28. Mountains: Tabitha

Wiremu is a very hard worker. He has basically carried us for the last two weeks with all the hunting and scouting. I felt bloody useless, regulated to camp cook. I hated that. Cooking did get to the apprentice level. But, what I feel like doing is going on a Rampage. Saving Wiremu’s ass on that wall was awesome. That is where I want to be and what I want to be doing. None of this camp cook garbage.

Getting to scout the other shore was a good stretch of the legs and Skills, and I found the way across naturally. It is good being useful again. Wiremu was pretty slow on the uptake about raiding the storehouse. Seriously, that was going to happen from the first time I laid eyes on it. He was weird about the loot I got from it too. He showed more pleasure over a knife than the bear pelt. He doesn’t get it. He is used to being outside, I am not. I am cold. All. The. TIME!

Pip appreciates the bear pelt. That bear pelt saved my life after that river crossing. That was horrendous. The previous two weeks were an ongoing nightmare and the river crossing was the worst.

Now? Now I think we are lost in the mountains. It has been about ten days since we crossed the river. We have had to backtrack a number of times where we came against parts that were too difficult for the horses. We are trying to stay in the low areas, but to go through you do have to go up. Pip is as miserable as I am and I think Wiremu’s patience is wearing thin. Last night I suggested we find a spot to camp and stay there for a few days to rest up. We have been on the move constantly for almost a month and everyone is worn out including the horses. I think he thought it would only take three or four days to get through the mountains and into Kirghiz. However, we have discovered these mountains are the border of the kingdom for a reason and they are big enough to stop an empire.

We are travelling up a valley, trying to find our way. This one is a wide valley, well over a kilometre wide. Plenty of vegetation. I am riding Dusk and leading Rocky. Wiremu likes to scout on foot. He also likes to hunt. Rocky has another four pelts on his back. Two of some sort of goat type creature and a deer, but it is bigger than a deer. Wiremu called it an Elk. Then there is another wolf. At least in this climate the meat doesn’t go off so quickly.

I have just realised partly why I am so restless and frustrated. Wiremu is hunting during the day. I am a Shadow Predator, I need to hunt as well. I hunt at night. If we can camp in one spot for a few days I am going out night hunting. I may not know the animals, or tracks like Wiremu, but that won’t stop me from hunting. If I run into anything too nasty I am confident I can escape with my shadows or scare them with my Aura.

I have a plan. Now we need to action it.

Wiremu came back at around midday and said,” I think I found a place where we can stay for a few days.”

He led me across the moderate sized stream that ran down the valley. He led me to a small rocky outcrop that had a small cave, or more just a hollowed depression. Just down from that was a small meadow where we could stake the horses and beyond that was the stream.

“Looks good,” I said and we started to unload the horses. He stood for a moment with his hand against the rock. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“I have a Skill called Granite Sense. Now it is in the Apprentice levels I can use it on other types of rock, it is just a lot harder and I can’t go as far. I am trying to see that there is nothing in the rock that will come out to bite us and to level the skill. That is a No and a No.” He replied.

I placed my gear, including my bear pelt at the back of the cave, then led Dusk to the meadow. I saw Pip slither off into the bush. I guess he was going to hunt. It was becoming more and more obvious what I was missing as I also was a hunter.

I raised my voice a bit, “I am going to go out and hunt tonight.” I said. “I realised it is what I am missing and it is making me restless.”

He looked at me a moment, then said, ”OK. I will stay and watch the horses. There is a Mountain Troll somewhere up on the slope opposite us. I saw its territory markings at the base of the slope. Its lair is probably well up the mountain, but be careful if you go that way. I haven’t seen anything else that might be trouble.”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

I was appreciating Wiremu more and more. He didn’t try to talk me out of going. He didn’t even say don’t go into the troll territory, he just said be careful. He trusted me and my Skills. As well he bloody should after I saved his ass, but that was not the attitude I had experienced a lot of before. Which was why I normally didn’t tell anybody where I was going or what I was doing.

We had dinner in the daylight, which was nice. Pip returned with an extended belly and curled up on my bear pelt to digest it. I sharpened my knife and sword and prepared to go out. It was cold at night. Wiremu had taken the wolf pelt I had used to sleep on and made a cloak from it. It was barely more than draping it over my shoulders and tying it together below my neck, but I would need it. He was making himself one from the other wolf pelt. He had made a lot of changes to his sheep skin and it was now a woolly vest. He was trying to make shoulder pads from the goat hide to cover his upper arms. It was a work in progress. What had him stumped was trying to make trousers. His current ones were a mess. Apparently Branik had put them together for him. The only other pair he had were a light cotton pair that he had picked up in Kirsk. He was planning to use either the deer hide or the elk hide. I wished him luck.

After full dark I stealthed into the night and went exploring. The object tonight was to explore the area and get back to using my skills. If I found something to bring back all well and good, but I wasn't expecting to. This was good. Freedom. I engaged Shadows Embrace and started moving faster.

I tried to sneak up on a couple of deer, but they sensed me and scattered. Probably smell. It is really difficult sneaking up on wild animals. I guess that is why hunters use a bow. I caught sight of a large cat stalking something, so I carefully followed and watched. They stopped well back and watched for quite a while. Then all of a sudden they pounced and after a short chase, brought down the deer. It reminded me of Wiremu’s lesson on types of hunters. Stealth, watching and then pouncing at the best time. It was the pounce I was missing. I was also able to herd animals using the Distract Skill. Time to test out some options.

The first deer it tried it on got away. I did cut it, but the sword was too difficult to manoeuvre for this. I would try the knife. I tried tracking it, but I couldn’t find it even though it was leaking blood. I needed to find a different way. I also wasn’t keen on killing and then leaving an animal. I had no butchering or skinning skills and quite frankly no desire to learn any. Firstly Stealth and Shadows Embrace. Let's see how close I can get just using those two skills. Of the ten creatures I tried it on I got into touching range with two of them. I seriously wanted to grab the horns and ride that goat, but I knew it would end in disaster and I resisted, just. I probably could have got Riding into journeyman level.

It was a fun night. I didn’t stay out too late as I knew we both needed rest. It was a good start. Stealth didn’t level, but Shadow’s Embrace did.

The next day Wiremu didn’t leave the camp at all. He worked on his trousers and shoulders. Apparently, he finally got the sewing skill and his stitches finally were looking better. I never told him I have had the skill since I was old enough to work my hands. I wasn’t going to be doing anybody's mending but mine. I didn’t like sewing anyway and he was doing fine.

In the afternoon he went down to fish for dinner. I got the impression he liked fishing and hadn’t been able to do it since he was a kid. I took the horses out for some grazing. When I returned he was walking up to the campsite and was bare chested and dripping wet. One hand had three fish and the other his clothes, which were dry.

“Did you go for a swim?” I asked, knowing the temperature of the water.

He grinned, “Yes I did. I was getting sick of my own stink and went in for a quick bracing wash.”

I looked at him like he was mad.

“Do you know what I discovered?” he asked, but didn’t wait for a reply. “Cold Resistance. It is only 1% at the moment, but I share Resistances with Pip.” His grin got wider if possible. “I can see this becoming a daily ritual.”

That sounded horrible. It also sounded like something I needed.

“There is a deeper pool just upstream a bit if you are interested.” he continued as he walked past me.

Shit, Shit, Shit. His Mental Strength must be up there in the mad range. Mine wasn’t. I don’t think I can do this. I made my way toward the pool. I was still swearing at myself as I stripped off then I felt the water temperature, Nope. No. No. No way. I threw myself in and almost died. I couldn’t get out fast enough. I didn’t have anything to dry myself with. Shit I was in shock. I used my shirt to get some water off and put on my jacket, trousers and boots. I was still shivering. That had better have been worth it. If I open my status and it is not there I will kill him. Very slowly if this was some sick joke.

I peeked. Yes it was there. Cold Resistance +1 and I had gained a base point in Mental Strength. Take that you bastard. I wasn’t sure about every day, but it was something I needed to level. I headed back to camp to get a spare shirt and stoke the fire.