The group was waiting outside the small inn just after sunrise, a cool mist still in the air. Valanor and Glenn were going over their supplies, discussing what they’d need for their trek into the woods. They’d have to leave the wagon and mounts behind, and the knights’ inventories apparently only had space for a few items.
A light whistle announced the arrival of their newest party member, as Cara Fletcher walked into the town square. She moved much like her jaguar had, silently and with purpose, and Ethan was doubly glad that he’d been able to help her the night before. Although he still regretted the risk he’d taken.
His logical mind kept focusing on the facts. He’d healed others in moments, and there had been plenty of time before the knight was supposed to arrive. Plus, if the knight even suspected Fletcher had an unhealable injury, there would be no saving the situation. But Ethan knew he was trying to justify an emotional decision.
He could heal again. His years as a doctor weren’t lost. His identity as a doctor hadn’t been stripped from him. And then to learn more about the Church, and what they took from people…it had been too much. Ethan had allowed himself to pretend for a moment that he was the man that he’d been days before, and also somehow a lifetime ago.
Thankfully they hadn’t been caught, but he’d slept poorly, his mind going over the consequences of discovery again and again. There were enough terrible things working against Ethan already, and he resolved not to be so careless in the future. Although he never even entertained the thought that Cara Fletcher would be the last person he healed.
As for the restored woman herself, her reaction had been surprisingly contained. Apparently the idea of his healing being a trade–something gained with effort and skill like her own–was a comforting and acceptable notion. She even managed to quickly present a plausible cause for her temporary paralysis.
Apparently quillursi–that was what the stuffed monster in the center of town was–were common in this area. She’d walked to the inn and told the other villagers that a quill had been lodged in her lower back. Her story was that she’d allowed Ethan to help change her bandages, during which he’d noticed the barbed object, and pulled it out at her request. Natural healing had done the rest.
It seemed improbable to a doctor, but the townspeople were so relieved to have their Hunter walking that they all simply celebrated. The knights had been giving Ethan odd looks, however, Maggie especially. Still, Valanor’s enthusiasm that the mission was still on track was more than enough to refocus everyone, and now they were ready to move out.
“I’ve scouted a few of their hunting trails, and they’re definitely still active,” Cara said. “It’s been a few months since I’ve gone up there, and I didn’t want to make any promises I couldn’t keep.”
“If they’ve moved on, can you still track them?” the shield knight asked.
“Depends. I can find you a pack of them, of that I’m certain. But if they’ve moved their den, I can’t guarantee I’ll find it again.”
Valanor nodded. “Good enough. Even thinning their ranks would be a boon to the village, and still serve our purpose.”
“But we’ll take out the den if we can, right?” Ethan prompted. “These things are ruining these people.”
“We won’t know until we find the den,” Valanor replied. “If we find the den. Lightning beasts are extremely dangerous, and their numbers may simply be too much for us. Hunters follow notices, evaluate for themselves, and act with judgment. Remember that.”
Ethan nodded, realizing he hadn’t truly been considering the danger. He’d fought so many demons the day before, that it had skewed his impression of Hunting. Glenn had explained that most common demons were like the ones they’d faced: fast, strong, and numerous. But they had few special attacks, unlike their monster cousins from Nexum.
The group of knights had been well-suited to the battle they fought. Especially as Valanor was able to keep most of the attention on himself, and leverage his Dusk rank defenses well. A dozen or more wolves that spit lightning wouldn’t be quite so easy to deal with. As the group moved off toward the mountain, Ethan tried to consider how best to fight the creatures, and pulled up his bestiary.
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Fulven (Lightning Wolf, Common)
Often found in higher altitudes, and areas prone to thunderstorms, fully grown fulven can weigh up to 80lbs. They are fast and agile, like most canine monsters, and have small, powerful jaws. They build up an electrical charge when they run, and project that lightning from their tails, or electrify their bodies in defense.
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“Hmm…they shoot lightning,” Ethan said. “That’s actually extraordinarily dangerous. Do you have any idea what electrical current can do to your nervous system? Let alone stopping your heart, and the potential brain damage…”
The knights turned to look at him. “Have you been struck by lightning before?” Glenn asked, sounding disturbingly excited.
“My brain is fine, thank you. I guess there’s ways to protect ourselves but…I feel like I’m only the one who knows CPR.” Four confused faces stared back at him. “Let me put it this way, if someone’s heart stops from lightning, what is your…policy?”
Glenn shrugged, “We have something for that.” He went rummaging through the bags in the wagon, then turned back around triumphantly, holding a rune-covered gauntlet in his hand. “Charge Gauntlet! Bad lightning stops your heart, good lightning starts your heart.”
The others nodded, then resumed packing as Ethan stared at them in disbelief. “Have any of you had your heart started with that thing?” he asked.
“Never needed to, we’re all Dawn rank. Pre-Dawns don’t usually get in fights like this,” Glenn said, putting the gauntlet on as he packed away the last of his supplies.
“What does rank have to do with it?” Ethan asked.
Cara gave him a suspicious look. “You’re a single Bond from Dawn and don't even know what that means?”
“Not everyone grows up in a village with a Bond-prize,” Valanor cut in. “Bishop’s current state is a result of unlikely friendships, and his education is lacking.”
“Must be some friends,” Cara said, obviously hoping for more information.
“Archer,” Valanor said in his ‘I’m scary and in charge’ voice, “we’re wasting time here. Go with Maggie and start marking the trail. I’ll make sure our companion is informed.”
Cara grunted. “Let me make something clear, Shield, I’m not under your command. I’m helping because I want the fulven, and you out of my woods. Till then, we’ll fight as equals, and you’re welcome to request my assistance. Unless you have some reason to think you have more authority in this matter?”
She raised an eyebrow at Valanor, who glared back. “Please move out, Miss Fletcher. We’ll be right behind.”
Cara gave a slight nod. Maggie joined her and the two women jogged off toward the edge of town. “What was that about?” Ethat asked.
“She’s not an idiot,” Valanor said. “She knows we’re knights, and that this is far from an average Hunt.”
“Ah, right. That’s my fault isn’t it? I never know what question is going to give me away.”
“She already knew, I’m certain of it. I think she’s just fishing for more information.” He finished readying his own supplies, then moved off after the other two, Ethan and Glenn following. “Besides, you’re right that this is dangerous in the extreme.”
“I’m actually surprised you’re willing to take these risks,” Ethan said, thinking of how protective the knight had been. “Oh, and how would Dawn rank change things?”
“That’s a longer discussion, and one that makes more sense after you reach it. For now, understand that the Bonded path will change you in more ways than one. Becoming less physically vulnerable to attacks is just a small part of it.”
“But Bonding with a lightning Familiar is still worth the risk now?” Ethan asked.
“The risk is smaller than you may think. My Steel Bond will help keep us safe in a fight we’re prepared for, though an ambush could still be deadly. Now that you’re able to rely on your rift ability, you’ll need to be prepared to use it.”
“Right,” Ethan said. “You have a big metal crab, and you make metal spears.”
“Sylvie will do most of the work,” Valanor confirmed. “She can draw the lightning to herself. Still, be vigilant. Glenn’s gauntlet is…unreliable.”
“It worked that one time,” Glenn said defensively.
“Wait did you say ‘Sylvie’?” Ethan asked.
The knight sighed. “I told you, little brother named my Familiars.”
“Toby and Sylvie, that’s adorable,” Ethan said grinning at the knight’s discomfort. “What’s the last one’s name, Marigold?”
Glenn immediately whipped around, making a ‘why do you never know when to shut up’ gesture. “Enough talk. Let’s move,” Valanor said coldly.
***
It was a dysfunctional group that made their way into the dense forest. Cara was clearly used to Hunting on her own, and kept disappearing without warning to scout ahead, follow trails, or otherwise. Maggie was red-faced, from fury, exhaustion, or both, as she desperately ran after the other woman. She was clearly nowhere near as comfortable in the woods, but refused to shirk her duty.
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Valanor was still silently brooding, and had disappeared behind his heavy armor and helmet to reinforce that fact. Glenn, on the other hand, looked way, way too excited for a chance to use his Charge Gauntlet, to the point that Ethan was getting uncomfortable.
“Don’t worry Ethan, when your heart stops, I’ll be right there to get it going again.”
“What do you mean ‘when’ it stops?” Ethan asked in a high pitched voice. “And shouldn’t you have a second gauntlet?”
“Why would I need two? I won’t miss; I know where the heart is.” To demonstrate, he placed the gauntlet in the center of Ethan’s chest. The doctor shuddered, and adjusted the placement by a few inches, then moved the knight’s other hand to the side of his ribs.
“Wear your other gauntlet if–IF–you have to restart my heart. The current will flow between them.” Seeing Glenn’s disbelieving expression, Ethan sighed. “Just trust me on this, alright?”
They moved deeper into the woods, which were mostly fir trees and pines, and Ethan could feel the mountain’s incline more and more as the hours passed. Cara assured the group that they were following tracks that only she could see, but it was a fairly boring journey compared to the previous day. After some time, Ethan decided to practice the ability he’d been avoiding, reminding himself that he could need to use it at any moment.
Deevee burst into existence at his call, then obediently split into two at his mental command. It was somewhat strange that the little hydra could understand his desires without verbalizing them, but undeniably valuable. With another thought, the twin serpents raced off in different directions, and Ethan began his training.
Rift. He was a few dozen paces behind the group. Rift. He was off to the side, standing on a massive boulder. Rift. He hastily grabbed hold of the nearby tree trunk, struggling to find his balance fifty feet up, while perched on a thin branch. He grinned at the view, looking back down the mountain at the sea of green, even spotting the village in the distance.
Turning back around, he looked up at the mountain instead. It was an interesting peak. It looked almost like an ax of impossible scale had sliced into it, leaving something like a wound splitting it down the center. Ethan couldn’t make out many details from this distance, but he thought he saw something red in the shadows where the two sheer sides of the split met.
The forest was too dense for any kind of scouting from this sight, so he forced himself to jump, disappearing into a rift after a short fall. In a blink he was bursting back up from the ground behind the knights, the momentum launching him upward, and his boots silencing the landing. Deevee immediately flowed back into one creature, and he grinned down at it on his shoulder.
“Enough training,” Valanor whispered, “Cara spotted fresh tracks, and you should save your mana.” Ethan nodded, but the feel of his Bond Rune told him that he had mana to spare. Using his Familiar as an anchor drastically reduced the cost, in exchange for putting the small creatures in danger. He wanted more practice using his throwing knives as anchors, but now wasn’t the time.
They followed Cara slowly up the mountain, giving her space to scout ahead. At this point they could all see the paw prints on the ground between the rocks and roots, the fulven having a distinctive three-toed foot. Occasionally they’d see Talia, the Hunter’s jaguar prowling nearby on the watch for ambush, but the woods were strangely silent.
Ethan had only just realized that he couldn’t hear any bird calls, and the party was now moving tensely and more slowly, as if they could all sense that something wasn’t right. The four were moving up a slight rise, Maggie out front and trying to spot Cara when Valanor quietly signaled for a halt.
The trees had been thinning as they climbed higher, rocks leaving little room for them, and the small plateau they’d reached was fairly open. Ethan couldn’t see anything suspicious, and he glanced around warily trying to find what had disturbed the shield knight. There were a few logs, and large stones, but nothing that seemed big enough to hide behind, and he couldn’t spot any movement in the surrounding woods.
Valanor appeared convinced of some danger though, as steel spears began to appear in his hands. He drove a few into the ground, making a small perimeter, then indicated Ethan should stand in the middle, who did so nervously. Glenn smiled at him with child-like joy, pointing at the Charge Gauntlet eagerly. Ethan glared back, then tried to prepare himself for…whatever the hell was happening.
He imbued a dagger with a taste of dimensional energy, creating an anchor which he hurled up into a tree, then drew his own spear. He was grateful that its haft was made of some dense wood, as he considered what they were meant to face.
Maggie was still a ways ahead. She turned back, her own deep blue armor materializing around her in a soft flash of light. “I don’t see the Hunter!” she said in a whisper.
Valanor nodded, then gestured for the knight to return to the group. As she did, something impossible happened. One moment the clearing was empty, the next they were surrounded, fulven prowling near the treeline. Maggie went down hard as two fulven leaped on her at once. They were fast, and all Ethan saw was a streak of yellow before they were on her, powerful canine jaws snapping at her.
Glenn moved to help her, but was forced to stop when another pair of the creatures charged at him, again seeming to materialize from nowhere. He managed to get his two handed sword into a defensive position in time, but the group was getting increasingly out of formation. Valanor pulled him roughly back when Ethan moved to assist, instead sending another steel spear into the closet fulven.
“Stay by the spears!” Valanor ordered, summoning Sylvie as he did so. The massive crab began moving toward the still-downed Maggie, only to be intercepted by yet more of the yellow-furred wolves.
“What the hell is happening?” Ethan shouted, hurling daggers as more of the creatures kept appearing.
“I don’t know,” the shield knight said angrily, while driving a spear into another fulven. There were at least a dozen in the clearing now, a few of which were sprinting in circles, trails of sparking electricity building behind them. Ethan ducked down as an arc of power cascaded into the small circle of spears, then hurled a knife back at his attacker.
Glenn managed to fight a careful retreat back to the group, then took up a position at the rear so that Ethan was protected on both sides. “Where the hell are these things coming from?” he demanded, but no answers were forthcoming. “Maggie is still down! What do we do?”
Valanor could only grunt in response while knocking a fulven away, only for two more to take its place. Ethan stabbed forward with his spear to give the knight more room, then shielded his eyes as another bolt of electricity chained into one of the makeshift lightning rods.
“I can get to her!” he shouted, preparing to charge another rift anchor.
“You’ll stay where you are!” Valanor roared back, slamming his shield in an attempt to hold the attackers’ attention. Through the chaos, Ethan could see Maggie struggling on the ground, unable to get any leverage with a single ax, while the other arm held back a snapping yellow maw. Her other attacker was savaging her leg, and a third fulven was rushing forward to join the other two.
She couldn’t wait for help any longer, and Ethan hurled his knife forward, embedding itself in one of the attackers, a blue-white glow surrounding it. Ethan was calling his power, but stopped abruptly when his target went flying backward, a single arrow embedded in its neck.
A second of Maggie’s attackers was hurled back a moment later, leaving just one directly on top of her. A third arrow pierced the final beast’s hide, but the fulven barely seemed to register the attack. An odd red glow from the arrow began to spread across its victim, however, and when Maggie’s ax finally crashed into it, the red spiraled into her.
She seemed to get a surge of energy then, and threw the monster away, pushing herself to her feet a moment later. A second ax joined the first, and she made quick work of the wounded creature, the red glow flowing into her with every strike. After a few more moments of bloody work, she turned and ran back to the group, her bloody leg somehow not slowing her at all.
Maggie moved past Sylvie–who was not only engaging three speedy targets of her own, but was being struck repeatedly with bursts of electricity–and quickly joined the formation. Once again in the center of three protective knights, Ethan was able to switch his focus to hurling daggers as he tried to make sense of the scene.
Most of the fulven were down now. They were fast and deadly, but not particularly durable. Without being focused on trying to stay alive, the knights and unseen archer were able to make quick work of them. Ethan was turning around in place, trying to find Cara when a weight slammed into him from behind.
A fulven had pounced on his back, and they rolled on the ground together. It was a chaotic few moments as the world spun around him, both combatants desperate for some advantage. When they finally ceased their tumbling, the beast was above him, but Ethan had managed to put a dagger between himself and his attacker. His blade was held outward, and he tried to ignore the sick feeling of blood spilling down on him while he stabbed repeatedly, his eyes locked on snapping jaws and red, hateful eyes.
The fulven soon slowed, its weight collapsing onto him. Ethan pushed it off with a heave, panting as he lay on the ground recovering. He looked over just in time to see Glenn approaching, an eager look in his eye as he raised a hand crackling with electricity.
“Don’t you dare, you damned lunatic!” Ethan shouted as the knight reached for his chest.
“Oh, I guess you’re alright,” Glenn said innocently. “I mean, I could have restarted your heart anyway, so it wouldn’t have mattered, but–”
Ethan pushed the man aside, who gave him a wink to show that he’d been joking. “You’re psychotic,” Ethan said with a disbelieving laugh, managing to stand but still catching his breath. The knights gathered around him, and Cara emerged from the trees a few moments later.
“What in the hells was that?” Maggie asked while inspecting her leg. “Where’d they come from?”
Glenn just shrugged, but Valanor looked around the clearing curiously, and Ethan followed suit. It took him a moment to notice what was different, as the sparkling monster bodies were distracting. His eyes widened when he realized how empty the plateau was. “The rocks and logs…they’re all gone,” he said. “They were all roughly fulven-sized, weren’t they?”
“He’s right,” Cara said as she joined them. “I was ambushed as well. Talia sensed something, and suddenly three fulven were right next to me. They were disguised somehow.”
“Not just visually, but in the Astral as well,” Valanor said in a concerned tone. “They’re not capable of anything like this. What’s happening here?”
“I’m not sure,” Cara answered as the rest exchanged looks. “I didn’t encounter anything like this the last time I was here. But I was trying to avoid them then, not track them down. Still,” she continued, “I think I have a clue.”
She gestured for them to follow, and the group moved off, Ethan quickly touching each fulven for loot as he did so.
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You have looted [Fulven (13), Common]:
You have received:
* 3 Dusk Coins
* 473 Dawn Coins
* 13 Fulven Gems (Dawn Rank)
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Ethan hurried after the others, Glenn having waited to make sure he was safe. “Shame I couldn’t Bond any of these,” he commented as he caught up.
“That part won’t be easy. You definitely can’t do it in the middle of a battle. We’ll need to corner one, weaken it, then use a Bond Stone. Valanor would have gone over this if we’d been the ones ambushing, but this day is not going according to plan.”
“Welcome to my life,” Ethan said as they followed the group between the trees. Cara led the way, this time staying close as she silently guided them forward. After a few minutes they emerged in another small clearing. It was likely where she’d been ambushed, judging by the blood staining the rocks and pine needles.
The group came to a stop as the Huntress pointed upward, toward the mountain. They needed to move slightly to get a clear view, but when they did, Valanor cursed. “A Dimensional Bleed,” he said angrily. “How could one so old even be here?”
Ethan didn’t recognize the term, and couldn’t make out what they were seeing from the ground. In a flash Deevee was up a tree, and a rift brought Ethan up a moment later. With a better view, his jaw dropped at what he saw.
There, tucked into the bottom of the cleave in the mountain, was the spot of red he’d viewed earlier. Now seen clearly, he found that he recognized it. From Earth. The local architecture felt like medieval Europe, with nothing but bland, square buildings and cottages. With the exception of the stone palace, they were all brown with thatch or tiled roofs.
This, on the other hand, was unmistakably Japanese. It was a five story pagoda, with the famous multiple false-roofs that marked that particular style of construction. Each tier was the faded red Ethan had spotted from further down the mountain, though the windows were all sealed shut by dark wood. Without knowing why, he was certain that the building was the source of the mysteries they were encountering.
He was equally certain that he needed to get inside.