Chapter 198

Chapter 198

Time stopped.

My pulse drove a heavy rhythm, and the red strands from pulsed alongside it, accelerating. I read the cave like sheet music, every cavefiend a note, the path forward annotated as if clearly marked with a piece of paper. I tweaked the threads with , adjusting them minutely until the pitch was perfectly in tune with the vision, pounding in my head.

I was dimly aware, somewhere in the back of my mind that I couldnt fully accomplish what I intended. I couldnt grasp it. The notes themselves were an unknown quantityI didnt know how the cavefiends danced. Which left a question of how to fill the gaps. I could go overboardcompose alternate pieces based on how the notes reactedbut it felt like if I did, the threads would disappear before I could use them.

See? A voice whispered. Almost reverent. The cave fiends were still frozen in place, but I felt the same presence I felt during the transposition. A presence that washed over me like a wave of molten iron. All you had to do was call.Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

Though I couldnt see her, I was certain. Nychta stood beside me.

Had I called her? I couldnt remember.

Its beautiful, but I dont I dont know how to fix it. I said without words, still obsessing over the trailing threads.

Its not the grimelings that trouble you. While its true youre missing information, thats a trivial fix. Nychta answered.

As she spoke, a vast quantity of information filtered into my mind. I understood the grimelings better now, was reasonably confident in how theyd react. They were constructs, the base from which many humanoid monsters formed. This batch was tainted by the only other beings presentthe mandrakes, and they were useless now as anything other than guard dogs, shoved within the depths of the ripple.

More important than anything else? They were monstrously strong.

The music reordered itself in my mind clearer than before, but as Nychta had warned me, it wasnt fully clear.

You cant make sense of it because youve taught yourself that violence is a tool. A dull implement, used only when theres no better option. Nychta whispered. While the marauder within you wishes for one thing above all others.

What? I asked.

To be free.

Talia got there first and sunk her teeth into the grimelings ankle, yanking violently until it toppled. Brutish and single-minded, the grimeling ignored Talia and dug its claws into the ground, crawling towards Nick.

Even with everything else going on, I was drawing attentionmore attention than I wanted. There were two of them chasing meand while I was faster, they werent slow. I didnt have time to line up a shot.

I spun mid-stride and fell, trusting to guide the shot as I pulled the trigger. The arrow lodged itself in a grimelings shoulder, and this one didnt get its hands over its mouth in time. It screamed, and the others turned on it immediately. I inventoried and drew mid-roll, taking aim at the big grimeling who was still wiggling through the dirt towards Nick, waiting for it to pause.

It swatted down towards Talia, who jumped away, giving me the window I needed.

I pulled the trigger. The bolt flew true mostly thanks to dropping vertically while maintaining momentum in a shot that probably wouldnt have passed muster if someone caught it on video. It sunk into the base of the large grimelings neck, killing it instantly.

But of course, nothing is simple.

With the big one out of the way, the smaller ones were unbound by hierarchy. And they were all hungry. Nicks dark orange aura flared to life as he struggled, simultaneously attempting to regain his sword a few feet away and knock them off of him.

An icy hand grabbed me by the back of the neck and lifted me up. Id drawn the attention of another grimeling.

I grabbed its arm with one hand, drawing from my inventory and driving it into the elbow joint. The blade stabbed through bone effortlessly, and the grimeling dropped me.

But it lunged forward, teeth snapping, and my leg went out from under me. I still had the knife. I could probably fend it off, but Nick was running out of time

The tip of a sword plunged through the grimelings skull, and it went still. Halima stared down at me, looking uncertain. I pointed to the dead grimeling.



Halimas eyes furrowed. Behind her, Keith incinerated the group of grimelings gathered beneath Audrey in a massive fireball. She banged the flat of her blade off the trunk of a tree, facing off with another grimeling that charged towards her.



I was already running.