Non Player Character

Chapter 20 - Crow

I walked silently throughout the rest of Lucard Pass, no longer fearing this place was cursed, as I had just killed the likely culprit of most rumors about the said curse.

My mind was reeling from the events that had just unfolded and the startling revelations that followed. It would be some time before I could truly sort through my thoughts and find peace within them.

Val, ever present in my mind, knew I needed time to process everything. Her betrayal severed any semblance of trust I had with her, and while I did now believe she would be honest with me and wouldn't try to get me killed again, I knew there was more to her story. Someday, I'd find a way to pull the full truth out of her.

Every step I took away from that damned cave was a step further away from a sad and broken girl. My stupid conscience was screaming for me to go back. To take her with me. I shook the feeling off. Tara was dangerous. Not killing her was a mercy on my part, and I told myself that was enough. Plus, I had no experience helping someone detox from drugs. All I knew was that it would be unpleasant and take days I had no intention of wasting.

Her quest may have come to a shitty conclusion, but I fully intended to make my way to Danver. Technically, it was lizard territory, but most real fighting was west of the Divine Mountains, and Danver lay on the east side. Undoubtedly, I would cross paths with a few Players, but everything would be fine if I kept my head down and didn't interact.

Hopefully.

I traveled through a long tunnel carved into the base of the lower mountains. Inside, the borehole was smooth, so much so that it almost felt polished. Without a light, I had to keep my hand on the tunnel and pray I didn't trip over a stray rock or get attacked by some night beast.

When I finally left that darkness, I was surprised to see a much different path ahead. Now, it curved to the right, with part of the mountain carved out to make room for the twisting road; there would be no more tunnels from here on, which was fine with me.

I followed the path steadily for a solid hour before a crow tried to peck out my eyes.

The damned thing came from behind and hit me in the back of the head with enough force to make me take a step forward, lest I fall. I reached up to try to rip the bird off my head, but it dug its claws in deep, causing me to scream out in pain.

Then it moved, leaning past my forehead and hammering its beak at my face. Luckily, the first peck missed the eye but sliced open my eyebrow. My hands shot up to protect my face and thankfully saved my eyes from the flurry of relentless pecks.

I had one useful thought before panic fully set in. I activated a Devastating Strike and punched up at the bird, carefull not to hit myself. My fist crushed the bird with ease, shattering its bones and sending it flying from my head in a mess of gore.

A microsecond later, another scream of pain escaped my lips, and I reached up to my scalp to discover the crow's talons still embedded into my head. I guess I punched that bird so hard that I blasted the damned thing's socks off.

I winced in pain as I freed my scalp of the leftover talons. Head wounds tended to bleed a lot, and I could already feel the sticky warmth dripping down my neck. I ripped off a small cloth from my travel blanket and wrapped it around my head, hoping to stem the flow of blood.

"What the hell was that?"

"Oh, are you talking to me?" Val replied.

"Who else would I be talking to?"

"I don't know how you humans think. One second, you're giving me the cold shoulder, and the next, you're asking questions about birds. Your tiny mind is truly a mystery to me."