Chapter 26 – Retreat
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As it turns out, it is difficult for me to move quickly. My tendrils are useful but not as mobile as legs, which Elvira has made clear by sprinting through the forest at a speed I can't match.

 

After the elf burst out of the ground and told me to run she bolted past me, and I hurried to follow. The abyss walker was consumed by the roots that had grabbed it, dragged into the earth. The voices that surrounded it are muffled, but I can still hear them chanting fervently from below. I'm sure that the walker will find its way free soon, but we should have at least a few minutes before it does. Well, I think we will have a few minutes, but the creature has surprised me before. It's entirely possible that it will free itself within a few seconds with some unusual form of magic.

 

Which brings me back to speed. I can't run. Usually I can move at about a human's walking speed by pushing off the ground with my tendrils, but moving any faster is difficult, and even with effort I won't move faster than a jogging human. The Black Hands help, but there's only so much they can do. My body is a bit too fluid for them to properly support my weight, and even if they could now isn't the best time to learn how to balance on limbs. I can manage short bursts of speed by throwing myself forwards, but I am not quite able to string it together into a consistent form of movement. Soon enough I find an awkward middle ground, grasping passing trees and the ground with Black Hands and tendrils, doing my best to launch myself forwards as fast as possible. Within the first few minutes I've hit three trees full force and slammed into the ground more times than I can count, but it's the best I can do. Luckily, I don't need to go far. Elvira has stopped in the middle of the forest, and seems to be arguing with a... small wooden doll?

 

"What do you mean it'll take too much effort? It'll be worse if that, that thing catches us!" She pauses for a moment, as if to listen to a voice I can't hear, before continuing on. "No, I told you, it's- Umbra, there you are! Here it is, this is the new champion. Now get us the fuck out of here!"

 

I move to write in the dirt, to tell her to keep running, but suddenly the wooden doll springs to life. The thing changes from a dull grey to the rich brown of healthy bark, wriggles free from the elf's hands, and runs over to me. It looks me over with the empty sockets that function as its eyes, searching me for something.

 

"You're right, you're right! It's the champion! The Mothers didn't tell me it was Void born... But they know best! I'm sure it'll work out!"

 

Once again I move to write in the dirt, and once again I'm cut off, this time by the little wooden thing continuing to ramble.

 

"Okay, okay! I'm supposed to look after the champion, so I'll open a Way for you! The Way can get you to a safe place, and it'll take you near the Light Mother's holy ground! Hmm, but it'll take a while... That bad thing will get here before it opens! You'll have to find a way to stop it for a while!"

 

Having said that, the doll tuns its attention to a few nearby trees that begin to shudder and lean towards one another.

 

Have any good magic for fighting? I write in the dirt, turning my attention to the elf.

 

"Against that thing?" Elvira asks. "No. Well, It's also from the Void, right? It probably won't like light magic."

 

The abyss walker has clearly been influenced by something else, but she's right. No matter how much it's changed it should still like the dark and hate the light. The sun is rising, but the forest creates enough shade that I can't rely on it driving the walker away. I have my light magic, but that'll be a last resort. Everything around, including the humans, will know the instant I use that spell and there's always a chance the walker will ignore the light to get us. I could use dark magic to cover the area, but anything born in the Void will be able to see in darkness... Unless I modify the spell.

 

Follow.

 

I lead the elf to the nearest tree that the doll isn't messing with, and use one of my Black Hands to begin carving a symbol into it. Not quite a Shadow's Mark, a few areas need to be changed slightly.  I'm not entirely sure how I know what to do, but I add a few other symbols around it, symbols that represent the Night's Veil and Shadow Cloak spells. Add some lines connecting them, change how they interact a bit, and...

 

Skill <Understanding> Is Affecting Skill <Magic Alteration>

 

<Magic Alteration> Is Now Level 2

 

<Magic Alteration> Is Now Level 3

 

<Magic Alteration> Is Now Level 4

 

<Dark Magic> Is Now Level 6

 

User Umbra Is Now Level 8

 

What the fu- No, no time for that right now. At least I know I'm going in the right direction. With that confirmation that I'm doing something right, I grab the elf's hand, cut her palm with a clawed Black Hand, and press it against the carved marks.

 

"Ow! By the Light's fucking na- Oh shit what the fuck did you just do?!"

 

As Elvira's blood seeps into the mark a deep black smoke bursts from it, quickly filling the forest around us. It's impossible to see far, even for me, but the unnatural darkness should reach half way to the human city. The mark should use Night's Veil's ability to destroy light to ensure it's completely dark within that area, and the effect of Shadow Veil makes everything within the darkness harder to see. Even for Void creatures it'll be almost impossible to see, let alone track us. Well, the spell won't last very long, and there's always a chance that the Master of Voices has some way to guide the walker to us. But this is the best I can do for now, if push comes to shove I can use light magic to buy a bit of time.

 

Generating Skill <Runic Magic>

 

...

 

Skill <Runic Magic 1> Has Been Added

 

<Runic Magic 1>

Spells can be converted into runes. When a rune is inscribed in a physical medium and supplied with magic power it will emit the spell's effect over a prolonged period.

 

Another interesting thing I don't have time for. Since Elvira is currently blind I guide her back to the wooden doll, noting that the trees near it have bent to form a large arch. The trees' branches are being braided into a curtain or door within. Judging by how fast it's moving it'll take at least ten more minutes. Well, for the time being I cast Shadow Veil and creep into the forest in the direction we left the walker. Better to know if it's coming after us without the elf around to get in the way.

 

As I travel I realize that I perhaps hadn't thought through my use of the new mark. I can't see very far at all, and it seems the mark muffles sound as well. I have my Enhanced Perception and that should be helping me and Shadow Cloak making me hard to see, but it's still going to be difficult to find the walker without it noticing me. Or so I think until I hear a tree branch snap not far to my left.

 

I can't see anything more than a slight movement through the darkness, but now that I'm listening for it I can hear the creature's footsteps, and can barely make out the whispering that perpetually surrounds it. It's moving towards where I left the elf and wooden thing, of course it is. If it's gotten this far already, it will definitely arrive before the Way is open. However, it hasn't reacted to my presence, so it probably can't see very well. I can use that to my advantage. Carefully, I pick up a rock and throw it into the woods away from where the doll is opening the Way. I hear it hit the ground, and the footsteps stop. For a long time there's no other sounds. Do I throw another rock? No, if it were me or the elf in this darkness and we made a noise we'd stop and hope it didn't hear, only running as a last resort. Throwing another rock now would raise suspicions. I stay perfectly still, listening.

 

After a few moments that seem to stretch on forever the footsteps resume, this time moving in the opposite direction. Good. I pause for a moment then throw another stone, this time further away, and half a second later throw a third even further. Ideally it should seem as if the elf and I heard the walker coming and began running away. Due to sound being muffled it won't think it's strange that it can only make out a few sounds. I hope. Sure enough the footsteps speed up, not to something that can be called a run but definitely faster.

 

I wait until I can't hear the abyss walker any more, then I turn back and quickly return. When I arrive back the tree arch is about half done, the branches clearly forming into a giant set of double doors. Over the next few minutes the process continues, the branches winding around each other again and again, forming an amazingly complex pattern. Just as the last branches find their place the whispering returns, nearly shouting now. The words are clearly comprehensible, though entirely alien, and I can hear the abyss walker's heavy footfalls as it runs though the forest. The set of woven doors swing open to reveal thick, unbelievably tall trees on the other side. The canopy is lost in shadows, nearly no light reaches the ground. Besides a single path leading ahead the trees are dense enough that I doubt the elf could squeeze between them. Definitely not the forest we're currently in.

 

"Alright, in we go!" The elf says, already stepping through the door. I grab the wooden creature and follow her through.

 

Looking back I see the barest movement in the shadows beyond the doors as they close, then they're shut and the voices around the abyss walker are cut off.

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