The prairie was quiet as the four lud and singular human made their way across it, with only the occasional gust of wind to stir the dirt and set nearby clumps of grass waving. At least, Callan assumed they were grass.

Hell, they could have been grasping tentacles for all he knew. It was dark out here.

“Remind me again why we had to wait for a moonless night?” he asked, his voice carrying across the prarie. They were far enough from the village now that he doubted there was anyone else to hear him beside his companions.

“It is too dangerous, Honored Avatar,” Tervak said, with the gentle tone one might use to lecture a child. “Should a cult patrol catch sight of us, even if we managed to escape capture, it could throw everything we’re working towards into jeopardy. We do not wish to risk revealing our hand before we are ready, do we?”

“I suppose not.” Callan’s face pulled into a grimace, and he tried not to think of the terrified expression on the Ishe’s face as the priests loomed over him. The shame of simply letting it happen still chafed at him.

“Besides,” Tervak continued, oblivious to Callan’s expression in in the dark. “We are not so far inland that I would risk traveling by moonlight. I may be old, but I have no desire to ascend to the Cairn just yet.”

What does that mean? Callan wondered. Probably just a local superstition, but before he could ask about it something sharp jabbed into his ribs.

“Gah! What the—Oh, hey Shamain.” He found himself gripping the old woman’s upper left arm, her finger still extended as if she meant to poke him again. “Did you need something?”

“Hmmph. At least you had the decency to get my name right this time. How far are you going to make us walk in the dead of night? My old bones aren’t built for these sort of excursions anymore.”

Callan, who distinctly recalled at least three separate stories the ‘old woman’ had told him about outclimbing lud half her age, did his best to bite down a retort. Instead, he glanced up at the night sky, as if that might tell him anything.

“I didn’t exactly measure how far away the watering hole was. You know, on account of my near-fatal injuries and all.” He gestured with his bandaged arm for emphasis.

“Excuses, excuses. You just enjoy watching me suffer, don’t you? For all I know, we might be walking all night, or this is some wild wesker hunt to no purpose. Do you know what those priests will do to my family if I’m not there for headcount next morning? Maybe I ought to just head back now, before we waste any further time trekking out towards who knows what—”

“I know of the pond the avatar is leading us to,” Tervak said over his shoulder. “It is about a two-hour walk from the village. Somewhat excessive, but we should manage to get there and back before tomorrow’s headcount.”

“Hmmph. Sure, and leave me too tired to reach the bottom branches of the pythian, let alone meet my quota. One of the cult will find me napping on a leaf, and then it’s goodbye Shamain! It’ll make what happened to Ishe seem like a tickling.”

Callan, who had been sneaking glances back at Kivi, thinking he might be able to drop behind to engage her in conversation and escape Shamain’s prodding, nearly stumbled and fell.

“What’s the matter with you, lad?” Shamain asked him suspiciously.

“Nothing.” Callan grimaced but avoided snapping back at the woman. It wasn’t her fault, after all. Still, why did he have to be constantly reminded of his failure?

A hand crept into his own, and he glanced down in surprise to find Kivi walking by his other side. She gave him an encouraging squeeze, then released him. “I think the avatar would prefer to discuss a different topic.”

Callan shot her an appreciative smile, while Shamain spat off to one side. A curse from Aldis implied her aim had been off—or maybe spot on, given what he knew about her.

“I suppose there is a small matter he has been avoiding for the last few days, haven’t you? Hmm?” The older lud woman’s voice was downright predatory. Suddenly, Callan found himself wondering if he was about to get a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’.

“What is that?” he asked.

“Oh, like the lad doesn’t know!” Shamain burst out laughing. “You and that god in your head need to decide who among us is going to be your high priest, that’s what. The suspense has been killing me. Not that I particularly care, of course, since we all know the obvious choice.”

Kivi nodded. “I agree. Tervak is the most experienced of the four of us, clearly, he is the best candidate.”

“What? I meant myself you impudent little—”

“Actually, Xeph and I are going to wait on deciding who will be the high priest,” Callan cut in. “From how he’s explained it to me, there’s no difference in power, it’s merely an administrative position, right?”

That’s correct, Xeph said.

“So then there’s no point to picking someone until this trouble with the village is resolved. After everything is settled, Xeph and I will discuss the matter further.”

Actually, they already had a pretty decent idea who they would pick, but given the odds of any of them surviving the attack on the cult, let alone all of them, Callan had agreed with his head-mate that waiting was prudent.

“Bah, more excuses. The lad is probably just trying to mollify us, then once this is all over he’ll go pick a forfiliin, or a rutain, or a zartouna. Some race more worthy of leading a priesthood.”

Kivi rounded on Shamain, forcing Callan to stop as well. “Watch your tongue, Shamain! The avatar may tolerate such accusations, but I won’t stand here and let you slander the man that is risking himself for a village he barely even knows!”

“Oooh, brave words, girl. Seems your recent rise in status is going to your head. I told the lad exactly what he was getting when I met him, didn’t I? Don’t expect me to start pulling my punches just because you’ve gone sweet on him.”

“I haven’t—” Before Kivi could say any more, Tervak appeared between the two women. Callan almost jumped out of his skin. He hadn’t even noticed the elder’s approach.

“Enough, both of you. We’re here.”

Glancing past the man, Callan saw he was right. Ahead of them lay the small watering hole that Callan had stumbled on after leaving the temple.

Before, the sun had burned high overhead, showing the waving reeds and the rippling surface. Now, wispflies flitted about in the hundreds, casting the entire area in an ethereal glow and hiding what lay on the far side.

“Alright, we’re here.” Shamain stepped forward, hands on her hips. “So where is this little dvorak you keep clamoring on about?”

“Nothing little about him.” Callan scanned the area but didn’t see anything that looked like it might hide a beast as large as he remembered. Empty prairie stretched out around the small pool, the land showing only a few shallow swells in the dark. No hills, no caves, nothing that might serve as a den or warren.

The night was quiet, but for the chirp of wispflies.

“Hmm. Most unfortunate.” Tervak stopped next to Callan and peered into the gloom. “Perhaps the beast has moved on. It would have been unusual for a dvorak to lay claim to this area without adequate protection. They must sleep sometime.”

“Sleep, right!” With renewed interest Callan scanned the tall grass. Surely the beast had to be in there somewhere near the pond. There was nowhere else in the area he could be.

Tervak shook his head, following Callan’s gaze. “If it was as large as you said, we would be hearing or seeing sign of it by now. I’m sorry, Avatar, but it appears the beast is gone.”

“You don’t exactly sound unhappy that we hiked out here for nothing,” Callan noted.

The elder did little to hide his grin. “My avatar commanded us to join him in a midnight dvorak hunt, and we have done so, but I won’t lie and say I was looking forward to the prospect with any real anticipation.”

Shamain slapped Callan on the shoulder. “What he’s trying to say is that it’s better to lose a few hours of sleep over nothing than risk our necks killing some dumb beast. I for one agree with him. Foolish as this whole endeavor was, I’ll sleep better knowing we don’t have to worry about some wild draft animal bothering us, should we find ourselves needing to flee the village with little more than the skin on our backs.”

“That’s the whole reason for this training,” Callan reminded the woman, feeling his frustration mount. “If any of us actually want to be competent facing the cult, we need practice on a live target.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Well, you don’t always get what you want, lad. Now, let’s skedaddle. I might still manage an hour of sleep before those arrogant bastards roll us all out of bed—”

The clump of reeds nearest them rustled and shifted, then bent to either side as an enormous something rose over them. All eyes turned and met the gaze of the dvorak that blinked at each sleepily in turn.

Callan wasn’t sure whether to feel vindicated or worried. Especially because the dvorak was even bigger than he remembered.

The animal blinked again, then seemed to come fully awake. Its eyes narrowed and it expelled a large blast of air from its nostrils.

“Right. Showtime.” Callan stepped forward, breaking the lud out of their shock. “Remember what I told you before, let me keep the creature occupied until you can get your hooks in it. Then we’ll all pull it down together. Understand?”

For once, Shamain had no scathing comeback. Kivi was the first to respond. “We’ll not disappoint you, Avatar.”

The sound of snapping reeds filled the air as the dvorak approached. Callan didn’t take his eyes off the animal, watching for any sign of a charge. “Don’t bother with your Shape Stone ability, there isn’t enough around to make use of. Right, Xeph?”

Correct. There is the rubble left over in the pond from your first encounter, and a sizeable deposit several dozen yards behind us, but otherwise this is not a favorable battleground.

“We’ll just have to make the best of it.” Quickly, Callan relayed the information to the others. He saw the dvorak lower its head. “Showtime. Scatter, now!”

Lud fled to either side even as the dvorak let out a trumpeting cry and dashed forward. Callan grinned, letting his Wurmchain drop into his open hand as it formed. His other still throbbed with the memory of his last clash.

Alert: 4.5% Apotheosis used.

Total Apotheosis is at 4.5%

No repeats this time. I’ve got more power, and allies to boot. This overgrown rhino isn’t going to know what hit it.

Remember, mortal, Xeph said, his words rumbling inside Callan’s skull. Do not risk further injury to yourself. If you must, use the same trick you did with the rocks in the pond, or sacrifice one of our priests to provide time to escape.

“Yeah, definitely not doing that last one.” Callan danced out of the way as the dvorak went by, grazing it with his chain in response. While he was definitely feeling spryer as Xeph continued to cure him, it was somewhat countered by muscles still sore from a combination of their previous beating and sitting idle in a basement for most of a week.

Oh, do not worry yourself. Our priests would be honored to know that their sacrifice ensured both their god and avatar’s survival.

“You can’t honestly believe that, Xeph. You’ve met Shamain. I was there.” Callan watched the dvorak turn itself about. He gave a quick nod to Tervak, who stood a short distance to his left. The lud nodded in return.

With this next pass, they’d get their hooks in the beast.

Callan started swinging his Wurmchain over his head even as the dvorak built up to another charge. With another trumpeting, the beast charged.

Straight at Kivi.

Shit! Before he had a chance to think about what he was doing, Callan dropped his weapon and dove, knocking Kivi out of the way as the dvorak thundered through the space she had just occupied. Behind them, Tervak and Shamain let out cries of surprise.

The two of them landed with a thud, Callan attempting to cushion Kivi with his body. This only resulted in sending a shock of pain up his bad arm as it was crushed between lud and ground. He let out a ragged hiss and withdrew.

“Avatar, are you alright?” Kivi blinked at him. At some point during the fall she had released her own weapon and now lay unarmed. They were out one combatant in this battle, and they had barely even started!

“I’m fine, Kivi. Find somewhere to hide until this is all over.” Turning away, Callan summoned another Wurmchain.

Alert: 4.5% Apotheosis used.

Total Apotheosis is at 9%

Kivi glanced at him nervously. “But—”

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLPPPPPP!!!!!!”

They both turned in time to see as Aldis swinging through the air from one end of his chain, the other end firmly embedded in the dvorak’s side. Callan gaped for a heartbeat, then gave chase, leaving Kivi to find her own way to safety.

Mortal? What is your plan now? It appears that the beast is barely slowing down, even with one anchor already set.

“Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious Xeph.” Over his shoulder, he shouted, “Tervak! Shamain! Get in position, I'm going to bring it past again!”

And how, exactly, are you intending to manage that? Xeph asked. Callan ignored him.

The dvorak slowed to turn again, providing Aldis an opportunity to find his feet. Callan had to give the older lud credit, he’d managed to maintain his grip on his chain even while being dragged through the dirt. Hopefully he could do so a little longer.

“Hey, big guy!”

The dvorak turned, then let out a howl as Callan’s Wurmchain raked across its face, almost slicing into its left eye. It glowered at him, pure animalistic hate reflecting back. Callan immediately turned and ran.

Ah, so this is your plan. Hmm. It feels... lacking.

“Xeph, I swear. Now. Is not. The time!” Callan pumped his legs, spitting his words out between ragged gasps. He was really wishing he had more than a single point in Momentum at the moment, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. They would just have to survive long enough to correct that mistake later.

Passing by where Tervak and Shamain were waiting, he risked a glance over his shoulder. Only to wish he hadn’t. An enormous, goat-like face strained to reach him just a pace or two behind, its three horns scything the air between. Callan saw his death reflected in the creature’s vision as the gap narrowed. It was almost on top of him...

With a bellow of pain, the creature jerked to one side, the gap immediately widening as Callan pulled ahead. Tervak and Shamain heaved on their chains, the far ends buried in the dvorak’s thick hide. Blood left wet splotches on the dark earth below, casting back the glittering light of the wispflies overhead.

Callan skidded to a halt and spun around. It had worked!

Raising his good arm, he started whirling the chain overhead. The dvorak had turned to vent his fury against Shamain, who was the closest, but now that he was no longer being dragged along Aldis had found his feet. He dug in his heels on the dvorak’s opposite side, keeping the beast from reaching either of the other elders.

They had the beast pinned, right where Callan wanted it.

Almost seems a shame to kill such a magnificent creature, Xeph tut-tutted. In ancient times, my brethren would train large dvorak like this as beasts of battle. There is no surer way to scatter an enemy, to see them driven before you. Ah, even now I can hear the lamentations of the—

“Sorry, Xeph, but we’re not keeping this thing. It’s caused enough trouble as it is.” Callan swung his chain, aiming for a direct strike on the dvorak’s head but only managing a cut to its cheek as it thrashed about. He frowned and took aim again.

With a sudden lunge, the dvorak pulled itself free of Tervak’s chain. As if that he been the signal, Shamain lost her grip on her own weapon, and Aldis released his willingly lest he be dragged away again. Free at last, the dvorak surged forward.

Callan just barely managed to fling himself away in time. He landed in the dirt, rolled over, and saw the dvorak eyeing him from a dozen feet away. Blood poured down its back in small rivulets, but the beast hardly seemed diminished for the loss. It took a step forward.

Callan! Xeph’s words were panicked. The plan has failed. Leave the lud and retreat!

“I told you, Xeph, I’m not sacrificing anyone.” Still, Callan’s eyes cast about for a solution. He still had his Wurmchain in hand, but seated on the ground was a bad angle for attack. If only there was some stone to manipulate!

He scrambled back as the dvorak started forward, slowly at first, then picking up speed. With a curse, Callan raised his Wurmchain.

The next moment he let it fall again as a large rock rolled between him and the dvorak. The beast snorted, barely slowing down to step over it.

With a thrust of his hand, Callan activated Shape Stone. The rock quivered and seethed forward, flowing around the dvorak’s front leg. The beast snorted again and tried to pull away, but the rock had already solidified, leaving the leg encased. A prisoner tied to a ball and chain. Minus the chain.

Turning, Callan saw Kivi standing nearby, wiping sweat from her forehead. She gave a pleased wave. Callan returned his gaze to the dvorak, which was growing increasingly agitated in its efforts to break free.

That wasn’t going to happen, not with a rock nearly the size of Callan attached to it.

Tervak appeared at Callan’s side. “We need to finish the beast off quickly.”

He swung his weapon, cutting a deep gash into the dvorak’s side. The beast turned and snarled at him, but couldn’t get anywhere close with its horns, let alone the rest of it. Scurrying to one side, the elder struck again.

“Are we really okay with this?” Callan asked.

It was your idea to go hunting the dvorak, Xeph noted dryly.

“I mean, yeah, but it just feels kind of wrong to be whittling it down now that it’s immobilized.”

It is not the most honorable approach, true. But if it prevents further damage to your extremities, I will not complain.

Kivi joined Callan in watching the elder finish off the beast. “It is for the best, Avatar. Now that we know this creature is out here, it poses too much danger to the village to leave alive.”

“You mean because it’s blocking the way to Xeph’s temple?”

Kivi nodded slowly. “That. Also, it might eventually turn to attacking the village, should it ever migrate in our direction. I must admit, it is strange that it has not already done so. Wild dvorak tend to move frequently, and rarely remain in the same place for more than a night or two.”

“What, you think this thing might not be wild? Like it escaped from somewhere?”

“Its unusually large size does seem to imply that.” Kivi looked thoughtful. “It is also possible that it is a wild variety after all, and it merely has young in this area. That might also explain its aggressive attitude towards your first encounter.”

“Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter.” Shamain said, as the dvorak gave a final trumpeting cry and collapsed with a ground-shaking thud. “We got our training, yes? Now can I finally return home to bed?”

“Yes, I agree,” Tervak said, his weapon fading away as he joined them. “While this encounter may not have been ideal, we all now have a much better understanding of how our weapons work for when we finally face off against the cult.”

“What about the dvorak?” Callan asked. “Should we harvest it’s meat, or hide, or anything like that?”

The other stared at him, aghast. Even inside his head, Callan could feel Xeph’s revulsion. Human, tell me that was some pathetic earthling attempt at humor. No one would eat a dvorak. It would be like eating a horse.

“What? People eat horses, too.” Callan quickly added, “At least they used to, I think.”

That is—It seems I wasn’t a moment too soon rescuing you from that primitive backwater you call a home planet. Clearly, we have much to teach you about how civilized society comports itself.

“Look, I’m not saying I’ve ever eaten a horse.” Callan had to jog to catch up with the lud, who had set off for home while he and Xeph argued. “Just that, like, you can do it. If you’re really desperate for food. Or it comes up lame, or something.”

Lame? You would eat it simply because— Xeph sighed. Primitive society, indeed. Next you’ll tell me that you eat pigs.

Callan stopped. “Okay, now I know you’re fucking with me.”

The god’s gravelly chuckle was his only reply.