The Whispering Canyons lived up to their name.
It wasn't a howl, and it wasn't a roar. The wind threading through the jagged, red-stone spires sounded like a million people murmuring at a funeral. It was a constant, low-frequency thrum that grated against the nerves and made the teeth ache.
Silas walked in front, his boots crunching on loose shale. He wore a heavy canvas duster he'd salvaged from the wagon, the collar turned up against the abrasive sand.
Behind him, Elara walked with an unnerving lightness. She was humming again, a soft counter-melody to the canyon's moan.
"You're enjoying this," Silas grumbled, scanning the cliffs above. The walls rose three hundred feet on either side, turning the sky into a jagged ribbon of blue.
"I enjoy the acoustics," Elara replied. She hopped over a fissure in the rock. "It sounds like madness. It feels like home."
She quickened her pace, sliding up beside him. "Would you like some water, Master? Or perhaps I should carry your pack? It looks heavy."
Her tone was dripping with saccharine sweetness, a mockery of servitude.
"Stop it," Silas said.
"I'm fulfilling the wager," she smiled, batting her eyelashes. "Obedience. Docility. I am but a humble vessel for your will."
Silas rolled his eyes. "Your definition of 'humble' involves a lot of sarcasm."
"I can't help my tone, Silas. I was born a Queen. Even when I kneel, I look down on people."
Silas stopped abruptly. He held up a hand.
The wind had changed pitch.
The murmuring had stopped. The canyon had gone silent.
[SYSTEM ALERT] [ENVIRONMENTAL SHIFT DETECTED] [SOUND WAVES DISTORTED]
"Silas," Elara whispered, the sarcasm vanishing instantly. Her hand went to the stiletto on her thigh. "Above us."
Silas looked up.
Camouflaged against the rust-colored stone, they were almost invisible. Four shapes clung to the canyon walls like oversized geckos. They were sleek, hairless, and covered in plates of chitin that matched the rock perfectly. They had no eyes—just elongated, toothed snouts that twitched, tasting the air.
[ENEMY IDENTIFIED: ECHO-STALKER (LEVEL 8)] [TRAITS: BLIND, SONAR-SENSITIVE, PACK HUNTER]
They hunted by sound. And Silas and Elara had been talking.
SCREEE!
The lead Stalker unhinged its jaw and let out a piercing shriek. It wasn't just noise; it was a physical blow. The sonic blast slammed into Silas, rattling his equilibrium and sending a spike of pain through his eardrums.
The four creatures launched themselves from the walls, diving like organic missiles.
"Orders, Master?" Elara asked calmly, even as she drew her knife. She wouldn't act without a command. She was adhering to the bet with malicious precision.
"Cover my back!" Silas roared.
[THE HOUSE IS OPEN]
Time slowed. The grey filter of the System washed over the red canyon.
Silas analyzed the descent. Four targets. Fast. Airborne.
He needed to ground them.
[DRAW: 5 OF CLUBS (HAMMER DOWN)] [ANTE COST: 20 MANA]
Twenty. The debt meter in the corner of his eye ticked up.
[KARMA DEBT: 2%]
Silas didn't aim at the monsters. He aimed at the air above them.
"Sit," Silas commanded.
He slammed his fist downward.
A sphere of purple gravity erupted in the narrow canyon. It didn't explode outward; it crushed downward. The air pressure instantly multiplied by ten.
The four Stalkers, mid-leap, were swatted out of the air by an invisible giant hand.
CRUNCH.
They slammed into the canyon floor, the impact cracking their chitinous armor. Dust billowed up.
Three of them writhed, stunned, trying to push against the heavy gravity. The fourth, smaller than the rest, managed to scramble free of the zone and lunged for Silas's legs.
It was fast—too fast for a second draw.
SHING.
A silver flash blurred past Silas's hip.
Elara moved like liquid smoke. She intercepted the Stalker, sidestepping its snapping jaws with elegant minimalism. In one fluid motion, she drove her stiletto into the soft tissue behind the creature's skull.
It didn't scream. It just twitched and died.
Elara wiped the black ichor from her blade onto her coat, looking bored. "One down. Three to go."
The gravity field from the 5 of Clubs faded. The remaining three Stalkers screeched, scrambling to their feet. They were angry now. They clicked their jaws, triangulating Silas's heartbeat.
They split up. Two circled left, one charged center.
"They're triangulating," Silas noted. "They can hear my pulse."
"Then stop your heart," Elara suggested helpfully.
"I have a better idea."
Silas reached into the deck. He needed precision. He needed the suit of Death.
[DRAW: 2 OF SPADES (THE NEEDLE)] [ANTE COST: 5 MANA]
[DRAW: 2 OF SPADES (THE NEEDLE)] [ANTE COST: 5 MANA]
[PAIR BONUS ACTIVATED] [EFFECT: RICOCHET]
Silas held two spectral black cards between his fingers. He didn't throw them like daggers; he flicked them with the casual wrist motion of a card sharp dealing a hand of poker.
The cards flew.
The first card hit the center Stalker. It entered the open mouth, pierced the brain stem, and exited the back of the skull.
Kill.
But the card didn't stop. Because of the Pair Bonus, it ricocheted off the creature's bone, changing trajectory at a sharp 90-degree angle.
It slammed into the second Stalker on the left, burying itself in the creature's neck.
The third Stalker, seeing its packmates fall, hesitated. It turned its eyeless head toward Elara.
"Oh no," Elara whispered, feigning terror. "Master, save me."
Silas sighed. He snapped his fingers.
The second card he had thrown—which had been hovering in a delayed stasis—shot forward.
It caught the final Stalker mid-turn, severing its spine.
Silence returned to the canyon.
[COMBAT RESOLVED] [ENEMIES DEFEATED: 4/4] [LOOT: 4x ECHO GLANDS, 40 GOLD] [MANA: 70/100]
Silas walked over to the carcasses. He knelt down, using a skinning knife to extract the Echo Glands—small, vibrating sacs located in the creatures' throats. These fetched a high price with alchemists.
"Clean kills," Elara critiqued, standing over him. "Though the Gravity press was sloppy. You wasted mana. A simple visual illusion would have confused them long enough to stab them."
"They're blind, Elara," Silas said, dropping a gland into a pouch. "Illusions don't work on them."
Elara paused. She blinked. "Ah. Right."
She smiled, unbothered by her error. "Well, that's why you're the brains and I'm the beauty."
Silas stood up, wiping his hands. "We need to keep moving. The smell of blood will attract bigger things."
He started walking deeper into the maze.
"Silas," Elara called out.
He stopped. "What?"
"You missed one."
Silas spun around.
He hadn't missed a monster. He had missed the environment.
The cliff face above where the Stalkers had ambushed them was cracking. The 5 of Clubs had crushed the monsters, but the gravity wave had also destabilized the precarious red sandstone.
A massive slab of rock, weighing easily five tons, was tilting. Breaking loose.
Directly above Elara.
She stood there, looking up at the falling death with mild curiosity. She made no move to dodge.
"Elara!"
Silas didn't think. He didn't check his mana.
[THE HOUSE IS OPEN] [DRAW: 4 OF DIAMONDS (THE PRISM)] [ANTE COST: 15 MANA]
He extended his hand.
A barrier of hard light materialized over Elara's head just as the rock slam-dunked onto her position.
BOOM.
Dust exploded outward. The ground shook.
Silas held the barrier, gritting his teeth as the weight of the boulder pressed against his will. The mana drained rapidly to sustain the shield against the crushing weight.
He flicked his wrist, angling the barrier. The boulder slid off the hard light structure and crashed harmlessly to the side, shattering into gravel.
The dust cleared.
Elara stood in the center of the debris, untouched. The glowing diamond dust of the shattered barrier rained down around her like glitter.
She looked at the massive rock that would have flattened her, then at Silas.
"You saved me," she said softly.
"You could have moved," Silas accused, breathing hard. "You saw it coming."
"I wanted to see if you would catch me." She stepped over the rubble, walking toward him. Her eyes were shining with that dangerous, obsessive light.
She stopped in front of him, reaching out to brush the dust from his coat.
"You're wasting resources, my King. Saving the Hunter. Saving me. Your Debt is rising."
Silas checked the counter.
[KARMA DEBT: 3%]
"I'm managing the risks," Silas said, turning away. "Let's go."
Elara followed him, falling back into step. She resumed her humming.
But this time, the tune wasn't a funeral dirge. It was a wedding march.
A/N: I hope you enjoy this novel. Support by adding to your library and giving a power stone or two. Thank you.