It was with no small amount of trepidation that Lanek and his companions followed Pharaoh down into a nearby valley that they would have completely missed without the tressym’s guidance. It turns out that Eldros’ concerns had not been without merit. However, what really bothered Lanek about their path was that he had been receiving notifications from Nalgaraz’s quest as soon as they descended into the valley. The fact that his Void-related quest was aiming him in the same direction that Pharaoh was taking them seemed like a pretty big coincidence.
Shit, did the Void send some of their minions to wipe out this domain? Or did they come later? I really don’t like this.
As soon as he shared the fact that his Void quest was also in this direction and his suspicions, Liv summoned her weapons and armor and ordered Yuri to don his barding. Lanek nodded and did the same, Maximilian following suit with his barding with no prompting. Pharaoh, seeing his companions arming themselves, drifted back and settled onto what had become his favorite perch: Maximilian’s neck.
“Mind sharing what’s got everyone so riled up?” Pharaoh asked quietly. The cat sighed and remained in place once he heard Lanek’s explanation. Instead of taking back to the air, he remained sitting in front of Lanek and simply gave directions rather than leading the way.
“Good idea, let’s stick together. I don’t know if the Void has something waiting for us, but I would hate to lose someone to an ambush.” Lanek said, scratching the tressym’s back. The cat started purring, but remained alert.
“Any word from Sanguineus or Kazuma?” Liv asked, eyes scanning the horizon.
“Nothing bad, but they don’t seem to have been able to find anything to hunt for the past hour. They’re a bit to our north, so probably closer to this ex-domain we’re heading to.”
“That’s probably not a good sign. This valley is full of water and plenty of places for the wildlife to make dens and nests, it should be full of life.” Liv clutched her spear tightly as she spoke.
As they neared the end of the valley, the party found themselves looking up at a massive rock wall barring their path. Before they had a chance to ask, Pharaoh led them to a gap in the large barrier that was barely wide enough for Yuri to traverse. After traveling through the claustrophobic gap for about ten minutes, they emerged into another, smaller valley.
However, this valley had clearly seen better days as the trees that would have covered the majority of the area with a lush canopy were barren and dead. At the center of the valley was a small lake, but its waters were visibly polluted, obvious even from the entrance.
“Shit. Void Husks.” Lanek swore, eyeing multitude of bodies aimlessly wandering through the dead trees. Contrary to his previous exposure to the husks, these weren’t only the remnants of humans that had been supplanted by the Void, there were also wolves, bears, elk, and numerous other creatures that now showed as Void Husks to his [Identify] skill. As he watched, he sighed loudly when he caught sight of a pair of humanoid figures.
“What is it?” Liv asked, watching the horde ahead and attempting to determine their numbers.
“Look at those two over there. It figures that the first time I see elves they’ve been turned into mindless abominations.”
Liv shook her head sadly. “I’ve never seen an elf before now either, my people thought they may have gone extinct, but I always hoped to meet one someday. I really want to wipe these fuckers out now.”
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“So do I, but I’m a bit worried about charging in. The husks we can take, but this many husks means that something much more powerful has to be in the area that converted them in the first place and is trying to create a Void portal in the area.” Lanek eyed the lake suspiciously. “I’m guessing it’s in the lake. There’s nowhere else it could hide.”
“Then I suppose we should draw the bastard out, shouldn’t we?” Liv said, patting Yuri on the should as the great bear growled quietly as the horde.
“Guess so. Not that we have much of a choice now.” Lanek replied, pointing toward a group of enemies that had finally noticed the intruders and were in the process of alerting their comrades with chilling and ear-piercing shrieks.
“Pharaoh. You can hide yourself with illusions, right? For how long?” Lanek asked the tressym.
“If it’s just me, I can do it indefinitely as long as I don’t attack. Why?” The cat looked at Lanek curiously.
“Liv and Yuri are best suited for running down the enemy since they don’t have any ranged weapons, so Maximilian and I are going to provide ranged support with [Splintering Dart]. Can you get me more ammo without exposing yourself? They don’t need to be perfectly shaped or anything, just something the size of a javelin or smaller. Stone works just as well as wood, so no need to be picky.”
Pharaoh laughed wickedly. “Ooh, I remember that skill. Yep, picking those up and bringing them to you won’t be a problem and won’t expose me as long as I don’t get anything too large.”
Lanek nodded to Liv, causing her to whoop loudly and urge Yuri into a charge, her spear leveled at the gathering horde. As she charged, Lanek ordered the newly arrived Sanguineus and Kazuma to keep enemies off of her back while Maximilian broke into a run that would allow him to circle the enemy from a distance.
Lanek’s first project was a simple arrow shaft. He had requisitioned them before the crafters had been able to put arrowheads or fletching on them. Arrayed along Maximilian’s saddle were several capped leather cylinders filled with similar shafts. There were four in total, one each for stone, metal, wood, and thorns.
The husks were grouped closely enough at this point that all five of his splintering projectiles were able to find a different target, rooting them in place so that his companions could finish them off at their leisure. As much as Lanek would have loved to use his metal bolts for their shrapnel effect, he didn’t know when he would be able to replenish his stock and it would still be months before he returned to Caelis.
He continued firing off volley after volley of rooting projectiles, switching from his stock to the steady supply of small branches that Pharaoh was providing. For her part, Liv and Yuri seemed to be having the time of their lives. Liv was cackling like a madwoman as she speared husk after husk and Yuri almost seemed like he was playing with the extremely fragile (by comparison) creatures before him.
As Maximilian continued his run along the horde’s flanks, Lanek felt Pharaoh hovering nearby waiting to drop a sliver of stone into his hand. He smiled as he targeted a large clump of husks and let loose with the projectile. Within seconds the stone sliver became five, all targeting the same horde and blasting them back with such force that they ragdolled into their comrades several meters away. Pharaoh, seeing the blast, resolved to find more stone slivers.
The battle raged on for several more minutes, the husks falling by the dozens before they began falling back. As they retreated toward the lake at the center of the valley, Lanek’s earlier guess proved true as the water began rippling and a shape began to emerge. Something lashed out from the dark figure, shattering the trees along the edges of the lake into kindling accompanied by a guttural roar. Lanek ordered his companions to keep their distance and retreat.
Holy shit, that looked familiar. That reminds me of the lake near Caelis and the thing that nearly killed me. Is it the same type of creature? Dammit, is there another Void portal forming in that lake or is this just a corrupted version of the creature?
More of the monster had become visible as it rose from the water, revealing a creature reminiscent of a giant octopus, however this creature was completely white save for pulsing purple veins scattered along its body. Its beak looked to be easily capable of snapping Yuri in half and it had eight eyes that Lanek could make out from this distance. Long tentacles lashed out of the water, stretching far out from the water with each strike.
“What the fuck is that?” Lanek choked out, his [Identify] skill failing to provide him with any information at this distance. He glanced over at Liv and saw that she had gone extremely pale and seemed on the verge of a panic attack.
“It’s an Abyssal Kraken.” Pharaoh supplied. “According to their description, they shouldn’t be this far inland. They’re supposed to live in ocean dungeons and in the deep trenches.”
“You can identify it at this range?” Lanek asked.
“Yeah, my perception is quite a bit higher than yours. You should be able to as well once you up that stat.”
“Lanek. We need to run. My people have stories about these creatures, of the ships they sank and the devastation they caused.”
“Really?” Pharaoh asked. “I think you can take it, this one isn’t even fully grown!”
“Are you telling me that’s a juvenile?!”