The lake was surrounded by forest all around. On most sides, the trees reached all the way to the edge of the water. A few spots had small clearings and a flattened shoreline in the form of gravelly beaches. One such clearing was close to our camp and the dwarves had chosen it as their field of battle. They would not be able to relocate easily so it was on me and Vivi to drive the moray towards them.
Five spearmen stood in front, forming a loose wall. They kept some space to have the archers shoot between them but stood close enough to close the gap quickly and protect the others with their shields. From my spot in the trees to their left, I saw the captain and his vices stand to the back, ready to move onto either side if needed. Vivi sat next to me on a branch.
I held the connection to Captain and, once the dwarves were settled in, I felt his mind reach out.
“All set. Go for it.”
That was my signal. I looked over the water, small waves telling off the water permanently produced by the node. The slight shine in the middle of the lake was what the Monstrosity had to protect. Threatening it would force the beast to act and move away from our allies. I gave a bob of my head to Vivi and took off.
My perfectly silent flight brought me closer in a half-circle. I scanned the water for signs of our target. It was not visible. No unnatural movement betrayed its position. Most likely, it was still asleep. From Vivi I knew, it would sense my presence if I got too close to the node. I wanted to avoid that and surprise it.
After going around the lake twice, I gave up searching from the air. Instead, I dropped slowly towards the water. Vivi was ready and once I passed her position again, she jumped down right next to me. The water parted smoothly in our way, closing in behind us without disturbing the overall flow. Hopefully, the moray had no sensory Skill powerful enough to notice us.
I had to be a bit more careful than Vivi. The ocelot smoothly flowed along the ground, not slowed down in the slightest. In contrast, my every movement disturbed the flow and had to fight against it. At least with the darkness in my feathers instead of glass, some of the water flowed through them.
I made my way along the ground carefully. A moray should hide in some underwater cave or between some rocks. It might also hide between vegetation or beneath the sand. The lakebed was uneven with lots of rocks and a bunch of plants. It was not saltwater so it could not have been seaweed but it looked very similar. Or was that also called seaweed? It did not matter much. All that I cared about was the plants obscuring vision. Between the rocks was dirt and maybe some sand. The low light and the moving water swirling it around made it hard to tell. At least it was even more cover.
I had come up with this idea on the way over. The best chance to surprise a target was coming from somewhere they did not expect. A moray would be used to living hidden between the rocks and plants to ambush its prey. If I could not find it on the ground, Vivi would approach the node and I could get a free shot as soon as the Monstrosity showed itself.
We slowly circled the lakebed, spiralling inwards bit by bit. The deepest parts of the lake were possibly far enough away from the node to not draw the beasts attention. I hoped so at least. Soon, I was closing in on the centre. I had not found our target but I had seen some spots where it could be hidden. Further investigation revealed it was not there, however. Where could it be hiding?
The question was soon answered by Vivi. She was swimming a little higher, using her water enrichment to move silently above me.
“Up”, she sent.
I looked up. Through the algae, I spotted the faint shimmer of daylight. The grey skies did not help the lighting. But the node was clearly visible even from down here. And right beneath it, a long shape lazily circled. I did not understand how, but it seemed to be sleeping right beneath the surface. As close to the node as possible without leaving the water. The form was massive, large enough to be on the edge of the node’s light. We had not noticed it, somehow. I hoped that was not some kind of magic it could use in combat.
We had found our target. Now, it was time to strike. I told Vivi to hide beneath and strike when she saw an opportunity. Then I moved a little back towards the shore and rose out of the water. My shadows found enough grip to let me swim with wide wings of darkness. I broke through the surface, not before giving the captain a warning. If they shot me on sight, we would have to retreat on the spot.
The dwarves flinched but I stopped paying them any notice and turned to where I now knew the Monstrosity was sleeping. My wings spread, shadows pulled back in. A flap and two colourless projectiles shot through the air. A rush of wind could be heard in their trail but they were too fast for the sleeping beast to evade, even though I saw it wake up as soon as the magical feathers reached within ten metres of the node. With a small slick and pop, the void mana entered the lake and the next instant, a massive shape broke the surface. The long, snaking eel rose above the water, a small trail of blood leaking from somewhere along its nearly ten-metre long body. How, again, were we supposed to kill that? Right, ranged attacks.
Crossbows clicked and compound bows twinged as the dwarves loosened their first volley of projectiles. Only two missed the target but most of the arrows were still pushed aside by pillars of water erupting from the lake. Only the bolts managed to land without any real interruption but failed to penetrate significantly. The beast looked towards the shore and dismissed the dwarves. Instead, it fixed its eyes on me, flying above its lake. The intruder had to be chased away or taken down. Its flight path was on a perfect collision course with my previous position but my wings easily brought me out of reach. Before the Monstrosity sunk back into the lake, the dwarves shot another volley. This time, it pulled water close to its skin, moving in a way to slow down the projectiles as much as possible in its improvised armour.
I had about another ten shots of void feathers in me but that was clearly not enough unless I could actually hit something vital. Having the dwarves weaken it was the way to go.
“It’s coming again”, Vivi sent. Captain was hearing her words as well and shouted orders at the guards.
“I’ll hit it when it leaves the water”, my friend told us.
I sent an affirmation and got ready. Again, the Monstrosity broke the surface. This time, it brought a stream of water with it, riding it high into the air. Arrows and bolts impacted it but only managed to add a few scratches to its scales. Did morays normally have scales? Or was that more magic-making-things-weird?
Whatever Vivi had done was not visible but I saw the beast’s attention waver for a second which I used to move out of the way.
“Get your shots ready!”, I told the captain.
As the beast was no longer able to hold its stream and started to descent, I called the shot.
“Now!”
Almost on the moment, Captain repeated the order.
My wings flapped, two destruction feathers this time. The black streaks reached the improvised water armour just before the arrows and bolts did and burst a massive hole into the liquid. I had slightly missed the position but over half of the steel-tipped projectiles still manages to bury themselves in the beast. I saw blood seep out here and there but it really seemed like scratches than any serious wounds.
“Good thinking. Let’s repeat this when it comes out again. Same spot we already hit”, the captain sent.
“I have eight more shots like that”, I answered.
Before he could answer, Vivi interrupted us.
“Node!”
The panic in her mind was palpable and threatened to overwhelm me for a minuscule moment but I started flapping my wings and rushed at the node. The water surface was still sloshing from all the movement and it was hard to make out any shapes but I kept a careful eye on it.
“Dodge!”, Vivi screamed into my mind.
I pulled to the side and up, quickly flapping my wings. The darkness had a little less pull than the glass feathers but I made up for it by extending it further outwards nearly doubling my wingspan. The moray broke through the surface the very next moment shooting into position to catch me if I had continued flying straight at the node. This time, it did not use its water to keep rising and focused on defence.
I was in no position to shoot my [Winged Death] but the dwarves fired anyway. They had enough ammo to outlast my magic so there was no issue. Not that they could do anything more with the added distance.
The moray sunk back into the water and disappeared from my sight. I pulled away and started circling between the dwarves and the node.
“Where is it, Vivi?”, I asked.
“Holding out. It knows where I am. And where you are.”
That was trouble. We were supposed to lure it out but this situation looked like one of us had to move for the attack. Best would be Vivi moving in first and then me striking as fast as I could for the node. Though that was still too dangerous for my tastes.
“I’ll try something. Tell me if it changes its behaviour”, I sent.
I flew up, taking my time to refocus my mana. I wanted to be as stealthy and unnoticeable as possible. The Monstrosity most likely had something like my mana sensing ability. Could I hide from that, somehow?
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Maybe I could. My senses went to the air around me and scanned it for magic, for its essence. There was a bit, here and there, but it was very thin. I pulled on my thaumium, making a thin surface coating over the steel. Then, I pushed my own air mana into it. Very softly, very carefully. I wanted to be like the air, unnoticeable to senses relying on the essence of a living being.
“It’s rushing down but not going for me. I think it’s getting ready to jump again”, Vivi sent.
“Steady!”, Captain called out.
I had one more thing to do. My shadows spread out and thinned while keeping their obscuring. A few moments of adjustment and I hoped I looked just like the grey sky.
“Image, Vivi”, I called.
My friend obliged sending me an image of her sight, the Monstrosity spinning slowly a good few metres above her. I saw where it was. I saw where the node was. I felt where Vivi was. That was enough to get its location from my position.
I pulled my wings close like a falcon and let myself drop. Not towards the beast but the node. I felt Vivi tense, ready to warn me the instant the Monstrosity made a move until I almost crashed into the magical gate to the Empty. Wings of grey shadows helped catch my fall and from my talons tendrils extended to the mana. As soon as they touched it, the Monstrosity moved. I had no time to react before a huge pillar of water shot out, the beast in its middle, smacking me away from its node. I saw the huge maw close in on me. I had doubts even my thaumium and steel body could withstand those jaws. But I still had [Eldritch Shift]. A single thought and I was behind the beast's neck.
“Fire!”, I urged the captain.
“Loose!”, his shot followed the same instant.
My wings flapped within the water of the snake, one pair of destruction ripped apart the armour as two dozen steel tips peppered the monster's body. Another flap and they were followed by a pair of void feathers aiming for the beasts head through the back of its neck. In the last second, it managed to shift out of the way and avoid the worst. I only managed to open up one side of its head into a gashing wound.
As the beast began to sink into to water again, I spotted a strange outline further down its back. The water held a familiar shape within itself and the next moment I witnessed my friend taking a good bite out of the beast’s back. A fin was ripped and blood gushed out of the wound. Vivi was not done. She followed her bite with another, this time a small amount of green liquid formed on her teeth. It seeped into the wound, eliciting a twitch and a hiss from the Monstrosity.
The next moment, I found myself and Vivi flying through the air, propelled by a blast of water. My thin layer of thaumium absorbed a bit of the blast and Vivi’s body turned into water again so we ended up at the dwarves’ position without much harm. I saw my friend was breathing hard. She was not made for drawn-out fights. Neither was I. That attack took a lot of mana. I only had four more shots or two shifts in me.
I relayed my state to the captain as well as the fact Vivi managed to poison the beast.
“That’s good. Take a breath, get to our back. We’re gonna see what it does next. If the poison is not enough, you’ll have to move in again.”
We nodded and took cover behind the armoured guards. For a few quiet minutes, nothing happened and everyone simply kept an eye out. We were careful but not scared. Then, the lake erupted. Water shot forward in a huge wave, nearly three metres tall, a number of spears or arrows made from the liquid shooting out from it.
“Close!”, Captain yelled.
The archers and crossbowmen huddled shoulder to shoulder. The two vices joined the shield wall formed by the five spearmen. The ranged attacks were easily deflected, only causing a few grunts here and there. The rest of the water was much more of a threat. This wave was over triple my height and it was similar for the dwarves. I strained my senses. Could we? Yes. It would work.
“Vis interceptors!”, I yelled at the captain.
He gave me a glance, then a nod.
“Interceptors!”, he called out.
The dwarves hesitated for a moment but they opened the shield wall to move the interceptors into the wave. Vivi and I had moved behind the vices on either side. I had created a few small strings of thaumium going through the steel layer to let me absorb more mana and cut it any time I wanted. As the wave arrived, I flew up above the shield wall. Wings wide and with thaumium ready, the water hit me. I felt my body pushed back a tiny bit and then the liquid lost its momentum. The wave crumbled into itself, only inconveniencing the shield-bearers and the first wall of crossbowmen.
The Monstrosity let out a gurgling shriek from where it poked its head out of the water. My body was full of flux so I cut the connection between the surface layer and my core. Suddenly, an angry hiss answered the beast along with a thin beam of water. Vivi had decided to counterattack and the hit landed. Maybe the beast was confident in deflecting or taking control of the water but it was simply too fast. Another large cut was opened up near its head, quickly followed by some opportunistic arrows.
Vivi stood not idle and rushed after her attack. I could not let her brave the danger on her own and followed as quickly as I could. Wings beating, I let out another set of void feathers at the reeling moray. It managed to dodge both this time but that gave my friend an opening to tear into the already existing wounds with a poisoned claw of water. I followed up by deepening it even further and grabbing onto the gash. [Strong Grip] came in just at the right time, making sure I stayed where I wanted to be and pulling the beast back. It tried to turn its head to bite at me but the angle was too awkward and I could easily avoid it.
Another volley of projectiles penetrated the scales with a staccato of dull thuds. The Monstrosity seemed to have had enough of the pesky dwarves because it shot forward, surging with anger. I clung onto it and started to pick at the wound with my beak but it barely even slowed the beast.
Then it crashed onto land, the shield-bearers ready with braced spears. The slithering body, however, was too mobile to impale itself on the steel tips. As the dwarves saw they could not hold, they jumped and ran to the sides. One shield-bearer and a crossbowman were pushed down by the huge body before it reached the captain who had not moved.
“[Never Falter]!”, he called and glowed a deep cyan. His shield moved to trace the maw trying to swallow him and when the Monstrosity finally bit down, it caught. The beast had locked the shield in its maw and tried to rip it away from the dwarf but the man did not budge. Even his shield arm moved nary an inch. Even more, the sword of the dwarf stabbed into the monster’s left eye, eliciting a screaming hiss from it. The wiggling body of the eel prevented anyone from coming to the captain’s help but the dwarves simply peppered it with projectiles. Scales shattered and were penetrated in quick succession. Blood started to seep from dozens, then hundreds of small wounds. Not long, and it would die. But I knew I could accelerate this.
“Don’t move!”, I sent to the captain and took to the air.
When I reached a position right above him I flapped my wings. Once, then twice. Then I dropped back, watching the projectiles shoot towards the Monstrosity. The first two void feathers it somehow avoided just enough to keep its brain intact. The second set came two quickly, however. And I had shot them in a slightly different position. One missed completely but the other hit right in the middle of the monster’s head. Its one working eye widened and another hiss left its throat, the beast fell limp.
~ding~ You have taken out your chosen target. Experience awarded.
~ding~ [Assassin] reached level 58. 4 Attribute Points awarded.
~ding~ For helping out a friend additional experience is awarded.
~ding~ You have reached level 29. Attribute Points allocated. 2 Attribute Points awarded.
The monster’s jaws still held Captain’s shield but he simply dropped it. I flew over and landed on the head. My wings spread, I let out a jubilant hoot. We had done it!
HOOT!
The dwarves fell into my cry of victory a moment later with their own hollering. Captain looked at me and I saw his face and armour full of water mixed with blood flowing from a few surface scratches. The vis interceptor on his shield was completely full as well. It had taken a lot of mana in those last moments.
He gave me a slightly pained smile. I could see joy in there but also worry. Then he turned to the two dwarves that had gotten mauled by the beast. The shield-bearer was conscious, a smile on his pained face. His spear was broken and one of his legs bent in an unhealthy direction. The crossbowman was less lucky. His leather helmet had been ripped off by water, a wound bleeding profusely. He was not conscious.
“Potion, now! Ogart!”, the captain gave his order.
His vice rushed to the camp but I already heard the rushing steps of a medic making his way over. A few moments later he was on the gravel beach and generously pouring a potion on the unconscious dwarf. The wound knit close quickly but the man still looked pale and was breathing far too slow for my liking.
“Is he gonna make it?”, Captain asked the medic.
The dwarf held a hand to the forehead of his charge and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he nodded.
Relieved sighs washed over the guards, only to be silenced by the medic speaking.
“He’s gonna have a tough time getting back to strength. He lost too much blood. At least a month of rest, if not more. I don’t know if he’ll be in fighting condition by then. I’ll have to keep monitoring his condition.”
The captain nodded.
“Thank you. Now, take a look at Thun over here. You think you can fix him up?”
I zoned out at the medic’s confirmation. The dwarves were fine. Vivi sat next to me, looking over the lake and the dwarves, her head shifting back and forth.
“We did it!”, I sent.
She turned to me and nuzzled my face. I retracted my head a little before leaning in to answer in kind.
“Meow!”, she sent.
I let out an airy chuckle, Vivi joining in a moment later. It took a few moments for us to calm down. By then, the dwarves had started to move their camp to the gravel beach. Captain gave some encouraging words to the injured dwarf and then addressed everyone with a grin.
“Good work, everybody! We did it! This is the start of something great! The cooperation of Borsdown and Guardian Vivi has just begun. And of course, we can’t forget Fio who brought us all together! Ho!”
“Ho!”, the dwarves answered as one, everyone stomping their boots or smacking a fist to their chest.
“We’ll set up camp here until Guardian Vivi has taken control of the node. Ogart, you’ll lead a group of five back to town and get the construction crews going. I want an outpost built in no less than a week. A place for the Guardian to stay and a base for further expansion, should we come to an agreement.”
He looked at Vivi at those last words. My friend gave him a nod and the dwarf was satisfied.
“Good, then let’s get to work!”
With a groan, the dwarves moved out. A few went to the clearing to grab the tents and supplies while others started the arduous job of dismantling a ten-metre eel. For me, it was time to check my gains!