Chapter 23: Hillside Scramble

There was no way he could go straight back towards the relative safety of the crevice behind the boulder, Miguel could see. Sid and Aluna were both looking out from there, and in a couple of strides of its massive legs, the razor-lizard would be directly in between him and them.

That left very few options. Down towards the trees was one... though surely the enlarged beast would rip through the undergrowth with ease?

Up towards the hillside. Could he race up the slope to his left faster than it could?

Or fight.

Would flames scare it off, or at least distract it, he wondered? Miguel lifted the nearest of the remaining torches, and threw it directly in the direction of the razor-lizard. It paused, looking one way and then another, apparently unaware of what had just passed its vision. The torch landed neatly at the beast’s feet, and flames began to lick up its legs. Moments later it reared back, its red eyes trained on the flames at its feet.

It roared in pain, and took a step back.

Notification: You have gained 40XP

Hit points while the beast was still alive, just like in the shared demon-slaying task before. His actions had helped, had made an impact... but Miguel knew that he needed to do more.

Equip bow

The bow sprung to his hand as in the previous tasks, but when he drew the string, no arrow came to his hand. What happened to the ammunition being automatically loaded into the weapons...?

“Shit.”

Equip arrow

He took a chance on the unfamiliar command, and it worked. An arrow appeared in his right hand, already nocked at the bow. He focused, steadied his breath, and let fly. The arrow swooped towards the razor-lizard, missing the eye that he had been targeting, but hitting the beast in its elongated nostril just below.

The creature roared and raised up onto its hind legs once again, coiling its head around towards its own chest, its burned front feet clawing at its own face.

Meanwhile, Sid and Aluna were throwing more rocks from behind, helping to distract it.

Unequip bow

Miguel grabbed one of the remaining torches, and began to sprint up the slope again, not taking the time to look behind him.

The way continued to be difficult and he couldn’t run at full speed for fear of falling, but he could only hope that it would be just as difficult for Razor-lizard Rex as it was for him. Ahead, there were two further boulders with a gap of just a couple of feet between them. Neither were as large as the boulder they had been hiding behind, but Miguel hoped that they might provide something of an obstacle, even for the something as large as the razor-lizard. He dashed between the pair, and continued up the slope as it got steeper towards the summit.

Again he stumbled, then twice, then three times, but he kept going. Now, ahead, he could see how the hill flattened. Its grassy top had a cliff face below it. If he could lead the monster up this way, he could potentially climb back down the cliff, and towards his companions. That, surely, would be a way that the creature couldn’t follow.

He glanced back. Sure enough, the beast was following him, but it wasn’t moving as fast as before as it picked its way past the boulders and up the scree slope. There was no doubt, however, that its beady red eyes were fixed on that.

Perhaps he could change that... He cursed himself for not placing down the torch in between the two rocks earlier, as this might have provided an obstacle. Now, he placed it on the ground (could you unequip a flaming torch, or would it appear at your back, setting fire to your hair...?), and readied the bow.

Equip bow

Equip arrow

He would have to equip an arrow every time, he presumed, but that would become a habit quickly enough. Now, some twenty yards ahead of the mutated monster-dinosaur-demon as it approached, he focused hard, and then let fly. His aim was true this time, and he hit the beast directly in its eye, causing it to let out an even louder and angrier bellow. It stopped, scrabbling at his face once again.

Notification: You have gained 40XP

Unequip bow

Miguel didn’t stay to watch the effect of his successful shot. Hoping that he had delayed the creature enough for his plan to work, he picked up the torch and ran on.

Now he found himself reaching the grassy summit of the hill, and he was able to hit top speed as he ran, the wind rushing through his hair. To his right, he could see the forest, as well as a vast oval lake that he had only glimpsed through the bushes before. To the left was more forest, and directly ahead, a chain of hills that rose up towards a cluster of mountains with snowy peaks. This really was a vast arena.

Notification: You have gained 10XP

That was a good sign. It must mean that the razor-lizard had lost sight of him, at least temporarily. Perhaps it had even turned away.

Having reached the area above the cliff, Miguel paused, and got down to his knees. He had hoped to see large, blocky areas of rock that he could clamber down, and from there circle back to his team. But what he saw was very different. The rock face below his knees was very smooth, and also concave. He didn’t have enough faith in his own skill as a rock climber to attempt to go down that way... and in truth, he wasn’t sure that anyone could climb down a rock face like that without ropes and equipment.

Still on his knees, Miguel looked ahead. The summit continued along ahead, fairly flat with the occasional rocky ridge, before descending towards the next hill. The creature would certainly have the upper hand if he ran that way. His speed would help at first, but there would be no place to hide. And who knew how many other razor-lizards might be in that direction – not to mention enemy teams?

He looked back. There was still a roaring and thumping to he heard. Miguel was sure the razor-lizard was still approaching, but it was still temporarily out of sight on the slope behind him.

He had to act fast.

Thinking about the equipment he had just picked up, he began to ask himself if he would have any chance at all of taking it down alone. Another shot to take out its other eye, perhaps, then equipping the axe or the daggers, clambering back up onto its back and slitting its throat...

Then he recalled how easily it had despatched the other razor-lizard, and shook his head. No. They were going to need to do this as a team, and with a plan in place.

What else did he have...?

Then he remembered:

Equip spade

The ground here was soft here, like the area below the boulder. If he was very quick, perhaps if he could dig some kind of hole, so that he would again be out of reach of the creature. From there could shoot at it without being bitten or clawed. But it would need to be at least four feet deep, and narrow.

He began to dig, and sure enough, the ground gave way easily beneath the spade. He flung huge shovelfuls of it off to the side and over the cliff, hoping as he worked that that noise would cause some distraction for his pursuer.

It wasn’t long, however, before Razor-lizard Rex was back in view. Still walking on all fours, its claws splayed out from its feet, its blue scales were covered in blood – though most of that was from its recent victim, Miguel knew. Not the blood on its face, though, from its damaged nostril and ruined right eye. It had multiple woulds on its flank and neck, too, from its previous fight.

Perhaps because of the damage it had sustained, Razor-lizard Rex was moving more slowly, too. It was limping slightly, its scorched front legs looking a little unsteady. It was a vast monster, though, and no doubt had a lot of fight left in it.

The hole at Miguel’s feet was now about three feet deep, and he knew that if he could just get a little deeper he could huddle out of reach of its vast head, and shoot it with impunity. Perhaps he could even finish it off. That would be some experience points boost, he supposed. A real bonanza.

He threw the torch in its path in the hope of slowing it, and then kept digging. Another shovelful of earth, and then another. He was standing in the hole up to his waist, now... but the monster was only ten yards away, now rounding the flaming torch. A couple more spadefuls was the best Miguel could possibly manage, and then he would have to hunker down, and hope against hope that he had done enough to put himself out of reach.

And then, Miguel found himself falling...

...his arms flailed around as he fell, and he thought about how very high the cliffs were. Was this the end of this particular contest? For all of his recent good shooting, he surely hadn’t done enough. The small dot of light was disappearing above him, the hole that he had been digging somehow having broken through to a vast cave below.

Unequip spade

He thought to unequip the spade to free his hands and be ready to try to somehow break his fall. The spade had just slid around to his back, when there was a huge splash, and he was aware of a shock across his entire body as he hit a pool of water.

You have lost 3 hit points You have 16 hit points remaining Notification: You have gained 20XP Feat: Acrobatics. You have gained 50XP

Miguel groaned, only to realize that his face was still in the water. He spluttered and tried to stand up, and found that the water couldn’t me more than two feet deep, and the surface beneath was flat enough to stand. Gasping, coughing, he tried to look around... and saw only darkness.