by Lars M.
"That's what I thought... and I managed to get pretty comfy near the end. Camouflaged my area, managed to catch some small animals and get some decent food. Erect a... you know, what? It doesn't matter. I did well. In the end, however, he caught me by surprise. Brought in a Layered Carver. Heard of those?"
"Not at all. Big?"
"Big and dangerous. It's a racoon-like creature that has absorbed too much nature energy - they start to grow hard protective layers as they grow older."
"What, like a tree?"
She nodded. "Exactly. Of course, that extra weight means they need additional muscle mass to handle it - which they also develop."
I grimaced. "Ouch. Sounds... hard to handle, really."
"Yeah. They’re usually not a problem because they’re lazy.” She snorted. ”Of course, he managed to infuriate it somehow. I had nothing that could damage it - it waltzed right over all my traps, even the spike traps... so I ran."
"Really? Didn't you fail the quest then?"
She smirked. "We're hunters, not knights. We know that obeying orders that make no sense can get you killed. Besides, he didn't tell me to stay in that exact place, only that he'd pick me up later."
"Oooh, so he was testing your common sense? Crafty bastard." I shook my head. "Still seems pretty mean - but I'm glad you made it."
"Thanks. It was a learning experience." She beamed with pride.
We stayed in silence for a brief moment, until I couldn't contain my curiosity anymore. "...well?"
"Well, what?" Darya's eyes crinkled with humor.
"You know what I mean, woman. Don't leave me hanging. What did you get?"
"Oh, that? Pish posh. That was not the important part of the mission." She kept her composure for almost ten seconds before breaking down in laughter. "Oh, man, you're going to wet yourself with envy. Get a load of this."
She extracted a bow from her inventory, and I could only gape in astonishment as I read the details.
Engraved Reinforced Yew Long Bow
This long bow has clearly been carved by a master of his craft. The yew has been treated with reinforced materials to improve the durability, and the reverse-twisted linen strings are of the highest quality. The only negative is the draw weight, which requires an above average strength. The bow has been engraved with strength runes, adding to the distance.
Damage modifier: +10
Distance modifier + 10 meters
Workmanship: High.
Durability: 80/80
"Oh, and I also got a new ability - once a day, I can boost one of my class skills for an hour."
"...class skills. So...Tracking, Spot and... surely not the Bow skill?"
"Yup. Plus Light Armor and Spear. They let me select five of my skills."
"That's... that's amazing!" I shook my head in astonishment. "It's also completely imba."
She laughed. "I know, right?"
A while later, the hunters returned and our trek continued. Lunch came and went while we walked, and the monotony returned in force. Early in the evening, Benneth tore me out of my reverie as he started walking alongside me. "Wake up. We got a message."
"Huh?"
"Your friends in High Hold dropped a message in one of the spots they told us about." His lip twitched at my confusion. "No need for you to know earlier. Short version, their scouts are out in force now. Early tomorrow, they hope to have some news at the next drop spot." His lip curled up, revealing his sharp teeth. "If they're to be trusted. No matter. They say they're sending a group of Birds of Prey, whatever those are, to meet us east of High Hold. We should reach them around... noon. If you can keep up," he snarled. "If you hadn't helped the village, I would have told Darya you were too weak for her." He half-jogged away and soon disappeared among the trees.
I watched him leaving. Heh. Did that mean Benneth approved of me and Darya in his own way?
That evening, we started training in earnest. There was really not enough time, but we needed to get our attacks into order. I could see the melee people partnering off to practice their teamwork. Since we were all ranged, our challenges were a bit different.
"Okay, that's enough. Stop!" I waved at them to huddle. "Can anybody tell me what went wrong?"
Naevys stalked towards Jebediah, fuming. "This child hit one of my pets with his spell. I vote we keep him out of combat entirely until he has matured."
Jebediah blushed, but didn't back down. " 'S not my fault. Damn snakes are all over the place, like..." words failing, he made an undulating motion with both hands. "Cantcha control 'em?"
"Until you learn to-"
I stepped in. "All right, I'll stop you both right there. You're both right. Jeb needs to keep his spells in check, but the vipers do get in the way. Since we will all need a direct aim towards our targets, having them move about in front of us is not optimal. I'm guessing you can't tell them to stay completely still?"
Naevys shook her head, causing her short curly hair to bob in front of her eyes. "Nature cannot be suppressed."
"...that's a no, then. Okay, then our alternative is to keep them back near the side until they're needed."
"Erm - maybe not?" Arack looked at the ground. "Yeah, I know I'm not really into this tactical thing, but..."
"Don't hold back, Arack. You know I value your input."
Her scales darkened. "Thank you. It was just... you know, you and Atlas can both stun, right? And those vipers have those nasty cutting razor things on their sides, so they're dangerous if they slither around people - but they're still pretty small, right? I mean, one big hit from Kiff would take down one of them, like, splat." The kobold treated us all to a visual of a viper plastered all over the place. "So why don't we keep them out of actual close combat and only bring them in when the enemies are stunned, or like, running away?"
Naevys beamed at her and addressed me. "I told you, Arcangelo. This one is pure."
"I know. Good idea. Hmm - and if the terrain provides, we can keep them hidden for an ambush. Now, Jeb. Any other tricks up your sleeve?"
The young gnome clearly disliked the attention - that much stayed true. Still, he had done everything that was required until now, without complaint.
"Cannot tell you much. Swore t' keep the secrets."
Gods. I was not equipped to handle teenagers. "I'm not asking you to reveal any secrets. Still, we need to know what your spells do, and what your pet does. We need to prepare. Besides, we'll learn some of it anyway. We're not blind, you know."
Arack talked over me. "You have at least two different pets and three spells. One spell is a splotch of yucky mud, or something, that spreads over the ground and slows things down. The second one looks pretty nasty and definitely does damage. Last one is for your pet, but I can't tell what it does." Jebediah glared at her, but she flung up her hands. "What? Is it my fault that I have eyes?"
In the end, he shrugged. "Guess it's alright. She's not wrong. Third spell buffs and heals m'summons."
"Thank you, Jebediah." I smiled at him. "How about the summons? What are the differences?" I nodded at the chest-high creature that had ambled back toward us. It looked most of all like somebody had tried to create a mix between a human and a snowman out of flesh and mud. It had limbs, but they looked... runny. Like it had been left too long in the sun.
"This one's m' protector. 'S tough. Also, 'e does this."
The creature ambled over to Arack, who backed away. "Hey. Why me? What did I do? What're you... hey! Let me go!"
As the pet touched Arack, it attached itself to her and did not let go. The smug grin on Jebediah's face only grew as the kobold tried to pull her arm away and failed. As her other arm flailed at the summoned creature, it also stuck and she started cursing in earnest.
"Okay, that's enough, Jeb." The creature suddenly stopped being adhesive, and Arack stumbled backwards, glaring first at the creature and then at Jebediah. "Nice. That should be useful. So, you have this summon and the small, fast one. What happens when they die? And what does the
other one do?"
"Other one's for damage. Sneaky, too. Don't matter if they die, I can summon 'em again. Just takes a day."
I clapped my hands. "Perfect. Okay, let's take this again, but this time with the vipers at the back. We have a group of archers approaching us. NOW."
The groans that arose were music to my ears. I could get used to this.
The third day started out as a repeat of the second. Wake up, pack up, start walking. Breakfast on the go. Complain about the unfairness of life. At that point, we had reached a clearing a bit to the northeast of High Hold. We received a new message at the next drop that said they hadn't located the hideout, but the Birds of Prey would meet us soon and guide us toward the next meeting point. Following that, we focused completely on making the best possible time. We had just passed noon when a flap of wings introduced the harpies who had been chosen to accompany us on our mission. Harpies who looked awfully familiar.
"Was that really the best they could do? I mean, I know Morvane disliked me, but getting stuck with the Night Witches guys again?" My huge smile betrayed the lies on my lips. Tirane's entire group descended, fully outfitted.
"Oh yeah. They said something about paying some fiddler back for tormenting an entire city with his horrible tunes." The scarred harpy punched my shoulder with a grin, none too gently. "Harh. Obviously, since you decided to throw both High Hold and Grant's Crossing into chaos, they wanted the best of the best. So, what’s happened since the fire?"
We filled her in as we walked, and she reciprocated. Apparently, the orders had a lot of the scouts confused. Even though the target area was outside their regular scouting route, it was still not considered unexplored territory. The idea of a castle being hidden in the middle of everything was considered borderline ludicrous. Or, as Tirane so eloquently stated, "The thin air in the Ruling Chambers has finally gotten to the Wisdom. Happens to the best." According to Tirane, however, we wouldn't entirely be left to ourselves. Any scout who managed to return would join us for an attack. "Heh. If we manage to find something to attack."
In the late afternoon, it finally happened. A trilling sound was the only thing to warn us about the harpy scout crashing through the canopy to a stumbling halt before the feet of Tirane. We all rushed to gather around the scout, who was exchanging words - or sounds - with Tirane in their own language. Before everybody had closed in, Tirane began cursing. "Of course. We should have known."
I frowned. "Known what?"
"How a castle could possibly escape our notice. It's a Shard."
Everybody exclaimed in surprise or understanding, leaving only Darya and myself to stare in consternation. "Erm. What's a Shard?"
Lyle scoffed. "I told you you needed to start reading some books, Arcangelo. You'd stop embarrassing yourself this often. Ready for a history lesson?"
"I guess?"
He folded his hands behind his back. "When the Separation, or Parting, whichever you call it, happened, huge parts of Aeion cracked apart and started floating away. Some were continent sized, others the size of an ox-cart."
"Oh." I started to suspect where he was going.
"Exactly. Untold damage was done as the land shattered. Even so, it's not unheard of for a tract of land to float away, carrying a village, a lake or..."
"A castle," I finished. "But... how did it make it inland?"
He lifted a finger. "That's the real question. The Cabal have guards stationed all around the continent of Aeion, keeping watch for any Shards to return to us - but sometimes, they have been known to slip through the cracks."
Tirane scowled. "Exactly. But for this Shard to make it into the center of the continent would take more than just a coincidence. Still, good job on locating it, Serine. Lead the way, and tell us all you've learned about their defenses."
We resumed our march while Tirane interrogated the scout. Turned out, Serine had gone with the cautious approach, keeping a distance the moment they learned where the castle was. They then informed the next scout of their findings and came straight to us. "Right this moment, they're spreading the news to the other scouts, but within an hour or so, we should have constant eyes on the castle."
I asked, "They won't be spotted?"
Tirane scoffed. "Please. Give us a little credit. My kin have excellent eyesight, and we’re no bird brains. They will remain at a distance where they either cannot be seen or will be taken for regular flying creatures. Still, I can't wait to get a closer look myself, and see what defenses we're up against."
Darya growled. "Me too. And learn whether that cursed fire-spawning sorcerer and her group have already returned."
Chapter 37 – Why Can’t We Be Friends?
We were moving glacially slow, creeping as silently as possible and staying fifty meters behind the hunters. For me, ‘as silently as possible’ meant that I had to endure the occasional glare from some of the others when I stepped on yet another branch. The hunters had whispered together for a few minutes, and finally waved for the rest of us to join them. We had almost caught up to them when I stumbled and then halted completely. "Stop! Othell is here." I blurted it out as soon as my mind reached the conclusion.
"What?" Lyle brandished his mace, searching the surrounding area with murder in his eyes. "Where? How do you know?"
I stared at the notification before me.
Warning!
Ability activated: Sixth Sense
You are drawing near to a person with whom you hold a grudge. Be on your toes.
"Let's just say that the gifts of Serune come in handy. He’s definitely close – unless some other person who really hates my guts just happens to be nearby. Oh.” I lost my speech for a second and had to clear my throat. ”Odds are, he's right up there." I pointed at the structure appearing in the distance through the trees.
Once, it had been a castle. Now, however, it was a towering, gloomy shell of a ruin. In its original condition, it would have fit in wonderfully somewhere in the Scottish Highlands - a squat, square construction with a large main building at one end and a wall surrounding a courtyard and what had probably been a stable. In its current state, however, it fit far more properly within a spooky story. The first sign of the castle's presence had been the clanking of chains. Then, as the sounds increased, we started to catch glimpses of the island from between the tree trunks.
The island wasn't large, maybe the size of a football field. But the space on the island was occupied entirely by the ruins. They had been larger before. In several places, piles of refuse indicated where buildings had been placed too close to the edges, and the remains of a large brick bridge still pointed several meters into open air, as though holding out a hand toward the earth that it once called home. A wall had formerly circled the entire castle, but it had crumbled into disrepair at one corner, and at the other end, a part was just missing. The only parts of the whole edifice that were clearly new were the three massive chains fastened inside the bottom of the island and somehow secured into the ground itself, holding the island in place.
We sent all of our hunters out to determine whether our enemies were actively scouting the place, and the rest of us took a break, staring up at the towering structure. Naevys was the only one who seemed indifferent about it, playing fetch with her vipers instead - a disturbing sight. "Naevys, you can't tell me this sight doesn't leave you impressed."
She shrugged, "The only thing that impresses me is how, despite the time and effort involved in turning that rock into a lifeless place, nature is slowly fighting back and winning." She wasn't wrong. Whoever lived there didn't spend their time and money on repairs. Or rooting out weeds - walls and crevices were filled with intruding plants and roots.
"How the Pits do we get up there?" I wondered aloud.
"Yeah, how would we ever?" Tirane flapped her wings innocently.
"Har har. I don't know if you've had one too many knocks on the head in all those fights, but not all of us have wings."
"True. I guess we can't all evolve into real
species. Wait." She stared at the castle for a full minute, stock still. "There's definitely somebody home. Movement on the wall near the main building."
"Good. That means we're not too late. I hope." I raised my voice slightly. "All right, if I can get everybody’s attention? Let's move back a bit and stay between the trees for now, and get some rest. I would like everybody to consider ways to surprise them all. We'll have a chat once the scouts return and we know what we're dealing with." I turned toward Tirane again. "Can you have your group also join us at that point? We'll need their information and what we have to work with, too." There were four harpy scouts out searching in addition to Tirane's own party.
"No problem. There is one thing you need to know, however." She ground her teeth. "We have been ordered to assist you but to stay out of direct confrontation. That means we're good for attacking from above - high above - but we cannot enter close combat. The Wisdom are of the opinion that we are in a position where we cannot afford to lose, and the wisest approach is to wear them down from a safe distance."
I gawked, disbelieving, and then rubbed my eyes. "Of course. And there's no chance whatsoever that the resident sorcerer would be able to burn you out of the sky with fire?"
"He'd have to be extremely talented to be able to reach us, and the Wisdom are willing to take that risk."
"Uh-huh. He's a she, and she is talented. What about their demonologist? Want to bet his new demonic pet inside the floating island has wings?"
"I... damn it. I don't like it any more than you do, fiddler. I'd much rather take them in a surprise strike. The Wisdom would have my head, though." She ground her teeth in annoyance.
"Not your fault, Tirane. It does limit our opportunities, though. Better get to thinking."
Dark had fallen. The usual sounds of the forest were muted, interrupted only by the arrhythmic clinking of the large chains tethering the floating island in place.