Dakkon continued his creep in pursuit of the battle-rich monstrosities. His constant slinking was beginning to cause him stress. When he was nearly unable to bear the crouching and hiding any longer, a message appeared before him.
[Trait unlocked! Taking great care to stay out of sight, your steps begin to fall a little more softly. You have gained the Trait: Stealthy]
That’s right. He was playing a game. Dakkon had forgotten. He didn’t feel like he was playing a game. The exhilaration of stalking the war band was a real sensation. The tension was real. Now, at least, it felt a little easier to bear. Twenty more minutes of trailing and keeping silent finally bore him fruit. The goats were walking up to a cliff face, and their ranks were thinning out quickly.
The cliff in front of Dakkon was at least 100 meters high. The base of it was studded with large and small rocks of all different shapes that tended to smooth. Between a large, pyramid-like boulder and a smaller one that looked something like a column, the beastmen rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. “Found them.” Dakkon was relieved that he had completed the first part of his self-imposed charge.
“Cline,” Dakkon focused on his friend’s face, and after a moment felt the tug of an invisible string. “I’ve found them. There are no lookouts as far as I can see. That’s probably helped them stay so well hidden. I’ll double back and meet up with you part way.”
“Roger,” Cline replied simply and the tether was broken.
After only five minutes, Dakkon had spotted the rest of his group and after he realized that they didn’t see him, allowed them to walk up close to the tree he was now hiding behind. “Greetings!” Dakkon said as he popped out, smiling. The four jumped.
“Jesus, Dakkon. What the hell was that about?” Melee raged. The others simply took in a deep breath and let out calming sighs at each’s own pace.
“Thought you guys might be interested in experiencing what I was going through, is all,” Dakkon said with a grin. “And how were the magical cats?”
“Very relaxing,” said Roth. “I was, at one point, very relaxed.”
Dakkon nodded. “Well, enough of that. It looks like the goats are holed up in the side of a massive bluff. Judging by the number of them and how quickly they got in, there’s bound to be a big cave system or something like it.”
“So… what’s the plan?” Mina asked.
“If you ask me,” said Dakkon, “we’re in something of a unique position. We seem to be the only ones who have found out where the goatmen headquarters are, and since they’re only just back from their conquest, it stands to reason that they won’t be expecting guests, and—if we’re really lucky—some of them may still be injured from their raid.”
“Not to mention we will probably have to act quickly if we want to save that girl,” said Cline. He seemed more composed now that he had had some time to grapple with the situation.
“But, if that’s a cave system like you’ve mentioned, then I’m pretty sure any sound we make will carry through the place like an alarm and pull every goatman to meet us,” Mina deduced.
“That’s not the sort of greeting I’d like, personally,” Roth added.
“Agreed,” Melee supported the sentiment.
“We won’t know until we check it out at any rate,” said Dakkon. “We’re going to have to push our fears aside for now and strike while the iron’s hot.” Dakkon looked towards Mina, as though he expected some measure of dissent, but there was none.
“Well, you’re right at any rate,” said Mina. “We won’t know until we try.”
“At the worst-case, we’ll have a chance to see what death is like while we’re still low levels,” Roth said.
Melee sighed. “I guess this is the right level range to try something completely stupid. Count me in.”
Cline reluctantly nodded. “I think we should all register one another as friends. That way, if something happens, we can meet back up and find a saner way to level.” Everyone agreed and sent or accepted invitations. Afterwards, Cline added, “If only some of us die, then the others shouldn’t feel obligated to wait around on them. We can meet up later.” Everyone agreed again.
C
HAPTER 11:
O
NWARDS
After ten minutes of discussion outside the realm filled with pain, certain death, and goatmen, followed by a game of rock paper scissors to decide marching order, the party was relatively content with Dakkon leading their way onwards. He snuck towards the goatman lair and, with great care, stole a glance inside. It was certainly darker than the sunny, wooded space where the group had been conversing, but not too dark to easily see. Sensing no immediate obstacle, Dakkon looked back to the others and beckoned them with a flourish of his hand. As the party stepped into the side of the cliff, their expectations of a filthy den were blown cleanly away. What they had believed to be, in the best case, a deep, dark, and perhaps dank cave turned out to be an antechamber with painted walls which progressed in sections like the pages of a storybook.
“These paintings here,” Mina said in an excited but deliberately hushed voice, “depict stories that I’ve read about. This one here shows the legend of how the hero Adelin stumbled upon one of a few scattered relics which grant their bearer immense power.” Mina pointed at another of the large murals. “And this one must be the fall of King Feloran who made love to a beautiful temptress whom he had insulted in another form.”
“You seem awfully well informed,” Cline said with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. “How can you tell so much from only a quick look?”
“Those are a couple of the few surviving legends from the Valin empire.” When no one showed any sign of recognition she pressed on. “The pinnacle of strength on Validesh which reigned for a thousand years and gave the continent its name?” Despite some non-committal neck-craning from Melee, the group was still. “They’re told as bedtime stories here. Surely, you’ve heard at least one of these tales,” Mina gestured towards the walls around them.
“I haven’t heard of them,” said Roth and the rest shook their heads in agreement. “That doesn’t mean I’m not interested. What about these?” He nodded towards a painting which depicted a massive bull bowing before a young girl who then climbed on the animal’s back. Next Roth pointed towards another of a man by the side of a river where a fish watched him for panel after panel as he ate, slept, and washed himself.
“I haven’t got a clue,” Mina admitted. “Judging by the other two, I’m guessing they’re tall tales in which fortune plays some part.”
“What does it matter?” snapped Melee, clearly less than pleased to be discussing a gap in her education of fairytales in enemy territory. “All I care about right now is that this is no cave system.”
“That’s right,” said Dakkon. “We may not have to worry about echoes after all, if we’re lucky.”
“I don’t know…” trailed off Cline. “This area seems… kind of important. What if there are traps ahead?”
“If there are any traps, I’m guessing the goatmen would have set them off,” said Dakkon. “Since the people in these murals aren’t goats but humans, it stands to reason that the beasts just found this place before anyone else did.”
“Fine then,” relented Cline with a look of grim resolution. “After you,” he said with an arm outstretched cordially towards the brighter, flickering light of the room beyond the antechamber.