B16 + M

Bronwyn and Morgan were outside the wall and making their way to the trail that led to the Yeksa camp. They’d said their brief goodbyes to Olivia and slipped away before anyone else could bring forward a cause for delay. Bronwyn was glad; she wanted to get this over with as little fanfare as possible. She didn’t want to listen to people insisting they come along, and she didn’t want to give Arthur or anyone else a chance to debate strategies.

She watched Morgan walking ahead of her on the trail. It was heavily trodden at this point, and he’d just started walking ahead, probably trusting her to let him know if he needed to turn off the path. He was an imposing figure. When Olivia had told her about him and mentioned that he should go with her to the cave, Bronwyn had agreed to talk to him but had expected to find fault with him and shoot down the offer. Unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, she hadn’t been able to deny that he would probably be a boon to her quest. When he’d realized their enemy was a Yovashi, he had bristled, his spear appearing in his hands. Bronwyn had been hard-pressed not to back off when she’d felt the palpable wave of animosity and murderous intent coming from him.

Now, Morgan stalked ahead of her on the trail, following the string of large X marks she’d made in the trees on her previous trips out here. “Hey! It’s a few miles hike, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. We’ve been attacked by Yeksa and color-wolves out here too,” she called out to his back.

“Huh. Color-wolves? They look a lot like wolves but with bright fur, and they have more than one tail?”

“Yeah, that’s right. At least some of them; some only had one tail.”

“I think those are called boyii. My friend, Issa, told me that. We found some of their corpses in the Crucible.” Morgan turned over his shoulder while he spoke, his pale blue eyes glittering in the speckled light coming through the trees. He looked like a fucking CGI supermodel or something, for fuck’s sake.

“Have you had your race improved? You seem too, I don’t know, too full of color and vigor. You’re bigger than life or something.”

“I was going to ask you that,” Morgan laughed. “Yeah, I got a few upgrades in the Crucible. Seems you did too?” His smile was infectious, and Bronwyn joined in with her own chuckle.

“Yeah, I did get one upgrade when I rescued the villagers from the Yeksa. It knocked me on my ass, but I’ve never felt so good in my life.”

“It’s insane, right? I want to be pissed at the System for kidnapping and manipulating us, but the potential for growth and…” He stopped talking when he saw Bronwyn’s face fall. “Hey, you alright?”

“It’s just I feel guilty.” She sighed heavily and shook her head. “I was thinking about how great I feel, and you mentioned the System kidnapping us, and it made me think of the people that have died already. I mean, I didn’t know most of them, but I was with some when they died in the cave we’re going to, and I just feel like shit that they’ll never know that feeling, you know? Like, they’ll never get to eat a fucking magical fruit that makes them feel like a new goddamn person.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Morgan turned and kept walking, but he continued, “I almost died a few times in the Crucible. My friend almost did too. I know, almost isn’t the same as dead, but, yeah, I get how harsh this world can be. The Yovashi we encountered had a few people in its lair, alive, and was eating one of them bit by bit, keeping him alive between snacks.” Bronwyn watched his back as he hiked, and she could swear it got darker around him while he spoke.

“So, since we were there, and I ran the fuck away, we’ve set a lot of guards on the gates, but we haven’t risked sending anyone to keep tabs on this guy. I hope he’s still there, but the way he was taunting us, I feel like he will be.”

“You guys haven’t sent people out here in four days?” Morgan stopped and turned to face her.

“Well, not that I know of. I’ve been away, as you know.” Bronwyn shrugged.

“I just ask cause there’re definitely some tracks on this path that seem fresh to me. I mean, I’m not an expert tracker, but…” Bronwyn shoved past him to look at the path ahead of where they’d been. She focused on the scuffs on the trail and used her Tracking skill. No less than ten different tracks came into focus, glowing fairly brightly, all of them labeled as “Human.”

“What the fuck? Well, maybe some people have been using this trail for hunting, but Olivia and I warned Arthur to keep people out of this area of the woods.” Bronwyn kept her tracking skill active and took the lead up the trail. “Follow me; I can track. I want to see if these turn off at some point.” She proceeded along the trail, sweeping her gaze across the tracks occasionally while she watched the woods around them for movement.

They kept walking in silence for a few minutes, but Bronwyn could see that the tracks were at least a few hours old by comparing them to hers and Morgan’s, so she started to lower her guard a bit as they went. “What do you think of the settlement? I’ve been gone a few days, as you know, and I was surprised by how much Olivia and the colonists accomplished. If we can kill this fucker and hustle back, we can visit the new tavern by the pond.”

“Now that’s positive thinking!” Morgan chuckled. “To be honest, I’ve been messing around in my tower most of the time since I got here. I got it as a reward in the Crucible, but it came with strings attached; I have to defeat a guardian to access each floor. It’s kinda cool though, there’s the spirit of a dragon bound to the tower, and she gives me advice and can identify things.” Morgan stopped talking for a moment, shaking his head sheepishly, “I’m rambling. Anyway, the tower is keeping me busy.”

“Hah, you aren’t rambling. A dragon spirit, huh? Well, I have a little pet creature named Hops that I found in these woods. The Urghat referred to it as a fae. C’mon, Hops; come out and say hi.” Bronwyn stopped and spoke into the top of her backpack. Morgan grinned stupidly, watching her. Bronwyn started to flush a little when she realized Hops wasn’t going to make an appearance. “He’s being shy. I’m not making this up!” She turned and started hiking again.

“I believe you! I’ve seen weirder shit than that in this world.” Morgan followed after Bronwyn, shaking his head with a smile on his face.

“Yeah, well, anyway, the colony is doing well. It’s funny how many people are still using tents, though - Olivia and Arthur made sure to create enough housing for everybody before building anything else. I guess with the weather this nice, and with the walls in place, some people prefer having more space than the dorms provide.”

“Yeah, I imagine that once they start building more individual homes, there’ll be a lot more takers. Personally, I’m excited for the bathhouse that Olivia said was next.” Morgan made an exaggerated sniff of his armpit and winced.

“Your tower doesn’t have a bath?” Bronwyn laughed.

“Well, sure, but it’s on the fifth floor, and I haven’t made it past the third floor yet,” Morgan replied. Bronwyn turned and looked at his face, snorted, and kept walking.

“The System is fucking messed up. It seems like it wants us to be challenged at every turn. I’m not surprised it gave you a reward with a built-in challenge.”

“Exactly!” Morgan pounded the but of his spear into the trail for emphasis. He looked like he was about to say more when Bronwyn heard a thunderous crack, and a tall, green-barked tree directly up the path started falling toward them. Bronwyn dove to the left side of the trail and Morgan to the right, and the huge tree ponderously collapsed between them, bouncing once and then falling still with a heavy thud that shook the ground. Bronwyn rolled to her feet, her fists raised and ready. She heard Morgan yelling from the other side of the tree but couldn’t make out his words in the creaking of the branches slapping back and forth as the tree settled. On top of that, she saw several forms moving toward her out of the underbrush.

At first, she almost lowered her guard, recognizing the familiar shape of humans and the loose, pastel clothing most of the colonists wore. Then, as the first got close to her, she saw the dead black orbs where his eyes should be, the rictus scowl on his face, and the way he was reaching forward to grab her. Bronwyn hadn’t tried it out yet, but she didn’t hesitate to activate her new Stone Strike skill. She felt Energy flash through her pathways to the nodes in her fists, and then her fists grew very heavy and expanded. As her fists grew beyond her gauntlets’ capability to contain them, the ensuing explosion took her by surprise. Pieces of metal scaling flew through the air, and the shreds of the leather lining hung from her wrists in tatters. “Fuck!” Bronwyn was both pleased and annoyed. It looked like gauntlets were out for now, but her firsts were like fucking wrecking balls.

They were easily twice their normal size, and she could feel their massively increased weight. At first, she was worried that they’d be too heavy or unwieldy for her to punch quickly with, but those fears were quickly put to rest. She stepped forward and jabbed her right fist into the unguarded face of her first assailant, and, with a loud crack, his head flopped back, and he slumped to the ground. Using her much-improved agility, she danced between the trees and proceeded to lay devastating blows into the other attackers. Never once did any of them make any noise or attempt to speak. They silently pursued her, trying to grab, claw and bite her at every turn. Bronwyn found her Energy was easily up to the task of maintaining her Stone Fists spell, and she didn’t let it drop until the last of the zombified colonists was broken and writhing on the ground.

There had been five attackers, two of which were still writing on the ground, too broken to stand, but not dead. The other three had stopped moving when Bronwyn smashed their skulls with a punch. She glanced over the tree and could still hear the sounds of a scuffle. She hoped Morgan could handle himself with these attackers but set off to help him just in case. By the time she made her way around the big tree, he was quietly wiping black ichor off his spear with the shirt of a fallen attacker. He looked up at her and grimly smiled, “These guys are dressed like colonists, but are they human?”

“Yeah, they were. I think the Yovashi did this to them. Last time we fought him, he had dozens of Yeksa that were similarly corrupted in his lair.”

“This is a new one to me. What are they? Like zombies?”

“Yeah, just like in the old movies. Or at least it seems like it. How many did you kill?”

“Ugh, four - but now I feel guilty; what if there’s a way to cure them?” Morgan straightened and sighed heavily.

“I hadn’t thought of that. Jesus. What the fuck were they even doing out here? Goddamn it! C’mon, Morgan. We need to end this thing.” Bronwyn skirted the fallen tree and then commenced hiking toward the cave. She noticed that the human tracks she’d been following were much denser here and seemed to go in both directions. “Judging by the tracks, those guys went to the cave and then came back here to ambush us. Hopefully, he doesn’t have any more waiting for us.”

While they walked, Bronwyn pulled the remaining scraps of her gauntlets off and threw them to the side of the trail. She channeled her Stone Fists skill again and flexed her heavy granite-like hands admiringly. Morgan saw what she was doing and let out a low whistle. “That’s pretty cool - built-in weapons? Don’t punch me, alright?” Bronwyn let the spell drop and kept walking. She was going to punch something alright, but it wasn’t Morgan.