TJ leapt to cover Rebekkah, but Sarah was faster. Again, with a preternatural speed, she rushed to Rebekkah and covered her with her shield and body. The hail of seven spears mostly lodged in her shield, but one missed entirely while the other sunk deep into Sarah's foot and pinned it to the ground.
"Fuck!" She growled as she kept her eyes up on the trees overhead. TJ did the same, seeing the faint glimmering of pukwudgies as they faded back into their stealth. A javelin sailed towards them but fell short, while Zig's attack was more successful. Her arrow split into two, and then four as it reached the pukwudgies. Two arrows hit their mark, but the goblin didn't fall. Instead, the seven prepared another volley of spears and let loose towards Sarah. She managed to catch all of them on her shield, but with the sixth, her shield exploded into iridescent shards and she sagged as the Skill was forcefully dispelled. The seventh caught her in the collarbone, sinking deep into her chest. Sarah fell, unconscious or dead, and the pukwudgies fled.
Rebekkah immediately pulled the spear free from Sarah's chest, a horrendous schlorping sound accompanying the moment the last inch of the foot that had buried itself in her torso was pulled out of her chest. Then, after pulling the spear free of Sarah's foot, Rebekkah began healing. The holy light of Cure Wounds was a welcome break from the dark of the ever more imposing forest that they were in. The Disciple prayed under her breath as she exhausted herself trying to heal Sarah.
"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…" she murmured the words without pause, the prayer flowing easily from her tongue. TJ didn't care to say anything to her about whether or not any divine beings at all could hear them. Instead, he watched as Zig drew her bow back and loosed again. As the arrow reached the slightly blurry place where he supposed the ambushing pukwudgies were fleeing through, it split into two, four, eight, sixteen. The mighty hail of arrows threw three pukwudgies from the trees, falling to the ground some thirty feet below. One death notification answered the thumps of bodies falling to the unforgiving ground.
"TJ!" Zig commanded, "Go kill them, there's two left. The experience might be enough to save her life!" TJ didn't hesitate, knowing that the faster he went, the faster he could return. Though they tried to camouflage themselves, between the taste of their blood in the air and their breathing that the winds carried to his ear, their positions were immediately apparent to TJ.
With a fierce snapping of his jaws, TJ dispatched both.
3 Pukwudgie Assassin, 9, slain. Experience gained.
Class: Neophyte has advanced to level 9.
Attribute points allocated: Endurance +3, Vitality +3, Toughness +2, Wisdom +1, Intelligence +1, Perception +1, Willpower +2, Fixation +2, Free Points +1. Additional Free Point currently available.
He rushed back to the group, where Sarah was groaning and sitting up.
"Coming back like that sucks. Not a bad result, though." Sarah rolled her shoulders. "Got a level in both Guard and Zealot. I feel like I can still feel that spear in me, though." She shuddered.
"I'm glad that was enough." Rebekkah rolled her shoulders. "I just reached a new level in Disciple as well, so I was going to exhaust myself to keep you alive." Then, she grabbed the smaller Sarah by the shoulders and wrapped her in a fierce hug.
"What?" Sarah stammered. "Why are you doing this?"
"You saved me. You moved to protect me, and because of you, I'll have another chance to see my children. Thank you. I love you. If you need me, ever, let me know, and I'll be there. Thank you."
Rebekkah's voice caught in her throat, but after holding Sarah tightly for another second or three, she let go of the Zealot, the shimmer of tears in her eyes apparent without falling. She swiped at her eyes and stood. In the darkness of the forest, she seemed to glow, though TJ couldn't say why.
"Now, do we wish to continue? I think that we should, though all these materials seem to be valuable." Rebekkah's words pulled everyone's attention from whatever other thoughts they were having. Even so, the other four remained silent after she said as much.
"How much MP do you have left after that one?" TJ asked Zig before he gave his answer.
"Just under 100. I'll be fine for at least one more fight and getting out of here."
"And you, Farid?"
"I'm fine. I think I'm close to a level in Acolyte, too, so I can be a bit more aggressive." The Indian man smiled ruefully. "I should have been already, but I was worried about becoming useless if I ran out."
"Nah, don't worry about it." Zig clapped him on the back while still looking all around. "Wouldn't do if at least one of us was a little smart. Thanks for being cautious. Make sure you get this level, huh?"
"Of course."
"Great." TJ said. "Then there's just you, Sarah. You want to keep going?"
She shrugged. "I don't like this, and I feel pretty out of my depth. Honestly, I just want to be at home in my pajamas. Unfortunately, I'm in this, so here I am. Let's keep going."
TJ nodded. "Ok. Zig, anything to add?"
She shook her head. "I wish I could range out there and Stealth to see what I can see, but I think it'll be better to stick together for now. If I get caught by one of those mountain lions, I'll die. So, that being the case, keep your eyes peeled, and I think we'll do one more fight then get out of here with whatever we think is most valuable. For now, we'll carry one of the lion corpses, and figure out the rest on our way back. Capisce?"
The rest of the hunting party nodded and agreed before continuing on their path. They walked in silence, their steps being their only companion. The forest grew ever darker, the sound of dirt underfoot growing quieter under the oppressive aura of the more and more primeval forest. No birds sang, no insects chirped, and no rodents scampered. More and more did the oppressive aura grow, and after five minutes of walking in the off-putting environment without coming in contact with anything, Zig shot TJ a look. He shrugged, mostly agreeing.
"This is too much like it was last time we got ambushed. We're going back." Zig said, and TJ noticed that, though they'd all walked forward with confidence, after an extended period of time hearing nothing but their own breaths and steps, their valor was long since drained from them.
Without further discussion, they returned back to the scene where they'd slain so many javelinas and pukwudgies. There, they'd be able to load up and continue on their path, though TJ mourned the loss of more experience. He'd truly expected to be able to push for level 10 in Neophyte in this expedition. As they arrived at the place where they'd last seen the javelina corpses, though, several had disappeared. Worse still, the game trail they'd followed was gone. There was no sign of where they'd come from, no footprints or broken branches. Looking past the new bushes that'd sprouted in their wake, the trail had disappeared for at least another 30 feet.
"I… don't like this." Farid understated.
TJ couldn't help himself from laughing. "No, me neither." He forcefully cut the laugh off before it became fully manic.
"Grab what you can carry easily and follow me." Zig commanded, her tone panicking. "We need to get moving."
The party of five let Sarah carry the mountain lion while the rest each grabbed a single javelina before rushing to try to follow the direction where they had entered. With each step they took, the forest fought to keep them contained. Brambles reached up and tore at their pants, roots stretched to twist their ankles and the horizon darkened until they couldn't see anything but an endless expanse of trees.
Their travels shifted from hurried but controlled to a maddened flight through the pathless forest, branches whipping at faces and terrified breathing thundering in their ears. Every shadow seemed to threaten an ambush, and though they fled for minutes, the edge of the forest refused to get any closer. Zig, Farid, and Sarah's eyes began to roll in complete, consuming terror. Sarah sobbed quietly as she ran and Farid began babbling incoherently. Zig remained the calmest of the three, though her eyes roamed constantly around them, searching for something that didn't exist.
TJ realized, however, that Rebekkah wasn't quite so terrified as the rest, and as he ran behind the others, he noticed that he too was slowly acclimating to their situation. There wasn't anything except for the shadows around them, and though they could contain multitudes of enemies, they didn't. There had to be some reason for why they were all terrified, but he couldn't place what it could be. If he was the only calm one, he could understand it as just being less fearful. If it was just Rebekkah, it could be the same. Since it was both of them, though, what could it be?
"You feeling like them?" TJ asked Rebekkah as he reached forward and pulled Zig to slow a little. She resisted, but Sarah and Farid followed suit as their leader was brought to a walk instead of a run.
"No. I was wondering if I was the crazy one for not freaking out."
"Then there's got to be something. Something keeping us from doing the same."
TJ's mind raced, but after just a couple of seconds, the three terrified hunters pulled out of his hands and tried to resume fleeing wildly in the direction that they thought the edge of the forest was.
"Stop!" TJ shouted, trying to hold them back, but Sarah wrenched her arm free and sprinted away. With a groan, TJ rushed after her and activated Divine Transformation. He wrapped around her legs, and she strained but was effectively hobbled.
Sarah attempted to say something, to explain why they needed to run, but she was too terrified to speak words. Unsure of what else to do, TJ sent a jet of wind to blast back her hair and hopefully snap her out of it. That did the trick, and though she continued hyperventilating, Sarah stopped where she stood.
After deactivating Divine Transformation, TJ pulled Sarah towards the others, as Rebekkah pleaded for Farid and Zig to stay with her.
"System, am I currently suffering from an affliction right now?"
You are currently suffering from a minor Fear affliction. While still in the presence of the source of your Fear, you will suffer from a 5% reduction in your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Willpower. Your ability to perceive reality from your fears will be diminished.
"Why wasn't I told this?"
There are ways to hide the infliction of an affliction from the affected victims.
TJ knew the System well enough to know that it wouldn't give any more information right now, so he instead grabbed Sarah's face and looked in her eyes before speaking.
"Sarah. You're suffering from Fear right now. Ask the System if you've got any afflictions right now."
"Am-m-m I suf-f-f-ering from an-n-ny aff-f-f-lictions-s-s right now?" She asked with shuddering breath. As the System gave her an answer, she continued shuddering in TJ's hands, but she did calm down enough to stop trying to run away in blind terror.
"You've gotta be shitting me." Zig said, evidently having done the same thing as TJ had asked Sarah. "Why were you two safe from it?"
TJ shrugged, but even before he could articulate his question to the System, it gave its answer.
The Willpower attribute heightens an individual's ability to resist most mental afflictions.
Well, that was his answer, but a more important question was… Where were they now?