Chapter 90: Nighttime run
An enraged screech echoed through the valley. Ryan was glad that his anchor was at the lodge and out of direct line of sight of the roost. Quickly he clamped his hands around the two chicks beaks to prevent any possible chirps or screeches for help and hurried into the workshop. Better to get out of sight before the pair of raptors could catch sight of the perpetrator. Miguel, still ensconced in the lookout, kept up a running commentary of the avian’s actions over party-chat. Mike and William were linked in by now and their concern was clear. The question of whether the martial eagles would take revenge or attempt to find and kill their offsprings abductor hadn’t crossed their mind prior to the heist.
It was an unneccessary oversight and outdoor guild operations had ceased while the pair of raptors was incessantly circling up above. With the light slowly fading into late afternoon the pair returned to the roost and settled down. After a short debate with Mike and William it was decided that Miguel would remain at the lapa for the next few days to keep an eye on the eagles to provide an early warning should they make any move to attack their human neighbours. Johannes, in the meantime, would take care of the chicks.
Ryan resumed his duty of scouting the surrounding environs and an uneasy peace settled over the guild during the next few days. No-one was willing to risk unneccessary exposure to the raptors and so outdoor operations were limited for the time being. After several tests, in which Ryan exposed himself to a possible attack by the raptors, it became clear that the eagles didn’t remember him as the culprit and that it was safe, for a definition of safe, to resume full operations.
In the meantime, with the help of his portal, the combat team prepared the ground for the ambush planned to eradicate the herd of buffalo in one fell swoop. While Ryan wasn’t entirely comfortable with the decision to eradicate them to the last animal the experience that the group would receive was great and absolutely necessary. The herd’s daily migration through the ravine had previously been chosen as their point of ambush and a trap closing off the exit into the valley had been rigged. What bothered Ryan the most was that, after a long discussion with the entire combat group, Mike and William had decided to combat the herd face to face. Ryan’s vote to only engage them from range had been one of the few dissenting votes after Mike and William had presented their argument. While their choice was inherently risky the two tanks argued that, going forward, combat experience would be an absolute necessity, and that the opportunity to prepare for the encounter and ensure a safe path of retreat made for a great opportunity.
The crafters, curently protected by Carmen, Miguel, William, Linda and Fury, were currently digging the trench that was the linchpin in their contingency plan for a safe retreat and the last preparation that had to be made before the raid planned for tomorrow. Ryan meanwhile, couldn’t sleep, and was pacing through the lodge and arguing with his brother.
“It’s an unneccesary risk.” he repeated for what felt like the millionth time. “Mike and you cannot seriously expect to tank a herd of 20 plus buffalo that outlevel you and outweigh you by a literal shit-ton.”
“We won’t be tanking the whole herd.” William replied evenly, “I know you know the plan. The chokepoint will only allow one or two buffalo to face us at a time. They won’t be able to build momentum for a charge because they’ll be hemmed in by the rockfall behind them. We need to at least expose ourselves to some risk if we want to thrive in future and this is a better opportunity than any. We need to do this.”
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“I still think it’s a stupid idea. Just hem them in from both sides and kill from range. No need to get close and boom, lots of safe experience.”
“Ryan, you’re being unreasonable. We discussed this and voted on it. We need the combat excperience. If we hem them in on both sides we can’t have melee entering that deathtrap. If we leave the herd an option to escape they’ll focus on me and Mike and with your portal we can have our other melee engage the back part of the herd once their focused on the tanks. Sparring is not enough, we need to expose ourselves to some risk to get used to the combat. We need to prepare.”
Ryan understood that William’s arguments were reasonable and made sense. Still, he couldn’t stomach the thought of his little brother facing down threats as significant as the buffaloes and possibly dying. They had rehashed this argument several times and while Ryan had accepted that the ambush was happening as planned arguing with his brother and dissecting the plan calmed his worries, to some extent at least. His part in the encounter was as safe as it could reasonably be. He’d snipe the buffaloes from a perch above the gorge and, if necessary, would evacuate any wounded via Shift to Alexis for healing. Lindaa would be with him and use her Aegis class to protect the melee members from the perch, the entire gorge would be comfortably within her range. It was a good plan and they had several contingency plans ready in case things didn’t proceed as expected. Still, Ryan couldn’t help but worry.
When Miguel eventually informed him that the final preparations were nearly done way before the deadline Ryan left the lodge to retrieve the team via portal. It’d be better if they could grab an hour or two of sleep before the entire combat group headed for their positions early during the day.
The near full moon painted the trail up the escarpment in dappled shades of silver as he sped along the path and with the softly sussurating wind sighing through the thick bush the entire scene became mystical, ethereal. With a dreamlike sense of unreality Ryan couldn’t help but contemplate the stories he had read of the Fae. If they existed, somewhere, anywhere, this moment right here would be a part of their timeless realm. Wild, untamed nature painted in endless shades of ethereal moonlight. It was picture perfect and Ryan felt that his intrusion into this realm was near sacrilegious even if his presence here was fleeting and near unremarked.
The only indications of Ryan’s near silent passage were the occasional rustling bush, the soft patter of his light steps and the suppressed even breaths that softly sighed from his throat as he moved at a pace that would have made any olympic sprinter proud. Gliding from solid rock to solid rock in long loping strides or threading through the thick bush Ryan with short precise steps Ryan slipped through the night with his senses peeled for any threat.
It was exhilerating, liberating. His slickly scaled armour refused to catch on the occasional thorns he brushed against when he couldnt twist his body quickly enough and he felt invinvincible. He knew this for the illusion it was but still, it did feel great. Within minutes his inhuman speed carried him close to the gorge and he moderated his pace, sending a happy greeting to Fury who had heard his approach and intercepted him before he reached the group. He quickly bent down and scratched behind her ears. His soulbond was growing quickly, soon he wouldn’t need to bend down to scratch her. Side by side the two climbed up the ridge split by the ravine and descended to the river where the crafters were finalising the trench.
In comfortable silence he waited next to Linda and Mike for them to finish. He didn’t have to wait long before and spun up a portal back to the lodge as people started heading in his directions. Once Carmen and Linda passed through he said a short farewell to Miguel, letting him know that Fury and he would run back to base. He wanted to share his earlier experience with his bond and so the two dashed down the mountain, one racing the other through the night and both boyed by a sense of wonder.