Chapter 27. Sounds in the Jungle.
The distance to Silas’ target was a good hundred or so yards from the spot in the jungle they were hidden in. Despite the distance, and occasional jerky movements of the gnome, Silas was confident he could land a hit. Keeping the sights center mass of the target, he slowly pressed the trigger.
The crack of the round firing caused Nebram to jump, and surprised Silas a bit, which meant he had done it right. If you tried to anticipate the shot along with the recoil and noise, you typically pulled too hard on the trigger and threw off your aim. In the distance, the gnome seemed to stiffen and then collapse into an unmoving heap.
“Are these things smart enough to play dead?” Silas asked as they waited for more enemies to arrive.
“No, though it has been said that if more powerful beings succumb to Bhalkur’s corruption, they can retain some of their prior knowledge. I do not believe this one was a powerful member of the gnomish tribe,” Nebram said.
“How can you tell? These things don’t exactly wear uniforms or anything that would give away their rank,” Silas asked.
“If this were a powerful gnome, one with a high tier and rank, it might shrug off one or more of your weapon’s attacks. Also, it would have worn a red hat of command, not the green one this creature wore,” Nebram explained.
“Wait, you mean to tell me these things could be bullet proof?” Silas asked, more than a bit concerned about the possibility. So far, it was only his superior firepower that had held the enemy at bay. If their skin suddenly turned into body armor, things could get real hairy, really quick.
“I believe your weapons are enhanced by the System, so they will likely still cause damage, just not the catastrophic effects we’ve seen from your odd contraption. Given what I knew of the gnomes before they fell to Bhalkur’s corruption, they had few of their number that were of a high enough tier and rank to mitigate your damage,” Nebram said.
“Got it, if one of these turns out to be a bit too durable, I’ve got something special for them,” Silas said, remembering the magazine with the flaming rounds that he’d gotten as a reward.
“Very good, I believe whatever weapons you bring to battle will be much better than the spear that I wield,” Nebram said.
“Why is that? Can’t your people forge metal. I’d expect at least a simple iron tip for the spears. Your people seem smart enough, but you are living in the stone age for some reason,” Silas said.
“I do not understand the stone age you speak of, the System is not translating it correctly. We know of metal, but have had no source for a long time, and the weapons we did possess had always been effective. I fear that is changing now that the corrupted are growing in number and power,” Nebram said.
“Hopefully, your people will get their act together and start getting some real weapons cobbled together. I’ll try to bring some, if I can, but I got a feeling the System isn’t going to be too kind on things I bring from my world. I think we’ve waited here long enough, nothing else is going to run out of the village, so we’re going to have to go in and check,” Silas said.
They moved at a brisk pace. If there was any enemy about, they would already know they were there, and standing in the open longer than you had to was a good way to get killed. It was odd, the jungle was both dangerous and beneficial with the concealment it offered. The cleared ground around the village made the trio stick out like sore thumbs.
Taking the open gates at a wide angle, Silas scanned for threats inside the village. Nothing moved as they stepped inside the gates and cleared each of the buildings. It was eerie being in a completely empty village, and Silas kept expecting a bunch of enemies to pop out of hiding and attack them.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“It looks empty, will your people return now?” Silas asked.
“I do not know, the elder may wish to see if you would allow us to live in the critical location you’ve taken control over,” Nebram said as they climbed up the roof of one of the buildings to scan the jungle. Now that they were inside, Silas was worried more enemies were waiting to charge in from the jungle and bottle them up in the village.
“If my little place is so good, why didn’t your people claim it earlier?” Silas asked. Given that one side was protected by the barrier cliffs, and the ground was already cleared, it seemed a better location than a village hacked out of the jungle in the middle of nowhere.
“It wasn’t always like you’ve seen. When you were summoned, I believe that many changes have happened to the land we are on. There was no aura to keep dangerous beasts away, and we would still be forced to enter the jungle to hunt. Before your arrival, I had only been to where your portal now stands a few times. While it was defensible, nothing used to grow there, and no life thrived.
“Just in the limited time we’ve been sheltered in the area, I’ve seen fish in the lake and small animals, free of corruption, just inside the jungle. We may thrive in this new area, now that your arrival has revitalized it. I cannot say for certain, as it is up to the elder, and yourself to see what is possible,” Nebram said.
A loud squeal was heard in the jungle to the east, grabbing their attention, and the distant sounds of combat could be heard.
“Something fights with one of the jungle lords, perhaps our scouting party has run afoul of Cavanik,” Nebram said as they climbed down from the roof of the building and hurried out of the gates.
“We’ll go lay eyeballs on whoever, or whatever, is fighting. Maybe we can lend a hand if it’s your people. I thought you said this area wasn’t the hunting grounds of that giant boar,” Silas said.
“It is not, something must have aggravated the jungle lord, or perhaps another of the lords has challenged him. I suspect we will find out shortly, the sounds of battle draw near,” Nebram said.
He was right, Silas could hear the fighting getting closer, and the sound was building faster than it should be based on their slow pace. At least one naga was ahead of them, Silas could hear their hissing voice as it shouted to others. In addition to the squeals of the jungle lord, the shouts of the naga, there was one other sound that sought to drown the others out, it was the enraged cries of the corrupted.
“That voice, I believe it was Talixs,” Nebram said. The naga was straining at the leash like a dog ready to hunt, but Nebram knew better than to shoot off on his own. The naga was forced to keep the same, not very quick, pace of Silas and Buster.
“Find some cover, Nebram, I think they’re about to reach us before we reach them,” Silas said as something shook the jungle in front of them. A quick look showed Silas a clump of thicker jungle plants that should provide some concealment before the chaos reached them.
“I shall stalk the foe from above,” Nebram said, slithering up one of the tall, not-quite tree plants that Silas was hiding behind.
“Nebram, take this, it isn’t much, but it’s better than that stick you call a spear. I’ll expect it back when the fight’s over,” Silas said, tossing his Ka-Bar knife to the naga. Unlike his other gear, the knife and the bayonet were simple enough that the System didn’t see the need to mess with them. Nebram gave a look of awe at steel blade that was sharp enough to shave with.
There was no clearing, no open area for clear lines of fire, so Silas was just going to have to do the best he could with what he had. He still had one grenade left if that was going to be needed for this jungle lord. Sadly, though the weapons were bound to him, he had no way to replace the grenades once used.
A huge shape crashed through the undergrowth, and once more, Silas was in shock at the size of the jungle lord, Cavanik. As tall as a horse, and with much more mass, the boar tore through the thick jungle growth like it wasn’t there. Thankfully, the thing was focused on other threats, and didn’t even seem to realize he was there, only a dozen yards from it.
Cavanik’s attention was instead on the horde of corrupted naga and gnomes attacking the fierce beast. Small wounds covered the boar and told that the fight hadn’t been the completely one-sided affair that Silas would have expected. Above them, the tall jungle growth shook as a confused Talixs appeared near the plant that Silas was hiding behind.
“Human, what are you and Nebram doing here?” Talixs demanded, his voice raw and strained, like he had been yelling too much recently.
“The elder sent us here to pull your tail out of the fire. Tell me, Talixs, were the corrupted not enough of a challenge and you decided to rile up a jungle lord to just spice things up?” Silas taunted as he sighted in on the chaotic melee and tried to decide what to kill first.