Chapter 44: We Can't Stop Here!

Chapter 44: We Can't Stop Here!

“Cool necklace,” said Xim. “Get that from Seinnador as well?”

“No, I’ve had this the entire time. Even back in the Creation Delve.”

Xim cocked her head to the side.

“Like, in your pocket?”

“No, I’ve been wearing it.”

“You know,” she said, “for most of the time I’ve been around you, you haven’t been very fond of wearing a shirt. I think I would have noticed something like that dangling around your neck. It’s not really subtle.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure. I forget about it until I remember I have it, and it’s like it suddenly appears. I never remember it getting in my way or even feeling it on my skin. It sort of melts away from my perception. Maybe it does the same to everyone else?”

“That’s... pretty weird. Where’d you get it?”

“It was my purchase from the gear shop at the beginning of the Creation Delve.”

She frowned.

“I wasn’t offered any perception-warping amulets. What else does it do?”

“It’s how I can tell what types of Delves people have done. It gives me an ability called Soul-Sight. There’s probably more to it than just seeing if someone has spent their time in higher-difficulty Delves, but I’m not sure.”

“Mind if I inspect it?”

I opened my mouth to agree, but was interrupted by a loud thud as something heavy hit the deck just in front of us. All three of us jumped at the sound and I immediately sprung to my feet, followed quickly by Xim and Nuralie.

A dark shape began to rise up, its form shrouded in what first appeared like a long robe. What I thought was the hem began to flow outward, until it unfurled into a pair of leathery wings, spanning twenty feet across. A creature stood before us, tall and lean with giant black eyes and a wide mouth sporting two rows of sharp teeth. Its body was covered in short brown fur, though it wore a loose shirt and torn pants made of rough-spun fabric.

I pulled out my wand with my left hand and prepared to Oblivion Orb the shit out of it with my right. Xim drew her scepter from her inventory and Nuralie produced a long knife, stepping back to put Xim and me between herself and the creature. It was a sensible move. Nuralie didn’t strike me as a frontliner.

It opened its mouth as if to speak... or maybe to lunge forward and take a chomp out of us.

I really wanted it to say “I’m Batman.”

It did not.

What it did say was something like “Ghurrrrrglech!” before having a coughing fit and collapsing to its knees. One hand gripped its abdomen, and I noticed a dark, wet stain on the shirt.

“I- I think it’s injured,” I said.

“What is it?” said Nuralie.

“A Chovali maybe?” said Xim. “But I’ve never seen one before.”

“Chovali?” I said. “Like the colony we’re supposed to dock at?”

Xim nodded. I watched the creature closely, but stowed my wand and approached. I knelt down in front of it, close enough to reach out and touch, trusting my durability to handle any potential tricks.

“Are you hurt?” I asked. “Do you need help?”

The creature looked up at me with its large, dark eyes, and nodded. It struggled again to say something that resulted in another series of wet coughs and it collapsed to its side.

“Xim, it...” Him? Her? “They need healing. Nuralie, can you go grab Lito? The captain as well.”

Nuralie nodded and disappeared silently into the night. Xim knelt next to me and reached out to move the creature’s hand from the wound.

It was a massive bite mark. Whatever had gotten to them had taken a whole chunk of tummy as large as a bowling ball with it. Blood streamed out, quickly forming a pool on the deck.

“This looks recent,” she said. “Very recent.” She placed a hand on the Chovali’s chest and golden light went down her arm and into their body. The bleeding slowed and the flesh around the wound began to scar over, but the large mass of gut that was missing did not miraculously reappear.

“I don’t know if I can...” Xim trailed off, her hand hovering over the Chovali’s chest.

“What?” I asked. “You can’t heal them?”

“Maybe I can keep them alive for a while, but they’re missing organs.”

The creature spat blood on the ground, then looked up at Xim.

“Your bedside manner... it is not good, yes?” It said in a layered, raspy voice. Its mouth curled up in what might have been a smile, though it looked quite sinister.

“I’ve been told I’m pretty blunt,” Xim said, returning the ‘smile’. “If I were more advanced maybe I could... Wait! Cole might be able to help.”

I heard boots on the deck behind us and saw Nuralie leading Lito toward us with Captain Mot in tow.

“Thanks, Nuralie. Can you grab Cole as well?”

“Everyone’s on the way,” said Lito. He stopped and squatted next to Xim. “Greetings, moon-son. It appears you’ve had a rough night.”Fiind updated novels at novelhall.com

“Greetings to you... day-son. I have not had many worse than this one, yes?”

“What’s your name?”

“Then I guess we know how they’ve been sinking the ships. Cole, Xim, get Quickwind below deck,” Lito’s eyes searched the darkness downriver. “Get him stabilized as fast as you can, but we’ll need you both back up here as soon as possible.”

Cole finished bonding the strip of flesh he’d pulled from the jar around two severed portions of the Chovali’s innards, then packed his bag and put it away. He pulled a large plank of wood out from his inventory and laid it on the ground beside Quickwind. I noticed that there were handles on either end and realized that it was a rudimentary stretcher. Xim and Cole lifted Quickwind onto it, then began moving him toward the hatch.

“Ember, give me a flare,” said Lito. “Ashe, now’s a good time to bring a friend out.”

Ember nodded and drew an arrow from her quiver. The end began to glow with white light as she aimed upward and fired in a high arc. The arrowhead grew in luminosity as it ascended until it illuminated the entire riverway between the cliffs. The projectile halted at the apex of its flight, suspending itself in the air.

At the outside edge of the arrow’s radiance, dark shapes became visible. Several humanoid forms flew with leathery wings, their lean and fur-covered bodies marking them as more Chovali. A half dozen others crawled along either side of the cliffs, their sinewy limbs flexing as clawed hands pierced the rock and earthen faces.

At the center of the formation was a Chovali whose body was far thicker and more muscular than the others. His wings were extended out into the air, but he didn’t seem to use them to fly. For one thing, he was oriented upright, rather than moving with his front facing the ground, like the others around him. His body didn’t bob or swoop, but maintained a perfect line through the air and he held his hands folded behind his back. Beyond all that, I couldn’t imagine a twenty-foot wingspan was sufficient for physics to give this brick of a creature a pass. However he moved, it was supernatural.

His spread wings were just his way of t-posing on us.

It was unmistakably the Alpha. If not for the dominant center position and general air of superiority over his fellows, I could tell from how his soul radiated power. He had no Delver levels. There was no platinum or gold or silver within him. It was black, with churning brown and red hues, like congealed blood mixed with ink and set to boil.

The mass of Chovali parted, and those flying went to the cliffsides, latching on alongside their crawling brethren. The Alpha continued to hover, looking down at our group with what almost passed as a bored expression.

A harsh screech filled the air, and a bird the size of a fucking elephant landed atop the western cliff. Its wings were large enough to blot out half the sky, and a single flap sent a gust through the entirety of the tiny valley, kicking up sand and tousling my hair. Its face was dominated by a long and bulbous beak that ran up the front of its head in a rounded column. Two pairs of tiny, black eyes dotted the sides of its visage, which regarded us in a way that made me feel like a worm flushed out of the ground by fresh rain.

“Ashe,” said Lito, “any time now.”

The warrior triplet tilted her head to the side, as though listening for something.

“It’s not quite the right time.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” I whispered.

Myria strode back across the deck, holding one hand over her stomach and looking a bit green around the gills. She whispered something into Lito’s ear and he nodded, never taking eyes off the enemy.

“Ember, Myria, support Ashe up front. Try and tie up the Alpha until Cole gets here as backup. Arlo?”

“Yeah?”

“Think you can get the attention of the chaff?”

I looked around at the two dozen beastmen crawling along the sides of the cliff. It might be time to try out a new spell.

“I reckon I can make that happen.”

“Good. Nuralie, stay close to Arlo and... do whatever you do, I guess.”

Pause.

“Ok.”

“What about you?” I asked.

“A friend of mine once had a pet bird that would peck the shit out of me every time I visited. He thought it was hilarious.”

“I see.”

“I always hated that bird.”

“Hiwardians, I seek to parlay with one who speaks for you.”

The Alpha sounded as though he stood right before us, despite the distance.

“State your business,” said Lito.

“I claim your ship and shall cast it into the spiral. I seek no blood to spill, but neither shall you leave. Surrender to become guests among my flock. Fed and watered. Bathed and housed. Set loose when my task is done.”

“What do you want with the ship?” said Lito. “And how long will your task take you?”

“I have spoke the words that will be spoken. No more shall issue. Decide.”

Lito took a drag from his cig, hammer resting on his shoulder.

“Eh, it was worth a shot,” he said under his breath. Then, louder, “This vessel sails under commission by the Central Delver authority, which acts under charge of the Crown. Piracy will be viewed as an act of violence against the King himself, and your flock courts extermination in doing so.”

“Then you reject my offer. A folly.”

His eyes crawled over the six of us.

“I am not unlearned in the strength of those who pillage the depths of the old world. It is hubris to think your pilfered magicks rival the ancient customs. You will receive this wisdom, imparted unto you as death.”

I tensed, anticipating the start of the fight, but was caught off guard as a tear opened in reality near the bow.

A beefy, three-fingered hand shrouded in gray feathers tore out through what I realized was a dimensional portal. It snagged a crossbow bolt that was zipping through the air, inches from Ashe’s face.

“Oh, shit,” said Ashe. “Good catch!”