The first day with Zoe’s new group passed without incident, though nobody else seemed notice James’ group stalking behind them. She thought about bringing it up a few times, but found herself interested in what they were planning to do. Would they attack her at night? Wait for a moment of weakness and leap out as a great ‘aha!’ moment?
She wasn’t sure, but if Brick and the others didn’t notice, then Zoe decided they could give it their best shot for at least a day or two. After that, it wouldn’t be right to either Brick or James’ groups to let it continue and cause some chaos so far away from the relative safety of town.
They stopped near an uprooted tree and Brick vanished into the forest while Blue and Spark both began ripping the rotting tree apart and building a small fire.
“Do you not have storage items?" Zoe asked. She thought she remembered seeing people use them at times, but now that she thought about it wasn’t sure. Had everybody just brought stuff out of their pockets? People didn’t tend to carry around heavy bags, but that could just be because the bags were heavy, rather than that they didn’t need the stuff in them.
Blue shook their head. “Brick has one. Pretty expensive one too, a full bag. Enough to store our necessities and some nice comforts.”
One bag was an expensive storage item, Zoe wondered? She had fourteen bags of storage items on her, and even more if she wanted to take the Storage skill. Were they less common down here, or was somebody hoarding every one that was made for some reason?
“Right. So no food then.” Zoe said.
Spark laughed. “Who would store food? The woods are full of food if you just take a few minutes to look for it.”
Zoe shrugged. “A tradeoff I guess. If you store food you can save a few precious minutes of light every day to keep moving.”
“Do you have one? One of those bracelets, I guess?” Blue asked.
Zoe nodded. “Both the bracelets are. I can hold two bags if you need something carried.”
“What’s the ring?" Spark asked.
Zoe smiled, thinking of James who was likely nearby listening in. “It’s a ring I got a long time ago, just kept it ever since. I think it looks pretty nice.”
Brick appeared a moment later with a dead wolf next to him. Spark grabbed a dagger from their waist and started carving into it with an expert precision, tossing chunks of meat at Zoe.
“Mara’s a rich girl apparently, she’ll store our meat and we’ll keep moving more tomorrow.” Spark said, hurling a boneless hunk of muscle at Zoe who stored it all away in her ring.
Brick raised an eyebrow at the sight. “You’ve got enough to store food?”
Zoe nodded. “Yeah, I told them already but I can hold two bags for you.”
“Which means you have even more capacity, but it’s full, huh?” Brick asked.
“Something like that.” Zoe answered.
“How much more? You’re not afraid of us stealing from you?" Brick asked, their emotions feeling like a child giggling at their own joke. Joy and smugness radiated from them.
Zoe laughed. Even if Brick wanted to, Zoe doubted many would be able to steal jewellery she was wearing. “No. No, I’m not afraid of you stealing from me.”
“Well, you get started digging our home for the night. Spark will make us some dinner.” Brick said and sat down on a nearby fallen tree.
Zoe nodded and turned her attention to the ground below her as she began to carve away an entrance with a gradual slope. It was a careful balancing act between using enough mana to get the job done in the few minutes of light they had remaining while not using so much as to appear too competent.
And to her surprise, she found the process quite relaxing. Were she to do this without the restrictions, she would just lift all of the dirt away in an instant, but needing to go slower made her think about the process in more detail. How she moved the dirt, which rocks she could use to carry or push away clumps of dirt and gravel with less mana usage. How the small pebbles embedded in the ground could be used to reinforce the walls and pack in the ground they would walk on.
It once again reminded her of how her quick rise to power had corrupted her perspective. Her unlimited well of mana pushed away the need for precision, for elegance. She was a wrecking ball trying to whittle away at a chunk of wood. It just wouldn’t work.
She thought back to when she first stepped up Moaning Point, the weakness she felt at the time. How she used every tool at her disposal to try and tackle the problem, skills and enchantments. Studying fighting and shields to push her way through it.
That was lost on her now, and this pulled her back to that moment. Needing to find the best way to use her skill, the best use of every scrap of mana she could spend.
After another ten minutes, Zoe broke out of the trance she’d fallen into as she squeezed the most out of every drop of mana she could use to Brick tapping her on the shoulder.
“Good job.” They said.
Zoe looked around at what she’d done. Packed in dirt floors covered in pebbles she pulled up from within the ground. Walls with large rocks squished into each other, fitting perfectly as they climbed up the supporting pillars spaced evenly along the walls.
Four separate rooms were carved out, with hefty packed dirt doors hanging from rocks that had notches carved out to form makeshift hinges, with earthen beds in each filled with soft blue grass and packed dirt.
“I thought you said you could do it in a pinch. This is a lot more than just a pinch.” Blue said, looking at the dirt hovel Zoe carved out.
Zoe smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “I just really enjoyed it today, for some reason.”
“We noticed,” Spark said, handing Zoe a plank of bark with greasy meat and some tufts of blue grass. “You didn’t even stop to eat.”
“Well, if we’ll be sleeping like this every night then this will be quite the pleasant journey.” Brick said and summoned three blankets from their storage item. “I assume you have your own blanket?”
Zoe nodded.
“Good. Eat up and get some sleep, we’ll be getting some prep in at light for our journey. Spark, you’ll cook up the rest of the meat for Mara to store. Blue, you and I will determine the extent of Mara’s abilities.” Brick said.
“And what about the ones following us?" Blue asked.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Following us?” Zoe asked, a little surprised. They hadn’t shown any indication of noticing throughout the day.
Brick laughed. “Looks like James’ group really likes you. They’ve been following us since we left. What’d you do to them, anyway?"
“I didn’t do anything to them, really.” Zoe said.
“Well, if you are the dangerous monster then don’t eat us while we sleep, alright?” Brick laughed.
Zoe shook her head. “I don’t eat humans. Honestly sometimes I feel weird about eating animals, but that’s another story.”
“I vote we kill them.” Spark said.
“I don’t know about killing them,” Blue said. “If they attack us tonight then we’ll have no choice. If they’re still around tomorrow, I vote we scare them off.”
“Agreed.” Brick said. “I’ll know if they step into our camp. Mara?”
“Yes?" Zoe asked.
“What’s your vote?” Brick asked.
“I don’t want to kill them.” Zoe said.
Brick nodded. “We leave them for tonight then. If they attack us, we fight back. If they’re still around tomorrow, we scare them off. Understood?"
Blue and Spark both nodded.
“Good. Get some sleep.” Brick went into their room, closing the earthen door behind them. It didn’t quite fit perfectly, but even Zoe was surprised at how well the makeshift stone hinges worked.
Zoe went into her room and laid down on the earthen bed, thinking about the day as she watched the grass just above her wave back and forth in the gentle breeze. The breathing from the others slowed to a more even, steady pace as they all drifted off to sleep and Zoe thought about the experience of carving out their little hovel.
The hours passed as the others’ steady breathing and the occasional breeze blowing through the sloped entrance was the only company she had. Until a foot stepped into the edge of her perception. Then another, and another two. She watched as James and Lilith both tried to sneak into the remnants of their camp, each step placed with care as they felt about the grass with their toes in the dark.
A minute later, Brick’s steady breathing was interrupted with a deeper breath and a hushed sigh. Then some rustling in Blue’s room as they were woken, then Spark’s. The three met up outside in the tiny hallway Zoe had carved out of the ground and whispered to each other.
“They’re here,” Brick said in a voice only just audible to Zoe’s ears through the cracks in her door.
“How many?” Blue asked.
“Right now, two.” Brick answered.
“Do we wake Mara?” Spark asked.
“No.” Brick said. “She can sleep.”
“Do we engage?” Blue asked.
“Not yet.” Brick said. “They might just be investigating. If they show signs of aggression, we attack.”
Silence fell in the little hovel as Zoe watched James and Lilith continue feeling their way around the campsite with their feet. A large bag hung from James’ shoulders, folding around his leg with each step he took. They rummaged through the campfire and checked out the rotted log that was used as kindling, and then James found the small entrance to Zoe’s hovel.
“Here,” he whispered.
Lilith nodded and walked over. The two felt around for the gentle slope Zoe had carved on their hands and knees, feeling for the far edges of where it started and ended.
“You sure?" Lilith asked.
“Yeah. It’s her.” James said and leaned back on his hands as he closed his eyes. Lilith got up and left, her quick and silent steps taking her from Zoe’s perception soon after.
James opened his eyes and stared into the darkness before him as he rummaged through his bag and brought out two objects. One large jar about the size of his head, full of some kind of liquid. And the other was a small torch.
Zoe watched as he unscrewed the lid and poured the contents of it down the slope. It reached the bottom in moments and soaked into Brick’s groups feet as their eyes widened.
“SHIT!” Brick shouted and teleported the group into Zoe’s room. A moment later, James ignited his torch and tossed it down the hole, sprinting off into the forest as soon as he did. The liquid he poured down ignited and cast long flickering shadows along the walls as the demons that lurked within jumped out and swarmed the hallway and the campsite above, furious at the light that threatened their rule.
Horned beasts and dark wolves piled over each other in the light, letting out a terrible noise as their cacophonous screams mixed together. Two horned imps jumped out of the darkness as the flames poked through the cracks in the door.
Brick grabbed Zoe’s shoulders and shook her. “SEAL THE DOOR!” They shouted at Zoe as Blue and Spark swung their spears at the imps, impaling them on the ends and smashing them into the dirt wall.
Zoe obliged, and pulled earth in to block out the flickering light that threatened to creep through the cracks. Brick collapsed a moment later.
“I can’t believe he would do that.” Brick said, shaking their head. “Is he insane?"
“We need to kill them.” Spark said. “If they’re willing to do that, they can’t be kept alive.”
“Can your healing keep us alive if we suffocate?” Brick asked. “How long do we have? Will we make it to light?"
“I don’t know.” Zoe said. “Maybe? Can’t you just teleport us away?"
Brick clicked their tongue. “I can get us above ground, but I’m sure there’s just as much light up there right now. Can you put the fire out with your water?"
“If I can see it, yeah.” Zoe answered.
“Dammit. We’d need to open the wall up for that. Do you two think you can hold off the demons?" Brick asked.
“Not for long. That’s a lot of light, Brick.” Blue said. “Maybe if it was just imps, but I saw a wolf before you got us in here, Brick.”
“Maybe for a few seconds, depending on how many there are. Can you tell?" Spark asked.
“No. There’s too many, my skill’s overwhelmed.” Brick clicked their tongue again.
Blue nodded. “We’ll have to wait for light and then you can teleport us up.”
“Dammit.” Brick cursed again. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, Brick.” Blue said.
“We should’ve killed them last night.” Spark said.
“I know. You were right, Spark. I’m sorry. I was naïve. I didn’t think they’d be capable of this. Worst case scenario I thought I could get us out of danger. I never imagined they’d light our home.” Brick shook their head.
“You did get us out of danger, Brick. It’s alright. Nobody could have expected this.” Blue said.
“Thanks.” Brick said and sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall.
The night passed with the group staying silent, a dulled shame and annoyance filling Zoe’s room. The fires burnt out in the hallway and the horrifying screams stopped as the demons fell back into the shadows, crawling along the walls and into each of the other rooms.
“Think it’s light?" Blue asked.
“Might just be the fire burnt out?” Zoe suggested, seeing the darkness still above their hovel.
“We’ll wait a bit longer.” Brick said, not getting up from their spot on the floor.
Hours more passed, and eventually Brick began teleporting up to the surface every hour to check for light. Almost twenty minutes after the first light broke through in the campsite above, Brick teleported up and returned to share the news.
“We’re going to stick with the plan. Spark, you cook up the food for Mara. Mara, you’re with Blue and I to see the extent of your abilities. If anybody catches so much as a glimpse of James’ party, let me know.” Brick said through gritted teeth.