The footsteps grew closer. Reidar crept toward the broken window and peered outside.
What he saw made his heart sink.
Eight more Rift-Sprites moved through the parking lot toward the gas station. Their awkward gait carried them over broken concrete and twisted metal with surprising resolve, and a hint of hunger.
This group was different from the one of three he had just killed. Aside from their slightly larger bodies and their skin showing fewer cracks, those things were higher level.
Reidar looked at the text appearing above the monsters' heads.
–Ember Rift-Sprite - Level 1–
–Stone Rift-Sprite - Level 3–
–Stone Rift-Sprite - Level 2–
–Aqua Rift-Sprite - Level 3–
–Aqua Rift-Sprite - Level 2–
–Ember Rift-Sprite - Level 2–
–Ember Rift-Sprite - Level 4–
–Stone Rift-Sprite - Level 5–
Level 2, 3, 4, and even a level 5. These Rift-Sprites were stronger than the ones he had barely killed. And there were eight of them.
The sight caused Reidar's mouth to dry up completely. He faced three level one sprites and struggled against them. It was just impossible to fight eight of those, with some of them even reaching level 5. Even if there were fewer of them, those levels would be just too damn problematic.
The sprites spread out as they approached the building. Their chittering carried a different tone. More aggressive. More intelligent somehow. Though that might have just been his paranoid imagination.
Indeed, there was no doubt about that, and like their brethren, those Rift-Sprites could sense the smell of blood, the scent of death.
Reidar backed away from the wall and grabbed his mop handle. His hands shook as he gripped the metal pole. He needed to get out of the gas station before they surrounded it completely.
The storage room had no other exits. The only way out was through the main store area and then through one of the broken windows. But the sprites were already in front of the building.
The bodies of the three dead sprites were where he left them, and so were the bodies of those that were in the station with him and that unfortunately died during the quakes.
He could see the sprites gathered outside, ready to enter, through the shattered front windows.
Reidar scanned the store for anything that might give him an advantage. His eyes fell on a display of motor oil near the back wall. The containers were plastic, but they would make noise when they hit the ground.
He took three containers and went to the far end of the store. The sprites outside chittered to one another as they got near the front windows. Their bright eyes darted back and forth across the place, looking for danger and most likely food.
Reidar waited until most of them had gathered at the front of the building. Then he hurled the motor oil containers through a side window.
The plastic containers crashed against the concrete outside with a loud noise. Oil splashed across the ground, and the sound echoed around the gas station.
The sprites clearly heard it because six of them turned toward the noise and began moving around the building to investigate. Their chittering grew excited as they waddled toward the distraction.
Two sprites remained at the front entrance, but they were focused on the side of the building where the noise had come from.
Reidar saw his chance. He sprinted toward the front windows and vaulted through the largest opening. Glass crunched under his feet as he landed in the parking lot.
The two remaining sprites spun toward him with startled shrieks. Their mouths opened, and light gathered in their throats.
Reidar ran. He had no specific destination in mind other than getting away from the gas station. His boots hammered on the asphalt as he ran across the parking lot.
Behind him, projectiles struck the ground where he had been standing barely seconds ago. Stone bullets and water spheres left small craters in the concrete. The sprites' aim was poor at long range, but Reidar didn't slow down to test their accuracy at closer distances.
He reached the edge of the parking lot and glanced back. Two sprites were chasing him. The others had been drawn away by his distraction and were still investigating the motor oil containers.
Two sprites was less than those he killed earlier. The problem was their level.
–Stone Rift-Sprite - Level 2–
–Aqua Rift-Sprite - Level 3–
Reidar kept running along what had once been a street but that was now part of the forest. He could feel the asphalt under his feet, but the vegetation in front of him, and even on the asphalt he was stomping on, made it clear this was not going to be a road anymore.
The pursuing sprites kept up their chase, but Reidar noticed something. They were falling behind, and not by just a few meters, but dozens.
He nodded to his own assumption. Their awkward gait became more pronounced as they tried to stay close, and their stamina fell.
The distance between them increased. Reidar's longer legs and human physique gave him a significant advantage in a foot race.
He slowed to a jog and looked back again. The sprites were still around, searching for him, but luckily he got out of their sight.
Their slowness and poor coordination gave him an idea.
The plan was dangerous. If he mistimed his attack or failed to kill the first sprite quickly enough, the other would catch up and overpower him. But it was better than trying to fight all two at once.
Luckily, the vegetation was dense enough to provide him the cover he needed.