Chapter 6

  On the Road

  Among the myriad of dangers that roam Iagorothi are Zori. Numerous and varied monsters that fall outside of the cycle of life and death, destroying what they consume and becoming naught upon their demise. Having plagued the world since long before the Erasure of History, zori are one of Iagorothi’s most chaotic dangers, and by far the most common.

  As Michael’s sword cut into one of the burly boarish beasts, the monstrous creature ceased moving and faded away into chunks, then dust, then nothing. In the blink of an eye, the zori was gone, its meager lifeforce expended. The sight of the vanishing foe made Michael pause in amazement.

  There was no time to pause.

  “Michael! Focus!” Another of the monsters charged across the road towards him, and Michael was too late in trying to dodge. The heavy tusks missed, but the slam knocked him to the ground as the charging zori skidded to a stop.

  “Why are there so many of them?!” Michael swung at the zori and unleashed a powerful wave of energy that traveled along the ground, a technique Hyato had called Force Sword. The attack split apart a few stones, but missed the zori.

  With another roar the zori charged again, but Hyato appeared with his sword drawn, and a cut across the zori was enough to slay it. “You need to focus on the enemy.” He sheathed his sword and crouched down with a hand ready to draw it again. “Figure out the best technique for the fight, then strike.” He vanished again, appearing another dozen or so feet away with his sword drawn again, Flash Blade. One of the most well known swordplay techniques. The zori around their group were taken care of.

  As the party had followed the trail of emaciated nodules and scenes of destruction, they had strayed away from the main highway. The Revenant was taking a path through the countryside, a hilly mess of foothills that rose and fell through patches of woodland bordering the Eterna Forest. The titanic trees were a distant backdrop to their path, just another close but separate feature like the Drakmor Mountains that rose up in the distance.

  When the zori arrived the paths were too narrow and the ridges too high. While Hyato and Michael finished their group above, Sebastian and Yan dealt with the rest up ahead. Hyato sheathed his sword and started to walk along the path, “Come on, let’s go meet up with them.”

  The other battle carried on with a similar issue, yet a puzzling oddity. Leaner and more agile zori of similar build tried to rush Sebastian, but were unable to break through his ward. A simple spell of protection was more than enough to keep them at bay while he studied the creatures. “Why are you so similar?”

  Howling in a frenzy, Yan slipped through the air and struck down the zori near Sebastian. “Too slow, old man!”

  “Hey, I was trying to figure something out!”

  “They’re zori.” Yan rolled her shoulders as she finished off the last one. “All there is to know is how best to kill them, and a knife does the trick.”

  “There is more to zori lore than just stabbing them, these were convergent growths working together. That speaks to a much larger potential issue-” Sebastian trailed off as Hyato and Michael arrived. “There you are. Did you notice anything special about the zori you fought?”

  “Nope.” Hyato walked past a bit and looked around before stopping to wait for the others. “Shouldn’t we be moving on? We have a Revenant to track.”

  “I saw some tracks around here.” Yan started looking around.

  “Before we move on, we need to dispose of the corpse.” Sebastian walked towards the dead deer that had attracted their attention in the first place.

  “Why do you like burning corpses so much?” Michael wondered, grimacing as Sebastian got right to work. Yan crouched down near the corpse as well, looking for the tracks.

  The body was quick to burn, but required Sebastian’s focus. “It is not something I do for pleasure, but for necessity. As I said before, if a zori eats, it grows. That’s never good, and so this is necessary.”

  Michael frowned but didn’t ask the question he wanted to. He already felt stupid asking so many questions. As he and Hyato waited on Sebastian, Yan grabbed several withered hunks of wood. “Found em. There’s more tracks leading... that way.” Yan pointed and started to lead the way.

  As they moved along the path, Michael swung his sword a few times. He gathered and released energy, just like the others had shown him. So why didn’t it work before? Perhaps there was something about it he was missing.

  “Quit waving your sword around like that.” Yan looked back when one of Michael’s swings launched energy too close.

  “If you are looking to train we can find a place to stop.” Sebastian suggested, “I could use a break anyways. We’ve been walking for too long.”

  “Oh get over it.” Yan shook her head, then scanned around. “I see a pretty decent campsite, we can rest there.”

  They reached the campsite without issue, and Sebastian had a seat at once. Michael took the opportunity to drink from his waterskin. Their travels into the foothills had made the journey rougher, with so many slopes and small ledges everywhere.

  Hyato had been following along without a word, but looked around all of a sudden. “Why are we stopping? Shouldn’t we be doing something?”

  “Michael wanted time to train.” Sebastian explained as he removed one boot.

  “And the old man’s feet hurt.” Yan added. Sebastian was in the midst of rubbing one foot and gave a sour look. Who could deny it?

  Yan walked over to the middle of the cleared area. The campsite was just an open space with an old firepit and some fallen logs to sit on. “Alright Michael, show us what you got.”

  With his sword readied and a steadying breath, Michael launched into the motions that he had drilled the night before. Sword techniques that drew out his energy, movement techs that made his body move with incredible timing, and simple spellcasting. After demonstrating that he could still do all that he was shown, he used the simpler surges and vibes to round out his actions. Once done he looked over at the others, holding his sword a bit crooked.

  “I mean, you seem to be doing it all right.” Yan shrugged and looked at the others.

  “But I couldn’t hit anything.” Michael said, relaxing his grip. “The zori kept evading me, or I struck too soon.”

  Sebastian rubbed at his chin for a moment. “It sounds like you need help with your timing more than anything. Perhaps some sparring would be best. Hyato?”

  Everyone looked at Hyato when he didn’t respond. “Don’t look at me, sparring isn’t my thing. Where’s...” He looked around for a moment, then pursed his lips. “Right. Okay.” Hyato strode forth to stand across from Michael. “Try out your techniques, and I will try to parry them. See if you can get through my guard.”

  Michael attacked, using the same techniques that Hyato had shown off earlier. When he warped ahead with Flash Blade, Hyato blocked the strike. When he sent an energy wave as Force Sword, Hyato spun his sword in front of him to leave a trail of energy along his sword to parry it. Michael kept trying, mixing up his techniques to try and break through, stopped at every attempt.

  “You are not going to make use of Dark Blade?” Hyato asked.

  “No, not that one.” The shadowy tendrils he had used to launch things in the air multiple times, the same thing his other self used. He shook his head to clear it, and Hyato struck! It was a glancing blow, but it snapped Michael back to the spar.

  After a few clashes Michael was unable to break through Hyato’s guard, but he had been mixing the techniques into ordinary strikes better. “Very good. Now, let me show you a new one. A technique for sundering aerial opponents.” Hyato raised his sword overhead in the two handed grip he preferred, and stopped. Michael waited, then looked over to exchange a look with Yan.

  Hyato lowered his sword and looked at his hands, then looked all around them. “So... where were we?”

  “Uh... a technique for sundering aerial opponents?” Michael provided. The look in Hyato’s expression had changed a bit, softened somehow. He was still rather stoic and unflinching, and yet the quality of his posture was different.

  “No, it’s too soon for that.” Hyato sheathed his sword and left the clearing, climbing to the top of a ridge to look past it. Michael walked back over to the others with a worried expression, and took the chance to have a snack.

  Yan called out after Hyato kept looking around for a minute, “That’s the way we came, Hyato.” Then she added in a lower voice, “What’s he doing?”

  “Thank you.” Hyato called, crossing the camp and checking the next ridge. The sparring had been dropped out of nowhere, so it was just hanging out in the middle of the day. Sebastian even had his boots off.

  The area around their resting site was clear. No signs of any threats on the nearby slopes. Nothing amidst the sparse trees or valleys either. In fact, there was nothing but rocks and grass anywhere in sight. “Something is off.” Hyato returned to the others and reported in.

  “So you’re reporting that there is nothing?” Yan arched an eyebrow, “How is that a problem.”

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  “No, that’s concerning.” Sebastian paused for a moment in thought, then got his shoes back on as fast as he could. “Pack up, we should press on. There’s no time to waste.” Given that Sebastian was the one who needed rest, the others obliged at once. Michael had lost his training partner and motivation to train anyways.

  Sebastian rushed everyone to get moving so Yan scouted to find the best path forward. It was clear that the younger party members did not share Sebastian’s sense of urgency, but he wasn’t explaining why he was so anxious either.

  “So, that other me that appeared back in Liniva.” Michael started, trailing off as they continued down the road.

  Yan shared a concerned glance with Hyato, “We remember. Why?”

  “I was just wondering. I don’t remember most of what I did... but what do we call that?” Michael looked up to see Yan’s confused face, “I mean, if we had to call it something anyways.”

  “Dark Michael.” Hyato said, with a serious expression. Yan’s expression warped to incredulous but amused.

  “Are you serious? That’s so weird. Why that?” She chuckled a bit too much.

  “He had ashen grey skin and was violent. Do you have a better name?” The others mulled over the question for a few minutes as they wandered along.

  “Evil Michael, perhaps?” Michael suggested.

  “Or just Rage Michael,” Sebastian mused, “You did seem to be enraged.

  “Leahcim?” Yan offered.

  “What in the world does that mean?”

  “It’s Michael spelled backwards.” A few of them chuckled.

  Hyato gave the matter a serious look, “So, like an Anti Michael then?”

  Sebastian and Yan laughed, and even Michael found himself chuckling along at the idea. After a moment they all hummed a bit in silence, then shared a long look. “So... Dark Michael then.” Michael confirmed after a few moments. Sebastian and Hyato nodded.

  “Well, I would have voted for Anti Michael,” Yan nudged Michael as she moved to the lead again, “But I’ll get over it.” They continued along down the road as Michael considered things a bit more. He had no wish to become anything more like his crazy other self, but didn’t even know how it had happened. For now there was no reason to keep worrying over it.

  As they traveled Michael tested a few of the techs he had learned. Simple actions like shunting himself with a sudden surge of speed, or sending a vibe to move something from afar. He considered when to use what he learned when fighting, then an idea made him smirk.

  Michael practiced something for a moment, then focused. Using a vibe that shot forth from behind, he tapped Yan’s far shoulder twice. She looked that way then looked around before looking back at Michael and rolling her eyes. Perfect. Michael chuckled.

  While Michael tried to think of another prank, a small rock moved in front of his feet. He stumbled and flailed forward to catch his balance before running into Sebastian and knocking them both over. Yan tittered as the men flailed about to get back up.

  “Be more careful, Michael.” Sebastian grumbled as they rose, “And quit laughing about it, Yan.” Michael was smirking as well, despite the tumble. He shared a look with Yan, then looked at Hyato. The swordsman was scowling, which made Michael pause.

  “Zori!”

  There was but a second before the monster was upon them. Michael charged to intercept and took a direct hit to the gut. Yan and Hyato had tried to attack, but stopped when Michael got in the way. Sebastian brought up a ward to no effect. “We should observe it!”

  “We should kill it!” Yan countered, rushing in as Michael got away from the thing. It looked about the same as the ones they fought before.

  “Wait!”

  In order to follow Sebastian’s command Yan had to jump past the zori, as she was moving too fast to stop. She landed on a stone and held her knife out in front of her. “What is it?!”

  “We should observe our enemies instead of leaping right into battle.” Sebastian had to hold up his ward against the zori while he explained his plan. “It seems similar, but not the same as the others we encountered.”

  “Who cares? It will die just the same!”

  The zori moved to attack Hyato, forcing the swordsman to create a surge shield to parry its charge. As the creature tumbled away from him Hyato spoke with the same stoicism he always wore. “Are we fighting it or not?”

  “Just give me a moment to examine the creature.” Sebastian focused, but instead of pivoting again the zori turned around and ran over a mound and out of sight. Sebastian swore and the party followed the fleeing foe.

  When they crested over the ridge they were greeted by the sight of tall dry grasses and rocks and a gulch where two hills met. It took a minute of scouring to pick out motion amidst the environment. “Over there, I see something!” Michael shouted.

  Everyone followed the gaze and got closer, then saw what was unfolding. The zori was stanced over the half mangled corpse of a goat, consuming what was left of it. “Quick! Kill it now!” Sebastian launched a spell, but it was too late.

  Fleshy growths grew from the sides and back of the Anozori, distorting its already unusual bestial form further as the flesh sacs expanded and burst. From those boils popped forth more zori, similar boarish beasts that had striking differences in build. In the minute since they lost sight of it, one zori became four.

  Fresh born zori attacked without needing time to adjust. One with a longer torso leapt at Hyato, while a bulkier one slammed the ground hard enough to make people stumble. Sebastian’s spell struck one and ignited it, but it charged the party with an ear splitting scream. The last zori continued to gorge itself, and more polyps were forming along its bloody back.

  Hyato slashed through the zori that leapt upon him, but it wasn’t enough to make the thing fade. Yan tried to deal with the bulky zori by leaping at it to stab the thing. It was a strong hit, but she took one in return. The others were all fighting hard, while Michael was still trying to wrap his head around what he saw. Zori popping out of another’s back, eating to grow. This was why Sebastian had been so worried about them for so long.

  The enemy did not let Michael space out unchallenged. The burning zori that charged avoided Sebastian to tackle Michael instead. It was enough to knock the wind out of him, and shouts of alarm faded beneath the more important struggle atop him. The zori bit Michael and tried to tear his arm off. “AAARRGH!”

  Michael punched to little effect, then again while bursting a surge from his elbow. His fist tore through the zori and caused it to fade apart. He was bleeding, but not too much. Once Michael had rescued himself the attention of the others returned to the other zori. “This is all your fault Sebastian!” Yan complained as she stabbed the bulky zori several more times.

  “I know! Just fight!” Sebastian tried another spell that had a pitiful effect, so switched it up to try something else. “A little elemancy then...” Fire conjured between his hands that he sent forth at all three remaining zori. It was a bit stronger, taking a chunk out of the jumping one and burning one of the polyps, but still about as good as his spellcraft.

  The leaping zori tried to body slam Hyato again, but was sidestepped. “Enough of you.” Hyato blinked out of existence as he drew his sword, appearing beyond the enemy as the Flash Blade finished off the enemy.

  Two more zori spawned from the back of the one gorging itself, and Michael knew what he had to do. He ran towards the eating zori, jumping over one of the fresh ones that charged him, and brought his sword down hard. It struck the ground, sending a shatter pattern of black lines into the gulch. “Dark Blade!”

  The lines of the technique spread down the hill and back up the other side, then burst out with pure impact force. The zori and one of the spawns were thrown from two sides and bounced between the walls of the hill, while the remains of the goat were launched up and out of sight. The unintended effect was enough whiplash to kill the original zori, and left the remaining one off balance and wavering.

  Yan and Hyato finished off the zori they were facing as Sebastian conjured another magical element into existence. He launched a jet of water at the final zori, piercing it through hard enough to kill it. “I always felt a bit more in tune with Water.”

  The chaotic skirmish seemed to be over, though the four remaining took another look around before risking anything. After a minute Yan sheathed her knife. “This is what we get for not killing the zori right away.” She had taken on some damage, and the same was true for all of them, but it was superficial at best. “Next time we shouldn’t pull our punches.”

  “Like you’re one to talk.” Sebastian grumbled, “With all that agility and power you clearly have training, yet I don’t recall seeing any actual Techs being used.” Yan looked like she’d been struck and took a half step back.

  “What about you? Aren’t you an experienced adventurer? You’d think you would have picked up a real combat spell in all your years, wouldn’t you?”

  “Most of my journeys have been between different libraries and archives around the world. I did not travel around seeking out zori hives or Dungeons.”

  “Enough!” Michael stepped between the two of them and held his arms out. “We should get a move on, there’s no reason to argue about this.” The others relented, and Michael wondered if that was the best thing to do. Holding in anger felt like a bad idea, but as he thought back to Liniva he didn’t want to let it out either.

  After snapping Hyato out of spacing out, something they’d had to do more than once, the party continued. Yan and Sebastian were being quiet, sulking or fuming, but led the way without issues. It did not take long for another corpse to be discovered, along with a small collection of drained nodules.

  “Is the Revenant going around killing goats for some reason?” Yan wondered, keeping an eye out for zori. This goat was also half eaten, but all the tracks led away from it.

  Sebastian surrounded the goat in a smokeless flame, using magic to burn away the meat. “If so, it's just going to cause us more problems. Too much of this will cause the zori around here to swell in numbers, which could lead to raids on nearby towns.”

  As Sebastian finished cremating the animal Yan scanned through all the tracks leading away from it. Michael moved to help, “So what are we looking for?”

  “Shoe prints, mostly.” Yan pointed one out, “Most of them are obscured by the zori activity, but if we figure out which direction the Revenant headed we can follow it.” She trailed her hand along the eastern slope of the gulch, “It’s been heading eastwards for the most part, so look up there while I search up here. Be careful where you step, we don’t want to lose one.”

  Michael imitated Yan’s careful footstepping method and climbed the slope, looking around for foot prints that bore the soles of a boot. Nothing came up, but as he reached the top he couldn’t help but have a quick look around a bit further.

  “Guys, there are more zori.” Michael said, without turning back at the others. He didn’t reach for his sword either, standing as still as could be while the others approached.

  “How many of them, and have they seen you yet?”

  “I don’t know...”

  The party crested the hill to share in Michael’s gaze. Across the next few slopes of the foothills, amidst cliffs and slopes of brush and dried grasses, there were dozens of growths. Large pulsating sacs of flesh that grew like tumors from the ground, expanding with polyps that burst to generate more of an ever growing zori horde. Anozori, the beast category of zori, had strong hides, fur, or carapace in addition to dangerous feral forms. As they four travelers peered out at the foothills, dozens of examples of that zori type moved, fought, and consumed from the numerous deposited animal corpses left all about.

  Just ahead of the group was a firm imprint from the boot Yan had been looking for. “The Revenant went that way.”

  “And killed the wildlife to bolster the number of zori.” Sebastian added, his arms shaking a bit. “If we... if we engage the enemy they will overwhelm us.”

  “But our foe has gone in that direction, so we must find a way forward.” Hyato cricked his neck and looked at the others. Michael nodded in agreement, but Yan and Sebastian did not share their resolve. A misstep against even a single zori could be dangerous. What unfolded before them was hundreds already.

  In the face of indecision, a decision must be made. Michael looked to the others, “We have to try. Yan, can you find a way forward? Sebastian, can you assess them to determine how best to deal with them?” It felt like the right thing to do in order to help them be confident. Both nodded and shed their uncertainty for focus.

  Yan led the way with silent footsteps after scouting ahead to go along the most empty paths. They were roundabout and meandering, but kept far from the masses of roaming zori. Sebastian observed them from afar during moments of waiting, while Hyato dealt with the ones that got too close. Yard by yard, the party pressed onwards through the hills. It was slow going, but working. Yet there was no way of knowing just how far they would need to travel, and whether their plan would keep working. Michael tried to hold to the hope of escape, but the shadow of doubt seemed to be stretching out behind them.