I lay there on the ground, tiny rocks and clumps of dirt grinding into my side, as the swarm was decimated. The last few fell to the ground with a solid smack from Linda’s staff. Or was it a wand? The thing couldn’t be long enough to be considered a staff, right? As part of me argued uselessly about semantics, I realized just how out of it I was.
Linda looked around for a second before she made the rounds. She stopped and examined those nearest her finally making her way toward us. Seeing me on the ground, she called out to Jeremiah and Victor. “He pass out?”
“No,” Jeremiah called back as our eyes met. “He just took a few heads to the leg.”
“Explains the random pain I felt,” Michael stabbed his shield into some dark dirt. “If any of the heads did impact you, we might have had to increase our training.” I heard Victor groan while Jeremiah's face flashed a grimace. “Anyway, let's get everything cleared up before we check the barn. Linda, check on the kid.”
I tried to get up, to show that I was fine and didn’t need someone to check on me. As I did so, the world slowly spun. Not as bad as before, but it was still uncomfortable. Still, I waved Linda off. Faking that I was completely fine. “I’m good.”
My waving arm missed hers as she reached for my shoulder. “The faster I do this, the faster we can both move on.” She stated as a pulse of something warm flowed into me and down my body. Whatever it was reflected off the bottom of my feet and the tips of my fingers before returning to her hand.
“You are just a bit anemic. Go ahead and eat these.” She held out a small bag of some sort of dried fruit as she continued. “When we get back to town I would recommend eating a bit more iron-rich foods from now on. At least until you increase your vitality a bit more.”
Bag in hand, I dug out one of the fruits as I asked, “I get that vitality will help me heal faster and be harder to hurt, but why would it help with something like blood loss?” As I took the first bite of whatever fruit this was, all the moisture in my mouth vanished into the piece.
As suddenly as my mouth dried, it returned as I started to chew. Flavor exploded on my tongue. It was a bit sweet with a sharp undertone. I practically moaned as I took another bite.
I barely heard her as she replied, “It will help your body be more efficient at healing and storing necessary materials. Thus making you more able to survive an injury like this with no ill effects.”
Her reminder of the injury brought my mind back to the present as I recalled just how close I had been to death from just two of the creatures. If not for that spell I would have died. Speaking of spells, I swallowed my bite and excess saliva so that I could ask a question. “Was it your spell that saved me?”
“Yeah,” she shrugged as she moved a little to the side. Her hands scooped up as many creatures as she could. They quickly vanished into her inventory as she continued. “It’s standard practice in our party to share all our damage with Michael over there.” Given that he was the tank he likely had the largest vitality pool out of everyone here. Then you add in any defensive abilities and their strategy made sense.
I rolled onto my knees to join the group in picking up the beetles. While I had gotten a decent look at them as they attacked me, what I had made out at the time paled in comparison to what I could see now. Many of them still had their shells open as their gossamer-thin wings were splayed out. Each of the wings seemed to catch the light, reflecting and refracting the beams in odd ways.
Most of the redirected light ended up hitting the back of the open shell. Curious, I got as close to the spot the light hit without blocking it. Some sort of network of thin filaments lit up as it carried the light in various directions. To do what, I had no clue.
I mentally made a note to ask someone about it later as I placed the beetle into my inventory. Maybe someone could figure out how to bend light if they studied the things. Thoughts of something like an invisibility cloak came to mind. Then again, if it was so easy, someone would have come up with a way to do it on Earth. After all, any and every military would have paid dearly for such a technology.
While my mind went back over the fight, my body moved from one pile to another as I picked up every piece of the creatures I could find. From their bodies to their heads, I left nothing behind as I had no clue what was worth collecting and what wasn’t. In every other game I played I would have asked or looked online but my mind was too busy beating myself up.
I had frozen. Able to see the attack coming but unable to do anything about it. If I had been alone, I would have died. I couldn’t let it happen again. I needed to find a way to avoid freezing up. After all, it wasn’t like I would have someone around to save me every time.
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“Ok, I think it is time we head into the barn,” Michael called out. He stood near the structure with Lance and Linda. I looked around to see just how much we were leaving behind but, other than the last few around me, there was a distinct lack of glinting green shells. With a quick command, I sent the last of what I had into my inventory as I jogged to join the group. “Likely as not, there will be quite a few inside to protect their nest. Patric, you lead. Stick to the shadows as much as you can. I will go next, followed by Lance, Linda, Kyren, and Jeremiah. Victor, take up the end of the line.”
We all nodded in turn as he announced our position in the group. I agreed with most of it. Keep the weaker members in the middle where they can be protected, especially any healers. My only issue was with our ranged person being placed at the back and not in the middle. He would be in a very disadvantageous position if something tried to sneak up on us.
I needed to learn how to school my face to hide my emotions because Michael only glanced at my face before explaining the reasoning for this setup. “The only hostile creatures in the area are the beetles. All of which are inside the barn.”
With a jerk of my head, he joined the rest of the group in double-checking their equipment. As for myself, I pulled out my sword. Not so much to check the weapon but to get a better feel for it. With closed eyes, I held the hilt in my hand while I prayed that, if I had to, I would be able to power through my fear.
The sounds of the group as they moved caught my attention. My eyes popped open just in time to see Linda gesture for me to walk behind her. I understood that I was weaker than her but for some reason, the motion caused heat to bubble in my chest. Everyone in the party was supposed to protect the healer yet here the healer was trying to put me behind her where she could protect me.
At the front of the group, Michael walked through the door set into the side of the hill. Patric ghosted around him. He quickly disappeared into the murky depths. “Jeremiah, give us some light,” Michael called back. His voice was quiet, just loud enough for me to barely make it out over the sound of our footsteps. I started to turn to relay the message when I noticed a series of tiny multicolored motes flying around and past us.
A few flicked out ahead of the group, lighting up the barn hallway while others flickered up to the ceiling a foot above our heads. While each was dim on its own, the group as a whole managed to cast enough light across the place so that even I could make out everything. Everything went from a dark, moonless night, to that of a full moon.
The place didn’t look like any barn I had ever seen in any other game or movie. The hallway was large enough for two people to walk side-by-side without issue. Every half-dozen feet or so a door broke up one side. I took a moment to glance into each as we passed them. Most of them were empty save for a bag here and a box there.
Lance scoffed at my curiosity. Speaking just loud enough for me to make out “Focus ahead.”
“Why don’t they store everything in one room?” I hissed back. “Seems like a waste of time given that all of this could easily fit in one room.”
“Some of the seeds need to be stored in very specific conditions,” Jeremiah said in a half-whisper. “Plus it makes it easier when the tax collector comes around.”
At the next room, I took a chance and reached my hand out towards the room. The moment my hand went to pass the threshold, something pushed back. The force wasn’t all that much. Maybe as much as a thick syrup. While it might not be able to keep a person out, it might work to keep any bug from just entering the room beyond.
My hand, now past the barrier, felt chilled. It was as if the room on the other side was being kept artificially cooled. Not only that but the air felt greedy for any moisture it could get. Seeming to go so far as to leech the very moisture from my skin. This drove the chill deeper into my flesh.
I withdrew my hand in a flash. The sudden change in temperature sent a stab of pain up my arm, but I accepted the pain as it was better than the feeling of my flesh being dried. As we continued, I rubbed at my hand to ease the lingering pain.
I didn’t reach the next door before something passed in front of the lights ahead of us. I tried to make out what it was but something about how the shadows clung to it made it impossible for me to track with any certainty. My heart rate increased as the thing got closer and closer. I nearly had a heart attack when it spoke with Patric’s voice, “There is a queen ahead, just like you suspected. She is being guarded by a number of higher-level beetles.”
“Damn,” Michael wasn’t the only one to curse. In fact, it sounded like everyone other than me and Patric cursed. “Any chance of luring the guards away?”
“Already tried.” The shadow said while the part where his head would be shook. “They stopped chasing me the moment I passed through the doorway.”
“Damn,” Michael repeated. He turned to look everyone over as he asked Patric, “Think we can push in and not get swarmed?” Just how many did they think were in that room? Surely not as many as there had been outside. Hell, where had they even come from? Given that the rooms seemed to keep things out, I doubted they had been hiding in one. Plus none of the rooms had enough space for all of them to rest.
“It’s the central room so it would be a bit hard, but I think we can do it.”
“Ok,” Michael resumed walking as he laid out his plan. “Victor and Jeremiah. Take out as many of the ones in the back as you can. Focus on those that are at higher levels if you can. Patric, Lance, you two need to range out around me. Take out anything and everything that comes close. Be sure to watch for any trying to get above us. Linda, Kyren, stay back with Victor and offer any support you can. Remember everyone, Do Not hit the queen!”
“What happens if we hit the queen?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking the question. As soon as it was out of my mouth, I wanted to facepalm. Based on how they had been acting and talking about the thing, it was likely a mini-boss battle of some sort.
“All hell will break loose,” was Victor’s simple answer.
Linda shot a glance in my direction as she answered. “The queen is one of the evolutions for the beetles as they level up. On top of her being stronger, faster, and overall tougher, she has the ability to boost those around her.” Yeah, the damn thing was a mini-boss. Joy.