by James Patton
Taro
Chapter 51
Ramerin
I visited an Anasazi ruin when I was a kid. The city was built into a cliff, and survived for centuries. No one could really say why it declined. Seeing Ramerin for the first time left me with that same unsettled feeling.
-from Boh, Audio Roll 0931
“Trouble.” He told them as they approached a fresh rockfall.
“Is there another way around?” Boh asked as she held the Light Sphere up higher and funneled more magic into it.
“There are many, I am not as familiar with them, and they are less stable than this one. Aila, you have any ideas?”
“Behind us, the old city is gonna be our safest bet. Probably our only choice.”
“You want to take us through Ramerin? Weren’t they killed off by a mysterious illness?” He asked, and tried to keep himself from shifting nervously.
“It was not a mysterious illness. A fungus infested their water supply, just don’t drink anything there.”
“Are you two messing with me again? Or are you taking me through another deserted underground city? This will be the third one for me, and I am starting wonder if any of your cities have people in them.” Boh interrupted.
He laughed and liked the fact that the girl just spoke her mind. There was no filter on her.
“Ignore him. Most of the citizens from Ramerin live in Crosspointe or other villages nearby. So they are safe, but this place is uninhabitable.”
He turned around and headed for the other passageway, but barely made it twenty feet before he found himself squatting and spreading his legs apart to brace himself. The mountain started shaking and the ground buckled under them. Stone and debris were falling all around them, and their Elemental Shields could not protect them from natural kinetic damage.
“Everyone ok?”
“For now,” Aila informed him. “But not for much longer if this continues.”
There was little arguing with that logic because Keahi and Uro were going to bring the whole damn mountain down. He’d have to warn his tribe at some point because this place was no longer safe.
His tribe! He stumbled losing concentration. He had to warn his Matriarch and his people. They were in the path of this too. He could only hope that Crosspointe was successful in stopping them, or Haase was not the only city lost.
“You ok?” Boh asked, and she probably felt his pain. Bonds work off of empathy, so it would not surprise him if she had felt it.
“My family is at risk. I need to warn my Matriarch.” Taro growled softly, and he felt a hand patting him on the side and felt strangely reassured.
“I will go with you,” Boh told him.
The side tunnel that Aila mentioned had a steep grade downward. The fallen stalagmites made it treacherous, and there were several harrowing moments when he was not sure if they were sliding the rest of the way down. The slope leveled off, and he spotted several structures that were not dwarven made.
“Guard stations. There are three ways in, and each had fortifications like this to protect the entryway. One of them is near the river, and the last one is at the far end of the city. The last one is the one we need.” Aila informed them. “We are close now.”
Once they passed the gate like structure, the slope started rising again. There were a few gradual turns of the tunnel until it finally opened up into a vista showing the entirety of the city below.
Entire sections of the ceiling opened to the sky, and light filtered in sporadically. It had been a few decades since this city was abandoned, more than enough time for trees to grow large enough to have their canopy block out the most of the sunlight. Not that it mattered because he was pretty sure the sun was getting close to setting.
Most of the buildings were still intact, but some were showing signs of recent damage. At this height, he could see the streets crisscrossing each other below with the main avenue winding off into the distance. That same road connected to the bridge that extended over the river and disappeared into another cave entrance.
He scanned the river carefully looking for any sign of movement, but he could not see any naga around. Not that he could see below the surface, but there did not appear to be any disturbances in the dust lining it.
“Naga will stay away,” Aila said, and he wondered if she could sense his thoughts. “The fungus thrives near the water here, and the naga are susceptible to its infection. We gotta go through the city itself, just hafta follow that main avenue all the way, and it’ll lead us out.”
“Not creepy at all,” Boh whispered, and he felt himself chuckling softly. “Out of curiosity. What does the infection do?”
“Not to sound ominous, but for now it is best, you don’t know. I will explain when we make it through.”
“You think that is safe, us not knowing? What if we need to fight something down there? That is a big city, and I very much doubt its empty,” Boh asked.
He was with Boh on this, and he had never heard the story of what happened to this place. His comment about the mysterious illness was not in jest; it was what he was told.
“I can guarantee things are living in this city. You will understand if I tell you it changes nothing, we still need to pass through here.”
“Just tell us,” Boh told her, and he agreed.
“The fungus is called Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis, and it is smart. It has a source mind, but they never found it. If you get infected with the fungus, there is no cure. There is no fixing you, the plant takes over your body, and fungus stalks will start growing out of the back of your head.”
“Sorry I asked,” Boh said, and he felt her shiver on top of him. He agreed with his bonded.
“The good thing is they seemed confined to the inner parts of the city. They think the source mind is there somewhere and its reach is limited. There are infected people in the city, just waiting for an unsuspecting victim. Do not let them bite you or they will pass the spores into you.”
They moved down from the overlook which took away their overlook as they passed through another tunnel. It did not take long before they stepped out of the tunnel and were in among the buildings.
Boh
Chapter 52
Lightning
I cannot describe why Seventh Talon pulled me in so deeply. Not at first anyway. I felt more alive and fully immersed into the world than I had in the real world, riding inside my broken skin husk.
-from Boh’s Journal, February 1st, N139
The city was silent, the only sound she could hear was the clicking of Taro’s nails against the cobbled road. The sections of the ceiling that opened to the sky were above the overgrown fields and farms.
The fallow fields expanded beyond the range of the light as indicated by the low stone wall that surrounds them. Each farm built to maximize on the sun’s trajectory. However, very little light penetrated the leafy canopy above. Whatever had been up top was now almost overgrown by forest.
The setting sun plunged Ramerin into darkness. Her improved night vision was handy, but she wondered at its long-term effect. Removing the Light Sphere from her bag, she handed it over to Aila. The small woman took the sphere but did not immediately use it.
“Aila, can you show me whatever the journeyman ranked lightning spell is?”
The witch turned to look at her and then satisfied by whatever she saw she just nodded.
“The spell is called Lightning Bolt. Watch.” Aila’s last three fingers were stacked on top of each other while her thumb and index finger formed a C. Then the middle and ring finger stacked on top of each other while the thumb, index finger, and little finger formed a triangle.
She could see the electricity building up between the three fingers before Aila closed her fist and canceled the spell.
You gained knowledge of the spell Lightning Bolt.
Lightning Bolt – This is the Journeyman ranked spell of the Lightning spell line. It hurls a bolt of lightning at your target. Your Skills Book will contain k
nowledge on how to hand cast, and once successfully cast will explain how to verbal cast.
She did as Aila did and felt the ability forming, but her timing was off, so she released it and tried again. She managed to shock herself a few times but kept at it.
Taro and Aila were talking, and she was distracted a few times by Taro’s disrespectful tone towards the small woman. There was a history there she did not quite understand, but Aila appeared to take no offense.
Electricity danced across her body, charging up and making her hair stand on end. The energy of the spell made her feel aloof, even disdainful of those around her. The mood change was like the seductive nature of Dark based spells.
It distracted her, and she forgot to pull back the spell. The lightning rushed through her body and into the hand that had cast the spell. Sparks came from her three fingers and converged into a Lightning Bolt. It surged away stealing her energy as it went and struck a nearby building. Upon impact, stone blew outward, and there was a dark scorch mark left on the wall.
You have learned Lightning Bolt.
Lightning Bolt
- Affinity: Air
- Restrictions: Must have learned Spark
- Damage: 20% of base health
- Range: 100 yards for full damage, beyond that damage will diminish
- Feedback: 25% per cast + [Residual]
- Effect 1: Hurl a bolt of lightning at your target
- Effect 2: Striking a limb disables it for 10 seconds. Striking the head stuns the target for 5 seconds.
- Verbal Incantation: Bolt
- Qualifications: Learned Spark
- Note: Lightning cannot be dodged
Skill Book Update:
- Residual Feedback – This is when the caster uses a spell that does continuous damage beyond the initial cast. The caster gains Feedback per tick of damage to the target. Feedback is minor, but each tick has a chance to interrupt other spells.
- Examples: Fire, Lightning, and Poison based spells will usually have Residual Feedback.
“Dammit, sorry,” she told them, and her Skill Book was in hand while she read through the information provided.
“Bonded… was that a Journeyman ranked spell?” Taro asked her and Aila remained strangely silent.
“Yes. I did not mean to do that. The spell made me feel powerful. Like I was a queen or a god. Is that normal?”
“It’s normal, Air related spells gonna make ya feel hauty. It be a side effect of the truth sensing,” Aila said reservedly.
“How?” Taro asked. “How the hell did you cast that? I’m starting to think the witch is not the most dangerous person here.”
“Not Historian. Not her Seer ability. Its gotta be her Affinities. It’s gonna be the only thing that makes sense, and her higher Affinities help keep her magic purer.” Aila said but the way she was mumbling made her think the old woman was still thinking through the problem. “A Mercury Elf could be a magical sponge, which explains why they rarely make it to adulthood before they change. Absorbing that much magic will eventually force one of the elements to win out.”
“Not to interrupt your crazy talk, but we have company,” Taro told the witch.
A shambling man-like creature was coming towards them. White cottony strands covered its face and large parts of its body. A wood-like stalk protruded the side of its head, and the fingers had wooden knobs where its knuckles should have been.
“Is that a fungus?” Taro asked, snuffling as if he wanted to sneeze.
“Here, put this on,” Aila told her and passed her an item.
You received a Black Veil Gas Mask.
Black Veil Gas Mask
- Brand: Black Veil
- Type: Face Protection
- Armor: 1 Armor
- Resistance: 35% Toxin Resistance
- Filter Quality: 27% - Find a replacement soon
She slipped the mask over her head feeling ridiculous, and it limited her vision to the narrow eye holes. “Is this necessary?” She asked, sounding muffled inside the mask.
“Probably not,” Aila cackled. “We already breathed in the spores.”
“Evil woman,” Boh hissed as she removed the mask and put it into her inventory. Just for that, she was keeping the mask, and it might come in handy later.
Milky white eyes stared them down as the plant zombie came close enough that she could smell compost. Better than rotting flesh was the only thought that immediately surfaced, and she stifled a groan.
Vine-like plants covered parts of its body where hair once grew, so its beard looked like a bramble patch. It might have been a person once, but she doubted anything remained of its humanity.
The mouth opened revealing sharp green teeth like that of a Venus Flytrap, and from this distance, she could even see the small silky hairs hanging inside the mouth. It almost looked like a spider web, and if those strands were like the Flytrap, it most likely triggered a bite reflex.
Even its skin no longer had the pliability of flesh and looked closer to the green fibrous texture of a leaf. Rather than prolong it, she was sure a shot to the brain would end its misery. Pulling her gun, Aila put a hand on her arm and shook her head.
“Do not shoot it. I canna be certain but I’ma thinking the spores bonded with the blood. Much like ya two bonded. Ifn ya get the blood on ya or in ya, then I am not gonna promise I can save ya.”
“You guessing again, because if you are, stop saying scary shit. I’d rather not have nightmares over?” Taro growled, and she felt Aila laughing.
“A guess, but gonna go with my truth sense on this. The spore is not airborne. Using lightning, or a fireball is better as it would burn up the spores. Run Taro, its gonna be safer ifn we avoid ‘em all.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Taro said.
Ahead of them were about ten of the plant zombies, and they were blocking the roadway to the point there was no way through them without running into them. Instead of going through, Taro took a left away from where all the creatures were congregating. Once he hit a cross street, he made a right to run parallel to the avenue they just vacated.
One of the creatures fell out of a second story window.
“Run the other way!” Aila’s voice carried a note of fear, and Taro responded by sliding to a stop and his claws scraping to gain purchase as he took off in the other direction. “We gotta skirt the outside of the city, nothing we do can do about it but stay near the abandoned farms. Its gonna take us longer, but we ain’t got much choice.”
“We have another problem. I cannot keep this up forever. I have not slept in almost three days. I am not sure how much longer I can keep running.” Taro told them.
“Move us away from this area as far as ya can, and we can find a place to rest. Boh and I can take turns on watch while ya sleep.”
Taro said nothing further. They kept moving until they eventually broke free of the buildings with no more incidents. It did not feel safe, but they were in a bind.
The growth in the shadows of the building led her to believe they were far from safe. This fungus was far-reaching, and there was no telling how much of the city they had overtaken.
The vine-like stalks followed them, and she wondered if her drake could see them too. Her eyesight had grown highly accustomed to the darkness, and she could see
She was not sure they were safe, and not confident they had seen the last of those things. On their wild dash, she noticed something the others had missed. The infection was spreading across the buildings, and there were plant growths on the sides of the buildings. At least the walls not exposed to the filtered sunlight from the gaps in the ceiling.
Ten minutes later they found a simple farmhouse. It was a single-story building with a missing roof. They chose a building that was below one of the gaps in the ceiling, and that had a very thin canopy. She could see the moon and a partially cloudy sky.
Taro laid down and was softly snoring seconds later.
“What is really out there?” She asked giving the pixie
a smile that did not quite reach her eyes. Aila looked over sharply and then slowly nodded.
“A dragon. It decided to make this place its home. Ya should know, some passives are not what we’d have wanted. The dragon is of dark and nature elements, and its passive is a plant-based curse. I did not make up the name of the spores.”
“So why not kill it?”
“Many have tried. Those plant beasts ya saw, there are a lot more of them than last time I came here. I was able to study them, and they left me alone. If’n I was to guess, Keahi and Uro have disturbed his slumber. If’n that plant man had waited a coupla more seconds before jumping, this mighta been a different conversations. Do not underestimate that dragon.”
“What is his name?”
“No one knows. One of the champions called him Vegeta, and it stuck. Everyone thinks its a short name for vegetable, but I get the feeling it's not.”
“Vegeta? Never heard of him.” She told the witch, but was that true? Something tickled at her memory, but she could not recall it. “Can you show me how Dual Cast works? I may not have a fireball, but maybe combining spark and flame?”
Aila sighed. “I gotta feeling no matter how dangerous I tell ya it is, ya going to try regardless.”
“I’ll stick to Novice rank spells only. Will that hurt me badly?”
“Probably not, but if ya get outta hand, I’m gonna stun ya.”
“Deal.”
“Full blast, gonna shock ya hard.”
“C’mon, I get it already. I fail you shock the crap out of me.”
“Zzzttt,” Aila said the pixie’s hand shot out.
Her long legs stumbled over each other as she tried to dodge back. She might have overreacted and stumbled back on her butt. Aila was giggling at her, and despite looking like a fool, she joined the crazy woman.
“Ok, I see ya understand.”
“Show me already you crazy hag.”
“Alright, gonna go through this slowly. Dual Casting is simple to understand, but the one thing ya gotta remember is that timing is everything. Ya just gotta cast a spell with both hands and cast simultaneously.”