RPAGF Chapter 276: Beast Tide
Chapter 276: Beast Tide
Tim sat on the rickety stool just inside the village gates, he struggled to stay awake whilst fighting off the slight drunkenness as a result of having one too many drinks before his shift as night guard started. He found himself half nodding off every now and then and was forced to fight to stay awake.
It had been a quiet night so far, very little activity, as usual really.
He often found himself wondering why this tiny village even needed someone to be up all night guarding the gate. Heck he wasn’t even an actual guard!
Due to the small size of their village the villages tended to rotate responsibilities when it came to guarding the village. He just had the unfortunate timing of being of duty the night that a whole group of adventures came into town.
He sighed whitfully to himself as he remembered some of the stories they had told him not too long ago. A life of action and adventure, danger and power, it was just so different to what his slow and boring life was.
Still even though he often found himself daydreaming about a life of adventure he knew deep down that it was not the life for him.
Tim was a simple man, and was not cut out for the dangerous lifestyle that adventures often lived. Still that didn’t help him dreaming of a different life, particularly on the long and boring night shifts such as these.
As he was lost in his own mind he almost failed to notice the slight rumbling off in the distance. It was only when he leaned too far back and fell out of his stool that he truly noticed the shaking of the ground.
He froze as his mind tried to process what could possibly be causing the ground itself to shake like this. Then, like a bolt of lightning it hit him.
Tim shot up to his feet, his gaze instantly sharpening as he fruitlessly gazed out into the inky darkness that consumed the rolling hills outside.
Weather it was his mind playing tricks on him or not he kept thinking that he saw the flicker of movement in the darkness, his heart rate sped up as the rumbling became more pronounced. Yet it was not until he heard a howl in the night, soon accompanied by dozens more that he finally accepted the horror that was encroaching towards their village.
He turned around and sprinted towards the guard post, slamming open the door he rushed inside and picked up the heavy brass bell that always rested on the table next to the door.
With shaky hands he rushed back outside and swung his arm causing the bell to ring out its cry of alarm.
The silence of night was abruptly broken by the loud ringing of bells and the frantic cries of people in a panic.
Violet and Luna both shot up from their shared bed, instantly both girls were on high alert as they listened to the sounds of activity and loud frantic ringing of a bell.
They were initially quite unsure as to what exactly was happening, but thanks to their heightened perception they soon learnt what was the cause of the sudden activity.
"Beast Tide! Everyone get up there a beast tide incoming!"
The two companions locked gazes with one another as they both heard the words shouted from outside, a small grin could be seen on both of their faces as they both thought the same thing.
"Well this could be exciting!" Violet said with a hint of eagerness in her voice, Luna only replied with a smile as the ice that secured their room melted away into nothing.
**
Atlas and his party all rushed out into the street, it had not taken them long to ready themselves for whatever may await them this night. Still they were adventures, it was their duty to protect those weaker than themselves, with every single person within this village fitting that bill he and his friends knew that their help would be invaluable this night.
The other adventuring group that they had temporarily teamed up with joined them out on the street a few short moments later. Atlas nodded to the other leader of their group, a burly paladin type with heavy armour.
With no more words spoken they made their way towards the gate where the lone guard was standing still running his bell.
Not that it was exactly needed anymore, given that everyone in the village was already awake by now, still he couldn’t fault the man, he looked absolutely terrified.
He was just a regular man, likely had next to no training and no levels to help in the upcoming fight either.
Atlas instantly noted that the two terrifying yet beautiful beastkin were standing in the open gate, half a dozen balls of light floated around the pair as they casually stood staring out into the darkness beyond, they arrested to be whispering to one another yet their eyes never left the darkness.
He shuddered slightly at the memory of how effortlessly that purple haired one had destroyed his magics the night before, still, given their apparent strength he knew that he would likely have to rely on them if they all wanted to survive this night.
With a deep breath and a second nod towards the paladin of the other group he gestured towards the two women and moved over to speak to them, the other leader followed along besides him.
Upon their approach the white haired one with the fluffy tail turned to face them with a casual smile on her lips. It may have intended to be reassuring, yet Atlas felt a chill run down his spine as he felt a very real chill grip his body when their eyes met. It was with some mild relief when her gazes turned to the paladin who similarly seemed to freeze up slightly under her scrutiny.
Atlas took another deep breath and spoke up. "Forgive me for skipping formalities, but can we count on you and your... companion to aid us this night in defending the village?"
He then gestured to the paladin besides him and continued. "We are both the leaders of our adventuring teams, just shy of reaching Lordship. But we would greatly appreciate the any aid that you two may provide."
The woman took a moment to answer, her cat like ears flickering in reaction to the encroaching rumbling. "Yes we will be helping, we will deal with the tier 4’s that are approaching, will you lot be able to deal with their lesser kin?"
Atlas felt himself stiffen at her words, had he heard her right? Tier 4’s as in multiple Lord level beasts? He audibly gulped at the thought of dancing multiple such beasts. He and the paladins teams combined had only just managed to slay a single tier 4 when they outnumbered it 10 to 1 , the prospect of facing multiple of them at once was terrifying.
Besides him the paladin spoke up, his voice gravely and sincere. "Do you mean to say their their are multiple lord level beasts?"
The white haired woman nodded whilst her winged companion turned to face them and spoke up. "Yup! I can sense at least 10, feels like one of them is in the late stage of the tier too." As Atlas and the paladin paled in utter horror the woman continued. "It should be quite the fun fight! We can leave the weaklings to you guys right? Should make for some good experience to you all."
Fun? What did this woman mean it would be fun? How could fighting a late stage Lord beast be considered fun? Just the level 83 beast that they had slain the previous day was a harrowing experience. To so casually state that their is at least 10 lords and one in the late stage and then call it fun! Atlas suddenly felt queasy as words failed him.
The white haired woman then turned to her companion. "So who gets to fight the big one? I kinda wanna do it myself, you okay dealing with the rest of them?"
"Aww but I wanted to fight that one." The winged woman pouted. "But, fine, so long as you cook next time we camp!"
The catlike woman chuckled at her companions words. "Sure sure, sounds good to me." She then turned back to Atlas. "Oh and I’m Luna and my companion here is Violet, do t worry about the Lords we will deal with them, we will also try to help you out if we get the chance. Also what are your names?"
Atlas found himself unable to speak, he was thankfully saved once again by the paladin. "My name is William, the mage here is Atlas. We will be in your care my Ladies."
Luna nodded at the man then turned around to face back out into the darkness beyond. "Well looks like things are about to get started." She muttered, then raised her voice so as to be heard by everyone else. "Ready yourselfs, they will be here shortly."
As she spoke the gathered defenders all tightened their grips on their weapons in both practiced ease and nervous fear. The adventures moved towards the front, fanning out so as to cover as much ground as possible.
Then the quiet of the night was shredded by an ear splitting howl as the unmistakable figure of a wolf moved close enough to be seen.