Runeblade-Chapter 205B2 : Infiltration, pt. 5

Kaius lunged to the side, shouldering a boggart to the ground as he narrowly avoided a hosing spray of blood as Porkchop tore another’s head free. He stepped through the movement, booting the boggart that was desperately trying to scramble back up.

A Father’s Gift swept out, a twist of his hips driving the power to ram it through the throat of a boggart that tried to rush him with its grasping claws held out. It fell, choking—though it would heal, if given the chance. He could see the flesh writhing.

His Glass Mind was well and truly showing its worth, allowing him to fully immerse himself in the violent rhythm of their battle as it fed him information. Where the boggart’s formation was weak, which individual had left an opening for him to exploit, and how he could capitalise on the chaos their sudden assault had caused. It pulled on his system granted skills, weaving the instinct they gave him with the knowledge and memory of dozens of battles.

They fought in total silence. Rough guttural cries of anger and panic were the only sounds that filled the small cavern, the sounds of his team's heavy breathing drowned out in the cacophony of the boggart’s slaughter.

Ramming his blade through the skull of the boggart below his boot, he lunged forwards, finishing off the other that was still clawing at the weeping hole in its neck.

**Ding! level 57 Boggart - Primitive Fighter slain - Experience Gained! Bonus Experience for slaying a foe of Significant Strength!**

**Ding! level 53 Boggart - Skulking Biter slain - Experience Gained!**

It was easy. The boggarts might have had them bested in levels—but only just, and they had none of their superlative skills or stats to back them up. Throw in that they were disorganised, short, and weaponless….well, he’d pushed himself harder stacking firewood before.

Another beam of light snapped out, burning its way through a boggart’s eye and burrowing its way into the creature’s skull. Not deep enough to kill the monster instantly, but it still sent it reeling—vulnerable to a crushing blow from Porkchop that swept its legs out from under it, before he smashed its skull.

It was the third one that Ianmus had cast. They were…different from his normal Sunbeams. He could still feel their heat, still see the popping glow of mana as the beams materialised—highlighting their path—but his natural eyes saw nothing. Not even with Truesight.

A mystery, but one that was quickly pushed to the side in favour of cleaving through a boggart’s arm as it desperately tried to claw at him. He stepped in, punching it in the face with the hilt of his blade, its nose collapsing with a shuddering crack.

Kaius drew his sword back, before lunging forwards and ramming his blade through its skull. The point of his sword was drawn down as the boggart collapsed, dead weight enough to let it slide free of his blade.

**Ding! level 56 Boggart - Feral Mauler slain - Experience Gained! Bonus Experience for slaying a foe of Significant Strength!**

He turned, catching the final moments of Porkchop plunging his claws through the last monster's crown.

Chest heaving, Kaius took in the sight of their battle—the blood strewn cavern silent other than the crackle of flame and their own heaving breaths. The light flickered, shadows creeping across the floor and walls—making the slowly pooling blood look alive with movement.

He strained his ears—even the clamour of violence in his blood that sung with every battle quelled by his desperate need to listen for outraged cries from deeper within the cave.

There was nothing. Despite the fury of their attack, it had been lost in the cacophony of the boggart’s own mindless brawl.

Still, if something came to investigate, they would be discovered at once. Porkchop’s bodies might have passed for a particularly savage beating with a rock, but the clean cuts left in the corpses of his targets stood out garishly—clear evidence of a bladed weapon.

They had to hide the bodies.

While pools of blood may be suspicious, there was already more than enough in the room before they had sprung their ambush. Not all of it was fresh, either—plenty of dark brown stains had been laid down in many layers, splattering across the floors and wall. If they were lucky, it would just be suspicious, rather than a dead give away.

He flicked his sword, clearing the worst of the blood before he wiped it down on some of the fur clothes that the boggarts had dressed themselves in.

Sheathing his blade, he turned to his team.

“Time to start hauling—we’re stashing them in one of those side crevices we saw earlier.” he whispered. “Porkchop, I hate to do this, but we’re stringing some over your back. I want this done in one trip.”

Porkchop’s muzzle scrunched in distaste. “Fine, but let’s make it quick.”

Ianmus only nodded.

They moved quickly, hauling most of the bodies onto Porkchop’s back. The limp corpses stained his under-armour red, but his brother bore it without complaint. By the time they were done, Porkchop looked like a macabre living plague-cart, the heaping bodies just barely kept stable with a few clever uses of the extra straps that Porkchop had for securing belongings to his back.

Kaius bent down, taking up his own cargo—a boggart slung over each shoulder—as Ianmus did the same.

They set off, jogging back as fast as they could the way they had come, desperately trying to keep their heavy footfalls as quiet as possible.

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….

Hauling the last of the bodies off his brother's back, Kaius ignored the way the beast's fur stuck to the skin of his hands and left a slippery film in its wake. He walked over to the crack, shoving the body roughly through the opening.

A stride and a half wide, the crack went only two strides deep before it opened up to a thin chute that disappeared into the stone below.

One arm got stuck, trapped at an awkward angle behind the corpse's back. With a heave, Kaius threw his weight into his shove. Bone gave way with a wet crack, and the arm twisted around the body unnaturally.

It gave just enough to fall free, hiding the last of their victims from sight.

Kaius sighed, still feeling the tense dread of potential discovery despite their grisly work being done.

He shook his head, deciding to distract himself while they crept back.

“Ianmus,” he whispered. “That spell of yours—the manipulation you were doing to your sorcery, why couldn’t I see it?”

“An old discovery. One that Sunspire has known of for centuries.” he replied in clipped words, his eyes trained ahead. “We don’t fully understand it, but there are forms to light. One of them is potent and dangerous, but invisible to mortal eyes—most of them, at least.”

“Why not use it all the time, then?” Porkchop asked, though his words were distracted. Something seemed to have caught his brother's attention, judging by the way his ears kept flicking to train on sounds coming from behind them—keeping an ear out for returning raiding parties, he supposed.

Ianmus shrugged in response to the question. “Light is already too fast for anything to dodge without instinctive or precognitive abilities, so the fact it can’t be seen isn’t that helpful in most situations. Add in the additional complexity of requiring free-cast modification, additional channel time, and greater mana costs, and it's just not worth the effort most of the time.”

“I will admit it's handy for situations like this, though.” Ianmus continued after a moment's pause.

Kaius nodded at the explanation. Knowing the costs of the change, he could understand why it had niche applications. Still, it was a good facet to file away—they might usually confront most of their problems head on in open battle, but it was bound to be useful in the future.

Even if only to stop Ianmus pointing a glowing arrow directly towards himself in the future—handy if they weren’t confident they could keep him safe.

With his curiosity satisfied, they fell back into a deep silence—listening for any sounds of their bloodshed being discovered as they made their way back to the boggart warren.

….

Kaius rushed forwards as he entered the flickering light of a small stone brazier. They’d been scattered along the tunnel they’d watched the bugbear enter.

He slowed to a steady creep as he once again draped in shadow.

The boggarts might have been keeping their home lit—using some sort of rendered tallow by the looks of it—but it was infrequent. Long stretches of gloom filled the wide tunnel, broken only by isolated islands of flickering yellow light and guttering flame.

It was dead silent, only the low hum of fire filling the air with a soft murmur. Quiet enough that each careful step they made sounded like they were wading through a pit of broken glass.

Porkchop and Ianmus dashed after him, joining him in the dark. They all stopped, straining their senses to the maximum—desperately attempting to catch any sign of approaching boggarts.

As it stood, their plan was simple.

Hide.

If it turned out to be a small group that they were confident they could take out without the alarm being raised, they would do so. However, if the group was any larger than one or two individuals, they would stay hidden, and hope they would be passed unawares.

Thankfully, the forcefully widened tunnel had plenty of hidden nooks. Shortly after entering the lit warren, they’d found that the boggarts had been rather industrious. At regular intervals, openings had been carved into the tunnel—admittedly, it was rather haphazard, but it was enough for their uses.

Some were little more than indents in the wall that Kaius would struggle to press himself into, but others were more substantial. Small corridors that went nowhere, and cramped rooms that seemed to serve no purpose. At the very least, they hadn’t found anything that suggested an intentional and complicated layout—no additional intersecting halls where they would need to worry about patrols or boggarts approaching them from behind.

Instead it was like they were abandoned. Remnant sleeping spaces that had been left as they were as the plague had expanded, eating its way further into the earth like a cancer.

Porkchop had been especially alert, constantly checking their rear and sides. Kaius could feel his nerves—a burning electricity that loomed at the back of his neck like a ghost. Far too much to be simple caution in the case of a raiding party appearing unexpectedly.

“What’s got you so wound up? I know we’re trying to rid ourselves of as many of them as we can before an alarm goes out, but it's not like we can’t handle ourselves.” he asked Porkchop through their bond, not pausing his scanning of their surroundings.

His brother’s eyes flicked to him briefly, before he went back to searching the darkness.

“I’m…not sure. I haven’t heard, smelt, or seen anything, but I can’t shake this feeling that we are being watched. It’s like a claw at my back. A predator in the trees above. I’m trying to put it out of my mind, but…” Porkchop sounded weary, like the constant blaring of his instincts was exhausting him like a physical weight.

Kaius frowned. That wasn’t like him, he’d seen Porkchop dive headfirst into an ogre—run through shattered bones and torn flesh. For something to make him uneasy, it had to be serious.

Nor was Kaius one to dismiss something as vague as instincts. The senses of a greater beast were honed things—sharpened under the weight of bloodline and tradition. It was easy to imagine there were traces he was picking up that his conscious mind couldn’t put together.

Yet…what could they do but stay alert? Toolkit and Uncanny Dodge were both silent, other than the former aiding him by guiding his quiet movements and directing him to potential spots that watchers may lay in wait.

Besides, if there was something, it had to be related to the boggarts. He was confident in their success, and if the shaman had scried them, or something similar, he doubted that the tunnel would be as quiet as it was.

Even if a trap was being laid for them, they were already moving as surreptitiously as they could.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” Kaius replied. “Tell me if you notice anything concrete.”

Porkchop nodded.

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Then his ears suddenly flicked forwards. He froze, ears trained down the passage ahead.

“Movement! Far off but coming this way!”

Kaius’s heart dropped.