I could have made it sound more realistic than this. It has a metallic ring behind the feet pounding, while it should be wetter, squishier. Wolf listened to the stampede, his brows scrunched into a dissatisfied frown.
“It was from memory, with no prior tests, and composing five hundred runes into a Spell Formation, half of which weren’t designed for making unarticulated noise. I just hope the apes rip the circle’s rope as they run past. The noise’s abrupt disappearance should further confuse them.”
Wolf watched the apes dash, spraying humus as they instinctively banded into an improvised war-party, heading towards his clamor-producing Spell Formation. He descended the tree after the last simian bouldered through and headed for the lake, nude, save for the camouflage cloak obscuring his form.
He winced in pain as he sprinkled Remove Trace every sixty steps to obscure his trail.
“I have to do this. The risk of getting surrounded by a hundred apes is too great, even if the chance of them reading my tracks is miniscule.”
I know. But I’m running out of Remove Trace. I’m down to two hundred uses, and I don’t have the recipe. If I had it, I would have spent the fusingcube’s entire production cycle making a hill’s worth of it.
Wolf came to a halt two steps away from the water, looking at the oval leaves obscuring its surface and the pale flowers budding from their centers.
One hundred and ninety-nine, he thought as he opened another embroidered bag.
“Reaching the jungle on the other side will cost me another twenty pinches.”
With that thought weighing his heart, Wolf glanced left and right.
The apes on the other bank aren’t moving, despite the commotion. Wolf observed two pairs of Gilded Apes standing on the other shore, their gazes locked towards the phantom-stampede. Luckily, he had taken them into consideration and reached the water a hundred meters to the left of where they were looking.
He grimaced, but still set foot between three lotus leaves without taking off the camouflage cloak.
“At least the lotuses are packed densely enough to prevent the mucky, oily film from gathering atop the water.”
Almost. Wolf’s lip twisted as he watched the scarce patches of slimy algae drift towards him and stick to the patterned cloak.
After five steps, he ducked, submerging himself into the murky water and stored his soiled cloak. He walked down the gentle muddy slope in a crab-like crouch, and, after advancing ten paces, he stood straight, hiding his head beneath a lotus pad, hoping nobody would notice the plant rise a palm’s width above water’s surface. Wolf awakened his senses, but caught no splashes or other hints of Gilded Apes pursuing from the other bank.
I guess I’m safe for now.
“Next comes the illusion Spell Formation on the other shore, followed by the whirlpool.”
First, I have to cross some fifty kilometers through the water. I can function without air for ten minutes if I really have to, but anything beyond five minutes is uncomfortable.
“Well, I have no reason to stay underwater all fifty kilometers, or I could make a breathing tube with a reed.”
Where do I find a reed?
Wolf argued with himself while crossing the channel and went up the slope of the opposite bank. With water slightly above his head, he headed right, following the shoreline.
Two days later, he was seventy kilometers away from where he had entered the moat, with both Spell Formations ready. Wolf climbed out of the water and entered the illusion, which he hoped had captured an image of the calm patch of the lotus-infested surface and projected it for all outside observers.
Under the Spell Formation’s protection, he gave himself five minutes to clean his cloak, and for the water to slide off his Qi shield. He hoped ridding himself of water would minimize the tracks he would leave shortly.
Ten, nine, eight, he counted down towards the activation of a whirlpool generating Spell Formation half a kilometer away. The surface of the water started moving when his countdown reached three, and Wolf nearly clicked his tongue, irked because he had misjudged the timing yet again.
“World Energy is slightly denser than it was in the jungle, or my calculations were off by a bit.”
The water movement began as a soft ripple. Combined with the densely packed pads, an average human stood no chance of spotting it, and even Wolf noticed it only because he was looking straight at it, but in fifteen seconds the languid flow grew into a maelstrom ten meters in diameter, ripping and devouring Mind Clearing Lotuses.
The apes overseeing that patch of the fruit plantation took several minutes to notice the disturbance before bursting into screeches and panicked shrieks. By then the whirlpool had grown to thrice its intended size, stabilizing at thirty meters in diameter and consuming an entire patch of precious lotuses.
The apes dashed to the water’s edge, jumping and clutching their heads, as Wolf translated their wails into words.
The baron’s gonna have our furs!
Quick, quick, what do we do?
At a convenient moment, an ape flailed with both arms towards the water, his expression disturbingly human.
I don’t know, jump into the water, save them!
“Really? Narrating their nonexistent dialog? I really have gone insane, lacking people to talk to.”
It’s all your fault! I was sane before you started talking to me!
“I beg your pardon? You were the one who started arguing with yourself. I’m just pointing out things which I believe the bodily chemistry is hampering you from saying!”
Who do you think you are? You don’t even have a body and yet you—
“Shush! They are entering the water.”
Don’t you shush me!
The Gilded Apes entered the field of Mind Clearing Lotuses, taking care not to damage the plants and crying out in despair whenever the whirlpool swallowed another lotus teetering on its fringe.
While the apes crawled through the water, Wolf donned his cloak and left the illusion’s protective ring. His camouflage was far from perfect, especially while he moved. However, the nearest possible observer was a hundred meters away, facing away from him.
Still, Wolf kept his vigilance. Just when he entered the moat, he advanced slowly, meticulously erasing his trail and giving the cloak enough time to adjust to the ever-shifting background. From time to time he looked back, checking on the ape’s progress.
They reached the whirlpool’s edge when Wolf was a hundred meters away from the jungle. The Gilded Apes fought against the current, but even at its periphery, the water’s power tugged and pulled them out of balance.
“Water is really powerful. Knee-deep flood moving at an adult’s brisk walk can drown regular humans.”
Whatever, the more they struggle, the more time I have to get away from here.
By the time Wolf reached the jungle, the apes had crossed half the whirlpool, nearing Wolf’s seal. Despite their bulk and strength, they had to support each other, lest they fall.
He glanced towards them once more. I hope this is the last obstacle they made for me.
“Body makes you so egotistical. They made nothing to obstruct us. This is how they remodeled their habitat for their own benefit. I just hope they destroy the seal and that the jumble of broken leaves and stems consumes the papers with runes I left behind.”
Even if they find them, what can they do?
“Please, stop tempting fate.”
I’m not superstitious.
“But you are a moron.”
Wolf’s thoughts clashed and bickered as he climbed the tree, and continued towards the center taking the path intertwining boughs had created centuries ago.
Finally, as he moved deeper in, he found what he had been searching for since crossing the first moat. Giant golden apes slept on beds of dry leaves, following the nesting instincts of their distant ancestors.
“So, they haven’t evolved enough to build homes and palaces.”
Who cares about that? Look at them! We’ve already passed a hundred slumbering Gilded Apes. They can already eradicate all other life in Corpsewood and take it over.
“And what do they gain by doing that? The energy beyond the moat probably doesn’t meet their needs, and while Mind Clearing Lotuses extended their souls’ longevity, they now face overpopulation. And they need World Energy to function normally and to keep their realm from dropping. Otherwise, these apes would do something better with their time than sleep. In a generation or two, they will start fighting each other.”
Wolf smirked. They really are turning into manlings. Do you recall how the high elves came to be?
“I am you, you imbecile. Of course I remember.”
Stop slinging insults just because you don’t have a body.
Wolf almost snorted, but stopped himself in time, and kept going forward.
I could have made it sound more realistic than this. It has a metallic ring behind the feet pounding, while it should be wetter, squishier. Wolf listened to the stampede, his brows scrunched into a dissatisfied frown.
“It was from memory, with no prior tests, and composing five hundred runes into a Spell Formation, half of which weren’t designed for making unarticulated noise. I just hope the apes rip the circle’s rope as they run past. The noise’s abrupt disappearance should further confuse them.”
Wolf watched the apes dash, spraying humus as they instinctively banded into an improvised war-party, heading towards his clamor-producing Spell Formation. He descended the tree after the last simian bouldered through and headed for the lake, nude, save for the camouflage cloak obscuring his form.
He winced in pain as he sprinkled Remove Trace every sixty steps to obscure his trail.
“I have to do this. The risk of getting surrounded by a hundred apes is too great, even if the chance of them reading my tracks is miniscule.”
I know. But I’m running out of Remove Trace. I’m down to two hundred uses, and I don’t have the recipe. If I had it, I would have spent the fusingcube’s entire production cycle making a hill’s worth of it.
Wolf came to a halt two steps away from the water, looking at the oval leaves obscuring its surface and the pale flowers budding from their centers.
One hundred and ninety-nine, he thought as he opened another embroidered bag.
“Reaching the jungle on the other side will cost me another twenty pinches.”
With that thought weighing his heart, Wolf glanced left and right.
The apes on the other bank aren’t moving, despite the commotion. Wolf observed two pairs of Gilded Apes standing on the other shore, their gazes locked towards the phantom-stampede. Luckily, he had taken them into consideration and reached the water a hundred meters to the left of where they were looking.
He grimaced, but still set foot between three lotus leaves without taking off the camouflage cloak.
“At least the lotuses are packed densely enough to prevent the mucky, oily film from gathering atop the water.”
Almost. Wolf’s lip twisted as he watched the scarce patches of slimy algae drift towards him and stick to the patterned cloak.
After five steps, he ducked, submerging himself into the murky water and stored his soiled cloak. He walked down the gentle muddy slope in a crab-like crouch, and, after advancing ten paces, he stood straight, hiding his head beneath a lotus pad, hoping nobody would notice the plant rise a palm’s width above water’s surface. Wolf awakened his senses, but caught no splashes or other hints of Gilded Apes pursuing from the other bank.
I guess I’m safe for now.
“Next comes the illusion Spell Formation on the other shore, followed by the whirlpool.”
First, I have to cross some fifty kilometers through the water. I can function without air for ten minutes if I really have to, but anything beyond five minutes is uncomfortable.
“Well, I have no reason to stay underwater all fifty kilometers, or I could make a breathing tube with a reed.”
Where do I find a reed?
Wolf argued with himself while crossing the channel and went up the slope of the opposite bank. With water slightly above his head, he headed right, following the shoreline.
Two days later, he was seventy kilometers away from where he had entered the moat, with both Spell Formations ready. Wolf climbed out of the water and entered the illusion, which he hoped had captured an image of the calm patch of the lotus-infested surface and projected it for all outside observers.
Under the Spell Formation’s protection, he gave himself five minutes to clean his cloak, and for the water to slide off his Qi shield. He hoped ridding himself of water would minimize the tracks he would leave shortly.
Ten, nine, eight, he counted down towards the activation of a whirlpool generating Spell Formation half a kilometer away. The surface of the water started moving when his countdown reached three, and Wolf nearly clicked his tongue, irked because he had misjudged the timing yet again.
“World Energy is slightly denser than it was in the jungle, or my calculations were off by a bit.”
The water movement began as a soft ripple. Combined with the densely packed pads, an average human stood no chance of spotting it, and even Wolf noticed it only because he was looking straight at it, but in fifteen seconds the languid flow grew into a maelstrom ten meters in diameter, ripping and devouring Mind Clearing Lotuses.
The apes overseeing that patch of the fruit plantation took several minutes to notice the disturbance before bursting into screeches and panicked shrieks. By then the whirlpool had grown to thrice its intended size, stabilizing at thirty meters in diameter and consuming an entire patch of precious lotuses.
The apes dashed to the water’s edge, jumping and clutching their heads, as Wolf translated their wails into words.
The baron’s gonna have our furs!
Quick, quick, what do we do?
At a convenient moment, an ape flailed with both arms towards the water, his expression disturbingly human.
I don’t know, jump into the water, save them!
“Really? Narrating their nonexistent dialog? I really have gone insane, lacking people to talk to.”
It’s all your fault! I was sane before you started talking to me!
“I beg your pardon? You were the one who started arguing with yourself. I’m just pointing out things which I believe the bodily chemistry is hampering you from saying!”
Who do you think you are? You don’t even have a body and yet you—
“Shush! They are entering the water.”
Don’t you shush me!
The Gilded Apes entered the field of Mind Clearing Lotuses, taking care not to damage the plants and crying out in despair whenever the whirlpool swallowed another lotus teetering on its fringe.
While the apes crawled through the water, Wolf donned his cloak and left the illusion’s protective ring. His camouflage was far from perfect, especially while he moved. However, the nearest possible observer was a hundred meters away, facing away from him.
Still, Wolf kept his vigilance. Just when he entered the moat, he advanced slowly, meticulously erasing his trail and giving the cloak enough time to adjust to the ever-shifting background. From time to time he looked back, checking on the ape’s progress.
They reached the whirlpool’s edge when Wolf was a hundred meters away from the jungle. The Gilded Apes fought against the current, but even at its periphery, the water’s power tugged and pulled them out of balance.
“Water is really powerful. Knee-deep flood moving at an adult’s brisk walk can drown regular humans.”
Whatever, the more they struggle, the more time I have to get away from here.
By the time Wolf reached the jungle, the apes had crossed half the whirlpool, nearing Wolf’s seal. Despite their bulk and strength, they had to support each other, lest they fall.
He glanced towards them once more. I hope this is the last obstacle they made for me.
“Body makes you so egotistical. They made nothing to obstruct us. This is how they remodeled their habitat for their own benefit. I just hope they destroy the seal and that the jumble of broken leaves and stems consumes the papers with runes I left behind.”
Even if they find them, what can they do?
“Please, stop tempting fate.”
I’m not superstitious.
“But you are a moron.”
Wolf’s thoughts clashed and bickered as he climbed the tree, and continued towards the center taking the path intertwining boughs had created centuries ago.
Finally, as he moved deeper in, he found what he had been searching for since crossing the first moat. Giant golden apes slept on beds of dry leaves, following the nesting instincts of their distant ancestors.
“So, they haven’t evolved enough to build homes and palaces.”
Who cares about that? Look at them! We’ve already passed a hundred slumbering Gilded Apes. They can already eradicate all other life in Corpsewood and take it over.
“And what do they gain by doing that? The energy beyond the moat probably doesn’t meet their needs, and while Mind Clearing Lotuses extended their souls’ longevity, they now face overpopulation. And they need World Energy to function normally and to keep their realm from dropping. Otherwise, these apes would do something better with their time than sleep. In a generation or two, they will start fighting each other.”
Wolf smirked. They really are turning into manlings. Do you recall how the high elves came to be?
“I am you, you imbecile. Of course I remember.”
Stop slinging insults just because you don’t have a body.
Wolf almost snorted, but stopped himself in time, and kept going forward.
