Umbral Feast

<~> Chapter 148

"This is as close as we can get to it before it notices us," I told the group.

We were standing at the edge of the snake boss's territory. Some daily scouting by the soldiers had discovered that it had respawned, and we were here to deal with it for them again. Luckily, it seemed to respawn in roughly the same area each time. Since the last fight with it had gone as well as it had, this time we were going to try fighting it primarily with ice and wind magic, with help from Valkin's group. I was going to retain my beastkin form and stay out of the fight this time, only to intervene if Maxwell, Valkin, and Norrik lose control of the boss. Luna, Milana, and Iris will be slowing it down with wind and ice magic while Aria and Talia pepper it with arrows whenever they can. Piper and I would be protecting the casters while both staying on standby for emergencies.

Milana smiled as she scanned the nearby trees. "I hope this works. Once we get to the point that this dungeon publicly opens to delvers, being on hand to take out a boss monster will be good money."

"Assuming there doesn't end up being a better solution than ice magic," Talia said.

"Wind mages are decently rare as well. Few people with a primary element in wind magic end up going down the path of a delver, and those who have multiple affinities tend not to focus on their wind magic. If this dungeon ends up requiring, or at least benefiting, both, this could lead to a lot more people developing ice and wind magic," Milana replied.

"Isn't water and ice magic already pretty common?" I asked.

Milana shrugged. "Decently so. Water magic is popular for a varied number of reasons, but not everyone takes it far enough to become effective at killing monsters with ice. I believe most people prefer to use their water magic for utility. Most people aren't interested in learning to use all of their affinities the way that Luna does."

Luna bobbed her head. ("I love magic. I want to explore everything I can.")

I laughed and relayed the message to them. It was unfortunate, but even with the expanded number of people she could talk to using the rings, there were still people she considered friends who needed me to relay her messages to. The two snow leopard sisters didn't seem to mind and treated her as a friend regardless, which made Luna especially happy. It was one of the reasons we had gotten so close to them in the first place. Even Valkin and Norrik were growing on me, despite our less than stellar first impressions.

"I think we're ready to go. Will you be able to warn us before it attacks?" Valkin asked me.

I nodded. "Even if I'm in the back, I'll be able to tell you. Actually, let me warn Maxwell, and he can give you a hand signal."

"Smart," Norrik said from the side. He stretched his arm before picking up his sturdy shield. It looked small when compared to Maxwell's huge tower shield, but after seeing him fight with it, I knew it was plenty effective.

"Alright, let's head in," Valkin nodded to Maxwell.

"Okay, follow me," Maxwell said with a grin.

Our three frontliners pushed through the edge of the monster's territory, and I knew that a fight would start soon. Whatever these four-armed snake monsters were, I knew they were incredibly territorial. It wouldn't take long for it to notice us. Maxwell went toward a clearing that Aria had scouted for us, hoping to draw it into a fight out in the open. We didn't know if it would take the bait as easily as it had the last time, but the clearing would give us the advantage if it did.

I shifted just my head into my wolf form so I could take in the scents better. The previous snake monsters had muted scents compared to most things, and if it were smart, they would approach us from downwind, but it was still likely to be the first sense that I would detect it with once it got close. I also perked my ears and scanned the surroundings, but a lot of my focus was on the smells in the air.

"Let me help," Iris whispered before subtly using her magic. The direction of the wind began to slowly shift, bringing in new scents from different directions. It was such a simple application of her magic that I was kicking myself a little for not thinking of it myself. Without a word, I patted her on the shoulder to acknowledge the girl's idea.

Maxwell held up a hand once we reached the clearing. We would wait here out in the open for a while, hoping to draw the monster in a fight with better conditions for us. While fighting in the forest wasn't too difficult, there would be a lot more places the snake could use to hide or escape from us. Without my snake form drawing its intense focus, the snake wasn't immediately taking the bait the way it previously had.

("I smell it,") I told Maxwell through the rings. ("Forward right.") Maxwell held out a finger to confirm the direction, and I replied. ("Yes, though it's slowly moving to the right at the edge of the tree line. I think it's been following us while avoiding the wind until now.")

Maxwell nodded and held up a hand signal for the others. Our two frontline fighters immediately tensed and formed up next to him. While he was doing that, I relayed the information to Piper as well, and the two of us began to slowly circle our frontline fighters opposite of the snake. After doing this for a little while, the snake stopped, now aware that we had spotted it.

"Come out here, you long bastard!" Norrik suddenly called out. I watched as a wave of his mana rushed toward the monster and crashed against it.

In a flash, the snake monster rushed to meet Norrik's challenge. Norrik timed his block perfectly with his magic to absorb the impact. The snake on the other side of the block didn't fare as well and bounced back from him, dazed as if it had run headfirst into a wall.

Two blooms of ice exploded right next to the snake, and a squall of wind swirled the frost around it, chilling the monster in seconds. The snake's salt sloughed off its body from the attack. Valkin and Maxwell simultaneously slashed at it from opposite directions. The snake quickly raised two of its fists and blocked the slashes with its scaled forearms to protect its body. Twisting, the boss slashed at Maxwell, but he easily caught the blow with his tower shield and threw the monster back.

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In the brief moment the snake had been pushed away from the melee fighters, two arrows dug deep into the monster's side. One of them crackled with electricity and made the snake seize for long enough that additional spikes of ice magic were able to follow up on the attack. Each shard of ice that buried itself into the boss's scales began to spread additional frost across its skin.

The snake screamed in rage and threw itself bodily against Maxwell and Norrik. Valkin side stepped the attack and threw a slash at the monster's tail as he ducked away. Maxwell and Norrik both slid back from the body slam, but neither of them had broken their stance. The snake then turned to try to flee from our group, but Luna and Iris coordinated to create what looked like a miniature blizzard behind it. Undeterred, the snake tried to slither through it, but its sluggish movement had left plenty of opportunity for Valkin to shove one of the long metal stakes he was carrying through the snake's tail, pinning it in place.

Blood began to splatter from the snake when it violently thrashed against the spike in its tail, but it couldn't escape. Valkin had done a good job of impaling it and locking it in place. The small snowstorm raged around it and had slowed the monster down enough for the other two melee fighters to reposition on the other side. Now that the snake was pinned in place, it was open season on the four-armed monster. Without anywhere to go or any way to dodge, our ranged fighters dumped their attacks into it. Between the arrows hitting vital spots, ice magic destroying any attempts to protect itself with its salt, and the wind magic keeping the frost covering its scales, the monster quickly died after that.

"Well, it wasn't pretty, but I'd call that pretty damn successful," Valkin said with a cheer.

I picked up Iris and put her on my shoulder. "Look at our little MVP here!" Luna and Milana clapped for her while Iris blushed up a storm. She smiled up at me when I finally put her down. While embarrassing, it was obvious that she appreciated the gesture. Especially since it had been my honest thoughts. Iris had made that fight significantly easier. That monster was usually horrendously fast.

Maxwell, Valkin, and Norrik were slapping each other's backs and jokingly shoving each other around the way that guys do, while Aria and Talia talked excitedly about the nice shots they had taken. The two of them were headed over to collect as many of their arrows as they could from the body while our mages took a bit of time to rest.

"How are you doing, Luna?" I asked.

("I'm doing great! I'll always love fighting alongside you, but it's nice to know that we aren't relying on you for everything. This fight was proof that we could defeat it without needing your help,") Luna replied happily.

I pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the cheek. "I never doubted that for a second. I wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for you guys."

"Hey, Helena! I know you're busy flirting with your bride, but we could use your help dragging this big lug," Valkin called out.

Laughing, I gave Luna one more kiss before walking over to them. I quickly shifted and lifted the heaviest part of the monster, its giant torso. "How the hell does this thing lift itself?" I grumbled as I pulled the monster's corpse over my back like I was giving it a piggieback ride.

Norrik shrugged. "Magic, or some shit."

"It wasn't a serious question," I deadpanned, only to receive their laughs of amusement in return. I couldn't help but snicker and laugh with them as the four of us lifted the big snake's body and began to carry it back to the dungeon entrance.

Once we got back, there were cheers and hollers from the soldiers. Not a single one of them seemed to bat an eye at my werewolf form anymore. The rumors had apparently spread enough that it wasn't as frightening to them as it used to be. They just smiled up at me and looked relieved to see the same monster that had killed one of their number when we first arrived had been dealt with.

There was a sudden lump in my throat when I realized how much that meant to me. For the first time, a large group of people outside of my friends weren't afraid of me. I hadn't realized how much that was weighing down on me until this moment. I don't think I can cry in this form, but I'm sure that I would if I could.

After walking through the little maze of barricades the soldiers had set up for the crabs, we set the body down next to the stairs for the logistics team to handle. Like the soldiers who had been cheering for us when we arrived, the person holding the clipboard was all smiles. It wasn't an act either, I could smell people's fear, and there wasn't any. Maybe a little bit of anxiety when standing right next to me, but not fear.

I cleared my throat and walked back to Luna, who was listening in on a conversation about the next wave of crab monsters. Aria was trying to see if it would be possible to allow Iris some more time to grind up using the crabs. The commander she was talking to didn't look like he was outwardly rejecting the idea, but it seemed she wasn't quite buying how much Iris actually needed it.

When Luna turned to look at me, her expression turned complicated. ("Helena, are you okay?")

I chuckled and scratched my head. ("I think you're the only one who would notice.") Not many people can read the facial expressions of a werewolf, I guess.

("What's wrong, Helena?") Luna asked.

I gingerly leaned against one of the barricades, careful to make sure it would support my weight. ("I just... when everyone was cheering for us... I realized that none of them were scared of me. Even the logistics team, they just smiled and accepted the snake's body despite me standing there... like this. It made me realize just how much I needed that...")

Luna got closer and grabbed one of my large clawed hands with her smaller ones. She looked up at me with a sad smile. ("Is that why you're not shifting back?")

I laughed. ("Actually... I'm afraid that if I shift back now, I'll be a weeping mess. I just earned the respect of all of these soldiers. I don't want to bawl like a baby in front of them.")

Luna pulled my hand up to her lips and kissed it. ("I'm happy for you.")

I cleared my throat again. ("Let's not get sappy until later. If we keep at it, I'll never be able to turn back.")

Luna laughed and leaned against my arm. ("Alright. I love you, Helena.")

("I love you too, Luna,") I whispered back.