“Looks like you were right, they were hunting him!” Gel commented brightly. “How did you know? Those are all Gold Spire paladins. They have the crest and everything. What tipped you off?”
“How they moved.” Sean answered easily. His instincts had picked that fact out instantly, even from so far away. The group had closed in on Saren with unreserved focus and intensity, not even bothering to register their presence. “They were tracking him, not following. You don’t track your friends.”
“Not unless they have good food they aren’t sharing.” Gel said, as if that statement were perfectly reasonable.
“They didn’t even bring any meat with them!” Gel added indignantly. “Feathers brought a bunch, but only one of them smells like they have food in their pouches.”
“I’m guessing that’s because Feathers came out here to keep his end of our bargain. Whereas they probably took exception to that.” Sean said as he ran as silently as he could to circle around the battle, using the trajectory of the fight and relying on his own instincts to gauge where to go. Being an undead creature of mostly pure-white bone with a bright-crimson interior wasn’t the best for stealth, but the cover of night helped considerably.
“... you think they’re trying to take our meat!?” Gel exclaimed, as if the blasphemous idea had just occurred to him.
“Among other things.” Sean indicated the crates stacked atop one another in the sands with a nod of his head. Crates he was glad to see had yet to be affected by the ongoing struggle. “Doesn’t look like Feathers is very popular amongst his own.”
Is it because he made a deal with us? Do they think he’s corrupted or something? Sean had expected some kind of resistance from an order of holy paladins at some point in this deal, but he hadn’t expected them to take their grievances out on Saren. That’s cold-blooded.
“They’re about to find out just how popular he is out here.” Gel growled, the slime somehow doing a perfect impression of Rastegar’s own threatening rumble in Sean’s mind. The slime silently manifested a crimson dagger at the end of his whip and anchored it there. “Just tell me when, Sean. I’m ready!”
“Just a little bit further.” Sean said, slowing his pace to make sure he reached the optimal position without alerting their soon-to-be foes. “Almost there.”
Saren had lasted a surprisingly long time against three opponents who looked to be roughly his match, though Sean of course had no idea what any of their levels were. He also didn’t get the feeling the three were trying their hardest to kill him. Instead it felt like they were… toying with him. One was even standing off to the side, only stepping in whenever Saren’s many wounds started to close.
There was one golden rule in every game where healers existed: take them down first, and take them down quick. The trio fighting Saren were purposefully not doing so, despite having had multiple opportunities already. It was why Sean had decided to get into a more advantageous position before entering the fray. Because he knew why they were doing this.
They’re enjoying it. Sean thought, feeling a dark anger rise up inside as another of Saren’s attackers cut the owlen across the chest and kicked him backwards in the same motion. The man laughed, and his companion spat at the birdman as Saren stumbled to maintain his footing.
Now as a predator himself, Sean was perfectly comfortable enjoying the thrill of a good hunt. Battle was exhilarating, there was no denying that. Especially against equal opponents, or more powerful ones. But this fight was clearly not equal, and there was no need to torment your prey. His instincts held a cold disdain for the very idea.
Because the longer any fight went, the greater the odds were the tables could be turned against you. Any hunter knew prey was most dangerous when it was wounded.
Doubly so if it had friends.
As Sean crouched down, burning orbs watching the trio close in on their one-time friend, he saw the moment Saren realized that help was coming. To his surprise and relief, Saren didn’t stare at him. Instead the owlen began casting the same spell he had once used to propel Sean and Gel off a cliff. A burst of wind that, if Sean understood what the heavily injured paladin was thinking, was about to launch them forward into the fray.
Right into the midst of three unsuspecting, distracted paladins.
An undead wolf among bleeding sheep.
Not for the first time, Sean wished he had grabbed Pounce. That ability would have made this attack so much easier to pull off. A good gap-closer was definitely something he was missing from his current kit. If the trio hadn’t been so intent on tormenting Saren before killing him, Sean wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get this close. He honestly didn’t even need Saren’s spell at this point. Maybe he’ll use it to bowl them over. That might be even more effective.
One of the paladins seemed to recognize the spell Saren was attempting to cast even as the owlen was engaged in combat with his friend. He laughed, a cruel smile at his lips. Then said something out loud in a rough voice the gelaton couldn’t understand, causing the woman with them to bark out a viciously mocking laugh as well. She made a dismissive gesture, golden light suffusing her own hands– and Sean saw his chance.
It didn’t take a genius to realize she was trying to cancel out or interfere with Saren’s spell. Maybe she thought Saren was aiming to make some last-ditch escape attempt, or maybe she was just enjoying the obvious advantage the three of them held over the bird-man.
Either way, Sean’s black blade erupted from her chest like a railroad spike as it cleaved through her ribs. Sprays of dark blood covered the sand in front of her, and the slightly upward force of his sudden strike actually lifted the woman’s heel-covered feet off the ground. The man beside her swore a startled oath and stepped back, and the one engaged with Saren broke off at the sound of a sudden, pained exhale of breath behind him.
YOU HAVE USED THE ABILITY ‘SLASH’ ON GOLD SPIRE ZEALOT FOR 49 DAMAGE (54 TOTAL, BASE 23 WITH HELD WEAPON PLUS 14 FROM SLASH, DAMAGE MULTIPLIED 200% DUE TO A CRITICAL STRIKE AND REDUCED BY 25 DUE TO YOUR TARGET’S ABILITY: “LIGHT’S PROTECTION”).
Sean ignored an errant comment from Gel about how impractical her footwear was as his black hand reached up, grabbed her throat, and ripped the wildly pulsating arteries free of the flesh containing them. The resonance he always felt when using it to end an opponent’s life sang through his bones, filling Sean with a renewed sense of vigor and strength. His drain ability activated, informing him that her end had come despite the gelaton already knowing it had.
YOU HAVE USED THE ABILITY ‘SLASH’ ON GOLD SPIRE ZEALOT FOR 31 DAMAGE (56 TOTAL, BASE 14 PLUS 14 FROM SLASH, DAMAGE MULTIPLIED 200% DUE TO A CRITICAL STRIKE AND REDUCED BY 25 DUE TO YOUR TARGET’S ABILITY: “LIGHT’S PROTECTION”).
You have slain a Gold Spire Zealot! You have gained 22 experience points.
If the sprays from his first attack had been startling, the fountain that erupted from the female paladin’s throat alongside her gargling, sputtering, dying scream shocked the other two into action. Unfortunately for one of them however, whatever action he might have taken in that moment was currently being interrupted by the discovery of a crimson dagger embedded in his back. The man made another startled sound, this time a surprised exhale as Gel first twisted then yanked the dagger out, before stumbling backwards.
Their final opponent, the one who had been engaged directly with Saren, shouted something incomprehensible with rage before turning back and slashing the owlen with a fierce blow of his glowing golden blade. Blood darkened the sands from a new direction this time, but the owlen did not waste the opportunity they had given him.
Even as Saren clutched at his chest and fell into the sands, a massive column of air pummeled his attacker. It didn’t shove the man backwards as Sean had expected it might, nor did it propel the gelaton in for a last-second rescue. A pillar of twisting, golden glow-streaked air blasted the man directly into the ground with such force that Sean was sure he heard the man’s jaw crack open on a rock. Sand flew in a wide wave away from the impact site, temporarily obscuring the battlefield.
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The pillar of driving wind lasted for several more seconds than it had when Sean and Gel had used it to dive into the ant cavern. Between that, and the fact that it looked like Gel had managed to strike the first man’s spine… the rest of the battle didn’t take long. By the time the third one was free, Sean’s black blade and midnight left hand had carved through another throat… and Gel’s dagger was waiting for him.
You have slain a Gold Spire Zealot! You have gained 18 experience points.
You have slain a Gold Spire Zealot! You have gained 15 experience points.
Weird. Were the other two lower level than the woman? Sean thought, dismissing the prompts almost as quickly as they had appeared. Good thing we got her first, then.
The gelaton rushed over to where Saren had fallen, though it took him several seconds to pull the owlen out of the sandwave Saren had covered himself in with his own spell. It was only when Sean let go of the birdman’s weakened hand that he got a good, upfront look at Saren’s injuries. A massive, sucking gash covered the owlen’s chest, and the sand that had fallen into the wound probably wasn’t helping. Cuts, bruises, and torn feathers revealing what looked like broken bones covered the rest of him.
Saren mumbled something that Sean couldn’t understand, before his already-unfocused eyes slid shut and the owlen collapsed into unconsciousness. The gelaton didn’t need a translation this time however, the meaning had been obvious: “Took you… long enough.”
Sean stared down at the fallen paladin for a long moment, unsure what to do. His burning orbs tracked the owlen’s fading pulse as his mind raced through their options. He glanced from the birdman to the paladins they had slain, then to the supplies and the cactus-crafted sled off in the distance the pair of them had made earlier in the hopes of transporting them, his expression implacable.
“Alright… hear me out.” Gel began, but Sean cut him off almost immediately.
“We’re not eating Feathers, Gel.”
“Who said eat.” Gel said in what the slime surely felt was a very reasonable tone. “I don’t want to eat him–okay, that’s a lie, I absolutely would–but not until he dies! He might survive though, and surely just a taste wouldn’t–”
“No tastes.” Sean said firmly. “He helped us out, and we still have–”
It was Sean’s turn to be interrupted this time as a column of golden light shot directly into the air from the golden necklace somehow still attached to the female paladin’s mostly-detached neck. The column was thin, no wider than Sean’s own hand, but it extended hundreds of feet up.
Yeah… there’s only one thing that can be. Sean thought, recognizing a “this is where we died/cry for help” beacon when he saw one. It was hard not to. There were at least three famous survival games that used beacons like that to mark players’ dead bodies back home. We need to leave.
“Time to go.” Sean said, abruptly changing tacts as he dashed off towards the sled. “I’ll bet my right hand that beam of light is going to bring more friends of theirs over, and I’ll bet my left we don’t want to face the ones who come looking right now.”
Especially with my health still so low…
“Wait! We can’t just leave them!” Gel said, sounding distraught. Whether the slime’s concern was aimed more at the meat in the boxes or inside the paladins, Sean wasn’t entirely sure. “What about Feathers?!”
“We’re sticking him on the sled, along with everything else.” Sean answered, his black blade sheathed as he ran at a dead sprint, no longer concerned with stealth. “Whatever we can take off those paladins is coming, too. You can eat them on the way, there’s enough room on the sled.”
There actually was, too. Since they hadn’t known how much to expect, or even what there would be, the sand sled Sean had cobbled together out of anchored-together cactus parts with the spikes chopped off was bigger than it had any right to be. Their pack was currently hidden under it, the whole thing having been upturned when they had left it behind to chase after Saren’s pursuers.
Gel asked the obvious question once they were on their way back.
“As much as I appreciate the effort, where are we going? If we run off into the desert, whoever comes after will just track us down. This thing isn’t exactly going to leave a subtle trail with all that weight.”
Sean looked behind them, and was dismayed to realize the slime had a point. It had been light enough when it was just their pack, but with the full weight of the owlen–not to mention however heavy those crates were– he would be dragging an arrow behind them. One that led straight to his back.
“Back to the sewers.” Sean said, making a snap decision. “It’s not that far, and if we can make it to the entrance before anyone shows up, we can double back to change our tracks. Then we just drag the sled off to the side and make them think we ditched it to head back out to the desert.”
“Hu-uh. That’s… that’s actually a pretty good plan.” Gel conceded. “And with all the stench down there, they won’t be able to track us by smell.”
“By smell?” That idea, admittedly, hadn’t occurred to Sean. Gel kept his bones all-but-polished after every kill, so scent wasn’t something he normally worried about. “Oh, you mean Saren.”
“Yep.”
The birdman looked somehow worse when the pair reached him again, and Sean’s left hand emanated a cold resonance up his arm as they approached. Knowing what that meant… Sean made another snap decision. One that might cost his friend some health.
“Get him a few of those leaves.” Sean said, reaching down to tear off an already-ripped piece of cloth from the paladin’s clothing before dashing back over to the desiccated hardwood tree they had tried snacking on earlier. “They’re infused with life mana, right? Maybe they’ll heal his wounds.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works, Sean.” Gel said hesitantly. “Health potions wouldn’t be so rare and expensive if you could just use leaves.”
“Well then maybe it’ll restore some of his mana, like that life bar did.” Sean said, resisting the urge to grind his teeth. His undead nature surged up, washing away the frustration trying to rise within him. “Then he can heal himself.”
“Now that might work.” Gel allowed, his voice bright. A crimson whip shot towards the tree as they arrived, and Sean held the cloth out to catch whichever one the slime could get free without potentially hurting himself on the branches.
To their mutual surprise, one of the larger leaves immediately fell off the tree. It landed perfectly in the center of the bloodied cloth in Sean’s outstretched hand, despite the night breeze rolling through that should have brushed it to the side.
Both of them stared down at it.
“Well, I don’t know about you.” Gel began. “But that looks like a sign to me.”
“No kidding…”
“Should we take another, just in case?” Gel asked, his crimson whip poised over the tree.
Admittedly, Sean had just been thinking the same thing… but for some reason the idea felt wrong. Not blatantly wrong like the tree itself–or even the leaf in his hands– felt, but like it wasn’t… right.
O-kay, message received. Sean thought, turning smartly on one heel to dash back over to their fallen, feathered friend.Don’t get greedy with the life-tree.
Placing the softly glowing leaf gently on the paladin’s sucking chest wound, Sean was relieved to see golden light spill into Saren’s flesh. He might have imagined it, but the owlen’s haggard breathing seemed to steady somewhat. His pulse definitely got a beat or two steadier.
“That’ll have to do for now.” Sean said, reaching for the paladin’s least-injured limb to drag him onto the sled. “Here, give me a hand. Anchor yourself to that patch on his shoulder…”
Getting everything, and everyone, onto the sled took only a few minutes longer. Sean chafed at the delay, stealing glances up the hill leading towards Dervash every few seconds. To his relief, no pursuers heavy with righteous anger appeared, and even the light from the female paladin’s necklace eventually sputtered out.
Sean tore that particular piece of jewelry off her and tossed it into the sand.
Then, he took off towards the sewers, tugging their cargo behind him. All the while, Gel kept a crimson whip extended out of his back and onto the bodies of those they had just slain.
“Mmmm…” Gel muttered, smacking imaginary lips in satisfaction. “I love a meal on the run.”
Sean rolled his orbs, and he thought the slime noticed. Because a second later Gel spoke up again.
“Want to try some?”