The sun was slowly descending, and the afternoon was well advanced when they finally reached the third elite. The second elite they’d found had been a brief and uneventful repetition of the first, and another new – disappointing – piece of equipment in what looked like a half-buried woven basket.

 

 

Since nobody among the team had Agility as its Professional requirement, the point of agility was deemed wasted by the entire team. Ira had a skill that seemed to use or rely on Agility, but what it did was unclear from the skill’s descriptor, save for increasing its cost. It was still an improvement on the previous gear on the other aspects, and, by consensus, the belt went to Jonathan who was the only team member without a common or better quality one.

That third elite hyena was close to the shore, the “isthmus” that seemed to mark the spot for these tiny and barely marked. The hyena himself looked like it was sunning himself upon the sparse ground. But the real threat seemed to be the roaming packs of hyenas nearby, usually running at full speed. They came up to the elite, yipped to his obvious displeasure, snapped back and forth some biting intimidations, and then departed back before the elite even roused himself to answer the provocations.

“It’s very exposed. We need to make sure no pack sneaks on us,” Jonas said.

Ira pointed at the elite.

“It’s the same level and probably fights the same as the first two, so it’s not very dangerous. The packs aren’t big, but you’re right. If we get both at the same time, we’ll be in trouble,” he added.

 

The team took its time, carefully picking packs until it looked like there were no further hyenas coming up to the lone elite. Jonas wondered briefly if he enjoyed the respite. Then, they fell upon their third isolated target.

 

Plains Lake Hyena: 972XP/6 contributors = 162XP

 

 

“Interesting mix,” Ira commented as he fingered the belt, which looked like leather with large chain links sewn over it.

“If you don’t want it, I can take it,” Laura replied.

“Helps with your sword,” Jonathan noted.

“And more damage on the sword means more defence from my latest skill anyway,” he said, swapping out his flimsy mail belt for the new one.

 

 

Jonas raised his hand, stopping the team. Up ahead was a long, stretched peninsula, leading into the lake proper. It felt like another elite area. But what had stopped him was no elite.

 

 

“Wow,” Ira said.

“That’s a nasty dog,” Guss added.

Jonas made a face.

“We were lucky not to go down another floor in that cellar,” he said.

Alton’s head turned to look at him.

“Uh?”

“If that’s the step above elites you face toward the end of a lair, we’d have been overwhelmed even more than the second floor.”

Gus raised his staff.

“But we’ve gained levels now.”

Jonathan kept his gaze locked on the patriarch hyena, before adding his own comment.

“If we take that down, then we’ll probably have one of the lairs we need doing.”

Jonas couldn’t dispute that.

“So, as usual, let Ira go in first to catch his attention, then we down that dog as fast as we can.”

 

Hyena stink affects you. -1 Mind every 3sec, -1 Health every 5sec.

 

“Pfew, this one is worse.”

The enormous hyena started snapping at Ira, looking to take hold with his oversized jaws. They clamped at his hip, and the critter jerked its huge head, prompting a huge notification to match the chomping sound.

 

Hyena tears at you. 36 (39-3) damage (26+4 defence)

 

“This one is going to hurt a lot,” Ira said, shaking the beast from its grip.

“Not kidding, I’m not going to wait until you take more bites,” Guss told him, grimacing as he started to pump health back into the Defender.

Meanwhile, the team moved to their usual positions, with Laura on the left flank of the hyena, Jonathan on the right, and Alton facing the back of the hyena. After a second Alton moved back toward Jonathan.

“Uh?” he said.

“You’re not the one who faces his rear end. The stink is worse there,” Alton replied. “And the Labyrinth notification agrees,” he added.

At that moment the hyena turned his head and snapped on Laura’s hand. Her hammer nearly slipped from her hand at the surprise, but she managed to hold it despite the teeth sinking in her hand through her flimsy gripping gloves. She felt thankful that the rugged underside was there, as she clenched her teeth, feeling blood oozing under the leather.

 

Putrescent Bite succeeded. -3 physical stats, -3 Health/2sec

 

Ira countered by kicking the beast, but the irate beast started snapping bites all around. Alton managed to avoid the biting, but Jonathan was also caught by surprise. The two bitten members’ health, already affected by the stink, started dropping slightly faster.

“Guss?” she asked.

“Can’t do!” he countered. “I’m already at nearly half aether keeping Ira from dropping too low already.”

“That dog is at half health. Ignore the bleed and keep hitting,” Jonas said, looking at his own aether level, which looked worse.

 

The beast’s health kept on dropping, which resulted in the patriarch becoming enraged somehow. He started turning and tearing in earnest at anyone in range of his jaws, and his biting did massive damage. Pretty soon both Laura and Jonathan got their health down below half as they got torn at their calves. Then Jonathan yelped as the dog bit him again for a massive 45 damage, bringing his health total to 50.

“Get out of melee!” Jonas yelled.

Jonathan backpedalled, but the hyena launched himself toward the man. Jonas countered with an Air Burst, trying to push the hyena out of range of his powerful jaws. Ira turned, interposing himself between the patriarch and Jonathan, and kicked the beast away as well.

Guss threw healing toward the retreating Watcher, but at that moment, the beast charged, knocking Ira aside.

“Kill it! Kill it!” Laura screamed as Jonathan turned in panic, looking for a place to flee. He then froze, looking at the hyena pack that was passing next to the peninsula’s exit, cutting off that possibility. At that moment, the patriarch’s jaws snapped on his calf.

 

Lake Hyena Patriarch: 1533/5 contributors = 306XP

You have completed Ovildian Hyena Lake Lair

 

The team looked in dismay. Jonathan’s body lay spread-eagled, the patriarch’s jaw still clamped on the trousers.

“No. Noooo…” Ira yelled.

“Is he… dead?” she said, looking sick.

 

 

“I… think,” Jonas said, looking at the zeroed indications.

“Blazes. Did everything, but that dratted… son of a bitch…” Ira muttered.

Jonas kneeled down, trying to move the beast away from Jonathan.

 

 

Jonas jerked his hand back. He then touched again gingerly the corpse of his teammate, bringing the same notification back to his mind’s view. The duration was slowly ticking down.

“Bloody…” his words dried up.

“What?” Ira asked.

“Check this? There’s still a… descriptor.”

Ira bent over Jonathan’s body, then swore as well.

“What’s this health required…”

Jonas immediately turned to Guss.

“Guss. Heal Alton. Fast!”

“Uh? What’s this about.”

“We need 200 health for… Jonathan. He’s the highest with enough health.”

Alton’s head whipped back and forth between Jonas and Guss, uncomprehending.

“Come here. Touch him, you’ll see.”

Alton knelt next to the body, then jerked back his hand.

“Satan’s balls! Does this mean…”

Jonas interrupted.

“Can’t be anything else. Guss? What are you waiting for!”

“Aether. I’m slowly getting it back. If I start casting now, it’s not going to regenerate further.”

The team ignored the slowly decomposing hyena, moving Jonathan’s body to the side. Their “normal” regeneration started to kick up slowly, while Guss pumped all of his aether into frenetic heals. Finally, Alton’s health reached 211, and he placed his hand back on the body, acknowledging the descriptor’s request. His health instantly dropped to 11, accompanied by a wrenching sensation.

Sacrifice. -25% of potentials and vitals.

 

Jonathan’s screamed as he sat, bowling Alton over. He turned and heaved to the side, retching.

Lingering Death. -50% of potentials and vitals, regenerations halved.

 

 

“What… what happened?”

The rest of the team looked at each other, unsure how to broach the subject. Then Jonas spoke.

“You died.”

“What? What do you mean… I died?”

Jonathan then contemplated his status, eyes blinking repeatedly.

“I have… lingering death?… That’s… true? I really died? How did you?”, he said, looking at Guss.

“Not me. Well, not entirely…” the Mender answered.

Alton sat next to Jonathan and grasped his shoulder.

“That’s… well, me. The Labyrinth lets us sacrifice our health to bring someone back from the dead. As long as you can, and you’re fast enough.”

He contemplated the lake.

“So I did.”

Jonathan grasped the hand.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. We're all friends now.”

He paused.

“Although I never expected to do miracles in my life.”

 

“What did we get?” Jonathan asked after a while, the pallor on his face still obvious.

Laura turned around, searching. She spotted the usual box not far from where the patriarch hyena had prowled.

 

 

The robes were a very light grey, nearly off-white, with a bare hint of trim at the end of the sleeves. She handed them to Jonas silently, and he took the proffered garment without comment. Looking back at the status of the team, he sighed.

“Let’s head back to the Plaza. With those penalties, we’re done for now, I think. Not going to fight more hyenas just to get some experience like this.”

The rest of them nodded. Then, lights swirled around the team.

Just before the Recall brought him away, Jonas contemplated the deceptively quiet lake under the slanting rays of the sun. They had nearly bitten more than they should have. As the Plaza appeared, he reflected on what else could have gone wrong. If Guss had fallen… or even Ira.

If his friend had died instead… none of them could have brought him back. None of them had enough health to do so.