The forests gave way to grassland just as the sun was starting to set. Not wanting to sleep in the open, the pair moved back in under the thick trees and found a hollow surrounded by three massive pines. The sloped earth and thick boughs blocked any light they made. Once they tossed out the fallen twigs and branches, the two had a soft pile of pine needles to relax onto.
Not wanting to create smoke or catch their small cave of branches on fire, they settled for Joe’s [Heart Fire] only, instead of a real campfire. This meant a cold meal from the supplies the Dellhams had given them. But they did receive the spell’s blessings as compensation. Even Kaid commented on how sleeping on the road was not so bad when one could wake up with a [Heart Fire]. All the sore muscle aches from the travel and uneven ground were eased away in the warm aura of the spell.
Before he headed off to sleep, Joe spent an hour cleaning up a new walking stick. While this shaft was heavier than the one he had found on his first day in Illuminaria, it clearly was not as solid as his lost staff. It might hold up in a fight but Joe doubted it would last for more than a hit or two. Still, it was better than nothing.
He vetoed Kaid's idea of tying the goblin knife to the end to make it into a spear. The last thing he wanted to do was slice his arm open if he tripped on something.
“You could just try not to be such a klutz,” was the little man's reply before rolling over and falling asleep.
They awoke early. Crawling to the edge of their hideout, they listened for men and dogs before leaving their den under the pines. The fugitives walked back to the edge of the forest and again stopped and scanned for signs of pursuit. Since it seemed as though they had lost the hunters, Joe and Kaid ventured onto the wide flood plains that would bring them to Heron’s Reef sometime in the late afternoon or early evening.
As the sun crossed over its peak in the sky, the pair were missing the woodlands they had left behind. The trees had thinned until they became lone stragglers in the vast open space. This left the traveling duo with very little shade from the hot sun. They sweated in the summer heat and the grass scraped itchily across any uncovered body part it could reach.
Even the cooling scales in Joe’s gambeson could not combat the baking temperature. He took the heavy jacket off for a few minutes until he realized he was no more comfortable. He actually felt warmer without the touch of the ice dragon scales next to his chest.
The grasses were not as tall as they had had to contend with near the Brandy Mere, mostly coming to Joe’s knees. On the flip side, the grainy stalks were seedier, leaving pants covers with little prickly kernels that found their way into their boots and stabbed at their arches and toes.
Joe kicked himself for not asking Granny Growlbee for any Ease Discomfort type spells. They would surely be useful as a healer. As cool as [Deaden Flesh] was, Joe would have traded it for a fever-reducing spell. He wondered if [Cooling Touch] was a witch spell. He doubted it. They would probably call it something like [Bitter Breeze] or maybe [Breath of Night].
While Joe was pondering witchy spell names, he did not notice Kaid vanish from his side until a voice hissed from the grasses somewhere to his left. “Remember the goblin fight?”
“Yeah? It was yesterday,” Joe replied looking around.
“Great. Different monster. Same plan.”
“Wait? What?” Joe stopped scanning the grass for Kaid and began to search the area further around himself. It took him a second before he saw an oddly brindled form inch a step towards him. There was a lion slinking through the tan grass a dozen yards away. The predator was cougar sized, with a slight greenish striping across her coat. Even with her just a short distance away, Joe was having a hard time differentiating between her lower body and the grass.
“Oh crap,” he groaned. “Kaid, I really hate this tactic.”
It dawned on him he did not need to play by Kaid’s rules. Joe pointed at the ground right in front of the tawny feline and dropped a [Heart Fire]. He received the reaction he had hoped for. The beast yowled and lept backwards from the burst of harmless flames.
Joe felt clever for only a second until a heavy weight landed on his back. Teeth punctured into his shoulder and he was borne to the ground, landing hard on his stomach and face.
A Prairie Prowler has injured you. You have lost 36% of your health.
That bite would have killed him yesterday, but thanks to his increased vigor, he was merely wounded. Since being under the cat was the worst place to be, Joe decided not to be there anymore. He locked his eyes on a spot twenty feet away and let the medallion jump him to it.
Unfortunately, Joe had never tried to jump without bringing the creature he was touching with him. He appeared in the chosen location but the cat came along for the ride. He could feel it back there, shifting its body to bring its claws into play.
“Son of a bitch!” Joe yelled as the fangs ground deeper into his flesh.
Joe grabbed the next option that came to mind. He slapped a hand against the jaws that were locked onto his neck and shouted, “Deaden flesh!” He knew he did not need to call out his abilities, but it was a reaction he couldn’t stop in the moment. Given that he had a lioness biting towards his jugular, he figured even Kaid might let the cringy battlecry slide.
Your skill [Deaden Flesh] has increased to rank 1.
The weight suddenly jumped off his back. He rolled over to see the lioness swatting at her face. Her lower jaw hung slack, flopping around as the beast batted at it. Her eyes were wild-looking, unable to comprehend why her mouth was suddenly numb.
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Prairie Prowler: Level 6: Beast: Skirmisher: Dexterity: 154/154 (Impaired)
The additional status note was nice but Joe was more worried about her friends than her current state. He scanned the brush around him and spotted the first lioness in the tan grasses. She had gotten over the flames and was closing on them but she had paused, holding herself with an air of uncertainty. Joe guessed she was trying to figure out why her pridemate was acting so strangely. Before either of them refocused on him, Joe heard another sound coming from his right.
“Hey, you hairy bitch! Get off of me!”
Not good. There were more than two lionesses. Lions were pack hunters, so Joe should have guessed. The question was how many were there. If there were a lot more out there then he and Kaid were in real trouble. The lioness in front of him started to stalk around Joe, forcing him to turn to face her. Joe used [Healing Touch] to repair most of his damage. Even as he did so he expected another attack to land on his back at any moment. Even with a numb mouth, the prowler could take him off his feet, leaving him vulnerable to its partner. He needed another ally or fewer enemies.
‘Why not both?’ Joe thought, grinning internally. He aimed his palm at the non-benumbed lioness and invoked the power of the heavy purple ring on his wrist.
“Go kill the lioness attacking Kaid,” he commanded.
The hand gesture did not have any actual effect, but Joe felt like it helped him focus the [Band of Beguilement] on the lioness. He could feel the spirit of the cougar roaring at him as his spell pushed against the catamount's will. Joe’s spirit score was pretty solid for these early levels. The beast’s was not. [Overachiever] helped as well. Even though she was only one level above him, the trait gave him a 10% bonus to overcoming her resistance. When Joe’s enchantment punched through her mental defenses, the lioness turned and launched herself into the grass in the direction Kaid was swearing from.
Turning back to the first predator, Joe was missing his heavy quarterstaff. The walking stick he was holding might block a single blow if he was lucky. He was not sure if the goblin knife would be any better since he had no actual skill with using it. He quickly ran his new abilities through his head to make sure he had not forgotten anything.
Her jaw was now moving more smoothly, and she had that pissed-off look cats could do so well. Just as Joe was about to hit her with [Deaden Flesh] again, she ducked backward into the grass and then dashed sideways. The huntress must have had some camouflage ability because she vanished from sight.
Joe barely even heard her as she slid through the weeds. He just turned in the direction he thought he heard the whispers of movement coming from. He was wrong. Joe barely caught the sound of a heavier footfall coming from behind him in time. He whipped around and blocked with the makeshift staff as the tawny form launched itself out of the grass. His stick foiled the lionesses' pounce, but as he feared, it snapped clean in half in the process.
She spun back around at Joe and prepared to pounce again. Joe didn’t hesitate this time. He aimed at the beast’s narrow chest and fired off another numbing spell.
Your skill [Deaden Flesh] has increased to rank 2.
This time it was her turn to faceplant into the dirt. She kicked off with her back legs but her front legs did not pop her up into the air. Instead, she crumpled. The cat ground her nose and lips through the dry soil.
While she was spitting and sneezing, Joe pulled out the goblin knife. He stepped up to drive the blade into the catamount’s neck, but his hand wouldn’t move. He knew she wanted to kill him. He knew he had to start defending himself. Yet somehow, it was harder than he thought. The cat was almost helpless and she was gorgeous. This was not some evil, malicious goblin or twisted abomination. It was a beautiful wild creature doing what the world had shaped her to do.
Watching her struggle made his stomach roll. His hesitancy was making matters worse. Either he needed to let her live and get the hell out of there or finish the fight as quickly and humanely as possible. Joe cast his deadening spell on the creature's jaw and neck. He reached down and grabbed her head before dragging the razor-sharp knife as deeply as he could across her neck. He hoped with all his heart to make her suffering as small as possible. Knowing he could heal her almost made it worse.
“Didn’t think you had it in ya,” Joe heard from behind him. He dashed a sleeve over his eyes before he turned around. “You know this may not be the right path for you,” Kaid said with an unexpected lack of cynicism. “Ain’t no shame in it but not everyone is cut out to be an adventurer.”
“Let’s go deal with the other two before I start making life choices,” Joe retorted flatly. He heard the hardness in his voice and saw Kaid’s defenses go back up. He knew he should have acknowledged the gnome's attempt to be civil but it was too late and he was just too raw at that second to do so.
“Fine. Follow me,” Kaid replied woodenly.
The lionesses were still fighting. Joe instinctively knew which was the one he had enthralled. She was smaller than her opponent and she was losing. He assessed the larger feline.
Prairie Packleader: Level 8: Beast: Skirmisher: Dexterity: 83/240
The packleader smashed a blow to the smaller cat’s face, stunning her. Her follow-up blow dropped the smaller enchanted cougar. The lioness turned to face Kaid and Joe. Before she could react, Joe used his numbing spell again. This time he had to push a little harder to overcome her resistance. He figured they both were equal stat-wise but [Overachieve] broke the tie. Without the use of her front legs, she was no match for Kaid. Not batting an eye, the ruffian drove Clyd’s long blade up into her brain, killing her more efficiently than Joe could have done.
In silence, they looted the cats, coming up with some claws and hide. Other than stating they could sell the materials in Heron’s Reef, the gnome did not speak or even look at Joe.
“Look, Kaid. I’m sorry. That came out more harshly than I intended. I wasn’t trying to be harsh. While I can’t say we would ever be able to stand each other for any real length of time, you have more than lived up to the debt Rhiley dropped on you. We are good. If you want to head north, I’m sure I can make it the rest of the way from here.”
The small man looked up into Joe’s face again and pinched a scowl. “Are you kidding me? A couple a low-level kitties almost ended you.”
“You didn’t sound like you were doing any better.”
“They never woulda seen me if you were not humpa lumping yer way through the fields. Nah, I’m gonna get you outta here, and then the debts will be square. Got it?”
“Whatever you say, boss,” Joe answered with an exaggeration of cheer, mostly to hide his relief. As irksome as Kaid could be, Joe knew he was not yet ready to go solo.
They picked up the pace a little, hoping to reach the harbor town within the hour.