EPISODE THIRTY-SIX:
HUNTED
Vash set off to the northeast, towards where his Sense was telling him Corwin and Jabez had made their camp. In the back of his mind, he tracked the positions of the two Scaleback hunting parties. The jumble of images was confusing and made it difficult to really grasp any information at a glance. During his early training with the Eth Mitaan, the exercises needed to access Talents required him to partition his mind. One part would focus on building and maintaining the structure of the Talent formula, while the other would interact with the physical world. It was difficult at first, but Byar had taught Vash how to distill things down to their simplest form. Rather than making the mental target of an attack, a specific person with a face, clothes, gear, and so forth, reduce them to a simple symbol for association. It was easier to keep track of a half-dozen red dots in your mind than remember the one guy with the scar, and the other with the bald head.
Now Vash used the same technique to simplify what he was seeing through his Dungeon Sense. In his mind, he created a mental outline of the area he could detect easily, sketching in rough outlines of obstacles. Onto this mental map he projected his targets: the Scalebacks that were heading in his direction he assigned red dots, those heading towards the camp he made into yellow diamonds, finally for his companions he gave them green squares. With a neatly organized map in his mind’s eye, Vash could keep track of things far easier. The red dots were heading towards the river, the place where they had sensed his . It looked like they were heading directly for the river from where they separated from the main group of hunters. That meant that the Scalebacks hunting him would pass by to the north. Vash shifted his path slightly, making sure that the hunters and he would miss each other entirely. Likely, they would pick up his trail from the river, but he didn’t want to make things easy.
The Scalebacks heading to the Wayfarer camp maintained a steady, cautious speed. Judging by their current pace, they would reach the camp an hour or two after full-dark. To prepare for the attack, Vash was going to have to hurry.
Spending some precious mana, Vash called up , increasing his speed and endurance. He wouldn’t be able to keep up the steady flow of mana needed for very long, but every bit of extra time counted.
The glowmoss on the roof of the cavern faded slowly as Vash ran. The Underlands plunged into a darkness so deep that it was almost a physical presence. Vash didn’t slow down. His allowed him to feel obstacles and place his feet correctly to avoid debris and tripping hazards. In his mental map, the red dots of the Scaleback hunters pursuing him reached the river. They did not tarry long at the river’s edge, quickly figuring out what had happened and picking up Vash’s trail. Hoping that his mana would hold out, Vash increased speed and angled his course towards a shorter path to the Wayfarer camp.
Two things were currently of great concern to Vash. One, even with increasing his speed, the red-dot hunters were gaining on him. Two, the yellow-diamond hunters were getting ever closer to the Wayfarer camp.
“I’m not sure we’re going to make it in time.” Vash panted.
“Do I have a choice?”
Vash let out a grunt of frustration, darting to one side to avoid a boulder that suddenly loomed up in his . The rock passed slightly to his right and his sleeve brushed the rough surface as he went by.
“Tell me.” Vash said, relenting.
Cass said.
Vash frowned. His mental map showed a jagged cliff face in that direction. “Uh, Cass, that’s a thirty-foot drop.”
Cass replied.
Suppressing a stream of curses, Vash turned in the direction that Cass had said. Within a few minutes, he was coming dangerously close to a sheer drop-off. “I’m almost there, Cass. What do I do?”
Cass said, her voice calm and focused.
“If I keep going, I’m going to run right off the side of the cliff!”
“You’re making it really hard to trust you!” Vash growled, but Cass was right, judging by the speed that the Scalebacks were moving, they were just as comfortable in the dark as he was, also they could move much faster than him if they wanted to.
Vash could feel the cliff’s edge rushing towards him. His was sounding all the alarm bells it could, but he ignored them. “Cass…”
Cass said, voice calm and steady.
The edge was only a few steps away. If he didn’t stop now, Vash would go right over the edge.
Vash forced himself into his place of calm, balling up all his fear and anxiety and throwing it deep into the well within.
Vash launc
hed off his back foot, leaping out into the darkness. His heart hammered in his chest as he sailed through the air. After a moment of panic, he sensed a large, flat rock just beneath him. He brought his foot down, landing awkwardly, but firmly.
Cass urged before Vash could bring himself to a stop.
Vash let his mind go blank, just following Cass’ commands.
Cass said quickly.
In response, Vash just nodded.
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Vash pushed off his back foot again, sailing through the air. Almost immediately, his picked up a narrow column of stone. Vash landed atop the column, stepped through the landing, and leaped again.
After a moment of terror, Vash felt the ground come up to meet him. It was further than he expected, but not as bad as the drop from the top of the cliff. He landed hard, letting his knees buckle and pitch him into an inelegant forward roll. Bleeding off speed as he went, Vash tucked into a forward roll and came up on his feet. He stumbled a bit, then settled back into the rhythm of running. Judging by the points on his mental map, Vash had doubled the distance between himself and his pursuers. The Scalebacks weren’t attempting the descent that he’d just made, and were turning to the northwest, heading for a gentler slope.
Cass said, smugly.
“We’re not there yet,” Vash said, feeling his mana draining bit by bit.
Cass said.
Vash checked his mental map. Cass was right, they were only minutes away from the Wayfarer camp, but the yellow-diamond Scaleback hunters were that much further away. Vash guessed he had maybe a ten-minute lead on them. He just hoped it was enough time.
The pinprick of light in the distance was the first sign that Vash was almost at the Wayfarer camp. At first he thought it was just his eyes playing tricks on him, but slowly the dot of light grew larger and larger. He could make out some shapes around the light, notably a half-circle of stalagmites reaching up from the stone floor.
“Almost there.” Vash said, breath coming in heavy gasps.
Cass said, hesitantly.
“What?” Vash asked, confused. “But what if I need you?”
Cass said, her voice fading into the back of Vash’s mind.
“Wait a minute, Cass!” Vash hissed, trying to keep his voice down. “Cass?”
Vash was alone in his thoughts once more. Cass seemed to vanish completely when she went to rest. Shaking his head, he pressed on. There were more important things to deal with at the moment.
The glow of the alchemical lantern was visible for a sizable distance around the camp. Even set to the lowest setting, it stood out in the near absolute darkness. Getting closer, Vash could see figures around the lantern. One was curled on the ground, while the other stared out into the darkness. Judging by the sizes, the one on watch was Corwin.
Neither figure moved much, likely they hadn’t spotted him yet or heard him out in the darkness. Vash hoped the Scalebacks were also too far away to hear anything as well. Vash’s mental map was having a difficult time tracking the Scalebacks, especially the group under the command of the scarred bull that was leading the entire party. The party of yellow diamonds had faded away when they turned northeast to avoid an obstacle. Either the area they were moving through was low on Therium or shadow-obscured. Either way, Vash didn’t like the idea of being surprised just as he was reuniting with his companions.
As he approached, Vash could see that Corwin was on watch and Jabez curled on the ground, wrapped in a cloak, his heavy war hammer resting just beside him. Just when he got close enough to make out details, he felt the thrum of Corwin’s Core. Corwin still had up, and Vash’s Core gave a small pulse in response.
Corwin shot to his feet, drawing his sword. Vash could hear the steel ringing in the nearly absolute silence.
“Jabez!” Corwin said, voice hushed but still audible even at this distance. “There’s something out there and it’s coming our way.”
The dwarf rolled to his feet, slow, and with some difficulty. He hefted his war hammer one-handed and joined Corwin to stare out into the darkness. “Where?”
“Somewhere to the southwest.” Corwin said. “Towards the river.”
“Could be Scalebacks, been seeing their marks all over, surprised we hadn’t stumbled onto them yet.” Jabez said, voice grim and tired.
“That’s because you’re on the wrong side of the river!” Vash called, slowing to a jog and approaching with his hands raised. “There’s plenty on the western side, trust me.”
“Vash!” Corwin exclaimed happily, dropping his sword to his side. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”
“It’s a long story.” Vash said, coming to a stop just inside the circle of light. His breathing came in labored gasps, even while using Enhanced Ability. “I’ll fill you in later, but we have to get moving.”
“What’s wrong?” Jabez asked, taking in Vash’s current state and then scanning the darkness behind him.
“Scalebacks,” Vash said. “There’s a group hunting you right now. About twelve of them. Six broke off to chase me down when I crossed the river. The others have been looking for a spot to ambush you.”
Jabez scowled out in to the darkness. “I knew it had been too quiet. Any idea where they are now?”
Vash shook his head. “I lost track of the group following you while trying to avoid the group following me.”
“Better get moving then.” Jabez said, stuffing the cloak he was using as a blanket into his empty pack. “At the very least, we need to get to a more defensible position.”
“How far are we from the falls, do you think?” Corwin asked, securing his own pack and hefting it onto his shoulders.
“Hard to say,” Jabez grunted, awkwardly shouldering his pack, trying to avoid the wound where the Hollowmound Queen had stabbed him. Vash noticed a flash of pain on the older dwarf’s face as the straps settled into place. “I figured we were three days out from where we fell, but I didn’t count on the amount of climbing we’d have to do. We may be half a day out, or we may be a full day. Depends on the terrain ahead.”
. Vash thought.
Corwin looked surprised when Vash stepped into the light. “Nine gods, you look like hell.”
“It’s been a rough couple of days.” Vash said, knowing that he was dirty, his clothes frayed and torn in places, and he had three deep gouges across his back.
“You’re wounded.” Jabez noted, turning Vash slightly to look at his back.
“So are you.”
Jabez gave him a sour look. “Scaleback cuts can be nasty. They’re not the cleanest of creatures, so those slashes might not heal so great without a dedicated healer.”
“I’ll be fine.” Vash said. “I’m not bleeding at the moment. Anything else we can deal with later.”
“Let’s get moving, then.” Corwin said, sheathing his sword and tightening the straps so it wouldn’t get in the way. “We’re in no shape to fight a couple of Scalebacks, let alone a dozen.”
Jabez picked up the lantern and turned up the emitter. Pale white-gold light illuminated a space around twenty feet in diameter. Rocks, pale grasses, and stalagmite columns were all that Vash could see. Through his , however, the Scaleback markers had reappeared. The yellow diamonds were very close, coming from the southeast and spreading out across the open plateau that the Wayfarers had camped on. To the west, Vash could sense the red dots moving with all speed to cut off their escape along the northward path that Corwin and Jabez had been following.
“We may have to change our path a bit,” Vash said, trying to come up with a reason for his sudden flashes of insight that didn’t involve: I absorbed a person’s soul that was trapped in a creepy temple. Don’t worry, she seems nice. “If I were them, I’d be moving to cut off our path of escape while the attack party moves into position.”
Jabez hesitated, looking out into the darkness. “All right, then which way do we go?”
“Let’s angle to the northeast.” Vash said. “Looks like there are more rocks and rougher terrain in that direction. Maybe we can lose them.”
Jabez gave Vash a quizzical look, but kept his thoughts to himself. “All right, then. Vash, you take point. Lead the way.”
Turning away from the other Wayfarers, Vash started off into the darkness to the northeast of the camp. He was careful not to move too far outside the ring of light from the lantern. He didn’t know why, but he felt that revealing too much about his newfound Talents could invite questions he didn’t want to answer.
Setting a pace that moved them quickly away from the campsite, Vash tried to ignore Jabez’s eyes boring into his back. The dwarf obviously thought something was not normal.
Vash thought to himself.
