As it turns out, flying is a lot faster than walking. I had gone past Plays-with-Shadows before I had even fully decided to go through with my plan. Almost as an afterthought, I called out “I'll uhh, try something! I need to fly ahead for a bit!” I didn't want to risk looking back, but I imagined she had a dismissive look about her, the way she had treated me thus far.
After a distance I judged good enough, I went to land in a section that looked pretty much level. Due to the speed I picked up, I slid for a few meters, almost face-planting again. I immediately set about re-drawing the runes of the rock-missile spell, scratching as fast as I could without making a mistake.
I didn't count the number of times I had made these runes already, but it must have been dozens of time. My claws moved as if they knew what to do, and the first runes were on the ground within half a minute. Three down, 9 to go.
By the time I could discern the first kobold's hurried footsteps from the background noise, I was halfway done, but my claw was starting to ache from how I was clenching it to keep it from shaking.
As Plays-with-Shadows ran past me, closely followed by the others, she only said “Run, you fool dragon!” in what I assumed to be a derisive tone. Of course, no one had ever talked to me like that, so I just took the very throaty gurgles interlaced between some of the words at face value.
As I finished the second-to-last rune, I could feel the ground rumbling in a rhythmic beat, akin to a horse's gallop. Three beats in quick succession, followed by a short pause. Almost there!
I gave my claw a moment's rest, in which I looked where I'd get the best rock to use as ammo. There were some to my left and towards where the monsters were, but they were hardly large enough to make much of an impact on anything. To my right, though was one nice, chunky and very jagged-looking rock about the size of my own head. That'll do.
With my target for ammunition confirmed, I went back to forming the last rune. On the one before, my claw had started cramping, and I didn't want all this work to be for nothing, which it would be if I made a mistake on the very last one.
I scratched the almost rectangular outline that most of these runes shared, with a thicker line bisecting the shape through two corners. Two half-circles followed, place at exact angles in the centers of the resulting triangles. One got a short squiggly line almost pointing straight at the center of the circle. This was one line all of the runes had. The other half-circle was cut through by a complex shape reminiscent of an ink-blot test. The exact shape of this part seemed almost unique to each rune, except that I had seen some that had the same, but were otherwise almost completely different.
The last thing to be added was some random line segments for which I had no clue how to describe their position, even to myself. Two intersecting here, one there, those three almost forming a triangle, with no apparent connection as to why they were meant to be there. To be honest that was true for pretty much the entirety of each rune.
As I made the last line, I caught movement out of my periphery. Looking up, there was a massive, at least three-meter high bovine, almost like a bull cow, thundering towards me. Just in time! Fuck, that thing is big!
Momentarily stunned like a deer in headlights, I didn't jump to the side until it was almost too late. With centimeters to spare, it's front right hoof – as big as my head, with the leg above only slightly thinner – crashed past my nose and into the middle of my spell. There was a thunderous boom as it connected, followed by another, louder one, and then a third.
The ground where the thing stepped was savaged by cracks, like someone had split the rocks open. Rubble and dust erupted from the cracks as the massive beast continued it's mad charge. Worriedly, I checked over the runes, but none of them had been damaged. There was one crack very close to the third rune I had made, but it was unblemished.
The bovine's passing had mad a decent breeze, so when I licked the air again, I was hit by it's scent like a truck had run me over. It smelled like the moss that was so abundant in these tunnels, but also very different. It was nothing like anything else I had smelled, and it made my mouth water. I realized that it was bleeding. I saw no blood anywhere, but somehow I knew this for a fact.
Why does it smell so damn good? The raw, still-dripping-with-blood meat I was brought on the first few days didn't smell this good! Is it something else playing into it? I didn't know, and it would likely take a while until I did.
I distractedly forced myself to push the rock I had previously identified as my ammo of choice into the center of the circle, careful not to mar my work. I had not idea how far behind the other thing was, but started preparing none the less.
With the rock in position, I supplied the first rune with a tiny amount of mana. The rock – really, compared to me it was a boulder – started floating a second later. Rising to my eye-level, it slowly took on a more rounded shape. NO! Fuck, that was already too much? Is it even going to do anything now?
I had experimented with it, but apparently not enough. Too much mana caused the projectile to take on a more spherical shape, but too little and the rock wouldn't get off the ground. It seemed the amounts didn't increase with mass, as I had thought, so now the jagged edges of my stone of choice were getting rounder and rounder.
I sighed, and started putting mana into the next two runes. These two required barely any mana, so that's exactly what I gave each. After that, I had some limited control over the missile. When I asked how it did that, Speaks-with-Everyone hadn't been able to give a better answer than 'It is how one controls the rock.' which, as true as it might be, was no explanation at all.
As putting mana into the last rune would trigger the spell, I left it alone and sat down to wait for my target to show up. I suspected that with what I had supplied, the rock would stay suspended for about five minutes. A minute later, still no monster in sight, my surroundings started to glow a bit brighter.
Sure enough, all the runes, as well as the rock were glowing the distinct blue hue of mana. It wasn't very bright, only a bit brighter than the few patches of moss around me, but it did add some more light.
Is there even something coming? Maybe Fears-the-Dark was wrong about hearing 'claws'. I considered if the bull was just running for the sake of running, but that seemed unlikely. Where would the blood I smelled have come from? Maybe a pack of smaller predators, that already gave up the chase?
I shied again, having failed once more in making a difference. Now they probably think me mad as well, staying behind when they thought some dangerous predator was chasing us. I readied my wings to take off and catch up to the kobolds, when the glow around me got brighter again.
Cold dread filled my veins. I hadn't seen a mana glow come from out of nowhere, without my weird mana being the culprit, and I hadn't done anything for the past two minutes, well enough time for it to be glowing already. I slowly turned back around, muscles still wound up tight, in my preparation to take off.
To my horror, there was a moving, but source-less blue glow coming from just beyond my circle of runes. It moves slowly, circling around the rock once, in several smooth, curving motions. Then, like it was released from a gun, the rock shot off in the direction I had aimed it before. There was a loud crash, and the glow was suddenly on the tunnel's roof, four meters above where it was before.
The rock, which had been the source of the crash, was only visible as a cloud of dust, where the tunnel made a turn. The glow at the ceiling, for it's part, had barely lessened as a result of this.
If what I had felt before was cold dread, I was now feeling utter terror. The sight of such casual force put the fear of god into my heart, and finally got me out of my paralyzed state.
I jumped, pushing off the ground as hard as I could and pumped my wings like my life depended on it. I hadn't hear anything from that thing, hadn't smelled it's scent. If it hadn't been for the glow, and it apparently taking an interest in my spell, it likely would have taken a bite out of me. Why can't I be more aware of my fucking surroundings, when it counts.
I blamed the list for never reminding me of anything. What purpose does this fucking thing even serve? A fucking timepiece? I complained and cursed at my lot in this new life as I continued to fly down this cave.
After only a minute, I was once again back to the crossroads. My pulse had calmed down, though now I was breathing hard from the exertion. There had been no sign of either the kobolds, or the bull, so I didn't know what to do now. Go to the kobolds to hide?
No, that solves nothing I need to make some sort of difference, or nothing will change. They'll still look at me with fear. Or perhaps disdain, now that they think I abandoned them.
I refused to run away entirely for similar reasons. So, do I find myself another spot to make the spell? What a grand waste of time that was.
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It did kinda save my life, though.
I hardly had the time to do that though, before the thing caught up to me again. I didn't know how fast it was, only that it could apparently jump really well. If I go to where the illusory wall is, I can start making the runes, then hide, if it turns out I'm too slow?
I shot that idea down when I realized that it would reveal the illusion to this Walking-Death.
Then, I remembered that I had actually made another instance of the spell close to where ewe had found the red and white flashes. I tried to retrace the steps we had taken out of there, and chose one of the paths. I couldn't be sure that I chose the correct one, but started flying that way at full speed, anyway.
It appeared that this was also the way the bull had taken, so I was certain Walking-Death would follow.
I followed the snaking pathway as fast as my wings could take me down it, which was only a bit faster than running. I kept over- or underestimating the turns, slamming into the walls. Not as hard as I likely would have a week ago, but I was slowed down considerably. After the third such crash I resigned myself to taking it slower. Not long after that, I saw the circle of runes on the floor.
The ground ahead was slightly scorched, and the temperature was still very high, but it was manageable. I alighted next to the small pile of rubble I had collected earlier, and put one of the rocks into the circle. I quickly re-armed the trap, this time diligently keeping watch on the tunnel I had come from.
This reeks of Déjà vu. Too bad my ammo this time is so small. Where the rock I had set into the first trap was the size of my head, this one was barely the size of my claw. Though as before, I had put in slightly too much mana and it was quickly taking on the perfect roundness of a sphere. Wait, what happens if I put in more?
I remained ready to dump as much mana as I could into the trigger-rune, all the while throwing some more pebbles into the circle. Sure enough, as soon as they touched the already suspended rock, they merged into it like a very viscous liquid in zero-G. It was fascinating to watch, but I forced myself to look back out.
If I was forced to retreat now, I'd be properly fucked. There was only the unknown in the only direction I could flee in, so my chances of survival would really be dire If it came to that. A pulse of dread spread through me as I realized how expertly I had maneuvered myself to be caught between a rock and a hard place. Sometimes, I wonder at my own intellect.
The moment I had been waiting for came soon enough. Around the furthest bend I could see, the blue glow started to increase once more. I waited a moment for the thing to get fully into the open, then focused on both my chest area and the trigger-rune as hard as I could.
Just like when Walking-Death had done its thing with the rune, the projectile was off like a melon-sized bullet. In the brief moment before impact, the thought of maybe having the thing shaped like a real bullet crossed my mind. The impact completely wiped that thought away.
There was a sickening crunch, a yelp, and then a short howl. Not being an animal interpreter, I simply assumed the howl to be one of pain, but once everything was quiet again, the glow from my opponent moved again. They weren't quite the smooth, limber motions of before, but it could still move. In a few moments, it had crossed half the distance between the two of us, now only about 20 meters away from me.
As quickly as I could, I shoved more stones into the circle, hoping to get another shot fired off before it reached me.
In the corner of my vision, something flickered. The source-less glow suddenly resolved itself into the image of the lion from my first day. It swiped at me with it's front right claw, but I manage to dodge backwards at the last moment.
Fuck, I need to flee! I extended my wings, but had to throw myself to the side as it came in to bite me. I jumped to the other side of the circle, and started priming it once again. I had only managed to get one fist-sized rock in there, but it would have to do. I couldn't see any mark of where I had hit it before, so I just aimed for it's head.
I had to jump left again as it came in for another swipe from the right, but that opened it up nicely, with it's head exactly above the projectile. The light and shadows played across it's grim visage as I fired the spell once more, straight into it's unprotected jaw – and hit the ceiling with a loud boom. Dust and debris rained down on us, but my opponent didn't seem to care.
Did it dodge? At that distance? Or it's smarter than I gave it credit for, pretending to leaning over my spell like that.
It started to menacingly walk towards me, driving me towards where we had come from. In all the dodging I must have gotten turned around. So I have an avenue of escape, at least. Though I didn't feel the likelihood of a clean get-away was very high. I spread my winds again, pretending to take off, and sure enough, the thing came in from above again, going in for a bite.
I threw myself to the left again, towards where I had seen another rock I had collected. When I reached it, I chucked it through the monster's legs, towards the circle. It tried to swipe at me from the left, so I dodged back and to the right again. I doubted the efficiency of using the spell from this range, but it seemed like the perfect application of the element of surprise.
I primed it, and the rock came to life behind the beast. Some mana that had failed to catch on the spell previously started glowing, illuminating Walking-Death from two sides, giving it's visage an even more severe cast. Right as I released the spell, I noticed some inconsistencies with my current situation.
The first, was that I was aiming almost exactly at myself, maybe a few centimeters above my head, if the thing dodged again. This did not seem smart to me.
The second, was that the creature in front of me should not have been cast in shadow by anything, being it's own light source. At some point, it must have stopped glowing.
The third and most daunting, was that there was a warm, moist breeze going down my neck.
All of that, however, didn't matter as all the mana I had pushed into the spell released the projectile at a blinding velocity, whizzing past above my head, completely ignoring what was in front of me, and making a very wet and at the same time crunchy sound right behind and above me.
In an instant, I realized what had happened. I jumped forwards, into the position where the once-illusion had stood, and turned around. There, lying in a small puddle that was quickly getting larger, was the thing I had been fighting, face and head completely caved in, left leg and shoulder mangled beyond recognition.
What the actual fuck?
I trembled slightly from the realization that that thing had likely been standing behind me for a large part of the fight. That was way too close for comfort. I plonked down on my ass, the adrenaline quickly leaving my system, now that all the excitement was done.
The puddle of blood had already reached my claws, about 5 meters away from the corpse. How did it have the ability to keep functioning, making an illusion dance for itself, with that wound? I imagined that I'd be reduced to a quivering, yowling mess, if I had been hit like that. I, I need to go back to the kobolds. They need to know, right? That I'm alive and all?
I tried getting back up, but due to my shaking limbs, I didn't get far very quickly. Is this shock? I felt like I just wanted to lie down and sleep this off, but intellectually, I knew that would be suicide, with this giant all-you-can-eat buffet right next to me.
I pushed myself onward, despite my slow pace. Walking seemed to help, as I got a sort of rhythm going again, after a minute or so. I barely payed attention to my surroundings, as the fight kept replaying in my mind. In hindsight, it should have been obvious, that I had been looking at an illusion. The glow had just suddenly stopped, but I hadn't even questioned it.
The real one had been walking, hobbling behind me for most of the fight. I had felt the air shift at it's passing twice, but ignored it for some reason. Even the fact that it didn't show even a sign of injury after the howl of pain from my first hit should have been weird to me.
I stopped short when I came upon the illusory wall. I was too numb and lost in thought to care how unaware of my surroundings I had been during this journey. My feet had carried me where I wanted to go, and that was that.
I passed through the glowing illusion, and stopped again on the other side. Why wasn't the illusion glowing? That question wrapped the whole mystery up with an enigmatic bow. It was magic, wasn't it? Can magic hide the glow of magic? Wouldn't that magic then glow?
I looked down from my thousand-yard stare, and noticed my claws were still red from the blood of my former enemy. I killed something. That fact didn't hit me quite as hard as it should have, but maybe it was the reason I had been numb already. My subconscious knew.
I forced myself to look up again and get moving. My gait had returned to normal, but I felt burdened like someone had strapped lead weights to my sides. My tail was dragging behind me, my wings loose at my sides, almost touching the ground. I could only imagine what my face might have looked like at the moment.
Eventually, my feet brought me to the ravine that housed the kobolds and my own cave. I just wanted to go to my little hoard and rest, but telling the kobolds what had happened would have to take precedence.
I didn't think I had it I me to fly down, not with how my wings involuntarily twitched every now and then, so I made my slow way down to the village.
The kobolds were already out and talking when I arrived at the bottom, and I recognized a few faces. The group I had been out with was there, in the center of the gathering. It seemed they were discussing what had happened already.
I went to them, but didn't go far as some of the others started shimmying back, away from me. “I have killed Walking-Death.” I called out, though my voice was a bit croaky.
The gathered kobolds started muttering, and Plays-with-Shadows stepped forward. “Lies! How would you do such a thing? You are weak, and you ran away. Leave, or you will die.”
That got a reaction from the crowd, exclamations of surprise and fear at how she was speaking with a dragon.
I, for my own part, didn't really care. I merely turned around and walked back towards my cave. I didn't care that I'd be sleeping on the bare floor outside again, I just wanted to rest. Before I had gone too far, I called out the location where they would find the body.
As I started walking again, I heard Plays-with-Shadows order someone to have a look, just to be sure.
That dealt with, I lied down in front of my cave and started to think, really think, about this world and my place in it. But all of that was in the future.
I checked my goal of getting the kobolds to love me, and sure enough, it said that it was 25% complete.
It seemed that, for the moment, at least, I had found some modicum of safety.