Whoever had named this location must have been out of his mind. I’d never seen so much vegetation anywhere in Mirror World.
We’d been crossing Rock Wood for four days already. Unlike the Icy Woods with their dead trees, this one was perfectly normal albeit wild and untrodden, overgrown with chaotic clusters of conifers and deciduous species. It differed so much from the organized cultivated forests of the real world with their disciplined ranks of carefully chosen trees.
Our advance was slow but not because we were tired. The Calteans had rested really well during our three-day stop. They’d slept a lot, eaten their fill and were in great shape. The reason for our slow advance was Shorve and his men’s constant forays out to investigate the way. Thanks to them, we’d already successfully avoided an encounter with a small but very predatory group of giant level-500 pangolins. We’d been forced to go off route for a while just to make sure we didn’t run into their buddies. The fat treetops had rendered me completely useless as a scout which was why Shorve’s men’s skills were greatly appreciated.
Naturally, we could handle these kinds of mobs these days — but not without casualties.
Every time we stopped, we started by making lots of fires and posting sentries next to them. Caltean strength and stamina never ceased to amaze me. No one complained; there was no bellyaching or protesting no matter how hard the going had gotten.
The Calteans obeyed their commanders’ orders indiscriminately without arguing over them. They remained calm even though the trek through the woods wasn’t the easiest. Most likely, they managed to grab a bit of rest during the recon stops. That and also my buffs which I kept activating non-stop.
Our champions were especially courageous and disciplined. Their very presence seemed to improve the others’ morale. They tried to be everywhere at once, supporting their clanmates.
I too tried to follow their example. Which was why I’d offered to stand the night watch.
I’d spent half the night sitting by the fire waiting for Badwar and Lavena to relieve me. Still shivering from their sleep, they moved closer to the flames.
Even though this place was much further south of Ennan City, this wasn’t the real south. No palm trees and sunkissed beaches here.
I stayed by the fire for a while just to make sure the other two had woken up properly, then made myself a bed nearby. I closed my eyes and began thinking about all the recent changes in my life. About my wife and my daughter and everything that had happened lately.
Gradually, sleep enveloped my mind, adding a touch of fantasy to my thoughts. Over the last few weeks, I’d learned to balance between sleep and wakefulness without succumbing fully to my slumber. This is probably how wild beasts rest, ever-watchful.
Also, a weird uneasy sensation didn’t let me sleep properly. This was what my grandfather used to describe as a “gut feeling”.
Still, gradually the night had taken its rightful toll, suppressing the weak impulse of anxiety. I just needed some peace and quiet...
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “Who are you?”
I didn’t expect to see this at all. A small Alven girl sat by the fire, her blonde hair and light clothing a stark contrast to Badwar and Lavena’s heavy gear. They were only at arm’s length away and still they completely ignored her. The two exchanged short phrases, keeping a watchful eye on the night forest.
The system refused to identify her. The girl didn’t seem to have a name or a level.
She sat by the fire sideways hugging her knees, her slanted blue eyes watching the flames. The fire cast an uneven light on her ponytail and freckled face.
The impossibility of it threw me. How did she get here? Why did no one seem to see her?
“I’m surprised you’ve noticed me, mortal.”
I jumped at the sound of her soft calm voice. She didn’t take her eyes away from the flames. She didn’t move; she hadn’t even turned her head.
Badwar and Lavena continued to exchange whispers. They couldn’t hear her, dammit!
She paused, waiting for me to say something, then went on, “I haven’t seen sentient beings in this forest for centuries. And now you — so many!”
For a brief moment, her smile seemed predatory — then the calm, impassive expression returned to her pale face. “Do you like our forest?”
I just nodded.
Our? Did that mean she wasn’t alone here? Then again, why should she be?
“Please stay. We’ll be happy to have you.”
The same predatory smile again.
I dared not breathe, too scared to attract her attention. And she just sat there hugging her knees and staring at the fire.
“We have so much space here. You’ll like it.”
Strange she didn’t move. Normally, people are obliged to change their position from time to time. They can’t just sit motionless like that. Only her lips seemed to be moving.
I heard a fresh branch crackling in the fire. Pine treetops rustled overhead.
I desperately wanted to wake up but it didn’t look as if I was sleeping. This seemed to be for real. The fire, the night, the strange visitor, the unsuspecting Calteans apparently unable to see her...
Talking about which, the sentries would have to be relieved soon.
As if sensing my thoughts, she finally looked up at me. Her slanted pale blue eyes focused, unblinking, as if reaching into the very depths of my soul.
I tried to avert my own gaze but couldn’t. Was she trying to hypnotize me of something? What were the admins playing at?
Her voice had changed imperceptibly. Now it sounded hard and insistent,
“I’ve changed my mind, you know. No, you’re not gonna like it here.”
Her mouth curved in an unnatural bloodthirsty grin. The rest of her face remained frozen, devoid of any emotion.
Still unable to move, I noticed four small fangs showing behind her pale bloodless lips.
Something was going very wrong here. Spine-chillingly so.
“You know what I think?” she continued. “You might die very soon. Still, you have a choice. Leave these mortals. Fly away. They’re a nuisance.”
I was completely paralyzed, unable to move a limb. My breathing slowed right down. Every breath became a struggle. I was suffocating. My mouth went dry. I was thirsty as hell.
Panic gripped my mind, immobilizing my arms, legs, my shoulders. My chest heaved. My oxygen-deprived lungs were on fire.
What was going on here? What kinds of special effects were these? The further into No-Man’s Lands, the more hardcore it became.
Now my every heartbeat added anger to the chilling panic. A hot, furious rage — and the more I fumed, the weaker my invisible fetters grew. Was the effect wearing off? Was it some kind of warning from the admins?
My suffocation began to ease up. The creature’s stone face shifted into a mask of surprise. Her right eyebrow rose slightly; her mouth curved in disdain, baring two of the fangs.
“You seem to be stronger than I thought you were, human.”
This voice was different. The apparition began to fade. I’d been right, then: this had only been a temporary visual effect.
What a relief. I’d very nearly freaked out. My blood was still boiling with adrenaline.
A weird little creature was now sitting where the Alven girl had just been. The size of a ten-year-old child, it had weak emaciated limbs covered in hard gray skin. It sat in an ungainly pose with its knock-kneed hind legs tucked under it.
The creature’s head was small and wrinkled all over like a shrunken potato. Its teeth were small and sharp with pronounced fangs. Patches of short mousy hair covered some parts of its body.
The firelight reflected in the creature’s enormous pitch-black eyes which stared at me unblinkingly like two saucers.
I was feeling slightly better now. Still, the moment I tried to move and take a deep breath, the invisible weight pressed me down again, binding my body with the same spine-chilling stupor.
Bastard a
dmins! Them and their experiments!
After a few more unsuccessful attempts to wrestle myself free, I tried to relax and calm down.
“That’s better,” the creature croaked. It sounded as if it coughed out every word. “I know you can understand what I’m saying. I’ve been keeping an eye on you for quite a while, human. Hehe.”
“What do you want?”
The fact that my idle immobility was nothing good was pretty self-explanatory. On the plus side, the numbness seemed to subside. I needed to bide for time. This was probably the best tactic for this sick scenario.
The creature didn’t seem to have heard my question. Its wrinkled body stretched out, as if awaking from a slumber. Dark webbed wings opened up behind its back, ending in sharp bone spikes. The wings were three times wider than its body, making it look a bit like an oversized bat.
The first flying NPC, LOL. New competition for my Boris.
“Do you remember the farm behind the stockade? I can see you do. I saw you tame that Hugger. Well done, heh. When I told my sisters about you, they didn’t believe me. They laughed at me.”
Mechanically I looked around, expecting to see more adversaries. I dreaded to even think what the “sisters” of this abomination could be capable of.
I still remembered the dead farm. The caked blood. The ashes. And now the camp full of sleeping Calteans.
So it had been her, then.
The creature croaked, laughing. “Don’t worry, human. My sisters didn’t believe me. Which is a shame. Now I’ll have all of your strength. I’m so hungry. I’m so happy I’ve arrived here first... before my sisters...”
“How about a deal?” I offered, bidding for time. I could move freely now but I continued to fake numbness, wheezing and gasping as if from lack of air.
There was one thing I couldn’t understand. There I was shooting the breeze with a monster from hell — and my Calteans were dead to the world!
“You’re stupid. All humans are. Can a spider make a deal with a fly?”
Well, that’s a matter of opinion.
My summoning amulets were ready. The Fix Box was fully charged. Thanks to my new “purple” gear that Rrhorgus had procured for me, I wasn’t so nice and cuddly anymore. He’d actually promised to arrange a closed auction for me for the set I’d won back in the Isles. According to him, players were fighting over items like those.
I was ready to attack. Still, I needed Calteans to back me up. Even though I’d received no system messages, I’d have been stupid not to see that this was one hell of a powerful mob.
“I’m tired of you... You’ve made me hungry.”
That was the signal for me to attack.
I lunged at the creature like greased lightning. I’d never moved so fast in my life. I gave it my all.
My little fleas also leapt onto her like silver darts, aiming for her shriveled chest.
Her agonizing squeal made the blood freeze in my veins. Twenty high-level fleas can do this to you!
Screeching and wheezing, the creature spread her enormous wings and darted up into the air, trying to brush the fleas off with her scrawny little paws. In her agony, she’d forgotten about her surroundings and revealed herself to everyone in the camp.
You need to give my friends their due. They quickly put two and two together and jumped to their feet, ready to fight. Lavena rolled away from the fire and was already loosing off arrows into the sky.
Badwar rushed toward me, trying to cover me with his shield. The remaining three Caltean scouts hurried to string their bows, about to join Lavena.
Now we were going to show her!
In the meantime, something had happened to the creature. Her body began to grow. Just a moment ago, her shriveled chest had been trembling, pierced by several arrows — and now it was expanding, growing strong before our very eyes.
The weak knots of muscles covering her puny limbs expanded, turning into herculean steel cables. Her clawed fingers extended; her little fangs had grown big and strong.
Her powerful wingbeats raised dust into the air. A mixture of dry leaves, twigs and still-burning embers enveloped us.
The monster wasn’t squealing any longer. The night woods shuddered with her powerful roar. The thing’s huge black eyes searched for her attackers in the midst of the humans fussing about below.
My fleas died one after the other, leaving scary-looking venomous wounds in the monster’s body.
The first one of Lavena’s glowing arrows pierced the creature’s shoulder, extracting another ear-shattering roar from its throat. More arrows assaulted it as if on cue, piercing its legs and ribs and puncturing its wings. In a desperate wingbeat, the beast managed to dodge the last arrow.
I did my best to keep up with the archers. My slingshot kept firing non-stop. Not that it was much good but still. Rrhorgus had promised me to talk to some craftsman who apparently could improve my fabled “Minor Pocket Weapon”. The guy was a Master Blacksmith who did a bit of DIY on the side, making sure it didn’t come to his clan’s attention. I’d have to wait for that. Same applied to my “red” belt buckle: I needed a Master Leatherworker to make an actual belt for it, and that wasn’t going to be easy.
Finally, the monster killed the last flea. There was no point making more because the creature was too high in the air, anyway.
It moved fast amid the trees. Unless it got out into the open, my Boris was no match for it. No point summoning him or Prankie, either. Both were almost the same level as myself now. The last time I’d gone to the continent, I’d paid another visit to Master Rotim who’d leveled their old skills up a bit and opened a couple of new ones. He wasn’t getting any cheaper! Still, now Boris boasted a Furious Peck while Prankie could cast a speed buff on me.
Wailing like a banshee, the monster took to the sky until it reached a certain height. It closed its wings and began dropping down, spreading its talons in front of it like a hawk going for its prey.
Oh bummer. It was aiming for me! I must have pulled all the aggro to myself.
Still, that also meant it was going to land.
I stopped and raised my head to the skies. Come to Daddy, little birdie. I have a surprise for you.
“Get ready! It’s coming down!” I shouted to the warriors.
My temples were splitting with the strain. Still, it wasn’t the right moment to worry about myself. I stood motionless with my legs spread wide, clenching the little mirror in my right hand. Come on now!
It kept dropping toward me like a giant rock, apparently savoring the moment of sweet revenge.
Badwar the Thunder Warrior roared something to his men. Now that I’d seen his battle axe in action, I knew why he was called so!
Lavena was snapping commands to the archers. Now the fun would begin.
Finally, the monster’s giant black shadow covered me.
I leapt aside.
You’ve activated the Magic Mirror of Ishood!
My exact copy was now standing where I’d just stood. I didn’t have the time to enjoy the likeness: the beast went right through it, hitting the ground nice and hard.
Warning! Your reflection has been destroyed!
You can use the Mirror again in 01:59...
The monster’s attack had been crushing — literally. Had I stood there, I’d have been back at my respawn point already.
The creature raised clouds of wet top soil as it searched blindly around, digging through the heaps of pine needles and rotting leaves looking for me. Its disappointed wail echoed over the camp.
Just what we needed.
“Boris — chant! Scorpy, your turn!”
Boris appeared out of nowhere with an ear-shattering scream.
Oh wow. He was good, wasn’t he?
The monster froze in place like a pillar of salt, staring meaninglessly into space. The Scorpion sank his pincers into the creature’s webbed wings, pulling aggro to himself and immobilizing it even more. His long steel tail began punching the mob’s gray skin with its sharp
venomous tip.
“Fire!” I shouted to the archers, releasing another swarm of fleas.
With a furious growl, Badwar lunged at the monster and brought his battle axe down onto its head, again and again, until we heard his weapon’s signature sound which resembled a thunderclap.
The creature finally awoke from its stupor and snapped at the Scorpion’s steel pincers. Its claws sliced through the shiny armor on his back.
Some damage that was!
Hold on, Steely Guts, I’m coming!
Badwar was getting tired. He’d barely dodged a blow from the creature’s powerful spiky wing. One of the monster’s claws brushed against his back. Had it not been for his armor, he’d have now been lying on the ground with a broken spine.
The fleas clung on to the creature’s body, busy sucking its blood. The Scorpion replied to its every blow with several lightning-fast stings.
Arrows showered the monster non-stop. The battle axe wounds on its body looked awful. The flea and Scorpion toxins slowly corroded the creature from the inside. It was growing weak. Its body resembled a lump of bloodied meat.
We were nearly there. Victory was close at hand.
What’s with the absence of system messages? Why couldn’t I see the mob’s stats? Not a single damage report! Was it some error? A glitch? A bug?
One of Lavena’s “blue” arrows put an end to the battle, sinking deep into the creature’s head. The monster choked on its own roaring, emitting a shrill ear-shattering scream. It began to shrink before our very eyes. Its scream of agony stopped mid-note.
It collapsed to the ground.
Silence hung over the camp.
* * *
Congratulations! You’ve killed a Vapree (level 500), one of the five Icy Dhuries!
Reward: The Icy Heart of Vapree, 1
Kill all 5 Dhuries and collect 5 hearts to receive a Dhurie skill of your choice!
Congratulations! You’ve received a Legendary Achievement: Epic Monster Slayer. You’re a legend!
Reward: the Order of Victorious Gaze
The Twilight Obelisk Page 25