Chapter Five: The Natives

Chapter Five

Bark exploded in a spray of shrapnel that peppered his face as he jerked his head back just in time to prevent himself from dying. The Aji-Abami scouts were circling around him, trying to pin him down. Arrows were flitting through the trees in the late dusk, scout teams all around the area chasing after him. Dane ducked lower with his back pressed against the rough bark of the tree as the yipping language of the dog men filled the forest.

For two days Aji-Abami scouts had entered the forest in pairs, everyday more than the last. None had left yet. The scouts had entered in force on the fourth day of the pre-incursion. And they hadn’t left even when the sun set, constantly hounding Dane as he continued his fighting retreat deeper into the forest. He had left nearly a score of them behind him as he raced further and further away.

It was the end of the fifth day and he had been driven far away from the weapon caches he’d left scattered around the edge of the forest. He was nearly out of arrows, only three of them left in the quiver on his hip and he was down to the last short sword he’d stolen from the scouts.

Dane knocked an arrow and peered around the tree, drawing and firing in a smooth motion. He didn’t watch as the arrow crossed the distance, but he heard the howl of the Aji-Abami behind him as Dane ran crouched down. Another arrow flitted above his shoulder, thudding into a tree next to his head.

He dodged around a tree, falling to a knee and spinning,drawing another arrow and waiting for a split second. Another scout came running, an arrow resting on the string of its bow. Dane fired instantly and was pleased to see his aim was accurate as the arrow bit into the soft hollow of the scout’s throat, right above its breastplate. The scout dropped instantly, gurgling as it died.

The forest had become a thick morass of melted snow and loose soil. Mud was clinging to every inch of him as he kept running, his last arrow on its string as he kept racing away from the dome of the incursion forces.

Darkness fell slowly, blanketing the entirety of the forest until only the faint light of the moons were the only salvation he had. He dipped and dodged around the trees, falling into a slow jog as the sounds of pursuit slowly faded away. The pain from his wounds was a constant pulse, every step a stabbing pain.

Laboring hard from breath when he finally decided to rest, he dropped to a knee and worked on controlling his breathing. Every breath was an explosion of mist into the dark air, the shadowy shapes of the forest all around him trying to trick his eyes. Moonlight glinted off of fresh snow and Dane cursed as he saw the blood trail he had left behind for all his pursuers to follow. There wasn’t much he could do about it now.

Managed to dig yourself into a real hole this time .

It took a few minutes to regain his breath, but then he was moving again. His trick with the tree limbs wouldn’t work while he was leaking blood like a sieve. For hours he moved in the dark, using quick glimpses of the stars in the night sky to keep himself moving in the right direction.

If I manage to not die of blood loss, this will definitely help me with my skill choices.

He just had to survive another day before the system would arrive. The boosts to his vitality and endurance along with survival skills would improve his chance of survival tenfold. The sun finally broke the horizon, streaks of red lacing the sky as Dane shuddered and collapsed to the ground.

The cold and blood loss was too much, his ripped apart bandages were sodden and blood streamed out. The baying was closing in on him, howls and yips growing louder as night faded to day. There wasn’t much fight left in him, he didn’t think he could hold off against any of them for more than a moment.

He dragged the last sword he had free of its sheath, setting it on his knee as he waited for them. Dying without his blade in his hand was inexcusable. He waited as the seconds stretched out until he heard crunching snow. From behind him.

Turning was laborious, exhaustion had drained him of whatever vigor he had once possessed. Humanoid forms were coming toward him, light rippling off of their silhouettes as they moved forward with angular weapons pointing at him.

The sword slipped from his fingers as the natives pointed their weapons inches from his face. The shifting stopped, the light slid away from its form until he could see who he was staring at. Their technology was good, but it would fall away when the System arrived. Anything that wasn’t mana based would either fail to scale properly or simply no longer function.

The native staring at him was viridian, gray and black armor that shifted with every slight movement. Its weapon was a sleek piece of gray metal with a large bore that was staring him down. Even primitive weapons like this could kill a man.

“Down!” the thought hammered into his mind with enough power to cause him to instantly drop him back to his knees as the sword dropped out of his hands. The weapon fired soundlessly, a bright yellow light that lanced above Dane’s head. The scream of the Aji-Abami was loud as more and more of the natives fired without hesitation.

Arrows came flitting back toward them and Dane dropped to the ground. An arrow broke into splinters as it hit the visible native, not bothering it at all. It continued to fire without pause and the screaming dog men began to go silent. The figure didn’t move, steam rising from its barrel as it rotated back to look at Dane.

The rest of the shimmering figures raced around them, heading toward where the scouts had come from. Dane was breathing hard as the edges of his vision grayed. The figure reached over and grabbed his shoulder and threw him on his back. A syringe appeared in a hand and it slammed it home where the bleeding was worst.

Adrenaline surged through his veins, banishing the gray that tinged his vision. Blood was clotting as his heart beat faster when the invader loomed over him. It was a vision of smooth leather skin, large bat-like ears and golden eyes that glowed faintly. Its lips pulled back to reveal sharp teeth with oversized canines.

“Do not offer aggression and we will not respond in kind,” the voice echoed in his mind again.

Natural psychic abilities. Advanced technology. These will be a strong opponent against Xeroc. At least until his levels and mana surpass the technology that survives the initial contact.

“Your wounds will be treated, but you will be held until answers are given.” The booming voice had quieted and taken on a flavor in his mind. A scent that he could feel at the back of his nose and throat of sawdust and woodsmoke.

“Yes,” Dane croaked out. Being captured was inconvenient, but he had managed enough feats that it wouldn’t impact him negatively when his skill selection happened tomorrow. He had left a forest littered with dead enemies, used his skills in evasion, martial arts, weapons training, and hard earned endurance to escape a pursuit. The listings would be plentiful.