Rising Shards

I wondered how much of this mission to save Kalei I would spend fending off Exa Cani. Diast sent a ping out immediately, confirming that all of these were just void based creations. Once that was established, she got her bloodsaber out and sliced the first one that got close to her, turning it into a bubbling ooze. The rest of us did our best to strike back, but the retention sprites were quicker than Laenie, who was already very fast in Exa form, so I mostly dodged what I could.

“Real quick, I got the cans!” Diast said, holding up the three minivan in a cans. In the moment of showing us that, she got hit hard in the gut with a fist of one of the Sharai, sending the cans flying. 

"Dr. Diast!" I yelled. She was moving already, so at least she wasn't knocked out.

One of the cans landed with a bloop in the water that steadily rose as it poured in from the slides. The one that punched Diast grabbed a can in its mouth and quickly wolfed it down. The third ended up in the center of the room. Apparently able to sense that we needed it, a group of the Sharai dove at it, bonking their heads together. Oka conjured a vine and grabbed the can with it, yanking it away from the Sharai scrambling for it and sending it soaring. Lillia sliced at the retention sprites before they could get back up, taking them out.

“Meant to just bring that back to me, so I hope someone can catch it!” Oka said.

“I got it!” Marmalade yelled. She dashed over and caught the can with a jump. It must’ve clanged against her wristband, because it binged right away.

“Enemies detected,” Marmalade’s wristband said. “Searching database for SHARAI. Sharai database located.”

“Oh, guess this thing’s still in tutorial mode or something.” Marmalade said.

“It’s time for a KIDS ZONE FUN FACT,” said an all-too-familiar voice from Marmalade’s wristband. “The Sharai were a funky group of dudes from way back when, who were, to put it bluntly, a little messed up.”

“Can’t you shut that off?” Lillia yelled.

“I don’t know how!” Marmalade said, holding the can like it was a jar that had a stuck lid. “And I’m trying to get this minivan thing to open! How do I open this?”

“You just…” Diast wheezed, her voice still not back yet from getting the wind knocked out of her. Two sprites on each side tried to tackle her, but she conjured two metal plates just in time that she flung outwards, smashing each against a wall.

“While you guys figure that out!” Oka said, eyeing the stables. “One minivan in a can probably isn’t enough for all of us to ride on...”

“Agreed,” Lillia said, understanding what Oka meant as the two rushed to the stable doors where the retention sprites of horses anxiously hopped around. I tried to cover for them as they worked to unlock the doors by zapping any Sharai sprite that got too close. Despite their size, one firm attack with our powers seemed to finish them off.

“If there’s an atrocity to be committed by an army of messed up dudes in or out of the void, the Sharai checked all those boxes,” Kids Zone Fun Fact guy continued. “With their forces consisting of the most brutal Cani you can imagined.” (For some reason, the narrator did clearly and blatantly say ‘imagined’ there.) “When a squad of Exa Cani is their wimpy baby tier force of soldiers, you know you’re in for a bad time with these guys?” (Again in a weird thing, the narrator said that one like a question.) “They did a whole bunch of conquering, pillaging, and lots of other stuff we’re not allowed to say on Kids Zone. But we can say they did a lot of mutilating. Boy, did they love mutilating! If you want to learn more, we recommend hitting up that local library and checking out The Sharai: So You Wanna Learn About Those Funky Evil Dudes and Their Atrocities, Part One of a Multi Part—”

“Ah, got it!” Marmalade said.

“The minivan?” I asked.

“No, I just figured out how to shut that tutorial off!” Marmalade said. “But OK, seriously, how do I use this thing?”

Diast had recovered enough to take the can back from Marmalade, who looked immediately glad to be free of the burden.

“You just click and twist the top like so,” Diast said. She threw the can forward, where it opened with a BWOMP and smushed a Sharai sprite under it. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”

Diast and Marmalade climbed in just as I heard hooves clopping behind me. Lillia and Oka approached, each on a horse. Oka had gotten the white and black horse she had latched onto earlier.

With more Sharai sprites coming in from the tunnels behind us and in the doorway ahead, it was now or never to leave.

With everyone on the means to get out quickly but me, I was left alone on the ground as a group of larger and angrier looking Sharai sprites burst from the slides, snarling as they darted right at me.