In the Shadow of Mountains - a litRPG adventure

Wha’s the best fightin’ advice I ever got? I dunno… ‘fast hands or faster legs’ probably

– Master Sergeant Gnarly Grunt of the Salazan Depth-Walkers

The smile on my face cracked a few moments later when Vera slapped me on the knee. “Up you get Lamb, we’ve got a conversation to have.”

I looked up at her in confusion as she stood, stretched, and walked off to the side. She beckoned me over impatiently, drawing her sword as she did so while I stumbled to my feet and wandered over.

“Nathlan, if you would?” She called over, and the man nodded and waved his hand above his head.

A circle about a dozen meters in diameter sprung up around both of us, long grass flattened to the ground as if crushed beneath immense weight. I felt a similar weight settle onto my soul, and while I didn’t know what it was, I could feel a restriction worming its way through me.

I looked at Nathlan in confusion as I asked, “What is this?”

He grinned back and answered in a cheerful tone. “One of my new skills – Ward of Revealing. It’s a domain skill that alerts me to lies uttered within it. The mechanics are a bit too complicated to explain, but it’s a combination of semantic truth and lie detector. It’s not infallible, but you will struggle to get away with lies of omission, or other tactics to obscure the truth while within it, assuming you don’t have significantly more power than me that is. It’s still low-levelled since it’s so new, so by all means, try and get creative – it will help me level it.”

Vera chimed in as well, twirling her sword in a casual manner that still managed to be intimidating. “It also handily marks out a boundary for our spar.”

“We’re going to spar? I thought you wanted a conversation? About what anyway?” I paused and looked between Vera, stalking gracefully around the edge of the circle and looking at me like a cat eyeing a mouse, and Nathlan and Jorge still seated by the fire. They were relaxed, but very much paying attention. “What is this? I get the feeling I’m-“

Vera hushed me. “I’ve heard you have some…concerns…about my history, my character. About who I am. You wanted to talk to me and hear my side of the story before making up your mind. You are having doubts about me because my enemies consider me a heinous criminal. Perhaps I am too violent for your tastes?”

Her tone was gentle, but I detected an undeniable note of steel hidden within it. Like she was deliberately softening the words but couldn’t dilute the message.

I looked over at Jorge warily but he just gave me a reassuring nod and so I turned back to Vera. “Uh…Yes. I wanted to hear your side of the story, to find out why you were hunted and what you did. Whether I can…” I trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence without saying something rude. ‘hey, just want to make sure you’re not evil’ isn’t exactly the most tactful thing to say after all.

Vera’s expression hardened and she raised an eyebrow. It seemed like an invitation to keep talking and a promise that if she didn’t like what she heard, I would have an issue. It only made me hesitate further.

Jorge cleared his throat after a few more moments, speaking; “Vera has suggested the game ‘right to reply’. To speak, you must score a hit on your opponent. If you do, you may question them, and they must answer. You can forgo a question if you want, and simply speak your mind, but your opponent is not obliged to answer.”

Vera raised a hand to cut me off before I could protest. “I’ll limit myself to 20 in every attribute – that fair?”

I tried to protest again that I didn’t have a weapon, but just as the words were leaving my mouth, I felt a thump as a wooden training spear smacked me in the back and rolled to the floor at my feet. I shot a chagrined look at Jorge who just gave me a cheery thumbs up. Some gestures were universal it seemed.

“I guess so. Go easy on me though, yeah?” I asked, trying to put some friendliness back into this whole event.

Vera’s just grinned in a predatory manner, saying “Depends on your answers, doesn’t it?”

Before I could puzzle out her meaning, she stamped once to initiate the fight and darted forwards towards me. I yelped and leapt back, then thought better of it and bent down to pick up the spear. I then thought better of that, and tried to slip to the side of the charging ball of muscle and rage coming straight at me, and ended up bouncing to the ground from a simple shoulder check while I was off-balance. Vera straightened, grinning as I rolled to my feet.

“That’s one for me. Why don’t you finish your previous thought, Lamb? You want to know my past so you can…?”

I coughed and stood, trying to get myself in the zone for a fight. Heaving in a breath, I tried to reply but she gave me no time to do so, closing the distance quickly. Aiming to stay at a distance, I danced back until I could circle round for my weapon, but Vera’s footwork was far beyond my own. She didn’t seem to be moving any faster than me, but she read my intentions expertly and was stepping into my path almost before I decided to move.

A few frantic moments passed before she pinned me to the edge of the circle and lazily poked me in the side with the blunted tip of her training blade. “Another one for me.”

She leaned forward as she continued her previous question. “…so you can judge me perhaps? Decide for yourself if my actions were just?”

I caught the warning in her tone with that question and hurried to shake my head in the negative. She simply stared into my eyes for a few moments. “I asked you a question Lamb.” She said.

I shivered from the intensity of her gaze and tried for a conciliatory tone. “No! No, of course I wouldn’t think to judge you.”

Even as the words left my mouth, I knew they were wrong. I could feel the presence of Nathlan’s skill at the edges of my mind, and when I spoke, that pressure intensified for a moment. Vera looked over to where Nathlan sat, and he shook his head sadly at her.

She snorted and turned back to regard me, the intensity from moments before only increasing. I could see a spark in her gaze. Deep beneath to gold-flecked brown of her irises, something began to burn. She took a short step back, and then without warning, lashed a kick at my leading leg. Her foot struck my thigh, and I buckled to one knee. She stalked to one side as she asked her next question, keeping me pinned with her gaze like a rabbit before a snake.

“What do you know of my history Lamb?”

I pressed against the ground to get my feet underneath me, straightening out and beginning to circle back towards where the spear lay on the floor as I answered. “Very little, only what Jorge has shared. That you are a wanted criminal from the Sunset Kingdoms. That you’ve killed many in pursuit of some sort of change. I don’t know the details though.”

Another nod from Nathlan, at which point Vera leapt forwards like a viper uncoiling. I stumbled back as she feinted another leg kick, eager to avoid the stinging pain I could still feel in my thigh. Her foot barely touched the ground before she was spinning and lashing out with her other leg, heel coming round to drive into my unprotected flank. I was knocked aside, tumbling across the grassy ring and pulling to myself to my feet just before my spear.

I spun to face her, panting heavily already, feeling the spear on the ground behind hanging in my attention like a bright lantern on a dark night. She walked towards me again, speaking quietly. “And how long have you been in this new world of ours?”

“About 2 and half months by my count. I think.” I said quickly, dropping to the floor and scooping up the spear before waiting for Nathlan’s confirmation of my words. I held it in two hands before me to guard against an errant strike.

She stepped forwards, and her blade rose level with my chest before she started to flick probing strikes at me. I managed to knock aside a couple while keeping my weapon along my centre line, but I was too stiff. Within only a few attacks, she had scraped along the knuckles of my leading hand, causing me to flinch back and nearly drop the weapon. Luckily, no blood was drawn due to her blunted weapon, but it was still a hit.

“So…given that you’ve only been here for a handful of weeks, and you don’t seem to know much about the world around us or myself, I’ll ask one more question of you Lamb;” She glared at me over the edge of her blade, and the gold flecks in her eyes began to dance like sparks from a campfire. “What makes you think for a fucking moment you have the right to judge me!?”

I took a step back, surprised by the emotion I saw in her eyes, despite her stony visage. I stuttered back “I…I don’t think. I mean I know I have no right to judge you. I’m not judging you!”

She glared over at Nathlan, and he shook his head sadly. Blazing eyes locked on my own as Vera stalked towards me.

“Lies!”

Her sword shot out, no longer with slow probing strikes but now in wide sweeps, carrying momentum that while not fatal, would definitely hurt. I retreated hurriedly, trying to keep my footing stable as I gave ground and thanking Cloven-Hooved as I did so. I parried a few blows, diverting them to either side and trying to re-instate the distance between us where my spear could overcome her shorter blade, but she was relentless, coming at me with a fury that I’d never seen in her fighting before.

“No! I only meant that-“

She cut me off, blade slashing towards my throat and forcing me to sprawl backwards to avoid the attack. I tried to speak again from my back, but the fall had winded me, and by the time I had the breath to speak, she was upon me again, landing a kick to my side that shot me a few meters along the ground before I managed to turn the momentum into a roll to my feet.

I had kept hold of the spear somehow in my tumble and brought it up again in time to deflect a few more strikes before another got through, leaving a stinging welt along my ribs.

She delivered her words with the same fury she fought with, but unlike her training blade, they were not blunted. “You think you can sit back in your peaceful grasslands and judge me? You’ve not known a day’s hard labour in your life, and you think you have the right to decide if the thugs I put in the ground deserve your pity? Do you think for a fucking heartbeat that they would have given me a chance if I let them live!?”

Each question was accompanied with a lashing pain along my forearm or calf or hand. Somehow I was able to twist my limbs out of the way to reduce the impact, obeying the training I’d received and frantically trying to fall into the katas and movement patterns I’d learned so recently. It was enough to prevent major bruising, but not enough to avoid the hits to begin with.

“You think you know the pain I’ve endured? You think my people matter less than the Lions with their little red cloaks? Because they have power and uniforms and fancy-fucking-swords, that they are more important!?”

The impacts were getting heavier, and I was struggling to not stumble with each strike. I could see the fire in her eyes blazing hotter with each word she uttered, and I could feel her losing control as we fought on. I tried to speak, to let her know I didn’t believe any of that, and just wanted to hear her side, but she wouldn’t let me. As I tried to open my mouth to protest, her blade would dart forward quicker and force me to concentrate back on the fight.

It was as Jorge had said, I had no right to speak. Without the power to force her to listen, I had no voice here in this impromptu ring. My words would be useless if I couldn’t deliver them. Perhaps that was the lesson here? Without the power to force people to listen, words were useless and empty.

I decided to throw caution to the winds and accept a blow openly for the chance to stop whatever this was from escalating. I stood my ground and accepted the next swing directly into my side, just below my ribs. I folded over the blade and let it force me to the side, seeking to rob as much momentum from the strike as possible. Meanwhile, I slung my spear in an underhand throw to bounce weakly off her thigh.

She grunted and looked moments from ignoring the pitiful blow, which would have had no real affect in a true battle, but then stepped back.

“Speak” she practically spat at me, the heat in her eyes no less diminished for the brief reprieve I’d gained.

“I don’t know where this is coming from but I’m not trying to judge you. I know I’m working with incomplete information, that’s why I wanted to ask! Everything is new here, and for all I know I’m travelling with a bunch of psychos!” I panted as I tried to force the words out quickly.

Vera didn’t seem mollified by the statement though, simply replying; “Is that it?”

I took a breath.

“What were you fighting for? What was your cause? I don’t want to judge, I want to understand.”

I had hoped I would have time to listen to her answer before she started fighting again, but clearly she wasn’t short on breath, able to fight and talk as if she was barely exercising.

“Many reasons. Mostly more rights. Rights to negotiate with neighbouring kingdoms directly for our goods. Rights to own the tools we used, and rights to land we tilled and lived on. There were more abstract demands, like legal acknowledgement of village and union councils. The guilds wanted cross-border legitimacy and we needed rights of movement for that too. Demands for our own justice to be legitimised. Many reasons as I said, at least to begin with.”

She delivered savage blows as she spoke, keeping me on the back foot and unable to regain the momentum. “Why? Is that good enough for you? Does it matter to you why I keep killing people who want my death? Do I need to further justification than that they tried to kill me first?”

I backpedalled and focused on moving according to the katas Jorge had shown me recently, attempting to keep my weight evenly distributed as I moved, and keep the spear point fixed on Vera as she followed me.

“Yeah, those sound like great reasons to fight! If you tried some other methods first and they didn’t work, I-”

I narrowly ducked a sweep at my head and dove to the side as it turned into an overhand chop part-way through the movement. “I don’t blame you for turning to violence. I’m not gonna tell you not to-” Again, I was interrupted by Vera’s furious attacks, and forced to take a nasty blow to the leg which tripped me.

I lay on the floor panting. Vera shook her head with frustration, stalking to the edge of the ring to stare at Jorge. He seemed to consider for a moment before giving a curt nod and bending down to toss something into the ring.

I instantly felt his aura recede. Between the fighting, the argument, and the ever-present weight of Nathlan’s skill, I’d not noticed his influence, subtle as it was. But now that it was gone, I could feel the lack of it’s presence acutely. The air around Vera suddenly burned, twisting in on itself in a haze. She loomed over me, the fires in her eyes dancing wildly, contempt written across her face.

“Are you that arrogant Lamb? To think I need your absolution? Do you think I care whether you blame me?”

I could see her teeth, strangely sharp in the dawn sun as her lip pulled back in a sneer. I could feel the blood rushing in my veins, my breath once so loud in my ears now receding before the pounding of my heart. Like drums in the deep, I felt each beat within my chest, and the longer I held that burning gaze, the louder the drum beat.

She kicked my foot.

“Get up.”

Her words fell into the space between us, and I could feel the challenge settle upon me. The hair on my arms rose in response, and I shivered, feeling a new heat burning within me.

I stood, pulling the straps of a circular shield tight to my left forearm as I did so, uncaring as to where it had come from or how I had found it. All that mattered was the woman before me, sneer on her face and sword in hand. She felt significant to my senses, and I found myself unable to consider anything else but her presence.

I raised my shield and settled into a half-crouch, spear held easily at my side. My spine tingled and I could feel my legs trembling with something.

She opened her mouth to speak but my spear darted out just as she did so. I heard the clack of her teeth as she slammed her mouth shut and slipped her head to the side of my thrust. My shield dropped a few inches to intercept a swing of her sword, and a keening filled the air before cutting off with a clang of metal on metal.

I staggered to the side, but my spear lashed out again nevertheless, as if it had a mind of its own. She once again slipped the thrust, but it was closer this time. Her next strike was caught at an angle on my shield and slid past without staggering me.

I felt an urge to lunge forwards, to close the distance and sink my teeth into her flesh, to rend and tear and rip her apart with my bare hands. I took a blow to the arm below my shield, and the pain was enough to startle me.

I activated Heart of the Hills in response, and it gave me just enough clarity to understand I was under the effect of some sort of aura skill. It didn’t allow me to ignore the urges though, only notice their strangeness.

I backed off, and spat blood to the side from a wound I hadn’t even realised I had taken. My heart continued to beat a staccato rhythm within me, and I felt drawn to the tall, broad figure striding towards me. The very air shuddered around her, and I caught a smell of burning trees.

She pulled back her arm and swung a lazy sweep of her blade at my chest, and I almost found myself stepping into the strike purely to close the distance between us. I blasted Heart of the Hills again, trying to push the urges from my mind, but it did little to help. My spear intercepted the strike but left me wide open on my right hand side, and a powerful kick sent me reeling.

I was too close to use my spear easily, and my shield arm was heavy and slow from repeated blows to the muscle. I couldn’t find the breath to even speak with the way my heart was hammering and chest heaving. I was snared, desperate to get away but unable to think past my instincts and base urges to form a coherent plan to do so.

Like an animal in a trap.

Like prey.

The thought touched something deep within my soul and I felt mana rush from my core into the constellation of Indomitable Prey. Suddenly, I felt my senses shift.

The air was no longer crackling with heat; I could smell soft grass and the remains of mint tea, but no burning. Vera was striding towards me but rather than a boiling, hazy silhouette, she was simply the large, indomitable woman I had previously known. Her sneer was still in place, but looked forced somehow, teeth even and no sharper than my own.

She stepped forwards again, her blade rising, and I met it head on with my shield. Roaring, I slammed the blade to the side and stepped back, whipping my spearpoint up to slam into her leading leg. She stumbled and I advanced, obeying the basic movements I had been taught, but guided by a savage melody entirely my own.

Each strike aimed at shutting down her movements, pinning her in, taking blows on my shield that would stagger me if the angle wasn’t just right, and surging forwards like a landslide when I could. I paired the technical aspects of the moves Jorge had shown me with the defiant, savage will to fight and survive that my bound skill entombed within me, and felt something fall into place.

Skill gained – Skirmisher of Antiquity. Open skill slots available, skill integrated.