The morning air was crisp and fresh, a sensation to William’s senses. He looked over to Stacey who was also enjoying the feeling. The sun had not long risen and the pair took in the light show of sunrise leaking through the canopy around them. William would have preferred to relax for a couple more hours, but he changed his mind as an errant gust carried the smell of rotting corpses. The process hadn’t long started it seemed, but the smell was already abhorrent to his nose. He wondered how Echo was doing with it, assuming that his senses of smell would be heightened. It turned out that the little guy was perfectly happy. William felt some guilt as he denied Echo’s request to indulge in the tainted wolf meat. He had no idea if it was fine for his bond to eat, but William wouldn’t risk Echo’s health.
He pulled out a ration of dried meat from the little pack Stacey had been carrying and waved it in front of his bond. Echo squeaked once and with its tiny hands held the meat, using the equally small teeth to tear chunks off of his morning meal. William hadn’t been too enthusiastic on the cooked wolf meat from before. It was too gamy and left an uncomfortable aftertaste in his mouth. He had asked if Stacey’s portion was any different only to find it was the same for her. He hoped to find some kind of deer or something on their way, but wouldn’t hold out hope that a prey creature would be alive anywhere near the den housing a pack of predators. William’s [Cartographer] skill suggested that they were only a few hours away, which would make sense given the welcome party they had encountered the night before.
A few minutes of packing later, they were ready to carry on and finish their quest. The walk was mostly uneventful, and when they were within a mile of the destination, William sent Echo ahead to scout, ordering the little guy to turn around and fly back if he’s in danger. It seemed like a logical decision Echo could make on his own, but William didn’t fully understand the bond thing yet and wasn’t taking chances. He didn’t know much about wolves but he did know that them and other such creatures were good with scents downwind. The wind blowing in his face was then soothing in a second way, beyond it’s cooling function. Provided that they could sneak up on the den, William would get Stacey to use [Fire-Wall] on the entrance, hopefully burning the entire thing and all within easily.
William could put down any stragglers. It would also be another secret gift for Stacey, as he had a good feeling that if things went as intended, she would gain at least a couple of levels in her Mage class from the kills. Echo had informed William down the bond that the wolves were occasionally coming and going from a large copse of trees that had a big hole as an entrance. The actual message was: furry food appearing and disappearing in big tree hole, but the bond had made William understand the meaning without issue.
William commanded Echo to let him know when any of the ‘furry food’ were near the entrance. He and Stacey would approach when no wolves were present. William considered using some of his new Grit to track them, but with Echo already watching the den, he held off. They knew where to go and weren’t looking for things to gather, so there was no point. He didn’t want his gift unravelling and getting aggressive after all, so they took it slow and steady. Following the ‘stop and go strategy’ that Stacey had dubbed their plan’s name, they made it to a space of thinning trees directly opposite a five meter wide clearing before the trees continued and in an incredibly dense cluster. A large hole led down inside where only blackness was visible. William nodded to Stacey who had commanded Ashen to join Echo on the branch above their heads. Moments later, a large wall of flame covered the entrance and tendrils of flame started to ignite the surrounding roots, leaves, moss, and branches. As quickly as it had begun, the wolf’s den had become a pillar of raw immolation, giving off a heat that was almost unbearable even as far away as they were. Yelps, whines, and howls sounded form inside, swiftly followed by flaming wolves emerging from the hole, some running into the trees around them, others collapsing as they succumbed to the burns. The smell of char filled the air for a brief moment before smoke started to replace the smell and cover the surrounding area.
They got down low, joined by Echo and Ashen beneath the smoke wafting from what had once been the wolves home.
“You can probably stop now Stacey,” William said, before lightly coughing from what smoke had been breathed in before they took cover.
“I already have. That’s purely natural fire now.”
“Oh.”
“Yeahh, we should leave quickly I think, William.”
“Agreed.”
They didn’t need many words, the writing on the wall. William and Stacey had made a slight miscalculation and as heat started to increase further and get nearer, they both had confirmation that time was of the essence.
The two broke off into a run back in the direction they came, their bonds flying overhead with the same flaming encouragement. William didn’t think the fire would take beyond the magic bit as he knew from the few times he had been camping when he was young that green and living wood wouldn’t take to flame easily. Dead and dry wood was always best for fires. The element in this particular equation he had overlooked was the fact that magic was a factor. It was easy to forget that pillars of flame and balls of fire were often just a construct of Mana, but with that influence, of course it made sense that the trees would catch fire. His earlier reasoning about the live wood was the only reason he had suggested the plan. The only silver lining he hoped for was that the fire wouldn’t spread far and run out of fuel. He didn’t want to ignite some poor settlement or Everglade itself due to their own fuck up. Their task had been completed though, so they just needed to make it back.
Five minutes or so of running left them panting in a clearing under the early afternoon sun. William noted the time and knew that the largest portion of their day had been consumed with sneaking up to the den. Smoke billowed from the trees behind them then, accompanied by the howling of wolves. Then suddenly three wolves about as high as William’s navel emerged from the smoking trees eyes locked on them. Eyes that held a deep anger and knowing. William expected the beasts to charge them, but they waited and watched instead.
“William, what’re they doing?”
William had no clue, but he immediately assumed it was bad. He was about to suggest that they continued running when a thunderous growl sounded from behind the three wolves. A moment later, William saw the source of the noise. An absurdly large wolf, easily the size of a small van appeared form the smoking treeline. William felt obligated then to use Identify:
{Ascension_Protocol}
Direwolf Packmother Level 20
{End}
“That’s bad,” William said, nervous at the results.
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“Yep, no point running I guess. Win or die,” Stacey replied, prompting William to shift his gaze to her, both Impressed and concerned at her resolve.
He saw her hand trembling and clasped it in his own, stabilizing it and giving her his best smile.
“You’re absolutely correct, so let’s just win this thing and get the task over with.”
Stacey smiled before her attention shifted back to their foes. William did the same and noticed that they hadn’t charged. Were they waiting for him to make the first move? He twitched his sword hand, clasping the hilt of Severance, making the beasts lower themselves slightly, ready to charge, yet they still held firm.
“They’re waiting for us to move first,” William said, keeping his voice calm so as to not risk agitating their foes.
“Think we can run then?” Stacey asked, seeming eager with that option if it had become available.
“I don’t want to risk it. If we turn to run, they might charge, seeing us as prey animals. Right now, we are two groups of predators. It’s gonna come to blows soon I expect though.”
“Do you think we have a good chance?”
“Maybe. You gotten any levels yet?”
Stacey grimaced at that and William spoke again, “Guessing that’s a no?”
“I’ve gained levels. They bumped me up to Human Level Twenty, but I can’t do anything because every creature that fire kills is giving me a kill prompt. That includes the little critters running around. I’m ignoring them for the moment until they stop so my head doesn’t explode.”
William winced in sympathy then. He could picture nothing but spam messages flooding into his mind and the thought of it was grim enough, so for Stacey to be dealing with that was so much worse.
“I guess it’s time for the dashing hero to save the day then?” William said, giving her a cheeky grin.
“Not quite. This fair maiden is gonna help you. Every good hero needs a beautiful woman backing him right?”
William’s adoration of the woman only grew further, even though he didn’t think that was possible.
“I see my lady is equally humble as she is beautiful. Jokes aside though, when I draw my sword, I’m gonna try and wipe out the little ones first. Run in the direction behind us as far as you can without leaving [Fire-Bolt] range. I’ll keep the big wolf busy while you attack from range.”
Stacey didn’t argue and readied herself. William took a moment to steady his breathing before committing to the fight and drawing Severence from his belt. He felt the Mana from his sheathe now thrumming down the blade. He only had one charge on the sword, and would have preferred using it on the big wolf, but he didn’t trust the little ones not to go after Stacey and she was more important. The wolves charged dripping with killing intent. They didn’t exude an aura, but their bared fangs told him all he needed to know. William flared his own intent through his Aura and unleashed his Alpha Strike, the culmination of [Vortex Slash], [Mana Investment], the enchanted Sheath’s accumulated Mana and one charge of Severance's cutting ability. The attack always did devastating damage and had become William’s default opener.
As the patter of feet neared, a light distorting wave of sheer cutting force launched in a horizontal arc, cutting the air itself. A brief moment later it destroyed the front half of the little wolves and removed an entire front leg from the Packmother. This caused her to yelp briefly, but she was one pissed mother. The loss of the limb only slowed her slightly and if it wasn’t for William’s quick use of [Flash Stride], he would have been bitten in two by the beast’s long razor sharp fangs. Instead he appeared at the beast’s flank and with a basic [Vortex Thrust], severed the bottom half of the Wolf’s back leg, causing the Packmother to fall onto her side and to lash out with a kick that William dodged. He thought it was a done deal as his [Danger Sense] flared, giving him barely enough time to dodge the tail whip that the beast had attempted. That was when his sword arm opened from shoulder to elbow with a massive gash that sprayed blood.
William fell back with a gasp, thankfully out of range of the now crippled Packmother. He grunted in pain, dropping Severance and clutching at his arm. William was briefly distracted as he saw the glowing tail that had supposedly missed him. His arm said otherwise, but he was confident it was a successful dodge. He noticed it then. The tail had a roughly two inch field around it that William assumed was some kind of cutting edge. He paled then, realizing that if he didn’t have his [Danger Sense], he might very well have become two pieces of bloodied flesh. He hadn’t asked Echo to do anything as he didn’t think the wolf had a Mana ability as the Direwolf from before had a unique name hinting at Mana or magic. He had also assumed after seeing the Packmother, that the Direwolf had been her mate.
William summoned a piece of cloth he had in his Spatial Ring and wrapped it around his bleeding arm, using his high Strength Attribute to keep a good deal of pressure on the wound once it was tied off tightly. Fire started to light up the trees around the South side of the clearing and this brought a lot of howling from the surroundings. Yips and yelps also followed and William thought he could hear dozens of such calls. A [Fire-Bolt] suddenly zipped past him and hit the wolf square in its eye. The Packmother let out a loud yelp, followed by the deepest, most hateful growl William had ever heard. The vibration alone shook William to his core. The howls from the surroundings continued. He saw the Packmother’s ears point up slightly then and William paled. The beast began to vibrate from the throat and William realized he had to act fast, otherwise him and Stacey would be overrun.
Fortunately for William he had just regained [Mana Investment] from Cool-down and used it immediately with [Dagger Toss] and launched one of his Mythril daggers at the beast’s neck. It hit its mark and buried itself deep. This sent a shudder down the beast and William took that opportunity to maximize the damage. He used his long forgotten Speed rune enchantment on his boots to clear the gap. He had remembered the night previous that he had the rune available in so many battles, but had forgotten about it, getting too used to ending fights quickly with [Flash Stride] and his Alpha Strike. It helped him in this fight as he was able to grab the handle and tear it in a downward motion, removing the blade and severing the Wolf’s windpipe. He darted back as [Danger Sense] triggered again and noted that it was the first time he had used the skill and his boots together. It was good that he did as his eyes witnessed the same cutting energy cover every inch, every strand, and every follicle of fur on its body.
William wondered why the beast hadn’t used it immediately at the start of the fight. He decided to assume that it was overconfidence or pride. Maybe both. He then thought to after he removed the first leg. Why didn’t it do this then? He got his answer as he looked at the two remaining legs of the beast. Both didn’t have any energy whatsoever. He had also just noticed that no fur covered the beast’s legs. At all. That was odd to him. Wasn’t the point of fur to keep the creature warm? Wouldn’t it freeze in Winter? He decided that he would ask Wylton later if he remembered. Stacey sent another [Fire-Bolt] then. William watched it bounce off of the beast’s fur and dissipate into nothingness. He was tempted to get Echo to come down and use his disruption skill, but he was too afraid to risk the little guy. If the energy around the beast could disable an arm with a mere graze, it didn’t take much to imagine what would happen to his bond if the same attack connected.
He could see that the beast was bleeding out, its one good eye glazing over, and even if its pack found it later, the beast wouldn’t be moved easily, nor healed. Best to leave it bleed out.
William turned to pick up Severance and wiped the blade off on his opposite sleeve. He saw another flash of orange light behind him and laughed.
Turning around he said, “Stacey, we can just leav-”
His eyes widened in horror, “-Oh Fuck!”
He used [Flash Stride] to appear next to Stacey and pointed to the North.
“RUN!”
Stacey didn’t need telling twice as she ran with William as fast as possible. The fire had gotten there rapidly, and it was then he realized that a lot of the clearing had a mix of dead and live grass. No wonder it spread faster.
As they ran, and ran, and ran, William eventually felt a kill prompt in the back of his mind, as well as another prompt he had been expecting, quickly followed by one that he hadn’t been expecting.
With a wall of fire chasing the four of them, William had to ignore the prompts for now, hating that he couldn’t read that wonderful prompt goodness.
He did take a moment to check his Grit as that was only a small pop up that didn’t obscure anything.
Grit: 240
“Not Bad.” William thought, before continuing his courageous flight for his life.