Chapter 92 - Totemic Tribunal

Zeke rested his hand on Pudge’s furry back as he inspected the camp below him. Calling it a camp might’ve been a little generous; aside from the yawning mouth of a nearby cave, there was nothing by way of a shelter, and the caprids swarming the area looked disorganized and animalistic.

“You sure there’s no chance of diplomacy?” he whispered.

Abby shook her head. “Really?” she asked. “From you? Not what I expected.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” came his indignant response.

“It means that genocide is kind of your go-to move,” she said. “Which technically, I guess, this wouldn’t be outright genocide. It’s just one tribe. These mountains are filled with those things. But my point stands.”

Zeke frowned, disliking the implication behind Abby’s words. He would be the first to admit that, when the situation called for it, he had few issues with killing. In fact, he was self-aware enough to acknowledge that he enjoyed it, to a certain extent. But he never did it without reason.

“Don’t get it twisted around, though,” Abby said. “There’s really no other way. These things are going to track us down until we either slaughter them or they do the same to us. There’s no grey area here.”

“So you’ve said,” Zeke responded. “But how would they know where we were going? They don’t look like trackers.”

“Magic,” she said. Then, Abby pointed toward a group of robed caprids. Smaller than their loinclothed brethren, these creatures wore bloodred robes, and each had a wicked-looking dagger at their hip. “Those are like shaman. They power the ritual through sacrifice and cast the spell. Once it’s cast, they’ll know which direction we go. Unless you know of a way to break the ritual’s connection.”

At that, Zeke’s thoughts inevitably went to runecraft. As far as he could tell, every skill was driven by runes. He’d only seen one ritual during his time in the new world, but the summoning ritual in the sewers had been dependent on runes, both in the altar itself and in the sewer chamber. It stood to reason that this ritual would be similarly powered. He had been studying the book of runes Abby had given him, but he had barely scratched the surface of the knowledge within.

“Wait, you can’t do that, can you?” she asked.

Zeke thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “Maybe, if I could study it for a few days,” he said. “Or weeks, probably. I mean, when I saw the ritual that summoned that elemental in the sewers, the underlying runes were far beyond me. I could hardly understand what they were, much less alter their purpose. So, no. While I’m pretty sure this ritual will be a lot more simplistic, I don’t think there’s much of a chance I could change it.”

Abby took the news well. “I know I should be disappointed, but there’s a part of me that’s kind of relieved,” she said. “It’s a little disconcerting to partner with someone like you.”

“In what way?”

“In every way,” she said. “You’re an enigma. You look and fight like a brute, but then you can unravel curses like nobody’s business. You see things I can’t. You do things I don’t understand. Sometimes, it’s nice to be reminded that you have limits, even if it means we’re going to have a more difficult time of it.”

Zeke ran his hand through his hair. It had gotten a bit longer since he’d last had it cut, but he didn’t so much mind. He wasn’t certain how he felt about Abby’s statement, though, on the one hand, he understood it. If he could just barrel through anything in his way, it would make her feel useless, powerless, and superfluous. However, he didn’t like the idea that he wasn’t up to the task, even if there was no reasonable way anyone would expect it of him.

“How do you want to do this?” he asked. “You’re better at planning than I am.”

“What’s the objective?” she asked. “I know the number one objective is to get them off our tail, but do we want to just kill them all? Or are you suddenly fussy about that kind of thing?”

Zeke sighed. “I don’t like fighting these things,” he admitted, remembering how the small group they’d encountered before had bounced him around like a pinball. “They’re annoying.”

“Oh, quit being such a baby about it,” Abby said, flashing another smile. “They’re just goats.”

“Easy for you to say. You didn’t get rammed by the stupid things,” Zeke pointed out. “But whatever. I don’t think we have much of a choice. So, I guess we just go down there, target those ones in robes, then –”

“They’re called Totemic Tribunals,” Abby said. “You really need to stop forgetting to use your identification skill.”

Zeke sighed, then belatedly used [Inspection]:

Totemic Tribunal – Level 21

There were seven of them making their way toward an altar at the center of the camp. The altar itself was little more than a stone block, but it was stained with dark, red blood. One of the tribunals dragged a bleating juvenile caprid behind him. Or her. Zeke couldn’t determine the monsters’ genders, not that it mattered much.

“Damn,” Abby said, her bow already unfolding from her fingerless glove. “Guess we’re out of time. If they do the ritual before we attack, they’ll know we’re up here. We’ll lose the element of surprise.”

Zeke summoned his mace, Voromir, and stood up. He’d already donned his armor, and he completed his equipment by summoning his shield as well. “I’ll go in and distract them. You target the tribunals. Pudge, wait until you see an opportunity to shift the fight. Got it?”

“Got it,” Abby said.

Pudge’s projected thoughts confirmed that he was onboard as well. So, leaving Abby on the ledge where she could use the height advantage to better target the tribunals, Zeke and Pudge retreated back into the surrounding forest, where they started picking their way down the mountain so they could come at the caprids from a different direction. Otherwise, the monsters might decide Abby was a juicier target.

And given the similarities between the caprids and mountain goats, the things could probably get up to that ledge without much difficulty. That was why Zeke had to capture their attention, and he knew just how to do that. He just wasn’t looking forward to it very much, especially with the memory of the other caprids’ attacks still fresh in his mind.

But sometimes, you have to do things you really don’t want to do, he thought, steeling himself for a wholly unpleasant experience.

“This is going to suck,” he muttered. Pudge gave him an affirmative snort, but it was tinged with amusement. Zeke glared at his companion, adding, “Yeah, laugh it up.”

The bear’s mirth was predictably undeterred.

“Some friend you are.”

Once they were on level ground, Zeke crept forward as silently as he could manage – which, considering that he was in full armor, wasn’t all that silent. Thankfully, his steps ignored the uneven, moss-covered terrain because of the effects of his [Greaves of the Spider-Queen]. Without them, the going would’ve been rough.

Eventually, Zeke reached the edge of the clearing that contained the caprid camp. The closer he got, the stronger the smell became until he felt like he was swimming in wet fur, rotting meat, and various other, mustier smells he didn’t want to identify. The goatlike humanoids clearly didn’t value hygiene, which only made it that much easier to think of them as monsters as opposed to a tribe of primitive people.

Not that it would matter much. Not to Zeke’s conscience, at least. Whether he thought of them as monsters or people, the reality was that they had attacked him and his friends. And unless he did something about it, the caprids would hunt them down and kill them. Even if this strike bordered on preemptive, it was, at least in his mind, entirely justified. Zeke would leave debates about the morality of slaughtering monsters to other people who were privileged enough not to have to face down a horde of creatures intent on ending their lives. To him, they would never be anything but monsters.

“Guess there’s nothing else to do but to do it,” Zeke mumbled to himself. He rolled his shoulders, loosening up for the beating he knew was coming. Then, after activating [Leech Strike], he stepped clear of the brush, raised his shield, and yelled a wordless battle cry. Then, he was running toward the startled caprids.

The first of the bunch fell before his mace with a mighty crunch, the blow caving in its shoulder and a good portion of the bones in its torso. The next was sent flying from Zeke’s backhanded blow. And the third went down, its skull obliterated by an overhand strike. But that was as far as Zeke got before the monsters began their retaliation.

A caprid came out of nowhere, barreling into his side with the force of a runaway train. Zeke was strong. He was fast. And he could endure any number of blows. However, he could do nothing to counter the caprid’s momentum-based skill, the result of which sent him flying across the clearing.

He hit the ground with a roll, then skidded to a stop. Even with his armor, the attack had hurt, and he could practically feel the bruise forming over his ribs. Zeke didn’t have any time to ponder it, though, because another of the creatures was already on top of him. He raised his shield and braced himself just in time to receive the blow. A loud clang announced the meeting between horned head and shield, the blow mitigated by Zeke’s hasty preparation. This time, instead of being sent careening across the clearing, Zeke only stumbled backwards a bit, which seemed to surprise the caprid who’d attacked him.

Zeke’s mace arced out, catching the monster in an overhand chop. Then, Zeke pushed forward, bashing it with his shield with every ounce of his considerable strength. This time, it was the humanoid goat that went flying. It crashed into a few of its brethren, toppling them like bowling pins.

That gave Zeke a second to look around and take stock. Not counting the seven Totemic Tribunals, there were around twenty of the normal caprids in the clearing. And they were all focused on him. The group broke into a run only a second later, their screaming bleats filling the air.

When the monsters were halfway to him, Zeke braced himself once again. However, his strategy was for naught, because only a moment later, a bright light flashed in the sky, followed by a complicated rune. Vaguely, Zeke noticed the tribunals raising their hands before a giant shard of ice materialized above him. Zeke didn’t even have time to move before the twenty-foot-long icicle crashed down on him, shattering into a million pieces that seemed hellbent on finding every single gap in his armor. In the space of a second, Zeke was bleeding from a hundred cuts.

And then the charging caprids were on him. With his stance ruined by the fallen ice spear, Zeke was at the caprids’ mercy, and soon, he was being bounced between them as the monsters alternated their charges. Even as he flew through the air, Zeke tried to attack, but his blows were largely ineffective. Still, he managed to kill one, and because [Leech Strike] was still active, he was able to heal some of his wounds. But he knew he was fighting a losing battle. Even with his prodigious constitution, he had no way of turning the fight in his favor.

Thankfully, Zeke wasn’t alone, and that’s when Pudge decided to make his entrance. With a roar, the dire bear barreled into the group of caprids, breaking their formation so Zeke was able to regain his footing. He looked up to see Pudge standing on his hind legs and swiping at the much smaller caprids with reckless abandon. The normally docile bear exuded undiluted savagery, and if Zeke hadn’t been able to sense his companion’s thoughts, he might’ve been worried. But the emotions he felt from Pudge couldn’t have been more different than what he saw before him, because Pudge was having the time of his life. It was as if he’d found a new toy, and he was still in the early stages of playing with it. Of course, these “toys” were living monsters, which only added to the macabre scene.

Zeke took a moment to glance toward the tribunals, and he was happy to see that Abby hadn’t been idle, either. Four of the seven red-robed monsters looked like pincushions, and the others were rapidly joining their fellows as Abby unleashed one arrow after another at the bipedal goats.

Not to be outdone, Zeke charged the caprids who’d turned to deal with Pudge, slamming his shield into one, then backhanding another with his mace. Both fell. They weren’t dead yet, but judging by the bleating moans of pain coming from their mouths, they wouldn’t be rising anytime soon, either. So, Zeke turned his attention to the rest of the caprids, working through them with relative ease.

The caprids were unsuited to fighting on two fronts, and with Pudge on one side and Zeke on another, they were all slain without much more difficulty. For Zeke, it felt good. Even if [Leech Strike] had already gone to work healing his injuries, he wouldn’t soon forget getting pinged around the clearing.

“Clear!” Abby shouted from the ledge. Zeke looked up to see that she was already climbing down, having surmised that the threat was gone. For his part, Pudge had a horned head clutched between his jaws, and he was worrying the monster like he was a dog with a rope toy.

As Abby climbed down, Zeke proceeded to loot his way across the clearing. Just as he finished, Abby reached him, saying, “Well, that worked out well.”

“Says you,” Zeke muttered, wincing as he clutched his side. He knew that a few of his ribs were still broken, despite the influence of the vitality he had stolen via [Leech Strike]. “I feel like one big bruise.”

“You’re just mad because you were the bait,” she said.

“A little bit,” Zeke admitted. “Well, now that they’re dealt with –”

Zeke was cut off by the sound of hundreds of bleating screams echoing from the nearby cave. He looked in that direction, seeing that his estimate, if anything, was far too conservative. The caprids moved in a mass of curled horns and fur, their red eyes flashing in the darkness of the cave. For once, Zeke remembered to use [Inspection].

Caprid Hunter – Level 22

“Crap,” he breathed. “Run. Now.”

He needn’t have bothered saying anything, because the moment Abby and Pudge saw the horde, they’d come to the same conclusion. They’d had trouble with a two dozen of the monsters; the seething horde of caprids erupting from the cave was many, many times that number.

They had no choice but to retreat. And they did, turning tail and running as fast as their legs could carry them. The enraged caprids followed on their heels, bleating for blood.