Chapter 36 (Early Version)

Chapter 36 - Rules of the Road

With casualties mounting on both sides, the Republic began to lose its appetite for war. Even with necromancy filling the holes in the army ranks, the constant attrition of war was beginning to wear away at the people, with some even demanding that they heed the elve’s earlier offers of amnesty. The Steward of the Republic, feeling the pressure of his people’s cries, searched for a way to end the war and force the invaders back.

- On the Cataclysm by an unknown Quassian Scholar circa 103 AC


We rested in one of the cabins, not sleeping, but eating and recovering a little of our Stamina. We then moved out again, roughly following the same direction from whence we came, doing our best to cover our trail. We walked around the charcoal-burning encampment in a wide circle at Elwin’s suggestion, eventually finding a small trail heading West. The great trees of the Sainba had given way to normal-sized deciduous trees colored in deep viridian greens and auric golds.

As the sun began to sink and twilight fell across the forest, we moved off the trail to shelter under the trees and made camp for the night. The daytime calls of the birds were replaced by the howls of prowling nighttime creatures. Kidu advised that we push on through the night, to place as much distance between ourselves and our potential pursuers, but one look at Elwin’s haggard face put an end to that motion. We would have to stack tonight’s fire in the hope that it would provide a big enough deterrent against attack from the local fauna.

We ate a humble repast of trail bread and jerky, now lightly salted thanks to our pillage of the charcoal burners’ stores. There was no conversation that night, we were too tired from our earlier exertions, the taking of human life finally beginning to take its murderous toll. I volunteered to take the most difficult watch, I would have my sleep interrupted to stand guard in the dead hours of the night. Normally I would have been against this, but I viewed it now as the opportunity to regenerate my Mana so that I could practice casting my spells.

Before settling in for the night I cast Heal silently on Kidu’s wounds, feeling the warm energies leave my body as the divine magic healed him right before my eyes. Taking several pieces of loose metal from our manacles, that I had kept for my next planned experiment, I went out deeper into the woods just outside of the fire’s light on the pretext of relieving myself.

Throwing a chunk of metal to the ground I began to channel the full raging force of the Rust spell. The spell came easily to my call even though I attempted to cast it using my Silent Casting skill.  However, I felt that it still took longer to reach full completion. The alien whispers once so unfamiliar to me, now tantalized me with their hidden meaning. The roiling dark power that was previously so inimical began to feel warm and welcome as it coursed through my body, staining me with its power, like the buildup to completion. At long last, the energies were ready to be released and a stream of invisible black lightning blasted at my command into the piece of metal, which visibly heated with a hiss.

The metal was heavily corroded and brittle to the touch when I brought it up to my blue Zajasite stone light, turning it over this way and that, the surface pitted with rust the color of old dried blood. Though I had waited long minutes for the heat to finally die down, I could still feel the warmth even through my old leather gloves. I threw another chunk of metal on the ground and walked further away from it, counting the steps so I could measure the effective distance of the spell. At seventy paces I tried to cast, but the spell was clearly out of reach and I stepped to close the distance; this time I successfully released my magic in a torrent of dark energy. The range of the spell was just under fifty meters which confirmed my earlier suspicions. I repeated this experiment three more times, eager to level up the spell and make gains in my Intelligence or Wisdom attributes, but that evening luck was not on my side, and made no gains in raising these attributes.

With regret tracing my steps I returned to camp to rest as best I could, the Mana Sickness making me feel even more tired than I was. Not even drawing a word or a simple grunt of acknowledgment from Kidu, who had taken the first watch, I spread out a looted bedroll with arms heavy from the trials of the night and slipped into a blessedly dreamless and exhausted sleep.

*

The next morning we continued on the wooded trail after a simple breakfast, with only a few words shared between us. I surmised that Kidu and Elwin were likely thinking about our return to civilization. I, on the other hand, danced between thoughts of how to test my new spells safely and the night before last’s violent actions.

Uneventfully we stopped for our midday meal, which comprised of hard cheese and harder tack rations mercifully softened and washed down with stale-tasting water. Despite traveling for most of the morning I felt much better than when I had traversed through the woods in my simple leather sandals. It was startling the difference simple good footwear could have on one’s outlook on life.

When our meal was over I turned around to my companions and said bluntly, “I need your help again with some new spells.”

“How is this even possible, did you find a spell after the battle? Did the powers that be grant new magic already? It is said it takes mage years of learning and dedicated effort or pious cleric years of devotion and prayer to gain new spells! And you say that you have gained more already?” Elwin exclaimed, clearly surprised at this news.

“He is god-touched,” the Hunter remarked, as if this was all the explanation that was required, “we will help in whatever way we can...”

He was almost cut off by Elwin, but one look silenced the rogue. “We owe you, after all, a great debt that can never be repaid,” he said with finality.

“Thank you, thank you both of you,” I said, my voice a little thick with repressed emotion. “I will need you both to stay a good distance, but close enough to observe,” I asked of them.

They both nodded, Elwin a little more hesitantly than Kidu, before following me a little way from our place of rest. The sun was shining bright and high and there was not a cloud in the sky as we walked to a small field of grass, white flowers poking up between some of the blades. Checking that my companions were safe but an observable distance away, I began to cast one of my new spells.

Slowly, ever so slowly, a dark soft power began to emanate from my core before being released through and out of my body as I summoned the spell within my mind. A feeling of dark, empty, and cold filled the silence between heartbeats and atoms. Slow dark pulses like ripples on a pond formed, with me at their center, pushing away from me and ending perhaps in a fifteen-meter radius. My companions did not seem to have noticed this effect, and I surmised that the energy must be invisible to them.

This was my Entropic Aura spell, and despite the impressive visual effects that I could see, I felt no change to myself save for my current and maximum Mana having dropped two points, similar to my Holy Aura. Calling my companions I confirmed with them that they had neither felt nor witnessed any change. Elwin looked at me with a quizzical expression as I took a piece of cheese out to observe the possible effects of my aura on it.  I waited for several long moments but saw no change. I had expected to see some sort of entropic effect on the piece of hard curdled milk. Looking down at the grass I noticed that some of the leaves had begun to brown slightly in places, their lustrous greens a little faded from my magic. Curiosity taking hold of me, I tore a small piece of cheese off, emphasizing in my mind that I wished to throw it away.

Observing the torn-off piece of cheese I saw that it was beginning to decay slowly, breaking up into smaller pieces as mold and bacteria assaulted it. It looked like the effects of time were being accelerated on it, like a sped-up video, with what should have been days worth of rot hastening over the course of minutes. The piece of cheese that I still held in my hand was showing no change, and I bit down on it to make sure it was still edible and not rotten.

Intriguing, I thought to myself, before inspiration took me again. Gathering my magic to my core I attempted to cast Decay for the first time. My very being almost recoiled as a rush of oily darkness flooded through me and pulsed with the flush madness. Grappling with the darker energy I was able to release it onto the piece of rotting cheese on the floor. Black liquid tentacles that seemed to absorb the light sprung from my outstretched hand and latched onto the piece of cheese. The tentacles writhed and pulsed in time to the waves from my Entropic Aura, causing the cheese to turn into dust that was blown away by an errant breeze. The spell had only cost me one point of Mana, but I was yet unsure about its place in my arsenal.  Thankfully both of the spells seemed to be ‘smart’ and did not negatively affect my own items, possessions, or self. The question was would the same blanket rule apply to my companions? I needed to find out.

I called them over, telling them that it was probably safe. Kidu came first, with Elwin trailing a few meters behind. Almost instinctively Kidu stopped just before the rolling waves of entropy, like an animal that had just sniffed danger on the wind. I beckoned him to come closer and he did so, a fraction of hesitation in his stride. He was followed shortly by Elwin who seemed totally oblivious to the energies. The entropy broke against them, like slow inexorable gentle waves on the shore.

“We are here, I feel no change like your magic before, yet something tells me of an emptiness here,” the big man said with an air of mysticism as looked around at me.

“Seems fine to me,” chortled the Rogue, playing with the handle of his dagger distractedly feigning casualness.

I invited them to sit next to me, and we spent perhaps twenty minutes under the sun in companionable silence. During this time I tried to cast Decay silently on Kidu, but the spell seemed to resist entering the large man, almost as if it was beyond its scope. I threw the rest of my cheese on the ground and willed the spell into that instead, the magic rapidly breaking it down. The grass closest to me was visibly wilting now, and Kidu gazed at the vegetation before looking me in the eye.

“Do you know what it is that you do?” he asked, genuine concern edging into his voice.

“In truth, Kidu, no...no I do not. That is why I requested your help. I am sure that this spell is to help weaken my enemies,” I said as I tore up some browning grass and showed it to him, “but I needed to know if it would affect my allies. Forgive me my small deception.”

Elwin, visibly shaken, hurriedly got up and started to make his way away from me before Kidu stopped him, grasping him firmly by the arm.

“If we were being harmed I would know it,” explained Kidu, “and I have felt no ill effects from Gilgamesh’s spell. Have you, Elwin Tucker? Remember we are here to help him understand his magics and our debt is huge,” he firmly told Elwin, looking at him steadily.

With a shrug, the Rogue sat down, “No I have not, but all this magic is making me nervous, can’t see it after all. This esoteric arcane nonsense gives me a little of the shakes. How about it? Are we finished now, Gil?”

I nodded at Elwin, “Yes, we are. I think this curse or spell, or whatever it is, does not affect my allies and only my enemies,” I concluded, shrugging and giving them both another look over to make sure they had not suffered from the spell.

We continued our journey through the rest of the day, the trail growing wider before reaching a simple earth road. Eventually, the forest gave way to endless grassland, stained golden and red in the dying light. In the distance, we could see the sprawling city of Ansan as the sun dipped beneath the horizon and twilight claimed the land. We passed a group of seven travelers cloaked and mysterious, the bulge of hidden weapons about their lithe forms an unspoken threat. I could have sworn I saw pointed ears poking from one of the hoods out of the corner of my eye. With trepidation, we made sure to avoid eye contact or pay them much attention as we gave them a wide berth.

As we passed them I could hear them cursing at each other in an unknown musical tongue. Were they hunting for us? My paranoia began to nibble away at me, and far away the whispers encouraged that I turn around and make an end to that group. That would be foolish, I thought to myself, as I shook my head and waved aside the temptation. I had had more than enough of my fill of violence and felt little need to indulge further so close to the city. But what could be the reason?

Looking at my stats I noticed that my maximum Mana was still at eleven...which meant that I was still subconsciously channeling my Entropic Aura! The magic had a mind of its own, not wishing to recede to whence it came from. The dark slow pulses were still there, almost invisible even to me in the twilight.  Fighting the temptation to turn around and my growing horror at my lack of control, I focused on trying to reign in both my panic and the entropic magic.  Bringing the dark force to heel felt like trying to grasp a slippery eel, the rogue magic wanted to stay on this plane of existence.  Closing my eyes for a moment I began to bind it inexorably to my will, I was not the same man that entered this world and my will and determination had grown with me. Sighing deeply I began to walk again before I suddenly felt a sharp pricking pressure at my throat and a soft whisper in my ear.

“What are you little day spawn?” hissed a surprisingly sultry feminine voice in my ear, causing me to involuntarily shudder in cold fear.

I held my tongue and out of the corner of my eyes, I could see that both of my companions had been similarly accosted by the hooded group. Slowly we all raised our hands in the universal sign of surrender, completely powerless before them.

Two of their number came to face us, both lithe and predatory in their movements, talking to each other in a strange language that was unknown to me.  The words were soft and lilting and it was difficult to recognize if they were singing or talking to one another.  Gathering my magic I cast Identify on their words.

“One of the Tide’s Honored ones,” the one to the left, who was considerably shorter than all the others in the group, turned to my direction, “a middlingly gifted one at that. We should leave, and quickly. The death of an Honoured one will...” the words turned back into incomprehensible, yet pleasant lilting singsong as my spell faded. I noticed even in my rising panic that this one too was probably female, the slight curves of her form drawing my eye and I cursed at the distraction. Curled blonde ringlets fell around eyes that held all of the deadly playfulness of a cat playing with a doomed mouse. The knife pressed a little harder against my throat, almost drawing blood, and drew me more fully into the present.

There seemed to be some disagreement between the two leaders about our fate. I had to know more about who had accosted us. Looking at the one who had recognized me as a magic user, I cast an Identify in her direction.  The spell appeared to be resisted to some degree, taking long seconds before providing some clarity.

Arimea Lostariot - Spellsinger (Wood Elf lvl.19)
Health: 176/180
Stamina: 31/32
Mana: 16/17

Keeping my best poker face, my eyes looked again to the left and the right, searching for an opening. This group was elves, but I had little idea how I could use that to my advantage to wriggle us out of this situation. I wracked my mind for any knowledge to do with elves from myths, legends, and modern-day media, but found nothing truly pertinent to this current encounter. A small potential advantage was that elves were often depicted as being physically weaker than humans, but once again I could find no way to leverage that fact in my current helpless position. All of my second-hand knowledge agreed that elves were portrayed as deadly as they were mysterious.

My mind kept grasping at extraneous thoughts, like a desperately drowning man. If the elf that I had identified was any measure of the strength of this party, we were in serious trouble. A growing sense of powerlessness and frustration came over me; I needed more information so I cast Identify silently on their conversation again.

“...We must keep up our efforts to find the Daughter of Chaos. She is close, our informants at the guild… and this will be a poor salve for your revenge. Remember our mandate,” said the one on the right tersely in a clipped male voice, like a teacher reminding a child of a forgotten fact. I was shocked that the voice was male, for his face was more beautiful than it was handsome. A beauty that was marred by worry and a jagged scar that ran across his face that was visible even in the poor light that I could hear in his voice. In the light of the pale moon, I could see his manner feigned a barely repressed annoyance. Looking over him, he too was slight and slender like the others though a little wider of the shoulder.

I burned through another point of Mana as adrenaline began to flow faster in my veins, sweat forming on my brow as I struggled to focus on their conversation.

“...Our faces.  Also, look at them clearly, they may all be day spawn but these ones are a little different...” said the figure on the left called Arimea, budding frustration growing in her musical voice.

You have gained 1 Wisdom

Panic was beginning to seize me even as the notification flashed across my mind’s view, my bladder growing heavy in fear. Before I could cast another spell the pair seemed to have reached a decision, the one on the right nodding to the elf behind me. The knife cut a shallow slash across my throat and I could feel a numbing sensation that paralyzed my limbs. I crumbled to the ground. I felt instinctively in a primal place that cried to live, rather than hearing with my senses, the group leaving. Like a mouse who had escaped the claws and teeth of a predator fear still ruled my heart. I saw that my Health was rapidly dropping, doubtless due to the poison and bleed effects they had inflicted upon me.

With a great effort of will, I racked my mind for a way out of this situation, a way to save my companions from these lethal debuffs. I could feel the poison begin to constrict my heart, my lifeblood spilling from my throat with every beat. Silently I gambled on one of the spells in my arsenal, hoping that my knowledge from games could aid me here.

Golden energies ever so slowly began to pulse from me, an echo of angel’s song ringing softly in my ear like a celestial lullaby. The glow first flowed over me, closing the wound at my throat and purging the poisons that ravaged my body.  The energy left me feeling both warm and chilled in equal measure before it flowed over to my companions to salve them also.  A notification telling me I had gained a point in Luck was rapidly dismissed from my mind.

Staying on the ground in fear of the return of the group, I waited for my limbs to still as I looked to my status. The attack had reduced my Health to around two-thirds, and my back-to-back use of magic had put my Mana at six points. On shaky legs, I got up slowly and rushed as best as I could to check on my companions. Kidu slowly stirred his enormous bulk and I felt great relief that my magic had worked in saving his life. Elwin looked in worse shape, his breathing shallow and his face pale. Using most of my remaining Mana I cast Heal into him which slowly brought the color back to his face.

“Kidu, we must move. Those elves may return and they have the advantage of us,” I said, adrenaline fighting a losing war with exhaustion. Kidu took several deep breaths like a bull preparing to charge before he moved with a great effort to help me with Elwin, who had just begun to stir.

Half-running, half-shuffling, the three of us made into a dip in the grassland, hoping there was enough cover from prying eyes or elven ears. We settled lying down on the soft grass, haggard and demoralized from the clear distinction in raw fighting strength we had witnessed from our latest adversaries. Kidu volunteered to take to watch over Elwin as I ventured back to collect our baggage as stealthily as possible.

Finally, low to the ground as I returned with our bags, I fell exhausted to the ground. Curling up in a ball, anger, and exhaustion filling me in equal measures, I entertained a few short narcissistic fantasies of vengeance on the hooded sharp-eared elves.