Chapter 5: Ch. 5 – The Wynd Dagger

I took a deep breath and started picking up the smithy. The amount of fur everywhere was concerning. Don't these cats ever clean themselves? Or is that another task for human slaves to complete, I thought to myself grimly. 

It felt strange to go back to my janitorial duties when so much had happened. I had three skills now, of which I knew very little. It was nice to be able to experiment with my mining skill in the cave, but I still didn't know what I could do, or what this ore was. All I wanted to do was make more items and start my training, but a messy smithy stood in the way. I also had to start thinking about what I wanted to make next. Did I want a spear? Something I could throw? A sword? Or a bow? Being far away from these monsters and paralyzing them from a distance seemed helpful to the Feka, who could quickly dive in and out of combat. But the dogs appeared to use their numbers to circle the cats and make escape impossible. If I wanted to make a difference, I would need something to help prevent that. No matter what weapon I made, I would have to practice with it, since I had no experience whatsoever with battle or killing.

I also needed some armor or something to protect me. My base overalls and boots wouldn’t hold up to the jaws of a wolf beast. It was easy to die in this world, and I was at the bottom of the food chain.

Suddenly, I was attacked into a huge hug. "You're alive! I can't believe it! How did you survive night duty?" It was Jasper, his head buried in my back.

I broke away from his grip. "Dee came with me. She met me at the top of the ramp on my way out of the city."

Jasper looked around. "Man, I wouldn't trust her. She's...tricky to read. You should have seen the way she treated our last few slaves."

"Well, she saved me twice out there. Her attacks are so cool." I retold the story of the cave, the stalker attacks, and the intervention of Typh. Jasper looked on with awe, nodding along and gasping throughout the story.

I rolled up my sleeve, looked around and made sure we were alone and showed him my arm. Jasper examined the new tattoos. "What do they do?" he asked, looking up at me.

"Well, the anvil symbol is the one that lets me create things. That's how I made the dagger. Apparently, it costs 5 mana to use? That's the blue number. But then I upgraded it, and that cost 10 mana, maybe? Anyway, the second one is a new skill called 'MINE.' It lets me stick my hand into rock walls and get the ore out. That one is about one mana per second to use." I took out the three remaining red pieces. "I got five pieces of ore from the cave. Two silver pieces of ore and three red pieces."

Jasper examined the ore, taking one from my hand. "This is Tinderstone. I've seen Romas use this before. He makes items that heat the Fekan homes. But I've never seen him use it to make a weapon."

He returned the ore to my hand, and I put them in my pocket. I took out the silver-streaked Wynd Dagger and continued, "The silver pieces just called me and wanted to combine with the dagger. Then I upgraded the first dagger that I made into this one."

His eyebrows shot up. "This is beautiful! I've never seen anything like it! And I've seen hundreds of daggers and swords made by Romas. So that's how you shocked that Stalker?"

"Yep. The Wynd must mean something. You've never heard that term before?"

"No. What did Typh say when he saw it?"

"That's the weirdest part. Typh can't even tell that it's anything other than a dagger."

"Weird. Let me see that." I handed the dagger to Jasper. "Yeah, I don't feel anything either. Very strange. Why were those Stalkers around our settlement?"

The snoring stopped in front of the smithy, and Romas woke up. "We better get cleaning. I don't want another reason for Romas to try and kill me," I said and got to work.

***

Ambros led the other two Stalkers through the gates of Niridge, still limping from the strange human attack. That hurt more than a stab with a dagger should have. Where did he get that tool? Had he stolen it from the Fekan settlement? Is that why he was banished to the jungle?

The Stalkers were very tough to replace. The alpha was going to be unhappy about losing two of the pack. They had specific orders to not be found by anyone in the Feka settlement. Their battle plans were supposed to be a surprise. But with the hiding abilities of the cats, the Shadowalkers needed to fully understand what equipment to bring with them to make their attack work to its fullest.

A roar came from the top of the castle's tower as the pack of scouts walked up the streets. "COME!"

The three dogs shrank back and looked at each other but continued through the city. Soon they were entering the castle halls, other dogs looking at them suspiciously as they passed. The pack climbed the stairs, passing pictures of alphas throughout the centuries. The current alpha had been in power for a suspiciously long time, but no one could figure out how or why.

With their ability to strengthen their bodies beyond the average 12-15 season lifespan of normal canines, it was understandable to live to 20 or even 30 seasons old. But the current alpha was around 40 seasons and could still defeat any beta challenges.

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Undoubtedly, the walkers were enjoying prosperity in their city as they had never experienced before. And with the plans to expand into Feka territory, that could get even better. But the felines were a tricky bunch, and defeating the nearby settlement would be a complex task.

The pack got to the alpha quarter, slinking to the door. "Enter!" he roared. They shuffled into the room. "Report!"

The alpha was an enormous werewolf creature. He stood about 8 feet tall with a slight hunch forward. His fur was black as night, with rippling muscles bulging out of his arms and chest. He had a ragged, long face filled with scars from battle. Leather pants covered his muscular legs.

"Sire, we completed the survey of the Fekan settlement. Two towers exist on the corners of both front walls. They have increased their wall size since last season but have yet to make any other visible improvements. The gate is easily destroyed by our militia troops and Bullhead warriors. We will need two-tree high ladders to access their tower's upper levels but can use the main ramp to attack as well. "

The alpha nodded along, some of the anger receding. He looked over the three dogs. "Fine. Why do I smell so much fear? Where are the remaining numbers in your pack?"

Ambros came forward, slinking further into the floor. "We caught the scent of a human slave alone in the woods. He must have wandered out of the nearby settlement. We were going to return him to you for consumption." He paused, the other two dogs looking back and forth, knowing this was a lie. The alpha noticed as well.

"Lies," the alpha growled. "You will be punished for thinking of stealing from the alpha. Continue."

Ambros continued, not lying further about wanting Noah for himself. "We chased it into a cave, where it hid from us. A Mechos bear chased it back out to us, and we circled it. But a Corrus class Feka came out of the tree and assassinated one of our pack. We didn't know she was there. I guess she had a high-level scent blocker and went into stealth. We chased her up a tree when the human attacked my rear leg with a dagger."

The alpha recoiled. "What do you mean, attacked?"

"He had a dagger that he swung at me. Somehow it paralyzed my leg, and I couldn't move. Then Cronus dodged his next swing with the dagger and jumped on him when their settlement male flanked us. He must have been in the area and heard the battle. He knocked Cronus out and killed him. We..." Ambrose paused, knowing he had to admit cowardice to the alpha.

"You what," the alpha said, slowly growling out the question.

"We...ran, sire. We fled." He backed away, talking faster. "He was a fully grown Feka and outclassed us in fighting ability..."

"SILENCE!" he roared. "They will know we are interested in the colony now. The attack will be moved up. Gather the troops. Sound the horns. It's time to move out!"

"Yes, alpha. Right away." Ambrose turned and barked out orders to the nearby pack.

"And Ambrose..." the alpha said, murder in his eyes.

"Yes, sir?" Ambrose weakly replied, at this point, almost melted into the floor.

"Do not disappoint me in the upcoming battle. I'll be watching."

"Of course, sir." And with that, he fled down the stairs with the rest of his pack. In the distance, orders were barked out all around the city, the sounds of an army grinding into motion. Horns sounded through the town, followed by long, eerie howls. The time had come.

 

END OF ACT I

 

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