“The hell is this?” Trig whispered. “Monsters don’t talk, do they?”
“Some do, but they aren’t intelligent. At least…not the ones I’ve met,” I replied. This bulbous elder did not seem concerned with our drawn weapons. She merely loomed over us, her fat, purple lips smiling widely. I glanced down to see that her lower half was more or less like a giant oval, covered with purple drapery hiding the feet that were undoubtedly insectoid.
“Are you afraid of me?” she asked.
“We don’t fear monsters,” I said.
The creature grinned wider and laughed, forcing each ‘hah’ out in a monotone chant, sending more shivers down my spine. “Monster. That is what all of your kind says. I understand. I am not like you. You are not like me. But those people outside are like you. And you wish for them to live, yes?”
I raised my bow and nocked an arrow. “You threatening them?”
“No. They are mine,” the Eldest said. “I have marked them. I have given them the green flame. They serve me and I keep them alive. But there are things that I cannot do. Forces that oppose me.”
“Just kill it,” Trig said. “No reason to let this thing keep yapping.”
“If I die, the fire goes out,” she countered. “And then the darkness comes. Who will survive? You two, yes. For you know the secrets to orange fire. But a moment is all it takes. And my children are dead.”
There was truth here. If the green fire was keeping the shadow monster out…then even a single second of darkness could end the lives of all the people we had seen. This creature didn’t seem malevolent, but who knows what its game was? It must have had some kind of mind control ability to control the people outside. Maybe she fed on them.
That idea caused me to shudder even more. This massive, bloated creature might have learned that allowing humans to live and breed could give her more food in the long run. A terrifying application of higher intelligence.
I held a hand up to Trig. “What do you want from us?” I asked.
“All hunters are found by me. They like to kill my kind. But they value human life more. More than death. So they do not kill me. But I know of something they can kill, something that would help me. By proxy, it will help these humans,” the Eldest stuttered out.
How could this be? How could this creature be intelligent? We had never met a monster that could think and reason before. But here it was, speaking to us sort of like a person, able to distinguish friend from foe and most importantly, able to think in the long term. Able to think of its own good.
“I don’t like this,” Trig whispered. “But…we should hear her out.” His voice was strained, but concerned. Concerned with the good of the people we had met. Even though they were strangers, it was up to us, as Venators, to look out for them. We were not beholden to any one group. Rather we were meant to look out for the good of all humans. This village included.
Chapter 18
We sat on the cold ground before the massive, bulbous woman known only as the Eldest. She was pleased to see that we would not attack her on sight and began to explain what she wished. Her words were always functional, yet lacking entirely in elegance and grace. Almost like she knew how to speak the words, but not truly what they meant. I had met Fylks that could mimic human language, saying popular phrases to trick their prey into getting close. Could the same principle apply, but for higher concepts? No, that would be too impossible to believe. Then again, what did we face that wasn’t impossible at times?
“There is another like I,” the Eldest said. “A hungry beast that seeks to take what is mine. It exerts its power over my chattel and lures them to itself. It takes advantage of the green flame and leads them alone into its mouth. One by one, it grows bigger and stronger. Soon it shall gain a hold of all. And it has not the patience I do. It will consume them all at once. And they will not make more food for either of us. We shall starve.”
So that was it. This creature was using humans for food, extending its influence over them. But unlike other monsters, it seemed to understand enough about us to avoid killing off its meal ticket. But why would it ask us for aid? Why not get its hooks inside of our minds? Or…had it already done so? After all, we were both sitting with the creature instead of killing it. Mind control was a subtle thing, at times.
Sensing my distress, my Quiverling was quick to scramble about, swapping out my echolocation charm for the Fylk charm. I activated the Hardened Mind ability, making me immune to minor compulsions. It wouldn’t make me entirely impervious to mind control but would at least give me an edge. I felt no different as the charm activated. I had no clue if it was working.
“So you want us to kill it?” Trig asked.
“You are hunters. I sense your blood energy. Your hunger to slay and your eagerness to fight. All humans flee monsters, except your kind,” the Eldest continued. “Do what comes naturally to you and I shall reward you with the secret to conjuring green flame. To hiding from that which waits in the darkness.” It paused for a moment, as if thinking, and then added a small disclaimer. “And should you refuse, I shall send the youngest in the village out to march in the darkness without flame. They are of little nutritional value in their larval state, but you all seem to value them greatly.”
Trig’s teeth clenched, but he held back. I must admit, I was impressed to see him refuse to just strike out without thinking. His boyish energy was tempered with the all too real fact that children could die if he made a poor decision. Our best bet here was to just play along until we were away from this thing, so we could figure out a way to break the creature’s influence. Killing that other monster wasn’t a bad idea either. In fact, killing and harvesting it would give us an insight into how the beast worked, including weaknesses…
“We’ll do it then,” I said. “In exchange for the green fire.”
The Eldest looked at me for a moment, its dull eyes blankly staring into mine. “You hide your thoughts,” it said. “I do not like that. A mere minute ago, I could hear your mind. Now it is silent.”
Evidence that my charm was working. Good. Maybe I could take advantage of this creature’s lack of understanding of our race. “I have stopped thinking entirely,” I replied. “Half of my mind sleeps while the other half is awake. It is how I go without sleeping while on the road.”
“He is thinking many things,” the Eldest said, shuffling a little more towards me. The great bulbous beast loomed over me.
“Then search his mind to see if I am lying,” I replied. Trig would pick up on my game no doubt. But could he fool a mind-reading creature? Hopefully so.
The creature was quiet for a moment, still, as it scanned Trig’s mind. “He thinks only of women without clothing,” it grunted. “I see no deception.”
Really Trig? That’s how you crowded out a mind reader? Then again, if it worked, it worked. He had been part of our mind control resistance training. They had used some kind of anchoring technique to block out unwanted thoughts. Maybe it was his teacher’s fault.
Trig’s deception worked and the beast said no more of my blank mind. Instead, it merely focused on our goal. “I shall grant one of my ashamed armorbearers to escort you. He is your thrall until you have slain my foe, or until you have died at its hands. He is gifted with sight that you could never possess, for you were not born in these woods.”
“Why are they called ashamed?” Trig asked.
The wicked creature made a wholly unnatural noise, the bristling, angry sound emanating from inside of its body as opposed to coming from its mouth. “They ignored my demands. And ignored the needs of their people, trying to slay me instead of allowing me to protect them. So they are locked in armor and forced to fight on my behalf. They are not worthy of my blessings. Only my scorn.”
We said little more to this creature. It told us that Eckshaw was to be our guide and our thrall. He would obey any order, for his mind was more or less in full control of the creature. We agreed to its terms and left
the Eldest’s hut, careful not to speak. Trig shot me a look that explained everything, more or less. He would follow my lead without asking why. He wouldn’t speak about my plan, knowing full well that his mind was open to probing from the Eldest. How far its influence went, we simply did not know.
The village was somewhat different. The pretense of people going about their daily lives was gone now. Everyone more or less sat or stood completely still, just staring blankly ahead. The homes were full of people who were frozen in repose, unable or perhaps uninterested in moving. This long period of stillness lasted for nearly ten minutes. And then, suddenly, everyone returned to their business, cooking, cleaning, talking and acting as if nothing were wrong. As if they hadn’t been staring blankly ahead for a solid chunk of time.
“This is messed up,” Trig muttered as we wandered to the edge of the village. The green flickering lights washed across his face, contorting his expression, giving him a more sinister look. I wondered if perhaps he had fallen under the Eldest’s influence. How would I tell?
“I know,” I said.
“Completely, utterly messed up.”
“In my experience, it’s best not to think about it,” Eckshaw said with a heavy sigh. He spoke like a regular person. But…was this just mimicry? A mere puppet show to lure us into believing he was like us? I was not prepared for this kind of twisted madness. Fighting monsters was one thing, but facing those whose minds had been ensnared? How did you fight an enemy you couldn’t kill?
“Trig,” I said, turning to face the infinite darkness before me. “Stay here until I come back.”
He said nothing. No doubt he had a thousand questions, but he couldn’t ask any of them. I had an idea of what I could do to protect his mind, or at the very least, insulate it, but I’d have to go alone into the darkness.
“I wouldn’t separate,” Eckshaw warned. “Betraying her is a poor idea. Going into the dark without the green fire, even worse. Do as she says and you will be in a better position.”
“Eckshaw,” I said, looking at him. “Have you ever seen hunters return from their tasks? Once they meet your master?”
The shamed armorbearer shifted. His lips, the only visible part about his face, turned downwards into a hard frown. “That I cannot say.”
“Because they die, either by their target or most likely by her hand,” I said, turning away from them both and lighting my torch with a snap of my fingers. “Stay here. If you come after me, I’ll be forced to kill you.”
Chapter 19
The drag marks on the earth were gone. Even though I had made a note of where we entered, in between the two braziers on the south, I could find no trace of the slight dent in the ground I had been making. Something or someone had covered up my tracks. This complicated my plan to find my way out of this place. Returning to the Stabwagon was of the utmost importance right now, for without it, we could not do alchemy.
My alchemical abilities allowed me to learn two weaknesses when distilling monster ingredients down into Estoan and Firnin. Killing the Eldest’s enemy would give me direct insight into how to kill the Eldest itself. It was unfortunate, but my only option here was to go alone in the Shadewood. Trig would be safe in the company of those poor thralls, for the Eldest wanted us to serve it. And I knew he wouldn’t try and think about my plans. Rather, he’d probably begin preparing for the fight ahead, learning what he could or even scouting out the location of the monster. He was a self-starter; I could trust the man to occupy himself.
As for me, I’d be going it alone. Not just simply without a partner, but also without a trace of where I was supposed to go.
Bad situation. Worse idea, my bow emoted to me as I walked through the darkness, the flames on my backpack flickering as the breeze began to pick up.
“Well what would you do?” I grumbled. “As far as I recall, all you ever seem to do is just shoot arrows. So maybe a little less criticism?”
The bow was silent after that. I wandered the darkness for quite some time, moving nowhere in particular. My feet carried me with diligence, but it was clear that no matter what I did, my trail would fade. I had tried digging deeper track marks with my boots, only to watch them fade away after a few moments. I left pieces of dried up jerky on the ground, but the breeze seemed to carry them off like dandelions in the wind. Perhaps it was the work of the shadow beast, trying to keep me from leaving.
I reached the root of a tree that was sticking up out of the ground. The gnarled black wood towered nearly twenty feet above me, forcing my gaze upwards. The darkness up there seemed especially foreboding. The black fog, as I thought of it, almost seemed to swirl around the edges of the dancing fire hanging from my backpack.
Bad situation. Better idea, the bow advised while I pondered scaling this massive tree. At once, dexterous energy surged through me as the bow granted me the stat bonus, approving of my plan. I scampered up the tree with ease, leaping from massive branch to massive branch. Climbing a giant tree with such a staggering jump height was actually quite easy. The flames around me flickered from the winds of my near-flight, forcing me to slow down a bit. I also took out another torch, just in case. Couldn’t have the flames go out for a second. I don’t know what the shadow beast was or what it was capable of, but I wasn’t about to find out.
Two hours passed, I suppose, as I climbed upwards. These trees were impossibly long, so tall that I began to wonder if there was ever an end to them. One last leap brought me to a small opening in the trunk of the tree-top. The flames illuminated this opening, showing branches and leaves above me in great amounts. Some exploration revealed nothing else. No more branches leading upwards.
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” I mumbled, climbing up the tallest branch I could get to. It was just as sturdy as all the others, though it was much slimmer than the rest. I tested it a little, bouncing up and down to make sure it could withstand my landing. Torch in hand, fingers ready to cast elemental burst, I leapt up with all my might, sailing upwards.
The darkness covered me completely as I flew up forty feet. The fire did not go out from the force of the jump, thankfully, and a small bubble of light surrounded me. All sides, above, below and left to right, however, were swallowed by the darkness. At least, for a second.
And then, suddenly, the darkness was gone. All I could see was a great blue sky, followed by a piercing pain in both eyes as I went blind. The sun assailed me and I let out a great scream as the light overwhelmed me. I felt myself hurtling back down after I reached the apex of my leap. Desperate and afraid, I cast elemental burst repeatedly, lighting the torch on fire, ensuring that it was burning as I fell all the way down.
I hit the tree with a crunch and felt myself go limp. The flames in my hands were still burning, but I couldn’t see a damned thing. Regardless of that, I was smiling. For I had seen natural light for the first time in what felt like forever. I had found a way out.
I kept my eyes shut, resisting the urge to open them. I needed to stay day blind, so I could see where I was. I waited a moment to recover, dusted myself off and leapt once again, careful to make sure my torch was secure.
Once natural light touched my eyelids, I opened them. My senses cried out in pain, but I didn’t lose my vision. Instead, I could see the entire world around me. The great mountain range was behind me, and in front? I could see a huge city resting atop a hill. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of the great stone walls, erected to protect the humans presumably from all manner of monsters. It was real! There really was a place where other hunters gathered! If they lived anywhere, it had to be in that great city, right?
Gravity refused to give me a moment of peace, however, and began to take its hold of me, forcing me back down. I’d need to leap one more time, to orient myself in the right direction. Then I could head towards the mountains, leaping from treetop to treetop in order to keep my bearings.
I landed, took a deep breath, secured the torches and jumped once more, grinning like a m
adwoman, pleased with my discovery. As long as I kept my eyes closed, I wouldn’t be blinded with each jump.
Yet, as I sailed high out of the black fog, something screeched in the distance. Before I could find the mountains, a great shadowy beast came flying out of the darkness below, darting at me with madness in its eyes. It had the body of a lion, with the head of an eagle and great feathery wings that spanned out nine feet. In many ways, it reminded me of the manticore, with the exception that it looked noble, proud and strong. I knew this creature full well, the mighty Griffin, spoken about in great detail by Venators of old.
Most curiously, the creature was dripping wet with fluid…wait, I had seen that before. No, that couldn’t be…it was amniotic fluid? Was this thing recently hatched? It must have been hatched and then immediately came here. To me. How curious.
The Griffin had little trouble navigating towards me. Though it glistened from its recent birth, the creature was fully formed, nearly nine feet in length, with long powerful lion claws, ready to rend me to shreds. The wings flapped with precision and intensity, thrusting the beast towards me at full speed. I had barely reached the apex of my leap and the thing had already emerged from the shadows and zeroed in on me.
But this was a blessing in disguise. For an alternative form of travel had just manifested itself in front of me. I just had to be careful in how I pulled this off.
Grabbing both hand crossbows from my leg holsters, I took aim at the haunches of the Griffin, firing without hesitation. My grapple bolts fired, crashing into the beast’s buttocks as it reached me, claws up and ready to strike. I had little time to act, so I made a choice. Rather than try to protect myself, I opted to wrap the grapple cables around my arms tightly, ensuring that I could stay hooked onto the beast no matter what.
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