Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave slept little that night—enough to function without issue, but not much more. All of his time was spent studying the spell [Bloodfeud Bow]. The ‘how’ of things still eluded him—the B-rank matrix felt fragile, and his attempts to put it into motion simply made it break. It felt like he was trying to pick up a house of cards and move it elsewhere. It didn’t matter how he distributed the force, or if he applied it evenly across the whole thing—to set the spell matrix into motion was to break it.

Despite his failures, he was not discouraged. Never again, he repeated mentally time and time again. He could never again relax, never again fall into contentment. Everything could be taken from him in a heartbeat if he was not adequately prepared.

The expeditionary forces were rallied early in the morning. Orion brought with him ten of his Waxknights, and Argrave brought his three companions, plus Silvic. In total, that placed them at sixteen. All had plenty of rations. Orion brought a weapon along. It was an ornate flanged mace made of black metal and gilded with snakes on the shaft, and thoroughly enchanted.

Orion distributed backpacks full of rations to all, including Argrave and his companions—they had been diligently gathered and preserved. The Waxknights accompanying them were C-rank mages, one and all, and seemed to be skilled with their blades.

The morning was spent by Silvic—in truth, Anneliese—scouting out a proper path. The obfuscation was paranoid caution on Argrave’s part, concealing some of their abilities in case they needed them. Anneliese marked the trees in the vast wetlands ahead with her Starsparrow. Argrave repaid some of his debt to Erlebnis—the first hours of the journey would be safe, he knew. He would likely regain his ability to use the Blessing of Supersession the next morning.

After their preparations…

“If you stray too far from me, my power wanes. Barring Orion, perhaps, all will die. The wetlands themselves will consume you in hours, and none will find your body,” Silvic cautioned.

“How dangerous can it be for knights of the faithful?” a Waxknight rebuffed.

Silvic turned her head towards him. “I will not make you believe me. I see no reason to stop you from killing yourself.”

Orion crossed his arms. “Heeds the spirit’s words. We are allies against evil,” he commanded.

“Then we may go whenever you are ready,” Silvic directed.

Orion stepped away, peering through the trees into the vast wetlands beyond. A cold morning mist blocked much vision ahead. This fog seemed different, somehow—the wind did not affect it.

“Oh gods,” Orion sung. “As I walk through hardships, protect me, your Lordships…”

Orion stepped ahead first, heading into the wetlands. Argrave pulled his gloves a bit tighter and then walked forward just after him. Soon enough, the whole party disappeared into the cold morning mist, heading for the foul Plague Jester.

#####

the first fortress, the unnaturalness of these wetlands was

would follow by the side of this slow-moving character, staying within the safe zone as they moved to the first fortress. Now… things were different, death was reality, and Argrave

and that without was visible and tangible. A cold mist surrounded them just outside a boundary as though they were trapped in a bubble. This mist writhed and twisted into shapes, faces, and let out muffled screams that were horrifyingly intense. Beyond that, the wetlands themselves twisted and writhed and bubbled, mud and water stretching and contorting

shrouded them as though it were solid, and the light of the sun faded. The Waxknights were forced to light the way with spell light. The waters rose, and before long, everyone waded through knee-high muck. Well, mostly everyone—Argrave was glad to be tall more than ever as the ice-cold waters stung at his shins. Experiencing

passed… the enemy started

press through the boundary were the leopards. Their element of surprise was ruined by Silvic’s presence, who warned their party long before they came. Even still, their assault was a formidable thing—they came from the trees, jumping down from above, and simultaneously attacked from

wants. His talk of being blessed by 96 gods was no delusion. It

of the water.

of ice abated some of the assault, as all of the cats needed to climb over it to get at their party.

a time, the ground began to shake, and Silvic said, “The rockhides

coming!” Argrave relayed, but none treated this as seriously as they should have—most didn’t know

chunks of ice. A hippo broke through the barrier of ice Orion had established, bringing with it a tidal wave of water. Its skin was black, reminiscent of volcanic rock. It slammed into two Waxknights in its charge, tossing them aside with ease. It must’ve been 10 tons of pure mass, towering above all. It pressed towards Silvic,

let’s—” he started, stepping backwards and

stepped forth. He held one hand out and caught the top of the hippo’s open mouth. His legs stayed firm, appearing indomitable. His elbow bent as it received and halted the hippo’s

may be strong…” Orion said, a foul anger in

the same motion. His mace whistled through the air in an uppercut. It struck the hippo on the bottom of its jaw. It was powerful enough to send its titanic head into the air, and its front legs rose up out of the water.

Once he pulled his hand free, he looked beyond the breach in the ice wall, where two more of the

content that Orion would be able to handle all comers from that side. He spotted something atop one of the ice walls, and his gaze locked onto it. A black gibbon as large as a man hung

several high-pitched hoos that filled the air. Argrave tensed, and as the gibbon called,

warranted. The apes swung their

mere knights. Their waxpox-ridden skin was as hard as stone, and they felt no pain. What few blows they did not parry with their enchanted blades were returned twofold, and the gibbons fell one after the other. Though

her ring—to confront the tide of apes that hunted them. The sticks slammed against the golden ward as the apes cried out angrily, and after not a second, they broke past,

all that pressed further. It was an overwhelming slaughter, and Argrave did not need to use even a quarter as many as he had against the Sentinels in the Marred Hallowed Ground. A good thing, too—receiving a

foes. Just then, a hippo barreled through the ice wall. Argrave prepared to fight, only to see the hippo scrambled away on its back, feet swinging through the air as it tried to turn and run. Orion stepped forward, planting his foot on its stomach. He pressed his foot down and bashed his mace against its head relentlessly, each blow causing the water to stir and yet more ice to