by Troy Osgood
“I think that’s it,” Roxhard said, panting, leaning against the axe.
Hall nodded, relaxing.
A screech cut through the night, followed by snapping and breaking as something crashed through the trees. It landed with a thud, Hall turning to see the dead body of the flying demon. Only the second one he’d seen, Hall couldn’t stand the sight of the creatures. Overall it looked like a large squirrel, all the fur removed to show slimy leathery skin. Instead of a bushy tail, a long thin one lay to the side, spiked at the end. A flat nose and pointed ears gave the face more of a bat look. Membrane wings stretched between the clawed long legs and arms. It was an ugly creature. Fast and agile somehow, it fought by wrapping its body around the target, digging at the prey as they fell.
From their bond, Hall knew Pike hated fighting the things.
SLAIN: Minor Ivory Chura +25 Experience
CULL THE DEMONS
Kill demons in the Northern Territories 5/100
This was the third set of Expedition patrols with demons that they had encountered. The first two patrols had only one demon each, Sharra finding one of the summoning necklaces on the leader of the Patrol. This one had an actual Desmarik Runepriest with two Stontles and the Chura under his control. The Runepriest was part of the Red Storm Caste. Hall was glad he had added them to the Breakridge Irregular’s faction enemies list.
Each of the previous patrols had consisted of six Expedition soldiers. Four of the Bladeswingers, an Archer and the Shadowcaster. The amulets had summoned a single Minor Umber Stontle, which added to the fight but not greatly. Between the Irregulars and the Rangers, they had made short work of each patrol. It had earned Hall 150 experience, .4 in Polearms and .2 in Thrown.
The gains in Polearm had pushed him to rank four in the skill, also netting him 100 experience and a point in Agility.
This patrol had been larger. Twelve Expedition soldiers and the Desmarik Runepriest. They had observed the patrol as it came closer. The soldiers were at attention, more than any other that Hall had seen. Had to be because of the Desmarik. They kept looking back at the red-skinned humanoid. For his part, the Runepriest ignored them, using its Rod of Command to push and prod the Stontles, the Chura sitting on its shoulder.
Even with the patrol on alert, the Rangers had been able to surround them, firing arrows into their backs when the attack began. Hall had concentrated his attacks on the Runepriest. The fight hadn’t lasted long.
The Experience and skill gains had been worth it, but Hall hadn’t liked the delay caused by fighting the patrols. Combat didn’t last long, but securing the bodies and healing the wounded did. Even with three Druids, it took some time.
After each patrol, their pace slowed.
The distances between patrols shrank as well. Dain said they were nearing the east-west road. Hall knew that meant more Expedition patrols.
“Let’s get these gathered up,” he said to Roxhard, pointing at the bodies on the ground.
Sliding his spear into the harness, shifting it, he bent down to grab the body of the Stontle. Pulling, he grunted, dragging the heavy demon to the side near a bush. Pushing it tighter, he looked around for some fallen branches to cover the thing. They knew it wasn’t much, but anything that could confuse future Expedition patrols would help. Dain and the Greencloak Rangers would leave a false trail, showing they headed east or west, alternating it at each patrol to add more confusion.
Stretching his back, Hall stood. Leigh was walking toward him, hands glowing. Smiling, she laid them on his arm. He could feel the energy spreading through his body, loosening up sore muscles and tight joints. Small cuts he didn’t realize he had closed up. Glancing at his Health bar, he saw it maxing out.
He wished he could say the same for his Vitality. With all the fighting, rough nights in the wild and cautious stalking through the Hedn Woods, it was taking a toll on his Vitality. They all needed a good rest and soon.
“How you holding up?” he asked, looking down at her.
She tilted her head, smiling. “Good. It’s not that bad yet.”
The corruption in the Woods had gotten worse. Not scattered, it was now in clumps, connecting lines of purple veins running across the forest floor. So much the Druids could feel it. A pressure in the back of their minds, not harmful, but just knowing the corruption was around. They said it smelled, not horrible, but just a faint lingering odor. When the first demons had appeared, the pressure had gotten worse, like a spike jammed into their brains. With the demons dead, the spike passed.
Hall put his arms around Leigh, pulling her close, her head turning so the antlers were facing away. She sighed.
“And I wanted out of the Grove,” she said with a chuckle.
Hall bent down, kissing her lightly on the head, enjoying the feel of her red curls against his cheek.
Reluctantly, Hall let her go. They needed to get moving.
The road ran to his right and left, wide enough for two wagons, worn with pairs of ruts on either side. Hard-packed dirt, some grass growing in spots, exposed rocks in others. Not a smooth road. One that saw heavy travel, harsh weather and no maintenance. The trees had once been cut back along the sides, a good twenty feet or so, but had been allowed to grow back over time. Trees much smaller than the rest of the forest filled the space, crowding the road.
It had rained that morning, a quick downpour that had soaked the ground, muddying the road and leaving puddles in the ruts.
Hall crouched at the edge, the hood of his cloak pulled over his head. With the rain and the deepness of the ruts, it was hard to tell how often traffic came past. They were west of the midpoint along the road but only a half day or so, Dain thought. There were no landmarks that he recognized.
“There is an outpost to the east,” he said from where he crouched next to Hall. “The Rangers who were stationed there abandoned it.”
Hall wondered why it wasn’t included in the quest to retake but assumed because it didn’t have any noncombat citizens. The Rangers would retake it when they had secured the villages and camps. Until then, there was no point in expending resources.
At least that was what he thought. It seemed Dain had other ideas.
“It’s not large. Only two dozen Rangers were stationed there,” he continued, looking in that direction. “I’m willing to wager that is where the patrols have all originated from.”
“How many Expedition soldiers could it hold?” Hall asked. He looked to the north, wanting to get going to Cliff’s Walk. The sooner they stopped the spread of the corruption, the better. It felt more urgent now that he’d discovered it was affecting Leigh.
“Probably not many,” Dain said. “Twenty-four at the most, not enough space for more. They can probably run more patrols out of it, switching who is in the outpost and who is in the woods. It might be worth…” He stopped, sighing. “Mission first,” he muttered, shaking his head.
“I know this is hard,” Hall said, reaching over and clasping the older man’s shoulder. “I didn’t like leaving LakeEdge behind, and I can’t say I don’t think heading to the outpost would be a wrong move, but…”
Dain nodded. “Once we are done in the north, I think that the priority will be to take the outpost. We could try to funnel Rangers up in small groups and, once have enough gathered, funnel out to the east and west, striking down while others strike up.”
“And we’ll be right there alongside you,” Hall promised.
Dain of the Greencloak Rangers wants to secure Hednwall, a Rangers’ outpost in the middle of the Hedn Wood. He agrees that now is not the time but wants to retake it after the threat of the corruption is dealt with.
TAKING HEDNWALL I
Journey to Hednwall 0/1
Scout out the Expedition Lumber Company Defenses 0/1
Rewards: +300 Experience, +300 Faction Reputation with the Greencloak Rangers
Accept Quest?
Accepting the quest, Hall did some quick math in his head. He wasn’t sure what the highest leve
l of faction reputation was post-Glitch, but doing all the quests he’d received since Timberhearth would put him pretty high up. Almost too much faction reputation. Seo would know the true numbers, but Hall thought he was right.
Did that mean that not all the quests needed to be done? He’d do them all, if able, but was it necessary?
And what did faction reputation get him? So far, in any of the reputations he’d earned, there were no rewards. At least none that he’d seen.
Hall stood up, taking a step back into the cover of the trees.
He ran across the road, into the trees on the other side. Nothing changed, but to Hall it felt like they were stepping into a different world. The trees were the same, same distance between them, same thick canopy above, but the air just felt thicker. There was a little more dark purple in the leaves and along the ground, as if the road was a barrier the corruption was fighting against, slowly winning.
Hall had a feeling it was going to get worse the closer they got to Warfang Hill.
Chapter 33
Three weeks of hard travel.
Hall was exhausted. Mentally and physically.
They all were.
The decision had been made to avoid any patrols, only fighting if there was no other choice. Below the road, the Rangers still roamed the woods, and any lost patrols could be attributed to that. But north of the road, it was Expedition Lumber Company territory. Any patrols that didn’t make it back would alert them that enemies were near. They’d strengthen their positions.
Hall and Dain agreed that the only way they’d take Cliff’s Walk was by surprise. Dain hoped that there would be fewer soldiers there. Being so far north into Expedition territory, the need to reinforce it would be less. Hall argued that if Warfang Hill really was the source of the corruption, there would be a heavy guard.
Either way, they didn’t want to be seen.
As they went further north, the patrols became fewer. More gaps between. There were more soldiers in each patrol, each one having at least two demons.
A couple of times the demons almost found them as they hid, waiting for the patrol to pass. Barghas stopped and sniffed the air, turning in the direction of where Hall and the others hid in the trees, spread out. The demons growled, but their handlers yanked on the chains, pulling the creatures away.
Because there were fewer patrols, when they stumbled on an abandoned hunting camp in the woods, the decision to stay for a couple of days and rest up was an easy one. They still posted watches out in the woods, all day and all night, which turned a day into two to allow everyone to get a full good night’s sleep and restore Vitality. Most of the aches and pains faded.
The cabin hadn’t been used in a long time. A thin layer of dust covered the walls and floors, the interior empty. It was a simple building. Four log walls, a low roof, a fireplace in the corner they didn’t use, a couple of windows on either side of the door. It was held off the ground a couple of feet, worn steps that were starting to rot leading up to a thin porch.
It was just big enough for all of them to lie in.
Hall didn’t like the delay, but he understood it. His body needed it.
Leaving the cabin, the journey north wasn’t easy. Even without fighting, they had to move slow, scouting ahead and behind. Stopping to avoid patrols, finding sheltered places to camp where nothing would find them. Cold nights with no fires. Rationing food.
The closer they got to the north and the Expedition Lumber Company’s original territory, the thicker the patrols got, which prompted Dain to start more northwest, away from Tradon Port. It became harder to avoid them.
They found the northern road, keeping it in sight, following it to their destination.
For the last couple of days the land had been gradually rising towards the mountains that filled the horizon. Hall could see them through gaps in the trees, the Frost Tips looming. The road turned to the west, and they followed, still staying off it.
Patrols were frequent, but smaller ones. Only four Expedition soldiers and no demons. Wagons could be heard running down the road, a few heading to the village at the end. There was no road that led directly to Tradon Bay, just some trails through the woods. Any supplies that came out of Tradon Port had to go south, cut across the east-west road, and come north again. Or they could go by airship over to the western shore of Graymalkin and a mining settlement there, called Frostmalkin.
For all intents, the village was isolated.
Hall had wondered at the name.
He discovered the village was aptly named.
Cliff’s Walk sat on the edge of a tiered cliff overlooking Graymalkin Lake. The waters were far below, calm in the setting sun. The road ran along the edge of the cliff, a dozen feet of grass between the dirt and the drop, the forest another dozen feet off the road on the other side. It led into the lower tier of Cliff’s Walk.
In a way, the village reminded Hall of Green Ember, Jackoby’s home in the Fallen Tree forest. The Firbolg village was built on multiple tiers running down a hill. Cliff’s Walk was just two.
The lower was a wide shelf, the cliff of the next tier rising behind. The buildings were bigger, some two stories, looking to have stores in the front and the homes in the back and upper stories. Small gardens filled the space between each building. Most were built of logs, but some were plank walls. Unlike Green Ember, where the roofs of one building led to the upper tier, these were built away from the cliff, the roofs sloping front and back. There were no homes close to the cliff.
Hall could see the road turn at the far end, heading up to the higher tier. It also looked like a path headed up on this side as well, steeper and for foot traffic, not wagons. From where he crouched at the edge of the woods, he could barely see the buildings on the higher tier, but some backed up to the cliff, fences and stone walls running along the length.
Beyond the town, there were more woods. Trees just visible.
A few people wandered around the village, looking like they were finishing their evening shopping and heading home. Expedition soldiers patrolled the two tiers, four stationed at the end by the road. They leaned against spears, talking, not looking at anything.
The land between Graymalkin and the Frost Tips was narrow here, taken up by the village. They had no choice but to cross through to get to Warfang Hill, which was thought to be beyond. Hall knew they needed better directions. Leigh had tried to see if she could trace the corruption to the source, but it was too spread out, constantly moving across the roots of the forest. There was no way to track it.
Maybe if they got closer, but that was a big maybe.
They needed a concrete source, someone who knew exactly where the hill was.
He knew the only place for that would be in the village. Someone there would know.
Hall counted a dozen Expedition soldiers. He thought he caught sight of a Desmarik Runepriest and possibly a Norn, but he wasn’t sure. The sight had been fleeting, stepping out onto the street from a house at the far end, quickly disappearing back inside. It made sense that a representative of both would be in Cliff’s Walk. Most likely more.
They had avoided LakeEdge because of the time it would take and how the Expedition would just take it over again once they left. Cliff’s Walk was different, but not much. Trying to liberate the village would take time, and if they were smart, the Expedition forces would just retreat to Warfang Hill, assuming that was the true target.
Being as far north as it was, there was no logical reason for the Greencloak Rangers to free this isolated village and not the others. It would be one of the last to be saved. If the southern villages remained in Expedition control and Cliff’s Walk was attacked, that would mean Warfang Hill was the target.
Skill Gain!
Strategy Rank Two +.2
Hall shook his head, dismissing the annoying notification. The skill was aggravating him. Could it somehow be adjusting his thinking, helping him make these strategic thoughts? Was that why he saw no physical result of the skill
gains? That made some sense, but he didn’t like the idea of the game actually messing with his head.
The Intelligence and Willpower scores were numerical representations of those aspects and how they related to Spellpower and Energy. They didn’t actually increase his own Intelligence.
Pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind again, adding it to his ever-increasing and never-shrinking list, Hall concentrated on studying the Expedition forces in the village.
He looked, trying to see Dain a hundred feet to his right, but unable to spot the Ranger. Which was good. Dain was trying to get a better look up the steep path that led to the upper tier of the village. Hall hoped he wasn’t tempted to walk up the path. Caryn was further down the road to the left, trying to look down the cliff to where a small collection of fishing huts and docks were built. The rest of the group were a good hour of travel away. They had found a cave in the side of a hill, just big enough to shelter them. No fires.
Hall was getting used to cold nights.
Pike had stayed back at the camp. Cliff Shrikes lived in the high peaks of the Frost Tips and might get angry seeing a dragonhawk in their territory. Any Expedition soldiers who saw a circling dragonhawk could get suspicious. The creatures weren’t that common and usually only showed up with a Skirmisher. Pike had been angry but calmed when Leigh started feeding him strips of jerky.
Hall shifted, moving to the left a couple of feet, trying for a more unobstructed view.
The largest building on the first tier was close to the edge of the village, three houses in. It was two stories, a balcony running the length of the second, large doors leading inside. More doors on the first level. It reminded him of the town hall back in Skara Brae.