by A F Kay
Ruwen heard the anguish in Pine’s voice and tried to reassure him. “He’s learned the first twenty Steps, so at least he has the basics.”
“I pray you’re right.”
They moved through the edge of the clearing, Ruwen watching the bamboo to the left, and Pine the Adepts and Journeyman in the clearing to the right.
“You said your name here is Pine, what did that mean?”
Pine shrugged. “The Clan frowns on real names, so our family picks trees instead.”
Pine held out an arm and stopped Ruwen. He pointed to the ground three feet in front of them. A snake sat coiled, its forked tongue pointing like a finger at Ruwen.
“Watch the ground as well. The darkness brings them out of the forest. Only those meditating in the meadow are safe. They’re very aggre—”
The snake launched itself at Ruwen. He took a half-step to the side and grabbed the viper’s head as it passed. With a twist of his body, he flung the snake into the ruins behind them.
Ruwen’s palm cooled, and he glanced down in time to see his counter increase by one.
Pine noticed as well. “The more dangerous the animal, the more they’re worth. But it’s risky to fight them. They can easily damage you for far more than they’re worth. Better to hunt for fruit.”
Ruwen nodded. “Then let’s go. I heard the red ones are delicious.”
Chapter 30
Most of the light disappeared when they entered the bamboo. A soft swishing sound caught Ruwen’s attention, and he looked up. The leaves at the top moved from a wind not present on the ground, and the air smelled sweet and little like citrus. Walking between the trunks was possible, but they were too closely packed to run through. Constant creaks and pops gave the forest an eerie atmosphere.
Ruwen kneeled, picked up a rock, and smashed it into the closest trunk. After a few strikes, the trunk split and water spilled out. Ruwen hugged the trunk, soaking himself.
Stepping away, Ruwen handed the rock to Pine. “The water will evaporate, cooling the skin, and lowering your temperature. Vipers sense heat and this will make us harder to see.”
Pine took the stone. “You can fight and think?”
“I hate snakes almost as much as bugs. So, I learned everything I could to protect myself until Ascendancy.”
“Ascendancy?” Pine asked as he split another trunk and drenched himself.
Pine led the way again, and Ruwen followed close to the old man.
If Pine didn’t know that term, it meant he came from a different planet than Ruwen. The fourth secret flashed across his thoughts. His world had a dense concentration of Spirit, and that allowed the gods the power to resurrect their followers. Blapy had told him he was destined to restore Spirit to the Universe. That meant Pine’s home, along with the rest of the Universe, didn’t have access to Spirit, and Cultivators didn’t exist. The lack of Cultivation or Ascendancy explained the state of Pine’s body despite his young age.
“Ascendancy gives you some power over death,” Ruwen said, regretting bringing it up.
Pine studied Ruwen for a few seconds. “Only gods and demons have that power on my world.”
“I’m neither,” Ruwen said, and then wondered if he might be both. He had the Architect Role only given to the gods, and the Scarecrow Aspect, created by a demon god, had fused itself inside him. Plus, his Core had absorbed the Core of a peak Diamond demon from the Infernal Realm. That might set off some demon alarms.
Ruwen could see the doubt on Pine’s face and changed the subject. “How will I know your grandson if we’re separated?”
The reminder pushed Pine back into motion and the old man strode forward, whispering over his shoulder. “I’m not telling you his name, just in case you are a demon. I hope you understand. He’s a thin ten-year-old who acts like he’s thirty, with dark hair, light brown skin, and grey-blue eyes. He has a scar near his right temple and the hair there grows white.”
Ruwen didn’t reply. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that he’d triggered an escort quest as part of his trial here.
Pine pointed up into the bamboo. With the last of the light, Ruwen saw a clump of green grapes. He studied the trunk and limbs and didn’t see any snakes. Gripping the tree, he pulled himself up, using the increased strength and power of his Gold body. His spells and abilities would have made this easier, but they weren’t necessary.
Forty feet off the ground, Ruwen hugged the tree tightly while pulling the grapes from their vine. There were three of them and he immediately ate one. Sweet juice filled his mouth, and he quickly swallowed. His body flushed with warmth, and while holding himself to the tree wasn’t hard, it now felt effortless.
Letting go of the tree, Ruwen fell the forty feet in a blink, squatting as he struck the ground. His body felt like a caged animal and it begged for release. He handed a grape to Pine, rolled up his right sleeve to create a pocket, and placed the last grape there.
Using fingers like a spear, Ruwen struck the bamboo above his head, splitting the bark and letting the water from the tree soak him. Pine ate his grape and did the same, impressing Ruwen. He thought for sure the old man’s fingers would snap. Without a word, Pine strode deeper into the trees.
As the darkness increased, Pine slowed considerably.
“What’s wrong?” Ruwen asked.
“I can’t see anymore. I should have saved some red sorrow fruit.”
While dim, Ruwen could still make out the surroundings to about thirty feet. He realized it must be his Gold Fortified eyes. “Let me lead, while you keep a hand on my back. How do I know which way to go?”
“We want to take the steepest path. That’s the quickest way to the summit.”
Ruwen really missed his map. This whole exercise would be trivial with just a few familiar items. He studied the ground and moved forward in what seemed to be the most uphill direction. Pine walked behind him, surprisingly quiet, his touch light in the middle of Ruwen’s back.
Snakes appeared more often the deeper they went. The ones that moved were the easiest to spot, but many didn’t. Ruwen stopped every ten minutes so they could resoak themselves, but still had to slow down to avoid stepping on the coiled vipers that littered the ground. Without the water cooling their bodies, he didn’t think they’d have made it far.
Ruwen heard snakes moving but couldn’t see them and wondered if they benefited from eating the fruit as well. The last thing he wanted to face was invisible vipers. “Do you think—”
Two vipers sprung from the ground, directly at Ruwen’s mouth. He punched them both, sending them limply to the ground. A third one however dropped from above, landing on his head. He reached up to grab it, and the snake bit him, sinking its fangs deep into his right hand.
Ruwen clenched his hand, crushing the snake’s head. He pulled the fangs from his hand and dropped the snake to the ground as his hand pulsed in pain. The counter on his left palm glowed dimly and he watched it drop by five.
Either the snakes here could penetrate a Gold Fortified body, or the armor portion of Ruwen’s Fortification hadn’t transferred with him. He’d kept the Gold reflexes, thankfully. The pain faded and the puncture marks disappeared from his hand. The quick healing was something at least, but it wouldn’t matter if he got swarmed. There were hundreds of snakes all around them, and they obviously reacted to sound. If he got into a loud fight, it might mean disaster.
The next time they stopped for water, Ruwen killed the nearest fifteen vipers before breaking the bamboo open. He couldn’t be sure if some hid in the upper branches, but he watched and avoided the one that fell.
The buff from the grape had long since disappeared, and Ruwen resisted eating the third one. Vipers had bitten Pine and Ruwen multiple times as their footsteps caused enough vibration to trigger the snakes they’d overlooked.
Ruwen stopped when the bamboo ended and a glade, three hundred feet wide appeared. White columns twenty feet high ringed a circular area in the glade’s middle, and
they supported a fractured white dome. Ankle high grass filled the meadow except for the ground under the dome which looked like the same white stone as the pillars.
Five people sat under the dome with crossed legs and closed eyes, obviously meditating. Snakes filled the clearing and covered the building. Hundreds of them.
Pine put his mouth next to Ruwen’s ear and whispered. “Journeyman’s Glade.”
This is where they’d expected to find Pine’s grandson. But Ruwen had lost hope of that. Not only did the bamboo make traveling difficult and confusing, but the vipers were so numerous, he didn’t think a ten-year-old had a chance. The reality was, Pine’s grandson had probably lost all his minutes long ago and returned to his body on whatever planet they’d come from.
It had taken them two hours, half the night, to reach this place. Finding fruit in the dark while avoiding all the active vipers had proved impossible. Ruwen glanced at his left palm. He had one hundred twenty-two minutes left.
Pine whispered again. “Do you see him?”
Ruwen studied those under the dome. The white stone gave off a faint light, and it spilled into the surrounding glade, making seeing easier. He couldn’t make out any details, but all five figures looked far too large for a ten-year-old. Just to be sure, he scanned the entire meadow looking for the boy.
Pine stepped up next to Ruwen, and he shook his head at the old man.
Pine’s shoulders slumped.
Ruwen bent down and whispered in Pine’s ear. “Let’s go ask if any of them saw your grandson.”
Pine smiled and nodded.
Movement caught Ruwen’s eye, and he held an arm out, stopping Pine from stepping into the meadow. The farthest pillar seemed to waver, and it took a few seconds to realize why. Something tall and wider than the pillar stood behind it, hiding. But its body writhed, drawing Ruwen’s eye.
Approaching the building without first exposing that creature would be stupid. Ruwen really wished he could cast Distract and realized he’d have to do it manually. As he searched for a rock, he found a small bush with eight red sorrow fruit.
Ruwen tossed one into his mouth and put the other seven in his folded up left sleeve, since the right sleeve held the last green sorrow fruit. He could see why Sift liked the red ones so much. These weren’t as sweet as the green ones and had a slightly sour aftertaste. The combination tasted wonderful and it made his mouth water.
The red fruit also had a profound effect on Ruwen’s body. The distance of his vision tripled, and he could hear Pine’s heartbeat. The sound of snakes slithering filled the air with a constant dull noise. The faint breeze now pressed against his skin and the red sorrow fruit’s flavors intensified. No wonder Sift liked the taste so much, the fruit made itself taste better.
With the increase in Ruwen’s senses, it only took him a few seconds to find a hand sized rock. He moved back to Pine, handed him four of the red sorrow fruits, and looked for the best place to draw out the hidden beast. With all his strength, he threw the rock at the bamboo forest to the left of the creature.
The rock struck the hollow bamboo with a boom, like someone had struck a drum. Pine jumped, and Ruwen raised his eyebrows at the loud sound. More importantly, the creature behind the pillar shot outward, and Ruwen studied it.
At first Ruwen thought it was just a massive version of the vipers he’d already fought. The creature’s tubular body stood ten feet tall with at least that many feet behind it. With the boost to his senses, he noticed it didn’t slither like a snake, but moved smoothly in a straight line. Its head moved back and forth and twisted up and down like it was blind. It seemed to get larger as it moved across the glade.
The red sorrow fruit’s buff faded, and the large snake became harder to see, but not before Ruwen comprehended what he’d seen, and he hissed in horror. He picked up another rock from the ground, not bothering about the size. He threw it hard, and again a satisfying boom echoed into the night.
The creature whipped its head, which didn’t appear any different than the rest of its body, toward the sound. Arrows flew from the creature’s head at an amazing rate, maybe three or four a second. Ruwen’s skin prickled as he watched the arrows strike the bamboo. Instead of sticking into the bamboo, they moved.
Dread, disgust, and fear struck Ruwen as he understood what he’d just witnessed. The creature was a mass of vipers, and it could fire its snakes like arrows at a ridiculous pace.
Ruwen didn’t want to fight that thing. Skirting the glade and continuing up the mountain was the smartest idea. He was here to make it to the summit, not find a lost boy. A boy who most certainly had lost all his minutes shortly after arriving.
But if the boy had made it this far, one of those five might have seen him, and even seen which direction the boy had gone. Pine and Ruwen had little chance of finding the boy without help. Asking those five would require facing that large viper though, and it could fire enough snakes at him in under ten seconds to take his remaining minutes. A risk he really wanted to avoid.
Ruwen wanted to spend as little time here as possible. He needed to get back so he could see his parents when they finished their revival. But even with the pressure of that deadline, he wondered if meditation might be their best bet. In the daylight, this thing might be easier to fight or it might go away.
Ruwen whispered in Pine’s ear. “There’s a large tube-shaped mass of vipers that shoots snakes from its mouth, and its guarding the structure. Should we meditate until daylight? Maybe go around?”
Pine hissed. “That’s an Elder Viper and incredibly dangerous.” Pine thought for a minute, probably weighing the same things Ruwen had. The old man’s shoulders slumped, and he winced. “Let’s go around.”
Ruwen nodded at the wise but painful decision. He looked out into the glade to find the Elder Viper, but it had disappeared. Picking up another rock, he threw it to the far left, hoping to trigger some movement. Still nothing appeared. He wondered if maybe it had left and turned to tell Pine.
At the edge of the glade, ten feet behind Pine, hundreds, maybe thousands, of snakes knotted themselves into a mass that lifted itself off the meadow floor. In a blink, the Elder Viper raised its tubular body and faced them.
“Meditate!” Ruwen screamed at Pine.
To Pine’s credit, the old man immediately tried to sit. But a stream of vipers struck his back, pushing him forward. Ruwen grabbed Pine’s outstretched arm and tried pulling him away, but more snakes covered the old man, all viciously biting him.
In a second, the old man’s body had disappeared, as if he’d never existed. As the snakes crawled back toward the Elder Viper, the four red sorrow fruit Ruwen had given the old man sat in a pile. All that remained of Pine.
The Elder Viper turned its head toward Ruwen.
Chapter 31
The Elder Viper launched a stream of snakes at Ruwen, the mouths open and fangs bared. He leaped to the right, deeper into the bamboo, using the trunks to block the airborne snakes. Three snakes bit him, two launched from the Elder Viper and one from an unlucky landing when he’d jumped.
Moving through the forest, he pulled the grape from his right sleeve and ate it, his body instantly feeling lighter. He ate one of the three remaining red sorrow fruit and his senses amplified, bringing the surrounding forest into focus.
The Elder Viper made a coughing hiss noise and the snakes near Ruwen slithered toward it. He ran parallel to the glade, hoping that the Elder Viper wouldn’t follow into the bamboo and he could skirt this fight. A viper curled at head height jumped at him and he slapped it away, feeling the cold pulse on his left palm as his total increased by a minute.
Vipers covered the ground under the twenty-foot black snake and propelled it past Ruwen, but it stayed inside the glade. He suddenly stopped as a thought struck him. The Viper Steps were based in part on a striking snake. They were aggressive and powerful moves. Running away only made the situation worse.
Glancing at his palm, he read one hundred thirteen minutes. The fi
fteen minutes from the grape had offset the damage he’d taken while fleeing the larger snake. He received a minute for each snake he killed, so if he destroyed five for every one that damaged him, he could survive.
In fact, as he thought this through, having so many snakes around provided an advantage. They supplied a ready pool of minutes to anyone skillful enough to avoid their strikes. By hiding and being cautious, he had made things more difficult. Success in the Viper Steps dictated he do the opposite.
Ruwen embraced his aggressiveness, turned, and moved directly at the large viper. Instead of avoiding any visible snakes, he shifted toward them. The green sorrow fruit increased his strength and speed, and coupled with his Gold Fortified reflexes, the snakes were easy to kill if he saw them in time. And the red sorrow fruit had increased his senses, making everything around him visible.
During Ruwen’s Step training with Rami, she had made him practice deflecting arrows and bolts. As long as he could see, he could even snatch them from the air. The flying snakes terrified him, and that fear slowed his reactions.
Instead, Ruwen imagined the airborne creatures were arrows, and the Elder Viper just another one of Rami’s terrible training ideas. He smiled as the large snake stopped, and the swarm of snakes under it crawled over the giant viper like armor. It sent a stream of snakes at his head.
The red and green fruit amplified Ruwen’s Gold body, and years of training provided the confidence to keep going. As the flying snakes closed on him, he batted them out of the way, as if avoiding the attacks of a dozen archers. There were too many, coming too fast, to get them all, and a few found purchase on his body. They hung like ribbons from his arms and side.
The red fruit made the ground feel like a second skin, and the vipers there were easy to locate. Ruwen leaped back and forth, killing a viper every time he landed. It made it harder for the Elder Viper to hit him, too.