Chapter 6: Attrition

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“That…is not going to work,” Will whispered to himself, peering down at the village of maksu milling around the portal. The sheer numbers alone made the idea of sprinting past them to dive through the portal laughable.

They had set up some kind of shrine around the portal, seemingly worshiping it as a divine object. The only hint that it was there was the faint yellow glow leaking from the shoddily assembled seams of the building.

Maksu were small, angry, and blue, with extended muzzles and canines that would make a cat jealous. They carried short spears and slings.

They were also capable climbers. So much so that Will was no longer sure he had the home-field advantage.

Will shook the thought off, tapping his phantom fingers through the nearby terrain. It had almost become a habit at this point to poke things with his Phantom Hand, looking for anything that he could touch with it.

It was common sense to explore the use of your Abilities as much as possible.

The ‘tiny dimensional storage’ the hand offered seemed to be enough to store a couple pebbles’ worth of material.

Not exactly build-defining.

Just not enough to help Will right this instant.

now

Will knew that their leader, one Sezz’kenal, was a vicious raider of caravans who had acquired a taste for human flesh.

In the latter case, Will just needed to wait until their leader left again, but he had no idea how long that might be. Months, perhaps?

Gertrude’s voice seemed to echo in his ears as Will lay in the dirt, overlooking his target. There was no time limit, and to lose if they spotted him before he was ready. There were lizards and cactuses aplenty to keep him going as long as he had to.

It took three days of observing the camp before he caught his break.

A lone maksu out hunting by itself wandered directly below his vantage point.

Whispering a silent prayer, Will dropped a head-sized rock off the ledge.

He gave a quiet whistle, and the maksu stopped in its tracks, glancing up an instant before the rock caved in its skull.

Will watched for several minutes to see if any of the others had seen or heard anything, but they went about their day as usual.

Maksu were smart…ish. If they found their wayward hunter missing their weapons, they would be alerted to the fact that there was another sapient creature in the area hunting them.

On the other hand…if a bit of their leather tunic was gnawed at by an animal, well, that’s just what happens when wild animals get to your corpse.

And even if it was a bit odd, it didn’t scream ‘sapient’ like taking valuable tools did.

Once he was sure there were no maksu coming, Will climbed down the cliff face, coming to crouch on the narrow path the hunter had been treading, keeping his head down to ensure his burned skin didn’t act as a signal fire and give away his position.

Will’s nose wrinkled at the scent of blood, but he did what he had to do.

He took one of the hunter’s spare stone spearheads and used the razor-sharp tip to cut a chunk off the hunter’s tunic.

He poked a hole on either side of the oblong piece of leather, and a little slit down the center to allow some bend. It was a pain with one hand, but he managed to secure the leather between his foot and the ground.

Will thought, putting his bootlace string through the hole and tying the scrap of leather around his neck, putting the spare spearhead back where it came from.

Maybe they knew how many spearheads this fellow had on him, maybe not, but it was too soon to tip his hand.

Will left as quickly as he arrived, climbing up into the harsh upper cliffs of the canyon and trekking far away from the kill site before he found a spot to watch the fallout as he carefully assembled a sling from the leather and bootlaces.

The maksu found their brethren, skull crushed beneath a rock.

He watched as they craned their necks and inspected the cliffside above. They climbed up and located the cliff he’d dropped the rock from.

Will’s breath caught, holding as he tried in vain to study every moment of their reaction. If he’d left some sign of his presence, and they found it, he was screwed.

He watched as they milled around for a bit, conferring with each other for a moment before they took the hunter’s gear and left the body behind for the scavengers.

If anyone noticed their hunter’s tunic was missing a patch, they didn’t seem to make a big deal out of it.

The true test was their response over the next few hours. If they were crawling all over the site, then he had roused their suspicion, and would have to adjust his strategy.

If not, he was in the clear.

In the maksu camp, life went on as usual.

Will thought as he completed the sling, creating the loop and knot, using his teeth to anchor the bootstring where tension was necessary.

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The next opportunity came nearly a week later, when the maksu formed a war party and went caravan hunting.

Overlooking that blue snake of maksu stacked three deep winding its way up the side of the canyon, Will was faced with a choice.

The absence of the majority of their combat-ready troops should give him plenty of opportunity to sneak in at night and walk through the portal, finishing his Trial.

There was no reward for going above and beyond during a Trial, other than bragging rights, and the inherent benefits like levels and Relics…

And if Will wanted the experience and Relics from defeating the maksu, there was no better option than pulling a reverse-ambush.

From Will’s secondhand knowledge of The Trials, once you passed, you were returned to exactly where you entered.

Or, the campsite where they’d been hunting Will-o-wisps.

So, if the adventuring party wanted to kill him the moment he came back, they knew exactly where he’d arrive.

Even the longest Trials Will had ever heard of only lasted a handful of days. All logic Will knew of spoke to him being dead.

Still…perhaps Will could loot the dead maksu warriors and/or barter with the assisted caravan for some gear, and head back to the Hunting Grounds with a level or two under his belt, and some measure of self-defense.

Even if he failed to save the caravan, he could probably get a few kills and retreat.

An extra level would help pass The Trial, for sure.

Decision made, Will began climbing the canyon wall.

He stalked behind the maksu raiding party, following the trail they’d pounded into the dusty desert floor with their sheer numbers.

Will made sure to stay far behind and out of sight. Eventually, he arrived at their ambush site. From his perspective as he crested the hill, he could see every single one of the blue warriors, but from the road below, they would all be concealed behind boulders and dips in the land.

In the far distance, Will could make out a plume of dust slowly approaching, following a road seemingly cut into the arid wasteland that brought the caravan right beneath the maksu-dotted hillside.

Will saw the maksu limber up their arms, setting their spears down in a row, ready to throw one after the next.

Some of them had man-made weapons, shortswords and steel spearheads clearly made for a larger species.

An idea occurred to Will, and he began climbing down the side of the hill, his heart hammering in his chest.

This was the most dangerous portion of his ‘clever’ plan. If he caught the maksu’s attention before the caravan arrived, they would all just chase , and the caravan would turtle up, leaving him to his fate.

But, if he wanted to have a distinct advantage, this was the way to do it.

Will targeted the maksu farthest away from his brethren, climbing behind it with every ounce of quiet he could manage.

Aspect of the Goat helped tremendously in that respect, as the crunchy ground seemed to flatten and solidify beneath his feet, quieting his steps as a side effect of enhancing his footing.

When he was close enough, Will picked up a big rock and bashed the maksu in the back of the head.

The raider dropped to the ground, twitching. Will dropped down beside it, out of sight of its brethren, in case one of them glanced up at the sound.

If they were curious about what had just happened, they didn’t move.

The creeping stalk had taken nearly an hour, and the caravan was much closer now than before, when it’d been a smear on the horizon. Too close for the maksu to move without giving themselves away.

Will searched the raider and found a steel dagger with a half-polished surface, pitted with rust and neglect, but still shiny in places.

Will thought, taking the dagger and cautiously scooting forward around the concealing boulder, body pressed into the dirt.

None of the other maksu were coming, but they were all within a stone’s throw. He hear it if they approached.

As the caravan approached, Will faced the shiniest portion of the dagger towards the caravan, trying to catch the light of the sun.

The response was immediate.

The caravan’s guards began shouting, pointing at his location, arranging themselves in a defensive line.

Their ambush blown, the maksu began throwing their spears a few seconds too late.

Defensive Abilities were employed, and the rain of spears did far less than the maksu would’ve preferred, leaving the caravan largely unscathed.

The blue raiders leapt to their feet and began streaming down the hillside, waving their weapons and baring their impressive fangs in a stunning display of ferocity.

Will leapt to his feet, grabbing a nearby rock and laboriously loading it into his sling one-handed, setting the pouch on the ground, placing the rock inside, and then picking up the whole thing.

Will thought, scanning the maksu.

At the back of the assault was the maksu leader, wearing an ornate headdress and chanting, a wobbling haze of energy forming around him. He was outside the range of return fire from the caravan, seemingly warming up an Ability that would help turn the tide of the battle.

The rock flung out and caught Sezz’kenal in the back of the head.

The haze of energy dissipated as the maksu leader sank bonelessly to the ground.

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Whatever Ability the maksu were expecting to descend from the hillside didn’t manifest. Instead, a hail of rocks picked off a handful of their rearmost warriors before they realized they couldn’t win.

By then, it was already too late.

Will didn’t have anything white, but while the caravan finished off the remaining maksu, he put one of their tunics on a spear and waved it above his head.

It must’ve worked, because nobody shot him as he approached. Once he was within speaking distance of the caravan, the dialogue between the grateful caravaneers and their savior began.

“Son, where in the Abyss are your clothes?” the lead guard demanded as Will approached. He was a sour-looking older man with ancient acne scars pitting his jowls. “You look like shit.”

“Long story,” Will said with a shrug. “I was hoping I might be able to help out and barter for some clothes.” Will raised his stolen dagger and caught the sun with it.

“That was you, huh?”

“Yessir.”

“How many did you kill?” he demanded.

“The one with the headdress and four more.”

The guard chewed his lip for a moment before opening his purse and tossing Will a gold coin and four silver. Will dropped the knife to snatch them out of midair.

“For the help. And whatever’s on Headdress is yours. Merchants are cowering on the other side. Talk to them about spending your money. We’re gonna make camp and take stock of the situation.”

“Yessir, thank you, sir!” Will said, nodding.

“You on your Trial, kid?”

“Yep. Just hit level two.”

“I suggest you give up on being a Climber.” He pointed at Will’s missing hand. “Missing a hand means you’re missing a Relic slot, and means you’ll always be one step behind everyone else.”

Will frowned.

“Anyway, go get some pants,” the guard said, pointing toward the other side of the caravan. “I’m tired of seeing your cock.”

“Then don’t look at it,” Will retorted, walking around to the other side of the wagon.

A gaggle of old women glanced up at his approach—no less than sixteen merchants with sun-weathered faces. Normally, old ladies were unflappable, but seeing a one-armed young man appear in the middle of the desert with no clothes seemed to be too much for them.

They stared at him silently.

Will cleared his throat, holding money in front of his junk. It was insufficient. “I’d like to buy some clothes?” he said into the silence.

“Son, where the Abyss are your clothes?!” the nearest matron demanded.

“I don’t know the answer to that question,” Will said with a shrug.