by Kyle Johnson
They likely have Saphielle’s scent, Silma thought a bit dismissively. She couldn’t hide on a moonless night dressed all in black. I could smell her all the way there.
She’s not skilled at Stealth, as you know, he thought soothingly. While Silma liked the blue-haired Warrior just fine, she always seemed personally offended by how bad the woman was at hiding and sneaking. She’s getting better, though.
And perhaps, in a year or two, she’ll be able to hide from a puppy, the fenrin sniffed. Here, this is where they are.
Instantly, an image popped into Aranos’ mind. He saw a dark, scraggly cluster of trees – what passed for a forest in the Blightlands – with a massive bole dominating the center of it. Four large, feline creatures could be seen stalking the wide branches of the tree, their ash-gray coats blending almost perfectly into the diseased-looking wood in the silvery moonlight. The mental image wasn’t detailed enough for Aranos to make out the carpet of gray, unhealthy fungus covering the bark or the knots and lumps twisting the branches where parasites had infected it, but he knew they were there. They’re waiting in a jubokko?
I wasn’t sure that it was one; I didn’t get close enough to smell it.
Aranos sighed, drawing the party’s attention. “There are four big cats waiting for us up ahead,” he explained, describing the creatures. “They’re in the branches of a jubokko, probably waiting for us in ambush.”
Rhys and Geltheriel exchanged worried glances as the aleen spoke. “This is concerning, Oathbinder,” the woman spoke after a few moments. “The creatures you describe sound like charklas, but I do not think that is possible. They are highly territorial and tolerate each other’s presence solely for the purpose of mating, and then only briefly.”
“As the creatures have poisoned spines placed throughout their fur and are not immune to one another’s venom, brief is how all such encounters must be,” Rhys added drily. “I have not heard of them gathering so, however.”
Aranos frowned. “Well, if we’re going to reclaim the jubokko, we’ll have to deal with them. What can you tell us about these…what did you call them?” Aranos’ Beast Lore hadn’t kicked in when Geltheriel had mentioned the name of the creatures, which suggested to Aranos that they were likely fairly rare creatures.
“Charklas,” Geltheriel repeated. “As the Druid has said, they have thin, needle-like spines buried in their fur that secrete a debilitating toxin. They are ambush predators who can shift their bodies into vapor and reform them at will.”
“I am surprised that Silma even saw them, or that you could track them,” Rhys broke in. “As I have heard, they travel in physical form only when not hunting and revert to vapor the moment they have scented prey.”
Geltheriel nodded. “The Druid is correct. Their behavior is…odd.”
Aranos took a deep breath, his mind whirling. If, as Geltheriel said, these charklas were behaving abnormally – and he was willing to take her word, as she knew way more about it than he did – that made twice in one hunt they’d encountered creatures of the Dark acting strangely. Once, he could chalk up to bad luck, but twice was something that had to be taken seriously. It sounded like a looming questline, and while it was one that he wouldn’t be investigating, it sounded like something he could pass off to the other Travelers to give them something to work toward while he was gone.
“I’d like to reclaim that jubokko,” Aranos said slowly. “First, though, I need to know how dangerous these charklas are.”
“One is perhaps as dangerous as a small amarok pack,” Geltheriel explained. “They do not hunt as amaroks do, trying to bring prey down at once, but utilize their venom and cunning. As the Druid said, they prefer to remain in their mist form when hunting and materialize just long enough to envenom their prey before fleeing. They will then follow the wounded creature until the poison brings it low, at which point they begin feeding at once, not waiting for it to perish first.”
“They’ve left tracks for the past mile and more,” Aranos mused, running his hand through his hair. “From what you’ve said, having this many of them together is already strange, and their traveling like this is even stranger. It kind of sounds like they’re wanting us to follow them, to be honest.”
“This is my thought, as well,” Saphielle agreed. “As skilled as your fenrin is, I believe they may have scented her and laid these trails as a trap for us.”
Silma snorted. I stayed downwind of them. It’s a lot more likely that they smelled or heard all that armor. She sounds like a smithy collapsing even from a mile away.
Aranos glanced at the silver wolf with barely concealed amusement. “However they did it, I think it’s clear that they found us somehow. I don’t know if they let Silma see them on purpose, or if they just hadn’t shifted into their mist form, but I think we have to assume the former.”
“If this is true, then by now they will have reverted to vapor and await us,” Geltheriel spoke. “In this form, they are difficult to see, especially using Night Vision, as they will blend into the ground. If the jubokko attacks as we approach, we may be too distracted to sense the creatures, much less combat them.”
“How poisonous are they?” Aranos questioned.
“Their venom usually presents little danger for a party, as it is easily countered and takes over an hour to affect an adult. Battling four of them, however, we would each likely be poisoned multiple times. I do not know how that would change the venom’s effects, but I suspect the additional toxin would greatly speed up the workings of it.”
“Probably best to assume it would,” Aranos nodded, his face thoughtful. “So, we’re dealing with vaporous cats and a presumably hostile jubokko. Fortunately, I think I’ve got an idea…”
Enhanced Flight was probably Aranos’ favorite Spell. He’d crafted it not for its utility or its travel value; he’d just wanted to be able to fly around. That didn’t mean it didn’t give him great flexibility and maneuverability – at his current level of Mana Mastery, he could fly almost as fast as a horse could gallop, and if he really had to, he could push the Spell to nearly 100 mph, although doing so ate his SP pretty rapidly. Right now, though, he was drifting along over the others as they crept toward the towering jubokko, being careful to stay well out of the range of the tree’s branches. Once it animated, it would attack anything that moved, and while each branch was fairly slow, there were a lot of them.
Saphielle called the party to a halt and watched, her shield at the ready as Aranos flew silently over her and hovered in front of the party. The scraggly grass at the edge of the barren, sere clearing created by the voracious jubokko bent and whipped fitfully in the downdraft of his Spell. His True Vision lit up the forest clearing as brightly as if it had been daylight, but Aranos saw what Geltheriel meant about the charklas being hard to spot. His Night Vision was colorless; everything was lit in shades of gray, black, and silver, and a gray mist against gray ground would only be visible if he was looking hard for it. He didn’t know if the mist-forms of the charklas could move against the breeze his Spell was creating, but while he suspected they could, he also figured that a mist moving against the wind would be easier to spot and stand out more.
Even if that weren’t the case, though, his sight wasn’t the only sense he had. He shifted his vision to Mana Sight, willing himself to pick up traces of life mana only. The mist vanished, and all he could see were the members of his party glowing brightly, the scraggly grass around them, the oddly dark energy of the jubokko and its shallower roots...and there, in front of them, a single, misty presence that seemed to hover above the ground. He glanced around but only saw one of them; for his plan to work, he needed more, and he needed them to be closer.
He signaled with the sign language Geltheriel had taught them all that he only sensed one of the creatures. Technically, he signaled, “One prey,” since he wasn’t that great at the language, just yet, but it got the point across. The party stood still and waited at the edge of the clearing, while Aranos kept his Mana Sig
ht active. After several minutes, though, still only the single creature was present in his vision, which meant that the others were either closer to the tree and being obscured by its presence, or they were moving around the party outside the range of his vision.
Nervously, he floated up and circled the party slowly; the higher he flew, the longer his effective sight radius along the ground was, but the more vulnerable he was, as well. As he’d suspected, the other three creatures had moved to flank the party. One of them was off to their right, while the other two seemed to be moving behind them. None were drifting any closer, though, which made him even more nervous. If he had to guess, he’d say that the pair moving behind them were going to make the first attack, probably intending to drive the party back into the range of the jubokko. Once they were occupied by the tree and the two cats in front, the others would strike from the side and rear.
It would have been an effective strategy if Aranos hadn’t been able to sense the creatures, but what bothered Aranos was that, realistically, the cats shouldn’t have had any sort of strategy whatsoever. If these things were loners that rarely tolerated their own kind, their attack should have consisted of each of the beasts pouncing whenever it felt like it and maybe even fighting with one another. They definitely shouldn’t have been able to function as an effective unit.
At the same time, how the cats had arrayed themselves actually worked in the party’s favor. The jubokko had always been the flaw in Aranos’ plan; what he was about to do would definitely have woken it up, and that would have vastly complicated matters. He signaled to the others where the creatures were, and Geltheriel and Silma shifted around to the back and side of the party, respectively. The Shadedancer took out her shield and nodded to Aranos, who raised his hands and began casting a Spell.
Deadly Vapors was one of his more dangerous Spells, and not just for his enemies. He called forth equal amounts of air, life, and void mana, swirling and entwining them within his channels, mixing them into a froth of death mana carried on currents of air. With an effort of will, he pushed the resulting mixture forth into the air before him. As the death mana passed through his body, it ate away at his vital essence, leaching precious LP from him in the casting. His Master of Elements Title gave him some protection, halving the damage, but even so, just casting the Spell stripped 40 LP from his total.
A sickly, gray fog poured from his hands, falling upon the earth. The fog roiled and churned as it swelled into a cloud that filled a cube 20’ long and wide but only 5’ high, moving slowly away from Aranos and toward the lurking charklas. He shifted his position a bit as he floated, leaning back so that the downdraft of his Flight Spell swirled the Vapors a bit faster, causing them to roll away from him at about double normal speed. He poured more energy into the Spell, adding more vapors and driving the toxic cloud toward the hidden predators but inflicting 5 more LP damage on himself each second. Five seconds later, he felt the vapors pass into the space where the two charklas lay hidden.
Instantly, a pair of 7’ long gray cats swirled into being before them, charging through the damaging vapors and leaping at the party. Their leap started fifteen feet distant, but Aranos could tell it was going to take the attackers right into the center of the party. From there, they would be able to thrash around, likely poisoning most of the elves before vanishing safely back into mist.
At least, that would have happened, had Saphielle not appeared at Aranos’ side. Her arm snapped forward, and her spear darted at the closer of the two cats. The spearhead dug deeply into the charkla’s chest, and with a snarl, the beast dissipated into mist…that sank down into the middle of Aranos’ deadly cloud.
The second creature’s descent was halted by a sweep of Saphielle’s shield, smashing the cat back into the cloud of vapors. The moment the shield impacted, the creature vanished into mist and swirled into Aranos’ Spell. His Mana Sight told him that the two cats vaporous forms were moving away from the party now, heading deeper into his mist.
“Geltheriel, to the rear,” Aranos instructed as he felt a strange tingling in his mind in the direction of the tree. It took him a moment to realize that was his new Lifesense Skill; apparently, he could feel the cats even when he couldn’t see them. “Silma, watch the flank.”
Silma barked as a third cat appeared several feet from her. It crouched and sprang, covering the distance to the fenrin in a single leap, but the wolf dodged nimbly out of its way. The poisoned spines buried in the creature’s fur prevented Silma from returning its attack, but she kept the charkla occupied with snarls and feigned attacks, dodging its return blows easily.
“Rhys, ice on the right,” Aranos instructed as his Battlesense told him of the struggle between charkla and fenrin. Aranos kept concentrating on maintaining his Spell, but the Druid obediently began the gestures of his Ice Shard Spell. A jagged chunk of ice, looking like nothing more than an oversized icicle, leapt from the Druid’s palm and sliced into the charkla facing Silma. The cat hissed and sprang away, once again dissipating into mist.
A clang rang out behind them as the last cat encountered Geltheriel’s shield. He heard a yelp of pain, then a growl of frustration from Geltheriel. As the cat’s presence vanished from his Battlesense, he realized its misty form had retreated from the Shadedancer’s blade.
This was going to be a battle of attrition, at least for Silma and Geltheriel. The fenrin couldn’t safely attack the charkla but was dexterous enough to avoid its assaults. Geltheriel could hurt her opponent, but it seemed like the moment the creatures took damage, they would return to mist form and retreat, hoping to take their enemies with a surprise attack.
Saphielle was having an easier time of it, thanks to his Vapors. She produced a second spear and was simply focusing on knocking her enemies back into Aranos’ Spell. Each time they appeared, they looked gaunter and more bedraggled as Aranos’ mist drew the life from them. He had to keep the Spell active, though, or it would dissipate within a few seconds, which meant that he was constantly taking 5 LP damage each second. He could maintain the Spell for a while, but watching his health bar slowly shrink in the corner of his vision was, frankly, unnerving.
One of the pair attacking Saphielle crouched to leap, but as it did, it lurched slightly, as if one of its legs was giving out. Its spring turned into an awkward, tumbling arc, and Saphielle took advantage of that misstep. Ignoring the second creature, she set her spear against the ground, jamming it against the instep of her armored boot, and aimed the spearhead to intercept the flying charkla. The creature thrashed and twisted in midair, but it couldn’t stop its leap and came down hard on the spear. It flashed into vapor, but only for a moment; a second later, the still corpse of the cat lay on the ground below Saphielle’s weapon.
The second cat capitalized on Saphielle’s inattention, though, and ducked under the woman’s shield, leaping onto her left side. The cat knocked the woman to the ground, scratching and biting, thrashing wildly. Saphielle struggled to get her shield between herself and the beast, but its larger size and mass made it hard for her to get any leverage. Aranos felt a moment of panic, but he forced it down and focused on the battle.
“Rhys, ice on Saphielle!” he shouted, turning to shift his Spell over to their right flank. At this point, stopping and recasting the Spell would require more SP than simply shifting it. His mana pool was huge, so he wasn’t in any danger of running out, but not all of his SP could be used for this Spell. While he had more than 13,000 SP total, only about a tenth of that was void mana. When he ran out of that, his Spell would run out, also.
He forced his attention away from Saphielle; he could hear from the sound of claws on armor that she was still grappling it, probably being poisoned at that moment. He could also hear Rhys casting his Ice Shard Spell, though, so hopefully, within a moment or two, the cat would take damage and retreat into mist. Instead, Aranos kept his focus on his Spell, turning it toward the space beyond Silma.
The billowing, gray cloud roiled just past the fenrin, who
was currently dancing away from her opponent. Silma glanced at the toxic mists, then suddenly lunged forward, plowing into the snarling charkla. The big cat, used to the fenrin fighting defensively, was caught off guard by the sudden rush and was pushed back into the confines of the Spell. It vanished into mist instantly, but Aranos knew that it would be taking damage constantly from the toxic vapors.
Rhys’ frantic muttering ended, and Aranos concentrated on his Battlesense a bit anxiously, expecting to feel the charkla engaged with Saphielle vanish. To his shock, the cat simply yelped as the ice shard struck but didn’t dissipate. Aranos resisted the urge to step in, trusting his companions to handle the beast, and continued pouring SP into his Spell.
The Sorcerer blinked as a large, gray shape tumbled through the air from his left and fell into the cloud of vapors. Geltheriel suddenly appeared beside Silma, glancing at the big fenrin. “I will hold these two in the mists,” she said shortly. “Help Saphielle.”
Silma barked and twisted, leaping away from the fight. Aranos heard a pained yowl, followed by the clatter of Saphielle scrambling to her feet as the charkla vanished from his Battlesense. He heaved an inward sigh of relief as he realized that, faced with an attack from the fenrin, the cat had finally retreated. His Spell wasn’t there to assist the pair anymore, but he was sure that between the two of them, Silma and Saphielle could easily handle the one cat.
Geltheriel was now the one tanking two charklas and keeping them trapped in Aranos’ Spell. She wasn’t as physically strong as Saphielle, so she couldn’t simply muscle the pair back as the Warrior could. Instead, she used cunning, agility, and maneuverability to her advantage. She slipped through the shadows, slamming a cat with her shield and slashing the other with her sword, turning both back into vapor. As they reformed and pounced, she dodged nimbly and countered with lightning-fast slashes or powerful blows from her shield. She couldn’t keep the cats as far into the Deadly Vapors as Saphielle could, but she could get them inside more quickly.
