Lair of the Wendigo - An Excerpt from "Book 1: Air"
Jack Thunder swallowed hard. There wasn't much he could see, not right off hand. Stormbringer's glow served as his torch, but it didn't do much to illuminate his way. As he traveled further into the cave, the glow seemed to grow dimmer, straining against an unnatural darkness. Even so, it pulsed with greater and greater speed. He was getting close.
He jumped when he suddenly heard a voice. He couldn't make out what it was saying, but it sounded familiar. He knew this voice all too well. This voice belonged to the one storm gremlin he had never been able to get along with. His name was Terry Paradise. The two of them were different in almost every way. Jack Thunder had powers over storm clouds, Terry had powers over the sun. Jack Thunder wore green, Terry wore orange. Jack Thunder worked hard to prove himself, Terry just floated through life without a care.
So... why would he be in here? Why would a storm gremlin who hardly wanted for anything ever feel the need to take a bargain with a wendigo? It didn't make sense. It just-
Jack Thunder turned at a sudden noise. Terry was two inches from his face. Jack Thunder yelped and staggered back, pointing Stormbringer's blades at the intruding storm gremlin.
This was Terry, all right. But he didn't look so good. It was difficult to tell in the blackness, but Terry had lost his color, too. He looked as pale and weathered as old, worn-out shoe leather. He had dark circles under his eyes and his jumpsuit was covered in strange stains, like he had been down here for days without sleep or a proper bath. Jack Thunder noticed a viscous black substance leaking from Terry's mouth and realized to his horror that the stains on his jumpsuit trailed down from his mouth, splattering the entire front. Terry trembled as he stared haggardly back at Jack Thunder.
"J-Jack? Is that... you?" Terry managed to get out.
Jack Thunder knew it in his gut now. There was no question. These were all symptoms of wendigo possession. He steadied himself. All right, I've found the wendigo. Now I just need to get it out and get it banished. He thought back to what San taught him about wendigoes. He remembered the protection spell he had cast on himself and Razer earlier. The spell used a special kind of magic called Undifferentiated Anima. It was the same kind of magic that the Wendigo Banishing Incantation used. If he could use it to cast a healing spell on Terry...
"Terry! What are you doing down here? You look awful!"
"No... don't worry about me... you need to run!"
"I'm not gonna leave you here. Here, this should help with your wounds."
And with that, Jack Thunder began casting the healing spell. The gemstone in the center of the staff shimmered with spectral light, as it had done when he had cast the banishing spell. Terry seemed to calm down as the light washed over him.
That didn't last long.
Terry doubled over in pain, throwing up a gout of that horrid black substance that ran from his mouth earlier. Jack Thunder held steady, continuing to cast the spell. Terry's convulsions became more and more violent as he continued to cough up more and more black ooze.
With a final retch, something else emerged from Terry's mouth. Something long, foul, and otherworldly. Something with a long, serpentine body and a pair of smoldering red eyes. It thrashed about madly, railing against the Undifferentiated Anima that had been forced into its host's body. Seeing the light coming from Stormbringer, the wendigo shrieked and gave chase.
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