NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16 - Rock and Sky
"Take cover!" I shouted as I yanked Naiad back by grabbing her cloak's hood to the nearby black jagged boulder that sat near the trees.
"Stop!" she cried as she lost her arrow. "Dang it!"
"Worry about it later."
The surrounding ground rumbled as the bird yanked itself up to avoid crashing into the stone. It cried out an eerie ringing cry that made my head twitch from the pain. It circled in the sky, preparing for its next dive. Naiad notched another arrow.
"Don't grab me this time," she barked.
I didn't listen and again pulled her back as she focused on the sky. She wasn't aware of the new threat right next to us. A rumbling sound triggered my flight instinct, causing me to sprint and drag her away.
The stone that gave us protection a moment ago now raised up in the air. A square head with no ears popped out from a sunken in area of the boulder. The new monster shoved Naiad with its rock body to knock her down momentarily. She stumbled back as I continued to pull her away from the tortoise-like-creature.
Two red dots populated the map, and neither foe cared if they fought man or monster. The vulture, with its long sharp claws and beak, cried and dove toward all three of us. The tortoise opened its mouth to order the dirt and stones around us to rise in the air.
We pushed and stumbled our way through the floating debris running further into the forest.
"Move, move, move!" I chanted at her as I half rolled and tripped away just as the vulture hit the tortoise with a clattering of claws and stone.
The floating dust cloud ended only meters away. We waded through it to get out and away from the controlled territory of the tortoise. Ahead of me, Naiad stopped before the edge of the cloud and looked back with confusion.
She blurted out, "My class quest says I have to choose!"
"Choose what?" I replied as I turned around with my axes out at ready to give her time to read.
I searched the air to find the most mobile threatening beast first to keep us safe.
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[Level 8 Creature: Carrion of Life (unique)]
Description: This vulture preys on what is dead in order to make it safe and clean for the next life to roam in. It completes the circle of the previous life, ending it, but allows for a new one to flourish. With its sharp claws, it can destroy even the living that stands in its way, or if it's hungry for a change.]
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The bird screeched again at its silent enemy, the tortoise. It pointlessly stomped forward after the Carrion of Life.
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[Level 9 Creature: A Nanabush (unique)]
Description: This is the defender of life, the last threshold. It will defend its home and make sure life can thrive in it. A forest could grow on its back, at its command and if it has the resources to do so. The Nanabush will always make sure that life finds a way to continue on.]
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The floating rocks assaulted the bird, and it flew higher to get out of the reach of the rumbling attack.
"I have to choose which one to save!" Naiad exclaimed.
"Save?! But they're both monsters to me." I announced.
"Same… I'm going to try something." She kneeled down, tore a scroll, and pulled her bow back. The arrowhead glowed bright green as she pointed it up at the bird.
The arrow chased after the bird in the sky. Behind the arrow, a trail of vines weaved in and out, lining the path and tracing back to Naiad.
"Where did you get that spell?" I inquired.
She remained focused on her task as she pulled out another arrow and scroll to aim them at the turtle. With a quick draw, she hit the giant Nanabush.
The first arrow with the vines missed the Carrion of Life. The vines arched and fell over across the woods, slowly drifting down.
The arrow that hit the Nanabush covered it in crawling vines. The black outer shell blooming with green leaves. A debuff of entangled appeared next to the creature's properties. Forcing it to stop moving forward.
Putting her bow away, Naiad ran forward to the tortoise.
"What are you doing?" I called at her. "Keep your weapon out."
"No. Put yours away to be less threatening," she snapped back as she shoved pebbles out of her way to reach her target meters away from me. "I don't have to choose between them."
She tore off some leaves from the vines wrapping around its shell and shoved them near the large tortoise's black mouth. The ground shook, making each step uneasy for me as I tried to catch up with her.
Forcibly she offered them, "Eat these, it's life. Plants! Tell me what's wrong so I can help."
[Team Chat]
[Naiad: I need you to keep the bird away until I have this one on my side.]
I didn't bother with the system to respond. "You can't choose not to fight. These-ah!"
Sharp claws reached at me and I rolled away, but still they cut into my skin and my health. Before I could stand up to hack at it, the bird already took to the skies. It cackled down at me, sweeping about.
I raised my axes but had nothing better than a taunt to hit it with. "Ya chicken! You peck away and fly up, afraid to fight!"
[Team Chat]
[Naiad: Don't make it angrier! I need it to be my friend.]
"These monsters aren't friends! We're their food." I hacked back at the bird as it came near, forcing it to go back up. "Choose the turtle. I think you're on a path to get a pet and we could use a tank. Let me calm the Nanabush while you fight the bird. You're the one with the bow and arrows."
"No!" she whined.
I turned to scold her, but a violent tremor shook the ground, sending me sprawling. The Carrion of Life screeched and went for the easiest prey below it.
Me.
I reached for my axe and crossed them to prepare for the impact of the claws and beak. I really wanted a helmet right now. The design of most birds includes light and hollow bones. Not in this fantasy game. This one crashed down on me and tore at my head, yanking some of my hair off. But my chest remained safe as the claws failed to rip my heart out.
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"Stop! I want to help." Naiad cried.
A loud thump echoed from the Nanabush's feet, smacking the ground. Its strength broke the vines off its shell. It snapped at Naiad with its sharp lower jaw, eating the leaves, and yanking her hand.
Naiad cried out in pain from her childish choice. Not all beasts could be our friends. At least she was still after the turtle for defense. If it lived, who knew what buffs it would give us?
I couldn't focus long on her as dagger like claws grabbed my armor-less wrists and the powerful wings of the vulture swooshed down, threatening to lift me up with it.
"Get off me!" I let go of one axe, grabbing the foot of the monster, and rolled into the soot covered ground, coughing as it filled my mouth.
The Carrion of Life cawed like a pitiful bird as its wing and body smacked into the ground. It was as large as Naiad, which made it smaller than me. I smacked at its head, but it deflected with its beak. Pieces of my frizzled hair red hair stuck out on the side. My last axe crashed into the beak. The sound rang through the empty woods like a blacksmith working on the anvil. The beak was as hard as metal.
I pushed myself to stand up above the bird, watching the weapons at the bottom of his feet. They slashed at my chest and I had to back up to avoid getting hit again.
"Let go!" A wail came from Naiad.
I saw her health dropping as the tortoise continued to chomp down on her hand, ignoring the leaves. She kept punching at his head, but it did not react to it. It's health barely moving a blip with each hit.
[Guild Chat]
[Triangle: Are you getting pets?]
[Boulder: Talk later!]
"If you don't, I'll help the bird," she informed, but her voice shook her pain.
Frustrated, she pulled out her dagger from her boot and sliced right below the turtle's mouth, near its neck. A critical hit as the Nanabush's health suddenly plummeted. It opened its mouth and stomped toward her small body. Ready to crush her.
"Great job!" I cheered her on, glad that she would live and defend for herself. I could focus on my beast. Instead of killing it, I grabbed a piece of rope from my inventory.
I still wanted us to have the turtle.
While sorting through my inventory to find the rope, the vulture stood up and spread out its wings. One hung lower than the other, showing signs of damage. The bird's health was above fifty percent. I knew what I wanted to do, but this wasn't my quest.
Naiad needed one monster alive.
I asked, "Which one do you want alive? I suggest Nanabush."
She didn't listen. Already she hit the Nanabush in the open mouth with her knife, screaming in rage. Again, she hit it as the stones nearby rose in the air, shaking and threatening to fly at us.
Naiad lacked a helmet on her head. I ignored the rope that spawned in my open hand, focusing on my axe as I ran the distance to chop the neck off of the beast.
One knife stab and it was still alive.
Two stabs, the rocks flew at me. The pebbles impacted my body first and stung.
Three stabs later, and the tortoise still lived as the large rocks launched at us.
Naiad landed the last hit in its throat. As a bird yanked her up into the sky and a rock the size of her head smacked into her left leg as she went airborne.
"Ow!" She panicked, but wisely held onto her knife as she lifted in the air. She still held her bow on her shoulder.
"Grab it's leg! Don't let it drop you!" I yelled up at her. A stone the size of a melon smacked into my shoulders and forced me to land on top of the tortoise corpse. The hit caused a vibration of pain through my arm, forcing my hand open and dropping my last axe.
"Help!" my daughter begged me.
I couldn't reply through the extensive pain. It was worse than a defensive line man hit. I searched around for my axes next to the Nanabush's body to stay on the offensive and stop these threats. A shiny metal blade shouldn't be this hard to spot in the naked forest.
Words couldn't console Naiad, only action in actually saving her. The blade of the axe glistened in the light and next to it was the rope. My slow hands worked on my plan as time passed with each thundering flap from the vulture. Higher and higher it took Naiad in the air.
With the rope tied to the axe, I knew this plan wouldn't work in real life with how high up the Carrion of Life was. Giving up my stored stat points was a simple choice if it meant saving my daughter.
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Player Name: Boulder
Level: 9
Race: Human
Class: N/A
Affiliations: None
Status Buffs: Helitical Shroom %5 Luck Buff
Expanded Details: Skill stats:
Strength 5 (+1) | Dexterity 4 (+2) | Constitution 9
Fortitude: 1.25 | Reflex 1 | Will 1
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I spent a stat point on strength and two on dexterity in hopes this plan worked. The rope felt lighter and went from wobbly to stable in my hand, diminishing my doubt in this plan.
With a swing around, I launched the axe up at the bird, praying I missed Naiad.
It wasn't enough dexterity, and she paid the price. I ground my teeth in rage and frustration at my failure.
Her screams hurt. The axe peaked up by the Carrion of Life's tail and I yanked the rope down.
"Sorry!" I shouted.
Gamer gods, please don't let me accidentally hit my kid again. I swore off all area-of-effect attacks right there.
The rope looped around the vulture and pulled. The fowl was strong enough to lift Naiad up in the air, but it couldn't also lift me. It flapped with desperation as we played a battle of tug of war. I stumbled over the Nanabush but wrapped the rope around its large leg and held on to the rope like it was Ghost chasing after a squirrel on a walk.
"Hold on!" I communicated.
"Let go!" A new crackly voice replied.
Naiad stopped her screaming and looked up at the bird, making it much easier to hear what it said next. "Unless you want me to drop her to the ground like the stone thrown at her head."
The marker on the map was white, the Carrion of Life was now an NPC. I let go of the rope fast with no hesitation, hoping it was the right choice. The bird flew up slightly higher as it regained its balance and then slowly spiraled down into the ground.
The beast let go of her before it glided over to the Nanabush shell. I ran underneath it, reaching out to grab her and put her down on the ground, all the while being cautious of the claws above my head. My axe dangled from the back, tempting me to grab it and fight back for what the bird did to us.
I resisted easily because Naiad was low from the damage I caused, on top of what the Nanabush stones did. With the health potions we bought earlier at the general merchant, I offered her two small red vials of a lesser healing potion.
She yanked it from my hands as she downed the potion to top her health. Her white tunic and tan leggings only appeared dirty, not too bloodied. Relief washed through me. My axe didn't hit her.
"I didn't want the turtle," she mumbled out.
"It seemed to still be in the puppy biting phase and would need more training." I replied.
She showcased a bruised and dark red thin hand. Lights of the healing potion appeared as it mended her bones, her face distorted at the discomfort. "Yeah, well, this one didn't have teeth and hurt a hell of a lot more than Ghost."
"Language," I chided.
She shrugged. Her properties read she had not leveled up, maybe because she hadn't finished the quest. "Do you need to go talk to the bird?"
"Can I rest first?" she whined.
"Hmm, not sure how long an NPC stays around, or if it will flip back to a monster. How did you switch it?"
"Happened when I killed the turtle. It mixed up the leaves for my hand and would not let go."
She straightened up and tugged on her pink braid before going over to the bird, keeping an arm's length away in case it went for her freshly mended hand. Her hand rested on her bow on her back, ready. The vulture looked down at the ground and I followed its gaze. Both of my battle axes glistened in the light. I was again without a weapon after a fight.
"That's a bad habit you're forming." Naiad said, chuckling at seeing my new battle axes. "You should go a hand-to-hand combatant."
"I'll slowly level it up with how much I drop my weapons. Hey, kind Carrion of Life, may I grab those?"
The scratchy voice of the bird was like a static phone call. "Yes, but only if you know they aren't anchors, but called axes, even if you tie them to a rope."
Naiad snorted at the bird's response. Hearts floated above the creature's head. She was building a reputation with it. We needed a tank in the group, not another ranged creature. This bird would snap under the real pressure fights later.
"I'll do a better job with them." I walked over, grabbed them and my rope before walking away.
The vulture's claws scratched across the surface of the Nanabush's shell, ready to pounce down at me. Not risking an exposed back, I stepped backward from it, not wasting any time to untie the rope from my axe until we were safe and away from this beast.
"Manners in the humans have dropped like a rock. I saved you from one and you say nothing?" criticized the Carrion of Life.
Naiad glanced at me, and I swung my head back to the bird, who tilted its head from side-to-side, waiting.
"Thank you for saving me from the rocks." Naiad gratefully stated.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, my shoulder reminding me I needed to take a potion. "It was when the Nanabush was about to fly rocks right at us at the end. Then the Carrion of Life grabbed you up in the air."
"I mean thanks. But I really wish everyone," Naiad glared at my direction, "would stop grabbing me during a fight."
"You need to be more aware of your surroundings. Like this forest, I need your aid," The Carrion of Life, hopped up on the Nanabush starting the speech for its quest. "These woods are dead, and it is time to introduce a new era. It is my job to see this happen. But this region's size is monumental, even I cannot feast on the dead before they might rise again. I need you to procure holy herbs and prevent the undead or a lich from causing problems."
"Sure." Naiad instantly replied, a smile spreading across her face.
I let out a breath of air, relieved that the bird would not be her pet. She could still get a tank, like a bear or something.
[Guild Chat]
[Naiad: Do you think I could become a necromancer if I let the dead show up?]
[Boulder: Let's talk once we get away from the bird.]
An army of undead would make a decent frontline in any battle.