3.49. The Long Dark IV (Patreon)

We left Musa behind. He’d still been alive too, although the odds of him lasting for much longer weren’t good. Without Haol and I there, nothing would stop the musk oxen from trampling him.

I felt sick about it, but without time to think, all we’d had was our training to rely on, and it said that when suddenly faced with an enemy more powerful than you, retreat. Save who you can, if you can, but the priority was to get away so that you could come back later with the preparation needed to hunt the enemy down.

The last time I’d fought musk oxen, the whole lodge had mobilized. That had been a group of young bulls that’d been driven out by the herd. Maybe even this one. How are we supposed to—

We ran into Mumu and the land soldier teams sprinting toward us. She and the dog riders must’ve gotten free from the telekinetic grip. Had it been when the Monopolist repulsed Haol’s Thousand Arrows? In fact, the ox should’ve easily been able to nab Haol or me, unless there was a cooldown of some kind on the ability or a specific set of circumstances under which it activated.

My mind hunted for any patterns in what we’d witnessed. At Yuki’s urging, we merged so that they could absorb our memories, then split again, in case we need to multi-cast spells. Their qi raced as they brought the full power of their intellect against the problem.

Meanwhile, Haol yelled, “Back! Back!”

The others immediately joined our retreat.

“Status!” Mumu yelled.

“Unhurt,” Haol said, not slowing. “Four musk oxen, powerful. I’m out of mana. Qi for one spell.”

“Unhurt,” I said between breaths. “They were all dusk, one straying far. Mana for three, qi for eight.”

Mumu glanced behind us. “Musa and Jesei?”

“Both gone,” Haol said.

We broke through the tree line, and spotted Tegen. He’d repositioned to place himself in a gap between the berms so that his flanks were protected by the stakes. Amazingly, while a few of the musk oxen he’d been fighting were down, a handful continued to fight despite being poisoned. The dog riders leapt ahead to attack the enemy’s rear, their teams going in after them.

In the distance, all the village drums were beating. Teams of hunters poured from the gate—Kesa’s, Dura’s, and Susu’s. Only Tobin’s team was missing. It’d be up to them and the militia to defend Voorhei while our lodge concentrated its strength on the musk oxen.

I didn’t want to risk shooting arrows into the tangle of dogs, spears, and hooves, so I posted behind one of the berms to keep watch for reinforcements on the musk oxen’s side.

“Dodge!” I yelled, as a stone the size of a football shot from between the trees. The defenders reacted, but we were all running on fumes by that point, and our response times were not what they should be. The missile clipped a war dog’s hip and sent him and his rider tumbling. His team clustered around him, their spears bristling to protect the injured dog.

The Monopolist shot again, this time aiming for Haol, but the hunter ducked behind a musk ox, and the animal went down screaming, her ribs caved in. The rocks steadily came one after the other. Sometimes they were aimed at where the defenders were thickest. More frequently, the target was Haol.

The pattern became even clearer when my teammate was suddenly tugged from his feet. By that point, all the oxen outside the forest were down, but we couldn’t leave Haol to be dragged into the forest.

A stone shot at me, but I ducked behind the berm. The stakes shattered like they’d been struck by a super-powered bowling ball. The force behind the shots was getting stronger.

The uninjured dog grabbed Haol before he could be pulled into the forest, and the Monopolist switched to target him instead. With the rest of the land soldiers’ help though, Haol was pulled over to a tree so that he could paste himself on its trunk like Mumu had done earlier. He’d be useless, but at least he wasn’t in immediate danger anymore. All the other hunters took their cues from him, moving to interpose trees between themselves and the enemy.

The Monopolist banged on the trees with his telekinetic gun. Then, two stones hit at the same time. I could hear the wood splintering on the other side of the trunk, and the tree spirits went wild with anger.

It’s only push and pull, Yuki noted, and the number of objects he can influence grows with time.

What about when I broke free?

He never picks up the same stone twice.

I looked and saw the area around us littered with them. Does this mean I’m immune now? And Mumu too?

Maybe, or it might be a cool down.

I licked my lips and tried to think through the racket. Gods damn, but where was he getting all these rocks? Then, I noticed that the angle of attack was steadily changing. The Monopolist was moving north. I couldn’t actually see him, though. His Wandering Eye was probably some kind of clarvoyance.

Still, we could trace his location based on the where the rocks were being shot from. Unless it was a misdirection? That was when I saw Jesei’s ghost come out of the woods with Muusa on his back, warhammer in hand. Both were red-tinged with anger. Confirmation, then. We knew where the Monopolist was.

Right, so Mumu and I just need to dodge the rocks to get close, defeat the three dusk bodyguards, and get past his shield to kill him. Wait, the shield—

Yuki noted: He picked up some arrows to shoot them back.

So he can pick up things he’d already influenced. Is him leaving the rocks alone a trick?

Yuki’s qi circled faster and faster. We don’t think so. There are so many now, if the Monopolist could grab them, he would. We suspect the shield and the last-ditch shot afterward are an overload of his ability. Why pick up only a handful of arrows? Why wait so long to start shooting in earnest again? Why the slow increase in frequency and strength of his attacks?

You’re sure? I asked.

We may be wrong about the mechanics, but it’s not a trick. Of that we’re certain.

Assuming Yuki was right, I should be able to run toward where Mumu was without fear of being grabbed by the Monopolist again. We could test the theory that way—make sure things were as we saw them. The helplessness of being in the Monopolist’s grip had been terrible; I could still taste the dirt, and I hesitated.

Around me, the defenders were shifting around their trees to account for the changing angle of attack. We would remain at a stalemate unless I did something. No, the Monopolist would continue to get stronger unless we did something.

Reading my intention, Yuki spun up Dog’s Agility, and I launched myself from cover, pelting over the ground in between as a stone whizzed behind me. I interposed trees when and where I could, and the trunks cracked as multiple rocks hit them. They whipped toward me—three at once.

I dodged, my body ducking-bending-straining to avoid being hit. Two stones shot past; the third broke my collarbone and knocked the wind out of me. My eyes teared from the pain, but I couldn’t stop. If I stopped, I’d get pummelled, so I endured to keep moving.

The last few steps to Mumu’s tree were a stumble, but she caught me and pulled me the rest of the way to safety. She already had her waterskin open, but I waved her off.

“Let Yuki,” I said through clenched teeth.

She nodded and poured the water; Yuki cast the Healing Water spell. As the pain diminished, I was able to breathe again and huddled closer to Mumu. Our faces were only inches apart, so that we could hear each other over the raucuous din of stones smashing into the tree protecting us.

A thin line of blood ran across Mumu’s cheek. She absently wiped it away. “You have something?”

“I think so. We think so.” And I shared Yuki’s and my theory about how the Monopolist’s talents worked. Partway through, Kesa joined us after having an easier time crossing over, since the Monopolist continued to target Mumu and me.

Why not the dog riders, though. They should also be immune.

Mumu explained: “It’s because we’re higher level.”

Kesa added, “And the riders aren’t a threat without their dogs. One’s out of the fight, and the other can still be affected by the invisible grip.”

In fact, the team around the injured dog was rapidly digging in to create a defensible position. If I could get to him with a Healing Water spell... but no, he’d still be vulnerable to the Monopolist’s talents.

Gods, but it was so noisy. I could barely think through the adrenaline and noise. We needed to overload the enemy’s shield, and our best bet for that was Mumu. “Do you have enough mana for a Thousand Spears?”

“Just barely,” she yelled, “but we need to attack before the enemy grows stronger.” She turned to Kesa. “Where do we stand?”

“We have four hunter teams here, and one of the land soldiers. Ben has qi for two spells. Miri and Dura are down to one each. Your Tegen’s wells are both empty.”

“When we attack,” Mumu said, “the oxen's leader will capture the dog; that’ll occupy one of his invisible hands. The rest will come for us; we’ll need to use the trees as much as possible until we get close. Then, the teams will occupy the guard oxen until Eight and I bait the leader’s invisible shield. Eight will use lightning. I will use Thousand Spears. Once the shield is down, everyone attacks him; he’s the real threat to Voorhei.”

I could just imagine the Monopolist, safe outside our walls, spying on the villagers with his clairvoyance. He could pick whoever he wanted and smash them against their own homes. Everyone in Vorohei was at risk. Everyone.

Mumu and Kesa knew that to be a truth. I saw it in their eyes.

“This Kesalei invokes the Last Line. Our Voorhei will be safe. My team will protect you at the cost of our lives.”

“Kesa—” Mumu started, but the elder hunter stopped her.

“I’ve lived long enough to recognize necessity,” she said, then whistled to draw attention to her. The other hunters watched as she signed the details of Mumu’s plan, adapted for the Last Line.

The defenders around me were taut-determined-afraid. Although, they had their fear controlled, it lingered as its tendrils wove through their spirits. More than a few whispered prayers, and I added mine to theirs. With all my heart, I wished them safe. Deep in my heart, I knew they wouldn’t be.

Mumu had her hand on Kesa’s shoulder, her face pleading.

But the older woman wouldn’t be deterred. “We do what we must, but maybe the gods will be merciful and I’ll see you on the other side of this Long Dark. For now, though, my Lodge Master, we can’t delay. Give the word and put your plan into action.”

Mumu’s spirit fissured, silver sorrow seeping like lava. “I swear,” she said, “that your sacrifice will be made worthwhile.”

Kesa smirked—she smirked! And said, “I know.”

Mumu raised her voice so that everyone could hear: “Dog rider, in!”

The rider saluted, and urged his mount out from behind cover. The dog was immediately captured by the Monopolist, but the team supporting him was ready and dragged him to safety.

The enemy was down to firing to two stones at once. Mumu nodded at the confirmation of that part of theory. “Susu, then Dura, Kesa, and my team! Quickly now, one after the other, give him too many targets, confuse him!”

Grim-faced Susu said, “In,” and her team dashed forward, moving from tree to tree.

“In,” Dura said, following after.

Kesa gave Mumu a nod full of meaning-emotion-care, then: “In,” and she was running, weaving between the splintering trees. We’d taken too long to plan; another stone had joined the cacophany.

“In,” Mumu yelled, but it was just Tegen and me with her. “Go fast,” she said to me, “and hide. We’ll catch up.”

I ducked into Camouflage, while Yuki spun up Dog’s Agility. Everything slowed, and I saw the rocks hurtling at us. Mumu had to save her qi, and Tegen was out, so they moved at everyday time—dodging the stone bullets, getting struck by splinters from shattered trees—their arms and legs pumping.

The Monopolist’s Wandering Eye didn’t see me, so I was free to ignore Mumu’s instructions to keep pace with her and Tegen, to heal them if they were struck by a stone. It wasn’t a decision made consciously; I just couldn’t leave them behind.

So, I saw it all as they stormed toward the dusk musk oxen. As Susu’s team made first contact, working to draw one away from the rest. Then Dura’s team hit the melee, dangerously splitting up to take two at once, leaving Kesa’s team to run interference for Mumu and Tegen.

The alpha guards were monsters, each a thousand pounds of charging-kicking-goring death. None of the teams alone was equal to a single one of them. Ahlrein took a took kick that sent him flying, not to get up again. Susu managed to trip the ox before he could charge the downed hunter. Her team thrusted their spears, but none of them bit deep.

Dura and Miri fought for their lives. Each had struck with a Spiral Pierce, the blows the first real damage on the oxen, drawing their attention. Bones broke, people were trampled, and yet the teams batted the oxen’s sides with their spears, yelling insults and taunts.

The fight was horrible and brave and gruesome, and all the while the Monopolist shot at Mumu, and it took every bit of skill and focus in her to dodge. She was... she was pure hunter, her prey in sight, her lodge opening the way.

Kesa’s team hit the Monopolist, but he shrugged off their spears and whirled with his horns to drive them away. They stuck to him though, jabbing at his eyes, his mouth, his genitals—angering him, stoking the rage inside him, so that he’d focus on them.

My team and I waited in case Kesa’s team drew out the Monopolist’s shield. It didn’t, and we waited several long, painful seconds longer until a stone flew toward the monopolist catching Kesa in the back. Even from dozens of feet away, I heard the breaking of bones, and the Monopolist moved to trample her under him.

Her team renewed their attacks, and more stones flew, striking them down. Only Ben remained standing, as he suddenly moved with Dog’s Agility.

Mumu and Tegen charged, but I was faster—the forest brightening as I cast my Lightning Hands. Yuki and I poured our mana into the spell, willing the electricity to consume the Monopolist. For a moment all was incadencent, my hands alive and writhing with spitting streamers arcing to cling to the ox’s body.

His hide burned from the overflash, the moisture vaporizing to scald him. Even so, the Monoplist didn’t use his shield. We’d need Mumu’s Thousand Spears, after all.

The mana inside her shifted; her qi began to cycle. The lightning in my hands spit and hissed, whispering to me, urging me to seek the paths of least resistance. And in that moment, epiphany flooded through me. I would’ve realized-rememebered-thought of it earlier, except we were all at our limits.

The overflash was only one aspect of the danger posed by lightning. The other was the intrusion, when a portion of the energy entered the body. Mana ticking down, I let the lightning loose to follow the path of least resistance—not to the earth, however, where it might rest, but toward the Monopolist’s watery eyes and wet mouth to follow the throat and trachea down to his heart and other organs.

The ox bucked and raged. He whirled again—all the oxen did—to face the source of lightning. The thing that was once the domain of the King of the Forest was back, and they ignored everything and everyone else to charge me. My Camouflage was useless, surrounded as I was by a corana of skyfire.

Mumu changed tack. She hit them all with her Thousand Spears. A bramble rose in a half circle around her, catching the Monopolist on one side and his guards on the other. Mirrored spears, all laced with portions of Spiral Pierce penetrated into muscles, lungs, and throats.

The guards stumbled back, bellowing. The Monopolist stood steady, his shield having protected him. There was nothing for him to pick up afterward, however. The spears faded as the spell came to an end.

Mumu immediately followed-up with a unpowered spear thrust, as did Tegen. The Monopolist took the hits, uncaring, as he got moving again. His eyes were wild as they stared me down. I danced out of the way, let the lightning go, and picked up one of the fallen spears.

My Spiral Pierce bit into his flank. Ben’s caught him on the other side. The other hunter was brimming with qi, and the air cracked with the repeated use of our spells. We gouged his flesh, and his blood ran down the shafts of our spears.

The rage in the Monopolist’s eyes turned to fear. He ran, but couldn’t escape our Dog’s Agility. And then we were joined by the unhurt war dog and the rest of the land soldiers. Haol was there too, shooting his bow as fast as humanly possible.

Together we swarmed the Monopolist like wolves, and he finally fell to a Spiral Pierce to his heart from Ben. For good measure, I stabbed him in the eye until I felt the bone give and the spear’s tip squish his brain. That was when the other musk oxen broke, but we chased them down too to keep them from becoming threats in the future.

Breath heaving, my hands shaking from the adrenaline, I stumbled back toward the injured. I’d used up all my mana for the Lightning hands, but Yuki had enough left a single Healing Water.

Three hunters were dead, their teams grieving over the bodies. Susu had somehow survived, even after throwing herself at an alpha. Amazingly Kesa was still alive and Ahlrein too, but both barely clung to life. None of the others who knew Healing Water had any mana left, and we were hours from midnight. We could save only one of them—

“I know when I’m done,” Kesa croaked. That didn’t stop Ben from casting Nature’s Spring, but she shoved him away. “There’s better use for that; I know what it’s costing you.”

His qi was a fire consuming his life; Ben had used the Body Burner spell to fuel his spells.

“Go,” Kesa said. “Let the Last Line protect our village’s future.”

He disobeyed her, though, not leaving her side, so the wounded where brought to him to cast Nature’s Spring on them. Even after she stilled, the light leaving her eyes, he stayed with her until it was time to retreat behind the walls.

Mumu sent a runner to signal the all clear, and request help moving the wounded back inside the walls. The dead too—we weren’t going to leave them outside.

As for me, I’d pretended to cast Healing Water on Ahlrein, while Yuki did the work. The spell hadn't been enough to fix all the damage, but it’d keep him alive long enough for him to get more magical healing later.

Once again, Teila met us at the gate, this time with horror in her eyes at the sight of the fallen and the wounded among us. I heard sobbing come from the others with her, but I tuned it out. What mattered in that moment was to prepare in case of another attack.

As the adrenaline washed away, my stomache came back with a vengeance, accompanied by a dizzying swirl of emotions. Still, I endured, as did my team with me. With exhausted determination, we climbed to our positions above the gate. There were twelve more hours to go.

###

All was quiet, although the maddened trees were an itching distraction, constantly drawing my eyes from their search for danger. Haol wandered back and forth along the wall, also scanning the tree line, while Tegen and Mumu meditated. We’d trade places with them later.

The alarm dinged softly, but I told the others to rest easy. A brown bear wandered into the fields, walking crookedly like he was drunk. She licked at some of the blood spilled, and then fell in a heap.

She was an ordinary bear according to his Status, exhausted by the Long Dark and asleep, but I went out along with the uninjured war dog team to shoot her through the heart with a Spiral Pierce arrow.

A bear who sought out and drank blood? I wasn’t going to give her the opportunity to stray.

###

I felt worse and worse over time, and when Mumu got up to switch with me, she put the back of her hand against my forehead to check my temperature. She must’ve not liked the look in my eyes.

I didn’t like it either, to be honest. Everything was pulsing, but I was deteremined to hold on, to do my share. It was just another eight hours—that was all—until I could fall into bed and sleep for days. And mourn too, I thought, my stomach sinking.

Yuki spent some precious qi on a Nature’s Spring for me, but the spell didn’t appear to do any good. The irony was that they felt great. Sad, yes, at the losses in our lodge family, but this had been their smoothest Long Dark ever.

The uekisheile wasn’t alone. I'd heard some of the militia talking about how much better it was this year compared to the previous. Only three militia members had died so far, and one had been from a heart attack.

If it hadn’t been for the musk oxen, we wouldn’t have lost any hunters. They’d called it terrible luck, and I’d wanted to smack them.

Mumu picked me up and carried me downstairs. I resisted at first, but she was so warm, enfolding me with her concern. My eyes fluttered closed.

###

I woke up nauseous and clutching my stomach. Yuki spun through my body trying to find the cause—disease or poison—but whatever it might be, it eluded them. Dimly, I noted I was in Mumu’s longhouse. She lived there with her grandmother and a couple of cousins, although it was currently unoccupied except for me—

The door opened. The sky was dark on the other side, framed around Mumu, but I ignored her as I—dizzy, stumbling—scrambled for the chamberpot, fumbled with my pants, and held on for dear life as it felt like my inside were on fire. Trembling fingers finally got my pants down, so that I could squat.

Gods, but it felt like a red hot poker was being pulled from my stomach, through my intestines, and out my ass. I clenched my teeth, and tears welled in my eyes. I grunted like pig as I pushed, growled like an animal as I squeezed.

Mumu held me upright, while I fought and fought, until.... plop, plop.

Blessed relief swirled through me, dizzying but in a good way. The pain disappeared, and I felt feather light, like I was made of air and stardust. Yuki shivered from the pleasure of it, and a moment later, so did I.

“Eight?” Mumu asked, her voice full of concern.

The fog that’d been obscuring my thoughts lifted, and while I still ached from the wounds and exertions of the past few days, that was all it was. I turned in embarrasement toward Mumu to assure her I was fine, to thank her for her care, but she was staring in horror below me, into the chamberpot.

I’ve had some stinkers before. Surely it can’t be that bad—

The pot’s interior smoked with the telltale signs of darklight dissipating. Bits of crackling black studded the turds, and they smoldered as they fizzled into in the open air. Mumu and I watched mesmerized until all that was left was an unhealthy looking mess. No darklight, it’d all disappeared.

Mumu looked gobsmacked. “Was that? It had to be, but how? No, don’t answer. In fact, don’t ever, ever speak about about what just happened to anyone. Not your family, not the lodge, not even me. There are too many ways to force the truth out of people. Keep it to yourself, and yourself only.”

She got up and practically ran to the door, only stopping at the jamb to ask, “Are you feeling better? Are you well?”

The itchies, or my version of them, had disappeared. I also felt like my emotions were my own again. The simmering anger I’d been feeling had vanished.

“I think so.”

Mumu nodded, and closed the door behind her, leaving just me alone in the longhouse. Well, not quite—I was never alone, was I?

According to Spontaneous Formation, I should’ve have incarneated in this world without any darklight, so there were only two options for where the stuff in the chamberpot had come from: either from ingesting it along with my food or—

We feel... this must be what the word clarity truly feels like. Our thoughts are... unencumbered. Yuki’s qi was tinged with wonder with a strong undercurrent of guilt too. Not that they’d intended to cause me discomfort, but it was becoming increasingly clear to both them and me that it was their darklight that’d just been expelled from my body. As a part of me, they’d unintentionally used me as a filter.

Gods, if the wrong person heard about this, they’d put me in a box to filter darklight twenty-four seven. Mumu was right. I could never talk about this with anyone—

The world shimmered. Literally, a silvery glow covered everything, and then faded from view. Inside my mind, my Status clock struck midnight, and a notification dinged.

Congratulations

You have survived the Long Dark, and the world takes another step toward perfection. You are now another year older, and have absorbed 5 silverlight. May the next year bless you, walker. Strive onward.