Rain drenched Erich, beating down in waves as it obscured the landscape. He was on a road somewhere outside of Madla, two hours to the east of the hamlet, however far that was. In that time, he hadn’t seen anything of note. A tree here or there on small islands raised above the flooded rice fields where he could rest for a minute or two, but other than that, nothing but raised roads and fields as far as the eye could see.

  Not that he could see very far. Erich reached up to shield his eyes, trying to blink them dry from the constant rain as he peered through the endless shifting wall of gray water trying to make out anything from the sunken fields.

  It didn’t look like there were any garr laying in wait for him, but at the same time, he didn’t have much experience trying to spot the animals. They wouldn’t even have to completely submerge themselves to sneak up on him. Erich had no way of tracking ripples in the water through the storm. For all he knew, a half dozen of the monsters were in the shallows some ten feet away.

  He sighed, glancing up at the gray sky. There was no sun, so Erich didn’t have any real way of knowing what time it was. He’d been walking for… a while. Erich had counted something like twenty or twenty five of the square rice fields as he traveled past, but it was a bit hard to keep count. The landscape was virtually identical and almost impossible to see through the rain.

  Erich shifted his head back and forth before turning around. If there were garr around, he hadn’t seen them. At least so far, there wasn’t any sign of a nest, but there was a lot of ground to cover around Madla. He would likely be out scouting for several days. For now, it was time to head back.

  It was strange really. The trek westward toward Madla from the passage between worlds had a number of garr. Never in large enough numbers to threaten a pair of people with an ox, but it certainly seemed like their numbers were growing uncontrollably during the approach to Madla. Here, out in the rice fields to the south of town, there was nothing. It was like Erich was walking back on Hollendil but without any of the birds or small woodland creatures to keep him company.

  A shiver ran through his body. The rain wasn’t exactly cold. Tempest was noticeably more temperate than back home, and certainly much warmer than the bridge in between. Still, hours and hours of downpour left Erich soaked to the bone. Part of him felt like it wouldn’t be possible for him to ever feel dry again, no matter how much time he spent huddled around the fire the cinderborn workers kept running in the bunkhouse.

  He stopped for a second, setting his pack down and doing his best to cover it with his body as he unfolded Allthier’s map. The animal hide was slick with oil to waterproof it. Erich wasn’t going to risk it in the open for a prolonged period, but it certainly would survive much more abuse from something made from flimsy canvas or angels forbid, paper.

  His eyes flickered across the map around Madla, tracking what he thought was his route. Even with the map, actually knowing where he was standing was difficult, but at least now he knew what landmarks to look for.

  Erich folded it back up and slipped it into his pack before slinging it over his shoulder. Once again he reached up with his left hand, shielding his eyes. Somewhere in the distance there was an oak tree with a second major trunk splitting off from the first. Theoretically.

  He began walking again, straining his senses to look for garr. After about a half hour or so, Erich spotted the tree. Mentally, he revised his position slightly, placing himself about thirty fields from Madla.

  Minutes melded into hours, and the storm overhead didn’t even begin to fade. Silently, Erich began to debate with himself whether or not the eternal storm was better or worse than the endless starless night of the bridge between worlds.

  Occasionally, thunder boomed, echoing across the nearly endless flood plain. The sound would interrupt the nearly endless howl of the wind, but whatever lightning accompanied it was so far away that Erich couldn’t even see the flashes of light.

  There was no inspiration or majesty out among the rice farms, just rain and misery. More and more, Erich wanted to find a garr. The nest itself would be ideal, but at this point Erich was more than eager to find one of the feral creatures. At least a battle would distract him from the constant rain.

  About three hours later, around dusk, Erich got his wish. Between the fading light and the persistent storm he couldn’t quite see Madla despite the map’s assurances that it was nearby. One second he was pausing to shield his eyes to try and squint and look for the town itself, and the next his body was moving on its own, driven by some primal instinct to dodge.

  The garr zipped past, a flash of dark green that left the stench of rot in its wake. He wasn’t exactly sure how the animal had managed to launch itself from the rice field below, but Erich quickly backpedaled toward the middle of the road as another four or five of the creatures swarmed out of the water, clawing their way up the embankment toward him.

  Erich drew his sword, and settled into the first stance of the Magma Blossom style. The garr that had leapt at him scurried forward, its dark green body moving sinuously as it sprinted across the walking path.

  Mana swelled inside his body, sending streams of warmth from his chest to Erich’s limbs. The chill from the rain disappeared almost immediately. He could feel his skin heating up as he slipped further into the sword style.

  Just as the first garr got into range, Erich darted forward, his sword unerringly finding the animal’s head with the force of an erupting volcano. The thrust deflected off its angled skull, but it still hit with enough force to stun his opponent.

  Erich stepped to the side, bringing his sword up and hacking down on the animal’s stubby neck, half severing its head and finishing it in one swift blow just as its companions crested the top of the walkway.

  They weren’t terribly quick on land, but Erich had no desire to let the garr surround him. He lunged forward, sword leaving the shimmer of heat mirage behind it as he hacked downward.

  The garr he was targeting recoiled, but not quickly enough to escape entirely. Erich’s sword hit the creature’s shoulder rather than its neck leaving a deep gash. Before he had a chance to follow up, another garr snapped at Erich, forcing him to jump back.

  He swung his sword to the side, flicking a spatter of blood out onto the dirt path. Almost immediately, the beating rain washed it away.

  Ahead of Erich, the injured garr limped backward, replaced by a pair of its companions. His mouth tightened into an unhappy line.

  Three healthy garr filled the path. Killing a solitary garr wasn’t too much of a problem so long as he was careful, but three of them right next to each other was a bit much. If he made a move on any of them, its companions would retaliate immediately.

  Erich glanced to the side. He always could try to cut through the rice fields. The water shouldn’t be any deeper than waist high, but that seemed like an awful idea. As dangerous as the garr were on land, they were at home in the shallow water. That wasn’t even taking into account the treacherous footing. He’d only practiced his footwork on dry land and there wasn’t any way that Erich was actually prepared to fight an opponent while partially submerged.

  So that left him with two choices. Fight through the animals or make a run for it and hope that he could find another landmark to lead him back to Madla in the waning light.

  One of the garr lost its patience, rumbling toward Erich and snapping at him.

  Erich’s sword slashed downward, breaking the creature’s muzzle even as he danced backward. The garr yelped in pain, recoiling from the attack. Both of its companions surged past it, their jaws half open as they ran as fast as their stubby legs could carry them toward the lone human.

  Moments like this were what his body enhancement was designed for. Erich stepped to the side, swinging his sword at one of the two animals. It paused for a second, giving the other garr a chance to tense its entire body and launch itself through the air.

  He barely had a chance to get his sword up in time, cutting the flying creature from the air with a double handed swing that strained every muscle in his upper body.

  Before Erich had a chance to enjoy his handiwork, the remaining uninjured garr charged him. He backpedaled frantically, but the previous sword stroke had left him off balance, and Erich only made it a couple steps before he tripped over a rock and fell over backward.

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  The garr was upon him in the blink of an eye, clambering over Erich’s legs and shoving its fanged, slathering muzzle into his face.

  Its clawed and webbed feet dug into his flesh, drawing a hiss of pain from Erich as it drew lines of stinging red across his torso.

  He barely got his sword up in time, pressing the palm of his left hand into the flat of the blade for leverage as she shoved it into the creature’s mouth. It bit down, too dumb or excited to realize that it was chewing on sharpened steel rather than flesh.

  The garr spat Erich’s sword out, spattering his chest with its blood as it reared back to attack again. He hissed in pain as its claws dug into him, tearing skin wherever there wasn’t armor.

  His body was tough, hardened by his experience in Hell and suffused with mana but by the same token the garr’s webbed claws weren’t a joke. For a fraction of a second, Erich could feel his skin fighting back, resisting against the sharp insistent pressure of the animal’s talons as it tried to push off his upper thighs in order to attack him.

  Erich rolled to the side, the garr’s foul breath washing over his face as its jaws snapped shut just short of his chin. He brought his knee up, pushing off the animal’s soft underside just hard enough to knock the garr free, buying him a second so that he could scramble to his feet. All of the art and grace of Magma Blossom was gone, leaving him rolling in the mud with the animal as it snapped angrily at him.

  He barely made it to a standing position before it tried to bite him again. Erich ignored the pain from the lattice of cuts in his arms and legs as he jumped backward, barely avoiding the clumsy animal’s extended jaws.

  A shuffle of his feet brought him back into a stance that he could vaguely recognize as the Magma Blossom style. His sword cut through the sleeting rain, forcing the garr to awkwardly withdraw a step.

  One of its injured companions lunged toward them, rain streaming down the sides of the gash his sword had opened on its muzzle. Burning pain pulsed up Erich’s leg as he planted it, slashing downward with enough force to execute the garr before it could draw close.

  The uninjured animal paused, indecision reflected in its dull eyes as it contemplated Erich. Evidently, the garr’s instinctive bloodlust wasn’t quite enough to force it to charge directly onto Erich’s sword.

  He didn’t give it a choice. Erich’s feet barely touched the dirt road as he darted forward, swinging his sword low in an upward slash that opened up the hesitating garr’s throat, sending its body tumbling backward even as its blood spilled onto the muddy soil.

  A slosh to Erich’s right marked the remaining injured garr’s retreat. He held himself upright, sword at the ready despite the constant throb from his injured legs for almost a minute, eyes peeled as he searched for the return of his attackers.

  They were gone. It was impossible to know how far away the garr had fled to lick their wounds.

  With a groan of pain, Erich dropped down to one knee, the tip of his sword sinking into the mud. His pants were in shreds and claw marks ran up and down his legs and thighs.

  Erich closed his eyes. Almost immediately the image of the lightning struck forest appeared before him. He took a deep breath, willing his mana to flow into his injured limbs.

  The trees of the forest seemed to glow, swaying in the imagined rain storm as they became more vivid and precise. More real.

  Warmth filled his body, replacing the burning anger of Magma Blossom with something more tempered. It was the gentle heat of a summer day as the wind blew through the trees, bringing the scent of pine needles to Erich’s nose.

  The constant rain from the storm seemed to fade away, disappearing into the background as Erich returned to Hollendil. He could almost hear the squirrels chattering angrily as they jumped from tree to tree, alerting their companions to his presence as he hiked up a wooded hillside.

  It was comfortable in a way that he hadn’t felt in years, soothing aches and pains that Erich didn’t even know he was feeling even as the mana began to slowly close the wounds on his legs.

  He opened his eyes. The rain was still coming down in heavy waves, but the sky was much darker. Erich didn’t have any idea how long he’d been crouching on the walking path, but his wounds were mostly healed, leaving behind a webwork of angry raised scar tissue on his legs that was clearly visible through the rags that had once been his pants.

  Erich stood with a groan, turning back toward where Madla should be. The rain prevented him from seeing anything, but at least as of his last check of the map he was heading in the right direction.

  Twenty or so minutes later, just as the sky began to fully darken, he walked up to the town’s gate. Crude torches hissed and flickered underneath covers made of tanned hide that mostly kept the rain off of them, barely illuminating the flooded rice fields around Madla. Above, the town militia patrolled the misshapen walls, home-made spears clutched in their hands as they shuffled through the unending rain.

  Just as Erich made it to the doorway itself, an unfamiliar voice called out.

  “Open the gate and grab Derl, the human’s back.” A second later, the heavy wooden door opened with a groan, letting Erich inside the walls. Unfortunately, that didn’t do much to shelter him from the rain.

  He quickly began walking toward the mess hall where Derl’s silhouette was waving at him from just inside its doorway. About thirty seconds later, Erich was sighing with relief as he stepped out of the rain.

  Half of the town militia was milling about inside along with a couple of the farmers. In a corner, Allthier was participating in some sort of dice based game where the parties were wagering brightly painted chips of wood. Most of the cinderborn were watching on, and Erich almost immediately tuned in to a handful of side conversations as the various bystanders tried to speculate about who was going to win the next roll.

  “You look like hell,” Derl remarked, eyes roaming over Erich’s soaking armor and destroyed clothing. “Did you manage to find the garr nest already?”

  Erich slipped past the cinderborn fighter before slumping down into one of the rickety chairs.

  “I wish,” he replied. “The rain and water kept me from spotting a swarm of garr until they were too close. I managed to fight them off, but getting mobbed without help turned it into a tough fight.”

  “That’s the problem isn’t it?” Derl replied, leading Erich over to where a huge bowl of rice was waiting. “I can beat a garr in a one on one fight, but once they start to swarm you, it becomes exponentially more difficult with each opponent you add. If you can spot them in time, that usually means that you can control the distance between you and the garr and limit yourself to one enemy at a time. They can swim at a decent clip but at the end of the day stubby legs are stubby legs.”

  “Unfortunately,” he continued amiably, “they’re borderline invisible in the rain. It pains me to admit it, but one fight was all I needed to confirm that you’re better with your sword than I am. You’re much more likely to walk out of an ambush than me. The second I had two garr attacking at once, I’d need to run away, and there’s no promise that I’d even manage to escape.”

  “That makes sense,” Erich replied begrudgingly as he filled his wooden bowl with rice. In the corner of the room a chorus of groans erupted as Allthier raked in a pile of the brightly colored wood chips with a massive smile on his face.

  “I don’t have to like it though,” he said, turning back toward the rickety tables and chairs of the mess hall. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance that we can wait until the rain stops to send me out? It’s hard for me to serve as a scout when I can only see fifty or so yards.”

  “Sorry Erich,” Derl responded. “It’s called the rainy season for a reason. It might stop raining for one or two days a week, but that’s hardly enough time for you to scout properly. Unless we want to sit here for months and let the crops wither away, someone is going to need to go out there and search despite the bad visibility. If it were something that I could’ve done, I would’ve done it already.”

  He bit his lower lip, chewing on it for a second as he dipped his spoon into the rice. A moment later he popped it into his mouth. The rice was bland and borderline flavorless, but it was filling. Part of Erich longed for a little salt or some meat or vegetables to break up the stale uniformity, but he’d walked around Madla enough to know that it wasn’t in the cards.

  Everyone in town other than Derl was skinny and unhealthy. Erich didn’t know how much of that was malnutrition and how much was the consistently awful weather, but the one constant was that everyone was poor and barely had enough to care for themselves.

  A part of him squirmed at the prospect of even taking the five hundred bits that he’d already agreed to, but none of the villagers seemed upset with him. Rather, they looked at him with a level of hope and awe that he found uncomfortable, like he was a hero from an old tale rather than a weary traveler trying to make a little bit of money.

  “So it sounds like the south was a bust?” Derl asked, jerking his head toward the outdoors. “If you didn’t find any garr until you were most of the way back to town, I doubt that the nest is over there. I’d suggest trying the north tomorrow. If you can’t find any garr up there we’ll have to reassess, but it doesn’t make sense to me to keep searching an area that sure looks empty.”

  “I can do that,” Erich said with a nod. Another round of groans erupted from the other table as once again, Allthier won more of the brightly painted slips of wood. A couple depressed looking cinderborn were turning and walking toward the exit of the mess hall. “I would say that the north would be a nice change of scenery, but I doubt that’ll be the case.”

  “It’s pretty much all the same around here,” Derl replied with a grunt. “Nothing but fields and raised walkways until you reach the next town. Basically an unending grid of rice farms. People aren’t exactly moving here for the scenery.”

  Erich popped some more rice in his mouth, chewing it slowly. About ten seconds later, he swallowed.

  “Still,” Derl continued, leaning back in his chair and ignoring as it groaned dangerously. “Killing garr like that has to be fairly good for your aether totals. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere like this has slowed my development. I wish I had the confidence to leave the wall and hunt monsters like you.”

  “I suppose,” Erich responded, unconsciously reaching down to massage his legs through the torn rags of his pants. “What about the weather tomorrow? Do you think it’s going to rain again?”