Chapter 15 Infiltration

[Achievement unlocked: Lord of the Beasts] Dominate any creature or summon any familiar.

[Achievement unlocked: The King’s Whisperer] Dominate any sovereign class creature of any level.

[Unlock three more achievements to unlock a stone lootbox.]

The notifications came in, each one filling me with a thrilling rush, as I got to my feet. The sabretooth king was no less magnificent, in fact up close I could see what a war veteran he actually was, with his criss-crossed scars, the enormous dent against his skull from his fall. But he emanated primal power. Not that there was any doubt, but here was unquestionable proof, this was the king of the jungle.

There was movement from the underbrush, as five vandals appeared, two of them mounted on sabretooths. I wasn’t amazing at distinguishing between them just yet, but they didn’t seem to be any I had encountered before. I examined the one nearest.

[Homo Vandalis – Novak tribe. Close cousins of the Homo sapiens, the vandal tribes struggle for dominance against humanity. Strong, smart, and well co-ordinated. Their hatred for humans runs deepest. Unlike the Yukon tribe, the Novak will kill any humans they encounter on sight. Level three.]

Kill on sight. I could see this happening in real time as the vandals surrounded us. I looked to the sabretooth king, who growled menacingly at our new foes. We stood back to back, as I raised my bow, nocking an arrow.

I felt a mental link with the sabretooth tiger, but it wasn’t like commanding some kind of pet in a video game. The king was unleashed, thrashing against my mind, flowing into its own combat state. We felt as one, and I felt a heady rush of battle lust that wasn’t mine.

Well, not entirely.

My arrows hit their mark, knocking the vandal from atop the sabretooth tiger. The vandal hit the dirt and my new thrall immediately closed in, tearing at the vandal’s neck, spraying blood on its jaws and fur. Two of the vandals closed in on me, whilst the other two, one still atop the sabretooth, advanced on the king.

One of them threw a spear at me, my armour absorbing the impact, the curved edges of the bone preventing the tip from sinking in. I grinned. Bone beats stone, I thought, as I charged at the vandal. Too close to engage with my bow, I brought up my bone spear and thrust it forth, the vandal, fumbling with a bone blade, too late. I skewered him, as close by I heard the roar of the king, as he tore into his two opposing vandals.

Only one vandal remained, opposing me, and I felt a surge rush through me, feeling twice as tall, and even more feral than the king. I pulled my spear from the dead vandal and lifted it into the sky, roaring myself. Terror, sheer terror, seized the one remaining vandal.

He didn’t move, he just stared at me, mouth agape, throwing down his weapon, and I knew this wasn’t a simple morale break. This was the March of the Marrow. I’d literally terrified him. It seemed…almost wrong to attack a defenceless creature, but the sabretooth king clearly had no qualms, tearing the last vandal to the ground, and savagely tearing at his throat.

He growled low, glaring at me, as though defying me to chastise him.

But he would get no such objection from me.

Dominate would last either twenty-four hours or until my next long rest. I didn’t fancy tussling with the sabretooth king a third time, considering how both times had almost killed me. I felt impossibly powerful, the apex predator of the jungle, with the king by my side.

Well, at least for twenty-four hours.

‘You kind of seem like you need a name,’ I said, as the sabretooth king stalked beside me. It made a low growl. He seemed to understand me, though whether this was due to its natural intelligence, or some benefit of the domination magic, was unclear. ‘How about Larry? Would you go for Larry?’

It made no snap at me, no indication that this was not acceptable to him and simply made that low growl again. ‘Larry it is.’

I had tried mounting Larry, after all I had seen the vandals riding their own sabretooth tigers into battle. I figured this would be incredibly useful, and if nothing else would mean travel was much faster, but when I tried, I found I was locked out of doing so,

[Ability missing – Mount – You must unlock this ability in order to mount a creature. Complete quest Where Sabretooths Dare.]

[Quest log – Where Sabretooths Dare – The vandal tribes of this land have long tamed the great beasts, bringing them to their side. Their ancient bond goes back generations, but only one sabretooth may bond with a rider. Journey to the Wyld Reach to seek the vandal shamans to learn the secrets of the ancient bond.]

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I’d have to get to that later. It had already been a week since Adrian’s coup, and his wiping out of Raymond’s camp. Who knew what was happening, for all I knew he was getting stronger by the day. That more avatars were flocking to him, filling out his fledgling tribe.

I meanwhile was an army of two, though looking at Larry beside me, I liked my odds. Then I saw the camp.