Portal to Nova Roma: Venice by J.R. Mathews

Author:J.R. Mathews [Mathews, J.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-23T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

I found a place to rest as the sun rose around me. Wriggling down into a small break in the ground, I covered myself with some loose brush and dirt. Closing my eyes, I managed to sleep for a couple of hours. I was awoken by the cries of two monsters fighting nearby, but neither appeared to notice me, more focused on their fight than the shadowy figure half buried in the ground, apparently. When the fight ended, and the victor finished eating its fill and finally wandered off, I sat up, cleaned myself off, ate a small meal, and set out once again.

I traveled through the afternoon without much issue, my newly empowered armor helping me hide more effectively than it had before. As the sun was setting, I sensed a group of ten monsters approaching my direction rapidly. I had stopped to admire the sunset for just a moment when the group of monsters entered the range of my Monster Hunter perk, alerting me to their presence. I ducked down and concealed myself as best as I could, cursing myself for taking a moment to enjoy the beauty of the sunset.

The monsters didn’t turn aside, continuing in my general direction, so I hastily threw some rough sand and dirt over me to give myself some more cover. When the monsters got closer, I risked raising my head ever so slightly to get a view of them. The monsters I sensed were five lizardkin and their mounts. They didn’t seem to be aware of me as they scanned the horizon, on watch for threats from afar. It was just an unfortunate coincidence that they happened to be patrolling right where I was traveling.

I waited, watching them from the corner of my eye as they rode swiftly across the flatlands. Just as I was about to lose sight of them, I saw one raise its hand, signaling the others to stop. Their raptors immediately dug their claws into the earth, sliding to a stop in a sudden cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, the lizardkin began to talk among themselves, and the one that had signaled for the stop was pointing in my general direction.

The lizardkin pointing in my direction had no weapons, instead wearing the primal-looking headdress. My suspicion was that the lizardkin had no visible weapons because it was a mage or priests of some kind, giving me a sick feeling that it could somehow detect me where I hid. The group of lizardkin debated among themselves for a minute until the unarmed lizardkin began yelling at the others, gesturing aggressively in my direction.

The others finally obeyed the unarmed lizardkin, guiding their raptors toward where I was hiding.

They spread out as if to surround me, erasing any doubt I had about whether or not I had been detected. I frantically debated what to do. I could try to run, but the speed of those raptors easily outpaced even my fastest sprint, and they likely had significantly more stamina.

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