Plum Parrot
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AA 1.56 - Sleep Deprived
🕑 Added 2025-07-16 21:05:06 +0000 UTCHope you enjoy today's chapter! Thanks for reading and supporting the story!
-Plum
56 – Sleep Deprived
Andy lay in his bed, windows open to the cool breeze, thankful that in that regard at least, the System seemed to have wrought a pleasant change over the desert. The more he thought about it, though, the more he wondered if that were true. If it were this much cooler in the middle of summer, what would winter be like? Would all the desert fauna die? Maybe mana would have a similar effect on the cacti; maybe they’d adapt to the changing climate.
Groaning, he shook his head, trying to push the busy thoughts from his mind. He needed to sleep. He’d put three new traps down, figuring he could always cancel one or two if he needed mana for something. As it stood, he was currently down to a whopping fifteen. His Shadow Lance was still active, eating some mana, but each of his trap glyphs took another forty. Still, he pitied any enemies who tried to sneak up the trail in the remaining hours of darkness.
As the thought crossed his mind, an idea came to him. “Enemies…” He wasn’t sure it was practical, but he wondered if there was a way to test a person’s intentions using the magic of his Scorchmark Glyph. At the very least, he ought to be able to tell if someone meant harm to him. Even so, he wasn’t sure that was something he could condone, at least not by force; it reminded him of dunking “witches” under water to see if they would drown. If he gave them the option, though…
Andy’s mind was spared from further deliberations or musings on the day’s events when he finally slipped into sleep’s heavy embrace. Andy always slept the best in the early hours of the morning; that was when he dreamed. Whenever his alarm woke him before he experienced that part of his sleep cycle, he was always groggy and unrested. That night, he’d lain down in those early hours, and it seemed life didn’t intend to allow him to sleep the morning away.
Long before he got a chance to experience some deep slumber, the sound of someone banging on his trailer door brought his eyes open with a start. When the banging came again, he lurched out of bed, scowling and red-eyed, and stomped down the hall to the doorway. As the banging continued, he threw the door open and growled, “What?”
Bernice stood outside with Tucker and Omar, and none of them looked any more rested than he felt. “Sorry, Andy—” Bernice started to say, but Omar cut her off.
“People are here to see you. They said you spoke to them last night. Lucy and some others are watching them down at the bottom of the trail.”
“What the hell?” Andy squinted at the sky. “What time is it?”
Tucker shrugged. “Not sure, but, like, a few hours after dawn.”
Andy looked from Tucker to Omar, then to Bernice. They all looked rough. “Did any of you sleep?”
Omar shook his head. “Nah, man. A few of us were digging graves.”
Andy groaned and stepped into his sneakers. “Dammit, I’m sorry. I should have helped with—”
“Nah, cut that out, Andy,” Tucker interrupted. “You’ve hardly slept since day one. I sleep during the day plenty, and—”
“And me too,” Omar interrupted. “We wouldn’t have woken you just now, but those people described you personally.”
Andy grabbed his spear and jumped down, pushing his door shut. “Yeah, that’s on me. I’ll handle this. You guys get some rest. Let’s plan on a meeting around noon. People need to rest, or we’re gonna start making stupid mistakes. Between the sleep I got before we went out and the few hours I just grabbed, I’m feeling okay. Just wish I had a good coffee.”
“You want us to come—”
“Nah, seriously. Go on. You’ve got five hours or so before we gather up. I’ll spread the word in case people are expecting it earlier.” None of them argued, and Andy watched as they all started walking toward their trailers. He fell into step with Bernice, walking up the road toward the central lane. She didn’t seem to be in a talking mood. In fact, she looked like she was already half asleep on her feet. He was fine with keeping things quiet; he wasn’t awake yet, either.
While he walked, he looked at his improvement points and abilities:
Improvement Points: 3
Notable Skills or Spells:
(* denotes active bound abilities)
Tracking: 1
Spears: 4
Critical Mastery: 3
Sneak Attack: 2
Burnscribe: 1
Embertouch: 1
Rune of Extension: 1
Fire Tolerance: 1
Reaper’s Senses – Bound: 3
Shadow Lance – Bound: 1
Twilight Steps – Bound: 2
Veil of the Stalker – Bound: 3
Shadow Cloud – Bound: 1
*Kindlebrand – Bound: 2
*Scorchmark Glyph – Bound: 2
*Kindled Bonds – Bound: 1
He had three points, but he also had lots of places to spend them. He was close to another level in both of his classes, and he figured he might get a valuable new ability that he’d want to put points in. Then again, he might not, and he didn’t think it would hurt to improve his fighting ability while he was in his Pyroglyph Invoker class. He focused on Kindlebrand, trying to memorize the spell description:
Kindlebrand – bound: You sear a burning glyph onto a melee or ranged weapon, causing it to shed embers and ignite with each strike. The weapon deals bonus fire damage for several attacks, leaving smoldering wounds and scorching through armor or flesh. Mundane weapons will feel the strain of the fiery magic and may take damage with each use. Mana Cost: 15.
Then, he added another skill point to it. A wave of tingling, buzzing heat washed through his head. It was very unsettling—like, the kind of thing you’d assume meant you were having a stroke back before the System came long. When it was over, he looked at the spell description again:
Kindlebrand – bound: You sear a burning glyph onto a melee or ranged weapon, causing it to blaze with infernal fire with each strike. The weapon deals bonus fire damage for several attacks, and the flames will spread aggressively, seeping through armor seams and burning deeply into flesh. Smoldering wounds are harder to heal, and even magical protections may falter under sustained use. Mundane weapons will feel the strain of the intensified glyph and are more likely to take damage with each use. Mana Cost: 25.
“Damn,” Andy muttered. The spell certainly sounded more potent, but it also sounded like his spear might be in for an even shorter life if he kept using it. Even knowing the risk, he started casting it, eager to see the new effect. He laughed, though, when he couldn’t; he had too much mana tied up in Shadow Lance and his three Scorchmark Glyphs. Shrugging, he instinctively reached into the place where his mana came from and severed the tie to his Shadow Lance.
As the spell broke apart and the shadows fell away from his spear, he felt the mana slowly begin to accumulate in the center of his being. “So weird.” He was on the main lane by then, and only about a three-minute walk to the gate. Nobody looked to be watching the gate itself, but he caught a glimpse of one of the current patrollers walking the edge of the plateau.
As Bernice turned off to stumble toward her trailer, he tried the spell again, pouring some mana into lines of fire as he scrawled them out on his spearhead using just his finger. The rune was brighter than before, its flames hot and menacing as they flared and then faded to embers. Before, the rune had faded to almost nothing, but now, even in broad daylight, Andy could see the glyph glowing in the heart of the metal.
He paused to look at it, holding it close. It wasn’t just the rune that looked hot; the metal was radiating some heat, too. Andy wondered if his spear would survive stabbing something with that thing active. The thought brought his mind around to the people he’d fought the night before. The guy on the horse had been holding a nice-looking spear. “Wonder if it’s still out there.”
As he started walking again, the System surprised him with another message:
**Congratulations, Andy! Your actions and intentions have begun to reveal a resonance between your Pyroglyph Invoker and Umbral Reaper classes. Continued exploration of their intersecting strengths may unveil the path to a rare and powerful evolution.**
Andy stared at the message, allowing the meaning to sink in. It sounded like the System was hinting at a new class based on talents from both of his other ones. Did that mean one of his other classes would evolve, or would they merge somehow?
He came to the gate and pulled it open, stepping out onto the trail. Peering over the edge, he saw several figures down below on the road, and though he was pretty high up, he thought he recognized the woman who had spoken to him the night before. He tried to remember her name—Shawna.
He turned back to the trail and, deciding poor Lucy and whoever else was down there had been waiting long enough, he started to jog. When he rounded the last switchback, he saw Lucy standing with an arrow nocked, but the string on her bow relaxed. In front of her were two of the cambion people—the red-skinned guy he’d thought was dead the night before and his blue-skinned sister. It took a moment for Andy to dredge their names up from his memory: Lena and Jace. The four people from Hardhead were waiting on the road, a good twenty paces from the trail.
As Andy approached, Lucy glanced toward the sound of his steps. “Andy!” She looked tired. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were a bit glassy. The more he looked at her, the more he felt guilty for complaining about his sleep. She’d told him she was going to bed when he went to his trailer…
“Hey, Luce. Did you get any rest?”
She shrugged. “A little. My mind was busy with everything going on, and then these guys showed up.” She gestured with her bow toward the people out on the road.
When Jace and his sister turned to face him, Andy shook his head. “Man, don’t you have a head injury? Shouldn’t you be—”
“Nah, I’m solid. That healer of yours fixed me right up.”
“He’s always had a hard head,” Lena added.
Jace chuckled, nudging her with his weapon—an axe handle with several large, heavy bolts sticking through the wood. “Easy, sis.”
“Did James make that thing?” Andy pointed to his makeshift—what, mace?
“Yeah, that dude hooked me up. Better than a hatchet, don’t you think?”
Andy nodded. “Yeah.” He looked at the four people, all staring intently in his direction. “Well, I guess I'd better get this over with.”
“What are you going to tell them?” Lucy asked, pitching her voice low.
“I’m going to make them an offer.” Andy looked from Lucy to the two cambions. “You three might as well listen in. Come on.” He waved a hand and crunched over the gravel to the four would-be defectors.
Shawna was already on her feet, but the other three scrambled to stand as soon as they saw Andy coming their way. Andy noted that the guy with the bow—Oscar, if he remembered correctly—left it lying at his feet.
“Thanks for seeing us,” Shawna said as he approached.
“Sure.” Andy studied her face, noting the dark circles under her pale brown eyes, her chapped lips, and the way she shifted her feet. She was caked in dust, and her three friends didn’t look any better. Andy felt his sympathy for the four of them building. “Were you guys out here all night?”
Shawna nodded. “Yeah, but that’s what we expected. We had to keep out of sight. Bree was looking for us for a while, but when she realized Rhodes and his crew weren’t coming back, she bolted for the store.”
“The store?”
“Construction City,” Oscar clarified.
“Ah, right. Bree’s the one with the bird?” Andy glanced at Lucy, and she nodded. He’d told her about the bird before going to bed; she’d used her mending ability on the deep cuts the thing’s talons had delivered to his shoulder.
“Yeah, that’s right. So”—Shawna inhaled deeply, looking at her companions then back into Andy’s eyes—“I don’t want to keep beating around the bush. We’re pretty much persona non grata back at Construction City now. Are you going to let us join you all or not?”
“Well.” Andy sighed, shaking his head. “We already have two prisoners we don’t want. If you join us, I’m going to need to know you’re here for real—that we can trust you.”
“Didn’t we prove that last night?” Oscar asked.
Andy shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe you’re playing a really clever game.”
“Ah, this is bullshit!” the other man said, kicking the gravel and punching a fist at the air. He was younger—maybe close to Andy’s age.
“Calm down, Silas,” the other woman said, reaching for his shoulder. He shrugged her off and paced further away.
“We’re fucked! I guess we can try to find another group of survivors,” he grumbled.
“That’s an option,” Andy said, hooking his thumbs in the waistband of his jeans as his mind flickered toward the glyphs he’d scrawled the night before. “There’s another option, though.” He looked at Shawna. “Do you think you could confidently say you don’t mean me or this settlement any harm? I mean, you have no ill will toward us?”
“Yes! Andy—it’s Andy, right?” When Andy nodded, she continued, “Yeah, I heard them say your name when they went to get you.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I was going to say that, yeah, we just want a place where there aren’t people doing…vile things every day! We don’t have anything against you guys.”
Andy rubbed his chin, preoccupied by the way his earlier idea had sort of manifested during this conversation. “That’s good to hear.” He paused, wondering if he was being unreasonable. He glanced at Lucy, and she just looked up at him, eyes questioning. Finally, he gave in to the tiny paranoid voice in his mind that said these people could be playing him. They could be trying to infiltrate his settlement. He cleared his throat and then nodded to the trail going up the side of the plateau. “Are you willing to back that statement with your life?”
Comments
Plum Parrot
No, you're right! Spoiler... When he gets back to his trailer he might find something waiting for him.
Jeffrey Worrall
Maybe I’m wrong or missed it but wasn’t he promised an item?
Nimps
Nice, good decision!
