The rations Raith had packed were some sort of everything-loaf that soldiers took out on campaign. He and Nyhm had received a bunch from their dad, along with a warning to drink plenty of water while when you ate the things or risk getting clogged up. They were dry, mostly tasteless, and what little taste they did have was dubious. Supposedly, the rations had all the nutrients required to keep you healthy, and he appreciated how simple that made meals on the road.
Nyhm sat next to him near the fire, nibbling at his rations and staring silently into the flame. It was a clear night, and the smoke from the fire disappeared into the blackness as it rose to meet the star filled sky.
Thea and Silas sat on the other side, miserably eating the provisions Raith had shared from their supply and staring at Tolliver with a combination of envy and anger.
Whatever was in the bowl of meat and spiced noodles certainly smelled delicious, but Raith didn’t care nearly as much as Thea seemed to. She was glaring a hole through the noble.
“I don’t believe you actually have an allergy.,” Thea said.
Tollvier looked up from his food, looking affronted and not the least bit embarrassed.
“I said that I have a delicate stomach, not an allergy. If we find ourselves in a situation where the team faces starvation, I will gladly share my provisions.”
He took another loud slurp of the noodles he’d had preserved in an extra-dimensional pouch. A mosquito alighted on his face, and for a minute Raith was afraid Thea would use it as an excuse to smack the [Mage].
Before she had a chance, the noble noticed it himself and slapped it. The insect burst with blood on his cheek. Tolliver looked at his hand in disgust and wiped it on his robes, then used his sleeve to wipe at his face.
“I hate these cursed insects.”
Thea was not feeling especially sympathetic.
“Change yourself to a bat and eat the lot of them. You’ll be free of the bugs and I can have your noodles. Everyone wins.”
“That is utterly revolting. I will do no such thing.”
Raith thought he saw an opportunity to get back into Silas and Thea’s good graces.
“Hey, Tolliver. I’ll let you borrow my bracelet for the day if you share your food with those two.”
The pale man furrowed his brow.
“Why would you make such an offer for them and not yourself?”
He glanced at Nyhm, who shrugged.
“I don’t really care what we eat.”
For the first time since the food came out, Silas, Thea and Tolliver found themselves aligned. The [Ranger] stared at Raith and Nyhm in uncomprehending horror.
“Have you never had good food before?”
“Sure. I guess. It’s just not that important.”
“So long as it’s not rotten,” Nyhm offered. “Had my fill of rotted food in the pits.”
Tolliver’s mouth hung open, and Raith couldn’t decide if he was more aghast at the thought of rotten food or their uncultured palates.
“Don’t tell me you’ve lived in Beckhaven your entire life and never dined at Bentham’s.”
“Weaver’s help me, but their rolls are divine,” Thea said with a look of ecstasy.
“Rolls?” Tolliver asked. “Their spicy chicken and crawfish is one of the best dishes in the three kingdoms.”
This precipitated a half hour long discussion that alternated between reminiscence about favorite meals, and admonishing the brothers for their complete lack of taste. It hadn’t exactly been Raith’s plan, but bonding over food and giving him a hard time served to shake out the last of the team’s tension following a stressful couple of days.
The conversation eventually died down, and after a while Raith scurried up a tree to stand watch as his team drifted off to a well deserved sleep.
A few hours later, he woke everyone up after hearing an alarming chorus of noises surround them. Silas informed him that the noises were not a gathering horde of monsters, but just a weird frog. Raith apologized for bothering the team, thoroughly embarrassed, and the rest of the night passed without incident.
The following morning began smoothly, everyone’s spirits were relatively high after a good night’s sleep. Tolliver slapped at his neck as he put away the last of the gear and cursed loudly.
“Should have taken me up on that offer,” Raith said.
“If the item was worth bringing on this expedition, our household’s outfitter would have provided me with one.”
Raith smiled as the [Mage] slapped at another mosquito on his arm. The insects really seemed to like the poor guy.
“Perhaps he didn’t know of them. My sister created these for us.”
Tolliver harrumphed.
“An amateur enchanter? Even more reason not to use it.”
“I’m not the one getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, asshole.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth, then Raith heard a bug buzz directly into his ear hole. He let out a shout and dug at his ear with a finger to try to remove the offending creature.
Then he noticed the smirk on Tolliver’s face.
And he remembered.
“You low down, dirty, cheating harpy’s ass. It was you during the match.”
Tolliver’s eyes widened as he realized his mistake and he took a step back. Raith raised an accusing finger.
“You bound the post on that play. I had you dead to rights!”
“I believe I shall scout the area to ensure the safety of the team.”
With a [Poof] of smoke, the [Mage] transformed and darted off above the trees.
“This isn’t over, you hobfucker!” Raith called, but the bat was gone.
He looked around, and the rest of the team was staring at him with raised eyebrows. Raith pointed after the [Mage] and stuttered.
“He…that sonuvabitch…” He dropped his arm and hung his head. “You know what, never mind. Let’s just get moving.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
As predicted, the Owl Rider’s domain was clear of any major monsters. The swamp was still rife with alligators, but they steered around those areas anyway so the animals did not pose much of a problem.
Around midday, they found a shady spot to break for a rest. They were again moving slower than expected, and had no idea how far they were from this farm. Silas assured he had seen no sign of human activity yet.
It was somehow more humid today than yesterday, and the heat was wearing everyone out fast. Fortunately, the water supply wasn’t an issue. Tolliver had an enchanted Canteen of Purification, and everyone filled theirs from it to keep from getting ill.
At least he was willing to share that much. Rich, cheating prick.
Raith still wasn’t over that little trick with the Audible Distraction spell. His thoughts drifted to possible tactical uses for it during combat. It had certainly been effective on him. There weren’t many people who could ignore having a bug buzzing directly into your head like that.
I wonder if he can make any other sounds. And can he make it come from somewhere else?
Questions that would have to wait until he didn’t want to choke the pale noble to death. A sharp pain in Raith’s buttcheek had him leaping to his feet.
“Yeoch!”
He rubbed at the spot, and his hand came away with blood on it. Something pierced right through the leather pants. Looking to where he had been sitting, a nearly two foot long emerald beetle clacked its pincers at him and scurried forward.
How in the five realms did that thing sneak up on me?!
A cry from behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Nyhm jump back with a beetle latched onto his leg. Blood seeped from around its pincers, and the elfling punched straight down onto its back, splitting the shell with a sharp crack and causing the creature to let go.
Raith activated [Exigent Offense], flinging his dart into the oncoming monster. The weapon hit the shell, glancing off at an angle with only a superficial scratch. As its pincers reached out, two more of the giant insects exploded from the ground and darted towards him.
Whirling to the side, Raith spun his weapon into the head of the nearest creature, severing an antenna and leaving a deep gash across its face. Spinning back the other direction, he cast the dart straight into the same spot, sinking the entirety of the metal into the thing’s head and stopping it in its tracks.
Five more burst up around him, and he scurried up a tree to create some distance while taking out another with a head shot. Another cast missed the small but vulnerable head and glanced off the creature’s shell. After two more near misses, Raith cursed and tried to reposition for a better angle. Precision training was going on the agenda after this.
He looked over to see Nyhm surrounded by six corpses, but more were appearing every second. Ghostly blue claws framed the elfling’s hands as he slashed savagely down at the insects, rending one shell into a mess of gore before focusing on the next. He looked up at Raith and tried to make his way towards him, but the growing swarm was already too thick.
Silas had found higher ground and was putting arrows into the ones closest to the elfling, who was quickly getting overwhelmed with the things. Thea sprinted towards the gathering horde at the base of Raith’s tree, pulverizing any she passed with her shield.
Where the fuck is Tolliver?
The beetles left him no time to ponder that question, as one tested the tree with a leg, and evidently finding it suitable, began to slowly climb up after him. Luckily, they weren’t very good climbers. He killed two more in their ascent, and a spinning dart knocked another back to the ground without doing much damage.
Thea had gotten to the base of the tree and was being swamped. The ground in front of her was covered in gross piles of yellowish blood and shattered emerald shells. She had several cuts on her legs where some had gotten through, but didn’t look seriously injured. Still, the damn things just kept coming.
Raith ran out to the end of a branch and leapt down, attacking the ones headed towards Thea from behind to take some of the pressure off of her. Their chitin continued to repel his weapon, but the moment he got behind them the entire lot whirled around, clacking their pincers and skittering towards him.
Something thwacked against one of the oncoming beetles, sending a crack down the shell and slowing the creature momentarily. Another missile followed a moment later, but Raith only saw a blur in the air before impact. This one widened the crack further, and a third opened it all the way and dropped the creature.
Does someone have a sling?
Dancing backwards as he speared two more, he glanced around and finally saw Tolliver up in a tree and frantically casting. The [Mage] did not look comfortable on his perch, and kept interrupting his spell to grasp the trunk when he became unbalanced.
Pincers tore into his calf as another creature burst from the ground next to him and latched on. At least a dozen more were following it, and a quick glance showed twice as many around his brother.
How many of these damn things are there?
[Life in Staccato][Mnemonic Library]
The still quiet of his library was a shock after the chaos of the beetle attack. Everything looked the same as he left it. Copies of the noble’s furniture and neat rows of shelves. He’d forgotten he left the ceiling as a moonless night, showing all the stars in the sky. The vista felt peaceful, like it was the resting state of the world.
Guilt helped him resist the temptation to flop into one of the comfy chairs. Although he knew intellectually he had all the time he wanted for a break, it still felt like he needed to get back to his team and not dawdle here.
Raith took a few breaths to calm himself down a little and walked towards the bookshelves. It took a few tries to find the right entry, but one of the Adventurer’s Guild tomes payed off.
‘Emerald Root Tender: Native to the south-central Pruxling river valley, these beetles range from one and a half to two feet in diameter. Dwelling in subterranean nests of up to a thousand, these herbivor burrowers are generally harmless unless provoked. Excavation by farmers and miners sometimes enrages a swarm, and exterminating the nest often requires extensive effort.’
Well, who the heck provoked them, then?
It didn’t look like there was any special weakness. They couldn’t swim, but that wasn’t really useful knowledge at the moment. He could escape by [Squirrel Running] through the trees, but quickly dismissed the idea. He didn’t think Silas could travel like that, and Thea definitely couldn’t.
We can’t kill a thousand of these things. I need to get a dart that pierces better. Or a [Skill].
One more thing to add to the list. In the meantime, he cut his [Mnemonic Library], remaining in [Staccato] to reevaluate the scene before leaping back in. Thea was working her way towards him from the rear of the swarm, covered in gore and looking fearsome. Three burrowers were directly in front of him, and he could see ripples in the dirt where two more were coming up.
Raith set the world back in motion, whirling off to the left and letting a wide spin of his dart cut across the heads of two beetles. Immediately reversing direction, he spun the rope back, and this time they both dropped. He yanked the dart in close and pulled the slack taut before sending it hurtling back out to dispatch the third.
“Thea! I need you to set vine walls to create a choke point for you and Nyhm. The rest of us will harry the swarm from out here.”
She nodded, understanding immediately and making the plan happen. Within moments, she and Nyhm were pulverizing bug after bug, while the others found openings from behind.
The emerald root tenders were massing on the wall closest to Nyhm, and Raith moved to thin them out before they started spilling over the top. As he moved behind them, a large group broke off and charged.
“It’s you two!” Tolliver shouted from his perch. With hands cupped to his mouth to project the words, he lost his balance and tumbled forwards. His eyes grew wide as he fell, but he quickly transformed and flew off. A moment later, a Covert Message whispered into his ear.
“They’re only going after you and Nyhm. It’s the bracelets.”
Raith looked down at his sister’s gift and silently swore. If Tolliver was right, that stupid noble would be smirking about this for a month.
He quickly unclasped the jewelry and tucked it into the extra-dimensional space of his satchel. The effect was immediate. Reaching pincers froze and lowered, then turn towards where his brother still fought. Sprinting full out, pausing only to leap over bug corpses and skittering live ones, Raith quickly got to the elfling’s side.
“Give me the bracelet.”
Without a word, Nyhm took it off and handed it over. As soon as it disappeared into Raith’s satchel, the horde of beetles instantly stopped their relentless assault. One by one, the giant emerald creatures began tunneling back into the ground, paying no heed to their fallen comrades. As abruptly as the attack had begun, it was over, leaving the team panting for breath.
Or at least Raith panting for breath. Nyhm seemed considerably less winded, and it was a bit embarrassing.
“Are you hurt?”
They both looked down at a cut in Nyhm’s leg.
“I’ll be fine. It’s superficial. One grabbed me before I could activate Steelhide.” Nyhm looked up at him with a pained expression. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you. There were too many.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s not your job to protect me.”
Nyhm shook his head.
“That is exactly what my job is.”
A groan sounded out as Thea allowed herself to slump down against a tree. She had multiple slashes on her legs.
“We can talk about this later.”
Raith jogged over to Thea with a healing potion. She had definitely gotten hit the worst while trying to keep those things off of him. The satyr was still breathing hard and accepted the vial without protest. Raith put a hand on her shoulder.
“Thanks for protecting me.”
She took a small swig of the potion and handed it back with a small frown.
“It’d be a lot easier if you’d stand still for a second.” She met his eyes and patted his hand, her scowl softening. “But you’re welcome.”
Noticing the sting of his own wounds for the first time, Raith took a sip of the potion himself before stashing the remainder. The rest of the team gathered around the pair, and he was relieved to see no one else looked hurt.
“Well, that was fun. Let’s go find this farmer.”
