Audrey buries her face in Thryl’s neck and screams.
Whether by instinct or planning, the thing lunges forward, all four limbs slapping through the shallow water as it charges at them with impossible speed. Daniel barely has time to swear before reaching for his bandolier with one hand and a Glock with the other. He has more success with the latter, and is still fumbling with the bell as he opens fire.
Aathryl’s attention is captured by the trilled “Croo?” and she is taken aback by the horrific appearance. She is required to give what small comfort she can to the justifiably screaming Audrey. The cacophony of it somewhat muted as she’d buried her head into the nape of Aathryl’s neck.
The woman raises her shotgun in the gap between Daniels right arm and torso, and she instinctively squeezes the trigger. The resultant detonation sending a dozen 00 stainless steel buckshot towards the hideous and sunken face.
The shotgun bucks savagely against her hand but the recoil is controlled as best can be, the firearms position is largely held by the counter pressure from the combat lanyard. Still the front end of the shotgun strikes the under surface of Daniel’s upper arm. Less than a second later the firearm erupts again as the woman fires the second shell of her double-tap.
Daniel jolts as Thryl’s barrel recoils into his arm, and the last few rounds go wide. His surprise is so complete that the (merficully empty) Glock sails from his hands and splashes into the waters beside them.
The creature roars in pain as buckshot imbused with the power of Gaia (and therefore, Life) tear into it, ripping open holes even larger than the ones opened by Daniel’s hollowpoint rounds. Unlike the wounds inflicted by Daniel’s hollowpoints, they remain open, and the creature screams as it writhes, sending waves across the pathway. The lips at the front of its neck trace the entire length of its tube-like neck and rip apart as the entire vestige parts in a wordless roar of pain.
Fortunately for Daniel, he was unable to free his bell before his panicked gesture, and it remains in place in his bandolier as he shoves Thryl’s shotgun away with his right hand (thankfully insulated for a brief second by a glove) while drawing his remaining Glock with the left. More shots ring out as he advances on the creature, and he does just enough damage to keep it on its side to kick it off the side of the pathway.
Water splashes the wounded dead thing scrabbles for the purchase of solid ground, but to no avail; it sinks out of sight in a mess of misshapen limbs, all of which seem to distort more and more, faster and faster the longer it thing remains submerged. Thankfully, Audrey’s face remains tucked into Thryl’ls shoulder, sparing her the sight of the creature’s tortured descent.
Daniel lets out an calming breath, whirling on Thryl in a mixture of anger, relief, and shock–mostly leaning toward the first, having been caught off-guard with a firearms maneuver he was very much not ready for.
Audrey deescalates by accident with a whimper, hugging Thryl tight as she refuses to look up. “Is it gone?”
Daniel’s temper seems to–well, temper as the adrenaline wears down one deep breath at a time, though he gives Thryl a look she can feel even behind his sunglasses that hint at a discussion about tactical placement after all of this is over. “Yeah, kid, s’okay–it’s gone. Thank gawd there was only one…”
“There’s more?!” Audrey shrieks.
“No, no–sometimes there are, but not this time.” Daniel swears under his breath at his ill-timed comment and quickly shakes his head. “Take a look, there’s nothin’ ahead but the gate.”
Audrey’s eyes barely raise from Thryl’s shoulder as she trembles in her arms. “B-but what if there’s more next time?!”
Daniel pauses mid-reload, then looks away as he finishes the motion. “Well, s’a problem for Future Dan. Nothin’ f’you t’worry about, kid.” He pointedly checks the rest of the pathway for his lost weapon, his breath coming in at a sharp hiss as he sees it resting on the edge of the underwater cliff.
Were it not for the water, it would have bounced off and into oblivion entirely; as it is, his aunt’s Glock lists at a precarious angle on the cliff’s edge. Daniel shuffles forward, mindful that even a mild shift in the current could push it over the edge and into the seemingly bottomless abyss. After a pause, he tenses and dives for the weapon.
The water seems to curse his luck, and the pistol tilts off the side and sinks like a stone. Daniel dives in, his obscenities muffled by the river’s flow and literally bubbling up as he reaches in and miraculously grabs the weapon by the barrel and re-emerges, skittering back and well away from the edge before standing and checking it. Mindful first to point the barrel in a safe direction, he drops and stows the magazine, then racks the slide to empty the chamber. He takes a moment more to repeatedly ■■■■ the weapon to make sure it will still function, then puts a new magazine into the well and guides the slide home to ensure the weapon is back to Condition One.
His weapons re-secured, Daniel puts his primary pistol away and and moves forward to the Gate, fingering through the stickynote pad of glyphs. The waters seem to not affect the paper or the symbols on them, the glow of the symbols upon them seeming to offer a measure of protection by virtue of being close to the source of their magics’ power.
Though Audrey would not see it right away, hugging close to Thryl and clutching her like a lifeline, the light from the glowstick in her grip would show a small but notable collection of white hairs in Daniel’s beard that were not present before his dive.
Aathryl is a little surprised when Daniel dives in to rescue his pistol. On his return to the pathway, she says nothing as he checks and reloads his firearm. In truth she’s feeling a little guilty at forgetting she wasn’t with her usual combat team, resulting in him losing control of his firearm. Pursing her lips a little when she notices the whitening of strands of hair in his beard.
She coos softly to Audrey at her startle at the thought of more of the creatures. Adding to Daniel’s reassurances. “Also, we are more than capable of keeping them at bay. Daniel is skilled and I’m a good shot.” Then looking directly at Daniel, “I am sorry I maneuvered in a way you are unfamiliar with. I will try not to do that again."
Daniel grunts and holsters his pistols, not quite accepting the apology but also not quite ignoring it. His temper finally levels with his psyche and he nods. “Let’s do some more trainin’ before we try shit like that again, yeah?” He pauses, then exhales in defeat as he knows he’s going to have to explain his choice of words to the ghostly child. “Pahdon my French.”
Daniel seems to move towards the next gate a white hair’s breadth slower, his fingers fumbling with the notepads as he fishes out the next signet. Nonetheless, he pops his neck and draws a pair of bells as the gate opens. “Aigh’t–where there’s one, there’s more. Make sure you’re reloaded before we go through. Ya ready?”
Audrey latches onto Thryl with all four limbs, letting the woman secure her in place. She’s still shaking, but nods, clutching Comet tight in her right hand.
For his part, Daniel pulls out a pair of bells in addition to the signet-sticky note: Kibeth, the Walker, and Saraneth, the Binder. He secures both bells in one hand, making sure to have a finger on each clapper. “Sixth Precinct’s gonna be th’most fun. No current, calm waters, easy-t’-find gate.”
“Why does that make it fun?” Audrey asks, her face still half-buried in Thryl’s shoulder.
Daniel curses under his breath, weighing his reply. He opts for honesty, both to prepare his companions and because lying to kids just sets them up to mistrust adults later. (For whatever later there was for her.) “I was bein’ sarcastic, kiddo–bit’a dark humor. Th’calm waters make th’Sixth Precinct a gatherin’ ground f’dead like Mr. Croo back there–I hope t’gawd I’m wrong, but just in case, hold on tight.”
Audrey whimpers but can do little more before Daniel applies the sigil to the gate. The water-rise parts to allow them entry to what seems like a large, shallow pool; true to Daniel’s description, the current at their ankles is almost nonexistent, enough that one of the recent dead who followed them through slows and spins as if on a Lazy River ride at a waterpark.
“Croo?”
“Woor?”
“Hooru?”
“Arroo?”