Chapter 14

The pair hydrated once more before finding their way down to ground level. Gwyneth refused to descend with her body pressed against the sun-baked stone, so they took a roundabout route. Diya used Slimeskin to lower them into the crag’s passageways, and then they used the compass to leave the natural stone maze.

Gwyneth paused before they stepped onto the sand. “Someone else has been here,” she said, pointing at a stream flowing out of the crags not far to their left. It disappeared into a giant hole in the ground before touching the sand. “I see footprints.”

“It could be the people from the settlement,” Diya said, nodding to the smoldering mass not far ahead of them. “Can you see which way the tracks are heading?”

“No.” Gwyneth shook her head. “I only see fresh blood and scraps of dirty cloth. There aren’t any discernible tracks. Only we’re stupid enough to travel towards a burning settlement instead of away from it. So, I think we’re in the clear.”

“The last thing we want is to attract one of those things.” Diya nodded, and the bulging worm corpse. “Let’s take it slow.”

The pair hated it as soon as they stepped off the stone and onto the sand. It shifted under their feet, making every stride a slog. The heat coming at them from every direction didn’t help either. Frost Aura made things just about bearable. To avoid the sandworms’ attention, they couldn’t move quickly either. Diya shifted the summoned coat’s color to white and pulled his hood up to keep his head covered. Gwyneth did the same and hoped they wouldn’t stand out in the mostly yellow sand. Fortunately, there was no wind blowing up the sand. It would’ve made the trek much worse.

By the time the pair reached their destination, the sun was not far from disappearing over the horizon. Parts of the settlement were still ablaze, but mostly embers remained now. Diya didn’t rush in, though. He selected a part of the walls not touched by the fire and pulled himself atop it. His stomach turned at the sight below.

Diya had stood among dozens of dead bodies before but had never seen so many fresh humans remains so close together. It wasn’t just the volume, either. The bodies lay on the ground, burned and in pieces. The smells only made things worse. Besides the aroma of burnt flesh and hair, Diya detected rot too. He didn’t want to get close and check, but it was most likely the split-open worm corpse that Gwyneth had spotted before.

“Where’s the gate?” Gwyneth asked when Diya pulled her up.

“Most likely down there,” Diya answered, pointing at the gaping hole in the stony ground. Corpses and dead seven-foot-long worms surrounded it.

“Let’s get this over with.” They hopped off the wall and weaved through the corpses. It surprised Diya that Gwyneth didn’t flinch. He couldn’t help but wonder whether such sights were common in the DeLawney house’s service or if she despised them enough not to give a damn. Diya had no love for the house, of course, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the twenty or so corpses. Most of them were probably people like him and Baba. They couldn’t all be horrid arseholes.

Seeker’s Lantern increased its luminosity as they approached the hole. Diya was ready to head down when Gwyneth grabbed his hand and pulled him back. A heartbeat later, the ground rippled where he’d been standing, and stone spikes thrust upwards toward the sky.

“Damnit!” Diya swore under his breath, staggering backward. He summoned the gauntlet and planted the pen in the wrist slot. “Get back—”

Before Diya could direct Gwyneth, the club-wielder leaped out of the hole. He shattered the stone spikes with a single swing of his club and shouldered bashed Diya. Unlike Gwyneth, he hadn’t rested and failed to avoid or block the attack. He found himself thrown off his feet and landed in a pile of smoldering wood—a sharp pain bit at his side not far from his newest scar. The coat’s padding had protected Diya from most of the blunt trauma, but a shard of pointed wood had ripped through the soft material. He extended a tentacle from the gauntlet, lashed a nearby wall, and pulled himself away.

Fortunately, none of the wood came with him. Diya guessed the wound wasn’t deep. Since he was already hot and soaked in sweat, Diya couldn’t tell how badly he was bleeding. The quick escape had put some distance between him and the club-wielder, and he took the opportunity to splatter ink on the painful area. A Harden command temporarily patched the wound.

Much to Diya’s surprise, Gwyneth was now facing the pickaxe man on the opposite end of the settlement. She wielded her weapon with both hands while lightning arced from the its metal sections. Diya’s moment of rest ended when the club-wielder dashed at him at full speed.

The man moved surprisingly fast for someone carrying such an oversized weapon. The bone club was longer than his leg and as wide as his thigh at the thickest. Yet he switched between wielding it with one or two hands like it was no big deal. Due to the surrounding rubble and still burning bits, Diya couldn’t use his mobility to full effect. So, he absorbed the tentacle and summoned a spear before dashing in to meet the man. Considering the man’s ridiculous strength, Diya knew blocking wasn’t an option. Besides, the pain in his side would only worsen if he tried to deflect or absorb blows. Baba’s footwork would have to suffice.

Just before the first downward swing could make contact, Diya took a tiny step to the left, letting the blow miss his shoulder by a hair. Then he thrust the spear at the man’s side. Much to Diya’s surprise, his attack glanced off the man. It ripped through his coat, but armor made of painted bone had stopped it. A deep groove remained, and frost spread from the line. The man struck Diya with a backhanded blow, pushing him back. The impact from the man’s arm didn’t pack as much power as from the bone. Diya guessed the attacker’s equipment had cores enhancing them, or they were all part of a single tool spirit.

“What the hell do you want?” Diya asked, putting some distance between the man and himself. Fortunately, the bounty hunter paused, giving Diya a moment to study him. Bits of bone were stitched into the man’s clothing. The coat’s sleeves had several pieces stitched into the leather, and he wore a vest of the same material under it. Diya tried to spot the Cores, but he couldn’t. “We already crippled your friends. Leave us alone before the same happens to you, bastards.”

“I am Oss, Diya Sen, and we’ll talk if you survive my test.” The man spoke in a surprisingly warm tone before charging once again.

Instead of using downward swings like before, Oss swung his bone club in a one-handed, horizontal arc. There was a certain wildness to the attack that sent chills down Diya’s spine. He had faced humanoid foes wielding a variety of weapons, but they generally came at him with some degree of restraint. They feared counter-attacks and left room for defense or retreat, which Diya could capitalize on. Oss did not, but at the same time, there were no openings in his assault. Diya didn’t have much room to dodge backward. Oss could easily catch the club with his free hand and then go on a breathless rampage. It would corner Diya and most likely kill him or shatter his bones. So, he met the charge head-on.

Instead of parrying the attack, Diya made an unorthodox move and fell onto all fours. Then he thrust the spear at his opponent’s thigh. Oss avoided the attack masterfully, using the momentum of his swing to spin away from Diya. While doing so, he struck Diya’s head with his shin. The blow sent tremors through Diya’s skull and made his vision blurry, but he had enough sense to roll away from the spot. The attack that would’ve broken his weapon-wielding arm missed.

The thumping in Diya’s chest got so loud he struggled to hear anything else. He had never faced a martially superior foe in real combat. Despite his seemingly wild movements, Oss’s body control rivaled Baba’s. Diya rejected the idea a moment later. He realized it was fear rationalizing his poor performance. Oss’s movements were skillful, but it was the mysterious equipment that made him a real threat. If Diya understood Oss’s power’s source or nature, then he could figure out a way to counter it. The man wasn’t his martial superior but an equal with superior equipment.

Once again, he met Oss’s assault head-on. Instead of dodging altogether, he moved close to Oss’s torso and prevented the man from building momentum. Oss responded by elbowing Diya, and he accepted the blow on the coat’s squishy shoulder padding. “Stick,” he whispered after dropping his spear and grabbing Oss’s raised hands with his gauntleted hand, preventing the downward swing. Diya released the summon but didn’t reabsorb the ink. Instead, he let the amorphous blob ooze onto Oss’s arms, shoulder, and face as they wrestled against one another.

Oss didn’t let Diya capitalize on the opening. Oss stomped Diya’s right foot and barrelled into him with his full weight. The two fell in a tangled heap writhing against one another. Oss used his weight to keep Diya down, but the more he struggled, the more he got trapped in the Slimeskins sticky, stretchy mess. After a couple of minutes of wrestling, they managed to get free of one another, and Diya rushed and drew his axe.

When he turned around, Oss was standing upright with the Slimeskin contained around one arm. Diya’s stomach sank as he realized he had no idea of how to defeat his foe.

“I think we can call it a day, Diya Sen,” Oss declared.

“What do you mean we can call it a day?” Diya asked, panting. He used the opportunity to catch his breath and look for an opening. Oss had a cut on his right cheek and left arm, but both appeared shallow. Frost had painted the skin around the wounds white, and he hoped the man got frostbite. “Are you done? Can we bloody well retreat?”

“There’s no need for that.” Oss laughed heartily. His deep voice and tone, though friendly, sounded out of place for the given circumstance. “Explorer asked me to look out for you, Diya Sen, and help you through the interval.”

“What?!” Diya exclaimed, struggling to comprehend the man’s words. “Then why the hell did you attack me?”

Oss shrugged. “Explorer rarely takes a liking to Climbers and has never handed out a named soul. I had to test you out, of course.”

Diya looked back at Gwyneth, still fighting the pickaxe man. “Then what in the world is going on with your friends? Why are they still fighting us?” He felt his volume getting louder as anger and frustration replaced the earlier hopelessness.

“Oh. They genuinely want to kill you and capture your friend. I just joined since they had better means of tracking you.”

Diya wanted to punch Oss in the face but fought the urge. It was not the time to pick a fight with someone stronger than him.