A group of twenty tents was camped out in the valley below. Men in brightly colored silks lay around drinking and laughing as cooks butchered spirit beasts for them to eat.
“What am I looking at?” Zane asked as he tried to make sense of the scene from their hiding spot in the treeline. They weren’t merchants or cultivators. But most were very well dressed and the fog didn’t seem to be bothering them.
Dumpling drifted over to her master. “I BELIEVE THIS TO BE WHAT THEY CALL A ‘SAFARI’,” she explained, “WE HAVE WATCHED THEM HUNT SPIRIT BEASTS WITH THE HELP OF THEIR GUARDS. MOST DO NOT EVEN POSSESS A COMBAT CLASS.”
“Interesting,” Zane replied, remembering his run in with Lord Grasa’s son, “So the guards are the ones who are actually dangerous.”
“EXACTLY,” the void stalker said with a grin, “REMOVE THEM AND THE OTHERS WILL BE EASY PREY.”
Zane looked to the moral compass of their group, wondering how Lily would feel about killing a bunch of spoiled lowlanders. It was hard to get a read on her sometimes. The young man knew that she had killed more than her fair share of people in order to level up and advance her cultivation. But the woman could be very prudish when it came to outright murder. “What do you think?” he asked.
Lily shrugged, “I’ve got no problem with killing trophy hunters. Back when I was with the sect we used to raid camps like these whenever we could get away with it.”
“That’s oddly practical of you,” Pinky observed, “I gave it even odds that you would try and talk us out of it.”
The former disciple frowned. “I’ve got nothing but contempt for these assholes. It serves them right for trying to buy their way up the mountain,” she said with a shake of her head, “Cultivation isn’t a game. It’s a sacred way of life given to us by the Mesh, a chance to reach the heavens themselves. I say we kill them all.”
The kitsune nodded. She had her own reason for disliking the men in the tents below. They hunted her kind for sport. Wiping them out would be payback for all the fox tails hanging in lowland trophy rooms. “So, how are we going to do this?” she asked.
Whoever was in charge had chosen to put the camp at the bottom of a sheer cliff thirty feet tall. They had sentries posted above them, as well as at the mouth of the valley. Groucho pointed at the guards keeping watch from on top of the cliff. “I think we should take those assholes out first, then the other schmucks watching the entrance to the valley,” he said, “That way we can box them in.”
Zane looked at the cliff. The tents were right up against it to cut down on the wind. “Do you think we could cause a landslide, or drop rocks on them?”
Dumpling’s ears perked up. “I BELIEVE I COULD ARRANGE THAT. I MIGHT EVEN BE ABLE TO TAKE OUT THE SENTRIES UP TOP AT THE SAME TIME.”
“Nice!” the young man said as he high fived his pet void stalker, “That leaves the other ten guards to deal with.”
“I’ve got the two at the mouth of the valley,” volunteered the killbot, “They aren’t cultivators and should be easy pickings.”
Zane counted down on his fingers. “Ok, that’s eight guards left to deal with.”
Lily tapped her bow. “I can shoot arrows down into the camp and take out anyone who tries to run. If they get past me, Groucho can handle them. I think I can take out at least two when the party starts.”
Daisy raised her hoof. “Most likely they would think I was just a horse if I wandered into the camp. I could strike down two more.”
A mischievous grin crossed Pinky’s lips. “And if I showed up looking for my horse a few minutes later, nobody would suspect me.”
“I’m not comfortable with you going alone,” Zane said, “They might get handsy.”
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The kitsune shook her head. “No, that’s perfect. They’ll want privacy and I can kill them before the others realize what’s going on. Besides, I’ll have Daisy with me.”
The young man wasn’t entirely happy with the idea of putting Pinky in danger, but that was her decision. “Fine, I’ll go with Dumpling to deal with the sentries on the cliff and keep an eye on things,” he said, looking at the rich lowlanders drinking and partying below, “If everything goes well, between the booze and the landslide, the stragglers should be easy enough to deal with.”
Pinky nodded. “Do you want to hit them now, or should we wait until evening?”
Zane shook his head. He had never been good at waiting. “Let’s get this done and over with. We still need to travel back to the city after, and I’ve got tomorrow’s brunch to prep.” The young man’s face brightened up. “Plus, it will be easier to raid their tents for goodies when it’s still daylight.”
Daisy licked her lips. “I wonder how much delicious light they have hidden in their wagons,” she said, “No doubt they have collected trophies for the journey home. It would be a shame to let such treasures leave the mountain.”
“Not to mention gold,” Lily added as she looked up from counting her arrows, “They usually have a decent amount of money on them, for expenses and resupply.”
“Oh!” Pinky rubbed her hands together. “I like gold.”
“I guess it’s all decided then,” Zane said as he tried to think of anything they had missed, “Daisy will go in first. Pinky will follow her a few minutes later. Dumpling, Lily, and I will take care of the sentries by the cliffs. Groucho hits the sentries at the mouth of the valley when we trigger the landslide. Then we kill the guards and deal with the rich assholes afterward.”
“We should probably have a signal to let Dumpling know when to trigger the landslide,” Lily pointed out, “And there is the question of what to do with the cooks and other staff.”
Zane’s class rebelled at the idea of killing fellow members of the service industry. “I say we let them go, but that means everyone is going to have to wear masks. I don’t want any fallout from this following us home.”
“And the signal?” Lily asked, “You kind of forgot about the signal.”
The young man frowned. “I don’t think we actually need one. Once Pinky gets there we wait five minutes, then start chucking rocks.”
“How about this,” the kitsune said, “If I need her to start the party early, I’ll use my magic to send up a flare.”
“Sure. I guess,” Zane replied with a shrug, “But I don’t see what could possibly go wrong.”
***
“Why is that horse wearing a mask?” Chuck the sentry asked as he walked up to get a better look at Daisy. “I mean, it’s like made of bone or something. Why would someone put a mask on a cart horse?”
“Who knows?” Replied the other man standing watch as he sipped from his bottle of liquor, “It’s the mountains. Weird shit happens here.”
Chuck cautiously grabbed Daisy’s reins, making sure to avoid getting anywhere near her dinner plate sized hooves. “You are a beauty,” he told the massive cart horse as he patted her shoulder, “Someone must be missing you.”
For once, Daisy was conflicted. She very much wanted to eat Chuck, but she also liked being complimented. The spirit beast waited to see what he did next.
The drunken sentry wandered over. “That’s a big fucking horse,” he said, “It might be worth a lot.”
“Probably,” Chuck admitted, “I wonder if it ran away from a caravan or something. She seems pretty tame.”
“Well, it’s mine now,” the man said as he reached for Daisy’s reins, “Finders keepers, and all that.”
Chuck scowled as he held them out of reach. “The fuck it is, just because I’m new doesn’t mean I won’t stand up for myself.”
The older man put one hand on the pommel of his sword and reached for Chuck’s shirt with the other. “Look, young pup,” he said menacingly, “A lot of bad things can happen in these mountains if you aren’t careful. People have been known to just up and disappear. You go for a piss, and never come back.”
“Fine.” Chuck said as he handed over the reins. “But I’m going back with you to claim my half.”
“Nope,” the drunk replied with a rotten smile as he started to walk back towards camp with his prize in tow, “One of us has to stay and guard the valley.”
“Whatever, I’ll sort this out with the boss tomorrow,” the younger guard said with annoyance tinging his voice. He watched them go for a bit before turning back to his duties.
Once they were out of earshot, Daisy came to a stop. The drunk yanked on her reins and went to cuff her upside the ear. But before he could make contact, the draft horse lunged for his exposed throat. Sharp teeth tore into the drunk, ripping out his voice box before he could scream.
“A lot of bad things can happen in these mountains if you aren’t careful,” Daisy said with a smile as she descended on her prey.
Up on the cliff, the two sentries keeping watch over the valley winced in unison. “Well fuck,” said the older one as he prepared to sound the alarm, “You don’t see that every day.”