Chapter Fourteen: Escape!

The wind whipped past Tara’s cheeks, forcing tears from her straining eyes. She barely noticed. The bitter grass she had eaten had done a lot to numb the worst of her discomfort. But it didn’t do anything to calm her thundering heart or make her less afraid.

Even as a gamer, part of yet separate from the world of Allerion, Tara had always been a little scared of the savage, blood-thirsty monsters that hunted at night. Only one group that she knew of used that kind of blaring, low-pitched horn to signal that they had sighted prey.

Grimps.

Class

Class Details

Base Stats

Grimp

Grimps are nocturnal creatures that feed on carrion. Unlike most carrion feeders, these monster creatures kill the living to enjoy their flesh while it is still warm. As a result of their endless appetite, their own bodies have begun to change to resemble rotted flesh. Grimps are perhaps a personification of that ever-questionable phrase, “You are what you eat.”

While not individually dangerous, a horde of grimps together can be a serious threat to travelers.

Stamina: 80

Strength: 80

Intelligence: 100

Dexterity: 90

Magic: 0

Vulnerabilities: They are vulnerable to fire and immune to all other attacks.

Grimps were probably the most dangerous of all nocturnal predators. Their attacks were deadly to new players, who hadn’t leveled enough to exploit the creatures’ weakness to fire.

Even with computer graphics that weren’t hyper realistic, their appearance was grotesque and disconcerting. They were creatures that had lost all resemblance to whatever their original form had been, and resembled the fused corpses of various different creatures, animal and humanoid, twisted together in a mockery of life. Because of this mutation, the grimps had lost much of the weight that came from ordinary body mass, and were shockingly fast. It was rare for the prey of a grimp to escape.

Sobbing for breath, Tara urged her horse to go faster. As the grimps closed on them, the animal finally realized the real danger they were in and panicked. As soon as they were free of the narrow pass, the horse ripped free of Tara’s control. Refusing to follow the others, it bolted for the rocky rise away from the road.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“No!” shouted Tara. Her hands were bloody from the reigns. “We have to go back—”

The horse wasn’t listening and she couldn’t control him. All she could do was cling to the animal for dear life while he thundered through a shallow brook and brought them into a new maze of narrow passes, surrounded on either side by rising hills.

The grimp horn sounded again. It was closer, and this time was answered by another horn. Tara was sure they must be surrounded. The horse reared suddenly, panicked, and this time she was unable to hold on.

Tara fell backwards. She hit the ground hard and lay on her back, gasping for breath and unable to breathe. She didn’t feel much pain thanks to the bitter grass, but the effects were wearing off. She was beginning to feel the throb of exertion in her whole body.

I thought this was fun, she thought, fighting to stay conscious. I can’t believe I actually thought this was fun.

The horn sounded again. The grimps were closing fast. Tara wondered, forcing herself to her feet, if any of their group was still hunting the others. They must have seen her horse bolt and decided that she was the weakest member of the group. Still struggling to breathe, her vision swimming dangerously, Tara was inclined to agree.

The first sign of the grimps was a sound like wind through dead tree branches, although there were no trees to be seen, and here between the crooked hills Tara felt no wind. This, she knew, was the sound of the grimps moving. Their dry, withered limbs varied in size, some dragging behind them, some propelling them forward with supernatural energy.

She saw them climbing down the hills towards her. They were slow now that they had their prey surrounded.

Tara’s flesh crawled as she drew her sword. It was possible to kill grimps with ordinary weapons, although you had to separate the creature’s head and limbs from its body to prevent any hope of functioning. These monsters had no eyes, no brains, no blood of their own. They were empty, bottomless, thirsting for others’ lives.

“Oh my God.” Tara’s throat was tight with fear. She wished she had a torch, anything to keep these monsters back. The closer they came, the more she was able to see them in the thin moonlight. The tears’ on Tara’s cheeks felt like ice.

One of the grimps leaped for her. It was an evil-looking beast, insect-like with at least six arms and legs, some of which had probably been stolen from its ingested prey. Tara managed to dodge the grimp, swinging her sword. The blade struck solid bone and the grimp whirled on her. One swipe of its talon sent her sprawling.

Tara knew this was the end. When she died this time, where would she respawn? All the way back in Regan? The thought that she couldn’t really die should have made her less afraid, but the grimps were horrific, and she knew how they killed their victims—tearing their limbs apart.

A shriek ripped through the air, lancing through Tara’s head with physical pain. The grimps cringed back, and to her surprise they looked as one to the sky above them. Tara didn’t see anything, but taking advantage of the monsters’ distraction she managed to grasp her sword once more.

One of the grimps’ heads swung towards her. The lipless monster’s sharp teeth opened wide, showing its tongueless, wide mouth.

“Bend your knees,” whispered Tara, her grip on the sword shaking so badly she could barely hold it. “Stand firm. I’m stronger than this thing. 150 strength. I can do this. I can…”

She couldn’t. Not at level 2, not when there were so many of them. Even at level 15 these creatures were dangerous.

When the next scream split through the air, Tara almost believed it was the grimps, even though she had never heard any of them make a sound in the game. Their horns were all they used to signal each other. This was no grimp horn, or a grimp that flew suddenly over them, casting a long dark shadow between them and the cold stars.

The shadow that arced towards them was long. Its darkness was massive. Tara wasn’t able to process the full size of the creature that flew towards them on giant wings that scattered rocks and dirt with the sheer force of driving wind.

The grimps scattered. Some crouched low, others darted for the any crevice they could find. But several nearest Tara remained where they were, still refusing to abandon their prey. One of them tried to catch her leg to drag her and she struck with all her might, cutting off its stretched hand. It was like fighting a skeleton.

The next gust of wind staggered them all. Tara threw up her arms to protect her face from the flying dust and small stones, when a burst of incredible light made her raise her head in alarm.

Fire. It was a river of flame flowing from an invisible source. The burst of heat consumed the nearest grimps to ash. Tara staggered backwards, trying to get as far from the path of that fiery jet as she could. As cold as she had been, she now felt as if she were trapped in an oven. She beat the flames quickly from her trouser legs.

As the flames receded, she caught the glimpse of a narrow, sharp-edged head, a beaked snout, and eyes that shone like candles in the night.

A dragon.