Hunter's Bond, page 17
“My husband’s in there!” one woman cried. “I’m not leaving until I make sure he’s okay.”
The rest of the crowd agreed with her, the din of their voices rising as one collective shout. They tried to push forward again, but Arheis held his ground, suddenly wishing he’d brought his shield.
“I’m not asking you to leave,” he explained. “Just give the healer some room to work. The clearer we keep this space, the quicker she can see to your husband, and to everyone else.”
Logic was a tricky thing to peddle in times of crisis, but Arheis managed to sell it decently enough. There was some murmuring and a bit of discontent, but the crowd didn’t try to force their way past him again. And when he left to do the same on the other side as a new group encroached, he saw they were all still standing on the outskirts of the camp, watching nervously.
It wasn’t a huge contribution, but it felt like something. The game apparently thought so, too.
> You have learned Mediate. Defuse tense situations with your words and actions. Note: This skill does not work on beasts.
Arheis held in a snort. No kidding. He could just imagine trying to be that pacifist challenge player who went up to the Nepondus Queen and very politely asked her to leave and take all of her cubs with her.
He’d end up on the ground so fast his head would spin.
Fortunately, the humans of Lacerda were more receptive to mediation, and he only had to shepherd a few of them back to the outskirts of the camp when they panicked and rushed toward their loved ones.
Arheis couldn’t blame them, but Amira needed room to help. She and Zindar worked tirelessly, well past dawn, when the denizens of the village who hadn’t been awoken by the commotion finally ambled into the streets. That was Arheis’ last big push as self-proclaimed security guard, and he thought he even saw the healer acknowledge his work. He caught her gaze across the fully-occupied cots and she gave him a small nod. It wasn’t much, and he hadn’t done it for recognition, but it felt good just the same.
That seemed to be the end of her good graces, though. As he watched—keeping himself well out of the way—Mira’s expression grew from harried to panicked. She tucked it away, forcing calm into herself, but the brief hint of it was enough to make him realize something was wrong. That, and she walked over to Zindar and whispered something to him that made the Pruvari’s eyes widen, his brow furrowing in concern.
Zindar looked around, taking in the sight of all the poisoned guards and hunters. Arheis tried to read his lips and caught what he thought was, “Are we really that low?”
Restless and wanting to do something, he left his post with the crowd and walked toward Mira and Zindar.
“There might be some in one of the taverns. They use it to spice some of the ale. But even if there is, it won’t be enough. I need pounds of the stuff, at least.”
“Pounds of what?” he asked.
Mira turned to look at him, and for once there was no disdain or even suspicion. She just looked tired. “Twilight Spore. It’s a white mold that grows in the caverns near the river.”
Caverns by the river. He hadn’t stumbled across a river in his wanderings, but it shouldn’t be that hard to find. Zindar would probably know the way.
“I can get it,” he said. “How long do they have?”
The healer looked at him in a long, searching way that almost made him feel self-conscious. It was as if she was actually seeing him for the first time, and he wondered just what she got from the experience.
Wiping the sweat from her brow with a clean cloth, she turned to survey the camp. “For the sickest? An hour, at most. But I’m not sure treatment is going to help them at this point,” she admitted quietly.
“The people who were already injured or who had some sort of illness got hit hard,” Zindar clarified.
“The others have anywhere from five to eight hours, and that’s being optimistic.”
“I’ll go with you,” Zindar said. “I know where the closest caverns are, and what the mold looks like.”
Arheis nodded just as a quest prompt popped up.
> Twilight Spores
Amira has tasked you and Zindar with retrieving several pounds of a special mold found in the nearby caverns.
Quest Level: 6
Reward: 1,200GC in currency and 400 XP
He turned to head back to the inn so he could get his things, but before he could make it anywhere, he felt someone reach out and grab the sleeve of his shirt. When he looked back, Mira’s gaze was intent upon him, a vulnerability in her near-violet eyes.
“Thank you.”
He just nodded again, feeling unreasonably tongue-tied. He’d always been the sort of person who responded better to game plots with a personal stake. Someone to fight for or help, as opposed to just saving the world out of the goodness of one’s heart. In the past, though, he’d just had to deal with pixels. Not a woman who very much seemed as flesh and blood as he was.
Not wanting to ruin the good faith he’d just generated, Arheis hurried off. He retrieved his spear and shield as well as his pack and the new belt he’d purchased. As he tied his awful patchwork armor, he was reminded that there might be at least one better piece waiting for him at the smith’s.
Meeting Zindar out in the hall, he asked, “Do we have time to swing by the blacksmith’s shop?”
The Pruvari nodded. “If we make it fast. Better that than having your insides strewn about the cave floor.”
Arheis couldn’t argue there. He rushed over to the smith with Zindar and after a quick exchange, Siv was able to fit him with his brand new breastplate.
The two of them apologized for having to just pick up the armor and run, and Arheis assured the smith he’d be back later to commission the rest of the set. But with at least his chest significantly better protected, he hurried off with Zindar past the east gates and into the jungle.
It took them over an hour to reach what Zindar swore were the closest caves. They walked along a footpath at first, but the Pruvari soon led him deep into the heart of the jungle where he had to use his knife to clear a path through the thick vines and brush.
As they moved into the parts of the jungle where creatures of all kinds prowled about, looking for an easy meal, Zindar reached into his pack and pulled out a foul-smelling cream he kept in a little clay pot.
“This should repel most anything that would try to jump us, so long as we don’t get close to any nests or dens.”
Arheis caught a stronger whiff of the substance as Zindar began to coat his arms and face in the stuff. He nearly gagged, having to force back the bile that rose in his throat.
“I’m pretty sure that will repel anyone, period.”
Zindar laughed, but it almost sounded hollow to Arheis’ ears. The Pruvari was worried, he realized. About the people who’d been poisoned, and likely about his friend.
Arheis wasn’t entirely sure what to say, so he settled for taking the clay pot, sucking up the feelings of revulsion, and rubbing what felt like warm mud across all visible skin.
The substance reeked like eggs that had been left to rot in the sun, and it took every effort Arheis could muster to keep from gagging as he followed Zindar the rest of the way. By the time they reached the river, either his nose had completely stopped working, or his brain had decided to spare him that awful smell.
They followed the winding bank, and from there it didn’t take long to reach the cave. Cool air escaped from the caverns’ entrance, and it soon became clear that his nose was in fact still working, as he caught a moldy, mildewy smell the closer they got.
“There should be a lot of it right at the entrance,” Zindar explained, climbing up the small cliff that rose to meet the cave.
Arheis followed, and once he was standing at the mouth of it, he could see exactly what Zindar meant. Bright, almost fluorescent mold grew on the walls and ceilings, contrasting with the dark mushrooms that covered the ground.
Zindar got out his knife and Arheis did the same, watching the Pruvari work. He approached the wall, sniffed, and started carefully scraping mold away from the rock, depositing the clumps into a cloth he’d spread on the ground.
“Are these all the same?” he asked, pointing the tip of his knife at another cluster.
Zindar nodded. “Some are just fresher than others. If you smell them and they smell like decay, just leave them be.”
That seemed like solid advice for any endeavor, though Arheis wasn’t jazzed about having to smell more unpleasant things. He did his due diligence, though, and sniffed the patch of mold he’d been eyeing up. It smelled wet and gross, but somehow still alive. Arheis slipped his knife between the mold and the rock as he’d seen Zindar do, and he scraped the fungus free.
> You have gathered [1x Twilight Spores].
They worked without incident, the mold providing plenty of light in the otherwise dark cave. A large patch on his side smelled off, though, and apparently the same was true of Zindar’s, because they both had to turn to the ceiling.
As they scraped and gathered, Arheis began to hear things in the cave. There was a distant dripping, like someone had left a faucet running. The air that circulated through the chambers made an odd whistling sound as it passed. Neither of those things bothered him too much, but there were two other sounds that caused him some unease.
The first was a shrill screeching, like the sound bats made before they left for the hunt. Every now and again he swore he heard a low growl, too, the likes of which seemed to shake the very walls of the cave.
“How much do you have?” Zindar asked, bundling up his own contribution.
Arheis wrapped up what he’d gathered and quickly peeked at his inventory tab.
> 7x Twilight Spores (1.1lbs)
“Not enough,” he said with a frown.
Zindar nodded in agreement, glancing down the nearest passage in the cave. “I hear water. We should be able to find more around it.”
The Pruvari made a makeshift torch, packing the mold into the cloth and holding it up. The light it emitted wasn’t as bright as an actual fire would have been, but it was—Arheis estimated—about the strength of a flashlight that was losing battery power. Enough to see a few feet in front of them. He wondered idly if Zindar had any kind of ability to see in the dark, too, and considered investing in such an ability himself once he’d boosted his class abilities.
As they moved deeper into the cave, the system switched from tight corridors to large, open chambers through which sound travelled easily. That drip of water became a trickle, and even Arheis could follow along without the assistance of the light.
Unfortunately, the water wasn’t the only sound that grew in volume. He heard the screeching still, and the growling. He also heard what sounded like the scrape of nails on chalkboard, and Zindar laughed softly when he cringed.
“It’s something clawing the cave wall.”
“You’re… surprisingly calm about that,” Arheis said, his nerves beginning to get the better of him.
“I have the knowledge of my ancestors on my side,” he explained. “Anything in this cave is harmless, and more afraid of us than we are of it.”
Speak for yourself, Arheis thought, but the Pruvari’s words did give him some comfort. Hopefully whatever it was would stick to the shadows, and they wouldn’t be suddenly greeted by some monstrosity.
After a few more minutes of walking, they found the source of the water. It looked as though a lake from above was slowly feeding water down through the caverns, and it had gathered in its own, subterranean lake, carving a space out of the rock. The water was a bright, crystalline blue, and shockingly clear.
More importantly, it had created a haven for mold. Clumps of it grew on the surface of the rocks surrounding the water, and all over the walls. Just like before, Arheis staked out a patch of mold and started smelling and scraping. Zindar did the same, and before long, the two of them had amassed roughly five pounds of the stuff. Not an easy feat, considering how light it was.
“This should be enough,” the Pruvari said, collecting Arheis’ contribution and bundling all of it together.
They needed to head back, but Arheis looked wistfully at the underground reservoir. Zindar must have caught him, because he laughed.
“Go on, take a quick drink. It’s safe.”
As if to demonstrate, Zindar shouldered his pack and crouched down by the water’s edge. He cupped his hands beneath the surface, then brought up as much as he could carry, drinking from it noisily. Arheis crouched beside him and did the same thing, tasting what was by far the coldest, purest water he’d ever had in his life.
A system message appeared to tell him this wasn’t just any water:
> You feel invigorated. Stamina depletion reduced for 1 hour.
That was a handy little perk. Rising from the source of the water, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and went to ask Zindar about its mystical properties, but the Pruvari was focused on something else.
“Look at this.” He reached beneath the water and—with a hearty tug—pulled up a bright blue crystal. “I’ve never seen this before.”
“And your ancestors?” Arheis asked, beginning to understand Zindar’s massive bank of knowledge.
The Pruvari’s eyes rolled back briefly, exposing the whites. He was perfectly still aside from the rise and fall of his chest, and his transmitter glowed feverishly as he tried to recall the information.
“Nothing,” he said, his expression pinching into a frown. “Maybe the Guild will know something about it.”
He tucked the crystal away, and the two prepared to leave the cave. But as soon as they reached one of the open chambers, the sounds Arheis had been hearing grew frighteningly close. The screeching, the scratching, the growling, they bounced around the cavern walls, making it seem as if the beasts were all around them.
“That doesn’t sound peaceful…” Arheis retrieved his shield and spear and readied himself for battle.
“No, it doesn’t…” Zindar untied his blades, gripping the handles tightly as the right one began to glow with a bright, electric light.
A shuffling noise filled the cavern, again seeming to come from all directions. The shadow of a creature moved across a passage that led deeper into the caves, but Arheis didn’t catch a glimpse of the beast until Zindar thrust the bundle of mold in its direction.
What he saw could only be described as some horrific amalgamation between a bear and a bat. Large ears twitched and pivoted, a flat snout sniffed at the air, and a wide tongue lashed out from behind sharp teeth.
As it moved closer, Arheis saw that it wasn’t walking, but just shuffling along on bent wings and stubby back legs. As if that wasn’t strange enough, the whole thing was completely hairless and covered in a grey, leathery skin.
And—as Arheis noticed moments later—it had no eyes.
Some part of him wondered if it might not be able to detect them if they stayed perfectly still, but that was a dumb thought. It obviously had ways to compensate for being blind, and it used one of them by opening its mouth, scraping the sharp edges of its wings on the cave floor, then letting out a deafening screech.
To his right, from the darkness beyond the chamber, another creature answered, emitting the same screech followed by a low growl. Two of them. Great. He wasn’t even sure how to fight one.
“What are these?” Arheis asked his companion, hoping to gain some insight.
“I… I don’t know. I’ve never seen these before.”
Oh, even better. Summoning his courage, Arheis prepared to fight the nightmare fuel closing in on them. Thrusting his shield out in front of him, he banged it with his spear and let out a yawp that echoed throughout the chamber, leading to two distressed screeches that soon turned angry.
Don’t like when somebody else does it, do you?
Both of the creatures turned toward him, using their wing-scythes to pull themselves along the ground with surprising speed. One of them lunged, its neck longer than Arheis had expected. He blocked at the last second, his shield absorbing the blow while the force of it rocked through him.
He’d been all but useless in the fight against the Molclept, and he was determined not to make a fool of himself again. Gritting his teeth, Arheis jabbed out from behind his shield, the spearhead connecting with the creature’s temple. The bone might not have shattered, but he definitely felt the impact as the displaced energy traveled back up the haft of the spear and into his arm.
> You pierce Unknown Beast for 10 points of damage. (49 deflected)
That was a lot of damage lost, and he could only guess it had something to do with the thick skin. As he tried to quickly think of how to deal with that, the other creature struck, swinging its wing at him in a wide, horizontal arc.
A sharp, stone-like edge scraped against his shield, pushing Arheis back. He held his ground and prepared to get in another strike when the first creature—now moving to his left—opened its mouth wide and let out a different kind of screech. This one pierced through him with its shrillness, and he felt a sharp pain deep inside his ears. He wasn’t able to fight the instinct to duck his head and try to protect himself from the sound with his hands, despite the fact that doing so left him vulnerable.
“Arheis!”
Out of the corner of his eye, in his sheltered position, he saw Zindar rush the beast that was preparing to attack him. His blades lashed out, raking long gashes over the creature’s hide—and only its hide. Blood just barely trickled to the surface, and while the beast turned its attention on Zindar, it wasn’t even remotely hurt.
His ears still aching, Arheis blinked tears away from his eyes and resumed his guard. “We have to get past their hide somehow.”
Maybe they were like the Lamica, with a weak point somewhere on their body. Finding that out was going to be easier said than done, though, as one of the beasts took another lunging swipe at him. By what he was convinced was sheer luck, Arheis timed his block properly, momentarily stunning the creature and giving him the opportunity to attack.
