Chapter 28: Passing Shadows
Further north they traveled, the farmlands receding in the distance. This would be a long and lonely stretch of road, with snow-flattened fields and low hills stretching off to Chastity’s right and the wide river to her left.
To pass the time, Chastity practiced her Detect Evil ability. She hadn’t had enough proficiency to upgrade the ability during her last Level Up, and the only way to gain proficiency was through repetition. Thankfully, her +5% Ability Leveling Boon would come in handy. The problem was there was precious little to use the ability on.
A sparrow flitting by in the distance. Some species of rodentia scampering behind lifeless brush. A brief flash of silvery scales just beneath the surface of the broad, flowing river.
“Detect evil.”
And so it went. As her Focus Points ran low, Chastity would center her mind and spirit in prayer as she walked, gradually recharging her points. She quickly learned, through checking the progress towards the next ability level in her Character Record, that any attempt to spam the ability by detecting evil on the same creature multiple times resulted in no further proficiency gained.
.
Running out of unique creatures in the stark landscape, Chastity even tried the ability once on Charlie. The halfling flashed her a look and she couldn’t tell if he was bemused or annoyed. Turns out he was pure evil (just kidding). It had no effect, because at the Initiate level, the ability could only detect evil in creatures, not persons.
As they traveled north, Chastity noticed thick, dark, low-hanging clouds ahead.
“Charlie, do you see those clouds?”
“Aye. Looks like a proper snow storm brewing, I reckon,” he said. “We should keep an eye on those. If they get much darker, we could be looking at a blizzard.”
Chastity pulled her cloak tighter around herself, though it offered little insulation from the cold.
“We should pick up our pace. How much further to Goldenberry?” she asked.
“Hmmm. Several hours at least! I’m near tuckered out, but I’ll do my best. I don’t have great big jumbo legs like you!”
A dark shadow passed overhead, large enough to swallow the two companions. Charlie shuddered and halted in the middle of the road, glancing nervously at the sky.
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“Did you see that?” he hissed. “Something flew over us! Something BIG.”
Chastity stopped and followed his gaze. She saw nothing, just growing cloud cover staining the sky a morose gray.
“Oooh, I knew we shouldn’t have been saying all those things about the… Dark One,” Charlie continued, whispering the forbidden syllables. “They say if you speak his name, he’s likely to appear! Or one of his spies!”
Chastity grimaced, pulling a javelin from her quiver. A snippet of translated Septuagint flashed through her mind.
“I’m not afraid of the Dark One. Let him show himself!” she said, righteous anger at the Black Dragon’s atrocities overriding her natural sense of self-preservation.
Charlie wrapped his arms around Chastity’s leg and held on tight.
“You’re very brave, miss, but that fiend will squash me like a bug. You’re a Paladin with armor and weapons and special powers, but all I’ve got is my vegetable knife. I’ve no chance to survive a battle with the likes of him. Please!”
Chastity hoisted her javelin and held it ready, searching the sky for any sign of trouble.
Another shadow quickly passed–this time from the other direction. A large object or creature in flight. The brief silhouette cast on the ground resembled batlike wings with clawed hands, reminiscent of an oversized gargoyle.
She wheeled around, aiming her javelin. She could just catch a glimpse of a barbed tail vanishing into the thick clouds.
“Detect evil!” she shouted, focusing on the tip of that tail.
There was a chime, and a notification box appeared.
Which was quickly replaced by a second box.
The winged creature did not reappear. Not yet, at least. She didn’t have time to use both Detect Evil and Identify, but now she knew she could activate Smite Evil for double damage if that thing came within range.
Chastity wondered.
A deep sound like some fell murmur carried in the air, sending a shiver down her spine. Charlie started to tremble as he held onto Chastity for dear life.
“I just want to go home!” he whimpered. “To see my Aunt again! To have one last frothy pint of Deep River Ale!”
she observed,
Chastity turned and stared into the bank of storm clouds looming over the travelers’ road. They were now somehow even darker and fuller than before. Sure enough, she saw thick snowflakes falling.
“Okay, Charlie. Let’s run for it. Straight into the storm! I don’t know if that thing is searching for us or just passing by, but perhaps the snow will shelter us from its gaze.”
Charlie nodded, regaining his composure. They sprinted ahead, the halfling’s overstuffed pack bouncing and jangling wildly.
The snow descended with relentless, smothering insistence. Visibility dwindled, and any landmarks that might have been gleaned from the near featureless country were obscured altogether in a swirling, opaque blur. Gusts of howling wind, sharp and biting, whipped the snow across the ground. The world was reduced to a canvas of white, a blank slate of driving snow.
They trudged ahead, the drifts soon reaching up to the top of Chastity’s boots and well above Charlie’s knees. Progress became a slog, and the temperature plummeted. The chill winds stung their faces.
“Okay, climb on!” Chastity shouted above the blizzard, crouching low. At this rate the snow was too deep for the halfling to wade through. And the longer they stayed exposed to these elements, the higher the chance of frostbite–or hypothermia.
Charlie nodded, clambering onto the Paladin’s back for what can only be described as a piggyback ride. Chastity grunted, now bearing the weight of her armor, javelin quiver, and her own traveling pack, as well as the halfling and his. The falling snow itself conspired to weigh her down. But she could do it. Putting one foot in front of the other she forced herself forward through the blasting, blinding cold.
Chastity wondered if this storm too might be the work of some malign force. And she wondered if they would ever make it back to the village.
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