My first arrow took one of the creatures in the face, caving in the front of its skull and causing it to collapse to the mushroom cap in a heap. I sidestepped the charge of the second creature and shot the third just as it reached me, then loosed another arrow into the back of the creature I’d just avoided. More came up over the sides of the mushroom, but I only shot one as I quickly strode to the edge and leapt down into the clearing.

They climbed well, and were physically strong enough to make massive vertical jumps, but I was hoping that their thick upper arms would be poor for sprinting, that they’d move slower than the canines they otherwise resembled. I hit the wet earth and rolled, coming up to launch another two arrows into the bodies of the nearest creatures before breaking out into a sprint.

The growing crowd of animals split to surround me once again, but now I ran hard and kept pace with them, my bowstring hissing as I dealt death into the packs of animals on either side of me. But within a few seconds I’d reached the edge of the clearing, running past the glowing mushrooms to leap up onto the twisting roots, then watching in dismay as the creatures kept pace, easily leaping into the roots to flank me before beginning to converge on my position.

Then, as I killed another one of the creatures with an arrow through its face, I noticed that the Verse had given me more than essence for one of the fallen animals:

+ 88 Essence, [Animal 1 / Body 1]

I took the boon I knew I needed, but did nothing with it yet. I could fuse a [Body 2] out of three [Body 1] keys, but to use it I would either need another [Surge 1] or enough time to remove all my armor for [Primeval Hide].

The creatures converged on me, and I knew that I couldn’t fight them from all sides. I leapt free of the roots and back into the clearing, hoping to fly clear of the horde of apehounds—but I saw quickly that I was going to land in their midst. I tore several heaps of soil from the ground just to distract the nearest apehounds, then landed and moved to run clear of the horde, reaching forward with my claim and using my [Earth Magick] to press a deep, wide runed circle into the damp earth in front of me, spending a lot of mana to ensure it wouldn’t be trampled into uselessness if the apehounds crossed in.

But I never reached it. A few strides toward it and I was tackled in the side by one of the creatures, its teeth sinking into my armor just below my ribs. I fell forward and sideways, skidding into the mud and holding my bow out so that it wouldn’t break under me. The apehound snarled, its jaws struggling to find purchase on my armor, its arms wrapping around my leg to keep me in place.

With a surge of panic, I drew my knife and slashed it across the creature’s face, hoping to shock it into relaxing its grip, but the apehound held fast even as my blade cut across one of its eyes. Seeing this, I drove the knife downward into the top of its head, cracking its skull and piercing the brain inside—but even as I felt the apehound’s grip slacken enough to free my leg, two more piled onto me, one landing on my back and the other grabbing my other leg.

I knew that my neck was especially vulnerable given that I’d thrown away my gorget and most of my [Aegis] came from [Primeval Armor], and I knew that if I stayed on the ground for another few heartbeats I’d be restrained by so many apehounds that they wouldn’t even need any weakness in my armor to kill me.

Panicking, I reached into the earth below me, claiming it and then causing it to seize and buckle under the apehounds and me, giving me a moment to catch them all off-balance, then yanking my captured leg out of the grip of the surprised apehound as I twisted to throw the other one off my back and kicked off the corpse of my first attacker.

I came out of the pile of apehounds in an awkward roll, again shaking the earth around me to stop more of the enemies from piling onto me just long enough to spring off the ground again and land within my earthen circle.

!—Mana 101/280, 40% Primeval.

It wasn’t a lot, but I had to hope it would be enough. I dumped most of my remaining mana into the circle, leaving just a few points for arrows, then dropped my bow to the ground and tried to focus on forming the rest of the spell with my mind.

!—Mana 42/280, 40% Primeval.

In the short moment it took me to do this, the apehounds came on, some of them charging into the circle while the others moved to surround me.

I ignited the mana, which burst into a ring of fire around me, eliciting howls of shock and terror from the horde. Then I drew my second knife and lay into the creatures still within the circle, their claws against mine, both sides scoring many blows.

When one of them fixed its jaws on my vambraces, barely piercing the armor and then my flesh, I ignored the pain and used the opportunity to stab a knife through one of its eyes. Claws raked at my body, my lower sides especially, finding gaps and softer spots in my armor and then digging into my flesh, but I simply took the opportunity to grab the arm of my attacker and yank them off-balance so that I could slam my blade through the back of their neck.

A few moments of close-quarters brutality and I had finished with the enemies inside the circle, grabbed my bow again, and begun launching arrows through the flames and into the horde, my arm moving as fast as I could make it, the hiss of the bowstring a furious rhythm in my ear.

+ Limit! (15)

The fire was weak, the flames barely hot enough to singe the fur of the ravening apehounds, but it had done its work in driving them back for the few moments that I needed to save myself. Now, however, as my arrows passed through the fire to find their marks, one of the creatures grew bold enough to charge—and then all of them did.

Stolen story; please report.

I took my level in an instant:

- 5000 Essence: + 1 Level! (15/15)

+ 1 [Bestow 10] (1)

+ 2 [Bestow]! (12)

+ 1 [*Primeval 5] (1)

- 1 [Bestow 10]: + 10 [Agility] (103)

I grinned, feeling a surge of new strength enter me from my multiple attribute-enhancing skills, of which grew stronger as my [Bestow] increased. And the faster I moved, the easier it would be to outrun the horde.

I took a few quick strides and then leapt free of the circle, one surge of strength bearing me over the tight-knit ring of apehounds that were closest—and before I landed in the midst of the pack behind them, I used my [Earth Magick] to rip a gout of soil free from the ground, drawing it toward me as a distraction once more.

The apehounds nearest flinched as I landed, and I leapt again, this time clearing the crowd and running full tilt across the clearing.

?—Mana 14/280, 40% Primeval.

It was enough for arrows and little more, but now that I could spare some mental energy I began to channel the mana in the air into myself. For now, I didn’t even have the mana to heal the many small punctures and scratches that had been made through my armor. I could feel my blood, sticky and slick where it mixed with my sweat between my skin and my armor’s inner padding.

I peeled to one side to try and keep them from surrounding me again, sprinting hard as I brought my bow up and began to loose more arrows into the pack. Their numbers had thinned, I saw with a spike of happiness: I’d felled dozens, more than a third of them.

But I also saw many of them getting back up, ripping arrows free from any non-lethal wounds to their necks and chests. Only those with ruined heads had fallen for good.

I extended my claim, and a moment later confirmed a fearful suspicion: the mushrooms were healing the apehounds, extending their own claim to give aide to the creatures that made their home here.

I smiled as I saw this, fear leaving me as I realized the full implications. Not only were the mushrooms and their relationship to these creatures fascinating, but they’d provide me perfect cover for what I intended to do.

I ran for the nearest mushroom, then past it into the roots of the great trees—but as I passed it, I reached out and claimed the earth at the base of its stalk. I drew a circle, then started channeling mana into it, not myself.

As I leapt upward through the roots, loosing arrows with instinctual rhythm, I tried to compose the spell I knew I needed for the circle. Fire was easy enough to conjure, but I needed something more.

And I needed to slow down on the killing until I had things set up enough. I didn’t want Palefang, or the convergence, to come too soon.

I reached out with my gaze, momentarily halting both my attacks and my spell preparation to take a good look at the gigantic roots around the clearing as I crossed it to avoid the oncoming apehounds. I chose the tightest point I could find, a kind of corridor formed by three of the twisting roots, then leapt down into it and bought myself a few more heartbeats worth of fighting as the oncoming apehounds began to push over and past themselves to get at me.

I sent a few of them into the water by the time I had to retreat again, but by now retreat was easy; I had thinned the horde so much that I could move through the spare apehounds that had tried to flank me, leaping over them or dodging their attempts at tackles as I moved back to the clearing.

I began to run along the outside of the clearing, loosing arrows at the horde but trying to hit their chests and necks, not their heads. I drew a circle around a few more of the mushrooms, then noticed that my fingertips were growing cold and realized that I’d been losing more blood than I’d thought.

I stopped paying attention to the mushrooms for a moment, then began to channel my mana into [Life Magick] and heal my wounds—careful not to heal the skin, just the rent flesh beneath it. I was putting on a performance, after all.

For a while I simply evaded the apehounds and healed, making sure that a healthy number of them were still up and moving, many of the fallen rising because of the mushrooms’ healing even as I put more of them on the ground.

The apehounds were still just a little faster than me in the open, but with so few of them it was easy to move through their ranks, swiftly dodging any oncoming attack—I was untouchable.

Your aim has dwindled, little one, said Palefang, his thoughts conveying a playful amusement.

It needn’t be perfect, I said. This small remainder is no threat to me, and my spells will kill these mushrooms and relieve the need for accuracy.

Palefang let out a laugh. Whether he suspected trickery or not now, I couldn’t say—but he’d find me out before all was said and done.

Then I saw the mana in the air rearranging in a sudden spike of motion—lightning.

I was shot through with panic, but held off breaking a boon for a [Water 1] and trying to flee when I saw the place that the finger of mana was reaching toward—he wasn’t targeting me.

Instead the bolt came down upon the largest mushroom, one I hadn’t yet drawn a circle under, blasting its crown to pieces while the remainder of the stalk blackened and burst into flames.

I knew why he’d done it immediately. The mushrooms had a [Wild Bond], hence why they could heal the apehounds. And since they’d just watched me kill dozens of them, they would already be close to sending out the call to begin a primeval convergence. Palefang had used his own bond to see when the mushrooms were nearby—then struck one down with overwhelming power to not only make it happen, but make it look like he’d been the one to start it.

Why did you do that? I asked, drawing another muddy circle around one of the remaining mushrooms while I vaulted over several of the apehounds. Why help me?

Help you? Palefang laughed. I told you, little one. I adore watching you scurry.

A moment later I heard it: distant cries and howls that came from all directions.

Palefang had finished what I’d started. He’d triggered a primeval convergence.

And I wasn’t anywhere close to ready.