They had been playing a road trip game. Creature, plant or mushroom?

Livia stared at a strange, smelly-looking brown pudge sprouting up from the grass by the roadside, trying to figure out if it was a weird mushroom or an animal poop that had somehow managed to land and perfectly encapsulate a big flower? It looked like petals were sticking out.

Before she could figure it out and settle on a guess, the stem twisted as it turned around and stared back. Euh, thank god I’m not alone out here. She’d almost shrieked before quickly recovering. Why did it look offended?

They’d been on the road for over a week now, and it was a cavalcade of fascinating creatures and phenomena passing them by, yet they kept speeding ahead, searching for—

Something more—

Special.

They settled their camp that night and watched the most beautiful sunset settle past the treeline, it seemed to never want to die. Only once another couple of hours passed did Livia grow suspicious. Holy shit, is the light from a forest fire?

Some faces turned to worry at the smell once the smoke reached them. Algernon flew higher to see where the smoke was coming from and reported back. At least it seemed contained to the other side of the river, for now. We’ll need to be prepared in case it comes our way.

“Let’s make sure to note any wetlands we pass by tomorrow, in case we need to head back for cover. But chances are it’s not gonna reach us over here,” She threw it over to the big guy for confirmation. “Ain’t that right, Redd?”

“That’s likely true enough. The Cloven would not let a fire spread, even in their borderlands,”

That calmed down the worrywarts a bit.

Come the following morning the forest fire seemed to have died down. They remained on guard though, since there was no telling what could have ignited it in the first place.

Their aerial scout kept up his vigilance, but even a great, magical bird needed his breaktime every once in a while, which was when he caught a snack and went for a ride on his trusty bird mount, by proxy.

That was when Hyde was slated to take over as the vanguard; in this case accompanied by a spirited Harold who was practically hopping through the forest along the roadside, stopping only to inspect the occasional animal that caught his eye, whilst juiced up off of the purest environment of nature affinity he’d ever stepped foot in.

Meelis was still chattering over every little thing, to an unheeding Kalle who was still looking downtrodden. He’ll get back on that horse. He just needs some time to form a connection, and hopefully an opportunity for Meelis to impress will come along. Yeah, that oughta do it.

Livia’s Skill [Nurture Talent] agreed, this was a hands-off situation. Two steps forward, one step back, it’s still progress. If he doesn’t get over it, I’ll need to make that clear.

Hyde & Roldy were a few hundred meters ahead, when the expedition heard some excited yelping and a sudden holler from the [Druid]. “We found honey!”

When they hollered again mere minutes later, it was in another tone.

Panic.

Baslov’s hunting party caught a caravan, and the fools never saw it coming. He launched an arrow that flew through the air, streaming a toxic energy that would kill from the merest touch, should the victim go untreated.

It struck a woman who toppled. Two others were already lying face down in the dirt, so much mud by this point. Baslov stomped down hard on a splayed hand, making sure of the kill. No reaction. Another weakling.

Baslov looked out across the party of traders. His warriors already busying themselves setting fire to the poor quality Human goods. Splendid.

They did not settle there.

They ranged further south, still wet from fording the river. Until they came upon a greater road, which they followed, ‘til it took them past a farm. They burned it down as well, leaving no survivor. The farmer had been high level, and put up a proper fight compared to the caravan–mostly due to his reinforced compound. But he was ultimately isolated.

They took their time in the morning sun, using toxins and pecks to finish the job. Old Arnault did not die easy.

By this point they were tired, some of them exhausted. They had caused some damage, gotten a win–albeit not against their preferred target. By this point they could still call it a score and cover their tracks. Any investigation from Wapiti could be easily brushed off, by pointing to Human destructive tendencies. It could lead to a large scrip fine, worst case.

The risk for real trouble will increase, should we keep going. Although the Humans must know it is a deserved retaliation, after those horrors they sent our way.

Not a one who had been touched by the necrotic enchantments had survived, despite potions being applied within minutes. This is the price of not dealing with their own mess.

Baslov looked above for guidance, making the customary beseeching pose.

Far, far above, a Yar-Sang System trainee, his first month on the job, shook his head at the thick, chronically drugged up Cloven cartel leader, who didn’t seem to get what its job was. Entertain, you oaf.

Then he used his once-a-week emergency Quest-update for the first time.

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[Punish the southerners for sending troublesome interlopers your way: Chaos caused will result in bonus Exp.]

[2/3 objectives completed for bonus reward. Make the last target count.]

*******************************

Baslov looked to Yolkas–his 2nd–and gave the order, in spite of the [Druid]’s reluctance. “Find us something good, drive them into the ground if you have to,”

Baslov and his hunting party gave up another great bellow at the decision being made. They knew Baslov would not keep pushing if it was not worth it.

All hundred and seven Cloven got a spike of adrenaline at the sight of their illegal warhounds surging–speeding off under magical geas, one enforcing complete servitude.

The hoofed hunters took off after them, and kept hunting apes in their wake.

The world was depicted in shades of grey, although he’d started seeing pinks lately, a recent development. But first off Hyde would always rely on his nose.

The forest was a cacophony of smells and impressions, but you learned to sort out the background noise to focus in on territories and recent movements. Hyde marked each time they entered a new predator's territory, and left them a parting gift each time they exited. Privilege of the stronger pack. Heh.

For the past hour they had relaxed somewhat, having entered the home of a sunbear, who were mostly non-violent, and did not mind them having a share of the bountiful honey that was present by the roadside. Easy pickings when you had a swarm of warrior wasps to call on, although they made sure not to go overboard and kill off the extensive beehive.

Sunbears were respected by travellers due to how they kept large stretches of road safe from other predators, while not bothering with Humans passing through, other than in the rarest of cases. Even Hunters would leave them alone, until the dignified beast’s fur turned to silver in their late age, which was when the real value set in. Had Roldy called them moonbears?

Perhaps that was why Hyde had grown too relaxed not to startle when the familiar smells of childhood hit his nostrils out of nowhere. Did we enter a new beast’s range?

It was certainly the unmistakable smell of a mosswolf, yet that did not seem right. They had been going slow and were not yet far enough from where they’d spotted the bear. When the smell went from one individual to thirty in a hot minute was when Hyde finally realised they were not coming up on a potential rival or friend, but were in fact in big trouble, and he was reacting too slowly.

Hyde let it rip. Owooooooooooooo.

Harold landed next to his buddy and a fallen tree, then focused in on their connection in order to sense what Hyde had noticed. They both fell back swiftly.

The slavering mosswolf pack came into view barely ten seconds later, and passed the spot with the fallen tree merely two minutes after that.

The expedition’s vanguard came in hot and reported precisely what to expect.

Plenty of time. Redd had been preparing the whole group for just such an occasion, but they would all need to pull their weight to get through this safely. A rabid mosswolf pack, no matter how hungry and desperate, should amount to no more than 20 grown individuals. I can take out five with my opening [Combine Assault] and then I will force them to go for the animals over the people, to engage Jane early.

He’d planned this out in his head, over and over. How to take advantage of everyone's Skills and likely reactions. He’d given everyone tasks they could handle, some of which amounted to ‘go hide’.

They placed the civilian Classes in between the two disciplined frontier-horses. Then had Joel cut down two saplings and refine a pair of pikes, which he accomplished in a flurry with his hatchet–they used that porcupine of flashing hoofs and wooden pikes, with Oscar dismounted and placed in the centre, to serve as the boss of the shield–while the rest of their experienced fighters spread out to the sides, so they all had one side covered by the entrenched group where they could fall back if they got overwhelmed; they’d be prepared to fend off any wolves circling for the flanks.

Nothing went as planned.

The hunting pack reached the bottom of the slight slope they’d been travelling down, and this was no twenty strong pack of mosswolves—Redd was forced to immediately reevaluate and made a quick count in his head, only able to make sense of the blurry wave of fur, fang and claws due to his level-enhanced vision. There were nearly twice that many, with even a couple of barghatz stragglers on the tailend, and they came on in a furious, steaming wave, rather than their customary wedge that tapered off into encirclement, if the enemy stood their ground, as they started probing the prey for weaknesses.

This pack behaved completely irrationally; it was a suicide squad.

The realisation made dread settle in Redd’s gut. He didn’t want to believe it, but it was a sure sign that even worse might be coming. Redd had seen these tactics employed only once, by mercenaries in the war. He made the split-second decision to conserve his heavy-duty Skills.

And though he did not learn it at the time–it was a decision which cost him as the oncoming pack drew first blood.

[Rare Quest updated: Deliver your charges to a new, safe home. Reward: Officer Title. Hidden objective: Failed.]

Hyde did not recognise his kin. Not in this state.

They had come on like fiends desperate to slake a flaming thirst that could only be quenched by leaping into the lake that was his pack mates. A wave of flesh and fang. His pack was out of position for a blitz like that, but Hyde had read their movements and made the call to charge and wedge himself low in front of the leader–to soften the charge at Oscar, who braced; they were still overwhelmed by the sheer weight, in the first ten seconds.

From there it was sheer chaos as they got split up. Hyde bit and tackled, pushed off and clawed at eyes, snapping at tendons in reach. He tore and wounded, and for some reason he felt no pain in return, so he kept going.

After a while of not slowing down, he questioned why he was not wounded, and swiftly realised they had overlooked him among their enemies; he was being mistaken for one of their own. Hyde took full advantage as he started picking his spots, taking on the role of a hidden iceberg in the middle of the frenzy, wounding anything that got too close.

Redd’s mighty swings cleaved a beast in two every other second, as he pivoted and positioned to keep things under control. Kalle with Meelis and Harold had been placed on the right, and were now forced to come diving into the middle due to how their formation became so overwhelmed in the first few seconds.

Spells were fired off in quick succession. [Mercurial Wailing Bolt], [Ray of Disarray] and even a wave of [Spore of Dreams], carried on the wings of his wasps.

It wasn’t enough.

Moa came in from the left–throwing herself into the thick of it–using her [Pivotal Leap] to launch herself like an arrow, managing to sever the neck of a bounding wolf who had been aiming for Albert. Three other wolves went for Nicklas and wrenched at a limb each, trying to tear him apart. The people who tried to help were quickly dealing with wolves of their own, and the sheer numbers meant that even their horses were getting shoved aside like foals.

That was when the wave of wolves were assaulted by their doom; a ball of fur sporting two sets of paws with too many digits. Followed by their actual doom; Jane.

She came in like a wrecking ball, ignoring the weight of the wave completely and scattering them like pins. Bones shattered and the momentum was stalled completely as they were faced with 48 levels of fury on behalf of her little friend.

That finally got things back under control, as the charging wave became a hodgepodge mess of exhausted predators that the expedition worked desperately, but efficiently, to put down.

As the last of the beasts gave off piteous whines, Harold dove to make sure of Hyde who was lying under a pile of them, having been mistakenly hit by a striking hoof in the melee at some point, and ending up with cuts all over despite not being specifically targeted.

The rest of them were hardly better off, with everyone sporting at least minor wounds that would take time to stop bleeding.

Harold looked around at the chaos, and didn’t understand how things had gotten out of hand so quickly. He looked over at Redd, who had neglected to break the charging formation. Jane he could understand, she was… Jane. But Redd was supposed to be their warden, their protector.

As he went to confront the man, he noticed how the tension had not lessened one whit. Redd was pulling people to their feet as he called out. “Algernon, swiftly please. Check for anything incoming,”

Harold swept the area with his eyes, looking for anything he might have missed. “What’s going on, is a second wave co-”

The young [Druid] didn’t have time to complete the sentence. As Algernon took to the sky, a cloud of darkness also took off from a nearby tree.

Hundreds of claws and beaks screeched and tore at the proud owl as the [Guild] looked on, helplessly out of range.

Which was when the arrows started falling.