I looked around nervously, feeling the precious seconds slip through my fingers. The Fangores didn’t give up and had already appeared from around the corner. Huddled together into a pack of six, they were rapidly approaching, fangs bared and eyes glimmering.
Another hundred feet and nothing could save us.
Maybe we should jump?! My gaze was frantically scouring the slopes of the gorge beyond the precipice. It paused on one of the ledges, which jutted out and wasn’t as steep as its neighbors. It was about seven feet long and two feet wide, but it was around thirty feet away and twenty feet below us. However, if we managed to jump to it, then perhaps we wouldn’t tumble down, but slide and potentially survive.
There was no time left to look for more suitable options. Realizing how we could increase our chances of survival, I ordered Fury to turn back and make a running start, which made us come dangerously close to the snarling Fangores. Having chosen the wounded member of the pack as my victim, I marked it with Lash again. The Fangore wailed frantically and dashed forward to grab hold of my thighs with its fangs, but Fury and I were already riding back toward the edge. Turning abruptly on the Direcat, I looked back and used Soulcatcher on the marked creature.
In the next moment, Fury jumped with all her might, sprawling in the air over the precipice. I felt how her muscles almost burst from tension.
After the brief moment of flight, Fury landed onto the rocky surface. For a moment, it seemed that we had succeeded. However, either my weight was too much, or the stone was too loose, but the ground gave way under Fury’s claws...
…and we collapsed.
The fall seemed to last for a while.
I saw how the Fangore, struck and bound by Soulcatcher, unable to stop, fell off the cliff after us, screeching in fear. I saw the bottom of the gorge rapidly approaching us. Fury desperately tried to cling onto any surface, trying to save us both.
I had to jump off and grab a ledge that whizzed past us to free the beast from my weight. My arms were almost pulled out of their sockets, but I managed to stop. Feeling lighter, Fury also slowed down. Having gained too much speed by this moment, she couldn’t do much but fall and get stuck chest-deep in the snow at the bottom of the gorge, which cushioned her fall like a big, soft pillow.
Grimacing from the pain in my joints, I looked up. Five Fangores were raging on the cliff’s edge, but didn’t dare to follow us. Forcing a grin, I let go of the ledge and fell waist-deep into the snow.
Snow Fangore has been defeated!
XP received: 2,800
Current XP...
Quest available: Population Control: Fangores
Note: This is a one-time only territorial quest.
Progress: 1/50
Reward: 10% of current level XP; 1 skill point
Accept: yes / no?
Countdown: 30... 29... 28...
Fury instantly appeared next to me and worriedly poked my cheek with her wet, rough snout. She leaned forth, offering me to grab her neck. As soon as I did so, she pulled us both out of the snow with a jerk of her mighty body. Having gained a more solid foothold, I raised my head again. Looking from down below, I finally saw the path leading down the cliff. To the right, on an almost completely sheer wall, were grooves. They had definitely been hollowed out manually. If one had the necessary skills, they could climb down that way. It was likely that the Raksh had made this path for themselves. A human would find it rather difficult to climb that way. Not to mention a Direcat... Damn it! How will she climb the wall on the way back?!
I shook my head, driving away the anger and irritation. I’ll solve problems as they come. Push comes to shove, we could always go to Madogost, as there were no such inaccessible heights there.
My gaze moved downwards, toward a wall with a translucent red membrane, seven feet in diameter, behind which was a tunnel that disappeared somewhere in the darkness.
A Path through a Young Lair, rank 3
On the blood soaked snow in front of the entrance lay the Fangore’s corpse, with its head split into two. It must’ve hit the membrane on its way down. As it turned out, the mobs were strictly prohibited from entering lairs. Unable to restrain myself, I flipped off the corpse before dispelling it. Take that, you asshole!
Had I been in the beast’s skin, the membrane would’ve let me in as a player. Had that happened, my quest to rescue Rawrk would’ve been postponed indefinitely. The thought of another solo lair raid made me shudder. To hell, to hell with that... No sooner had I gotten a crazy idea for the way back that it immediately got crushed under the weight of counterarguments. This lair was out of my league even with a full team of Rawrks. And it didn’t matter that it was still a “young” lair, not yet pillaged and still full of mobs. The creatures that would meet us there, if we decided that we were feeling suicidal, would be no lower than level 20.
A minute later, having replenished our reserves with an esc looted from the dispelled corpse and still under the strong impression of our desperate leap into the abyss, my kitty and I continued on. Giving Fury the opportunity to take a breather, I ran alongside her. It was quite easy to move along the thoroughly trodden path, which stretched through the middle of a narrow gorge, squeezed on both sides by steep, grey rocks.
Soon the gorge diverged. The trail, almost disappearing, dived into a whitish haze floating above the porous yellow snow. In this haze something continuously gurgled and splashed; there was movement and the familiar smell of rotten eggs.
Stumbling upon another obstacle, I just grinned. Nobody said that this would be easy. There was no time to figure out how many creatures were hiding among the fumes or what level they were. It’s a good thing that I had Fury save her strength.
Mounting my dear beast, we charged forward with a furious sprint. She flew like an arrow, leaping over the geysers spewing acrid fumes, locating patches of solid ground with her sharp senses. The only Crocbeast, barely visible in this fog, trotted in our direction and received a Lash of Pain in its face. It let out an offended grunt, snapping its maw in vain.
A minute later, the gorge ended and we jumped out into the open valley and rushed on. After making sure that no one was following us, I soon slowed down and then dismounted. The next ten minutes I ran next to Fury. For some time the trail twisted along a stinking brook that flowed from the ravine, and then we had to jump over it, leaving it behind. About half a mile away from us, the stream arched and flowed into the familiar lake. It was there, seemingly a whole eternity ago, that I had leapt across the bursting floes, desperately trying to escape both the beasts in the water and the Flame Phase.
The Raksh trail led to a valley to the left of the lake, twisting around the cliffs that were dotting it. While running, I glanced at the timer; deeply annoyed, I realized that Rawrk had just been reborn. His name turned from gray to green. Judging by the distance remaining on the map, I would meet him at the exit of the Creepoar zone if I don’t run into any trouble.
If, of course, he manages to get out of there.
Looking for a spot suitable for scouting, I climbed a rocky hill, and cursed. Why am I so unlucky...?
I was high enough to see that the Flame Phase was starting in the center of the ruined Diamond Crown. At first, there were reddish sparks, followed by yellow flashes; then came a pulsating glow that quickly and uncontrollably spread in all directions with a thunderous roar. In the shadows stirred silhouettes of unknown creatures. It lasted only a few minutes, and then the flames flared all at once, blooming over the dead city like a gigantic flower. A few more seconds later, swallowing the city and the adjacent terrain, the giant dome of the Inner Sphere rose over the valley. All sounds suddenly died down, as if turned off by a flip of a switch, remaining within the dome.
Fascinated by the spectacle, and losing track of time, I watched the strange fire creatures that roamed within the dome, and the scaly bodies of enormous wingless serpents that were flying over the city.
Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t immediately pay attention
to the message that kept notifying me that Rawrk was still alive! I grabbed Fury by the scruff of her neck, and mounted her.
“Fury, we have to get closer. Are you ready?”
She sniffed cautiously, also watching the unknown life raging in the flame. She didn’t want to go there. Me neither, but...
And then I saw my unlucky clanmate.
Rawrk’s silhouette leapt out from behind a hill that lay close to the barrier. Making a sharp turn, Rawrk corrected his course and rushed in my direction. His flexible figure flew over the snow-covered plain. Running on all six, he developed speed no worse than Fury’s maximum one. Looking at his crazy run, I thought that it was impossible for a human to get away from a Raksh if one rushed after you. But Rawrk seemed to be having problems now as he had pursuers following him.
A flexible, dog-like silhouette leapt out from behind the same hill, followed by an entire squad of Demons. All of them were at the trail of the fleeing Raksh. These horned and tailed creatures were noticeably larger than Rawrk. What’s more, their red-brown bodies were protected by black breastplates. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they were armed.
And were approaching pretty damn fast.
Chapter 47
“Hi there, Wise.”
A familiar voice sounded dangerously close behind me, making me turn instantly. My hand moved on its own, ready to unleash Soulcatcher as soon as the target was in sight.
I halted at the last moment.
“I see that Fury has grown. Quite a sight, she is. And you got stronger, too. Everything’s a child’s play for you, eh? I envy your survival skills.”
A short figure wrapped in a fur cloak stood some fifteen feet away from me at the foot of the hill. The distance wasn’t suitable for ranged weapons or combat spells. I found myself in one of those situations where you didn’t know if it’s better to fight or run before it’s too late. The fact that the Lowling didn’t look like it’s was going to attack helped me decide. Dagger sheathed and with the sling on her belt, Mashta held her hands at chest level in a gesture of reconciliation. For some reason, all the way from the elevator, I had been haunted by a strange feeling that it would be her whom I would meet on my way here. But she wasn’t alone; next to her footprints was a second set leading uphill.
Fury bared her fangs and growled, staring at the Lowling. I patted her neck, hoping to soothe her. I felt no danger, so I decided to trust my intuition. Just in case, I activated the Ring of Rank, and used it on Soulcatcher. If things take a turn for the worse, there was no point in keeping my trump cards hidden. Better have everything ready to go. Trying to remain calm, I glanced at the system message.
[Soulcatcher] has been enhanced for 59 minutes.
Soulcatcher
Rank 4 (0/400; 0/100 SP)
Unique skill
Deals astral damage to the Forces of Chaos equal to PD x4 for 30 seconds, restoring 130% of damage dealt in HP and energy for the caster. Ignores any defense of the Forces of Chaos.
Cost: 1 Essence Crystal
Cooldown: 1 minute
Related skills:
· Kamikaze’s Vengeance
Delivers an enhanced blow at the cost of your own saves.
Cooldown: 1 day
· Lich’s Grasp
If the victim is still alive once Soulcatcher has ended, the skill has a 20% chance of extracting an Essence Crystal, or a 10% chance of extracting a Soul Crystal from the target.
Cooldown: 20 minutes
As before, I didn’t have the slightest desire to part with a save, as they were too hard to earn, so I had no choice but to activate Lich’s Grasp. At least I now knew what skill to level up next. I wondered how the removal of a Crystal would look in practice. What if I get lucky the first time?
“Greetings to you, too, Mashta,” I answered dryly. “Whom did you bring with you?”
“I argued with Chula whether you will appear or not, Wise,” Mashta smiled apologetically, but I was no longer misled by her friendliness. I stood ready to activate Lich’s Grasp at any moment. “She lost.”
“You used the Raksh to get to me?”
“Rightly so. He was able to open the passage for you, which means that you were doing a quest that you told us nothing about. If he died, you’d try to return to finish the quest. And there’s only one direct road that leads to here.”
“You couldn’t have known that he had died only once before. You couldn’t have known his time of revival.”
“No. But we could guess. His level isn’t that high, so I made certain conclusions. I got lucky and guessed it right.”
The air behind Mashta rippled with rainbow colors and another figure clad in a fur cloak appeared. With a confused look on her face, as if she had been caught doing something indecent, Chula silently waved her hand. She also behaved as if nothing special had happened between us. Or so she tried. Actually, nothing really happened between Mashta, Chula, and I. It was their friends who attacked, but...
There were two active Marks on the map: one on the Crocbeast in the gorge, the other on Arkoosh, who was in the Fortress. But just because he was there didn’t mean that Colin and Phage were, too, and weren’t waiting for me somewhere nearby. If, apart from them, there was no one else around, then, perhaps, together with Fury, I had a chance against the two. Their levels weren’t that high anyway. However, it would be foolish to start a fight right away, when a shitload of enemies were rushing in our direction. The girls really weren’t my enemies, their only fault was that they were good at being rogues, and that their friends were scoundrels.
But this encounter was an untimely one, even though it was a good opportunity for revenge. The hill partly blocked their view of the valley, so they had no idea what was happening behind my back. It was possible to distract them by conversing, wait until the right moment and then escape on Fury, leaving them at the mercy of the incoming pack and buying myself some time. I shuddered. Such awful thoughts didn’t feel as if they were my own, and needed to be nipped in the bud. I wasn’t going to let myself become like Arkoosh and Colin, and hurt those that I had until recently considered to be my friends. I was sure that doing something like that wouldn’t bring me the slightest satisfaction.
Mashta grinned awkwardly, not quite correctly interpreting the grimace of intense reflection on my face.
“I understand that after the, hm, ‘disagreement’ between you and the guys, you have no confidence in us, but listen...”
“Run,” I unceremoniously interrupted her. “You have a couple of minutes to get as far away from me as possible.”
It sounded rude, but there was no time for courtesies.
“Why so hostile, Wise?!’ Mashta stomped her foot in annoyance. “We’re not your enemies! Double true, I swear. At least me and Chula. Listen to me…”
“Save the explanations for later, Mashta,” I interrupted again. “A group of Creepoars is approaching. I can outride them, but it will be more difficult for you on foot. Don’t waste a second. Run out of here, Alan damn it!”
Mashta rounded her mouth in confusion and surprise, and exchanged glances with her friend.
“There’s a lot of them there? Let me have a look.”
She ran up the hill and froze; her fear of me replaced by fear of what she had just seen. Without taking my wary glance off her, I made a step back, just in case. Then I also looked in the direction of the chase, and couldn’t refrain from swearing. Rawrk had attracted even more pursuers, with new ones appearing from behind the nearest hill. There were about two dozen of them. At the head of the line of pursuers was a pack of a dozen dog-like creatures, which apparently were the Demons’ pets. Rawrk was shit out of luck, and so were we. I didn’t think that this would be a walk in the park, but this was ridiculous!
Looking around, I found that both Mashta and Chula had managed to retreat some hundred feet despite the deep snow. Good. Better for them to stay out of our way.
The communication icon finally came to life and I immediately tried to get in
touch with the Raksh.
“Rawrk? Do you hear me? Don’t slow down. I’m waiting for you in the gorge on the way to Shriek Plateau. I have a plan to get away from the Demons.”
“What you do here?” he growled hoarsely. “Danger!”
“I came to help you!”
“Rawrk thank!”
“You’ve nothing to thank me for. Not yet… Don’t you waste your energy on talking, just hurry!”
“Rawrk fight! Rawrk not be fear! Lure to Belistva, you run!”
His loyalty and concern really touched me. I was right to come to his aid. And Stinger had mentioned that there was another way to Belistva. If memory served, I just needed to turn right before the gorge leading to Shriek Plateau. The Lowlings would now dash to the left, toward their Fortress. But splitting up wasn’t a part of my plan, and it was already evident that Rawrk wasn’t as fast as he had been at the beginning of the chase, which meant that he wouldn’t be able to escape on his own. Nor would the Lowlings. And I still had no idea which of them the mobs would follow. An idea occurred to me.
“Rawrk, don’t join the battle! That’s an order! I came for you and I’m not leaving without you! Do you hear me? Confirm that you understand me!”
“Rawrk understand...”
Current reputation with the Guardians of the Belistva Fortress: interest (5/1,000)
If I was gaining reputation points, then I was on the right track. And there would be no At Home Among Strangers achievement, if strangers weren’t important for the epic quest.
“Catch up!” I shouted, mounting Fury. We flew down the hill, the frosty air whistling past us.
It wasn’t difficult to catch up to the Lowlings, and I was soon riding alongside Mashta. Chula, apparently due her higher level and physical stats, was ahead of her by a couple of feet. Trying not to get too far ahead, she slowed down. It was nice to see that at least they didn’t leave their own at fate’s mercy.
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