Chapter 18 - One Week to Lillinberg (Day 3)

The plan was quite simple. Only three steps. Step one was obviously to find a dire deer, easily done with Clint’s eagle eyes and Luna’s Detect Magic spell. Step two was to isolate it, a job for Sol’s fire magic; He was to create three walls of flame, cutting off the creature’s path and forcing it toward… Step three, Luna would emerge from hiding and ambush the creature, casting a spell to strike it down with a single blow.

Although he was unfamiliar with the woods, Clint acclimated quickly when it came to stalking prey. He climbed a large oak, quiet as a cat and found a perch from which he could observe the target.

While he had been told of the creature’s appearance, it made witnessing one in person no less strange. Its face was long and large, more like a horse than a deer. It had a stocky body behind it that sagged in the middle, supported by pillars of firm muscle that were a far cry from the typical thin and nimble legs of regular. Its horns were the most impressive, spiralling towers of keratin that turned and curved and grew into themselves. Dire deer lost the ability to shed, and as such their horns would grow ad infinitum, the pain of which often drove them even further into their berserker rages.

Target identified. Clint watched for a moment, observing how it thrashed about. It made enemies of rabbits and birds that happened to be in its proximity, charging toward them and attempting futilely to crush them underhoof. He almost wished he could spare a bullet to put it out of its misery.

He threw up a hand, a signal for Sol to begin his spell. Immediately, the prince began the incantation to aid him in the precise spellcasting he was undertaking.

Soon enough, walls of fire began to form. First on the left, which sent the deer recoiling. It sprinted directly opposite, but found its path cut off by one on its right. It turned toward Sol, stamping its hooves ahead of a charge, but was then cut off by the final wall. Its violent nature was overtaken by its basic survival instinct, retreat became the only option, so it turned and fled toward Clint.

Luna was the final piece, already running at the sight of the first wall. She was equidistant between Clint and Sol, allowing her position herself based on the deer’s movements. It was an ideal role for her, she was the only one fast enough to beat it in a footrace and she possessed the magical power to easily kill the beast. She was perfectly suited to be the finishing strike of their combination.

“The only issue with this plan is which spell to use…” Luna mused, dashing through the woods to cut off the deer. “Munditia’s too destructive, anything lightning-based will burn, even something simple like Bolt is probably too weak… No, for this. I need something new...”

Thanks to her research, she had just the thing. Glacia, a second level ice spell she had been studying as of late. She’d not used it yet, but there was no time like the present. As she came to intercept the charging beast, she began the incantation. It was composed of all harsh sounds, reminiscent of chattering teeth.

The deer didn’t register her as she appeared in its path, still in a blind panic. If it didn’t notice her, it certainly wasn’t going to notice the fact it was dead. The bolt of ice magic fired through its entire body in a quick, clean shot, boring a hole through it like it wasn’t there at all. Its blood froze the instant it seeped out, preserving the wound perfectly.

With a deep breath, Luna smiled, satisfied with her performance as she stood over her kill.

“No good.” Clint remarked from above.

“What do you mean ‘no good’?” she protested.

“Meat’s ruined.” He said plainly, switching his attention to climbing out of the tree.

Soon, Sol returned, also inspecting the deer. “Wow. What’d you do to it?” he looked at Luna wide-eyed.

“Glacia. Not bad for my first time, right?” She beamed.

“For sure!” Sol patted her on the back, earning an even larger smile from his sister. “But…”

“But what?” Luna’s face dropped into an irritated glare, she hated being left in the dark.

“Look at the meat.” Sol said hesitantly.

Finally Luna inspected the meat. It was grey and ugly, fibres contracted and dehydrated. Even as Sol cut into it looking for something salvageable, it was ruined all the way through.

In a vacuum, it was an impressive feat, and if the goal was to purely impress with sheer magical power, she’d have succeeded with flying colours. Unfortunately, they needed to eat, and this had only gotten them further from their goal.

“Ah well.” Clint shrugged, already continuing his way north.

“No, it’s fine, we can just find another…” Luna began, scrambling to cast Detect Magic again. No hits. It seemed the fire had scared all the other dire deer off. “Or maybe we could-”

“‘S Fine. Give it a day, let ‘em settle.” Clint insisted.

“Yeah, don’t sweat it. It can’t be helped.” Sol smiled, continuing behind Clint. “We’ll just try again tomorrow.”

Luna grumbled to herself, hesitant to continue with her wrongs unrighted. It truly could not be helped. Most mages could easily manage the amount of mana put into a spell, opening a metaphorical valve that would only let a small percent of their power through. However Luna couldn’t achieve such a thing. Her magical reserves were so great that any usage of them would occur at maximum capacity. It was like pulling the plug on a great reservoir; the sheer volume caused an incredible flow that couldn’t be managed. Even operating at a minimum capacity, flash-freezing the deer could not have been prevented.

They decided to go hungry that night. They still had two cracker-breads, and if push came to shove they could make it all the way to Lillinberg on just those. Although, that knowledge didn’t make sleep come any easier.