((Book 1 if this is your first time here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZZBHBMF))
I stumble out of a closet and into a cramped room. Moonlight bleeds through a window and through the space between the floor and the bottom of the door leading out of the room. An animal skin run is laid out over the hardpacked earth floor, and the wind howls through the mouth of an inert fireplace. Two beds were set up on opposite sides of the room. A pair of chairs, and a single table.
"What's the goal of this dive?" I ask.
I had learned throughout the last few doors, that unless I used the phrase, 'dive,' with the shard, Reynard wouldn't respond to the question.
"Destroy the Outpost."
An outpost? That seems a little much for one person to do. I look around the room briefly, before the sound of muted dialogue on the wind comes in through the window. I tap my head with my cane and whisper.
"O companion of mine, I require thy form," and once I find myself fully shrunk down, I slip into the shadows, and observe the door as the dialogue neared.
The voices were a rough bark and a low growl. Dogmen? No, the second one sounded different. A second later the door swings open and two figures step in. A ratman enters first; its hunched visage blocks the light coming through the now-opened door. Behind him was the hulking silhouette of a stern-faced dogman. The ratman held a small torch in his hand and a bundle of wood beneath his arm. He pulls out a kindling plug, places it in the fireplace, and slowly begins the work of starting a fire within it.
All the while, the dogman slams the body of what looks like two large winged squirrels, down on a table near the beds. Both of their backs were turned toward me, and neither of them seemed to be armed with anything larger than a hunting knife, or a wood-cutting axe. Neither did they have armor; instead they wore folded layers of cloth that draped over their body of various colors.
I creep forward; paw in front of paw, until I was behind the Ratman; still on his knees blowing into the fire. What little noise could be heard from my approach was covered by the sounds of the dogman butchering the two strange animals. I release the cat form, and strike as soon as I'm ready; landing a solid kick in the middle of the hunched Ratman's back. It sprawls forward into the embers — the sudden gust of wind, as it fell, caused the embers to ignite into a full flame that engulfs its head. I point my cane around to the dogman while he turns to see what the noise is about and keep my leg on the back of the thrashing rat.
"An awl, O' thou servants of Gob the Highest, to strike my enemies."
Hard-packed earth juts up in a spike and pierces the unarmored dogman through the groin. The spike rips through and shatters the creature's ribs on its exit. It whines a breathless whine as its deflated lungs expel what air they held, and then it dies. The ratman follows soon after as it swallows lungfuls of flame, smoke, and ash. I pull the golden ring off of the tail of the ratman, put it in my pocket, and set the wood-cutting axe and the hunting knife in the dust next to the door.
This is the first time that I've seen both of these races interacting. Interesting. I wipe my spear point off on the clothes of the dogman and push through the front door into the night. Thick old-growth forests surround the lodge and the clearing that I had found myself in, and a thin path cut through the foliage and tall, green-blue grass that clusters near the ground and reaches out over the thin path cut through it.
The sound of raucous animal life emerged from the woods, and I decide against venturing too far out. It was late, anyways, and while I was not physically exhausted, mentally it was as if I were hanging on a thin, thin thread. I turn around and walk back into the lodge. I pull the bodies out easily and toss them into the dark woods by grabbing their stiffening ankles, rotating my hips, and spinning; releasing just as their momentum hit its apex. I set myself up in the lodge after that; placing my bag down at the foot of the larger of the two beds, and climbing into it.
My stomach rumbles. When was the last time I had a hot meal? I had crackers and packets of fruit snacks in my bag, but that, and cheap takeout, was all I've had since the beginning of this thing, and I want something more...ah, I should have asked William if there was somewhere on the compound where I could eat. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I look at the two bodies of the strange animals sitting on the table, and then at the hunting knife sitting on the floor next to the closet door I had stepped out of. Could I? It couldn't hurt to try. The bed squeals as I push myself up, and I grab hold of the knife by the door and approach the strange animals.
Now that I have a closer look at the animals, I could see my initial impression wasn't that far off. It had large, leathery wings like those of a bat, except these were covered with hollow quills that burned a little when they pricked. Venom? How would it get in the quills? I slide the knife down to the center of the underside of the wing. I must have accidentally pressed too hard at one point, as a dark liquid spread through the flesh. Even with the layer of leather between my skin and the spreading blackness, my fingertips begin to tingle and burn as if I had just dunked them in bleach. I drop the animal and move away from the table. The wing bursts, and the purple liquid pooled in the wing burst out. The venom burns through the wood and collapses the table. I hop back so that it doesn't splash against my legs.
I sigh. I suppose it's crackers and fruit snacks tonight. I grumble to myself; step over the puddle seeping into the mud, sit on the edge of the bed to eat my pitiful meal, and pull out the small blanket tucked in the bottom of my bag and cover myself with it after removing my boots and socks. I had to get comfortable, after all.
Falling asleep, however, was impossible. Why? Nerves? No. I'm not nervous. In fact, one might say that I'm confident I could handle anything that was thrown at me. Was that belief mistaken? Possibly, but an unshakable arrogance has taken over. Regardless; something kept me from going to sleep. Something that needled at me at the very edge of my reason.
I close my eyes and just focus on easing my anxiety and slipping off to sleep, but sleep cannot come. Nothing I do seems to usher it in, however. After about an hour of forcing my eyes closed; something else seems to stir my imagination — a single voice at the edge of my hearing; 'move.'
My eyes shoot open. Something stands above me; I can't tell what it is, as all I see is a bit of shimmering in the dark above me. The shimmering moves as if they were about to plunge something down into my heart.
"Oh shit."
I hold up my hands above my chest, and something pierces the palm of my left. I hiss and kick upwards. As quick as the wind it pulls the blade out of my hand, and pulls its outside leg toward the wall that the bed was pressed against, as my kick whiffs through the air.
Something swiftly slams down on my knee and pins my leg to the ground.
"You that bind the All, guard me against those that would cause me harm," I utter as I see it raise its shimmering arm back up to stab down at me.
Ping.
Its blade bounces off the shield, and the shimmering mass moves again. A great force slams against the shield, and the bed buckles and breaks; taking us to the ground. A rippling energy pierces through the shield and shatters it all at once, and the great force continues into my stomach. All the air flies out of my lungs as we settled on the ground.
Dust flies around the room, and sticks to the thing above me, revealing the figure of a tall and lean ratman. Whatever spell kept it invisible faded. I don't know if it was because of the dust, or just from a natural fading of the spell, and it fully comes into view. A ratman with brown fur, with bits of white peppered in it, and a fierce gaze stared down at me; his curled fist still sat on my stomach. The pressure continues to build as it pushes, and pushes. I grab hold of its wrist and try to pull it free from my middle, but it doesn't budge. It's like pulling against a tree root. I cough up a few smatterings of blood.
I grope the ground and pull up a handful of dust with my left hand and toss it into the face of the ratman. The dust entering the stab wound burns a little, but I don't pay it any mind. The ratman recoils, and I'm able to reach up, grip the creature by the neck and pull it down into a headbutt. My forehead smashes against its nose, and I pull again to clamp down on its neck with my teeth.
A burst of warmth washes through its body, and its neck stiffens. It feels as if I had just bitten into a slab of steel. If my teeth could break, they would have. It reaches down and grabs me by the collar of my shirt and pushes me back down. Its hands creep up and begin to wrap around my neck. I raise my foot and press it against its chest and begin to push to try to pry it off of me. It grins as it does not budge despite my struggle.
"Oh, you ruler of Olympus, lend thy power for my steps."
I manage to sputter out through my gritted teeth and failing breath. A surge of mana enters through the top of my head, and I push it out of my foot as quickly as possible before my breath fails.
Boom.
The force of the lightning exiting my foot sends the ratman assassin rocketing backward and crashing into the roof. It punches through the thatch, and I find myself sucking in as much air as possible. Was that it? I push myself to my feet and cough and sputter. Once more the eerie feeling returns, and I bend down to pick up my cane leaning against my bag. I grip it in my right as I hold my pierced left hand close; my blood runs freely
"Dance for me, o' djinn."
A dome of fire and wind bursts to life around me. That should at least give me some space.
"You that bind the All, guard me against those that would cause me harm."
A shield forms around me. And not a moment too late, as my dome of fire is parted like a curtain, and the ratman quickly closes the distance between the two of us. It thrusts forward with its palm, and my feet leave the ground. This time it's my time to go flying, as I slam against the wall, and punch through it, coming to a rolling stop a little down the path. I nearly fall over as I try to push myself up. Shards of wood stick in my shield; now cracking from the force of the blow.
"A volley, o' djinn."
I manage to sputter out just as the ratman began to climb out of the hole my body had made. Five flaming arrows streak forward, one after another so that the timing of their releases isn't the same. The ratman rushes forward and weaves through them, and with a step closes the distance between us once more.
With a hop backward, I manage to avoid the palm thrust. The force of it, however, still roars past me like a lion. At this distance, I could see where my kick had scorched layers of cloth and singed the fur beneath. I reach forward and grab it by the arm to hold the ratman assassin in place. Instead, it yanks me forward and collapses into me with a shoulder charge. It feels as if a truck had just rammed into me, and once more I find myself on the ground. I try to push myself up, but my head spins and swoons. Poison? When? The dagger? Ah...shit. No. The poison-packed dust by the table that I had grabbed with my injured hand.
I try to push myself up, but the poison coursing through my veins weakens me. Shit. This is it... I'm going to die. Unless I counteract the poison some—that's right, I still had a skill point to use from getting level 27.
"Get, 'cure poison,'" I speak to the Shard. It was a spell in the healing tree that I had seen some time ago, that I had thought of using on my father whenever he drank.
The creature, probably thinking that I was trying to cast another spell, pushes all the harder. The knowledge of the spell rushes into my brain, and with one push, I turn my head so that my mouth wasn't pressed against the dirt. I clench my indestructible jaw so that it takes a majority of the pressure so that my skull doesn't pop like a too-ripe grape.
"Dian Cecht I require thine waters pure, for asp's bite to cure. Less I fall to Balor's gaze, and see no more the coming days." I about near whisper through my clenched teeth. The ground cracks around my head.
Mana rushes up my feet from the ground and rushed through my veins like cold water. Soon the numbing pain ceded, and my strength began to return. I need to create some space...
"By the order of Gob, king of the spirits of the earth, I order you, oh gnomes, seize my enemies."
A hand grows underneath me, grasps me around the waist and chest, and pushes me up with enough force to knock the ratman away from me. I pour enough mana to grow it absurdly large so that I'm dangling from the hand a good ten feet up.
"A volley o' djinn," I speak as I dangle up from the hand. If only I could
Five arrows streak forth, and the ratman dodges backward.
"Oh, thou invisible beings that dwell within all, slow the steps of all those before me."
The beam strikes the retreating ratman in the middle of its body, and it slows down in its step backward, and I think back to the other spell William had used throughout that day.
"Oh you spirits under the command of Gob the magnificent, the all enduring, the beautiful, I implore you to move the earth for me.
Under the ratman's slowed feet the earth collapses, and it vanishes into the hole. I pour as much mana as I could into it, after that I collapse the massive hand holding me up and run forward as quickly as I could. The hole had to be about fifty feet deep, and even slowed the ratman was already halfway up by the time I got to the edge.
"I allow the blood of the salamanders to flow through me."
All the mana I could now muster I muster and a sea of burning ash flows out of my cane and into the hole. Thousands of pounds of black and red ash fall upon the climbing head of the ratman. All I hear is a quick yelp as it is buried alive beneath the cinders. I know it's dead when the headache from the overuse of mana is lessened just a little when I level up once again.
I fall backward and lay on the ground. My shoulders heaving, and pain radiating through my body.