Cara focused on the enormous beast bounding through the trees. Even with Fast Identify, its stats took their sweet time to come back. Whatever it was, it was high level. Far too high level for them to stop it alone. Her hand itched at her side, and she could almost hear Jeremy's lectures—identify, signal, engage.
Deep-Forest Gorilla
Level: 40
HP: 550/550
Stamina: 520/520
MP: 115/115
Status: Ravenous
She activated Horn of the Rangers and blew one short, sharp burst—ranger in trouble, come quick. A lull, and then another three more short bursts—very dangerous, a village threatened. The first time she’d heard that call, let alone given it. Forest willing, she’d never have to again.
There was another warning she had to send as well. The very thought of it being needed filled her stomach with ice, but it had to be done. If the Rangers failed to stop it in time, the civilians in Tolabar would be easy pickings. She crouched down, pressed her hand against the exposed root of the Great Tree, and forced the idea of a giant gorilla heading toward the village into the tree-song.
Someone would be listening. Would they understand? Even if they did, there wouldn’t be enough time to evacuate everyone, not at the pace it was going. They had to slow it down.
She had to slow it down.
“Ted, head for the village. They need to evacuate immediately. Let the Rangers handle this.”
“I’m not leaving you.” He nocked an arrow in his training bow. Even his best shot wouldn’t do anything more than make it mad. He had to know that, right?
Her heart pounded in her chest. “Ted, now’s not the time for—”
“I wouldn’t be able to find my way back in time, anyway.” His voice barely wavered. How was he the calm one? “What’s the play?”
Every one of her muscles went rigid, but it was his choice, and there wasn’t time to argue. “Distract, skirmish, survive.” And pray help arrives before the gorilla rips us limb from limb.
The lump in the human’s throat bobbed. “Can we outrun it?”
She shook her head. “Not a chance.”
The black-haired gorilla closed at an alarming pace, taller than three large elves. Each leap between tree trunks triggered painful cracking sounds. Even the trees couldn’t handle its weight. How could she hope to stop it?
“How good are dungeon spawn at detecting Stealth?” Ted asked.
Almost certainly better than he was at Stealth, but a faint glimmer of hope was better than none. “You can’t Stealth while in combat in a dungeon. So… I don’t know.”
The ground shook and they exchanged hurried glances. What did they have to lose?
Ted offered up a smile, ruined by the trembling of his lips. He wasn’t calm, either. “We bounce it between us. Get its attention, peel it off, then disappear into Stealth.”
“Alright.” If it saw through them, they’d die. If it was too fast, they’d die. If they ran out of stamina, they’d die. She shifted her weight and faked a smile of her own. Duty required sacrifice, and this was her duty. “I’ll go first.”
***
It left a bitter taste in his mouth, but Ted nodded. Cara going first was the logical choice, whether he liked it or not. Better Stealth, more Endurance, higher speed. Even if everything went according to plan, between sprinting and sneaking, he’d run out of stamina quickly.
She strode toward the creature’s path, clutching her bow tight. “I’ll hold it off as long as I can before activating Stealth.”
Why hadn’t he run when he’d had the chance? It would have been the smart choice. No one would have blamed him. This wasn’t his fight.
Wasn’t it?
That stupid quest reared its ugly head, the pink elephant in his soul that refused to disappear. The timing of these dungeon spawn appearing couldn’t be a coincidence. It had to be related somehow.
Did they have a joint cause?
The unwelcome thought of his father loomed, a towering presence that brought more questions than answers. His father was involved in whatever this was, he was sure of it.
Cara faded into the forest, preparing to draw the ire of a creature so heavy it splintered giant trees. Was she in danger because of… him?
Ted shook his head. No. He wasn’t doing this because of him. Cara, Reltan, all the other wood elves in the village—this wasn’t their fight, either. They didn’t deserve any of this, and he damned well wasn’t leaving Cara to die.
Minimizing stamina usage would be key. That meant as little movement as possible. He found a spot with good lines of fire and sufficient foliage cover, nocked an arrow, and activated Stealth.
His heart hung in his throat and his breaths refused to remain slow and steady. Couldn’t this have waited until he had magic?
The knot in his chest tightened and twisted. Feeling mana had just been one last cruel joke before he died.
Assuming death was the end. His Hero status was still there, still defying every question about it. Maybe he was immortal, but he wasn’t in a hurry to test that theory.
A shiver tingled down his spine. Not intentionally, anyway.
The beast hung from a branch and stopped, its gaze homing in on Ted. Its arms were pillars of bulging muscles, each longer than its own body and as thick as Ted’s shoulders were wide. It would have been a wonderfully majestic creature, if hadn’t been trying to kill them.
An arrow flew out of the foliage and glanced off the gorilla’s fur. Not enough to harm it, but more than enough to make it furious. It bared its teeth and surveyed the forest floor, slowly turning its head in a grid-like search pattern.
You’ve got its attention, Cara. Don’t go for another Stealth Attack. Just wait.
The gorilla hurled itself from its perch, smashing through branches and crashing into the floor. Its blood-curdling roar slammed into Ted’s psyche, every point of Mental Resistance straining to keep him upright and functioning.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Cara stumbled—her Stealth shattered. With her focus on physical stats, she’d never stood a chance.
With the foliage blasted out of the way, she was impossible to miss. The gorilla advanced on her, strolling leisurely towards its kill.
Ted swallowed. This was it.
He drew and fired, minimizing draw time to conserve stamina.
Glancing blow! 3 piercing damage dealt!
The gorilla continued bearing down on the still-stunned Cara, undeterred, if it even noticed.
Glancing blow! 1 piercing damage dealt!
Another shot, equally ineffective and ignored. Blood pounded in Ted’s ears. He had to do something—she wasn’t dying on his watch. “Hey, dumbass! Over here, take on someone your own size! Yeah, you!”
Battle Cries skill increased 0 → 1!
Glancing blow! 4 piercing damage dealt!
Bows skill increased 4 → 5!
The twenty-foot-tall gorilla turned, its enormous fist ripping bushes up by their roots like they were nothing. It snarled, displaying an array of dagger-sized teeth, and charged.
Ted sprinted full pelt in the opposite direction, searching for a place to hide and praying that those wouldn’t be his last words.
The pounding thuds behind him grew louder.
His legs burned as he ran. The more distance he put between it and Cara, the better her chances.
Death thundered closer and closer.
He’d damned well better be immortal. If this world was just as rigged as Earth, he wanted to be on the other side for once.
A thick bush came up on his left. Would it be enough? How much Perception did gorillas have?
Too late. It would have to do.
He dived into the undergrowth, rolled to a halt, and activated Stealth.
Every drop of his concentration focused on being still even as his body screamed for him to run, to fight, to do something, anything but lay down and die.
Sweat pooled on his brow. He resisted the urge to wipe it away. No matter how badly it itched, moving wasn’t an option.
The ground shook. The slamming grew closer and closer. Tension coiled tighter and tighter inside him. At least he’d get to find out if being a Hero was worth it.
Silence.
More silence.
Had it worked?
Looking around wasn’t an option. All he could do was wait and pray that the next feeling he had wasn’t his head being ripped off.
Still nothing. His chest tightened. What was it doing? Was it safe to look?
An arrow hit the ground nearby. A deflection?
The creature roared, terrifyingly close, but there was no power in it. Its stun had to be on cooldown.
Its footsteps thundered in Cara’s direction. Ted waited as little time as he dared before pulling himself up and nocking another arrow. She couldn’t outrun it—she’d need another distraction soon, and he’d be ready.
It crushed a corridor through the forest, giving Ted a better view of Cara. He watched her dart ahead of the beast, again and again, but even with her high Dexterity, she couldn't keep this up long.
Adrenaline ebbed away, leaving sore muscles reporting in. How long could he keep it up?
Stamina: 76/230
Shit. He wouldn’t be able to do that again, not without ending up in more pieces than he’d started in. He dropped out of Stealth and his stamina began to tick back up. It rose at a steady pace that refused to speed up no matter how hard he willed it to.
His heart in his throat, he watched the deadly dance unfolding before him. Cara kept one step ahead with light, dancing movements, keeping those oversized tree trunks between her and the gorilla’s fists as much as she could.
She had this, for now at least, and he had two new perk points that might be useful. He looked at Bows first. Damage wouldn’t help now, and even he could hit a creature the size of a barn. Quick Draw it was, then.
Battle Cries was new. Was there anything useful there?
Intimidating Shout (0/5): Grants and improves the Taunt ability. Effect is limited against sentient creatures.
Demoralizing Shout (0/5): Grants and improves the Demoralizing Cry ability.
Inspiring Shout (0/5): Grants and improves the Inspirational Cry ability.
Guarding Shout (0/5): Grants and improves the Protection Cry ability.
Call It Out (0/5): Grants and improves the Bring Them Down ability.
Final Shout (0/5): Grants and improves the Until Death ability.
Who the hell had written such useless descriptions? Had he a missed list of abilities somewhere? Whatever, there wasn’t time now.
Cara’s dodges were becoming slower. The gap between its fists and her face narrowed with each swing.
He half-drew his bow and waited for his cue.
The beast swung. Cara dodged to the side, putting a tree between them, and faded into the forest.
Ted fired.
Glancing blow! 3 piercing damage dealt!
The beast roared. Its power slammed into him. He flinched but stood firm, saved again by distance and his Mental Resistance.
Cara, close to the epicenter, stumbled, visible and exposed.
Tension flared in Ted’s chest. She wasn’t dying, not while he still drew breath. He shoved a point into Intimidating Shout and activated Taunt. A cry forced itself from his lips and bellowed through the forest. “Fight me!”
He blinked. He’d shouted that?
The gorilla turned on him and broke into a charge.
Shit! Ted fled, ignoring the pain burning in his calves. He needed a plan, any plan, so long as it didn’t end in being torn apart.
Stamina: 23/230
Not enough.
Hefty footsteps slammed behind him, closing fast.
Not enough space. Not enough cover. Not enough stamina.
Time to find out what it meant to be a Hero.
A bright light flashed to his left. Two wood elves charged out of the foliage and a glowing arrow embedded into the beast’s chest.
“Ko’aska-fa si!” one of the elves shouted, a woman’s voice.
The instruction to kill the gorilla flowed through his body, empowering him. He turned and fired, adding arrows at a blistering pace to the flurry of shots aimed at the creature.
Glancing blow! 3 piercing damage dealt!
Glancing blow! 4 piercing damage dealt!
Glancing blow! 2 piercing damage dealt!
The beast roared.
Power smashed into Ted. Pressure pounded against his temples.
He dropped to his knees. The world went fuzzy. Muscles refused to respond; he couldn’t stand, couldn’t lift his bow.
“Ro’luratara-fa bi!” the woman shouted, with twice the urgency of the previous shout and none of the magical power.
A glow illuminated the blurry forest.
The beast charged.
The light flashed.
The ground shook with a heavy thud.
4,100 XP received!
Level increased 3 → 5!
“You okay?”
An elf stood over Ted. A ranger. One of the two who’d interrogated him. Jeremy?
Ted nodded. Mostly. Could he stand? No. He held up his arm, itself a monumental task.
Jeremy pulled him to his feet with ease. “He’s fine.”
The ranger materialized a horn much like Cara’s. He blew two short bursts, as silent as ever, before dismissing the horn and moving on to the felled dungeon spawn.
Surveying the scene, Ted spotted Cara doubled over, clutching her bow. She was shaking, alternating between slow breaths and gasping, but alive.
He breathed out and let a shiver of relief roll over him. They were both alive.
Arid smoke grated against his throat and lungs. A twenty-foot-wide blast radius of ash surrounded the beast’s arrow-ridden corpse. Whichever of the elves had done that, he never wanted to be on the bad end of their bow.
The other ranger was Elivala, Jeremy’s superior. The one who’d washed her hands of him, who’d been happy to leave him to die—and now he owed her his life. Great.
That was a problem for the future, and still better than the alternative. For now, Cara needed him. “Hey,” he said, approaching her with his arms held wide in the offer of a hug. “We did good. You did good.”
Her lips pursed. Still shaking, she glowered up at him. “You nearly died.”
“Nearly being the operative word there.”
Her gaze fell back to the dirt at his feet. “You don’t have to pretend.”
“Pretend what?”
She slumped against a tree and sighed. “Doesn’t matter.”
Instinct told him to leave her be. The weight in his chest agreed; this was her problem.
Just like dying on the forest floor had been his problem. That hadn’t stopped her saving his life.
He shook his head, pushing aside his instincts. “It matters, Cara.”
She looked up at him from behind a scrunched-up face, tilting her head from side to side. “You’re mad at me.”
“Not at all. But, you know, if you want to make it up to me, Elivala’s over there, and I have no idea how to start that conversation. ‘Hey, you wanted to leave me to die last time we met, thanks for saving my life.’”
A half-smile lit up her face, and she chuckled. “Don’t lead with that, please.”
“I guess you’ll have to introduce us properly, then.” He shrugged. “Otherwise, who knows what I’ll say? And I seem to remember you being responsible for me…”
“You! You’re impossible.” She shook her head, jumped back into action, and flicked him on the nose as she passed. “Let’s get this over with.”