5.14

“Many people go on adventures, to explore the wider world. There are indeed many things that are worth seeing, but the large majority of travelling is simple boredom. Walking on an endless road with little to see but dirt and grass.” - Lithian the Dust Treader.

We made a strange group.

A line of loose travellers, some fighters, the others just plain civilians. Travelling along a road by the barest sense of the term. It was little but slightly flattened ground with the occasional stone or boulder by the side, marking where the road ended and the wilderness began.

Given the fact, I was differently statted. “Slow.”

I had to remain towards the back of the line, where only Utoqa was with me, having matched my pace.

Unlike others, all Utoqa did was walk beside me, he occasionally jerked his head to the side as he spotted some movement, but for the five-ish hours we’ve walked together, we didn’t exchange a single word of conversation.

I have never met a person I liked more.

It was around midday where the group ahead began to slow down.

Straining my eye, I saw them stop to sit and rest around a clearing at a crossroads. There was a small pile of stones in between the intersections and what seemed to be a massive bleached ribcage towering over the clearing.

Noam slowed as the others did. He saw it long before he reached it, the pillars of white contrasted against the woody browns and greens all around him.

His voice too drifted to a slow stop as he stepped into the clearing. It was small but could accommodate their motley group, with two other paths branching out toward the side. Between the intersection of the two roads was the unassuming pile of stones, and towering around the clearly were eight- no, ‘nine’ he thought as he spotted one slightly obscured by bushes. Nine massive bony ribs, enclosing the area like a cage. Each at least three times taller than himself, with the longest looking like it was eight metres tall at the least.

Some of the people towards the front headed towards the small of stones, Celine one of them. They picked up or took out small pebbles, tossing it onto the pile, before turning to the clearing and making camp. Celine meanwhile took out a flask of something, pouring some clear liquid onto the pile as she muttered some quiet words.

“What are they doing?” he asked around him.

One of the people, a brown-haired kid who looked as old as he was, said, “Oh they’re just paying respects to Bundriroc.”

He searched his mind for the name, one from that thickass book Dustin dumped onto his lap and expected to memorize. “That’s the wild god of the Elder Pantheon? What’s a pile of rocks got to do with him?”

“His shrines are piles of rocks, specifically those marking boundaries,” the kid continued, pointing towards the intersection, “that pile shows where the road ends and the wilderness begins, Bundriroc keeps them separate, so something won’t wander into the roads and we don’t wander into the wild.”

Noam supposed that made sense for a guy called Boundary Rock, though the spelling was a bit different. He walked forward, stooping for a moment to pick a random stone off the ground, before throwing it onto the pile as well.

Celine just finished her short prayer as he neared. “What’d you pour?” he asked.

“Animal oil,” the mage replied, “most people just throw rocks but Baba said oil is better if you’re being devout.”

“Huh,” Noam replied, he extended a hand, “can I get some as well?”

“Erm… Sure?” she said as she handed the flask to him, “You can ask for some luck or safety as you travel the roads, but don’t ask for too much. And don’t expect it to be answered.”

“Got it,” he answered with a smirk as he took the flask. After swishing it around a few times, he poured a smaller amount, aware that this was Celine’s and not his. “I want to see something new,” he quietly said.

He heard Dustin’s slow but steady footsteps behind him, corking the flask, he handed it back to Celine. “Thanks.”

“...Can you get anything from the bones?” Dustin casually asked Utoqa as they neared.

Noam noticed that Celine, imperceptibly flinched a bit, as if surprised those two were nearby. For some reason, she seemed to avoid Dusts and particularly Utoqa.

“I do not believe so,” the lizardfolk replied, “it is old bone. Bleached. It might be empty of power.”

“Don’t ruin the scenery man,” Noam complained. There was an ominous feeling in the bones, but not something threatening, as if the bones were saying he would be fine so long as he stayed within them.

“Please don’t,” Celine quietly whispered, “don’t mess with holy sites please…”

Dustin turned to her, “Whose is it?”

“Bundriroc,” Noam answered, “throw a stone on the pile, apparently it’s good luck or something.”

The myconid raised an eyebrow, before shrugging and picking up a rock to throw onto the pile.

“It is strange though,” Celine said, pulling her cloak tighter around her, “the pile is a lot smaller than it should be-”

Whatever she was trying to say, was interrupted by a roar so loud the ground seemed to shake as Noam threw his hands over his ears.

It ended quickly, ears ringing, Noam asked, “Hey is there a god of conspicuous timing or something?”

“WHAT?” Dustin yelled as he held his cap. “WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY EARS?”

It felt like my entire damn body was vibrating.

Given the fact I had yet to locate my ears, or whatever magical hearing organ I have, I could only ineffectually cover my cap as the sound rattled me to my damn core.

It felt like the sound was shaking throughout my entire body. By the time the ringing ended, I barely caught Noam saying something as Utoqa jerked his head outside the clearing.

I saw it.

Large, quadruped and shelled. Standing at almost three metres tall, it lightly resembled an Ankylosaur except it had a long protruding neck that raised its maximal height by another two metres. The creature’s head wasn’t armoured, yet it bashed its skull into the rib cage. Roaring as it did so. Stumpy beak-like mouth, crushing type, a nut eater?

It slammed the side of its head into the ribs again, what was it doing? There was enough space that it could’ve just entered and attacked us.

Besides us, the oil on the stones lit aflame.

“Oh no,” Celine said, her eyes widening, “That’s bad.”

The creature slammed it’s head into a protruding rib again, and the flames seemed to intensify.

“Oh,” Declan said, “that’s what it does.”

Utoqa and Noam already had their weapons drawn. A single glance towards the tiefling’s direction had him blasting off, the lizardfolk following immediately after.

They would be able to make a dent in it, but this needed to be ended as quickly as possible. I walked forward, singling Tai from the crowd. Her weapon was drawn and she shot towards the creature, but I yelled at her,

“Tai! Use your hard hitter! We will keep it in place!”

She glanced towards me, nodding as she ran behind the two. With both hands, she held her sword in front of her, eyes slowly focusing as Utoqa and Noam circled the creature.

No attack had been made yet. For this thing was large enough it could seriously damage a squishy with its thrashings. Judging by the way the ground shook as it slammed its head, only Utoqa and I can take a hit unscathed.

My finger itched as I neared it. Last to do so as everyone had already taken positions. Yellow was on my head, helping me keep track of the burning pile of stones.

“Greenie swap with Yellow,” I said. CC was more useful here.

I raised a hand, feeling the tenseness of the situation. Tai likely felt it the most, beads of sweat falling down her face as she stared down the creature.

The flame sputtered out as it ran out of oil.

One of my fingers burst as I used Pacifying Spores, the racial skill puffing the creature at close range. The thing shook its head in confusion, and as it did so blood splattered onto the ground. Its head was bleeding, what the hell was its purpose?

The thing seemed to sight me and roared again. Its beak-like mouth sending spittle across my face.

There were no canines inside the creature’s mouth, the beak tip wasn’t sharp enough to tear flesh. It was a damn herbivore.

Utoqa and Noam moved in almost in unison, slicing the thing’s unprotected ankles, letting it crash to the ground. Utoqa smoothly transitioned into slashing its back, but his tomahawk only left a deep scratch in the shell. Noam moved away, the thing was in its death throes as it slammed its head into the rib one more time.

Tai delivered the final hit.

Her blade flashed once and the creature was cut in half from the shoulder to the back leg. It let one final, weak roar as it fell dead.

Letting out an exhausted breath, Tai said, “Good… I can’t manage more than one Act at a time.”

What the hell was this thing’s deal?

Utoqa didn’t sheathe his weapon, instead, he scanned the surrounding wilderness, body taut as he searched for another threat hiding somewhere. While Noam joined me as I examined its head.

“It was bashing its head,” I muttered, “Why?”

The creature was likely a herbivore, its beak and shell both showed this. Indicating it was likely a passive creature. It was unlikely that it was attacking us if it even was ‘attacking’. No, it seemed more interested in slamming the side of its head into the rib than attacking us.

Examining the head, I found small holes, natural, likely its ears. That side was heavily bruised as blood leaked freely.

“It was bashing its ears against the rib,” I muttered in a realisation that only lead to more questions. “Why?”

“No clue, I was hoping you had an idea.”

“Its actions were strange,” Tai said as she joined us. Her sword already sheathed. “Might be a disease of some kind.”

“Could be,” Noam said behind me. Yet their voices seemed to fade as I noticed something in the blood that soaked the ground.

Words. Words were written in blood.

‘Fear the Deafening Silence.’

“Do you see that?”

“What?” Noam asked.

I blinked. It was just normal blood, splattered on the ground. No words were written in it.

“You didn’t see that in the blood?” I asked again.

“What was in the blood?” Tai asked.

Shaking my head, I said, “Nothing, I must’ve imagined it.” Though mentally, I memorised the event.

“I’ll keep track of it as well,” Declan said, “strange shit is happening.”

Belatedly we set off. Many theories were thrown about the ‘Thunder Shell’s’ strange rampage, most people settled on some kind of strange disease. Something like rabies. It was a probable explanation. I didn’t deem myself knowledgeable enough to know the symptoms of such a subject. The event was unsettling, but as the sun reached midday, we were on the move. Safe spot the shrine may be, we didn’t want to stay in the wilderness when night set. Especially when the nearest town was so close.

People were visibly relieved as the town entered sight. Some even hastening as the sunset drew long shadows on the ground.

Noam was waiting for us at the small gate as the others talked to the one guard. The woman opened the gate and let us in.

“Welcome to Lake Bayt I suppose,” the guard said with a drawl as we passed by.

“We’re probably the most interesting thing that happened to her,” Noam whispered to me. “Small town, nothing new happens, I can see it already.”

I raised an eyebrow, even behind the fences I saw that the town was rather large. Thirty or so buildings with many of them constructed of stone, though not many had lights on. Probably related to the fact we were in an era akin to mid-industrialisation. Light sources must not be widely available yet.

Following our group, we neared one of the larger, two-story buildings. An inn with the sign naming it ‘The Owls’ Roost’.

Looking around, I barely noticed Celine, even further behind us and shrouded by her cloak. Tai was way in front of us, taking the lead for the group as she booked a room.

We slowly streamed into the inn. The place was a lot emptier than I expected, fewer than five people were already inside the dining hall which could have housed a few dozen people at most. Our group streaming in filled the majority of the space, with a line forming by the counter as people rented rooms.

Noam dumped his bags to the side as he took a seat by an empty table. Utoqa and I shortly joined him, seeing the line not shortening anytime soon.

“Fuuuuuck I’m tired,” he groaned as he stretched his arms. “God those bags were heavy.”

Towards the centre of an inn, a man struck a note on what seemed to be a lute.

“Weary and beaten, so many travellers have come.

To this dirty piece of nowhere, they must be dumb…”

Noam looked around for a waiter, but the only employee seemed to be a young girl rapidly checking in the line of people.

“Looks like a while before food,” I said, to which Noam sighed as he fell back defeated into his chair.

“I can provide mushrooms?” I helpfully suggested.

Without opening his eyes, he muttered, “Then I’ll be as high as you are.”

I rolled my eyes

“He is not tall, ” Utoqa replied, his eyes scanning the large dining hall.

“He doesn’t mean high as in height, but in being drugged.”

“I see.”

“Anyways, let’s rest the night,” Noam said, “God walking around nowhere was more tiring than I thought.”

“What did you expect,” I answered, “you have ten stamina.”

“I’m too tired to answer but please imagine a witty comeback for me,” Noam muttered, eyes still closed.

I raised an eyebrow, just as Greenie pinched me and pointed towards the girl who was at the counter. Now rushing around, moving as if she were three people, carrying sets of ingredients towards the hearth, where a large pot boiled with water.

A rich smell soon permeated the hall, and I prepared myself for a boring night.