My courage either deserted me just then, or made the bright decision for me to turn and run. I wanted to lead the monster away from the cave.
“Someone’s down here,” I yelled over my shoulder. “They need help. In the cave.”
There had been at least three iepurrans running off after I’d talked about the dungeon. Given the fainting and then the tea, the whole thing had ultimately slipped my mind. Now, if I added things together—the surprise, the huddle, the panicked rush, the secluded area—it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened.
Whatever afflicted the dungeon could also affect the outside environment. The tree had been proof of that. If there was a monster inside the dungeon, there could also be monsters outside it. In hindsight, it made sense.
The iepurrans had gone out searching for more signs of the same corruption or to warn the ones working in the fields. Seemed like the reasonable approach. Unfortunately, they had gotten exactly what they’d wanted, and too much of it.
Splashes announced the creature giving chase through the stream, its grumble and roar sounding louder and closer with each step.
Was I leading it away? Or was I running for my life?
My midriff was aflame with pain, not cooled in the least by the water. I was bleeding and feeling myself growing faint with each moment. The pain dug at me and kept the adrenaline flowing, though I wasn’t convinced it would for long.
I was heading downstream, trying to put some distance between me and the monster. In the corner of my eye I could see flickers of lights descending the wall of the gorge.
Please be torches and not just me seeing stars!
A loud squawking and an equally loud splash. I ducked on instinct, feeling the displaced air of something passing overhead at the speed of a missile. Clanking—metal clanking—announced something that had tried to rip off my head but missed.
[CONGRATULATIONS]
[YOU HAVE TRAINED A NEW SKILL]
[YOU HAVE UNLOCKED - INSTINCT REACTION - INITIATE]
[WARNING]
[THIS SKILL IS NOT PART OF YOUR CLASS BUILD]
[LEVELLING THIS SKILL WILL NOT COUNT TOWARDS YOUR GROWTH]
What the fuck?! Terrible timing! I wanted to rage at the text but only blinked it away. I’d consider it if I survived the fucking fight.
I finally laid eyes on the second monster. It wasn’t the same kind of creature as the previous. Rather, this was some fucked up version of an ostrich. The head was entirely too large for the long, slender neck that held it up; the beak was some razor cacophony of metal and bone, the edges ridged as if designed to render meat. The thing stood taller than I was, held up by two thick legs that shone as if covered in stainless steel.
It squatted in the water, head lowered and aimed like an arrow in my direction, ready to leap again.
“Nice birdy,” I gurgled, trying to spit out silt and muddy water.
The bird shot forward like a bolt from a crossbow, beak aimed straight at me.
My mind blanked as the thing escaped Eternity’s cone of light. On pure instinct I brought my sword up and around in an arc, the motion delayed by a heartbeat.
Blade connected to beak with a screech of glass on metal. The impact shot up my arm, but it also sent the bird reeling, head whipped back.
[CONGRATULATIONS]
[YOU HAVE TRAINED A NEW SKILL]
[YOU HAVE UNLOCKED: PARRY - INITIATE]
“Duck off,” I yelled, willing the message out of my sight.
That had barely bought me a moment. It came at me again, razor beak lunging like the tip of a living spear. I deflected once again, by the skin of my teeth, and kicked out. I missed and the bird leapt. Only luck saved me from getting scalped: I slipped on some smooth rock hidden under the water. I went down with a splash and the bird’s steel claws missed me by less than a hair. I felt them rake across the top of my head, drawing lines of pain.
“Jesus fuck!” I cried out, trying desperately to rise before the thing wheeled back.
My blue bar was refilled at about a quarter. I caught sight of it at the same time as I saw the bird whip its head around like a… I have no idea what the fuck it looked like anymore. Similes and metaphors failed me that moment as I had barely a heartbeat to react.
I activated [ADRENALINE SURGE] again.
The world slowed and my blue bar went down to near nothing. I watched the razor beak in its stuttering approach, mind racing to force my body to move.
Three things happened at nearly the same time.
First was that I took a step sideways.
Second was that I brought the blade up.
Third was the bird’s head detaching from its body as the blade passed through the extended neck, just below the skull. I felt no impact and, for a frightening moment, I thought I’d missed.
Then perception slammed back into normal speed and blood sprayed out of the stump. The bird fell and splashed, writhing in its final moments as it bled out. Its head washed away in the current.
I dropped straight on my ass, water coming up to my chin, gasping for breath. My stomach roiled and there was a bitter taste in the back of my throat. Everything hurt.
Moments later, the stench hit me as a dark stain filled the river. Both bird and stalker decomposed like the bear had, and their combined filth turned my stomach.
The tea wasn’t so wonderful when coming out…
[CONGRATULATIONS]
[YOU HAVE DEFEATED: SQUAWKER x1]
[YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 2!]
[YOU HAVE GAINED: 1 ATTRIBUTE POINT]
[YOU HAVE GAINED: 1 SKILL POINT]
Pain hit me, blinding, searing, making my teeth rattle as I clenched my jaw. It came in a wave and passed just as suddenly, leaving behind bone deep exhaustion. Water flowed clear around me, the bleeding from my cuts finally stopped.
Again, I’d been healed. It hurt like a motherfucker when it happened, but at least I wasn’t losing blood anymore.
“Fuck. You!” I gasped out. I wasn’t sure if was meant for the bird, Eternity, or just the universe at large.
I sat in the stream for what felt like hours. It couldn’t have been more than a minute before new splashes sounded in the water. For a moment I panicked and tried to rise, thinking there was some third monster ready to take its turn. But the torches reflecting in the gentle current did not promise violence.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
“Honoured guest!” I recognized Eklil’s voice.
With no more energy to answer, I just raised a hand and waved. The smell of decay was flowing away in a gentle breeze, as was the filth in the water.
“Are you hurt?” Eklil asked as he reached me. There were two more iepurrans with him, each one brandishing a spear.
“The others—” I began, but the words coming out were a rasp.
“They are being cared for. We have the village healer with us.” I felt gentle hands trying to help me rise. “Come, honoured guest. Ielup will see to your wounds.”
“I’m okay,” I said, feeling strength returning. “I got healed… I think.” I patted myself with my free hand as Eklil and one of the other iepurrans helped me stay on my feet.
I breathed out a long, weary sigh. I felt as if I’d been run over by a bus. Like before, I was starving after the level up, and my bowels were screaming and roaring in gurgles.
“Don’t suppose we’ll still make supper,” I rasped, my throat raw.
“For you, I will have them cook an entire feast even if it’s the middle of the night,” Eklil answered, voice tight.
“I’ll dig up the garden if need be,” one of the others said, voice fraying at the edges as it tried to match my false bravado.
We were all on edge as we splashed back to the other torches. If there had been two monsters, there could be even more.
“Eternity, are there others?” I asked as we got on dry ground. “Can you tell?”
“I cannot,” Eternity answered.
“Can’t or won’t?”
There was a pause before it answered, “Can’t. Glitch artefacts are invisible to this fragment’s… senses.”
I caught the slight pause in what it had said. One more hint to the pile, maybe. We shuffled through the water, up to the mouth of the cave.
The scene inside was an abattoir.
One iepurran lay in a puddle of blood and offal, its entire upper torso ripped to shreds. Entrails were strewn about, black sludge oozing out of the tattered ends. I felt my stomach cramp up painfully and I turned away, squeezing my eyes shut as if that would purge what I’d just seen.
One of the iepurrans had the same reaction, both of us heaving heavily out in the grass. All thoughts of food fled my mind and it was all I could do not to crumple to the ground, screaming. This… I couldn’t take this…
“Willpower, as a stat, will mitigate some of the psychological impact of such… unfortunate circumstances.” Eternity spoke softly, right in my ear, the light blob diminished to the size of a firefly.
Shivering with revulsion, I opened my stats page between surges of wracking heaves. It didn’t matter what else I could do with those stats, in that moment I only wanted the surging horror to go away. Both points got dropped into Willpower.
I didn’t even read what the prompt said when it popped up.
It barely took the edge off, but it helped. I braved another look, avoided staring at the corpse, and, instead, laid eyes on a iepurran kneeling over one of the surviving victims.
Blood on the ground reflected torchlight dully. It also reflected the characters the iepurran was drawing in the air. It had one hand on the victim’s chest—a chestnut furred tall iepurran, with a deep gash sectioning it from neck to stomach. Pink entrails peeked out from folds of ripped flesh.
The healer—Ielup—was frantically writing on the air. Her finger trailed light that remained behind like an imprint upon the world. All her attention was on that task, working frantically as if she was laying down a thesis.
I stood silent and just stared. Two other guards landed outside the cave. At a look from Eklil, they picked up the third victim and carried it out. This one had no visible wounds. It was awake but couldn’t stand, eyes unfocused and filmy as if it had been hit on the head. They rushed away, hopping quickly up the slope of the gorge.
That only left the healer. I stared at her back, not understanding any of the characters she drew, but fascinated by the sight. For a brief moment I could even ignore the ghastly scene splayed out just paces away. Eklil stood by me, hands clasped together, eyes closed. He was muttering something. Could have been a prayer. Or an incantation.
I didn’t disturb either with questions, instead taking up position at the cave mouth, alternatively watching the dark and the healer.
Finally, Ielup finished. She took one long look at what she had written, seemed to read it quietly, then pressed both hands to the wounded one’s chest. The light of the words began dripping like wax, melted words seeping into the wounds. Each dripped away to a different part of the body and, where the liquid light touched flesh, the wounds closed up as if they’d never been. If not for the shocking shade of red on fur, I would’ve never known the iepurran had been wounded.
Ielup pitched forward, sucking in gasping breaths. It looked to me like this magic wasn’t something easily or cheaply used.
“Help me with him,” she spoke to Eklil. “He is stable but needs attention. Help me carry him.”
I stepped forward, leaned down and picked up the iepurran. He weighed much less than I expected and I found myself easily cradling him in my arms.
“Guide me,” I said. “I don’t trust my footing up the hill.”
With Eklil and the healer’s help, I managed to get about three quarters of the way back to the village. Light or not, a burden in the arms gets heavy after a time. I did my best, but ultimately had to pass him to the two others. My back and shoulders burned with the effort, and it was my turn to lead the way.
The town was a hive of activity. Gawkers stood on porches and watched us passing by. Some were rushing about with towels and buckets of water. One was crying, face hidden in palms, ears laid completely back. A part of me twinged at the sight. I wanted to stop and reach out, offer an apology that I hadn’t been faster, say… something.
I didn’t, lacking the words and the connection. I had no idea what to say or how to take away the sting. I just turned away and followed Eklil towards the healer’s home.
Like Eklil’s home, Ielup’s was a jungle inside. Not only did she have plants on every surface and hanging off every beam, she also had a variety of diagrams hung up, each displaying some details of iepurran anatomy. The place smelled of strong alcohol mixed in with a heavy dose of mint and citrus.
It was hard to ignore the lingering, coppery scent of blood.
After the sight I’ve seen, this homely place with its plants and stoppered green bottles and glass apparatus looked even more like something out of a children’s picture book. It was hard to reconcile the contrast.
We laid our charge on a straw pallet while Ielup called for her assistants. The other two were already resting on other beds, tended by a gaggle of their peers.
“They will all live,” the healer said quietly. She looked about as old and wizened as Eklil. “The shock will wear out by morning I believe.” She tended to the other two, administering salves and forcing them to drink some mixture an assistant had prepared.
Finally, Ielup gave me a look up and down.
“I haven’t met a human before,” she said. “Not in the flesh. I have no tablets or books on you. I can’t tell at a glance if you’re well or not.” She sighed. “So… are you well, honoured guest? Do you need my attention?”
“I’m fine, thank you.” I would’ve preferred my voice not tremble quite as it did. “I think I was healed.” My shirt hung in tatters off me,
She stared at me for an uncomfortably long time, black eyes boring into mine. “Have you… experienced any sight like the one today?” she asked finally, leaning back to sit heavily on a padded chair.
I shook my head.
To that, she indicated a cabinet. “Grab the yellowroot tonic, Eklil,” she said. “Top shelf. Yes, that one. Give it to our guest, please.”
The flask was about the size of a normal medicine vial from home, filled with a bright yellow liquid that sloshed thickly.
“If dreams bother you, drink that,” Ielup said. “It will dull the sting of what we’ve all witnessed.”
I wanted to protest and hand it back, but better sense prevailed. I tucked the vial away into a pocket, though I doubted I’d even try to sleep that night.
“Thank you,” I said, feeling awkward in the middle of the room. The three wounded iepurrans were all asleep now, resting quietly as Ielup went to check on each in turn.
Eklil led me out and back to his home. We didn’t speak. Guards were out in force, patrolling in groups of two of fours, spear tips glittering with the light of their torches. Each group had at least one guard who wore a black toga, but I was too tired to ask about it.
I didn’t get to see the lit-up homes that night, the entire village keeping their windows tightly shuttered. Even the lights on the street were kept covered. By the time we reached Eklil’s home, the only signs of life were the thin slits of light peeking out through the shutters.
We elected to skip food after all. Neither of us had a stomach for it at that hour, after events. Hunger gnawed at me, but the nausea that rose every time I thought on the cave made it easy to ignore.
Sleep? I did not sleep. I also didn’t drink the tonic I’d been given.
What I did do, however, was read through every nook and cranny of the interface that I could access. Every skill. Every stat. Every vague description.
Maybe this wasn’t real. Maybe, for some God-knows what oxygen-starved insanity, I was hallucinating this absurd violence. I wanted to believe it was all fake, all an illusion or some bad dream or just some cruel self-flagellation.
The horrid scene kept playing across the surface of my thoughts. The shocking red of exposed meat. The white of bone poking out through skin. The pink of entrails and the dark sludge oozing out of them.
I had no idea who that iepurran had been. I didn’t even know its name. I hadn’t asked. Couldn’t…
And I hated that I didn’t know its name. Hated that it had happened at all. For a long hour I hated Eternity for not telling me anything, not warning me, not divulging anything. A fucking word and all of this may not have happened.
All of it may not have happened at all if I hadn’t gone into the village…
Still, better sense finally prevailed towards the early hours of morning. It was when I began planning.
I would be damned if I let this happen again. I had no idea how I could wring answers out of Eternity, at least not without somehow gaining more insight, but I could at least understand what tools I had and what I could build with them.
A project began taking shape just as light cracked outside.
I had three big pain points that I needed sorted: I was angry, I was wildly uninformed, and I was scared that people could die so easily here. Solving the first one wasn’t likely unless I found a way to crack Eternity’s silent code, the second was marred by the lack of a manual for this whole insanity, but I had a measure of control over the third. Even if my class had been constructed out of paranoia, it had still provided me with tools. It was time I learned to use them.
Patreon.