Daydream (ONC 2024)

Chapter 7: Savior of Humanity

"Any tips or tricks for this Xin guy?" I asked Ray as we walked. Leaves and dwindling grasses crunched beneath our feet as we approached the mountain, and the clink of Ray's sword against his knife scabbard on his hip added pleasantly to the ambient noise. Nothing had tried to eat me in a while, and I was reveling in my temporary status as an apex predator.

"Tips? Not many. I can share my experience, which was short and not very informative," Ray shrugged his shoulders as he tossed a mouthful of berries into this mouth.

He'd been picking the forest clean as he went. Berries, nuts, mushrooms, moss. I had to look away when he ate that green wiggling pile, but he assured me it had great medicinal properties. It was just a matter of time before he stuffed a whole bird in his mouth, and the more I spent time with Ray, the less I could tell Sven and him apart. They were both wild animals disguised with human bodies.

"Got to the mountain top, knocked on the castle doors, and Xin barely opened one before he slammed it in my face." Ray crouched to lift a flat rock, probably looking for grubs to top off his forest lunchable. "Word is, he's searching for someone, so he gives everyone the gift of a glance. Who knows? Maybe he's seeking the savior of humanity." Ray guffawed and returned to walking on the woodland path, but I ignored his patronizing. The moment Faella had jumped up and said we were on a mission to save the world, Ray had decided our entire party was a joke.

Though who wouldn't?

Sven and Lexington walked a few yards behind us, and every couple steps, they stopped to flex a different muscle in comparison. When they were an even match, Sven used his power to partially shift, and a tail slipped out from his oriental attire. It slammed on the ground with a taunting thump, and Lexington merely lifted Faella and stuck out his tongue.

"My tail is much better," Lexington goaded as he nuzzled Faella's face. That had Sven looking at Ray who almost choked on the pinecone he was munching.

"Don't you even think about carrying me around like a trophy, Sven." Ray fingered his sword hilt above his shoulder as Sven prowled, flaunting razor teeth as he darted for him. "I'm not one of your shiny trinkets!" Ray ducked out of the way, and smoke puffed from Sven's mouth as he splintered the tee behind him in a bear hug of death.

I took that as my cue to give them space before I became a redshirt and explored the base of Xin's mountain as it came into view. As expected, it didn't scream welcome. Steep cliff faces climbed into the sky at nearly ninety-degree angles, and low-hanging clouds obscured anything further up. Trees refused to grow near base, and even the grasses had died rather than face Xin. Their absence gave way to sharp rocks that reached up like pointed fingers to catch anyone who fell. How nice of them.

The clinking of dinnerware drew me to where Lexington was helping Faella set up for lunch in the shade. They clearly had zero intention of climbing with me, which was fine, because Lexington and Ray were more likely to seduce Xin. If I wanted Xin to take me seriously, I had to meet him alone, and I had to go soon. The sun was sinking lower, and there was no way I was getting caught on the mountain past dark. Who knew what lions, tigers, or bears populated it.

"Is there any way to get to Xin's castle aside from climbing straight up this death trap?" I asked Ray as Sven strutted by with him in his arms like a prized Pomeranian. They were both huge guys, but Ray was muscular where Sven was a beanpole, so it was like a walking stick holding a grumpy lion.

"Nope. You have to get up there on your own strength," Ray said as he hopped out of Sven's hold, but Sven wrapped his hands around an arm to keep him close. "There's handholds from other adventurers and resting places here and there. You got this." Ray patted my back so hard that it expelled the air from my lungs, and I struggled to angle my eyes up.