“Did we lose them?” Regalas asked, sounding tired in Aldin’s mind.

Aldrin peaked his head out from their hiding spot, scanning the horizon. “I think so?” He whispered, slumping back down, letting out a quiet chuckle to release the tension.

“Never in my hundred years would I have imagined those goats being the hunter instead of the hunted. Truthfully, I would rather face a Drake than those monsters.” Regalas said, twitching his ears for any noise of hooves.

“It’s probably the work of the Dungeon. Everything becomes a predator; even the harmless-looking things we saw a few moments ago. I’m just curious why they didn’t do the same when we fought them?” Aldrin asked.

“We aren’t their choice of diet clearly,” Regalas flatly said.

“Funny,” Aldrin deadpanned. “At least they only saw us towards the end of whatever that was,” he added.

“From now on we avoid the Boulder Goats at all costs,” Regalas declared, moving to see around the corner this time.

Aldrin hopped over the rocky outcropping, “Agreed. I don’t want to get swarmed and eaten alive. I’m not sure if I can even come back from that,” He nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Do you know where the Perytons are?” He asked after a moment of looking around.

Regalas looked upwards, trying to find a high point that would allow for easy take off or dense clusters of rocks. “Anything that can be easily defensible and easy to fly from,” He finally said after trying to decipher the best place.

Aldrin hummed and clicked his tongue, then switched his vision again, this time avoiding anything that was even remotely goat shaped. He looked upwards along the ridgeline and then he saw it. “There!” He patted the flank of Regalas, getting him to turn in the direction he was pointing.

Flicking his ears and snorting, Regalas happily trotted in that direction. Aldrin followed close behind, keeping an eye out for anything that would cause them trouble. He could not go through this flippantly as he had been, or at least until they had a better advantage.

“Aldrin?” Evie’s voice brushed against his.

He stopped in surprise. “Evie? How?! When?! Better yet, thank fuck you’re close. I may have bitten off more than I could chew,” He admitted.

She mentally scoffed, “When don’t you?” She playfully added. “We are close. Where exactly are you?”

Grinning to himself, “On top of the biggest mountain.”

Regalas side eyed him when Aldrin laughed to himself as Evie let out a string of curses through his mind. “You’re lucky I have a runestone to get us up there,” she said after calming down.

With a shit-eating grin, he replied, “Trust me, it’s gonna be worth it when you see why! Also, avoid the goats!” Aldrin warned her.

“Goats? What goats?” Evie asked.

Chuckling more to himself, he ignored her questions as she continued to pester him about what he meant. She gave up soon after, leaving Aldrin and Regalas to themselves.

“They are close,” Aldrin informed.

“Did you tell them about the goats?” Regalas asked.

Aldrin shrugged with a smirk. “I gave a hint, but nothing more.”

Regalas snorted. “I will admit, a certain deviousness does not skip among your kin.”

Aldrin clutched imaginary pearls. “I am not devious, Regalas! I am offended that you even think so,” He said, turning his nose up playfully.

“Surely you jest? No?” Regalas asked in all seriousness.

Taken aback, Aldrin sputtered until Regalas laughed too. “You are not the only funny one,” He said, grinning.

“Sometimes I think you’re not really a unicorn,” Aldrin said.

“I am almost not a unicorn in but a few moments.” Regalas gleefully said. Aldrin noticed there was a giddiness to Regalas’ steps that had not been there before. He assumed the closer they got to the Perytons, the more anxious and excited he became. It was a weird thing to see a human reaction come from a Unicorn that has a completely unique body language. Fortunately, that giddiness was infectious, as Aldrin gave a slight smile at the excitement.

It didn’t take them long to reach the place where Aldrin pointed out. Reaching there, it turned out it was a cliff with an open-mouthed cave. Regalas wasted no time, conjuring the same energy into his horn, then tapping the ground in front of his hooves to make them glow.

This time, Aldrin decided he would walk upwards instead of crawling. He planted his foot on the rock wall, feeling the ability to maneuver the gravity around him as it shifted, then planted the other foot, allowing the ability to fully take hold. A case of vertigo assaulted him briefly, but it vanished as quickly as it came. The odd sight of a man and Unicorn walking vertically up a rock wall would have given anyone questions, but to those two it was a simple stroll among nature.

Upon reaching the top, both of their abilities stopped and Aldrin’s night vision kicked in so he could peer into the looming cave before them. It was tall enough to fit another two or three of him on top of his shoulders and wide enough to walk in a line of four as they both cautiously walked inside. Tufts of silvery grey fur with a subtle sheen littered the floor, along with similar quality feathers and an odd-looking nest mostly made of animal bones and discarded fur clumps. Yet there were no signs of the Perytons that had come so far to hunt.

Regalas stomped his two front hooves in frustration, then walked deeper into the cave, sniffing and snorting at anything that didn’t give him the clues he wanted. “They must be here somewhere!” He finally said, returning to Aldrin’s side as he too scanned the area for any signs.

“They must be out hunting or grazing? Actually, what do they even eat?” Aldrin curiously asked.

“Much like us, they are omnivores, but they aren’t hunters. More like scavengers, vultures really,” Regalas sneered at the last part.

“And you want to eat them? Why? Wouldn’t that make you a bigger vulture?” Aldrin teased, to which Regalas did not deign to answer and only sidelong glare at him.

Aldrin was getting ready to tease him again when he heard the distinct sound of flapping wings at an even, steady gait, only they sounded much larger with a lot more force to them. He snapped his head toward the sound, his eyesight zooming to get a clearer picture of the most majestic beast he had ever seen.

The Peryton flew towards them at a leisurely pace. It was a large buck, silvery feathered wings of an eagle with the tips of each feather glistening white, golden antlers that curved upwards, almost meeting in the middle like an eccentric halo. Gray wooly fur decorated its neck, stopping only once it met the body to which it tapered off into thin hairs that swayed with the breeze. Its black hooves that were slightly pointed on their fore edges galloped through the air in cadence with the beat of its wings. What added even more beauty to it was that it came with the morning sun. The slight white glow surrounding it almost made Aldrin weep.

“It’s beautiful,” Aldrin whispered breathlessly.

Warning!

You have been Charmed!

Aldrin ignored the alert that popped up, pushing it away mentally so he could continue to stare glassy eyed with a stupid grin at the Peryton.

Regalas looked revolted at the comment and distanced himself. “Don’t be swayed by its charms! It’s a defense mechanism!” He chided Aldrin.

“But how could we ever kill such a thing?” Aldrin’s glassy gaze never left the Peryton as he continued to stare, not wanting to miss any second of the creature.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“I’m sorry friend, but I have no choice and this is going to sting a little,” Regalas said, gathering up black energy into his horn, then firing it at Aldrin’s back.

Stunned from the hit, Aldrin spasmed, then fell, sputtering on the ground as the energy rushed through him. “What the fuck Regalas?!” He shouted, clarity coming back to him before it dawned on him that he fell under a charm.

The fury that was directed at Regalas was now directed at the Peryton that still came to them at its leisurely pace without a care in the world. “It charmed me! How could it have done that? I thought I was immune to charms?!” Aldrin furiously asked, gnashing his fangs that sprouted.

“Inspect it,” Regalas said.

Aldrin then looked, using inspect and did a double take.

Name: Mountain Peryton

Level: 30

Tier 3

Lore: One of the fabled beasts of Wood Elven society, the Perytons are guardians of nature, travel, and wind. The Wood Elves often leave offerings whenever they must go on a distant journey in hopes of being protected by these winged beasts.

“It’s a Tier higher than me,” Aldrin whispered, noting to himself to be careful of charms from higher Tiered beings in the future. Still, it gave some clarity on his power scaling and concluded of not being completely overpowered as he thought. At least not to charms for now.

“Kill it!” Regalas demanded, zigzagged toward it and only stopped to fire off his energy bolts from his horn before moving to a different location.

Aldrin needed no other incentive as he used Roar of the Apex to silence the Peryton’s magical abilities. In doing so, the Peryton’s flight stalled. It flapped its wings as hard as it could, only to glide down to the ground. “Magical flight?” Aldrin murmured to himself before jumping down to engage the Peryton in melee combat.

However, the Peryton wasn’t as helpless as it seemed even though Regalas’s magic bolts now penetrated it, it still showed no signs of slowing down once Aldrin got into its range. It charged, antlers pointed towards him like many spear points. Unsure of how strong it actually was, Aldrin sidestepped the charge, swiping quickly, scoring a shallow cut. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, noticing its fur was denser than he originally thought.

Still, Regalas shot his energy bolts while Aldrin took point. The Peryton bellowed, screeching like an elk. It glimmered once more, then flapped its wings, taking flight again. Aldrin contemplated throwing Sin-Screamer, but he risked missing and losing the weapon. He mentally kicked himself in the ass for not taking Sin-Screamer’s return trait, since that would come in handy now.

Gripping his weapon tightly, he could only wait for his roar to come off cooldown so he could ground the Peryton again. “Regalas! Aim for its wing joints!” Aldrin shouted.

Regalas wordlessly agreed as he aimed at its wing joints, but the Peryton danced through the air, dodging 2 out of 3 shots that Regalas rapidly fired. “It’s too evasive! We gotta distract it!” Regalas said, racing down the cliff face this time.

Aldrin quickly raced down his ability list of his Class and Race, looking for some sort of power that would help. He sped through his abilities until bouncing back to the Necromancy Tree with Summon Skeleton. Unsure if there would be any use to the skill, he threw caution to the wind.

He activated it, remembering the Skill from before. He held out his hand as a marble sized black blob fell, seeping into the ground. The area pulsed with a black circle once, then faded. Cursing to himself, he quickly rolled away from the beam of light the Peryton shot, searing the ground where he once stood.

Aldrin called out to Regalas, “I tried something!” He rolled again, dodging another beam, “But I don’t know if it worked!” He said, coming to stand and readying himself to block a beam with the blade of Sin-Screamer.

He grunted from the impact as it pushed him back with more force than he expected, forcing him to cause grooves in the dirt from digging his feet in. Sin-Screamer’s blade had turned molten red from the intensity of the beam. It made its displeasure and discomfort known when it let out a shrill scream in Aldrin’s mind. It almost forced him to drop it but had to reaffirm his grip as the Peryton grew frustrated and dove straight for Aldrin.

Regalas capitalized on the opportunity by aiming at the hind legs of the Peryton. His bolts were weaker because of the sun rising, but he hoped it would be enough of a distraction.

The bolt struck, sending a slight twitch up the hindquarters of the Peryton. It had done what Regalas wanted, which was turning the ire of the Peryton onto him and away from Aldrin.

Aldrin felt another connection snap into place in his mind. Something long forgotten had latched onto his Necromancy ability. The ground where the ability had penetrated shifted as a blue crystalized skeletal hand clawed its way out. It was another Jade Carver, but instead of the usual green crystals that jutted out of its body, they were now sapphire blue, reminiscent of the Undead nature.

It whipped its head around, screeching in primal fury, drawing the attention of all. Aldrin grinned wildly while Regalas looked like he wanted to run, and the Peryton balefully glared at the new challenger.

Name: Summoned Jade Carver - Undead Variant.

Level: Level 22

The carver broke off a piece of itself, then sharpened the Jade into a javelin. It hurled it at the Peryton, forcing it to quickly maneuver itself for the least amount of damage. The javelin missed, but that didn’t seem to perturb the Carver as it let out a short gruff growl. Aldrin watched in awe as the javelin curved back around, piercing the Peryton through its wing joint, crippling it.

It tried to flap its one good wing to stabilize itself from the fall, but it couldn’t in time, hitting the ground with a loud thud. Aldrin and his Carver Summon raced to the impact. He switched his vision to see the white outline of the Peryton through the dust but was blinded by the Peryton’s radiant energy as it exploded outward in a dome. Sensing the danger the Carver pushed Aldrin away but not hard enough as the dome of energy seared his arm off, forcing him to drop Sin-Screamer as he clutched the pit where his arm used to be.

Aldrin expected it to hurt a lot more than it should have, yet no pain came, only the sensation of having a phantom limb. The human side of him wanted to scream out at the sudden loss, but the vampire side of him simply shrugged it off and pushed to fight harder.

”Aldrin! Are you ok?” Regalas mentally asked, shooting more bolts of black at the Peryton that was still obscured by the dust.

The Peryton wasn’t idle in the meantime, it blindly and randomly fired off beams in all directions. One beam clipped the flank of Regalas, earning a brief snort from the Black Unicorn. Aldrin dove to the ground to avoid any more stray beams until the dust settled.

Once it had settled, Aldrin saw the Peryton still looked normal minus the crippled wing it kept trying to use. Seeing Aldrin only incensed the anger that billowed forth from the Peryton. It bayed a long note that changed in undulating octaves.

“It’s calling for backup!” Regalas said, fearfully looking upwards in case of an attack.

Aldrin felt the pit of his arm at his shoulder that was charred flesh. It only briefly stung when he touched it, but something more sinister now bloomed. The loss of an arm meant the loss of blood, and the loss of blood meant that hunger would consume him.

It didn’t take long for the sharp jabbing in his stomach to begin the telltale signs of it. Sin-Screamer was within arm's reach, but he started shaking as the beast demanded blood. His skin turned ashen gray, his hair no longer the wispy white and thin but held the dull brown of his normal hair. Blackened claws grew from his fingernails, and his fangs grew. He was no longer a gaunt-looking vampire but a slightly malnourished with slight definition. His eyes turned a blazing green as he roared.

He charged at the stunned Peryton, closing the distance in three blinks, then lunged. The Peryton swiped at him with its antlers, skewering him through his chest and leg. That didn’t stop Aldrin as the beast urged him to push forward, and so he did. Taking hold of the antlers with his remaining good arm, he pulled himself closer, the hunger and need for sustenance driving him to ignore the discomfort he felt.

Regalas didn’t sit idly by taking the chance to charge up the energy in his horn while the Peryton was distracted. He watched on, cautious of Aldrin as he kept turning more feral as his prey grew closer with each tug. Blood ran down his body and dripped onto the ground, but it didn’t stop him, ‌which set a fear inside Regalas at the monster.

Regalas’ horn glowed a dull black that warbled the surrounding air. Knowing what he had to do as the Peryton began to thrash and rear, Regalas swiftly appeared beside it but far enough away to not catch a stray hoof to the face. He angled his head in time to let loose the concentrated bolt of energy at the Peryton’s antlers.

The dark energy of Regalas’ horn and the bright lights of the Peryton’s antlers clashed with Aldrin caught in the middle. The two energies fought until the resulting explosion blinded everyone.

When Regalas regained his vision, a smoky crater remained. “Aldrin!” He mentally called, searching for his friend, through the haze.

A weak groan got his attention that he ran, too. Regalas came upon the smoldering and burnt form of Aldrin. His armor was in tatters, as were the clothes underneath. His hair was singed, leaving random bald patches.

Another weak groan came from him as his eyes tried to flutter open. Regalas turned, frantically looking for the Peryton in order to heal his friend. Yet anywhere he looked, he saw nothing that moved. “Hang on friend! I’ll be right back!” Regalas tried to comfort Aldrin before racing off to get a better look inside the crater.

A further from Aldrin, Regalas saw parts of the shattered antlers. Their luminous glow slightly dimmed by the minute. They called to him, alluring him into consuming them, to which he greedily obliged. They were crunchy, like chewing on the root vines of a lyce tree he used to eat with his mother.

The crushed antlers burned going down, but then they settled in the pit of his stomach waiting for something else before moving on. Ignoring them for a moment, he returned to his search for the Peryton, knowing he had a portion of its power he was eager to consume the rest of it that remained in its heart.

Deeper inside the cratered pit, he heard the sorrowful bellows of the dying beast. Hurriedly, he rushed to it. He saw it, mangled, beaten, and bloodied. It was trying to drag itself out of the crater and away from them. He charged up his horn again, then fired, hitting the pitiful fleeing beast in its spine.

It bellowed in pain before Regalas turned to drag Aldrin back to the beast. He stopped short when he saw three more humans hovering over Aldrin. One of them was frantically pulling stuff out of thin air, much how Aldrin’s sword materialized before. With cautious steps, he approached until one of them, the one who had a bow, heard him and shot an arrow that landed in front of him with a ringing thud.

Regalas stopped short, eyeing the three. “Evie! Pierre!” The bowman said, turning their attention towards him, who then pointed at Regalas.

The woman gasped in shock while the other looked warily on. “Fri…end…” Aldrin wheezed, forcing Jared to put his bow down.