Chapter 25: Deadly Showdown

Ricky didn't remember much about what had happened over the following couple of hours that he spent in beast-form. His consciousness had flickered in and out, as if the mind of the wolf was contaminating his thinking, just as its physical form had taken a firm grasp of his body.

But now he was experiencing a moment of clarity. Perhaps it was a new notification that had snapped him out of his mental fog:

*Quest 037 complete: Travel through the hills towards Roker Bridge and Imperialis. +30XP

He had feasted deeply – that much he remembered – and then continued to hurry down the mountain river. At some point this had led him to the main river – a vast, slow–moving stripe across the land, at least ten times the width of the mountain stream by which he had fought the fish-warriors. On its far bank was the fringes of the forest. On the near side began a marshy are that appeared to descend into impassible swamps in places.

He would have to pick his way carefully, staying close to the river bank.

As he walked on, his newfound lucidity allowed him to take stock of his situation, as well as certain facts about the beast-form itself. There were some differences from being a true wolf, and these were not purely to do with his physical shape. For one thing, he still had his armor and pants, though these had perhaps adapted to his broader shoulders and longer limbs. Other things were gone, though, just as before. That is to say, his other garments and possessions had been temporarily absorbed into his body during the transformation. Presumably, that even included the orb.

At some point – though Ricky didn't remember it – he had pulled the arrow from his thigh, and despite not having bandaged the wound, it had now stopped bleeding.

Perhaps feasting in beast-form could heal him, just like the beef jerky had on the wagon? But if there had been healing notifications, he had been too occupied to notice them.

Guide, health update?

“You now have 44 hit points remaining, Ricky. And you are no longer poisoned.”

Hmm, he thought. So perhaps beast-form has a better immune system, too.

Guide, why do I keep blacking out?

“Beast-form affects your cognitive function, Ricky. I can't provide more information than that. You will need to discover its limitations through trial and error, or else by asking a fellow guild member.”

Right.

*Quest 040 (level 2): Find out more about the limitations of beastform.

He stopped to take a drink from the bank of the great river, carefully picking his way down the grassy bank on the nearside. Again, he looked towards the forest. It ran right up to the opposite bank and overhung the water, lush and green and tangled, with vines hanging from some of the lower boughs. The closest trees were not enormous, but further back he could see hugely tall pines and redwoods emerging from the canopy. It was noisy – a multitude of bird calls, and more – something deeper. A low whooping sound.

Monkeys?

Monsters?

It was hard to tell.

Ricky looked down at his own reflection as he drank. While the rippling of the water obscured this slightly, he could still make out his face clearly enough. Or rather – a wolf’s face, wide, grey haired and with pointed ears on the top of his head. He snarled, revealing rows of sharp, white teeth.

His eyes were glowing, too, and he leaned closer. Yes – one was glowing green, and the other white, giving him a lopsided and quite terrifying appearance. Why was that? It occurred to him that the orb, too, was green, while the ancient family ring that he had carried for years contained a white gem.

Standing, he clambered back up the bank on all fours, and then began to lope southwards along the river.

And soon the marshlands were all around him.

Ricky paused.

He was aware that the beast had again taken hold of his thoughts again for a period, but he didn’t know for how long.

What was clear was that the day was getting late, now, with afternoon beginning to turn into evening.

And as he once again experienced a moment of clarity, he could see – right ahead of him – a lizard that was as large as him, or even larger. Its red scales had a hint of brown, and they gleamed in the light of the dying sun.

It wasn’t not one of the standard korapta lizard beasts this time – that he was sure of. In fact, he had never seen anything like it. For one thing, it was standing upright. It was humanoid. That was what had given him pause initially. The other lizards had been quadrupeds. This was a scaled creature too, and no different in most respects. An animal. But the way it stood upright, its hands readied at its sides almost like fists, made him wary.

It was also larger than the ones back on the road, though he didn’t think it was quite as huge as the one which had eaten Spanch in the forest. But there was something different in the way this one responded to him. It looked alert and focused, though by the look of those teeth, just as dangerous. This was a creature that was well fed. A hunter.

Guide – enemy stats!

***

Creature encounter

Half-dragon.

Medium humanoid, speed 4.

Weapon: jaws.

Damage: 4–15 per hit.

Weapon: claws.

Damage: 1–3 per hit.

Armor: heavy, natural hide.

***

So, Ricky thought, this was a half-dragon rather than a different type of korapta lizard. But it was much larger than the one he had slain at the safe house. A monster, a champion among its kind, perhaps...? If this meant that the beast had special abilities, it wasn't yet clear what these might be. Were these humanoid creatures intelligent, or were they more like guard dogs, trained by mercenaries to fight? So far, he wasn't sure.

Ricky took a step back, his feet squelching in the mud. The marshy area all around was narrowing now, its extent squeezed between the great river to the east and the hills to the left. Ahead, the land was passable, but only just.

As Ricky stepped back again, the red-scaled half-dragon took a corresponding step forward, its jaws widening.

He had the knife clutched in his hand, though he didn’t recall drawing it. Perhaps he could kill this foe with a slice to its jugular, just underneath its chin. Surely it wouldn’t be expecting that? But all the same... something about the creature struck him as too smart for simple attacks. It was ferocious, yes, and terrifying. But its movements almost mimicked his own, and there was a watchful, respectful manner to its expression. He was sure that it was strategic, weighing him up with every passing moment.

Or was it the lycanthropy and loneliness really beginning to drive him really crazy?

“Quiet, now,” Ricky murmured, holding out his palms, and using the calm, crooning voice he had used on the stray dogs near their residential block as a kid. There had been plenty back then. Back when there had been things to eat, and when people had been able to work. Before that settlement (like so many in the Old World) had become untenable, and he had begun the long, horrendous journey towards New Baravia.

“Quiet,” he crooned again, and once more it seemed like the beast responded. The area at the side of its ears flared, and its mouth closed a little, though the rows of sharp white teeth were still visible. There was a slight inclination of the ferocious, alien head.

It was listening.

Ricky took one more step backwards, and this time his heel caught upon the stone, which clacked loudly on another, bounced, and then splashed into a pool off to one side. He looked down, momentarily distracted, and when he looked up again, he saw the lizard dropping to all fours and then diving into the water off to one side. He followed it with his eyes for some thirty yards; where it went after that, Ricky couldn’t see.

He sighed.

It wasn’t to be his dinner, that was clear, but neither was he having to fight for his life. Or at least, not yet. But if it could move that easily through the water, it could easily follow on either side, and ambush him when he least expected it.

He continued, his wide lupine feet still squelching, moving away from the larger pools, and staying as watchful as he could despite his mental fatigue. The waterlogged surroundings had plenty of pools and rivulets, but it wasn’t impassible, and with care he could stick to the high ground.

And now, looking ahead, he could finally make out the first sign of a settlement.

It was no city, nothing like Imperialis, that much was clear. In fact, it looked more like a cluster of villages.

Guide – is that Roker Bridge?

“Would you like to look at the map, Ricky?”

Yeah, of course.

This time when the map appeared, it was larger, more zoomed-in. And Ricky could see shapes, just like he had seen back at Barrowdale. On the other side of the river were a cluster of blue circles and red dots, with a great deal more – mainly the red dots that indicated NPCs – marking the edge of the nearby settlement. One of the blue circles that he could see had the precious black ring around it. An ally – and not far away.

*Quest 041 (level 2): Identify the ally nearby.

Closer, though, there was a single large green star off to his left, very close by... What was it that the guide had said? Any larger creature will show as a green star.

“Shit.”

Dismissing the map, Ricky began to run, and as he did so, there was a splashing behind him. He jinked to the left, closer to the river... Can werewolves swim? He was none too sure about that. Transforming back to human form was an option – as a human he could swim well, at least in the real world – but he had already seen how much less effective his human self was in a fight.

No, he decided, as he leaped to the next low hillock among the marsh, a rounded area perhaps four yards in diameter.

If he was going to have to face this thing, it would be as equals. Monster to monster.

Moments after making that determination, Ricky felt jaws clamp around his ankle, and he yelled.

*Damage report: You have lost 6 hit points (38 remain).

He staggered backwards and fell, then stabbed his knife down towards the head of the half-dragon. Its beady eyes were staring at him as he moved, and his foe twisted at the last moment, the knife glancing off its tough hide as it rolled and stood up, water pouring down across its thick red scales.

Moments later they were both standing once again, facing each other within the muddy circle provided by the hillock, each circling slowly.

Their own tiny arena, Ricky realised.

Then he darted forward, grappling the beast and snapping out with his own powerful wolf jaws, while taking a bite to the arm in return.

*Achievement: Crunching bite! You have used your jaws to break the bone of an enemy. +20XP

*Damage report: You have lost 5 hit points (33 remain).

And indeed, Ricky knew that his bite had been powerful, clamping down on his opponent's shoulder area with a sweetly satisfying connection. How hard was this thing going to be to kill? One thing was for sure – its hide was tough, and it had taken a really good bite to cut through it.

The half-dragon now wrenched itself away from Ricky and then launched a furious counter attack, biting and clawing without landing any especially harmful blows.

*Damage report: You have lost 1 hit points (32 remain).

*Damage report: You have lost 3 hit points (29 remain).

*Damage report: You have lost 2 hit points (27 remain).

Ricky parried the majority of his foe’s claw attacks, one after another, but his attention was still focused on the shoulder area where he ripped off some of the protective scales, and had drawn blood.

Sweet, captivating blood...

Ducking under another pair of raking blows, he clasped onto the lizard and bit down again, this time taking a large mouthful of broken bone and flesh. And then he began to suck.

The blood filling his mouth tasted even more delicious than he had expected, and as he gulped down a further mouthful of gristle and scales, Ricky noticed a surprising pair of updates:

*Achievement: Healing draught! You have found plant or animal extract that has healing properties. +10XP

*Healing report: You have gained 2 hit points (29 remain).

However, grappling at such close quarters had also allowed the half-dragon to bite down upon Ricky once, twice...

*Damage report: You have lost 4 hit points (25 remain).

*Damage report: You have lost 9 hit points (16 remain).

In response he punched out, and then bit down on the wounded area again, hard, leading to a groan from his opponent.

*Achievement: Brutal combat! You have traded multiple blows with a closely-matched enemy. +20XP

*Healing report: You have gained 1 hit point (17 remain).

At last wrenching itself clear, the half-dragon now stepped back into the edge of the water, groaning and spluttering in pain, and the pair circled each other once again.

His hunger temporarily sated, Ricky decided that it may be worth taking a different tack. For his hit points were getting dangerously low – he couldn't afford to keep taking damage. This enemy’s maximum damage was 15, and he only had 17 left. A couple more bites would finish him.

“You're intelligent,” he called out, licking his lips as he spoke. “You're no animal. You're just like me.”

The warrior narrowed its black eyes but said nothing.

“We should form a truce,” continued Ricky. “There are plenty of fish and koraptas to eat. Why risk death against such a strong opponent. We could both mortally wound each other right here, and drop dead in the swamp. Neither gains a thing from that.”

But still the wounded lizard circled, showing no sign of giving up.

Guide – what’s my speed again?

“Your speed stat is 3, Ricky. That compares to 4 for the half-dragon.”

Thanks for that.

Ricky knew that he couldn’t outrun his foe, and he certainly couldn’t move through the water better than it did. There was nothing else for it – he would have to kill the beast, or die trying.

Stepping forward, he charged in, raising the knife in his hand, and felt the misty dulling of his awareness once again as the beast took over...

Accumulated XP: 1590 (unspent: 90)