Valkyrie's Shadow

Winter's Crown: Act 7, Chapter 2

Winter's Crown: Act 7, Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Hey Howe, look – turtles!”

“Fuck off, Henrich!”

A dozen Azerlisian Iron Turtles raised their heads at the shout, staring over in the party’s direction. Fortunately, unlike the Adventurer Training Area, the vast majority of wild animals did not arbitrarily attack strange passers-by without substantial provocation. The Adventurers hushed and walked away, and the turtles returned to wading in their pristine forest pool.

Themis let out a sigh of relief. Without a Ranger in their party, she already had problems aplenty to apply her mana to. People were poisoned by thorns and various other plants, stung by insects, injured themselves in rough terrain and, for whatever gods forsaken reason, kept sticking things into their mouths. They certainly did not need to get into a fight with every animal they encountered as they explored the foothills of the Azerlisia Mountains.

“You people need to knock that off soon,” a voice sounded from above. “I know this whole thing’s kinda been like an afternoon stroll so far, but we’re just about at the edge of the Sorcerous Kingdom now.”

She looked up. Standing on a branch in the canopy was Merry. The Elf Ranger frowned out into the gloom, seemingly sparing them none of her attention. Themis wondered how she could move around so quickly. She supposedly checked on every team out in the field, and the expedition was combing over a ten-kilometre wide strip in their survey for the new northern highway that would connect the Sorcerous Kingdom to the Dwarf Kingdom in the central Azerlisia Mountains.

Merry’s comment about an afternoon stroll was not too far off the mark: they had started at the Lizardman Village at the southern tip of the Great Lake, skirted around its shores to the northern side, then set off along the foothills of the Azerlisia Mountains through the northern reaches of the Great Forest of Tob. All of it belonged to the Sorcerous Kingdom, which was to say that all the tribes had been subjugated, as well as any intelligent monsters. Dangerous beasts and monsters with low intelligence had been culled, though the threshold for ‘dangerous’ was still fairly high by the standards of the lowlands. They occasionally encountered Tob Bears, Sabrewolves and Tob Tigers, as well as many weaker predators, all of which mostly avoided them. In essence, it was purely survey work with the greatest risk stemming from hungry wild animals.

“Merry,” Themis asked, “how far to the edge are we?”

“Doesn’t matter how far to the edge we are,” Merry answered. “All that matters is that we’re at the edge. Nothing out here has ever seen your pretty little Human maps, and there sure as hell isn’t a giant line drawn on the ground where your maps show ‘em. Monsters and tribes have their own views about territory, and most of ‘em don’t see things the same way as Humans do.”

And what about Elves? Themis wanted to ask, but she kept it to herself.

Elves were seen by most as Human enough, but they definitely had ways of their own. Then there was the ongoing conflict between the Slane Theocracy and the Elven Kingdom in Evansha. Themis couldn’t help but think that Merry might bear some hostility to those who worshipped The Six, so she wanted to avoid any accidental friction between them. Strangely enough, Aura and Mare’s behaviour towards her suggested nothing of the sort.

As evening approached, they turned and headed off towards the new location of their base camp. It was raised above a dark, boggy valley where a large population of Myconids dwelled. Themis eyed her party members suspiciously.

“You’re not hiding any mushrooms or anything you found out here, are you?” She asked.

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“Maaaybe…”

“What are you thinking? We’re camping out by a bunch of mushroom people and you went and picked some mushrooms to eat? Wait – are they even safe to eat? I’m not some sort of convenient Cure Poison wand, you know…”

Themis fumed silently as half of her team dumped out their bags. Why was it that she had to look out for this kind of thing? More to the point, the fact that she was a priestess of The Six had people constantly accusing her of discriminating against non-Humans, which in turn made her constantly cross-examine herself to make sure she wasn’t accidentally offending anyone. The others were utterly lacking in the same sense of self-awareness, assuming that everyone and everything framed the world in the same manner as themselves.

They arrived as evening fell, finding the structure of the base camp organized as close to standard as possible. Themis directed her team to deliver their samples to be sorted out for transport to E-Rantel, while she went to deliver their report. Henrich was generally an excellent party leader out in the field, but he was decidedly terrible at paperwork. As the other Platinum-ranked Adventurer on their team, she had somehow become his second and handled their tasks in the base.

“Moknach,” Themis said as she entered the central pavilion, “I’ve…”

Something tickled her nose, and she sneezed. Covering her mouth, she looked back up and found Moknach and Blair within, as well as a four-metre tall mushroom with limbs. The inside of the pavilion lacked any lighting, which was fine since she possessed an earring that conferred Darkvision, but the air shimmered with a glowing cloud of…something. She looked between the two Mithril-ranked Adventurers, assessing their condition.

“No need for alarm,” Blair raised a hand. “They are the Sovereign’s spores.”

“S-sovereign?”

“The leader of a Myconid colony is called a Sovereign,” Blair explained. “The members of the colony usually communicate through spores, like the ones that you see in the air right now. They’re not harmful – they facilitate a sort of telepathy.”

“I see...um, I’ve just come to deliver my team’s reports. I’ll leave them on the table here.”

She leaned over and placed the folder with the day’s summary on the table nearby, then ducked out of the pavilion. A dozen strides away, she released her breath and inhaled the cool evening air.

T-there was a perfectly good reason for that. It’s not that I hate them, but they’re Heteromorphs that think in entirely alien ways. Humans can never fully understand them, or know what they’ll do. As a Cleric, it’s my responsibility to stay clear of any contamination so I can react appropriately in case something happens…

Her behaviour was perfectly rational. There was no reason to feel like she was the one in the wrong somehow. For that matter, why had Blair gone and exposed himself? He was the highest level Divine caster present in the expedition. Then again, he was a Druid – the experience might have just been an exhilarating prospect for him.

Themis sighed, then cast Cure Poison and Lesser Restoration on herself, just in case. She made her way to the base relay point, where the carefully organized samples were awaiting transport.

“Hey Penn,” she said, holding out another folder, “here’s the survey data for today.”

“Thanks. Your samples are um…” the Sorceress’ hand pointed loosely at a set of Preservation-enchanted containers, “over there? They should be labelled.”

Themis made her way over and started checking through their work.

“How was your end of things today?” She asked.

“I was in the base today,” Penn answered. “Well, I was moving the base today. That’s probably why I was assigned. I would have never thought that my first Adventure would consist of me using Floating Board as my main spell.”

“Not even any time to study, huh.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’m still trying to figure out Fly.”

Themis smiled in sympathy. While one might believe that their rapid growth was a great thing, spells still took time to learn. None of the newer members of the Adventurer Guild had anywhere near the repertoire of spells that someone who had decades of study under their belts possessed. A caster without the appropriate spells was a detriment, and figuring out what to learn had become a matter of careful planning and calculation.

“I bet the others don’t have to worry about anything like that,” Themis said.

“You bet,” Penn snorted. “All they do when they get back is swap stories about their ‘Adventures’.”

“What Adventures? The most we ever do is chase away a hungry bear.”

“I think they’ve been competing over how much trouble they manage to get themselves in.”

“If that’s the reason why they keep wasting my mana,” Themis frowned. “I’m going to kill them and reanimate their corpses to carry my things.”

“If you do,” Penn muttered, returning to her work, “let me borrow them the next time I get assigned to base duty.”

Freed of her team responsibilities, Themis made her way to another part of the base camp, where most of the Adventurers were gathered. A few – namely the casters – had retired to their respective tents to study and rest. Rather than the boisterous atmosphere of evenings past, however, things were rather subdued. Merry stood near the bonfire, and nearly everyone was listening attentively to her.

“How do we even fight that?” A voice rose from the crowd, “The way you describe it, it’s impossible!”

“It is impossible,” Merry told him. “I ain’t gonna try and talk you guys up about it. We survive by not fighting. We’re staying down in the foothills until the final stretch anyways, so chances are we won’t see ‘em at all…but it’s not a guarantee. I’m probably gonna be eating my own words by saying this, but, if we run into a scouting party, then maybe – maybe we can come out on top if it comes down to a fight. If it’s a raiding party, we run the hell away and hope they haven’t noticed us.”

“What’s she talking about?” Themis whispered over Howe’s shoulder.

“Frost Giants,” he said in a low voice. “Some idiot saying we should go out and try finding some of them on the way to Feoh Raizo.”

“Can a whole race be that strong, though?” Another voice turned their attention back to the discussion, “I know that there’s plenty of Demis that are stronger than Humans, but this is a whole other thing. I’ve never heard of anything like that down around E-Rantel.”

“Well, yeah,” Merry replied. “That’s why you live there. Humans are too weak to live anywhere else – not without being in a nation that has citizens of other races to make up for the difference. Expect any Frost Giants you run into to be Difficulty Rating 60 minimum. That’s Mithril-rank if you didn’t realize ‘till now. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a few up there above 120.”

A low murmur rose. Difficulty Rating 120…it was beyond Adamantite; beyond the Realm of Heroes. How could they survive running into something like that? The simple answer was that they couldn’t. As Merry had mentioned, all they could do was avoid a confrontation, or run if it came down to it.

“I don’t know why you’re all acting so shocked,” Merry said. “You knew where we were headed, and I’m sure everyone’s heard that Frost Giants fight Frost Dragons like it’s their favourite pastime. I’m not trying to scare you here – well, maybe I am – but I’m mainly underscoring the fact that the purpose of this expedition is to get the survey for this highway done. After that, we’ll see about the stuff listed in our secondary objectives.”

The following morning, Themis emerged from her tent feeling more refreshed than she had been in quite some time. Most of the others, however, appeared less than enthusiastic. The difference probably stemmed from the fact that Merry’s words reflected what Themis had known for nearly all of her life.

While the Six Great Gods favoured humanity, the teachings of their faith laid out the truth quite plainly. Humanity was weak, and its enemies were powerful and plentiful. It was through discipline, hard work, and cultivation of strength through many generations that they would realize the promise of a better future in a world filled with dire threats.

Though they were not a branch of the temple, the Adventurer Guild was an organization where Humans were exposed to the truth of the world that they lived in. This made it an opportunity to show that the tenets of her faith reflected these truths and the approach that Humanity should take to face the realities of their world. Too long had the people of the northern kingdoms grown indolent, even going so far as to twist and corrupt the faith itself. Themis thought the time was ripe to reverse the damage and bring the Humans of the Sorcerous Kingdom back into the fold.

“Only a Cleric of Surshana could look so happy when we’re all marching off to our graves.”

Themis glanced to the side and found that Mag had fallen in beside her as they lined up for breakfast. The petite Rogue sported a haggard appearance, as if she hadn’t slept all night.

“Merry said we’re purposely trying to avoid them,” Themis said, “but if we run into any…you’ve died in training before, haven’t you?”

“Well, yeah,” Mag answered sourly, “but that doesn’t mean I want to die again.”

“As long as you learn and grow stronger from it,” Themis said. “With the Adventurer Guild, you have the unique opportunity to fully explore your potential.”

“That sounds sketchy as hell,” Mag told her. “If Wina said that to me back before I signed up, I would’ve turned right around and run away.”

“Then how would you have said it?” Themis frowned.

“I-I don’t know!” Mag said, “I know some Rogues are really good at scamming people, but that ain’t me. Hire a Bard or something.”

“I wasn’t trying to scam you. It was supposed to be encouragement.”

Themis sighed. One of the faithful would have understood her words of support. It was difficult to connect with others. Overt proselytizing was immediately rejected as well. It was often said that people would see your faith shine through the way you lived your life, but Adventurers tended to live a life that they felt others should envy or aspire to.

By midmorning, the Adventurer teams had crossed into the upper foothills beyond the official border of the Sorcerous Kingdom. The landscape was dominated by cool, evergreen forests and the glacial peaks of the nearby Azerlisia range. The ‘final stretch’ Merry referred to was not too far off: a thirty-odd kilometre run of rocky moors and alpine meadows leading up to the entrance of Feoh Raizo, the southernmost city of the Dwarf Kingdom.

She shivered, wondering if cold protection spells would be needed soon. The skies were clear, but it felt like the sun was losing its strength in this place rimmed with peaks of ice and snow. They were trying to figure out a way over a narrow box canyon when a shrill, whistling sound filtered through the air. The party froze.

“That’s uh, ‘run’, right?” Henrich asked.

“Yup,” Themis answered.

“Running.”

They scurried back the way they came. After reaching a thicker portion of the forest, they gathered behind a short escarpment.

“How far away was that?”

“It was pretty loud,” Mag said, “probably within a few kilometres.”

The noise came again, much louder than before. It was a signal arrow, which was agreed on beforehand to warn of deadly threats to the entire expedition.

“Oi, oi, are they bringing them to us?” Henrich pulled his warhammer from his belt.

“We did all come from the same direction,” Mag poked her head over the edge.

“We shouldn’t run all the way back to camp with whatever it is, should we?” Themis asked.

“Whatever we do,” Henrich said, “we can’t stay put. Keep going!”

They scrambled off again, making their way down the mud-slicked rocks as quickly as they could. A shadow passed over them, and a hiss briefly filled the air. Behind them – far closer than they would have liked – a low-pitched snarl came from somewhere in the forest.

“Hey, you!” Merry’s voice called down, “Stop and help get rid of this one.”

“C-can we do it?”

“Yeah, no problem! Just get ready to keep running when we’re done.”

Themis and Penn came forward, raising their hands towards Henrich.

“?Blessing?.”

“?Lesser Dexterity?.”

“?Protection from Evil ?.”

“?Lesser Strength?.”

“?Shield of Faith?.”

“?Haste?.”

“Woah!” Henrich shouted, “How dead am I here?!”

Themis and Penn wordlessly ducked into the trees behind him.

“?Ability Boost?!”

Henrich activated a Boost Art, and then a rustling sound in the branches caused him to crane his neck upwards.

A towering form emerged from behind a nearby tree. Themis stared up at her – when did such a huge thing get so close? Clad in layered hides, muscles rippling under her ice-blue skin, the seven-metre tall Frost Giant brought her battleaxe down on Henrich. Henrich raised his shield.

“?Fortress?!”

A resounding crack rose into the sky, and a cloud of dried needles and leaves exploded into the air from the force of the blow. When it finally settled down, Themis saw that Henrich had been driven down to one knee.

“What the fuuuuuuuck!” Henrich whimpered in a hoarse voice.

The Frost Giant pulled back her axe for another strike. At the apex of her swing, an arrow whistled in and the Giant’s wrist erupted into flame. She let out a startled cry but did not release her weapon, instead clapping her wrist with her other hand to extinguish the fire. Two more arrows sailed in, finding her left shoulder.

“Good job!” Merry said, “No problem, right? I’ll be right back~”

The Giant stepped off towards the sound of Merry’s voice. Henrich dashed off after her, driving his warhammer into the Giant’s ankle. The head of the weapon bounced harmlessly off of the layers of hides wrapped around her boots. A crossbow bolt pinged off of her iron helmet.

“?Scorching Ray?!”

A line of flame streaked out from the trees, connecting with the Giant’s waist. The Giant turned and pulled a hatchet from her belt, whipping it towards the source of the spell. Penn let out a surprised noise before sliding against the tree behind her to the ground. Her right arm was severed at the shoulder, pinned to the tree by a piece of her robe. Themis bolted forward, working to reattach the Sorceress’ lost limb.

The rest of the party was trying to get in close to the Frost Giant, but the reach of her weapon was keeping them at bay. Henrich raised his shield and moved forward, ducking under the sweeping axe blade.

“?Challenging Shout?!”

The Frost Giant turned her full attention to Henrich, who focused on defending himself while the rest of the party closed in. The wavering strain of a disjointed medley drifted over the air, and Themis stopped tending to Penn. The Spellsong of Healing would help the entire party slowly recover, so she could leave the Sorceress now that her critical injuries were dealt with.

Henrich ducked under the Giant’s battleaxe, sending the briefest of glances in Lawrence’s direction. Themis agreed with the Fighter: the Spellsong could be useful in an extended fight, but they couldn’t afford an extended fight with more Frost Giants on the way. She went through a mental inventory of the Bard’s Spellsongs, then realized that he didn’t have anything that could help them end the fight quickly. Like magic casters, Bards needed time to learn how to perform Spellsongs, so Lawrence was similarly lacking in his repertoire.

Another crossbow bolt came in, bouncing off of the Frost Giant’s shoulder. Mag cursed. A rock bounced off of her waist. The difficulties that came with fighting Giant opponents were painfully clear. The sixth member of their party was Maurus, a Monk, who was having difficulty getting in close to deal any damage to the Giant as she moved about attacking Henrich. She wasn’t sure if it would matter if he could – they all stood below the Giant’s knee, and her lower legs were covered in the boots and wrapped in the hides that Henrich had failed to deal any damage through before.

The Giant’s axe came in again, and Henrich deflected the blow towards the ground with his shield. He moved inside the Frost Giant’s step as he did and cocked his warhammer.

“?Smash?!”

The weapon arced upward, crunching into the side of the Giant’s knee. Her leg buckled, and Maurus sped forward to drive his fist into her exposed thigh. The Frost Giant roared and swatted the Monk away with a fierce backhand. Maurus flew off into some bushes over a dozen metres away.

Themis jogged around the Frost Giant, beyond the reach of her battleaxe. She decided right then and there that she hated fighting Giants: they scattered her party out of healing range in every direction.

“?Challenging Shout?!”

Henrich drew their opponent’s attention again, and Mag dashed forward.

“Yahoo!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Themis saw the Rogue leap up to grab a hold of the Giant’s belt, pulling herself onto her bent back. A stiletto appeared in her hand. Blood was soaking the Frost Giant’s hides by the time she managed to shake Mag off. She landed and went into a roll, deftly rising to her feet at the end.

“It landed…probably?” Mag peered at the bleeding Giant.

“What did?”

“Giant Wasp Venom,” the Rogue replied. “I stabbed her like ten times, so something must’ve stuck.”

Themis looked up from where she was healing Maurus. Whether the Frost Giant had been affected by the coordination-hampering venom, she could not tell, but being stabbed in the back by a Rogue ten times was the more likely culprit for her wavering form. Maurus rose from where he was kneeling with a nod and headed back into the fray.

Despite being weakened to such a great extent, the Frost Giant doggedly fought on. Even a glancing blow dealt tremendous damage, but the advantage that they had gained was clear. The party found its rhythm and, as the Frost Giant finally fell to the ground, Merry appeared once again in the trees overhead.

“Oh, looks like you guys pulled through…”

Her gaze passed over each of their members, then stopped at Penn, who was still shivering under the same tree she had ended up under.

“What happened to Penn?” Merry asked, dampening their elation.

“She got her attention before I did,” Henrich’s voice was sharp. “Just as you left…where did you go?”

“I was killing the other Frost Giant right behind it.”

The party turned their gaze northwards, but nothing but sunlight and shadows could be seen through the trees. If not for the big blue corpse in front of them, no one would have believed that one had been stalking through the forest.

“How did we not notice this huge thing coming right at us?” Penn asked.

“Because this one’s a Ranger?” Merry said, “Pretty decent, too. Young and stupid, though. Instead of reporting back to her party, she and her buddy chased after me.”

“If something this huge and powerful can hide so well,” Mag said sourly, “what’s the point in being small, I wonder.”

“No one said the world’s a fair place,” Merry shrugged. “Those Frost Dragons around the city are sneaky as hell, too.”

“But you saw these Frost Giants coming,” Themis said. “I thought we weren’t supposed to have anything to do with them until we were done with the survey.”

“The whole bunch was about to cross our path,” Merry told her. “Still are, actually. We’ve wasted enough time standing around.”

A horn blared in the distance, joined by several others. The howl of wolves joined in an unsettling chorus. Themis could swear that the branches above were shuddering with the force of distant footsteps. Merry motioned for the party to pick themselves up.

“At least I don’t have to use signal arrows anymore,” she said. “Let’s go – we need to get everyone outta here.”