Shadows in the Mist
The fog clung tighter than ever.
What had begun as a morning nuisance had become a suffocating presence—thicker, colder, heavy enough to choke the edge of sound and smear movement into suggestion. Campfires hissed and crackled, their glow absorbed by the pale curtain that refused to lift. The Cradle, once vibrant with wary routine, now moved like a creature afraid of its own breath.
David stood at the southeastern watch post, unmoving. His Observation Haki was stretched to the limit.
He felt them.
Not goblins. Not animals.
They were scattered, crawling just outside his range, always shifting, too erratic to count—some small, others unnervingly large. The emotion he read was not hunger, not fear. It was patience.
Predatory patience.
He exhaled slowly and opened his eyes.
“Miriam.”
She turned toward him from the firepit, where she had been reviewing the latest bestiary entries with Jake. The moment she met David’s eyes, she stood.
“What is it?” she asked, already walking toward him. Camila joined her halfway.
“They’re circling,” David said. “Multiple… somethings. They’ve been out there for a while, but they’re drawing closer. I don’t know what they are, but they feel coordinated.”
Camila’s face hardened. “Eyes on us?”
“Yes,” David murmured. “But it feels like they’re waiting for something.”
Jake arrived, breath short. “Could be a timed pattern. A hunt. Maybe they only strike when conditions are right.”
Miriam nodded once. “Then we don’t wait. Camila notify the others, we must be ready.”
By dusk, the Cradle was ready.
Patrols were doubled, stationed just inside the fencing in rotating pairs. Ellie and Li had filled clay pots with quick-freezing slush in case ranged defense was needed. Wren and Yusuf positioned themselves at opposite ends of the camp, helping others anchor their Nen or sharpen focus. Dev, Harper, and Melissa had formed a tight triangle near the west, Reiatsu humming low.
Even Vin had joined the wall with a spear, his limp all but forgotten.
Alex climbed a low watch scaffold with Camila and Grace, clutching his saber in one hand, chakra preloaded in his feet. “You ready for this?” he asked her.
“Do I look like I’m ever not?” she said, though her grip on the saber was tense.
The fog thickened with the sun’s descent. Lights were hung between watchpoints—glass jars of animal oil and string soaked in fat. They flickered like ghostly eyes, painting the clearing in orange and black.
Then came the howl.
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Low. Wet. Guttural. Not canine. Not even animal.
Another answered it. Then another.
Then silence.
Jake whispered under his breath, “Here it comes.”
It began near the east fence.
A scream—Darren’s voice—cut through the air. Something lunged from the mist, a blur of limbs and snapping teeth, slamming into him and dragging him into the mud. Blood hit the dirt before anyone could react.
“CONTACT EASTERN POST!” Miriam shouted, blade drawn.
From the fog, shapes emerged.
Elongated bodies, hunched and sinewy. Gray-skinned. Not goblins—taller, slicker. Their eyes were pale, glowing faintly like fungus in a cave. Four-limbed but humanoid, with spines like broken coral erupting from their backs.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE?” Grace yelled.
“Focus!” David screamed.
“Defensive positions!” Camila bellowed. Earth surged beneath her feet—jagged stones rising from the ground, forming a crude wall as a beast slammed into it.
Alex leapt forward, his blade igniting with a small gout of flame as he slashed downward, cleaving through one of the creatures' shoulders. It shrieked—not in pain, but fury—and kept coming until Camila speared it through the neck, emboldened with her wind magic.
To the west, Yusuf had activated Ren, trading powerful blows with one of the larger beasts, fending it off while Harper stabbed towards the smaller ones with her spear. “Keep them back! Don’t let them cluster!”
Near the firepit, Ellie froze a creature’s leg mid-leap, shattering it with a thrown rock. Li pulled a wounded Jared to safety, Hana shielding them with a thin but growing barrier of raw wind.
Wren tackled another creature mid-charge, driving a stake into its chest. It thrashed and bucked, its blood steaming on the ground.
They kept coming.
Dozens of them.
David fought near the southern trench, his Observation Haki sparking with precision. “One more behind!” he shouted, and Dev turned just in time to slice into it with a burst of raw Reiatsu, the blow sloppy but enough to knock it back. He had no time to celebrate his successful use of his power. Jason came charging towards him to assist, his Zanpakuto a flurry of vengeance.
A scream of pure terror made Jason turn, he only got a glimpse of her face, before she was dragged, flailing into the fog, Mary, a quiet women, he’d only spoken to her twice before.
Another scream went up—Raj, cornered against a post. Vin was there in seconds, ramming a spear through the beast’s throat. It collapsed in a gurgling heap. Raj stared, pale but alive.
David was a blaze of fury, his marine saber flashed, he used his left arm as both a shield and a mace, Armament encasing it in invisible armour, bolstering his strength. Roger was with him, and a number of other One piece path users, all fighting together, sabers to hand.
Then, something changed.
The creatures… hesitated.
One by one, they hissed and pulled back, retreating just beyond the firelight.
Alex crouched, panting. “Are they… regrouping?”
“No,” Jake whispered from behind a barrier. “They’re afraid.”
A deeper growl filled the air.
From the fog, a new form emerged.
Twice the size of the others. Its back bristled with bone. Its arms were longer, claws almost dragging. Its mouth split unnaturally wide, lined with jagged fangs. Its eyes were human.
The Cradle held its breath.
“Focus all fire!” Miriam yelled.
Ellie sent a flurry of ice spikes, the size of fingers, strengthened with magic at the creature. Jared had the Flintlock pistol, aimed, and fired. The bullet hit, but didn’t take it out.
The beast staggered back.
Then Camila struck.
Her wind and earth magic surged, lifting her on a burst of air as she plunged her saber into the beast’s chest. It screamed. Alex leapt beside her, flames wrapping his blade as he struck its throat. Wren and Yusuf followed, both with Ren activated, their combined force overwhelming it.
It fell.
With a final, trembling roar, the remaining beasts screeched—and fled.
One by one, they vanished into the fog.
It took hours to count the dead.
Darren, who was on watch was gone. So were 13 others. Half a dozen more were injured, some seriously. Jared would live, as long as he avoids infection.
But they had held.
The bodies of the fog-beasts were already being dissected and documented. Jake was sketching one’s limbs as David and Miriam discussed how to mount the heads near the fence.
“Let them know we’re not prey,” Miriam said.
As dawn broke, the fog finally began to recede.
Sunlight returned.
But no one celebrated.
Jake updated the Obelisk log with trembling fingers:
Fog Creatures – 34 slain
Alpha Variant – 1 slain
Casualties: 14 dead, 7 wounded
Total Confirmed Survivors: 72
Cradle Status: Holding
They had survived.
But only just.