“So you went for soft boiled rather than hard?” asked Claire. The team was looking down at the faintly smoky crater caused by the Doom Egg’s demise.
Team report:
1 Doom Egg Killed (level 10): Essence per kill 20
Essence gained per team member: 20
“I don’t think the flames did anything to it at all. They just let me blip it. It was always this rotten inside,” said Ryn quietly.
“The level difference would suggest it had considerable resistance to her flames,” said Bolf.
“But not to her teleport? Does that mean she can teleport us if we’re doing a human candle?” asked Sally. Bolf shot her a look. “A human or doggy candle!” she corrected in an exasperated voice.
“Bad, want to volunteer this time?” asked Kev with a smirk.
“No thanks, gobshite. It does open up a bunch of opportunities though. Should we level?” asked Bad.
“No. We should hold off. If we can deal with a level ten as we are then we are pretty safe for this area. If we level we’ll get less Essence from the twos and threes that are most common around here,” said Claire. “We can spend the Essence after we’ve gathered enough to jump up several levels.”
“But that could’ve gone very badly,” said Sally. “If that had been a bruiser rather than some weird psyker-monster we’d be deader than Professor Death's best mates!”
“Claire’s right, I think,” offered Ryn. “The higher level we are, the less Essence we get from lower level monsters. I’ve got twenty two in the bank now, I need twelve more to hit level eight. That’ll be a lot easier to get from noob-tier beasts as I am than if I level.”
The argument continued for a while. Bad and Sally were both eager to level as quickly as possible whereas Claire, Ryn and Bolf wanted to wait. Armand just ignored them and stared down at the eggy splatter that lined the crater Ryn had made with the monster.
“Does it smell bad to you?” he suddenly asked, interrupting Bad launching into a rant about Claire’s religion that had her staring hatefully at the boy. They all took a deep sniff and immediately resolved to continue the discussion back at their camp.
“So maybe we should put it to a vote?” suggested Kev, trying to play peacemaker as they moved carefully back towards the cave.
“Oh great leadership skills, Kev. So glad we put you in charge with your decisive takes!” snapped Bad as his eyes scanned the peaks of the nearby hills.
“Right. Fine. No, we don't level up now. The highest member in the team affects everyone else's rewards so you guys can wait,” snapped Kev.
“Ooooohhhhhhh!” chorused Bad and Sally at the same time, causing the others to start giggling.
“We are not children. We should behave with some dignity. I agree with Master and Commander Kev,” said Bolf. The rest turned to look at him.
"Was that a joke?” asked Ryn suspiciously, receiving a doggy grin in reply.
They made it back to the cave without further bickering and stood outside staring into the maw of darkness.
“You sure there wasn’t anything else in there?” asked Claire nervously.
“That was the only creature inside,” replied Bolf. “Kevin, can you sense anything nearby?”
After a moment's hesitation Kev replied in the negative.
“Could it be deeper than you can reach and there’s something else lurking in there, a side of bacon and fried mushrooms maybe?” asked Sally. Kev glared at her but visibly controlled himself.
“Maybe you’d like to investigate?” he asked coldly.
“I’m sorry Kev, I think my taunt keeps misfiring. This is going to be a pain in the arse if I can’t get control over it,” she said apologetically.
“Don’t worry about it,” the lanky boy replied.
“I found the egg in the furthest chamber. There is a narrow passage that opens out into a large area. Three more tunnels lead off from it but two are dead ends and narrow down to nothing. The last one had a smaller chamber that was being used as the nest by the Doom Egg.”
“Nest. Hah! I’m guessing you didn’t get your sense of humour from your mum?” asked Bad. Bolf growled, a faint rumbling sound that seemed to echo around them far more than should have been possible. “Uh, sorry Zeeg, wherever you are,” he added quickly.
“I say we sweep it again as a team to make sure it’s clear, then we can look at setting up a camp and figuring out how we get through the night,” said Ryn.
They agreed and began to creep into the cave. The rocky walls were damp and covered in moss and lichen and they narrowed so much they had to walk single file to get into the first chamber. They snapped on torches and split up, sally and Bolf took the dead end tunnels while the rest quietly moved forward into the space the Doom Egg had called home.
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There were bones scattered across the floor in the final chamber and a faint scent of decay hung in the air, just strong enough even the humans noticed it. Bolf kept sneezing and trying to find an excuse to move back to the main area. After thoroughly making sure there weren’t any hidden gaps in the walls leading further underground they hurried back, breathing a sigh of relief as they got to the relatively clean air flowing from the cave mouth.
“There must be a vent or something further back, otherwise the air wouldn’t flow into the cave,” muttered Sally, glancing at the tunnel leading deeper with narrowed eyes.
“It means we have good air in here, we only have to guard a single, narrow point of entry and otherwise we can relax. I like it! Good find Bolf!” The dog wagged his tail at Bad’s praise.
They began setting up a more permanent camp. Sleeping pads and bags were unrolled and a central cooking area was set aside. Armand checked his storage and found the meat was still in good condition so he passed off enough lumps and a couple of bags of rice so Bad to make a curry later on.
“Should we go hunting again?” asked Sally.
"Nah, we should relax for a bit! Actual combat isn’t like it sounds when they talk about what the Sigs get up to. That makes it sound easy! More effortlessly swanning through the sky and nuking helpless monsters while low levels cheer you on. Something trying to chop bits off you or crawl into your mind is a lot less fun,” said Ryn glumly.
“What? We were awesome!” said Bad. “You guys ok if I start on dinner?” Everyone nodded or wagged a tail so Bad began setting up for the evening meal. Soon the smell of curried rat chased away the lingering odour of the Doom Egg.
“We weren’t awesome, mate. We scraped by. Have any of your parents told you about going through the waves?” asked Bad as he chopped extra onions and threw them in the pot.
“Shouldn’t the onions go in first?” asked Claire, earning a shrug in response. “My parents barely survived the waves. They were fortunate the Holy Prophets passed by not long after their return to Earth.”
“Mum and Dad did ok,” offered Ryn.
“Your father died and met the Gods! He was blessed!” burst out Claire. “Has he told you first hand what happened? I cannot imagine being so close to someone so beloved by the System! The overseer is his friend!”
“He doesn’t talk about it. When he’s had a few glasses of wine he’ll talk a bit about some of it though. Those first few hours when he and Evie went out killing pigeons and met up with Bob and Katie. Some of what happened on Hell World. Mum and Evie talk more about that, he only really talks about how he learned to fly. It’s a great opportunity to top up the swear jar. Speaking of which…”
“Lalalala! We can’t hear you sourpuss!” interrupted Sally.
“And now you’ve already learned to fly the same way! You’ll be walking between the stars soon as well!” Claire’s zeal was starting to make Ryn really uncomfortable. “What about you Sally?” she asked.
“Nah, Mum never mentions it. She started out under Baron Killinghall but moved over to Wayfaire to join the Department. She went back to middle management as soon as she could!” the girl laughed. “She’s not a monster slayer, bless her. She’s a good Mum though.”
“Dad got picked up by the Rump, as it was, when he got back to earth. He did a bunch of missions against the beastfolk, which they apparently still don’t know about. Very much ‘leave no witnesses alive’ kind of jobs.” Murdering witnesses apparently didn’t faze the boy at all as he continued cheerfully, stirring the pot every now and then. “Then he got sent to hunt the Scunners and bumped into the Wayfaire lot. He liked them so when he got a chance he jumped ship and took Wayfaire’s salt. He’s been true to them ever since.”
“But he’s a Sig? He can’t be part of Wayfaire!” said Armand, somewhat scandalised.
“Oh, no one really gives up their faction. It’s just that Sigs can’t fight in any factional disputes. Like when the Raj and the Caliphate kicked off at each other, Param and Mufajir stayed out of it. Cavalière is one of yours but when the court starts shit with Andalucia she stays well out of it, right?”
“And what about Traveller and the rest of the Carnival? Are they impartial as well?” Armand turned to look at Ryn.
“I think so? Most of them either teach, ignore everyone like Zeeg and Reg or do their time on the Lines like Evie and Dad. I suppose Bob and Dad are a bit different, because of the portals and BME but they have portals in loads of places Dad complains about and Bob will sell anything to anyone. They fell out with Anna ages ago.”
“May she rest in peace.” Armand said solemnly. “I am surprised as most of the Court’s Sigs are not as removed from politics as you might think. Their voices carry a lot of weight with the Royal Council.”
“Sure, so does Dad’s with Wayfaire. Well maybe not Dad, but Mum does. Everyone respects people who can level countries without breaking a sweat,” Ryn replied.
"Respect or fear?” asked Armand, earning a sharp look from Ryn and Bolf, both of whose parents were members of the Carnival.
“Grubs up! Get it while it’s ratty!” called Bad, defraying the imminent argument.
After they had eaten Ryn took up a plastic bottle and set off to get more water from the stream over the hill. She emerged from the cave cautiously and blinked for a minute while she waited for her eyes to adjust. Then she blipped into the sky, blipped to above the stream and blipped down to the bank.
She dipped the bottle, careful to only take water from the centre and to avoid dragging in sediment. Once the bottle was full she returned to the cave and disappeared back into the darkness.
“That was quick,” said Sally, stretched out on her inflatable mattress. “Good to know you can teleport for chores as well!”
“Don’t get any ideas! It’s only fetch and carry jobs at the moment!” said Ryn. “What about, you know?” she asked.
“You mean shitting? I have already been. You may wish to dig a hole out front?” offered Bolf. The teens began staring suspiciously at every disturbed clump of detritus littering the cave floor. “I went on the way here! I’m not a barbarian!” grumbled the dog.
“I’m good for now,” said Bad quietly as he stretched out and shut his eyes. “I’m going to get some kip while the sun is up, then I’ll do the night shift. Not sure how long I need to sleep for it to count as a proper rest and give me back my reserve capacity but we might as well find out.”
“You already used the power?” asked Sally.
“Yep. So I didn’t get tired in the fight. It cost me fifteen maximum reserves so it would be nice to get them back before I burn them overnight.”
It turned out that four hours sleep was not enough to count so Bad was complaining vociferously as he made his way out to the entrance to the cave and started his watch. The rest were all inside preparing to sleep and leave him on his lonesome. It was the story of his life, he mused. Everyone else got to do fun stuff while his dad had him running up and down hills in the rain so staying up all night while his friends slept didn’t sting too much. It was good to be able to keep them safe.
He paced back and forth at first. Moving silently and keeping both ears and eyes peeled for any sign of danger. As the gibbous moon rose and brought some limited illumination he gradually began to relax. After three hours he was staring at the sky from a comfy patch of grass perched over the entrance to the cave, trying to spot patterns in the moonlit clouds and whistling softly to himself.
Back at the site of the Doom Egg crash, the black and stinking earth began to stir. From the blood soaked soil, long tendrils crept out and began to worm their way towards the cave.