by Stone Thomas
“How can it be lonely with so many people?” I asked. “Lately, I’ve felt more crowded than anything.”
“That’s because everyone’s fighting for your attention,” she said. “It’s not that way with me. Lily and Ambry are sisters, Mamba and Cindra are always in the mine talking about elves, you have Nola—”
“I don’t have Nola,” I said.
“You know what I mean,” she said. “You have a psychic connection with her. I’m just doing my thing, building up Halcyon from the inside.”
We climbed over a few fallen trees, likely uprooted by Duul’s army on their last trek. “I’m surprised you didn’t take Lily and Ambry,” she said.
“Maybe I was testing them,” I said, “to make sure they would follow orders even if they didn’t understand the reasoning behind them.”
“You told them the reasoning,” Vix said. “You wanted them to protect Halcyon.”
“Sure,” I said, “but I also wanted to protect them. If there’s a rogue goddess out there stealing cities, a mayor’s daughters would be high value targets. Kāya might use them as leverage against Valleyvale. Keeping them in Halcyon was for their safety as much as Nola’s.”
“Well,” Vix said, “whatever the reasoning, I’m glad I got to come this time. Don’t get me wrong, I was relieved to stay in the temple until my skills were a little stronger. All of the other people in Halcyon make my scent harder to track.”
“Will you know if he gets closer?” I asked. “I don’t want to put you in danger. If there’s a chance he could sneak up on you—”
“I’ll know if Loxin is around,” she said. “You may even know, and you don’t have the benefit of a foxkin’s heightened sense of smell. His odor is… distinctive. It’s one of the many reasons I wasn’t looking forward to an arranged marriage. I couldn’t imagine mating with that scuzzbucket.”
“Is it really that important to your parents,” I asked, “that you have purebred foxkin children?”
“They’re not bad people,” she said, “they just worry about how my kids will fare if they’re mixed. There are a lot of lionkin and birdkin, but many of the other beastkin have smaller numbers, so chances are higher that they’ll end up with someone who isn’t just like them. Their children tend to look like a mix of their parents, and they often get teased when they’re kids, worse when they’re adults.”
“And Loxin?” I asked.
“Loxin is obsessed. He doesn’t care who his bride is, as long as she’s a fox. He’s a powerful person, too, so I wondered if my parents were just too afraid to say no.”
“I’m not afraid of him,” I said. “If he lays a paw on you, I’ll chop it off.”
“Lily’s rubbing off on you,” she said, laughing. I reached for her hand, but before I could lace my fingers between hers, something growled in the shadows between the trees ahead of us. Vix brought up her hammer instinctively.
I placed the fairyfly’s bottle on the ground between us to free my hands.
As we braced ourselves for whatever might come our way, a two-headed wolf charged onto the path before us. More followed, until three menacing and wild animals growled with bared fangs. Twelve eyes glared from their six heads.
“What are these things and why do I feel like I’m seeing double?” I asked.
“They’re twolves,” Vix said. “And they smell cursed.”
+7
“Cursed?” I asked. The two-headed canines stalked closer, likely waiting until they were in leaping range so they could sink their teeth into us.
“They normally wouldn’t attack unprovoked,” Vix said. “There’s something off about them though. They don’t smell right. It’s like their insides are rotting.”
“I wonder if the fairyfly could help,” I said. “If they’re injured, her tears could heal them.”
“She’s not crying though,” Vix said, nudging the glass bottle with her foot. The small, insectoid woman pressed her hands against the glass while four thin wings flapped madly behind her.
“We can’t just throw her to the twolves and hope for the best,” I said. “And just to be clear, you’re against injuring these animals at all, right?”
“It’s not their fault,” Vix said.
“It’s not exactly ours either,” I said. “What can we do about it?”
“I don’t know, but we have to do something,” Vix said. “They’re in pain. Maybe we could build a trap to keep them penned in until we get help. I could chop down some trees if you distract them long enough. Or I could build a catapult! If we launch the twolves into the trees, they wouldn’t be able to climb down. Everyone knows, twolves are afraid of heights.”
“Yep, very common knowledge,” I said. “But you want to launch an entire twolf gang into the trees?”
“A girl can dream,” she said.
The closest animal continued stepping forward.
“Unless we want to be kibbles and Vix,” I said, “we need a better plan. I doubt we have time for catapults.”
“Right,” she said, “because then I’d have to learn how to build one first, and gods only know how long that would take.”
“Actually,” I said, “I might know how long it would take.”
A twolf stalked closer, eyeing us carefully. “Explain,” Vix said.
“We were in such a rush to head to Valleyvale,” I said, “that I didn’t think to upgrade our skills before we left. You may have a new skill available that would help. Not catapults, but something.”
“And you want to play with my skills now, as we’re about to get attacked?”
“It’s not like I can call timeout,” I said. Working with a skill menu during combat would put me at a disadvantage, but it might just pay off in the long run.
“Fine,” she said, “if you see a way out of this, take it.”
My vision filled with glowing words and numbers.
Δ
Skillmeister View of:
Vixette Volpia
Base Attribute / XP to Next / Intended Change / Total XP Cost
-
13 Constitution / 325 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
5 Vivacity / 125 XP to Next / 5–> 6 / Total XP Cost: 125
-
9 Strength +4 Bonus / 225 XP to Next / 9 –> 12 / Total XP Cost: 750
-
9 Hardiness +2 Bonus / 225 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
9 Focus / 225 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
5 Resolve +4 Bonus / 125 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
TOTAL BASE ATTRIBUTE XP COST: 875
Stats Affected by Change
-
[Constitution] Health Points (HP): 1096/1300
-
[Vivacity] Action Points (AP): 100/100 –> 120/120
-
[Strength] Phys. Damage Inflict Range: 130-159 –> 160-195
-
[Hardiness] Phys. Damage Block Range: 59-84
-
[Focus] Mag. Damage Inflict Range: 90-110
-
[Resolve] Mag. Damage Block Range: 49-68
Skills For Weapon Class: Hammer
-
Wallop 5. Stun target for 3 seconds. Damage multiplier of 2.3. [27 AP to cast] [Requires: Strength 8, Hardiness 8].
Improve to Wallop 6 for damage multiplier of 2.5. [30 AP to cast] [Requires: Strength 9, Hardiness 9] [750 XP to improve].
Intended Change: None
Cost Subtotal: 0
-
Locked. Twitch Hitter 1. Stun enemies in a 30-degree arc for 15 seconds. [9 AP to cast] [Requires: Strength 10, Vivacity 5] [125 XP to unlock].
Improve to Twitch Hitter 2 to increase stun arc to 45 degrees. [12 AP to cast] [Requires: Strength 12, Vivacity 6] [250 XP to improve].
Intended Change: 0 –> 2
Cost Subtotal: 375
-
TOTAL HAMMER SKILL XP COST: 375
Skills For Special Cl
ass: Builder
-
Fundamentals 7. Quickly build walls, rectangular buildings, and towers up to seven stories high using stone / wood / iron. [Passive] [Requires: Strength 9, Hardiness 9, Focus 9].
Improve to Fundamentals 8 to master the fundamentals of construction. Build up to eight stories. Also unlocks ability to use steel. [Passive] [Requires: Strength 10, Hardiness 10, Focus 10] [3,000 to improve].
Intended Change: None
Cost Subtotal: 0
-
Structural Integrity 4. Buildings can withstand 32 extra damage per resource consumed in construction. [Passive] [Requires: Constitution 13].
Improve to Structural Integrity 5 to increase damage absorption bonus to 57. [Passive] [Requires: Constitution 18] [1,875 XP to improve].
Intended Change: None
Cost Subtotal: 0
-
Locked. Siege the Day 1. Construct a siege tower that inflicts 50 damage per Strength of structure operator. [Passive] [Requires: Resolve 12] [375 XP to unlock].
Improve to Siege the Day 2 to improve damage multiplier to 80. [Passive] [Requires: Resolve 15] [750 XP to improve].
Intended Change: None
Cost Subtotal: 0
-
TOTAL BUILDER SKILL XP COST: 0
Summary
-
Available XP: 4,135
Cost of Intended Changes: 1,250
Precision Training Discount (5%): 63
Total Adjusted Cost: 1,187
Total Projected Remaining: 2,948
Confirm?: Yes / No
∇
Once I spotted Twitch Hitter I should have unlocked it and closed out of Vix’s menu, but her newest builder skill jumped out at me. With a little more training, she could start building a siege tower. That must be one of the “offensive buildings” she was hoping for when we first met. With Duul threatening to conquer the Imperial City, siege towers could make all the difference for us.
Unfortunately, the time I spent distracted by that menu was time I didn’t spend watching the nearest twolf. I opened my mouth to tell Vix about her new ability to stun enemies, but all that came out was a yell, tearing my throat from inside. A twolf had two sets of sharp teeth buried in my leg.
I slid my spear’s handle down my leg into the space between myself and my furry assailant and pried the animal loose. “Vix!” I yelled, ignoring the blood seeping from the series of fresh punctures in my skin. “Twitch Hitter. It lets you stun the enemies in front of you, a lot longer than Wallop.”
She nodded and prepared her war hammer. A forty-five-degree arc lit up in front of her for a split second, then an orange light erupted outward from the place her hammer hit the dirt. The twolf in its path twitched twice, then fell to the ground and continued his light spasms while he lay there incapacitated.
The twolf that had bitten me was not in the path of Vix’s attack. He leapt at me, pushing his paws against my chest and knocking me to the ground beneath his weight.
“You have to keep stunning them,” I yelled to Vix, “every 15 seconds.”
She dodged to the side and swung her hammer toward a twolf, though I knew she wouldn’t hurt the sick animal. Neither of the twolf’s two heads seemed to register that fact though, so he hopped backward. He crowded toward his twitching comrade, which gave Vix a chance to activate her new skill again, trapping both twolves in the arc of her stunning power.
The two-headed wolf perched on my chest, drooling from two mouths. A long tendril of it landed on my face. “I guess it’s slobbering time,” I said.
I thrust my spear’s handle out horizontally and caught the animal across one of its mouths. It chomped onto the metal handle and growled. “Man, you twolves really do stink. If I had a second head, I would demand it use a little mouthwash from time to time and stop drinking out of the toilet.”
The animal did not appreciate the advice. Its second head was free to bite me, so that’s exactly what it did. Its teeth sank into my shoulder, and I yelled.
Vix looked back at me. She seemed torn, like she wanted to pull the animal off of me even though she needed to keep the other two animals from rejoining the fray. She was stuck dog-sitting while I tried in vain to keep this twolf from huffing and puffing.
I pressed my foot against the canine’s belly and prepared to push the animal off of me, hopefully to land inside the arc of Vix’s Twitch Hitter.
Then it coughed. Its putrid breath washed over me, choking me in the scent of jalapenos and hate.
This twolf was spicy.
When its coughing fit was over, the animal fell limp on top of me, a stream of jet black drool escaping its mouths. I rolled the animal to the side and watched Vix prepare another Twitch Hitter. As she raised her hammer, the two seizing animals stopped their spasmodic movements. They toppled to the ground, a lifeless pile of spit and fur.
Vix lowered her hammer slowly. It was over. She knelt by the nearest twolf and put a hand on its back.
“Vix,” I said, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”
She turned her head toward the trees.
“Maybe they just ate a bad burrito,” I said. “Indigestion can be murder. Rancid beans would make me want to lash out at someone.”
“It wasn’t beans,” Vix whispered, stalking through the trees. I followed after her.
“No, you’re right,” I said. “It wouldn’t have been bad breath we’d have to worry about with beans. Maybe—”
There was no maybe. Only definitely. As in, the problem was definitely the pair of shiny black cretins crouched over a terrified twolf pup. The small, furry animal pressed back on its hind legs as two evil monsters hovered over it. The sharp black horns on their shoulders and elbows glinted in the patchy sunlight that came through the treetops.
The second we approached, one of the cretins turned toward me. It shot a volley of black magic ribbons through the air. Some hit the ground and extinguished, but one landed against my chest.
Immediately, my blood ran hot. My teeth clenched as my mind was taken over by unnatural fury. This was the same black magic Duul’s minions had used on me before, and which they had used to turn the good men of Meadowdale into a ferocious, angry mob of violent fighters.
My grip on Razortooth tightened. I had to fight through this. I lunged forward with my spear and scraped the arm of one cretin while Vix aimed Twitch Hitter at the second one. That cretin dodged out of the way, then escaped through the woods.
With an expert swing of her weapon, Vix whacked the first cretin in the head. It fell to the ground and leaked black sludge that moved through the air of its own accord. It found the energems in my pocket and filled some of them with energy and heat.
I should have been relieved that the cretin menace was gone. I should have thanked Vix for stepping in when she did. Instead, I dropped my weapon and took a step toward her, my mind feeling small and powerless against the magical rage building inside of me.
“We need to get out of here,” I said through gritted teeth.
“We have to bury the animals first,” Vix said.
I stared at her for a moment. She was serious.
“Is that wise?” I asked. I picked up the fairyfly, hoping a little healing magic might wash this curse off of me. Yet, here we stood, with an orphaned twolf pup whimpering from both sad faces, its pack lying dead in the road, and the fairyfly didn’t shed a single tear. Her face was set in a permanent scowl. She had a bad case of Resting Bug Face.
“I’m not asking if it’s wise,” Vix said, “it’s the right thing to do. Go on without me if you can’t spare the time. They deserve a proper burial.”
My blood was boiling, but I pulled together all of my willpower and maintained control, even if only barely. “I’m not leaving you,” I said through labored breaths, “not while your jilted ex-fiancé is out there somewhere.” I knelt on the ground and used Razortooth’s spearhead to start digging.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Wha
t we do, we do together,” I said.
The young twolf hung back while we worked.
“It looked like those cretins were experimenting on the animals,” Vix said. “That’s low, even for Duul. A curse powerful enough to warp the minds of adult men is too powerful for a poor defenseless animal. It destroyed them.”
I stayed quiet while we worked. It took all of my focus to keep the curse from taking over.
Before long we had dug a small trench, just large enough for the three slain twolves. The grave wasn’t deep, but it was sufficient to cover the corpses in dirt, and then whatever fallen leaves and branches were nearby.
Vix recited a brief prayer to close our impromptu burial. “With respect and honor high, we dignify the lives gone by, so that any who eats and breathes, shall nourish all the trees and leaves.”
“That was beautiful, Vix,” I said. I winced involuntarily against a wave of mind-numbing hatred that erupted inside of me.
Vix leaned close and sniffed. Her fox ears flattened out in alarm as she looked me in the eyes.
“I was so focused on the animals that I didn’t realize,” she said. “Arden, you’ve been cursed too.”
“It’ll pass,” I said. “It’s not permanent.”
“I hate to see you suffer like this,” she said. She wrapped her arms around me.
“You should stay back,” I said. My breathing was deep and raspy. Saliva foamed a froth inside my mouth. I could see my skin turning gray from the effects of the cretin’s curse. “If I lose control, I’ll be no better than a mindless cretin. I’ll be dangerous.”
“You wouldn’t hurt me,” she said. “I know you, Arden, you don’t have that in you. You’d let this curse tear your insides to shreds first.” She tightened her grip. The warmth of her cheek was soothing against my own. Her tail curled around me, soft and fluffy.
