Chapter 34: Runestone

The attack wasn’t immediate. As Rosalyn mumbled, placing her hands on the stone, the bottom of the runes began to glow red, slowly creeping upwards. Annita was familiar with a timer when she saw one and cursed inwardly at how slowly it was progressing. It’d be fifteen minutes, at a guess.

“We’re gonna be here for a minute,” she sighed to Kat. “What’s the plan? Just fight until we can’t fight anymore?”

“Eh, more or less what I was thinkin’,” Kat confirmed, stretching as she scanned the treeline. “Think I heard a couple o’ bigger things screamin’ out there. Probably the Snowcat things. Bren, ye all charged up fer this?”

“Yes. I have a Mind potion as well, just in case the worst happens,” he said. He’d taken up a position between the two fighters and Rosalyn, covering everyone as best he could.

“Remind me that we need to actually go over skills when we get back,” Ann huffed, checking her revolver for the third time as they waited. “You two already know my skills and I only know Kat’s.”

“O’er a bowl o’ Rosalyn’s stew? Assumin’ we convince ‘er tae join us,” Kat laughed. She flinched as a bush shifted.

“I think that would be lovely,” Bren said with a smile. “Now prepare yourselves. They approach.”

Sure enough, Twinwolves were the first creatures to appear from the dense foliage. Three scrawny looking things frothing from their mouths and split necks. Hideous and sickly even for their kind, the Warped rushed them.

Kat met two, knocking the first to the side with her shield and skewering the second down its throat. Turning quickly, she pinned the second with her boot and decapitated it quickly.

Ann ducked to the side, letting her adversary pass her before thrusting her falchion into its side. Even with her lower level, Rogues Do It From Behind made up the difference, allowing her to kill it in a single stab through its chest.

Glancing back around, more Warped had appeared. Two more Twinwolves and a crowd of Chittering Crawlers emerged.

“This is going to be a long morning,” Ann sighed.

Two crawlers scuttled at her, not taking any heed of the danger of their head on assault. Ann kicked at one of them, sending it flying backwards into the others. As their legs tangled, the other Crawler that had advanced reached her other foot. Sharp, bone-tipped legs gripped her calf as its fangs scraped against her shinguard. Cursing, she bent down and pulled at the creature. The barbs at the ends of its legs dug into her flesh, holding it still despite her best efforts. Ann took her sword and began cutting off the thing’s legs, one by one, until she could pry the rat-spider off her. Holding it up by the back of its neck, it hissed in her face before she chucked the crippled creature at one of the Twinwolves.

Kat was doing a good job drawing most of the attention to her. Taunts rang out across the glade as she called the Warped every name under the sun, and a few that Ann wasn’t familiar with. The fighting became a blur as she and Kat worked together to keep everything away from Bren and Rosalyn. Whenever a Twinwolf popped up, which was happening more and more, Kat would get their attention, bait them and let Ann finish them off. Each warrior took equal opportunity to crush the Chittering Crawlers that kept swarming at them.

Things were getting heated. Both of the front liners were panting, sweat running freely down their faces as they focused on trying not to get hit. Bren was doing his best to keep shields up on attacks, bouncing off jumping Crawlers midair and repairing any bites or scratches that got past armour. Ann was still holding off on using any more smites, waiting for something bigger, but she’d fired off two more shots, killing a Twinwolf and a Crawler that had tried to get around them and attack Rosalyn.

The sheep-woman had held her focus throughout. Her head bowed and chanting constantly, the ritual had progressed about halfway. Bright red runes had lit up where there hadn’t been any visible markings, and the stone itself seemed to groan with the magical power being pumped into it.

Ann wished she could focus on the sight, as she found it genuinely fascinating, but a snuffling grunt caught her attention over the noises of the other Warped. Glancing around after skewering another Crawler, she saw a shape moving through the trees. It was larger than the other Warped. Bigger than a snowcat, but not quite the size of the snail. The other warped seemed to tense as it drew nearer, backing off from that direction and making an opening.

“Big ‘un comin’ in! Think it’s one of the Quillbears!” Kat warned, batting away three Crawlers with a swing of her shield. “Gods I hope they give us room tae work.”

“Drinking a Mind potion!” Bren called out, popping the cork and downing the vial. “We have a bit longer. Try to keep injuries to a minimum, please!”

“We’ll try. Kat, anything that I should know about this?” Ann panted as she stomped the back out of a Crawler that was getting at her feet.

“Don’t get hit! Brute force beasty, but it can shoot its spines. Careful o’ tha’.” As if on cue her shield reverberated as a quill as long as Ann’s forearm bounced off it.

Looking back to the treeline, she saw the Quillbear poking its head out. It was, surprisingly, mostly a normal bear. The big, bulky body covered in brown fur lumbered forward towards them like a fleshy tank, shaking its oddly cute ears as it huffed. The main difference was, of course, the hedge of quills jutting from its back. All of them looked like they were made of bones. Bright white and yellowing, with jagged edges that would probably make them suck to pull out. As the Quillbear shifted, the spines clattered against each other as the thing moved. As Ann watched, the quill it had fired at Kat slowly regenerated. It poked at the flesh, pushing against it before tearing through and joining the others, shining bright red.

“Yeah, that’s honestly what I expected,” Ann sighed. The other Warped weren’t letting up yet, but their attacks were getting less frequent as they gave the bear a wide berth.

“Can’t all be too wild,” Kat laughed. “Keep tae its sides. I’ll try tae keep it pissed off at me.”

“The others are backing off. Guess this is our fight. Let’s go!” Ann called.

A moment later, Kat was between her and the bear, slapping her shield. “C’mon big guy. Compensatin’ fer somethin’ with those quills o’ yers?” she laughed madly.

The bear roared, the taunt taking effect, and it fired off two more quills as it charged. Kat caught one with her shield, and the second one bounced off a barrier created by Bren. The Quillbear crashed into Kat with its full weight, but the Guardian stood her ground, using her skills to stay perfectly still.

As the impact hit, Ann slipped around to the right side of the creature, aiming to strike at its flanks. As it hit Kat, she moved forward and swung at its ribs. The sword cut deep, but glanced off a rib as it swung.

Bellowing, the bear swung its right paw back before Ann could get free. She felt something pierce her side before she was knocked away, her falchion wrenching free in the process.

Stunned and confused, Ann looked up at the bear as it turned on her. It had hit her with the back of its arm. What had stabbed her? Looking closely, as the bear shifted, she saw more spines running down the back of its arm. These were smaller, and all but hidden by the shaggy brown fur that was now dripping with her blood. Taking this into account, she stared the creature down. Along its brows were similar small spikes, and under its chin, thinner spines almost made a beard. The Warped was covered in them.

“That’s not fucking fair,” Ann groaned as she stood back up before being forced to dodge to her left as a massive paw impacted the earth next to her. She could feel the wounds in her side sealing as Bren’s magic healed her, but didn’t have time to thank him as a salvo of spines flew at her, while Quillboar swept its left paw at her legs.

In a desperate gamble, Ann dove over the paw and out of the way of the flying spikes of death. Rolling, she came back up to her feet and spun in time to see Kat shove her sword deep into one of the thing’s eyes. The Quillbear shrieked in pain and staggered back, pawing at the wound.

“Keep yer eyes on me, lardass! Or should I say eye?” Kat taunted, trying to pull it back to her.

Thankfully, it worked, giving Ann a moment to collect herself before charging back in. Burning 10 points of her desire pool, she used Stoke the Flames to heighten the creature’s rage, hopefully keeping it more focused on Kat. The creature roared as its anger surged and redoubled its efforts to flatten Kat.

“That’s right, ye bumbling bag o’ shite,” Kat laughed maniacally as she defended herself. “Come to mama!”

Ann grinned as she got to work on the Quillbear’s side. She slid in and out of range, keeping aware of the forelimbs that still tried to swat her away. Blood was already pouring down the creature’s back as it continued to cover the area with its spines. Ann had taken to holstering her gun and throwing them with her offhand as she came across them. They were so plentiful.

As the Quillbear endured, the other Warped weren’t quiet either. Stooping down to pick up another quill, a Chittering Crawler leapt at Ann, latching on to her. It found a gap in her armor on her back and sank its fangs in deep. Cursing, Ann reached back and gouged the thing’s eyes out with her claws before tearing it away.

Cold began to flow through her veins and she felt her strength leaving with it. Poison, what Bren was hit with earlier. She staggered backwards, her leg failing her, sinking into the snow. Muttering curses, she tried to stand, hearing another crawler drawing near. Just in time, Bren’s spell hit her, clearing the fatigue. She spun on her knees, cutting through the crawler easily before returning to the Quillbear.

Kat was still having a tough time of it and was dodging more of the creature’s strikes than she had been earlier in the fight. Dancing backwards out of reach as the Bear tried to swipe her, she turned and darted to its side, cutting a line into its shoulder. Ann rushed forward and cut similarly on the other arm. The front end of the Quillbear buckled momentarily, but its flesh rippled as muscles rearranged to heal the damage. Rising, the bear reared back on its hind legs, spreading its arms and roared down at them, spittle flying from its jaws.

“Ann, behind me!” Kat called as she braced.

Not asking questions, Ann darted behind the defender and braced.

The bear didn’t fall back on its paws. Instead, it tucked its head down and rolled at them, quills extending to form a giant ball of death. As the massive thing rushed them, it skewered Chittering Crawler and Twinwolf alike. It hit Kat’s shield with a resounding crash. Ann could feel Kat straining to keep it still, her skills nearing their limits. The bear continued to roll, metal grating against bone, anguished cries of the other Warped trapped on the thing’s back adding to the horror.

Ann walked to the side, taking aim and waiting for her moment. During the next roll, she aimed for the head and sent a smite infused bullet into the Warped’s skull. The result was instant. The thing lost all coordination and flopped to the side, releasing Kat from the clash as smoke coiled up from the wound.

“Gods damn, that thing’s heavy,” Kat groaned as she stood, stretching and glancing around.

“I could tell,” Ann chuckled, looking up at the rune stone. Still three quarters of the way done. “We still have time. Best not to let our guard down.”

The bear shifted, spines bristling around it defensively as it laid there. Nothing much more happened, but it clearly wasn’t dead yet.

“Oh blessed Hells,” Bren cursed. “Kill it! It’s healing! Stop it now!”

“It still had reserves? Ah fuck,” Kat ran in and started hacking at the Bear as it curled up defensively.

Ann joined her immediately, blood raining down around them as they hacked at exposed flesh. She could see the wounds they’d made closing, and the new ones weren’t bleeding nearly as much as they should.

“Fuck, Kat! I’ve got two more Smites. I’mma use em!” Ann warned, before her falchion glowed purple. Kat sidestepped away before Ann brought down her sword, scoring a deep, charred gash in the Quillbear’s flank. The beast roared in pain but kept still. Moving again, Ann took aim at the furry head once more, sending a purple blast straight into the beady eye that glared at her.

More cries of pain were her rewards as she set back into cutting the monster apart as quickly as it could regenerate.

“Keep it up! Its restoration is slowing!” Bren encouraged, grunting from some effort Ann didn’t have time to place.

She and Kat laid into the thick hide. Black blood poured out from numerous wounds that weren’t closing. After what felt like minutes, the beast’s muscles went limp, and it fell with a crashing thud to the ground. Dead.

“An’ feck yer mother, ye piece o’ bloated garbage,” Kat spat.

Looking over at Bren, Ann saw several crawler corpses around him. While they focused on the larger threat, he’d been clearly multitasking with keeping them healed and taking care of the smaller creatures that slipped by.

“About a minute left. Let us clean this up!” Bren called, pulling his knife from the head of a corpse.

Ann and Kat both shouted back in agreement and charged the swarm of Twinwolves and Crawlers before them. Blood coated both warriors as they dealt death and dismemberment to the remaining Warped.

Finally, a loud rumble shook the earth below them. Pausing for a moment, they looked back to see the bright red runes had fully filled. A humming spread around them, feeling like it was shaking the air itself.

Looking around, Ann saw the remaining Twinwolves and Crawlers shrinking back from the stone, ears trapped back against their skulls before they turned and fled.

“Christ on a bike,” Ann panted as she fell to her knees. “Thank the Gods that worked.”

“Yeah, I was nearin’ the end o’ me stamina too,” Kat gasped, staring up at the sky.

“Rosalyn, you ok?” Ann called. When there was no response, they all turned to see the woman had collapsed by the stone, breathing heavily.

Rushing over, Bren picked her head up and checked her over. “No wounds. Nothing else affecting her as best I can tell.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m just tired. That takes a lot out of… me.” Rosalyn whispered, yawning deeply. “Sorry, should have warned you about that.”

“That’s fine,” Ann sighed with relief. “Just scared us. Man, if these things are this effective, though, why doesn’t the kingdom have them all over the place?”

“They’re rare, and require rare skills to create,” Rosalyn answered weakly. “A Druid focused on warding and enchanting was how it was made, according to the journals I found. There are other types of magic that can do similar, but with this being so connected to the earth, the effect is much stronger. Just, you know, takes literally all of my Mind, pretty much all my stamina to charge it back up.” Another yawn split her ebony face as she stretched and sat up. “Oooh, that’s not great. So dizzy. Don’t think I can walk.”

“Ye need a rest?” Kat asked.

“Mhm, definitely,” Rosalyn mumbled. “But not here. I wanna go home. Carry me?” She asked, extending her arms to Kat.

“I’m not much better than ye are,” Kat chuckled. “But I’ll make do. C’mere.” She hoisted the sheep woman up on her back, keeping Rosalyn’s arms wrapped around her neck. “Lighter than I thought ye’d be. We’ll get ye home. Just rest.”

With that, they set back out the way they came. Rosalyn was quiet during the walk, and about halfway there, Ann noticed she’d fallen asleep on Kat’s shoulder. Subtly pointing it out to Kat, the Alf smiled as she tightened her grip on the sleeping woman, keeping her secure.

The trek back to Rosalyn’s was quiet. Even Bren seemed exhausted by the fight. Seeing the hut under the large tree was a relief as they all piled in, shutting the cold out behind them. Ann got to starting the fire while Kat laid Rosalyn down on the couch. The woman curled up, snuggling against a pillow as she continued to sleep.

Each of them filed outside to wipe themselves off in the snow, getting the sweat and blood off them the best they could before heading back in. Bren got the kettle with leftovers from last night’s stew and heated them up.

As the smell wafted through the softly lit room, Rosalyn woke and sat up with a long stretch. “Oh, that smells lovely. And you’re all still here! Good! I was hoping that wasn’t a dream. Way too fun to be. Thanks for carrying me, Kat. I know you’re tired. Really, really appreciate it, otherwise I’d be laying out there in the snow all sweaty and woozy. Not a great look. And you too, Bren, for keeping me guarded there. That Quillbear sure was a surprise. I just expected the smaller things. Guess we got unlucky. You two can really do some damage just on your own!” The Druid was clearly feeling better as her mouth began to rapid fire her thoughts to the group. “Oh, that’s lunch. I’m so hungry. Is it ready yet?”

“Not quite,” Bren laughed. “Give it a minute to heat through. And you are very welcome. How is your head? Any further dizziness?”

“Nope, just a gnawing in my gut!” Rosalyn chirped cheerfully. “Better than a gnawing at my arms and legs! That’s for sure.”

Ann couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd cheerfulness the Druid gave off as she bounced slightly on the couch. Their food heated up shortly after and they all tucked in.

Full, Ann leaned back, resting her body as she felt the efforts of the morning begin to settle in to her muscles. “I don’t know if I’m up for going after the Snail again today.”

“Aye, best not tae do too much in a day, lest we make mistakes. Seeds can push us, but when we’ve got the chance, best tae take it slower,” Kat agreed.

“Well, in that case, I do have some stuff around here that I could use some help with. If you’re ok with that,” Rosalyn piped up.

“Does it involve more Warped?” Bren asked wearily.

“Nope! You’ll see. C’mon,” she said, bouncing off the couch and heading to another room, beckoning behind her.