The tale of Drakfot - part 17

The tale of Drakfot – Part 17, Beautiful warm sun.

They all moved a bit spread out now as they were no longer in the darkness of
the Prime Roots. It seemed as everyone was happy about getting out of there as
the place seemed to hold some aura that caused them all to feel uncertain. But
now it was all back to as it had been before they had entered the Roots. They
were laughing and some were even singing songs of joy as they ran across the
lands. Even though they met Kinchers several times they fought with strength and
will. The mobs here was not as tough skinned as those in the roots, they did put
up good resistance, but alas were defeated by the group of Homins that had
gotten to know each other closer since they had all joined up to travel the four
lands.

The leader no longer had to shout instructions to them, where to stand, whom to
do what, as they had all gotten to know their places. Even if they were spread
out as soon as danger lurked about they would quickly come together and fight.
During one of these struggles it seemed as a Kincher roared loudly enough to
summon more of its kind, it surprised the Homins a bit as the opposing forces
now grew stronger all of a sudden.
Even though one is strong, numbers can be overwhelming, and it was now.
Suddenly Drakfot heard how Rikka shouted out as a Kincher had stabbed her from
behind, and it was now set towards Drakfot. She tried to heal Rikka enough so
that she would get on her feet, but as the incantation was to leave her hands
she saw the quick movement of a Kincher claw and all became dark. As she came to
she was lying on the ground next to Rikka and she could see how Crythos was
trying to get away, badly limping and dragging his rifle in its hold lash next
to him.

A Kincher appeared behind him and lifted its claw and let it fell towards him,
Drakfot closed her eyes as she did not want to see it. But as she opened her
eyes again she saw Crythos lying on the ground holding his rifle between himself
and the Kincher’s claw, struggling hard not to be crushed under the weight of
it. Suddenly a crack was heard as the handle on the rifle started to brake
apart. Drakfot tried to get on her feets , but the gash in her stomach was too
deep so she ended up coughing up blood on the ground. She was too weak to stand
up.

Then she saw Crythos making a face as he gathered strength and actually pushed
the Kinchers claw towards the Kincher itself. It was surprised that such little
one could make such resistance so it raised the other claw to counter-attack.
Suddenly it bellowed a roar and she saw why; Crythos had used the opportunity to
grab his dagger and buried it deep into the leg of the Kincher.
As it lifted it’s head and shouted he took his chance and ran away as fast as he
could.

Drakfot looked in amazement at Crythos as he ran away, but the Kincher was not
far behind when suddenly something happened. There was a sudden mist surrounding
Crythos and as if by magic he would not stop increasing his speed as he ran.
Moments later he was disappearing behind an edge of the mountain. Soon the
Kincher gave up its hunt likely due to its leg and turned around now going back
to Rikka and Drakfot.

“He is one heck of a fighter that one, hehe.” Rikka said as she sat up on her
knees, she was still as weak as Drakfot.

“What.. was that he did?” Drakfot asked, still wondering what had happened, how
could a Homin move so fast so suddenly ?

“Let’s talk later shall we.” Rikka said as she was lifted into the air of a
powerful healing spell. As soon as she landed she healed Drakfot and grabbed her
arm and put it around her neck dragging them both away from the path of the
Kincher.

The others had meanwhile fought off the other Kinchers and seen the dilemma that
Drakfot, Crythos and Rikka had been in. They had cleaned up quickly and then
proceeded to heal them while the tanks ran in front of them. They all battled
well and the Kincher seemed to fall as another Kincher joined it in its battle.
In a moment both Rikka and Drakfot were at health and started to heal the others
the best they could, it was not as hard as before but it seemed as the spot they
were standing at were a gathering point of some sort as they could notice that
more and more Kinchers were approaching.

“Run to the mountain, we’ll make use of the wall as cover” The leader shouted
and took off followed by them.

While running a few Kirostas caught their scent and decided to follow them. It
seemed as the numbers of attackers grew too quickly, it was hard to keep
everyone standing on their feet at the same time. And they could not loose any
more hands from battle to heal as then they would decrease the chances of
winning the fight. The Kincher and its companion kept the tanks and healers busy
as they continued to land attack after attack, the healers were almost exhausted
as they healed the fighters and themselves in order to keep them up.
Now they had the wall at their backs which was an advantage that they now had a
field of half a circle from where the mobs could attack. Might not be much but
was much better then having the disadvantage being attackable from all around.
The Kinchers seemed to take some damage and soon the smaller one of them fell to
the ground and the tanks concentrated on the large one.
The elementalists were busy fending off the Kirostas, but it seemed as they put
up a good fight as their sting gave more damage then what the elementalists
could deal them.

Suddenly a pack of bullets flew in front of Drakfot’s face and landed in the
head of a Kirosta, it screamed and started waving its sting trying to remove the
bullets as they hurt. As it did more bullets came flying and soon put the
Kirosta out of its misery. And soon more bullets came flying hitting the other
Kirostas.

Drakfot looked at where they came from and saw a familiar face, Crythos was back
and even with a rifle with a broken handle his aim was not off a inch. He smiled
to her as he reloaded and then continued to fire and fire until the Kirostas
fell one by one.
As they were all lying on the ground kicking out the last of their energy
everyone focused on the large Kincher alone. Now as they were gathered again the
group’s focus raised and soon the Kincher were hit by one successful attack
after the other. Even though they all now could fight this Kincher alone it took
quite some time but after a while it staggered around finally to fall to the
ground.

The leader walked up to it and looked at it, carved a part off it and gave off a
“as I though”. He then turned around facing the others.

“This was a hard beast to overcome, you all did well.” He said.

“Why was this one so tough then? I mean we left the Roots a while back and as
far as I know they are not able to travel through portals?” Memorx asked the
leader.

“The answer is actually quite simple, this was no ordinary Kincher, nor a
Kincher from the Roots. This was one which is known as a Named Mob, my guess is
that this is Chaghan.” The leader said as he held up the piece he carved out
from it. “It’s just a guess though, crafters would know more about these
materials.”

“Can I have a look at that please?” A young Tryker said as he walked to the
leader.

“Sure, have a look” The leader said and handed over the item.

“Yeah, well, I haven’t seen these things in reality. But I have studied them
from books and amber cubes. These materials we have here differs greatly from
the ordinary ones found in the ground. Some say that its due to that these
animals sometimes eats the materials from the ground. And through them they are
refined for some reason. Basically these are known as excellent materials,
really good use for crafts too I might add.” The Tryker said and handed the
piece back to the leader.

“nah, if you can make use of it, take ’em.” He said to the Tryker.

“Well, if no one else have any needs for them I sure can use them.” He said.

Everyone in the group agreed that he could have them as he was the most talented
crafter there, they didn’t want to waste what they had fought so hard to win.

“Congratulations to your first named one!” The leader shouted as they continued
to run.

Following the wall of the mountain they soon rounded the lower edge not far from
Tupile Trade Post. Even though feeling more certain at themselves they wanted to
avoid another surprise, after all it was good to be back in the homelands. But
as they were not totally safe yet they chosed to be more alert just for a while
longer until they reached the safety of the lakes.
There were some more encounters of smaller kinds and they all fought as
concentrated as before, even if the target was easy they did not chance.

Suddenly they could she something in the distance that was reflecting the sun.
It felt somewhat familiar and soon they were close enough to see what it was. It
was the Karavan teleporter they had mentioned as they had emerge into Bounty
Beaches. The leader decided that they were all worth a longer rest and that they
could do so at the teleporter.
Everyone sat back in the shadows of some palms not far from the teleporter and
relaxed, some had something small to eat or drink and wounds were tended to
properly.

Drakfot walked up to the Karavaneer standing at the teleporter looking at him.
She still felt uncertain as she could not see his face and that he was so tall.

“Uhm.. ” She said as she started to say something.

“Yes, hello there. You looking for a pact?” The Karavan man said.

“Uhm.. yes.. I think” Drakfot replied.

“There is no need to be afraid of me, nor any of us Karavan young Homin. We wish
you no harm.” He said with as soothing voice.

“I am just.. not used to..” Drakfot started to say.

“this.” The Karavaneer added. “I can understand that, but do not worry. You will
get used to it soon enough. We all get a bit uncertain at times, it’s natural.”

Drakfot looked at him and once more she thought of the Kami adept, even if they
were so closely bound to their gods and beliefs, they did not look down on any
Homin.

“About the pact I’m afraid that I cannot help you there yet. This machine is not
working properly and I am here to warn Homins about it as traveling with it can
be dangerous.” He said to her.

“I see. Th-thank you anyway.” Drakfot said and bowed to him and walked away.

She noticed that Rikka and Crythos was sitting under a palm so she joined them.
Rikka was doing fine eating some fruits of some kind and Crythos was looking at
the handle of his rifle.
“I am sorry that it is broken Crythos.” Drakfot said as she sat down next to
him.

“Ah well, It saved my life didn’t it. And I have outgrown it by now, it’s time
to get a new one.” He said looking at it.

“Yes, I am glad that it did save you.” Drakfot replied then looked at Crythos.
“What… what was that happened before ? When you ran so fast?”

“Ah, hehe, well that is a skill I have recently learned. It’s called speeding,
it’s a magical spell that takes energy from the air around and strengthens your
muscles enough to manage to run faster a short bit. But after using it you have
to rest for a while in order to use it again, otherwise it would wear your body
out in a matter of seconds.” He replied with a smile.

“Hey, did you even travel or did you drown in all information Drakfot?” Rikka
said.

“It has been so much, I do not think I can remember everything you have taught
me so far. I am sorry if I ask too much.” Drakfot said thinking about all the
new things she constantly keeps learning about. It was a hefty amount of thing
that she had learned since they set out from Fairhaven.

“Well, if there is anything you wonder about Drakfot, just ask.” Rikka said.

“Friends help each other, and we are friends aren’t we” Crythos added with a
smile as he took bite of a fruit.