Chapter 216: Cat

Chapter 216: Cat

“You might have forgotten, but the one that got yanked into the hole was me,” Moxie pointed out. “Why do you think that the monster was after you?”

“Right before you got yanked, I saw a flicker of this reddish-purple light somewhere in the hole,” Noah replied, watching the patch of earth that he’d dragged over the hole warily to make sure that it didn’t shift. When nothing moved, he continued. “And, when I was falling asleep before we left Arbitage, I saw that same color on a cat-looking thing.”

Moxie’s brow furrowed. “Cat looking thing? You didn’t mention anything about it.”

“I’ll be honest, I kind of forgot about it. It vanished when I blinked, and I kind of suspected that it was Azel screwing with me or the like. Evidently, that isn’t the case. That didn’t seem like him.”

“You should really try to mention things like this before something happens.” Moxie crossed her arms.

“You’re probably right.” Noah rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I foolishly assumed that the cat wasn’t going to be trying to kill anyone. I suppose that was my first mistake. Everything is trying to kill us.”

“Almost everything,” Moxie corrected. “Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea what the cat might have been. I’ve never heard of a monster that looks like a cat with red energy. Can you describe it more?”

“There were some spikes on it. That’s where the energy was coming from. Aside from that... it was cute, I guess?”The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.

“No idea what it was,” Moxie said with a shrug. She glanced to Lee. “What about you?”

“Never heard of it,” Lee said. “Did it look edible?”

“Considering it was covered in spikes, probably not.”

Lee grimaced. She nudged the body of the splattered bird beside them with her foot. “So you weren’t fighting these?”

Noah shook his head and knelt beside the bird. He was loathe to touch it, but it only took a brief observation to realize that the black goop seeping from its mangled corpse was uncomfortably similar to what had been covering the plants in the cavern beneath them.

“Same rot,” Noah observed, rising back to his feet and dusting his hands off on the sides of his coat. “They’re definitely related, although the time of the attack probably implied that anyway. Also, the monster isn’t trying to attack again.”

Moxie heaved a sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Which means it’s probably intelligent and an ambush predator, meaning we’ve got another jaguar situation.”

“Well, this one is slightly different. We knew what we were up against with the jaguar. We also knew its motives – eating us,” Noah said helpfully. “Aside from the fact that this monster is also likely cat shaped, I’ve got no damn idea what it’s capable of.”

“Even better.” Moxie’s words dripped with sarcasm. The three stood in silence for a few seconds.

“So... more hunting?” Lee asked hopefully.

“Might as well,” Moxie replied. “We’ve got a ways back to the city now that Noah’s sword got turned to mush. We might have to take the long way around and hope that we see some more enemies above ground, though. I’m not too eager to get dragged back underground. I think it might be wise to slightly adjust our plan, though. Let’s head toward the city and hunt along the way, but get some lodgings and stay within it rather than just collecting all our kills outside first.”

“Why? There’s probably more food in the city, though. I like that idea.”

“Dawnforge has protection against powerful monsters. I’m not sure what’s hunting Noah, but it’ll have more trouble getting to any of us when we’re inside the city.”

And, with that, they set out once more. The sun traced through the sky overhead, passing above them and continuing on its journey toward the horizon. The later in the day it grew, the hotter it became.

“What do you mean?” Moxie asked. “I’m sure there’s a way you could find a way to work both in.”

“Probably,” Lee agreed. “But that would also mean I would have to split my intention between them, at least for that first Rune. That would probably mean that I wouldn’t form anything perfect.”

“Which one are you leaning toward, then?” Noah asked. “It sounds like you’ve already got a lot of Shift, so if that’s the direction–”

“Shadow. Shifting was a way to keep myself alive in the Damned Plains. It let me stay out of the eye of anything too powerful. But, now that I’m here, aside from a few specific situations, I don’t’ think I actually need it as badly. It’s still useful, and I’ll probably always keep some Runes related to it, but I think it would be better to focus on Shadow. Maybe I’ll keep a single Shift Rune in the combination, but not more than that.”

Noah reached into his bag and pulled Dayton’s grimoire back out of it, tossing the scroll to Lee. She caught it, then gave Noah a confused glance.

“Look through that whenever you get time,” Noah said. “Figure out what Runes you think might have components that are useful to you and try to make a list of what kind of Rune you want to make. Once you figure that out, we can get you a few of those.”

Lee beamed at Noah and nodded, clutching the scroll to her chest. “Okay!”

I can’t believe I didn’t think of that earlier. Dayton’s grimoire also has a bit of free space on it, so we can store some pretty solid Runes on that if we happen to run into any before I can buy some good Catchpaper.

“What’s that expression on your face?” Moxie asked Noah, slowing her walk to a stop.

He was so distracted that he nearly bowled into her. Managing to stop at the last second, Noah coughed into his fist and shook his head.

“Sorry. I was just thinking about how my attention has been getting pulled in so many different directions that I can’t focus on anything. I feel like I should have been able to solve half of these issues if I could just stop and handle one at a time.”

“Maybe just do that, then?” Moxie suggested. “What’s the rush, Noah? Half of these problems aren’t yours. They’re ours. I – and I’m sure Lee as well – we both appreciate how much you’re trying to help us, but neither of us will die if you can’t get us perfect Runes by tomorrow.”

“I know, I know. I just keep swapping from one thing to another,” Noah said wearily.

“Well, what’s the first thing you need to work on? I’ll help you keep on track,” Moxie said.

“Probably finishing my ice-based Rank 2 Rune,” Noah said, sending her an appreciative smile. “I need to find another one, since I’ve currently got something called Frozen Mist, and it’s not great. If I find another Rank 2 Ice Rune, I think I could merge the two and make one that I like.”

“Okay. Easy. We just keep our eyes peeled for–”

A flash of reddish purple danced across the rocks to Noah’s left and vanished beneath the ground. Moxie clearly saw it too, because she leapt back, raising her hands defensively. Noah and Lee both dropped into fighting stances as they all searched for the energy.

“I think your cat is back,” Moxie whispered.

There was a loud crack. Pebbles trembled all around them as the ground started to rumble. A mound formed a dozen paces away from them, bulging upwards. Stone and dirt tumbled away as a jagged white and grey hand burst from the ground, slamming into the earth. Its claws dug deep through the stone as the ropey, blueish muscles running along the arm connected to it bulged.

A gangly monster pulled itself out from the ground. Dirt crumbled away from its body. It was humanoid, but impossibly gaunt. Large, ovular holes riddled its body. The monster’s face looked like someone had put it into a blender.

One eye was on its forehead, and the other seemed to be where its ear was meant to be. A crooked, spine-filled mouth sat askew on one cheek, just beside another hole. The monster arched its back, letting out an ear-piercing wail.

“That,” Lee said, taking a step back. “Does not look like a cat.”