Sense: A Fantasy LitRPG Saga (A Touch of Power Book 3) Page 8

  The man to her right chuckled darkly, and she looked at him curiously. “What do you mean, ‘we haven’t succeeded’? We’ve figured out how to find their nests and eliminated sixteen of them without losing a single one of us. Do you have any idea how amazing that is?” When she stared at him, he smiled self-consciously, running a hand through slightly longer dark brown hair. He had a rather prominent nose and full lips, but his hazel eyes were filled with an intensity while he spoke.

  “My name is Sir Ashton Ross, and this is the fourth mesmer hunt I’ve been on. My little sister was taken nearly seven years ago, and I’ve volunteered for every hunt I could since then. I’ll probably never find her remains, but at least I can have my revenge. On two of the last hunts, we never found them. We were beset with creatures and had to turn back before we even came close. On the third, we found one of their hunting parties. We managed to kill the six of them, but at the loss of eight of our own.” He looked at his hands as he finished with a whisper, “So yes, to me, this is a success.”

  “Oh.” The word slipped out as she looked down, quickly putting more meat in her mouth so she didn’t have to think of another response. She wasn’t quite sure what else to say. Her own motives for being out here seemed so selfish in comparison to these men. She didn’t want to be hunted...well no, that wasn’t entirely it. She wanted to save Frank, Tisha, Hayden, Hunter, and the others that were taken. So she had one selfish and one altruistic motive.

  She was drawn out of her contemplations by the last man speaking. “I’m Sir Zachary Caron.” When she looked up at him, he continued with a smile. “My family has a long history of serving the church, and the travelers. As an emissary of the heavens, it is our duty to help you in your quests. I’ve always believed this, so when I heard that you called for a hunt, I naturally volunteered with my cousins, though only I was selected. It is an honor to serve with you, Lady Jade.” The thin man gave a sweeping bow from where he was sitting, making Jade rather uncomfortable.

  Having a zealot in the group was probably something she should have expected, given what she’d heard in the church. Actually, given the nature of the church, she should probably be grateful that he was the only religious zealot she knew of in the group so far. Marcelle and Ashton were both here for revenge, Daniel for duty and to repay a life debt, Harrison was here to guard his son–she wasn’t sure why his son volunteered–and then Zachary the zealot. Had a nice ring to it, at least.

  As the awkward moment went on, she realized he was waiting for a response before he’d get up from his bow. She spoke hastily, “Thank you for your service, but please, get up. I’m just a normal person. Please, call me Jade. I’m not really one for formality.” The man nodded slightly as he rose to a normal position, and Jade realized she’d cleaned out her bowl a second time. In order to try and lighten the mood a little once more, she turned to Garrik again. “More, please!”

  He shook his head, placing some of the meat he’d already carved off into her bowl. “I didn’t think it was really possible. With meat this mana-rich, most people would be uncomfortably full by now.”

  Grinning impishly at him, she shook her head. “I normally eat a good five full plates at most mealtimes just to maintain myself, and still have to absorb light after to fully recharge.” Everyone from the group was staring blankly at her, and she tilted her head slightly, asking, “What?”

  “And you claim to be a normal girl.” Harrison guffawed at her. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he shook his head. “My daughter or granddaughters would die of fright if they even considered eating that much.”

  She laughed and shrugged. “I like food, and for some reason, I seem to be able to eat almost endlessly and convert it into energy. It’s been a struggle though. I have to carry large quantities around with me to make sure I can replenish when needed, and trying to eat a huge amount of food in the middle of a fight seems like a bad idea.”

  With that said, she grinned and went back to eating her meat. Harrison and the others finished theirs off, and Harrison stood, straightening his clothes. When Jade sent him a questioning look, he grinned. “You put the beithiche in your cold room, right?” When she nodded, he grinned. “I’m going to go skin and prepare it. It has a higher mana content than the oreithers, so I’ll make sure you have plenty in case of emergencies.”

  “I’ll help. There were two of them, after all.” Daniel stood up, grinning at her as she moved to stand with them. He motioned her to stay. “Sit, sit. You did most of the heavy lifting today. You still look a bit like you’re going to drop from exhaustion. Finish eating and then get some sleep. We’re here to help, so please, let us do at least this much.”

  She smiled at him, settling back down as the four of them headed towards the cold room in unison, the others apparently having decided to help as well. She munched on her meat, looking up at Garrik as he turned the spit. Feeling her gaze on him, he met her eyes, smiling down at her. He’d obviously been listening to their conversation, though he hadn’t said much.

  He seemed amused as he spoke, “I suppose you want to know my motives for coming as well, then?” When she eagerly nodded, he shook his head wryly. “I seem to be the odd man out. I don’t have an ulterior reason. Where the others volunteered, Marcelle asked me if I’d be willing to come. I frequently venture out to the woods on hunting missions, so I’m familiar with how we normally survive out here, as well as the areas we’ve explored in our hunts. I just enjoy being outside the city walls. I know it’s dangerous, but I feel more at peace amongst the trees. Maybe it’s because I’m a nature mage.”

  Shrugging nonchalantly, he turned back to make sure none of the meat was getting overly crispy as he sliced off the cooked outer sections, putting them on a tray she hadn’t noticed before.

  “Where are you going to put the meat?” She asked curiously, and he turned back to her in surprise.

  Taking a moment to think about it, he shrugged and answered, “Actually, I don’t know. We normally bring most of the creatures back to the city, and only cook whatever we need at that moment.”

  She nodded before taking out two large cubes of metal from her ring. He shifted slightly so he could watch both her and the fire. Having been recharged a decent bit by the meat she’d been eating, she had enough energy to do what she wanted. Glancing around, she realized they were about ten feet from the wall, so she carried the blocks to it and started shaping the metal.

  It took her several minutes, but by the time she was done, there were two industrial sized ‘coolboxes’ standing upright against the wall. She’d made them more like refrigerators, in that they were upright, had doors that opened and closed instead of a trunk lid, and shelves inside to put things on. The inside was, of course, lined with freezing water magic to achieve that effect. Using her mana sight, she could see the tiny tendrils of mana being pulled from the surroundings to power them.

  Satisfied, she stepped back and brushed her hands off, turning to find most of the cavern staring at her. Smiling innocently, she walked over to Garrik’s tray, where she swiped half of the meat on it into her ring and then grabbed her blanket as well. “I think I’ll take a nap now.” She announced before walking into one of the unoccupied rooms and out of sight.

  With relief, she pulled out the bedroll she’d been given, laying it out before sitting. She took the time to munch on the meat she’d snagged, recovering more of her energy before she lay down completely. She could hear people opening and closing the doors of her coolbox repeatedly, and had to suppress her giggles.

  Feeling at peace, she drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Eight – Truth

  Day Eleven

  When Jade woke, it took her a few seconds to remember where she was. She felt oddly refreshed and alert, which made little sense until she realized she’d forgotten to siphon anyone before she went to sleep. Checking her pocket watch, it was almost one in the morning. She’d fallen asleep shortly after eating, but that had only been around seven. That meant she’d g
otten almost six hours of uninterrupted sleep for the first time in over a week.

  Stretching, she used water magic to quickly clean herself as she stood up, glancing around the room. Her babies were sleeping in the tree she’d barely managed to remember to grow before she drifted off earlier. Lilith stirred, and she watched her tiny baby look up at her and ask in a tired voice, “Leaving now?”

  Smiling, she reached over and stroked Lilith with a feather-light touch. “Just me. You stay here and sleep. You’ve earned it.” Lilith murmured a sleepy assent as Jade whispered, “Be good while I’m gone. Love you.” Lilith rubbed her tiny head against Jade’s finger, then settled back to sleep. Standing up, she walked out into the main room silently.

  Everything was still, the others having gone to sleep hours ago as well. She could occasionally hear the shifting of animals in the corral she’d created for them, but that was it. Still, there were signs that they’d been cooking for quite some time, considering the utensils that were laying around. She quietly opened the doors of the fridges she’d made, seeing stacks of meat inside. Happily waving her hands, everything save one shelf disappeared into her ring, with her grabbing a piece and beginning to munch on it as she closed the doors once more.

  Making her way to the tunnel, she noticed the whites of two pairs of eyes turning to her as she momentarily blocked the light when she entered the darkness. Walking towards them, she found Samuel and another man whom she hadn’t spoken to standing guard, though at the moment they were paying more attention to her than to the stone door they were guarding.

  “Lady Jade?” Samuel’s young voice questioned quietly.

  Smiling, her pearly whites flashed in the darkness as she whispered, “It’s me. I’m going to go out and do some scouting. I’ll be back in a few hours, or make contact if it’s going to take me longer.”

  There was obvious hesitation on their faces as Samuel continued to question her, “Are you sure you shouldn’t be taking someone with you, at least?”

  She shook her head. “No; for what I’m doing, it’s better to go alone. No one else can travel through the trees like I can, so I’ll be much faster solo. Besides, if I run into any problems, I can fly above the treeline to escape. Not to mention, I’m the only one who can see in the dark.” They didn’t have any argument for that.

  “Be safe,” the other man whispered in acquiescence.

  She nodded to him, “I will.” She quickly opened up several viewing windows in front of them, each window peeking out to the world above from different angles. She shifted them several times, moving them to locations she’d been and making sure there were no enemies or ambushes nearby. When she saw no movement, monsters, or felt any danger from her senses, she nodded. “All right, I’m off. See you in a few hours.” She flashed them one last grin before opening the rock door, lowering her gravity, and bounding out to hover midair. She closed the door behind her with a little salute to the two guards, making sure it was concealed before she started floating up towards the tree tops.

  She made sure to move her trajectory several trees to the west before she landed, just in case. She then began opening tiny illusory windows up along the path they’d taken today, until she finally reached the site of the fight. There, she saw movement. There were three mesmer gathering up the bodies of their fallen brethren. Quickly closing the window before they could realize they were being watched, she smiled and began to run.

  Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness that pervaded the forest. There was still some light filtering down through the leaves thanks to the moon, but she could see as clearly as if it was almost day. She mostly attributed this to her keen senses, given that she’d partially acquired the skill by absorbing darkvision. She hadn’t been lying when she’d told the men she could see in the dark. She still didn’t like the dark, but she couldn’t really shy away from it at the moment.

  Night was the time of the mesmer. While it would be smarter to only face them in the daytime when they were at their weakest or resting, she found she was unable to make herself wait until the sun rose. She couldn’t take the chance that the mesmer would adapt or get nervous and move their prisoners. All of this ran through her head as she bounded through the woods from branch to branch, her foot barely skimming the wood before she bounced off again due to her low gravity and monstrous strength.

  Running like this was actually a much lower strain on her body than trying to move twelve people using her wind bubble. As such, it was around forty-five minutes later when she reached her destination. She’d nibbled on some of the meat along the way, and it was doing a fantastic job of keeping her energy in peak condition, as mana rich as it was.

  When she was within a half mile of where the fight took place, she’d gotten more serious, putting the meat away and slowing down to stealth through the trees. The three mesmer she’d seen were on the ground, but she wanted to make sure the treetops were clear before she went lower. It was a good thing she did, because there was a lone mesmer patrolling the treetops, looking for evidence of what happened in the branches. It was currently inspecting the spot where she’d pinned the second mesmer like a bug.

  The reason she could see it was mostly because of her mana sight. The roiling sickness of their aura was evident to her even in the darkness. She felt a breeze pass by and stiffened, her hiding spot allowing her to see the mesmer’s head perk up as it sniffed the air. It abandoned its spot, moving silently, but swiftly, in her direction. She guessed it didn’t want to alarm its quarry, if possible.

  Sadly for it, that quarry was her. As soon as it was around twenty feet away, which was about her range for creating effective wind walls, she trapped it, cutting off its air and thus its ability to signal its companions down below. It struggled ineffectually at her bindings, clawing at its own throat in an effort to dislodge her merciless walls. For good measure, she called the blood from its heart and brain to spike out, causing the figure to finally go limp.

  Gently setting it down on the branch, she glanced to the forest floor to make sure its companions hadn’t been alerted. Thankfully, they seemed to be talking amongst themselves as they gathered the scattered bodies and parts. She noticed they were bringing the last of the bodies together, having been working for some time already.

  Not wanting to waste the element of surprise, she dove from the treetops straight towards them. It was her cloak that was her undoing. It gave one loud flap from a random gust of wind, the sound thundering in the quiet forest. The three mesmer looked up, only to see her descending like a reaper towards them, her eyes cold.

  The three bent their knees, each instinctively jumping towards her with claws outstretched. Sending out three wind waves that were as sharp as she could make them, she intended to behead them. However, given that they were all midair, her aim was a bit off. She did manage to take off the upper half of one of their faces, so that one was...close. The second was cut in half near the ribs, while she missed the third entirely. The force of its impact sent her much lightened body careening into the nearest tree, and the only thing that saved her from both claws and impact was her wind armor.

  “You’ll pay for thisssssssss!” The thing hissed as it jumped towards her. In her hand appeared a weapon it had never seen before. As it sprang, she pulled the trigger briefly, and yet that small release smashed her against the tree once more.

  Falling to the ground, she glanced up, trying to blink around the bright spots ruining her night vision. The mesmer was blown back, the violent nature of the laser carving a line all the way through its chest, leaving a gaping arc that went clear through to the other side. The look on its face was disbelief as it tried to clutch its wound, only making it worse before sinking to its knees and falling to the ground.

  She put her beam gun back into her ring, walking forward gingerly to inspect the corpses before her. She knew she should be leaving, that the light from her attack had been a terrible idea. Still, she couldn’t make herself leave just yet. With all the bodies laid out b
efore her in an orderly fashion, she saw things she hadn’t noticed before.

  While each of them was deathly pale, probably from lack of sunlight, she’d never before taken careful notice of their clothes or skin beyond that. Now that she was looking closely, their bodies were marked with crisscrossing scars everywhere, making their skin bumpy. She’d only ever seen one thing like it before, and that was when one of the nurses showed her pictures of the arms of an attempted suicide. The person had been cutting themselves for ages, and their arms were covered in tiny white lines of scars.

  The clothes the mesmer were wearing were dirty rags, but she could still see the shape of some of them, and they reminded her of the gear the guards wore. Aside from them being in ragged condition, most of them had ripped at the calves and thighs, as if those areas expanded beyond the initial capacity. Still, the tops looked like they fit these creatures at some point…

  She began to rummage through the rags they wore, looking for pockets, anything… On the sixth body, she found an old wallet tucked in the coat pocket of the mesmer. She pulled it out to find a few coins and two metal cards, one of which was a copper library card, and the other was the credentials of a guard.

  Gagging, she turned and jumped away, landing in a cleaner area as she gulped in huge amounts of air, trying to clear herself of the taint she felt teeming all around her. She called water from the air, scrubbing at her hands in an effort to make them clean, to rid them of the taint. She’d put the wallet into her ring.

  She glanced back at the bodies before her, the horrid truth finally becoming clear to her. The mesmer weren’t just monsters. They were intelligent beings, because they were their former victims. The marks on their arms were left from when they had been fed on, the rips on their pants from their transformation. Obviously, when enough of the taint entered the bloodstream, it would begin to change them. Their enemies were those they believed to be lost to them forever.