Chapter 28 - To Catch a Fox

Current Location: Ponderous Peat

Health 69/100

Feeling much better, Brent watched the bandages Karisma had graciously given him disappear into the ether after being applied to his shoulder. The five of them were still standing around in loose circle, but Karisma and Ray had already settled into their roles and were looking out to either side.

Health 75/100

That was as much health as he could get from those.

“It still feels kind of weird.” Harry looked at the pill in his hand.

“It’s practical,” Brent replied. “If any of us get hit, it’ll start healing you right away. They increase your movement speed too, I think.”

“Oh really?” Harry held it up to the light. “You sure using these are legal?”

“Uh-”

Harry chuckled. “I’m just kidding, mate. I know it’s one of those video game things.”

Brent laughed too, but internally he was having second thoughts. Would taking these have any long term detrimental effects on his health? The game organizers could totally get away with it since most of the contestants would die long before finding out.

Well, if they really wanted to poison people, they could have put stuff in all the food and water too, so it wasn’t much use thinking about it.

He popped the pill into his mouth and washed it down with a swig of water, feeling the lump go down his throat. Harry and Reisa followed suit.

Adrenaline 50%

Reisa chewed a little before swallowing, making a frown. Hm. Brent hadn’t tasted anything from the pill, but then again he hadn’t chewed on it.

Health 76/100

Ah, the regeneration was happening already. Best not to waste it.

Brent breathed in. “Alright, we’re heading out. We’ll try to meet back up with you guys at that same hill before sundown.” Assuming everything went well.

“Good luck!” Karisma gave them a thumbs up, which Brent returned. Ray just nodded.

And off they went.

--break--

Splish, splash. The three of them trudged through the swamp. Brent knew that Ray and Karisma were following almost out of sight behind them, keeping watch, but he still felt uneasy. If one of Donis’ mind controlled slaves was out there, or the man himself, Brent’s group would run into them first. He kept his eyes peeled for any unusual movement.

This searching phase was taking longer than Brent had thought. Simply retracing their steps had seemed like a good idea at the time, but there was no sign of Cassie.

Ugh. This would be the part where he gave up and admitted that they were lost. But they weren’t lost, in a technical sense. He knew which way they were going, and their location was marked on the Map.

They just couldn’t find… the person who had been hunting them. If there was such a thing as being too good as escaping, it was really applicable here.

Harry and Reisa both had tense, serious expressions on their faces, but they hadn’t said anything yet.

Health 100/100

At least his health was back up to full. Brent stopped, and sighed. “Okay, this isn’t working. Any ideas on how to find her?”

Harry shrugged. “Let’s just give her a holler or two.” He lifted his hands to his mouth. “What was her name again?”

“Uh, you might want to hold off on that.” You never knew who might be listening. He turned to Reisa. “Do you think you could track her down?”

“No, how would I do that?”

Right. Princess. He looked at her attire, which was now a bit worn from their recent activities. He was mixing up stereotypes.

So none of them was an expert in tracking. That didn’t mean they couldn’t try.

Brent checked around the ground. It was mostly dirt, mud, puddles, and the occasional tree root or branch.

Then he spotted a small stick that was a little too straight to be a twig or branch, partially buried in the dirt. He went over and picked it up.

Arrow

Category

Ammunition

Rarity Rare

Quantity

1

Used by bows.

“There’s an arrow in your butt!”

Of course it would have a stat window.

“Oh hey, you could use this.” He handed the arrow to Reisa.

“Ah, thank Elunivar. I was afraid I would run out.” She inspected it and then put it away.

Finally, a good sign. Brent looked around for more arrows, hoping they might form a trail to lead to Cassie.

Even if they didn’t it would add to Reisa’s ammo stockpile.

“Ah, I never finished what I was trying to say earlier,” Reisa said.

“Oh? What about?” Harry asked.

“My ability to resist mind control spells. It is not just my elven lineage. There is also a power- no, more like a technique that I use that also helps.”

“Interesting.” Harry leaned in. “Is it possible to learn this power?”

“Yes, in fact. I could teach it to you.” Reisa answered in the affirmative, which was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

Harry stroked his beard. “Do tell. We’ve got a bit of time.”

That wasn’t entirely true, Brent thought to himself as he combed the area for arrows. But he wanted to hear this too, so he kept listening as the other two followed him slowly.

“The key is simple: pain. Most charm magic tries to put you into a pleasant, comfortable state, so you drop your guard and let it take over. If, however you are feeling enough pain it balances the scales out and helps you to resist. The technique is just inflicting that pain continuously on yourself until the spell is gone.”

“What kind of pain are we talking about?” Harry asked. “’Cause if we need to be cutting ourselves that seems a tad counterproductive.”

Reisa shook her head. “Nothing so drastic. Simply pinching yourself will suffice. The trick lies in knowing when such a spell is about to be cast on you so you can start beforehand, because the magic may not let you do so afterwards. Personally I bite down on the inside of my mouth, so it is not obvious that I am actively resisting.”

“Oh, that’s smart. So you can be sneaky and make the bloke think he’s got you under his control, and then surprise!” Harry made a finger gun.

Brent practiced biting down on the inside of his mouth. Hm. This trick would have been nice for Ray and Karisma to know too. Well, it was probably fine. There was no way they’d run into Adrian before they met back up, right?

Brent spied another arrow, nestled between some scraggly tree roots. They were getting closer. Checking his surroundings first, he picked it up and handed it to Reisa.

“Ah, thank you.” She took it and continued. “The main issue is that it is not as effective for humans and others without elven lineage, so even if you use it you may fall under the spell anyway.”

Brent spoke up, as a thought had occurred to him. “Sounds like you know a lot about this. I thought you weren’t that skilled at magic?”

Reisa looked at him, and for once her gaze wasn’t as piercing. It was rather blank, actually. “Well, that is true. How I know this is, hm…”

“Wait.” Harry put his hands up. “Think I’ve spotted her.” He pointed up ahead where there was a gap in the forest canopy. The water level was higher and ran like a river, though where its exact boundaries lay was hard to tell due to the general submerged nature of the ground. Sure enough, Cassie stood on the near side of it, bow in hand.

The three of them went into stealth mode, not wanting a repeat of their previous encounter. The fox-eared girl looked around, her face scrunching up in a grimace.

Had she noticed them? No, she quickly stopped looking and went back to what she was doing before, which was attempting to wade across the river. Already she was up to her knees and the water in the middle was much deeper.

Brent sighed. “We need to act now, because it’s gonna be tough to keep following her through the water. Do you know where you’re going to be?”

“Yeah. That tree over there looks big enough,” Harry pointed out a trunk of particular girth.

“Okay. Let’s do this.” The plan was put into motion.

Harry and Reisa took up position behind the trunk to lie in ambush, while Brent walked up to the river clearing.

Normally he wouldn’t be the one drawing aggro, but he didn’t want to put Reisa in the line of fire even if it was unlikely Cassie would hit them, and Harry with his larger frame seemed better suited for the actual ambushing.

Squelch. A thin layer of water swished around Brent’s soles, and he decided this was close enough.

“Hey, Cassie!” he called out. “It’s me, Brent. We met on the plane, remember?”

The fox-eared girl paused, and turned around with rigid robotic motion. Brent’s heart sank as he saw her face, her eyes still tinted crimson.

But he had to try to get through to her, as that was the whole point of this. He raised his hands.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Can you- uh,”

She took an arrow out and started fitting it to the string, as if he hadn’t said anything at all.

Welp, so much for that. Time for plan B.

Brent started backing away briskly, keeping careful watch on Cassie. He had only seen two examples of people under mind control, but they also seemed to follow a pattern of NPC-like behavior.

Pulling a ranged mob was trickier than melee as oftentimes their attack range was higher than the leash range, so they could still hit you mid-pull. Or worse, switch to attacking a squishier party member. But that was why he had Harry and Reisa hide away while he did this.

Cassie had the bow drawn nearly all the way back now, her arms quivering with exertion. Brent had to clamp down on the urge to bolt or get to cover, as that would mess with his pathing. Now that was something he didn’t have to deal with in a game.

Fwip! Cassie’s arrow flew... right over his head. She recoiled from the shot, having a pretty bad handle on her weapon. Whew, it looked like Reisa was right on the money about that.

Brent continued his steady withdrawal, feeling more confident as he knew the measure of his attacker. Being back on (relatively) dry ground helped too.

A few more steps and Cassie started advancing to follow him. Perfect.

He wasn’t withdrawing in any old direction of course, but towards the tree where Harry and Reisa were. He quickened his pace a bit and then passed the tree, giving no indication that he was aware of the two being there.

Now, he could have just ducked behind the tree right there and broken line of sight, but that might make things tricky as Cassie might just circle around or give up on pursuit, both undesirable outcomes.

He just had to keep her going… ah. She had another arrow drawn. Actually, those did a lot of damage, didn’t they? If he had gotten hit before, the next shot might just kill him.

Well, he hadn’t gotten hit, so it was nothing to worry about. For now.

Fwip! Another near miss.

Okay, they were on the last stretch now.

Cassie was about to pass by the tree. Just a little bit more… 3… 2… 1…

“Now!” Brent shouted, and the trap was sprung.