The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds Book 1)

CHAPTER 14

Awakening early, Richter told Futen not to summon the workers today. This was somewhat of a sacrifice though a short lived one. Futen had continued his report until Richter had fallen asleep. One of the items was that an iron mine had been found. Richter agreed with Futen’s assessment that defenses should be put in place to protect the village, however. Summoning the workers could wait until an enchantment was cast. They walked outside and stood near the earthwork wall. Richter opened his interface. Prior to casting the spell however, a thought occurred to him.

“The purpose of the Concealing Mist and Confusing Mist spells are to hide the village. If there is a well-defined border of magical mist though, won’t people be able to figure out the location of the village by just mapping the boundaries?”

“The mist slowly builds along the boundaries of our territory, my Lord. Have you ever been able to mark exactly when and where mist starts? I assure you the enchantment is quite effective, but it is not fool proof. Also to map the boundaries of the mist would mean walking for about one hundred miles. It is a possibility that a master mage, or someone with a strong item, could dispel the enchantment, at least temporarily. Or a being with high magical resistance might be able to ignore its effects. So while I advise that you not put all of your faith in the enchantment, my Lord, I assure you that it is very useful,” Futen replied.

Nodding assent, Richter activated the interface, bringing up the enchantments available. He had thought about it last night, and decided the longer his village remained secret the better. Even though using 400 mana was a steep upkeep it was worth it. It was also worth noting that that the village mana regenerated. At a rate of the total mana divided by the hours in the day (1000/24) the 400 would be replenished after ten hours. Also, he didn’t really have another use for the mana right now. He selected Confusing Mist and activated it.

Richter felt a pressure build within his body, feeling like he was being filled with cool wet wind. It reminded him of standing on the boardwalk watching a storm roll in from the ocean. The feeling built until it seemed to press against the thin boundaries of his skin. All of a sudden a roiling sea of grey mist exploded from his body in all directions. It flowed and flowed, building in speed, obscuring all sight. As suddenly as it started, the flow from his body stopped. The mist continued to rollback until it reached the edges of the village. There it hung like a grey curtain, making any visualization beyond five to ten feet from the edge near impossible.

What happened to my immunity to the mist, Richter thought. What good is this spell if I blind myself too? Just as he was thinking that the spell might be more trouble than it was worth, his vision suddenly sharpened and he could see just as well as before the spell was cast. Strangely he could also see the mist, though it in no way inhibited his vision. Now satisfied with the results of the spell, he nodded happily to himself and told Futen to the lead the way to the dungeon.

As the three of them moved west out of the village, they crossed into the mist, pulling the ponies behind them, though they emptied the saddlebags first. After ten feet they were completely surrounded by walls of grey. The mist posed no problem for Richter, or Futen apparently. It was only a few minutes more, however, when he heard Sion call out to him. “Richter, where are you?”

Looking back Richter saw him clearly only six or seven feet away. Taking a step closer, he saw Sion’s eyes orient on him sharply. “It is like you just appeared out of thin air,” the sprite said.

“That is so strange, I could see you clearly. Let’s test this for a moment. Try to follow me.”

Stepping away, he moved forward, but in less than a minute Sion called out for him to stop again. Looking back, the sprite once again seemed to be scanning his surroundings. Richter walked towards him and became visible once he was within a few feet. “What happened?”

“I was following you. First you became indistinct and then I could not see you at all. I would have sworn that to find you I would have gone well to the right of the direction that you just came back from. Did you move to the side after I lost you?”

“No,” Richter replied. “I came straight back. This new enchantment is more powerful than I thought! Wait a moment.” Opening the village interface, he worked through the options until reaching Confusing Mist. Focusing upon the tab he found the section for Immunity. Thinking of Sion, his name appeared under the drop down list. Glancing at his Companion, Richter saw the sprite’s eyes widen.

“With this magic, none will be able to stand against us. We will see them from a distance while they will constantly be confused and separated,” Sion exclaimed. Richter nodded happily.

They both followed Futen deeper into the forest.

They walked along the base of the mountain that the village was nestled against for half a day. Their pace was slow in light of the thick undergrowth of the untouched forest. The rocky prominence lowered in elevation until it turned into a series of wooded hills. They noticed a fair amount of wild life as they made their way forward, but despite the mist concealing them from sight, many bounded away as soon as they came in sight.

“Futen, why does it seem like the animals can see us,” Richter asked.

“Spells like Confusing Mist target a specific level of consciousness. Much like your Charm spell, the Concealing Mist will work on humanoids, but not lesser thought forms such as in animals or vastly different thought patterns as with certain monsters. Higher beings would also probably be immune.”

Definitely good to know, Richter thought. He wasn’t as safe as he had thought he was. “How much further?”

They were just cresting a small hill. At the trough between the hill they were on and the next, were two large slabs of stone leaning against one another. The dark entrance of a cave could be seen between them leading into the interior of the hill. Of greater importance were the two skeletons aiming arrows in his direction though.

Immediately dropping to the ground, both arrows flew well over his head and neither seemed particularly well aimed. Raising his head he saw each skeleton had nocked another arrow and was scanning the hill he and Sion were lying upon. Thankfully, the mist seemed to be concealing their position. It was only his talking that had given away their general position. They backed down from the top of the hill until the cave entrance was once again hidden from sight. They pulled the ponies further back before tying the lead ropes to a tree a hundred yards further into the forest.

“Futen,” Richter said in a furious whisper.

“Yes, my Lord,” the orb said in its normal voice.

“Softer,” he hissed. “Speak softer when we are around enemies!”

“Yes, my Lord,” it responded in a more subdued tone.

“In the future,” Richter said in clipped tones, “let us know well in advance that enemies are close by. Specifically before we are shot by them!”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Wait here a moment Sion. Futen turn invisible and come with me.” Richter walked back to the hill, and then circled to the left of his previous approach, making his way back to the top as silently as he could. Neither skeleton had moved far from its position in front of the cave. Looking down at the one on the right, he used his Analyze skill.

Skeleton: Lvl 6. Health 160. Mana 0. Stamina 120.

Moving his gaze to the one on left,

Skeleton: Lvl 5. Health 140. Mana 0. Stamina 110.

A bit disappointed about the lack of information, he shrugged. Analyze was only level one, and he assumed that as it leveled up, he would gain more information.

He backed the hill to Sion. “There are only two,” he whispered. The mist will hide us unless we get too close. Let’s make our way up, and use Imbued arrows to destroy them. You take the one on the left, I’ll take the one on the right.”

They crawled up to the top of the hill, and nocked arrows. Building power around his arrow it began to glow golden while Sion’s glowed blue. As the glow intensified however, the skeletons oriented on them and began to prepare arrows of them own. Knowing they were out of time he released his arrow, Sion’s streaking away right after. Richter’s arrow struck the skeleton’s shoulder. It spun away to collapse against the hill.

Sion’s arrow struck his skeleton center mass causing it to be knocked down. The skeleton Richter had struck was back on its feet in an instant, minus its right arm. The first shot had knocked the entire appendage free. It had drawn a sword from a scabbard at its waist, and was running towards him. He took quick aim and shot again. In his hurry, he lacked the focus to properly imbue the arrow. The normal arrow only caused the skeleton to miss a step before it started charging up the hill again. A second imbued arrow from Sion struck it in the hip causing it to flop back onto its chest. It struggled to rise, its remaining arm bracing against the hill.

An arrow struck Richter in his chest. The simple arrowhead was not powerful enough to penetrate his Chest Plate of the Wood Sprite, thankfully, but it did knock him off balance and removed fourteen health. As he recovered he looked at the skeleton shooting at him, and saw it had already drawn another arrow and was attempting to line up another shot. He dove to the side, an arrow whistling by only a foot to the right. He was immensely glad that his increased Agility granted him better dodge! Having no time to orient himself for a counter attack, Richter picked his head up to look at the skeleton and hopefully dodge the next attack. What he saw was the wonderful sight of Sion’s imbued arrow striking a critical blow to the skeleton’s head. The skull was not only removed, but it shattered the facial bones as well. The bones of the body collapsed into a pile.

The second skeleton was back on its feet, and was unsteadily moving towards them with its sword in hand. Drawing his short sword, Richter feinted causing it to slash at him, but he had already bent down to strike it in the knee. The skeleton’s blow missed entirely, but Richter’s did not. It’s already weakened magical bonds could not withstand Richter’s strike and its lower leg flew off causing it to fall on its face again. One more strike to the back of its neck caused its head to fly off and ended the fight.

Both he and Sion stood with arrows drawn and pointed at the cave, waiting to see if the noise of the fight brought more enemies out, but none came. Richter eased the draw on his bow and examined the opening.

You have found: Seasoned Cave

“Futen,” Richer said.

“Yes my Lord,” a disembodied voice answered from somewhere in front of him.

“Stay invisible. Scout ahead into the cave, let us know what you find.”

“As you wish.”

The two of them waited for a few minutes. As they did they gathered the weapons of the skeletons they had destroyed as well as whatever arrows could be salvaged. The skeletons’ gear was all common and poor quality, but there might be a use for it later. Not needing to sit long, the remnant appeared back in front of them. “There are two caverns inside the cave, one after another. There are three skeletons with blades in the first cavern. A short tunnel connects the two. In the second chamber, there are five more skeletons. There is a stairway leading down at the back of the chamber, but that is as far as I could go.”

“Why couldn’t you go further? Was there a barrier you couldn’t pass?”

“I am bound to the village. It is only because you have absorbed the Heart Crystal that I can go so far afield. Normally I cannot move more than half a mile from the village borders. Now that we are past that point, I cannot be more than one hundred yards from you.”

Knowing that there were eight enemies within one hundred yards, it seemed clear that there would be close quarter fighting. “Futen, can you make your light brighter? Bright enough to see by in a dark cave?”

“Yes, Master, but away from the village, I will not be able to maintain a bright light for more than several minutes without rest.”

“Does the mist go into the cave? Can we rely on its concealment,” Sion asked.

“No, the mist stops at the cave mouth.”

“Okay then,” Richter replied. “Become invisible, and go to the top of the first cavern. Wait five seconds then flare brightly.” Looking at Sion he asked, “Have your mana and stamina recovered,” at his Companion’s nod, Richter explained the plan, “We strike immediately after Futen flares the light. Hopefully it will distract them. Take the one in the middle, I will hit the one on the right. Keep firing as quickly as you can to keep distance between us and them. Now go Futen!”

Placing an arrow to the string, he focused on his aura. It surrounded the arrow almost instantly, and he began to pour his mana into it. He held allowed the mana to flow for three seconds, reasoning that the deeper they got into the dungeon, the stronger the opponents would be. He began to see streaks of black flow over the gold aura and moved into the cave mouth, Sion to his right. Just before entering a white grey light flared. They stepped inside, and both immediately took aim. As hoped, the blast of light had taken the attention of the skeletons for key seconds.

Triggering his Focus skill, the skeleton he was targeting seemed to jump towards him. Easily focusing on its chest he released. The golden streak with a black tinge hit the skeleton’s chest knocking it back to the cave wall. The charged arrow made a deafening boom in the confined space causing a ringing in his ears. Sion’s arrow blasted into the skeleton in the middle, which was holding a great sword, making an even greater explosive clap.

The undamaged skeleton immediately started running at them with a sword in one hand and a buckler in the other. It moved with the same uncanny speed of the skeletons outside. It just seemed wrong that something dead could move so quickly. Despite that, Sion’s Dexterity gave him excellent combat speed. He was able to strike the skeleton two more times before it could cross the sixty yards to the cave entrance. The first hit its buckler and was deflected up above the bony head, but it served a purpose by knocking the buckler out of the way. Sion’s second shot exploded into the skeleton’s pelvis separating its top and bottom half.

Richter had imbued another arrow with magical force and attacked his initial opponent again, but missed as the skeleton dodged to the side. The failed shot was not a small thing. He had already lost more than half of his mana! He quickly drew his short sword and braced to meet the bony bastard!

Its cutlass swung in a vicious arc intending to decapitate him. He blocked the blow with his short sword, but it then swung a bony fist at his face which connected. He reeled back from the hit, pain exploding in his jaw and his health decreasing by a further 8%. Stars occupied his vision, and not knowing where the next strike would come from, Richter let his legs fold and he rolled onto his back then pushing up with his arms to land on all fours.

The skeleton was closing again, but was struck by Sion’s blue arrow, knocking it back. The sprite immediately struck the skeleton with another imbued arrow. The speed of his attacks were impressive, but despite high dexterity, Sion still needed time to put any real power into his Imbue Arrow skill.

Richter threw himself back into the battle, a backhand swing striking the neck of the skeleton which had struck him. The combination of blows was enough to make it collapse into component parts. He heard, “Duck,” and dropped to the floor. The middle skeleton had rejoined the fight and swung horizontally with its iron great sword. The attack missed, but it used the momentum of its swing to bring the blade above its head intending to strike down and cleave him in two. Again his Agility saved him as he rolled to the side. The force of the missed strike made vibrations in the cave floor that he could feel.

The skeleton was overbalanced by its failed attack. Richter swung his sword at the back of its left knee. On his back, he couldn’t put too much strength into the blow, but it was enough to make his enemy fall forward. Sion’s arrow, a brilliant blue of imbued magic, hit its clavicle, tearing away both shoulder and head. As with the previous skeletons, removal of the skull broke whatever magic was animating it. The bones fell apart. A motion attracted Richter’s attention. The first of the skeletons from the second chamber came running into the battle. Sounds from the tunnel clearly indicated others were close behind.

“Run,” Richter shouted! He jumped back onto his feet, and followed his own advice. The half skeleton Sion had hit early in the fight raised itself up on one arm, its sword cocked to swipe at him. Sion shot it in the back before turning to run. It collapsed like its three friends, and Richter ran past. Once out of the cave, Richter pulled Sion with him to the right moving twenty feet into the mist before turning and drawing arrows. Neither began to imbue their arrows however. While Richter was sure they both remembered that the light from their arrows could draw the skeleton’s attention, he was equally sure that Sion must have used the greater part of his mana.

“Move back,” Richter breathed silently. He began to take his first step as the skeletons spilled out of the cave. Two had bows, one a bastard sword and the fourth a heavy dagger and round shield. The fifth was slightly larger and held an axe. Knowing Sion needed more time to recover his mana, they continued moving back slowly and quietly. A large fallen tree was behind them. Huddling behind it, Richter looked over and focused upon the largest skeleton invoking Analyze.

Skeleton Warrior: Lvl 9. Health 310/310. Mana 0/0. Stamina 220/220.

“FML,” he muttered under his breath.

“What does that mean,” Sion quietly asked as they moved back and took shelter behind a fallen tree.

“I’ll tell you later. Futen, where are you?”

The grey sphere appeared in front of them with its inner light muted.

“Can those things hurt you? Can you be hurt?”

“I can be destroyed by strong magic, but I am nearly immune to physical attacks my Lord.”

“Good! This is the plan. Those three skeletons almost kicked our ass. We need the concealment of the mist to destroy these things. So we are going to wait a moment for our mana to regenerate then I want you to turn invisible and make a loud noise to draw their attention. We will power our arrows and attack. While that skeleton warrior is almost definitely the biggest damage dealer, those archers are the biggest threat to us out here in the open. So we fire, and fire at them again, until they are down. Then we fade back and split up. Once enough time passes, they won’t be able to find us in the mist unless we power up. So we hit and move, hit and move. Meanwhile, Futen you move around and make noise and flare lights to confuse them. Can you speak in a different voice than the one you always use?”

“Than the one you always use,” Richter’s own voice spoke back to him from the remnant.

Pausing for a moment, “Okay, new rule. Never do that again unless I ask… it’s super creepy.”

“Yes, my Lord,” Futen replied in its normal monotone.

At his current mana regeneration rate, he got one point back every ten seconds. He was at about 50% of his mana, so that would take a little over ten minutes.

After the prerequisite time he looked at Sion, “Are you ready?” His friend nodded and said, “Let’s move.”

They left the shelter of the tree, still seeing the five skeletons outside of the cave entrance in a rough half circle. They stood nearly motionless, heads turning slowly, searching for some indication of the duo’s location. Futen phased out of view, and Richter and Sion nocked arrows waiting. A white flash and voice from the other side of the skeleton’s position was their cue. All of the skeletons turned towards the improvised flash bang. A blue and golden glow immediately flared into existence behind them. Both Richter and Sion waited three seconds, the glow growing brighter and more intense, and then they released. The skeletal warrior seemed cognizant of the danger behind it before the other monsters. It squatted, bringing its double headed axe in front of its skull like a shield. It was not, of course, their intended target. A gold and blue blur converged on the chest of one archer shattering it instantly. The concussive force of two close proximity strikes staggered the other skeletons.

Sion launched one strike and then a second at the remaining archer, taking only the minimal time to power the arrows. His goal was to keep it off balance. Though neither shot landed with crushing force, the skeleton was staggered. It allowed Sion to once again imbue an arrow with extra force, and land a blow to its left chest. It was not destroyed outright, but one arm was knocked free. While it wasn’t dead, it would certainly no longer be a threat as an archer.

The three melee skeletons had already started running towards them. As discussed, Sion took off to the right while Richter moved to the left. Each ran following the slight curve of their respective hills until the skeletons lost sight of them. It took about a minute, but by making short changes in direction periodically it became clear when the skeletons lost the trail. They were once again safe in the protection of the mist. Without speaking the skeletons all seemed to arrive at the conclusion that they should return to guard the cave mouth. They stopped searching and returned to guard the entrance. All was silent.

Sion and Richter looked at the unaware monsters, breathing as quietly as possible. They had regrouped and positioned themselves at the top of a hill looking down on the bony creatures. Another white flare was their cue to resume attack. It flared right in the midst of the skeletons causing a small amount of pandemonium. A blue arrow struck the skeleton with the shield in the back dealing extra damage. A golden arrow struck the warrior in the shoulder, but it seemed to simply shrug the blow off. Both lesser skeletons moved after Sion who fired with his usual alacrity, one arrow per second. The barrage staggered each skeleton in turn. He was moving back as he shot. Each skeleton was struck twice struggling up the hill before Sion ran off a short distance, and then started the onslaught again.

The skeletal warrior rushed Richter, axe pulled back ready to swing. He moved to the left drawing and beginning to imbue his arrow, but as soon as the glow began the skeleton warrior moved towards him with intimidating speed. Judging by the information he had seen with Analyze, Richter knew he was no match for his opponent in a standup fight. Three more times he moved off and attempted to attack the warrior, but each time he could not do more than summon his aura before the warrior was almost upon him. He feared moving further away lest he lose the warrior’s interest. It might pursue Sion whose own battle was not concluded based upon the blue flares that could be seen over the hill. Looking around, an idea occurred to Richter though.

“Futen, draw it up the hill. Make a gold flare and use my voice.”

A moment later, Richter’s own voice could be heard up the hill, and the skeletal warrior followed it axe swinging. Meanwhile Richter moved down the hill and began imbuing his arrow. After one second his arrow glowed golden. After two seconds, the warrior noticed him, and turned to run down the hill. After three seconds, black streaks once again shot over the golden aura surrounding the arrow. The warrior ran closer, now only 20 yards away. It was building tremendous speed as it sprinted downhill. After four seconds, the black streaks flowed up and down the arrow and a high pitched whine grew in Richter’s ears. The warrior began its swing obviously aiming for decapitation, only to trip over the fallen tree that it didn’t see until too late. It fell over it, prone, only 12 feet away from Richter. Five seconds had passed and black streaks moved over the arrow too fast to see. Richter released and struck the warrior at point blank range directly in the head.

The Imbued arrow didn’t just impact the warrior, it rendered the skull into pieces. The blow collapsed the skull of warrior and the force continued on, destroying its neck, chest and upper vertebrae. The backlash of the strike drove Richter off of his feet, his head striking a branch and knocking him unconscious.

His next sensation was of a very small hand slapping him across the face. This did not bother him very much, but the follow-up backhand across the other cheek just seemed rude and excessive. Blinking back to consciousness, he clearly said, “Skop furgin hidin mi uuu fookene men e me!”

“Quit laying around. Time to get back to work.”

Taking several slow, deep breaths, Richter finally controlled his own personal spinning universe and sat up. Sion stood beside him. In front of him was the ruined frame of the skeleton warrior. Still dazed, Richter looked around hoping that the danger had passed, but not yet able to fully muster the ability to care.

Sion looked at him with a confused expression, “What is FML?”