Wood, Stone and Bone

by Ian Rodgers

  “Jellik, start us off with a spell or two. Katherine, flank them on the sides. Brent, Mitch, charge in with me once they’re disoriented from the surprise attack,” Yorrik instructed.

  We all nodded silently, and I pointed my palms at the shuffling horde. Six spinning arrows made of purple light appeared in front of me and I fired off a chantless Magic Arrow barrage. It was one of the simplest spells I knew, and could perform it without a word. And thanks to Tara’s advice it was possible for me to create multiple bolts of mana at once.

  They slammed into the Undead, disintegrating three. I aimed specifically at the wolf and racoon, as they were smaller and could be a nuisance to hit due to their size. One of the humans also burst messily, leaving the rest of the zombies staggering in confusion.

  Katherine darted in next, daggers flashing. The horses collapsed with unholy neighing as she severed their hindlegs, hindering their mobility. The human zombies were now caught off guard, and the rest of the adventurers rushed in.

  Brent, the C-ranker with the axe, split one of the horse’s heads in twain, causing the zombified equine to drop. The other C-rank adventurer, Mitch, used his spear to impale one human zombie through the chest and used it as a meaty bludgeon, keeping the rest of the Undead back from us.

  Yorrik however was the most impressive. He blurred through the Undead, his dual swords reaping limbs and necks with contemptuous ease. The zombies fell, arms and heads separate from their bodies. Some of them still endured, trying vainly to crawl after their assailant, but I made sure to finish them off with a Magic Arrow between the eyes.

  All said and done, the elimination of the zombies took less than five minutes. Hardly even a warm-up.

  “So, burn the bodies or leave them to fertilize the trees?” I asked, glancing over the scattered remains. A hand twitched and I shot it with magic. It stopped moving after that.

  “Burn them, then bury the ashes,” Yorrik said. Rosa, who’d ridden his shoulders the whole while nodded in agreement. Her hair somehow looked windswept, despite the fact that it had the consistency and flexibility of lead. I assumed she’d done it to herself to look like that. Not sure why though.

  I shrugged. Mysterious be the ways of women. Human or otherwise.

  Tara gave me a mental slap which resulted in a headache forming. I kept my thoughts to myself after that.

  “Hold up, something’s moving in the bushes,” Katherine warned, crouching into a stance. We tensed up and watched the foliage warily, then immediately relaxed when we saw what emerged.

  “Oh, it’s just a slime,” Mitch said with a sigh of relief. He walked over and raised his boot to stomp on it, but I stopped him.

  “Wait! That’s not just a regular Ooze, it’s a Bone Ooze!” I shouted, rushing over and grabbing him by the shoulder.

  “So what?” the spearman asked, confused, his emotion echoed by everyone else except Rosa. Interestingly, though, Katherine seemed relieved as well when I prevented needless death.

  “Bone Oozes are harmless, they don’t eat living flesh or stuff like that. They only consume bones and rotting meat,” I explained, carefully moving him away from the small white blob.

  The rare subspecies of Ooze was bone white color with a stunning ivory core at its center. It slid along the ground on a path towards the zombie remains, ignoring the veritable giants around it.

  I could feel what passed for the Bone Ooze’s mind brush against mine, and it sent me sensations of adoration and admiration. I felt a tingle of joy at the momentary feeling of comradery before it passed and left me a tad remorseful.

  “These little guys are also good for the environment! They can eat Undead remains and purify them, eventually releasing the Dark magic as harmless regular mana into the surroundings, which in turns helps the area tainted by the Undead’s presence recover. If you kill it, then it will take many more months before this spot is cleansed of the taint.”

  I looked over at the adventurers. “Leave it alone, and it will take care of this for us.”

  Yorrik thought my proposal over for a couple of seconds before acquiescing.

  “Very well. If you say it won’t harm any of us, I’ll trust you.” He turned to the rest of the adventurers and gestured towards the corpses. “I know it’s unpleasant but we should check the bodies to see if there is any identification on them.”

  We all nodded, though Brent was grimacing and Mitch looked like he wanted to hurl. Katherine just shrugged and I was already rummaging through the rotted clothes of a nearby zombie for anything of interest.

  “I found an adventurer tag,” Katherine announced, holding up a bronze badge. “Says his name was Pavelo.”

  “Damn shame,” Yorrik said sorrowfully with a shake of his head. “Probably a D-rank who took on more than he could chew. We’ll give it to the Guild at Arv Prith and they can send it to his family, if he has any.”

  The dwarf nodded and turned back to her search. I saw her pocket something off one of the bodies but she was too far off for me to see what it was. I quickly ignored her and went back to my search as she perked up and glanced back at me, somehow aware of my scrutiny of her.

  Nothing else of interest was yielded from the bodies and so we left them where they lay, with the Bone Ooze going to town on them. Probably felt like a feast to the little guy.

  Before we left to rejoin the caravan I patted the Bone Ooze on the top of its head fondly, Rosa doing the same.

  “Goodbye, cousin,” I whispered to it. It jiggled in pleasure at the sound of my voice and with great reluctance I turned away from it and left it to its meal.

  “Not going to stay for a bit and study it?” Yorrik asked as I returned to the group.

  “No, not enough time for anything of value to be gleaned,” I lamented. “I did take a few notes and a mana reading though. Plus, a sketch. Hopefully it’ll be enough. And I’ll encounter more if I keep traveling about.”

  “Why study Oozes at all? Who on Erafore would want any information about those things?” Katherine inquired.

  “Oozes are a very misunderstood species,” I replied, slipping into my ‘scholarly mode’ as Liliana fondly called it. “They can live anywhere there is magic, adapt to any environment no matter how hostile, and are born from it spontaneously. They also mimic the behavior and appearance of the lowest forms of organic life, amoebas, which leads some to believe there might be a link between them and other entities composed of magic.”

  “What, like the gods are just bigger, more defined slimes?” Brent asked incredulously.

  “Well, that is one theory,” I admitted. “But that’s not what my patron and I are researching them for. You see, very little is actually known about them and their habits, barring a few notable exceptions like Healing or Green Oozes which have been used in domestic life for a while as a sort of living appliance.”

  “Alchemists make potions out of a substance called Ooze Extract, which is squeezed from an Ooze’s core and is a vital additive and ingredient. It’s a form of liquid magic and is used as a substitute for the alchemists’ own magical energy when brewing complex potions.”

  “And there must surely be uses for other types of Oozes,” I continued excitedly as I spoke of Liliana’s vision. “If we could understand them better, we might be able to use them for a whole host of other helpful jobs!”

  “Sounds like a lot of work,” Mitch said, disinterested. It stung being dismissed like that, but I refused to let it bother me. Princess Liliana and I both knew it would be a lot of work to make people see Oozes as anything other than pests or alchemical ingredients.

  Rosa took my dismissal into her own hands however and began to throw seeds and sap into the spearman’s hair when he wasn’t looking. Katherine and Yorrik held in their giggles and feigned ignorance when Mitch looked at them with a confused expression.

  Back at the caravan Yorrik informed Torren about what they’d encountered. He nodded and then ordered us to move faster. He wisely did not want to risk lingering in a potentially
Undead infested region.

  As I returned to the convoy, Katherine slipped up beside me. I was impressed by her speed and her ability to blend in with the environment. Had I been a normal person I would likely not have spotted her approaching at all.

  “So, you like Oozes, huh?”

  “I do, in fact,” I replied.

  “Pretty interesting little fellows. Magical. Obedient. Cute. Neat. Tidy. Might make a nice pet,” she said offhandedly. I stiffened at her words.

  I could hear Tara shouting at me in my mind not to react to her words. As she did, Katherine looked up at me.

  “Always wondered how useful an Ooze could be, ya know? I’m sure your patron has all sorts of ideas.”

  She reached up and patted me on the small of my ‘back,’ just above where my ‘hips’ were.

  “Looking forward to traveling the rest of the way with ya.” She then strutted away without a second look back.

  (Awww, she likes you!) Rosa chirped.

  I shook my head at her interpretation of that meeting and took my place in the middle of the caravan.

  It was a strange feeling, being watched and knowing who was doing the observing. Not sure if I preferred this over the unseen stalker, though.

  At that I took a careful peek at my surroundings. So far, my mysterious creeper had not shown himself, or his foul magic.

  A shiver ran down my back at the thought of being pursued again. But, for the moment, he’d held back on coming after me if I was surrounded by people. That presented interesting opportunities for me. Should I take advantage of this? Could I?

  As I pondered this idea, I stole a look back at Katherine. She was no longer eyeing me up, but I knew she was paying attention to me, following my every step.

  Ah, well. One stalker at a time I could deal with. And at least she wasn’t throwing curses and Dark magic at me. That was nice of her.

  .

  In the deep, densely grown depths of an ancient forest something dark and cruel slipped through the trees. After a while the being came upon a cave surrounded by bones and shattered stone and trees.

  Invisible in the gloom a figure swathed in black robes and wearing a silver mask tread softly as it approached the center of the cave.

  There, surrounded by the detritus of old meals and fallen heroes, a large, scaled creature slept.

  Like a ghost the man in black stepped forward undetected until he came right up to the beast’s side.

  The slime thought it could hide behind others? Believed itself to be so clever as to avoid his game? The masked man chuckled softly at that absurd thought.

  The gelatinous Chosen One had never strayed far from shouting distance of the wooden city, and at the moment his orders and the Rules prevented him from simply laying waste to the settlement to teach the slime a lesson.

  But now it had arrogantly considered itself smarter than him, and left the safety of the walls in the company of others, believing that would protect it.

  He had to teach the foolish monster that nowhere was safe for it to be anymore. And that if others were to be involved, they would have to die, too.

  He reached out and plucked a dark green scale from the beast’s chest, exposing a tiny spot of soft, tender flesh.

  Immediately the creature woke, a clawed paw tearing apart the ground where the intruder had stood moments before. Stone shards flew, and it got to its feet far quicker and smoother than anything its size and shape should have been able to.

  The scaled being snarled, and looked down at its marred chest before lifting a snout to the air and taking a deep breath. Scents flooded its nostrils, and it lumbered out of its cave, trees shaking with every step.

  Its scale was there. Faint and fading in and out, but still detectable to its sharp senses. A vengeful roar tore through the depths of the forest and the inhabitants trembled in fear.

  It would find the thief. And it would punish them and gorge on their entrails.

  Running through the forest a being wearing a silver mask with a tree and root motif upon it laughed cruelly.

  Chapter 10: In the dark

  Four long days had gone by since I’d helped eliminate the zombies with Yorrik, Katherine, and the others. We found ourselves still hugging the Red Road, but that was soon to change.

  The caravan needed to go east, while the Red Road swerved to the west. There were a few roads that went that eastwards, as well as to Arv Prith which lay at the tail end of the Starblind Mountains. And all these roads connected at Crotia, a city which had formed up around the crossroads and intersections where the roads diverged and split. We’d spend a night there, then move on to along a well trod path towards the port city.

  “What can you tell me about our next stop?” I asked Yorrik as I walked beside him.

  “Why not ask me?” a voice piped up from behind before the Ranger could respond.

  The B-ranker jumped a bit in surprise as Katherine seemed to pop up out of nowhere. I merely made my illusory face roll its eyes as I turned to her.

  “Are you still doing that?”

  “I will keep trying to get you to jump in shock at my arrival if it’s the last thing I do!” she retorted hotly. “My pride at being the sneakiest girl around will be lost if I can’t manage to sneak up on you!”

  “You just keep doing that,” I said in a slightly condescending manner, the unspoken challenge clear in my voice. She frowned but soon grinned.

  She was still watching me like a hawk, but had become a bit more open. That she continued to try and pull pranks and tricks on me which were constantly foiled certainly made for a way to pass the time.

  I did not trust Katherine at all, but if all she did was watch me, I would let her have her fun.

  That Rosa had taken to participating in the dwarf’s pranks made me glad that the Carbuncle thought she was a decent enough person. After all, Feykin were very good at feeling emotions and the personalities of people. She’d never willingly hang around a villain.

  “Why would you know about Crotia?” Yorrik asked, confused. She looked at him as if he was an idiot.

  “It’s my home. Why wouldn’t I know about it?”

  “Huh? But, wouldn’t Arv Prith be your home?” the Ranger stated.

  Katherine’s expression turned murky. “Oh, I get it. I’m a dwarf so I must be from the only dwarven Clanhold in the south of Orria. Wow. I thought more of you, B-ranker.”

  Yorrik began to sputter and babbled apologies before rushing off, leaving me alone with a darkly glaring dwarf.

  “That was mean,” I said and her expression turned from serious to serene in a heartbeat.

  “No, that was funny. Besides, it taught him a valuable lesson about not assuming things,” she claimed.

  “So, do you know Arv Prith as well as Crotia?” I asked after a bit.

  “Yup, sure do!” Katherine said cheerfully. “I was born in Arv Prith but when I became an adult I moved out to Crotia to make a name for myself!”

  “Why were you in Tywood?” I asked, suspicious of her motives.

  “Just because I have a home base doesn’t mean I can’t leave it,” she said dismissively. “A lot of quests involve traveling, and I was near Tywood when the Promotion Quest was offered. I said ‘why not?’ and went for it. This way I get to rank up and visit my parents in Arv Prith for the winter. Haven’t seen ‘em in a while.”

  I nodded slowly, still not trusting that was the full story, but decided to prioritize information gathering over my paranoia. However justified the latter might have been.

  “Is Crotia really the largest city in Brune?” I asked, curious.

  “It is. Arv Prith is a close second, with Valm, the capital, sitting in at third,” Katherine stated.

  “Wouldn’t the capital tend to be the largest settlement in a country?” I inquired and she nodded solemnly.

  “Yeah, but Valm has only been the seat of government for four hundred years now, and was only a moderately large place beforehand.” She shook her head.

&
nbsp; “The old capital, Ara Reede, was completely wiped off the maps during the War of Fallen Gods. The World Rebellion cast the anti-city spell Meteor to destroy it, and everything nearby,” she said, spitting the foul cult’s name. I felt fury bubble up in me as well, my own experience with those would-be assassins the opposite of pleasant.

  “They’d have cast a lot more of those if the Heroic Six hadn’t stopped them,” I replied. The dwarf nodded at that.

  “Totally. Anyways, Crotia is the heart of trade for Brune. It’s where the country’s Adventurer’s Guild headquarters is located, as well as the Merchant’s Union. All the gold in Brune flows into and out of the city,” Katherine explained, shifting back to the original topic.

  “One of its most amazing features though it that it is surrounded by a large ring-shaped road that merges all the roads into one, so all you need to do is go clockwise around it to find the path you need after getting onto it. I doubt we’ll be staying inside Crotia as well. A lot of warehouses and hostels have sprung up along the Ring Road, as it’s known, so unless a large group of travelers like ours actually plans to end their trip inside the Crotia they stop here on the Ring Road.”

  “They call this region the ‘suburbs,’ where it’s not inside the walls of the city proper, but it’s still close enough to be considered part of it. A city wrapped around a city. Kinda like those Noverni nesting dolls,” Katherine finished.

  “Sort of like the Slide District outside of Sanc Aldet’s main walls,” I mused.

  “Close, but the Ring Road is a lot cleaner and less of a slum. It’s used for temporary lodgings rather than permanent ones.”

  I shrugged, accepting the comparison. As impressive as the capitol of Varia was it was not without its own issues. It had grown so fast over the centuries that the lower income families just kept getting pushed further and further out, and the buildings beyond the walls were little more than rush jobs.