Chapter 13 #2
They followed the gorge’s edge for about twenty minutes before Garrett stopped.
The natural bridge turned out to be a series of rock outcroppings and fallen boulders that created a staggered path across the chasm.
A narrow ledge made the first section, barely two feet wide, which hugged the cliff face down to a massive boulder wedged between the walls.
From there, three more boulders, spaced about five to eight feet apart, leading to a ledge on the far side that climbed back up to the cliff top.
Alsen looked down through the gaps between the boulders. Still really far down, with a foaming river underneath. They all gathered by the edge.
“All right,” Garrett said. “One at a time. I’ll go first to mark the footing. Theron, you go last since you’re the heaviest.”
“Wait.” Sonja had already pulled a leather collar from her pack, the green one, and a coiled leash. She turned to Luna. “Now you have to admit the leash makes sense. If you slip, this will save you.”
“By effectively hanging me.”
“Actually, you're right, the red one's better.”
Luna jumped on the ledge. With bored swiftness, she walked the ledge.
Everyone stared. She jumped on the boulder, the next one, and then climbed up on the other end, all at a speed of absolute surety.
She didn’t test footholds, didn’t hesitate for a split second, and never slowed down.
Once she got up on the other side, she cut a short, mocking bow.
“Well,” Garrett said. “Everything seems to hold. I’ll go next.” He walked the ledge, a lot slower.
Alsen tore his mind from the spectacle. He still didn’t feel like doing this at all. Could he fly himself across?
Possibly. He hadn’t worked out the flying spell, but in a world with dragons, he was going to need it. Might as well do it now.
So, anyway, to fly, he needed force to push himself into the air, sustain it to move, and then use a counter-force to land. All with steady acceleration and deceleration, so he didn’t blow himself apart.
Using pure force would be risky, as he could hurt himself too easily, so he was going to carry himself with something with him. Wind summoning fell into the categories of spells he once researched, so he knew the framework of how to do that.
When Garrett climbed on the other side, Luna helping by pulling him up at the end, Alsen took a few steps sideways.
So, summon wind, push himself up, and fly. Actually, it would be easier to not attempt a steady flight at first and go for more of a grand leap. That would give him a natural ballistic curve to land on the other side.
Marena was already on the final climb when he readied his power. Luna and Garrett coached her on the way, advising where to step, where to hold herself, and not to rush.
He spread a set of points of power behind himself, positioning himself for the flight. While he primarily needed to cross, he also had to not look ridiculous while doing it.
Sonja crossed next. She was athletic and sure-footed, but she spent the entire crossing looking back at Luna on the far side rather than at where she was stepping.
“Eyes forward!” Luna snapped.
Sonja beamed. “You do care.”
Alsen pulled on his power. The prepared points burst into the wind.
Their force threw him up and forward. He directed his body for the flight, and at the same time, pulled on the wind with his magic to make it support him.
That didn’t go all that smoothly, but at least he had a good angle to not smash into the opposite wall.
The ground approached. He spun the wind around himself to slow his descent. His hair flew all over the place, smacking him across the face. But he landed on his feet, the force holding him just enough to not have to roll over.
Nice.
He brushed the hair from his face with his hand, his heart pounding, doing his best to look like that was normal to him. Garrett and his group exchanged glances.
Luna muttered, “Show off,” and proceeded to help Marena up.
As if she had any right to complain about that.
Theron was the last to go. Despite his enormous size, he crossed without incident, the narrow ledge being the greatest challenge. The boulders groaned under his weight, but he moved with absolute precision.
They regrouped on the far side. Nobody said anything as they headed out again. The unasked questions filled the air. Alsen decided to ignore them, enjoying the return of the maneuvering dance of Luna avoiding Sonja.
The terrain past the gorge leveled somewhat, a rocky plateau thick with stubby trees and patches of scrub grass. Luna sniffed, withdrawing back to Alsen. “There’s acid in the air. That’s suspicious.”
Alsen fired out a full-power L1 scan. Life forms from about half a mile around them pinged into his mind.
The chaos overwhelmed him for a split second, but he found his focus, filtered away all the insects and critters, and what remained were them, and four larger life forms, large lizards by their shape, behind rocks ahead of them.
“Potential ambush ahead,” he announced, loud enough so everyone heard him. He stopped.
Everyone else stopped, turning towards him.
“I’ve detected four larger life forms behind those rocks.” He motioned ahead with his hand. “Lizard-shaped, about the size of a horse each. No idea what those are.”
Garrett narrowed his eyes. “How did you figure that out?”
“Magic,” Alsen said, doing his best not to smirk. “But trust me, my scans are very accurate.”
“Well,” Theron said, lifting the axe hanging on his back. “These areas are frequented by rock bears. It’s very unusual for there to be four of them in one place.”
“Unless they are hungry and lie in ambush,” Marena pointed out.
The heck was a rock bear? He knew better than to ask.
Sonja looked around. “It’s not like there’s a way around.” She removed the bow from her back and prepared a quiver by her belt. “I don’t think there’s a way around.” She smiled at Luna. “But don’t worry, Kitten, I’ll protect you.”
Alsen fought the urge to slap his face with his palm. Alone, because Garrett, Theron, and Marena all did that. Luna only glared at her.
“Anyway,” Garrett said, “There isn’t a good way around, so we fight through it.” He drew his sword and pulled the shield down from his back.
Marena walked back to position herself next to Alsen. Sonja moved to stand straight in front of Luna.
“I’ll lead,” Garrett said. “When they come after me, keep them off my back.”
“Wait,” Alsen said. “We don’t have to walk in. I can eliminate one of them straight up, and then we can defend when they charge at us.”
Garrett opened his mouth to speak, but instead, he turned, taking a stance next to Theron at the front. “Ready whenever you are.”
Alsen walked a bit to the side. He pulled on his power. It was almost evening, so there was no reason to save energy for later. He formed a globe of energy in front of himself, aiming at where he remembered one of the rock bears hiding. The energy collapsed upon itself, and he released the spell.
Lance of Annihilation.
In an instant, its energy blast drilled through the rock, through the rock bear hiding behind it, and into the mountain ahead, leaving behind holes three feet in diameter.
Stunned silence filled the air.
Alsen pulled more of his power, creating a bunch of points of power around himself.
Indirect missile. Times thirty.
Thirty missiles flew from him. They curved around the rocks, bombarding the bears hiding behind them.
A staccato of explosions filled the air.
Not strong enough to pierce the bears’ rocky backs, though, only cracking them.
The rock bears burst on the path, running towards them as the remaining missiles hit them from above and behind.
They were roughly the shape of bears, bodies covered in overlapping plates of stones and similarly colored hide, rocks layered like roof tiles.
Their heads were disproportionately large, dominated by a jaw that split wider than the rest of their skulls.
Short, thick legs ended in clawed feet that gripped the rock as they ran.
Alsen realized he needed a spell to fight along a party.
Theron and Garrett stood to block the path of the first two bears. Sonja released an arrow, which dug into the face of the last bear. It didn’t look fazed.
Garrett stepped towards the first bear. It rose to meet him with its massive jaw.
But Garrett swung up the shield, hitting the bear’s jaw from the bottom.
Its head shot up, its entire charge momentum broken.
Garrett stabbed it in the open stomach, deep, and pulled out with a twist as he stepped back so that the bear wouldn’t fall on him.
Theron waited for the bear to bite at him. With a smooth sidestep, he avoided the bear. He swung. His axe hit it behind the skull, cracking stone, releasing a spray of blood. Not enough.
The bear flung itself sideways. Theron barely dodged by jumping backwards.
Sonja, meanwhile, fired three more arrows at the last bear, one of which hit its eye. The beast charged in through the gap Theron made, aiming for Sonja.
Luna tried to step past Sonja.
Sonja stepped into her path, dropping her bow and arrows, drawing the spear from her back.
But Alsen had a spell prepared. He stepped to the side, readying power into two of his fingers. He needed something direct, something that caused little collateral damage, and something that he could control perfectly.
He slashed the fingers through the air towards the bear, releasing the prepared power.
Cleave.
His power cut the air, the bear’s skin, and the rocks around it. Blood burst from the bear across the diagonal where Alsen cut it. But it kept moving.
Not enough spell power, Alsen realized.
Sonja stepped in, stabbing at the bear. It stood up to evade. She changed the stab’s direction, hitting it under the jaw, through, and into the skull. She withdrew the spear, letting the bear collapse.