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Salt and Blood - Chapter 21
🕑 Added 2024-09-26 12:04:37 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 20 | Table of Contents | Chapter 22 >>
1.21 - When is a Flower Worth your Life?
There are not many differences between monsters inside a convergence and those out in the world at large. Nothing physical at least. Desperation and hunger can make more of an impact than you’d think, however. I’d take a Kraken from The Black Strait over a plain old boar during a breach anyday.
-Quoted from Fleet Admiral Gullar, of Zoria
Rose turned to the source and saw an uncountable number of wolves pacing into the clearing. The leader of the pack was huge, almost up to her chest in height and sporting claws bigger than her dagger.
Her quivering hands belied her fear but she didn’t show any of that while glaring fiercely at the beast. Predators would think twice about attacking something they thought could put up a fight. Or so she hoped.
“Trent, please tell me that crystal thing is worth taking on this furious horde of wolves,” she said, not letting her gaze waver from the alpha for even a fraction of a second.
“This… crystal thing,” he began, advancing towards it with tiny, measured steps, “is more valuable than our lives. Now, I want to get out of here relatively unscarred and I’m sure you do too, but if we’re able to bring this with us it would be worth losing another limb. Or two.”
“That valuable?” said Rose, letting out a low whistle. If Trent was that incensed about the crystal then she would trust him, to a point.
If it looked as though the wolves had the upper hand and were about to tear them apart she would have no qualms about running off by herself. It would mean all her nursing would go to waste, but he was a grown man who could make his own decisions. If that decision was to throw his life away for a big blue egg then so be it.
She pulled the flintlock pistol from her belt and made sure the gunpowder was topped up. Trent had given her a little pouch of her own so that they wouldn’t need to toss his back and forth in the midst of battle.
This time she made sure the hammer was cocked back. The wolves were yet to attack, but it was better to be safe than sorry. They had continued to approach and fanned out into a semi-circle, but strangely their gazes kept flickering towards the glowing egg. They might have been able to run without chase if not for Trent’s determination to harvest the thing.
“To be honest with you, I doubt we can fend off these wolves and make a clean getaway with that. I want a real estimate of the value. I need to know if this is worth my life,” she said. Unlike the other wolves, who struggled to tear their gazes from the glowing crystal, the alpha was staring her down with cold, hungry eyes.
Rose stopped herself from taking a step backwards. She wasn’t the scared little girl who had run away from home anymore. Well, I’m still damn scared. I just refuse to let my fear control me. She raised the pistol and pointed it at the huge wolf.
It halted in its tracks, but pulled the flesh over its muzzle back to reveal bright red gums and razor sharp, yellowing fangs. A twisted, monstrous grin.
She wondered why the wolf wasn’t scared, but then she remembered how many shots it had taken to bring down the stag. The alpha wasn’t quite as big or muscular as that monster, but she had no doubt it would take more than one shot to kill the beast.
And after that first shot it would be free to tear her limb from limb with those fearsome fangs and cruel, curling claws.
Sure, there was always her dagger. It would do little to stop a vicious assault however and even if she managed to slaughter the beast and claim victory, she would be wounded - perfect prey for the rest of the pack.
Her skills had been going through such rapid changes that Rose couldn’t remember what she had gained or honed, so she spared a moment to skim through her status before making her final decision.
Name: Rose Everblue
Race: Human
Occupation: -
Title: -
Available Titles: Murderer
Skills: Cleaning 10, Reading 9, Fishing 13, Swimming 8, Writing 6, Butchery 6, Cooking 5, Herding 2, Focus 12, Drawing 11, Sailing 7, One Handed Weapons 3, Blades 2, Pistols 3, Firearms 2, Unarmed Combat 1, Endurance 1
Traits: Sensitive Line, Deft Hand, Good as New, Tunnel Vision
Her skills with the flintlock pistol and the dagger were still low, but they would grow the more she continued to fight with those weapons of circumstance. A cutlass would’ve been a damn sight more useful, but Trent only had the one.
Notably, her trait from drawing - deft hand - was actually giving her an easier time wielding the dagger and fiddling with the firing mechanisms in the midst of battle. Rose wondered what other vocational pursuits might prove themselves to have combat utility. Perhaps writing or reading might offer something similar, but she doubted it.
“Trent, are you one hundred percent sure about this? I’m about to fight a huge, terrifying wolf for this egg and I want to be sure I’m not throwing my life away for your greed,” she said, not letting her gaze leave the alpha for even a millisecond.
“Look, Rose. You and I aren’t strangers anymore. After our wonderful time here I might even go so far as to say we’re starting to become friends, despite our rocky history. I wouldn’t lie to you. Leaving this to the wolves would be more foolish than dying. You’ve got this,” he assured her, now just a step away from the glowing crystalline egg.
She took a deep breath and closed one eye, the iron sight of the pistol filling the narrowing field of vision in her other.
As her focus kicked into overdrive everything but the pistol and the fearsome alpha wolf melted away. It had keen instincts and sensed the moment she decided to act.
It was too late for the beast. There was a gentle click as she pulled the trigger and the hammer struck true, blasting the iron ball towards her prey.
Blood splattered across the electric blue moss as the bullet drilled a hole between the wolf’s wide, yellow eyes. That had gone smoother than she expected.
Skill up!
Pistols 3 > 4
Skill up!
Firearms 2 > 3
She allowed herself to take another deep breath, but her hands did not remain idle. They scooped out the burnt powder and replaced it with practised ease, each repetition drilling the movements into her muscle memory. The hammer clicked back into place and the hairs on the back of her neck bristled.
A deep, rumbling growl echoed through the clearing and the rest of the wolves mirrored with howls of their own. Goosebumps flared to life across her arms and legs and she failed to hold back her quivering lip.
Rose watched as what she thought had been a lethal wound kneaded itself back together, the odd process culminating with the crumpled bullet falling to the ground. The alpha glared at her with bloodshot, yellow eyes.
And then it pounced.
Moving with more alacrity than she thought a canine could possess, it flashed across the gap between them and slashed at her with fearsome, razor sharp claws.
A step backwards, heavier than she had wanted it to be, allowed her to narrowly avoid its strike. However, she stumbled on her next step and struggled to regain her footing, which meant the bite that followed dug deep into her thigh, drawing beads of crimson blood.
The alpha’s teeth were long and viciously sharp. She shook her leg furiously to throw it off but it refused to give up the ground it had gained. The wounds burned. Stop panicking, you’re not a little girl anymore.
It hadn’t been an easy battle against the stag, so Rose wasn’t sure why she had expected a clean and quick victory here. Maybe it was because she had a lesser appreciation for the wolves. They didn’t win with their own strength and relied on their packs, but she was foolish to look down on them for that.
Besides, the alpha was doing a great job of tearing into her flesh without any assistance. She pulled her leg away once more, trying to free it from the fearsome fangs. This time she succeeded, but a chunk of her leg was ripped away by the wolf’s murderous muzzle.
Saliva foamed around its jaws as it pulled them back in that sinister, toothy grin. Bad dog. She fired the pistol once more, not needing as much time to aim true as she had done before. Practice makes perfect.
Blood sprayed across the moss once again as the iron bullet tore through the wolf’s soft eye. Rose had targeted its vision on purpose and the moment she sniffed the acrid tang of gunpowder her feet were already moving and her knuckles closed around the familiar grip of Trent’s dagger.
Skill up!
Pistols 4 > 5
You have learned a new skill!
Precision 0 > 1
This battle had gone on long enough.
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