Book 2 | Chapter 31

Author's Note: This chapter went through a last minute re-write so I apologise if an extra typo or two snuck through. Thank you all for your

Author's Note: This chapter went through a last minute re-write so I apologise if an extra typo or two snuck through. Thank you all for your continued support. It means the world to me.

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“Remind me again why Cruz does not have to be here,” Eva complained as she nimbly hopped over an exposed root. 

“You seriously forgot?” I was in the process of ducking beneath a branch when I answered. We were venturing deeper into The Forest than I’d ever been, such that we were going to have to camp out before returning. The weight of the pack on my shoulders was a familiar one, but it was exciting to think it’d see use beyond a training exercise. 

Although I suppose this also counts as one. Technically. 

“Obviously I remember,” Eva was quick to snap back. “I just want to be reminded so I can feel angry about it again.” Cruz wasn’t technically the one responsible for his absence, for once, but I saw no reason to mention that. He’d survive. 

“How about we instead focus on why we are here,” Pix interrupted from her place at the rear of our little progression, taking her role as the leader seriously. She was joined by Doctor Lou, whom she was guarding, and who had been gracious enough to accompany us on our excursion. “Any signs of the herbs you need, Doctor?” 

“None. Nothing. Zilch. Not of the rare stuff, anyway. Plenty of wound-cleaning lichen, though.” As if to illustrate the point he reached up and plucked a handful of the stuff from the same tree branch I’d ducked. “See? Lichen. Lichen. Lichen.” He plucked a pinch more with each repetition of the word. 

“I am sure we will find something good. I would feel bad if my bribe fell short, right Fudge?” Fudge looked up from the pile of leaves he’d been snuffling through and harrumphed before returning to his business. After years of practice and a variant of the Dog Skill pushing Level 20, Fudge had grown confident when exploring The Forest fringes. 

It was hard not to be proud of him. He’d grown so much, both figuratively and literally, and while the comparison in my mind had to be based on a memory, I was confident Fudge was now only slightly smaller than Vigil. That was to say, he was almost the size of a horse and I was thankful The Slayers were paying for his meals for the foreseeable future. 

We fell back into the relative silence that had dominated the majority of our travels. Despite the presence of Eva and Pix, the possibility of catastrophe could not be completely discounted and idle chatter had a tendency to distract. 

Eva’s longbow was strung, its monstrous draw weight the product of Skill-enhanced craftsmanship spitting in the face of what should have been physically possible. Pix walked with her spear in hand, and my hand regularly fell to the sheath at my belt, ready to draw the large knife within at a moment’s notice. 

The sooner, the better. 

Fudge chose that moment to alert that he’d caught the scent of something interesting, so I signalled for everyone to wait. With a flex of intent, I pulled a parcel of Fudge’s mana through the Tamer Bond, enough to briefly enhance my sense of smell. The world erupted into new sensory information. Instead of crumbling into a disorientated mess, I breathed deeply. Scratch the plants and soil. Another breath. Scratch present company. With each breath, I borrowed more mana from Fudge and refined the intent behind it, gradually eliminating any familiar ‘background odors’. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it allowed me to get some use from the Skill in the meantime. 

“I think we have something.” There was no immediate reaction so I took that as my cue to continue. “Ziorva. The trail starts veering to the North.” 

“That could work,” Eva noted. “Adults usually stall out after their innate Advancement. It would be a good match-up.” 

“If we get unlucky, though, we will be stuck following it for at least a day,” Pix added. “Ziorva can cover a lot of ground.” She’d planted the butt of her spear into the ground and was using it to support her weight, taking advantage of the pause. 

“We might end up doing that anyway. This at least guarantees something at the end of the search.” 

“I am with Eva on this one,” I added. 

Pix looked like she was going to object further but caught herself. 

“Understood. Part of our purpose here is to informally gauge your process, and I am content to let you make this choice to that end.” The reminder was clear, Pix would pull rank if she had to. 

“Thanks, Pix.” I beamed. “I have a good feeling about this.” 

-0-0-0-0-0-

Fortunately, my feeling proved to be accurate, sparring me with the embarrassment I opened myself up to when I almost jinxed the entire trip. Even so, the afternoon started to encroach upon evening as several more hours were lost following the ziorva’s trail. Armed with new knowledge of our quarry, we started spotting additional signs of its passing. A clump of orange fur here, a scratch on a tree trunk there. We passed by a small brook that it probably used as its regular drinking source; I could smell several older trails in the area. 

“We should be getting to its den soon.” A den, a nest, a burrow, a branch, a nook; most denizens of The Forest made their homes in the trees or under the ground. Rare were the few that just hung out in the open, but they were almost always bad news. There was also the stuff that lurked in lakes and rivers but that felt different, somehow. 

“What is your plan, recruit?” It was Pix who asked. 

“Under normal circumstances, I would try to smoke the ziorva out and ambush it as it left the safety of its den.” I reached into my pocket and withdrew a small pouch. “I packed a dried sedative to add to the fire, so the smoke should leave it disorientated.” 

I received a nod of approval from the two Slayers present. To be fair, my answer bordered on textbook. Make the fight unfair. Finish it quickly. 

“And under today’s circumstances?” 

“I need to know I can handle when things go wrong, so we are orchestrating a failed ambush. I will then be forced to improvise and subdue the ziorva.” 

“That is hardly a plan.” 

“Exactly. My plan is to adjust to the situation and field test the style of fighting I have been working on. Doctor Lou is here for when I am inevitably injured in the process, since I also plan to use this opportunity to attempt a breakthrough.”  

“Madness,” Doctor Lou mumbled, wearing his frown openly at that particular reminder as to why I requested his presence. “Insanity. Recklessness.” 

“The Doctor has a point, Will,” Eva spoke up. 

“That will not change in the future.” Having a healer on standby did detract from the risk of what II was about to attempt, but given that a serious enough injury could kill me outright, I felt the risk was still high enough. There is a line between efficient and stupid I am hoping not to cross.

Eva shrugged. “Fair, I just wanted to make sure you knew.” 

“Careful now, I might think you were helping me out there.” 

“Oh, I still think it is bullshit that, once again, you are getting special treatment.” She playfully flicked her hand in my direction, a flourish that was the equivalent of flipping someone off in my first life. “That does not mean I want you to fail.” A pause. “I would miss Fudge too much.” 

“And there it is,” I said with a chuckle. 

“Seriously, though, are you ready for this?” Eva turned to face me. I saw genuine concern in her eyes. 

“I am.” I put as much conviction into the answer as I could muster. 

-0-0-0-0-0-

With our daylight limited, we didn't waste any more time and it wasn't long before Fudge and I found the ziorva’s den– a large burrow beneath a pile of rotting wood. I recognized it as the abandoned remains of a tehon’s burrow, but a thicket of sorts had sprung up around it without the original occupant present to keep the space clear. Fudge and I were the only pair to approach the place. The rest of our party remained at the edge of what was once a clearing; Pix would watch over the doctor and Eva stood overwatch for me, a nocked arrow ready to be drawn if I needed to be rescued. 

“You ready, boy?” I made no effort to disguise our approach, feeling the crunch of undergrowth underfoot with every step. I sent a nudge through the Tamer Bond, one that Fudge had come to recognize. He dropped low to the ground, hackles raised as he stalked away from me, covering my flank. Despite his size, Fudge made almost no noise as old instincts guided his steps. 

In one hand I held a lit torch. In the other, my knife. I’d obsessed over making sure it was sharp the night before. My hair felt uncomfortable jammed into the helm I’d had commissioned, and I briefly wondered if I’d be better served to just chop it all off. A solid piece of Skill-enforced metal was strapped over my chest, covering my heart, and though I’d checked and triple-checked that it was secure, I couldn't help but worry I’d still somehow missed something. 

This is what you’ve been training for, I told myself. Even with a safety net, it was a daunting prospect to willingly put my life on the line. Suck it up. You’ve got this. I punctuated the pep-talk with a pulse from Perseverance that helped settle my nerves. Without much left to do but begin, I did just that. 

When I was close enough, I hurled my torch into the den. As it tumbled into the dark, I quickly yanked off my cloak and spun it around my free hand, wrapping it up in layers of fabric. Unlike when using smoke, I knew the torch would do nothing to hamper the ziorva. 

It would just piss them off. 

The agitated sound that came from the ground sounded like the unholy offspring between a yelp and a broken fog horn played on a stuttering record. Within moments, the ziorva rushed out into the fading light, its lips curled back and its fangs bared. A ziorva is what happens when you slap hooves on a wolf-sized fox and give them antlers that can rotate like they are in a ball-socket. 

Parts of ziorva antlers were flat, so they could be folded back when in tight confines. The other parts ended in jagged points, and the one charging towards me angled those points towards the creature intruding on their den. Me.  

This is going to suck. I pushed off the ball of my feet and ran to meet the ziorva part way. Years of executing trapped Beasts had reinforced the Slayer methodology, largely because Cruz always paraphrased it. 

No showy bullshit. Kill fast. Kill efficiently. 

The ziorva sprang at me and I but my wrapped arm forward to intercept it, urging massive amounts of mana from Perseverance to gather in preparation. 

I WILL NOT BE PHASED BY THIS. 

My cloak muted some, but not all, of the spikes. I felt them pierce me first. The impact came next, and I heard something crack. Intense pain threatened to overwhelm me, but I could not let it slow me down. I roared through the agony, using the mangled arm to push against the airborne ziorva and create an opening. My right arm swung around. I felt the knife pierce its side and I dragged a long line along its torso. 

I was knocked down. 

So was the ziorva. I knew its wound would be fatal. Fudge did not wait to find out. He landed on the smaller creature with a vengeful snarl. His jaws clamped around its neck. The ziorva’s antlers flailed, but they did comparably little to Fudge’s Durability-enhanced body. He shook. I heard another snap, and the ziorva fell limp in his jaws. 

Scant seconds had passed. Violence was a quick, bloody thing. It was only undercut by the surge of mana I felt. Persevering through injury to the point that my mangled arm was used to create the opening I used to deal a decisive blow had been enough to push through the bottleneck. Even so, I- 

“Will! Look out!” Before I could even process the warning I felt a brush of air as an arrow flew over my shoulder and slammed into the second ziorva. The one I’d been too busy celebrating to notice follow its mate out of the den. Its head was pinned to one of the rotten logs and its body was still twitching. 

“Good shot!” I called back. Already, the trio in the treeline were rushing towards me. “I am going to start using Recovery mana now.”” I didn’t even want to look at my arm. “I am injured and, actually, yeah, now that Perseverance is tapering off I am going to scream.” And so I did.