Throne of Steam

The surrounding lampposts quickly dimmed into darkness as the terrifying growling kept sounding from all directions. The scattered trees on each side of the street strongly swayed with the branches clashing against one another, only adding to the cacophony of sounds that encompassed the whole street.

As if the day of judgment had finally arrived, the chilling winds weren't enough to offset the temperature that continuously rose amidst the growling.

Frowning, Garett rapidly loaded his materialized gun with blessed bullets he convinced the Keeper on giving him. He still wasn't proficient enough to materialize an energy-based artifact, so he had to make do with actual ammunition.

"Alice! Things aren't looking good!" He barked at the top of his lungs while the air around him commenced invading his body! Like a cage trapping him from his insides, his muscles turned stiff while the previously locked doors and windows sprang open only to close right after, producing a booming noise that made his ears buzz!

'This isn't something a recruit like me should be investigating! Why did everything begin after Alice mentioned the church?...' His eyes constricted as he remembered Madam Cecile aversion when the young boy pointed him as a member of the church, it happened again! Only, this time they provoked something even more treacherous than a rich woman!

"I can't hear you!" Alice had already forced open the case she carried and hastily equipped her gauntlets before starting to converge the power of the mists surrounding them. A thick coating of mist concentrated before wrapping her humongous gloves, her experienced senses gave alarm signs that came from all around the street! "Stay behind me!"

Even before the words left her mouth, Garett was already back-to-back with her. His eyes erratically scanned every inch of the street while his breathing gradually started to become uneven.

And just as the tension built up to its maximum, it suddenly stopped. The deafening cacophony gradually faded into the air while being replaced only by the stillness and the sound of low animal grunts and snuffs that came from the very shadows at their surroundings.

"This is..."

"Don't talk," Alice ordered, her voice grave with a tone Garett had never heard before, totally different from the huntress usual self. "They surrounded us."

'They!? Who!? Are you sure the alcohol didn't go up to your head!? My Perception didn't notice anything!...' Garett cursed in his mind for a second before gripping the handgun and pointing it towards the shadows surrounding the duo.

'It's like... a whole pack of wolves is surrounding us...' Garett felt like beasts were staring at him from all sides, just waiting for an opportunity to pounce on him and shred him to pieces!

'Vincent said some strange things were chasing his family... first a whistling gentleman, and now a pack of... I don't know what, hunting dogs? Are the Almirs being chased by Animal Hunters?...' Garett felt the blood rushing to his head as he complained about the situation, his hands shaking as he aimed the handgun towards an unseen enemy.

"I thought supernatural phenomena were... safer!" Garett yelled at the top of his lungs! He couldn't muster the courage to take a step forward!

"They are... usually." She replied weakly, her powers were not suitable for fighting uncorporeal things or large groups of enemies! She couldn't just punch the air!

"How do we resolve things like this?"

"We find the source, and then we do something about it." She answered apprehensively, how could they find the source if they couldn't give a step forward in fear of being torn to shreds by incorporeal creatures!

"Then..." Garett looked around, looking for some way of salvaging the situation.

His eyes constricted as he realized that even before these things arrived, they extinguished every light in the vicinity! 'Was that chaotic environment earlier to distract us from their weaknesses? Can things like these even be sentient enough to do that?'

"Alice, we need light!" He spat suddenly before returning the handgun to the insides of his vests and materializing a simple lighter; the weapon rapidly vanished right after! Only the bullets to remain in the pocket. "It's just a guess, but... They should be sensitive to light!"

"Roger. Follow me!" She nodded and sprung to action, her feet kicked the ground in a jump where she suddenly dashed through the air and punched the door right in front with her enormous gauntlets. "There should be something we can use."

Garett jumped backward while using the lighter, with his surroundings turning bright! At the same time, the light dissipated the encroached darkness, so Garett was able to see a monstrous black dog jumping in his direction, with its enormous maws filled with strange, crooked and sharp teeth biting in his direction!

Just as the monster was about to bite him, Vellen's trained reflexes kicked in! Garett's body inclined back in the middle of the air, his right-leg kicking the side of the creature's head!

But Garett wasn't able to stabilize himself, and the sudden aerial maneuver caused him to lose his equilibrium, causing him to ram into Alice's back! The duo of hunters crashed through the forcefully opened door before stumbling their way through the ground, only to stop when finally hitting a wall!

'Shit! Was I wrong?' The thought passed through his head while he lightened the surroundings once more using the materialized igniter, the duo could see a multitude of quadruped shadows roaming about outside of the opened door, not daring to approach the illuminated area!

"Hah!" He let out a relieved sigh before tensing up again, as he could hear the cacophony of ominous sounds resounding once again! The beasts started to growl while the winds started to form once more!

"Damn it!" Alice cursed while grabbing Garett by his shirt and dragging him through the small building, her eyes scanning for anything that could illuminate a large area in the surroundings!

"Alice, the fire will extinguish!" Garett informed, doing his utmost to keep the flame from being quenched!

"I know!"

'Why is this happening? Are those beasts mutants? No... They don't look like it. The Old Keeper said that phenomenons could be materialized in the most different forms, but they would inevitably vanish after the source of energy is controlled! Fighting them will not do us any good...' Even if they managed to find something to illuminate the surroundings, so what? They would only wait till morning and wouldn't manage to solve anything! And the sky had just darkened, who knew what could happen until then!

"Alice, can you feel where their energy is being emitted from?" Garett pressed, his voice suffused with anxiety as he continued to force his Perception to scan the surroundings! Even if he only used this Power on living beings, he could only hope that it was possible to focus it on ethereal things and objects!

He allowed Alice to drag him forward while closing his eyes, first focusing on the lighter in his hands and tried to feel it with his ability! His bigger objective wasn't to monitor the surrounding beasts but to perceive the energy in the surroundings, hoping to find the source of energy that was creating the phenomena!

"If I could, do you think I would be running?" She responded with a bark, her voice showing boundless apprehension when she noticed the lights dimming, the howling winds were entering the building! Only Garett's hunched body prevented it from being completely extinguished! "Shit! Your lighter won't last long."

"I know that! Find the kitchen, hurry!" An idea suddenly popped in his mind, and he sprung his eyes open as he started to run, not caring about the fire being extinguished!

"What are you doing!?" She screamed in a panic! The light was their only source of light, and it was the only way to keep the beasts away! By voluntarily letting the fire smother, wasn't it the same as inviting the beasts after them?

Not caring to give an explanation, Garett continued to run to where he imagined would be the building's kitchen, his recent physical training was the only thing preventing him from falling dead tired on the ground!

"Found it!" Garett barged into the kitchen, lighting up the surroundings once more to observe the room. He could clearly feel his heart beating with immense intensity! It felt like it would burst out of his chest! "Come on, Alice, stay with me!"

"Are you crazy!?" She followed him, her thoughts a mess of incongruencies! She was never the bright hunter of the team, and everything was always thought off by Dante, the only thing she had to do was beat things up with her gauntlets!

"There's no time to explain!" He extinguished the lighter once more and prepared himself to execute his plans! Every second counted in their situation! Even in a situation of life and death, Garett never felt calmer, it was like everything was in his control, his mind extremely clear!

GWARG!

A loud growl came from the corridor, followed by an aggregation of similar noises! Every second that passed was a second where the beasts got closer to them, and this time, they wouldn't stop to surround them! After Garett's kick, they would instantly pounce on them with full strength!

Garett noticed Alice's daze and pulled her into his embrace, and before she could emit an utter of protest, he dragged her to the wall near the kitchen's stove! A large pipe with a glaring red valve came out from the surface!

Alice finally realized Garett's plan, her mouth gaping at the craziness of the act! Every house had gas pipes! It was a common addition from since the beginning of the New Era, and Lhûn was built right at that time! As such, every house in the city had this addition!

"You are not thinking of-" She was interrupted as he forcefully kicked the valve, breaking the pipe with brute strength! A pressurized stream of gás started to leak from the small hole, the foul smell instantly making her frown!

"Yeah! We'll be jumping through that window right there, so Hold on to me tight!" His mouth curled into a mischievous smile, and his eyes started to emit boundless confidence once more!

"You are going to get us killed!" She screamed, but it was too late, the first of a pack made out of shadows arrived at the kitchen's door, the deafening growling turning into something similar to barks as the creatures approached with full strength!

"Now!" He yelled as he lightened the materialized object and threw it in the direction of the pressurized gas! His eyes reflected the flame for a second before he pressed Alice closer to his chest and ran toward the window!

BOOOM

The surroundings brightened into a hellish fire.