The wooden palisade had been completed—or at least its western section had—and the spearmen were gathered inside its boundary.
After I reached the wall I pushed through the ranks of waiting spearmen. Morale was high amongst the soldiers. They chatted and laughed in a more relaxed manner than I had observed them before. Yesterday’s success, or the wall’s completion, had served to raise their spirits.
Spotting Lieutenant John and Captain Petrov, I strode over to join them. The pair were standing before the only open section in the riverside wall. Given the size of the open area, I assumed a gate would be installed there soon.
“John,” I greeted as I drew closer. “Any sign of the murluks yet?”
“No,” replied the big man. He scratched his head in confusion. “They’re late again.”
I nodded. It was a good sign. “The spearmen will meet them here?”
“That’s the plan,” agreed John. He gestured to the break in the wall in front of us. “We were hoping to funnel the creatures through this space. Assuming the buggers can’t breach the palisade itself, we should be able to hold them at bay here easily enough.” His gaze slid towards me. “Unless you were planning on doing your whole solo act down at the shore again?”
“I actually was,” I admitted. “But it doesn’t look like I will be needed here today, even if murluks do show up.”
“The men will feel better with your presence here anyway,” John assured me.
I stared out of the open gate. The river remained quiescent. No splashes marred its surface. Will the murluks show up today? I wondered.
Frowning, I sat down to train my air magic further while I waited.
✽✽✽
Your skill in air magic has advanced to: level 6.
The murluks did not come, and after an hour I gave up waiting for them.
“Alright, John, looks like they are a no show. I’m going to see if I can make myself useful elsewhere. Will you send someone to fetch me if I am needed?”
“Sure thing, Jamie,” the big man replied.
Where to now? I wondered as I headed back to the tented camp. The murluks’ non-appearance was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it freed up the soldiers to help out elsewhere, but on the other, it robbed the Outpost of its only source of metal.
What if the murluks don’t return? I wondered. What then? The settlement needed to find a source of ore, I realised. And the mountains beyond the northern foothills were the most likely place to find it.
I stopped a passing crafter, and after getting him to direct me to Marcus, hurried to find the blonde captain. Marcus, I recalled, was in charge of the scouts.
Outside the scout captain’s tents, I found two familiar faces.
“Jamie!” exclaimed Laura. “What are you doing here?”
“Hi, Laura, Cass. I came to see to Marcus. Is he in there?”
“Yes, we’re just waiting to see him ourselves,” replied Cass.
“Ah alright. How are you two doing?”
The pair exchanged glances. “Well we haven’t had any adventures as exciting as our trip through the warren, if that is what you’re asking,” replied Cass with a laugh.
“It was an altogether boring day yesterday,” agreed Laura. “Which was fine by me.” She eyed me thoughtfully. “We heard you created quite the stir.”
I shrugged. By my own measure, I hadn’t done much, only what was necessary.
As if sensing my discomfort, Laura moved the conversation onwards. “Oh, I found out more about those obelisks you were looking for.”
“The dungeons?” I asked, my eyes lighting up. “Tell me,” I demanded.
“What’s this about dungeons?” asked Marcus, appearing at the entrance of his tent.
“Morning, Marcus,” I said, turning to the captain. He was studying the three of us with interest. “I asked Laura to find out if any of the scouts have come across obelisks,” I explained. “The Trials uses them to mark the entrance to dungeons.”
Marcus’ eyes gleamed. “Ah,” he said. I could tell the thought of dungeons excited him too. But a moment later he frowned. “You should have come to me,” he said reproachfully. “I receive all the scout reports, you know.”
I spread my hand in apology and turned back to Laura. “Did you find one?”
“Well, not me,” she said. “Another of the scouts did. She spotted the obelisk in a forest clearing nearly a day’s journey east of the Outpost. You can’t miss it.”
“I remember that report now,” said Marcus, stroking his chin. “Gemma found the object about four days ago. A twenty-foot-high structure. No one knew what it was, or why it was standing in an empty forest clearing.” He frowned. “Gemma said it was covered with red inscriptions.”
“Red?” I asked, deflating. “You sure the writing was red?”
“Yep,” replied Laura. “I spoke to Gemma yesterday myself. The whole structure was covered in scarlet runes, pulsing so ominously that the poor girl was afraid to approach too closely.”
“Why the long face?” asked Marcus, observing my reaction.
I sighed. “Because red runes mean the dungeon is only suitable for Veteran players, players above level two hundred. For us to enter the dungeon now would be suicide.” Seeing the amused looks the two women directed my way, I scowled. “Even for me,” I muttered.
“Pity,” said Marcus, sounding wistful. “It would have been nice to go on a dungeon dive.” He shook his head regretfully. “But enough daydreaming. What did you want to see me about?”
I glanced at the two sisters. They had gotten to his tent first.
“We’ll wait,” said Cass amiably. “You go ahead.”
Nodding to them in thanks, I followed Marcus into his tent.
“We need to find ore,” I said without preamble.
Halfway through the motion of taking a seat, Marcus paused. “I agree,” he said. “Do you have a lead on where we can find some?”
“No, but searching the mountains to the north is our best chance.”
Marcus shook his head. “Not that I don’t agree with you, but the mountains are too far. We can’t send our scouts more than a day’s journey away. The wilds are too dangerous for them to camp overnight. I won’t ask that of them, not until they—and we—are stronger.”
I frowned. Marcus had a point. “What about the spider warren?”
“What about it?”
“It’s a few hours north of here, and you already have men stationed there, right? If you base your scouts at the warren, could they manage to get to the mountains and back in a day?”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Marcus murmured. He pursed his lips as he gave the matter some thought. “It could work,” he pronounced eventually. “Thanks, Jamie. I’ll speak to the commander today. I’m sure she will agree.”
“Excellent,” I said. “Well, that’s all I wanted to see you about.” I swung around to leave.
“Jamie?” Marcus said, causing me to pause. I turned around.
The scout captain shifted uncomfortably. “I’m sorry to hear about your mum. It was cruel what those bastards did to her. I just wanted to say… I understand.”
A mask of neutrality dropped over my face. Nodding curtly, I ducked out of the tent.
✽✽✽
Since I was in need of solitude, I headed back to my tent.
I decided I would spend the rest of the afternoon training my magic. That way I would escape any further unwanted sympathisers.
I didn’t want to talk about Mum, or even think about events from my last day on Earth, but with the story floating around the camp, I knew sooner or later, everyone was going to want to offer their sympathies.
Why can’t they realise I don’t want to talk about it?
Head bowed and avoiding eye contact with passersby, I hurried to my tent. I had almost reached the sanctuary it offered when the clatter of spears and the thump of marching feet attracted my attention.
I jerked my head up in alarm. A company of soldiers was jogging past me, heading east through the camp. Their faces were grim and they appeared in a hurry. Something is wrong, I thought. Scanning the faces of the spearmen, I recognised one.
“Michael!” I called, waving to attract his attention. “What’s going on?”
“It’s the loggers,” he yelled back, though he didn’t slow down or drop out of formation. “A message just came in: they’re under heavy attack and taken casualties. We’ve been ordered to reinforce their guard company.”
“What sort of attack?” I shouted as the column passed me by and the distance between us opened up.
Michael shrugged apologetically. He was too far away to continue the conversation, but I took his gesture to mean he didn’t know.
My gaze tracked the disappearing soldiers for a moment as I considered what to do. The spearmen were travelling too fast for me to keep up with them. I glanced towards the commander’s tent. I could always go ask the old lady what was going on.
Or I could ignore it all and take refuge in my tent.
But damn it, the Outpost needed those tree trunks. And Tara was in the forest with the loggers. She could be in trouble.
Growling in frustration, I spun away from my tent and set off after the spearmen.
Chapter 31
388 days until the Arkon Shield falls
Of course, I stood no chance of catching the soldiers.
I could only follow in their wake and hope that when I got to wherever they were going, disaster hadn’t overtaken either the spearmen or the loggers. Reaching the Outpost’s eastern trench line, I found it unguarded and crossed over without fuss.
I knew I should have informed the commander of my plans and asked for an escort—or at the very least notified someone of where I was heading. But then again, I didn’t feel like explaining myself or risk further talk of Mum.
Moving at the fastest pace my crippled foot allowed, I followed in the spearmen’s footsteps. Their tracks were easy to read. They cut east through the grass plains on a direct path to the smudge on the horizon that was the forest.
Ten minutes out of the camp, I belatedly thought to take stock of my equipment. I had no provisions, and except for the knife sheathed at my belt, I was unarmed. Fool that I was, I had not thought to retrieve my club and shield before setting off. But it was too late to turn back now. After an hour’s lonely trek, which was thankfully uneventful, I reached the edge of the forest.
I paused to consider its wooded depths before venturing within. Oak, redwood, ash, and pine trees arched high overhead, casting long shadows across the leaf-scattered forest floor. At ground level, the foliage was sparse, with only the odd bush to hamper passage.
I couldn’t help but wonder at the familiarity of the vegetation. Had the trees existed in Overworld before the gates to Earth had opened? Or had they somehow been transplanted here during the creation of the Human Dominion? I shook my head. There was still much of Overworld that remained a mystery to me.
I bent down and inspected the ground. Deep score marks had been dug in the soft soil beneath. It was likely from the logs Soren and his men had dragged back to the settlement. The trail led farther east into the forest.
At least finding the loggers will be easy.
But studying the looming giants, I suddenly wondered how safe the woods were. Within the trees, my visibility would be much reduced, and since I was alone I would be easy prey. I chuckled. You should have thought of that earlier, Jamie.
Shrugging off my doubts, I advanced into the forest. The trail continued eastwards for only another hundred yards before turning south. Keeping my ears strained and my head swivelling from side to side, I followed the tracks.
Around me, the forest was eerily silent. Not even bird calls disturbed the silence. Is the forest always this quiet? I wondered. Or was it a sign of a lurking predator?
I tightened my grip on my blade. Even though my knife skills were non-existent, I felt safer while holding the weapon. I kept my magic prepared too, and was ready to unleash flare on a moment’s notice. The forest had me on edge.
Ten minutes later, I passed the first hacked-off tree. Then another. But still the forest remained silent around me, with neither the sound of chopping nor the cries of battle disturbing the air.
I frowned. Where is everyone?
I hurried my pace. I had to be nearing the logging camp. Any moment now—
I fell face-first to the ground as a heavy weight descended onto my back. I had a moment to feel a hot, slavering breath before pain whitened my world.
Iron jaws clamped down on my neck, and a second later fangs ripped out a chunk of my flesh. I tried to roll over, but my attacker had me pinned down.
The pain was brutal. I screamed soundlessly, loamy earth filling my mouth and muffling my cry.
I struggled to think. To breathe. To act.
My arms were trapped beneath me, which made both flare and my knife useless. Frantically, I tried to free one of my hands. It was no use. They were wedged tight.
My attacker bit down again.
I arched my head up in pain, the tendons of my neck straining. Aargh, that hurts. Tears streamed down my face. Death loomed closer. I was going to die here unless I did something.
I don’t need my hands to flare.
On the brink of calling on invincible, the thought floated into my mind like an epiphany. Of course. Changing tack abruptly, I cast flare.
White-hot dragonfire, thirsting for blood, roared out of my back and through the open wound of my mauled neck.
My attacker’s growl transformed into a surprised yelp, and a second later the crushing weight on my back disappeared.
I stopped casting flare and rolled over, frantic to see again and find my foe. The motion caused new agony to scorch my back. I gritted my teeth against the pain. My armour was the cause, I realised. The leather had melted, and now its burnt sinews bit through my skin.
My throbbing neck was little better. Though the flames had cauterised the wound, my neck felt fragile and vulnerable. But I didn’t have time to tend to myself just yet.
I had to find my attacker.
Remaining in my prone position, I let my eyes rove over the surroundings and jump from tree to tree.
Nothing.
No branches rustled. No leaves stirred. No blurred motion caught my attention. Where had my foe gone? And how had it disappeared so—
Between one blink and the next, I was under attack again.
Weight pressed down on me and a dark shape blotted out the sun. I had a split second to recognize slitted eyes, a snarling muzzle, and fangs—lots of fangs—before the beast’s gaping maw snapped downwards.
But this time I was ready.
Before my foe clamped its jaws around my head, I cast flare into its belly.
The creature—wolf?—whined. My dragonfire-wreathed hands flew up to grasp the beast and hold it prisoner while I poured flames into its torso.
But in an eyeblink my foe disappeared.
This time I had been looking at the beast when it had happened. The creature had not leapt off. One moment it had been there and the next it was gone.
Some form of teleportation?
My head swivelled back and forth as I tried to keep watch on all approaches at once. Images of my attacker flicked through my mind. It was definitely lupine. And my fire had hurt it. How bad, I couldn’t tell yet, but flare had left scorch marks along its sides. I smelt singed fur, so I had to have—
My headlong thoughts paused.
There had been no burns on the beast’s muzzle. Which there should have been—if it was the same creature that had initially attacked me.
So I have at least two attackers.
Even worse, I realised, that if the beasts really could teleport, then scanning the surroundings would make no difference. I would not see the next attack before it arrived. A tremor of fear rippled through me.
/> Abruptly, I dropped the spellform of flare and, summoning life magic, cast lay hands. I knew it was a risk, but so was leaving my wounds unattended.
Soothing waves of healing rippled through my back and neck. But I had no time to enjoy the relief from pain. Two four-footed figures—almost as if summoned by the spell’s luminous blue glow—blinked into existence two yards away on either side of me.
I had no idea why the beasts had chosen not to materialise on top of me again, but I was grateful. It gave me the time I needed to prepare. Dropping the weaves of lay hands, I readied flare’s spellform.
The beasts leapt. I flared.
Twin howls of agony tore through the forest as dragonfire met hounds. Mid-leap, the pair disappeared, vanishing from the flames’ depth. My heart pounded. Despite my success in fending off the attack, I knew I was in trouble.
Neither of the two beasts had borne any burns. Either they could heal themselves… or I had four attackers.
I’m being stalked by a pack of teleporters, I thought.
I swallowed my fear. If I was going to survive the encounter, I had to change the dynamic. Sitting up, I searched for somewhere I could hold the pack at bay, but in every direction the terrain was the same: an endless march of trees.
I drew my knife. I knew it was silly —why did I need the knife when I had flare?—but I kept it in hand anyway. Scooting backwards, I braced my back against the nearest trunk and held myself ready.
The beasts kept me waiting.
I scanned the area. There was no sign of the pack, but I didn’t doubt they were nearby. To relieve the tension coiling tighter and tighter within me, I opened my magesight. Perhaps where my physical sight failed, my magical one would succeed.
My magesight was stubbornly empty. Disappointed, I made to close it, but paused when a shadow flickered past my view.
Slowly, I rotated my head. I hadn’t been mistaken. My foes were visible in my magesight. As pools of darkness, the creatures circled menacingly around me. They lurked behind the trees and just out of physical sight.
Clever beasts.
The pack’s constant motion kept me from determining their number, but just knowing where my foes lurked helped immensely, and I felt some of my fear subside.
Overworld (Dragon Mage Saga Book 1): A fantasy post-apocalyptic story Page 29
