A wooden door slammed open, and Lara stomped her feet into the teleport area.
“Lannister, the resonance cracks, they’re-” Lara blurted, pointing at the sky—but Lannister didn’t even look up from the elaborate runes and glowing mana-filled diagrams in front of him. He raised his hand, hushing her.
“I know. Are you ready?” Lannister said.
Lara paused her march, checked her pockets and her inventory one last time before replying.
“I’ve been ready since yesterday.” She said, sighing.
“Good. We’re leaving.”
Lannister proceeded with the teleport ritual, stringing together the magic, measuring distances in his mind’s eye, connecting his teleport spell to two of the three warp charge conduits in the mirror reality, which bonded the mirror reality to the real world.
The magic came together. An infinitesimal point of nothingness tore a vertical line into reality. Spinning at unimaginable speeds, chaotic energy bore a hole open, bringing a silvery mirror into existence.
Lara pulled out a communication crystal, informing Norgrim of their departure.
“Hi. It’s Lara. You said we could leave when the resonance cracks disappeared, so we’re leaving to hunt—I mean find Jay.”
“What?! Lara you!-” Norgrim’s voice began to hum back through the crystal, but Lara pretended she heard nothing, and continued to chatter.
“We’ll wait an extra few days in the real world before returning, to make sure the reality keeps stable.” She said, and while still holding the communication crystal in her hand, she jumped through the silvery pool.
Lannister held a regretful smile as he looked around the teleport area one last time, then jumped through after her.
***
~Real World—Somewhere near the savage lands dungeon.~
Dust kicked up and swirled around the bright portal, a violent crackling noise came from the edges of it, which was like a lightning storm around the silvery calm surface. A gentle ripple gave way to a communication crystal, the dainty hand grasping it tightly in anticipation.
Lara appeared with a sly smile, her eyes scanning through the root-covered forest for any signs of movement or imminent danger.
Lannister stepped out behind her. He clicked his fingers and the portal began to shrink, disappearing into a warping ripple in reality until all traces of it were gone. The dirt and dust that swirled around like a small whirlwind fell to the ground, the violent humming disappearing with it.
“Finally. We’re back.” Lara murmured, her eyes still scanning the forest.
Lannister nodded, and pulled out a small pouch. It looked more like a coin pouch, but Lara knew exactly what it was.
Lannister reached in and pulled out three large white seeds, then scattered them across the forest floor as he talked to Lara.
“Jay probably went south, so we’ll head that direction. The Orren will find him once they grow.” Lannister said.
Lara nodded, glancing down at the white seeds. They had already began burrowing their way into the roots they landed on. These seeds were the Orren, a magical creature bound to serve whoever sows it.
The Orren were not a product of the academy, but were actually traded from one of the Dimerkin clans. Once these white seeds were matured, they would grow a single large flower which bloomed, and from inside it, an Orren would leap out—made from soft flower petals and colored shades of brown like the bark of trees, it was a cat creature.
Grown in a flower’s scent, it had a keen sense of smell, and its light, nimble form of luscious petals allowed it to quietly slip through forests with the speed of an arrow.
Unfortunately, they were only good for tracking. Made from the most tender petals of flowers, their lives wilted away all too soon.
***
The novice bounty hunters Linc, Vanderby, and Estra, continued their search for Jay, whom they still assumed to be level nine.
“Can we stop here?” Estra said, wiping a drop of sweat from her forehead as she climbed atop a larger root.
“Hm. It’s not that dark yet. We can definitely make it across the valley before nightfall. The trees are just thick here so it seems darker.” Vandery replied and pointed up at the green canopy, covering them like a thick curtain.
The trio had made it through hollow forest, passing the empty bloodvine bear’s territory and entered the sprawling mountains that were criss-crossed with a maze of valleys and streams; the soil covered by its own carpet of roots.
Linc nodded along with Vanderby, and pointed across the mountain.
“Yeah. And if we make it across this valley tonight, the sun will wake us up tomorrow morning.” Linc said, pointing at the mountain above them, knowing it would block the morning light if they stayed here.
Estra nodded, but her blank face and tired eyes gave away her reluctance. She heard Jay’s heartbeat growing louder with each hour they traveled. They were homing in on Jay, and keeping a good pace, so she didn’t see the harm in resting, even for a little while.
Despite being novices when it came to traveling, they were doing well for themselves, and doubted Jay could escape, he was alone and level nine after all.
Little did they realize just how fast Jay could travel once his skeleton parade began, carrying him at a jogging pace even while he slept.
Together they trudged down hill which became steeper as they went. Using the sloped wall of roots as ropes they climbing down to the bottom of a root-covered canyon. The roots hung down but barely touched the bottom, giving way to vertical faces of cliffs and giant boulders. They chose a bad place to cross, but going back was as hard as going forward.
“Shh.” Linc whispered. His eyes narrowed.
Further down the canyon, pebbles tapped and fell. Something shifted in the shadows.
Linc suddenly gripped his sheath, pushing his curved katana up by a thumb’s length.
“Lower your heads.” Linc whispered again, and the other two immediately obeyed.
*Crack!*
A dash of golden light bounced through the canyon, finding a target.
Slender fingers, like wandering black fishing rods all fell to the ground. Three large black hands cleanly severed at the wrist, spurting blood covering the cliff faces. Linc sucessfuly struck first.
From beneath giant boulders and deep cliffside cracks, more of the long black fingers began to emerge from shadows.
“Get to the wall.” Vandey said, raising his shield and dagger, standing in front of Estra.
Linc’s flash-step skill had sent him about 60 feet down the canyon. His blade dripped, his hands shaky as he looked back. He sprinted back towards Vanderby and Estra.
More black fingers emerged from nowhere. All of them feeling and seeking, tapping and scratching.
The tapping fingers swept the ground and found the severed black hands. They clutched them, ripping them away with so much speed they were gone in a blink, barely leaving a trail of blood into the cracked shelves of the canyon.
Linc sheathed his sword and bolted back to his comrades, running as fast as he could—before the fingers could return to find him.
As for his comrades, a slender finger slowly danced across the wall and closed in on Estra.
*Dong!*
Vanderby’s shield pinned it against the cliff. It writhed against the rocks which grazed it back like sandpaper. Van’s dagger cleaved, but needed two swipes to carve through—unfourtunately, a dagger was not a suitable weapon for such creatures, and neither did it pair well with a shield.
Another searching finger came close, creeping from above towards Estra’s hair.
She Estra fell down, pushed by Vanderby before it could touch her. Vanderby desperately swung around, looking for the next tapping fingers near them.
“How long?!” Vanderby yelled down the valley.
“14 seconds!” Linc yelled back, jumping away from a shadowy vein in the walls.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢