nights, when it seemed they might decide to end things for once and for all, I was already starting to chant a spell for a shield while my companions were similarly preparing for an assault, when darkness suddenly befell all of us. We plunged into confusion and I barely retained the presence of mind to cast a shield around us before it shattered in an instant.

Suddenly, the darkness subsided and I found that my companions were still there. Visibly shocked, but alive and unharmed… and our enemies lay in pools of blood, pierced by ethereal spears of darkness.