Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Five - Buddy System

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Five - Buddy System

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Five - Buddy System

Lunch was had!

It was really good too. I dont know when Momma had time to make sandwiches, but they were excellent. The bread were big oval slices that still tasted fresh, and there was some sauce, lettuce, and carrots that had been shredded. There were even tiny tomato-like veggies cut up into little wafers inside.

All that served next to a big, heaping salad and some tea which I made on the spot. Momma had brought a little tin with some herbs in it for the tea, mostly dried berries and some wild-flowers that I didnt immediately recognize. They were the sweet highlight of the meal.

Still, it was a little strange to be eating next to a forest where we knew enemies were lurking. I felt pretty safe, what with the buns and all, but I couldnt help but glance over every so often, expecting a big ugly monster to leap out and try to have us for lunch.

Being eaten would have ruined the whole mood of a picnic.

So, Amaryllis asked as she poked at her salad. Theres something thats been bothering me.

Oh? Momma asked.

To open the gate to this floor, you need keys. Keys dropped by the zombies. Why did we try to sneak over if we would have had to kill them anyway?

I continued munching as I looked over to the buns. It was Carrot that replied, while dipping her namesake in some sort of savoury sauce. Oh, thats an easy one. There are a couple of spots near the wall that you can bunker up in. Nice and safe. Well, safe-ish.

So you were trying to get us there? I asked.

Yup! When you only have a couple of buns, its easy to be sneaky.

You are very much the opposite of stealthy, Peter said.

Hey now! Carrot protested.

I raised my hand up. I had a question too! So, um, how do you fight a wight? Is there a trick to it? Oh! And whats the puzzle on this floor?

Peter nodded. Wights are best fought with fire. They tend to only attack individually, so theres little strategy involved. As for the floors puzzle; there are five braziers, you need to light them all, and then the fog lifts and the gate unlocks.

So we just run to each one? I asked.

Carrot shook her head. Nope. They change places all the time. You need to find them all over again.

I dont suppose well all stick together in one large group, as is sensible? Amaryllis asked.

Theres four of you, and four of us, Momma said. I think groups of two would make sense. We can regroup at the gate once the fog lifts.

I sat up a little. So whos going to go with who? I asked.

Whom, Amaryllis and Peter said at the same time.

Carrot raised her arms in victory. Thats one pair! she cheered. I call dibs on the human!

Oh? Momma asked. Do you think you and the girl would make a good pair?

Nope! I just think shes quiet enough that she wont stop me from prattling on, Carrot said.

I considered that for a moment while Awen wiggled her arms, all flustered and cute. Awen is a pretty great listener, I said. Try to get her to talk a little too. She can be very interesting once you get past all the cute shyness.

That leaves myself and Broccoli, as well as Miss Momma and Buster, Bastion said over the kettle-pitched squeaking that Awen was making. Perhaps I should go with you, Buster. Leave the two team leaders to work together?

Buster nodded, and Momma smiled faintly. That seems perfectly fair. Now, if everyone is quite done, lets pack things up and prepare to head out.

Careful, Momma said.

My ears perked and I looked around us. We had entered a little clearing. Nothing too big, just a circle some dozen meters wide at the centre, and surrounded by trees.

I think you should take this one, Momma said. Itll be a good experience, and I can hop in if you need the help.

Take on which one? I asked as I looked around.

A cackle from above had me looking up in time to see a blur leaping down at me.

I squeaked and rolled to the side. It wasnt the nicest roll, what with my pack dragging behind me, but I managed to find my feet and hop back a little.

The thing was attacking Momma, arms swinging wildly, and breath coming out in a hiss.

Momma was parrying every punch and swing with one arm, pushing the blows away here, and weaving out of the way there. She was dancing, almost, and all with the easy grace of someone running through some habitual motion. She could have been doing the dishes for all the effort she seemed to put into the fight.

The monster, the wight, I realized, seemed to notice, and it bounced back.

Hey! I called out at it as I launched a ball of Cleaning magic right towards the side of its head.

The wight ducked back and out of the spells path, then with its back curved all the way around, it planted its hands into the ground and cartwheeled back and out of the way of a second spell.

It pressed its feet into the dirt, bunched up its legs, and shot towards me.

For just a moment I was surprised, but if there was one thing I was getting decent at, it was fighting in the air, and I knew that once you took off, there wasnt much you could do to change directions.

The wights eyes, two glowing blue orbs that didnt have iris or pupil, widened a little as I spun around and brought my spade up like a baseball bat.

The thunk of the spade meeting the monsters face rattled my arms, but it still felt pretty great.

The wight rolled on landing, then reached out an arm and raked at my side. My armour took the worst of it, but I still felt its long, claw-like fingers digging into my ribs through my gambeson. Instead of stepping back, I moved in and tried to knee the monster.

It stepped to the side and swung at me again.

I parried with the haft of my spade, but that left my other side open and the wight was quick to take advantage of that.

The shadows around us raced up, and like grasping tendrils from some sort of eldritch monster, they grabbed at my legs and pinned me in place as the wight punched me full-on in the chest.

If it wasnt for my breastplate, that would have been awful. As it was, it still knocked some of the wind out of me.

I let loose a bust of Cleaning magic, then when the tendrils grasping me loosened a bit, I hopped up on the spot and rammed a knee into the wights face.

It reeled back, which let me land and spin around.

Magic rushed to my foot just before my roundhouse crashed into the monsters chest, a good dose of stamina powering the blow.

The wight went flying back.

You, are very rude, I panted as I walked over to it with my spade.

I brought the tool up, then swung it down as hard as I could.

The wight turned to dust beneath me.

Momma clapped behind me, while a very welcome message dinged into being before me. Well done, little bun, Momma said. I think with a few years practice you could become quite the warrior!