I was awake instantly as her words hit my mind. I jumped up, grabbing my leathers and buckling on my sword belt and bandolier.
Elara was also quickly up, throwing on gear, her bow in hand as we both left the tent.
A howl reminiscent of wolves helpfully informed us of the problem Misty had woken us up for.“Stay close to the tents to protect Naomi,” I tell her as I throw a log on the fire embers, causing them to flare up into life.
'Let’s hope her bow and the fire are enough.’
Drawing my sword in one hand and a venom dagger in the other, I look around, trying to spot the incoming beasts. A yelp of pain gives me a direction, and I spin that way.
‘Good girl, Misty.’
An arrow zips past me, heading to the trees behind.
‘Ok, so they’re all around—figures.’
As I finish the thought, I get my first view of one of the large wolf-like creatures.
Identify
Ashfang: Beast, young male
Level: 3
Pack hunter, nocturnal
Strengths: Aggressive, agile
Weaknesses: Cowardly
Attacks: Bite, rend
Skill: Howl
Lore: Ashfangs are territorial pack hunters normally active at night. They will often hunt down and overwhelm weaker prey to take back to the den. The howl can be used to summon packmates. If presented with superior strength, they will often run away.
It is running in towards me, fast. Another just behind it.I lift my sword, ready. This is my first proper fight since we got to Stonebridge. The cavern didn’t count, I told myself. That was more of a group effort. Besides, I had levelled up now.
‘Come to daddy.’
‘Really, Del? Do you think you are Rambo or something?’
I swing my sword hard into the flank of the closest Ashfang.
‘Shut up, damn well concentrate before you’re dog dinner.’ I pull the blade free, leaving a bloody wound as the beast leaps away.
I see another shape leaping through the air towards me and slash with my knife.
Rewarded with a spray of red and a pained yelp, I gather myself for the next round.
‘Dog dinner? Really?’ The sword cleaves a leg from the first Ashfang as it comes in for a bite, and it collapses to the ground. ‘Is that the best you can come up with?’
I plunge the knife into the back of its neck, ending its whimpering struggle.
‘Well, it’s hard to think when I’m trying to fight for our lives, you know.’
The second Ashfang seems to be wobbling as it comes in, and I can smell a strong scent of rotting meat coming from it.
‘That seems to be a you problem, really.’
I decapitate the beast and look for the next target.
‘A me problem? You are me, you total fuckwit.’
I see Misty with her claws wrapped into the flanks of a large black Ashfang, raking open its guts and dumping steaming entrails as it tries to shake her free.
Arrows zip into the surrounding fields and copses.
‘Damn, she can fire fast.’
Another, much larger, Ashfang stalks towards me.
It stops maybe 50 feet away, sits, and sniffs the air. Its yellow eyes pierce into mine as if assessing.
One thing is for sure: there is an advanced cunning and animal intelligence in its look.
Identify
Ashfang: Beast, Alpha male
Level: 5
Pack leader, nocturnal
Strengths: Aggressive, agile
Weaknesses: Unknown
Attacks: Bite, rend
Special Attack: Hunter’s gaze
Skill: Howl
Lore: Ashfangs are territorial pack hunters normally active at night. They will often hunt down and overwhelm weaker prey to take back to the den. The howl can be used to summon packmates. If presented with superior strength, they will often run away.
With a growl, it charges forward; teeth shining white and far too sharp, claws tearing up the ground.
‘Oh fuuuck.’
An arrow whips past and buries itself in the animal's shoulder. It seems to barely notice, its eyes locked onto mine.
What feels like an ice-cold needle stabs through my brain. I am helpless, locked like a victim caught in the spotlight of a predator.
A moment lasts forever—my breath, my very world, seems frozen.
I see so much in that instant of mortal terror: Misty closing in behind, another arrow flying (dodged), and those eyes.
I hear Elara scream at me.
“Del!”
My inner demon roars at me
‘MOVE YOU USELESS FUCKING BASTARD!’ and tears my gaze from the Ashfang.
I leap to the side at the last moment, feeling a pain stab through me as a claw catches my hip.
I had somehow managed to return the favour, landing a glancing blow that scores a bloody line across its rear end as it passes.
My earlier stupor ripped away, I spin to face the creature, blades ready.It is already turning my way, dirt flying up as it skids around, a snarl emanating from its throat.
Another barely noticed arrow scores a hit as it charges back at me, saliva spraying from its snarling jaws.
With gathering rage I snarl
‘We got this Del.’
I spin to the side, both weapons coming down in a crossed attack.
My sword hits its already wounded shoulder, the venom knife plunging so deep into its side it is ripped from my grasp and remains stuck in the beast.
Misty lands on its back with a fearsome yowl and starts biting chunks from it as another of Elara’s bowshots makes itself known.
“Die, you mother fucker!” I scream as I plunge my sword into its throat, the point emerging from the base of its skull.
The ashfang’s eyes glaze over, its blood—hot and sticky—gushes over my hand, filling the air with a coppery tang; it drops to the ground, sliding off my blade with a final sigh.
From around us, I hear animals running as what is left of the pack retreats into the night.
[Congratulations. You have killed 7 Ashfangs. Experience gained.]
[Congratulations. You have killed Ashfang Alpha. Experience gained.]
I dismiss the quiet beeping telling me I have other messages; that can be dealt with later.
I take a knee, still breathing hard, and hear Elara’s feet hitting the ground as she runs to me. I feel spent and weak as the adrenaline leaches away. I lean on my sword as a cane to stop myself from collapsing completely.
Back at the tents, I can hear Naomi’s soft, terror-filled sobs as Misty comes over to sniff at me. Assured I am not seriously hurt, she turns and heads to the frightened girl.
‘Heal,’ she tells me. ‘I will tend the kitten.’
Elara arrives and crouches down at my side.
“Are you hurt?” she asks, her voice full of concern.I look at her, her face pale with fear and eyes full of compassion.
“A bit of a bang to my hip.” Wincing, I take her hand reassuringly.
“Nothing we can’t easily fix.” I give her a wan smile and, with a bit of a grunt, get back to my feet.
The crying from Naomi’s tent has stopped, replaced by muffled sniffling, so I head there to check on her. Poking my head through the tent flap I see Misty bundled up in the girl’s small arms and held tightly against her chest.
To give her her due, she is handling the indignity better than usual. Being confined in such a tight hug would normally result in claws and vocal expressions of dissent.
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Now, however, it is met with purrs and the occasional rough-tongued lick on Naomi’s nose, which elicits quiet giggles.
‘Good girl, Misty,’ I tell her. ‘Great job.’
‘Kitten just needed comfort,’ she responds sagely.
Wriggling free, she gives the girl a final nuzzle before heading out to continue her watch.
“Are you alright, Naomi?” I ask her. “I’m sorry, that was a bit scary, but they have gone now.”
Her big brown eyes look up at me.
“I wasn’t really scared,” I am told with a determined look.
“That’s good then. Now try to get back to sleep. It’s not morning yet.” I lean in and tuck her blankets up around her chin as she settles down. With a final look, I turn and leave the tent.
Outside, I see that Elara is dragging in the final ashfang body to join that of the alpha near our fire. What had seemed to flash by in only moments has resulted in a pile of cooling flesh and fur. I go over and give her a hug.
“That was pretty mad for a while,” I say, before starting to help pull out the salvageable arrows from her kills. I also retrieve my knife from the side of the big alpha male.
“It was bloody awesome!” She grins at me.
“But now we need to skin these bastards.”
She looks at the ones I had hacked at.“Those that have viable skins anyway,” she says, bending down to start on the first one.
“The pelts will fetch a good price, but the meat is not worth eating, so we either burn it, bury it, or leave it for scavengers.”
I simply nod as I start my own attempt at skinning.
“Just leave it. I don’t want the stink of burning meat fouling the place up, and I don’t have the energy to dig a big pit.”
I settle down to start working on a beast.
“You fought well,” I tell her. “Downed two and, from the look of it, an arrow in one of Misty’s kills and helping with the big boss too.”
“I couldn’t let you take all the credit, now could I?” She laughs.
‘No, but it seems BB and the system credits me with all of them, though, from that message.’
I nod in agreement with myself as I peel off another almost intact skin.
‘I am guessing the same works for Misty,’ I consider. ‘I wonder if she gets system messages or just a bunch of ethereal meows.’
“Del.”
“Mmm?” I answer as I start on my final carcass.
“You are laughing at your own jokes again.” The humour in her voice is very evident.
“Oh, sorry. I spent too long on my own before I came here,” I look to where she is busy on the big male.
“I was the best conversationalist in the room most of the time.”
That elicits a sparklingly bright laugh as we finish gathering up the fur, and I put it into the storage ring for safekeeping.
After washing up and removing the gore that pretty much covered me and, to a lesser degree, Elara, we leave our rinsed clothes by the fire to dry and head back to the tent.
“Do you think they will be back?” I am asked as we settle down.
I think on it for a moment, considering what I had learned of them and their habits, and shake my head.
“I don’t think so. We gave the pack a pretty bloody nose and killed their leader.”
“You are probably right, but,” she snuggles into me, “let's get quickly clear of the area early tomorrow.”
I wrap my arm around her and kiss the top of her head.
“Agreed. Now go to sleep. We have a long day ahead.”
As her gentle breathing turns into quiet snores, I finally decide to attend to the messages beeping away at me.
‘Alright, BB, no need to nag. What have you got for me?’
[You have advanced the skill: Skinning.]
[You have learned the skill: Two-Handed Melee. Don’t trip and cut off a finger.]
[Congratulations. You have enough experience to level up—would you like to level up now?]
I ponder for a moment. I am tired and really need sleep.
‘Don’t be an idiot, you need to be stronger more than you need a few zzz’s.’
True enough.
Yes.
Well, I knew that fight was intense, but it got me another two full levels. Only one for the moggy, but she must be well on her way to the next.
Misty and I are now getting well above what would be normal for a standard sapient in Gondowa. I am sure there will be exceptions, but it feels good to be that much better able to protect those I care about.
So, four more points.I decide to put two more on Strength.
That gaze attack had scared the shit out of me, and I hope to be able to defend against similar in the future, so I take a guess at what may be best to defend against its sort. Two points go onto my Intelligence.
I look at the results and, having read through them, I close my eyes and go to sleep.
Name: Del Axholm
Level: 6
Path: Archer
Health: 48
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 18
Stamina: 19
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 12
Mana: 42
Spirit: 24
Agility: 22
Presence: 10
Animal Companion: Misty; feline
Skills:
Archery lvl 3 – Able to use all manner of handheld bows and crossbows
Woodcraft lvl 3 – Basic survival skills in wooded areas. Can safely make fires and create crude shelters.
Tracking lvl 2 – Can find and follow obvious tracks or blood trails.
Traps lvl 1 – Can make basic snares and pit traps.
Sneak lvl 3 – Able to hide in available cover. Movement increases the risk of being seen or heard.
Herbalism lvl 2 – Can identify and gather basic herbs.
Skinning lvl 3 – Can manage to roughly skin a carcass.
Leadership lvl 1 - Able to command small groups of up to 20.
Attacks:Bow lvl 3 – Simple Shot.
Sword lvl 5 – Cut, thrust.
Dagger lvl 3 – Stab, Slash.
Special Attacks:
Bow:Sneak attack lvl 1 – Doubles damage
Master Archer lvl 1 – Cost 1 Stamina: Increased damage and chance of critical hit.
Dagger:Backstab lvl 2 – Double damage.
Two Handed Melee lvl 1 – Two weapon fighting, twice the fun.
Name: Misty
Level: 6
Path: Feline Companion
Health: 46
Strength: 11
Dexterity: 20
Stamina: 15
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 6
Mana: 25
Spirit: 15
Agility: 24
Presence: 14
Skills:
Charm lvl 4 – Can influence the attitude of someone in eye contact with her.
Attacks:
Claw lvl 5 – Attack with front claws.
Rake lvl 4 – Double rear leg attack.
Bite lvl 5 – It’s teeth all the way
Special Attacks:
Pounce lvl 6 – Can be used with any or all of the standard attacks. Double damage, with a small chance to cause the target to stumble.
Sneak Pounce lvl 3 – As above; Triple damage.