Chapter Thirty Nine - 039They skidded to a stop along a paved hillock, the buildings around them a bit more worn down by the wind. All of them were breathing hard, even Felix, though Harn and Magda seemed fresh enough. After a few dicey interchanges they hadn't heard the sound of pursuit for a few minutes now, and Felix was starting to hope they'd lost them. They took quick shelter in shadows cast by a jumble of fallen porticoes.
"We can't stop, those hounds have our scent." Harn hitched the giant rucksack further up his back and moved to get a clear view ahead.
"Wait...w-wait..." Atar huffed, olive skin slick with sweat and his normally carefully done hair in disarray. "I can't go much longer."
"We stop at this point and it won't be one pack that surrounds us. It'll be dozens. Hoarhounds are a menace for a reason, Sparky." Harn started walking.
"You need...to focus...on your Endurance more," gulped Evie, resting against her knees. "Or get that...Running Skill up higher."
"Shut...up...flippy...ass."
Pit pushed against Felix's legs, also eager to move onward despite his heaving sides and panting tongue. After sneaking into the cellar, tunneling out, and running away from the Hoarhounds Felix was feeling it too, but he had to trust Harn's judgement. The man was no-nonsense and frighteningly capable. Harn pointed off in the distance, where Felix could see a handful of looming stone towers, some of the highest buildings he had seen so far. Apparently they were so big the others could see them even through the haze.
"We go there. Gain the high ground and watch out for ice patches."
He started off. With a groan, everyone followed.
Going downhill was easier, but it looked like a mile at least until the towers. Harn in the front and Magda in the back kept every on pace, and it wasn't one meant to coddle them. To keep his mind off his body, Felix toggled his dismissed notifications.
Pit's Frost Spear is level 2!Pit's Wingblade is level 6!
Nice to see Pit moving along. He glanced down at his friend who was keeping pace at his side. The tenku's wings were tucked tight to his body, perhaps to decrease wind resistance as they were getting quite big. He shook his head, wiping sweat that poured from his forehead. Despite Felix's high Endurance and Running Skill, this constant pace was getting to him. The Running Skill decreased the usage of his Stamina during the activity, but it didn't do anything yet for the build up of soreness and fatigue he felt damn near everywhere. Idly, Felix wondered what Apprentice Tier would make of the Running Skill; he had 7 more Skill Levels before he found out.
AWWOOOOOO!
"Shit," Magda swore. Felix turned slightly to see her behind him; she was looking off to the right and Felix followed her gaze. Beyond a tangle of cored-out-but-still-standing homes, he could see the flash of blue-white fur. "It sounds like there's at least five now."
Felix tried counting as he ran, not quite able to; instead he took a mental picture and checked it over. He counted at least ten.
"More than that," he panted. "At least double."
Magda shot him a look, but quickly glanced away. "Harn we gotta get outta here!"
"I know!" Harn hollered back, no longer worried about silence. "Here!"
All of them took a tight turn into a fire-gutted shopfront. Felix wouldn't have guessed it was a shopfront, but his Analyze hadn't been wrong yet.
Name: Ruined Commercial StructureType: StructureLore: Anything could have been sold in such a place before whatever calamity befell this place occurred. The inside has been almost utterly destroyed by a recent fire.
Calamity? What did happen to this place?
Felix wasn't allowed much time to muse. The sound of paws and claws came closer and closer, and the seven of them hustled up a set of stairs in the back of the shop. Ash and charred wood stirred and cracked beneath them, a number of small saplings having been torched to charcoal. The stairs were stone, thankfully, but they creaked ominously beneath their hurried feet.
Once up top, they heard barking that sounded much closer. The hounds were coming, fast.
"Come," whispered Harn, gesturing toward an open window much like the rest, glass and shutters all long gone. It faced onto a flat roof leading toward another building, this one with three levels above the shop's second floor. "Climb out onto the roof. Evie, you first."
The Tin Ranks and Felix did so quickly, filing out the window as quietly as they could, while Harn and Magda hung back. Soon they were all on the flat roof, and Harn made a series of gestures at Evie who nodded and then ran toward the edge. There was a small alley separating the shop from the five story ruin next to it, but it wasn't any more than five feet; an easy jump for any of them.
Evie sailed over the gap, slipping through a gaping hole in the wall before coming neatly to her feet. Vessilia went next, followed by Felix and Pit. Atar, still visibly winded, made his best effort at the jump but fell short. Felix barely had time to react, but needn't have bothered. At the last second the mage threw his arm forward and a small metal rod expanded and pierced the stone.
DANG!
The sound was like a gunshot in the air. Magda and Harn went stock still, and Felix reached down and yanked the mage up by the front of his robes. Just in time, as they all heard loud sniffing abruptly coming from below. Felix was locked in a crouch, his arms holding Atar so close that he could smell the floral fragrance he was wearing.
Guh, that's cloying. Probably better than I smell though. Haven't had a bath in...four, five days? Suddenly Felix felt bad for holding Atar so close. He was probably rank.
Ice started creeping up the side of both of their buildings, and Harn began making wide sweeping gestures in their direction. Unable to understand, Felix looked to the ladies. Both Evie and Vessilia watched Harn a moment longer before nodding and padding quietly toward the stairs leading up. Felix helped the mage to his feet and disengaged, careful to not rustle their clothes or kick any loose stones.
Atar followed after, his face pale and bloodless, still holding the strange expanding rod in his left hand. The rod was maybe the width of Felix's thumb, but was easily six feet long and tapered to a point on one end. Had he had it this whole time?
They picked their way up the stairs. Everything was coated in a fine gritty dust, as if, in the absence of wind and rain, the stone had been reduced to powder by the weight of time itself. Felix was still amazed at how may of these places were still standing at all, considering that the were easily hundreds of years old. If not more, considering magic.
As they neared the fifth and final floor, Felix heard the sound of metal crashing and sudden howling in the near distance. Too far away to be an immediate threat, but too close to not be important. He strained his senses, but his Perception picked up nothing else. The others didn't stop, though, so Felix kept on. Shortly after that, they made the roof.
"What are we doing?" Felix whispered. The others turned to him, finger on their lips. Vessilia made a couple of complicated hand signs, but when Felix's blank stare registered she tilted her head in confusion. Instead, she silently waved him to come with her. All of them moved to the center of the roof, as far away from any edges, and she made four signs toward Atar. With a roll of his eyes and almost pained grunt, his hands flashed with bright yellow Mana that swelled and covered the five of them. Sound ward in place, Vessilia spoke up.
"You cannot read handsign?" Vessilia asked.
"No, definitely not," Felix said, shrugging. "I've just been following you guys and working off context clues."
"Huh. Well, Harn had us head to the roof. Said he and Maggie would join us soon," Evie clenched her jaw, clearly upset. Vessilia put her hand on her friend's shoulder.
"They'll be fine." Evie nodded, jaw still tight.
Felix cleared his throat, a little uncomfortable. "So do we continue onward?" He nodded toward the towers Harn had in mind. They were a little less than a quarter mile away, if he was judging the distance right. "We should be able to do it if we stick to the roofs."
Evie grunted softly. "Yeah. That's the plan. We go ahead, get to the nearest tower and get in."
Felix made an impressed face. "That's a lot to say in a few gestures."
"Handsign is pretty compact," agreed Vessilia. "I can..uh, I can teach it to you sometime, if you would like."
"Oh sure. That'd be fantastic," Felix said, already thinking about how easy languages might prove with perfect memory. "Ok, then let's get moving."
With a gasp, Atar released the silencing spell and Felix watched the colorful Mana vapor dissipate into the air. He turned and saw the mage regarding him with his usual annoyed expression.
"What are you doing?" Atar's expression fairly screamed. Felix only replied by putting a finger to his lips and making a series of complicated nonsense gestures. Then he walked away.
Magda huddled close to the edge, watching the Hoarhounds prowl the streets below. There were at least fifteen of them now, all spread around the area as they hunted for their group. Harn caught her eye.
>
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Harn hesitated, his face hidden but Magda knew he had an expression of extreme concentration.
Harn's hands flashed. >