Chapter 43

Rain set his claws against the boulder and leaned his muzzle around it just enough to peek his yellow eyes and observe the levelers who were emerging into the cavern. He was wary of Lyra’s invisibility not holding up, mostly because the sheep girl seemed to lack confidence in it. That turned out to be a wise decision as he quickly spotted an Elf amongst the group of levelers, the Elf had a pair of violet lensed spectacles hanging around his neck on a chain.

“That Elf, he can sense the use of magic, and those spectacles, the instant he looks through them we will be completely visible to him. We- we might be in a little bit of trouble...” said Lyra, peeking around the boulder above him, her hands held tight on his ears.

“Why isn’t he wearing them now?”

“They continually drain mana, and not a small amount of mana, I’ve seen people faint after just twenty minutes of wearing them. It’s kind of a thing to give them to Elves since they can sense if any magic is being used and it’s a good time to put them on. Traps, invisibility, illusions. Truth lenses can see through all of it.”

“Wow, that makes your magic invisibility totally useless! I didn’t know you could be any more terrible sheepy but you continue to surprise me,” said Opal.

“H-hey! They aren’t that common and if you don’t know to look then they aren’t very good! I- I think!”

As they watched a large-bodied leveler emerged from the dark of the tunnel. It took Rain a moment to process what he was looking at. A Centaur, except their upper body was that of a muscular Gnoll. A cloaked figure wearing a wooden mask sat stiffly on their back. Their lower body was that of a wild horse, powerful and rippling with muscle, their broad hooves flared with fur. Rain narrowed his eyes. This leveler felt different from the others. Strong, yes they seemed very very strong. The way they held themselves, casually strolling across the frozen grass as though they owned the place indicated a confidence in their own power. She had the look of a high leveler, someone used to looking down on others and squashing monsters with ease.

“O-oh, it’s that person...” mumbled Lyra.

“You know them? Who are they? I didn’t know there was such a thing as a half Centaur half Gnoll.”

“She is just a Centaur, not a half, just a rare bloodline that you don’t commonly see outside of the plains. Centaurs have a thing for Humans and discriminate against Centaurs who aren’t the Human type. I’ve heard they won’t even let bloodlines like hers into cities that have a large Human type Centaur presence.”

“Is it like Gobbos and half Gobbos?” said Opal. “Half Gobbos are a threat to regular Gobbos so we don’t like them very much.”

Lyra shook her head. “I don’t know why they treat them that way, Centaur clans do their own thing.”

“You didn’t say who they are.”

“I only saw them in passing when I rescued Lady Glyrieth and took her to the leveler’s camp. That Centaur was there, she spoke to, uhm, the town of Lynthia’s Ranker! The town’s Ranker is in the dungeon right now!”

The stone beneath Rain’s claws suddenly shattered as his paw tensed, his claws shearing inward. Stone fractured across the boulder sending splinters of stone flying. Lyra yelped as stone peppered her legs.

Rain blinked and looked down to see the broken stone beneath his paw. He slowly removed his digits, stone dust coming away with his fur. He flexed his claws. The Ranker was here? In the dungeon? So close?? He didn’t know how he felt about that. Dark and terrible memories began to stir, like a great bear waking from winter hibernation.

“Y-you don’t like the Ranker that much?” squeaked Lyra.

Rain remained silent.

“What was that?” said one of the Human levelers, turning toward them.

“Oh no! The stone splinters went outside the range of my skill!”

The Centaur turned her head. “What is it?”

“I thought I heard something, Like small stones hitting something.”

Rain looked at the levelers and then looked back at the fractured boulder. Already the stone was reforming, shifting and blurring into place. If he squinted he could see that there was some kind of illusion over the rapidly filling crack, a temporary disguise while the skill repaired the stone. Unfortunately, it was a little too late.

The Centaur crossed her arms. “Hrm. Keep in mind that there are, supposedly, Panthara around here. Drawing in the unwary with a sound is a trick they like to use. One wrong move and,” she curled her hand into a fist, “you’ll be eviscerated and lose your guts.”

“You’ve fought one of them before mistress, uh, Drassi?”

The Centaur traced a scar that ran down her arm, her fur had grown over it askew.

“No, I didn’t fight one, I fought a pack of ‘em.”

The group of levelers all snapped their gazes to her, their backs straightening, suddenly a lot more uncomfortably conscious and aware of the power level of the Centaur.

“Y-y-y-ou d-did?”

“I wouldn’t recommend it. I’d rather avoid fighting any ever again if I can help it, horrible nasty shitters that they are.”

“I don’t believe it was a Panthara unless Panthara’s have taken to using magic,” said the Elf of the group. He squinted at the boulder by the entrance and his fingers reached for his violet lensed spectacles.

“You sense something?” said Drassi

“Hmm, I’m not sure, there’s something ... Some strange magic...”

He raised the spectacles to his eyes and furrowed his brow. He removed them and then put them back on, comparing.

“Someone used magic here, I’m just not sure what. I’m not seeing anything unusual.”

The Elf closed on the boulder, looking over it carefully, rounding its side.

“I can feel it, something happened here very recently.”

He put the spectacles to his eyes and ... nothing, there was no one there and the stone looked perfectly natural and whole. He frowned.

“The lenses show nothing. Whatever it was that was using magic is no longer here.”

“Perhaps our erstwhile Rescuer is nearby. I would love to get my mitts on all the gold that filthy rich snake asshole is offering,” said the Centaur, her eyes roaming around as though looking for a sign of the Elf-sheep. She turned to face the chilly cavern. “Keep the lenses on for now, see if you spot anything amongst the trees.” She strode forward and the group followed.