The afternoon sun beamed down on the group indifferently as they started the long march westward. Ka’tra gave Eric an uninterested grunt when he inquired about how far the the Kleot’s territory stretched. Eric decided he would give Ka’tra an opportunity to simmer down before returning to the topic. Ka’tra seemed eager to be on their way, and idle chit-chat didn’t look like it would help Eric’s case so he kept to himself.

They winded through a myriad of canyons and mountain paths after departing the entrance to the Kleot city which Eric learned was named Casdin. A friendly sentry slipped Eric and Clarke the name as they departed. Eric would have to find out if Flynn knew anything about the city whenever he returned to Drail. He was convinced the kingdoms had to have some information about the Kleots or at least some scout reports because of their proximity to the civilized borders.

The canyon walls slowly shrank lower and lower as the evening approached. As the group finally approached the end of the long twisting canyon pass to a flat area of land, Ka’tra stopped his march. Clarke and Eric paused, watching their guide carefully from the distance. They gave the big fella plenty of breathing room while traveling, letting him march ahead a dozen meters or so. The clearing was made up primarily of scattered rock and brown dirt that kicked up a haze of dust as they walked.

Ka’tra looked back at them briefly with a piercing glare and then pointed off ahead toward the next rising canyon’s right wall. They had evidently arrived at Plantic Pass based on the sudden change in scenery, but Ka’tra was on alert, and as Eric followed his pointing finger he realized why. A creature almost perfectly blended with the canyon’s dusty orange color was perched precariously overlooking the valley below. It looked like a tiger mixed with some sort of rock golem with its thick plated skin.

Ka’tra slowly unsheathed his large two-handed sword from his back and smartly back paced without blinking, keeping constant watch over the predator ahead. Clarke and Eric immediately brought forth their own armaments. Eric held Shadowspark firmly and slowly drew an arrow from the quiver hanging from his shoulder. He held his breath as he nocked it on the bowstring and took a firing stance.

Ka’tra inched his way backward until he was standing next to Clarke and Eric. In a barely audible whisper, he said, “A Rackler. It is only the one beast, but there could be others. If they outnumber us, we will not have a chance.”

Clarke looked at Eric quizzically and he shook his head indicating the news was not good. “How do we proceed?” Eric whispered in response. This was Ka’tra’s territory, and Eric was relying on him to have the most experience dealing with these creatures.

“I have no reason to risk my life for you fools, but under the circumstances attacking is likely safer than retreating. The darkness is not our ally against these creatures, and if it picks up our scent and pursues us after nightfall then we truly have no chance,” Ka’tra said.

Eric nodded firmly and passed a shortened version to Clarke indicating they would need to engage the creature or risk being hunted. “Very well. What weaknesses can we exploit?” Eric asked Ka’tra, hoping to find a weak spot to aim for before the battle began.

“The only known weakness is to penetrate between their armor plates, but the space is narrow, and they are swift predators,” he replied.

Eric squinted, eyeing the beast that was staring down into the canyon below with his head still turned away from the travelers. He passed along the minimal information to Clarke, and they both pulled their bow strings tautly. Ka’tra gave them the signal to fire, and they let their arrows fly. They both impacted with enough punching power to pierce into the thick armor plates of the creature, but no blood was visible from the wounds, it appeared they didn’t break through to the soft tissue beneath.

The beast let out a screeching roar when the arrows made an impact on its hide. It turned to face its attackers wearing a vicious snarl and exposing long teeth sharpened to deadly points. It didn’t hesitate to skitter down the canyon wall and charge forward with powerful strides that covered several meters at a time. Ka’tra took his weapon forward and stepped into the beast’s path.

Clarke and Eric began unleashing a barrage of arrows as it covered the distance but they were glancing blows at best and didn’t faze the creature at all. Even an infused Lightning arrow Eric sent arching at the creature was shrugged off. At the final five meters, the monster leapt forward with a terrifying rumble exploding from its throat. Ka’tra bent his legs and braced for the impact.

The creature slammed into Ka’tra with devastating force. He buckled under the power of the creature and his sword slipped from his grip after digging into the Rackler’s plated side. The creature tumbled over Ka’tra into a summersault before landing gracefully on its feet like a feline. It was now standing between the three attackers and looked thoroughly enraged.

Ka’tra drew two knives from his belt and taunted it by waving the blades through the air attempting to get its attention. Clarke and Eric took advantage of its indecision and landed well-placed arrows in the seams of its armor where its muscular legs met its body. After the first barrage, it quickly changed targets and turned on Eric with its deadly speed.

Eric gritted his teeth and stretched Shadowspark out in front of him preparing for the charge. The Rackler leapt toward him with its claws outstretched. They collided head on, and Eric crumbled under the powerful impact. Eric realized Ka’tra’s strength had to be through the roof to be able to stand his ground against this creatures earlier full speed attack. Eric received a deep and painful cut down his left arm from one of the creature’s claws that desperately swiped out at him during the attack.

Eric found himself flat on his back with the creature bearing down on top of him. Shadowspark was wedged between them and acted as the only barrier from its thick fangs snapping wildly in his face. The Rakler’s saliva dripped menacingly onto Eric’s exposed neck and face. He felt his left arm slowly losing willpower from the substantial blood loss. He forced Shadowspark to energize with several ticks of Lightning enchantment to try and push the beast back and give him some breathing room or at least delay its attack in hopes of receiving help from his allies.

The magic slowly grew and on release arched harmlessly off the creature’s face. The Rakler only seemed to become more angry by the harmless attack. Eric felt the creature shudder slightly and then it arched its back before releasing some of the enormous pressure from his chest. Eric took a breath while his lungs could expand and pushed forward with all his strength.

Shadowspark was wedged in the jaws of the Rackler, and it was chomping and biting ferociously to break the shaft and reach its prey. Eric was lucky Shadowspark wasn’t so easy to snap, any standard bow would have splintered almost instantly from the creature’s massive snapping jaws. As he pushed forward, he twisted slightly to his left to relieve some of the pressure on his injured arm and used his other arm to compensate.

The result was a clawed paw tearing across his exposed side and a fountain of crimson blood streaming down his body. Fortunately, his allies had finally intervened, and Eric caught sight of one of Ka’tra’s knives buried down to the shaft in the back of the creature. Eric noticed Ka’tra’s massive bulk out of the corner of his eye stabbing the other knife mercilessly into an exposed crevice in the Rackler’s flank.

The creature bellowed in pain and finally disengaged Eric as it felt the damage from Ka’tra and Clarke start to penetrate its thick armor. Eric saw half a dozen new arrows had penetrated the other side of the Rackler all with Clarke’s signature deep green feathered tips. Clarke had a thing for green and always preferred it for his gear. His inspiration came from a famous archer from England history books that wore green and helped the poor by stealing from the rich.

The Rackler back stepped away from the blows being dealt, but its fate was already sealed. It failed to take out Ka’tra with its initial attack and was now paying for it dearly with dozens of bleeding wounds. It took two steps backward and then collapsed. The ground was soaked with its dark colored blood that almost looked black from the deep pools that had formed.

A final thrust through its temple with Ka’tra’s blade left the beast motionless.

Ting!

Level up

Eric sighed deeply, relieved the battle was over. He started digging through his bag for one of the healing potions he had stashed away. He found it quickly and tossed the cork to the ground before swallowing all the contents in one large gulp. He felt the reassuring uptick of his health and relaxed. The potion staved off the bleeding, and his wounds magically began to close which also relieved some of the immense pain he had been feeling. The healing potion was particularly effective along his side where three large tear marks were left by the Rackler’s long claws.

Eric looked up and saw Ka’tra pulling his blade from the beast’s back and lowering himself to the ground. He noticed Ka’tra was also wounded from a long scratch across his exposed chest. The blood flow had already stopped, and a thick scab was starting to form where the injury occurred. Eric took a mental note to look into the dramatic restoration effect. If it was a natural occurrence in all Kleots, they really were a force to be reckoned with.

The battle was over, but the night was just beginning. After the encounter, the party had to pray another Rackler wasn’t in the vicinity.

The group settled in front of a small fire after gathering the minimal loot from the Rackler’s corpse. Eric was particularly interested in one item that they discovered and convinced the group to let him keep it for further examination.

Rackler Hide (Ingredient) – Durability:487/550; Grade: Rare; Requirements: N/A; Effect: Durability will decrease at one quarter the normal rate. Effect 2: Unknown, Effect 3: Unknown

It was a valuable ingredient of that Eric was certain, but he had no idea the actual value since most of its effects were listed as unknown. He had to venture it would be worth something to the right craftsmen considering its rare status so he stashed it away for a rainy day and made a note to check the next market they ran across. At their current rate, he suspected that would not be anytime soon but he knew he could always barter it if a need arose.

A strange aura hung around the campfire after the battle. An hour passed and then two before eventually they were able to drop our guard and relax a little, feeling confident the Rackler they had encountered was the only one in the area. Clarke dozed off on his sleeping mat and Ka’tra and Eric were left alone staring into the dancing flames.

Eric had a strange feeling of companionship toward the Kleot after the battle. Nothing seemed to bond two people like life or death experiences, even if they weren’t permanent for all those involved. This made Eric re-consider his demeanor toward Ka’tra. He decided to finally ask Ka’tra some of his more burning questions and hopefully build some rapport with him.

His eyes lingered on the flames, and he said, “Thank you for saving my ass back there.”

Ka’tra’s eyes slowly drew a bead on him, and he grunted, “Humph. Don’t mention it.”

“I underestimated the Racklers. Clarke and I would not have been able to defeat one our own. Are they one of the strongest monsters in this part of the frontier?” Eric asked tentatively.

Ka’tra gave Eric a stern look. “Not even close. And we aren’t in the frontier yet. That will come tomorrow once we cross through the rest of the mountain pass. The forest you will face on the other side will have much more powerful creatures lurking in its depths. I don’t know what the council expected to happen to you other than death. Maybe this was their secret way of punishing me. Sending me on a pointless expedition to the edge of our borders simply to watch you get swallowed alive as soon as you step beyond our territory,” he said seriously.

Eric sat stunned momentarily. He knew the Rackler would have easily handled him and Clarke if they were alone. Finding out they were bound to run across even stronger monsters was a wake-up call. They were clearly in over our heads, and it seemed to be turning into a suicide mission.

“Why would they want to punish you?” Eric asked hoping to glean more information.

Ka’tra’s face wrinkled, and he replied, “The council members are old and stubborn. I push too far at times. We are stagnant, and few know, but truthfully our population has been slowly declining for decades. I seek to explore further and expand our borders to branch out from our dark caverns. They see me as a problem disturbing the balance, but no one can directly punish me for my actions without looking weak in front of the rest of the military.”

“I see,” Eric said thoughtfully.

They returned their stares back to the flames licking its delicate tongue across the small pile of wood feeding its short life. Eric turned his eyes back to Ka’tra after a few silent moments and said, “Our goals are not selfish ones. We seek to find information to protect innocent lives and slow down the evil that is spreading ever closer to our borders as well as your own. If we have any hope of achieving our goals, we will need help.”

Ka’tra returned his stare, and Ka’tra’s eyes looked fierce in the dim firelight. “Help is not easy to come by in these times of trial,” he replied before falling silent.

Eric waited patiently as Ka’tra’s face showed deep introspection. He finally nodded and continued, “I have heard rumors since my childhood of a lost settlement full of treasure and artifacts that were abandoned many hundreds of years ago in the frontier beyond our western borders. It has always been just out of reach for our people, too timid to stretch out from our boundaries. I will make a compromise with you. I will escort you farther into the frontier in hopes of discovering this long forgotten location. I will be entitled to half of any valuables we discover along the way and once we reach this place or I am past due to return you will be on your own.”

Eric stood up and walked directly over to the mountainous Kleot and outstretched his hand. “Deal,” he said.