I brought Lily back to the skylight cavern, where I figured she’d be safer as I took time to explore the tunnels and figure out how many red masks may be down here searching for us.
The sky above was darkening, and I was less worried about red masks flying into this cavern at night. If they were going to find it, it would certainly be during the day.
Lily seemed to understand and accept I’d go off without her at night, so once she was settled in the cave, she watched me go without complaint.
I then backtracked through the tunnels as best as I could remember. Past the cave with the low-level frogs, down another tunnel, and past a fork in the paths, always keeping a Pulse Sense active.
Still no red masks… Did they really give up on finding us? I wondered.
Then, as I made it to another familiar cavern with a pond, I saw a large snake with its head chopped off, blood staining the ground. It was the one that had tried to bite me when I took a drink. My tail drooped, and I used another {Pulse Sense} just to be safe, and this time I did pick something up.
There were two heartbeats further back… I believe near the entrance to the cave.
It had been about afternoon just yesterday when we were first chased here. I did not know how far away the red masks lived, but in order to get reinforcements, they would need to fly back, arrange a hunting party, and then return here. Of the three that were searching for us yesterday, likely it was only the two heartbeats I currently sensed who stayed. They must have realized searching the caves by themselves would be futile so instead opted for simply blocking the entrance while waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
I walked closer to the snake and sniffed, examining where it had its head cut off. The cut was clean and flat, certainly from a blade of some type.
When the rest of the red masks arrived… how long would we remain safe? If there were ten or more who arrived, they could clear the cave in a matter of a day, perhaps.
Yes, there were some tight tunnels that would be difficult for a human to crawl through, but not impossible.
I activated Veil of Shadows to improve my stealth and moved closer to the humans. I had no plans to take a two-on-one fight with stronger opponents, but perhaps I could learn something by spying on them. If I were spotted, I knew I was faster and could escape into the depths of the caves again.
Slowly I moved closer, staying tight to the wall, until muffled voices turned to recognizable speech.
“Hm, night’s settling in,” the woman said. I had caught her name previously. It was… Geirna? Yes, I think that was it.
“Hmmm… Perhaps Rakul did not make it back yesterday before stopping for the night. In that case, they will not return until morning.”
“Afternoon, maybe,” Geirna said. “They won’t wish to fly through the night, so they’ll leave in the morning.”
“Either way, there are only a few ways out, and I doubt the pups will make it so far… Pass me that.”
I crept a little closer until I came around a bend in the cave wall and saw them. They sat at the entrance of the cave, both with their masks off, propped against boulders, and passing a bottle between them. The man took a deep drink and then wiped his mouth off. “Bigger concern’s if they get themselves killed.”
“The larger of the two survived the forest, somehow,” Geirna pointed out. “It explains her unusually high level. Well, I suspect whatever took out the scout party, the Hell Hound reaped the benefits of finishing whoever was left. Still impressive for her development…”
“All this trouble for two little pups…” the man muttered, passing the drink. “Here.”
Geirna took a gulp. “You saw the parents. That’s what these pups could grow into. If Valrok is right about being able to control one, it will change everything. Hell, with such strength we could attack those damn Amarii directly!”
Amarii? What are those? I wondered.
“But Valrok already has a dragon…” the man pointed out.
“The dragon couldn’t defeat the three-headed Hell Hound on its own. Don’t you see? The potential of these pups goes far beyond even a dragon.”
“Yet… Valrok is giving the one we are keeping to that daughter of his.”
My eyes narrowed. Valrok… That's the name of the dragon rider. The man who killed my father. And, he plans to give one of my siblings to his daughter?
Something about that stirred my anger even greater. As if we were property he could just gift to someone.
Geirna shrugged and passed the bottle back to him. “Valrok has led us to greatness before. I say trust his judgement.”
The man hesitated, then huffed before taking a drink.
“What?” Geirna asked.
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“I feel he is losing his touch…” the man muttered.
Geirna scoffed. “I didn’t realize you were one of them.”
“I’m just saying,” he said defensively. “Many of our people died to—”
“It was a god-tier monster, and the mother was epic-tier herself. Of course there were losses!”
“One of those losses…” the man growled, standing up and then shouting, “was my cousin!”
“Don’t raise your voice to me, you drunk bastard!” Geirna shouted as she stood as well.
The man drew a curved blade that was sheathed low on his back while Geirna grabbed her spear.
My ears perked up.
Wait, wait, wait! If they fight and hurt each other… maybe I could…
My tail wagged at the possibility.
“Your cousin was welcomed with honor by the Almighty Above! You disgrace his memory if you think his life was wasted.”
“Aye, my cousin died with honor, but the greater disgrace would be the spoils of battle going to an undeserving whelp whose only claim to it is past deeds of her father! Meanwhile, we are left to clean up his failures while we continue to show him honor!”
“You have guts to question a warrior far your superior. Let’s see if they are still inside you after this—”
Geirna struck first, charging at him. He raised an arm, parrying her thrust with his bracer, then swinging his sword at her. She jumped back, landed on her back foot, but then dropped into a roll. My ears perked, noting her injured leg once again. However, it was still a controlled movement as she compensated and popped back up in time to block his next strike with the pole of her spear. He staggered from the parry and she swung her spear around. She had an opening for a fatal blow! But, instead, she whacked his side with the flat of her spearhead. He stumbled, and she pressed the attack, this time swiping low and knocking his feet out from under him as he attempted a sloppy counter.
Now on the ground, he was stopped by her spear tip at his throat.
“If you cannot defeat me, you are so far inferior to the great Valrok it is laughable. Drop your blade, fool.”
His fist tensed on the hilt of his sword, then it loosened, and he dropped it, muttering, “Only because I am drunk…”
Gerina chuckled softly and removed her spear from his throat, then to my disappointment, she reached her other hand down and helped him up.
Too bad… I thought.
“I know well the sting of losing one of your blood,” Gerina said, patting his shoulder once he was on his feet. “We were young when the Amarii last attacked—you remember, but not as I do. My father died in that battle. Yet, it was Valrok and his dragon who held them back. They have not tried to repeat such an attack since and have been reduced to poking at us from the shadows.” She paced over to the forgotten bottle and snatched it off the ground before taking a drink.
The man’s head hung low until he was offered the bottle, and he also took a drink. “But do you not see how he uses us to accomplish his own ambitions?”
“His ambition is to raise his daughter to match his own greatness. She carries the Wyrmscar Legacy—a legendary skill the Almighty Above saw fit to bless her with. The same skill that allows him to tame monsters our own Beast Tamer skills never could.”
“But what good is a legendary skill in the hands of…” He scoffed and shook his head. “You’ve heard the rumors, have you not? Elva Wyrmscar is not her father.”
“I have, but I choose to believe in our champion and to place faith in his blood that she may one day prove herself.”
“And if she never does?”
“Say what you will, but Valrok’s plan is clear. With a dragon in the skies and a Hell Hound at his daughter’s heel, our enemies will tremble at the thought of the Bloody Peaks Tribe!” She thrust the bottle in the air. “The Almighty sees our worth and sent us champions so that we may realize our greatness. That is where I choose to place my faith!”
The man didn’t argue this, though I wasn’t sure he looked convinced.
Looking to the sky, she then settled beside the boulder her mask was propped against. “You take the first watch. Wake me when you grow tired.” The man reached for the bottle, but she pulled it away. “You’ve drunk enough.”
“Bah!” he grumbled, but instead of complaining further, he walked over to a wall and leaned against it, folding his arms.
I tensed as he looked my way, but he didn’t see me thanks to Veil of Shadows. He instead scanned the darkness of the cave for a moment before letting his gaze drift back out and to the sky, which had by now lost all of its red to a light purple that would soon turn black.
I replayed their fight in my mind, wondering if I should have attacked while they were busy. But no, it would still be a two-on-one fight, and I wasn’t sure a sneak attack would be enough to turn the odds in my favor. I used a {Marrow Sense}, confirming their bones were all green except for the woman’s ankle that was still red. Anything short of an instant kill and turning it into a one-on-one fight wouldn’t be enough… Hell, I wasn’t even sure I could take one alone at my current strength… But maybe if I evolved again, that would change…
I turned away, going back into the cave. There were some important things I learned, at least.
Most immediately, I realized Lily and I were on a tighter clock than I had hoped. At the beginning of their conversation they mentioned there only being a few ways out… That meant they knew this cave system better than I had hoped they would. They simply did not pursue us for the sake of us not slipping past this exit. It also meant, once their allies arrived, they would surely block those exits, and escape would be impossible without a fight.
I exhaled with anxiety, realizing the odds we were against us and that I needed to come up with a plan.
Do I grab Lily and move through the night, searching for another exit before the rest of the red masks arrive?
Or do I go back to the arcane cavern and try to unlock my next Path? It was possible I could hit stage 4 development by sleeping tonight, and if I was really lucky, getting an achievement could help my development along further.
I wasn’t sure what the best way forward was at the moment.
But behind those thoughts, other things clawed at my mind.
The name of my father’s killer was Valrok, and his daughter was Elva Wyrmscar—the one who would “inherit” one of my siblings.
The thought filled me with rage.
I could almost imagine her. A red-masked girl, standing over Iris or one of my brothers, treating them as property, something to be tamed and made hers.
I forced it away from my mind. I couldn’t be distracted, not now. I would get back at these so-called “Wyrmscars” another day, but I couldn’t do that if Lily and I did not first escape these caves. Whether that was by sneaking out before they arrived or gaining the strength to fight my way out…
Escape… or train? Both options before me felt like a Hail Mary, but which was the most likely to succeed?
If I opted to find an escape, we might waste the night traveling the dark tunnels and be too weak to fight tomorrow. If I opted to train, I might still fall short of obtaining my new Path.
Even if we found an escape, who’s to say the red masks wouldn’t continue to hunt us wherever we escaped to?
If I succeeded in obtaining my new Path, would it even be enough?
But… here in the caves, we did have another advantage. There were choke points that could keep things as a one-on-one fight, and in the darkness of these tunnels my skills gave me a further advantage.
Yes, I had to become stronger. It was the only way.
With that decided on, I headed back for the arcane cavern, praying it was the right choice.
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