For almost an hour, we waited and watched the darkness. We stayed as still as we could and kept our conversations to whispers, not wanting to do anything that might put off an approaching beast. If anyone got too loud or started roaming away from the their lure, Rutmonlir would smack them across the back of the head, a none-too-gentle reminder to stay on task.
The silence suited Vesma. Any time Kegohr and I started up a whispered conversation, she glared at us until we shut up. The warmth of the day made the waiting pleasant, but the prospect of earning more magical techniques kept me eager. I ignored the cramp in my leg until it became too much to bear, and I was just getting up to stretch it when the first ember sprite appeared in the cave mouth.
I froze and watched the strange creature emerge from the cavern’s dark entrance. It was three feet tall and seemed to be made of burning coal with seams of fire shining between blocks of blackness. Shaped almost like a human, it stood on two legs with arms held out to either side. But it had a strangely rounded body, like an exaggerated pear, and the waddling movements of a duck. It wasn’t exactly a fearsome creature, but then, the wood sprites in Danibo Forest had almost seemed cute, and they were as deadly as any lion or bear from back home.
The creature swiveled around as its blazing yellow eyes peered from its tiny head. It took in the range of lures, apparently torn between them, then took a tentative step toward ours.
“Come on,” I whispered. “Come to me, you lovely little chunk of Vigor.”
With a pattering of small feet, another sprite emerged from the cave mouth, then another, and another. The sound grew as they swarmed out of the cave—first a handful, then a dozen, then 40 or more of them. The air smelled of smoke as they approached the lures, and they waddled faster as those at the rear tried to push their way through.
The first sprite reached our lure and grabbed hold of it with both hands. The creature tried to carry away its prize, but I tugged on the line and dragged it toward the rock where my group lay. The sprite looked up, saw me, and let out a hiss like water steaming off a burning brand. The other creatures joined in the noise, and their mouths opened to reveal flaming tongues and rows of pointed teeth.
“Keep it up,” Kegohr whispered. “This one will bring the rest to us.”
I tugged on the lure again, but the sprite released the item and leapt toward my location behind the rock. The others let out giddy squeals as they noticed their fellow had found something, then swarmed toward my position.
The other guild teams were still attempting to draw the sprites to their lures, but only a few stragglers were discouraged from surging toward me.
I drew my sword and swung just as the first sprite came within reach. It jumped over my attack and landed on top of my sword. It hissed at me, and retractable claws shot out from its tiny hands. I reared back, just a second before those little blades would have cut open my face, and flipped my sword around. The sprite tumbled to the ground, and I delivered a well-aimed chop that sliced off an arm.
The creature screeched and staggered back. I lunged after it and ran it through with a single thrust.
The move put me in among the sprites that pounced at me from all sides. I couldn’t see my teammates because of the sheer number of creatures attacking me with their claws as they sliced me open. The gashes were only small, but I didn’t want to die a death of a thousands cuts. There were so many of them that they had trouble doing much more than punching me with tiny fists and grabbing onto my limbs. I’d become a human ship covered in sprite-barnacles. For such small creatures, they had a lot of strength, and I staggered beneath the tsunami of blows.
“Bit off more than you can chew?” Rutmonlir roared from atop a boulder. “You cocky bastard!”
Then Vesma and Kegohr threw themselves at the swarm of enemies. She knocked the creatures away with flying swipes and kicks, and he tore them from my body before slamming them against the ground. Vesma kicked a sprite in a leaping maneuver that would have rivaled any of the World Cup’s best strikers. Kegohr pulverized another with the end of his mace, its smoking form like a giant squashed bug crushed beneath the weight of his weapon.
With my body mostly free of sprites, I began taking them out with precise swings and slashes. My sword became caked in a thick substance that resembled lava, except it didn’t melt my sword. Every time I struck a sprite, the lava fell away, and a creature died. Soon, I was surrounded by sprite corpses, but I didn’t let up.
As a sprite charged at me, I launched thorns at it from the palm of my hand. The wooden spikes burst into flames as they hit its body and turned to ash before they could do any damage.
Just like a video game, wood was ineffective against fire. I wondered whether Tolin had been serious when he’d said learning wood techniques would give me a competitive edge; it seemed almost completely useless against my current foes. I’d just have to come up with some other way to kill them.
Another sprite dove at me from the air, and I wheeled around just as it came within striking distance. The heat of its body was like a roaring
