The Land: Alliances (Chaos Seeds Book 3)

CHAPTER 19

Alma wriggled into his hood and under his cloak to protect herself from the rain. Still cursing, Richter started running again. He accessed his Map. From what he could guesstimate, he was about one hundred twenty miles south and thirty miles west of the village. He hoped that the kobolds wouldn’t be able to track him in the rain, but because of his new Tracking skill, he could see animal prints even in the deluge he was running through. It was true that because of the rain he could only make out tracks a few feet away, but he couldn’t hang his hat on the hope that the kobolds wouldn’t track him.

“Futen!” he shouted over the sound of the rain. A flash of lightning followed his call.

“Yes, my Lord,” came the monotone reply. A roll of thunder followed the remnant’s response.

“You need to go back to the Great Seal. I need reinforcements. Tell them I am more than a hundred miles south and at least thirty miles west of the village.” Richter checked his Map again. Looking at both the translucent image superimposed on his vision and maintaining his balance as he ran through the forest taxed his ability to multitask, but he did his best.

From what he could see on the Map, a large cliff was directly in his path about five miles from his location. Several rivers crisscrossed the map as well. “Tell them I’m going to be going further south and east until I can circle around a large cliff shaped like a crescent. Hopefully they know where that is.” Going south when he crossed the rivers would also increase his chances to lose any potential pursuers.

“Are you sure that you want me to leave you, my Lord?” the remnant asked.

“Go!” Richter shouted over the wind. “I need more help than you can give!”

Futen’s light began to grow in intensity. It shined brighter than Richter had ever seen it before, then the glare grew so powerful that he couldn’t see anything but white. With a clap of sound, louder than the thunder, air rushed into the space that the remnant had been occupying a moment before. Richter stared at the spot Futen had disappeared from, sunspots marring his vision, “He REALLY could have warned me that his teleport would basically summon every monster within twenty miles… What a dick.” Alma’s only response was to shift unhappily under his cloak. Richter cast Night Vision to make up for the loss of Futen’s light, then took off running again.

The storm continued unabated. His progress was greatly slowed by having to navigate obstacles like downed trees and mudslides. When he came to the first river thirty minutes later, he was glad he had told Futen that he would be moving further south as he made his way east. The rain had swollen the river dramatically. What had been depicted on the Map as a large stream, was now a medium sized rapids.

Richter had been planning to walk down the center of the stream for several hundred yards to throw off anyone with the Tracking skill and then exit on the other side. There was absolutely no way he could wade across this though. As he stood on the bank, he considered just jumping in and swimming, but the turbulent flow and large branches that bobbed around in the water made drowning a very real threat. Richter started running south down the riverbank, looking for a ford. After a bit, he found a tree that must have washed down from upstream and then gotten caught in a crook of the river. It extended three quarters of the way to the far bank.

Richter stepped out onto the tree, testing it with one foot. When it held, he pulled back his hood. The water flowed down his face and Alma yowled in displeasure.

*I’m sorry love, but if I fall and you’re still in my cloak, I don’t think you’ll make it. Fly across and wait for me.*

She wasn’t happy about it, but did as he asked. The wind buffeted her a time or two, but she made it into the limbs of a large tree on the far bank and stared back at him.

“Okay Richter,” he said to himself, “let’s do this.”

He walked out onto the tree with his arms held out to his sides. In his Earth body, he was sure this wouldn’t have been possible, but his increased Agility here in The Land let him balance on the makeshift bridge. The tree rocked slightly thanks to the fast moving water. He was almost to the end of the trunk, when something hit him like a hammer in the back of his shoulder. He cried out in pain and plunged into the river.

Richter flailed to get above the surface, each movement of his left arm shooting pain through him. His head came above the water and he coughed out some river that had made its way into his lungs. He sucked in a quick breath before he was pushed under the surface again. Over the next five minutes he was pushed to and fro in the river, but he finally got to the other side.

He pulled himself up, hand over hand until he was firmly on solid ground. Laying on his side, he gasped and sputtered. Richter reached for the source of his pain and felt a metal bolt sticking out of his back. It was high enough in his shoulder that he could wrap his fingers around the portion sticking out of him. Getting a sure grip, he ripped it out. The barb on the head made his health drop fractionally more than the initial attack, and blood flowed freely down his back. He worked his other hand into a spell configuration and cast Slow Heal.

The wound immediately began to close and the pain abated. His fingers were also outlined in gold light though which alerted his pursuers to his position. More crossbow bolts shot across the river towards his general position. Alma swooped in and cast Errant Wind. The spell increased Richter’s ability to dodge the projectiles and provided the edge he needed to get to safety. Richter took cover behind a large rock and Alma settled back under his cloak.

Richter bared his teeth and looked back across the river, but even with his Night Vision he could barely see across to the other bank. Twisting his hand into a specific shape, he cast Far Light again and again. Ten, then twenty, balls of light shot across the river and attached to trees, rocks and bushes. He now had a clear view of the force arrayed against him.

Dozens of kobolds stared across the river at him, their eyes pregnant with hatred and promised retribution. All were mounted on what looked like large black pit bulls. More than half had crossbows and they all fired when they saw him peeking from behind the stone. He ducked his head back down and let all of the missiles either hit the rock or pass him by. Richter flipped them off and took off running.

He cast Haste as he once more sped through a darkened forest in a desperate bid to survive. Richter came to another river, but was able to wade across this one. As soon as he hit the other side, he was off and running again. Less than an hour later, the sun set making a dim world even darker. Even with Night Vision, his sight was extremely limited. He ran through the night, barely staying ahead of the mounted kobolds. If the sky had been clear, he most likely would have been caught and killed, but again and again he was able to lose his pursuit in the storm. Unfortunately, again and again they found him.

He tried to make his way north more than once, but the kobolds had spread themselves out to the north of this position. It was like they knew he was trying to get back to the Mist Village. Whenever Richter was spotted, the rider would blow his horn and the rest of the kobolds would converge. Richter would dash off and a game of cat and mouse would ensue. He would find a convenient hollowed tree or fold in the land to hide in. Richter’s stealth and cloak let him stay concealed until a hole appeared in their formation and he would again streak out into the night.

Though Richter hadn’t been driven to ground yet, the kobolds continued driving him east and south. He would have been screwed if his only safe haven was his village. When he checked his map though, he was surprised by the amount of distance he had covered since making it above ground. He smiled a vicious smile when he realized that the village wasn’t his only safe haven. The kobold’s kept driving him south, but it was Richter that began to lead them east.

He kept running when he could. Hiding when he had to. More hours passed.

Richter’s legs were tight, and he was fairly certain one of his boots was filled with blood from a popped blister when he finally arrived at his destination. He climbed a leafy tree and waited. Before long, Richter watched a kobold rider stalk through the rain, not thirty yards away from his position. He had hidden many times through the night, but this time was different. He didn’t stay in his perch and just wait for the reptile to pass. He was finally done running. A mental message to Alma sent her winging silently into the higher limbs of the tree.

Richter quietly lowered himself down from the branch he had been sitting on and he dropped noiselessly to the ground. He stood and nocked a sprite arrow to the string and started imbuing. He had been behind the rider, but the glow from the arrow immediately gave him away. The rider saw him after two seconds and hurriedly raised a horn to his lips. Richter just smiled, he had no intention of stopping the kobold from giving away their position. In fact, for the first time he was looking forward to hearing the god awful racket the kobold horn made.

The kobold paused for a moment, confused by Richter’s expression, but then placed the horn to his lips and blew a loud note. The call was cut off when Richter’s arrow detonated against his chest and knocked him out of the saddle, but the damage was done. As the dog mount ran off in fear, other horns echoed in the night.

Richter raised his hand in the air and shot off several Far Lights, the balls of light rising in the air like fireworks. Then he took off running east again. After just a few minutes, the riders caught up with him. Through the night, his host of pursuers had slowly closed in on his position. The kobolds didn’t need to spread out their numbers as sightings of Richter became more common. What they didn’t know, was that Richter had let himself be seen.

The dog mounts outpaced him, the steeds running faster than Richter could despite his prodigious use of Haste. Soon, the kobolds came at him from all directions including dead ahead. Richter found himself surrounded. The reptiles barked angrily to each other and the mounts growled and snapped at him. He cast Simple Light. Richter knew it would piss them off more, but though the kobolds were clearly angered, they all maintained a distance of at least ten feet.

Richter looked at the sea of angry kobolds. There had to be at least two hundred of them! He kept a smile on his face, but inside, his heart hammered wildly in fear. He could only hope that what Hisako had told him was true, and that his plan would come to fruition before they all, quite literally, tore him apart. After a few minutes, a particularly large kobold pushed out of Richter’s circle of enemies, riding a scarred pit bull. The kobold wore robes, rings and held a wand clutched loosely his hand. Richter analyzed him.

Name: Yi’Asan. Kobold Level 35. Health 280. Mana 6300. Stamina 190. Disposition: Enmity… Profession: Mage. Specialization: Battle Mage.

The Mage looked down at Richter from atop his mount. The wand in his hand gleamed in Richter’s summoned globe of light. Unlike most kobold weapons, this looked well-made and well maintained. It possessed the milky white color of moonstone and had a large ruby affixed to the end. Yi’Asan saw Richter looking at his weapons and the kobold seemed to sneer. The Mage raised his arm almost lazily, then with a crook of his finger dark energy shot up to Richter’s ball of light and snuffed it out. The forest dropped into almost complete blackness. Though Richter couldn’t see the kobolds anymore, he could hear their excitement. The ambient volume of conversation of the other kobolds rose at their leader’s casual display of power.

Richter reestablished his Night Vision with a twist of his hand and a word of power. As the black energy writhed into existence, he looked at the Mage and wondered if his spell casting might trigger a violent response from the Mage, but all he saw on the man’s face was smug superiority.

When Yi’Asan spoke, he pointed the wand at Richter’s face, “You have come into our home and taken something. We will take it back and for our trouble, we will take your heart as well!” All of the kobolds yipped and barked loudly at their leader’s words.

Richter squinted at the large kobold. “What if I just gave you the Focus Crystal back. Would you be willing to forgive and forget?”

“I am not speaking about a mere crystal and you well know it!” the kobold shouted. “I do not know how you knew to look beneath the crystals for what had long been lost, but you will tell me before you die!”

Richter looked about, honestly confused. “If you don’t want the Focus Crystal, then what do you want?” His Night Vision picked up a glimmer of movement.

“Enough games, human! If you do not wish to speak the truth now, then we will take you back to the tunnels. We shall see how resistant you are after the burrowing worms begin to nest within you!” Yi’Asan barked an order and the ring of kobolds began to close in on Richter.

“Wait! I’ll tell you what I know!” he said loudly holding his arms out.

Yi’Asan barked another order and the kobolds stopped moving. The rider looked at him pointedly.

“I know that you feel wronged. I know that I took something from you! I also know something else!” Richter let his last word hang in the air for several seconds. The kobolds leaned in slightly as if afraid to miss his next words. Yi’Asan had opened his mouth to speak when Richter continued, cutting the Mage off. He lowered his voice slightly as if he was sharing a secret, “I know that you should be careful how you talk to me. We are not in your dark little hole anymore! And I KNOW, that when you step into someone else’s house, you should be damn careful how you speak!” Richter’s voice rose through his speech and spittle flew from his lips as he shouted the last sentence at Yi’Asan.

The kobold bared his teeth. “And this!” he said sweeping his arm around at the trees. “Am I to understand that this forest is your house? Is that what you wanted to tell me? Was that the point of your useless speech and false bravado?”

Richter glared back, matching his enemy’s glare in both will and animosity. Then he broke the gaze and smiled sheepishly, “No. This isn’t my house. It’s theirs,” he said gesturing behind the kobold, “and I was just talking until they had all got in position.”

Yi’Asan’s head whipped back and he saw that hundreds of blue glowing dots had lit up the darkness. Then the sprites released their imbued arrows and the kobolds found another reason to fear the light.