The Scourge Hyena that Tobias hadn’t killed tried to bite down onto his armored shoulder with limited success. Though Tobias was indisposed due to [Last Laugh] and made no attempt to dodge the attack, his heavy armor prevented him from sustaining serious injury. Samantha registered the sounds of teeth and claws scraping on metal just as one of the hyenas participating in [Cooperative Take Down] took notice of a very frightened Mercer. As for the terrified merchant, he took in the sight of a passive Tobias being chewed on, Samantha losing a tug of war against four hyenas, and Silas clambering over a howling spirit beast in a single glance. He also noted the lingering green cloud of mist from some potion that Harold had dropped. With no weapons to speak of, nor combat ability to defend himself, the construct couldn’t do much to contribute to the fight itself. However, there was one thing–something only he, who could neither die nor feel pain–could do.
Much like Tobias did with his glaive or armor, Mercer summoned a merchant’s scale and weight set to his hand. Starting with the heaviest in the set at 1000 grams or around 2.2 pounds, he chucked it at the hyena that was both closest to him and that was staring at him. The weight didn’t strike with incredible force, but it did cause the creature to flinch as it was struck in the face. When Mercer continued to irritate it by throwing six more weights and the scale at it, the hyena severed its connection to the Matriarch to get rid of the nuisance. Turning on his heel, Mercer sprinted into the nearby alchemical cloud faster than Samantha had ever seen him move before. The hyena, unaware of any danger due to the lack of negative effect on Mercer, pounced fearlessly into the gas cloud to land atop the fleeing prey. The impact of being jumped on by a several hundred pound creature, combined with its sharp claws digging into his back, was apparently too much for the non-combat construct to withstand because Mercer immediately dissipated into motes of light.
With only three of the beasts fully engaged with trying to drag her out of the sky for the moment thanks to Mercer, Samantha knew that this was her best chance to turn the tides of the fight. She began feeding energy into [Rift Walk] once more to activate the art, but she didn’t arrange for the exit point to appear miles away this time. Instead, the entrance and exit rifts were only around 20 feet apart. One rift began forming above the Matriarch while the other appeared behind the two hyenas assisting with the take down. Sensing danger in the uncomfortably quick descent of the created rift, the Matriarch activated a new ability.
Matriarch Scourge Hyena has used [Redouble]!
The Matriarch’s muscles became saturated with the reds and oranges of the Fire element as she yanked Samantha forward by the arm. Acting in unison with their leader, the two hyenas behind her also began to glow in Samantha’s spiritual sight and pull. Unlike before, both the qi platforms beneath her feet and her shoulder joint gave way. She let out a grunt of pain as her arm popped out of the socket and she was briefly dragged beneath the path of the opening rift. Rather than be bisected by her own art, she allowed herself to be moved further by the hyenas so she’d be out of the way of the rift’s opening. By the time the rifts snapped open, all four of them were sandwiched between the two tears in space such that by looking forward into the portal behind the hyenas Samantha was able to view her own back. This also meant that the hyenas were staring at their backsides through the rift behind Samantha. Briefly confused by the appearance of ‘unknown predators’ the hyenas stopped tugging on Samantha’s dislocated arm just long enough for her to start pulling the Matriarch back through the rift.
Though the combined weight of the three spirit beasts prevented her from using [Cloud Run]’s independent movement effectively, Samantha could still leverage her own Low Silver Strength to take small, quick, backwards steps with the art. As she did so–and the hyenas emitted yips or grunts of protest–the sounds they made also traveled through the rift. This made them question if more beasts had appeared behind them. In looking back and forth between the rift in front of them and the rift behind them, they didn’t notice when Samantha managed to completely pass through one rift and even started to pull the Matriarch partway through as well. By the time one of them realized that the rifts were actually showing everyone a different view of themselves–and they turned back to try and bite into Samantha’s lower leg as she drew closer to their rear–it was too late.
Samantha closed the rifts with a loud ‘crack’ reminiscent of a whip, a burst of force, a spray of hot blood… and the dull ‘thump’ of the Matriarch’s head falling to the forest floor. Whether due to the instantaneous nature of the Matriarch’s death or the lack of head, [Last Laugh] didn’t activate.
Were her feet not firmly planted in place by [Cloud Run] she would have lurched backwards due to the sudden disappearance of pulling force on her arm. The two hyenas below her were not so lucky. Without the Matriarch acting as the binding point for [Cooperative Take Down], the hyenas stumbled as the ropes they’d been pulling taut were unceremoniously cut.
This entire series of events had taken less than 10 seconds to complete, but in that time another 124.8 qi had been spent between her and Silas’s activities and she only had 129.8 qi remaining. However, with [Whirlwind] speeding up her perception and her movements finally unrestricted by any stubborn hyenas, things were really looking up.
Taking advantage of the opening, Samantha spun clockwise towards the nearest spirit beast, extended her spear to its full length of 10 feet, and rained blows down on the creature with her effective 115 Agility. Moving at such speeds, the deathly sharp leaf-shaped blade punched entirely through the hyena’s torso. As it fell to the ground in death throes and was about to activate [Last Laugh], Samantha rushed down from her aerial position to stomp on its unprotected throat. The semi-fragile airway collapsed under her foot and prevented the beast from making any sound other than a wet gurgle.
“Go for the throats as you kill them or take off their heads!” she informed everyone through [Liaison].
A panicked yipping and screeching drew her attention back to the hyena who had followed Mercer into the cloud from Harold’s mysterious concoction. It was rubbing itself roughly against nearby tree trunks and rolling in the dirt seeking to remove the green substance from its coat. She had no idea what the alchemical’s effect actually was, but large chunks of its fur were being left behind on every surface that it touched. The remaining hyena she had to face down also took notice of its clan mate’s condition. It nervously glanced back at the corpses of its peers and began to back up. When Samantha took a step towards it, it tried to flee.
Since it was running in the general direction of Harold’s cloud and she wanted to be nowhere near it, she drew back her arm and took aim at its side. She threw her spear with all the speed she could muster, but pain from her dislocated left arm caused her to wince and the trajectory of her weapon to be slightly off. It wasn’t anything a nudge from [Telekinesis] couldn’t fix, however. With the projectile mostly back on track, her spear plunged through the lower torso of the hyena before becoming lodged against the inside of the hip bone on the opposite side. Tumbling over from the force of the blow, it struggled to right itself with the 10 foot spear stuck part way through its body. Seeing she now only had 83.5 qi in her pool, she dialed back her [Whirlwind] usage to 1 qi/second and completely stopped using [Cloud Run].
A shout of sheer rage emerged from Tobias and halted any early celebration she might’ve allowed herself. Worried, she looked over and saw the construct in a state completely foreign to her despite their years training together. Completely abandoning the usage of his glaive, he had overpowered the beast that had been gnawing on his armor. As he used [Iron Bulwark] to increase his weight, Tobias straddled the knocked-over hyena and was mercilessly wailing on the beast’s head with one metal-clad fist while choking off its air supply with the other. His movements got slower and slower as [Iron Bulwark] began stiffening his entire body, but not before Tobias clamped both hands around the hyena’s throat to ensure it would suffocate in his grip. Seeing him so consumed by anger like this, she was inwardly glad that they had always kept their bouts friendly.
As for Silas’s fight, both he and his opponent were badly bloodied. She couldn’t tell how much of it belonged to Silas at first glance because both beasts’ fur were wetly matted down with the crimson liquid. After watching the fight for a breath, she was relieved to see the hyena was the one who was on its last legs. Almost literally, in fact. Three of the hyena’s four legs were shredded, with the wounds going bone deep in many places. As it hobbled and fought to catch the smaller spirit beast stabbing into its body with curved talons and sharp incisors, it eventually toppled over onto the ground. Seeing his opportunity to strike the killing blow, Silas launched himself towards the hyena’s throat and tore into it with [Savage Bite]. With a Silas-mouth-sized hole in its windpipe, it could not utilize [Last Laugh] either.
With that, the only surviving hyenas were the one afflicted by Harold’s alchemy and the one Samantha had speared. Preparing to give the coup de grace to both, she popped her dislocated left arm back into place with her uninjured right one. The passive healing provided by her Rebirth Core quickly repaired any minor damage to the ligaments and she made a few circular movements with the joint to confirm it was set correctly. As she closed in on the hyenas, a large, chittering beast sprung out from the forest and landed atop the speared one.
“Sandy return! Sandy help!”
The tips of Sandy’s legs hardened and sharpened into points as she stomped/stabbed down onto the fallen beast. It bit and snapped frantically at her legs and underside to defend itself, but couldn’t reach very high due to not being able to use its back legs well. Sandy was able to dance or lean away from the sharp teeth easily enough. Still saddled on Sandy’s abdomen, Harold lobbed a glass vial towards the nearby green cloud while his bonded companion took care of any immediate danger. As the vial broke open and gray powder mushroomed outwards from the impact site, the cloud was neutralized and rapidly began to disappear. Before Harold could toss a third vial at the pitifully staggering hyena within the cloud–presumably to finish it off quickly–the poisoned spirit beast collapsed. A familiar, haunting laugh began to echo through the space.
Scourge Hyena has used [Last Laugh]!
Qi Defenses Partially Successful!
You have been gripped by your Deepest Fear (reduced duration).
Samantha was overcome by the sensation of falling from a great height.
“Not again…!” Samantha inwardly groaned.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“How much pain has your greed for power wrought? You should’ve known your place,” the specters of her elderly parents accused. The loudness of the rushing wind and screaming humans plummeting to their deaths made her ears ring.
She shook her head from side to side repeatedly, trying to throw off the effect. The fear she felt wasn’t as vivid as the first time, but it was still deeply upsetting.
“NO! No scare Sandy! Bad tasty! BAD!” Sandy hissed.
Rather than flee the fear-inducing ability like before, Sandy continued her assault on the last surviving enemy. She lifted her victim up with her forelegs and snapped its mouth shut with her own pincer-like mandibles as she continued to stab at it. Samantha wasn’t totally sure that only closing its mouth would be enough to prevent [Last Laugh] from activating, but was relieved when the hyena perished without further incident.
When the fear effect subsided and no new dangers reappeared, everyone stared somewhat awkwardly at each other.
Samantha cleared her throat. “We might’ve been in some trouble if you, Sandy, and Mercer hadn’t helped so… thanks.”
Harold looked like he was absolutely dying to say ‘I told you so’, but he managed to restrain himself. “We didn’t do all that much, but you’re welcome.” He looked around the area for a few seconds. “Speaking of Mercer…” Harold reached up to the figurine tied around his neck and resummoned the construct.
“AHHH—oh!” Mercer yelped as soon as he appeared. His expression was a mix of embarrassment and relief when he realized the area was safe. “It’s over?”
“It is!” Tobias confirmed, walking up to the shorter man and clapping him on the back. “Thanks in no small part to you, my friend. Out of sorts as I was, I still witnessed your act of bravery.”
Mercer blushed slightly at the compliment. “It was nothing.” Tobias’s face fell slightly at the word ‘nothing’, which Mercer picked up on. “By the way, what happened exactly before I was summoned? Everyone was acting a bit… odd.”
There was another stretch of awkward silence.
“Let’s discuss everything later. We should harvest what we want from the Scourge Hyenas and leave before the scent of death attracts more predators,” Samantha suggested.
Everyone was quick to agree.
----------------------------------------
After the situation was explained to Mercer, he’d quietly decided to leave the matter alone and not press further. All of them did, actually. Everyone entered an unspoken agreement that if no one asked about, or poked fun at, their deepest fear, then they’d do the same. The topic was far from forgotten, however. Despite the next months of hunting and traveling passing by somewhat normally, they all felt the underlying tension as they faced down their inner demons in their own way–some approaches healthier than others. Silas had taken to flying higher than ever before and for longer periods, and Sandy worked more diligently to get stronger to protect Harold. Harold withdrew somewhat and became more guarded, and Tobias started to request being summoned less often during social times and more often for watch duties. As for Samantha, she did her best to pretend that she wasn’t bothered at all. She did a fair job of keeping up the facade, too. That was, until…
Congratulations, your spirit bond has increased in rank (Rank 6 Mid -> Rank 6 High)!
Silas has received +1 to Strength and Resilience, +3 to Endurance, and +4 to Agility.
You have received +1 Bond Ability Point.
A new ability has emerged! Silas has received the ability [Wind Scythe].
You have gained access to a new bond ability, [Wind Scythe]. Changes have been made to your status page.
She stopped dead in her tracks as it felt like her heart fell through her stomach. She didn’t even pull up her profile to look over the changes.
“Something wrong?” Mercer asked nervously. “You look pale all of a sudden.”
Harold tensed up. “Enemies?”
She shook her head. “No, sorry. I got a notification that Silas ranked up is all.”
Harold smiled widely and clapped his hands together in excitement. “Wonderful! That means we don’t have to walk everywhere anymore, right? You can [Rift Walk] us the rest of the way to the obelisk?”
Samantha’s mouth felt incredibly dry all of a sudden. “Yeah. We could probably ascend within the week.”
“I’ll call Sandy back right now! Are you up for making a jump right away? We can camp early and celebrate.”
Sensing something was off about her reactions, Mercer spoke up. “She’ll probably want time to go over the changes first. Right, Samantha? We can still camp early and start traveling in the morning.”
She nodded.
Harold shrugged. “Alright. I guess it doesn’t matter much one way or the other. I think I saw a decent spot…”
Samantha zoned out and only minimally engaged with the decisions for the rest of the day. She was vaguely aware of going through the routine of setting up camp, but her conscious mind was mostly focused on one thing. She was officially out of excuses to postpone her ascension.
Tonight, then. I’ll have to hear my parents’ answer tonight.
When she projected herself down to the first floor, she stood in the empty living room of her parents’ home without ringing the scripted doorbell to let everyone know she’d arrived. Light still peeked through the curtains and blinds covering the windows around the house, so her parents must have been out doing errands at the moment. This time, she wasn’t in a rush to have them come back.
She wandered through the empty house, appreciating all the signs that showed her parents lived in it. The handwritten notes, the half-finished crafting projects, the occasional shawl or cloak tossed haphazardly over a chair…
“Samantha?”
She turned to see her cousin Thomas standing behind her. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I was just dropping something off,” he said, not meeting her eyes. “Now that I’m sure you’re not some intruder, I’ll get going.”
“Thomas,” she started, but he had already begun to leave. “Thomas!” she said more urgently, reaching out and grabbing the loose end of his sleeve.
He tugged his arm free from her grip. “What?”
“I know that you’ve been avoiding me because you’re ashamed.”
That got him to look up at her.
“Ashamed? I have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”
He gave her a sardonic smile. “You can’t really mean it, though. Can you? You’ve always been like that–trying to do the right thing rather than the smart thing.”
“I do mean it. Even if I would choose differently, that doesn’t make your choice wrong.”
“I saw how passionately you spoke about the World Spire’s purpose and our ‘duty as cultivators’.”
“And that purpose is pointless if there’s no one living in the Spires. This is the only place we can live in relative safety and peace. This is the only place we can start families,” she insisted. “I’m angry with the Ruler of Yivesh because he was taking away our ability to choose our path forward. I’m not angry with you for having more information and deciding to stay here.”
He searched her expression for a long moment. “What if I’m not interested in starting a family? What if I just like the way my life is and don’t want it to change? What if I don’t want to struggle and bleed for some far off, unseen conflict?”
Samantha pulled him into a hug. “That’s an awful lot of focus on what you don’t want, rather than what you do.”
He hesitated for a few seconds before hugging her back. “I… I want to make a name for myself here. To be respected. I want to become powerful and influential enough that my loved ones can’t easily be threatened. I never want us to be pushed around by people like the Braxands again.”
She released him from her embrace and smiled kindly. “Then, that’s what you’ll do. You safeguard our family here, and I’ll fight to protect them out there. Deal?”
He let out a huff of amusement. “Sure, why not.”
Thinking about how she may never see him again, she pulled him into one more hug. “I mean it, Thomas. I hope you’ll take care of everyone.”
“Hey, now… you’re gonna make me sad if you phrase it like that.”
The front door opened and closed, and Samantha could hear her parents chatting about nothing in particular. She let go of him. “You’re right. I’ll feel silly being so dramatic if I can come back to see you all again later.”
“Thomas? Did you bring–Oh! Samantha! If we knew you were here we wouldn’t have stopped to chat with so many of our neighbors on the way back from the store.”
She peeked around Thomas to look at them. “It’s no trouble. I just popped in a little while ago and happened to catch Thomas leaving.”
Thomas took that as his cue to depart, exchanging a few pleasantries with her parents before heading back to his own house. With just the three of them left, they sat down in their usual spots in the living room and started talking. After Samantha caught them up on what had happened since she last spoke with them, she broached the topic they’d all been avoiding.
“After facing my fear like that, I think my resolve to ascend has strengthened. I’ve already come this far, and I want to contribute something–anything–towards protecting the World Spire. Towards defending you all. However, once I ascend, I won’t be able to help you much if you plan to come up to the second floor. So, I need both of your answers now. What are you going to do? I don’t want to leave you stranded and alone if I can help it.”
Martha looked at her with teary eyes. “Honey, your father and I would never say those things to you. I want to make that clear first.”
“I know that I spoke harshly after you first came back from your cultivation quest. But, that was more about being frustrated with myself for not being able to protect you from the ugliest parts of life than about what you did,” Aldon added. “I am proud of you. Every time you come back here and tell us what you’re enduring, my pride in having you as my daughter grows.”
Samantha nodded in thanks, but didn’t want to speak until they addressed her actual question. She felt she’d known for a long time what it was, but needed to hear them say it themselves.
“Your stories also make us question if a life on the second or third floors would really be better than what we have here,” Martha said. “Of course, if you feel you need us then we will drop everything to support you however we can. That ascension group we’d been looking into is leaving soon and are willing to take us along in return for maintenance on their equipment. But, if you don’t need us there… if it’s a matter of you worrying about leaving us behind…”
Martha and Aldon looked sadly at each other.
“We know time has been a bit funky for you lately, but we’ve still been adults longer than you have. We’ll be okay, Samantha,” Aldon concluded Martha’s thought. “We’ll miss you like crazy. We’ll think about you and worry about you every day! But that will be the same for us wherever we are because you’re walking down a path that neither of us can follow for long. It’s sooner than we wanted, but if we have to say goodbye here… we’ve already been more fortunate than we dreamed possible seeing you again like this. Just knowing you’re okay.”
Samantha wiped away a tear that had started rolling down her cheek. “Thank you, both. I can ascend with a clear mind and heart now. I will try to visit at least once more before the time comes, but if I’m unable to, then I’m also unbelievably grateful for this stolen time we’ve spent together.”
The rest of the evening was filled with tears, love, reminiscing about the past, and laughter. They all felt joy and grief in equal measures. When she finally returned to her body she felt simultaneously emotionally drained and cleansed. Like she’d broken free of an invisible shackle, her heart felt light for the first time in years.