The group was on the road again. This time with clothes that weren’t mostly holes and rips as well as a backpack with a tent and bedrolls. Kiresula felt good when she was on the road again. She had no map, but was able to get a good look at maps that Haina’s family owned and had a good sense of direction due to the spell [Northern Star]. The road wound past fields and pastures. Occasionally, the group greeted farmers taking a break near their fields. As this time, they were not on the run, they could sing loudly, often replacing skill with enthusiasm.
In the evening, the group set up their tent near the road and went to bed. Kju took over the first watch, Mayana the last one and Kiresula would take the middle watch as she had the easiest method of timekeeping. This was the first time she mildly regretted having the [Grains of Time] spell, except not really. It was more of a joke than actually feeling at a disadvantage. The night was cold so Mayana and Kiresula moved close to each other and kept each other warm. Both fell asleep quickly and when Kju woke Kiresula up, she grumbled, but quietly took a position and listened.
The wind whispered in the leaves. Nocturnal animals were scurrying, rustling through the underbrush, occasionally an owl hooted. Kiresula wrapped herself in blankets as she sat there. She thought of the fact that seemingly innocent letters might have threatened the glitchlings, then she reminded herself that they were helping to prevent their mistake harming them. She started pacing, once again moving to and fro to centre her mind. That was when she was hearing something, first: noises, then she was able to hear footsteps. A larger creature that moved through the fields and meadows. It seemed to be close, but Kiresula wasn’t afraid: She couldn’t imagine that any dangerous monsters would be allowed near the capital, even if for no other reason than the fact that higher classes loved to hunt as well as the fact that an attack of a monster on a noble or a [High Cleric] would lead to scandals and bad personal consequences for the landowners. Kiresula still remained vigilant though. She tried to hear if the creature approached or stayed back. First she was not sure. Her Perception had not been that high. But over time, it had risen and in situations like this one, she felt like it made a difference. She realised that the creature was approaching and that something was following in its wake. She cast [Light Body] and the area around her lit up. Then, she cast [Spherical Vision] so that nothing could sneak up on her. Then she stood, kept her eyes peeled, still hoping the creature would avoid her, listening to the approaching footsteps. A snarling noise approached and then, out of some bushes from the other side of the road, a shadow jumped out. Kiresula immediately changed the intensity of her [Light Body] spell from the brightness of a lantern to the highest level of brightness that the spell allowed and she saw a huge, black shadow emerging from the bushes on the other side of the road. The creature was about as high as to reach Kiresula’s chest and it had black fur. It had a muzzle with large, sharp fangs. It looked like a huge black dog, but she realised what this was: It was a Groundsnarler, a monster akin to a wolf. She shuddered. These creatures were dangerous. They should not be around here. They would have been dangerous even for her former [Ice Mage] self. She only encountered them when she was travelling or delving in groups.
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Her breath quickened and she felt a cold fear crawl down her back. She shouted: “Groundsnarler!” as she observed the creature as it stopped, then turned around and trudged back into the bushes to a location that would not sear its eyes.
Moments later, she saw a fiery ball of orange, red, and yellow flying at the groundsnarler from the direction where it came from. There was a pained yowl that lasted more than a dozen breaths. Then, the terrible smell of burning hair, skin and flesh reached her nostrils. The groundsnarler dropped to the ground, apparently dead.
Kiresula strained her eyes to see who or what had thrown this fireball, but she saw only the bushes.
Suddenly, another fireball emerged, became bigger, no, approached. For a moment, she was frozen in place, then she conjured a spell: [Wind Step]. She had not consciously noticed the wind before, but she had Elemental Awareness and she had previously heard the wind moving the leaves, so she still had an idea as to how fast the wind moved. Unfortunately, the wind moved rather serenely. She ended up barely a step to her right. She threw herself onto the ground as the fireball barely missed her. The fireball then harmlessly hit the ground and fizzled out.
“Go on the ground and stay there, sheepstealer!” the man shouted, “Any attack or spell and the next fireball will be twice as fast and it will hit you!”
Kiresula immediately dropped onto the ground. “That groundsnarler killed your animal, not me! We are travellers on the way to the Black Lake, not some kind of criminal!”
She heard footsteps and then a foot held her head down. She struggled to breathe, tried to move, but was held in place.
“Now, no tricks, no attempts to disguise yourself or your intentions and no jokes! You are going to answer my questions truthfully, understood?” the man shouted.
He lifted the boot just a bit to allow her to answer. “Yes,” she barely enunciated.
“Now, I want to know how you broke the enchantment on the fence to get the groundsnarlers in. Tell me!” the man demanded.
“I didn’t. I never touched your enchantments, your fence or your sheep. I don’t have any tamer skills to control groundsnarlers or any inclination to do anything to your pastures. I am just travelling through this area.” Kiresula pleaded, while trying to lift her head a bit to look for the others.
“There is one way to test that! Show me your status! If your status shows nothing related to that, I might even allow you to get up!” he demanded angrily.
Kiresula tried to breathe and then to steady herself: “You are not going to like what you will see.” She said, hedgingly. Then she opened her status.