Mythica, book 1, Chapter 27+28.

Chapter 27.

It was a good round of upgrades, and Sabine could already feel the improved strength of her body. The increased durability was a bit harder to quantify, but the next time she took a hit in battle, it would become more obvious. Another thing she took note of was her Rage of the Revenant. It had gone from once a week to once every six days. The ability was a powerhouse, but also very dangerous to activate. It was more of her last resort ability, and one that she would save for an appropriate time.

“Wait here, we go talk-force the workers and guards here to join. Attack if they refuse,” Gnawtooth said as the war party made their final approach on the large camp. Their forces spread out to encircle the verminkin still inside the camp. Between the forces that had left to join the middle tent’s army in their hunt for Gnawtooth, as well as the killing or conversions of the work parties near the camp, only a token force remained.

“Bow down and bare your throats for Gnawtooth!” Several of his warriors exclaimed as they made themselves seen. A few guards emerged from the large tent and looked on in confusion. Out of the smaller tents on the outskirts of the camp, dozens of workers peeked their heads out.

Both the guards and the workers seemed torn about what to do. Gnawtooth had the numbers to with the fight, but if things devolved into a big brawl, his army would be worn down to a nub, and he wouldn’t be able to face this new leader that had taken over their tribe. Sabine and Orren loaded their crossbows and took cover behind a moss-covered boulder. The standoff continued until Gnawtooth finally rode forward on his giant beetle.

“Submit or die! If any of you think you can kill-stab Gnawtooth, scurry forward and try. If none are brave-stupid enough to fight me, then you will join or die,” Gnawtooth said with confidence. Sabine waited to see what would happen, and just when Gnawtooth turned to wave his army forward and exterminate the reluctant verminkin, they emerged from their tents and bowed before him. Sabine didn’t know whether to be relieved or concerned as the sizeable group joined Gnawtooth’s forces.

“We now go to the camp in the middle. I expect about half will join us and the others will fight-kill us because they fear the new leader. We kill those who oppose us and remind the others that we’re more fear-terror than the new leader,” Gnawtooth told Sabine as his army marched toward the central outpost.

“How many forces does this new leader have?” Sabine asked. Gnawtooth seemed to like traveling near them. At first, she figured it was because he wanted to keep an eye on them, but it turned out, he found them amusing. From the looks the other verminkin gave the pair of humans, their capture and agreement to serve Gnawtooth was a sign of his power as a leader.

“New leader’s numbers don’t matter, only the weakest will serve him,” Gnawtooth said, waving off Sabine’s concerns.

“What can you tell me about the new leader, I need to know how he fights, and what weapons he uses if you want me to defeat him. Of course, if you don’t want me to face him and would rather do it yourself, I would understand,” Sabine said, trying to bait out a response from Gnawtooth.

“Hmm, I was going to kill-slay the new leader myself, but it might be better to have you kill-murder him. Yes, that would be best, he’s beneath me and you can prove your worth by killing him on my behalf,” Gnawtooth said with a toothy smile and a look of relief plastered on his face.

It was like Sabine had guessed, Gnawtooth was afraid of whoever this new leader was and didn’t fancy his chances of going one on one with him. Sabine could use this to her advantage. She needed to get as far away from Gnawtooth as she could once the final battle started. If the tide turned in Gnawtooth’s favor, he most certainly order his minions to kill Sabine and Orren.

She would try and get Gnawtooth to let her and Orren set out to kill the new leader on their own. The pair of them could slip away if things went sideways, or maybe even offer their services to the new leader if the opportunity arose. Whatever she did, Sabine wanted to keep the battle going and the verminkin losses climbing.

“You still haven’t told me about the new leader, I need to know how he fights if I’m going to kill him for you,” Sabine repeated. For some reason, Gnawtooth was reluctant to part with the information.

“He’s a fear-coward who doesn’t fight directly. He poison-kill the previous leader with his claws and teeth. New leader not civilized like other verminkin, he animal that kill-eats when he pleases, and smells wrong-corrupt to refined noses,” Gnawtooth said.

“So, you’re saying he uses poison on his claws, or that his bite is somehow poisoned also? How does he do it, does he dip his claws and teeth in something, or is it some natural ability like the venom of a spider?” Sabine asked.

“Gnawtooth not know difference, poison-venom is same thing,” the verminkin leader replied, waving away her concerns.

“Actually, venom and poison are very different…” Orren started to say before Sabine interrupted. Revealing the ignorance of a volatile leader in front of his minions was a quick way to become the focus of his wrath.

“What Orren means, is that no matter how he does it, we’ll take care of him. Just like the great Gnawtooth, we’re not afraid of any poison-venom,” Sabine said, trying to recover from Orren’s faux pas. Gnawtooth looked angry for a second before her reply seemed to satiate him for the moment.

“Yes, Gnawtooth too strong to fear poison-venom, but he has army to manage so you can face new leader and kill him for me. If you make it painful, I’ll include an extra bag of shiny things,” Gnawtooth offered.

“Consider it done,” Sabine said with confidence. Gnawtooth only grunted in agreement, most likely planning how he was going to double-cross Sabine and Orren once they had done the heavy lifting for him.

As they closed in on the central outpost, Gnawtooth followed the same plan as the previous one, slowly working his way around the camp as he gathered up the remaining work parties that were gathering food and mushroom lumber for the camp. The pickings weren’t quite as good as they had experienced at the previous camp, with the bulk of this outpost’s numbers already scouring the cavern for Gnawtooth’s forces. Of the three work parties they did find, two joined Gnawtooth with little trouble, while most of the third tried to fight and flee.

All in all, Gnawtooth had grown his force by another four guards and twenty-two workers. The main outpost proved a bit more difficult for Gnawtooth. Either a scout had spotted their approach, or one of the work party members had escaped in the confusion to warn the camp of their presence. Instead of a group of oblivious workers and guards, they were met by a hastily constructed barricade around the main tent and a score of workers supported by a pair of guards ready to defend.

“You there, join me against the new leader, or we will kill-slay you,” Gnawtooth said, more than a little annoyed at the resistance from a force they greatly outnumbered.

“No, we stay-defend. Our great new leader’s army on its way here now, you trap-captured already and don’t know it,” one of the guards shouted over the barricade. Sabine looked over their work and didn’t think the barricade would hold back a party of five-year-olds, let alone an army. It was mostly camp furnishings and piles of mushroom stalks, but it seemed to do its job. It made Gnawtooth refrain from just rushing in and attacking, buying the defenders a few more moments of life.

“Last chance, I already capture one outpost, and all your work parties. I’m stronger now than new leader and even if an army is coming, you’ll be kill-dead before they get here. Join or die,” Gnawtooth demanded.

The defenders muttered among themselves, and suddenly a group of five jumped the barricade and ran toward Gnawtooth’s forces, shouting that they wished to join. Other than some shouting and shaking of weapons in defiance, the remaining defenders couldn’t do much to stop them. These verminkin didn’t seem really big on ranged weapons. Hers and Orren’s crossbows were the only ranged weapons that they had seen so far.

“These five brave verminkin join us. Last chance for any others to join our great-powerful army before we kill-slay you all,” Gnawtooth said. Surprisingly, another half dozen workers took him up on the offer, but one was hacked down by a nearby defender before he could clamber over the barricade.

“Gnawtooth, Orren, and I can probably whittle down their numbers before you attack if you wish,” Sabine offered. She wouldn’t mind buying enough time for whatever army was supposed to be on the way here. So far, Gnawtooth had pretty much rolled over the first two outposts, and she was beginning to worry that he might become a bit too powerful for whatever the new leader had to fight with.

“Yes, show-prove to them that the great Gnawtooth has powerful minions, even humans serve him and kill-slay at his command,” Gnawtooth said.

“Are you sure?” Orren asked once had walked out of hearing distance of the verminkin.

“Yes, get some shots in, but take your time. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if another force arrived before we were done,” Sabine said.

“Ahh, I get it, you want to keep up the attrition,” Orren said as they walked away from Gnawtooth, to get a clearer shot at the defenders.

“Yes, try to hit the guards with your first shots. I suspect they won’t make it easy for us once we start firing,” Sabine said.

“Wait, if we want to buy time, how about I do something a bit flashier and leave the shooting to you? I can pull out my compendium and start documenting more of these verminkin while you work,” Orren suggested. It was a good idea, the verminkin might be impressed with Orren’s display of magic and ignore the fact she was taking her time with the kills.

“Great Gnawtooth, Orren will use powerful magic to weaken our foes,” Sabine shouted back to the waiting verminkin. They could hear murmuring among those that had been close enough to hear her shout. Slinging his crossbow, Orren pulled his compendium and a quill pen from his bag. Almost immediately the blue glow started as Orren began to work. Sabine watched for a moment, using her newly improved Eyes of Undeath to see how he manipulated his mana.

She could now see the glowing ball of blue energy inside him, the glow only manifesting to the rest of the world when the mana finally reached his hands and eyes. Power flowed from his fingertips, levitating the book and quill as they got to work. It was almost beautiful to watch, the threads of mana seemed to follow well-defined pathways as they moved toward Orren’s hands and eyes.

The process was much smoother than what Sabine could manage, but it gave her hope that with continued effort, she could become as adept as Orren, and perhaps even surpass him. About the only drawback to his ability was the fact it seemed to completely cut him off from reality. At least Sabine was able to use her mana while fighting, even if her efforts at controlling mana still felt clumsy and unwieldy.

Turning back to the task at hand, Sabine loaded her crossbow and selected her first target, one of the larger guards who was staring dumbfounded at Orren’s display and completely ignoring the deadly threat of Sabine. There wasn’t any cover where she was, so the defenders were going to pick up on what she was doing rather quickly, but this first shot was going to be easy enough.

Sabine hadn’t tried to infuse mana into a ranged weapon yet, but her ability stated it worked with weapons in general and didn’t specify only melee weapons. The process felt a bit different and was more inefficient than with her flail, but Sabine was able to push some mana into first the crossbow, then into the bolt that was loaded into it. With a soft clack, the crossbow fired, the bolt steaking directly through the skull of her target.

The guard looked shocked for a moment before falling over dead. Still focused on Orren, the other verminkin didn’t seem to notice the guard’s death, allowing Sabine to ready a second shot. This time, she targeted a worker, not wanting to kill off all the leadership just yet. If she took out the second guard, the workers would probably panic and surrender.

Her second shot found the perfect target and Sabine once again infused the bolt with mana. This time, the bolt found the chest of a scrawny worker, the mana-infused tip of the bolt piercing completely through the worker before burying itself in the stomach of another worker that was trying to see over the shoulder of the first. Squealing in pain, the wounded worker sounded very much like the rats these verminkin resembled. Others now spotted the threat and began hiding behind whatever cover they could find.

Sabine didn’t stop her attacks, but she did stop using any mana. A single crossbow bolt from the former mercenary’s weapons was more than sufficient to take out the diminutive verminkin. Her accuracy was good but given the cover and the range she was firing from, about a hundred yards, only about every third shot struck flesh. The range was a bit out of the weapon’s normal effective range, but she didn’t need to pierce any armor with her shots.

Orren must have finished documenting in his compendium and had switched to spouting off facts about the weaknesses of the verminkin. As he had done with the ghoul, Orren’s magic began to highlight weak points. Even better, the blue glow allowed Sabine to mark her targets through gaps in the barricade, improving her kill ratio. She had plenty of bolts stored inside her coin pouch, but the Gnawtooth didn’t know that, so once she had shot the few bolts remaining in her quiver, she shouted over to Gnawtooth.

“Great and powerful Gnawtooth, the enemy has been weakened and is ready for your brave army to attack,”

Gnawtooth looked suspiciously at Orren still full quiver but seemed ready to get the event over with. Waving his troops forward, Gnawtooth walked his giant beetle over to where Sabine and Orren waited. Sabine had taken out most of the remaining workers, so only the final guard and a handful of defenders remained. They tried to surrender, but the attacking verminkin were feeling a bit bloodthirsty after watching the slaughter that Sabine had unleashed on the foe.

It was over in minutes, and the army began to loot the camp for food and valuables. Sabine and Orren recovered what crossbow bolts they could, finding ten that were still usable. All the bolts she had infused with mana had broken from the forces unleashed when they struck. It might never come into play, but if she needed to recover ammo from a ranged weapon, using mana-infused shots was not the way to go.

Before the looting could begin in earnest one of Gnawtooth’s scouts reported in. The guard behind the barricade had been right, a large force of verminkin was closing in, and they were armed and ready for battle.

Chapter 28.

Gnawtooth began to shout at his minions, the larger guards following his orders and pulling the workers away from the looting and into some semblance of a formation. The scouting reports were a little suspect and varied from several dozen enemies approaching, to nearly a thousand. One consistent thing was that the attackers were all around and surrounding Gnawtooth’s army.

“We go this way, toward final camp. Fight though and don’t stop. Humans, use your crossbows to help open us a path,” Gnawtooth ordered. It wasn’t a bad idea. With the verminkin surrounding the camp, it was doubtful they had the numbers to hold back Gnawtooth’s army if they attacked at one point.

By the time they got organized and moving, the enemy was closing in. Only one camp remained, and Sabine had no idea if it would contain forces loyal to Gnawtooth, or if the new leader was solidly in control. This time, Orren and Sabine led the way, with a strong force of verminkin guards right behind them. With Sabine using her Eyes of Undeath, they located a few of the enemy’s advance scouts, taking them down with unexpected crossbow attacks. Word hadn’t got around yet that humans were fighting with Gnawtooth and that they possessed ranged weapons.

Once the scouts were clear, the main force of the enemy had no idea they were coming. As soon as the advancing line of workers appeared, Sabine and Orren fired another volley, and the guards backing them up charged forward. Gnawtooth’s guards slammed into the poorly armed line of workers, killing several and pushing through to the small knot of enemy guards that were following behind.

The battle became a mess and hard to follow, but Gnawtooth kept pushing them through the enemy line and refused to get engaged too closely. Sabine’s view of Gnawtooth’s ability increased. Sure, he was a cowardly verminkin that was going to try and kill both her and Orren, but he was also much shrewder than she had given him credit for. Behind the small knot of enemy guards was another thin line of workers, but they fled after sustaining minor casualties once they saw that Gnawtooth’s entire force was heading their way.

Once free of the encirclement, Gnawtooth’s army kept up their pace, pushing hard toward the last camp. Sabine was a bit concerned, if the forces inside the camp decided to remain loyal to the new leader, there was going to be a problem. No doubt the enemy army was hot on their heels, so Gnawtooth couldn’t use his regular method of snatching up the outlying work parties before taking on the main camp. They did run into one work party on the way, and half the workers, about eight, decided to join and the others all fled or died.

Before they reached the final camp, one of the scouts came running in from that direction screaming in terror. A guard knocked the screaming worker off his feet and drug the unfortunate verminkin over to Gnawtooth. He was babbling incoherently, and it wasn’t until Gnawtooth bit off one of his fingers that the scout tried to focus.

“I think Gnawtooth enjoyed that a bit more than he should have,” Orren said, disgusted that the verminkin leader was happily chewing the meat off the finger he had removed. It appeared that verminkin had no qualms over cannibalism.

“You, say what you see-watched, or I keep eating finger and toes,” Gnawtooth demanded.

“Great Gnawtooth, a snag-grabber has made its lair ahead. I look-watched as it emerged from its hole and kill-eats all the work party ahead. I ran-scurried to warn you, my leader,” the verminkin scout reported.

“A snag-grabber is a nasty thing, but maybe we can use it to our benefit,” Gnawtooth said, looking over at Sabine and Orren with a gaze that Sabine didn’t care for. With a disgusting slurp, the verminkin leader licked up the last bits of flesh and blood from his snack before addressing Sabine.

“You humans will lead part of my army toward the snag-grabber, making sure the enemy follows. I’ll sneak most of the army around the threat and take the final camp,” Gnawtooth said.

“What is a snag-grabber and why do you want to send me?” Sabine asked.

“Easy, because you have crossbows and can provoke the enemy army into charging you. Once they do, you lead them to the snag-grabber nest,” Gnawtooth said.

“I can see one big problem with your plan, what’s to keep me from getting eaten by this snag-grabber thing?” Sabine asked, not at all ready to be the bait for some monster.

“I give you this,” Gnawtooth said, handing her a small flask. Inside was a green liquid that smelled like death had a date with a skunk.

“Nasty, what’s this supposed to do?” Sabine asked. It for you two humans to pour over heads. Snag-grabber not like smell and will ignore you when other tasty treats are running around. Now, don’t tell others I send with you, Gnawtooth not have enough for everyone, and they are expendable,” Gnawtooth said.

“What’s to keep us from just running off after we do what you ask?” Sabine asked, a bit worried that Gnawtooth was fine with sending them away, likely to their death, when had wanted their help with the new leader.

“It smell bad and is poison-venom too. After you watch what happens to enemy army, you find Gnawtooth and he give antidote,” Gnawtooth said, holding out another flask where only a bit of liquid sloshed in the bottom. Unlike the first flask, this one smelled of fresh mint, which Sabine didn’t think grew anywhere in the Darkrealm. The liquid she was supposed to pour over her head was poison, which Sabine might be able to turn to her advantage.

“I agree, but I’ll need Orren to help me with his magic. He needs to be outside the range of the snag-grabber, and I’ll lead the others through the monster lair on my own,” Sabine offered.

“Hmm, I wanted both of you poisoned so you don’t run-flee, but I don’t think magic man will abandon you. You’ll both come back to me when you’re done and report what happens, yes?” Gnawtooth asked.

“Of course, great Gnawtooth, I want to kill this new leader for you and reap the rewards. I also expect something extra for taking on this risk,” Sabine said.

“Agreed, if you do as I say, I will give you amulet from surface world that burns my kind. Now get going, we have little time,” Gnawtooth said. Sabine wasn’t sure what the amulet was, but potentially magical loot was not something she would turn down.

Gnawtooth sent a pair of guards as well as a dozen workers with Sabine and Orren. The now nine-fingered scout was also going with them, leading Orren around the outskirts of the snag-grabber’s territory and into a position where Orren could work his magic. The bulk of Gnawtooth’s army left at a brisk jog, giving the snag-grabber’s territory a wide berth, but keeping close enough to it that the enemy wouldn’t be tempted to pursue the wrong target.

Sabine and the bait moved close to the monster the verminkin called the snag-grabber’s territory, keeping well away from it until the enemy made an appearance. It didn’t take long, only about five minutes for them to appear. Like before, it was a few scouts at first and Sabine with the allied verminkin took the opportunity to whittle down the enemy numbers.

When the main body of the army made its appearance, Sabine fired a bolt, killing one of the guards before running directly into the snag-grabber’s territory. As they ran, Sabine dumped Gnawtooth’s foul-smelling concoction over her head. Her undead senses weren’t as offended by smells as they had been when human, but the viscous consistency and grey-green color of the elixir wasn’t something you wanted to pour over yourself.

A contact poison has been applied to your body, but it is not harmful to a revenant. Use caution, as some toxins, venoms, and poisons have an acidic quality that can burn and damage you.

Good, as Sabine expected, she wasn’t going to get poisoned by Gnawtooth’s plan. Having Orren outside the monster’s reach meant he was at least somewhat protected. A scream to her side drew Sabine’s attention. One of the workers had been snatched up by a plant-like tendril that had emerged from the ground. The tendril was topped with a human-sized leaf that folded itself over the hapless worker.

Sabine could see convulsions going on inside the leaf as the worker fought to get out. The struggles lasted only a few moments before they ceased and the worker began to be digested by this snag-grabber monster. More tendrils shot up from the ground, and it was then that Sabine noticed loose dirt covering small patches of the normally rocky ground. The monster was using the loose dirt to launch its attacks and Sabine shouted at the other verminkin to avoid those areas.

It didn’t help, even spaced as far apart as they were, the tendrils from the monster had a long reach, and it appeared to be very hungry. In the distance, Sabine could see a large force of the enemy still hot on her heels. Once they spotted the snag-grabber’s victims, the verminkin panicked, all of them trying to run, a few were even pushing down their comrades to draw the monster’s attention and give them a better chance of escaping.

Unfortunately for the verminkin, this snag-grabber was a cunning hunter and had let all of the potential food travel deep into its territory before it began its first attacks. The enemy army, and Sabine’s allies, had a long and treacherous run before they were safe. When she finally neared the end of the monster’s territory, she spotted Orren and the nine-fingered scout. Orren was in his trance-like state once more, documenting the snag-grabber in his compendium.

The monster proved to not be much of a challenge for Sabine, but it was a grim reminder that this Darkrealm was never a safe place. She had been so focused on the verminkin that she had neglected to consider the fact other creatures still lurked down here. Surprisingly, when she approached Orren, he ceased his writing and put away his compendium.

“Orren, did I just time that perfectly, or are you somehow aware of your surroundings when you’re working on your compendium?” Sabine asked.

“It’s me, not a random chance this time. Since we’ve been down here, I noticed my power has grown and I have more control over the process. Many of my family can even use the compendiums while in direct combat, but I’m nowhere near that level just yet. Should we be discussing my abilities while he’s here?” Orren asked, pointing at the verminkin.

“I not tell-spill any secrets. Gnawtooth eat my finger, now I serve you if you promise not to kill-eat any parts of me,” the nine-fingered verminkin stated.

“You haven’t heard much yet, so we’ll let you live for now. After all, we need someone to guide us back to Gnawtooth and the final camp,” Sabine said, waiting for the little verminkin to guide them back before deciding if she wanted to kill it or not.

“Skrix serve you well as long as you do not speak-tell Gnawtooth what Skrix said about him,” the verminkin said, looking a bit worried.

“Do as I order, and you’ll be fine. Betray us, and I’ll carve you up and feed you to the snag-grabber one piece at a time,” Sabine threatened.

The little guy had backed himself into a corner by bad-mouthing Gnawtooth, and Sabine was more than happy to take advantage of his mistake. Nodding his agreement, Skrix rushed to guide them toward the final camp. Sounds of screaming and barked orders were still heard from behind them, the enemy army was still mired up in the snag-grabber’s trap.

Orren jogged beside Sabine, but after a few steps, he was holding his nose and opening a bigger gap between them. “Sabine, please tell me that the goop Gnawtooth gave you will wash off. That stuff is nasty,”

“Hey, it’s not like I can help it, but don’t worry, my mask will take care of it in a few minutes. “I’d rather stink than be eaten by a snag-grabber,” Sabine assured him after making sure that Skrix was not within listening distance of their conversation.

“As you might have guessed, the creature isn’t exactly called a snag-grabber, it’s a Wandering Hungervine. Here, take a look,” Orren said, offering Sabine his compendium. She checked out the hungervine’s entry as well as the other new ones he had gleaned from the previous battle at the second camp.

Wandering Hungervine. This plant-like predator is somewhat common in the upper reaches of the Darkrealm. Able to burrow out of sight, the creature lies in ambush, lashing out and trapping any who venture into its reach. When an area is cleared of prey, or if threatened by more powerful inhabitants, the wandering hungervine will seek new hunting grounds, slowly burrowing toward its destination while safely underground.

Hard to kill, the wandering hungervine is only vulnerable when its central bulb is exposed. Typically buried deep below the surface, the central bulb is well protected. Even if all the vines are cut off, the creature will survive and eventually regrow its vines. It is recommended to avoid any area thought to be infested with one of these creatures as killing them is a long and dangerous process.

The entry was cut off abruptly at that point, which must have been when Orren had noticed her approaching. Sabine had no desire to deal with this thing, so further information wasn’t all that important. Orren had also gleaned some information on the giant beetles that a few of the verminkin rode.

Verminkin War Mount. Selected from the smaller dagger beetles that are often used as a food source, the verminkin war mounts are raised and bound to particularly powerful verminkin. Not known for their patience, only the most disciplined of verminkin are able to follow the strict dietary guidelines required to raise their dagger beetle and grow it to the status of a war mount. Only one in twenty attempts is successful, with most failures occurring when either the mount or the verminkin becomes too hungry during the process and breaks the nascent bond in favor of a quick snack.

The carapace of the war mount is as strong as chainmail armor, and the sharpened horn on its head is as effective as a lance in the right situations. Not very fast, the war mount can be dodged rather easily. The riders will wield a variety of weapons, but longer-reach weapons like spears and glaives are the most popular.

The mounts were exactly what they appeared to be, really big beetles. Sabine had already handled one easily enough and was confident she could take on the others when the time came.

It took another good thirty minutes before they reached the final camp. From the looks of things, Gnawtooth had found a bit of a fight when he arrived. Given the number of workers and guards still running around, he must have at least broken even between his losses and any recruits he had scrounged up among the forces stationed here. Spotting Sabine and the others, Gnawtooth waved for them to join him.