Natural Barrier

Vivian’s heart was still racing as she slid into her car, her mind replaying both the tender kisses her lovers gave her and the more intense one Aeolia and John shared before the winged woman drew her into the action. She bit her lip as that heated exchange caused a twinge to run down her core as she replayed it, not noticing the passenger door opening.

“That good, huh?” Aeolia remarked as she flew in. Her unexpected statement, paired with her current invisibility, made the redhead flinch in her seat, hair flying about, some landing on her unseen girlfriend, the red strands left floating in mid air.

“You two can flirt on the road,” Cammie said as she got into the car, her tone more amused than her words indicated. “Where is your place anyway?”

Vivian took a calming breath and answered, “Not too far from here. Near the University. And we just have to clear out a few things from the trunk. Be a quick stop.”

“I can shrink the stuff,” Aeolia offered from the backseat, fading back into visibility. “That way we can rush them in and get to this Barrier.”

“Well, a little time saved will be good,” Cammie said. “Since the Barrier opened up north of town, we’ve got a bit of a journey ahead of us.”

“Better get moving then, right?” Vivian added, starting the car and setting off.

“So,” Cammie chimed up after a minute of silent driving, her eyes flicking up to catch Aoelia in the rearview mirror, “didn’t expect you three to get into a relationship this fast. I know I said to go with the flow, but I didn’t think it would have been the express lane.”

“You, uh, talked about us?” Vivian asked, her eyes meeting Aeolia’s in the mirror.

“Yeah,” Aeolia answered a touch sheepishly. “Yesterday.”

“You know how girltalk is,” Cammie added. “I noticed how she got when you and John were brought up and figured she liked both of you. Then I gave her a little advice. So, how’d things get to this point?”

Vivian swallowed a spike of uncertainty, unused to talking about personal things like this, but answered, “Well, we were talking about our hobbies, and when I mentioned I liked dancing, Aeolia dragged John and I off to give me a treat.”

“How romantic,” Cammie remarked, causing Aeolia to stick her tongue out.

“After that, well, there was a bit of talking and we decided to give this a go,” Vivian concluded, skipping over her undignified freakout she had.

“You skipped the part where we cuddled up on your couch and watched that movie John put on,” Aeolia chimed in.

“Yeah, that was nice,” Vivian added softly.

“Sounds like you guys will do alright,” Cammie said warmly. “Definitely a more wholesome tale than me and Mason.”

“What is that story, anyway?” Aeolia asked. “Mason’s never told it.”

“Well, I suppose I can indulge you,” Cammie remarked with a smile. “It’s only fair since you dished out yours. Now, it was a few years back and I was sort of wandering around, looking for culinary inspiration. Heard there was a Natural Barrier not far from where I was so I made my way there to scope it out. Ran into Mason there. He was looking into it because it had manifested near an old battleground and he figured that would lead to spirits populating the Barrier.”

“He was right,” Cammie continued. “Whole lot of angry spirits charged up by the **** and pain that had happened were tearing up the place. Ruined some perfectly good vegetables. So Mason and I teamed up and took care of them. Made him something to eat once we finished from what I could salvage. We talked and just clicked. He was looking for something in life and cooking filled it. Well, cooking and me.”

“Maybe that’s why Mason never told this story,” Aeolia cut in. “It’s a bit boring. Or maybe you just don't know how to tell an interesting story.”

“Like your love story is any better,” Cammie pouted, though her words lacked any heat.

Deciding that staying on the romantic discussion was likely to lead to embarrassing questions, Vivian segued into another topic, “Do spirits regularly pop up in Natural Barriers?”

“It’s not too common,” Cammie answered after a moment of thought. “Usually, the surge of energies from whatever Kingdom is causing the Barrier to pop up overrides any spiritual input from the Earth side, but it isn’t always the case. The one from when Mason and I met was in sync with the old battlefield and that charged up those spirits.”

“What do Kingdoms have to do with these things anyway?” Aeolia chirped in. “I thought Naturals just sort of popped up.”

“It isn’t that simple,” Vivian answered before Cammie could. “It’s not that different from how earthquakes happen, actually. A non-planar bound Kingdom basically rubs up against Earth in a metaphysical sense, the two energies clash and form a bubble between them. When that bubble reaches a critical point, it manifests as a Barrier, full of things born from the conflux of energies.”

Vivian cast her eyes to Aeolia in the mirror as she stopped at a red light and found her to be staring blankly with glazed eyes. Cammie on the other hand looked impressed.

“My, don’t you have a good brain under that red hair,” she said. “Might have to borrow you sometime. Mason and I got some projects cooking that we’ve hit some theoretical snags on. A fresh pair of eyes would be nice.”

Vivian flushed very lightly. “I don’t know much about spirits.”

Cammie dismissed her concerns with a wave of her hand. “Mason’s got more than enough spirit theory between the three of us. What I think we need is someone with a more broad understanding of things.”

“Can we not talk about smart people things?” Aeolia groused. “You guys are making me feel dumb.”

At that moment, Vivian pulled into a parking spot near her home. “Okay, no more brainy talk. Let’s get the stuff inside then head to the Barrier.”

---

Between Aeolia shrinking the assortment of ores and Glyph Spheres and Vivan and Cammie hauling them in, the trio only spent a few minutes at the redhead’s home and they were quickly making their way to the Barrier, idly pointless chatter filling the thirty minute trip.

As they neared where Cammie had directed, Aeolia asked, “How’d you know this popped up, anyhow?”

“Oh, I had Atra flying around,” Cammie answered, before elaborating, “Atra’s the vulture spirit you saw yesterday, Vi. She’s got a good range if I keep her unmanifested. I was shopping not too far from here when she spotted the Barrier.”

“Pretty convenient,” Vivian said. “How far of a range?”

“About two kilometers,” Cammie replied. “But only in an incorporeal state. She can’t go more than thirty or so meters from me otherwise. Mason figures it's the wind spirits I’ve fed her that gives her that long range. Oh, we’re close. Park over there and we’ll walk the rest of the way.”

Vivian did as instructed and then followed Cammie towards the Barrier, Aeolia perched unseen on her shoulder.

“Pretty open out here,” the winged woman noted. As opposed to the woods to the southwest by the reservoir, the northeastern border of Springfield was more rolling plains, trees few and far between. Cammie led them a good way from the road, nearly losing sight of the car. During their trek, Vivian noticed a good amount of discarded food wrappers, ranging from chip bags to emptied tins of canned meats.

“No respect for nature,” Cammie muttered. “When we’re done, mind helping me clean up a bit out here? Nothing major, just picking up some of this trash.”

Vivian shrugged. “I’ve got no problems with that. Better to get a little dirty than to let some animals get sick from this junk.”

“Same here,” Aeolia added. “And are we there yet?”

Cammie let out a good natured huff. “Just about… And here’s the edge. Who wants to go in first?”

“You found it,” Aoelia said, releasing her invisibility. “Finders, keepers, right?”

“Alright then,” Cammie declared. “See you on the other side!”

She gave them a little salute, finger flicking back a strand of hair, before vanishing from view. Aeolia launched herself from Vivian’s shoulder and vanished in after her. Bringing up the rear, Vivian reached out and willed herself in. It didn’t feel any different from entering any other Barrier and the redhead soon found herself reunited with Aeolia and Cammie in a far more forested area.

Tall trees blocked out the sky, casting the whole forest in shade and leaving the ground mostly free of other plants. An odd stillness permeated the air and Cammie placed a hand on one of the trees.

“Well, I was hoping for something a little less forest,” she remarked with a sigh. “At least there’s some open space for things to run around in. I’m going to send Atra out to scout the close area. If she can’t find anything, I’ll send her further out.”

The air rippled for a second as the spirit flew from its mistress. Then Cammie frowned.

“There’s something around here,” she said, her tone deadly serious. “Atra’s picked up footprints. A good number of them.”

“Someone from the outside, or something that was already in here?” Aeolia asked, her voice terse as she gripped her glaive.

A flurry of motion was her answer as over a dozen forms clad in makeshift hide armor blurred into sight, arrayed around them in a circle, spears and swords pointed at them. The troop of whatever they were snarled at them, their harsh language like growls as they glared at them from under enclosed helmets that obscured any distinguishing features. Vivian took a step back, a rising panic causing her breath to come in sudden, sharp gasps. Aeolia likewise looked rattled, her grip causing her knuckles to turn white.

“Enough of that,” Cammie said, a spark of red flame shooting from her hand into the air. Heat flooded Vivian’s body and her fear just vanished. Beside her, Aeolia took a sharp breath.

“What the hell was that?” she said, head swivelling around. “Why was I about to freak out? And what the hell did you do, Cammie?”

“A little burst of courage,” the restaurateur replied. “One of these guys was amping up your fear, so I’m having a fire spirit boost your courage to counter it.”

“Well, if that was their big play,” Aeolia snarled, wind beginning to gather on her blade, “I think we might be able to fight our way out.”

“Wait!” a feminne voice rang out from behind a tree, the command followed by something in their assailants’ harsh tongue. Whatever was said, their ambushers pulled away from them, their arms still readied for a fight.

“We no attack, you no attack,” the voice said as its owner slipped into view. Like the voice betrayed, it was a female and the lack of a helmet revealed her to be a goblin.
Once fully in view, the evident leader continued, “We here first. We claim. You go.”

“Or we could not,” Aeolia challenged, but before she could attack, Cammie placed a hand on her shoulder, holding her back.

“There’s no reason for us to fight,” the dark haired woman said, her voice leaving no room for arguments. “They were here first and we’re only here by chance.”

She focused on the goblin leader. “We’ll leave. No fight.”

The goblin nodded, then began to speak to her subordinates in their native tongue, causing them to stand down further. With their adversary less threatening and Cammie’s hand still grasping her, Aeolia’s posture shifted and she dispelled the wind on her glaive.

“You sure about this, Cammie?” she whispered.

Cammie nodded. “Yeah. We don’t need to get into a fight. Better to have just wasted gas and time than to cause pointless bloodshed. If these guys started with the stabbing, I’d be all in to fight back, but they held back and gave us an out. No need to meet restraint with ****.”

Aeolia frowned as she considered Cammie’s words and Vivian chimed in, “Discretion is the better part of valor. No reason to get into a fight if we don’t need to.”

“No need for you two to keep beating me in the head with this, I get it,” Aoelia remarked jokingly. “Let’s get out of here.”

Before they could, a terrible howl, like dozens of wounded beasts, echoed through the forest. The goblins immediately whirled around, weapons raised in panic. Their leader hastily reached into her armor and pulled out a walkie talkie, twisting the dial harshly. She yelled into it, the language barrier not obscuring her distress. The response that came was quick, a few harsh screams in the goblin tongue that were cut off by screams of pain and fury before the line went dead.

The leader frantically yelled into the walkie, gaining no response. Then she snapped to face her men, issued some command to them, then shouted, “Kitai!”

Her scarf moved, unfurling as it became apparent it wasn’t a piece of fashion but a small winged creature. The dragon-like being let out a shrill cry and leapt from its owners shoulders, circling above them for a moment before darting off. The leader let out one final cry in her native language and followed, her troops a step behind.

“Sounds like they had another group,” Vivian said, her voice tight, “and they found something.”

“Yeah,” Aeolia responded, her tone shaky. “Maybe it's a good thing we weren’t the first people here.”

“Don’t go counting our blessings just yet,” Cammie remarked, a hand lifted up. “I don’t think we can get out.”

Vivian quickly mirrored Cammie’s stance and set her mind to exiting the Barrier. Instead of the somewhat elastic sensation she normally felt when leaving, she was met with a solid block that seemed to press back against her. When she turned to look at Aeolia and Cammie, they both looked worried as they lowered their hands.

“Fuck,” Aeolia spat. Another horrible cry echoed in the distance, and she shuddered. “Is whatever that is keeping us locked in here?”

“I think so,” Cammie answered, her voice low. “Atra’s going in the direction the goblins went and…”

She took in a sharp breath and grew pale. “I’ve never seen anything like that! It’s like a tree with bits of flesh fused to it. And the goblins aren’t winning against it.”

“What do we do?” Vivian nervously asked. This was far more dangerous than their earlier Barriers and the uncertainty of the whole situation left her feeling unmoored.

Aeolia lightly touched her arm, offering her a reassuring smile. “We’ll get through this. Got to build up that business of yours.”

“Keep that positive mindset,” Cammie cut in. “We’re going to need it. We need to help the goblins. Even if the group we didn’t meet is much stronger, I doubt they’re the reason we’re trapped, especially since that girl wanted us to leave.”

“Alright,” Aeolia said, a fire in her voice as she took to the air before shrinking. “Let’s trim that demon tree and go home.”

She took off and Cammie and Vivian followed, the redhead trailing behind the two combat focused women. The sounds of battle grew as they neared and the harsh screams of the goblins and eerie cries of the thing they were fighting caused Vivian’s guts to twist. And then they entered the clearing where the battle was taking place.

Cammie’s description did not convey the true horror the abomination presented and it caused Vivian to stop dead when she saw it. At its core it was a gnarled tree, but mixed in with its rough dark bark was the still living flesh of a number of creatures. Some were covered in fur, others bare, and they snaked up its trunk and down its limbs in irregular patterns, blood and other bodily fluids dripping down from where they met the bark. Mouths, snouts and eyes of various shapes and sizes peppered the fleshy bits. Claws protruded from the ends of its branches and proved to be deadly weapons, given the few motionless goblins on the ground before it.

While Vivian remained rooted in place at the treeline, Cammie and Aeolia surged forward. With a warcry, Aeolia grew to full size and let loose a slice of wind. It crashed into the twisted flesh tree, but only caused a small cut to appear on the patchwork of flesh and wood and only seemed to cause the thing to swipe at the assembled fighters.

Cammie wasn’t far behind Aeolia. Her vulture and wolf spirits manifested and joined in the attack. The wolf struck at the roots that served as its legs along with several goblins, who didn’t seem to care that they had a black phantasmal hound assisting them. Atra the vulture of dark grey clouds flew high, twisting around some branches that tried to swat it out of the sky and brought talons and beak to its **** flesh.

Vivian watched dumbfounded at the battle, wincing as the monstrosity flung a trio of goblin spearmen away. A snarl to her right broke her fixation on the battle and she saw the female goblin standing at the periphery, arms extended and face contorted with effort.

‘She’s casting something,’ Vivian realised, sensing the subtle shifting of magic emanating from the goblin. A battlecry caught her attention as one of the flung goblins pulled himself to his feet and charged again, seeming heedless of its injuries or fallen companions.

‘She’s the one that was overloading us with fear,’ she realised. ‘And maybe she’s countering it in her soldiers. Numbing their fear so they can keep fighting.’

Her mind shifted into analytical mode. Vivian quickly surveyed the battle, looking for some avenue to contribute.

‘It has a lot of eyes,’ she noted as several of them tracked both Aeolia and Atra as they flew above it, waiting for an opening. Vivian reached out, becoming acutely aware of the light around her. She took hold of the light and redirected it at the monstrous tree’s upper eyes. She suddenly became dipped in deep shade as the tree’s eyes winced shut as the focused light blinded it.

Vision obscured, the flying duo was able to score several hits before retreating away from its flailing limbs. Vivian ceased her spell and found the goblin girl staring at her with wild yellow eyes.

“Did you just redirect the light to it?” the goblin asked, her English perfect.

“Yes,” Vivian answered after a confused pause.

“Can you focus the light like you could with a glass?” she continued. “You know, to make fire?”

“‘Make fire’?” Vivian repeated, still not following.

Her lack of understanding frustrated the goblin and her ears quivered. “Using a piece of glass to focus the light. Like the Romans did!”

Vivian’s eyes widened as she got the idea. “Like a magnifying glass! Focus the light onto one spot.”

She thought about that strategy. ‘It’s a good idea, but can I do that? The amount of light I’d need to move is larger than I have ever done.’

She focused on the battle, on Aeolia and Cammie’s spirits in the thick of things, facing down the twisted abomination.

‘I have to try,’ she thought, her will steeled. ‘I won’t be dead weight. Not to my friends and not to Aeolia and John!’

Turning her head to her unlikely inspiration, she told the goblin, “I can try. It might take me a minute to set up. When I do, tell your people to avert their eyes. It’ll be like a lightning strike.”

“Got it,” the goblin replied.

Vivian closed her eyes, reaching out to connect to as much light as she could, the effort increasing more and more as her area of control grew. When she reached her limit, she called out, her voice strained, “Aeolia, Cammie. Back off and don’t look at it! Trust me and close your eyes!”

Vivian waited for her neighbor to finish giving her command, and once the last word in goblin was uttered, she counted to three and focused the light towards the tree’s upper amalgam branches.

The area around her was suddenly dropped into pitch black, a dome around 15 meters across, and a crack like a lightning strike harshly echoed as that light flashed onto the tree. It let out several horrible screams in different pitches as its eyes were boiled, skin fried and bark burned. Then it ended and Vivian blinked in the normal light levels as the tree recoiled and flailed in pain, fire already spreading across its highest branches.

She let out a weak whoop then began to fall backwards, her heavy mana usage causing her head to swim. A pair of arms caught her and she looked up to see Aoelia’s impressed smile.

“Nice spell,” she said with a loving smile.

“Thanks,” Vivian replied, her speech a little slurred. Then she **** herself to look at the battle. “It’s still alive?”

“Unfortunately,” Cammie answered as she drew close. “I got a good look through Atra and Anlu. It’s regenerating from our damage. Don’t know how much it’ll be able to heal.”

A harsh shout from their goblin interpreter interrupted them and the three saw several goblin fighters ensnared by thick, fleshy tendrils that had shot out of the tree’s lower trunk, a meter or so above where its root legs started. The slimy appendages reeled back, pulling the two captured goblins flush against its bark. Several thinner tentacles, each tipped with a small claw or thorn, jabbed into the captives.

“What,” the goblin girl breathed out in abject horror, “is it doing?”

“I think it's draining them,” Cammie answered solemnly as she dug out her phone. “Eating them to recover.”

“As if it wasn't hard enough to kill,” Aeolia spat, her arms still supporting Vivian. “Now it’s a vampire. What do we do?”

“We can’t win in a battle of attrition,” Cammie said, opening her phone, and began to type a message. “Not if it can just scoop one of us up and eat us.”

“We’re going to need backup,” she added, finishing her text. “Time to call in the cavalry.”

Thanks again for reading this little story. If you liked the chapter, please hit that thumbs up, and if you want to support my writing, check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/ScrapCrow. Get access to my chapters before they’re published here and join my private Discord.