diety

After two weeks of being read to every night, Elise was getting a pretty good handle on the world's language. She was by no means fluent, but she knew most of the basic words, and could understand at least the gist of everything she heard. Reading the language was still beyond her though. Sophie only pointed at the words she was reading some of the time, and even then she seemed to fall behind or rush ahead at random, and Elise couldn't make much sense of it at all.

She wasn't too worried about it. She would figure it out eventually. Her main concern at this time was finding a way to level up. She had gotten a little bit of exp killing slimes and the occasional tree viper in the yard, but they were so far below her level that they barely helped. She had only leveled up twice more in those two weeks. And each one took longer than the last. She doubted she'd make it to her next evolution before winter.

Even still, she refused to go beyond the boundaries of the valley. After further inspection with {Mana Sense}, she found lines of mana just like those around the cabin surrounding the valley, and surmised that they were some kind of protection barrier or something. She had heard some bigger animals prowling around at night, but had never seen one, nor had she seen any signs of them entering the valley, so the barrier must have been effective.

In the morning exactly two weeks after Elise had arrived, the cabin was buzzing with activity. The father, whose name she thought was Corwin or Corvin or something based on what she overheard from their room at night, had stayed in that day, and was helping his wife and daughter clean the already almost spotless house and prepare food.

It seemed that the last member of the family, the eldest son, was returning home that day, and he was bringing someone with him. Whether that was a friend or a lover, she couldn't tell, because she didn't know the word, but she did know that at least two people were coming, and that the half elf family wanted to give them the warmest welcome possible.

Elise couldn't really do anything to help, but she wasn't allowed outside for some reason, so she was reduced to sitting on the kitchen table and watching the chaos around her.

"Sophie, have you finished _____ the _____?" asked Sylvanna.

Elise did not know those words yet because Sophie had not ____ the ____ yet.

"Why do I have to ____ the ____?" whined Sophie. "It's not like we'll be eating in the ____? And it will just get _____ again tonight anyway."

"Sophie," said her mother in a warning tone. "Your brother's ____ is coming! Do you want her to think we live in a pigsty?"

So it's a her, Elise noted.

"Why would she care how ____ the ____ is?" said Sophie.

"Sophie, just do as your mother says," said Corwin. "And Sylvie, you don't have to be so anxious. We still have an hour before they get here."

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

"Or not," muttered Corwin. "I'll get it."

"Sophie!" called Sylvanna. "Come ____ the dough! I'll ____ the ____!"

The _____ that Sophie had needed to _____ turned out to be the chimney, and Elise wasn't sure what the English equivalent for what she had to do with it, but it was something along the lines of removing the soot. Elise decided to translate it as "desoot". Sylvanna did a rapid dance, moving thrice as fast as a normal human should have been able to, and water flew from the sink and wind swirled around her and both entered the blackened brick fireplace and turned it back to red.

"Dad!" said a man's voice from the door.

"Good to see you, son," said Corwin. "And who's the ____ young lady?"

"This is my ____, Bianca!"

"H-hi," said a soft female voice. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gray."

"Where's Mom?" asked the younger man. "And Sophie?"

"They're finishing up inside. Come on in."

The young man was obviously Sylvanna and Corwin's, but while Sophie had her mother's slender figure and mostly her father's facial features, her brother was the opposite. He was tall and had his father's broad shoulders and thick limbs, but his mother's blond hair and regal features. Elise couldn't help but think he wouldn't have been out of place playing some superhero in a movie.

The girl clinging to his arm was not small, but compared to her lover, she looked almost like a child. She was very pretty though. She had pitch black hair and pale gray eyes, and she was wearing a modest orange sundress that Elise would have loved to ask where she got it if she was still human and could speak the language. She was clearly very nervous, and was trying to stay as close to the young man as possible, but her face lit up when she saw Elise.

"Nicky, you never told me you had a pet rabbit," she said. "What's her name?"

"That's Elise!" said Sophie, while she worked the dough. "And she's my rabbit. You can pet her though. I'm Sophie by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Sophie, I'm Bianca." Bianca nodded in her direction. "And nice to meet you too, Elise."

Elise leaned into the chin scratches.

"Aww," said Bianca.

"She is pretty cute," said Nick, giving Elise a few pats. "But not as cute as you."

Bianca giggled as he pulled her into a hug.

"I don't know," she said. "I think Elise might have me beat there."

"Nick, are you gonna ____ Bianca?"

The couple's faces turned red.

"Sophie!" exclaimed Nick.

"What?" she said petulantly. "I just wanted to know if she was your _____ or just your _____."

"Sophie, it's not polite to ask things like that," said Sylvanna, walking around the corner calmly as if she hadn't just been flailing about like someone at a rave. "Sorry for the late greeting. My name is Sylvanna. Welcome to our ____ home."

"Thank you for having me," said Bianca with a curtsey. "It's a nice place. It's so cozy."

"Thank you," said Sylvanna with a smile. "Would you like some snacks? We have some dried fruits and smoked sausages. Lunch isn't quite ready yet, but I can't have you going hungry. We also have tea. Do you drink tea?"

"Oh, I love tea!" said Bianca.

"I wouldn't say no to some sausage," said Nick.

"I'll be right back then." Sylvanna disappeared back around the corner as she went to retrieve the food from the pantry.

"So, Bianca," said Corwin. "Nick tells us that you're an expert on Nature magic."

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm an expert," she said, "but I'm studying it, yes."

"Oh, don't put yourself down, B," said Nick. "Dad, she's incredible. She grew an entire _____ tree in a day for her __________ last _____ and made the entire ____ ____ pie."

All the talk of magic reminded Elise that she hadn't inspected either of them yet.

[Knight, lvl ???]

[Nature Witch, lvl ???]

[Inspect has leveled up! Lvl 18 -> 19]

"Stop, Nick," she said blushing. "It wasn't that great."

"Yeah it was. That was the best ____ pie I've ever had."

"Growing a whole tree in a single day is impressive for someone your age," said Corwin. "I'm not even sure I could do that now."

"Oh yeah, Nick mentioned you were good with Nature magic too," said Bianca. "I've been looking into different _____ for after I _____. Do you have any advice?"

"Sure. I grew up way out here, and I always knew I'd come back, but that didn't mean I didn't explore my options when I was at the ______…"

They launched into a long conversation about what Elise guessed to be different jobs that one could take with Nature magic expertise. She didn't know most of the words they used, but she could make some educated guesses. She knew for a fact that one of the careers they discussed was gardener, and another was Corwin's own class, Steward of Nature, but there were a few that sounded like various types of research positions that she couldn't quite find a proper translation for.

At some point while they talked, Sylvanna returned with food, a pot of boiling water, and a half dozen teacups. Sophie also finished up her duty, and had rolled the dough into balls and placed them in the mana-powered oven below the counter. After washing her hands, she picked up Elise and stroked her back while listening in on the conversation.

The conversation carried on without lagging for another hour by which point the rolls were done, and Sylvanna had started slicing the meat, cheese, and vegetables for what looked to be a lunch of sandwiches with a side of fresh raspberries.

Though Elise hadn't noticed when it was just the four of them in the cabin, it turned out that Corwin was a real talker when given the chance. It helped that Bianca had completely won him over with her enthusiasm for what he was talking about. He was beaming as he told her stories of his experiences working with nature, and whenever he neared the end of any particular tale, she would ask him a question that would start a whole new one.

Sophie was getting a little bored though, and hadn't gotten more than a few words in the entire time, so she had resorted to trying to play with Elise, but even that wasn't going well. Elise was just as enraptured as Bianca was in the conversation. Nature magic was her specialty too, so any opportunity she could take to learn more was one she couldn't afford to miss.

After lunch, they gave Bianca a tour of the house and the garden. Sophie had Elise show off her {Sudden Growth}, which made Bianca clap with delight, and then they moved on to the rest of the valley. However, the valley tour was cut short when a slime crossed their path. It was no threat to any of them– a quick stomp from Sylvanna sent a stone spike through it– but the tour immediately stopped, and everyone's faces grew grim.

"Nick," said Corwin. "We're going to be moving away soon."

"Is it that bad?"

"Not yet, but we're not taking any _____. I've been _____ on things. It's still in the early _____, so it's mostly just been slimes, but it won't stay that way. The animals in the forest are _____ faster than usual." He looked at Elise. "Even the rabbits are _____. In two _____, it won't be safe to live here ______. We're leaving next ____."

A silence fell over the group. Elise, for one, was shocked. She hadn't heard them saying a thing about this since she started being able to understand what they were talking about. She had also thought that slimes spawning was normal. Well, not totally normal. She was confused how the garden was still intact if slimes spawned in regularly, but she figured there must have been more enchantments keeping them out. The whole valley was lined with them, after all.

But moving away? That seemed a bit extreme. Even as a powerless rabbit, slimes hadn't been a problem for her, and they were even less of a problem now that she could actually fight back. Maybe needing to keep an eye out for them all the time would get annoying, but wouldn't the benefits of free leveling opportunities cancel that out?

She couldn't really object though. There was probably more going on that she wasn't aware of, or else the mood wouldn't be so heavy. Still, it would be a shame. While slow, at least out here, she could consistently level. If slimes actually weren't normal, then wherever they went next would make growth more difficult for her, and she wanted to evolve as soon as possible. She was tired of being stuck as a rabbit.

"Do you need any help?" asked Nick after a while.

"We've got everything handled," said Corwin. "I rented a ____ to carry our ____, and hired a few _____ to help load it up. We can't take everything though. If there's anything still here that you want to make sure makes it out, get it ready now."

Nick nodded, and silence returned, until Sophie broke it.

"Why's everyone look so sad?" she asked. "We're just moving."

Sylvanna smiled. "You're right. It's a bit unexpected, but that's all. No one's dying."

"Mom says I'm gonna go to the _____ once we move!" announced Sophie proudly.

"The _____?" asked Bianca. "But aren't you only 12?"

"Mm-hmm! But I'm already almost at my second _____!"

"Wow, that's really impressive! What's your class?"

"Apprentice Mana Dancer!"

"Mana Dancer?" Bianca seemed genuinely shocked. "Isn't that a _____ class?" She looked over at Sylvanna, who was trying to hide a proud smile. "Are you a Mana Dancer? _____, I've always wanted to see one! Can you show me a dance?"

"Oh, I don't know…" started Sylvanna, looking very much like she did know.

"C'mon, Mommy, let's do it!" said Sophie. "Let's show her the water dance!"

"Well, if you insist," she replied, pretending to be reluctant. "Let's head over to the stream."

Back near the cabin on the bank of the stream, Sophie and Sylvanna faced each other in a relaxed stance with their eyes closed. For a few seconds, neither of them moved, and the others watched with bated breath. Then, in perfect sync, they took a sudden step toward the stream while raising their arms. Two transparent serpents erupted from the shallow water, flying into the air above their heads.

The dance was not the same one that Sophie had shown Elise on the day they first met. It was different, and one that she had evidently practiced much more. Her snake was still obviously smaller and less distinct than her mother's, but even after four minutes, it held its form, and her movements were much smoother.

The two women spun and leapt and crouched about, mirroring each other almost perfectly, except for the times when they crossed. The serpents flew above their heads, constantly making circles and loops and spinning around each other in a hypnotizing manner, and even with near omnidirectional vision, Elise found it hard to look at anything else.

Just when Sophie's control started to waver, the two made one final spinning leap, and landed in a bowing pose as their snakes dove into the water behind them.

Elise didn't know that three people could clap so loud. Corwin, Nick and Bianca gave them a round of applause as enthusiastic as any she had ever seen, and Corwin's claps in particular were so loud they made her ears ring.

"Beautiful as always," he said, embracing his wife.

"Sophie, that was great!" said Nick. "You couldn't even make it through the first minute when I left, and now you're almost as good as Mom!"

"I've been practicing!"

"I can tell," he said, ruffling her hair. "You did really well!"

"_______, that was so cool!" exclaimed Bianca. "I've only ever seen a Mana Dancer from _____! I couldn't control mana anywhere near that well when I was your age."

"My Mana Control is at 200!" said Sophie.

"That's almost as high as mine!" said Bianca. "You're gonna _____ at the _____! You might even be able to get into _____!"

"You really think so?"

"I think that if they don't _____ you into _____, they'll be missing out," she said.

"Nick, you should definitely _____ her," she said, turning to her brother.

Nick blushed. "We'll see."

"Maybe sooner than later?" asked Bianca.

Nick blushed more. "...maybe."

"Nick, why don't you show us what you've been learning?" asked Corwin.

Nick laughed nervously. "I don't know about that, Dad. I can't really ____ anyone here, and unless you have some trees you don't mind being ______, there's not a whole lot to show."

"I think we can make that work," said Corwin. "We'll be moving soon anyway."

"Really?" asked Nick. "But, Dad, aren't you a {Steward of Nature}? Are you allowed to say that?"

"Well, I won't be getting any _____, that's for sure. But I haven't taken any ____ or anything. It'll be fine. Follow me, I think I know a good place."

Corwin led them along the stream until he came to a set of stepping stones across the water leading to a small clearing. Elise had visited this clearing a couple times while out and about. It was a memorable spot, since every single tree on the edge of the clearing was covered in slash marks. She had wondered where they came from, but seeing Nick draw his sword with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face, her question was answered.

"Stand back," he said, holding his sword up like a baseball bat. "I still don't have perfect control over this yet."

Everyone took a few steps backward as his face scrunched up in concentration and his sword was filled with mana. He only charged it up for a few seconds, but there was so much mana in his sword that Elise's fur was standing on end before he swung. The swing clove clean through two of the trees in front of him and left deep gashes in a few more behind them. He started to casually sheathe his sword and walk back in what Elise thought was an effort to look cool, but the effect was ruined when one of the trees started falling toward him, and he had to sprint to get out of its way.

Once that was over, Corwin and Bianca had some kind of tree growing competition. They found a pair of saplings near each other and focused their mana into them, making them grow. Bianca's grew much faster in the beginning, but after just a few minutes, her mana had run out, and she sat down with her legs crossed to replenish it. Elise was much more interested in that than the growth of the trees, as she had been wondering if there was a faster way to recoup lost mana. Hers still regenerated fairly quickly, but the regeneration rate didn't seem to be growing in sync with her pool size, and she was worried she would be stuck helpless at later levels if she used too much at once.

Corwin, meanwhile, kept steadily pouring mana into his own sapling. By the time Bianca got up again, his tree had surpassed hers. She caught back up, but ran out even more quickly that second time, and had to return to her meditation while Corwin carried on. In the end Bianca was too lightheaded to continue, and Corwin still had yet to exhaust his mana once, so he was declared the Victor.

Last up was Elise, who gladly showed off her ability to grow carrots from babies to full-sized in one go, as well as much of her {Prehensile Vines} as she could manage with her remaining mana. The group then retired back to the cabin, where they spent the rest of the day talking and laughing together.

That night, Elise slept on the floor. She was not being punished or anything. Sylvanna just refused to let Nick and Bianca share a room, so Bianca was sharing the bed with Sophie instead, and it was too cramped for Elise to be comfortable. The two girls stayed up late talking about lots of things, most of which Elise didn't understand. She knew that they were talking about Nick in the beginning, and boys in general after that, but then the conversation had turned toward books or something and Elise was completely lost.

She didn't know how long they stayed up, but when she fell asleep close to midnight, the conversation showed no signs of stopping. They must have stopped at some point though, because when Elise woke back up, everything was quiet. Too quiet.

And cold.

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The air in the cabin was frigid. Even with her thick coat of fur, Elise was shivering. That wasn't supposed to be happening. The cabin had no climate control, so getting colder at night was normal, but as far as she could tell, it was spring, and the days were getting longer. Even an unusually cold night wouldn't be this drastic.

There was ice forming on the edges of the window, and her breath was fogging up the air. Thankfully, she wasn't alone. Sophie and Bianca were still in the bed, fast asleep, but clinging tightly to each other for warmth. Still, she needed to do something.

The normal sounds of the night were gone. There were no crickets chirping, no owls hooting, no small rodents rooting through the brush, and no wind rustling the leaves in the distance. The only sounds she could hear were the breaths of the ones in the house, and the breathing of something else outside.

She jumped up on the bed, landing on Sophie, hoping to wake her up. This didn't work. Sophie was a deep sleeper, and she had gone to bed late. She tried Bianca instead, and had better luck. The young woman opened her bleary gray eyes and for a few seconds just stared at Elise. A few seconds later, she seemed to realize that something was wrong, and opened her mouth, but Elise put her paws on her lips. Whatever was outside hadn't tried to get in yet. She didn't want to make too much noise.

Bianca's eyes widened in surprise, but she understood Elise's meaning, thankfully. Elise hopped off the bed, landing as softly as she could and then put her paw on the door. If they weren't awake already, she needed to warn Corwin and Sylvanna. Bianca sat up, and started shaking Sophie awake. Sophie moaned and mumbled something, but when Bianca clamped her hand down on her mouth, she gasped and started struggling.

It took longer for her to catch on to the situation, but not by much. Whatever was waiting outside, and probably causing the cold, hadn't made any moves yet. It was still standing in place, somewhere to the north, taking long, deep breaths.

Once out of the room, they split up. Bianca went into Nick's room, and Sophie went to her parents' room. Five minutes later, the six of them were huddled in the hallway, clutching weapons and frantically making hand signs at each other. The thing outside still had yet to move.

Elise was beginning to think that maybe it was benign. Maybe something powerful had just stopped by out of curiosity and would be on its way soon. As long as they didn't draw too much attention to themselves, it might lose interest and go away. She should have known better.

It took a step forward, and then another, and then another, until it was right by the back door. Based on its strides, Elise could tell it was massive. Hopefully too big to fit in the house. But then again, if it was strong enough to freeze an entire area just with its presence, a few logs weren't going to stop it if it really wanted to get in.

Elise hopped up and down in the center of the group to get their attention, since they didn't seem to have heard it moving. She tried to point toward the door at the end of the hallway that the monster was standing outside of, but being a rabbit, pointing wasn't the easiest. It took a few seconds to get them all to look where she wanted, and by then, it didn't matter. There was a burst of mana, followed by a high-pitched yelp, and the monster jumped back. Then, it howled.

Elise's blood ran cold as she realized what it was. It was the {Greater Frost Direwolf} that had tried to dig her out of her burrow. And if it was willing to tear apart a hill to get at a single rabbit, there was no chance it would just give up when there were 5 humans and elves, and that very same rabbit waiting for it inside.

"____!" said Sylvanna, giving up on silence. "We can't fight that."

"Is it that _____?" asked Nick.

"Fifth _______. At least."

Everyone's faces grew pale.

"Nick," said Corwin, pulling something from the pocket of his nightclothes. "I need you to take your Bianca and your sister and leave."

"Leave? But h-?" He stopped when he saw what his father was handing him. "Where did you get this?"

Nick looked down at the scroll in Corwin's hand, but made no move to grab it.

"I bought it from a _______. It can take 3. It was the best I could afford."

"Dad, no. I'll stay. You and-"

He was cut off when there was another burst of mana, and the wolf yelped again.

"Take it," said Corwin.

"Daddy, what's going on?" asked Sophie. "W-what is that? What's-?"

"Shhhhh," said Sylvanna, hugging her. "It'll be alright. Nicholas, listen to your father. Take Bianca and Sophie and leave."

"No, Mom, you go. I'll stay. I'm strong. I can fight."

"Not against that you can't. Go."

"Mommy, what's going on?"

"Mom, just go. I'll stay."

"Do you know what the worst pain a parent can experience is? Do you want to put me through that?"

"At least you'll be alive to feel it!"

There was a crash and the entire cabin shook as it discharged more mana than Elise thought was possible to gather in one place. The wolf yelped again, but hardly faltered, and seconds later, it was pacing around the side of the house.

"Mommy are we going to die?"

"No, sweetie. We're not."

"But you said-!"

"Ignore what I said. Just go over there with your brother. He'll take you to safety."

"But what about you?"

"I'll be fine."

"I don't wanna go!"

"Nicholas!" said Corwin. "Take them and go! Stop wasting time!"

Nick hesitated for a moment more, then grabbed the scroll with one hand and Sophie's arm with the other.

"No!" shouted Sophie. "I don't wanna! Mommy, I don't wanna go!"

Sylvanna bit her lip as a tear rolled down her cheek, but she pushed Sophie away and into Nick's arms. Sophie struggled, but she was no match for her brother's strength.

"Bianca," said Nick. "grab my arm."

"O-okay," she said. "But what about-?"

"We'll be fine," said Corwin. "Go, before it's too late."

"Go," said Sylvanna.

"What about Elise?" asked Sophie.

Corwin grabbed Elise by the scruff of her neck and placed her in Sophie's arms.

"Take her with you. And go! Get out of here!"

"Mom. Dad," said Nick, his face steely with resolve. "I love you."

"We love you too," said Sylvanna.

"No!" shouted Sophie, but it was too late.

Nick unrolled the scroll with one hand and bit down on it, tearing it in half. Mana swirled around each of them, turning Elise's vision white as it accelerated. Then, it stopped, and Elise felt her feet hit wood. She was still in the cabin. Corwin was surprised, but Sylvanna gave her a look of knowing pity before turning away.

Just then, there was one final crash and the cabin's defenses failed. The living room wall caved in and splinters and logs flew past the hallway and the wolf gave a triumphant howl before plodding toward where they were.

Corwin and Sylvanna had not been idle during those few seconds. Corwin was holding an axe, but beneath his feet, he was channeling mana into the wood below, and Sylvanna doing a violent dance that was creating a fireball above her head.

As soon as the wolf rounded the corner, the floorboards warped and wrapped around its legs and the fireball crashed into its snout. When the smoke cleared, it was undamaged, and when it took its next step, the wooden restraints barely slowed it at all.

It was so tall its back was almost brushing against the ceiling, and its jaws were big enough to bite even a man as big as Corwin in half. Beneath its feet, frost spread with every step, and snowflakes drifted around it as it froze the moisture in the nearby air.

[Winter Warg, lvl ???]

[{Inspect} has leveled up. Lvl 19 -> 25]

It locked eyes with her, and its lips curled up in a snarl that looked like a cruel smile. Elise's panicked brain went into overdrive. Why was it there? Was it drawn to her? Her Charisma was high, but it wasn't that high. She was still at a low level. And it hadn't even seen her. There was no way. Was it just by chance that it was there now?

Corwin and Sylvanna's next round of attacks crashed into it, just as effective as the first, and they readied a third, but the warg was tired of just taking it. It growled, and icicles the size of small trees formed at its shoulders and shot forward. It was so fast that Elise barely had time to react. The other two were a bit faster, but not quite enough. Sylvanna had a long gash across her side, where one brushed past, and Corwin's left arm was dangling at his side, his shoulder almost completely obliterated.

"S-Sylvie," he gasped. "I love you."

He charged forward, swinging his ax with his one remaining arm. He never made it to his target. He dodged the first icicle, but the second hit him square in the chest, and exited through his spine. He fell to the ground and lay unmoving.

Sylvanna screamed his name, and prepared to make a final charge of her own, but before she could even start, another icicle went through her eye, and she too fell, almost landing on Elise.

The shock of seeing death for the first time horrified Elise, but at the same time, it broke her from her paralysis. She needed to escape. But how? It just killed Sylvanna and Corwin. They were dead. They couldn't even fight back. The warg was so much stronger than her, she didn't stand a chance. But then why wasn't it attacking? After killing the others, it just stood still, staring her down, as if waiting for her to make a move.

Was it wary, or just playing with her? Its lips curled up and it made a soft snarl that sounded almost more like a purr. It was definitely playing with her. Why didn't it play with them? They could have lived longer. They might even have been able to escape. It didn't matter anymore. They were dead, but Elise was still alive. She could still get away.

She racked her brain trying to think of a solution, and in that short time, there was only one thing she could think of. Her other offensive spell that she had barely gotten to use, {Suggest}, was her only hope.

She had practiced it for a little while in the woods on one of her days out. She wouldn't call herself proficient with it, but she at least had a solid understanding of what it could and couldn't do. {Suggest} essentially planted an idea in the subconscious of the target's mind. Since it was in the subconscious, that meant she couldn't directly force her target to do anything, and if she suggested something too outlandish, it would just dismiss it as an intrusive thought. However, if she suggested it do something that it already might want to do, there was a much higher chance of it working.

She activated her skill, and focused on the wolf.

Give the weak rabbit a head start, she thought.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the wolf turned around and walked away. It didn't go far– it stopped just around the corner– but it was enough. Elise had a lane to get out of the house. She hopped to the destroyed living room, trying not to look at the corpses, took a deep breath, then stepped outside.

The warg's idea of a "head start" needed some work. It pounced almost as soon as she stepped outside. It was only because she could hear it waiting for her that she was able to use {Dart} to get out of the way. From there, the chase was on.

It was much faster than her, but it was also too big to maneuver through forest well, and with well-timed uses of {Dart} and {Leap}, Elise was able to stay just ahead of its snapping jaws. She had never been more thankful to be a rabbit. If she hadn't been able to see behind her so well, she would have certainly mistimed it.

She fled deeper and deeper into the forest, looking for anything that could help her. Trees wouldn't slow it down enough. It had already knocked two over chasing her and it wasn't hurt at all. She needed a cave or something similar where it couldn't follow her.

Behind her, the warg took a mighty leap and its jaws closed around the air where she had just been before using {Dart}. The skill had leveled twice already since they started, and her legs were screaming in agony, but she couldn't stop. She looked around during her brief reprieve while her pursuer recovered its footing, and saw something that gave her a glimmer of hope. There was a bush with a small, oddly round hole, going through its center. New leaves were growing in from the edges, but it was still obvious that the hole wasn't natural. Elise made a sharp left toward it, and saw a second bush a bit further off with the same kind of hole.

Let it run itself to death, she thought back to the warg.

She wasn't sure if it was placebo or if it had actually worked, but she did feel that it was easier to evade after that.

She followed the trail of bushes with holes and fresh grass as it went on, and was rewarded with exactly what she was hoping to find. The trees grew sparser, and the ground sloped up. She was nearing the cliff.

She did have a plan for once she got there. It was an insane plan, but she couldn't keep running forever, so it was her only option. The wolf wasn't as dumb as a slime, so it wouldn't be as easy, but she wasn't as helpless as she was at level one. She had more tools at her disposal now.

She reached the end of the treeline with the wolf hot on her heels, and used {Suggest} once more.

It's getting away! she thought.

That one definitely worked. The wolf snarled and accelerated toward her. Perfect.

She enacted the second part of her plan: jumping off the cliff. She paused for just a split second at the edge, then used {Dart} to go straight out off the edge. The warg pounced after her, not taking any time to look where it was going. It didn't realize its mistake until it saw Elise suddenly pulled downward and back toward the cliff. Its eyes widened in surprise, but it had no way to turn around midair.

Elise reeled herself in using the {Prehensile Vines} she had cast just before jumping, and just as she made it back to solid ground, there was a heavy thud far below, and a loud yelp of pain from the wolf. But there was no System message. It was still alive, and no doubt very angry. Hopefully, it would be too injured to do anything for the time being.

Elise didn't stick around to find out. She turned around and made a beeline back through the woods. It looked different at night, but she recognized this area, and soon, she managed to locate what she was looking for. It was her first burrow, where she had first encountered the monster, back when it was still just a Direwolf.

The wolf had done a number on the outside, and there was nothing left of the original burrow, but the dirt was still loose, and it didn't take her long to find her way back to the Wyrm's tunnel. Once inside, she finally took time to stop and breath and relax her overworked leg muscles. She kept her ears open, but just as she suspected, nothing had moved into the Wyrm's old haunts. As far as she could tell, the only two entrances were the ones she had dug herself, and one was near the cabin and the other near the warg's territory, so it was unlikely anything would be poking around too much.

[You have survived an encounter with, and inflicted a wound on an attacker whose level far exceeded your own. Lvl 4 -> 14]

With the arrival of the System message came the departure of her adrenaline, and the reality of her situation crashed down on her. Sylvanna took an icicle to the head. Corwin had a hole through him big enough to see to the other side. They were dead. Completely, unquestionably, helplessly dead.

And Elise couldn't do a thing to stop it.

She curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep.

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