Cara peered through the foliage, constantly shifting to keep eyes on her prey.
Leaves and vines fluttered across the dryad’s green skin as it danced between the trees. It twirled with ethereal grace, singing a warm melody that lifted Cara’s aching heart.
Everywhere the dryad’s feet touched, flowers bloomed—bold circles of red, yellow, and blue that brightened the forest floor. Yet, when the dryad danced away, the flowers withered, sucking the life right out of the ground, killing any surrounding plants. Examining the dryad more closely, black spots marred its leaves and vines, and rot defiled the hair-like branches sprouting from its head.
Cara’s heart sank. Such elegance corrupted, and now they had to kill it. Somehow.
What had corrupted it? Or had this creature always been this way, another abomination locked away in the Deep-Forest where it had belonged?
Not that it mattered. Now there was only one solution.
Nola whispered in Phelan’s ear. At least this time he was smart enough to let her Identify the target first.
Cara resisted the urge to Identify as well. Every Identify increased the odds that the dryad would notice, and a successful ambush could easily be the difference between victory and defeat.
Phelan turned and sent them a Message. Target level 30. Spellcaster. 285 HP. 900 Armor, 0 Deflection. Phelan to take Stealth Attack shot then close to melee. Everyone else, ranged damage, burst down the target.
That wasn’t a huge amount of HP. Five on one with a Stealth Attack, there was a good chance of taking it down with a single volley.
Cara switched her bow over to Force and nocked a normal arrow, holding her myrellium arrow in reserve. Casters had a nasty tendency to have tricks up their sleeves. Best she had something up hers, too.
She lined up her Sniper Shot and waited, her heart beat pounding in her chest. They had the information they’d come for. Wasn’t it best to get that back to Jeremy and Elivala? Taking on a powerful caster was never a safe bet.
Damn Phelan and his pride. She couldn’t abandon the others. They’d just have to make it work.
Phelan’s bow twanged, signaling the party to attack. Cara unleashed her Force-infused arrow, adding it to the volley.
The target turned, a twisted smirk plastered across its lips.
There was a flash of white. The arrows stopped, frozen in the air just shy of striking true, and dropped harmlessly to the ground.
What in the Forest—?
The dryad leaped forward, transforming mid-air into a bear twice the height of an elf. It bounded forward in huge strides that shook the ground, closing fast.
A white forcebolt smacked the beast on the nose. It didn’t even slow it down.
Phelan advanced and shouted, “We kill it now!”
His shout tingled through Cara, empowering her Force-enhanced Piercing Shot.
20 piercing damage dealt!
13 force damage dealt!
The bear’s charge faltered, though only for a moment. Kalkarka! That was way more than 900 Armor. The transformation must have buffed it.
Cara activated Rapid Shot and let the arrows fly. Three shots, three hits, two glances, barely any damage at all.
The magnificent beast barreled toward them, utterly unphased. Cara kept shooting, again and again. If they had to take it down with a hundred and forty-four cuts, they would.
Phelan cast a spell, erecting a teal shimmer around him right before the bear’s claw struck him with a brutal thud.
The strike knocked Phelan back twenty feet onto his ass. Cara’s gut twisted. That had to hurt.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The downed Prowler groaned, still alive, but barely. The bear advanced on him, shrugging off Forcebolts and arrows alike.
Phelan Tolabar So’aroaska
HP: 42/310
Cara nocked her myrellium arrow and cast Imbue Stun, displacing the bow’s magic with her own. Not even Phelan deserved to be eaten alive.
“Ro’ronkatara-fa si!”
The bear reared up. She took the shot, impaling its exposed throat.
Critical hit! 7 piercing damage dealt! Internal Bleeding injury inflicted! Stunned status effect inflicted!
It roared—a deep, visceral roar that chilled her to the bone—before keeling over.
This was their chance. Did they go for the kill, or get out while they still could?
Cara’s chest tightened, and she kept firing. They wouldn’t get many openings this good. “Kegan, Rapid Shot criticals. Aidan, evac. Nola, bear vulnerabilities?”
Kegan leaped forward, pumping arrows into the stunned bear. Aidan rushed to Phelan’s side, blue Portals magic already swirling in his hands.
“Err…” Nola said, adding her own arrow to the bear’s hide. Maybe she didn’t know. It wasn’t like bears lived in the Forest. “Short-sighted, poor peripheral vision, sir.”
Adrenaline rushed through Cara’s veins. This plan might actually work. “Use that, Kegan. Keep it guessing where you are.”
A deep rumble issued from the bear. It pulled its vast bulk onto its paws and shook majestically, still going even with arrows sticking out of it—one even protruding from its skull.
Phelan and Aidan vanished into smoky blue magic. They’d be safe, at least.
“Run,” Cara said to Nola, backpedaling as she nocked another arrow. “Report back.”
Nola paused.
Surely she had to understand why that mattered more than anything now?
Nola loosed her arrow, turned and broke into a full retreat. “Come home safe.”
Kegan circled the bear, dodging and sidestepping frantically as he peppered the wounded beast with arrows while staying just outside of paw swiping range. “Punctured Lung and a Head Injury! It’s vulnerable. Let’s finish it!”
Cara closed in and nodded, hitting the bear with another arrow.
26 piercing damage dealt!
16 force damage dealt!
Her jaw clenched. It had to be nearly dead by now, but nearly didn’t cut it, not when they were dealing so little damage each hit.
The bear roared. The forest shook and dark green magic shrouded the dungeon spawn. Black ooze sealed shut its wounds, pushing out each of the arrows that they’d fought so hard to impale in it.
Sorcha the Fallen
Level: 30
HP: 68/500
Stamina: 216/450
Status: Shapeshifted
A knot twisted in Cara’s gut. She swallowed and lined up another shot. No way she was running, not when they were so damned close. “Keep going! Its injuries are gone, but only 68 HP left!”
Glancing blow! 4 piercing damage dealt!
16 force damage dealt!
Nearly there. She nocked another arrow. They could do it. She could do it.
Except Kegan was already flagging, and every dodge drained more stamina. She couldn’t keep shooting and Identify him at the same time to be sure, but when he ran out…
The knot in her gut twisted. His armor wouldn’t hold up half as well as Phelan’s. He’d be ripped apart.
She was leading him to his death.
Glancing blow! 5 piercing damage dealt!
10 force damage dealt!
Nearly, nearly there.
Kegan faltered mid-dodge, only just evading the bear’s blow.
His stamina was out. He wouldn’t be able to dodge the next attack.
And her next shot wouldn’t be enough to finish it. “Get out of there!”
Too little, too late. He was going to die, and it was all her fault.
White streaked across her vision. A forcebolt exploded against the bear’s side.
It roared with pain and dropped to the floor. It twitched once, twice, thrice, and stopped moving.
The bear faded away, replaced by its previous limber yet twisted dryad form, just as dead.
1,860 XP received!
Level increased 13 → 14!
Was it really over?
Cara approached the body and dumped another arrow into it. Yup, definitely dead. No loot, either. Bummer.
She picked her myrellium arrow out from the grass, wiped it clean, and stored it in her quiver. “Good job, everyone. Thanks for the timely assist, Aidan. How’s Phelan?”
“Nola’s got him. Broken Ribs, crippled ego. He’ll live.”
They all chuckled. They’d done it, and survived to live the tale—without Phelan’s glorious leadership. With any luck, that’d keep hurting long after his ribs had healed.
Branches cracked and shattered in the distance. Cara looked up. Something was charging through the forest, heading directly for them, and they didn’t have the stamina or numbers for another fight.
“Go,” she said. “Stick together, but don’t wait up. I’ll be right behind you.”
Kegan shuffled awkwardly for a moment before huffing and heading for Tolabar.
Aidan’s gaze met hers. They shared a curt nod, and he set off as well.
Cara moved away from the corpse and crouched behind a tree. When the approaching creature came closer, she activated Stealth and watched.
Another dryad, just as exquisite and debased as the first. It pranced over to the corpse of the first dryad, its hands and leaves twirling with green magic tainted with black stripes.
Ice filled Cara’s veins. Mend. Shapeshifting. She swallowed. It couldn’t be.
The green-black magic danced around the corpse, flowing into it and filling it with a grim glow.
Not good.
Cara bit her lip and resisted the urge to Identify the new dryad. When they’d ambushed the other one, it had smirked when it turned around and cast the perfect spell.
It had to have known. It had to have been a trap.
Sorcha the Fallen rose from the dead, reborn in a dark green glow. Even more splattered patches of rot riddled its leaves as they fluttered in the wind, and black ooze bled out of its eyes.
Not good at all.