Chapter 20 Only Three
The Ori-Masa and shadow-wolf battle lines exploded into chaos as they quite literally exploded. A fireball went off exactly where it needed to in order to maximize casualties. Immediately after the fiery explosion, a thunderclap rang out and dropped a few more from each side with a lightning bolt. In a blink there were forty casualties combined from both sides. The only survivors were two Ori-Masa that were too shell shocked to do anything and eight shadow-wolves that were yipping and crying while jumping away from the extreme acts of magical violence.
Isaac appeared behind one of the wolves and quickly stabbed the tip of his sword through its chest and into its heart before moving on to the next one. He vanished and reappeared six times before Lenna and Kahtesh had even gotten close enough to help with the rest. The Ori-Masa were the last to be dispatched as they were the slowest. The fact that they were locked in place by terror helped make that decision easier.
“Quick and dirty, just your style.” Isaac commented as he appeared beside Lenna with a grin.
She gave him a sidelong glance. “And what is your style? Over-dramatized with an audience?” She asked.
Isaac took a step back with his hand over his heart in mock hurt. “Your words, though they may be true, still wound me.” He replied, very much over-dramatized as Lenna had said.
Lenna chuckled and shook her head. “Want to bring anything back?”
The pair looked over the carnage. “There is one thing I want but…” Isaac continued to look at the shadow-wolf corpses with a conflicted look on his face. “It’ll be a pain to get.”
Lenna raised an eyebrow in question. “Oh?”
Isaac nodded. “That shadow glands in the wolves. The monster biology book that Alice gave me mentioned their usage in certain magical items.” He replied.
“Magical items you want?” Lenna asked.
Isaac shrugged. “Mostly vanity but it would make taking you with me more sustainable.” He told her honestly. A cloak that made its own shadows was definitely only vanity nine times out of ten but if it made making them both invisible require less of Isaac’s mana then it would be worth it. “I’ll have to put them in my Inventory or else they will be too degraded by the time we get back to be of any use.”
Lenna pulled a dagger out of her bottomless bag. “Next to the heart?” she asked. Most monsters’ magical organs were located close to their heart unless it was a very specialized type of magic that they wielded.
Isaac nodded. “Yeah.” He replied and made a dagger out of shadows for himself.
An hour later they had collected thirteen of the shadow organs, they were very similar to the heart of a large bird in shape and texture save for the shadows that seemed to sweat out of it on all sides. “Ready to continue on our adventure?” Isaac asked once Lenna had handed him back the self-cleaning rag that she had been using to get most of the blood off of her.
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“Another hour and then stop for dinner?” She asked to which Isaac nodded in reply and with that they continued on their hunt for the chimera creator.
—
Lenna’s eyes snapped open. They had stopped for the night and Isaac was fast asleep next to her when she thought she heard something. She strained her elvish ears as she listened for whatever had made the sound. Nothing. She heard nothing. That in and of itself wasn’t unusual for the tunnels and caverns of the Innerworld but something was telling her that they were not alone. That feeling never left her. All through the night she felt like something was breathing right around the corner, waiting for her to close her eyes once more, so it could make sure they never opened again.
Lenna had only gotten an hour and a half of meditation in by the time Isaac awoke from his slumber. He stretched and then froze most of the way through it. His eyes slowly turned to lock with Lenna’s. “Three, chimera, shadow-wolf and something else.” He whispered. He could feel them faintly in the direction they were to continue traveling in. He had also gotten very good at picking out the feeling of shadow-wolf shadows. They felt more pure, more like his own, the wolves also used their shadows much the same way Isaac did. They would coat their feet to silence them and let the rest leak out of their bodies to make it more difficult to spot them while they were waiting in ambush.
“Silence me.” Lenna whispered in return. Isaac nodded and silenced them both so they could start packing up without alerting the chimeras. “How strong?” She asked.
Isaac shook his head. “Not very. Two, maybe three times the strength of a normal one.” He whispered in reply.
“Scouts for the mage.” She postulated to which Isaac agreed with a nod.
Once they were packed the pair started heading towards them. Isaac stopped Lenna when he felt like they were right around the corner. “Don’t, move.” He whispered in a tone that left nothing up for debate. Lenna froze like a statue and she saw the shadows that were in her armor move away from her and collect around Isaac before he vanished.
‘I really wish he would take me with him.’ Lenna thought to herself.
A minute later Isaac reappeared in front of her. “Only three like I thought but there is a problem.” He began. “Their hides are made of something similar but more stony than falling-shadows’. Also, there are wards right on top of them.”
“What kind of wards?” Lenna asked.
Isaac shook his head. “No idea. Back to the wolves, they have stony tentacle looking things coming out of their backs. The first chimera I ever fought had them too and that thing was a menace.” Isaac explained the last problem.
Lenna thought for a long moment. “Shadow-wolf rising-shadow hybrids.” She postulated.
“Rising-shadows?” Isaac asked skeptically.
Lenna nodded. “People used to think they were falling-shadows but they are really much worse.” She warned. “Their hides are thrice as thick and their tendrils are much stronger and more resilient.”
Isaac nodded in understanding. “I can remove them but I don’t know what the wards’ triggers are.” He explained.
“Take me with you.” Lenna directed.
Isaac did as she told him and the pair quickly made their way over to the wards. While they were invisible they were also silent so they were free to speak as only the other would hear them due to their shared shadowcloak. “What do you think?” Isaac asked.
Lenna looked at both of the wards. “Dispel invisibility and an alarm. Both common wards, the alarm is set only to go off if…” She squinted as if it would help her brain interpret the runic symbols better. “something to do with the wolves. Maybe…” She was cut off by a few quick taps on the shoulder from Isaac.
“I’m almost empty.” He replied with strain in his voice. The pair retreated back to where they had been before and Isaac almost collapsed onto the ground, instead leaning on the wall to help him stay on his feet.
“I think,” Lenna began once Isaac had caught his breath magically and mentally speaking. “it is either if they die or fight something. Anything else and the alarm would be wasted by the first thing to stumble across this place.”
Isaac nodded in agreement. “Makes sense to me. So how do we deal with them?” He asked.
Lenna shook her head. “We might have to sneak past them. Anything else would alert the mages.” She replied grimly.
Isaac shrugged. “I know you aren’t going to like this but I need to make sure we have a place to rest on the other side of them and I can’t do that with you.” He explained.
He was right, Lenna hated the idea even if she knew that he was right. “Be careful.” She told him with resignation in her heart. Isaac flashed her a grin. “I mean it Isaac.” She replied. “Don’t leave me.” She ordered.
Isaac’s playful smirk faltered. He took a step towards her and put his hand on the cheek of her helmet. “I won’t. I’ll be careful. If I’m not back in ten minutes, come and get me.” There was only honesty in his voice and body language. Lenna didn’t know if he had gotten better at lying or if he was telling the truth about being careful but she decided to believe him, believe in him.
“Good.” She swallowed. “I will.”