Riftside 3 - Chapter 14

A stiff wind knifed through the gaps in the unfinished stone rampart of the keep, stealing warmth from my coat and making my eyes water.

Below, Dawnwatch was an expanding ring of flickering torchlight. At first glance it seemed a bastion against the encroaching dark of the plains around us, but we knew better. It was the alien green glow of the Branchway Rift at its heart which it protected the world from.

Eryn’s silhouette was beautiful where she stood leaning against the cold stone of the parapet, her hair catching the last vestiges of the sunset. 

“You can see everything from up here,” she said. “Everything we’re fighting for. Makes you wonder how anyone ever gets any sleep,” she murmured. “If I wasn’t killing monsters all the time, I’d probably be here.”

After she’d gotten Lan settled in her room, or rather, been kicked out of what was now Lan’s room, we’d decided to revisit one of our favorite spots from the old times.

I came to stand beside Eryn, my hand finding hers, our fingers lacing together naturally. 

“It makes it feel real,” I agreed, my gaze tracing the lines of the town, the ring roads, home, Ma and Pa’s forge, the adventuring guild, and the First Steel. “All the fighting, the death, the…pressure. But up here…”

“Up here we see why Dawnwatch feels like home,” she finished for me. She turned her back to the view, putting my hand between hers, our eyes meeting half way. “Feels like we’re holding our breath. Like something’s about to shift, and I don’t know which way.”

“Lan is… a lot,” I admitted.

“It’s not just her.” Eryn’s callused, hands gripped mine tighter, the strength in her fingers grounding me. “Ash… I don’t want to sleep in a separate room anymore. I want to feel safe. With you.”

The quiet honesty of her words stole the air from my lungs. A slow smile spread across my face, chasing away the weariness of the past few days. I knew what she was asking, and what she wasn’t.

“I want that, too,” I said, my voice slightly husky at the surprise. “But… you know I want to do this right, Eryn. There are the wrong and the right ways, and I want to do the latter.”

A soft, relieved smile graced her lips. 

“I know. I want to be with you, to fall asleep in your arms and wake up there. But… I want to wait, with, you know, the rest. Would that be alright? Until we can stand before our family and make a promise.”

A surge of emotions so strong it was almost painful erupted from within me. I looked at this incredible woman, who fought monsters and soothed frayed tempers with equal grace, and a thought crystallized in my mind. 

I need to find a ring. The right ring. No, not find, but forge. Something worthy of her. 

“I promise you, Eryn,” I said, freeing my hand to pull her into a hug. “A future.” The setting sun cast us in gold and orange as I kissed her. 

Our kiss was slow, her hands curling in my shirt. The wind tried to cut between us, but I didn’t feel it anymore.

The ring had to be something no noble in Tharungia could buy. Steelhusk and monster parts. Yes. That’d be it.

We left the ramparts, grinning, just as a new watch shifted. We were ready to find this shared rest.

*

I woke to the first gray light of dawn filtering into my room. For a moment, I was disoriented as something felt off, but then I realised I was spooning Eryn. Her body fit perfectly against mine, like a nut in its shell. I inhaled the scent of her hair, and sighed. This feeling was the ultimate trophy. A quiet, profound victory more valuable than any gem.

I held her a little tighter, not wanting the moment to end, but her breathing changed. She stirred, wiggling herself against me and, without turning, she whispered, her voice husky with sleep, “Good morning, handsome.”

A low chuckle rumbled in my chest, and I nuzzled into her hair. 

It was simple, domestic, and felt more real than any battle.

Eryn turned her head slightly. 

“Ready for a hunt, party leader?” Her voice was playful, but the question hung in the air, a reminder of the world waiting outside our door. If only we could spend a few days like this. Just hugging and enjoying one another’s company, but the real world was calling, and the Hivemind wasn’t waiting for anyone.

I kissed her shoulder. 

“By the forge’s fiery heart and the anvil’s cold arse,” I rumbled, my voice filled with an energy I wanted to burn slaying monsters. “I was born ready.”

*

I felt tense, walking with fourteen adventurers through the Steelhusk Forest. So many lives in my hands, and no Edwin to pull me out of the fire if I made a mistake.

The Steel Scrambler had last been spotted on the road to the Twisted Titan, and the gnarled, corrupted form of the impossible tree was a jagged silhouette against the sky. The raid had come together faster than I’d expected, though not without its challenge. In the end I had a chaotic mix of veteran grit and raw, untested power. 

Richard’s party had flatly refused when I invited him, wanting to have nothing to do with the variant, on account of actually having seen and fled from it. 

Vos had been partially right. Other established parties who hadn’t seen us in action as closely as Shay and Richard, had given me polite but firm rejections, wary of the risk. But opportunity had drawn new faces to Dawnwatch. 

A trio of first breakthrough mages had jumped at the chance. Justin, an Earth Mage with the shoulders of a blacksmith, Jeff, an upbeat Wind Mage who never seemed to stand still or keep quiet, and Jessica, a tall and blonde Fire Mage had jumped at the chance. 

They’d been the ones who had sponsored Garret, taking him on as their tank, after scooping up Wade, who was back in town and between parties, as their crossbowman. Their magical firepower was strong, but I feared for their coordination. They’d dubbed themselves the council of Earth, Wind, and Fire, and were constantly bickering over who was the ‘lead mage’. 

And then there was Lan.

I fell back, my boots crunching on metallic leaves, to walk beside her, nodding for Barabbas, Shay’s archer, to take my spot.

Lan’s hair was tied in a severe knot, her blue robe cinched tight. She walked like someone bracing for an ambush, all hunched shoulders and darting eyes. 

I held out a copy of the quest note, trying to engage her. 

[Steel Scrabler Takedown]

Difficulty: Red (Raid)

Objective: Slay the Steel Scrabler before it tears down Sentinel Station or kills anyone not fast enough to outrun it.

Location: Last seen on the road to the Twisted Titan.

Details: Extreme caution advised. High physical damage resistance expected.

Reward: 45 Mind Gems, 150 gold

Note: Don’t let anyone die, Ash.

-Harold

“Ever fought anything this big?” I asked.

She barely glanced at the note, her gaze fixed on the ground. 

“No.” She was silent for a moment, then muttered, her voice tight with irritation. “There are too many people here. Too much chatter.” 

“It’s a raid,” I said, trying not to smile. “Kind of comes with the territory.”

She scowled up at me. 

“And your damn soul weapon… his voice is so… rough. His invasive chattering hurts my head.”

Roq took immediate offense. 

“Rough? My voice is the melody of glorious conquest! You whelp have no appreciation for true power!”

“All I’ve heard from you is a bunch of talk, voice,” she said. “Bet you’re not half as powerful as my staff.”

Roq gasped. 

“Take that back this instant!”

“Remember your promise,” I said quietly to her, glancing around. 

Lan’s jaw tightened, her amber eyes flicking up to meet mine with a flash of defiance. 

“Yeah, I know. You keep my secret, I keep yours. As long as I get to kill big monsters. That’s the deal.”

“Hmmm…” Roq said. “A bloodthirsty sentiment. Finally, you say something sensible. We can work with a lust for violence. Lean into it, Lan. Tell me of… your largest and most brutal kill!”

Lan just scoffed and looked away. 

Seeing Shay and the council of three mages approaching, I moved toward them, leaving her to her silence.

“Alright, Ash. What's the plan?” Shay asked, falling into step beside me. Aside from Nina, Shay’s party moved with the calm confidence of veterans, a stark contrast to the barely-contained chaos of the other new group.

I motioned for the entire raid to come closer. 

“Alright, listen up,” I said, my voice carrying over the crunch of their boots, and everyone turned their attention to me. “We’ve got six mages, three tanks, three ranged, and three damage warriors.”

“Too many spell-throwers, not enough steel,” Knut commented, carrying his new axe and tower shield as if they weighed nothing. He turned his gaze on Lan, who had drifted to the very back of the group. “If things go wrong, hide behind Knut! Is safest place.”

I chuckled. 

“Our strength is overwhelming magical firepower and damage. Our weakness is a lack of dedicated healing and potential coordination issues. Garret,” I said, catching my friend’s eye. He stiffened. “Let’s not beat around the bush. You’re severely underleveled for tanking a Red threat like this. You’re the offtank, keeping our backline safe. Knut and Ahsan, you rotate aggro. Do not let this thing pin one of you down.”

“Ahsan, you hear?” Knut called out, a grin in his voice. “If monster eats you, yell loud. I pull you out by legs.”

Ahsan, Shay’s tank, who was nearly as wide as he was tall, just grunted a laugh and gave Knut a solid nod. 

“Eryn, Wade, and Barabbas, you focus on its weak spots. Blind it if you can. And Wade…”

“Yeah, bossman?” the crossbowman said. 

“No holding back on us, alright?” I said, remembering his seeming never ending supply of crossbows. “Go all out. The longer the fight goes on, the worse our chances.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Wade said, and grinned, giving a half-arsed salute.

“And just for that, I’ll give you a special assignment when we spot the monster,” I added, wiping his grin from his face with a wink. Then I pointed to the mages. 

“Justin, your job is terrain control. Trap its legs, raise walls, give us cover. Jessica, Nina, Nabeeh, coordinate your fire and lightning. Overload its defenses. Jeff, your wind spells might not do much against its armor, so focus on disruption. Keep it off balance. Lan,” I said, looking back at her, “Fight as you see fit.”

“If you drench it, my lightning might do more damage,” Nina said to Lan.

Our newest mage just grunted what might have been an affirmative and fell further back.

“Steel Scuttlers have two weak points,” Knut said loudly, for the benefit of the newer adventurers. “Face and belly.”

“Foolishness. Their weak spot is their shell,” Roq said. “They think it impregnable, but they have never met a weapon like me before. Crushy-ness incarnate. Their foolish arrogance will be their downfall. Just get me a solid crack at its back and I’ll open it up, then you can barbecue it nicely.”

Knut patted my shoulder and shook his head. Nothing needed to be said, as we both knew just how much it took out of me to endure Roq’s escapades.

A while later, with the mages in a heated debate about the optimal sequencing of their spells, Eryn, walking point, held up a hand. Her body perfectly still, and we all sank to our knees among the trees. 

“Movement,” she hissed, her voice cutting through the chatter. A moment of charged silence followed. “I see it.”

“A perfect prey to practice our shots,” Arclight said. “I cannot wait to absorb its life force!”

Through a gap in the metallic trees, I spotted it too.

A moving mountain of polished metal, slowly crashing a path of destruction through the forest, its six massive legs scything through any non-steelhusk trees as if they were grass. 

It was big enough to crush our house without even slowing down.

Knut’s grin was a flash of white in his beard. 

“Is not monster. Is moving fortress,” he ‘whispered’. “Good. Easier target.”

“Listen up,” I said. “The clearing we scouted about five minutes back, that’ll be our battleground. With it being strong enough to break down trees, we don’t want to fight it in here. It’ll be to its advantage and not ours.”

Lan scoffed.

I turned and raised an eyebrow at her, and said, “Yes?”

“If you think it’ll just wander over there by itself, you're dumber than you look,” she said, frowning. “I say we blast it here. Fight around these big trees.”

“Fortunately, its not up to you, or someone would get squashed. And secondly, I have a plan.” I turned to look at Wade, and after a moment, so did everyone else.

He shifted uncomfortably, and asked, “What”

“You remember the first time we faced Steel Scuttlers?” I asked, my quiet words punctuated by a tree crashing to the forest floor further in.

“Yeah?” Wade said. “What about it?”

“You demonstrated a superior skill during that hunt,” I said, glancing over at Knut and Eryn. 

“He did no such thing!” Roq said. “I remember it perfectly well. He turned tail and fled, running through the forest like a hare fleeing a rock puppy!”

“What are you on about?” Wade asked.

“It’s a skill I aim to make good use of now,” I said.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” he muttered.

Knut and Eryn chuckled. 

“Call it penance for Marcus,” I said, and laid out my plan. 

*

“That was almost mean,” Eryn said from behind me. “Almost.” 

She stood in the middle of the clearing on top of the rock there, with Barabbas next to her. The six mages were spread out in front of the rock in a half circle, with Lan in the middle. Outside of them stood Shay, Felix, and I, just behind Knut, Ahsan, and Garret.

“Remind me never to piss you off,” James said and I turned to see him fiddling nervously with his staff.

“Have courage, and you never will,” I said, rolling my shoulders at the crashing sounds in the distance.

“I want to be further forward,” Lan muttered.

“Stay with the mages,” I said. “You’re safer there, and I still need to see what you can do.

She scowled at me, and crossed her arms, the staff against her chest.

“What if he fails?” Jeff asked, drawing my attention as he tapped his wand in his palm. “He’ll be monster feed.”

“No failure,” Knut said. “Ash spoke true. We seen him run from monsters before. Good motivation make fast speed.”

“This crab is slightly larger though,” Eryn said.

“I still say we should be the one to bring the prey. We might have finished the hunt already,” Arclight said.

“Or you would be dead,” Roq said. “Now, I wouldn’t miss you, but we would mourn Eryn for at least a week, so no. You don’t get to be bait.”

“By the bells,” Garret muttered to himself, shifting nervously.

“Whats wrong?” Jessica asked. “You said you were fine with this hunt.”

“Just riftrotten nature calling,” the tank said, lifting and stretching one leg, giving it a shake, setting his platemail to rattling.

“That’ll just be your nerves,” Ahsan said. “First time I tanked a monster this big… well, it wasn’t this big, but it was a decent sized monster, I–”

“Sharpen up,” I said as the sounds were close, putting some of that signature Edwin style snap into my voice. “Here he comes.”

The chatter around the clearing died.

Then Wade exploded out of the trees, his coat flapping wildly as he sprinted at full tilt, arms pumping, eyes wide with that special brand of terror reserved for men with a plan that’s just barely working.

“It’s working! It’s working!” he shouted, voice half-panicked, half-exultant. 

“It’s working too well,” Shay muttered, as behind Wade, the Steel Scrambler crashed into view, a rolling mountain of metal, splintering the trees. It’s claws and legs were the length of a man, and its two beady black eyes were locked onto Wade as if he’d eaten its young. Smaller steel scuttlers boiled out of the forest on either side, a living tide of armored bodies.

“Cracked bells,” I said, realising he didn’t have enough of a lead. “He’s too slow!”