The ghostly wolves were either stupid or blood-hungry because they followed us without hesitation. The only sound they made was their screeching howls. I could only see the two still sporting Frank’s pretty lilac flecks but I knew the other was there somewhere, hunting us with its brothers. Their strange movements made it hard to look away from them. They bobbed and flashed forward a little like I had when I still had my Shadow Rush skill. Obstacles didn’t seem to bother them over much. A partially collapsed section of the tunnel had dropped a large pile of concrete and mud over the tunnel floor. One of the specters simply floated through it, not slowing its speed at all.
I cut the corner poorly bouncing off the wall and almost into the one opposite before I righted myself and made the turn. The wolves enjoyed my mishap, flashing forward and nipping at my heels with transparent teeth. Something deep in my belly told me those teeth would do some damage even if it looked like my flesh could pass right through them like a hand through a fog.
Stop trying to look at them, I berated myself. That’s exactly why you always die in chase scenes.
Sure, I couldn’t just assume everything in this world would follow the same rules as games I’d once played on a secondhand television pretending to be a monitor, but what else was I supposed to judge it on? There was no rule book. Even the blasted book on Melumek I’d stolen and read from the Fellowship of Fayum had no real information in it, just a bunch of pacifying bullshit sprinkled with threats to keep the devotees in line.
Visions of that horrible moment back in the temple where the follower had lost his nose flashed in my head, making my stomach churn violently. How anyone could willingly choose to be part of that I’ll never know. Some of them were NPCs sure, but most of them were players. Did they do it for protection, or were they dark and twisted before the Crocs had burst through every form of toilet imaginable?
Stella’s claws scratched at the hard cold floor as she rounded another bend. I latched onto a water pipe running the height of the tunnel we were in, using it to slingshot myself around the bend without losing speed.
The ghostly wolves didn’t even try to make the turn, choosing instead to flash through the wall. I tapped into my stamina bar, draining a big portion of it to catch up to Stella. The dog glanced in my direction, her tongue flapping over her wet gums. I don’t know what skill she was using but her paws were glowing golden like she was wearing strange shimmering socks. Her power-up skill would have spread further than her paws so it must have been something different.
One day, I would enjoy being able to see the skills all my animal companions had. Maybe that would come if I upped my Identify skill more. I glanced sideways at Frank sitting on my shoulder, sure that his skills would be the most interesting of all.
The next bend took us right out into the glow of the main hall. The moss was much thicker here than the bare patches here and there throughout the tunnels. The dull light filled the room, illuminating the pool of sludge in the center. Thick bubbles of who knows what rose to the surface, bursting with grotesque popping sounds.
The wolves howled again, reminding us that they were right on our heels.
“Stella,” I bellowed. “Cast!”
Stella’s ears perked up at my command. She got low to the ground as she turned in a sharp bend. The wolves floated into the hall after us, their paws just inches above the ground despite the fact their legs moved like they were running. Actually, since they were floating, it was more like they were dog-paddling through the air. I snorted at the thought, enjoying the wash of confidence that swept through me. It was hard to be scared of something when what it was doing looked ridiculous.
I ran across a little bridge over the sludge pool. A large crack appeared beneath my feet, sending chunks of stone into the pool below. The bridge held though so I continued, jumping up on Ryan’s strategy block, swinging around to face the ghosts.
Stella was doing as I’d told her to do, running in quick circles around the wolves. They seemed unsure about what she was doing and even more unsure about what to do about it. One of the wolves tried to attack but all Stella did was bolt around them in a circle again, barking and lunging until the wolf was back in line with the only other one I could see. I hope she was keeping the invisible one contained as well. Did ghosts have a scent? If they did then she would know exactly where it was. She didn’t need her eyes as desperately as I did.
Dammit, man, you don’t need eyes either, you have other senses, use them!
Cursing at my own stupidity I focussed on my Blindsense again. The flare of the auras and the potent sense of anger that rolled off of them were focused in the center of the circle Stella was running. She had the third one trapped.
“Frank, think you can do another fly-by? I don’t like not being able to see them with my own eyes.”
“Shut the hell up!”
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Given that he didn’t immediately fly off my shoulder, I’m going to assume that was a solid no. Not helpful for me but I’ll try to work with it.
“Stella, to me!”
Working with ghost hounds was a tiny bit different than working with cattle. She weaved and lunged and barked but they barely shifted aside from turning in place to keep her in sight. Frank ruffled his feathers and hopped from foot to foot until the impatience got the better of him and he took to the air. He swooped up as high as he could go before turning and dropping in a fast-paced dive right at the wolves.
It was a sight to see, a larger-than-life cattle dog and an unusually gifted raven herding phantom monsters together. As strange as it was though, it was effective. The wolves neared the pool of sludge, only one of them almost stepping into it. I watched as the wolf freaked out, flailing its legs uselessly as it tried to get away from the sick green water. It bounded into the others, its insubstantial self somehow a solid force when it came in contact with its brethren.
I smiled at that and stuck two fingers in my mouth, letting loose two short sharp whistles and another longer one. Stella's ears lifted at the command before she ran the right-hand flank, forcing the wolves to the bridge I’d come across earlier.
Ripples in the sludge and more bubbles popping told me that Stella’s movements, even though she wasn’t on the bridge itself were enough to make the thing crumble. That was good for the plan I’d made.
“Hey, you bunch of phantom cows dicks, why don’t you come and get me?” I bellowed.
The wolves, remembering that I existed, turned to me, releasing a chorus of howls as they flashed across the bridge to meet me in the middle.
I watched as one spread its jaws and leaped for my throat but I didn’t wait to find out what the aftermath would be. I Blinked and used my Blindsense to dodge around them and back over the bridge. I was standing at its peak when my Blink exhausted itself. I snatched my sword from the sheath on my back and let out a pathetic imitation of Nora’s warcry as I flipped in the air, throwing all my weight and muscles behind the strike of steel on stone.
The bridge crumbled like a house of cards, thick chunks of concrete disappearing into the soup underneath. I flailed as I dropped. I hadn’t thought this part through. My boots touched the thick ooze for the barest of moments before Stella’s teeth sunk into my leathers and she dragged my ass away from the danger. The smell of burning leather stung my nose as thick black smoke rose from the now-deformed soles of my boots.
I reached over my head and stroked Stella’s head, “Good girl.”
I stood, wincing at the awful feeling of standing lopsided. I love my Croc skin boots, I’d had the fancy green things for so long, but it was time they were retired. Well, it would be once I located another pair.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the wolves skimming over a still-standing bridge.
Cursing my inattention I threw out a hand and roared, “Stella, away to me.”
Stella bolted like a Combustion Croc was on her tail, charging around the pit holding the sludge with golden socks blazing. I followed her as she ran counterclockwise around the circle, forcing each wolf back as they tried to cross the bridges. Each time she did I struck out with my blade, trying not to flinch at the grating sound it made over the stone of each bridge.
All three of the remaining bridges were not as fragile as the first, meaning each pass I made, even with a precise strike, was not enough to break them. I focused on my Blindsense to help me navigate without a wolf sneaking up on my ass. Stella did a fine job of keeping the beasts at bay. When they tried to attack her to get across a wall of golden light burst from her chest, the magic of it enough to force the monsters back just long enough for me to strike.
My stamina was drained and my brow drenched with sweat when I made the final round, aiming for the last bridge standing. Stella’s paws stopped glowing before she reached it and she crashed to the ground, unable to keep doing what she had been.
“That’ll do, girl,” I shouted as I leaped over her.
The wolves were slamming together, howling, and gnashing transparent teeth as they all tried and failed to cross the bridge at the same time, finally, the one I couldn’t see broke free, charging over it. I roared and jumped slamming my sword down with every last drop of energy and strength I had as I summoned my next skill.
The Shadow Pulse exploded from me in a wide circle, traveling like a blast wave. The high-pressure detonation knocked the invisible wolf back into the other members of its pack. All three tumbled in the air, smacking into Ryan's favored stone slab. My brow crinkled as I crawled away from the tumbling chunks of what had once been the bridge. There shouldn’t have been an impact, they should have passed right through it like it wasn’t even there.
Instead, the stone cracked clean in half, each part of it tumbling to the side with a resounding boom as it struck the concrete of the island. Where the slab of stone had been a gem glowed in its place, its smooth, rounded sides twinkling as it spun and bobbed.
My mouth watered as I stared at the giant hunk of what had to be some sort of gemstone. It was the size of a football and a tantalizing mix of coffee brown with stripes of cream running through it. The glow came from its center, a rich tawny shade that teased like the gooey center on some of my favorite chocolates. It might not have been a diamond but the thing looked like a masterpiece worth just as much.
I want it. No, I need it.
I climbed to my feet and took a shaky step forward only for Stella to grab ahold of the hem of my pants and shake her head so violently I thought she might tear them clean off.
I sighed and bent, scratching her behind the ear, “Thanks, girl. That thing had me mesmerized.”
“Joe, you unbelievable, inconsiderate, reprehensible, irresponsible, jackass!”
“Hi, Nora,” I said without bothering to turn around.