Second Skin Omnibus

by M Damon Baker

We broke out in another fit of giggles before Venna pulled me up and we wandered back to rejoin the others for dinner.

  13

  The night passed uneventfully after that. Once we had eaten a quick breakfast, we hitched up the wagon and set off on the road again. With Stel, Broda, and Khorim now recovered, we decided on a more practical and defensible marching order.

  Khorim and I walked ahead of the wagon—since we had the best Perception talents, we scouted the road and its surroundings searching for any potential dangers. Riding in the wagon’s seat, Broda and Letási took turns driving the wagon. Venna sat in the wagon’s bed, keeping watch over our precious cargo, while Stel and Otney followed closely behind, providing a stout rear guard.

  We traveled in this fashion for several days. During that entire time, we never encountered another soul on the road. Whether it was just luck, or if the rumors of the plague had caused the area to clear out, we didn’t know. Unfortunately, our good fortune ran out just before we reached the turn-off for the plague-ridden village.

  As we walked down the path, I saw the glint of metal shining from just above the road surface. Recognizing it instantly, I dropped to a knee and pretended to have hurt my leg. Khorim came over to see what was wrong, and I whispered to him.

  “Trip wire of some kind across the road,” I said softly.

  His eyes lit up with comprehension, but to his credit, he did not immediately glance over to look. Whoever set the trap wanted us to trigger it, which meant that we needed to stall for time so that we could prepare ourselves for the ambush we now knew that we were caught in.

  I placed a hand on the ground and set a trap in the middle of the road. Khorim recognized my gestures and nodded in approval. Then I had him help me as I pretended to limp back to the wagon. We made a circle around the wagon, stopping to examine my ‘injury’ periodically, all the while using the ruse to place a series of traps around our position. As we made our rounds, we discreetly notified our companions of the coming attack, giving them time to prepare as well as the opportunity to covertly scan our surroundings, seeking out our unseen foes.

  I noticed Letási casually moving around in the wagon’s seat. As I observed her, I realized that she was casting some sort of Spell, repositioning occasionally to allow her to place its effects on each of our companions. When it was my turn, I saw a small icon appear in my UI. Focusing on the tiny image, I recognized that it was the reflect spell she had told us about.

  When I had placed all the traps I could without raising suspicion, we quietly began trying to figure out how we were going to spring the ambush without having to trigger the trip wire.

  As we had been making our preparations, Khorim was able to decipher the wire’s purpose—it vanished into a stand of trees near the road, and when tripped, would drop a large tree across the path, likely killing anyone caught under it and blocking the trail; definitely not something we wanted to do. Stel finally made the decision for us.

  “Well,” he said with his trademark smirk, “I had been wanting to keep this one a secret, but…”

  With that, he turned and let out a roar of challenge in the direction of a clump of dense undergrowth where we suspected some of our ambushers were hiding. His talent, whatever it was, had the desired effect.

  A motley group of bandits jumped out from behind the concealment of the undergrowth. In a fit of rage, they charged at us wildly, heedless of their own safety.

  I quickly began shooting at the bandits as they presented themselves. They charged us so carelessly that I was able to take out several of them before they even reached the perimeter I had created with my traps. Were these few bandits our only attackers, things would have ended easily. Unfortunately, this was the day that my incredible streak of good luck finally ran out.

  With just a moment’s hesitation after the first group of attackers had launched themselves at us, three more bands of raiders emerged from the woods to join the attack. They opened with a hail of arrows, raining death down upon us. Fortunately, Letási’s Spell triggered as the missiles fell among us and turned the bolts back on our opponents. Confused cries of pain and outrage bellowed from their ranks as the bandits were cut down by their own arrows. Recognizing the threat from the remaining archers, I targeted the few bowmen left standing and began slaughtering them with abandon. Between Letási’s reflection and my follow-up attacks, the enemy archers were soon taken out to the last man.

  Although the archers were no more, there was still a large number of very angry bandits surrounding us. Luckily, the vast majority of them were already ensnared in the traps I had set out for them. The few that had managed to remain clear were either engaged by Stel, Broda, and Venna, or desperately trying to cut their fellows free.

  From my perch atop the wagon’s bed, I ruthlessly shot down any bandit threatening to break loose from the tendrils of my traps. Beside me, standing on the wagon’s seat, Letási was casting bright bolts of fire at the few bandits that remained free.

  Suddenly, another group burst out of the forest ahead of us. These bandits were clearly the group’s leadership, as they were better armed and armored than any of the others. Outnumbering us at least two to one, I knew that if they joined the assault, we would be in serious trouble.

  They had chosen a poor route for their approach, however, requiring them to cross over their own trip wire. Well aware of its presence, they began carefully stepping over the trigger as they advanced towards the battle. I had only one real chance to stop them, so, taking careful aim, I uttered a quick prayer and hoped to make the shot of my life.

  I fired a Swarm arrow, not at the approaching bandit leadership, but at the thin trip wire instead. Just as the arrow reached the fine wire stretched across the road, it split into two. I couldn’t tell if it was my original arrow or its duplicate, but one of them, miraculously, parted the thin wire cleanly.

  The bandits had only a second to look up in horror as the brutal force of their own deadly trap was unleashed on them. The heavy tree trunk came crashing down across the roadway, smashing into their bodies with incredible force, and the sound of breaking branches mixed with the wet snap of crunching bone as the entire group was caught within the thick limbs of the fallen tree.

  Letási and I glanced at each other, sharing a look of stunned amazement. We had both seen the approach of the bandit leadership and known that they might very well spell our doom. The success of my desperate gamble had come as a surprise to both of us, and it took a moment before the crashing sounds of battle brought us back to our senses.

  Fortunately, Broda, Khorim, Stel, and Venna seemed to have matters well in hand. With the leadership gone, the remaining bandits that were able to flee had apparently done so, and they were left to mop up the handful still caught in my traps. Letási and I joined in, with her launching bolts of fire while I shot my arrows at the dwindling number of surviving bandits.

  We had no means to take prisoners, and to leave any of the bandits alive would only allow them to return to ambush the next group of travelers. The justice we dealt out was harsh, but necessary to protect the lives of others, and when the last bandit had fallen, I looked over the scene of death and destruction.

  Bodies lay everywhere—hacked, burned, crushed, and pierced, the raiders had died by every means available to us. I looked to my friends and saw they were mostly uninjured. Venna was healing a small wound on Stel, but otherwise, they seemed to have escaped the battle unscathed. Then I heard Letási cry out.

  “No!” The halfling Evoker screamed in utter anguish. “Otney, no!”

  I realized then that I had not seen the young acolyte at all during the battle. With a sense of dread, I searched for the source of Letási’s keening wail.

  On the ground behind the wagon lay Otney’s broken body. Letási knelt beside him, holding his hand gingerly and stroking his brow. A deep pain struck me as I recalled a similar image of Broda cradling Khorim’s dead body in almost the same fashion just a few days before.

  Fortu
nately, Venna had replenished our supply of resurrection scrolls from the monastery. Not only replacing the one I had used on Khorim, but also adding two more for our new companions. Withdrawing one of the scrolls, I knelt down to sit beside Letási.

  “It’s ok,” I said to her softly, taking her hand in mine. “We can bring him back.”

  She looked at me with red-rimmed eyes and a face streaked with tears. The sadness in her eyes was overwhelming, and I could almost feel the pain in her heart when she answered me.

  “No, we can’t,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s not what he would want.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Letási wiped away her tears before explaining.

  “Otney believed that his best chance to receive The Lady’s Blessing in the afterlife was to give his life in combat, fighting for her cause. He made me swear to let his soul rest should that ever come to pass.”

  “And now he has done just that,” she continued, as fresh tears began flowing down her face. She turned to me, and even with her red eyes and tear-streaked face, I could see the look of determination as it came over her.

  “As much as it pains me to do so, I will honor his wishes. I cannot allow you to bring him back.”

  I was stuck again by the depth of her emotions. This time, not only was her voice full of pain and sadness, but also an amazing fierceness and resolve. This was clearly not what she wanted to do, but she was going to do it anyway to honor her fallen friend’s last wish.

  I felt Venna’s hand on my shoulder, squeezing softly to offer me comfort. I looked up at her gratefully, glad to have her reassurance before replying to Letási.

  “If those were his wishes, then that is what we shall do.”

  Letási told us he wanted an unmarked grave, as close to the site of his death as possible, so we buried Otney’s body by the roadside, placing no stones or markers. We did our best to honor his request, and when we finished tending to his remains Venna, as the senior member of her Order, offered a prayer to Thassa on behalf of his soul.

  With our grim task complete, we set out to clear the tree from the road so that we could travel on to our destination. Stel and Khorim hacked away at the thick trunk, while Broda and I searched amongst the dead for loot.

  It was an ugly chore to rummage among the hacked and charred bodies, made all the worse by the growing stench of death that began to set in. We tried to spare Letási as much of the gruesome task as possible, leaving her in the wagon with Venna to sort whatever loot we managed to recover. The best equipment we found, unsurprisingly, came from the bodies of the dead bandit leadership. I volunteered for the nasty job of searching their bodies, knowing that my ability to loot their horribly mangled corpses with a simple touch would make the task far easier for me than it would have been for Broda.

  In all, we came away with a good supply of weapons and armor, as well as a decent amount of coin. While not all of the equipment was of great quality, it was still quite serviceable.

  When the tree was nearly clear from the road, I took a moment to discreetly pull up my notifications. While I liked Letási and trusted her, I was not yet ready to let her know I was one of the Deathless.

  Quest assigned — You have been assigned the quest Venna’s Little Helper III. Help Venna cure the plague affecting the remote village.

  Experience gained – You have gained 385 XP.

  . . .

  Experience gained – You have gained 385 XP.

  You have gained a level! – You have earned sufficient experience to advance to level 14.

  You have gained three Attribute points. Two of your points have been automatically assigned to INT and CHA. You may assign the remaining point to any other Attribute as you see fit.

  Considering the large group of bandits we had just managed to defeat, I’d been expecting to hit my next level. I also expected that one of my precious stat points would go right into Charisma. I had hoped that the other one might get placed somewhere useful and was disappointed to see it assigned to Intelligence. I knew that all of my stats would eventually prove to be important, but I had hoped for it to go somewhere that would provide a more immediate benefit. Assigning my lone point to Strength, I reluctantly moved on.

  Experience gained – You have gained 65 XP.

  . . .

  Experience gained – You have gained 65 XP.

  Experience gained – You have gained 495 XP.

  . . .

  Experience gained – You have gained 495 XP.

  You have gained a level! – You have earned sufficient experience to advance to level 15.

  You have gained three Attribute points. Two of your points have been automatically assigned to DEX and CHA. You may assign the remaining point to any other Attribute as you see fit.

  That was a surprise. Taking out the entire bandit leadership had given me a huge XP boost, pushing me over the next level requirement. Seeking a bit of balance, I put this point into Constitution and waited for the XP notifications to resume.

  You can now choose a new Ability. You must choose one of the following:

  Rapid Fire — After firing an arrow, your follow-up shot take half as long as normal to be fired. Cost — 10 Endurance.

  Seeker – Your next single shot has an increased chance to hit. Cost – 10 Endurance.

  Body Blow – Your next dagger attack, if it lands, will cause your opponent to suffer an Endurance penalty. Cost — 20 Aura.

  Impale – Your dagger inflicts a damage-over-time bleed effect. Cost — 20 Endurance.

  Focused Fire – Your next arrow causes increased damage if it hits. Cost – 20 Endurance.

  Long-Range Shot – Increase the effective range of your bow. Cost – 30 Aura.

  Penetrator – Advanced Ability – Your arrow pierces through armor easily. With increased proficiency, it may penetrate through even greater barriers. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 60 Aura.

  Your choice is final and must be made now. Choose wisely, as you will now only gain a new Ability every five levels.

  The Ability menu surprised me when it appeared. It had been a while since I had gained a new talent, and I had forgotten it was coming at this level.

  Wait. Advanced Ability? I reread the description. The talent seemed like it might be incredibly powerful, especially at higher proficiencies. It even had a modifier, but the price required to use it was steep—double the cost of any of my other bow talents, but when I remembered how my arrows failed to penetrate the thick hide of the Forest Ogre, I selected the new talent without hesitation. Due to the prohibitive cost, I would still have to generally rely on Ignore Armor for most combat, but I felt that having Penetrator for special situations was definitely a worthwhile addition.

  After the level-up menu closed, only a few XP notifications remained. I scrolled through them hurriedly before opening my personal sheet.

  Dreya Dae

  Sintári Female

  Title: Sintári

  Level - 15

  74362/84200

  Health 220/220 Aura 490/490 Endurance 220/220

  Sintári – Sintári interact with their surroundings in unusual ways. The effects of these interactions can be unpredictable

  Class – Warden – Wardens gain a 10% bonus to skills associated with nature or which have natural effects

  Specialization – Protector

  Mastery –

  STR - 25

  CON - 22

  DEX - 23 (+1)

  INT - 21

  WIS - 17 (+1)

  CHA - 30 (+1)

  Abilities

  Ignore Armor – Your next arrow will ignore a portion of the target’s armor. Cost – 20 Aura. – 31%

  Stun – Your next arrow has a chance to stun its target on hit. Cost – 20 Aura. – 27%

  Block – You may attempt to use your bow to parry a single melee attack. Cost – 20 Endurance. – 20%

  Swarm – Your next arrow duplicates itself in flight. Cost – 20 Endurance and 20 Aura. �
� 38%

  Flurry – Perform three rapid strikes with a bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 24%

  Parry – Chance for your blades to block next melee attack targeted at you. Cost – 20 Endurance. – 23%

  Hamstring – The next arrow fired has a chance to cripple your opponent. Cost – 20 Aura. – 26%

  Hilt Bash – Stun your opponent with a successful hilt strike from your bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 22%

  Blood Price – Your arrow inflicts a damage-over-time bleed effect. Cost – 30 Aura. – 28%

  Blind – Your next arrow has a chance to inflict blindness on a successful hit. Cost – 30 Aura. – 29%

  Achilles Strike – Cripple your target with a slash of your bladed weapon. Cost – 30 Endurance. – 22%

  Penetrator – Advanced Ability -Your arrow pierces through armor easily. With increased proficiency, it may penetrate through even greater barriers. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 60 Aura. – 1%

  Sintári Abilities

  Natural Affinity – The Sintári’s unique connection with the natural world may manifest itself in random ways at times. While these effects are generally beneficial, they are also typically outside the direct control of the Sintári. Modifier – Charisma.

  Protector Abilities

  See Truth – Once per day, the spoken words of your target become visible to you, allowing you to see the truth held within them. Strength and duration of this effect increase with proficiency. Cost – 60 Aura. Modifier – Wisdom. – 12%

  Spells

  Enhanced Sight – May be cast on self or ally. Improves visual acuity of the recipient in dark or obscured conditions. Cost – 20 Aura. – 38%

  Create Trap – Place a magical trap upon an area. Size, type, and trigger of traps is determined by your proficiency. Cost – 40 Aura. – 35%

  Elemental Arrow -Your next arrow is imbued with elemental energy and causes additional elemental damage accordingly. Cost – 30 Aura. – 23%