It was the early morning hours when Kael called for them to all leave, but the rain had still not yet let up. They had hoped to wait out the rain, but Alex had said that storms could last weeks up here in these mountains.
Emily called Cupcake from the huddled pile of Rime wolves and saddled her up like the rest, but she could comfortably say she was not looking forward to leaving this place. The logs had only just burnt out and they had left it as long as they could but eventually, Nox put the slab back into whatever magical space he had.
The rain fell down on them again but Emily was better prepared this time, wrapped in a thin waterproof tarp. Emily would have been fine with the wait if it hadn't been for the fact that there was very little to eat in these mountains. Troll meat was apparently toxic, and when Emily suggested they hunt down some elves to eat, she got some disguised looks for her trouble.
Elves were edible but they were an absolute last resort when it came to nutrients. They carried many diseases and while Fox could remove some of these with his skills, he couldn’t be certain he got them all. The only thing they were good for was feeding to the Rime wolves, but even then wolves weren't keen on eating them.
So they pressed on, the rain continued to fall but no worse than it had for the last day or so, and they only encountered three more groups of trolls as the day went on. Emily did get a few additional lives worth of vitality from their deaths, but as a whole, the hit-and-run tactic was not conducive to collecting life force.
The afternoon slipped away to travel, while the landscape remained unchanged. Emily was thoroughly sick of the place by the end of the second day.
It was only on the morning of their third day through this place that they saw anything new. It was while they were cresting a particularly high mountaintop that Emily spotted one of the lakes Alex had spoken about. From where they were standing, the pale light pushed through the cloud cover just enough to allow the choppy water to reflect it like a dull mirror. This particular lake was isolated and on the smaller side. It rested at the foot of four closely packed mountains which acted as a basin. Streams of rain ran down from all over the rockface, pooling in the center and running out along the upper edges when it got too much for the natural walls to hold.
While the change of scenery was a nice change to this wet, cold mountain range, the wandering fangs didn’t linger for long. Instead, they looped around the inside of the basin and headed further down the path. Emily noticed a sharp uptick of rain as they did so. Which she hadn’t thought was possible as clouds darkened even further resembling angry storm clouds.
The thunder overhead felt like it would shatter eardrumbs and the world shook around them. Over the whole journey through these mountains there had been countless flashes from up ahead but nothing ever reached them.
Until it did.
A single strike of lightning was all it took to throw the world into chaos.
The bolt of plasma itself landed nowhere near them, it instead touched down at the very peak of the mountain they were on. And as things go that would have been fine. However, the real problem came after, as the stirk loosened rock and mud, causing a cascade effect as it slid down the mountain.
Ashe was the one to look up first and when she saw it coming she could only shout over the wind.
“Landslide! Take cover near the wall!”
Emily glanced up in time to see a boulder the size of a car hurtling towards them, followed closely by a wave of silt and that was only the beginning.
Countless rocks of varying sizes came tumbling down the mountainside, and Emily didn't even attempt to block them. Instead, she scanned the area for Alex and spotted him up front, but the distance between them was too great—she knew she wouldn't make it in time.
Diving towards the wall of the mountain the rocks arrived, crashing into the narrow ledge they were all standing on. Concussive shockwaves trembled through the air as the surrounding rock gave way and cracks spread out up ahead. Ashe raised a ramp of stone overhead and tried to divert some of the falling rock, but much of it still got through.
The roar of the wind drowned out the sound of the path ahead collapsing as it crumbled down the mountainside.
Luckily because of Ashe’s warning, almost everyone got away in time, save for two people. Alex and Atticus had been too far ahead to escape the rushing wave of rocks and then the collapse of the road.
Emily’s heart dropped into her stomach as she watched Alex struggle to fight against the tide before disappearing into the resulting mud and rock. Even the Rime wolves were unable to resist for long.
The current of mud continued to crash down the side of the mountain but Emily was still searching the darkness when Kael shouted above the dim of thunder..
“Everyone gather up! When we're safe we’ll find a way down there. We will not leave our ally nor our charge!”
Emily was still frozen to the spot as she waited for the contract to rend her soul from her body. When nothing happened the only conclusion was that Alex was still alive, if that was the case then there wasn’t much choice.
Emily had Cupcake move to the edge of the cliff, even as she felt a trembling surface in her body, but it was matched by a very real tremor that seemed to spread from the freshly disturbed ground ahead.
Emily’s eyes narrowed as she saw the exposed dirt revealing dormant trolls that were beginning to wake.
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Seeing she didn’t have much time Emily glanced back at the wandering fangs, she had a choice to make.
“Tahlia, get off!” Emily said as she looked back at the Bard.
Tahlia’s eyes widened but she gave her enough time to fall from the saddle before she urged Cupcake forward.
Kael turned and saw Emily at the last second.
“Don’t you dare! We’ll find him, Team two prepare to descend, We’ll draw-”
Emily didn’t wait to hear the rest as she dove over the edge without a second thought. Cupcake was focused as she launched herself into the air, feeling Emily's urgency.
They fell for what felt like minutes but could only have been a second or two before Cupcake landed on a rock sliding through the muck.
Mud and soil tried to suck them down but the Rime wolf pounced into the air once more. Without a second thought, Emily cycled her life force and let a burst of power out of her chest, searching for her blood. The signal was distant and getting weaker by the second but it was there.
“Go girl, faster!”
Cupcake put on another burst of speed tearing down the mountain as the mudslide tried its best to consume them, dousing them in icy mud. Every second counted and Alex's signal was still getting further away.
Unsure of what to do Emily reached out for ideas, none of her usual techniques or spells would help her here.
She was a villain, not a hero. Saving people was not on her punch card.
Suddenly Scarlet sister made itself known and Emily’s eyes widened.
Emily could feel the pull guiding her as she activated Blood Price, deepening her connection to Cupcake. Life force flowed from her into the beast, and the she-wolf let out a triumphant howl as another flash of light illuminated her now-crimson fur. Sharing her power with Cupcake, Emily felt them surge forward at incredible speeds. Alex’s signal was no longer fading; instead, it was growing stronger as Emily honed in on it. Cupcake leapt from rock to rock, her paws slipping in the slurry and dirt that coiled around her fur, struggling to find solid footing.
The closer they got the more worried Emily got as she couldn’t see them, that meant only one thing, they were submerged in the stuff.
As Cupcake neared the spot where Emily believed Alex to be, Emily cast her lift spell on the largest nearby rock. The boulder, half-submerged in the falling muck, burst free from the mud. At that moment, Emily spotted Alex clinging to Mist’s back while holding onto Atticus. With less than a second to react, she sent forth a wave of blood, plunging it into the briefest opening and encasing all three of them. Straining against the connection, Emily pulled, dragging the trio out of the mess—but they were far from safe yet.
The landslide was pooling at the base of the slope, dragging them relentlessly toward the lake’s edge. If they didn’t escape soon, they would be swallowed by a watery grave.
Luckily, Cupcake had other plans. With a determined effort, she began to pull them sideways, slowly dragging them out of the landslide's path. As soon as she did, Emily lost control of the blood magic, and the three of them crashed down onto solid rock. Thankfully, Mist was still conscious and managed to stick the landing.
Emily severed the link between herself and Cupcake, shivering as she realized that maneuver had cost her over fifteen life sources. Alex slumped against Mist’s side, covered in muck and panting raggedly, his eyes fixed on Emily. He was clutching his arm, which was bent at an unnatural angle, even though he had used it to hold onto Atticus. The other man was in far worse condition—unconscious, blood streaming from a wound on his head, and mud clinging to his beard.
“...Thank you, Emily…” Alex said, his voice carrying a note of something new. A light that hadn’t been there moments ago. It was... relief.
Emily was still inspecting his wounds to make sure Alex didn’t just die on her when the sound of the trolls tore above the chaos of the rain.
Looking up, Emily couldn’t even make out where they had come from, but she could see some movement coming toward them.
Emily stepped forward pulling her scepter from her hip and charging it as the shows darkened to figures.
They were too small to be trolls so they had to be the people, but then Emily recognized who was coming out of the darkness them she knew she couldn’t lower her guard.
Marth and Oscar emerged from the mist, their expressions unreadable, and Emily quickly noticed that the rest of Team Two was nowhere in sight.
“Ah, there you are,” Marth said, his voice deceptively calm.
“Kael drew the trolls away, so I’m here to fetch you.” But when his eyes landed on the unconscious Atticus, his face tightened for just a heartbeat.
“Well… I didn’t expect this,” he continued, his tone shifting ever so slightly.
“But we should get you all back to the group,” he added, taking a step toward Emily.
Something in Marth’s gaze set alarm bells off in Emily’s head. A flash of cold calculation passed over his eyes, and she reacted instinctively. That suspicion was all that saved her when, without warning, Marth swung his shield straight at her face. Emily jerked back just in time, narrowly avoiding the strike. If the blow had connected, it would have either knocked her out or, at the very least, left her reeling.
But what she didn’t expect was for the shield to suddenly glow with a fierce green light, releasing a burst of energy that hit her like a battering ram. The impact forced her to stumble back, though she managed to keep her balance.
On the ground, Alex groaned in disbelief.
“What the hell are you doing, Marth? Do you think Kael won’t find out what you’ve done?”
Marth's face was like stone as he looked down at Alex.
“Why do you think I’m not using my sword?” he said, his voice void of emotion.
“I’ll just say you died in that fall, and your girlfriend—maid, or whatever—died trying to save you.”
Alex gritted his teeth, struggling to his feet, his weapon trembling in his grip.
“That still doesn’t explain why you’re doing this!”
A laugh cut through the tension from behind Marth—Oscar’s twisted smile glinting with dark amusement. “Are you really that dense?” he taunted.
“Who wouldn’t go after you with a bounty like that on your head? Whoever put it out must really hate your guts to want you dead from half a continent away.”
Marth shot Oscar a sideways glance, clearly annoyed but not denying his words. “It’s nothing personal, Alex. They only want you dead. And to think, I wouldn’t have even known we were hunting you if it weren’t for that fool back in Frosthaven, bragging about one of the largest bounties in decades—all for a scrawny kid from the south.”
Alex’s jaw clenched, frustration etched on his face.
“Why in all the hells would there be a bounty on me? And what’s your plan, Marth? You think you’re just going to carry my corpse out of these mountains?”
Marth’s grim smile spread slowly across his face.
“It’s true, it would’ve been easier to do this closer to our destination,” he admitted, “but don’t think I won’t drag your body if I have to—not when you’re worth your weight in cobalt. And just to clear up any doubts, Jerhia let slip one last interesting detail.”
Emily stood tense, her senses sharp, gathering her power while silently watching the exchange unfold.
Marth’s eyes gleamed as he continued.
“Jerhia said the last group that took this job was a bunch of Blood Mages. They were trying to keep it under wraps, but I think we both know where this is headed. They were obsessed with a ritual, talking about ‘perfect ingredients’ and making it all look like an accident. Turns out, the boss had us working for scraps when the real prize was standing right in front of us.”
Blood points: 182