Soul Caller 1 - Chapter 30 (Patreon)

With his rifle resting on a stone, Merrick crouched there, carefully aiming at the lead deer. He tried to time his shot as it took a step, leading it slightly. Because of the angle, he had a good shot on the front of its chest, and as the sharp crack echoed through the canyon, he saw it drop instantly. The other deer, startled by the sound, took off like a shot, quickly vanishing over the hill. Pleased with his hunt, Merrick was about to get up, when his senses tingled, causing him to stay where he was. At first, he was not sure what had triggered his senses, but soon he realized that there was something slightly unnatural about the sway of the trees in one of the copses, as if one of the branches held a slightly heavier weight than it should have.

Fixing his eyes on the tree branch, Merrick saw some of the leaves parting, and caught a slight gleam of eyes staring out at the fallen deer. It was a jaguar, blending perfectly with the branch and leaves. Merrick let out a slow breath, glad he had not hurried down to the fallen deer. The seconds ticked by as the rifle in his hands began to recharge. With 15 seconds to go, the jaguar leapt from its perch, landing in the deep snow down below. Climbing out of the snow it shook itself off and began to make its way toward the deer, clearly looking forward to the meal that had fallen at its feet. Shaking his head, the memory of the jaguar he had faced before flashed through his mind, sending a chill spiking down his back, but Merrick wasn't about to let his prey be stolen away, no matter how large his opponent's teeth were. Instead, his eyes narrowed and the rifle shifted slightly.

The jaguar arrived at the deer and grabbed its neck with its teeth, beginning to tug the deer's body back toward the trees. It moved surprisingly quickly, and Merrick found himself hoping that his rifle would recharge in time. He would only get one shot, and if he missed, there was a high chance that the jaguar would come kill him before his rifle could reload. As confident as he was in his abilities, Merrick wasn't confident enough to take on a jaguar in close combat, but currently that didn't matter. When he felt the electric jolt of the rifle, indicating that it had recharged completely, Merrick rose to his knees, bracing the rifle against the side of one of the boulders as he took aim.

Some sort of sixth sense must have alerted the jaguar to the danger it was in because it dropped the deer's body and hissed, looking around for the threat. Spotting Merrick looking straight at it, the jaguar let out a fierce yowl and charged across the snow, sending snow spraying into the air. Merric, who was just about to fire, felt his breath catch in his throat and resisted the instinct to press down with his thumb. He had lined up his shot, but that was before the jaguar moved. Now he wasn't so confident. It was one thing to hit a creature moving in a predictable pattern, another to take on a charging jaguar. He could feel himself holding his breath so he forced himself to exhale. He breathed in through his nose and felt the song of the world swelling around him as, with stark clarity, he perceived everything that was happening: the biting, bitter chill of the wind against his exposed cheeks and the back of his hand; the soft thud of the jaguar's feet and its panting breath sending clouds of steam billowing from the sides of its mouth as it accelerated towards him; the faint gleam of the light on the snow and the rail of his rifle. All of these details seemed to crash together in a crescendo as the jaguar pounced.

The end of Merric's barrel lifted slightly as his thumb fell, forming a connection with the manastone. A surge of energy and the sharp crack of the rifle shuddered through him as the jaguar’s rippling fur was pierced through with a blazing light. The force of the shot sent the creature tumbling backwards, and Merrick dropped the rifle. Almost unconsciously, he drew the two spears and threw himself forward, intending to bury them in the jaguar's body before it could get back to its feet. He thought he had missed, sending a shot through its side, and adrenaline pounded through him, causing his fight response to explode. But when he arrived at its crumpled body a moment later, he realized that the light had gone out of its eyes. Guided by some unseen force, he had managed to correct the trajectory of his shot and it had pierced the creature's heart perfectly, tearing a hole straight through it.

Adrenaline pounded in Merric's body, turning his stomach and making him sick. With trembling hands, he returned the two spears to their sheaths and trudged back up the snow-covered hill to get his rifle. The bitter wind on his face didn't seem to bite so much, and somehow the day's light appeared slightly brighter in light of the tense encounter. Picking up his rifle from where he had dropped it in the snow, Merrick turned to look back down the hill. There, at the foot of the hill, lay the jaguar's corpse, and beyond it, the deer. The air seemed to hold a sweetness that filled his lungs, and Merrick let out a low chuckle.

That night, as he sat by his fire, tending to the two skins, he understood the feeling his brother-in-law had so often talked about. He understood why the hunters would range far out into the wilderness, why the spirit warriors delighted in spending their days outside the tribe. There was something magical about pitting oneself against nature and the beasts that filled the land. That night, Merrick did not meditate. He didn't have to. The song filled him, creating a deep connection with the land. Though he had slain the jaguar and the deer before it, he felt a sense of connection with them, a deep sense of veneration for them. It was a strange phenomenon, and he knew that had their positions been reversed, he would not have begrudged them one bit.

[Ding! Your connection with the Song of the World has increased.]

Merrick was so immersed in his connection with the Song of the World that he didn’t notice the window that popped up, and when he finally became aware again, it had long since faded away. For the next few weeks, Merrick stayed in his cave. He tanned the hides he had gotten, including the jaguar's fur, and practiced his martial forms, feeling an increased connection with the two spears as he leapt and slashed like a fierce jaguar. He spent a significant amount of time meditating as well, learning about the new connection he had with the Song of the World. It was a curious thing which functioned almost like a skill, and in fact, when he opened it up in his status, he realized that it was another place he could spend his lesser blessings.

Rather than unlocking his connection with the spirits or granting himself new skills, he seemed to be able to apply his blessings to the Song of the World itself, increasing his connection with nature. While he didn’t know what exactly he did, he could sense the deep connection in everything he did, making everything he did a bit easier.

Slowly, the days trickled past and Merrick found himself too busy to worry about what was happening in the outside world, though occasionally he did stop to wonder how his friends in the village were getting on without him. After a few minutes of thinking about it, he would sigh and shake his head, and then get back to work. There was still much to do. He had a good stock of wood and plenty of meat, so he spent his time working on improving his equipment. His primary focus was his clothing, and using the warm fur from the jaguar, he began to recreate his coat and pants. Making a thin bone needle from one of the deer bones, he used it to pierce through the hides, threading dried thin strips of buckskin through the holes. He wanted to make gloves but wasn't yet skilled enough to create the thread he would need for the small stitching. However, he was able to improve both his boots and the thick coat he wore.

During these weeks, he also explored the cave further, heading up into the passage that led up into the heart of the mountain that he had yet to explore. It rose up steeper as he continued up it, and after half a mile, he estimated that he had gotten close to the center of the mountain. As he carefully made his way forward up its slope, he kept a sharp eye and ear out for the sounds of any creatures. Based on the size of the centipede that had attacked him a month previous, he was sure that it had come from this passage, as there were no other holes in the cavern that could accommodate its size. The thought that there might be others like it up ahead had given him pause, but after gathering his courage, he decided that he needed to know.

The passage angled up, winding this way and that, and occasionally branching off. Using a manastone to provide light, he carefully marked the passages as he passed to make sure that he wouldn't get lost. Eventually, he found another cavern, and in it, a sight that chilled him to the bone. The soft light of the manastone spread through the cavern as he held it up above his head, and thousands of glimmering eyes stared back at him. Their attention seemed to be transfixed by the manastone, and Merric, realizing that he had just stumbled into a nest of giant centipedes, panicked. He threw the stone as hard as he could across the room, a faint sense of relief flashing through him as the centipedes turned their heads to follow it. He didn't wait around to see what sort of action they took and instead turned and fled down the passage.

Thanks to his nearly perfect memory, he was able to retrace his steps even without the light and he kept his hands out in front of him to make sure that he didn't run face-first into a wall. The sharp sound of the manastone striking the far wall echoed faintly behind him, followed by screeches and clicks, and then the clatter of claws against the tunnel walls. The sound sent fear shooting up his spine and he picked up speed, pulling another manastone from his coat as he ran. It was clear that the manastone he had thrown had not distracted the creatures for long, and though in his brief glance through the cavern he had not seen any centipedes as large as the one who had attacked him, he had seen many in the three- to four-foot range, which was long enough.

Continuing to sprint, he made good progress, but the clattering sound of claws on stone only grew in volume until it sounded like a rushing wave behind him. Risking a glance over his shoulder as he bolted through the twisting passages, he saw the gleam of the centipedes' polished carapaces, and his breath caught in his throat. They were coming, and they were coming fast.

Muttering to himself, he grabbed the rifle, realizing that he only had a single chance. He had seen Evan pull this same trick back when they were facing off against the snakes in the mountains. And now, as he turned the corner, he began to charge the manastone past its normal capacity. He could feel the manatech rifle getting hot under his thumb, but still, he persisted until, just before it seemed as if it would explode, he turned smoothly, the rifle angling up.

Around the corner, a wave of black bodies, gleaming hard armor, and venomous claws writhed in the soft light cast from the manastone. Crouched low on the floor, with the barrel of his rifle angled slightly up, he pressed his finger down, praying that his plan would work. A cone of bright light ripped through the incoming wave and the stone overhead, tearing apart the centipedes at the front of the group and the tunnel walls beyond them, throwing thick dust everywhere. The entire mountain seemed to rumble as Merrick turned and lunged to his feet, diving out of the tunnel's entrance and into the manastone mine.

A sixth sense warned him as he tumbled across the ground, and pressing his hands on the hard stones, he threw himself sideways as a three-foot centipede shot out of the dust. For a moment he thought he might have failed, but then a loud rumble filled his ears as the tunnel caved in. His shot had obliterated the tunnel's structure, collapsing it on the wave of centipedes that had chased him.

Grabbing one of his spears, he rolled up and hurled it, pinning the centipede who had escaped the collapse to the ground, his heart pounding in his chest. He could still feel the fierce heat in the rail of the manatech rifle, and he hoped that he hadn't warped it. Finishing off the centipede who had escaped with a quick stab, Merrick checked his rifle while keeping one eye on the collapsed tunnel. Centipedes were good at digging, but he hoped that the weight of the mountainside crashing down on them had killed them all. It was too much to hope that he had managed to destroy all of them but hopefully, they were not intelligent enough to dig their way through and come after him.

[Ding! Seventeen experience points.]

The faint feeling of gaining experience washed over him, and he realized that he must have killed a tremendous number of centipedes with the rifle blast, easing his anxious heart. He was more than happy to leave that passage sealed, but also knew that he was playing with fire by remaining in the cavern. For a moment, he seriously considered packing up and moving away from the manastone mine and the terrifying nest of giant centipedes that it held, but the presence of the underground river was too important to his meditation efforts, so he ultimately decided to stay in place. When he finally calmed down, all he could do was shake his head at his foolishness. He should have just left well enough alone. Still, he would sleep safer knowing that the path to the centipede nest was sealed off.

Resolving to check the caved in passage every day for signs that the centipedes were digging their way through, Merrick retreated to his fire, sitting down to try and check his manatech rifle for signs of damage. To his relief, he found that it was still in fine working order, though the manastone had been largely depleted.