Embret and the Tendrils

    Embret sat quietly, coiling braided cotton in an arm-length spool. It was enough to last the common person the rest of their life. It was enough to last him about a week. Hopefully that's all he'd need.

    He took the coil and loaded it into his feeder. It initialized, winding the strand through his ignition system, eventually protruding through the opening along his left wrist. The strand was saturated with oil, allowing it to keep a flame. Once Embret was confident in the wick, he departed to the Underbrush.

    After the five-hour hike, he found the hatch covered right where he and Torrid found it. I'm coming bud Embret thought as he opened the hatch and slid down. The Underbrush was dark and damp, but with his wick holding a steady flame, Embret navigated through confidently. Already his trail from before had grown over, so the blazes they'd left previously were his only means of navigation.

    After hours of retracing his steps, he knew he'd come close to the Tendrils' lair.  Embret decided to rest before approaching further. He extinguished the flame hesitantly, remaining half alert for sounds of the enemy.  Nothing stirred, and another few hours later, and though it was hardly sleeping, he awoke refreshed enough to continue.

    With his wick ignited again, he continued forward to the lair, and as he neared a sickly green fog spilled from the boundary. Memories of this noxious fume returned, and he paused. How long have they been in there, fool. You're their only hope.  Embret continued on, stifling a gag as he climbed up a nook between the wall and a tree. The fog settled below, so he could breathe clearly again from up here.

    Over the wall Embret could see sneaking critters, all trailing some slimy substance. It looked disgusting. Hopefully they hadn't gotten through Torrid yet. Farther back, he spotted his friend bound in vines, head drooped forward -- probably unconscious. In the center of the facility stood a tall industrial-looking pillar, with various openings in the organic webbing supporting it casting a green glow throughout the facility. From the top of the pillar fell the same green fog from earlier -- presumably this was its source.

    With this information in mind, Embret could take action. He formed a general plan in his head before leaping over. He needed to destroy the pillar, free Torrid, escape together, and make it back to the hatch. Easy enough, right?

    Embret leapt over the wall, and the nausea hit him immediately as he entered the fog again.  Struggling to think straight, he managed to remember his first task: destroy that pillar. Embret sucked fire from the wick into his palm, collecting it into a fireball which he then launched at the pillar. It hit the device, and singed all the organic matter away, but was otherwise unharmed. Warning lights flashed as the blast drew the attention of the creatures lurking in nearby rooms. 

    Embret's first instinct was to run for Torrid and force his way out, but he thought better for a second. He didn't think he'd been seen, and it 'd be better to keep it that way so he hid behind some nearby barrels and watched what they did. They released a box of tinier creatures that slithered up the pillar and began weaving between themselves, fixing the structure.

    Embret noticed however that they started weaving from three openings surrounding the base of the pillar. Connected to these openings were lines that he traced to a large tank along the other side of the wall. It seemed that must be the storage tank for whatever fueled this pillar. Not wanting to make a mistake this time, when the creatures returned to their "offices" he snuck over for a better view of the storage tank. There were two glowing orange fuel cells connected to it. Blowing those up would probably do the trick. So Embret formulated the new plan in his head. Blow up the fuel cells, hope those disrupt the noxious pillar, then save Torrid and get out of here.

    With that plan in place, Embret gathered an even larger fireball and launched it at the fuel cells, causing the entire storage structure to explode. Green liquid and metal shards flew everywhere. It had the same sickly smell as the fog, but less permeating. The fog he noticed had begun to dissipate, and he could think clearer again. Warning light flashed again, and this time stealth wouldn't be an option. On to step two.

    Embret raced for Torrid and launched a smaller fireball at him. It singed off all the vines containing him, as well as Torrid himself, but he'd be okay. Torrid came to consciousness, and after some confusion he saw Embret. Fresh energy swelled in him, and he leapt down embracing Embret. "You came back. Oh my gosh, you came back!"

    "I brought wick too." Embret said smiling. He opened his pack quickly, and unraveled half of what he had remaining, which was a lot less than he expected. They loaded into Torrid's pack which was lying on the ground. Torrid's pack initialized, and the duo were ready to escape.

    "Let's get out of here." Embret said.

    "Wait. They still have Flameingo. Over there." Torrid replied

    "Flameingo's alive? I assumed he'd be gone by now."
    "Nope, they kept him locked up in that cell. I'm not leaving without him."

Embret paused. It was just a bird, and this place was awful. "Okay, you lead the way. We'll get the bird and then we get out of here fast."

    Torrid led the way to Flameingo's cage, and the creatures spotted them. Before they could attack though, the duo shot fireball after fireball at them, incinerating any that tried to attack. They found Flameingo, and released him, but he was too weak to fly. Torrid carried him while Embret led the way back out of the facility.  Behind them, several larger creatures were pouring through doorways.

    Fighting them off would ensure their safety, but neither of them wanted to remain here any longer.  Vines crept along the floor and snapped at their limbs. More fireballs singed them away. The three fled the facility swiftly and didn't stop until the only light they could see was from their own flames.      Embret found his blaze trail and led them a little while longer before Torrid and Flameingo needed to rest. That was fine, they were mostly safe now.