A cascade of small rocks slide down the steep mountain slope as he shifted his feet to, careful to secure his footing. Archivauld coughed, as he inhaled the acrid stench of heavy ash, tugging his bandana to cover his face and nose.
The stench of ash was thick, but the wind whipped at his hair, stinging his face. Taking a deep breath, he slowly turned, taking in the rift. The sky was dark, covered in ominous storm clouds that crackled with the distant clap of thunder.
Quite the foreboding site. As he stood there, the ground beneath him rumbled menacingly.
Tensing, he looked up the steep slope to the geyser of ash and smoke that was being spewed in a thick cloud of pitch black smoke into the sky.. He was on the slopes of an active volcano, and a massive one at that. Thankfully, he wasn't so close to the summit to be burned to death from the ambient heat of the river of lava that slowly oozed down into the valley.
Frowning, he gave the valley a second glance. From what he could see, he was in a mountain range, the nearby peaks covered with snow and ash. There was only one currently active volcano he could see, but still, the ash coated everything, falling like snow.
It was just as inhospitable as the other rifts he had entered, with the familiar bitter chill, though the chill was muted this close to the summit of the volcano. Far down the steep rocky slope, rugged, gnarled trees clung to life on the steep slopes, looking half dead from lack of nourishment.
Not too much of a surprise there.
How trees or other plant life survived at all in this hellish environment was nothing short of a miracle.
It was no wonder that all the monsters who lived in this hellish place were so incredibly aggressive. Anything that was forced to eek out a living here would have to fight tooth and nail for survival.
It was the same everywhere.
Pretty much every monster that eked out a living inside the rift would fight to the bitter end, showing no mercy to anyone they came across. That didn't mean all the monsters were suicidal. But one thing was certain, if the rift monsters thought you would make an easy meal, they would ruthlessly attack.
It was a fact that made him be on constant alert, despite not seeing any monsters near the entrance. Just because he didn't see them, didn't mean they weren't there. Having scanned his immediate surroundings, Archivuald turned back to the rift, stepping back through to the mortal plane. It was a relief to leave the howling wind and rumbling of volcanic eruptions behind him.
"It looks like you saw an eldritch horror?" Davian asked, having waited just outside the rift.
Archivuald grunted noncommittally."Something like that," Archivuald replied. With a grimace, he ran a hand through his disheveled brown hair, grey ash clinging to his hand.
Davian shot a nervous glance to the swirling rift.
"What do you think? Will we find a storm monster inside?" Davain asked hopefully.
Archivauld shrugged.
"I have no idea. There is definitely a storm inside the rift, but that doesn't mean anything. In my experience the weather has nothing to do with what monsters will appear.. If I'm being honest, it will be pure luck if we find a monster with storm powers inside," Archivuald replied.
Davian straightened up at his words, taking a deep calming breath, seeming to firm his resolve.
"Well, we have already come this far. As you said, we might get lucky," Davian replied.
Two days later, Archivauld and a very sulky, Davian huddled in a small cave to hide from the biting wind and bitter cold.
Contrary to their hopes, the monsters inside were not storm related at all. They were a type of mountain guanaco, llama- like monsters living on the steep slopes of the active volcano and the nearby mountains. The guanaco were quite strong for knight tier monsters, giving a hefty amount of essence when killed.
Despite being the one absorbing all the essence from the monsters, Davian's excitement was quickly fading. Archivuald couldn't blame him. After all, there was no evidence of these guanaco having storm powers.
They were quite tough to survive in this harsh environment, with thick hide, and the distinctive ability to make the earth around them shake. Not to mention their sharp hooves and long necks they used to try and batter him to death.
A pain in the ass for sure, but not what they were looking for.
Even so, Archivauld was more than eager to be done with this rift after being knocked over several dozen times by the angry Llama.
Despite his annoyance, the monsters had been fairly straight forward to deal with. The biggest danger so far was the rapidly changing weather. Everything from rock slides caused by a sudden eruption, to gale force winds and ash so thick he could hardly see a foot in front of him.
Davian rubbed his hands together, blowing into his palms, his breath misting in the cool air.
"How much longer should we keep looking?" Davian asked.
Archivuald shrugged, pulling his own cloak tighter to combat the cold. "That's up to you. We have at least four more days before we need to start heading back. I don't want to miss the summer solstice festivities, there is an auction I don't want to miss out on. We can keep searching until then. This rift is probably a bust, but that's up to you if you want to give up," Archivuald replied.
Davian's shoulders slumped.
"You might be right…I guess I really am a failure. How am I supposed to face my family now?" Davain muttered, looking like a kicked dog as his shoulders slumped.
Archivauld grunted.
"Failure? Who decided that? You are still just a kid. This is just one rift. Who says you can't keep searching? With your deep pockets, just keep searching until you find a monster to form a contract with. You might need to get carried all the way to knight tier to find one, but what does that matter?" Archivuald replied.
Davain grimaced at his words.
"I appreciate the encouragement, but this expedition has drained all my savings," Davian said dejectedly..
Archivauld stood, dusting the dried bread crumbs from his lunnch off his pants.
"Well then... If that's the case, let's keep looking. This rift is quite large. Who knows, we still might find the monster you are looking for," Archivuald replied.
Davian perked back up.
"Let's do it!" Davian exclaimed.
The two continued their methodical search, enduring harsh winds, uneasy footing and the occasional rumble from the active volcano.
Despite seeming endless, rifts were finite spaces, where the edges of reality became blurred, touching the void. They were extra dimensional pockets, attached to the real world. Archivuald wasn't sure exactly how they functioned, but the main force holding the rift stable was the Nexus.
From his research during his time in the Order, he had learned that a Nexus was a natural formation of essence. Essence from the boundary between worlds that gathered together over years, linking the mortal world, and adjacent planes of existence together.
These rifts were essentially pieces of the higher realms overflowing into the prime dimension.
Many in the Order believed rifts were a natural phenomenon. He had his doubts if that was the whole truth after interrogating Felcia.
She had spoken of mass ritual sacrifice to create a Nexus, and form a rift. Archivuald was quite put off by that idea.
Surely every rift wasn't formed in that way, was it?
It couldn't be. Why would the abyssal lords, and the fiend clans put in so much effort to send over random monsters? They weren't idiots. That was a massive waste of both time and effort. Not to mentions sacrifices.
He shook his head, dismissing the unhelpful thoughts. In either case, whether the Order was right or not didn't matter for his current problem. What did matter was that the size of the rift was finite.
Monsters in rifts were not always the same, but, from his experience, they usually kept to one or two types. Some thought that the monsters were created by the rift, though that seemed far fetched.
For his part, Archivuald thought the monsters were picked up and transported when the rift was created. It seemed more feasible than monsters being formed wholesale from ambient essence.
The belief was further solidified by the fact that monsters from rifts were able to reproduce, having offspring even after the rift break.
Archivuald's introspection was cut short by a distant rumble, as the volcano in the distance spewed rock, ash and smoke into the sky. The eruptions were a constant headache, seeming to urge on the crackling storm above.
"Should we just pack it in? It's been four days, we are just wasting our time," Davian shouted, his voice hard to hear despite them being right next to each other.
Archivauld shook his head.
"Not yet... I swear I saw something in the sky, flying this way," Archivauld shouted.
Davian seemed doubtful, but nodded. Archivuald hadn't actually seen the beast, but he could swear he heard a distant call from high in the sky. It could have been just a distant toll of thunder, but it sounded a lot like a bird.
Any bird that could fly in this kind of wind had to have some sort of storm powers, and if not, then the ability to control the wind..
For a moment, he thought back to his own bird form. Well, less of a bird, and more of a flightless chicken. What was the point of being able to turn into a large bird if he was less flight worthy than a rock? It truly was a divine curse to have the power to shapeshift into a massive bird, yet be unable to fly.
He shook off the annoying thought, focusing back on the task at hand.
He scowled, his eyes darting across the sky, searching for the storm monster. Figuring out how to fly could always figure out how to fly later. Enduring the harsh environment, they kept following the sheer slope. All the while, Archivauld's horse nervously watched its footing, while he kept his eyes on the smoke filled sky. His mare was quite agile, though she had stumbled and nearly thrown him several times from bad footing. There were quite a few times that the slopes were so steep they had to dismount and walk.
As he rode, one hoof slipped in the scree, and she scrambled to catch them. Archivuald tugged on the reins, patting her neck.
The horse knickered, but when urged, forged on. She was a good horse, but mountain goat she was not.
Archivauld was tired, and feed for the horses was getting low after days of hiking along the steep barren slopes. It wouldn't have gotten so dire if there was some grazing.
They would have to turn back soon, but not yet. On the morning of the last day, he was finally proven right. The two looked up at a sheer cliff over two hundred meters high, at the large brown and white hawk with tinges of blue at the tips of its feathers.
As they watched, the monster leapt from its nest high above, letting out a loud screech. Despite the gale force wind, the bird shot through the sky, sparks of lightning seeming to dance around its wings as it flew.
Archivuald turned to Davian, who was practically bouncing in excitement, his large horse snorting in agitation. .
"Well, there it is. That monster seems to match your criteria. Do your thing, tame it," Archivauld said, gesturing in the bird's direction.
Davian hesitated, throwing a glance at the nest high on the cliff face.
"About that… My divine curse doesn't tame the monster. It won't force the monster to like me, it just forms a connection between us," Davian replied sheepishly..
Archivauld winced at the admission.
"Soo, we have to climb up to the nest and steal an egg, or a baby, if their is one?" Archivuald asked dryly.
Davian slowly nodded.
"Yes…We just have to scale the cliff, and take an egg from the nest. Shouldn't be too hard, right?" Davian replied hesitantly.
Archivauld looked up at the sheer cliff, with the nest far above. It was sheer rock, with little handholds, not to mention snow and ash clinging to the face to make the little holds available hard to see and grip.
It was a reminder of his death-defying climb down a sheer cliff into the city of stronghold where he almost fell to his death multiple times. Only this one was taller, and covered in ice.
"Best of luck to you. Climbing that cliff wasn't a part of our agreement," Archviuald said.
Davian gave him a pleading look.
It was a look that made him hesitate. Archivauld had already put so much effort, turning back now would make it all for naught. As much as he didn't want to scale the cliff, the potential reward was enticing.
He threw another glance back towards the cliff.
Archivauld would receive his three gold bounty regardless, but Davian had promised a lord tier item if he helped him catch a storm attuned monster.
As much as he really didn't want to, the prize on offer was just too tempting. Not to mention, his golden goose might fall to his death from that sheer cliff. He couldn't get paid from a smear of blood on the ground.
Archivuald furrowed his brows as he reassessed the cliff. It only took a glance before he decided he wasn't going to risk scaling the cliff in his human form.
No matter how he looked at it, that would be a death sentence. Even in his Nether champion form, scaling that cliff would be risky. Not just because the sheer rock had very little hand holds, but because that monster of a bird might come back while he was halfway up.
Not a very exciting prospect. He might be done for if that happened. It would be extremely difficult to fight back an angry bird while clinging to the cliff wall. Another concern was revealing his monster form to Davian.
He was a good kid, reminding him of his younger brother Malakai, but still. Better safe than sorry.
Archviauld gestured at Davian.
"Remember the cave we were staying in this morning?" Archivuald asked.
"Ya," Davian replied.
"Take the horses and go back to the cave. Wait there for me, I'll send foxy to keep watch and make sure no monsters kill you along the way," Archviuald said.
Davian furrowed his brows.
"Don't you want me to help you reach the nest?" Davian asked.
"Unless you have an emblem to help us walk up the cliff, or better yet fly up there, I will have to pass. It's better if you go back, and stay out of danger. I won't have to worry about your safety if you're back in the cave," Archivuald replied.
Davian clearly wanted to stay around and watch the climb, but after a few seconds, complied.
The kid was nothing if not pragmatic. It was a trait Archivuald liked about him.
Davian just rolled with the punches, taking instruction far better than Archivuald thought a spoiled noble would. Archivuald just stood there for a while waiting until Davian was long gone.
The bird still hadn't returned yet, nowhere to be seen, though it could be soaring amongst the dark clouds just out of sight.
Taking a deep breath, Archivuald turned towards the sheer cliff slowly letting it out. With a nudge, essence flowed from his reservoir, flooding his first divine cure. With a groan, his skin wriggled, his body growing, his muscles growing slim and dense like corded iron as he grew.
He fought back the urge to let out a ghastly wail as the bitter chill faded, his heavy cloak and backpack falling to the rock. He tore off his face mask and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the refreshing ash filled air. It was like bliss. Archviuald revealed in the feeling of the harsh wind caressing his mottled grey skin.
This environment was truly hostile to his human form, but was like a gentle spring day to his monster form.
Even the distant rumbling of the volcano was like music to his ears. He cracked a truly monstrous smile, exposing rows of jagged teeth.
Time to scale the cliff, and see what tasty morsels the nest had anything to offer. If that bird came back, he would turn it into a birdcicle.