I humbly request the presence of my student, the Mighty Dragon, and his friends, at the Goose & Feather for dinner. You may of course resume your leave outside the campus after we are done, but this matter is best handled on Academy Grounds.
Lloyd the Dragon Slayer
Yaric read the note quietly before passing it on, but Li Na made sure to read the first part very loudly for those nearby to hear. She was very proud of the nickname.
“It must be important if Lloyd doesn’t want to risk people overhearing. Maybe it’s got something to do with the people the Academy is hunting down?”
That topic had been something they’d discussed at length over the past weeks. Everyone knew it was a big deal, but no one had initially realized just how important it was. Sven had explained how such a large and influential network operating within the Kingdom was reason for concern, but the fact that the Academy had no idea it was there was cause for alarm. Worse, they still didn’t have much to go on in the way of names or identities.
“I think Lloyd would have called for us immediately if that was the case. I bet it’s the weapons our Sponsors ordered.”
The clothing they had ordered only took three weeks to arrive, but the weapons were taking much longer. Even the custom armor ordered for Lauren, Li Na, and Sven had arrived, and they had been pulled out of class to get taken for a fitting. Now all four of them had specially designed armor for combat situations.
Lloyd was waiting with a very large spread already set out, along with several wrapped bundles. If the long spear-shaped bundles weren’t enough, the ridiculous war hammer certainly was.
“Come, sit! This was great timing when you consider how you four just got your first taste of baby combat.”
“Baby combat?” Li Na asked, raising her brow.
“Baby combat. This is the very beginning of magical combat for you four, where you get to feel out your own styles and test new ideas. It only gets more intense from here. Once you learn to walk, you can learn to run, jump, or dance, whatever you want. And these will help you,” Lloyd added, though his smile was more melancholic than Yaric was used to seeing.
The food was ignored while everyone understandably focused on opening their gifts.
Yaric sword came out with a crystal-like black blade, except at the edges, where it darkened and reflected no light. It was heavier than he expected, but he doubted that would be an issue once he started using proper augmentation spells. The extra weight wasn’t really a problem even now.
Their spears were dark brown with a deep black head, and Li Na’s hammer looked like rough iron. It was her dagger that caught everyone’s attention though, with a shimmering copper blade that seemed to hold your attention when you held it. It was certainly the most beautiful weapon of the collection.
“There is another reason I’ve called you here, but first, we eat!”
The topic of conversation immediately switched to talking about the Solstice Tournament.
“So, Dragon huh?” Lloyd chuckled.
“Dragon Puppy.”
“I don’t even know why,” Yaric complained. “I only used fire that one time.”
“But which fight is the one that stuck in everyone’s memory?” Lloyd asked.
“And I got knocked out early, it’s not like I won the Tournament.”
“No,” Lloyd acknowledged. “But you were the one everyone wanted to watch, so you’re going to have to get used to it.”
“It will go away,” Yaric replied unconvincingly.
“Did any of you learn anything while fighting?” Lloyd asked, his voice turning more serious as he looked at each of the students in turn.
“We need to learn –.”
“We have to add real augmentation spells to our fights,” Lauren said, having spoken up at the same time as Sven.
“Yeah, they’re just too fast to fight. We couldn’t keep up.”
“Your shaping spells made a difference though,” Lloyd pointed out. “They take much longer to learn than augmentation does, so you’re going to catch up very quickly now. I bet you’re almost as strong by the end of the year. Not that it matters, one of you even beat the same opponent repeatedly using basic spells.”
“What was their problem?” Lauren asked, sounding annoyed.
“They’ve been like that in class as well,” Li Na added.
Lloyd sighed and leaned back, swirling his drink in his hand.
“They’re two years ahead of you, and yet you’ve accomplished more than they have, outside of schooling, anyway. Actually, there too. You’re not as advanced as them, but you’ve done more than they did in any particular year. I’m not condoning their attitude; I’m just suggesting that you try to look at it from their perspective. No one would enjoy having their juniors show them up.”
“I’m sick of people acting that way. Who cares what we’ve done?” Yaric complained further. “It has nothing to do with them.”
“True, but it’s not about you. It’s about them. Notice how few people have the same view they have? There’s a reason for that.”
“So what should we do?” Sven asked.
“Treat them like seniors,” Lloyd stated simply. “And if that doesn’t work, bring out your inner dragon.”
“Several others in our year were cleared for answering appeals,” Lauren informed Lloyd. “Maybe that will help spread the focus.”
“On the matter of appeals,” Lloyd said, whipping out a folded envelope with a flourish. “Your favorite Arch Wizards have chosen another appeal for you. Now don’t get me wrong, these are dangerous, but nothing like what you’ve faced before. And you do need to start getting experience for these sorts of things.”
“These?” Lauren said questioningly. “Sounds like there’s more than one.”
“That’s because there is,” Lloyd replied, spreading the paperwork out.
“The first is only difficult on paper. Chickens keep going missing from local coops in the village here, on the opposite side of Hasver Lake. It should be easy, but the locals all swear that it’s some kind of spirit that can pass through walls. Keep an eye out for any undead activity, but it’s far more likely to be a gnome or something of that sort. Your big difficulty here will be determining the cause.
“Then you need to travel inland, to the Scrubs. The mountain range has had multiple sightings matching the description of Garmr. This is the dangerous one, but their packs are always six to eight. Still, I’d prefer it if you four used traps or tricks of some kind,” Lloyd said, waving his hand horizontally.
“But those are also associated with the undead,” Lauren pointed out. “Are you sure the villagers aren’t correct? Maybe they’ve seen what took their chickens.”
“Here,” Lloyd replied, sliding the appeal across the table. “There is nothing at all to go on. No one has ever seen a thing; they’ve just found feathers. And in my experience, when people can’t understand something then the answer is always supernatural. Either that or a conspiracy and coverup, but that wouldn’t fit here. Besides, Garmr are associated with the undead, they aren’t undead themselves. What do you know about them?”
“They’re large wolf-like creatures,” Lauren replied. “They have a weak mind magic attack, but otherwise they’re just fast and can run for days without stopping. Undead never attack them, and intelligent undead have been known to keep them as pets, though no one knows why. They also eat several times more than wolves do, and as far as it’s known they only stop hunting when they sleep. That’s the only other thing generally considered magical about them, their insatiable hunger.
“And they have no permanent populations outside the Abyssal Fields, so how are they all the way out in the Scrubs?” Lauren asked when she finished.
“Like you said, they can run for days, and they’re very fast. Whenever they pop up outside the Abyssal Fields, it’s always somewhere deep inside the Kingdom. We don’t suspect any foul play here.”
“All right, so stop a chicken killer and a pack of ravenous, abyssal hounds?” Yaric summarized.
“You should all read the appeal first,” Lloyd admonished, though he was grinning. He knew full well that he was the reason why they hadn’t.
“Well, it looks like we will get to test some of these weapons soon,” Sven mused.
“Yes, and speaking of,” Lloyd said, reaching behind his seat. He lifted another small bundle onto the table and unwrapped it. There were six arrows, each made of the same spine Lloyd had chosen when speaking with Arnold.
“These are the special arrows I promised you,” Lloyd said, a proud smile on his face.
Yaric leaned over the table to try and take one. “What do they…”
“No,” Lloyd said, pulling them out of his reach. “I have to first teach you how these work.”
“I don’t keep them?”
“They’re not allowed in your dorm building, too dangerous.”
“What?!” Lauren exclaimed.
“Cool!”
“I’ll teach you when you get back,” Lloyd promised. “For now you better prepare for your appeal and get these weapons packed in your room. You’ll be missing some of your off days, but you’ll also be traveling for most of the appeal, so have fun. And stay safe!” He added seriously.
There wasn’t a whole lot to do to get prepared.
Travel packs were ready to go in just 15 minutes, rations were organized, and their horses were made ready for final preparations the next day. Yaric felt like it would be good to get away while the whole dragon issue settled down.
No one wanted to spend too much time in the saddle during midday, so they left early the next morning, though with their armor packed away this time.
The best part of their first day was being able to stop at Cory and Lucy’s farm during the worst of the heat. Both farmers were surprised by the unannounced visit, but they welcomed the students with open arms. Their horses even got grain and cooling blankets inside the shade of the barn.
Only once the temperature dropped did they say goodbye, rather reluctantly, as the weather outside was cooler, but still very hot. Lucy’s fresh orange juice seemed like a distant memory by the time they’d ridden out of sight.
Hasver Lake was a major node in transport for much of the inner reaches of Malvec, connecting directly to Malvec City via Lekton. As such, the roads were wide and well-used, with many camping sites and small cabins along the way for them to take shelter. It was at your own risk since criminals could be found anywhere, and nowhere was absolutely safe, but Yaric and the others liked their chances.
It still meant keeping watch, particularly due to the horses, but they were going to bed once it got dark, so they had more time to sleep.
Three days of alternating between riding and resting the horses brought them to East Shore, where they were to catch a ferry across the lake. They’d even got permission to take the direct ferry instead of the cheaper option that would take them around the shore.
Lauren was excited at first, but far less so after East Shore dropped over the horizon. The waves were choppy, and she’d never been so far out over water before. Besides Sven, none of them had been, but Li Na still spent several hours holding Lauren’s hair back while she leaned over the side.
None of the horses seemed to care.
Still, it was an overnight trip, and Lauren was much better in the morning. They even got to play some games on the upper deck, but most of the time was spent trying to master their first full augmentation spell. Using a spell component that inherently boosted you had seemed incredible, until they faced the older students for the first time and saw just how much of a difference a proper spell made.
No one was surprised when Li Na got it right on their second night, leaving the others rushing to catch up. It wasn’t easy, despite the comparison to shaping magic, as they had to augment many things individually at once. They could seriously hurt themselves if they forgot to augment their tendons or bones, enough that Yaric wondered if they shouldn’t wait until they could use the Tech Duinn.
Li Na pointed out that it was very easy to tell if they missed something, as long as they didn’t try to use their full strength immediately. That, along with their unwillingness to find themselves so overpowered by their opponents ever again, drove them to push on regardless. Even Sven agreed, mentioning that they were to practice these spells in class under normal circumstances.
No one else had managed to pull off the spell when they disembarked at Hasver, but all three were getting closer. Even better, it was very early when the ferry docked at their destination, so they were able to stock up on more rations and keep going, making it to the fast-flowing Hasver’s Run by late evening.
“I bet it is a spirit,” Li Na said that evening when they were cooking their food over a campfire.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Lloyd seemed quite certain. And the people who sent the appeal never actually saw anything, they just guessed,” Lauren replied.
“Exactly! They never saw anything! What else would you would expect from a spirit?”
“Lina, what would you do if it was a spirit?” Yaric asked.
“Smack it in the face, duh.”
“You can’t smack spirits, you know that.”
“Then you’re just not hitting hard enough.”
“Only arcana can damage a spirit,” Lauren pointed out.
“Good thing my mace has enchantments that can channel arcana, huh?” Li Na replied smugly.
“That might actually work,” Lauren mumbled in response.
No one managed to get the augmentation spell right that evening either, but Yaric and Lauren also took a break to practice their lightning spell. Yaric was very eager to learn the spell after being hit near instantaneously in his last fight. He’d also meant to ask Lloyd how he could defend against lightning spells, but the excitement of their gifts had driven the question from his mind.
Two more days of travel brought them to the foot of a small hill, with smoke rising from the other side. Everyone hurried up the road, expecting to see Blindhold on the other side.
They weren’t disappointed. There was nothing particularly interesting about the small village surrounded by its sprawling farms, but no one had ever seen a village situated entirely within a crater before.
Hills entirely ringed the whole village in what looked almost like a perfect circle, 7 kilometers wide. Many of the inner slopes had terraces spread across their lower reaches, while the ground inside the crater seemed to be almost entirely flat.
Blindhold looked idyllic, not the epicenter of undead attacks.
None of them had to declare themselves in any previous town as they were still Novices, but this was the location of the appeal, so they made their way down quickly, looking for whoever was in charge. None of the buildings on the main road stood out, nor did any have signs.
“Are you looking for me?” A gruff voice asked from behind them. A woman came walking onto the road from the direction of the farms, walking confidently despite her advanced age.
“I grew up in Lekton, I’d recognize Academy students anywhere.”
“Yes ma’am,” Sven replied diplomatically. “We were sent to investigate an issue with missing chickens.”
“Not missing, killed. Blood and feathers and everything. But how is someone your age going to kill a spirit?” she asked suspiciously.
“We have special weapons,” Li Na replied, gesturing to where her war hammer was strapped to her saddle.
“I suppose. Come on then, I’m in charge here. You report in to me,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder and already walking away. “Name’s Greta.”
Yaric and the others hurried to dismount and lead their horses after her, only catching up once she stopped at one of the farms. And the coop against the side of the storehouse.
“Sorry, we didn’t get a chance to introduce ourselves,” Sven quickly interjected before she could speak. “I am Novice McDavids, and these are Novices Jakobson, Silver, and Miller,” Sven said, gesturing to each in turn.
“Delighted,” Greta mumbled, before turning back to a few dusty and scattered feathers. “This happened just over a week ago. We left the evidence behind in case you needed to see for yourselves.”
Yaric noted that while there did appear to be some dried blood clotting them together, the feathers had been lying there so long in the open that they were hard to see under the dirt that had begun covering them.
Four separate chicken coops had been hit regularly, all on the same side of town, and always at night.
“We think the spirit just moves through the sides,” Greta said, shaking the mesh. “See? No way anything else could get in here.”
“And the door is securely locked every night?” Lauren asked.
“An astute observation.”
“Ma’am,” Sven said, jumping in just before Yaric could. “We’re here to help. The more we know the more effectively we can do so.”
“I made it very clear that we suspected a spirit and four Novices arrived. We already know whatever this is can pass through locked doors, and the unnerving screams at night send a chill down your bones. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on. I retired here for peace and quiet, and now I have neither. But give it your best shot.”
“There was no mention of screams at night,” Lauren continued, ignoring Greta’s attitude.
“Unearthly screams of terror. Random too. Sometimes we go days without a sound, then we hear it all night.”
Lauren glanced at the others. There were very few insubstantial undead that made sounds like that, and none of them were something they could handle.
“Hold on, you showed us feathers outside the chicken coops. Did you ever find any dead chickens inside?” Yaric asked.
“No,” Greta grunted. “Spirit must have moved it out.”
There weren’t any capable of such a thing, at least as far as Yaric knew.
Greta had nothing more to give them, so she went back to sitting on a chair on her porch, which gave a great view of the hills and the road they had come down. No doubt it was also how she had known they had arrived.
There wasn’t much anyone could do until nightfall, so they just groomed their horses and started staking out lookout points around the chicken coops that were hit most often. Four spots were chosen, increasing their chances, and they each had a weapon and lighting stone ready. Sitting on a porch in their bedrolls wasn’t so bad, even if they had to stay awake all night to watch the coops.
Sven insisted that they all wear their armor just in case, so it wasn’t the most comfortable night out, especially with the mosquitoes. No one had mentioned that the village was infested with them.
Yaric didn’t have much trouble staying awake, even though it was long past midnight. The insects were making his stakeout almost unbearable, but he finally saw movement on top of one of the storehouses.
A four-legged silhouette moved quickly across the roof, approached the mesh where it joined the wall to form the ceiling, and pushed its way through. Chickens started going crazy.
Yaric flashed his stone toward the others, but they had already heard the noise and were halfway to him.
Lauren flashed a light across the coop, just in time to see a bright white chest and muzzle leap back up to the roof, carrying a squawking chicken in its mouth. The orange body wasn’t as bright in the light, but everyone clearly saw the spirit for what it was.
A fox.
Lloyd’s guess was more accurate than he knew. Forget a gnome, it was a completely mundane animal. Superstition and fear had people hiding from a small fox.
They bathed the fox in light from four directions, making the fox panic and jump from the roof, landing in a sprint. A quick gust of air from Yaric sent it tumbling toward Sven, while the released chicken tried to get away by flapping its uninjured wing.
Sven dived onto the fox, tumbling for a moment before coming up with the fox held firmly by the scruff of the neck.
And then the fox screamed. And not like anything you’d expect from an animal either, it let out a high-pitched yell of terror, like children in great pain.
Doors slammed up and down the village, and soon flaming torches were bobbing through the darkness, accompanied by a scattering of candles.
“Did ya get it?” someone shouted from the darkness.
“The spirit is banished then?” Greta’s familiar voice rasped from the other side.
“No,” Sven said, holding up the fox. Li Na and Lauren shone their lights on it.
“No way that’s what did the others,” someone mumbled.
Just then the fox screamed once again, making everyone back up in fear. “These are the screams you’ve been hearing,” Yaric explained, “and I watched it jump onto the roof of the storehouse and push its way through the mesh at the top, where I bet it can’t be secured to the storehouse.”
There were lots of grumbling, including several victorious whispers proclaiming how they’d known it was a fox all along.
“You said that foxes screaming was superstition,” a woman hissed to her husband in annoyance.
“Yeah, well, superstitions got to come from somewhere, don’t they? Someone had to say the screaming was a fox before someone could say no.”
“Well, dispatch the beast and hand me the appeal then,” Greta huffed.
“Give us a sack,” Lauren demanded in reply.
“Look, girlie, you set that thing free it will just come right back here.”
“It’s a natural part of the ecosystem, not some monster from the Abyss. It doesn’t destroy things; it keeps them in balance. We’ll ride far away before releasing it.”
“Oh, you’re going keep that fox in a sack, are you? For three days ride?”
“I’ll ride with her,” Yaric announced. “We’ll hand over most of our stuff to the other two and ride ahead, right now. We’ll cover more ground that way.”
Greta didn’t look convinced, but it was clear that Lauren wouldn’t be deterred.
The fox scrabbled madly within the sack. It was the screaming that was difficult to endure, but Yaric could bear it for a few hours. Sven and Li Na took their shields, Yaric’s spear, Lauren’s sword, and most of the supplies they were carrying. Then they took off down the road, heading toward their next appeal with their lighting stones leading the way.
Riding in darkness for three hours was actually quite unnerving, even without the intermittent screams from the sack swaying at the end of Lauren’s partisan. They slowed from a trot to a walk as the sun rose, trying to give the horses a rest. There was no way that the horses could keep going for two days straight, so they made frequent rest stops throughout the day, stopping beside the rapids that made up Hasver’s Run.
There were no more screams by midafternoon, and both Yaric and Lauren were nervous. They didn’t know how long it could go without drinking, and the best they’d been able to come up with was to partially lower the sack into the river. It wasn’t the best solution, but it did sound like the fox started drinking once its fresh panic was over.
Both felt like they were being cruel, but they didn’t want to kill it either. And if they released it too close it would find its way back, where the villagers now knew what they were dealing with. Both were uncomfortable, but at least it would go through two days of fear and then live the rest of its life.
Yaric was just afraid that he’d think of a much better idea later when it was already too late.
Early the next morning, Lauren dropped all her dried meat near the reeds by the river, then untied the sack and placed it close by. Nothing happened for several minutes, until a snow-white muzzle with a black tip poked out, sniffing cautiously. Then the head followed, looking around as if it were about to be pounced on.
Yaric almost missed when it leaped out of the sack and crashed into the reeds and rushes, an orange blur that disappeared when the tall green curtain closed behind it. After two days of babysitting, it was gone. Just like that.
“Do you think it will be okay?” Lauren asked.
“There’s lots of water and places to hide here,” Yaric pointed out. “I’m sure it will be fine. Let’s go back downstream, so it will move the other way if it follows the river.”
Sven and Li Na took over a full day to catch up. They’d only left near dawn, and they had traveled even slower than usual with Yaric and Lauren’s things tied precariously to their saddles.
All four of them decided to camp out where they were instead of using the last few hours of daylight. Yaric and Lauren had pushed their horses hard, and neither felt like a single day of rest would be enough.
Still, they spent all evening practicing their augmentation spells to varying success. Everyone of them managed to get the spell right, but only for very small areas. Lauren had the most success, augmenting her back and legs to whip her spear up through one of her forms, making the tip swirl. Yaric managed to augment his arm and shoulders, but surprisingly it wasn’t so he could use his bow. He could, but he was trying to practice techniques he’d used to defend himself in the last Tournament, so he was using his sword when he finally got it right.
Sven managed to make his grip incredibly strong. Yaric wasn’t able to budge his fingers even with his own arms and shoulders augmented.
Li Na, meanwhile, skipped around all three of them, literally. She jumped several meters into the air and landed with a slight flex of her knees, only to launch into a blistering barrage of swipes from her mace.
Everyone packed their things correctly in the morning, and they set out once again, practicing their spells as they went. Li Na started competing with Yaric by throwing stones that whistled through the air, while Yaric used spatial magic to shorten the distance his had to fly. Both managed to hit their targets first on several occasions, and it really came down to who managed to start their throw before the other.
They followed Hasver’s Run for two more days, before pulling off to ride toward the distant hills. They were so far away that it was hard to be sure if the faint purple lines really were the Scrubs, but another day of riding made it very clear that it was. It took 6 days in total to get there, and they were left with an awkward problem.
“Where do we put the horses?” Li Na asked, looking very concerned.
“Three of us fan out and keep watch, while one of us leads the horses from the middle,” Yaric quickly decided.
The Scrubs weren’t actually mountains, but a long series of rolling hills, filled with pine, aspen, and fir. Their one advantage was that the hills were fairly narrow, no more than 20 kilometers at their widest, at least on this side of the river. And all of the reports had come from this side.
Lauren led the way with her partisan ready, while Sven and Yaric held their spears. Li Na insisted on making sure the horses stayed safe.
For three days nothing happened. Yaric had come across a doe on the crest of a ridge, overlooking a small valley that led right to the river cutting through the Scrubs. He was busy dressing the kill when Sven whispered from the top of the crest.
“I have something!”
Yaric scrambled up the hill and dropped down beside Sven, joining Lauren. Li Na was still with the horses.
“It’s them,” Lauren whispered. Six large wolf-like creatures were bounding beside the river, stopping only to raise their noses and sniff the air inquisitively.
The whole pack was a dark grey, and each animal appeared to be at least twice the size of the largest natural wolf.
“We have to do something,” Yaric insisted. “They move far faster than we do. We could spend a month in here and never catch up to them.”
“Then do this,” Li Na suddenly said from behind him. Entrails from the deer soared high over their heads, spreading out as they went, before landing in the undergrowth on the other side.
“That will never work,” Yaric insisted. “We’re too far away. Besides, we need to have a plan before we attract their attention.”
“Uh, Yaric?” Lauren asked, nudging his shoulder and pointing down into the valley. The Garmr were looking their way with their noses raised.
“See? It worked. And we have to get their attention before they disappear again, we’ll make a plan after.”
The pack began bounding their way.
“Quick,” Yaric hissed. He was already scrambling back down the hill toward the horses. “We should find better ground. It’s too risky here!”
Yaric and others quickly fetched the horses and brought them up, where Li Na tied a rope to the front legs of the carcass. Then they hurried off, looking for a better location at the top of the slope, dragging the carcass as they went.
A howl sounded behind them, making Lauren look up in alarm. Sven and Li Na had the same reaction.
“Remember, it’s a mild fear effect,” Yaric said, trying to distract them. “They struggle to hunt prey that stands and fights, and they always try to get it to run first. Here! We’ll stand in here.”
All four horses were milling about in panic when Yaric and the others pulled them into the small alcove. It was barely three meters high and only extended five meters on the near side. The far side was less than half.
Yaric cut the carcass from the horse just in case one of the wolves tried to pull it, then placed his spear against the rear and readied his bow. Lauren and Sven had their shields out, along with their partisan and spear respectively, while Li Na had opted for her shield and mace, feeling like the space was too tight for her much larger hammer.
Then they waited, listening as the howls drew nearer. It wasn’t a long wait.
Grrrrrr…
A menacing growl met their ears when one Garmr rounded the edge, followed by another when a second leaped onto the top of their alcove. Yaric loosed his arrow, hitting the one trying to go over their cover. His arrow buried into the chest, almost to the fletching, and the Garmr dropped back with a yelp.
More growling started up as the horses stomped in panic and four more Garmr joined the one on the ground.
The angle was poor, but Yaric fired anyway, striking another Garmr in the right flank. It immediately backed off and ducked back behind the rocks it had first appeared from.
With everything Yaric knew about these creatures, there was no way they would back down from food, even if it killed them all. And that was the plan.
The Garmr lunged at both Sven and Lauren, who each raised their weapons at the last moment. Both Garmr were impaled, but while Lauren’s opponent struggled to push itself down the shaft of her partisan, Sven’s had no problem. He was forced to hurriedly release his spear and back away, raising his shield as he did.
Sven's Garmr staggered forward, along with one of the two remaining Garmr at the rear.
THUD!
Li Na’s mace cracked the skull of the impaled monster, while Yaric’s arrow took the second Garmr in the shoulder, making it stumble. Li Na was about to swing for the second Garmr when the second one Yaric had shot, the one that had ducked away, leaped high onto the rocks of the alcove, its eyes fixed on Yaric.
Yaric was still withdrawing another arrow from his quiver when the Garmr struck, leaping across the distance in a single bound. Another arrow, this one small and blond, shot up from the ground, intercepting it in mid-air with a shield bash and knocking it into the far wall.
The horses went crazy when the Garmr landed so close, but Yaric ignored them, loosing another arrow into where he judged the heart to be, just before Li Na leaped across and struck its skull.
Sven had drawn his sword, meanwhile, and he was currently fighting the last Garmr with Lauren. Their fight didn’t last long.
Yaric dragged the carcass away from the spooked horses before they bolted, while Li Na tried to keep them calm. She still kept a wary eye on their surroundings.
There was still one Garmr missing, the very first one Yaric had shot. The three of them stalked out of the alcove, weapons raised.
It was lying on the ground, wheezing its last breaths with another threatening growl. Sven put it out of its misery.
They all panted to catch their breath while looking around them, startled by the sudden silence broken only by the snorting and stamping of hooves behind them.
“This is impossible,” Yaric mumbled, running past Lauren to look down the ridge again.
“Yaric, remember what happened with all those carapaces our sponsors had to buy? Do you think we could harvest these pelts?” Sven asked, poking the dead Garmr.
Yaric ignored him and instead climbed to the top of the alcove.
“What are you doing?” Lauren asked, sounding amused despite the fight they had just gone through.
“Where’s the Arch Mage? The Behemoth? The Abyssal Fiend?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That was… too easy. Too straightforward. A fox and a textbook fight like this? Something has to go wrong.”
“Maybe we aren’t completely hopeless,” Lauren laughed.
CRACK!
The sky above flashed, heralding the arrival of another summer storm.
Lauren looked up at Yaric apologetically. “Well, we’ve had far worse.”