38. Ambush
You decide that caution and living to tomorrow is the better part of valour, and wriggle free form the crevice you're lying in. While it's served it's purpose well thus far, you're not confident that the small drop is enough to hide you from people who reach the plateau itself.
Instead, you clamber up and over the larger boulder until you're on the far side. While this does limit your visibility severely, you can trust in your other senses for now. Your hearing is certainly enough to pick up the rest of the conversation between Amanda and the unknown woman.
“Good thing you guys hired a guide really. Don't want a fall like that once you're beyond these foothills. Once you're on your back, all sorts will come out of the woodwork to have a go. Reminds me of a tussle I had with a gaggle of sea witches...”
A guide? Why would they hire a guide?
“Oh, um. Yes, that would be bad.”
For the first time, you hear Mercy's voice, cutting off the unknown woman currently well into an explanation of the weaknesses of tentacles. “Speaking of our guide... he did say to wait here.”
Ah. A convenient cover story actually. I wonder which of them thought of it?
“Did he say how long he'd be?” asked the woman, who you decide to name Busybody,
“No. Just that he'd be there soon.”
“Well that's just careless,” Busybody sounded exasperated. “Honestly, there are some pretty bad things on this mountain, they're just rarer down here. Tell you what, I'll keep you safe until he arrives.”
“No, that's quite alright really. We wouldn't want to be an imposi-”
“No bother at all.” Busybody interrupts Amanda's already weak denial, before carrying on, “Trust me. I want to give this guy an earful anyway. It's not uncommon for the less scrupulous adventurers to set up traps by offering guide services like this, giving directions to somewhere dangerous and then looting the bodies.” The more you hear that voice, the more it sounds ever so slightly familiar.
The footsteps came to an end, where you judge the middle of the plateau to be.
There was a few seconds of silence, and you could almost imagine the scene. Busybody, whatever she looked like, standing around with her hands on her hips, surveying the likely ingresses for the imaginary guide's appearance; Mercy and Amanda gesturing at each other, trying to communicate without giving the game away.
The silence stretches well into uncomfortable before Mercy speaks up again. “Yes. It sure would be a shame,” she pauses for a split second longer than normal between every word, giving her words an odd cadence, “If something were to attack us. I could only hope that they would give us a little warning before they did, to let us prepare”
Busybody laughs. “Ah, nothing around here would do you that courtesy. Kobolds would much rather get the drop on you, and gryphons favour a good long swooping charge. Found that one out the hard way. The dragon that the inn is named for doesn't really leave his lair at the top of the mountain much, although if you-” you tune her out.
Has she confused me with the stonecrusher wurm? Interesting.
Even so, you put Busybody's pontificating to good use. Using the tip of your tail, you huck a pebble over the boulder you're hidden behind. You can hear it clatter on the floor, and two people take a breath. Given that the third is still talking about the relative strengths and weaknesses of three types of camouflaging rock lizard, you're pretty sure that Amanda and Mercy saw it.
The strange overtones of Mercy's voice are stronger now. It's stirring memories of a half forgotten glade, her body writing unconscious beneath you. “Mhæri? On all your travels, have you ever encountered... demons?”
Busybody, or Mhæri you suppose, stops mid tirade and gives a thoughtful grunt. “You know I'm not sure I have. Of course, I once lay with a guy back in the capital who had a wicked looking, and I mean that literally, scar from a wrestle with Carnifexia, that hunger demon boss from a few updates ago.
“Fascinating.” If you hadn't been travelling with her for days you'd believe that voice like honeysuckle too. “Tell me more.”
You hear it when Mercy's power starts to overtake Mhæri's mind. Her story starts to ramble and her voice slows, by increments, into a drawl. You frown a little. That voice is definitely one you've heard before.
After several minutes of waiting, Amanda speaks for the first time. Her voice is pitched low, as to not break the spell being woven in front of her.
“Now would be a great time for our guide to appear.”
Let no one say that I can't understand a coded message when I hear one, you think, as you pull yourself to the top of your boulder and survey the scene below you. Looking up at you is the familiar red headed form of Amanda. One of her sleeves is a little ragged and she blushes under your gaze, but she's gripping her staff with as much strength as you've ever seen from her as she gestures towards the other occupants of the plateau.
Mercy is turned towards you, but her focus is on the woman in front of her. Although you can only see her back, it's clear that this is Mhæri. For one thing, she's the only other person you can see. For another, on her back is the largest pack you've ever seen on a hero, laden to overflowing with assorted knick-knacks. In a few seconds of observation you can pick out what looks to be a human skull, a jar of glowing mushrooms, three handkerchiefs and a lute.
Fucking bards.
Finally, there's the fact that the woman is still talking clearly, despite being well under Mercy's sway. Mercy flicks her eyes to meet yours and the expression on her face is one of pure desperation.
As much as part of you wishes to leap to Mercy's defence, and another part wants to laugh at her predicament, your pragmatism wins over and you take a moment to examine the bard.
You don't bother looking any deeper than that, her level is really all you needed. Level 18 would be a challenge, you weren't going to lie to yourself. Even distracted as she was, it would probably take all three of you to finish her, and it would be far from a clean victory.
Your eyes strayed to the plateau edge, and the beastmaster who you stole Hyena from.
Well. She WAS talking about how dangerous it would be to fall from up here.
Course decided, you drop to the plateau beneath and sneak your way around until Mercy is no longer between Mhæri and a drop. Then you leap with a great flap of your winglets propelling you through the air like an arrow. You've sent enough heroes stumbling by now that it's second nature for you to curl your body in to impact on her shoulder with your legs, corded muscles already bunched. As she stumbles, and Mercy jerks backwards, you push off and flap again once you're clear, the double impact enough to send the bard tumbling to one knee, on a plateau that ended some seven inches too soon.
Her arms went wide, flailing for purchase or balance as her entire body pitched and yawed like a ship at high sea. You settle down, tail wrapped around your legs in a nonchalant pose of calculated indifference. Mhæri manages to turn a half circle, just enough to make eye contact with you. Her eyes widen comically.
“You!” she blurts. You watch with some level of interest as she finally manages to find her feet, hunched over, arms spread wide. She cuts a comical figure, huge pack on her back, feet half on and half off of a cliff edge.
“Me.” You reply, searching her face. It rings a bell.... you think. “I'm sorry, but have we met before?” You ignore Amanda and Mercy slowly backing away as the hero seemingly survives your trap.
“Have we? Have we! We most certainly have! You're a liar and a cheat!”
You squint at her. Then it all falls into place. “You're that sore loser with the exploding cards!”
“Sore lose- How dare you sir, how very dare you? I'll have you know-” but you're already nodding and cutting her off. It was all coming back to you now. Her diatribe loses some of its power considering she's still hunched over.”
“Yeah, yeah. I thought I was going to have my first ever positive interaction with a hero, you know? I thought this respawn wasn't going to totally suck. I go through all the effort of convincing you that we should up the stakes, and you were all for it until I laid down. Sore loser, through and through.”
You have to force down a smile, knowing what was to happen next.
Mhæri straightens up in indignation. “I'll have you kno-” but her retort dies in a scream, for as soon as she's standing tall, her overlarge pack drags her centre of balance onto her heels. Heels which are still precariously over the cliff edge. You let your smile show as she topples arse over end, vanishing from view. You give a sympathetic wince with every clang and clatter that echoes up from below. After far too many, you feel an influx of experience and you turn to your girls.
“Well that went well.” you say, brightly.
Mercy gives you a mock glare, while Amanda rushes towards you, worry on her face. “How did you know that would work?”
“I didn't,” you reply, taken aback by her tone – she sounds genuinely concerned. “But it would have been easy to hit her again if it didn't look like she was going to go.”
somewhat mollified, Amanda still insists on checking you over for injuries. While you're not going to object to her running her hands over your body, you do feel it's somewhat superfluous.
“Amanda, there was no fight for me to get hurt in.”
After giving you one last look, she relents and stands up again. Mercy then speaks. “So where to now? Is it far?”
You shake your head, and then stand and stretch. “No, not far at all. Come on,” you say, and trot off without waiting for them to catch up. Being reminded how close you were to finally getting home lit a fire in you, and right now you really want to be in your lair, surrounded by your girls, and finally relax and unwind, forget all about horrifying bugs, life ending illnesses, and adventures moving in to the neighbourhood. And to maybe fuck everyone one last time before you take what feels like the biggest leap of faith of your life.
That 'evolve form' option has never scared you so much.