The Hedge Wizard 3: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure, page 32
“Stay behind us.” Marcela took a position in the centre, standing slightly out-front, Len right behind her with his wards ready.
In the moment of reprieve, Hump inspected the adventurers. They stared back with exhausted, unblinking eyes. To Hump, it seemed they weren’t quite sure that they were real. Lost in the dungeon’s mists and hounded by monsters, it was easy to understand why.
“Do you think they ran?” Marcela asked.
“Razorclaws don’t run,” Celaine said. “They stalk. We must remain on guard.”
“Fila, tend to them,” Jacob ordered. “The rest of you, hold the half-circle. How many of you have control abilities?”
“I do,” Hump said.
Eve, Len, Nina, and Dylan all gave their affirmations.
“Perfect,” Jacob said. “Focus your efforts on a single target and hold them in place—preferably not the injured one. That will leave just two for the rest of us to take care of. Tanks, hold your positions. Archers and damage dealers, focus on the closest target and kill it fast.”
It was a good plan. Hump drew runes into the ground at his feet, using the chance they had to prepare an Earthen Grasp formation. Bud, Dylan, and Emilia formed up ahead of him, Celaine at his side. The five of them covered the left side of the crag, Marcela and her party at the centre, along with Jacob’s, while Eve’s took the right.
Even with so many Chosen, there was no guarantee they would escape this without casualties. Razorclaws had the power to kill a person instantly. Their hides were thick and tough enough that if they truly put their minds to it, there wouldn’t be much the rest of them could do to peel it off in time. One opportunity, one mistake, could cost someone their life.
Silence filled the air between them. The mist made it difficult to see, moving gently, the trees above creating shadows.
“Movement.” Jacob raised a sword, aiming slightly left of the centre.
Larisa aimed her wand and a piercing bolt of light flew into the mist, twisting and spiralling through the air, chasing its target to the right. It found the creature, the spell latching onto its body and making it shine with light.
Without a moment’s pause, it dashed from the trees straight toward Eve’s party. Heather’s arrow was still clear in its thigh, blood pooling on its fur—not Hump’s target. He held his magic. The others could handle it.
Daston took the front, Brielle and Marcela supporting the paladin from either side. The creature let loose a snarl and Hump couldn’t help but stare, a jolt of fear making him unable to look away.
“Left side!” Celaine snapped.
Hump whirled around in time to see two razorclaws charging their exposed left. They were already close—so close they must have been hiding nearby. They dashed the short distance, so fast Hump could barely bring his staff around. Someone cried out to his right, but there wasn’t time to look.
Bud lunged ahead, stabbing, but the razorclaw turned its head and took the attack on its shoulder, leaving a shallow cut. Frostfire blazed, freezing it, and causing the creature to stagger. Dylan was there then with his staff, raising it for a swing, when the other beast leapt at them. Celaine loosed an arrow, catching it under the foreleg. The shaft snapped off and flew to the side, not slowing the beast down.
Dylan grunted as it barrelled him to the ground, tearing the staff from his hand with its teeth. Without thinking, Hump stabbed his staff toward the beast, a Focused Beam exploding from the focus. It hammered into the chest of the creature and sent it staggering.
Hump channelled his essence into the formation at his feet. He clenched his fist, bronze essence exploding from his staff and burying itself into the ground. He lifted his arm, muscles straining as if he lifted a great weight. “Earthen Grasp.”
He heaved, and a fist of earth erupted from the ground, wrapping around the staggered razorclaw. It flailed in his grip, crumbling earth and stone, straining Hump’s will. Then vines emerged around it, purple miasma clouded its face, fuming from its body. Its strength weakened, and Hump held it tighter, crushing his fingers together.
Hump caught sight of a blur as all the archers in their group loosed arrows into the beast Bud fought, needling its body and buying Emilia a moment to close in. She drew back her rapier, her entire blade shining before she unleashed a barrage of perfect stabs at its side. The razorclaw raised its head and cried out, retreating with a limp. It shook its head, its neck muscles bulging, chuffing a breath and then releasing a long, grumbling growl.
The one in Hump’s grasp continued to fight. His spell weakening. He screamed as his hand and mind strained, desperately trying to hold the spell together. Cold lancing through him.
There was a yellow flash. Jacob charged from the centre, leaping, both swords held in a downward grip. He dropped through the air fast, slamming against the creature and burying his blades through Hump’s earthen fist and deep into the beast’s flesh. The razorclaw let out a scream, striking at him with its tail. Jacob fell back, pulling his blades with him. A fountain of blood jetted from the wounds, and it let out an agonised cry. Hump released it, the creature collapsing to the ground where it snarled and clawed at the air, warning them back.
Nearby, the other razorclaw limped away, slowed by the arrows that filled its body. Bud ignored it and stepped closer to the one on the ground. He dodged a sluggish wave of its tail as the beast flailed, then plunged his sword into its throat, right at the base of its neck. Blood pulsed from the wound, spurting across the forest floor. Its thrashing weakened, and then stopped. Releasing a long sigh, the creature went still.
Behind it, the other whined softly. There was still a red glint in its eye, but the death of its pack member had brought back some sense, not to mention the arrows pierced all over its body. It snarled one last time, baring long teeth, and then retreated into the forest, trailed by more arrows. Hump heard a whimper from the trees—at least one had hit.
“Where’s the last one?” Celaine asked, out of breath.
“Retreated,” Marcela said. “We opened up its side. I don’t see it lasting long.”
“If they escape, the villagers will never have another night of peace,” Hump said.
“My party will go after them,” Jacob said. “Get them back to the village safely.”
Marcela nodded. “Go! We can get them back from here.”
Jacob and his party raced after the two wounded razorclaws, while Marcela turned to the surviving adventurers. The spearman had collapsed, completely out of breath. The other two were just about standing.
“Thank you for your help,” the wind user with the large sword said. “I don’t think we could have lasted much longer.”
“I’m just glad we made it. I’m Marcela Daston. Our parties have been defending some of the villages nearby and we saw signs of your fight.”
The man with the spear appeared a little shocked. “Marcela Daston, as in, daughter of Count Daston?”
Marcela smiled. “Yes.”
“I am honoured, milady. My name is Tanek.”
“Be honoured later,” Len said. “We need to get out of here. Can you move?”
The spearman heaved himself to his feet.
“Dalton, what about you?” Marcela asked.
The paladin had an arm over Brielle’s shoulder and was keeping the weight off his right foot.
“With help,” he said.
“You’re lucky you didn’t lose the foot,” Eve said. “I thought it had you when it started dragging you back.”
“You and me both.”
Hump approached Dylan and offered him a hand, pulling the large man to his feet. “Are you alright?”
He had a long cut down his shoulder, and dozens of small scratches on his chest. “I think so,” he said, looking himself over. He sighed. “This is going to itch like mad.”
“Yeah,” Hump said. “Was it just me or were they not as strong as you expected?”
“I suspect the dungeon stopped them from being able to think properly,” Celaine said. “Razorclaws don’t normally go down so easily, nor do they attack so foolishly.”
Looking over the surviving adventurers, Hump thought maybe they really did get lucky for once. They’d lost Matthias last time, but at least now three lives were saved. It had been a risk, but if it had been his party trapped against the crag, he liked to think fellow adventurers would come for them too.
FORTY-TWO
EVACUATION
“Celaine, Teff, would you keep a lookout, please?” Marcela said. “Let’s give our friends here a few minutes to catch their breath.”
“Could you go up the crag?” Celaine said to Teff. “I’m going to butcher the razorclaw.”
“Someone else can handle that,” Eve said.
Celaine looked over the parties of Chosen. “No offence, but I’m not convinced any of you have butchered a sheep before, let alone a razorclaw. I’ve handled plenty of game, and at least seen someone take apart a razorclaw.”
“It’s alright,” Teff said, already climbing the rocky face. “We don’t need both of us up the crag.”
Celaine pulled Bloodshadow from its sheath, the knife they’d taken from Kassius still as sharp as ever and no doubt eager for the blood of this beast. She went about the process with grisly efficiency: removing the heartstone, the eyes, the largest teeth, and other parts Hump preferred not to think about.
“At least let Dalton help you store it,” Eve said. “He’s got a Stone of Holding that you can use to transport the furs.”
Len scowled the entire time. “Is that really necessary?”
“We risked our lives for this,” Hump said. “Might as well spend the few minutes we have to gather the spoils.”
Len stared down his nose at Hump—the same look Hump imagined he gave anyone with less money than him.
“Keep staring,” Hump said. “You look great.”
They gave the three rescued adventurers food and drink, while Dylan and Bud worked together to create a stretcher for their fallen companion. Fila remained behind while Jacob and the rest of the party went after the wounded razorclaws, tending to their more serious injuries before they moved.
The three introduced themselves. Louisa and Warren belonged to the same party, the former being the niece of Lord Kint—a man Marcela seemed familiar with, though Hump had never heard of him. Tanek had met with them later, along with the now dead adventurer.
“Can you tell us what happened?” Marcela asked. “All we know is from Jacob, who arrived with orders to help protect the local villages.”
“The expedition started off fine,” Louisa said—she was the woman with ice powers. “We were making progress. Yesterday morning, Ricard led our strongest parties on the final push for the dungeon core. The rest of us staged an attack from various sides to disguise the main assault. That afternoon… well, I assume you felt the earthquake here too?”
Marcela nodded. “We were in the forest when it happened, though that was no earthquake. Until yesterday, this section of forest was nowhere near the dungeon domain.”
“It expanded?” Warren asked, wincing as Fila poked at a long wound down the back of his shoulder.
Marcela had a grave look on her face. “Without an expert, I hesitate to say for certain, but it’s the only explanation we can think of. Unfortunately, we don’t know why.”
“Gods know,” Louisa said. “There was no telling what was going on in the chaos. The ground erupted around us; the trees were coming down. Warren and I were cut off from our party, and before we knew it, a monster horde was surging through the forest. We did the only thing we could think of—head east and hope we make it out.”
“We met Tanek along the way,” Warren said. “And the razorclaws.”
“The story’s the same for me,” Tanek said. “I was split off from my party and ran into our fallen friend, Leo, over there. Poor fellow—he had a good head on him. As for Ricard, I don’t even know if the main force is alive.”
“Jacob believes it is,” Marcela said. “He received orders to defend the village yesterday evening. Hopefully word reaches us fairly soon on how to proceed. For now, we’ll take you back to Tailsend. The village is outside the dungeon domain. I wouldn’t call it safe, but it’s a damn sight better than here.”
“Thank you, Marcela,” Louisa said. “My father always speaks highly of the count and countess, and I can see the same good qualities in you. We owe all of you our lives.”
The journey back to Tailsend was uneventful. Hump wasn’t sure whether the razorclaws had scared off the competition or if the credit for that went for the bronze rankers, but they were back in the village in less than half an hour.
It was no welcoming sight. The villagers stacked up the remains of the monster horde on the far side of the village, systematically harvesting what usable parts they could. Though from experience, Hump knew there wouldn’t be much. The meat of dungeon-corrupted beasts was mostly inedible, and these were no essence beasts. They were ordinary animals unlike the razorclaw, twisted into flesh hungry monsters, and that meant they lacked heartstones.
“What happened here?” Louisa asked.
“You weren’t the only ones to run into a monster horde last night,” Hump said. He didn’t want to be down in the village right now. He was tired—both from lack of sleep and the constant fighting—and wasn’t sure he had the strength to face all that death again so soon. Turning to Marcela, he said, “My party will keep watch for a while just in case anything followed us.”
“Thank you,” Marcela said.
Hump hesitated a moment, uncomfortable to be taking the lead when it truly wasn’t his place. “If the expedition has truly failed, we need to consider evacuating the village. We can’t defend here forever.”
“We won’t need to,” she said. “You know Natalie, don’t you? Ricard’s second in command.”
“We met,” Hump said. “She assigned us our quest.”
“Good. I’m awaiting her instruction. Her blessings give her the power to communicate over a distance, and she’ll issue us new orders once she has them. Until then, we must do what we can to hold here.”
Hump frowned, considering pushing further.
She seemed to read his mind as she continued, “If she hasn’t contacted me by the evening we can reconsider. In the meantime,” she looked to the body of the fallen adventurer, “we’ll find a place to bury him. He died a good death; he deserves a good place.”
Hump stared at the body—at the bloody ruins of his face. It didn’t look like a good death to him, but he decided not to argue the point. “Very well,” he said.
He watched the Chosen head back to Tailsend from the edge of Stonebark Forest, talking amongst themselves.
“You lend that wizard too much of your ear,” Len said as they walked, no doubt intentionally saying it loud enough for the rest of them to hear.
“I really don’t like that man,” Emilia said.
Hump snorted. “You and me both.”
“What do you think?” Bud asked.
“Well, obviously he’s an arsehole,” Hump said.
Bud rolled his eyes. “Not that. What do you think about waiting for orders to come through?”
Hump shrugged. “I think we might not have enough time to wait for Natalie’s instructions. If the dungeon remains, these people cannot stay here. The longer we wait, the more likely it is that monsters will infest the outer sections of the forest. At the same time, escorting hundreds of defenceless people with so few of us is risky, and well beyond our quest assignment.”
“You say that as if the assignment matters,” Emilia said. “Surely helping people comes first.”
“I suppose,” Hump said. “We better be compensated for it though. I’m nervous. There shouldn’t be razorclaws here, and the dungeon was already massive even before its domain expanded. Something dangerous is going on here, and I’m sick of being a part of it already.”
Celaine groaned. “Times like this make me just want to leave. I really don’t want to die pointlessly to a monster horde.”
“Give Marcela some time,” Dylan said. “I think losing Matthias was all the wake-up call she needed. She’s smart, and she cares. I don’t think she’ll take unnecessary risks.”
“Agreed,” Bud said. “I trust her.”
“Then let’s see what happens,” Hump said. “If we don’t receive orders today, I’ll push for us to evacuate anyway.”
It turned out they didn’t need to wait for evening. Jacob and his party returned a short while later—they’d finished off the most heavily wounded of the escaped razorclaws, though the one filled with arrows had escaped. With luck, it would die from its wounds, but that seemed unlikely for such a strong creature in an essence-rich environment. Within an hour of their return, Marcela gathered them all in the tavern.
“Natalie contacted me a few minutes ago,” she explained. “Her explanation was brief, but the expedition has failed. Ricard is alive but wounded, and at least for now, they’ve halted the attempt at clearing Sheercliff Forest Dungeon. We have been ordered to leave the villages and meet the expedition on the road back to Sheercliff. And she wants us to bring the villagers with us.”
“We’re giving up?” Eve asked. “Did she even specify what happened?”
“She referred to it as a tactical retreat,” Marcela said. “And no. Communication was brief, and details were non-existent.”
Eve sighed. “The Pantheon will not be happy with this. This expedition was supposed to be a joint venture. A sign of mutual trust. Instead, it’s made us all look weak.”
“That is for people far more powerful than us to worry about,” Marcela said.
“Meanwhile, we need to clean up this waste of bloody time,” Corvin said. “I can’t believe Matthias died for this. He was a good man.”
Marcela clenched her fists as she looked at him, biting back her anger.
“It won’t be a waste if we get the Stonebark people to safety,” Bud said.
