Role

Chapter 1

The third law (1/2)
Added Sun Jan 28 06:10:01 2024 at level 36:

(Very long, chapter summary and tldr at the end of first load of
submissions.)

Tarshil ran.

The fire burning in her blood felt cold now. Cold beside the heat in her
lungs and legs, at least. She was tired.

Very tired.

Her ears still rang with the echoing silence of the spell one of her former
allies had clipped her with in their last skirmish. A few hours still for
that to fade, by her recckoning. It might as well be days.

The mountains rose up on both sides of the narrow pass. A good spot to hold
ground in theory, though less good if you were running. If she turned an
ankle now...

Her burden shifted where she'd slung it over one shoulder. She grunted in
frustration and picked up the pace. She'd need to rest soon, but they must
be close. She'd not hear them coming, which made the spot between her
shoulderblades itch. She'd not have warning, and couldn't refresh the
spells on her burden either. That would make things just that bit harder,
and as things stood they were just about hard enough.

Then she broke out onto a rocky beach, and Tarshil came to a stumbling stop.
Had she really ran the whole pass already?

There was a small boat. Not good enough for her, burden or not. She'd have
to swim it, but she'd known that already; she'd hoped to fly, but that
option was gone. At least there would be salvation soon, of a kind. Those
below would welcome her, of that she had no doubt, even if the idea still
inspired an instinctive sense of disgust in her. The price would be high,
but she was out of other options. A short rest was in order.

She took brief stock of her remaining supplies. No potions of return left.
One teleportation potion. A single barrier wand, down to its last charge,
and nothing else of note. She thought mournfully of her well stocked
knapsack snatched in one of the earliest skirmishes of the day.

Not good, but it could be worse. It would have to do.

She glanced back to the pass.

And came face to face with the startled Oath standing there, having just
emerged onto the beach.

She recovered before he did. Still unable to cast, her axe split him down
the middle in a single blow, but his mouth had been moving. He'd called to
the others, for sure.

Grinding her teeth in frustration, she set her burden down in the boat and
pushed it out into the lake. She'd have to make the swim and try to push it
regardless of her exhaustion. Perhaps if her hearing recovered she could
drive them off, but as it was?

She glanced down to the axe in her hand, then abandoned the notion. Never
that. The axe was fourty pounds at the lightest, but she'd never lealve it
behind just for a chance to make the swim a little easier.

She stepped out into the lake after the boat, braced for the chill and the
long swim ahead.

But she'd not need to worry about that.