B2 Chapter 252: Watchers in the Wings, pt. 1

**Ding! You have been afflicted by Gravebound Slumber – Poison, Dream, Tier 2**

Kaius stared down at the dart in his chest, struggling to process what it was doing there.

It was a small thing—really just a weighted needle with a few fins to stabilise it in flight.

Then he noticed the creeping numbness that was slowly seeping across his chest—a circle barely a thumb width wide. It was joined by an insidious fatigue—one that felt soft and comfortable, fuzzing the edge of his senses.

Horror dawned, a yawning pit in his stomach opening as his mind caught up to the reality of the situation.

“Shit! Ambush!” Kaius screamed, knocking the dart from his skin.

His eyes snapped up to Ianmus—just in time to watch the mage suddenly collapse.

Furious rage bellowed from behind him, Porkchop having enough Vitality that the poison was struggling to bring him down quickly.

Despite scanning his surroundings, Kaius saw no sight of their ambushers. That was good—they still had a chance. If they were lucky, the shot had been taken from range, and they hadn’t expected them to be able to handle their toxin.

His hand dropped to his belt pouch, ripping out the medallion that Rieker had given them for this very eventuality.

Before he could channel the mana to activate the enchantment, he felt the smooth disk of metal rip free of his hands—catching the sun as its twisted and deformed surface spun through the air.

Right off the edge of the plateau.

“Fuck!” he swore. They had an archer. A good one.

Kaius grit his teeth and ran, struggling against the liquid weight that pressed down on his muscles. A quick glance showed Porkchop listing, confused at his sudden intoxication.

“Behind me, now! We need to use your shield as a stretcher.” he demanded, still sprinting for Ianmus’s prone form. He felt Porkchop steeling himself through their bond—he listened without question, taking off at an ambling run.

Reaching the base of the stone wall that surrounded the plateau, Kaius jumped at a full sprint. Sailing through the air, he just grabbed a hand hold that jutted out below the ledge that Ianmus was lying on insensate.

A single heave brought him up, landing on his feet. Instantly, he saw that Ianmus had his own dart—sticking straight out of his shoulder.

Ripping it free, Kaius swooped the gangly man over his shoulder, grabbing their spatial bag nestled at the back of the outcropping in the same motion.

There was more up there—their tent, and a pile of other belongings that didn’t quite fit in their stores. He left it.

There was no time.

Refusing to wait for a second volley, Kaius leapt down, bleeding off the force of his landing with bent knees.

Porkchop was waiting for him, his greatshield hovering horizontal at his side—inverted so that Ianmus could rest in its concave depression.

“Where now?” Porkchop asked, his eyes hard but slightly glassy.

“The portal, as fast as we can.” Kaius replied, roughly dumping Ianmus in his stretcher. The shield bobbed under the mage’s weight, but held.

Their worst fears had been realised, and an escape into the Depths was by far their best shot. Whoever had come for them was powerful and well connected—they needed to be if they had used a tier two toxin.

Fuck.

With the affliction having Dream affinity, he didn’t have a full resistance, and even if he did he had no confidence in his skill being able to fight it off before he succumbed.

The clock was ticking.

They ran.

Mid step, he ripped open his potion pouch, downing a tonic for each of his resources before he tossed another trio to his brother.

Porkchop was listing—almost stumbling from the effects of the poison that coursed through his veins, but he was still plenty fast. Even then, Kaius could feel the slowly creeping exhaustion that was building in his brother’s body.

His brother still had enough wherewithal to snatch the bottles out of the air. They shattered between his jade teeth, glass ignored as it cut deep into Porkchop’s cheeks and gums.

“More. Health and Stamina.” Porkchop demanded.

Kaius ripped them out of his pouch and sent them flying, two more potions shattering in his brother’s mouth.

He could feel the exhaustion of his own affliction. Rapid Adaptation burned like wildfire, but the toxin was too strong, and too unfamiliar.

The best he was doing was slowing its encroachment, but he knew he would be consumed all the same. It was inevitable.

Thankfully it was a gradual process—they could make it to the portal, even if his leaden eyes and clouded mind made it feel like he’d been up for a day straight.

Halfway across the plateau, he noticed something atop the monoliths that surrounded the glowing ring of their salvation. It wasn’t even a blur, just a certainty from Truesight that something had just moved. A pervasive feeling that he was being lied to.

Not for the first time, he blessed his fortunes at having had access to such a valuable Legacy.

He felt the patches of wrongness drop down in front of the portal, even if the coast looked clear.

“Attackers guarding the portal, Shardwall on my mark.” Kaius said through beast speak, refusing to give their mysterious visitors any indication of their plans.

A flood of determined acceptance crossed their bond. Leaning into the connection deeply, Kaius fed his brother every sense he had of where their targets were waiting. The growing sense of falsity was still—waiting just a half dozen strides in front of their escape.

He grit his teeth, pretending nothing was wrong as he sprinted onwards.

It couldn’t be too early—they had one shot at surprising their ambushers, and even if they were out leveled all they needed was to break through their line. The less time they had to react, the better.

The distance shrunk with every step.

Fifty strides.

Thirty.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Twelve.

“Now!”

Porkchop feinted a stumble, driving his front claw into the red rock of the plateau. Sharped jade slid home with ease, his pace correcting with the fluid motion of practice as he ripped his paw free of the earth.

Sacred Jade erupted—seven strides high, by fifteen long, the skill having grown with the levels that had come with their most recent training.

Racing forward with the grinding crash of tortured stone, the Shardwall accelerated straight for the group that he knew to be waiting for them.

Kaius heard a curse, and their targets reacted—dashing away from the approaching skill.

His arms might have felt like lead, and his heart might have raced like he’d been running for a full day, but when an indistinct patch of lies shot straight for him, Kaius was ready.

With an iron grip on his will, he ripped at his stamina and mana, pushing both resources into his blade.

With the levels he had gained, and the potions he had consumed, his resources were doing just fine—all of them above four fifths of their total. His spells? Less great, he’d spent more than half of the casts he’d prepared for each one.

As Kaius raised his blade high, light burned within his sword—a sheath of arcane joined by the burning light of his blade’s enchantments.

He cut.

The shroud of sensed lies shattered. In its place was a weathered man—his skin cracked by age—who was cloaked in a heavy set of inscribed black splintmail.

A colossal greatsword in hand, the man swung, catching Kaius’s slash in a textbook rising block.

Pressing hard against the attacker, Kaius grunted as his back and arms ached with the pain of exertion. He was strong, but the other man was stronger—and he knew it.