Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Star Good. Society Bad.

"Hey, Jackal," Flaze said as I galloped in the darkness of the night.

Yeah, Flaze? I neighed.

"Thank you."

You're welcome.

I continued to run, avoiding the monsters that stood in my path. It seems even goblins and hellcats required sleep.

A gremlin suddenly jumped at us from under a pile of corpses lying on the ground, rotting remains of men and women wearing formal attire. I didn't bother to process what their faces and the expressions therein looked like.

The gremlin managed to get a stab in, but we killed it quickly afterwards, the damage easily healed. It's still an important lesson, to show that we're never safe. Specially not in the dark.

Our enemies do not lack our advantages, they too have stats, and perhaps even skills, to help them navigate the night.

The street lamps were all busted now, little light spilling from the buildings or cars, an orange hue, indicating fire, instead of any working electronics. But in its place shone the stars and the moons. Like a painting come to life, the black sky the canvas. I and Flaze were able to see, the brightness it imparts upon the darkness.

Someone more of a romantic would say then, how civilization has hidden such beauty. And I'll admit to thinking it quite pretty. But is the view worth losing all the beauty, now inaccessible with the fall of society?

I do not think so.

Great works of art, torn apart. Stories that capture entire worlds, brought to naught, never again to be seen.

Perhaps I may come off as vapid, ignorant, shallow. But instead of a single breathtaking view, I'd much rather keep all the works of humanity, what our collective psyche had to offer, fucked up as it may be. No, it's amazing precisely because it's so fucked up.

I'd trade all the stars in the night sky, for that.

Not the day sky, because then, I would fucking die.

Wait, are the stars in the night sky also paramount for my survival...?

Tell me it aint so.

My Longstrider had become available again, I felt it deep within my bone that the Skill was ready. But I did not quite activate it yet, I'll do so when there's a reason to hurry, a monster to escape from.

I need some quiet for some time.

[Your Party has defeated a Level 37 Rogue!]

[Your Party has defeated a Level 29 Rogue!]

[Your Party has defeated a Level 28 Rogue!]

[Your Party has defeated a Level 35 Rogue!]

[Your Party has defeated a Level 33 Rogue!]

[Your Level Has Risen to 32!]

[Your Level Has Risen to 33!]

Two levels. And that's with the long spiders being closer to my own level. The amount of danger, struggle, and killing them by myself does indeed help. The method I used

Well, the message did say 'Party' but the system or whatever was clearly giving more credit to myself. Flaze herself had not risen a single level from that last excursion. Though that may also be attributed to her being a higher level than even the strongest of those spider monsters.

And still she had such trouble with their threads.

A good reminder to never get cocky. I've defeated monsters with levels far above my own, and so has Flaze in her time here. There is no reason why the same cannot be done to us.

So where to now? I asked her with a neigh. I was thinking of going to where our friends are, in order of proximity. Take the shortest route to check up on all their places.

"Hmm?" She wondered, still unable to divine the nuanced meanings of my neigh. Not that I can do it either.

I pointed forwards, the ground we tread.

She thought about it for a second. "Darkvoid Hollow should be closest. Keyfa's place is the one that's nearest."

Ah yes. Darkvoid Hollow. That's actually his real name. He changed it to that the moment we were of age.

I did a laughing whinny just remembering that guy. A good friend, but he is silly. You gotta admit.

Edgy as fuck too, always liked to play the villain in plays. He's also part of a heavy metal band, a cult, knitting for some reason, and other assorted hobbies.

Wait... I tilted my head. Keyfa? Who's that. I'm asking about Darkvoid, not some random woman.

"You're asking who Keyfa is aren't you Jackal?"

I nodded.

"You met her! Twice, I think. Why do I always have to introduce people a dozen times over for you to remember they even exist?"

Must have not made a good enough impression. I shrugged.

"Right..." Flaze paused, "I'm just gonna pretend that you becoming a horse jumbled with your memories a little. It's okay, horses aren't really known for their memory."

I'm pretty sure horses are very intelligent far as animals go, actually...

"Anyway! Keyfa is Darkvoid's new girlfriend. And before you ask, again, if it's not Jenny or some other numbskull; No. It's not. They broke up. Then he got together with someone else. Again."

Ah. Okay. It makes sense now. Darkvoid's chilling in someone else's place again. Hell, even in the brief dalliances of fate when he's not dating someone, he still always finds a way to not go home and instead stay over at someone else's house.

His charm is one that neither I nor Flaze will ever understand, but other people certainly do because he just always seems to be with someone rich.

Funnily enough, he's actually technically my roommate, he pays for a unit just next to my own. He just rarely ever stays there.

I don't know how he even earns the money, since I'm certain that our theatrical plays... barely breaks even. If that.

And that's why the world fucking ended.

Directions? I neighed to Flaze. I can't be assed to actually keep track of whoever he's staying with.

Flaze caught on to my meaning this time, and started telling me where to go. I'm honestly surprised she remembers all this stuff, but she does know an awful lot of people in this city, connections made everywhere. I see a glimpse of that whenever I'm just out with her, even more so when she ropes me in to help the elderly or pick up trash or some other bullshit. It makes total sense that she knows her way around.

And now all those people that she cared for are dead.

No wonder she's taking all this so terribly. So many people to mourn...

Darkvoid though. He's alive. He's gotta be.

Clang!

Something struck metal, a sound that resounded from behind. I looked back, in time with Flaze's shout.

"Jackal! We're under attack!"

A black blur. Yet another striking sound as Flaze slammed her shield into the path of our foe. A foe that flies, and blends into the night. A bird of prey, we are its quarry.

"Level 58 Rogue!" Flaze called from my back. "My shield is already busted! One or two more strikes at most."

Shit.

[Longstrider]!

I sped up, really fast, running down the road at full tilt. I took the first turn I saw, jumped over a fallen pole, and then circled around a burning van. I heard a shout to my right, a man having his entrails pulled out by a wordless mannequin. I left behind the bloody alleyway, and turned the next street, using a pile-up accident as a ramp.

Did we lose it!? I neighed, and I jinxed, the outcome.

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"No!" Flaze shouted, followed by a sharp wheezing sound, like a missile descending on civilians.

I tried to look for the source, but all I felt was the pain of my torso being slashed open. The shrill dinosaur-like cry of the creature grated on my ears, as if to mock me.

Shit. Fuck!

"Jackal! Light trail!" She meant my Trailblazer Skill. I haven't yet communicated their names, and I did not understand how that's any help here, but I followed regardless.

[Trailblazer].

[Blessed Heal].

It spilled behind me, a trail of light to be followed. The night, made bright.

The heal was for myself, so I do not bleed out.

I saw it then, hot on our tails. A black that lets escape no light, the vague shape of a bird with wild and jagged feathers sticking out.

It loomed closer, a predator closing in on prey. Not even my Longstrider can keep it away.

I kept on running, numerous obstacles slowing me down as I had to weave through metal and flesh alike. The flying creature behind drew closer with every passing second, the ruins of civilization no obstacle to its path. For the skies were its sole dominion.

It came upon us, and I braced myself, without slowing down.

[Horsekick Gambit]!

The bird caught up, but it turned towards Flaze at the last second, pulled along by her Taunt. My hooves only nicked it by the talons, but it was enough to activate my skill, a bright flash of light to brighten the night.

I saw then, that Flaze's shield was in tatters, only a few uses remaining.

She did not deign this moment as one of those all-important uses.

Instead, she held out her sword, and stabbed at the creature as they crashed into each other. T two separate screams, melded together.

"Gah!" She cried, her left shoulder torn open, the wound rotting visibly. The bird too did not come out unscathed, flying away erratically with a slight limp, a trail of blood left behind.

"Go ahead. U-turn back." She said just as I healed her most recent wounds, another two casts of Blessed Heal to cancel out the decay. That bird was hiding something nasty.

I nodded at her and started to veer off course.

Flaze nodded back and jumped off, surprising me for a second, but I trusted in her plan.

I saw Flaze multiply herself again, whatever damage her body and armor currently has reflected unto her clone. I briefly wondered why she didn't summon one earlier, but it'd indeed be hard to get a clone to steady on my body while I am running. The clone would have only been left behind at the speeds we were going.

I recognized the mana of her taunt, for a short moment, the skill not directed at myself. The bird from above turned its attention on her again, rage in its eyes. I questioned whether the taunt was even necessary to lure it in.

Her two selves returned the stare, bracing their shields and weapons. A light shone from below them, their stats enhanced by my Trailblazer.

I turned all the way around, just as I heard the distinct whistle of the large bird cutting through the air in a rapid descent. I saw the monster crash against the clone of Flaze, the woman's shield breaking upon impact, the beast digging into her guts.

But the bird too did not come out unscathed, Clone Flaze's sword deeply stabbed into its wing as her arms wrapped around the creature, a deathly embrace.

The real Flaze had also smashed the creature with her shield right at the moment of impact, her sword deeply embedded into its form. She then jumped at the defenseless animal, crushing it in between her two bodies.

There was a muffled cry, a bird choking on blood. The monster had gotten dazed, it cannot fly away, yet it thrashes harder to break free.

Flaze gave me a significant look, and I immediately understood what she meant.

[Hellish Fireball]!

[Horsekick Gambit]!

I sailed into the air, and delivered both attacks onto the creature. The night was lit up by the light of my flames, and the dazing brightness from my hooves. Some of the damage spilled over to the clone holding it in place, nearly ending her fleeting life.

A worthy sacrifice.

[Your Party has defeated a Level 58 Rogue!]

[Your Level Has Risen to 34!]

I got the notification then, and I slumped. Only to see a large troll coming down one street, a stack of glowing sentient ice cubes from another. We'd attracted too much attention, even the assorted monsters that chose to slumber now awakened.

I neighed, seeing that we'll be surrounded should this be allowed to continue. Flaze met my gaze, and she nodded. I scooped her up and she climbed onto my back, immediately gripping hard against my mane.

Ow.

My Longstrider had already gotten canceled, but horses are known for running regardless of whatever Skill remains active. An ability that I made full use of, the broken terrain navigated with my ferocious galloping.

I saw Flaze's clone squirming as we left her behind. I was surprised that she was still alive.

Unsatisfied still, with her prior selfless sacrifice; For our sake, she made one final dying act.

Taunt.

Every monster in the vicinity were suddenly drawn to her crumbling form, trolls and golems alike entranced, clamoring over each other to pounce on a dying prey. And in their absence, the path ahead became clear, for us to traverse.

It was a noble sacrifice, for her death allowed us to get away

 

 

 

 

AN:

A moment of Silence for Flaze Clone.

Moment over.

Last chapter, I made an offer for people to review my work, and someone did do it. Thanks User for that. Your future life as a horse is now under negotiation. I'm making sure to give extra padding in my efforts, so that your horse self will have the most golden of manes, the thickest of legs, adept at running, and other assets that one may associate with being a horse, should you wish for it.

(I wasn't sure if I should mention em by name, but then I also didn't know if I shouldn't. Tell me what you think. I'm a horse. I run. I'm not very good at this!)

Also, I don't plan to mention everyone that writes a review, unless if you want me too! I don't really mind. Unless if there's like too many, and hey maybe someday. Being an author is my dream job after all.

Ever since I was but a foal, when I gazed into the the fertile grasslands, my herd galloping into the distance. I thought to myself, are these hooves only good for running?

Or may they also write?

 

 

ANYWAY!

If you also wish to become a horse, then I would suggest giving this fiction a review. If you don't, then you might just get reincarnated as a stinky human in your next life. Ugh, disgusting. No one wants that. So grab your chance at horsedom now!

 

It'd be funny if someone didn't read the chapter notes last time and have no fucking idea what I'm even talking about.

Oh wait, that's still the case regardless.

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