Chapter 81: Dire Bison

The moonlight bathed the darkened hills in silver shades. Stryg and Loh rode up on their centaurs and peaked their heads over a hill, the tall grass serving as cover. A herd of root-bison marched between the hills. Patches of glowing lime light shivered across their dark brown fur in waves. Specks of yellow light traveled through their grey horns and chestnut brown eyes.

But, it was the root-bisons’ hooves that took Stryg’s breath away. The hooves were a pale white, practically bursting in golden light with each step. The grass soaked up the life mana as the herd tread by, leaving the grass behind more vibrant than before.

“There are so many of them,” Rhian marveled in awe.

“I didn’t know creatures could make such a sound,” Stryg muttered at the sight of the rhythmic beating of hooves plodding into the ground.

“I thought root-bison only moved in the day, why are they active now?” Maximus asked.

“They could be chased by a predator, but they aren’t particularly moving fast, so it’s unlikely.” Loh stared up at the sky, “It’s a full moon tonight though, a lot of creatures act differently during nights like this. The root-bison are probably no different.”

“I remember the animals in Vulture Woods would act strange during the full moon too,” Stryg nodded in affirmation.

“Still, this is good for us,” Loh said. “Root-bison do not have great vision, especially at night. I can enhance my vision with my shadow magic and you have perfect night vision, we have the advantage.”

“Except we don’t have good night vision,” Rhian pointed between herself and Maximus.

“True, but it is a full moon. There should be enough light for you not to trip and fall,” Loh grinned. “Just get us close to the root-bison and we’ll do the rest.”

Rhian bit her lower lip, but said nothing. Stryg noticed she was shivering. She was afraid. He knew the feeling well, but tonight was not a night for fear.

“Don’t worry, we have another advantage,” Stryg patted her back.

“Which is?” Rhian looked at him.

“We have the element of surprise,” Stryg smiled wide, his small fangs glinting in the moonlight.

“Exactly,” Loh agreed. “We’ll approach from the back of the herd and try to pick off one of the stragglers. Bison meat is quite delicious.”

“What about those large ones?” Maximus pointed at a few of root-bison far larger than the rest.

“What are those?” Rhian asked with wide eyes.

Even if it was his first time seeing the root-bison, Stryg knew what they were immediately. “Dire creatures. They are born larger and stronger than the rest of their kin. They appear in most species, always rare, sometimes extremely rare, depending on the species.”

“Judging from the dozen or so dire root-bison down there I’m gonna say they aren’t that rare in this species,” Loh smiled wryly.

The dire bison stood at about 12 feet tall. They were spread about the herd, most were in the front, but a few trailed in the back, ensuring no stragglers were left behind.

“We want to avoid the dires. One bison will be more than enough for now. This will serve as good practice for your flame spells,” Loh said.

Stryg looked at her in surprise, “You want me to burn them? I can’t even light a campfire properly.”

Loh shook her head, “You seem to struggle with small precise spells. That’s fine, everyone has their weaknesses. For now we’ll focus on your strengths and take this in parts. Instead of focusing on small and precise, we’ll only focus on precise. I saw how you cast that flame spell during your final exam. I know you have power within you. You just have to channel it properly this time.”

“But won’t the bison be spooked by the fire?” Stryg asked.

Loh winked, “Relax, I have a plan. So long as we only focus on one root-bison we’ll be fine. I’ll encircle them in shadows and pull them away from the herd. At which point you’ll cast a large blast of fire. Just try not to burn them too bad, I do not want to eat burnt meat tonight.”

“...Understood, Master,” Stryg nodded reluctantly.

“Let’s go Maximus,” Loh ordered, her eyes alight with the hunt.

“Wait, can we think about this for a second? Like maybe this is a bad idea?” Rhian said in a trembling voice.

“The predator does not show fear,” Stryg gripped Rhian’s reins.

“What does that even mean?” Rhian whined.

Stryg bit into the soft skin of her nape. His sharp fangs digging in lightly.

“Ow! What was that for!?” Rhian yelled.

“It means we cannot be afraid tonight, we must endure our fears and our pain. This is a challenge. We are in it together and you are failing us right now,” Stryg admonished.

Loh eyed her apprentice with a mix of pride and uncertainty. On one hand she was happy Stryg was always eager to face any test she gave him. On the other hand, it worried Loh how far he was willing to go to prove himself to her.

Rhian caught the look on the drow’s face. The centaur took a deep shaky breath, her Master was right, Loh was clearly testing them both. The pain on her neck must have been her Master’s way of reminding her what was important. She needed to treat this like a performance, as if she was on stage in front of a crowd of cheering fans.

“Thank you for the pep talk, Master,” Rhian said earnestly. She may not like the situation, but she would perform remarkably no matter the odds.

“You’re welcome,” Stryg nodded in approval.

In truth, he had been eyeing Rhian’s uncovered nape for a few hours now and was looking for any excuse to bite her. He licked his lips, he liked the taste. Stryg made a mental note to try and find other reasons to bite her in the future.

The centaurs ran down the hill with swift steps and circled around to the back of the herd. The root-bison marched with a steady gait and didn’t even seem to notice them.

Loh singled out one of the slower bison and pointed at the straggling creature. Stryg caught the signal and urged Rhian forward. She shivered as they drew closer and closer to their prey.

“I wasn't trained for this,” Rhian mumbled under her breath. She held her lance with trembling hands.

“Quiet, I need to focus,” Stryg whispered into Rhian’s ear.

Rhian rolled her eyes, she hated how he could seemingly hear everything.

Stryg wrapped the reins around his arms and pulled himself up, slowly sliding his right foot out of the stirrup. He gingerly placed his right foot on the saddle and leaned to the side in order to have a better view of the bison target. The grass beneath him passed in a blur. He swallowed hard, this had seemed like such a good idea when he had thought of it ten seconds ago.

Loh waved her hands in the air, shadows emerged from her arms and lurched forward, embedding into the bison’s own shadow. The shadow darkened and began to encircle the creature’s legs. Tangible shadows weren’t durable enough to hold against the force of a root-bison’s charge, but it was still enough to cause the creature to trip.

The bison stumbled on the shadows and began to fall away from the rear of the herd. Before it fell, the bison shrugged the shadow tendrils off, regained its footing and hurried back to its kin.

Loh cursed, she cast another shadow spell to trip the creature again. But, Stryg was too eager. He raised his hands and imagined burning the bison and slaying it in one blast. Orange mana surged into his veins with adrenaline close behind. Fire burst from his hand in a blare of orange light. The fire was far larger than Stryg had intended, the flames almost licking Rhian’s side.

She jerked back, taking Stryg with her. The quick movements jostled his hand, the stream of fire running out of control, bathing several bison in a swathe of flame. The burning bison shrieked in agony and rammed into one another. The herd panicked and began to run around in a frenzy.

One of the dire bison in the back spotted the firestarter creature and charged right at him. Stryg was busy trying not to fall off the saddle, unaware of the impending attack.

“Shit! Maximus, get me to Stryg, now!” Loh shouted.

Maximus bellowed a warcry and ran towards the goblin. He swung his battle axe in large arcs, slicing apart any bison that stood in his way. Loh cast blasts of fire to her sides, scaring off any bison trying to rush from the rear. A bison ran at Maximus, he raised his forelegs and kicked the bison’s head to the side, nimbly dodging its horns.

Stryg could feel his left foot slide out of the stirrup. Rhian twisted her upper body as best she could, reached out and caught Stryg by the hood of his cloak.

“Hold on!” Rhian yelled. She grit her teeth and tried pulling him up, gods he was heavy.

“Don’t let go, dammit!” Stryg shouted as he eyed the ground nearing his face.

Rhian kept running while trying to lift him up. The dire bison pushed away the other bison and made a beeline towards them.

“Oh gods, I can’t die here!” Rhian’s eyes widened, she quickened her gallop.

The change of pace only made it harder for Stryg to try and lift himself up, “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Rhian bent her legs and jumped to the left, Stryg flattened himself to her side, dodging the dire bison’s charge by a hair's breadth. The dire bison circled back for another charge.

“Coureis des vindur, coureis des vindur!” Stryg screamed.

A jolt ran down Rhian’s spine. They needed to live. No matter what, she couldn’t let Stryg die. She groaned and pulled as hard as she could, dragging Stryg up. He got back into the saddle, but he didn’t have a chance to slip his feet into the stirrups.

Stryg looked back at the dire bison, “It’s gaining on us!”

Rhian was already on it. She focused on her breathing, her heartbeat, and her legs underneath, connecting her to the earth all around. She could feel the vibrations thundering about, she could practically sense the dire bison coming up from behind them. She needed to make space, she pushed her legs harder than ever before.

The dire bison shook its head in frustration and charged low, its horns aimed at Rhian’s hind legs. The beast was catching up. Stryg raised his hands to cast a flame spell, but to his horror realized he had emptied his orange reserves in the flashy blast of fire earlier.

Stryg reached for his spear that hung from Rhian’s side. He turned his body to face the incoming bison. The centaur’s jostling movements made it difficult for him to aim. He only had one shot to stab the dire beast in the head. But, could he even pierce that thick skull with his spear? Was the spearhead sharp enough, did he have enough strength?

An insane idea crossed his mind. He may have been out of orange mana, but he wasn’t out of the other chromatic colors. Black magic wouldn’t help him here, he could not create tangible shadows and necromancy was useless without a corpse and time. Grey’s drain spell required long periods of physical contact and he had no idea how curse magic actually worked.

What he needed was something else, something simple and direct. He needed unparalleled strength. He reached out for brown mana. The energy flowed into his veins, arms, and back.

A vigor spell was simple in concept, the reinforcement of one’s muscles to enhance one’s strength. Stryg imagined his arms stronger than ever before, he imagined the mana seeping into his muscles and granting him power. The mana felt warm through his body, he raised his arm up high and aimed at the dire bison's head.

The mana fluctuated, Stryg’s body felt hot, his muscles spasmed. He groaned in pain as his arms cramped. The spear slipped out of his hand and fell into the passing grass. He couldn’t stop his stunned body from falling back into the saddle, his head bumping into Rhian’s back.

She glanced behind for a brief moment. Her master was motionless, in shock perhaps. He was not going to be able to help, she needed to protect him. The choice was obvious. She grabbed her dangling reins and threw them around Stryg’s chest. Hopefully it would be enough to stop him from falling.

A bolt of flame splashed over dire bison, it screamed in agony. Loh and Maximus approached from behind the creature.

“Now!” Loh yelled.

Maximus leaped and hurled his axe at the dire bison’s back. The double-sided axe flew through the air and sliced into the beast’s upper hind leg.

Rhian didn’t waste a moment. Her heartbeat slammed into her chest, her breath was hot on her lips, the world seemed as if it had fallen in water, slowed and blurred. Yet, her focus and target were clear. She spun in a circle, gripped her lance tight, and thrust the steel tip straight into the dire-bison’s skull. The lance tip pierced bone and brain in an instant.

Rhian pushed the lance downwards, driving the dead bison into the ground. She skidded backwards with agile steps. The other root-bisons scattered off, rejoining the herd now in the distance. Maximus slowed to a halt.

Loh jumped off and ran to her apprentice, “Stryg, are you alright!?”

“His muscles are troubling him. Perhaps it’s an adverse reaction to the flame magic he used earlier?” Rhian voiced in a cold tone. Her eyes scanned the area for any threats.

Maximus removed his helmet and stared at her. He glanced at the lance stuck into the dire bison’s skull.

“Rhian... that was a very well placed strike,” he furrowed his brow.

Rhian tilted her head. That was a compliment, yes? From Maximus no less. That centaur rarely spoke and she had never heard him say a compliment to anyone. She should have been happy, proud even, but she felt nothing.

Loh pulled Stryg’s frozen body off Rhian’s back. The drow checked his pulse and pulled off his shirt. The goblin’s chest was a mixture of a soft cyan and splotches of bronze.

“How am I not surprised? Stryg will be fine. He just miscast, he’ll be able to move in a while,” Loh ruffled his hair.

Stryg groaned in protest.

Rhian felt the strength drain from her body. Her legs trembled, she fell to her knees.

“That’s good,” she sighed in relief.