The scouting skeleton fixed its eyes to five humans engaged in battle.
Jay observed from its haunting gaze as giant boulders crashed down onto a large writhing creature. He was too far away to hear the sounds of screams or screeches, but the attacks were powerful enough to send deep rolling quakes through the entire rocky plane, and he was certain the grand attacks could end him and his skeletons in one strike.
As he watched he saw the flutters of cloaks.
None of the humans had the hulking angular suits of black-stone armor that he’d seen elite soldiers wearing, so he wondered exactly who these people were. Adventurers? Explorers? Hunters? All were possibilities, but being this far from Losla was too much of a coincidence. He guessed they were hunting him—likely a nimble scouting force of the military.
The creature fought to raise its battered form, but each time the weight of another colossal boulder bore down, pressing it back into the jagged rocks below. A final boulder, massive and unyielding, descended with a thunderous crash that silenced its resistance, and its struggle ceased under the overwhelming force.
***
Lara’s fixed her gaze on the creatures twitching body as a sickening crunch reverberated through the air. Its segmented legs shuddered, sounding like a rushing wind through treetops as the chitinous armor gnashed against itself. The head of its body was under a boulder and a splatter of fluids began to pool underneath.
But another boulder was ready, quietly floating above Lara as a new threat arose—not a bug, but a human.
They were strangers, worthy of an ounce of distrust, but Lara's suspicion deepened as she watched Linc raise his sword in her direction after the battle. The wilderness was a lawless realm, and the action of this stranger sent alarm bells ringing in her mind.
Linc’s eyes filled with determination, his sword poised to strike, pointed at Lara.
Their eyes locked, and a silent exchange of resolve passed between them; the slightest twitch of muscle was all it would take for either to attack, and each only needed one flick of the wrist to end the other.
A silent tension hung in the air, charging the atmosphere with anticipation as the battlefield held its breath. Time seemed to slow as they sized one another up and locked onto each others movements. But the heavy silence was broken.
“Thank you for saving us!” A girl called—Estra stood by Vanderby’s side, holding his bloody broken arm straight so it could heal. But Lara kept her eyes narrowed on Linc, ignoring the girl and waiting for whatever would happen.
Palpable killing intent still surged, feeling like a sharpened knife tracing over their nerves, but after a moment, Linc’s determined expression softened, and he slowly lowered his sword.
Lara kept the boulder hovering in the air until Linc sheathed his weapon, unwilling to take any chances. Vanderby was still in pain, but sensing the danger he spoke up.
“Are you after the bounty too?” Vanderby asked, and at that moment Lannister arrived, running over rocks.
“Yes.” Lannister said, catching up to Lara and moving to her side. Compared to her, his demeanor much more casual and leaned on a boulder. “You’re welcome by the way.” He added, pointing at the giant crushed bug which had stopped twitching.
Linc relaxed his posture and removed his grip from his sword, and Lara reluctantly released the boulder from her control, the intense gaze between her and Linc unbroken. Despite the apparent ceasefire, she remained on high alert, her instincts urging her to be cautious.
The insectoid body shuddered once more, the nerves pinched from the pressure.
Estra helped Vanderby over, but analyzed them as she went.
“Lannister, Lara, nice to meet you.” Estra smiled, still trying to diffuse the tension. Lannister and Lara both nodded in response, and Vanderby spoke up.
“Did you two want to team up with us? We’ll be happy to split the bounty.” He abruptly offered.
Linc still stood some distance away, but raised a brow as his mind raced with conflicting thoughts. Should he trust these strangers? Or was it safer to maintain his guard and prepare for the worst?
Vanderby offered to team up with them without so much as a discussion, and Linc grit his teeth slightly, still annoyed at his tank abandoning him during the battle, however he remained silent—that creature taught them one thing, which was that they were far out of their depth. Any help would be welcomed with open arms.
Lannister glanced at Lara, trying to read her eyes. She blinked and slightly tilted her head.
“Sure. Fifty-fifty split.” Lannister said, but Vanderby replied in a cunning and smooth tone.
“Ah, but there’s three of us and two of you. How about sixty-fourty? That way we all get a fair amount.”
Lannister shrugged, “That sounds fair.” He nodded.
Linc walked closer to the group, but slowed his steps after hearing Lannister’s last comment.
He agreed without argument? No pushback? No counter-offer? They could take a ninety-precent cut and we would accept it; we would have no choice. Linc thought, and hid his suspicions under a facade of tiredness. Vanderby grinned, thinking he had used his sly charm to win them over.
“Excellent. So, I can tell you’re the brawn.” Vanderby pointed at Lara, then turned to Lannister, “So you must be the tracker?”
“Yep.” Lannister nodded, and Lara’s lips slightly curled, a subtle sign of the laughter she was feeling from Lannister’s lies.
“How about you three?” Lannister asked.
“Well, she’s the tracker, Linc is the damage dealer and I’m the tank.” Vanderby said, then murmured to Linc, “Sorry about that by the way.” He scratched his head, pursing his lips.
Linc shrugged, “It’s fine.” He said casually, but inwardly was furious about it. Linc could have died and all he got was a half-ass apology? It was despicable.
However, other pressing thoughts plagued his mind—these two strangers didn’t seem to care about the bounty. They didn’t push back or argue in any way about their cut; there was no haggling, no threats. They also had a tracker—Lannister—so why would they need them? Would these stranger kill them once this was over and take the bounty for themselves, using him and his so-called ‘friends’ as a sacrificial pawns?
But Linc kept his suspicion to himself, and kept his guard up and his senses heightened. With his flash step ready, he never once let Lara out of his sight.
As for the others, Linc no longer felt any hesitation at the thought of abandoning them in the blink of an eye. After all, this was all about gold. They had placed their lives on the line for it, so the lives of his acquaintances was an easy thing to sacrifice. Especially after Vanderby had abandoned him.
“Are you ready to move? We want to get out of the wilderness as soon as possible.” Lannister said.
Vanderby flexed his healed arm, “Yep.” He said, and glanced at Linc, who nodded back as he stood near the side of the group, but was a few steps further away than the others.
“Estra? Direction?” Lannister asked. Estra smiled, and pointed across the mossy plane.
“As I thought. Let’s go.” Lannister said, and they began to march.
As they traversed the mossy plane, the two groups remained divided, walking in close proximity to their own members and maintaining a noticeable distance from the strangers. The distance of a stone’s throw separated them. The two groups maintained a distance, as if an invisible barrier separated them, mirroring the lingering doubt and unease that lingered in the air; however, it seemed that Linc was the only one to feel it.
Linc and Lara remained at the back of each party, but instead of scanning for threats across the rocky pain, their distrustful sights were turned inwards, occasionally glancing at one another and creating a subtle tension.
She’s some kind of earth mage. As long as she doesn’t have a defensive wall ability I think I could reach her. Or I could just flash-step into invisibility and leave. Linc thought, watching Vanderby and Estra ahead of him as he plotted for what he believed what inevitable. Taking some precautionary measures, Linc sped up to Vanderby and Estra walked closer to their side.
“Hey. Don’t tell them about my ability.” Linc whispered.
“What—why not?” Vanderby said, raising a brow. Linc knew what Vanderby was like, so he lied.
“I want to save it, to impress them. It will make us all look good.” Linc whispered, and gave a quick glance at Lara who had her eyes narrowed on him.
Vanderby smiled with a chuckle. “Well sure. Just make sure they lower their heads before you use it. I don’t want any sudden deaths to be on our hands.” He whispered back.
Estra kept her mouth shut, but gave a cheeky smile and a nod at Linc’s plan, hoping those powerful adventurers would spread tales of their bounty hunting.
With his ability’s weakness hidden, Linc returned to the back of the party, but noticed Lara similarly began to whisper with Lannister, who kept an unassuming gentle smile on his face and a casual stride that made Linc’s skin crawl.
The trio had survived in the cities, using blackmail, secrets or errands to survive. There was always law and order that they would slip under to achieve their goals, but its presence was what kept them safe.
However the wilderness came with it own rules, and to Linc, one thing was clear: they weren’t just out of their depth when it came to monsters, but also in dealing with strangers in this untamed land.
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