Donovan pushes past the final stretch of swampy trees, Liv following behind with a hobble. She yawns, wiping away some of the grogginess from her eye with her forearm. Her escape had lasted all of four hours, taking another hour just to return. Liv was personally reaching the latter end of what she believed she was capable of tolerating, and Donovan seemed even worse for ware. He tries to stabilize himself on a tree, though he– somehow– manages to faceplant in the mud below.

  “Note to self,” He grumbles. “Never take the first watch.”

  “I ain’t doin’ it every time.” Liv shoots back, easily pulling Donovan to his feet. He sways a step, managing to catch himself at the last possible moment.

  “But you’re so good at it!” He half jokes between a yawn, his arms stretching way over his head. His shoulders slide behind his head, arms meeting just behind his skull.

  “Woah.” She mumbles, her head tilting to the side.

  “Hm?” Donovan inquires, turning to face her.

  “Nothin’.” Liv says, gesturing generally toward his stretch. “Just didn’t know yer arms went that far back.”

  “Double jointed.” Donovna says simply, his arms falling back to his sides. “Got it in my fingers too!”

  As if on cue, he bends his finger back, the tip grazing his wrist. Liv’s exhausted eyes widened, an awed “wow” escaping her mouth. Donovan lets out an exhausted snicker. “I don’t think I’ve ever shown that off.”

  “Ya should. Pretty cool if ya ask me.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Donovan muses, his fingers tapping his temples, as if to lock the memory in his mind.

  The camp is empty, the flame long since extinguished, only wisps of smoke pouring from the charred remains of the wood, mixing with the fog swirling about their feet. The minifridge still lay unperturbed from its resting place on the floor, thick mud sucking it deeper into the floor. Liv walks up, dragging it from its earthy prison, her bag taking its place on the floor. She wipes off all the mud she can manage, though some has hardened enough to make a light hand swipe ineffectual for the task at hand. She zips it up back in her bag. Donovan slinks behind her, his affable, exhausted smile lost to a sharp glare that peruses the general forestry about him.

  “Something’s up.” He mumbles, his Tonfa unhooking from his sides. Liv furrows her brow, turning to face him with a confused glance.

  “Huh-?” She starts, stopping as a familiar hum cascades through her ears. Adrenaline spikes through her body as she pushes him back, the force of it sending her stumbling back too. A lance of water blasts past them, arcing through the air before slamming into a tree. Said tree groans as it falls, its trunk completely and utterly destroyed. Liv scrambles to her feet, quickly slamming her fists into her chest, looking off into the forest. One… No, three of amoeba-esque demons, all sliding across the mud like slugs in the rain.

  Another shot arcs toward her. She sidesteps it, tensing her legs as she bolts forward. The third, the largest of the three in the back, seems to stare at her even without eyes, almost as if it were assessing her. The amoeba demons she had seen up until now were certainly some of the dumbest she had met, and certainly the dumbest since she joined Hellfire. The bugs could plan, the queen could strategize, and the one from the forest knew to play dead before attacking. In contrast, most of the ones from this Strata seemed to only act on pure and utter instinct, an instinct that didn’t lend itself well to dealing with teams with complex structures. This one seems… Greater than that, as if it had a hint of intelligence. Liv shakes away the thought. She would just have to be that bit smarter then.

  The demons beside it fire off another volley of blasts, ones she narrowly dodges by leaning back. Just as she does, however, the largest of them finally launches their own, their blasts aimed directly for her midsection. Liv’s eyes widen as she realizes she won’t be able to dodge– not normally. With a growl, she claps her hands, sending her back slamming into the mud below. The beam of pure water pierces the air where she would’ve been moments ago, one that would’ve ran her through.

  Liv quickly pulls herself up, fighting the urge to pass out from her light headedness and exhaustion. She glares at the three before pushing herself forward once more, slamming her hands into her chest once more, tugging at the connection between her and her weapon.

  “Yes?” Bruno responds without a moment's hesitation, the orange glow between the fault lines of her gauntlets swelling for a moment.

  “Need ya to boost my explosion ‘ere.” Liv says, jumping out the way of another beam of water. She just had to destroy them all at once, and that meant expending a Synth Charge. Her eyes temporarily darted back to Donovan, only a few steps behind her. For some odd reason, the demons didn’t seem to care to attack him, only focusing on her.

  Bruno doesn’t respond, though she knows they listened as the glow from her gauntlets grows by several lumens. She can feel the power coursing through them, the very metal quaking softly with the power.

  It doesn’t take long to catch up with them, even in her mental and physical state. She can see their surface coagulating, small spikes sprouting up to protect themselves. It wouldn’t work. She never planned to hit them head on in the first place. At the final moment, Liv allows herself to fall to a knee, her hand slamming into the muddly floor.

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  BOOM.

  Mud and trees fly up in a grand explosion. Liv joins those ranks, tumbling across the floor in a heap. She groans, slowly pushing herself up, assessing the damage done. One of the small demons seems to have been completely obliterated in one blast, though something strange happened with the other two. They seemed to have fused into a slightly larger beast, the brown liquid that makes up their body clearing up enough to reveal two cores swirling in the middle of their body. The two disperse once more as Donovan approaches, flames erupting from the bottom of his Tonfa. He doesn’t get to do it long as a blast of water shoots toward heart. He backpeddles, Liv coming up on his back.

  “You got more of those explosions?” He questions, pulling her out the way of another beam. Liv doesn’t stumble, though she can feel the mud sliding beneath her feet.

  “If I wanna spend all my charges, yeah. Reckon that’d be a waste though.” Liv murmurs. “If ya got somethin’ else, I’m all ears.”

  “I got something brewing up here.” He responds, barely stifling the yawn that threatens to tear from his lips. “If heat can boil ‘em, I’m thinking the opposite could work too.”

  “Yer gon’ freeze ‘em?”

  Donovan simply smiles, his Tonfa spinning in his hand, a soft trail of frost following in the air. “I think I can do something like that if you bait ‘em.”

  Liv nods, her gauntlets slamming into her chest once more. She can already feel the bruises blossoming on her skin, her legs wobbling beneath her from the lack of sleep. She could feel her feet mired by the mud below, but she’d be damned if that’d stop her. With another exertion of strength, she pushes forward again.

  The demons seem to have grown in size a bit, their jelly-esque bodies somehow darker than before. The mud around them cracks, drier than the ground that surrounds it. Another beam of water rips from the larger of the two, blasting through the air faster than usual. Liv barely manages to dodge, the pressure of it blasting by enough to cut her skin. She grits her teeth. She just needed to be a distraction, but how could she distract when the damn things didn’t have any eyes! It seemed to focus on her when she had an explosion primed, but she didn’t see how that could really-.

  The realization hits her, though the thought is quickly replaced by a need to dodge as two focused beams of water gun toward her. The damn things couldn’t see, they just sensed the Synth off her. Hell, maybe all the damn things did. That would explain why so many gunned straight for her all the damn time. She was practically oozing it with these damn gauntlets. Well if they wanted Synth, she could do that.

  “Oi.” Liv calls through the bond of her and her weapon.

  “Hello, Liv.” Bruno responds quickly. “Another boost?”

  “Somethin’ like that.” Liv smirks, sidestepping another of the fast beams. Another cut forms on her arm due to its pure speed. A mere cut wouldn’t stop her. The other, larger demon seems to turn its attention toward Donovan, attacking him as well as her. “Can ya make my Synth stuff louder or somethin’?”

  “I… Could certainly try.” Bruno says slowly, a hint of unease creeping into its voice. Liv could suddenly hear another ringing amongst the sounds cascading in her ears. The demons had their own sound to them, as did Donovan. This was different.

  This was her own.

  The demons quickly turn their full attention toward her, completely engrossed by the concept of killing her all of the sudden. She greets that in full, barely weaving through their renewed, more violent attacks. Cuts spider across her body, each dodge a bit closer than the last. One blast cuts too close, forcing Liv to throw herself to the floor. She coughs, her blood mixing with the mud below her. For a single moment, the demons seem to fuse together, the residual Synth around them blanking for a moment. Then, in a single moment, it blairs like a horn, a monumental beam of water blasting toward her at full speed. Liv’s eyes shoot open to the size of saucers. Not only would that kill her, but it’d vaporize her!

  Just as she prepares to explosion jump out of the way… It suddenly frosts over, the now ice spear hovering a few feet away from her face. The fused demon sits frozen as well, Donovan’s Tonfa jabbed into its side.

  “Now!” He yells. She could see the cores at the demon's heart pulsing, visible even through the murky ice. Liv wastes no time, springing to her feet as fast as she could, her explosion still primed. She reaches it in just a moment, even as a crack sprung in the ice that was its prison. Her fist impacts against its body, an explosion ripping from her gauntlets. Liv doesn’t go flying back this time, ice shotgunning down the forest, the cores shattered to nothing. Donovan sighs, falling on his butt with a groan.

  “Finally…” He says, his face heavy with exhaustion. Liv doesn’t look any better, covered in grime and blood. She drops as well, the adrenaline dispersing from her body.

  “We still gotta get on over to the tents.” Liv murmurs softly.

  “Ughhh.” Donovan groans, unable to care about the grime now stuck to his jacket. With more effort than probably needed, he pulls himself up, dragging Liv to her feet as well. The two hobble over to the tents, splitting off with a simple “goodnight”. Liv grabs her bag on the way, stumbling under the weight. Liv opens her tent, expecting to see Charlotte…

  But finds it completely empty.

  She furrows her brow, looking over to Donovan. He wears a similar expression, his hands rezipping the tent behind him.

  “Judging by your face, it’s safe to assume Charlotte isn’t in there.”

  “Mhm.” Liv responds, her eyes scanning the floor. Donovan does the same, his eyes locking on a duo pair of footsteps leading to the forest near his own. He curses, quickly sprinting over to Liv.

  “We have to hurry, now.” He demands, grabbing her by the arm. She doesn’t have the strength to resist, stumbling along as they rush through the swamps thicket. She slaps her face, trying to wake herself up enough to be present.

  “What’s goin’ on?” She questions, finally conscious enough to run in step with Donovan.

  “They ran off by themselves.” He responds gravely. “They’re alone in there without sleep, and I’m a hundred percent sure they’re closer to the end then we are.”