[Near Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska (October 2022)]
"God, it's only October, why is it already so cold up here?!" Gabriella Conley, a woman in her mid-twenties with long blonde hair, pale skin, brown eyes, and a large burn scar on the right side of her face, said with no shortage of irritation in her voice.
"Suck it up and stop complaining." Samuel Conley, one of the woman's many cousins, replied with a roll of his eyes. "It's not like we'll be here for long."
"Not unless we all freeze to death first..." Hyde Park-Conley muttered from the back of the chopper, his breath fogging up the thick glass as he stared through binoculars. The fingers on the dark-haired man's hands twitched slightly as their group continued to soar through the cold Alaskan air. Even with the advantages that came from his 'fire magic', he was still able to feel the sting of near-Arctic air sneaking in through the helicopter's insulation.
"Stop talking and look!" Bishop Conley sharply interrupted while pointing out the window on the starboard side. His dark brown hair and pale blue eyes were barely visible underneath his hood. "There! Three o'clock!"
The remaining members of the Conley family quickly snapped to attention to get a view of their target.
Slithering across the white expanse like a thunderous ripple beneath the snow was something that would give even the most experienced of sorcerers pause.
A sinuous mound arced in and out of the ice, carving wide trenches into the earth as it moved. Even from several hundred feet up, the creature's pinkish flesh gleamed under the pale northern sun. It had no visible eyes, just a yawning mouth lined with concentric rings of serrated teeth.
To most people, it was something straight out of a nightmare. To others, it was more commonly known as the Alaskan Bull Worm.
The creature was a rare type of cryptid that only appeared once in a blue moon. One that had eluded the Conley family for the better part of twenty years, until now. The creature was basically a legend to those in sorcerer society. And at over one hundred yards long, it looked just like one of the worm things that you'd find in an old sci-fi book.
Samuel Conley, the son of world-renowned scientist Samantha Conley, who bore a striking resemblance to his mother, adjusted the microphone on his headset before speaking to his crew. "We've got visual confirmation. Bishop, Gabriella, you guys deal with the tail end. Hyde, I want fire strikes on its flank. Keep it moving slow. And for the love of God, don't try to kill it. We only get one shot at this."
"W-what about me?" Jamie Conley's nervous voice came over the channel. The fourteen-year-old sorcerer was sitting toward the back of the helicopter, tightly bundled in her heavy snow gear, with the tip of her auburn braid barely peaking out of her parka.
"You just hang back until I call for you." Samuel said, glancing back at her. "Remember, this is your catch. We're just clearing the way."
Jamie nodded as she clutched the outer layer of her coat. The young teen was growing more and more nervous by the second as she waited for what was about to happen next. The newest addition to the Conley family knew how important this operation was, and she didn't want to fail the others.
It had only been a couple of months since she was officially adopted into the Conley family, and her new life had been nothing but amazing so far. Much better than the abusive chaos that she was used to dealing with growing up. Her adoptive parents were great, all of her new cousins, aunts, and uncles were fun to be around, and everyone treated the girl like she had always been a part of the family. She was even now attending one of the country's sorcerer academies and had already made a lot of new friends. Something that she would've thought impossible not too long ago.
'Alright, time to show everyone that bringing me into the family wasn't a mistake!' The girl told herself as she steeled her resolve and began focusing her mana. She needed to be ready for when it was her time to shine.
The helicopter continued to roar above the icy waste for another two minutes while kicking up more snow and rocks before banking low toward the target. At the same time, the worm cryptid began to veer toward a nearby ridgeline, dislodging massive chunks of ice and stone with its weight.
Not even a minute later, the helicopter touched down on a snowy plateau not too far from the worm's path.
The ground trembled as it neared, like a subway train roaring through the earth at full speed.
'I still can't believe that I got sent out for this shit.' Samuel lamented his luck while pushing a few strands of his curly brown hair out of his face. The young DPA agent knew how important it was for their family to capture such a valuable cryptid, but the fact that he was here doing it himself was such a bother. 'Why the hell did Dad and Gramps even volunteer me for this?'
Anytime a rare and powerful cryptid popped on their family's radar, the Conleys always did their best to try and scoop it up before the local DPA station killed it. And this time was no exception. Samuel had to have done at least a dozen of these capture missions before today, but this was the first time he had to travel so far for one of them. Usually, he only ever had to handle the ones that appeared in his home state of Texas.
At least he was doing this nonsense with people whom he knew. Aside from Jamie and Bishop, Samuel had worked with everyone here at least a couple of times in the past. Although Hyde and Gabriella irked his nerves to no end at times, he knew that they were more than reliable when it mattered. And he hoped that streak would continue this time around.
The moment the pilot gave them the green light, Samuel steeled his nerves before giving the rest of the crew one last look. It was time to get the party started, and with any luck, they would be done with this nonsense within the next fifteen minutes.
"Alright, let's go!"
Gabriella was the first of the group to exit the helicopter. The woman practically burst through the air atop her blue-feathered owl cryptid, more commonly known as a stikini, as she made a beeline straight for the massive worm cryptid ahead. Before anyone else had a chance to blink, the blonde's companion was already circling the worm and diving low to distract it.
Bishop was quick to follow the elder agent's lead. After bringing out his bear-type cryptid, the blue-eyed man hopped on its back before the creature sprinted toward the worm to assist Gabriella. These two would be more than enough to distract the thing and keep it in one place. And as long as they avoided the worm's mouth, they would be fine.
"You ready?" Samuel then looked over to Hyde, who in turn gave him a quick nod.
Samuel then let out a deep breath before activating his mana and using his magic to summon his primary companion. A second later, a massive deer-like cryptid with jet-black fur and glowing yellow eyes appeared beside him. The front part of its face was a brilliant shade of red, and several balls of blue 'light magic' were hovering around its body.
"Let's do this, Blitz!"
The deer cryptid, a red-nosed reindeer just like the one his mother has, gave the man a slight grunt in response. Samuel and Hyde then hopped on the creature's back and readied themselves to go.
From her spot just outside the door of the helicopter, Jamie watched as a long bridge of yellow and blue light appeared in front of the duo before Blitz began running across it toward the giant worm. The girl couldn't help but be amazed at how different all of her cousins' companions were. She knew that her new family had a plethora of mystical beasts at their beck and call, but the sheer number that they had available to them never ceased to amaze her.
And just like that, the fight was on.
The moment Samuel's companion got within range alongside their target, Hyde began pelting the worm with low-strength fireballs on the left side of its body. While at the same time, Samuel was aiding the man by shooting the creature with mana bursts while keeping an eye on its head.
Back near the tail end of the creature, Bishop's bear companion was clawing at the creature's thick hide with its razor-sharp claws. It had already done a fair bit of damage so far, despite the worm's tough skin. And Bishop had managed to do some damage himself, thanks to a few well-placed mana beams.
On the other side of the worm, Gabriella's owl companion was using its talons to tear through the top layer of the worm's body. Thanks to the creature's use of 'wind magic', it was able to significantly strengthen the effectiveness of its attacks. And judging by the way that the worm was starting to move, it certainly felt it.
'Now, here comes the hard part.' Samuel thought as the ground began to rumble beneath them.
Just then, the Alaskan Bull Worm stopped moving before lifting the front half of its body out of the ground and into the air. The creature then turned its face around to reveal its ugly-looking maw to everyone and briefly paused before letting out a loud roar that was strong enough to make everyone cover their ears. Then, with an impressive amount of speed, the worm lunged forward in an attempt to devour all of the agents that were currently attacking it.
Everyone and their companions expertly dodged out of the way of the attack, forcing the worm to ram its head into the frozen dirt. The group quickly put some distance between themselves before spreading out even further. Just like they had planned, they were going to avoid bunching up next to each other. This was so that the worm would have to waste time deciding who to attack first, leaving everyone else open to make their move.
Once the worm got back up, the creature turned its jagged teeth toward Samuel and Hyde before trying yet another attack. Fortunately for the two agents, Blitz was more than fast enough to dodge the attempt by creating another bridge of light that allowed it to run high above the worm's head. With a window of opportunity now open to him, Hyde used his magic to rain down over a dozen fireballs onto the worm's body.
*ROAR!*
The worm howled in pain as its body recoiled from the 'fire magic' user's attack. Cryptids that appeared in the area were notoriously weak to fire, and this one was no exception.
"Dobo, light that thing up, just remember to avoid its head!" Gabriella ordered her blue-feathered owl companion as the two flew towards the worm from high above. The owl cryptid screeched in response before unleashing a torrent of razor-sharp gusts of wind that tore through the midsection of the worm with vicious accuracy.
Not looking to be outdone, Bishop and his companion proceeded to leap on top of the worm's now fully exposed body and began firing off mana bursts in all directions while clawing their way through the outer layer of the cryptid's skin.
This repeated cycle of attacking and dodging went on for the better part of five minutes until the Alaskan Bull Worm was visibly weakened from the constant wave of attacks. The creature had tried a couple of times to burrow back underground to escape the group of agents, but Hyde's perfectly placed fireballs stopped it from getting too far before having to come back up again to defend itself.
Eventually, the creature had been weakened enough for capture. By now, most of its body had been either burned or torn to shreds, yet its head remained completely untouched. Everyone knew that the easiest way to kill a cryptid was to separate its head from the rest of its body, so the group of Conley agents made sure to do everything in their power to avoid hitting it. And luckily, they had succeeded.
The worm cryptid tried to deliver a few more violent lashes of its tail, but the attacks were simply too slow to pose any real danger to a group of seasoned DPA agents like this one. And when it was clear that the worm had no more strength left in it to resist, Samuel decided that now was the perfect time for them to try and capture it.
"Jamie, you're up!" The man shouted over the radio. "Hurry up before this thing dies!"
A moment later, Jamie Conley came flying in on the back of another one of Gabriella's owl companions, one that the blonde woman had left behind with the girl right when she first left the helicopter. The second the young 'beast magic' user was above the body of the massive worm cryptid, she leaped off of the bird and landed on top of the creature's head.
'Alright, here goes nothing!'
The young 'beast magic' user proceeded to slam her hands down on the worm's head before pushing as much mana as she could out of her body and into the creature. Everyone watched as the worm suddenly became enveloped in a thin coat of silver mana that covered its entire form.
For a brief moment, Samuel and the others braced themselves when the worm let out a low, guttural growl. But they all relaxed when the creature stopped moving completely.
Everyone then watched as the Alaskan Bull Worm began to slowly reshape and compress itself little by little, growing smaller with each passing second. Eventually, Jamie was able to completely subjugate the beast and compress it down to the size of an average golf ball. However, it did take the girl a considerable amount of time to do so.
Once the pink and silver orb of mana was safely in her hands, all of the other members of the Conley family quickly surrounded the girl.
"Alright, brat, you know what to do!" Gabriella shouted while still riding atop her companion. "Hurry up and swallow it before the orb disintegrates!"
"Y-yeah, o-okay...." Jamie nervously nodded before bringing the orb up to her lips. For a brief moment, the girl hesitated before closing her eyes and forcing the orb down her throat with as much strength and willpower as she could muster.
Just like everyone else who possessed 'beast magic', Jamie absolutely hated this part of the process. The whole thing just sucked. Not only was it extremely uncomfortable, but it just felt plain weird. And although this wasn't her first time bonding with a new companion, the fact that she knew she was going to have to do this again in the future didn't exactly brighten her mood.
When she finished swallowing the orb, Jamie took a moment to place her hand over her stomach and allowed her new companion to properly settle in. All it took was a few seconds before everything seemed to be in working order.
"So...how'd it taste?" Bishop asked his cousin with a smirk on his chiseled face.
Jamie scrunched her face in dissatisfaction before answering. "Like...a combination of slime, dirt, and raspberries."
"Gross."
"And this is why I'm so glad that I don't have 'beast magic' like the rest of you!" Hyde laughed while shooting off a few embers of 'fire magic' from his hands. "That shit's for the birds!"
"Is it really always like this?" Jamie then looked at Samuel for confirmation.
Gabriella, however, was the one who replied. "Oh, yeah! Every. Single. Time."
Now that the job was done, Samuel could finally breathe easy. They had successfully captured the Alaskan Bull Worm, no one was hurt, and they also managed to avoid any unnecessary civilian casualties. The Fairbanks Station already knew that they were going to be out here, so they wouldn't have to deal with any petty drama over jurisdiction. And on top of that, the group would be able to make it to the airport within the next few hours. All in all, everything had gone according to plan.
"I still can't believe how easy that was." Bishop spoke up while petting his bear companion on the head. "I thought it would've been way harder to subdue. Aren't Alaskan Bull Worms supposed to be S-rank?"
"This one was only a couple of days old." Samuel said to his cousin. "If it managed to make it a week without getting killed, it would've easily moved into S-rank. Then they would've had to send a whole task force out here to come deal with it."
"And now our dear cousin, Jamie, has it. Congratulations, newbie, you're now one of the few members of our family who has possession of a top-shelf companion! Pretty sweet, considering how hard it is to find S-ranks around this time of the year."
Jamie couldn't help but blush at Gabriella's words. "I'm just glad that I could be useful. Since I can only bond with invertebrates, I won't get many chances to gain any new companions like this one."
"Don't get too excited, newbie." Hyde interjected, not wanting to entirely rain on the girl's parade. "Now that you have your new companion, Sam's mother is going to come after you. And she's definitely going to want to spend every minute that she can poking and prodding at that thing until she can figure out how to start cloning it."
"Mhmmm." Samuel nodded in affirmation.
A big part of the reason why their group was sent out here in the first place was so that the man's mother could get the chance to do some much-needed research on the cryptid. Alaskan Bull Worms only spawned once every couple of years or so, so the Conley family was in desperate need of some more data on them. And now that they finally had one in their possession, it was only a matter of time before they figured out how to start reproducing them en masse.
It wouldn't be long before their family had an entire horde of Alaskan Bull Worms at their disposal. And people were no doubt going to pay top dollar to have one for themselves. In his opinion, Samuel was certain that Jamie would be able to sell one of her new companion's eggs for at least a few hundred thousand dollars without any trouble. The newest addition to their family's ranks was about to become a very wealthy girl in the near future.
Suddenly, Gabriella decided to change topics. "Alright, the mission's all done. Can we finally start heading back now? I'm fucking freezing out here! I want to get back to Texas before my toes start falling off."
"Agreed." Samuel nodded once again. "We need to get a move on if we want to catch the next flight out of here."
Everyone nodded before they all began rushing back to the helicopter. Alaska may have been a state full of wondrous natural beauty, but right now, none of them cared about that fact in the slightest. They all wanted to hurry back home to Texas and enjoy some of the beautiful early-autumn weather.
So, with that, the five members of the Conley family wasted no time in making the long journey back home. Where nothing but the promise of sun and barbecue awaited them.
-(o)-
Fun Fact: Samuel's companion, Blitz, is the offspring of his mother's companion, Vix. While his mother's red-nosed reindeer is a female, his is a male. Although Blitz is a foot taller than Vix, it's not as fast due to its being much younger than its mother.