Grand Game 137: The Mind’s Reach (Patreon)

Your task: Pass the First Trial has been updated. Revised objective: Reach the log cabin on the far side of the water to complete the second test.

Dismissing the Game update, I surveyed the scene in front of me. I’d been right, I saw.

The cabin door exited on a small wooden platform that was low enough for the lake’s waters to lap over its edges. To my left and right, the lake disappeared into the horizon. The opposite shore—and the next cabin—though, were clearly visible.

About half a mile of lake separated me from the cabin. Like the one in which I stood, it sat on the water’s edge, but behind it was a sheer cliff that marched all along the opposite shore, making the cabin accessible only by water.

I glanced to my sides again. To reach the cabin, I could walk along the shore to the opposite end and then try to make my way down the cliff, but given that I could not see the left and right borders of the lake, I had no idea how far they extended. Nor, for that matter, was I certain the waterway was indeed a lake and not a river.

I didn’t have time for such explorations anyway. Every moment I spent in the trial was one less I had to escape Erebus’ clutches. Crossing the lake directly seemed the only viable option.

Across the lake it is.

Crouching at the edge of the wooden platform, I turned my attention to the water itself. It was cold, clear, pristine, and at first glance, innocuous enough.

Then I saw something move.

You have detected a hostile entity.

A long predatory shadow cut through the water. It was big—four, maybe five, times my own length. I could make out little else about the thing except that it had a triangular head, a whiplike tail, and was fast approaching.

I stepped hastily back from the edge, and about a foot short of the platform, the half-seen shape spun about and swam lazily away before I could take any further action.

Alrighty, I thought, swimming doesn’t seem wise.

How then did I cross the water?

The lake was deep enough that I couldn’t see to its bottom, and I was sure it hid more predators. But the unknown creature that had slipped up to the edge had not approached me directly. A few feet from where I stood, the critter had zigzagged oddly… almost as if passing around an obstacle.

I studied the area in question intently and spotted a slight sheen as the water lapped back and forth. Narrowing my eyes, I took a step forward and looked harder.

The shimmer I spotted was from a rock. A black rock that glistened in the sunlight as the lake’s gentle waves uncovered it. My interest was piqued. The stone lay close to the surface.

My attention skipped from the rock to the surroundings, and after another long minute of study, I spied another stone about two yards away from the first.

Was it part of a ford? A pathway across the lake hidden just beneath the surface?

Has to be. It made sense, too, for there to be a crossing, given my suspicion that the second challenge was a test of my telekinetic abilities.

I searched about again but spied no more glinting shapes in the water. That doesn’t mean they aren’t there, only that I can’t see them from here.

My gaze slid back to the first rock. It was close enough that I could reach it with one-step. Time to move, I thought, deciding to trust my instincts.

Advancing to the platform’s edge, I stepped off and cast one-step. My left foot landed on solid air. Continuing to walk naturally, I stretched out my right leg and found the submerged rock with the tip of my toes.

The rock was slippery, and I swayed slightly as I brought around my left leg to stand still on my watery perch, but other than for that initial bobble, I had no difficulty retaining my balance.

I turned my attention to the next rock. It, too, was within reach. Beyond it, I could just make out another stepping stone, but it was even farther away and would be harder to get to. Still, there was no reason I couldn’t make it, even if it meant me getting a little wet.

I readied myself, then froze as my mindsight pinged suddenly.

One of the lake’s predators was stealthily approaching. I’d anticipated it, however. Spinning psi, I cast charm. With barely any resistance from my target, I invaded its mind and extended my influence over it.

You have charmed a level 39 river crocodile for 10 seconds.

A crocodile, I thought, my brows lifting. The creature sounded surprisingly ordinary, but I was certain it was no simple beast. Like the burrowers, the crocodiles were sure to have a means of harming me.

This time though, I would not attempt fighting. And besides, I had a much better use for my charmed minion.

I commanded the crocodile to the surface. With a lazy burst of speed that had my eyebrows rising again, the beast positioned itself where I’d ordered—adjacent to the next rock in the chain of stones that made up the partially submerged ford.

I didn’t hesitate. Only five more seconds remained on my charm spell. Targeting the crocodile, I cast shadow blink.

Psi rushed outwards from my mind to encompass my form and, with breathless speed, pulled me from the physical realm and into the aether.

I stayed there for less than a fraction of a second, though.

More psi rushed outwards from me to tear a hole through reality for my form to re-coalesce on the crocodile’s back.

You have cast shadow blink and teleported yourself two yards away.

Damnation, I thought, still dizzy from my abrupt translocation. There was no time to waste, though. Stepping onto the rock, I commanded my soon-to-be-free minion away. Skimming along the surface of the water, it heeded my orders. The crocodile’s back was ridged, armored, and uneven, but for all that, it had been a more stable platform than my current perch.

I grinned, suddenly envisioning using a combination of charm, blink shadow, the crocodile, and the rocks to skip my way across the lake. This test may turn out to be easier than I expected.

My mindsight pinged again.

Three more hostiles were homing onto my location.

I sighed, hopes dashed. Why is nothing ever easy?

~~~

You have lost control over a level 39 river crocodile.

My spell lapsed before the three new hostiles could reach me, which was at least one bit of good news.

Ignoring the approaching crocodiles, I recast charm over my former minion. The beast was zipping through the water, heading furiously back my way—no doubt to wreak vengeance upon me.

Midway to me, it crashed to a halt, bespelled again.

Then, I shadow blinked onto its broad back. In my mindsight, I sensed the three submerged crocodiles pause momentarily at my sudden disappearance before reorienting themselves on my new position. They didn’t speed up, though, perhaps assuming I was still unaware of their presence.

At their current pace, it would take the three hunters a handful of seconds to reach me. And even longer if my ‘raft’ flees. Ordering my minion deeper into the lake, I scanned its depths for another stepping stone.

It did not take me long to spot one.

Directing the bespelled crocodile towards it, I stepped off and commanded the beast deeper into the lake. The other three crocodiles hadn’t surfaced and had slipped out of mindsight range entirely.

Good, I thought. It gave me time to repeat my previously successful maneuver.

Drawing psi, I readied my charm spell, then waited for my bespelled minion to shrug off my hold upon its mind. I fully intended to continue leapfrogging across the lake in the manner I had.

Who knows, with a bit of luck, perhaps, I can complete the trip without mishap.

~~~

Unbelievably, my luck held, and five minutes later, I stepped off the back of the hard-working crocodile and onto the platform of the next log cabin.

During my trip across the lake, I’d sensed the approach of multiple predators. None had surfaced, though, nor had any gotten close enough to threaten my routine of charm and shadow blink, and in the end, the journey across the water had proven uneventful.

Stepping up to the door, I considered the latest cabin. From the outside, its rear was not visible. The cabin’s left and right sides disappeared into the rockface of the cliff at the back and had neither doors nor windows.

So, where is the entrance to the next challenge? I wondered.

Only one way to find out, I thought and stepped into the cabin.