1. Across Eternity: Book 5 - Chapter 6


    Date: 4/7/2024, Categories: Fantasy Author: Sage_of_the_Forlorn_Path

    ... were steep, and there were no established paths, so they had to take their time in picking the correct route. Often, Noah and Valia had to dismount and lead their horses through treacherous paths. Even Shannon would revert to her two-legged form, afraid of the ground coming out from under her feet. Valia sometimes scouted ahead, climbing and jumping with elven acrobatics to find safe passage.
    
    Despite the danger, it was breathtaking scenery, these great stone walls and pillars shaped by water, wind, and time. Game wasn’t abundant, but they found enough food to get by. Each night, the autumn air would sink into the canyon, but as long as they were between a campfire and mylar tent, Noah and Valia continued to give Shannon plenty of evening entertainment.
    
    On their third day in the canyon, Valia seemed tense, keeping her head on a swivel, and Noah knew why. “How many of them are there?”
    
    “I can’t tell for sure, but I definitely sense something moving around,” she said, scanning the surrounding cliffs.
    
    Noah held out his hands and formed a six-round grenade launcher. “If someone is watching us, then this will either flush them out or scare them off.”
    
    He began shooting bombs in all directions, raining them onto areas he couldn’t see. Each grenade burst with a convincing flash of illusory fire and smoke. Once he dispelled the weapon, Valia listened intently.
    
    “That definitely got them moving. And you were right, it didn’t scare them off, but it did flush them ...
    ... out.”
    
    Upon her words, a volley of arrows fell upon them, coming from the nearby mesa.
    
    “Let’s move!” Noah shouted.
    
    He and Valia set their horses in a gallop with Shannon behind them. They fled the coming storm of arrows, racing through the canyon to escape their attackers. Looking over her shoulder, Shannon spotted numerous figures running and jumping behind them.
    
    “I see them!” she exclaimed before she drew her bow and launched an arrow, striking a pursuer in the chest.
    
    Noah and Valia looked around, realizing they were flanked on both sides. At first glance, from the way they moved on all fours with tails whipping behind them, it looked like they were being chased by animals, but their clothing and the armor on their backs gave them away as beastmen. They sprinted with remarkable agility, able to climb and descend any surface and cross any chasm as if gravity was theirs to control.
    
    One pursuer landed before them, brandishing gloves with steel blades extending like claws. He had the head of a mountain lion and a tail to match, and his legs had transformed to let him run on all fours. He snarled, flashing his teeth, and lunged towards Valia. She fended him off with a slash, and Shannon shot him with an arrow. These weren’t fiends, so the poison had no effect, but he staggered back in pain, and Valia finished him off.
    
    More attackers were coming from all angles, climbing down and leaping off the cliffs. They all had mountain lion traits and could keep up with the ...
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