My lord, Pietr called out. Master, can you hear me!
But there were other voices crowding his out. Voices full of malice, smothering Redmane in body and mind.
Your defiance is pathetic, a futile gesture against the inevitable. Surrender to despair!
Your strength is a lie, a fleeting illusion. You will crumble beneath the weight of your own failures. Surrender to your weakness!
You are nothing but a shadow of your former self. Feeble and broken, destined to fall. Surrender to futility!
The sensation of falling at terminal velocity was a further distraction.
The Abyss magic clung to him, a suffocating shroud of darkness that blinded his eyes and bound his wings, rendering him helpless against the pull of gravity. Panic clawed at his mind but he forced it down. There was a new voice in his mind, a faint one. Notable because it was the only one not screaming about his wickedness.
It sounded a bit like Pietr.
My lord, focus on my voice, Pietr urged, What is happening?
Redmane realized it was indeed the priest. He yanked Pietr’s consciousness back into his own Soulspace, and then Spawned him anew. This time as a lizard, attached to his calf.
Pietr the lizard’s eyes widened in horror as he saw the ground speeding up toward them. He clutched Redmane’s leg in his little claws as hard as he could.
My lord we are about to hit the ground!
Is there a shadow beneath us?
Ah.. A shadow?
Just answer the question.
Yes! The whole canyon floor is in shadow!
Then tell me the moment we’re about to hit the bottom. Say, ‘Now.’
I… I shall, my lord!
As Redmane continued to plummet, he focused on Pietr's presence, using it as an anchor to steady his racing thoughts. The voices of malice still clawed at his mind, but Pietr's presence was something to center his focus on.
It worked well.
Redmane clenched his jaw, forcing himself to breathe through the torrent of venomous whispers that clawed at his mind. The voices were relentless, a cacophony of doubt and despair, but he refused to let them take root. He had faced darkness before, and he would face it again.
He was not Kraal the Devourer.
He was not Little Redcap.
Those were old things. Dead things. As were all the names and forms he may have had before.
He was Redmane.
Redmane!
The voices grew faint, or at least their grip on his mind slackened.
Now he could spare a thought for the rocky ground racing up to meet them.
Now! cried Pietr.
Abyss Walk
Gnosis: 74
They hit the ground at full speed, and kept going.
It felt like plunging into a cold lake, except there was no impact against the water, no surface tension to break all the bones in their bodies. The Abyss accepted them gently. And no sooner did they enter the Abyss did the thing enveloping Redmane’s body begin to dissolve into it.
He was freed from the tormenting phantasm, but he had little time to savor it.
The space between shadows was like a hall of mirrors. Redmane could see out into all of them, every shadow in the area. He only had a moment to choose one, however. And since he didn’t want them trapped for eternity, he chose the very next one that flew by.
They exited from a shadow some ten feet away and fifteen feet above where they landed. Transit through the Abyss arrested some of their momentum, but not all of it. Pietr’s little claws came loose from Redmane’s calf and he went spinning through the air behind him.
Redmane struck a rock head first, and slid down onto the ground slowly, coming to rest in a seated pose.
At least he wasn’t dead.
Corpus: 4959
Redmane sat slumped against the jagged rocks, his body battered and bruised from the fall. Blood trickled from a cut above his brow, mingling with the dirt and sweat that clung to his skin. His breath came in ragged gasps, each inhale a reminder of the battle's toll.
Pietr, in his lizard form, crawled up to Redmane's side, his tiny claws scrabbling over the rough terrain. He paused at Redmane's knee, his beady eyes filled with a mix of concern and amusement.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
A most graceful landing, my lord, said Pietr.
Redmane glowered at him. We live.
Indeed. I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies.
Redmane absorbed Pietr back into his body. Then he pushed himself upright, using the rock wall for support. His limbs protested, but he forced them to obey. He straightened, turned his face skyward to the bridge high above, and with a powerful leap, Redmane launched himself into the air, the wings of the Manticore unfurling to catch the wind. The updrafts from the canyon floor lifted him higher, carrying him back toward the bridge where Solveig awaited.
The air was crisp and biting against his skin, a sharp contrast to the warmth of his exertion. Each beat of his wings sent him higher, his gaze fixed on the bridge above.
Redmane found the sensation of flight exhilarating, a blend of freedom and focus. The bridge loomed closer, and Redmane felt a thrill of battle lust in his chest as he prepared to confront Solveig once more. To finish it.
Captain Solveig stood at the center of the bridge, ghostly white fur blowing in the wind, his snout, long and reminiscent of a horse, flared with each breath. Dark, piercing eyes stared up at Redmane with a predator's patience. Solveig stood still, a coiled tension in his stance, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Solveig charged the instant Redmane touched down on the bridge, barreling forward with speed that no longer shocked him. He darted to the side, narrowly avoiding the Mongrel's bite as his jaws snapped shut, and retaliated with a swift swipe of his claws which scored a shallow cut across Solveig's flank.
Thus began a series of such exchanges.
Blood sprayed in crimson arcs, painting the stone beneath them as they circled and lunged, in a savage dance of survival and dominance. The bridge trembled beneath their fury, the very air vibrating with the echoes of their roars and snarls.
The giant Mongrel swung a massive arm that caught Redmane across the shoulder, sending him sprawling across the bridge. Redmane gritted his teeth and scrambled to his feet, lunged right back in for more.
And more.
And more.
Redmane and Solveig were a whirlwind of fur and claws. Solveig loomed over Redmane, all raw power and untamed ferocity. Redmane’s hair was like a comet of crimson streaking across a backdrop of white, leaving claw marks in its wake that matted the Mongrel’s coat with black blood.
Solveig's claw struck the ground with a loud crack, the force of the blow embedding it momentarily into the stone of the bridge. The impact sent a shudder through the structure, cracks spidering out from the point of contact.
Redmane’s eyes widened. Seeing an opening.
He sprinted up Solveig's immobilized arm, using it as a makeshift ramp. As he reached the Mongrel's shoulder, Redmane launched himself forward, his claws extended and gleaming. They struck across Solveig's face, leaving a trail of deep, bloody gashes, a shower of black blood spraying over the side of the bridge. Solveig shrieked in pain, blinded and reeling, his claw freed from the stone, but too late to be of use.
Time to capitalize on yet another moment of distraction.
Redmane raced straight forward, between Solveig’s apelike arms.
First he clawed upward, splitting open the Mongrel’s belly from navel to chest.
Then he leapt, straight up, and snapped his jaws shut upon Solveig’s trachea.
A guttural, strangled screech erupted from his throat. Solveig's massive body thrashed wildly, his movements frantic as he tried to dislodge Redmane from his neck. Solveig flailed and staggered about, trying to grasp at Redmane and pull him off in vein. Each movement he made seemed only to worsen his plight, Redmane's grip tightening like a bear trap, his teeth sinking deeper and deeper.
Redmane held on. A waterfall of black blood flowed down Solveig’s body. Redmane found it bitter, but passable. Sustenance was sustenance.
After a valiant but futile struggle, with a shuddering groan that echoed across the bridge, Solveig's massive body began to falter. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the stone with a thunderous impact, shaking the bridge to its core.
Redmane tore his throat out and got to eating.
Corpus: 9636
Captain Solveig Slain
Tasks Completed: 3/3
Level Up
Level 77 —> Level 78
Level 78 —> Level 79
Level 79 —> Level 80
Zone Tasks Completed
Zone: Rollo’s Pass has been cleared
Level 81 —> Level 82
Level 82 —> Level 83
Quality Points awaiting allocation: 5
Rollo’s Pass will be integrated into the domain of House Redmane
Redmane placed a point in Fortitude, to make it a round number, and the rest in Might.
Fortitude 49 —> 50
Might 50 —> 54
—
Monster Skill Learned
Haunt
Abyssal Skill
Rank 1 - Evolution Possible
Active - 50 Gnosis
The Monster draws forth a mass of Abyssal substrate, saturated with the psychic energy of mortals in the throes of anger, fear and suffering. It is mobile, but slow, and when summoned it will attempt to latch onto the Monster’s body until such time as the Monster chooses a target.
When a target is chosen, the Haunt will leap onto the target creature, constrict them, and assail their mind with an amplified version of the target’s most painful thoughts or memories.
The Haunt is highly resistant to most forms of damage. Immersion in water weakens its corporeal form, easing a creature’s attempt to escape from it, and contact with the Abyss will dissolve it entirely.
—
This Skill was a nasty piece of work. That said, it would be nice to be on the giving end of it.
Redmane wondered if he could see what the Haunt’s victim saw. If he could use it to discover what someone feared most.
This would require testing.
—
Skill Rank Up
Stalk
Common Class Skill
Rank 2 - Evolution Possible
Sustained - 10 Gnosis per 30 seconds
(Rank 1) Increases the effectiveness of the Stealth Proficiency when it is used to follow or close the distance on a creature marked as Prey.
(Rank 2) While Stalk is active, provides a damage bonus to an attack launched from stealth against a creature marked as Prey.
—
Redmane’s eyes slowly narrowed as he read the description of this new rank.
Flicker specifically said it synergized with stealth-attack Skills. But that particular Skill functioned as a trap, which relied on him being a visible target.
Could he use Flicker, take a hit, appear behind a Monster, use Stalk, and then attack?
Perhaps.
This too would require testing.
You know, the lady Flora asked me to check on you, said Pietr. The timing of her request was fortuitous, wouldn’t you say?
Redmane's mind flickered to the memory of Flora's face.
He felt a strange stirring within him, an unfamiliar sensation that he couldn't quite name.
It was as if her concern had reached past his defenses, touched something deep and unguarded. It troubled him.
But it also felt… Good.
Tell her all is well. Don’t mention what happened.
Redmane sensed Pietr’s amusement.
At once, my lord.
----------------------------------------
Flora watched with some consternation as the red crow appeared to have some kind of seizure.
Then for a time it stood perfectly still. Unnaturally so. As if some work of magic had frozen it in place.
She had no qualms about waiting patiently and watching, to see if it would recover. She had many other bodies here in the forest, busily planting seeds. One set of eyes was no trouble to spare.
Finally, after what must have been a half hour, life returned to the crow.
It hopped in place and looked about, getting its bearings. Then it looked down at her, cocked its head.
“Trouble over! No danger!”
Flora smiled. “Splendid.”