Nightshade lit her horn, once again readying an attack. Whatever it was that kept on howling, it was following her now. The Orb could wait for later.
Something moved in her periphery, rustling in the spider-silk grass. She swung her head around, putting her mana into a levitation spell and breaking a branch off one of the trees to use as a weapon. A shrill scream pierced the air as the blackened wood splintered with her tugs. The howls responded to the scream, louder even than the time before. Bright, blue-green lights began to flicker in and out of existence in the thin fibers of the grass, blinking and moving about like sets of eyes.
Come to think of it, they probably were eyes.
She waved the branch about. Maybe that could scare off the howling things. The branch screamed again, drawing even more attention.
"Quiet!" Nightshade snapped, enveloping the branch in a silence bubble. Any more than that and she'd be out of mana if she had to fight.
One of the howling things came close enough now for her to see. Just like the shell creatures, it was something she'd never laid eyes upon until now. Brown, spindly fur coated every inch of its body-- so much so, in fact, that it was hard to tell whether or not it even had a face. Up close, its individual howl really wasn't as intimidating as the howls that came from all around, but...
Her eyes shrunk to pinpricks as the howling thing grew to gigantic proportions, dwarfing even the tree she'd torn the branch from. A deep, booming howl emanated from the creature's mouth... wherever it was. She wasn't going to stick around to find out.
Nightshade took off, throwing the branch to the side. For a brief moment, the screams of complaint coming from the branch distracted the howling thing. Just enough time for a teleport.
Thump.
The mare groaned, rolling to her hooves. More shell pieces and pasty blood crunched under them as she stood up. The howling was still there, but at least she was able to get a decent distance away from it for the time being.
Her stomach grumbled again. She looked around-- no howling things in sight. Just her, the shell creatures, the spider-silk grass, and the screaming trees. Nightshade crouched down, lighting her horn. Little glints of light reflected off the metallic surfaces of the shell creatures buried in the ground. Some of them shifted under the soil, apparently discomforted.
She swapped the spell out for levitation, keeping in mind the locations of some of the shell creatures as she plucked a few from the ground. Some of the shell creatures writhed and squirmed against the hold of her aura, reminding her that these were living, breathing creatures she was about to eat. It was a long cry from a hayburger, that's for sure. Even then, some ponies ate meat, right? Animals like fish and stuff-- seafood.
Nightshade took a closer look at the closest shell creature. It didn't look aquatic, but... she glanced back at the spider-silk grass. It wasn't as if there was any other thing that looked remotely edible. Turning back, she opened her mouth, bringing one of the shell creatures closer.
"Wait," she paused, pulling the creature away again. "Fire. All the ponies I've heard of that eat meat cook it first to get rid of germs. Um... fire... fire..." her levitation spell flickered for a moment as she cast a concurrent spell. A weak flame ignited at the tip of her horn. Her earlier teleport took a hard toll on her mana reserves, so if it really came down to it, she'd likely have to gulp down the shell creatures raw.
Another chorus of howls rang through the air. She'd have to hurry if she wanted to build up her reserves fast enough. She pushed a little more mana into the flame, touching her horn against one of the screaming trees.
...She honestly probably should've thought that part through a little better.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
Nightshade clenched her hooves over her ears, dropping both her spells and stumbling backward.
The chorus of howls responded promptly, growing ever-louder by the second. Eyes wide, the mare lit her horn again, praying to Celestia, Luna, and whatever other ponies that came to mind for her spell to work. She could already feel the ground beginning to rumble with the heavy steps of multiple howling things, and the screaming tree was still not letting up even with the flames now fully engulfing it. She clenched her eyes shut, pouring everything she had into the spell. Just like the last one, it'd be a random teleport since she didn't even know where she currently was. At least that'd reduce the drain a little.
The rumbling grew increasingly violent. The howls by this point were overpowering the screams, and Nightshade swore she could feel a howling thing's breath on her neck.
Now.
She let the spell rip. Everything she had in her reserves coursed freely through her body, channeling through flesh and bone to the tip of her horn. She could already feel the flow of her mana beginning to diminish. Her vision began to blur and darken as a long-distance teleport tore her from reality.
Nightshade gagged, coughing out strands of spider-silk grass. She was alive, so at least that was something to be happy about. Honestly, with how low on mana she was, it wouldn't've been very surprising if she simply... didn't reappear.
And that was something that didn't happen, so she was still here. Tired, hungry, and more than a little scared --not to mention lost as buck-- but still here.
A shell creature skittered through the spindly grass. She slammed her hoof down over it, hearing the distinct crunch of its shell. Yawning, she brought her hoof to her lips and licked the remains of the creature off of it. Slowly, her eyes began to close as she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.