Chapter 12: Iceblood Curse
I walked out of the strange man's shop, and startled as I came face to face with Sev, who had been standing inches away from the closed door.
"Hi Locke, strange seeing you here! How'd your business with Siegfried go? He can be a demanding mentor."
Realizing I had yet to raise my hood after lowering it while speaking with Siegfried, I panicked to hide my features.
Sev only laughed at my panicked actions.
“It’s ok, I already knew! I don’t discriminate.” Sev said, winking. His one open iris blazing sky blue for a moment.
I opened my mouth to ask a slew of questions, but he continued without taking a breath.
“After a small amount of reconsideration, it probably won’t be the best idea for you two to go after the missing hunter at night.”
Before I could protest, he once again trampled my objection before it could be spoken.
“Yes, I know you’re too impatient to go in the morning.”Sev said, Ignoring the fact that I would miss the delve into the Ratfolks camp if I went in the morning.
“So in order to guarantee my most promising little quester’s safety, I shall accompany him!” he said, his winning smile opposing my suspicious grimace.
“Don’t you have guard things to do?” I asked.
“You do know most guardsmen sleep, right? It’s well past midnight.” he asked, one eyebrow raised.
“No more questions! Let's go find Carrie and begin our merry little journey.”
Before I could ask how he knew about Carrie's participation, he was already halfway down the street, his long strides taking him significantly further than I’d have thought possible.
“No.” Carrie said.
“Please Carrie, I promise to cut the quantity of my chatter in half.” Sev replied, seeming hurt.
“No.” she said, unmoved.
“What if I throw in a Sarian greatbow as a bonus upon mission completion?”
“N-.” before Carrie could deny him once more, she stopped, squinting at him.
“Where did you even get something like that? Saria is halfway across the continent.” she asked suspiciously.
“Now I can’t go around naming my sources, can I?” he asked, a powerful looking bow materializing in one hand.
I instinctively inspected it.
{Sarian Greatbow}
Physical Damage: 19-23
Spellpower: 0
Rarity: Rare
Weight Category: Slow
Type: Greatbow
Damage type: Piercing
Traits: +6 Dex, Sarian Grace: Archery skills and spells with a cast time above one second have -1 second to cast time.
Requirements: Level 11, Archery Apprentice: 2
I was sure my own surprise nearly matched the look of awe on Carrie’s face. She quickly mastered herself, replying in a voice that reeked of forced carelessness.
“Fine. I suppose I can stomach your chatter for a few hours if it means so much to you.”
“Then it's settled! Let's go!” Sev said, nodding at Arcis as we walked out of his Inn.
“Locke, wait a moment. I’ve got yer extra reward, remember?”
Smiling, I walked back over to the massive Innskeep.
He handed me a wrapped bundle, which upon inspection turned out to be smoked meat.
You have received:
{Smoked meat}x10
Upon leaving the inn, I received a notification.
Sev has invited you to his party.
Accept or Decline
I accepted, noting that Carrie had already joined. Focusing on their status, I realized I could tell what percent of their health and mana they possessed.
The town was quiet as we walked down the cobblestones. The peaceful silence was broken by Sev within two minutes of our group leaving the Inn.
“We should all tell each other about our capabilities and preferred fighting style if we are going to fight together! I’ll start.” he said in a loud whisper.
“I specialize in mid to close range combat,” a plain spear materialized into his hand, spinning casually, “but I also have a few magical tricks up my sleeve.” The spear vanished.
Shrugging to emphasize the longbow she carried on her shoulder, Carrie spoke. “Archery, as well as tracking and trap based magic.”
“I’ve mostly been specializing in one-handed swords complemented by offensive magic.” I said.
Sev nodded enthusiastically.
“Wonderful! looks like it's our job to hold the enemies attention, Locke.”
I muttered my assent, and we walked in silence once more.
Exiting the city, Carrie directed us onto a path that branched out from the main road leading into the city. Carrie mumbled a few words to herself, and a second later her eyes flashed a brilliant green before dimming. I looked at her questioningly, and she mumbled something that sounded like “Night vision.” before turning away to scan the trees that surrounded us.
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The forest was silent, excluding the crunch of snow beneath our feet. Every so often, one of us would spot a shape moving at the edge of our vision, but nothing ever came close enough to be made out, even with Carrie’s enhanced vision.
After half an hour of walking, we came across our first sign of life. Well, perhaps life wasn’t the right word.
Sev poked at the deerlike creature’s corpse with his spear. A massive claw mark marred its otherwise smooth hide.
I inspected it.
{Cairos Reindeer }
HP: 0/31
MP: 16/16
Type: Animal
Level: 4
Lore: Native to Cairos, this species of Reindeer is extremely common, and is a source of food for many predators.
“Why didn't it’s killer eat it..?” I asked
“Some of the more aggressive predators in Cairos display their power and authority like this, to warn potential competitors off their land.” Carrie replied.
“Like us!” Sev said cheerily, his smile bright enough to make up for the combined gloom Carrie and I displayed.
“That's great, Sev” Carrie said.
As we walked further along the path, we noticed more warnings from the creature that slew the Reindeer. Tree’s carved up by massive claws, a set of massive footsteps that seemed somewhat fresh, and another corpse, this time a lesser tundra wolf.
After asking Carrie if we should perhaps find another route to the lake, and being denied, we kept on trudging through the snow, each of us tense.
The only warning sign we received was the scrape of claw against stone before a massive shape hurtled at us from a rocky cliff we had been walking parallel to.
Before I could even process the threat, Sev’s spear materialized into his hand, and he drove it through the airborne creature's chest.
Whipping his weapon free, he delivered a crushing overhand blow to the stunned animal's head.
I took a few steps backwards, and inspected the beast.
{Tundra wolf}{Iceblood Curse: 3%}
HP: 11/47
MP: 22/22
Type: Animal
Level: 6
Lore: The elder counterpart to the lesser tundra wolf, this species is larger, deadlier, and poses a significant threat to those wandering its territory unprepared.
Before I could draw either of my weapons, Sev had already finished the monstrous wolf with another spear thrust. The wolf hardly resembled its lesser cousin. Patches of fur were replaced with icy scales, and its eyes were white orbs with pinpricks of black in their centers. Instead of a vibrant red to contrast its pale coat, a dark, blue tinged blood poured from its wounds.
“Do you know what an Iceblood Curse is?” I asked the group.
“No, I can’t say I have.” Carrie replied, concern in her voice.
Sev wore a more serious expression than I'd ever seen him with, but shook his head.
We continued wearily, each of us covering a different direction as we tried our best to quietly navigate the forest.
Our next stop came when I pointed out a familiar looking sink of snow off to one side of the path. It resembled the “hole” I had found less than an hour from my start.
“That is indeed the same kind of disturbance that we have noted near the other accidents.” Sev mentioned.
Over the next few minutes of walking, the near invisible shapes that had prowled at the edge of our vision had now made their way much closer. The sound of paws crunching through the snow was unmistakable. While I couldn’t make out any specific creatures, or use my inspect, Carrie’s night vision let her identify the predators as Tundra wolves from a much further range.
Sev’s usual cheerful smile was now replaced by a grimace.
“Sometime within the next few minutes they’ll organize a proper ambush. Locke, just defend Carrie, I'll grab the attention of as many as I can.” Sev whispered.
Ahead, I could barely make out a clearing ahead of the widening path. Moving closer, I realized stone ruins filled the treeless space. It almost looked like a guard tower, but at its base was some kind of attached structure.
Maybe a barracks?
The wood had long since rotted away from the buildings, leaving only rusty metal and worn stone.
“Let's hide inside the ruins for a moment, and gather ourselves.” Sev said.
As we hurried towards the guard tower, I saw a flash of white fur from further inside the ruins. Carrie gingerly pushed aside half a rusted metal door from the entrance, replacing it as best she could after we all made it inside.
“I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but I counted at least eight or nine of them.” Carrie hissed in a low voice.
Above us, the square stone walls rose maybe ten yards before the structure ended, allowing moonlight to fill the roofless building. I caught another flash of white fur briefly before it disappeared past the rust eaten door.
“So we just sit here and let them gather more of their pack to ambush us with when we try to leave?” I whispered, panic beginning to eat into my voice.
"Just buy me a minute or two." Sev said, voice full of strain.
I whipped around to see Sev with his back turned to me, a crack in the air slowly widening in front of him. His hand had formed a claw, and hovered only inches away from the incision. Through the crack I could see fragments of an ice covered surface, and what seemed to be… reeds?
Sev’s hand descended glacially as If he were trying to force his hand through an extremely dense gel.
Carrie screamed, and I wondered if I could take damage from self imposed whiplash as I spun to face our shoddy barricade.
The snarling maw of one of the creatures was now poking through a gap in the door. Its one visible eye seemed mad with hatred, which seemed extremely off. I inspected it, already knowing what I would find.
{Tundra wolf}{Iceblood Curse: 9%}
HP: 61/61
MP: 24/24
Type: Animal
Level: 7
Lore: The elder counterpart to the lesser tundra wolf, this species is larger, deadlier, and poses a significant threat to those wandering its territory unprepared.
Besides the slight level difference, the beast had the same curse. Although this time the malady was closer to.. Completion?
What would happen if the beast's curse reached 100%?
Easily knocking aside the faulty barrier, the creature began to prowl the insides of the tower. The small interior of the tower didn't leave a lot of room for the combat maneuvers I usually preferred. Several more of the same infected beasts tried to cram through the door as mana rushed out of me and into both swords. Most of my mana gone, I held both shuddering blades in an iron grip, waiting.
The faint moonlight light was accompanied by a blue glow as the crackling of electricity sparked into existence beside me. The shaft of Carrie’s nocked arrow danced with blue sparks, and the arrowhead was engulfed in writhing lightning.
We stood in a standoff with the six or so wolves who had entered the confined area, neither side eager to be the first to bleed.
The animals seemed off to me, somehow. Each of them had strange peculiarities that no wolf I had ever seen on earth possessed. Not even the lesser tundra wolves I had encountered before shared them. Some had patches of fur replaced by scaly looking ice. A couple even reminded me of my few encounters with animals infected by rabies. One frothed excessively, the look of madness in its eyes was distinctly unsettling.
Risking a brief glance back at Sev, I was shocked to see the crack had widened several times over, and I could probably squeeze into it if I had to.
The shriek of Carrie’s arrow broke both the silence and the stalemate, and smashed into the closest wolf. As the wolves broke into a charge, I launched both arcs horizontally.
Most of the oncoming pack were unable to evade properly, receiving bloody wounds. One particularly large wolf leaped over the projectile, and lunged towards Carrie. I dashed over in time to put myself between the massive beast and the ranger. After deflecting a swipe of its paw, my counter aimed at its head was halted when it bit down on my blade. The groan of steel rang out as the metal warped under the beast's powerful bite. The wolf jerked its head, and my arm nearly dislocated as I struggled to hold onto the sword. After a short moment of consideration, I abandoned the now useless weapon and leaped backward, my remaining blade gripped in one hand.
An arrow slammed into the wolf's hide, causing the creature to release my mangled sword. Sweat loosened my grip on my remaining weapon.
“How are things coming, Sev? We are rapidly running out of time.” I asked nervously.
“Voila!” was all I received in response.
The bloodied wolves had mostly recovered from my spell, and the large stalked towards us. Glancing behind me to check up on how Carrie was doing, I found her gone.
“Come on, Locke. Go through!” Sev said from beside a portal.
The roughly oval shaped crack was now a couple yards tall, and half as wide, Sev stood in the same place, his hand still forming a claw. Without hesitation I dove through the hole in reality, snow crunching beneath me.
Face still planted firmly in the snow, I mumbled “A close range combatant? With teleportation magic? Really?”
There was no reply. Growing concerned, I quickly removed myself from my icy bed, glancing back where I had jumped from.
The portal had now shrunk to half its original size, and Sev was still on the other side.
Carrie’s look of horror mirrored how I felt.
“Sev, what are you doing!?” I shouted.
“I’m afraid I cannot take my own portal, it will disappear when I stop feeding power into it.”
“Go on without me, my stalwart soldiers.” he said, adopting a theatrical tone and expression.
The portal winked out.