221. Rodion: Tabitha

Rodion found us.

We were packing up camp as we were going to move on anyway as we looked for him. I was thinking about how easy it was for me to wind up Kelda. She needs to get tighter control. I know Wiremu is her weak spot, but she needs to learn to hide it, or she is going to get trampled over mentally. She is better at using it to fuel her rage. I call it my Darkside, but she probably has some fire analogy.

Even though she needs to toughen up, she is a very bright lady. Her coming up with using our affinity in our mental defence was a stroke of genius. Of course, she wouldn’t have got there without me needling her. I can take some credit here, but I am not going to say that. At least not until I want to wind her up again.

Ruku’s training is helping us a lot. Wiremu and I have worked together for years, so we are in sync, but the others haven't. We also haven’t directly clashed in an open fight with the Imperial military, and Ruku has several times in his career. The closest we came was chasing the imperials out of Obalno, and they were leaving anyway. We have taken on plenty of gangs and Empire stealth attackers, but trained specialised soldiers are at another level.

My Spatial Awareness picked up Wiremu, suddenly lifting his head and looking south. Then, my Hearing Aid also picked up sounds of a dog’s whimper from that direction. Then Rodion came over the rise carrying two dogs, with a number following him. He was limping with open wounds, and several of the dogs were limping and bleeding.

“Astrid!” Wiremu called, drawing her attention. I felt her Revitalising Aura came on simultaneously with Ruku’s Refreshing Mists. She grabbed the healer pack and grabbed Mayakku to help. Mayakku is now the official Healers’ assistant, and Astrid is teaching her first aid.

Astrid started work. Rodion wanted her to work on the two dogs before himself, as they were close to death. Astrid muttered about not being a vet but got to work with her Wound Healing and Bone setting Skills, along with bandages and healing salve for the less critical wounds.

Ruku was checking over some of the walking wounded and asked, “What happened?”

“We were attacked last night. It was a big cat, pretty sure it was a monster panther, and it had skills similar to your Shadows, Tabitha. It tore through the pack before we drove it off. We wounded it, and there is a blood trail to follow. It escaped into the jungle. It killed eight of my pack, including one of the bitches that was about to give birth. I want to hunt it.”

“These two won’t be able to hunt for a week or more,” Astrid said about the two dogs she was working on.

“If we have a fresh trail, we should be able to follow,” Wiremu said. “We need monster cores and Spiritual ingredients.”

“We will need to reset up camp for the wounded.” Ruku said, “We will need to leave the horses. Težka won’t be fast in the jungle. He could be on the camp watch.”

“I will stay and look after the wounded,” Astrid said.

“No, I think we will need you, Astrid. A fast stealth monster is not going to be easy. Mayakku, would you and Cōmpēṟi be on camp and wounded care?” She nodded. “I would like Cōmpēṟi to come, but with him and Težka, the camp is well looked after.”

There were four of Rodion’s pack to hurt to hunt. With eight dead, he only had ten dogs left, so six would come with us. Dusk would stay behind with the horses. We would travel light and fast, with enough supplies for an overnight hunt. Ideally, we would attack during the day.

I was really curious about meeting a creature that may have a shadow affinity. It might not be exactly the same as mine, but I was unique so far as I could tell. Unique was going too far, but extremely rare anyway. If it was compatible, there might be a monster core Dusk could use.

It was under an hour later when Rodion led us back to the site of the attack to pick up the trail. “I got a new Specialisation in the fight last night,” he said as we started off. From the Pack Class, I got Pack Fighter. It has four attributes with the skill Empower Pack. That boosts Physical Strength and Agility briefly for my bonds.”

“Really?” said Wiremu, excited. “A skill that works directly through the bond! You have to let me watch that in action.”

He and his Bond Master Class. He is always wanting to poke at our bonds. Kelda and I are the spotters. Kelda, Wiremu and Rodion are al tracking. I am spotting as my Shadows may react to the panther’s shadows if the affinities are close. Nyx and I have a light layer of Engulfing Shadows out as far as possible.

It is carrying one of the dog carcasses,” Wiremu said.

“I can smell that,” Rodion said, “It will make it easier to track.”

Entering the bush line, it very quickly got thick bush and dark. It is ideal for shadows. Once we got under the canopy of the bigger trees, it became easier to move. Liten was flickering in and out of my Spatail Awareness range as she darted around. She was not using visual skills, but Kelda’s eyes lit up every so often as she checked out whatever she sensed.

After an hour of moving through the jungle, we stopped.

“It climbed that tree,” Wiremu said. He turned to Kelda, “Can Liten follow the tracers in the branches? If you look here, these are the claws' patterns, and that is a drop of blood.”

“I have been following the smell of the blood,” Rodion said. “If it is not too high up, I might be able to continue doing that.”

I saw Liten move up into the tree. “She has got the trail, but there are a lot of predators up there for a small bird,” Kelda said.

“I would normally climb the tree and follow up there,” Wiremu said, “Here, you carry my bow and spears and Liten and I will follow up there. Tāoke is with me, and his sense of smell is great.”

He passed the equipment to Kelda and scampered up the tree. We set off again, following Wiremu as he leapt from branch to branch. I caught glimpses of Liten. Rodion’s dogs were staying close in, and one thing was for sure: Runa had no concept of stealth. She pounded her way after Ruku. Even Modrica was quieter.

We were moving slower now as Wiremu picked his way through the trees. It was only ten minutes later he stopped.

“This is where it ate the dog,” he called down from the trees.

Sure enough, a pool of blood, guts, bones, fur and a cloud of flies was on the ground below. We carried on

“It’s moving faster now,” he said.

The local wildlife was scattering out of our path. Not only birds but monkeys and other small creatures. We kept going for another two hours. It was late afternoon now, and the shadows were deepening. The panther was most dangerous at night, being a nocturnal hunter.

“Wait up, Wiremu, there’s something …” she trailed off.

All of a sudden, things exploded into action. Wiremu was thrown out of the tree with a huge black panther on him with claws ripping through his armour. As he fell, a giant snake appeared, trying to curl itself around the panther, and Tāoke went for a bite. The panther was too quick, launching itself from Wiremu’s body onto a branch, evading Tāoke completely. The panther darted back into the trees as Wiremu landed with a thud on the ground. Tāoke’s tail wrapped itself around a branch, and he slithered off after the panther.

Astrid was about to run to check on Wiremu when Ruku stopped her. “We go together,” he said. “Kelda? Tabitha?” he asked as we moved toward Wiremu’s prone form.

“I didn’t detect any shadows,” I said, “I suspect a Master level of camouflage.”

“I concure,” Kelda said. “Keensight triggered Sense Hidden, and I shared Fire Eyes with Liten to pierce the camouflage, and it attacked.”

“It was always going to attack. It is an ambush predator,” said Ruku.

We reached Wiremu, and Astrid checked him, “He is alive,” she said.

“That is all we need to know,” I said. “He will recover fine if he is not dead,”

That got me dirty looks from Astrid and Kelda. Ruku knew what I was talking about. Astrid continued to check Wiremu and was alarmed by the bruise on his head, and his arm was broken. She straightened his arm and used her skill on it.

“I am not sure what to do about the head. He will have a concussion,” she said.

“His Regeneration will take care of it,” Ruku said. “Let's pick him up and follow Tāoke and Liten.”

“He can’t be moved. He has a concussion, possibly a cracked skull, and a broken arm!” Astrid exclaimed.

“You fixed the arm, and his Regeneration will take care of everything else. We have two team members pursuing on their own without backup. We are moving now.”

“I am more concerned that you don’t know how heavy he actually is,” I said, earning myself another dirty look. “Modrica?” Modrica grunted assent, picked Wiremu up, and slung him over her shoulders. Kelda pointed us in the right direction, and off we went.

Rodion dogs were barking, excited to be in the chase. He was continually keeping them from running on ahead. Kelda had her bow ready.

Ten minutes later, Wiremu was stirring. Five minutes after that, he had Modrica put him down, and he retrieved his bow and spears from Kelda. He tested the bow, but his arm was still too weak, so he shouldered it and kept the spears ready. Astrid looked like she wanted to examine him and keep him from the fight, but I knew he wouldn’t stop until the hunt ended. I think she did too, and kept quiet. Her Revitalise Aura was still running.

We heard a cat snarl up ahead, and Ruku said, “Rodion, you and I and the pack will go ahead and try to drive the panther back this way. Kelda, You are in charge here.” hand they angled away to the side.

I sensed Kelda hesitate briefly. Ruku hadn’t taught her anything yet, and we had only practised two basic formations. However, she was a Lieutenant with combat experience, so her hesitation was small. Ruku must be a real believer in letting experience be the teacher. This will be his initial test for her as well.

“Let's get into attack formation A1. Wiremu, you can’t use the bow, so you take Ruku’s place in the front line. Do you have any traps that might work?”

“I have the nets we used for the dogs.”

“Good, get them ready. Limiting its mobility will be critical. We have to try to stop it from climbing, so target the legs. Runa takes the centre, Modrica and Wirimu on each side. Astrid, stay behind Runa until we can get you a shield. I will be ranged,” she turned to me, “Tabitha, you are our assassin.”

“Awesome,” I said, moving away into the shadows to the opposite of where Ruku and Rodion went.

“Let’s move.”

I slid through the trees not far from the group, keeping them in Spatial Awareness range. This is what my Shadow Predator Class liked. We heard a snarl up ahead, and then the dogs started barking. Kelda fired an arrow at an area of darkness that was just coming into my Engulfing Shadow range.

“Damn,” I heard Kelda swear,” It has Tough Hide. The arrow barely broke the skin.” She loosed another arrow.

I switched out my sword and dual-wielded two knives. One was the Blacksteel knife. My Small Blades Skill was higher than my Sword Skill. In fact, it was almost master-level, and the Blacksteel would get through the hide.

My Engulfing shadows passed over the dark spot where I could see movement. Tāoke was getting mauled, and the panther's claws were stripping scales off him. He had his fangs in, and there was smoke coming from the area around his mouth. A dog ducked in from behind to nip at the back legs, and the panther ripped away and ran toward the side of the group.

The interesting thing was I saw all that with my Darksight but not with my Engulfing Shadows. There was a blank spot. I reached out with Binding Shadows, and they just slipped out of my grasp.

The Panther had seen the group and swerved toward me to avoid them, and Wiremu tossed a net. The net caught its rear legs, and it stumbled, and I dashed forward with my new Sprint. I double-stabbed, but the main attack was with the Blacksteel knife, and I was aiming to sever its spine. My ordinary knife slid along its pelt without penetrating. The Balcksteel pierced the pelt but glanced off a bone missing the spine. The Panther was quick, and I had claws swiping at me, so I Shadow Stepped instead of landing where I would have been clawed, and I shadow-stepped a second time before rejoining the ground in the roll and ducking out of reach and out of sight.

It wasn’t until I was away I realised how lucky I was. I would have been mauled severely if my Shadow Step had failed like my Binding Shadows. I rely automatically on my shadows.

The Panther was up and found its escape route blocked by a row of Earth spikes. An arrow sprouted from the knife wound I had just given it. Kelda is good. Toughen her up a bit, and she might be good enough for Wiremu. I hope she knows she won’t live if she hurts him.

Rodion and the dogs were coming fast behind the Panther. I couldn’t sense Tāoke. The panther decided to try to slip past the edge of the shield wall, but Kelda moved everybody right to close the gap. The panther was already running for the gap, so it decided to go over the group and lept at the lowest member. Runa was up to the task, leaping up with a shield bash, which knocked it sideways. Modrica kept it going sideways with a punch, and it slammed into a tree.

I was moving as fast as I could to get into position, but as I watched, a thrown spear from Wiremu pinned a leg to the tree, and Rodion and Ruku were closing in.

I still couldn’t sense anything with my shadows, and shadow manipulation didn’t work. I tried surrounding it with engulfing shadows and crushing them in. I had never tried that before, and they moved in a bit. I called on Nyx to help, and we made more progress when the Panther's claws shredded our shadows, hurting Nyx, and then something happened that I didn’t understand.

Just as Rodion pounced, it seemed to become shadows and was no longer pinned to the tree. It avoided Rodion’s pounce and clawed Ruku. Its back leg was no longer functional, so its Shadow Phase didn’t heal it but wasn’t pinned anymore. The dogs kept snapping at its wounded leg. And it realised it was trapped and was definitely fighting for its life.

It clawed a dog that wasn’t fast enough, flashed forward, and got its teeth into Rodion. It may have sensed he was the most wounded, but the teeth only paused slightly and penetrated his Tough Hide. I heard his arm bone crack.

Then Tāoke dropped on it from above and wrapped his massive body around the panther. I was interested to see if it could turn to shadows again and escape, but it couldn’t. Maybe it was out of energy. Rodion’s other clawed hand stabbed the panther's face, and then he ripped its neck open.

“Don’t damage the pelt!” yelled Wiremu, him and his bloody crafting. Mind you, this would make a great coat or cloak. We are heading into the tropics, so it would be a lot warmer, and coats are not required.

Rodion pried his arm loose from the jaws and cradled it, waiting for Astrid to arrive. He had a big smile.

“That’s my first Monster kill. I am a Monster Hunter, and I have Regeneration!” Then he staggered back and fainted.

“That won’t help with the blood loss, idiot,” Astrid mumbled as she made him comfortable and started patching him up.