Chapter Seventy-four

Prey

We flew for several minutes until Jörgen sank to the ground with his spell ending. We were past the scorpion holes, and the ground leveled out and was flat for as far as the eye could see. We continued until light started to appear on the eastern horizon, then found a place to cast the dome.

We tended to Ari'yasa's wound where the stinger had knicked her. I expected it to be bad, but something was odd about how the poison was setting. Her body seemed to be neutralizing it by itself. The wound was barely inflamed at all.

It was still strange to be trying to sleep while the sun was rising. The dome tempered the light so it was easier, but with barely being used to sleeping at all, it wasn't easy to fall asleep. Hopefully, we'd be able to adjust back quickly when we needed to be awake during the day.

My meditation the next evening felt more powerful, like Bahamut was pleased with how I was using my newfound abilities and was granting me more of his power. The desire to heal expanded within me, and my capacity to do so felt like it grew along with it.

Our next night of travel was uneventful, which was a welcome reprieve. That meant we were a little over halfway to Terrah. The empty landscape was starting to make me depressed. There was nothing to see but dirt and rock. On occasion, we'd see a critter scurry by. I was really starting to miss my cool, comfortable trees.

The next night, I could finally start to see mountains in the distance. We were getting close to Terrah. Clouds started rolling in again, though they didn't bring any rain. The trail we were following disappeared into windblown sand, there was nothing to follow. What a time for clouds to cover the stars and mountains. It was going to be hard to navigate and make sure we were heading in the right direction.

I took out my quarterstaff and started dragging it behind me, making a line in the sand. Every few minutes I looked at the line to make sure it was straight. If there were any curve to it I'd know we'd started turning, which was easy to do in the wilderness with no landmarks. Jörgen started gathering rocks and creating trail markers as we went along as well. It helped make it easier to see my line, and might help future travelers making their way through.

Melima asked about using lightning she could cast over and over again to make a straight line of glass in front of us to help us move forward in the right direction. I really liked the idea, other than it would draw a lot of attention to us frequently.

She suggested using the folding boat we got in Felspring and her decanter of endless water to move us across more quickly. While it was a creative idea, it would make it more likely to get us lost, not less, and the sand would soak up the water pretty quickly.

She asked me if I had a needle that she could make an instrument with that would point north. Sephra gasped. "I have navigator's tools!"

We looked through her pack, and Melima found the instrument she was looking for, a compass. Not the type of compass I'd use in woodcarving to make circles, but a case with a needle that pointed north. Ari'yasa pulled out her spyglass, looking in the direction we were heading. Using the compass, she was able to spot the end of the sandy area and a potential trail.

We had to adjust our course just slightly, but I was glad to know that we hadn't gotten too far off course. Within a couple of hours, the landscape in front of us began to change— breaking up and showing more cliff faces around my height. There definitely were animal trails, and once we got among the cliffs I spotted humanoid tracks. I couldn't tell for sure what they were, but they were always either barefoot or wearing crude shoes.

The sun started coming up soon after we found the trail again, and we found a rock face to put the dome next to. My eyes were strained from staring at the line behind us all night and were glad to get some rest. I fell into a deep sleep quickly.

I woke up to a bright light, the dome had disappeared. It took a second to adjust to the light, but I could hear several sets of footsteps running nearby. I looked in the direction of the noise, pulling Gûdtirith out from beside me to attack if necessary.

A pack of gnolls—hyena-like creatures—were running in our general direction, but it looked like they were running away from something, not coming for an attack. I looked beyond them, but didn't see anything on the ground.

Then I looked up. A large bird was following them. That made sense, gnolls weren't the hardiest creatures, it wouldn't surprise me if a giant hawk could pick one off. But a whole pack running from it?

The bird got bigger and bigger the closer it got to us. While I'd originally taken the wingspan to be as wide as I was tall, I quickly realized it was much wider— four or five times as wide. This bird was a monster of a beast.

Ari'yasa and Sephra were already standing, Jörgen was also just waking up, and Melima was nowhere to be seen. I stood up and whispered to the group, "those small creatures are gnolls. They aren't tough, but they aren't nice either. They're pack animals. That bird though... I've read about them, it's a roc. A giant bird that picks people off and takes them back to its nest to feast."

Melima whispered from somewhere nearby. "It's after the gnolls. Disengage! Sneak away!"

Sephra cast her darkness spell, plunging us into blackness. I reached out to grab Sephra and Jörgen's hands so Sephra could lead us out of the darkness if she needed to. I whispered to Jörgen, "grab Ari'yasa's hand."

The bird let out a terrifying screech. I could generally tell where it was based off of the wing beats and the screech itself, but knowing it was getting closer to us, even if it couldn't see us, was frightening. Hopefully, it would keep going after the gnolls.

Lightning struck nearby, about where the roc would be. There hadn't been storm clouds— Ari'yasa must have stepped out. Jörgen muttered next to me, and an explosion sounded about where the lightning struck. How could he see what he was doing? Hopefully, he wouldn't accidentally get us killed by fighting blind.

I shook my head. "Guys, just let the roc get the gnolls. I have no love for gnolls."

The gnolls ran past us, and by the sound of it, split up. The roc flew by, then one of the gnolls squealed in pain. The squeal lasted only a split second before it turned to a gurgle and stopped.

Sephra whispered. "Be on guard. It got one of the dog things, but is now looking this direction."

"It saw the streak from my fireball. It's looking this way." Jörgen said. How...? His familiar, of course. I was the only one who couldn't see what was going on.

A crack of lightning sounded nearby. Not from the sky, but going sideways towards the roc. Another one almost immediately followed it.

What could I do? I couldn't see anything! I remembered a spell, one that I didn't need to see for. I let go of Sephra and Jörgen and pointed my finger towards where I thought the roc was. I felt like I should lower my hand, just a little bit. I took a deep breath. "Soves bluthel."

I still couldn't see, but I could feel that my radiant bolt hit. It was incredible what I could do with help from Bahamut. Another bolt of lightning sounded from the sky. I doubted that it was paying much attention to the gnolls anymore.

Another explosion sounded near the roc. How badly was the bird hurt? Did we have a chance of killing it, or should we try to run? Would running even work?

Sephra gasped and sent off flames towards the roc. It was closer now. The wingbeats got uncomfortably close. Too close. Sephra screamed as she was pulled away from me. The darkness evaporated, allowing me to see the roc directly above us, holding Sephra.

I cast my mark on the giant bird and let off one arrow after another, burying them deep in the breast of the beast. Now that I could see it, I noticed several scorch marks and curled feathers. It was hurt, but probably still had some strength left.

"Time for a fireball!" Jörgen shouted.

"Jörgen, don't you dare hit me!" Sephra yelled back.

The wizard threw shards of ice at the roc above us. Sephra dodged most of them, but the bird was still too close to get away from them. Jörgen sprayed it with acid, then ducked under his cloak. I followed his lead, avoiding any droplets that might fall.

"We're having chicken tonight!" Melima shouted from behind. I looked at the bird again. Feathers were falling off from where the acid had hit, and its wings beat just a little bit slower than they had been. It couldn't last much longer.

Sephra waved her hands in front of herself and disappeared into a door. A pop sounded behind me— she was safely with the rest of us. I didn't have to worry about it falling from the sky on top of Sephra.

A bolt of energy struck the roc right in the chest, creating a giant hole. The bird fell into the cliffs in front of us. It wasn't going to move again.

The gnolls started coming back towards us with curious faces. We picked up camp quickly and headed south, giving the gnolls a wide berth. With the fact we'd just killed a giant beast they could only run from, they probably weren't going to bother us. I kept my eyes on them though, I knew them as opportunists.