I Was Reborn as a Daddy in Another World

The Wall - Part 4

While Val was of course aware of the magical stags available in Abyssia, he had chosen not to rent one for his initial, ill-fated solo expedition for the same reason he had not let a nineteen-year old hotel porter convince him to go dune-hopping on a rented quad bike on his honeymoon, his entirely reasonable fear of being crushed to death. As he and Katya sped across the rolling fields of the fourth floor, Val jostling around like a poorly secured sack of potatoes on the thick, woven shabraque laid over the animal's back, he reflected on how that had been an excellent choice, not that it stopped him from eventually dying in an automobile accident.

Katya, ever the picture of a graceful warrior, scanned the horizon as they travelled, her back straight and movement perfectly matched to her mount. Even though Val was clearly uncomfortable, they were covering ground at a speed that they could never match on foot and were on track to reach the entrance to the fifth floor just after sundown.

The density of monsters wandering the floors near the main paths gave Katya a small amount of hope that some time had passed since any large groups had come through here, which meant they had as good a shot at anyone at taking down the level five golem floor boss. She turned her head to comment on their good fortune to Val, but the pale, vaguely sick look on his face made her think better of it. She turned back and focused on the road, a slightly amused look lifting the corner of her mouth.

"Poor guy," she muttered to herself.

As if by response, the sound of a light dry heave came from behind her, and she decided to take pity on her companion, who was clearly suffering.

"Ho!" Katya yelled, pulling at the deer's reins gently.

Its pace slowed immediately, allowing the bouncing Val to pull up alongside her.

"Hey," he asked, "What's going on?"

"Let's make camp," Katya responded, her eyes still on the horizon, "I'm exhausted, and we should still be able to easily make it across the fifth floor tomorrow if we stop here for the night."

Val couldn't, and didn't even really try to, keep the relief from his face.

"Sure," he agreed, "Whatever you say."

Katya nodded and, with two quick clicks of her tongue, pulled the deer to the left towards a clear area a little away from the well-worn path.

With a sigh of genuine relief, and with a distinct lack of the same effortless poise, Val followed her.

Unnoticed behind them, a ways back along the path, another deer ridden by a rider cloaked in green veered off the road and into the trees.

—

A slim, waning moon hung in the clear skies above Katya and Val's camp, watching over them as they slept soundly on rolled out leather and wool camp beds. A soft breeze rustled the grasses surrounding the camp, creating a soothing white noise. Their fire was long dead, allowed to fall to gently glowing ashes, as the balmy weather on the higher floors meant there was no use for it beyond cooking and the comfort of the flickering light it generated.

A little away from the camp, their two mounts slept curled around one another, their reins and saddle cloths removed, though there was no need to tie the deer down, as the same magic that gave them supernatural stamina and size bound them to follow simple, sorcery-enhanced commands that would keep them from straying.

A soft, rhythmic clicking sound came from off in the darkness, but both Val and Katya were so deeply asleep that they did not stir. Interlocking plates of shining black caught the small amount of moonlight as the clicking drew closer to the sleeping pair.

Out of the long grass, an enormous black beetle emerged, drawn by the scent of the camp, the clicking grew more frantic as it opened and closed its enormous mandibles. The beetle was at least a foot and a half tall with a long, flat body split into two sections, a small low-set head and six thick, chitinous legs ending in barbed toes, by all accounts looking like a mutant variant of a stag beetle from Val's own world. Clicking its jaws excitedly, it scampered toward Val and Katya's sleeping forms.