The shadowy shapes at the edges of her vision drew closer, teasing their way into the flickering golden light, stretching towards their fallen sibling. Mitzi poised her finger over the gun’s trigger. “Ready, Franc?”

He made a vague noise far back in his throat. His hands were shaking, but he had kept even with Mitzi, refusing to retreat any faster than she did.

Mitzi pulled the trigger and was delighted by the burst of flame that shot forward, sending harsh light down the landing and painting the roof black with smoke. Her flame hit the nearest Cymic, and it coiled away from her. The terrible screeching, screaming noise filled her helmet again, but the sound was thankfully tolerable since the volume had been turned down.

The light had shown her the back of the landing and the turn of the stairs, and Mitzi suddenly found it difficult to breathe. The space was writhing black, filled with at least ten of the Cymics. Their tendrils searched along the floor and the walls, edging towards her cautiously.

They won’t be cautious for long, though.

The creatures were pressing forward more insistently, stretching their tendrils farther. Mitzi pulled her trigger again, forcing the creatures back a second time. As soon as she took her finger off the trigger, they burst forward, spilling up the stairwell with a dizzying speed, shooting their limbs towards Mitzi and Franc.

Dual streams of flame met them, stopping the bulk of the attack, but the monsters weren’t easily deterred. They sent smaller, thinner tendrils under the heat of the flames to worm up the stairs and snatch at their attacker’s feet. One aimed for Franc, and Mitzi lowered her flame to cook it, but the second of distraction meant she didn’t see the tendrils coming for her own boots. They wrapped around her legs, tightening quickly, and tugged her down. She hit the stone steps with a loud crack, silently thanked the suit that had stopped her head from being broken open like a raw egg, and sat up. The tendrils pulled her downwards, towards Franc’s flame, and he turned the nozzle away to avoid burning her. That was a mistake. Without the fire to deter them, the creatures surged forward again, threatening to envelop Mitzi. She pulled her gun’s trigger and felt the heat through her suit as the fire hit the creatures in front of her and rolled back. The screeching increased in pitch and intensity, but as soon as a monster released her to pull back, another took its place.

They’re too fast and too strong. We’re not going to win with just fire.

“Franc, run!” she barked, jockeying her gun to hold it in one arm and reaching her spare hand down to grab at the white grenades strapped to her belt. She glanced behind herself and saw Franc was hesitating, reluctant to leave her to fight the Cymics alone. Mingling gratitude and frustration made her snap more harshly than she’d intended, “Don’t you dare disobey me. Run, idiot. I’m right behind you!”