Shadow Sun Survival

by Dave Willmarth

  She laughed, despite herself. “Goofball.” Her face grew serious again. “I understand that you did what you did to save people. And I admire that. I’ve obviously never had to kill anyone before, and hope that I never have to. And you should know that if we come up against hostile humans, I’m not sure I could pull the trigger, no matter how much they might deserve it.”

  This didn’t thrill Allistor, but he understood. “Fair enough. Good with killing monsters, not so much with the bad guys. How do you feel about fluffy bunnies? We’re growing a crop of them back at the Warren.”

  “I’m no vegetarian.” Helen gave him a half-smile. “If we gotta snap a bunny’s neck to put food on the table, that bunny is toast. Rabbit is quite tasty. But here again… try to get me to eat people, and we’re gonna have a problem.”

  “Ha! I think we can agree on that. And speaking of meat, we’ll need to hunt quite a bit to feed the fuzzball in the back seat. He’s just about wiped out my protein supply in twenty-four hours.”

  Helen looked around, focused on a tower sitting atop a nearby hill. Then she pointed in the general direction the road was heading. “In about five miles there’s a bridge across a deep creek. Good fishing spot. We stock salmon each year in the park’s lakes, and there are always trout.”

  “Awesome! As long as there isn’t one of those friggin’ sturgeon in there. That thing creeped me out.”

  Chuckling, Helen said, “You can fish from up on the bridge if that makes you feel better.”

  They settled into a comfortable silence as she drove the last few miles to the bridge. In the back seat, Fuzzy polluted the air again, and Helen rolled down the back windows without a word. Allistor wasn’t so polite.

  “Damn, Fuzzy. You couldn’t hold it for a few more minutes? And what the hell have you been eating? Can we feed him some antacids, Helen? Will that hurt him? Cuz I think something’s deeply wrong in there somewhere. Like he ate something dead and rotted that also ate something dead and rotted that fed on rancid spam.” He kept up a monologue until Helen was laughing and Fuzzy buried his nose under his paws in seeming embarrassment.

  Allistor spent a little time looking into his Battlemage class. The choice had come with two new spells. One was Barrier and was just what it sounded like. He could cast a magic barrier that blocked both physical and magical attacks. At level one, it could block up to one thousand points of damage.

  The second spell was a sort of combination interrupt and damage spell called Mind Spike. Again, it was much like it sounded. It seemed the system lacked creativity in its descriptors. The spell sent a sort of mental dagger into the target’s brain, doing physical damage and causing intense pain that would interrupt any spellcasting or physical attacks.

  When Helen pulled off the road and parked in a gravel area near the base of the bridge, both humans got out and scanned the area. Fuzzy let himself out by crawling awkwardly out a window and dropping to the ground. His nose was in overdrive, checking the scents in every direction. When he casually walked up and dipped a paw into the water, Helen and Allistor relaxed. Helen said, “If there’s a predator within a couple miles upwind of us, he’d be able to smell it.”

  She went to the back of the truck and retrieved a fishing pole while Allistor withdrew his fishing gear from his ring. They both rigged up their poles and split up slightly, standing about thirty feet apart on the creek’s bank. Fuzzy, being a grizzly, had some instinctive fishing skills of his own. He politely went downstream about fifty yards to where a rocky spur extended partway out into the creek. Standing in the shallows, he put his nose near the water and waited.

  Helen was the first to get a hit. She yanked back on her pole without a word and began reeling with enthusiasm. A minute later she was holding a trout that looked close to two pounds. She didn’t tease Allistor, just dropped the fish on a stringer, tied one end to a sapling, and tossed the fish into the shallow water.

  A few minutes later a splash downstream indicated Fuzzy had made his move. He’d disappeared under the water for a moment, but his head emerged with a small fish in it. Allistor was too far away to see clearly what it was. The cub crawled back up onto the spur and plopped down on his belly to eat.

  Helen had caught another fish before Allistor finally got a bite. When he reeled his catch in, it was smaller, but still a healthy pound and a half. They spent an hour at the bridge, fishing quietly and just enjoying the morning. When they were done, Fuzzy had caught and eaten three fish, and they had another ten on the stringer. Helen was going to grab a large cooler from the back of the truck, but Allistor stopped her. “I’d rather not be smelling fish all trip. I’ll store them in the ring.” He did just that, happy to see that they were similar enough to stack in one storage slot.

  “I’ve got to get me one of those!” Helen eyed the ring as each fish disappeared. “Will they stay fresh in there? We didn’t even gut them.”

  Allistor nodded. “It says time doesn’t pass inside whatever void they’re stored in. So when we take them out they’ll be just as fresh as when they went in.”

  Calling Fuzzy back, Allistor engaged him in a game of tag, running him about the gravel area and into the tall grass in an attempt to dry him off. “Don’t want to be smelling wet bear the whole trip, either.”

  When Fuzzy was reasonably dry, they loaded themselves back in the truck and kept going. If they kept a decent speed, they could be in Cheyenne well before dark. After the sunshine and relaxation of fishing, Allistor found himself dozing off. Fuzzy was snoring happily in the back seat. The third time Allistor’s chin hit his chest and he jerked himself awake, Helen said, “It’s okay; grab a nap.”

  Almost as soon as she said it, though, she hit the brakes and slowed quickly. Allistor looked ahead and saw a fallen tree across the road about fifty yards ahead. Opening his door, he said, “No worries. You can stay here, I’ll go move the tree. Won’t take but a few seconds.”

  As his feet hit the pavement, Helen said, “That’s not a tree.”

  Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Allistor looked again. The thing was maybe two feet thick and tubular, stretching the full distance across the road and disappearing into the brush on either side. It sure looked like a tree to him.

  Until it moved.

  A section near the side of the road bent, then straightened again as the whole tree seemed to slide from left to right. Allistor’s eyes widened. “Son of a… that’s a snake!”

  He Examined it as Helen responded. “I’m glad you saw that, too. Thought I was seeing things.”

  Infant Ophidian Queen

  Level 12

  Health: 7,800/7,800

  “Infant? This thing’s an infant?” Allistor cursed under his breath, stepped back up into the truck.

  “What do you mean, infant?” Helen asked him. Thing’s gotta be fifty feet long at least. Nothing in this forest grows that big.

  “You haven’t learned how to Examine things yet?” Allistor asked. When she shook her head, he said, “Okay, stare at the thing for a minute. Really focus on it, and clear your mind.”

  She did as he said, and after about half a minute, her mouth dropped open. “Holy shit. It does say it’s an infant!”

  Allistor took a deep breath. “You know how you said you wanted to level up?”

  Helen looked at him, mouth still open, and began to shake her head. “Not that badly, I don’t.”

  He chuckled. “Well, our choice is to kill it, or wait here and hope it slithers off the road. But it hasn’t moved much. I think it might be sunning itself.”

  Helen looked at again. “I’m wondering where its head is. And how long its teeth are, and whether they’re poisonous, and if they can puncture this truck, and-”

  Allistor held up a hand. “All good thoughts. I’ve been asking myself the same thing. And the inevitable answer is… there’s only one way to find out! Let’s see if we can get its attention and maybe do some damage at the same time. Drive right over that bad boy!”

  Helen stared a
t him like he was insane, then she said, “You’re insane!”

  He sent her a party invite, then on a whim, he tried sending one to Fuzzy, too.

  Your companion is already a member of your party. Do you wish to remove companion Fuzzy from your party at this time?

  Feeling a little ‘duh’, he mentally selected “No” and the message went away. Helen accepted the invite and raised shaky hands to grip the wheel and put the truck in gear.

  As they got closer, she picked up speed. The truck had large tires and a high clearance, designed to move through rough terrain when necessary. But this was going to hurt. Allistor braced himself against the dash.

  The wheels struck the snake’s body at about 30mph. The entire frame of the truck shivered as the wheels pushed up and over, the weight of the engine pressing down on the flesh of the monster below. Out his side window, Allistor saw the body begin to contort, the strength of the thing actually shifting the truck slightly as the wheels dropped back down on the other side. Helen continued forward, the back wheels striking a moment later, and the back end of the truck rising up.

  A second later, the much lighter back end was thrown to the side as the giant snake’s body writhed and threw it off. Allistor stretched his neck around to look behind them as Helen wrestled the vehicle back under control. She continued about twenty yards down the road until Allistor called, “Stop!”

  She looked in the rearview mirror in time to see a massive head the size of a cow moving toward the back end of the truck. She saw Allistor move his hand and the thing froze. Another hand movement from him, and its face caught fire. It had the head of a viper, spread out at the back like a cobra and narrowing to a V-shaped snout with two nostrils. Its fangs were easily three feet long and covered in something viscous. Just behind its head, maybe four feet down its torso, were a pair of very tiny wings. Obviously vestigial, there was no way the thing would be able to fly. But the wings were flared angrily as it stared at them, its malevolent vertically oriented pupils a sickly yellow.

  “Grab your rifle!” he shouted as he jumped out, drawing his shotgun from his ring. “Stay behind the truck, and shoot it in the face! I’m going to distract it.”

  He managed one shot before the stun wore off the ridiculously large baby ophidian thing and it thrashed in pain from the fire. The slug thumped into the belly of the snake just below its head, the thrashing causing him to miss. He quickly racked another round and fired, hitting the side of its head this time. He heard Helen’s rifle fire, and blood spouted from the thing’s snout.

  Infant Ophidian Queen

  Level 12

  Health: 5,200/7,800

  The massive snake reared up, and up, its head raising more than twenty feet in the air. Then it lunged for him just as he was about to fire another round. He pulled the trigger, not seeing whether he hit it as he leapt to his left away from the truck.

  The ophidian was too fast for him. Though it didn’t get a fang into him, its massive head still managed to slam into his side, knocking him back in mid-air. Several of his ribs crunched and his right arm went numb before he even hit the ground. His momentum caused him to roll as he skidded down the pavement, losing skin against the rough surface as he went.

  Another shot rang out, and when Allistor managed to right himself to look back at the snake, it had transferred its focus onto Helen. She was crouched behind her open truck door, using its frame as a rest for her weapon.

  Allistor struggled to his feet, bleeding in several places, but not seriously. His health bar was down to 60%, his ribs definitely broken, and he was unable to raise his right arm. Dropping his shotgun, he cast Restraint on the mob again. It froze, and Helen took aim then fired directly into its left eye. The socket exploded with blood and vitreous fluid.

  Allistor willed his spear from his ring and gripped it in his left hand. He cast Levitate and let go of the weapon as it floated upward a few feet. Using his good hand to motion at the weapon, he turned it to face the frozen monster, then sent it shooting forward. His aim wasn’t great, but the heavy rebar spear slammed into the side of the snake’s head and sank deep.

  The stun wore off, and the ophidian’s head fell back to earth, the weight of the spear tilting it to one side as it fell nearly three stories. The impact with the pavement pushed the spear deeper into the snake’s body, which began to curl and uncurl in a frenzy.

  Helen fired again, this time up into the tilted head from underneath, the round from the hunting rifle entering the underside of its jaw and exploding out the top of its nose.

  “I think it’s dead! The movement is just reflex!” She called out as she stepped from behind the truck door and took a few steps toward the monster.

  Allistor knew better. There hadn’t been any kill experience flashing across his interface yet. “No! Stop! It’s not dead yet!” he screamed at her, his voice hoarse from pain. Even the breath he’d taken for that shout sent pain screaming through him as his ribs poked into his internal organs. Or at least, that’s how it felt. He reached out, trying to cast his new Barrier spell on her. It seemed to take forever, but a shimmering of the air in front of her told him it worked.

  Helen froze, heeding his warning. She raised her rifle again, but she never got to fire. The snake’s tail exploded out of the brush at the side of the road, showering Helen and the truck with twigs and leaves before it slammed through his shield into the woman and crushed her against the side of the vehicle.

  Allistor cursed as he saw her fall limply to the ground, not able to get enough breath for a scream. He cast Flame Shot without even thinking, sending a ball of flame smashing into the monster’s face and open mouth. He pulled one of Meg’s napalm grenades and tossed it left-handed at the thing’s head. It shattered, and liquid fire engulfed the front four feet of the ophidian’s head and body.

  Seconds later, it stopped thrashing and the expected experience points flashed before his eyes. A quick glance at his party icons showed that Helen was hurt bad but alive. He produced and drank a health potion as he limped around the truck to her. The pain was lessening, but he was pretty sure he’d suffered internal damage. He cast the heal Nature’s Boon on himself as he moved.

  Helen lay unconscious next to the rear wheel of the truck. Her arm was clearly badly broken, sticking out at an odd angle. Her head was bleeding, and blood ran from her mouth as well. She was breathing, but just barely.

  Allistor cast Nature’s Boon on her as well, wishing fervently that Amanda was here. He didn’t know if he should try and reset the broken bone, or not. If he just healed her as she was, would it straighten itself out? Or would she be stuck with it in that position?

  Starting to get the feeling back in his arm, he pulled another healing potion from his ring and poured it down her throat. He had to gently push her mouth shut to make her swallow, and she ended up coughing some of it out. The pain from the cough brought her back to consciousness.

  “Owwww…” was all she said before closing her eyes and lying very still. Allistor cast the healing spell on her again, then began to speak to her.

  “You’re hurt, but you’ll live. I’m not sure how to fix your arm…”

  A moment later she screamed as the broken bone snapped back into alignment with a grinding sound. She was instantly unconscious again.

  Allistor moved to sit next to her, back against the truck as he took some deep breaths. Sure now that she was going to recover, he cast one more heal on himself. His mana was still about half full, but he wanted to be ready in case something heard the battle and came to investigate.

  Realizing his shotgun was laying in the road on the other side of the truck, he pulled another one from his ring and set it in his lap. Pulling some granola bars from his ring, he dropped one on Helen’s lap before using his teeth and his good left arm to open his. A few bites later, and he was feeling better. After five minutes, the pain in his ribs was down to a dull throbbing, and he could move his arm freely.

  Looking at the still unconscious Helen,
he admitted, “Okay, maybe running over the giant angry baby snake queen was a bad idea.” He cast one more heal on her, his mana having regenerated some as he ate.

  A few minutes later, she blinked and took a panicked breath. He put a hand on her shoulder and spoke softly. “It’s okay. You got smushed, but you’re gonna live.” He patted her shoulder reassuringly as she opened her eyes and looked around, confused.

  She eventually focused on him, her reactions a little slow as she was clearly concussed. Spitting some blood out of her mouth, she asked, “Who are you?”

  Allistor cursed. Long and colorfully. If she had permanent brain damage… “I’m Allistor. Your friend, Helen.”

  “Who’s Helen?” She looked around as if seeking another person. Allistor sighed, preparing himself to deal with some kind of amnesia.

  Just as he was opening his mouth to explain, she barked a laugh. Then she held her head between both hands at the pain it caused. After a moment, she let out a long breath. “Sorry. I was just screwin’ with ya.” She offered him a pained, lopsided grin.

  “Oh, no way!” He leaned back. “That was a serious party foul! I thought you were… I was worried… dammit, woman!” He sulked for a few seconds, but the grin on her face just widened.

  “Awww! You were worried ‘bout lil ol’ me? How sweet!” She made a little kissy-face at him, then picked up the granola bar and opened it. “I’m so hungry!”

  “More like worried I was gonna be stuck with a brain-dead third wheel, dragging down me and Fuzzy the rest of the trip.” He grumped at her. She didn’t answer, other than to make a few exaggerated nom-nom sounds as she chewed her snack.

  When she was done, she looked at him, all innocence and puppy-dog eyes. “You’re not really mad at me? I mean, I forgive you for telling me to run over that creature from hell.”