Act I
One moment I was in a dark place I felt my eyes close, the next I opened them and saw the stars were dimmer, and the skies being less dark. It should be an hour or so before dawn, I looked around and saw the rest were still asleep so I stood up stretching my arms, legs and back.
Groan* I let out a satisfied groan as I looked around the top of the artificial hill we were on. Then I saw a bulge in the middle of the relatively flat foliage covered platform we had made our camp on.
I approached it, Tump* I kicked something, I looked down and saw it was a large bone. It was dry and from how it looked it was probably years if not decades old. I ignored it as I approached the bulge, as I stood in front of it I started clearing the moss and clover vines.
It was a memorial tablet, the silver plated thing reached my shudder in height, and tripled my length in width. I touched the runic writing, making them glow white as they started translating themselves into a language I can read, still it was rough.
[Here lies the great Lord Marcos, soldier, leader of men, ruler of the flat lands between the forest and river. . .]
I kept reading the memorial tablet. I wish I had a notebook and pen, the story was simple, some ruler ages ago had ruled a territory in the eastern grasslands for 30 straight summers.
But when he was fifty, he ravaged many of the daughters and sons of his nobles. He was exiled and then came back with a foreign army in his late fifties, crowning himself a Lord again, he ruled for a year before dying of frostbite.
It even detailed some of his achievements like being able to ride something called a Daeodon, their version of a horse I guess. When he was only ten years old, killing another lord through a champions bout when he was 21 and how he had won 10 wars against neighboring lords.
[Thier is only two ways of ruling, to be loved by all which is the safest option but the hardest to keep or to be feared by all which is easiest to do but the most dangerous path. - Lord Marcos]
Those were the last words written on the tablet, I looked down and thought of something. Usually if an important person gets entombed they would be buried with grave goods. . .
After the thought I went back towards the camp, even if there were grave goods, at the base of this tomb. From how withered this ruin looked, I don't think anything useful would have survived after such a long time.
Act II
"You and Daniel came from the east, did you see any other ruins?" As I walked back towards the camp, I saw that Eclipsa and Seraphina were already awake. One was preparing breakfast while the other was trying to start a fire with a bow drill.
"You two can't believe what I found! We're sitting on a tomb! It should be a kind of step pyramid from what I found out." I said with a bit of excitement, as I barred into their conversation. The two gave me a moment of their attention before they continued their work and talk, ignoring me entirely.
"No, we stayed in the ruins of a gate, nothing else but grass and lonely trees around it." Eclipsa was distracted as she focused on turning the smoke she started into a real fire. I almost tried lighting it with my flames like usual but stopped, it's probably a good idea to have everyone know how to make a fire.
"Too bad, we've only explored a few hours in our north. . . We found nothing there, we should decide which direction to go next." Seraphina was making really good points, but still it was a little distracting looking at her while she cooked.
She was barely dressed, damn I'm even imagining her wearing an apron. After a few moments of looking I forced myself to look away from her pale skin, and towards the rising sun.
It was a beautiful thing, with how pink and yellow blended as they peppered the gradually brightening blue skies. . . I always imagined the dreaming would look truly alien, but no. It still felt like I was on Terra, just in a very different part of it.
"AHH!" A scream, I immediately rushed towards my bone club as I looked towards the scream and saw that it was Chara. He was sleeping moments ago but now he was standing and looking towards us, his eyes empty, filled with something I recognize.
"Is it good news or bad news?" I asked, as I summoned my [Hunter's arrow] and then looked for my bow. I left it near where I slept, I can't believe I forgot to take it with me when I was exploring.
"Good! Very Good! There's a village, near a river. It's filled with friendly spirits? No people! I saw our group walking inside the log palisades." He spoke quickly and messily but I think he saw the future about us going into a kind of settlement.
"Did you see a temple? Were the people you saw natives or rankers like us?" Seraphina immediately started questioning the slightly confused and sleep groggy prophet as he tried to explain his vision in as much detail as possible.
Chara's vision was as usual very fragmented, he saw me drinking wine with people he didn't recognize. Him being led by Eclipsa into a wooden fortress and Seraphina practicing her sword arts near a river next to a large wall, during sunset.
The other details were too vague for it not to be some kind of allegorical thing, like how he described Eclipsa as a shadow in the vision he saw me almost dying during my first day in the dreaming.
Act III
"Daniel. . . What are you doing?" Eclipsa asked, as we rested under a tree, we've been walking for awhile now and Chara, the least physically fit, in our group needed to catch his breath.
"I want to make signs, I want to go back to that tomb after becoming a bronze ranker or higher. I want to see if I can get more lore about the Lord Marcos, buried under it." I explained as I finished hammering a piece of bone deep into the tree having its exposed bit pointing towards the tomb.
It was weird, the pale bark tree having black thick sap that smelled like rotting eggs. An Idea came as I took some of it on a stick and then ignited my hand, I was right the sap inside the tree was just like motor oil. But why would tree sap act like oil?
"Use this, and collect some of it. . . might be useful." Seraphina asked, as she handed me two clay bottles. I nodded and collected some, but knowing how regular sap acted once outside a tree the liquid sap I collected might harden by the time we rested again.
"We should start Hunting, we can't keep avoiding them like we've been doing." I nodded agreeing with Seraphina, even if I can't kill them if we can gather enough Soul cores, we can strengthen ourselves as we travel, it'll make things a lot easier.
"Are you insane Sera?! You want to kill one of those?" Eclipsa pointed towards a herd of Heavy Tusks, it was a small herd with only five members. They actually look like a great batch to start with.
"Yes? We do need to get stronger Sunshine, I can probably cripple one. From what I've read from the exploration journals, Heavy tusk boars are strong and territorial but if more than half of their number dies the rest would flee." I told her my piece as I looked at the herd. Besides, I wanted to eat some pork for I was still hungry. The egg and clover stew this morning wasn't enough.
"You too Dani?! You can't even kill anything. . ." Eclipsa paused as seemingly a thought appeared, I can see it in her eyes she just realized something.
"I will distract them, Daniel would support and you will wait, and kill those you can." Seraphina sounded. . . Like my boss in my first life? When I was working as an intern I had a boss who sounded just like her, he would assign us tasks just like this.
"Daniel? Do you understand the plan?" I shook my head trying to focus, I nodded and then pulled my bow from my back and summoned my [Hunter's arrow]. I had three mundane ones with bone tips but their fletching was rough, I wouldn't be able to use it safely if Seraphina would be playing vanguard.
"I'll use my mundane arrows to get their attention, we need to get them to fight us here where we have the height advantage. Also I'll get a better line of sight, and Sunshine can hide somewhere and ambush their rear." I spoke my own thoughts of a strategy as the three listened, I patted the bone club on my hip. I haven't used it yet but I think I can use it a few times before it shatters.
"Hmm. . . We'll do what you suggest Daniel, but can you hit them from here?" Seraphina asked, I can see worry in her usual cold eyes. I smiled and stood straight feeling the wind, my bow and arrow was crap, even with the wind on my side I won't be able to hit anything from here.
"I can't, I'll bait them here after shooting all my arrows and then will fight them as you suggested Sera." I looked at her and she paused, it took a few moments before she spoke again.
"You're afraid of hitting us with the regular arrows." She said as she looked towards our targets, I didn't answer.
"Alright, on your signal." Serphina said as she moved, I looked to Eclipsa. She looked pissed but still she started moving towards the long grass disappearing into them, while Chara walked towards me.
"You should have my cloak, it'll help you blend in. . ." Tump* Augh* I struck his forehead with two of my fingers, as I smiled at him.
"And have you buck naked? No I'm fine Chara, go with Eclipsa she would need the ability of your cloak more than I will." I told him before turning around and walking towards my first fight in months, I'm not sure why but my hands were shaking and my legs were twitching.
Was I afraid? No, I know what fear was like, it was a heaviness in my chest and a coldness in my hands and feet. No, this wasn't fear. I was excited, much like when I entered a massage parlour expecting it to be an underground brothel. . . The thought made me smile, almost laugh as I remember how embarrassed I was when I realised it was just a regular spa house.
Act IV
Thump* EEIOK! I let loose my first arrow, then my second, then my third. All three struck the broadsides of the large pigs, they started screaming as the air thickened with the smell of blood.
"COME AT ME HOGS!" I let out a powerful scream that surprised me even more than the roughness in my throat. Then without looking at the pigs I started running away. It took only a moment before I could hear their feet thumping the grass covered earth.
I kept running only stopping when I reached the tree, that was when I turned and saw Seraphina distracting two Heavy tusks boars. I can't see the three I wounded, ignoring that thought I drew my bow using my [Hunter's Arrow] I shot, striking one in its eye making it go berserk.
I grimaced, I was aiming for its mouth but missed. With that thought I recalled my [Hunter's arrow] making it turn into white ash while still inside the Heavy tusk boar's eye.
I summoned it again, but before it could reappear on my hand. Eclipsa came out from the brush, with a tusk in hand she jumped on top of the berserking Heavy tusk boar and then buried her weapon into its neck.
It was still alive thrashing about, trying to unmount the girl trying to end its life. My arrow appeared, as I was about to shoot at the berserking animal's legs to cripple it. A sword struck, from its side making the Horror drop as Eclipsa drove the entire tusk inside the Heavy tusk boar.
I started running towards them, as I saw the thrown sword was from Seraphina. She was on top of her own pig as I can see the sweat dropping from her neck and. . . I quickly looked away.
"Where's the other three?" I asked as I reached Seraphina, as Eclipsa cleaned the grey blood that covered her armour, using the tall grass.
"You scared them off?" She simply said looking at me confused, I think I was giving her the same look as I was confused too.
"I did? How. . ." Before I could finish speaking, I heard Chara coming out from the bushes, being guided by Eclipsa.
"Let's butcher these quickly, we can't have the blood attracting other horrors." Seraphin said ending our talk, as she started doing what she ordered using her sword to cut open one revealing a soul core, it was glowing a faint grey.