Chapter 4: A Cold Dawn
Chapter Four
Clouds of mist rose from him as he woke, his breath stirring across the small space he had dug for himself. A shiver racked him, body trembling violently as he coughed once then twice. The coals had died in the cold, the firepit left filled with ash and nothing else.
With a few quick moves he scooped most of his bedding into the pit and lit another fire, still trembling in the cold as the fire began to heat the space. He peered outside, the dawn having not broken the horizon, a purple bruise spreading across the sky through the trees to herald its imminent arrival.
Rustling through his bag he pulled out his small notebook and one of the charcoal pens he had brought and started to write down his observations from the day before. From the type of trees, their height, width, branch length, to the predators he had fought and killed. The neat writing filled the first of the clean pages before he finished his goal and set the book and pencil down. Old rituals like writing down detailed notes brought comfort in this strange land, anchoring him a bit against the strangeness of the world.
Holding his hands over the fire, he waited for the warmth to loosen his limbs as the sun continued its slow rise. He thought through everything that he had done and what the system would likely offer him.
Six more days to accumulate awards and skills that would broaden the amount of offered skills he could take. Those skills would be critical for not only his future class after level ten, but for his own survival in the outdoors. Dane tugged his boots on and got to his feet, kicking dirt over the fire, as light began to creep across the forest. He had more work to do today if he wanted a good selection of skills.
Snow had fallen all night until it was knee high. Each step was a challenge, one that he had no doubt left him exhausted in only a few hours. Peering up and into the trees and their thigh thick branches he let himself smile. It was the first time he had ever climbed a tree and there was a joy to it he hadn’t expected. Being forced to leave his staff behind was a minor annoyance.
Sitting on top of the low branch, he got his axe free of the bag and slid it through his belt. It was his only real weapon, but it had been designed to be more of a tool. The cutting edge was small and meant for tree branches, the back of the axe was flat and could be used as a hammer.
Crossing the low hanging branches turned out to be easier than he feared. They were thick and had a bit of spring to them, long enough that with careful consideration he could cross from one tree to the next without touching the ground. He would bounce a few times to shed snow off the limb and then cross carefully from tree to tree, always heading roughly toward the incursion shield.
Golden light filled the world by the time he made it back to the outer edge of the forest. The purple dome of energy sitting at the base of the mountains remained unchanged as he sat on the low branch of the tree.
They should be coming out soon, scouting parties at least. I wonder who is under the dome?
It didn’t take long for his question to be answered. Small black shapes came out of the bottom of the shield only twenty minutes later. The distance was too far for him to see them clearly, but they were bipedal with two arms that they pumped as they trudged through the snow. They broke into groups of two, spreading out in a wide crescent as they left the protection of the dome.
Three pairs were heading toward his forest while others headed away and across the snow covered plains. Dozens of pairs breaking away to scout out their new world. Dane watched the three carefully as they grew closer over the next hours. When they finally got close enough he recognized the race. Aji-Abami. Dog men.
Canine faces, long and triangular snouts that would house sharp teeth. Sensitive noses that would constantly sniff, searching out scents. They had different color coats, often indicators of caste, and they came in a wide array of sizes and builds. The ones coming toward him were thin and narrow boned with alert triangular ears that swiveled with every step.
They broke off, the three pairs spreading out further, each entering different parts of the forest. A predatory grin split Dane’s face as a pair grew closer to him, passing not far from his branches. The smile left nearly instantly as they stopped, noses raising in the air as they took deep breaths. The wind blew from behind them suddenly, stealing whatever scent they had latched on to.
After a moment they unfroze and began to work their way deeper into the forest. Dane watched them leave, their backs turned to him, and waited. He reviewed everything he had seen of the scout team as he waited for them to work further into the forest and away from their fellow scouts.
Light armor, short swords, one with a bow and a quiver. Knives on hips, boots, and in the small of their back. Metal caps that leave their ears open but cover the rest of their skull. Elite units….well maybe not elites, but definitely well trained.
After five minutes when he didn’t see them turn around and double back, he began to follow them. They weren’t heading toward where he had slept for the night, but were going toward where he had killed those scavengers. A den like that, with its pungent smell, was more than enough for the Aji-Abami’s sensitive noses to pick up.
He ghosted along behind them, following the trail they had blazed across the snow. The wind was now a gentle breeze against his face as he kept walking along the branches, sending his scent behind him and keeping him in their blind spot.
For twenty minutes he kept them at the edge of his vision, trying to keep to the trunks of the trees in case they turned. His opinion of them fell as he stalked them. They never turned to check their back trail, they stayed close together and yipped and growled to each other in their language with no concern about noise.
When they found the den they showed their training. They slowed and spread out, circling around and Dane followed the bowman. They kept to the edge of the trees around the den, cautious but impatient. Within a minute they were moving toward it and ducking their heads into the dark den, only to reel out and gag. Both of them hacked and gagged and Dane was tempted to attack them then and there.
Patience. Don’t be tempted by the first opening. Wait for the right opening.
His training was showing as both of the dogmen got to their feet quickly, shaking their heads and staggering away from the vile den. One of them went to lean against a tree, while the closest to his tree kept walking further away from their partner and toward Dane. The bulk of the den blocked line of sight of each other.
The bowman went to a knee, grabbing a handful of snow and rubbing it against its face and nose. It pulled a flask from its hip and took a swallow before rising up to its feet and unbuttoning its trousers. It leaned against the tree across from him, back turned and out of sight of its partner.
Dane pulled his axe out of his belt, turning it to the broad hammer flat side and leapt. It was almost ten feet to the ground, the fall taking less than a second as he brought the flat hammer side down with all his strength. He connected perfectly, cracking the steel into the back of the scout’s head right where its ear came from.
The ding of metal on metal rang out and the scout dropped instantly. From across the small clearing Dane heard the other Aji-Abami call out in its native tongue. Dane spun the axe in his hand, blade forward, and stepped around the tree as the second scout came toward him with a blade drawn. Dane drew his arm back and threw in an instant, even as the dogman’s eyes widened in surprise the axe was flying across the short distance in a blink of an eye.
Metal sheared away as the axe dug through the metal cap the dogman wore, splitting its skull and dropping it in mid stride to slide through the snow. Dane stood there breathing heavily as he looked over at the dead dogman. The crunch of snow was his only warning.
He ducked and threw himself to the side, rolling on a shoulder before popping to his feet. A sword whistled through the space he had been, the first scout on its feet if rather woozily. The impetus of the swing caused it to fall back to a knee, blood running down its face from its torn ear. It looked up with different sized pupils, one too wide while the second was pinpoint small.
Dane charged, crashing into the dogman and slamming it into the ground. It lost its grip on its sword, but clawed at him with sharp, metal tipped claws. They left scratches on his arms and side, blood flowing and staining his shirt as he Dane grunted in pain and got the full mount.
He rained blows down on it, bouncing its head off of the ground as it slowly went slack. He grabbed at one of the daggers he had noticed on its hip, pulling it free and slamming it home under the chin and into the brain. It jerked a few times as blood ran out of its mouth, then went still.
Dane rolled over, gasping in the cold air as he recovered from the fight. Snow was melting, leaving his back wet and cold while his sides were warm and sticky from his own blood. He got to his feet a minute later and started to strip the bodies.
The metal caps were useless to him, so he tossed them into the den with the rotting corpses of the scavengers. The knives, swords, and bow were all put off to the side. The metal breastplates they wore were thin, but he stripped them off and kept them as well as the thick cotton padding they had underneath to protect from chafing.
Their supplies were nearly useless to him, the different biologies made sure of that. He emptied their canteens and set them with the rest of the gear he was accumulating and then dragged the two corpses into the den. The strong stench would hopefully cover up the scent of their death long enough that he didn’t have to deal with the other two pairs of scouts immediately.
Once the bodies were stuffed into the den, he took a knife to one of the arming shirts, ripping it into pieces and bandaging himself up. There were antibiotics in his bag that would help prevent him from getting an infection, but there was nothing he had that would stop him from bleeding out.
With no time to waste, he packaged the gear as best he could, using a belt to tie together all the weapons into a bundle and putting it over his shoulder before climbing back into the trees. There were four more scouts to hunt.