Chapter 48

“Wake up!” Gwyneth whispered, shaking Diya. While struggling to fall asleep, he created a Slimeskin bed using Explorer’s Fountain Pen. It was softer than any mattress he had ever slept on and did a brilliant job of trapping body heat. 

“It’s still dark out.” Diya groaned, peeking at the cave’s opening with a half-open eye. “Give me another hour.”

“There are people out there.” Gwyneth shook him again. “They’re heading this way.”

The words snapped Diya awake, forcing all remnants of sleep out of his body and mind. He mournfully left the Slimeskin bed’s warmth and rushed over to the cavemouth. The moon was low in the sky, and hints of orange coloured the distant horizon. Diya studied the grassy hills beyond the stream but saw nothing.

“Where?” He asked. “I don’t see anything.”

“They put their light out, but I can see an empowered pair of golden eyes,” she replied. “It’s my fault. I had the lamp out and was trying to spear fish for breakfast. As soon as I went dark, they extinguished their light.”

“Are you sure?” Diya trusted Gwyneth, of course. At the same time, it was likely that the heavy De Lawney presence on the floor had her on edge. “Would they risk going out in the dark?”

“The De Lawneys have been investing in climbers that can function during the night. They never climb past the second interval, so they can continue working on the first. Trust me, Diya, we’re in trouble.”

“If they are strong enough to be out in the dark, running isn’t an option. They’ll have no trouble chasing us down.” Diya looked around the cave, trying to figure out what to do. His right hand curled around his axe’s haft. “Their souls could be more potent for direct combat and I bet they’re more experienced, too. If it’s the DeLawneys, they likely have a beast-type amongst them. How else could they have found us?”

“That would explain the golden eyes, too,” Gwyneth stated. “It might be a sensory augmentation that they used to track us.” She picked up her staff and summoned her lamp but kept the light extinguished. “I know we don’t have much experience with our upgraded souls, but the cavemouth should serve well as a bottleneck. If we can face them one or two at a time—”

“No,” Diya said, cutting her off. “An upgraded beast soul with the most common augmentations can take us on with ease. My father trained a few of them, and an augmenter’s advantages in close-range combat are ridiculous. Especially in the early intervals when plant and tool types don’t have many spells or summons. Facing them in combat isn’t an option.”

“What do you suggest then?”

“We hide.”

Diya rushed over to the Slimeskin bed and whispered, “Stick.” He focused his intent on the underside only, and it took a few seconds to take effect. When he picked up the piece—it turned out much heavier for Gwyneth than for him.

Dirt and gravel coated the bed’s bottom surface. Diya hoped it would serve as satisfying camouflage as he used the conjuration to cover the cavemouth. Once the Slimeskin had stuck itself to the door-sized opening, he took a step back. “Harden,” he commanded, and the entire summon responded in kind. It formed a solid black wall, enveloping the pair in darkness.

“Do you think this will work?” Gwyneth asked, clutching at him. Her body shook as she shuffled closer to him.

“It will,” Diya said despite his doubts. He squeezed her hand, hoping it would give her some comfort. “The solid black, dirt and gravel will throw them off. I’m sure of it.” If they had enhanced hearing or senses of smell, the climbers could still track the pair. However, Diya kept the information to himself. “Perhaps they’ll write it off a trick of the light on a mineral deposit.”

Gwyneth didn’t say anything and wrapped her delicate hands around his left arm, clutching it tightly. They sat on the ground, staying close to the Slimeskin wall. While sitting in the darkness, waiting for the supposed hunters to approach, Diya listened to his heartbeat. It had fastened, but the deep breaths helped moderate the speed and volume. Even though Gwyneth tried to mirror him, he could hear and feel the thumping in her chest through the skin-to-skin contact.

Seekers Lantern cast a light enough glow for Diya to keep an eye on his pocket watch—there was no other way to track time in the dark. A good fifteen minutes passed before either of them heard a sound from outside the cave. First came a sniff, then a scratch. Diya pressed his right year to the Slimeskin, wishing Uzeth’s Card had tempered one of his senses. A trapper and explorer could do with improved sight, smell or hearing.

“What is it, Kamal?” A man’s voice asked. “Did you find anything?”

“No,” another answered. “It’s strange. Their scent is heavy here, but it cuts off abruptly. As if they up and disappeared. Are you sure you saw a light, Harry?”

“I did.” The first man sighed. “It may have been the field gremlins using their will-o-wisps to play tricks on us. That doesn’t explain the scent, though.”

“Don’t know what to tell you.” Kamal’s voice had an odd wavering pitch to it. Occasionally, little growls slipped into his sentences. “It’s likely they washed in the stream and left their clothes to dry here.” Diya heard loud sniffing, and then claws grazed the stiffened slime skin. “It’s solid rock. There’s nothing here, mate. I say we head downstream and see if their trail picks up again.”

“I’m just surprised they’d dare to travel in the dark,” a female voice added. “The girl has only just upgraded her soul, hasn’t she?”

“I believe so,” Harry replied. “The group that found her party found no cards on the bodies. Two of them had bled out, and the argonian remains were untouched. So, only Gwyneth could’ve harvested the shaman’s card. If it’s as good as we predicted, she’ll have received a significant power-up. With a confidence boost like that and her desperation to get away, I can understand why she’d brave the night.”

“There’s her new friend too,” Kamal added. “Considering how little he carried, he’s either strong or foolish. Perhaps one of Arthur’s second interval friends is helping her.”

The group lingered for a few minutes, talking and inspecting the area. Diya guessed they were looking for a scent or footprint. Good trackers could spot trod-on-grass to follow their mark. He didn’t know what to expect and continued his breathing exercises. For all he knew, their conversation could be an act to lure the pair into a false sense of security. A half an hour passed before Diya relaxed a part of the Slimeskin and opened a peephole. Dawn had settled in, and their pursuers were nowhere in sight.

“Are they gone?” Gwyneth whispered into his ear. Her breathing had calmed significantly and added warmth to his cold ears.

“I think so,” Diya said. “It should be okay for us to move.”

“What if they were bluffing? They could be waiting above or anywhere outside our line of sight.”

“Then we have no option but to fight or disable them and run. We can’t stay here forever.”

Gwyneth nodded, finally releasing Diya’s arm. She didn’t move away from him, though, and Diya didn’t mind. The closeness comforted him and provided a modicum of confidence. She was his new friend, and he’d happily stand in battle with her.

After taking a couple more minutes to observe, Diya stabbed the Slimeskin wall with his pen. It disappeared into the inkwell, making gravel clatter on the stone floor. The pair coughed, waving away the dust cloud and waited once again. When no one descended on them, Diya lead the way out. He whispered, “Stiffen.” The thicker parts of his coat hardened, forming lightweight armour.

No one attacked them. Gwyneth scanned their surroundings, confirming that their pursuers were gone. She spotted them in the distance as they crested a hill far downstream. The pair didn’t waste any time standing around. Instead, they walked in the opposite direction. To confuse anyone tracking them by scent, they hopped on either side of the stream several times. Rain would be best, but the clear skies didn’t give him much hope.

After checking the guidebook, Gwyneth pointed out two settlements on the map. “I last saw the map in their hub office a couple of weeks ago. The outposts don’t have too big a guard and exist more to deter the Hyene tribes.”

“Isn’t their hide valuable?” Diya asked. “Why don’t the DeLawneys grow the settlements and farm those too? They have the manpower for it.”

“From what I hear, it’s not worth it,” she replied. “They’re too wild and unpredictable. The distance from the hub makes it a pain to transport. The outposts focus on ensuring the Hyenes don’t expand their territory into hunting grounds the house controls.” Gwyneth’s finger traced a large circle around the floor’s main hub. “They also want to make sure no other family or organisation establish settlements around there. The Montagus tried a couple of years ago, and it almost ended in bloodshed.”

“Fine. Let’s test the waters and see if we can sneak our way to the doors they’re guarding. Otherwise, we’ll go around them and try to find another way up.”

It surprised Diya how close together all the gateways were. Diya suspected that they weren’t all permanent doors. Occassionally temporary ones stuck around as long as people remained within their range. Perhaps the DeLawneys kept a rotating guard around them, keeping Gaia from reclaiming the doorway. Either way, Diya didn’t like it. The family extorted climbers not affiliated with the family out of cards for the doors’ use. He bet the Boleyns would have free passage now. If he didn’t get through soon, Edgar and Victoria would get ahead of him. Climbing wasn’t a race, of course, but he wanted to get to the twelfth first.

“I think your old party didn’t make it,” Diya said after a half an hour’s trek. “They didn’t sound too sure of what happened back there.”

“It’s for the best that they know nothing about you.” It wasn’t the first time Gwyneth had skirted the discussion regarding her former companions. Diya guessed she didn’t hate them all, and their demise stung. “If it stays that way until we reach the third interval, then we’re golden.”

“Why the third interval? Won’t we be safe as soon we’re on the sixth?”

Gwyneth shook her head. “Most of their Climbers have upgraded their spirits once or twice. As a result, their presence is concentrated in the first two intervals—more in the first than the second. They have a few settlements on floors six to eight, so we won’t be safe until we upgrade again and move on.”

Diya hadn’t taken Gaia’s interval restrictions into consideration. Gaia disliked strong climbers with many soup upgrades under their belt, bullying her children on the lower floors. As a result, an individual would have access to three intervals at a time. Yukiho had absorbed one monster card and had reached the second interval. Gaia’s Ark would let her access floors one through five until she empowered soul again. Then the lowest floor she could enter would be the sixth. Diya and Gwyneth wouldn’t have to worry about people with three-times-upgraded spirits coming after them anytime soon.