Unforeseen path, p.22
Unforeseen Path, page 22
“I’ll take these five!” Jodi snapped in raid chat as the rest of her raid mates began calling out targets.
No wonder Fiona had been freaking out about facing off against an entire herd, Jodi anxiously thought, starting to have second thoughts about trying to train an adult. Pushing the negative thought away, she silently watched the galloping monsters’ curving path suddenly take a sharp turn that would take them directly past Ordan, Kei, and Norlar’s hiding spots on the slope.
At first, Jodi was afraid the course change meant their ambush was blown as everyone prepared to release their arrows. A sudden bark from Elandorr for everyone to hold their shots stopped them from blowing the ambush. As the seconds ticked by, it became obvious that the Elite Battering Rams were simply angling to cut off the Blink Lynx’s possible escape route.
Still, the danger wasn’t completely past. There was a chance that one of the Elite Battering Rams could pick up one of their raid mates’ scents, Jodi thought, keeping an eye on the quintet. It wasn’t until they galloped nearly over the top of Kei’s hiding spot that they collectively let out a sigh of relief. As the monsters’ spaced themselves out to cover whatever direction the Blink Lynx tried to blink away in, Jodi saw Fiona suddenly appear twenty yards in front of the lead ram with the rest of the herd on her tail, when Elandorr’s voice cracked in raid chat like a whip.
“Release arrows!”
Jodi didn’t hesitate as her first arrow targeted the rear ram barreling down on her girl. As soon as her bow twanged, she was already reaching for the next arrow that she’d laid out in preparation ahead of time on the ground. In quick succession, she sent another four arrows flying at the group with her last targeting the lead ram.
The order of attack might sound a bit contradictory to those unused to triggering an ambush. In truth, Jodi had learned the technique by watching Cowboy Westerns when she was growing up. The heroes always targeted the bad guys in the rear so that the rest of the group didn’t realize they were under attack and started dodging. While she’d never actually tried it herself until now., she had to admit the tactic had worked like a charm. She took the rams down one after another without any of them realizing they were under attack. As the last ram dropped to flop unceremoniously to a stop, the rest of the raid attacked.
While the first two volleys had taken down their targets without any issues to the confused and slowing herd, curiously enough, the Rangers had a bit more difficulty in taking the remainder of the herd down. Because the Rangers hadn’t targeted the Elite Battering Rams in the rear, the third volley sent the survivors fleeing across the slope in multiple directions. Not that, that was an issue for the level 50 Rangers who targeted the fleeing monsters with scary precision. Before the last Elite Battering Ram was down, Elandorr was up and racing up the far slope.
“Hurry up, Jodi,” Elandorr shouted, waving for her to follow as the rest of the raid began hurrying towards the downed monsters with rope, “that last ram you shot was the herd’s Alpha male!”
“Right behind you!” Jodi called back as a pop of displaced air sounded beside her.
‘Did you see that?’ Fiona proudly chortled as she kept pace at Jodi’s side, ‘I tricked those horned idiots good.’ A mental snort of derision sounded in her head. ‘They never had a chance to catch me.’
‘You did a fine job,’ Jodi sent back, stroking the Blink Lynx’s ego somewhat, ‘Though, if I hadn’t taken out that quintet of monsters circling around to cut off your escape, things might have turned out differently.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Fiona demanded as her tail momentarily straightened in fear, ‘The entire herd was behind me!’
‘Is that so?’ Jodi sarcastically asked as she hurriedly began making her way up the far slope towards where Elandorr had come to a stop, ‘Then, I take it those five rams are from another herd?’
“Leet … leet … leet,” Blasto scoldingly chittered down at the Blink Lynx as her golden eyes widened in shock.
“Hold up, Jodi,” Norlar’s voice yelled out behind her, “I want to see how you manage this.”
‘Wh … what are those monsters doing here?’ Fiona demanded as her head noticeably jerked back in clear shock. There was a pop of displaced air and the Blink Lynx suddenly appeared opposite the Rogue who was starting to bind the legs and snouts of the downed Elite Battering Rams. Her mental voice took on an odd tone, ‘If you hadn’t taken them down, they would’ve boxed me in.’
“Focus on securing the downed monsters first and then you can join her!” Elandorr shouted to the Beast Tamer, “If this works, you’ll have plenty of time to observe how she does this back at BrokenFang Hold.”
“Hey Elandorr,” Norlar shouted as he redirected himself towards the rams that he’d downed, “once I’m done, do you mind if I head over to watch how Jodi does this?”
“That’ll work,” Elandorr agreed, not bothering to look up from tying up the rams.
‘Probably,’ Jodi mentally replied to Fiona as she neared the lead ram. For his part, Norlar seemed to be following the Rogue’s orders which were probably for the best.
Jodi missed the normally supercilious look on the Blink Lynx’s face momentarily disappear as a look of understanding flashed in Fiona’s golden eyes. Reaching the lead ram, she came to a stop next to the alpha male’s large head as she drew the longsword from its sheath at her hip. Looking into the monster’s vertical pupils, Jodi saw the recognition in its eyes of the helpless situation it was in as she drove the point of the blade into the rocky ground next to its forehead.
“I could’ve just taken your life and there’s nothing you could do about it,” Jodi said in a low voice as she dropped to her knees in front of the monster.
“Leet … leet!” Blasto threateningly added as he sat up on his haunches while still on her shoulder.
“Not helping, Blasto,” Jodi said, chastising the little guy as she took off her armored glove to stroke the ram’s head with her hand.
Jodi had thought she would find the monster disgusting, but looking down on the helpless Elite Battering Ram, she had to admit that he was a handsome-looking specimen. Having these monsters as Combat Mounts would give any mounted force a significant advantage on the field of battle, she thought, studying the ram’s natural weapons. That’s when she remembered the video streams of Startum’s Silver Dire Wolf fighting along beside him. Could these guys be used as another teammate like that?
“Look,” Jodi said, getting excited about the possibility of having her own Combat Mount, “If you’re willing to work with me and the others at BrokenFang Hold, I promise we’ll get you plenty of fresh meat and as many fights as you can handle.”
Checking the time on her HUD, Jodi figured she was running out of time quickly. It had taken her a bit too long to climb the slope. Whatever, she could do this. Taking out a hunk of meat from the supply that she’d kept for Fiona, she enticingly waved it in front of the large male’s nose.
While she was doing that, Jodi began trying to think of how she’d managed to get Blasto to become her pet. Was getting a monster to accept her simply a Skill or did it have something to do with her desire and empathy? Whichever it was, she figured it was worth a shot. There was too much at stake for this to fail, especially if Fiona and her were going to get a new set of premium weapons and armor. As the ram’s vertical slitted eyes focused on her, it started to weakly move its large head around as the paralysis began to wear off.
“Don’t fight this,” Jodi murmured in a gentle voice, “because if we can’t find a common ground, we’ll be forced to slaughter you and the rest of your herd for meat.”
As she spoke, Jodi saw Elandorr hurrying over to her with his blades drawn. Obviously, he didn’t want to risk having her be killed by the monster if this didn’t work. In her peripheral vision, she saw the other Rangers in their raid finishing up and notching iron-tipped arrows into their bows. While she appreciated the physical support, it annoyed her that no one seemed to think what she was doing was possible. As those worrisome thoughts were going through her mind, she noticed the ram’s mouth open as it took the hunk of meat from her hand.
“That’s a good boy,” Jodi murmured, trying to keep the thrill of excitement from her voice as she hurriedly pulled another piece of meat from her pouch and fed it to the ram, “How about we become friends?”
“Did the monster accept you as its owner?” Elandorr urgently hissed.
“Not exactly,” Jodi replied back in a calm voice, “but I think it’s close.”
“There is no close,” Kei snapped, “we should kill the monster now and be done with it. Otherwise, it’ll rip your throat out.”
“Don’t you dare kill him until I say!” Jodi snapped with an edge in her voice, “Got it?”
Jodi didn’t bother to glare at her raid mates as she put the entire focus of her will into getting through to the Elite Battering Ram. Whether or not the rest of them realized this or not, she was going to take the alpha male as her own mount if this worked. Glancing at her HUD, she saw that the time was clicking past twelve minutes when the large monster in front of her suddenly rolled to its side and stood up.
“No one shoot!” Jodi urgently screamed, stretching out her arms to cover the front of the ram as much as she could with her own body.
Instead of chomping her face off, the Elite Battering Ram paused as its vertical-slitted eyes held her gaze. Its horned head heavily swung from side to side as it took in the enemies ready to take its life. While they were a threat, it was one that didn’t seem to phase the large alpha male one bit as its predatory eyes turned back to focus on her face intently.
“Come on, bond with me!” Jodi pressed, staring into the ram’s golden eyes as she willed this to work, “It’ll be good for both of us and the rest of your herd!”
There was a stirring around them as the Elite Battering Ram slowly stepped up to her. Jodi could understand everyone’s concern. While she hadn’t run an Identify on the monster before her, if this was the alpha male of the herd, then it was probably a level 55 monster compared to her wimpy level 37. Was it even possible for her to tame such a high-level monster? Jodi was just starting to worry that maybe she’d made a mistake when the ram thrust its muzzle into her chest as a message popped up before her eyes.
Congratulations! You have tamed a level 55 Elite Battering Ram. If you want to take this Combat Pet as your own, select Yes. If you want to leave this Combat Pet open for another, select No.
“Now, that’s a good boy,” Jodi murmured in joy as she hugged the ram’s large head to her chest and began stroking the ridge of his bony forehead. In that same moment, she felt a similar connection spark in her consciousness like the one she’d shared with Fiona.
Reading the system message before her eyes as she accepted the Elite Battering Ram’s bonding, Jodi wondered if these options were available because of her unique Skills or the same thing that everyone else saw when they acquired a Combat Mount. After considering it for a moment, she figured it was probably the option that every player got whenever they were acquiring a Combat Mount. That, or something unique for having tamed an Adult Monster, she thought, selecting “Yes.”
Congratulations! You have acquired a new Combat Mount. Please enter a name for your new Combat Pet:
“By the dark, she did it!” Jodi heard Kei incredulously exclaim behind her.
“That’s crazy,” Ordan agreed in a half-growl.
“Damn, I missed how she did that,” Norlar complained as he hurried over to her across the slippery rocks.
Barely registering everyone’s comments around her, Jodi selected the name, Basher.
Chapter Nine
(Monday, May 12th / Day 22 of The World.)
(Lara Moonshadow in the Capital City of Auris Shaeras.)
Now, if you’ll tighten down the straps you should be good to go,” Hollysharp said in finality as she did her best to keep the irritation out of her hoarse voice, “that completes the fitting of your first set of Black Coral Armor.”
“This crap doesn’t fit,” a voice suddenly called out in frustration.
“Troy,” an annoyed voice snapped, “just put on the freaking armor and shut it!”
“Then you’re doing something wrong,” Hollysharp irritably snapped at the voice coming from the back of the group.
“Laurie,” Troy’s voice continued in defiance, “How can this stuff be any good? It’s lighter than my chainmail armor.”
“I’m not doing anything wrong,” Troy snapped back in the same tone, “this armor is just junk.”
“My armor is not junk!” Hollysharp’s voice rose a notch as Oránn hurried over to the enraged Gnomeling’s side, “You’re just a moron that can’t follow simple directions!”
“Not helping,” Oránn hissed at the other female as she stopped her from swimming in the direction of the voice.
“I’m the moron?” Troy hollered back in an offended tone, “I did everything you said and this crap won’t fit over my clothing!”
“Obviously, you fucked something up or it would be fitting, you ignorant buffoon!” Hollysharp raged, trying to push the Sea Elf away from her, “Let me go, I’m going to go give that Human a piece of my mind!”
“Lara! Honey!” Oránn called to the Beast kin women, “Can one of you deal with this while I stop Prustine from making a scene?”
“We’ve got this,” Lara said, after getting a nod back from the Badger kin female that had become her shadow after being captured by the Sea Orcs. While the Gnomeling always took any criticism as a personal attack, this was the first time she’d had one of the troopers call the black coral plate mail armor crap.
Pushing away from the black coral reef, the pair began swimming towards the commotion that seemed to be growing. While the majority of the newly minted House of Kayden troopers were solidly behind Lord Ironwolf and were no trouble at all, they’d both run into enough disgruntled Humans within these gearing-up groups to know that not every Human was happy at receiving direction from a Sea Elf, Halfling, or Beast kin. In those situations, it had become prudent to have a friend watching their backs.
Part of the problem, Lara silently thought to herself as they approached the growing commotion, was that it seemed like the group of troopers that had stayed behind to protect the city of Darom were struggling to come to terms with how the final battle had gone down. Many of the Humans seemed to be hung up on the fact that Lord Ironwolf had sacrificed himself so that they could escape, while others were struggling with the changes that they’d been undergoing with being a part of the House of Kayden.
Lara could well understand the Humans discomfort. What they’d seen go down in Darom went against everything that they’d known to be true. A noble had sacrificed himself for his commoners. That was unheard of. And, if that hadn’t been shocking enough, the noble in question was their new Halfling Lord of all things.
For many of them, it was like the sky had suddenly turned red or if the sun had started rising in the west. This challenged many of their basic core beliefs on what they believed was the way of The World. A fact that many were finding extremely difficult to fully accept.
“You just read the stats yourself,” Laurie huffed in annoyance, “Of course, it’s better!”
“I don’t see why I can’t keep my own gear,” Troy sulkily replied as many of the group around the young man grumbled in agreement.
“Troy, the Sub-Leader is correct,” an older human’s voice suddenly spoke up, “this armor actually looks to be based on the same set of armor that Lord Ironwolf wears.”
“Are you sure about that, Sub-Captain Davis?” Troy asked in an unsure tone, “What kind of noble would be willing to spend that kind of money on a bunch of commoners?”
As Lara floated to a stop above the group, the question from the young Human-caused the low muttering that had been going on to erupt into emotional shouts as the hundred or so gathered officers began arguing with one another. It was like a third of the group couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Listening to the back and forth and studying the various uniforms of the Humans involved in the confrontation, Lara realized that the fighting seemed to mostly be between those that had fought alongside Lord Ironwolf through his trek across the Kingdom of Kader and those that had stayed behind in Darom. At least, that’s if she was identifying the different groups properly.
“What seems to be the problem here?” Lara asked loudly enough to be heard over the commotion.
“Oh, great! They sent two Beast kins over to us to ask what we’re doing wrong?” Troy snarkily ridiculed as he glared up at them. His words seemed to catch the rest of the Humans by surprise. As the group followed his gaze, the young man dismissively continued, “Like either one of those savages would possibly know anything about quality armor.”
“Troy, mind your manners!” Laurie snapped, embarrassed at her brother’s lack of courtesy as the two groups began muttering angrily at one another again.
“Obviously, more than you do, youngling,” Honey snapped back in the same tone as she showed her fangs to emphasize her point, before Lara could interrupt the obnoxious Human her girlfriend continued, “Too bad you can’t seem to follow basic directions. You were told to dress in your Black Cuttle Leather armor first for a reason before donning your Black Coral Plate Mail armor. No wonder it’s not fitting.”
“And I already told everyone that Black Cuttle Leather armor is a piece of crap compared to my guard’s chainmail!” Troy angrily spat, not backing down from the Badger kin female an inch, “That’s why I kept my own armor on.”
“I guess that means your little guardsman wannabe swordsman self thinks you know more than General Dell on how best to prepare an Army to fight against a Hobgoblin invasion,” Honey shot right back as the young man cringed at her accusation, “or are you too proud to wear the same type of armor as a Halfling like Lord Ironwolf?”
