Branik was of the opinion we needed to make a strike first or we were in an unwinnable situation. However, we only had four human warrior guards, including Warren, three Orcs, Tabitha and myself. We had a caravan to guard against all the normal threats as well. We were up against six archers, and eight warriors. At least three were specialised. The good news is we didn’t have to kill them all. We only had to take out enough of them to make them back off and, preferably take out at least some of the leadership.

So my plan was accepted in theory. Now that I was on the cusp of putting it in action, it didn’t look as good as it did in theory. My plan was essentially to turn our worst case scenario into their worst case scenario. A beast attack at night, under the cover of which, we could then carry out some selective assassinations. But I hadn’t just found any normal beast. I had found a monster.

Monsters were inherently different to normal beasts. Some class specialisations required the killing of monsters to get them and level them. Monster Hunter was one of those. My Animal Lore told me in general terms what Monsters inhabited these grassy, rocky plains. I only knew about the animal and mineral based monsters. I knew nothing about the plant or elemental monsters. I really did need to get Monster Lore at some point. Or maybe just Plant and Elemental Lore?

The Monster I was looking at was a big, grey skinned brute. He stood upright, making it obvious it was a he, but he did move surprisingly fast using all four limbs. When upright he was about half again my height, with big muscles designed for digging and moving rocks. He had a bit of fur on his head and shoulders, but that was all. He was a Field Troll. He was an animal based monster, currently munching on a gazelle, although he would eat anything really. In the rank of monsters in these areas he was about the lowest on the food chain. We had the Mountain Trolls where I grew up, which were larger, and I was taught to recognise their territory and avoid them. All the Troll species are very territorial.

My Animal Lore, let me know that Field Trolls were one of the favourite foods of the Griffins that flew over the plains. Beak and wings of a very large eagle and body and claws of a very large lion. Basically they would dive bomb their prey raking with claw and beak till they died. More than enough to out damage the Field Trolls high regeneration. This explained why the Field Trolls lived in caves and hunted at night.

The Mongols were large canine type beasts that roamed the plains in packs. They could get into a Field Trolls cave, but fighting a Field Troll in a confined space would basically be a death sentence to them. Everyone's bane were the Golden Hornets. They would swarm and a continual stacking of poisons is death to anything with blood. There were Mineral monsters immune to the poisons and I am sure Plant and Elemental as well. Unfortunately, I had blood, so I hated them and avoided them. There were others, but fortunately Monsters were rare and I am sure the army swept the roads clear of Monsters regularly. More likely they put out contracts to mercenaries.

This Field Troll was young, which meant in his prime. The Mercenary camp was outside his territory, so I would have to enrage him and keep him enraged and following me for the 6-8km to the camp. And stay alive, me that is, not Troll Boy. I don’t think there is any way I could kill Troll Boy on my own. I was having doubts that I even had enough firepower to enrage him. I had a dozen of the javelins with me. When I purchased them it was with the idea for ready made stakes for a pit trap in a region with few trees. I bought them because I had doubts my bow, even in the apprentice level, would be able to pierce the Troll’s skin. The troll is big enough I doubted I would miss even with the low Throwing Weapons Skill. I did have plenty of Physical Strength. I just thought, maybe the imbalance between my Physical Strength and Agility was disrupting my Throwing Skill as well as the bow skill? I could maybe adapt some of those techniques the Archer Trainer taught me. I guess I can try it a dozen times. I was planning to mix up the bow and the javelins. My aim was to pierce the skin. Pip had donated some poison to the effort so I had a light coating on the javelins and some arrows. Pip doesn’t have the volume I used to be able to get from his relatives in the quarry. He did his best.

The problem with leading an enraged Troll was that there was no way to do it quietly, particularly when you are advancing on a camp of high perception archers. So if I survived the first part of the plan and reached the camp, I then needed Tabitha to keep me alive. She would need to engulf the archers, and maybe be me, in Shadows so I didn’t get shot by an arrow. The Troll wouldn't be hampered by the Shadows as he had weak eyes anyway and hunted mostly by sound and smell. Animal Lore is fantastic. This meant that Tabitha could possibly direct the Troll with her Distract Skill. Tabitha was very hesitant about taking part as she felt very vulnerable. She would only come if Warren came to protect her.

All that remained was the backstabbing and the escape alive parts. Originally Kopje and Smeška were going to do the backstabbing, but when Branik heard about the swordsman she felt she should be there as her Shield Bearer class is the best counter for the swordsman. Smeška was left in charge of the caravan security. The trouble with Branik coming was she had absolutely no stealth and there was no way she could clank up to the camp in her full plate. She switched her armour to leather and chainmail armour like the others, but she still stomped everywhere and was carrying that massive shield. Stealth was the original reason for Kopje and Smeška to come; however getting to camp was their problem not mine. This meant there were only three warriors and Smeška to guard the caravan.

My problem was squatting right in front of me crunching down on a leg bone. I had felt Pip would be better going with the camp attack group. Tabitha wouldn’t go near him, but Warren thought he was the best and was keen to carry him. Tabitha looked very sceptical, which I think was part of Warren's motivation. So it was just me and Troll Boy. Time to get this show on the road. I would start with a bow shot and see if it would pierce the skin. It did! I had aimed for the softer flesh of the groin, and yes he was now enraged. However, because of his poor eyesight he couldn't find me. I stepped forward and followed it with a javelin to the shoulder. Yes now he has found me! Time to move. Because he hunted by sound and scent I made sure to make lots of noise in my movements. I had also made sure I had a distinctive scent for him to follow. I had strips of recently killed lion hide tied to me. I had hunted it earlier for this purpose, and as a bonus we had feasted on lion meat for dinner. As it was possibly my last meal, it was quite nice.

Once Troll Boy had my scent I don’t think there was any way I was going to lose him. He would roar and charge on all fours and then rip at anything in reach. I found I was faster than he was except for his short burst charges. When he got on all fours and charged I had to look out. Fortunately, he was not very manoeuvrable when he charged. The first time he charged he took me by surprise and he clipped me on the hip and I had to scramble away. It hurt, but did not limit my manoeuvrability, probably thanks to Granite Bones. If he had slowed me down this would have been over before we got going.

We got into a rhythm, I would run and then dodge and then lose an arrow or javelin then repeat. I am glad he was dumb. We weren't even half way and the first wounds were healed over, despite the poison. What the hell am I going to do if I run out of arrows and javelins? From here on I would have to watch the Troll and my back, because if I heard this racket getting closer there was no way I would be waiting quietly in my camp. The first thing they would do is send out a scout.

There is no way Kopje would be able to find and intercept a scout at night. Hopefully, they can be stopped from reporting back. Which meant I probably had one of the archers heading my way. This is where things really got tricky. If the archer killed me, or just wounded me enough for the troll to kill me, then the troll would be happy and just wander back to its lair after munching on me for a bit. Crisis averted. Plan failed.

Now I need to keep an enraged troll following me while I am in stealth which slows me down significantly. He won’t lose my scent so he does not need to see me, but I am also going to need to be as quiet as I can, while running in stealth and firing arrows and javelins. If I can pull this off, there is a good chance my Stealth might bump into master level. If I survive. We haven’t started the real fight yet.

So this is not easy, even knowing the troll's expected movements.I am sure the scout is here, probably trying to see who is enraging the troll. The fact that there are arrows and javelins would give the impression there are two of us. Oh, how I wish there were two of us. I am not travelling in a straight line, but moving about a lot, only keeping to the general direction of the camp. I jump a bunch of grasses into the clearing beyond, to find a startled archer. I have one of my last javelins in my hand and have been on a constant hair trigger for the last hour, so there is no hesitation from me and i thrust the javelin at her, catching her leg, and then I am off, because i know the troll is doing one of his charges.

Behind me I hear a short scream and a triumphant roar from the troll. Maybe I can take a short breather. I try to get a sense of where I am and we are actually very close to the camp. I can hear people coming fast, I figured they heard the scream, archers with high perception. Time to hide and watch for a bit. I am still holding the javelin with the archer's blood on it, and I realise I still have the lion scent on me. The troll might not be happy yet. I move to where I can see better, and four warriors are lined up with shields, with three spearmen behind and directed by the swordsman. The archers are scattered around and lining up shots. A classic formation for this type of battle, and they will probably succeed in taking out the troll.

The shield warriors move into the troll's line of sight as the first arrows land, and the troll has a new target. One arrow bounces off his skull, but the other four land. One of the archers was trying to be clever and hit an eye or the mouth. The troll charges the shields and two shield holders bounce, but the others hold and the spearmen get to work. The arrows have mostly stopped as the danger of hitting their own warriors is very real. My Hearing Aid has picked up additional fighting noises from an archer position, so friendly fire is not the only reason the arrows have slowed down. I grab my bow and aim for one of the front line warriors. Friendly fire indeed.

I get one of the shield warriors in the shoulder joint, and he goes down and the troll breaks out from the shield trap and wounds two spearmen, one of them losing an arm. Unfortunately, I have drawn the attention of the swordsman, who is looking in my direction. He yells something to the archers and then starts moving in my direction. Then a large shadow engulfs the fighting and there is increased yelling. This will give the advantage to the troll.

It is a larger area than normal for Tabitha, but she is only fighting against the moonlight and a couple of torches. I figured she could hold it for maybe five minutes. However, the swordsman appears out of the edge of the shadow, still heading in my direction. Shit.

All of a sudden the swordsman goes flying sideways, and it wasn’t the trolls doing. It was a shield charge from Branik. This swordsman is completely different from the lieutenant who I last saw as a recipient of her charge. Instead of landing hard and struggling to get up, he rolls and is on his feet with a sword in his hand almost before Branik is re orientated on him.I think there is some history there as Branik was very keen to come when she heard the Swordsman was here. They start fighting each other in earnest, shield and axe vs two handed longsword, or even maybe a great sword. I don’t know much about swords.

I can’t stay and watch as I get a sense of distress from Pip and he is a third of the way around the shadow. The Shadow flickers and I get a glimpse of the carnage in the centre, but then it comes back. I suspect Pip is near Tabitha and Tabitha is in trouble. I am moving around the edge of the shadow as fast as I can. Hearing Aid is picking up the sounds of fighting from the location I can sense Pip. Then suddenly the shadows change. They expand and they change from neutral darkness to having a terrifying sense of rage. So terrifying it made me pause. I think it even made the troll pause, let alone the warriors, who were the object of the rage.

I broke through to see Warren lying dead with four arrows in him and a third in his shield. The senior archer was also dead, Pip slithering off his throat leaving puncture marks and Tabitha rising from the dead archer with Warren's sword in her hand dripping blood from where she had stabbed the archer. She turned toward me, her face filled with absolute fury. Something had broken in her and changed her Shadow Skill, or given her a new one, as it was still active.

“I want to kill them all,” she said to me quietly. The archer's death wasn’t enough for her and there was no way I was going to argue with her while she was like this. “I can now sense where everyone is in my shadow,” she said.

“Very well,'' I said. “I will follow you.” Pip joined me and we moved off into the shadows. She still carried Warren's sword.

It was a slaughter. She led us directly to any one alive and we dispatched them, including the troll. The troll was healing, but when she focussed her shadows on it, it froze in terror and we killed it. We did find Kopje in the shadows. He was lying near the warrior that was the second in command, who appeared to have bled out. He had a number of puncture wounds and I think a broken leg. I think he would have died if we hadn't bound his wounds and fed him a potion. He would need to be carried back to the wagons.

Tabitha finally let her Shadows drop, or ran out of energy, because she basically collapsed. Then we saw Branik heading our way. She was limping, and her leather armour was torn in a number of places, but she looked victorious. I saw her take stock of us, particularly Kopje and Tabitha who were unconscious. Then I saw her continue to look around, obviously looking for Warren, and realisation dawning on her face. When she looked back at me and I nodded in confirmation. She gave a worried look at Tabitha.

I was exhausted so she left me to watch over the two unconscious ones, while she did a head count. She brought Warren's body over to us and laid it covered to one side. There was one archer missing from the headcount and one horse missing from their camp. They probably left fairly early in the fight.

Branik said she was going to grab one of the horses and scout a trail to the road, hopefully finding a route to bring a wagon. In these grasslands it should be fairly easy. If that is the case she will be back with a wagon in the morning, if not she will be back with a stretcher for Kopje. I was in charge till she got back, and she would be pleased if I started looting everything into a pile. She left and I was going to rest for a bit before I did anything. I checked my status.

Wiremu Hunter

Class

Hunt

QW

Spy

Pros

Total

Type

Attribute

Level

6

10

6

1

Constitution

Physical

Strength (PS)

9

10

2

20

1

42

93.0

Agility (PA)

12

4

6 4

26

Poison R +4

Perception (PP)

11

0

12

1

1

25

Crush R +16

Mental

Strength (MS)

9

11

2

22

60.0

Agility (MA)

12

1

2 6

21

Pain R +9

Perception (MP)

11

0

0 6 17

Spiritual

Strength (SS)

10

1

0

10

1

22

55.0

Agility (SA)

8

1

4 3 16

Perception (SP)

10

0

0

6

1

17

Totals

92

28

28 30

27

3

208 Free points 2

3

1

Bond: Pip, Desert Viper. Skills: Venom Bite, Quick Strike, Granite Bones, Crushing Resistance +16

Skills:

Novice: Cooking 2, Fishing 4, Spear 1, Lock Pick 4, Camouflage 2, Truth Sensing 2, Butchering 2, . Mineral Lore 1, Sense Spiritual 1, Detect Spiritual Traps 1, Manipulate Status 1 Disarm Spiritual Traps 1, Detect Traps 4, Spiritual Trapping 1, Disarm Traps 4, Granite Sense 3, Animal Lore 3, Riding 2, Sense Treasure 1

Apprentice: Small Blades 7, Tracking 7, Skinning 5, Identify 9, Deceive 9, Animal Bond 9, Bow 8, Far Sight 7, Trapping 9, Unarmed Combat 5 Granite Bones 6, Throwing Weapons 5,

Journeyman: Hammer 12, Hearing Aid 11.

Master: Stealth 15

Affinity: Granite

Monster Kills: 1

Hunter had levelled, I now had six attribute points to allocate. There were a lot of skills that levelled. Stealth went to master, giving me base attributes in Physical Agility and Spiritual Agility. Throwing Weapons hit Apprentice and Bow, Small Blades and Animal Lore all went up. The surprising thing was I got the credit for the Monster Kill and that was new in my status. I wasn’t sure that I was now the monster after following Tabitha and killing everybody. I was not feeling good about that. I reasoned that they were here to kill us and we can hardly take prisoners. I still didn’t feel right about it.

I started going through the bodies close to us. I didn’t want to be too far away while Pip was the only other one conscious.