Zok sighed heavily. Trudging along toward the mana rift. The Chieftain had directly asked him to make the trip out towards the ravine. It had been a week since Scout Master Tormash's group had left. The trip itself was only half a day, maybe more with the younglings. Chieftain Amara was worried for their safety. Zok didn't question the order. The Chieftain had led the orcs for more than a century. They experienced very few losses in battle, and until the cataclysm, they had a good life.
Zok didn't care for this stationary lifestyle the tribe had taken up. But even that, he understood. Zok was a scout and had seen the shit show the plains had become. Monster levels had nearly doubled, to say nothing of the new traits that were springing up everywhere. If the tribes weren't united with the minotaurs, Zok had no doubt in his mind they'd be wiped out in five years at best.
Rumors had spread quickly around the camp. Little Trillia Demonsbane had brought back valuable information, with a promise of more from some eldritch mana monster. Zok had asked Scout Master Tormash to see the entry for the thing. Honestly? Zok would have turned around and ran the fuck away the second the thing seemed to notice him.
But the Demonsbane family wasn't right in the head. By Infernus, Tormash was the sanest one amongst them, and even the noble Scout Master had already mastered seven classes. It was frankly disturbing how quickly that family grew in power. Ralrouk was a downright terrifying thing to behold. Zok had made the mistake of challenging Ralrouk to a duel exactly one time. Ralrouk didn't even use any weapons, just marched up to Zok, ignoring all the wounds he was receiving. Then proceeded to rip Zok's arms off with his bare-fucking-hands. Once the duel was called in his favor, the crazy Demonsbane used some sort of skill, holding Zok's arms up to the stumps. The damn things fused back together good as new.
Nobody really bothered Ralrouk with duels after that. Damn, a few carrots short of a stew. That one didn't have carrots, meat, potatoes, or water. Fuck he didn't even have the pot. Zok shivered as his mind ran off on its tangent. It was an easy enough mission. Go out, inform Scout Master Tormash that his mother was worried, get some sort of confirmation everything was fine, then report back to Chieftain Amara.
Nice.
Simple.
Clean.
Fuck.
Zok froze. Tormash lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood. As did that minotaur Princess and the enchantress that always hung around Tormash.
Fuck.
Zok quickly scanned the surrounding area. As he hurried over, digging in a pouch to grab a potion before dumping it into Tormash's mouth. His [Scan] didn't register any of them as corpses. So they were still alive. There was no sign of the youngest Demonsbane, though.
Fuck.
Zok was going to get beaten to death if this was his report. He could feel the intense glare from Chieftain Amara and General Varga now. Another potion was dumped down Tormash's throat, now aided by a few solid smacks to his Scout Master's face.
"Wake up, Scout Master! Wake Up!"
Two more potions later, finally, Tormash stirred. Another swift smack across the face and his Scout Master's eyes shot open in a panic. Zok was easily swatted aside as Tormash scrambled to his feet for a weapon. His eyes darting all around them.
"Where is Trillia?!"
Zok looked on helplessly as he watched his normally stoic, ever-calm Scout Master panic.
"She wasn't here when I arrived, Scout Master. It's been seven days since you left on this mission."
That froze Tormash in place. Deep green eyes turned with a sort of rage and hatred that made Zok's blood run cold.
"How many days did you just say?!"
Zok was scared. These fucking Demonsbanes all had some sort of wonky shit going on. It just made everyone around them fucking terrified. Except for that princess and enchantress. Maybe they were extra screwy as well.
"Seven days, Scout Master. Chieftain Amara sent me here to get a status report and an upd-"
Tormash crossed the seven-foot distance entirely too fast. Yanking Zok up to his feet.
"Report to the Chieftain immediately. Tell her the creature betrayed us and has kidnapped Trillia."
Tormash pulled the orc scout closer.
"Do. Not. Stop. Running. It already has a seven-day lead on us. Use every skill you have. Use every potion you have. Make the trip there as fast as possible. I don't give a damn who tries to stop you. You report to my mother, regardless of where she is. Or what she is doing. Do you understand?"
Zok gave a weak little nod. Tormash moved over to the enchantress and began shaking her awake. Zok turned and ran off toward the camp. Pulling out a potion of [Overland Movement] as well as a potion of [Bottomless Stamina]. Chugging both immediately. Zok didn't question orders. He was a good, solid orc scout. Zok prayed to whatever gods might still be listening that his head wasn't caved in by a really, really pissed-off mother.
-=- Four Hours Later -=-
Zok didn't even check in with the guards, using a few movement skills to simply jump over the wall. As his feet hit the ground, he was off again. Expertly ducking, dodging, and jumping over any obstacles. Coming to the command tent, he didn't announce himself or knock. He simply burst through the furs. Running right up to the table.
"Scout Master Tormash said the creature betrayed us and kidnapped Trillia. That was seven days ago. I found the Scout Master and the others unconscious and not responding. It took four healing potions to wake him from the state he was in."
Amara didn't even acknowledge Zok. Instead, she seemed to disappear. Zok knew she couldn't teleport, but when her agility was several hundred if not several thousand, above his, it may as well have been teleportation.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
-=-
The second Amara was out of the command tent, two large-scaled wings erupted from her armor. The wings shared the same orange shade that her armor did. Flames wreathed her body as she took to the air. Flying towards the rift. Agility had an affect on her movement speed with her wings. It only took her an hour to get to the rift itself.
A dozen skills activated on a whim, she began scanning the area below. The trees present offered no protection to her hyper-enhanced senses and eyes. A few seconds later and she was landing next to Tormash. Who was on the edge of the ravine looking down.
"What the fuck happened?!"
Tormash spun on her, axe in hand. Amara didn't make sound when she moved or flew. Or when she fought. In fact, the only time Amara made sound was when she damn well wanted to make sound. So her son's terrified face and battle-ready stance didn't surprise her all that much.
"I have no idea! We were talking to that damn thing one second. Trillia was questioning it about the potion, but it was just getting more and more angry and frustrated with us for some reason. Trillia finally screamed at it that she didn't understand what it meant or what it wanted. Screamed at it again because the emotions it was sending had started to seriously damage my health and mind. After that, it activated some fucked up aura. Way, way worse than even yours, Chieftain."
Amara took all that information in without a word. Nodding as she looked over the side of the ravine.
"Did you see where it took her?"
"No. Tenacity activated. The only reason I'm alive is because of a berserker skill I picked up. I'm not sure how Ba'Shoon and Amelia survived. I sent them back toward camp. Neither are in the position to really assis-"
Amara yanked him back away from the ravine. A second later, the wall of mana burst forth. Instead of his mana rapidly rising as he expected, it sat at zero. Amara's other hand was held out towards the wall of mana as huge gouts of dark blue flames were pouring out of her hand. Tormash could feel the heat from the skill. It had to take thousands of mana a second to keep up a skill like that.
"Damn. I can't safeguard us both like this. Rally the rest of your squad Tormash. Get Ralrouk and Varga over here as well. Ask Cord if he can watch over the camp while we search. Varga and I can handle the ravine. You, your brother, and your scout squad are going to scour the area around this place."
Tormash nodded. Without another word, he turned and made his way to camp. Activating a few of his own skills for increased movement.
Amara waited for the blast to end. Set a forty-minute timer in her mind. Then stepped off the ledge. Her mana began to rapidly climb. Extending both arms and letting the same blue flames pour out as she fell at least seemed to keep her below a hundred percent. She was also resistant to mana sickness. But it had taken her nearly two centuries to get that particular passive. Still, it allowed her to get to four hundred percent of her maximum value before the sickness took her. Most were dead at four hundred percent.
The ravine seemed to drop forever. She fell so far that even the light of the sky couldn't reach her. She hadn't seen any movement on the way down except the glow and pulse of mana.
" [Divine Skill - Poach The Living ] "
Her mind expanded beyond mortal limitations for thousands of feet in every direction. She could sense every single little thing that was alive. The dirt, the fungus, bugs. All of it flooded her mind with its location. Amara began running in one direction as fast as she could. Trying to find either the beast or Trillia.
Amara knew her daughter couldn't survive in this rift. Amara could barely do it herself, and she had centuries and hundreds of levels on the poor thing. She maintained focus. Amara wanted nothing more than to get angry and scream at herself for even having asked Trillia to do this stupid fucking mission. She knew the girl was desperate to be more useful to the tribe. She shouldn't have put her in danger. Amara should have just told this beast that it couldn't inspect her daughter.
Focus!
Dammit! She swore at herself as she kept running along the base of the ravine. After twenty or so minutes of this, she skidded to a stop. How the hell had this thing not registered to her divine skill?!
Two large golden eyes opened. Staring intently at the little morsel of food that was Amara. Soft blue fur covered the creature's form. On all four, it stood as tall as Amara did. Large fangs dripped with a glowing iridescent liquid. This thing looked like the tigers Amara had seen before. She silently activated [Greater Scan].
[Greater Shattered Tiger - Primordial Spawned Beast - 672]
Notable Traits:
Mana-Warped
Primordial Spawn
Limitless Mana
Mana Font
Child of Mana
Envenomed Mana
Amara took a step back.
" [Divine Armaments] [Blood Infusion] [Will of the Tribe] [Axle's Axes]"
She said all the skill names rapidly, and the air around the two hummed to life. The upkeep on this particular set of skills would have normally dropped her mana to zero instantly. Instead, it hovered right around a hundred percent. The tiger leapt forward, crossing the distance of thirty or so feet in a second. Its claws swiped at Amara's chest.
Several glowing weapons slashed at the outstretched claw. The scales of Amara's dragon armor seemed alive, the colors ever-shifting as if lava flowed through them. Amara snapped her left hand up and out to try and parry the claw. Stepping into the beast and swinging down with her right hand. The two axes of her final skill sliced cleanly through flesh. Amara briefly wondered how on Alirast Cordaos had lost to these things.
The answer and her humility followed quickly. As her axe passed cleanly through the tiger's right paw, it didn't stop the motion or slow. The severed paw didn't make it to the ground before it had turned once more into mana. The stump continued swinging, and in the fraction of a second it took to cross the distance from the edge of Amara's blade to her chest, another claw had already formed and dug deep into the scales. The force of the blow robbed Amara of all momentum she had and threw her back forty feet. The wind knocked out of her, and her right-handed swing missed the creature entirely.
The tiger didn't give her time to pause or recover. As Amara skidded and rolled from the weight of the attack, she saw another claw swing down at her head. She twisted her body as she came out of the roll, throwing an arm up to block the strike. She could feel her bones shatter under the weight of the attack, but it didn't reach her head. Quickly getting her feet under her, she turned and ran. Letting her wings carry her up and into the air.
The tiger leapt from wall to wall, swiping at her whenever it was near. It was a much less agile aerial combatant. Amara hefted one of the axes and threw it at the creature's head while at the same time calling the rest of her blood-infused divine armament weapons to bare. Suddenly the creature was being slashed by a dozen different weapons. Every time an axe sliced into flesh, Amara called it back to her hand and threw the other.
After several minutes the creature finally stood on the ravine floor, looking up at her. Without warning or wind-up time, a beam of raw mana shot from its now open maw. It clipped one of Amara's wings, and much to her horror. The skill was instantly dispelled, and she plummeted to the ground. Her agility and experience stopped her from slamming into the fast-approaching stone floor. Instead, she smacked her hands against the walls and used her remaining wing to get herself lodged on a ledge.
As her attention turned back to the tiger, it was already leaping toward her. Amara threw herself back and off the ledge, as another beam sliced through the stone. She tumbled back and landed the remaining distance on her feet. The entire time her armaments continued to harry her opponent.
"[Blood Knight's Regeneration] [Raptor's Speed]"
She verbalized two more skills to get a little more oomph out of them. She and the tiger began a new dance on the ravine floor, darting around one another and making swiping attacks. As it tore flesh from bone, her skill reformed it quickly. As she sliced off body part after body part, the mana even more rapidly reformed its body. This was a war of attrition she would lose. She was also on the clock for the next outburst from the ravine itself.
Her eyes began to dart around for a solution.