PART V - RIFT HUNTING
Rather than call the Imps back and risk the Elementals following, Vanis cut the link of power holding them to the world, and the other two went limp, falling to the ground like marionettes with their strings cut, before also beginning to smoke. They were immediately set upon by standard-sized elementals, their bodies squashed into goo.
“Well, that worked,” Vanis said. “Now what?”
“I can probably take them from here,” Callie said, holding her bow up to demonstrate. “But I don’t know if they’ll know it’s me at this range and attack.”
Vanis looked for suggestions from the others, and seeing none immediately offered, made a decision. “Ranged, be ready to engage if they come at us, and everyone be ready to scatter if they throw. Hopefully, the distance is too far. Callie, see what you can do.”
Callie took a deep breath and sighted down the bow. Three of the Greater Elementals were currently facing either towards or away from her, which exposed the glowing heartcores to attack. It was a small and moving target though, with a limited window to shoot once she cast the spells on her arrow.
BURST SHOT + PIERCING SHOT + MULTISHOT
Taking a deep breath, Callie carefully aimed and released, her arrow immediately splitting into four. One each was targeting one of the Elementals with exposed cores, while the fourth flew towards the last, generally aiming chest-high. At the last moment, one of the exposed three turned, though, which caused the arrow to impact into what could loosely be called an arm.
Four small explosions lit up the hillside. The two Elementals with exposed hearts burst, stones flying in multiple directions, The other two seemed to lose chunks of their stoney bodies, but without their cores destroyed, stones all around them, including the ones from their dead friends, rose to fill in the missing pieces, making them whole once again. Thankfully, the two remaining Elementals didn’t realize where the attack came from, or the team was too far away to be considered a threat, so no attack followed.
“That got two of them,” Vanis said with an encouraging tone.
“Looks like I can only kill them if I can destroy their heart,” Callie said. “I'll need to use my Explosive shot to do it, and I can only do that so quickly due to recharge times and mana usage. It could be slow going to pick them off.”
“It’s the safest,” Olin warned Vanis. “Even if it takes a while to scale to the Rift, we have the potions and the time.”
“Not very fun, though,” Pixyl pouted.
“We still have the smaller ones to kill on the way,” Maugra pointed out, which actually seemed to brighten Pixyl slightly.
“Let’s hold for Rowani,” Vanis finally said, looking skyward for any sign of the scouting Druid.
Everyone relaxed slightly, Tazrok returning to his towering Ogre form to keep his eyes peeled for anything that might be approaching, directing Bratig on one occasion to engage a pair of Pebbles that were moving their way. Callie focused on the two remaining Greater Elementals, who were now simply standing there, doing nothing. Occasionally, one would move a few steps, and she managed to pick one off when it turned the right direction for a clean shot. Eventually, though, the last seemed to curl in on itself, falling back to the ground and now looking like a harmless pile of rocks.
Rowani finally returned, wobbling back into her Pantherkin form. She was panting slightly, and quickly summoned fresh water into her hands for a long drink before reporting. “I've found what I think will be the easiest way up the hill. There’s still a couple places where we’ll need to climb, but Tazrok might be tall enough to boost everyone up. The good news is that there is plenty of cover as we approach, so that should offer protection. The even better news is that once we’re up there, we’ll be able to walk south along the top of the ridge to the second Rift easily, with no large obstacles to climb over.”
“That sounds encouraging,” Olin said, actually sounding a little surprised.
Nodding, Rowani continued. “I saw what you did with the imps. Good thinking. I think most of the Greater Elementals can be flushed out and dealt with from long range using your tactic. We’ll still have to address the normal ones as we approach, though.”
“All the same,” Maugra said, adding a warning, “the boulder attacks are the biggest danger, so we’re going to take our time and not engage more than we can keep track of. For all the ranged, make sure to use the various rocks for cover if you can, looking out only to make your attacks. If you need healing, get behind something if you are able, or someone drag the injured there so the Healers can focus out of danger.”
With the Guardians in front, Rowani directed the way, the group following towards where the climb would start. Periodically, Vanis would send out a Nether Bat, rather than an Imp, to try drawing out the Elementals, since the bat’s path wasn’t impeded by any of the jagged rocks. As the creatures rose, Callie would sight in on the Greaters, dropping an Explosive Shot when the opportunities presented. By the time they reached the ascension point, Vanis and Callie had managed to kill five more, while the rest of the team fended off a handful of standard-sized ones, and even a couple remnant Pebbles.
The climb up the hill was slow, though. The terrain was irregular and random, with a couple gaps large enough that Tazrok needed to straddle them to lift Callie and others across. Tazrok also served his duty as an elevator, lifting the non-flyers up two sheer faces that were just over four meters tall.
Combat Injuries were light, thankfully, with both Melga and Wallir taking hard hits and needing to fall back for a little repair by Ambria and Lhawni. It was at least an hour of exhausting forward and upward movement, fending off smaller Elementals from several directions while the Greaters were engaged either at range, or in one case, by Pixyl zipping in to blast a pair apart when Callie missed a shot and was stuck on cooldown. The Pixie did get a stern talking-to from Celeste and Olin about risking a boulder strike, and she responded with a shrug saying she was ‘getting bored’.
All told, Callie and Vanis had flushed out and killed seventeen Greater Elementals during the approach and climb, with Pixyl’s two making the total nineteen. But all these were on the eastern face of the hill, and down on the western side were even more of the boulder-throwing monsters. Maugra ignored the Rift for the moment, instead helping to bring the situation under control, throwing spells to stun the enemies for easy demolition by the Guardians. After at least fifteen minutes of non-stop fighting, another dozen Greater Elementals had been scouted and defeated, along with countless smaller ones. There were several minor injuries and one major when Tazrok was hit on a rear leg by a boulder, emitting an ear-splitting yelp in pain. With her healing power amped up, though, Ambria giggled with Ley magic as she repaired the Ogre’s fractured leg in record time and with minimal effort, with Cheena verifying the quality of the repair.
As a final duty to clear the remaining Greater Elementals, Vanis focused everyone to the north. His bat flushed out the area along the ridge towards the road, allowing Callie or a still-bored Pixyl to take them down, with the others working on the little guys. None of the larger Elementals appeared when the Demon bat swooped the rocks on the north side of the road, so Vanis felt confident the area would be safe for passage once the Rift was closed and the smaller ones eventually fell.
“That … was grueling,” Vanis said, panting as they finally finished. The non-stop summoning, especially on the move, was exhausting for him, since the increased mana regeneration from the Rift wasn’t helping any. He waved a hand, dismissing a Nether Bat that had been making final sweeps around the area, no more Elementals responding to its proximity. It promptly flopped to the ground, turning into purple smoke.
The area now cleared and everyone able to relax, the team followed Maugra towards the Rift. Callie’s Darkvision finally overloaded, the image becoming nothing more than a blinding pink light. Thankfully, Maugra knew what she was looking for and led everyone to their first destination.
The Rift was actually utterly unremarkable. It looked simply like a hole in the ground about twenty centimeters in diameter, with a mound of dirt and stone around it as if pushed from below. From the hole oozed a wispy, white smoke that rolled across the ground for a few meters, reminiscent of the fog caused by melting dry ice. Maugra assured everyone the fog was harmless, and just the result of the leaking magic overflow interacting with the air.
“That’s it?” Callie asked, showing her clear disappointment.
“What did you expect?” Cheena responded.
“I dunno. Something more … rifty. More like a fountain or geyser at least, I guess. Or, you know, a rip in space and time. Something impressive, at least.”
“I have to agree,” Rowani said, showing similar disappointment.
“Are you kidding?” Pixyl exclaimed, looking at her hand. “This is amazing! I have so much power right now.”
“Still, it is a little … underwhelming,” Olin said, gesturing vaguely to the smoking hole. “Visually at least. The strength I have right now, though …”
For Callie, being a Nature magic user, she didn’t really feel anything different. In fact, with the lack of vegetation and life around them, she even felt like mana recharging was going just a tiny bit slower than normal. For the Arcane casters, though, it was as if they were hopped up on a dozen cups of coffee. Their reflexes were sharp and jumpy, their spells overpowered, and mana regeneration was through the roof, spells effectively limited only by charge cooldowns and general exhaustion.
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“I’m going to tap this,” Maugra said, gesturing towards the hole after letting Vanis rest a couple minutes. “Everyone, it’s going to get really hot, though, so you all need to move away.” She gestured generally towards the south, the direction of the second Rift, shooing everyone to safety.
At Platinum, Maugra could have up to three Totems summoned at once, and she called one into being directly over the Rift’s hole. The lights coalesced into form, and it promptly dropped into the opening until the Totem was wide enough to hit the sides, acting almost like a plug. The Goblin casually waved her hand as she turned to walk towards the rest of the group, now standing about twenty meters away. Maugra looked almost like some badass from an action movie as she refused to look back at the roar of fire suddenly shooting skyward from the Totem. It blasted straight up, as if from the end of a rocket, a single stream of blue-hot fire at least fifteen or twenty meters long that eventually started to fan out and dissipate into the sky. The heat was intense, even at their distance, and soon everyone needed to edge another ten meters away, Pixyl quickly blasting a pair of normal Elementals they had missed on first clearing.
“That is … wow!” was all Callie could say as the awesome inferno roared in front of them. The fire at the Bogwump nest had been nothing compared to this. The others on the team, including Cheena, were as speechless as she was. This was certainly more exciting than the vaguely-oozing fog hole that had been there before, and really demonstrated the invisible power that was leaking out.
Maugra sat facing the Totem, concentrating lightly on the channeled command that ordered the Totem to use its Flame Blast. “If I had to guess, it should take about twenty minutes. The fire will gradually get lower as the pressure eases, and once it does, we can move on. The Rift should then close by itself in a few hours. The hole was wider than I expected, though, so we probably want to put a boulder over it so nobody falls into it some day.” She gestured towards Tazrok, clearly indicating who was going to be doing the boulder work.
After several minutes of rest and a mana potion for both of them, Vanis and Callie went back to work, once again using Nether Bats to scout the path they would be taking to the south. A total of a half-dozen additional Greater Elementals rose, and Callie eventually had the line-of-sight to their cores she needed to drop an Explosive Shot into each. Another dozen smaller rock monsters also appeared, with both Bratig, Tazrok as well as a still-bored Pixyl, quickly dispatching each of them once there was no threat from the larger ones.
In time, the rocketing flames from the Totem began to noticeably ease. Pixyl complained she could feel some of the magic boost draining away, melodramatically pouting that she wasn’t as amped up as she had been before the Rift was relieved.
“You could still kick everyone’s ass, Pixyl,” Callie pointed out as she and Vanis rejoined the party..
“It was more fun, before.”
“I’m sure the boost will come back once we approach the next Rift,” Maugra said with a laugh, causing the Pixie to grin in excitement again.
Finally, the flames began to sputter, and the elder Shaman unsummoned her Totem, the heat immediately relenting, much to everyone’s relief. Tazrok found a huge boulder far enough away to not be too hot, which Maugra was able to confirm was real and not summoned, and he set it over the now fogless hole, as if capping off a well.
It had taken nearly four hours since the first team arrived to reach this point and it had been a long slog. There would still be usable light for a while, but the sun was clearly showing its intent to keep moving through the sky. Vanis needed to make the call.
“I estimate perhaps three hours of good light left,” Vanis said. “We should decide if we proceed now, or retreat for the night.”
“It’s less than four kilometers to the next Rift,” Maugra said, “so not very far. But it will still be slow going between the terrain and the Elementals we encounter. I think we can make it in plenty of time, with enough light to climb back down, too.”
“We’ll be fine,” Callie said. She gestured towards Pixyl and Olin, then to herself. “We have flares that should light things enough for everyone to see the way down, and the Shamans have a light spell, right?”
“We do,” Cheena confirmed.
“I know most of the kills were from Callie, but I think we’ve largely determined appropriate tactics,” Olin added.
“I say we go for it,” the Major said, shrugging her shoulders, making sure it felt like another opinion, not an order. “I think we can get this done in under two hours. But it’s your call, Sergeant.”
Vanis thought for a long moment, eyeing the ridgeline south towards the next Rift. You could tell he was conflicted,
“What’s your gut say?” Callie asked, trying to be helpful.
“Pardon?” Vanis said, snapped out of his thoughts. “What was that?”
“Your gut instinct?” Callie said again, trying to clarify. “What’s it say we should do? I just go with that if I’m not sure of something.”
“You’re right, Little One, I’m overthinking this,” Vanis said, affectionately rubbing Calie’s head. He then addressed everyone. “We’ll go ahead and assault the Rift now. But, if things take too long and dusk threatens, we’re going to fall back, either going back down the hill if we have time, or maybe camping back here for the night. We’ve cleared the area around this Rift, so it should be safe before long. Some of the fliers can go retrieve our provisions and the Major’s underwear.”
“Retrieve my what!?”
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The smaller of the main two Rifts relieved of pressure and capped off, the team gathered their strength and set forth to the south towards the larger one. The Demon-scouting tactic had worked quite well on the march up, so Vanis continued to use his Nether Bats to sweep ahead and to the sides, waking up any Elemental that might be lying in wait. As soon as one rose, Callie would explode it with a layered arrow if it was a Greater Elemental. If it was one of the smaller ones, either Maugra or Cheena would give it a zap to stun it, generally followed by Bratig or Tazrok smashing it with their tails. Of course, Pixyl would occasionally charge in on her own, too, expertly destroying anything in her way, which seemed to irritate the Major. So far, they had suffered only minimal injuries to the Guardians that were easily addressed, and they moved forward at a steady speed primarily dictated by Callie's recharge times.
While the march from the road to the first Rift hadn't been without challenges, it had largely gone smoothly, with most of the biggest threats destroyed at range. Thus, even Maugra, who had initially emphasized not to underestimate the Elementals, was feeling fairly confident about the next phase of the mission. They had a system and a rhythm. While not the fastest, it had proven both safe and effective.
"How are you doing on mana?" Maugra eventually asked Callie and Vanis as she dropped a Totem, sending out a Rejuvenation pulse to help a little.
"I'll need a potion soon, I think," Callie grumbled, knowing the foul taste that was coming.
"I will as well," Vanis said, an edge of fatigue in his voice. "Perhaps another one-hundred meters and we will take a short break."
As the team crept slowly and steadily forward, the number of Greater Elementals seemed to diminish, until they reached the point that the only enemy they were encountering were the normals and a few of the tiny pebble variety. Maugra hypothesized it was because they were moving away from one Rift, and the stronger creatures would soon return as they drew closer to the next one.
Callie had long ago lost count of how many she had blown up, at least fifty of the Greaters and countless of the smaller rock monsters. On the other hand, Bratig and Tazrok were having a contest to see who could destroy more of the Elementals. Tazrok was ahead by quite a bit, although, when the Ogre leapt into the air, changing shape mid-leap into his Brontorn, and smushing six under his weight, the Dwarf angrily snarled, "That only counts as one!" Callie couldn't help but giggle at the bickering. Everyone’s mood was feeling good.
Eventually, the Nether bat scout finally encountered another Greater, the team apparently having drawn close enough to the next Rift for its power to animate the larger ones. Callie dispatched it easily enough, and Vanis called a ten minute halt so he could recover a bit before the next push. Callie was silently thankful for the break, too.
"What's wrong?" Ambria asked Maugra, who was staring with a concerned look towards their destination.
"Something feels ... I don't know ... off," the Shaman replied. "I can't put my finger on it. Something about this next Rift."
"Do we need to fall back?" Olin asked.
Maugra paused for a long few seconds, before carefully shaking her head. "Until I know what is wrong, I can't advise anything, except that we proceed with caution. I'll speak up immediately if I sense something more out of the ordinary."
Vanis shot Celeste a concerned look, but all the Major did was shrug. Hunches were important to heed, but something this vague was hard to take action on, beyond the advice to be wary. "Callie, can you see anything with your Ranger eyes? Or has your Danger Sense triggered?" he finally asked, hoping for a possible second opinion.
Callie shrugged. "I don't think my Danger Sense has been working well since we encountered the first rock-throwers. I haven't been calm enough, and I’m still pretty pumped up." She took a moment and zoomed in with Eagle Eye. "But I can see some fog from the Rift, I think. Nothing seems that odd, but I honestly wouldn't know, either."
"How far?"
"Half a kilometer, maybe? Possibly a bit more. The fog is coming from under that stone arch," Callie pointed, indicating the rock formation. It was the same identifiable one they had all seen when Maugra had returned from scouting hours earlier, just from a different angle this time.
Vanis looked briefly to the other trainers for advice, but got only the same shrug the Major had replied with. "Fine, we'll continue on. High alert, though. And Pixyl, you need to stay close. No flying off to destroy things this time. We'll do this properly as a group."
"Awww!" the Pixie growled, obviously disappointed.
After summoning another Nether Bat, Callie and Vanis moved ahead, sending the winged demon off to scout. Around them, the Major and the five Druid Guardians fanned out, Rowani's Tortalis part of the vanguard. Overhead, an eager Pixyl hovered, looking for her own targets of opportunity that were close enough to not be considered ‘flying off’. As the bat flew, smaller Elementals would rise like stone zombies, take a half dozen steps trying to catch it, before finally going still again. These were ignored, and would be easily dispatched once someone got close enough that they started to move again. Then, a pair of Greater Elementals stood, both immediately throwing boulders after the flying Demon scout. One missed, but the other caught its wing and it flopped to the ground, where it was promptly set upon by three normals.
"Ouch!" Olin winced with a chuckle. They had gone through a lot of bats today.
"Can you take them both?" Vanis asked.
"Not a problem," Callie replied, grinning up at her friend.
BURST SHOT + PIERCING SHOT + MULTISHOT
Holding for a couple of seconds to make sure she had clear targets, Callie loosed two arrows into each of the Elementals. They hit hard, and in an instant both targets were nothing but dust and rubble, their glowing cores destroyed.
"Easy, peasy," Callie giggled, high-fiving the Major with one hand and then Bratig with the other..
As the dust finally settled, something did not look quite right. Where there had been two of the largest elementals, and maybe a few of the smaller ones, now there were more, and more were rising. The explosion had set off a chain reaction of alerting another Elemental, which would rise from the ground, which in turn alerted the next one, and the next. More importantly, they seemed to have a purpose this time, and a small army of rock monsters began to slowly shamble in the same direction, towards the team, as if knowing where the danger had come from.
"Oh shit," Vanis said quietly, his eyes going wide.
"This ... this definitely counts as out of the ordinary," Maugra said, summoning up a pair of Totems and getting ready for a fight.
The Guardians quickly took station in front of the party as the first of the Elemental army approached. Then all hell broke loose.