by Atlas Kane
Pablo appeared in a cloud of purple smoke, his body long and writhing. He had no eyes to speak of and when he spoke it was through a puckered orifice at one end of his length. “I am here, Gemma, and truly, have you no other beasts of grandeur on your planet you could have bestowed upon me. I feel ashamed. None of you look upon me, please.”
Cade suppressed his grin, and asked out of curiosity, “What creature is it, Gemma? I’m sure it must have been significant for you to have blessed our Pablo with this form.”
“A Calistine Worm! The pride of the Shattered Fields and the Neemashi’s primary source of food and building materials. You are honored, Pablo,” Gemma said formally. It was clear they’d had a previous dispute about the matter for she wore a defensive look upon her fine features.
“Who cares? Get to the matter. Pablo, the spiders have found us. See for yourself,” Satemi declared, pointing a finger up at the offending beasts.
Pablo twisted his foul head upward and then recoiled. “I see. This is not good at all. I do not suspect the horde spiders have come for you. If so, there would be a hundred of their warriors coming at you, not just a couple of lonely scouts.”
“Yes, but if they persist,” Cade pointed out. “Pablo, is there any way you can tell us why they’ve come? It would be terrible if we had to leave Camp Casmeer.”
Pablo shook his rotund head, layers of leathery skin and fat rebounding with each movement. “Yes. Yes, I’ll have a look. Summon me once more in two minutes’ time. And please, let anyone else do it.”
In a blink, Pablo was gone, a few wisps of purple mist swirling where he’d once been. Almost at once, the group fell into a heated discussion. Satemi was for launching a counter assault. Minda felt they should consider simply leaving, and Cade was more in line with her thinking than the former’s having fought just a single spider. Ketzal held up her hands, waving them in adorable little circles until the rest of the villagers took pity on her and listened to what she had to say.
“Maybe I could talk with them. If they knew we mean them no harm, maybe they will just go away,” she said reasonably.
But then Gemma spoke her mind, breaking the temporary moment of contemplation. “If they are predators, and they know we are no threat, they will hunt us.”
So again, the group fell to impassioned speeches and counter arguments. None of it was in a spirit of animosity but desperation. Finally, a quiet voice finished the discussion soundly. Sholl uttered the words, “Pablo, you are most needed.”
This time, when the demon materialized, it wore a proud reptilian form. Almost like a dragon but lacking wings, the creature had a short, stocky body and a crest that ran along its spine.
“Thank you, Sholl. This form was a gift most divine,” Pablo said, eyeing Gemma as if to give her some hint as to how she might replace the body of the worm she’d granted him.
“Anything?” was all Cade asked, hoping to have some relief. It was getting late, and there was no way anyone would sleep well tonight if they didn’t have some plan decided upon.
“We may be in luck. There is a disturbance to the east. The heart of their lair has been set upon by an ancient creature. It must be very powerful, for I could not peer close enough to examine its identity. Perhaps a Demi god or a dragon. An elder creature for a certain, has claimed the spiders’ home, and the entire horde is displaced. I have spoken to their leader. She is… a terrifying thing, but most reasonable. She’s given you three days to seek out the source of the disturbance and help them regain their home.”
“How the hell are we going to do that? If the entire horde is powerless to stop this thing, what can we do?” Cade asked, anger flaring in his voice.
“There are things at your disposal the spiders do not have. Your soul weapons for one, but also me. I might be able to help if a confrontation is inevitable. Still, if subterfuge will serve, I suggest we go about it that way.”
The group continued to fire questions at Pablo, and though the task seemed monumental and more than a little inconvenient, it was their only option. The demon created a quest for them all to share, and before he would answer any more questions, he held up his proud, reptilian head and told them all to read the damn thing.
Quest: Cozy Spider is a Happy Spider
Difficulty: Extreme
Reward: Gain the spiders’ trust, remove threat of spider invasion on Camp Casmeer, XP, Unknown item.
Description: Pablo has bargained with the Horde Queen. She has mentioned the recent incursion of a beast of tremendous power who has entered and claimed their ancestral home to the east. The queen has asked you and your village to assist in clearing out this usurper in order to allow the spiders to return to their caves. A time limit of three days has been imposed before she will continue her kin’s inevitable expansion, consuming Camp Casmeer and any foolish enough to remain there.
Cade went a step further and brought up his map. The quest marker was far away, behind the mountain range the spiders were coming from. He hadn’t noticed it before, but a particular collection of stone took on the distinct shape of a skull. Of course the spiders’ home would be creepy AF. Why wouldn’t it be? he groaned, before sharing this discovery with the group.
Nodding, Satemi added, “Yes, it is far, but with Bellows, and if you leave at first light, you can make it there the day after.”
“You? We will all be coming,” Cade argued, but even as he did so, his eyes fell on Sholl. He sighed, Satemi having the grace not to argue a point he’d just run into himself. “I suppose not. Well, who will go and who will stay? Ketzal must come to guide Bellows to greatest efficiency. I can go as well.”
Minda stepped toward Gemma, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Gemma will go with you,” she said. “She is fierce and cunning. She also needs to level up quickly.”
The tigress looked at her beastkin companion with fondness, and for the first time, respect. Gemma only nodded solemnly and turned back to the rest of the group.
“You and Minda will stay to help Sholl and continue with the fortifications then?” Cade asked.
“Precisely. And if three days comes and goes, I should be strong enough to flee with Sholl on my back. We will head to the grove of Blood Bamboo we camped at after defeating the abyss cats. And we will wait for you there,” Satemi finished. Her eyes were hard, and it was clear she was prepared for any possibility no matter how upsetting.
Minda shook her head, eyes flashing with emotion. “Let’s consider it but hope for more. I think with Pablo’s help, you three can come up with a way to solve the problem.”
Though none of them felt particularly keen on their new plan, it was the only one they had. As night fell completely, the camp became alive with last-minute preparations. Everyone checked to make sure their Inventory was primed with provisions, water, torches, and other supplies. Cade redistributed the explosives so that everyone had an equal share.
Then Satemi took the stage and announced that since they would be traveling hard, Minda and Satemi would split the guard. Cade didn’t argue. They would wake them an hour before sunrise and off they would go into yet another unexplored region of Antinium.
Cade slept in the shelter beside Ketzal, and as he got himself situated, the newest member of their little tribe entered as well.
“I will sleep here with you two, if that is okay,” Gemma announced, waiting for either of them to accept her proposal.
Ketzal hummed something sleepily, reaching up a hand to encourage Gemma under the furs. Cade tried to remain professional. The woman was as beautiful as dragon glass, and as fierce as a snake in the sun. He would love nothing more than to gain her affections someday. But they’d had little time to gain each other’s trust, and assuming intimacy was a great way to get slapped. Knowing Gemma, claws would be involved.
He gave the two room, and pulled the furs off of his legs. Gemma’s body radiated heat, and he was already sweating. His body ached for rest, but his mind was busy with thoughts of the journey to come. Bringing up his
character sheet, Cade examined his most recent changes.
Name: Cade
Level: 5
Strength: 15
Constitution: 15
Dexterity: 17
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 18
Traits: Lycan Metabolism, Nilgathi Fervor, Alpha’s Fitness, Eel’s Bite, Ape’s Aptitude
Skills: Culling the Pack, Wyrm’s Wrath, Alpha’s Call, Electric Touch, Earthen Assault
Another small step in the right direction, but he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have twice his levels. Vormer must be a power to reckon with, and since he’d already seen Satemi use her most powerful skill, he doubted the lion would be fooled by it again.
He did what any soldier would do. He studied the warrior he’d become, trying to memorize the skills he’d been given to survive in this world. Imagining different scenarios, Cade went through his arsenal of skills, trying to ensure that when the time was right, he would not forget.
There was no guarantee on Earth and fewer still in Antinium. Yet he had to hold out hope that it all would be enough. That their combined strength would be sufficient to help Gemma level up, to reclaim the spiders’ home, and to return to Camp Casmeer once more where they belonged.
15
Forgotten Fields and a New Friend
Satemi managed to adjust the saddle for a three-rider team fairly easily. By removing the two additional seats they’d attached to evacuate Sholl and Gemma, it was once again the trusty saddle it had been before the modification. But Satemi took it one step further by adding a knotted leather rope that ran over Bellows’ back, connecting the two side saddles. It allowed Gemma, who was plenty nimble enough to accomplish the feat, to essentially climb from one side of the boar to the next while still traveling.
They practiced the maneuver, and impressing them all, Gemma was capable of shifting positions in less than five seconds. It helps being part tiger, Cade thought wryly.
The farewell was a hard one. The horde spider scouts were gone, but their presence was still a tangible thing. A seventy-two-hour window sounded generous, but when Cade considered their travel time alone, it left them with a day and a half to come up with some ingenious plan to defeat a monster powerful enough to evacuate a horde of badass spiderkin.
He felt good about their plan though. Sholl couldn’t be moved without risking his life. In fact, he slept longer each day, seeming to drift almost into a coma-like state. Minda and Satemi could care for him well enough, and were supplied with herbs and Health Tinctures to keep the man as nourished as possible. Satemi was the one with the construction Occupation, and could essentially construct the palisades and other defenses she envisioned on her own. Having Minda there would just speed up the process and keep the woman calm enough. Nobody needed her charging up the side of the hill, swords blazing, to kill a handful of spiders. Then there would be little they could do to prevent a full-on invasion.
Ketzal took her position before Cade, her plump backside pleasantly brushing against his thighs and groin. If he had to choose a travel partner, he would have no trouble selecting the demoness. Her smell alone was enough to erect a keen interest in his body.
As for Gemma, the woman was thrilled to be going. Cade knew she’d had a trying life before coming here. Being a hunter that sought the gnarly-looking worm creatures she’d made Pablo turn into could not have been easy. Off-handedly, Gemma had mentioned that one such kill could feed her entire clan for months. If that were true, and the woman had no reason to exaggerate, the worms must have been massive.
They passed the Earthen Apes in their trees. This time, he didn’t use Canopy of Occlusion. Not only was he still curious to see if the apes would respect their powerful mount, but if they ran into the Kotani Ma or some other terrifying creature, he wanted to have a trump card. Waiting for a cooldown was a good way to get killed.
The apes rattled their branches and threw a few probing seed pods, but otherwise stayed clear out of Bellows’ way. It was fortunate for them, for the boar still hadn’t stopped growing. His shape was much different, of course, but Cade figured their companion’s weight could nearly match an African elephant. They had to leap up into the bottom stirrup to climb aboard his back. Bellows was nine or ten feet tall at the shoulder, and though his hindquarters tapered off from his robust shoulders, the boar’s chest was imposing.
Twice since knowing him, Cade mistook the beast for a small hill. So well-bathed in soil he liked to be, if it wasn’t for his breathing, Bellows could pass for a hillside any day.
When they reached the jungle proper, Cade spurred Bellows into a slow gallop, risking the occasional slapping of branches and foliage for increased speed. He pulled up his map and saw their route clearly. Bellows couldn’t make the climb up the pass, so they had to go the long way. Out the narrow canyon that led to their glade and almost all the way to the Waterfall District.
After another few miles, they would drive north and curve around the other side of the mountain range that hemmed in Camp Casmeer. A wide expanse of grassland ran the length of their return trip, which should be a sprint for them. Finally, they would pass through a stretch of foothills and into a wide valley that sported a massive lake. South of the lake and east once more stood the imposing skull-shaped rock formations.
Knowing the spiders lived in caves hadn’t made Cade any more excited to explore their home. They’d discussed it briefly before going to bed the previous night, and they all decided there was little to be done about it. The trio would just treat it as another dungeon. Ketzal paled at the word, so Cade had corrected himself quickly. It would be a cave to her and a dungeon to him. Making appropriate lies to calm one’s fear was an age-old tactic, and one Cade respected.
Cade didn’t call for a break until after they’d left the dense jungle far behind. As they drove northward, the trees grew thin, and the land turned grassy. Unlike the grasslands Minda and Cade hunted at before, these were shorter and windblown. A more arid environment, Cade decided, and most likely not home to vast herds of deer. In fact, other than a few squat birds that exploded from hiding as they passed, the countryside seemed lifeless.
That was most likely an illusion though. There was always more life than what you saw, the jungle was proof of that.
After half an hour of moving through the sea of grass, Cade called for lunch.
Like every meal he enjoyed here in Antinium, this one seemed desperate. His metabolism burned like a diesel engine within him, and he devoured twice again what both of the women managed. Gemma frowned, watching him take down another handful of grapes. Finally, she asked, “Are you always so hungry, Cade? If you were in my village, you would be killed for eating so much. It is a crime.”
He blinked at her, still pushing yet another grape between his teeth. Biting down on it, he did feel a little guilty. Cade shrugged, defending himself with as innocent a look as he could muster. “This world is different. I was given a class, and the trait I chose requires me to eat more than normal. There is plenty of food here, so I do not think it is such a big deal. Are you offended?”
She considered him, her orange eyes flickering in the sunlight. Then she shook her head. “You do not seem able to control yourself. We are here. Also, it is fun to watch you eat. You look as pleased as a child with every bite.”
He laughed, agreeing with her assessment. The woman was so blunt, he was sure that her people’s sense of humor was somehow fundamentally different than his own. The reaction she had last night about his axe and the joke Minda told was sufficient evidence for the theory.
When they got moving again, Ketzal decided to push their boar friend to his limit. The ground was firm and even, and there seemed little risk. At first she urged him into a gallop. They matched the pace they’d set when on their way to save Gemma. But after a few minutes, and when Bellows was puffing steadily beneath them, she pressed him further. Soon the group was flying over the grasslands, sprinting as fast as
a race horse. Cade guessed they were moving at least forty miles an hour.
The boar managed to last almost five minutes at the breakneck speed and then was forced to slow to a more reasonable gallop. For two more hours they traveled like this, alternating between short sprints and a more reasonable pace.
Soon, it was late afternoon, and though the sun still burned brightly, the grass had a copper sheen to it. It is going to look like a sea of fire, Cade thought as they slowed once more. He was rewarded with the sight soon after when the sun fell below the horizon and shot its rays through the wavering fields. It took his breath away, and when Ketzal and Gemma both made sounds of approval, he knew he was not alone in thinking so.
Cade thought back to his time in Northern Iraq. Everyone he spoke to about going to the country always mentioned sand. And true enough, when he’d first arrived, their unit was given a glimpse at a true sandstorm. A wall of looming black dust swept across the sky, forcing everyone inside for hours. Even though they were living in metal storage containers converted to living spaces, nearly invisible sand fell in through the ceiling.
But the Iraq that Cade spent most of his tour in was much different. In the north, the landscape was more like high desert, rocky and covered in grasses. There were even large swaths of wetland. That fact blew his mind when he learned it, and years later, when he had the luxury of books and the internet, he learned how Mr. Hussein poisoned the wetlands to drive out the locals he wanted removed. It was one of the biggest acts of ecoterrorism in recorded history. Though, how many times a lord or a king burned down a forest to expose rebels or cut off a retreating army was anyone’s guess.
The grasslands around them seemed somewhat like those of Northern Iraq. And as Bellows clomped along happily, it felt like he was riding in his Stryker again. When they were far away from the city, Cade felt safe enough to relax, to enjoy the breeze on his face and breathe easy. In fact, on one notable occasion, his unit was allowed to visit Kurdistan. There was no tactical reason to make the trip other than perhaps to show the Kurds that the Americans were there.