Imani: You just passed us. We were behind the Bleak Congregation, and we pulled onto the road just as you passed. Elle is driving, and she drives like an old lady. But we’re behind you. We already lost a team. Crawler Henrietta. You know that one from Angola? She was new this heat. They hit a trap. It swallowed their mount whole, and she and her partner are gone.
Carl: Damn. Okay. I’m going to send our course. Can you guys deal with the cliff up ahead?
Imani: Yes. We have a wall-climbing and -descending kit. But it’s slow.
Carl: We’ll wait to make sure you make it.
[ 43 ]
The road jolted.The track suddenly got bumpier. We slowed down.
“Making the wheels bigger,” Olga said, all business. “Carl, keep your eyes peeled. We’re getting close to the outskirts of cannibal territory.”
A set of headlights appeared behind us. They flashed. It was Imani and Elle’s team. I knew they also had a mercenary in there with them, but I wasn’t sure who it was. Their vehicle was an APV similar to but bigger than the military vehicle driven by the Tigran team.
“Wouldn’t they only be cannibals if they were human?” Donut asked. “I mean, all sorts of monsters eat each other. Goblins eat each other, and I guess that makes them cannibals, but we don’t call them cannibals. We call them goblins. So what are these things? And do they eat things that aren’t each other?”
And that’s when the cannibals attacked.
Imani: Watch out! They’re in the trees above you!
Splat. Splat, splat, splat.The pale creatures started dropping from the foliage, except they hit the shield, and when they did, they exploded like bags of tomato soup.
Donut increased herTorchto full blast, and suddenly night turned to day.
All the trees and bushes on either side of the path started violently shaking as the creatures hissed and screamed at the light.
There were hundreds of them. Thousands. They just came out of nowhere, suiciding themselves against the shield like they had no sense of self-preservation whatsoever. A chorus of high-pitched screeches filled the jungle.
“What are they? They keep blowing up before I can see them!” Donut yelled.
“They’re human, I think, but they’re acting like bugs,” Olga said, voice full of wonder. “It’s like the bright light has driven them mad.”
Up ahead, a natural bridge crossed the path. The tall arch appeared to be made of a tree that had been deliberately bent over and tied. Hanging from it were dozens of skeletons. Decapitated, dried heads dotted the structure. Hundreds more random body parts and bones littered the arch like grisly Christmas tree decorations.
Standing on the bend, screaming and shaking their spears, were about a hundred of the cannibals.
They were pale, slightly pudgy human creatures. At least they appeared human, but I couldn’t see their heads. They were all completely naked except for little loincloths. There were both men and women, and the women were not wearing tops. They all carried simple spears, and each wore a horrific wood mask ripped off from some home décor store’s interpretation of an African tribe. Some carried primitive hide shields.
They seemed immune to the acid rain.
Splat! Splat!More dropped on the truck, only to explode against the magic barrier.
Olga tapped a gauge on the dash. “They’re overheating the shield!”
“?‘Vaguely racist,’?” Donut muttered. “I’d love to see its version of overt.”
Her claw caps disappeared, and blue light filled the cab. She swiped into open air.
HerAstral Pawappeared, swiping through the woods ahead of us, sweeping all the cannibals on the bridge away like she was sweeping pieces off a chessboard. Most flew off into the jungle, screaming. The spell wasn’t nearly as large as when she cast herWar Crimespell, which she wouldn’t be able to cast again until the twelfth floor, but it was still huge. Whatever was holding the arch down snapped, and the tree flipped up like a catapult, flinging the remaining cannibals in the opposite direction. Skeleton bones rained down. They crunched under the truck as we passed.
She waved a few more times, clearing the trees ahead. Trees all around snapped and broke. Screaming filled the jungle as we slowed.
Elle: Holy hells, Donut. Have I told you recently how terrifying you are?
Donut growled with annoyance. Her claw caps reappeared, and the giant paw dissipated.
Donut: IT’S A LOT STRONGER THAN IT WAS BEFORE, BUT IT DOESN’T LAST LONG, AND THE COOLDOWN IS MUCH LONGER NOW. IT’S SUPPOSED TO GET SHORTER AS THE LEVEL GOES UP, NOT THE OTHER WAY!