The Land: Alliances (Chaos Seeds Book 3)

CHAPTER 10

Richter got his shit together. Getting back on the okami, he took a firm grip and the animal took off again. The sensation of riding was like nothing he had experienced before. He had been on a horse in his old Earth life. A canter was jarring and a gallop could be thrilling. This was no comparison.

The okami moved like the wind. With each lope of its body, it extended one front leg and then the other. The back legs moved forward almost as one. The disjointed movement made the animal’s back rise and fall like a wave. Only with an intensely strong grip did Richter avoid falling off again. He shifted his weight forward and back trying to keep up with the wolf’s movement, but with every leap it made, Richter felt himself getting closer to falling again.

Finally, he found the sweet spot. Just behind the wolf’s shoulders was a point that barely moved as it ran. He realized he had been working against the wolf with his constant adjustments. Instead, he focused on staying in that one spot and just following the wolf’s own natural rhythm. The okami looked back for a second and Richter could swear it gave a head nod. Without him fighting it, the green wolf’s speed increased even further.

Learning to work with the wolf granted Richter a new prompt.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Riding. ‘In relying on your mount, a rider may find true freedom.’ You have learned to work as a team with your mount. Progressing this skill will make both of you more powerful.

They ran through the night and into the morning. The mists were quickly left behind. Once he had learned to keep his seat, he cast Haste on the wolf periodically. The first time he did it, the okami looked at him in curiosity before just enjoying the boost of speed. Alma did the same. At that point, Futen began to flag behind, but the problem was easily fixed. The remnant simply floated over to Richter and he held it between his chest and the okami’s back.

The entire time he rode, his thoughts were dominated by only two goals. He had to save Terrod and he had to end that sadistic assassin’s life. Richter had initially been concerned that his quarry might have had a ship waiting, but because he couldn’t do anything about it either way, he shut it from his mind. Either way, he would not stop until he had done what needed to be done.

The gold arrows remained in Richter’s vision. The one he followed pointing west and partly south. After hours of running, the other two pointed almost directly behind him. As he and the okami sped through the forest, he occasionally yelled course corrections into the wolf’s ear. His plan was not to simply rush in and attack. As driven as he was, Richter had not abandoned all good sense. An unplanned battle with two killers did not bode well for either him or Terrod’s long term ability to keep breathing. No, he had to be smarter.

The problem was that as wonderfully useful as Sumiko’s spell was, it didn’t give him any idea as to how much distance remained. If he mistakenly stumbled into the three of them, Ronin’s hired goons could just slit Terrod’s throat. He planned to circle in front of them and carefully pick the terrain of the encounter.

Occasionally, Richter looked around for his familiar. He was always reassured to see her flying nearby. Though the okami was fast, the dragonling didn’t have to deal with issues in topography and so easily kept pace. With each of the wolf’s strides, Richter prayed that they were closing the gap. The sky lightened after several hours, heralding the coming of the dawn. As they crested a large hill, Richter could see the molten crown of the sun peaking over the trees in the distance. They kept running.

The sun was nearly overhead when the gold arrow indicating Terrod’s direction began to slowly shift farther to the south. Excited that they were closing in, Richter leaned further over the wolf’s neck and told him to continue straight. Over the next hour, they continued to head due west and the arrow continued to rotate counterclockwise. Finally, it started to point behind him to the east. He had passed his quarry!

When he saw that, Richter shouted a direction into the okami’s ear, and the wolf turned and began running to the southwest. For the next twenty minutes, they sped through the trees on the new heading. When Richter finally asked the okami to stop, they were several miles ahead of the point where they changed direction. The wolf slowed to a halt, barely winded. The animal’s stamina was incredible. Richter didn’t have time to appreciate the remarkable beast, though. He was painfully aware that the location spell had a finite time limit. He had to find the right ambush point now!

While they had been moving, Richter had been consulting his map. It seemed clear that Natosca and her compatriot were following a specific river towards Yves. It generally was easier to travel along a waterway than trying to cross through unbroken wilderness. The river also offered a much better line of sight than trying to see through the large trees.

Richter kept scrolling along the river. He hadn’t been through this particular part of the forest before so everything on the map was still depicted in black and white. He examined the topography in detail praying that he could find the perfect spot.

Finally, he smiled. This just might work, he thought. He had to see for himself, though. He couldn’t hang his hopes on an old map.

At his prompting, the okami resumed running. Richter watched his map gain color as it traced his position. The elevation increased slightly and then Richter saw what he was looking for. The river had widened by this point to be twenty yards across. The flow had adopted a mild amount of turbulence. It wasn’t impassable if his quarry decided to cross, but the waterway was prohibitive enough that no one would choose to cross without a good reason. The trail climbed up a hill until it was thirty yards above the river and a second small twenty-foot-high cliff rose on the right, narrowing the trail to only five feet across. It was basically the perfect choke point.

Richter figured he had, at most, two hours before Natosca and her Warrior reached his position with Terrod. He had to prepare the scene and then ensure they didn’t deviate from the river. Richter dismounted at the western end of the short passage. The entire chokepoint couldn't be more than thirty paces long. His plan rested on setting traps and then driving the two into them. The problem was that he couldn’t risk harming Terrod.

A tree had fallen from the ledge above the passage, about twenty yards up the hill. It now made an almost forty-five-degree angle over the path. They would either have to go over the trunk or climb under. Richter was fairly certain which they would pick. It would just be ludicrous to climb over a tree with a large drop waiting for you if you slipped. That was where Richter decided to place the sticky trap. Even if Terrod was caught in it, his Companion wouldn’t suffer any real damage. He connected the trigger to a wire that he strung along behind a vine. When the vine was moved, the trap would deploy.

The dart traps were more difficult. There was just no way he could predict a place that he could be sure that Terrod wouldn’t be hit. He decided to place them at the end of the passage. If his enemies rushed forward, it was unlikely that Terrod would be leading. It was still a gamble, but Richter was positive that a fate worse than death awaited his Companion if he was taken back to Ronin. Risks had to be taken.

He didn’t use his shrink trap. He just didn’t see how it could help. Same with the razor wire traps. He didn’t need to slow anyone down. He could already outrace them on the okami. The adhesive fire acid trap captured his attention though. If he could separate the glass sphere holding the acid, he’d basically have a Molotov cocktail. When he tried to dismantle the trap though, a prompt appeared.

You lack the Crafting level to successfully dismantle this trap. You may continue to try and remove a component, but you have a high chance of destroying the object and/or triggering the trap.

Richter froze, his hands on the device. He carefully placed the object back into his Bag. His head turned east and his eyes glared with a baleful intent. It was time to stalk his prey. His analysis of the okami had said they were naturally skilled at concealment. It was easy to believe looking at the huge wolf’s leaf colored pelt. He bid Futen to turn invisible and had Alma fly high above. Richter mounted his steed. He oriented the gold triangle in his vision just to the right of being dead on. A whispered word and the okami moved forward at an easy lope.

Richter couldn’t be sure how much noise they had made at top speed. All he had heard was the wind rushing past his ears. Now though, they moved forward at an easy lope and in absolute silence. Richter activated Stealth. He looked above, but couldn’t see Alma flying amidst the canopy above. He felt reassured. If he couldn’t detect his familiar’s movements, it was a good bet that his enemies wouldn’t detect her either.

He kept the same pace until the arrow started turning in his vision again. Then he slowed the okami to walk. The wolf ghosted through the trees, almost more wraith than flesh and blood creature. After a few minutes, he heard a woman’s voice that made his heart beat rapidly, not in love, but in hate.

“Oh sweetling. Why do you make us hurt you so much? I mean, I do enjoy seeing you bleed. It’s such a pretty shade of red, but I don’t know why you would like it? Are you insane? I do hear that it happens quite often to men in captivity.”

“Will you shut up?” Orvin shouted. “I can’t keep hearing your inane babble. And YOU, keep walking or I’ll teach you another lesson.”

Richter heard a smacking sound followed by a grunt of pain. For a few seconds, the only sounds were the trio walking through the woods, occasionally snapping a branch in their passing. “I mean if you bled different colors sometimes, I could understand why you would want to be hurt! Who wouldn’t want the surprise of seeing a vibrant shade of orange or a plucky purple liquid coming out of them? Ohhhhh, what if you bled pink?! I love pink! I had a pink sweater once…”

She kept up with her insane stream of consciousness. After listening for only a few minutes, Richter could understand the frustration of the Warrior. He almost sympathized with Orvin, but then he decided to just brutally butcher the man instead.

Richter followed along silently no more than ten to twenty yards away. The group was often out of his line of sight as trees, bushes and scrub came between him. It almost wouldn’t have mattered if only five feet separated the two parties because both he and the wolf were indistinguishable from the forest around them. Richter wasn’t willing to take the chance though. Occasionally, he did catch sight of each of the party he was stalking through the large trees. Terrod was bruised and bloodied, but still able to walk, albeit with a small limp. That helped to explain the group’s somewhat slow pace. They must have been overzealous with their treatment of the former innkeeper and hobbled him. It was ironic that Terrod’s bad leg just might save his life.

Richter was also able to catch occasional glimpses of both the Assassin and Warrior. He was displeased to see that both of Terrod’s captors were well armed and armored. They must have hidden a cache of equipment outside of the mists. As they fled the village, it would have been a simple matter to stop and gear up. It was going to make taking them out more difficult, but Richter wasn’t deterred. There was work to be done.

The two groups traveled together, though only half of them knew it. With every step forward, the need for revenge grew stronger in Richter until it outshone even his goal of saving Terrod. His fingers tingled in anticipation. He imagined wrapping his hands around her throat, slowly tightening, her eyes bulging until a vessel broke and flooded one white globe with blood…

The okami stopped walking. The lack of movement shook Richter from his dark musings. The wolf had recognized the waking of another predator, one that happened to be riding on its back. It instinctually wanted to protect itself from a new potential threat, but was confused because it had also been charged with protecting this human.

Richter recognized the tenseness of the okami and forced himself to calm down. It was like forcing a thundercloud through a strainer, but he finally controlled his fury. The wolf began walking again. Richter knew he couldn’t control himself while continuing to spy on his quarry. They were close enough that he could assume that the three would continue straight into his kill box. He moved forward and prepared for the fight to come.

Richter situated himself on the cliff above the traps. He sent Futen back to follow the group invisibly. The remnant would come warn him when they were close. Richter removed his weapons from his Bag, pleased to see they still maintained their poisoned status. Alma alighted upon his shoulders. Richter took three Potions of Clarity out of his Bag. He drank one and fed another to Alma. Then he looked at the okami.

“I’m not sure how much you understand,” he said softly, “or if you intend to help me, but I’m going to kill the people who took my friend. Whatever you decide to do, thank you for getting me here. I would like to offer this as a thank you. It will increase any experience you gain. Will you take it?”

The wolf looked at him. Its lupine expression was as inscrutable as a sphinx, but when he was done talking it nudged his hand with his head. Taking this as a good sign, he then realized that giving the wolf the potion could be difficult. None of the leaves on the nearby trees were large enough to serve as an impromptu bowl and he didn’t have any utensils in his Bag. Ultimately he just steeled himself and formed his hand into a cup and poured the precious liquid into it. Praying the okami was smart enough to understand, he moved his upturned palm towards the forest hunter. When the wolf lapped the potion up, Richter exhaled in relief. The wolf’s tongue was rough like wet sandpaper. Not unpleasant, but he still quickly took his hand away from the predator’s mouth, relieved the process was done. After that he cast the buffs that he could and then settled in to wait.

Before long, Richter heard Futen’s seemingly disembodied voice saying that the group was close. When the group came into his field of vision, he gave a grim grin. Their time of reckoning had come. He nocked an arrow to his bow, but didn’t draw it. The three walked forward. Orvin led his party with Terrod a few steps behind and Natosca bringing up the rear. The Warrior frowned at seeing the narrowing of the path up ahead, further complicated by the fallen tree, but didn’t pause overly long. After a quick look left at the choppy river water and right at the jumbled forest terrain, he kept walking forward. Reaching the site of the sticky trap, he looked over and under the log. Richter held his breath for a moment, willing the man to go under and trigger the trap. Even his heart felt like it paused mid-beat.

With a relaxing exhale, he watched the Warrior push the vine with the trip wire. A host of sticky threads shot out to ensnare all three! Richter immediately began imbuing his arrow. Killing his enemies should be like shooting fish in a barrel!

Richter was wrong.

As soon as the trap was triggered, Orvin roared in anger. He tried to reach for his sword to cut himself free, but the web like material effectively cocooned him. Terrod looked up and about with a detached surprise. Both men were incapacitated. Natosca on the other hand, showed exceptional agility by flipping backwards into a series of handsprings. Her quick reflexes saved her from the trap. No matter how crazy she might be, she definitely had skills. Richter still didn’t understand how her level had appeared so low when he initially analyzed her. He quickly did so again and was shocked by what he found.

Name: Sonirae. Half-Wood Elf, Half-Human. Level 33. Health 450. Mana 290. Stamina 370. Racial blends are erratic in their disposition. They can end up with some or none of any of their parent races characteristics. Profession: Rogue. Specialization: Assassin.

What the hell, Richter thought. When Natosca… Sonirae, Richter corrected himself, had said she was an Assassin he hadn’t known it was a formal title. He hadn’t even known it WAS possible to specialize in a profession! Richter didn’t even want to think about what abilities or skills the woman might have access to. He had to take her out quickly.

The Assassin’s acrobatic maneuvers may have saved her from the trap, but the last flip brought her perilously close to the edge. In the split second Richter had left before Sonirae righted herself, he loosed his arrow. His stealth dropped as he did, but it no longer mattered. The short distance between Richter’s bow and his target didn’t allow her anytime to dodge. The arrow struck her squarely in the side. The result brought a true smile to his face.

The arrow he had chosen was one of the Heavy Cobalt Arrows from the armory. The loss of accuracy was not much of a problem at a range of only a dozen yards or so. The glowing arrow struck the Assassin’s armor with a small boom. Even more, the ‘Heavy’ quality of the arrow worked just as Richter had hoped and she was knocked off of her feet. The momentum took her right off of the edge and out of sight.

The attack elicited another roar from the Warrior and a cheer from Terrod. Richter pointed at the man, “Alma, drain him! Futen, find the woman and let me know if she is getting close.”

His familiar swooped onto Orvin. There was a rumble in the ground suddenly, but there was little noticeable effect other than to cause a faint ripple in the ground that soon faded, so Richter put it out of his head. The fighter’s level was too high to be stunned, but that didn’t mean the man could simply weather his familiar’s attack. He started screaming as soon as Alma clamped onto his head. The physical response of Alma’s Brain Drain seemed to vary, but Richter was happy to see that the pain that was caused stayed uniform. Richter drank in the man’s screams and enjoyed watching Orvin’s futile struggles.

Richter knelt and grabbed the edge of the cliff he was on. He turned around and quickly eased himself over the lip. A short drop down, and then he was on the same level as the two bound men. A soft thud heralded the arrival of the okami behind him. He turned and ran to where Terrod was caught.

“Hey buddy,” Richter said. “You look like crap.”

“Good to see you too,” the man said in a pained voice. “If I knew you were coming, I would have gotten pretty for you.”

“Well I’ll let it go this time. Besides,” Richter said with a vicious smile as he listened to the Warrior’s screams, “they are playing our song. Let’s get you out of here.”

Richter cast Slow Heal on his Companion and then took stock of the situation. He was standing on the boundary of the sticky material. He didn’t want to become trapped as well. Orvin was caught right in the epicenter of the trap, ten feet away. Terrod was only four feet away, but the ground was still covered in adhesive webs. He drew the short sword from his Bag and tried to cut one of the strands. It immediately got stuck. He was able to pull it free after several tries, but it was clear that cutting wasn’t going to be an option. That’s when he heard the tearing noise.

The Warrior hadn’t been idle since being trapped. As soon as his attacker had sicked his pet on him, he started trying to free himself. First, he used the enchantment in his boots. His hope was that the shockwave would cause the tree he was attached to shift and maybe free him. Unfortunately, the webbing that bound him also effectively tied the tree in place to both the ground and the cliff wall.

He groaned in frustration. The trap was too strong for him to escape, but he had invested in a helpful Talent since becoming a Warrior. Orvin activated Power Up I. At a cost of one hundred stamina, he was able to double his Strength for a short period. The problem was it took a full minute to activate the Talent.

The screams that were filling the air hadn’t just been because of the pain from the dragonling’s attack. It was in frustration and rage that he still wasn’t strong enough even with his Talent. His failure to break through meant that what he saw as a flying rat could keep attacking him with impunity! Orvin had always known he would die in battle, but he couldn’t stand the injustice of being slaughtered like a trussed sheep! So, cursing the time it would take, he had to use the next level of the Talent, Power Up II. It required a two-minute startup time, and cost of two hundred stamina, but his Strength increased by 300%.

Orvin could only watch his hooded attacker slip down from the cliff above and start talking to the prisoner. When the man pulled back the hood of his cloak, he was shocked to see the face of the man they had been sent to assassinate. It was such a surprise that he almost lost the concentration needed to maintain his Talent. Richter was supposed to be dead! That babbling bitch had said she had killed him. Orvin swore that if he got out of this situation alive, he would choke the woman to death!

The pain he was experiencing was enormous, but another Talent he had invested in let him tolerate it. Unlike Power Up, Iron Will was a passive Talent. In Orvin’s opinion, it was a vital investment for any fighter. It made him more resilient to pain, but more importantly increased his resistance to enchantment type spells. He had invested in it to level three.

While Orvin waited for the startup time of Power Up II to elapse, he glared at the Lord of the Mist Village and imagined the horrors he would inflict on the man once he was free. Finally, the two minutes was up. Strength surged through his entire body! His veins pumped molten steel, and feeling like one of the Engineer’s mechanical constructs, he ripped his arm free of the binding. Now it was time to deal with this accursed flying rat!

Richter looked over at hearing the Warrior’s bonds snap. The man’s right arm came free. With the literal speed of thought, he projected, *Alma, fly away!*

The dragonling either ignored him or was so drunk on the feast of memories and personality she was partaking in that his command didn’t register. The Warrior was still able to wrap his hand around her neck and started squeezing with all of his increased Strength. Alma finally broke off her attack. She squawked as Orvin did massive damage to her little body. If not for the almost rope-like, sinuous nature of her neck, the fighter would have ended her life by snapping it. As it was, the dragonling wouldn’t last more than a few more seconds before expiring.

Richter wasn’t going to just let his familiar to be killed, however. He drew an arrow as fast as his high Dexterity allowed and fired. The arrow streaked across the ten feet faster than even Richter could track and struck true. It impacted the forearm that was holding Alma. It looked like the man was wearing medium or heavy armor. It didn’t matter though. The purpose of the shot was not to penetrate the man’s armor. Richter had grabbed a Heavy Arrow.

Orvin’s arm whipped back from the blunt damage arrow. It didn’t knock the Warrior down braced as he was by sticky threads, but his grip did involuntarily release, allowing Alma to escape. She flew away and golden light suffused her body as she cast Slow Heal. A quick check of her status showed that the Orvin’s crushing grip had removed more than one hundred health. Richter hadn’t seen Alma access her Life Magic since he unlocked the Power, but he felt relieved that his familiar would survive.

Orvin stared at the dragonling flying out of reach and then locked eyes with her master in fury. He started ripping the sticky threads off. Richter had no idea how the man was strong enough to tear the high tensile material, but it didn’t matter. At the speed he was going, he’d be free in less than a minute!

Richter Analyzed the Warrior. The minutes that Alma had been draining him had taken a definite toll. She had removed hundreds of health points. The man’s mana was completely depleted and his stamina was less than one hundred. He was clearly still a threat though. Richter took aim again, planning to finish the mercenary off, but then he heard a deadpan voice.

“The woman is returning, my Lord. She has climbed out of the river and is making her way back towards you from the west. She will be here soon.”

Richter cursed under his breath. All he needed was another few minutes and he would have been able to both kill this man and free Terrod! Now that he had seen his Companion though, he knew that saving the barkeep was the priority. Richter shoved his arrow back into his quiver. Extending his hand, he cast Flame. Where cutting the white threads had failed, the flames eagerly ate the web like material. The flames quickly moved over the white bonds leaving only ash behind. Terrod suffered a few minor burns where the trap had been touching his skin, but it only amounted to a small loss of health.

Terrod fell, his legs cramping from being immobile in a strange position. Richter helped him back to his feet. There was no time for a brotherly reunion though. The flames didn’t stop at just freeing Terrod. They continued over the entire trap, the fire eating its way toward the Warrior.

“You have to get out of here!” Richter shouted to his Companion. Looking at the okami he asked, “Will you carry him? I will get back on own.”

The wolf just looked at him. Richter shot a glance back towards Orvin. The flames were only a foot away now. Richter tried again, “Please! I will owe you a favor!”

The wolf’s ear twitched.

“I won’t abandon you,” Terrod objected.

Paying him no heed, Richter repeated himself. “I will owe you a favor! I will owe you a favor!”

The wolf lowered one shoulder as it had when Richter had first mounted it. Richter turned to Terrod. “We don’t have time for arguments. I can hide with my armor, but you can’t. Get back to the village. That is an order!”

Terrod’s expression firmed and it looked like he would argue, but a bellow silenced the argument. The Warrior was free. Richter fired another Heavy arrow which knocked Orvin down and succeeded in buying them a few seconds. Terrod nodded and ran to the okami, mounting in a fluid motion. With no more ceremony or hesitation, the two took off.

Alma landed on Richter’s shoulders. Now that he was about to face two enemies, he changed his tactics. He extended his arm and spoke a word of power, casting Charm. Richter was confident that his Life mastery would be enough to overcome the Warrior. Even though Orvin was damaged, fighting with an ally was better than fighting against two enemies. No change came over the man though, and Analyze showed that he hadn’t been successful.

Orvin responded by throwing a fighting spike at Richter. There was no time to dodge. The spike hit him mid chest, but his breastplate stopped most of the damage. The Warrior followed his first attack by taking his oversized shield from its resting place on his back. He also drew an axe from a belt loop and soon he was running towards Richter in a peculiar shuffle. His oversized door shield was large enough to protect most of his body from attack. Orvin’s stance slowed the Warrior only a bit and also provided great defense.

Richter smiled grimly. It would be a great strategy if he was only an archer. Unfortunately for Orvin, he was much much more. Richter cast Grease. A 10x10 foot circle of brown liquid appeared on the ground with Orvin in the middle.

The fighter was no fool though. As soon as Richter cast the spell, he stopped moving. Richter drew a heavy arrow to knock him off balance, but Orvin surprised his enemy. Bending his knees without moving his feet, the Warrior then leaned forward while straightening his legs. He fell completely forward, but on top of his large shield and it acted like a sled. Coupled with the forward momentum he had created; the Warrior was easily able to slide out of the AoE of the spell.

Richter’s mouth dropped slightly open at seeing such a convenient and easy solution to his spell. Once again, The Land proved that it was the application of power that mattered rather than raw power in and of itself. He cast the thought aside and got his head back into the fight.

Orvin was out of the AoE, but was still getting to his feet. His increased Strength let him move quickly despite being encumbered. Richter activated Double Shot. Both of his arrows scored against his target’s armor and removed some health, but didn’t penetrate. The poison coating accomplished nothing since the arrows weren’t breaking the skin. He used Drill Shot, but Orvin lifted his shield and the arrow sunk harmlessly into the metal, the wooden shaft sticking out like a quill.

The entire course of the fight, Richter had been backing up in an effort to keep distance between himself and his opponent. Alma had launched herself back into the air, speeding through the air. Orvin stopped pursuing for a moment, pulling a potion from his belt. He downed the red solution in one go, and Richter could see the wan look on Warrior’s face improve as color came back to his cheeks. Giving Richter a cruel grin, Orvin erased the distance between them with the Warrior Talent Lunge.

Orvin crossed ten yards in a second. It was only his impatience that saved Richter. Though the Talent was created to close distances quickly, the Warrior started too far back to make skewering his enemy a sure thing. Richter was able to dive out of the way. Before he went far he spoke a guttural incantation and his left hand contorted into a specific finger configuration. All it took was one second, start to finish, and a cone of concentrated darkness shot from his hand. Richter’s Cloying Darkness spell slowed Orvin down by 20%. It was the edge he needed to put some distance between them again.

Richter fought a running battle down the hill to the river. He pulled out all the stops. He cast Summon Insects hoping to distract Orvin, but the fighter just shrugged the stinging bugs off and kept coming. Orvin swung his axe in a cross swipe. Richter cast Flame at the same time towards the Warrior’s face. A quick shield block stopped the flames from reaching flesh, but at least the block threw off the axe swing and let Richter avoid the blow.

Troubled Sleep did nothing. Orvin just shrugged it off as easily as Charm. He made an overhand chop with his axe. Richter jumped back, but this time the axe scored a glancing blow. A loud screeeech split the air as Richter’s armor was marked by the weapon.

Richter knew he didn’t have much time left. To make matters worse, behind Orvin, he saw a flicker of movement at the end of the passage. Sonirae had made it back up from the river. It was time for a Hail Mary.

*Psi Blast!*

Alma swooped in behind Orvin and let loose with an unchanneled blast of psychic energy. Once again, it was apparent that many denizens of the Land did not have a defense to this particular form of attack. The Warrior’s Iron Will talent was useful in many ways, but it was not an effective bulwark against the dragonling’s mental strike.

Orvin staggered. He would not have been distracted for long, but for a golden second, his defenses dropped. Richter then took his chance and did the one thing ranged fighters must never do, he eliminated the distance between himself and a melee fighter. Jumping forward with his shadow dagger, and no defenses to speak of, he attacked the fighter head on.

His dagger sunk into the man’s neck. For the first time in the fight, the shrieke venom entered Orvin’s bloodstream. It didn’t cause instant death, but the venom did start to quickly undo the good that the healing potion had done. Richter stared his enemy in the eye and screamed in rage, but also in complaint. The son of a bitch still wasn’t dead, he thought.

Staring back, Orvin used his last seconds of buffed Strength and wrapped one hand around Richter’s wrist. Try as he might, Richter just couldn’t drive his weapon any deeper or twist the blade any further in order to increase the damage. Orvin then wrapped his other hand around Richter’s throat and started to squeeze. Apparently the Warrior felt cheated from not being able to kill Richter’s familiar, and was determined to kill her master by the same method.

Richter heard the vertebrae in his neck begin to grind. He knew that in just a moment he would hear another sound similar to the crisp snap of broken chalk. Then his fractured neck bones would sever the spaghetti softness of his spine. After that his only hope would be to die quickly rather than be tortured by these two mercenaries.

The one thing that saved him was the same fact that had aided him since coming to The Land. He wasn’t alone. Alma wrapped her body around the fighter’s head for the second time. While Orvin had been able to weather the attack at full strength, this attack caught him at a vulnerable time. With already depleted health and with poison running through his veins, the pain was unbearable this time. The Warrior fell to one knee and both of his hands lost their iron grip.

Richter had begun to lose consciousness, but as soon as Orvin relaxed the hold on his wrist, Richter ripped his shadow dagger back towards himself. A large chunk of flesh fell from the fighter’s throat, and for the second time since coming to The Land, Richter tasted the last drops of an enemy’s life blood. His face and body were covered in the arterial spray from Orvin’s throat. Another beat of the heart brought a weak gout of blood spilling forward. A final weak shudder of the Warrior’s heart tried to move more blood forward, but failed.

Orvin was dead.

Alma threw her head up to the sky and gave a shrill roar, still latched to her vanquished foe.