We’re being herded.

That’s the only conclusion I can come to, at least. My map is telling me in which direction we need to travel to get back to Kalanthia, but our surroundings aren’t letting us. We consistently run across blockages – here the trees are growing so closely together that only the feline-types would be able to squeeze through; here it’s so thick with undergrowth that we’d spend far too much time hacking our way through to make it worth it. Recently, the trees have got even less subtle: the last two blockages were made from the tree vines actually making a wall. Add that to the natural rocky and uneven terrain and making headway is slow-going enough to be non-existent.

I’ve considered hacking through the tree vines to clear a path but, just like with the other vegetation, that approach would take far too long. We’re on a timer: my barely-used torch has already gone out and I’m down to two half-used torches, one of which is starting to flicker. If we run out of torches while we’re still in the forest… And I don’t think picking up some of the wood from the ground here to use in new torches would be a good idea, somehow.

Of course, I’ve also considered going through with my threat and burning away the obstacles in my path. The thing is, though, I’m wary of causing a forest fire when I’m still in said forest. We’re deep in the middle of vine-strangler tree territory and getting away from a fire we cause could be a dicey prospect. For now, the trees haven’t actually been threatening us, they’ve just been blocking the way. I’ve therefore been making the decision to maintain the uneasy truce that we have going on until I have more idea of the lay of the land.

My companions are as ill at ease as I am, Bastet and River, at least. They’ve both had enough experience of life to know when things aren’t right. Lathani, despite her older appearance, is still as much a cub in personality as she always was. We’ve had to work hard at times to keep her on track, rather than wandering off to investigate the surrounding vegetation. At least there aren’t other animals to attract her attention, even if the lack is a bad sign of its own.

Speaking of cubs, the baby raptorcats really aren’t happy with the situation and we’ve had to let them out at various moments to get some exercise, even though that’s just contributed to the delay. At least at those moments, we’ve been able to convince Lathani that it’s her job as the elder to keep the other cubs in line and together. Well, I say ‘we’, but I actually mean Bastet. She’s certainly got a dab hand with cubs, I have to admit. The experience of raising many generations, is my guess.

As for my new companion, she doesn’t communicate much. From what I’ve been able to work out, her intelligence level is somewhere between Spike’s and Bastet’s. She’s capable of responding to communication with emotions, but not in the same directed way as Bastet. I’ve been trying to offer her names, but she’s rejected all of them so far, so for now she’s still ‘the bird’.

She’s currently sitting on my shoulder – we decided that with trees that could shoot vines out in all directions, flying wasn’t the best option. Her front two feet are gripping carefully onto my shoulder, her back two providing stability by bracing against my shoulder-blade. She seems comfortable, and at least her talons aren’t biting into me.

The only good thing that’s come out of all this walking so far is that my Strength has finally increased by a second point – Endurance sub-category, of course.

Name: Markus Wolfe

Race: Human

Class: Tamer

Level: 3

Energy to next level: 42%

Energy absorption rate: 23u/hr

Energy towards debt: 4%

Intelligence

18

Mana: 180/180

Wisdom

15

Mana regeneration rate: 375u/hr

Willpower

20+4 (+20%)

Health regeneration rate: 24u/hr

Constitution

15

Health: 150/150

Strength

14

Stamina: 80/80

Dexterity

14

Stamina regeneration rate: 140u/hr

Class skills

Dominate – Beginner 7

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Tame – Beginner 5

Fade – Initiate 1

Non-Class skills

Lay-on-hands – Initiate 4

Stealth – Novice 1

Animal Empathy – Novice 4

Meditation – Beginner 3

Tame increased too, somewhat expected but gratifying nonetheless, as did Animal Empathy and Lay-on-hands. I guess that healing another type of creature was good for my only purely magic Skill. Fade and Stealth are annoying, though, refusing to rank up. Wait, hang on. I frown at my Skills list. When did Fade rank up? And Stealth. I don’t remember seeing messages about that? I navigate back to my notification history, mentally flicking through them until I find the ones that – somehow – I’d glossed over. Perhaps I’d accidentally closed my messages after seeing my Strength point earlier, without noticing that there were further matters to see? Anyway, I have a look at them now, trusting my Bound to tell me if something is wrong.

Congratulations!

You have advanced a Skill past Beginner. Stealth is now Novice 1. Due to your use of this Skill in an unfamiliar environment, you have developed a new aspect of it. When at least half your body is in shadow or the surrounding light level is at fifty percent or less, Stealth is doubly effective.

Next message? Y/N

Interesting… So it’s not just using a Skill in a different way that can help it rank up – it can also be using the Skill in a different context. I haven’t moved around much at night: it’s always seemed like too much risk considering my lack of vision. Last night I had a good reason to be moving around then. It seems like the risk has paid off in multiple ways.

I move onto the next message, looking at the description of the second of my Skills to move up to the Initiate rank.

Congratulations!

You have advanced a Skill past Novice. Fade is now Initiate 1. Due to your use of this Skill in a new environment, you have developed a new aspect of it. Where Fade confuses others’ eyes, it sharpens yours. While in Fade, gain 5% clarity to your gaze per level past Initiate in the Skill. This is doubly effective in dark conditions: gain 10% clarity of gaze instead of 5% when in low-light conditions.

Close messages? Y/N

Feeling a little excited over the new effects, I close my status screen and immediately activate Fade. The new ‘clarity of gaze’ isn’t terribly blatant – I guess that the murky light within the vine-strangler grove doesn’t quite count as ‘low-level’ light conditions. Still, I do notice a difference, details being sharper in particular, especially ones further away which would normally be slightly blurry. I find myself more able to focus on something at a distance, able to see details on it as if I’m only a couple of paces away.

As I look ahead, I frown as something catches my attention. The light is different on the route ahead of us, brighter. There’s also a funny smell in the air, a smell I’d associate more with fire. Has there been a lightning strike or something? I connect to my Bound, indicating the change. They’d already noticed it, not being distracted by a status screen as I had been. We move in the anomaly’s direction warily, figuring that anything other than more trees is worth investigating.

As we get closer, it becomes clearer that it’s indeed a break in the persistent ground-cover of trees. Reaching the treeline, we see that it’s a large clearing. Funnily enough, it’s not covered in the vegetation that we’ve been seeing everywhere else, either. In fact, I frown as I see the differences. The whole area is black, a slope down into a bowl-shaped crater, at the centre of which is a hole. Venturing forward a couple of steps, I touch one of the patches of blackness.

My fingers come away covered in dust. Ash. Well, that explains the strong smell of burning. Was there a forest fire? Possibly, but I somehow doubt it: there are no stumps of trees, and the clearing is far too delineated. What kind of forest fire consumes some trees perfectly and then leaves their neighbours practically untouched? An unnatural one.

Are there creatures who know how to use fire like humans? Maybe I’ve underestimated the lizard-folk...but no. River hasn’t seemed to recognise the fire of the torches – it can’t therefore be something he sees often. A moment later, my questions are answered, but I’m not happy with the response.

A creature climbs out of the hole in the middle of the clearing. The only thing in the area that isn’t completely black, it’s easy to spot. At first, all I see is red and yellow delineated with black. Then, as it clambers out in an ungainly fashion, I see that it’s another type of reptile. Its body is long and its head is relatively small, though still not as flush with its neck as a snake’s. It has four legs and a long whip-like tail. It also seems to be eating the ash.

That, by itself, is no proof of this creature being the primary, if not sole, cause of the destruction in this area of the forest. No, it’s the reptile’s next actions which do that. The creature wanders across the area towards the tree line. Fortunately, it doesn’t aim itself directly at us but it’s not really heading away either. As it reaches the nearest tree, it breathes fire at the over-sized plant.

The vine-strangler tries to protect itself, shooting out spearing roots towards the salamander – because what else can it be but a fire salamander, only this weird world’s version? Sadly for the tree, the salamander isn’t bothered. It dodges a few of the strikes, tanks some more, and then actually bites back at the others. It spits out the wood, though – apparently living wood isn’t to its taste.

All the while, the fire it breathes on the tree eats away greedily at the vine-strangler. Either it’s a special type of blaze or vine-strangler trees are particularly vulnerable to fire as it goes up in flames much more quickly than green wood normally would. Either way, it’s not long before the salamander is happily munching the charcoal that remains of what was a healthy tree not long before.

Let’s go before it notices us, I send to my Bound, tapping Lathani on the shoulder and indicating to her to back up. Unfortunately for us, backing-up doesn’t appear to be an option. While we were watching the salamander, the trees behind us had quietly built a wall of roots. Growling at the trees, we start sneaking sideways, trying to move away from the over-large lizard without attracting its notice while at the same time, finding a way around the wall of roots from the trees.

Of course, it’s not that easy. As quickly as we move, the trees are quicker in blocking our way. If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect that the forest is trying to set both its threats up against each other, hoping that they’d kill each other off. Heck, what am I saying? This is a completely different world; maybe I don’t know better and trees are capable of strategic planning and execution.

Either way, we appear to be stuck in a clearing with a fire-breathing salamander...which has finally noticed the interlopers in its territory.

I curse as the salamander bellows in rage and starts charging at us, surprisingly quickly for its size. As it comes closer, I realise that I significantly underestimated its size – I’d thought it was the size of a cow, but it appears to be more the size of a horse. A big shire one, at that. Still, it has quite a bit of space to cover, so we have a few moments to prepare.

We need to fight, River tells me grimly even as Bastet projects a calm question about our plan of attack.

“I know,” I sigh. Swiftly, I pull the sling with the cubs in it off my chest. The bird is disturbed, flapping up into the air and then alighting on River’s shoulder instead. I don’t pay her much attention, instead focusing my attention on the nunda cub. “Lathani,” I say to her seriously. “I need you to protect the cubs.”

You’re trying to keep me away from the fight, she accuses me.

“Partly,” I admit, “because your mother would kill me if I survive this and you don’t, but also because there’s nowhere safe I can put the cubs, and I don’t want to take them into the fight with me. I need you to do this for me.” I hold her eyes for a long moment. The salamander is past the halfway mark and gaining swiftly on us, but this is important.

Ok, fine, she gives in with a mixture of bad grace and pleasure – annoyed at being kept out of the fight but pleased to be given the responsibility, I’d guess. She’s agreed – that’s all that matters to me right now.

Without more than a quick nod of acknowledgment, I run off to the side, my Bound following me. Cubs now under supervision, we need to make some space between us. That it will delay the salamander just a little more is a bonus.

Any ideas? I send to my Bound as we run.

I am most comfortable with the spear, River replies. Bastet sends an agreement, only replacing spear with her claws and teeth. The bird offers wordlessly to circle and attack from above.

“OK,” I say, coming to a halt. We’ve got a bit of space between us and the young ones, though not so much I can’t see them. The salamander is nearly upon us, but we have a few seconds before it reaches us. “Dodge its charge, then River stab it, Bastet go for its belly, bird, try to get its eyes. I’ll see what I can do.” As it approaches us, the salamander skids to a halt, opening its mouth. “Damn! Avoid its-” I’m cut off by the wave of fire that billows at us.