ushernet Chapter 57: Acolyte
Chapter 57: Acolyte
Chapter 57: AcolyteMalika Malika peered around the bone-encrusted bookcase, squinting against the darkness beyond. By the light cast by their small, distant campfire, she could easily make out the four Kobolds, and the hulking shape of the Piercer Scorpion standing guard behind them. She had no idea what they were talking about as they hunched over their fire, their voices carrying over to her as muffled yips and quiet chirps.
Instead of impatiently waiting for Calen and Mato to regenerate their mana, she had volunteered to scout their surroundings, but now she was feeling more than a little out of her depth. If the Kobolds hadn’t made an easily visible fire allowing Calen to point out the way to her, she was sure she would have just tripped over their camp in the darkness. Even now, she was still so far away, she could barely tell them apart.
At least, she would need to risk it if she wanted some real information for this fool’s errand.
Choosing her footfalls carefully to minimize the crunching sound beneath her feet, she crept forward to a nearer lump of bone and poked her head out again.
The Piercer Scorpion, of course, loomed large behind the campfire, standing entirely motionless. If she hadn’t seen one in action, she might have mistaken it for a realistic statue. The two rogues were easy to make out by the daggers they had sheathed at their waists, their black-stained leather armor, and their pitch-black scales. The mages, however, were something new altogether. They wore cloth robes of far higher quality than Malika had yet seen in this dungeon, and even their coloration was different. Their exposed faces and tails were covered with off-white and gray scales, and their large pale gray eyes were visible even at this distance because of the soft glow against the darkness.
She backed away, making every effort to move silently. Hopefully, Calen had fully regenerated his mana by now – with his skills, he should have much less trouble sneaking up on this group. As soon as she reached the bone-encrusted bookcase, she retraced her steps to rejoin the others, resolving to leave all future scouting in the dark to Calen.
“Two mages, two rogues, and a Piercer Scorpion,” Malika announced. “I’m not sure what the mages are, but they’re not the normal, red-scaled kind and their gear looks better than usual,” she said. “How do you think we should do this?”
“Mato on the Piercer, obviously,” Calen said.
“Good, I’m looking forward to a rematch!” Mato growled, flexing his bulky shoulders.
Initially, Malika had thought Mato’s confidence was just bravado, however, she had come to appreciate that he lacked any kind of pretense or guile. He simply enjoyed a good fight. she thought, a little surprised by the realization. If two people could have opposite values relating to preparation and risk, it would be her and Mato.
“What do we do about the rogues? Me and the shamans?” Malika asked, knowing that her armor and evasion would be significantly better facing off against the rogues than either Ali or Calen.
“That works,” Calen said, his expression focused, clearly thinking. “And then Ali and I will take out the two mages first?”
“Sounds good,” Malika said after glancing at Ali to see if she had any objections to the plan.
The Fae shrugged slightly. “Sounds good to me.”
“Ok, I’m ready,” Calen announced, standing up. “Mato, I’ll bring the Piercer Scorpion right to you.” He disappeared into the shadows, leaving his motes of light floating in the air above.
Seeing him vanish silently into the darkness, Malika realized she had been oblivious to just how many skills he had to help him with this kind of scouting task. It wasn’t just the ability to cloak his presence, sound, and see in the dark. He had mentioned being able to identify things from much further away, he had a tracking skill, and he could shoot from extreme range. In fact, the only skill she shared, that was remotely relevant, was the ability to run faster than normal.
A few moments later there came a distant, piercing screech, a commotion of chirps, and the ground began to shake and the bone-covered bookcases rattle from the heavy impacts of the Piercer Scorpion running. Calen appeared from the gloom with the massive Bone Elemental hot on his heels, both easily outpacing the rest of the Kobolds by a large distance. She hung back waiting for them to draw closer, and for Mato to secure the target, before engaging.
Bone burst from the ground as a dozen spikes shot up, grasping for Calen’s body and capturing him in a bird cage, sized for a Half-elf. His head made a loud crack as it bounced off the instant bone prison and fell to his knees. With a groan, he raised his head, twisting around to stare at the onrushing mountain of bone elemental bearing down on him.
Malika sprang into action, sprinting for Calen’s bone cage while pushing her speed to the limit with Divine Step. She crossed the distance in a second and stepped past to intercept the monster. Her heart hammered in her chest as she stared up at the gigantic Piercer Scorpion thundering toward her while its blade-like legs churned the ground making the stone quake. The frontal spear legs drew back, coiled to strike as it closed the distance in a flash. Malika swallowed and took her stance, placing her body between the monster and Calen as he struggled to free himself.
With its longer reach, the monster struck fast, spear limbs blurring as it lashed out with unfathomable power. She dodged left, and then right, feeling the wind of the blades caressing the skin of her neck before she leapt into the air and kicked it in the maw, unleashing her Soul Strike magic. Her foot cracked painfully against dense bone and bounced off, only her magical energy penetrating, and not particularly deep either. The only thing she accomplished was getting its attention. Which meant Calen would live.
Unfortunately, that meant had its attention. She ducked again, avoiding a spear strike by a hair, and saw a blur of movement from above. Desperately, she scrambled backward, but the tail strike sliced clean through the muscle of her left thigh and smashed into the stone below. Malika instinctively dropped her center of gravity and forced her momentum downward with Divine Step so the brutal withdrawal of the serrated tail wouldn’t fling her across the room. She couldn’t hold back the gasp of pain as the creature ripped its weapon out of her leg, tearing through muscle and spraying her blood across Calen’s cage. She stumbled, falling heavily to the ground as she pulsed her Healing Mantra to fix her leg, but she was still on the ground and the next strike was already incoming to impale her.
The massive form of a Bear barreled over her prone body, colliding heavily with the monster, taking the lashing strike to his shoulder. Mato roared furiously, retaliating with a swipe of his heavy paw.
Panting heavily, Malika scrambled to her feet, intensely grateful that she had been saved. The irony of it was not lost on her, she had leapt in to save Calen, and then she had become the person needing saving.
Calen wriggled free of his prison. From the looks of the scorched and burnt fragments of his bone cage lying around him, Ali’s mages had had something to do with that.
“You ok?” Malika asked.
“I… yes, thanks,” he managed, scooping up his bow.
A great grinding crunch was followed by a heavy thump. Between two distant bookshelves, a broad wall of bone sprouted, covered with oversized protruding ribs, and reinforced with haphazardly piled vertebrae the size of small dogs.
Malika spluttered, “What the…”
“Watch out!” Calen hissed, darting sideways.
Malika barely had enough time to throw herself to the ground again when a high-speed spear of sharpened bone shot past her ribs. but a glimpse of movement made her roll, and a second spear punched into the ground, slicing her calf muscle open. She winced, healing it, but immediately had to dodge again as another volley of spears cleared the distant wall of bone, shooting for her body lying exposed out in the open.
A shimmer of gold flickered before her, and three bone spears shattered against Ali’s barrier.
“Go kill the rogues,” Calen said, diving for the cover of the barrier, catching himself in a forward roll, and arriving on his feet with his bow drawn. “Ali and I can handle the mages.”
“Right,” Malika said. Before everything had gone belly-up, there had been a plan. Malika
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