Chương 12: Book 1 - Chapter 12: Into The Valley Of Death Rode The Six Hundred

Dominic looked around for any other options. From what he could see on his side, the crevasse didn't go on forever. Though it was far enough away that it almost disappeared in the humid atmosphere of the forest, Dominic was pretty sure he could see the end to both right and left sides. It was certainly not a natural geological formation. He considered going around. Safer, Leo pointed out. Yes. Longer too, Dominic sighed.

He looked up at the sky, the lack of canopy over the crevasse giving him a good view of the sun. It had moved a good distance – further than he thought it should have. It was already more than halfway towards the horizon. I don't think we have time. Leo wasn't happy – nor was Dominic. But he headed over to the trunk nonetheless, placing one paw on the end half-buried in this side of the crevasse. His claws slid out without his conscious intention, his body reacting to his unease.

Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred, Dominic murmured, stepping onto the bridge with determination. His muscles were all tense as he did his best to judge how to keep his balance before actually heading out to where falling would have far more serious consequences than a few bruises. We're crossing the valley, Leo pointed out, sounding confused. It's a quote, Dominic informed him with a hint of exasperation, but Leo's genuine confusion had broken the tension. Dominic felt himself relax a touch.

Why was he so worried? Cats had excellent balance, and he'd already experienced this body's agility when descending the cliff face. Forcing away the fear that threatened to freeze him in place, Dominic stood up straight on the log bridge and focused only on what lay ahead. See, it's not that hard – practically a highway, he told himself as he stepped forwards, first one stiff paw at a time, and then, as he realised just how much easier it was to balance with four paws than with two feet, with more confidence.

As he reached a third of the way across, he felt the log begin to sway a little beneath his paws. He dug his claws into the dead wood instinctively. Careful, Leo urged him, sounding afraid. I'm doing my best, Dominic snapped back, pushed his companion's emotions away – he didn't need the lion's fear to fuel his own. After a few slow steps, Dominic got used to the way the wood shifted under each step. Never exactly comfortable, but increasingly confident that he could do this.

He hesitated briefly before entering the mist, not liking his reduced visibility and concerned about what else it might hold. But then he forced himself forwards. It felt like any other fog he'd walked through on his way to work – cold and wet. I wonder if I'll have aged by the time I get to the other side, he asked himself with a hint of amusement, a moment before wings beat near his ear and something bashed into his shoulder. It wasn't a hard impact, but it was enough to push his equilibrium very slightly off.

Reacting instinctively, he crouched down low to the branch, digging his claws on all four paws deeply into the wood. Looking up, he had to quickly turn his eyes away as something swooped at them. Cursing, he glanced sideways and saw the retreating form of a large bird disappearing into the mist – black, with a hooked beak and a long neck. It banked in the air, turning back to dive at Dominic again. Seriously?

Dominic demanded, turning his head to shelter his eyes and feeling the sting of its claws score across his head and ears. Prey! Leo snarled. Dominic was highly tempted, but…. If we try to grab it, we'll fall, he argued back. The lion was silent. Simba never had it this hard, Dominic grumbled as he continued along the bridge, crawling along and bracing whenever he heard the wing beats get closer. The bird became braver every time it swooped by without reaction from him.

Its talons scraped his shoulders; its beak snapped at his eyes. Dominic had had enough long before it actually stood on the log behind him and bit at his hindquarters, trying to eat him alive. Oh no you don't! he growled at it, centring his weight. Lifting one foot, he moved slowly until he was ready, then kicked out violently at it. The bird was knocked off the log with a squawk – and Dominic almost fell with it.

He'd braced, but had apparently underestimated the mass of the bird when he kicked, pushing himself dangerously far forwards. But he slammed the hind-paw he'd raised back down on the log and stopped himself from lurching forwards any further. Reckless, Leo criticised. Worth it, Dominic denied, though his heart was hammering in his chest at the near miss. It was odd, to admit, but he'd never felt more alive than he did in that moment, only inches away from death. Am I becoming an adrenaline junkie?

he wondered, then shook himself and continued edging forwards. Fortunately, his attack on the bird had made it more wary. It was still annoying, but it didn't land on the log again, flitting in and out of the mist, suddenly appearing near him with startling speed and then disappearing just as fast. It seemed to be trying to startle him enough to knock him off, but didn't dare come close enough to be attacked. The mist lightened a touch and Dominic caught sight of the end of the log. Almost there.

This bridge might not have been as difficult as Dominic had been expecting it to be, but he was still keen to be back on solid ground. The bird seemed angry that he was getting close to safety, and began biting at him again, its attacks increasing in frequency. No doubt it was hoping he would fall only a couple of metres away from the other side of the crevasse. Not likely. In fact, Dominic had a very different idea of how this would end. Yes, do it, Leo agreed eagerly, sensing the direction of his thoughts.

Pins and needles tingled in his hindquarters as the lion directed him where to concentrate his force. Dominic waited for the perfect moment. Wait. Wait. Now. He leaped forwards, jaws snapping shut around feathers and bone as his weight drove them both forwards. For a moment, Dominic feared he'd miscalculated. And then his hindpaws touched cold, hard ground and his heart settled. The bird's screeching cut off abruptly as Dominic adjusted his grip on its throat, his forepaws pinning it to the ground.

It scrabbled against him, but his grip kept its talons away from anything vulnerable. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. When the bird went limp, satisfaction surged through both him and the lion. Good hunt, Leo complimented him, feeling incredibly smug. Bird teased wrong lion. Absolutely, Dominic agreed, then blinked.

How odd – that satisfaction felt very different from when he'd made progress on a manuscript or earned a good grade at school. It had felt far more… predatory. Well, I am a lion now, he pointed out to himself, pushing away the sense of unease that pulsed through him at that thought for the first time. Dropping the carcass, he glanced back at the bridge.

The satisfaction that surged in him at his acknowledgement of the challenge he'd completed was far more familiar and served to sweep away the last of the previous unease. He hadn't changed that much. The bird carcass shimmered and disappeared just as the ape-creature's had. Dominic looked at the space it had been with dismay – he was more than a bit peckish now. Hopefully there will be food we can eat in the temple, he groused, then set off again.

The next section of jungle was more of a challenge to traverse than the earlier section – it was thick with trees and curtains of vines that made it difficult to spot the massive cracks that split the earth at irregular intervals. Even his enhanced perception from Realm helping him notice and process the shifts in the land more easily didn't make it easy. Dominic was forced to make repeated running leaps to cross the gouges in the earth.

He nearly fell several times, misjudging the distance or failing to see a crack due to the vines. Once he actually did fall when the ground vanished beneath his front paws during a jump. Before his mind had caught up, he had started tumbling into another narrow crevasse hidden beneath foliage. Panic exploded through him, a familiar feeling by this point. He didn't think; he just reacted, Leo's internal guidance enabling him to achieve something he hadn't known was possible.

Twisting his body in mid air with impossible fluidity, Dominic flung out his front paws towards the stone wall. One paw struck stone, then the other. His claws bit deep and momentum swung him violently sideways instead of down. Dominic crashed into the wall hard enough to drive the air from his lungs. But the one good thing was that he wasn't falling anymore. For several long seconds he simply clung there, trembling and feeling. Not only fear, but also that increasingly addicting joy that he'd survived.

And bruises. Definitely a few of those too. Then something shivered through him, familiar, yet different too in the way it suddenly made him want to run, to jump, to move. Something clicked into place and a message flashed up in front of his eyes. [Translocation: Unlocked Basic Stage 1 achieved Your body knows the way. Now teach it new paths.] Dominic took a moment to read the message, though this wasn't the time to contemplate it in detail.

Well, at least this struggle has earned something, he decided as he dismissed it. He'd consider the implications of his new Domain's description later; for now, he needed to get out of this crevasse and to the temple. Hopefully there wouldn't be too much of this left – as much as he appreciated learning the limits of his body, several muscles were aching, his claws were protesting their overuse, and the scratches on his shoulders from the bird's claws were annoying him.

Hauling himself out of the crevasse was a challenge, but Leo showed him exactly how he should distribute his weight and how to hook his claws into little cracks to give himself the leverage he needed. Continuing through the forest, Dominic found himself marvelling at the differences since before Translocation unlocked. It was nothing too overt, but he had spent enough time testing his limits in the last few hours to know that they had changed.

His movement was just a touch more fluid, his stride a bit faster, his leaps covering more ground. In fact, he almost overshot his target a couple of times before he and Leo both got used to the changes. Fortunately, there weren't too many more crevasses before he reached the edge of the forest, the flora changing unexpectedly quickly between rainforest and savannah. The temple lay straight ahead, the sun already starting to descend behind it.

Dominic didn't waste any more time and headed into the savannah, keeping an eye out for the next obstacle. The longer nothing attacked him, collapsed beneath him, or obstructed his path, the more tense Dominic became. No traps here, Leo suggested tentatively. Maybe, Dominic agreed, tempted to move faster. They had limited time, after all. No, he reminded himself. That's how even the best protagonists die – they get cocky and then don't spot the obvious danger.

Controlling his own impatience with difficulty, he forced himself to slow down and check every area before moving into it. A little bit later, his attention to detail paid off as his sharp gaze snagged on a small incongruity – an almost invisibly thin thread stretched across an otherwise clear 'pathway' between two dense patches of elephant grass. His faster processing drew obvious conclusions between one step and the next and he froze in place with one paw raised.

Look at this, he told Leo, with more than a little smugness at having his caution justified. What is? Leo asked suspiciously. Could be lots of things. Let's see. Dominic wasn't stupid enough to try to set it off himself. Instead, he found a stone nearby and kept his distance, rolling the stone forwards with one paw. The moment the stone pressed against the wire, there was a crack and a muted roar as a whole section just beyond the tripwire fell into a pit.

Leo emanated horrified shock – Dominic couldn't prevent himself from swallowing either, fervently grateful for all the stories he'd read where protagonists made their way through dangerous territory. That's… that's why we need to check every step, he murmured, Leo sending him still-stunned acknowledgement. They continued walking, slowing down even further, pushing both perception and processing to the limit as they evaluated every shadow, every crack in the dry earth.

Sun is low, Leo warned him after a time, his mental tone strained. I know, Dominic assured him, tense too. We'll make it, I promise. To his relief, he was right – they reached the temple before the sun touched the horizon, though it was very close. Dominic was certain by this point that it wasn't the real sun – he was pretty sure his internal clock wasn't that bad, and the bright orange ball was descending surprisingly quickly.

It was easy to find a door in the beehive – it was even framed like the door to an igloo. It had the familiar paw imprint – and 'Exit' written on it. Yet, when he rounded the beehive looking for any other entrance that might be there, Dominic found something strange that immediately made his eyes narrow in interest. A tree, the only one he'd seen in the savannah section, grew right alongside the beehive-like structure, its trunk pressed close to the wall and its branches almost embracing it.

Returning back around the temple, Dominic noted that the rest of the walls were utterly smooth, without even a crack indicating a hidden entrance. Dominic hesitated in front of the door. What? Leo asked, impatiently. Trap, you think? he asked, slightly more tentatively. Dominic shook his head. I doubt it. These doors haven't been traps so far – why would they start now? Then why wait? Because every time we've seen an exit before, there's also been a bonus room.

And so far, the only thing that's sticking out is that tree. Maybe we have to climb it to find the alternative route? Leo was silent for a long moment. Risk, he said finally. His communication was brief, but Dominic somehow knew exactly what he meant. It was a risk to take the time to look for the 'bonus' when the sun was descending so rapidly – and the bonus itself would most likely be a risk if the previous ones were anything to go by. Yes, he agreed.

But think about what we've gained from the previous bonus rooms. What if it's more of a risk in the long term not to take the bonus? The lion was silent for a moment longer. Do what you like, he replied finally. Dominic glanced up at the sky. The sun visibly dipped lower. He stared at the door – safety. Then he looked toward the tree – opportunity. Dominic ran for the tree.