“Nice,” said Saden. “Well then; go forth, my emissary, and bring her into our ranks!”
Dakkon wasn’t sure if Saden’s antics would get annoying quickly, but for now he’d enjoy seeing what sort of trouble the staff wielding exorcist managed to get himself into.
Spotting Zelle proved to be an easy-enough task, as she was one of the shamans standing amongst several summoned, pale-blue spirit animals which licked the wounds of those injured in battle. The ethereal tongues of wolves lapping against the injured served to staunch blood flow and seal opened flesh.
“Zelle,” said Dakkon. “That last encounter didn’t go so well.” Dakkon paused for a moment and Zelle turned to face him. “We’ve got a group together, but we’d all like to not die for lack of a healer. Are you dead set on staying with the other shamans?”
“No,” said Zelle sullenly. “Honestly, they’re pretty much all pricks. I’m beginning to understand why that Damak guy was so skeptical that we would work together. I’ve learned nothing of use and three of the other shamans died doing basically nothing to resist.” Zelle sighed.
“That’s great,” said Dakkon. “Well, no, I mean I’m sorry to hear that—but you’ll be a real asset, I assure you.” Dakkon smiled awkwardly.
Zelle smirked a little at Dakkon’s words. “All right then, you’ll have to introduce me.”
The two tried to convince Damak to join them as well, but working for the city of Tian meant that his role was less malleable to his whims than the others. With Damak unable to join at his leisure, for now the group would have a monk for a tank. Dakkon had seen that work all right in some games and terribly in others. He would just have to wait and see which way this game leaned on that subject.
Zelle briefed the others on what she was capable of. She could heal, of course, and attack with spiritual bees as she had done before. She also had spells which could remove status ailments such as poison; she could imbue a sense of confidence with a spell called ‘Daring,’ which apparently made difficult situations easier to bear; she could create a thin, translucent armor of spiritual scales around players which would absorb some incoming damage and turn aside weak missile attacks; and she could even scout the area with a spirit animal which attempted to warn of approaching danger, although she admitted it would be a great deal more useful if they were stationary, as the bird was likely to warn her whenever they passed anything mildly threatening. In other words, compared to everyone else, she could do a lot. Dakkon was now, more than ever, being seduced by the path of the shaman.
The other members of the expeditionary force similarly split themselves into more optimal groups. After the surprise attack, most were slow to act and some did nothing at all. In upcoming fights, a repeat performance would likely lead to the end of the mission—and they had each already invested a full day into the quest.
After only a few minutes rest and an extremely quick and unheated meal for most, the force marched onward. Zelle set her little flying humming bird to dart around and warn her of any more approaching tribesmen. She also cast her protection spell, forming a small pangolin above a player’s head which descended into them, disappeared, and was replaced by dull, translucent, turquoise scales which covered everything save for one’s face. Zelle successfully cast the pangolin armor on Dakkon, Sift, Cline, and herself, but as soon as the scales formed around Saden, they melted away like butter in the sun. Saden told Zelle not to worry about it.
Watching magic fall away from Saden piqued Dakkon’s curiosity. While they walked, Dakkon covertly experimented with various thermomantic abilities on the exorcist—all of which seemed to work as intended, as evidenced by Saden’s gripes about the temperature. Dakkon assumed what he’d seen must be some form of anti-spirit magical protection granted to exorcists—but even that didn’t fit after he saw another, similarly dressed exorcist with protective scales in a different group.
C
HAPTER 24:
I
F IT
B
LEEDS…
The procession moved onward. About an hour away from dusk, several shamans’ spiritual alarms returned at once—foreshadowing the start of another dangerous situation. The expeditionary force did not overlook the spiritual alarms and halted to cast spells and otherwise prepare for an upcoming fight. Dakkon used the time to refresh his mana supply which he had been draining to half then refilling while he trained on the road. By the time all preparations had been completed, the wind had ceased blowing amongst the tree tops. No scurrying or scraping of animals could be heard. An unnatural stillness settled upon the forest.
They came forward from each direction. Nine tribesmen in unique, grotesque, bestial forms. Earlier that very day, a group of three had finished off a fourth of the expeditionary force without a single casualty of their own. This time, however, the force was prepared and split off into roughly even portions to face each tribesman as a separate mini-boss battle.
The tribesman nearest to Dakkon’s group stood on four, equally proportionate, legs with a meter-long neck. Atop its head were two mildly bowed, ribbed horns which were tipped with sharp bone points. The fleshy abomination looked to be built for speed. It dashed forward toward Dakkon’s party, but was halted by the impact of slamming into an immovable, white sheet of Saden’s barrier magic. The sudden, jarring stop left the creature dazed and reeling. By the time Sift and Dakkon were upon it, the creature’s two front legs had been impaled by Cline’s arrows. Sift connected with an open palm to the back of the beast’s head, slamming its face down into the ground while Dakkon stabbed into the creature’s side.
[You have stabbed an aberrant tribesman in a vulnerable location for 490 damage. An aberrant tribesman has been slain.]
[You have gained 515 experience! EXP until next level 4,221/6,380]
As the tribesman died, the dull blue of the spirit imbued within him leapt out of his back and disappeared. The tribesman’s form did not revert to its original state, but its body no longer glowed.
The group’s first kill had been swift—the cat from their previous encounter must have been at the very cusp of death before its timely retreat. The other groups were not faring quite as well as their own, and a faction near the center didn’t appear to be engaging the attackers at all.
A large, gorilla-like monster mowed through people in twos and threes—knocking them around with its powerful arms. Two new flying tribesmen had appeared as well, upping the enemies to 11 total. They darted between the trees and dived to assault the backs of already-engaged human combatants.
As had been decided after the last battle, every shaman with the ability to do so focus-fired their swarm-of-bees spells at the flying tribesmen which fell out of the air, writhing and clawing at the stinging masses. Expeditionary force members with ranged weapons made pin cushions of their bee-covered antagonists.
As his allies were slain, the gorilla-type tribesman let out a bellow and charged toward his nearest target—Cline. Sift intercepted the furious apeman with a shoulder to his midsection and grabbed the beast’s arm. The monk acted as a fulcrum as he assisted the monkey’s momentum up and over his shoulder with a tug on the beast’s arm. The gorilla was tossed over Sift’s shoulder and laid out flat on its back, the full impact of Sift’s attack having knocked out its wind and left it on death’s door. As Dakkon moved in to finish the job, Sift darted away toward his next opponent.