It was a full three days before my Reaper title picked up Javier’s location. That gave me a good estimate of how far the tracker reached. I figured it was around a thousand miles. It wasn’t a perfect estimate though as the barge was traveling away from us almost the entire time.

It seemed that whoever was giving the orders on the barge wanted to get into South America. Probably to avoid exactly what was happening right now. Maybe they figured if they got far enough away, even if I could track them that I would just write it off. Well, they didn’t know me very well. The barge I didn’t care too much about, it could be replaced but I had grown to like Javier. He was quiet but worked hard. I treated him and Maria more like siblings than employees.

I tried to follow the path of the barge as closely as I could. It would seem whoever was in control skirted over the Pacific Ocean to avoid the larger population centers. That was probably smart, seeing as Mexico City looked like a wasteland and we saw no fewer than a dozen ongoing magical fights as we flew over. They could be easily seen as they lit up the night sky in dazzling color. It made me wary of what was down there. I knew anything that had survived this long and was constantly fighting was likely to be near my level if not higher.

We were forced to stop on the fifth day to resupply. It was only thanks to the barge stopping as well. The area we stopped in would have been an ideal place to live. Rolling hills dotted with trees with a backdrop of snow-capped mountains to the west. All things that weren’t there prior to the system. I believed we were somewhere near Honduras but I couldn’t be certain. The new landmass really threw off my sense of scale. It was large, extending far beyond the line of sight.

As for the reason it wasn’t ideal, that would have to do with the locals. The three-meter tall quadrupeds were a mix between a rhino and an elephant with the temperament of a pissed-off grizzly bear. We hadn’t been on the ground for more than ten minutes before a group came charging at us.

I fired off a few spells as I started backpedaling toward the fortress. It only seemed to enrage the creatures more. I could outrun them or outfly them but Maria couldn’t, so Ska and I needed to keep the creatures occupied until she got on board.

They finally got into the range of Identify and I got a look at what we were dealing with.

Gorlophant | Level 26

“Ska, try to break them up, we need to keep them away from Maria and the fortress!” I yelled.

“I can help, Mr. Paul!” Maria shouted as she ran.

“Get to the fortress first, then hit them with your spells. We can’t afford to be held up if more of these creatures appear.”

I saw her reluctantly nod from the corner of my vision as she started running again. I wasn’t going to be holding back in this fight, and she would be in danger as much from me as she would be from the creatures. My helmet appeared on my head, sealing around the armor and activating the aura.

The closest gorlophant skidded to a stop and trumpeted out a challenge before it came right for me.

I fired off an Annihilator Sphere, impacting the creature right in its massive chest. There was a blackened mark where the spell impacted but its Endurance was high enough that it shrugged off the special effect. I cursed, readying one more spell before the beast was upon me.

I fired off Energy Lance, managing to hit the massive creature in the side of its head. It didn’t slow but it distracted it long enough that I was able to activate Unstoppable Force and my wings.

I collided with the mountain of muscle and was sent bouncing across the terrain.

I only took minor damage as my spell wore out near the end of my tumble. I wasn’t sure quite what happened, but if I had to guess, the creature had a similar skill as Unstoppable Force but of a higher level. When I looked up I could see the creature shaking off its disorientation from the impact.

I looked to see how Ska was holding up. He had two of the creatures trying to pound him into the dirt with their massive feet. But he was dancing around them and slicing up their thick hide. Even that was only enough to produce a trickle of blood.

I quickly got to my feet as the last two were charging my way.

“I guess brute force isn’t going to do it today,” I groaned. I cast an Overcharged Frostwave at the rapidly approaching pair.

One of the behemoths slipped and fell on the ice but the other one avoided the majority of the spell’s effect, it was still slowed though.

It swung its thick barbed trunk at me and I cast Time Shudder to avoid the attack and smacked it with a combination of Corrupting Touch and Calcifying Strike. It grunted in pain and reared back to try and flatten me as a bolt of corruption struck its flank, care of Maria who was now at the top of the ramp with the door open.

I wanted to stay and kill off these creatures but I could already hear angry trumpet calls in the distance along with the thunder of more feet.

“Ska! Hamstring them as best as you can and run for the fortress, we gotta get out of here, more are coming.”

I didn’t wait for a reply, I fired Clinging Spray at the one next to me and started to run. The first one I had stunned was back up and charging me again. I threw a wave of Disruption across my path, preventing the creature from easily getting to me and the fortress. Maria had smartly run inside to open the inner door and prep for takeoff.

Ska passed me, heading for the ramp and I looked behind to see three beasts bearing down on me. I decided to give my new spell a test and cast and Overcharged Brimstone right in the path of two of them.

Nobody likes fire, except maybe fire elementals, and these weren’t them. They tried to halt their charge but both skidded into the wall. They came out the other side shrieking and hopping around, trying to put the demonic fire out. The third one bolted for the hills when he saw his fellow gorlophants blazing away. I didn’t stick around to watch as I cast Regenerating Rain over the area the fire was at. I had learned that the spell counted as holy water. I didn’t want to extinguish the beasts but I also didn’t want a hellfire-based wildfire to spread.

It worked as the fire went out and the burned beasts healed. They had lost their frenzy to kill us however and ran off to join their other pack mates.

There was one upside, the one affected with Corrupting Touch and Calcifying Strike had succumbed to its wounds. The experience was enough to jump Maria all the way to level thirteen. Considering she had helped fight off something over twice her level, it was no surprise. Ska had earned some experience as well, being in the same party, but it wasn’t enough to push him over twenty. I figured he had to be getting close though.

***

After our run-in with the gorlophants, we didn’t stop anywhere long. When we did, Ska would go and hunt some food down. Even with that supplementing our food supplies it wasn’t enough and I had to break out the MRE’s to everyone's disappointment.

It took another week to catch up with the barge. We were now trailing behind it, waiting for it to land before I decided what to do. The chase had taken us into what I assumed was Columbia based on having passed the Panama Canal, what was left of it anyway. The massive landmass that had been attached, continued all the way to South America, making the passage a dead end.

It was no surprise that the barge drew considerable interest among the locals. A few vehicles even tried to chase it down and fired spells at it, but the thick metal and height of their passage made it hard to damage.

It did allow me my first look at what the people aboard were capable of as they fired a few spells in return. There was a lot of yelling and back-slapping from the group on board, making me think they were not all that old. I glanced at Maria, trying to see her reaction. She looked angry and I swear I heard her mutter something under her breath but I didn’t catch what she said.

The barge continued until it lost its pursuers and eventually set down in a jungle valley. No roads led into the valley but a large rock-strewn area near a river made an ideal landing spot.

The last rays of the sun were setting as I saw the people onboard light a few fires. A rough estimate made me think there were about twenty kidnappers. I hadn’t spotted Javier yet, but I assumed they kept him in the control room. I still wasn’t sure how they had gotten into it but it was a security issue I would try and resolve.

We found a spot a few miles away and I used the fortress to shove trees aside. It wasn’t perfect but I didn’t want to spend hours looking for an ideal landing spot, only to have the barge take off again.

“Ok, there are a lot of hostiles and we don’t have a good idea of their levels. We can’t let them harm Javier, so let's try to do this quickly and quietly. Ska, I want you to retrieve Javier while I pull the people toward me. Maria, stick close to me so I can heal you and run if I tell you to, understood?”

She nodded and Ska grinned at me.

“If it looks like a fight we can win, once Ska gets Javier away from them, we will deal with their group. If it looks like they could be more trouble than they are worth, we will retreat to the fortress and use it to obliterate the area.”

Neither commented on the plan. I left it as simple as possible knowing things were likely going to change quickly.

“Alright, gear up, and let's go rescue Javier.”