Day 76

Clarissa Evans

The first taste of the tenth floor was an icy breeze. A cold that stung to the bone and leeched the warmth from even covered flesh. The ferocious sunstones were simply powerless before the tundra’s freezing existence. Rolling plains of till and sediment were unable to impede the chill rolling down from the impossible wall of ice.

Clarissa stared at the swashes of blue and white, seeing a tale written in a language she couldn’t read. There was only a feeling of time. The burden of it, and the weight of the cycle. Empathy for the conflict of life, the inherent enduring of a land shadowed by the evershifting of glacial dominance.

A primal upwelling, an ancient song half remembered.

Hot breath and the feeling of fangs. It was an old friend. The feeling urging her to hunt, to survive the odds. An all-consuming drive to pit herself against the trials of nature. Survive.

This replicated land of harshness appealed to her. Invoked the desire to stray from Malachi’s watchful gaze and explore alone despite the danger, because of the danger. The endangerment was almost the point. The taste of ice in the air promised it, an impulse completely unphased by the recklessness of itself.

There was beauty to explore as well as the stalking predators of this ancient landscape. Hidden clefts in the abandoned gravel where melt waters assured slivers of tundra paradise. Lined with dwarf trees and shrubs as hardy plants lined the glacial streams. Standing at the edge, Clarissa looked down on the tracks of wary creatures. The history of isolated lives haunted by the inevitable return of hunters.

She adored this floor and not just because the last few days of allowing others to challenge the floors had been left utterly boring. The land was empowering to her.

“What do you see?” asked Julia as she arrived at the ranger’s shoulder.

A glance, assessing the interest on her friend’s face. “The traces of small animals. Rabbit runs and mouse burrows. This floor is less artificial than the others. I think they scooted up a part of something real. There must be somewhere outside just like… this.”

Her eyes roved around, taking in the ice and stone. From the mighty wall of ice down to the reaching arms, from the great forgotten shards to the crumbly mixed sediment beneath their feet.

“Um, what does that tell us? Any idea what monsters are going to show?”

The question annoyed her a little. Malachi’s drive forward was polluting Julia’s intent, not that Clarissa was truly bothered. Escaping was important, but the floor spoke to her. Being drawn away from its beauty was irritating, in a knee jerk sort of way.

“Definitely something worth worrying about around,” she finally said. “Nothing making an appearance during the day and those fire elk are seriously anxious.”

The only magical creatures they had run into so far on the tenth floor were an autumn-colored deer species with ember antlers and an aura of heat. They scattered upon the party drawing near. Skittish was an understatement. Clarissa didn’t think the beasts had recognized humans either, just a wariness in their bones.

“Do you think it will be as bad as what happened on the ninth floor?” The shieldmaiden shifted the shield and loosened her sword unconsciously. An edge appeared in the eyes while they scanned.

“Eh, why are you worried about that?” laughed Clarrisa. “The Loser’s Club took care of the squid-thing and no one died.”

“No one died, but those caught certainly didn’t have a good time…”

“Nothing hatched in the end. Everyone was freed before that. Things were going too smooth anyways.”

“I agree, which doesn’t bode well for this floor either. Ten is an important number.”

Clarissa raised an eyebrow. “Ten is an important number? What number isn’t! Hell most of the odds got some special association. Three, five, seven are all magic to someone. Divine, magic, and then both for seven. Or some bullshit like that. What’s ten got to do with anything? Just the first double digits?”

“Well, it is the first double digits… but mostly it seems like a line crossed.”

“Nah, what we should worry about is eleven! That’s the surprise kidney punch and when we’ve actually cleared ten floors. That’ll be ten percent completion and something worth celebrating. Fear the deadly eleven, Julia! Fear it!”

“Gezz, fine. I get it. This floor isn’t special at all and I should chill out.” Julia huffed.

“Chilly is the theme here.” Clarissa grinned at her friend’s roll of the eyes. “Besides, I could be wrong and there’s a Jotunn waiting for us. Big old buff dude ready to smash us to bits.”

Deadpan, “What a beautiful prediction.”

“Not how I’d describe the mashing and mushing, Ju Ju, but each to their own.”

“Gah! Why are we friends again?”

“Because I am a delightful manic fairy type that annoys the right people! Also, I’m hot, and I can shoot an arrow up a giant’s nose and hit the brain. Effortlessly”

“And an unrelenting bragger, but what about your qualities? Seriously though, what’s your guess on what monstrosities are hiding out on this cold ass floor.”

“Uh, at least a slate gray saber tooth tiger the size of a shortbus and is the unloved child of an ice elemental father. The mother was clearly a very angry tiger on top of that. Bad, hungry childhood all around.”

“That’s really specific…”

Arming herself with haste, she declared, “Because I’m not guessing! Big bad cat! Incoming!”

The shieldmaiden, twisted in a surge of dark blue. Her aura flashed into an impression of wings and hands that formed a wall around them. Her sword came free as Clarissa fired at the charging tank of a beast. The green arrow deflected off the thick skull, the cat having shifted to save it’s eye. A yowl graveled past two sword-length tusks of crystal-like ice.

Slashes of blue cut through the air, forcing the cat to dodge or tank. Agility proved a strong ally and the few unavoidable ones left only the faintest impression. Muscles like steel resisting Julia’s might.

The ranger studied. A deep breath, she pulled back the green string until the bow projected the ghost of a ballista. At the moment when the monster leaped over a slash of energy, Clarissa fired. A javelin-sized projectile slammed into the shoulder of the cat. It spun like a top and twirled upon bouncing. Glacier till sprayed as the icy beast snarled to its feet.

Vertical slits of rage looked past the shieldmaiden and locked onto Clarissa. There was a promise of informed cruelty that made the hunter in her grin all the bigger. She was pleased further by the bleeding gouge in the shoulder.

She empowered her bow’s size again for the next shot when suddenly icy mist exploded outwards from the cat. Shadowless, the monster lost itself in the magical haze as the borders stretched to surround them. Clarissa dropped the enlargement and put her back to Julia’s. The blue shielding shifted into an encirclement. They watched, waited, but didn’t worry.

Black ice claws slammed short of them upon the shieldmaiden’s barrier, sparks flying at the impact. Before either could react the hint of the monster disappeared back into the flurries. It continued to test the walls with slashes and charges. The air chilled with every passing second as they waited.

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When the time between attacks grew longer and longer, Clarissa said, “I don’t think it's actually trying to get in anymore… Not yet, the cat is pouring on the cold and hoping to freeze us.”

“We’ve caged ourselves for it,” growled Julia.

“Yeah, unfortunately. Shows how good your barriers are, but that ain’t helping at the moment. I gots a plan though!”

“And it is?”

“It's simple and reckless.”

Julia rolled her eyes. “I don’t expect anything less from you.”

“Why thank you!”

“O my god, just tell me the plan already!”

“Geez soooo impatient! Why it's not like we're in a rush or anything! The beastie can’t get in and we have layers! Maybe take a moment to enjoy the beauty of the icy mist!

The shieldmaiden kicked back into her shin.

Clarissa yelped. “Alright, alright! Open a path right there and prepare to do your turbo charge. I’ll make the stupid cat flinch, that’ll be your opening. Smash and hold, my mighty warrior! Then I’ll fill it with holes!”

“Well, you said it, simple and reckless. Hopefully, we’ll have the cavalry show up at that point.”

“Nah! We’ll be good enough. Just keep the pretty kitty interested.”

As their banter died away, both fell into serious silence. Clarissa with an eager smile and Julia blank with concentration. A part in the blue barrier pulled away like curtains. Chilled fog rolled in sluggishly until the ground was obscured inside.

Nothing happened. More stillness as each held ready, muscles trembling with the next action. Rocks scattered on rocks. The glow of cold blue eyes pierced the veil before a defined shadow revealed the charging form of the saber-toothed tiger. Hulking as it filled the hole in the barrier. Clarissa didn’t twitch as the monster filled her vision, allowing it close and assuring the perfect shot.

She fired, aiming for the eye, and missed as intended. The beast remembering her shoulder shot, throwing itself into a desperate dodge. Its balance was ruined, tangled limbs almost tripping as momentum sent the cat roughly forward.

Upon the moment of the shot, Clarissa had tossed the bow aside with her left hand and dipped with the right. An enchantment flashed from her armor, the bow reeled securely to the back while she stood back up with an ax in hand. Wickedly curved and designed for speed.

Into the unbalanced monster, she stepped and lashed out across the face. Up then down. Flesh wounds that bled more than damaged. It was easy for the ranger to slip away as the blinded beast bumbled past. Her ax rose one more time to be lodged in the bone of the passing hind leg. The counter momentum doing most of the work.

It twisted to snarl at her, but Clarissa had cloaked. Before the cat could sniff the ranger out, Julia exploded into the monster’s side.

An explosion of blue power rolled over the cat and in its retreat left limbs retrained. The monster struck back at the shieldmaiden, but was handicapped significantly. Shield met every sharp thrust. Her blazing sword slashed, tearing flesh further as the aura dug itself in deeper.

Clarissa skulked. Firing the flanks, gone before the beast could snarl in her direction. The green arrows lingered in the joints, refusing to break. Hollow arrows dug into soft tissue to act as shunts to spill blood free faster.

The saber cat weakened. Slowed and then succumbed to the battery of wounds. It collapsed, and then the icy mist rapidly dissipated. Beyond where the veil had been the rest of their party stood in the midst of trying to find some way through. The redhead gave them a saucy wave before going over to collect her ax from the dusting corpse.

She found the predictable regrouping irritating. Preferring to stay in isolation on the tundra and sought a way to extend it. Her eyes found the displaced earth from the cat’s original charge. It seemed a direction enough and the ranger began following the backtrail.

“Where are you going?” called out Julia.

With a look back while walking, Clarissa replied, “Curious, gonna take a look.”

“We should go together then…”

“Nah, nah… I’ll be a ghost in the wind.”

A few steps and then her cloaking Form took over. She grinned to see Julia had lost sight of her.

Down the slope, the trail turned to smaller signs. From broken earth to scruffs. Subtler, but not beyond her skills. It led her down to another hidden vale carved by a glacier stream. Tiny and enclosed. There were animal signs here too, but not prey markings. A musky smell that permeated the area.

“The den,” she whispered. Eyes tracing the tracks back to a concealed cave. Dugout of earth and stone. Clarissa considered her options when there was a shaking in the bushes. An impulse had her toss a rock into the open ground nearby.

Two kittens dove out of the vegetation to chase after the bouncing stone and those set scattering at the impacts.

Once everything stilled the beasts began to play with themselves. Rolling and hissing with enthusiasm.

She watched them. Curious and enthralled by their cuteness. Clearly, Julia and she had killed the parent, but that brought little sympathy to her mind. The kittens were monsters no matter their youth. Hard to worry about the survivability of something destined to consider you lunch.

Didn’t take away from the pleasure of seeing two kittens play though.

After a while the clock in her head was ticking down, Malachi and Julia would only tolerate her departure for so long. Eventually, both or either would come storming after her. Regardless if they knew where Clarissa was.

Something did hold her back. A repeating gesture that broke up the play fights and zoomy dances. The two kittens would pause to press their noses together. She swore there was a flare of some sort when that happened. The intervals weren’t set, but the nose presses kept repeating. Clarissa pulled from her increasing bag of tricks to add an adjustment to her eyes.

Copying exactly Molly’s unique vision or Damien’s spell wasn’t possible just yet. Pushing it too far caused migraines. Stinging and glass shard pain that burrowed in from the eyes. What was safe to use gave the ranger sight of Mana beyond her own.

Deep green of the forest’s heart consumed Clarissa’s eyes and the world grew vibrant. Like after the rain, when the world breathed in and the sun shined gleefully. New colors, better colors glowed. Highlighting what was and wasn’t. Spirals and drifting threads were unveiled to her curious gaze. Most of the Mana to be seen was free. Simply existing. Living things radiated their own as well.

The faintest shade seen in the first snow surrounded the two saber kittens. She watched those auras with the excitement of expected discovery. Sparks elicited where the two touched, but most of all when their noses tapped a feline kiss. An exchange of personal Mana, from sibling to sibling. Further, their random movements were revealed to be less random in thought. Though while playfighting the kittens often rolled free, they stayed mostly within the lingering clouds of a different shade of Mana. The gray of a deep winter snowstorm. Clarissa made the easy deduction that this was from the recently deceased parent.

“No need to inform them that it was my fault,” whispered Clarissa. Grinning at her bad joke.

An interesting observation that made her mind start rolling was that the kittens breathed in their parent’s Mana. Taking it into their own. She couldn’t say, the change so infinitesimal, but it seemed like their own fresh white Mana was darkening. Affected.

That brought her to an exciting idea.

The assumed reaction of the others only made it more enticing.

She found a good rock and aimed for a bush on the edge of the streambed's floodplain cliff. It sailed through, rattling the branches, and cracked into a pile of till that avalanched over the edge to repeating cacophony.

One kitten bound away recklessly and the other made ready to charge after. More focused on its sibling tail than the slowing murmur of falling rocks.

Before the last one could depart, Clarissa jostled a bush next to her. The kitten spun wide-eyed. Claws out as it watched the bush. Absolute stillness when the ranger stepped into sight, making sure to crouch within the stormy Mana. It froze.

They paused together, eye to eye.

Carefully, the ranger tossed a crumble of ration between them. It was soaked with her Mana. A beacon of green on gravel. This inspired movement, first a shift back and then a step forward with a wiggle of the nose. Clarissa grinned, on the last floor the Sixty had learned that the rations were well-loved by monsters for some reason.

As the first crumb was eaten, another was tossed out. Piece by piece the kitten was brought closer. The Mana of the baby monster changed with every bite. Insignificantly but building up like green paint continuously dripping into white.

There was a clear green tinge by the time Clarissa had lured the kitten close enough to offer a final shard of ration with her open hand. Hesitation as their eyes met again. The ranger did her best to instill her presence with not only kindness, but her hunter’s spirit. Striving to show the monster all that was offered beyond this piece of food.

Carefully the kitten leaned forward and began to finickily eat. When the final morsel was gone, Clarissa risked turning the empty hand to brush across the cat’s head in a testing pet. When there were no claws or scampering she got bolder.

Two hands soothed through silky fur. Traveling across the whole body and lightly transferring green Mana. The purring elicited stole her heart, fingers twirling with ease now. Mana passed between the two of them, though Clarissa remained in the upper hand. A tinge became a tint became a shade. When finally the color was solidly in reflection of her own, the ranger felt a connection snap into place.

It was similar to what she felt when empowering her bow, but with the kitten, there was a feedback of emotions. Contentment and pleased pleasure passed through to her. Clarissa now had a monstrous pet.

She considered the direction of the second kitten, but shrugged the greedy thought away. The one currently in her lap was more than enough. A pretty shade of slate gray with streaks of silver like a tiger. Black marked the ears and paws. Best of all were the blue eyes of ice that matched the vibrance of her green ones.

“Come little one,” she cooed. “Let’s make merry with our friend’s nerves and soak in their awe! I think I shall name you Eagla, for the fear we shall elicit together! From now and into our vast future!”

Her nose bopped against Eagla’s.