Chapter 48: Some Dreams Do Come True

Chapter 48: Some Dreams Do Come True

Rudvik stepped forward. I will not allow it.

The knight appraised Rudvik with a bemused expression. You!? Dont embarrass yourself, lumberjack. What combat training have you had? Have you ever taken the life of another man? Will you behead me with that ungainly tree ax of yours?nove(l)bi(n.)com

Ye damn well know Ill do whateer it takes! his father shouted.

The scene played out in front of Virs eyes, just as before. But unlike then, he was stronger now. This time, he could do something.

No! Vir shouted. Father, you cant take him on!

What kinda father cant een protect his own kid, huh?

Vir didnt bother arguing. He saw the knights poleax in slow motion, promising death and destruction as it approached Rudviks back.

But this time, Vir would not let him. He Leaped to the knight, crashing into him, sending his enemy tumbling to the ground.

Now, Maiya! he said, jumping away.

Twin columns of fire erupted from his friends hands, arcing out, enveloping the knight. The warrior screamed, writhing on the ground, desperately trying to get free of the flames that burned him.

He failed. The knights screams grew weaker and weaker, until there was silence in the forest once again.

Ye did good, boy! Rudvik said, patting Vir and Maiya on their heads. Couldnt be more proud o ya.

I just wanted to make you proud, father, Vir said, tears welling up in his eyes.

Aye, yeget down, boy! Rudvik said suddenly.

An enormous spider descended upon the man, crushing him under its immense weight.

Vir hadnt even had the chance to move. He watched helplessly as the light faded from his fathers eyes.

Run! Rudvik whispered.

Father no! Vir wailed, jerking awake, katar already in hand.

He looked around, only to find a peaceful forest that was just waking up for the day. Peaceful, apart from the strange voices that always plagued the Godshollow.

Sighing, he put down his blade.

Not that dream again. This was the second night in a row hed had that nightmare, though this time with the addition of a certain spider. And now he was shivering thanks to all the sweat that greased his back.

Great

At least nightmares rarely came true.

Vir sunk further under the thick blanket hed stolborrowed from Riyans place. Even if the man had ordered him to set out right away to go hunt some beast, he wasnt about to enter the Godshollow without adequate preparations. Warmth was key to survival.

The trip had taken six long hours on Bumpy from Riyans abode, but the forest was no place for an Ashva. Hed been forced to leave the animal to graze near the northern edge of the forest.

The Godshollowand specifically this task Riyan had set for himbrought with it a torrent of emotions. On the one hand, hed just gained some powerful new Talents he was itching to test out, but dangerous situations put him at risk of the Reaper taking over again. The two thoughts warred with each other in Virs head, leaving him little peace.

After several minutes of working up the courage to escape the warmth of his blanket, he eventually managed it.

Vir stepped past the makeshift camp to gaze down on the forest floor, over a hundred paces below. Hed been to the forest a thousand times, but had never witnessed it from this high before. The canopy was a world unto itself, magical and mysterious.

Hed never realized just how truly massive the boughs of the great Godhollows were until hed High Jumped and climbed his way up one to pitch camp up here.

Though Vir wasnt afflicted with a fear of heights, climbing a hundred paces without a rope would scare anyone. And considering he hadnt yet learned Light Step, a fall from that height would be his last.

So he made sure to never look down.

The bough he was on was over seven paces in width. He could comfortably lie down sideways and still had room to spare. As a platform, it was both sturdy and secure.

Riyan had been sparse on the details of this hunt, but he had mentioned three things. First, hed given Vir the beasts general location and said that, while dangerous, the prana beast wasnt beyond his capabilities.

He burst into motion before hed even processed the danger. Leap activated, blasting him into the air onto a parallel bough, some ten paces below. He turned back, only to find the spiders jumping one after another, effortlessly pursuing him.

Vir tore into a mad dash. Hed almost forgotten what it felt like to have his heart pump so fast. To be driven by primal, instinctive fear.

Yet despite his predicament, he forced his mind to remain calm, constantly eyeing new branches to High Jump or Leap to.

His pursuers were far more agile than hed guessed. They had no issues keeping up, and in fact, they were steadily gaining on him. Riyan mightve been able to outpace them with consecutive Leaps, but each Talent took Vir a good ten seconds to prime up here on these boughs.

Of course, the answer to his predicament was both obvious and temptingseek the ground. The only reason he hadnt was on account of Riyans warnings.

As he ran along his current bough to the trunk of a massive Godhollow, he knew he had to try something different. The spiders had chased him to a part of the forest that was unfamiliar to him, which concerned him greatly.

Vir paused, turned, and launched another chakram at the spiders. This time, he used a vertical grip, sending the chakram ripping through the air with deadly speed. The arachnids dodged, but being clustered so closely atop the bough, they had little room to escape. His disk cleaved through one, killing it instantly.

Unfortunately, the rest paid their fallen brother no heed. Without pausing, they relentlessly swarmed him.

Vir had seen what their pincers could do; he wasnt foolish enough to allow them to enter melee range.

He turned and dove for the Godhollows trunk. Luckily, these ancient trees had plenty of handholds, allowing him to creep down the trunk.

Unluckily, climbing down was even harder than climbing up, and the worst part was he was constantly looking down, a constant reminder of the incredible hazard he was taking. A fall from here was a death sentence.

His pace was glacial. The spidersif they could follow him on a vertical surfacewould be on top of him in no time.

Hed taken a gamble And it paid off.

The oversized white spiders all halted at the root of the bough, eyeing him with their black compound eyes.

Vir paused and heaved a great breath before continuing the long descent down to ground level at a slower pace.

He never imagined hed be so happy to see dirt again. Cathartic relief flooded his body, but then he remembered Riyans warning. The forest floor was not safe.

Vir walked cautiously, alert for any sign of predators, but he saw none.

Once hed put some distance between himself and those spiders, he planned to ascend another Godhollow. Hopefully, it would be enough to throw his pursuers off his trail.

He halted. Dread coursed through his veins as an epiphany dawned on him.

Riyan had mentioned a single beast. Not a dozen of them.

That meant

A large drop of goopy water splat upon the ground beside him.

Odd, he thought. The sky was clear just a moment ago. Here in the Godshollow, it took a real squall for any precipitation to penetrate the thick canopy.

Drip.

Another one fell, this time to his left. He looked at the liquid, only to realize it wasnt water. It was thick. Almost like syrup.

Virs blood ran cold. Slowly, hesitatingly, he looked up

And found a network of sturdy cobwebs that stretched from tree to tree. Camouflaged by a mat of leaves, which is why he never saw them from above.

Standing upon them, poised right above him, thirty paces in the sky, was an eight-legged arachnid, easily five times the size of the ones hed dispatched. Surrounding it were a dozen of its smaller brethren.

This mustve been the beast Riyan wanted him to hunt.

And hed walked right into its trap.

The Clutch Rachna hissed and fell upon him. Along with every one of its clutchlings. A coordinated attack.

All the color drained from Virs face.

Some dreams really did come true. Especially nightmares.

Next time: 49 - Clutch Rachna