“Okay, game plan time.” June broke our tension speaking out, still surprising us that she had experience with these creatures. “If we aren’t affected by the acid thanks to the barrier you just gave us that’s still only one way they can attack. The last time I fought one I had to make it sting itself to kill it. Another thing is, both Sir Mirroheart and I forgot about our encounter almost right after it happened, so I feel like what that might mean is that we may need to constantly be thinking about this creepy thing to realize it’s there. So if you can’t see one, just try and remember what the one we already dealt with looks like.”
I nodded, not looking at either of them and instead concentrating on the entity and my memory of it before I turned back from it. I could hear them coming still, closer than before but not atop our position just yet. The sound of sizzling also came to me then, and I broke my concentration for a moment to turn to the source and see June’s claymore has eroded slightly.
“Can you fight like that?” I asked, to which she nodded.
“As long as I can get another two down with this I think I can handle brute forcing the others. Especially if you’re protecting us.”
“You did say you made one sting itself… Alright, I trust you. Worst case scenario, we may need to fall back and grab some improvised gear like sticks or something.”
“Hopefully not.” Ragnis spoke up. “They seem fragile enough that we can pivot them ourselves, so if we’re smart about it we can get the killing blow without acid splashes. Blunt force is probably good for that, so I’m going to go for shield bashes until I can’t anymore and then pommel strikes. How many do we think there are?”
“I can hear seven or so isolated sources of noise.” I said. “Though considering the number of legs they have, that could mean there are less than seven. Still, let’s assume ten to be sure.”
“Highballing is smart.” Ragnis replied. “Alright, then… Stay together as much as you can.”
June and I nodded and I continued to hold my cast at the ready. I had opted for a rune in the book that would allow us a great force to push the enemy back and buy us precious seconds, but I also made sure to hold my pinky of my other hand – the one holding the book- at another warding page so I would be able to flip to that right away. All of a sudden I felt that we were ready, and not a moment too soon it seemed as one of the creatures emerged from the distance into view. I could see its tongue out, sniffing the air I imagined. It looked different to the other one that the group killed prior, but only slightly in that it was larger and had more of a frilled neck. In the distance behind it, I could see more coming into view – a total of three more – and the larger one hissed in a high pitch. Suddenly the three of them were charging us at full speed, and within a blink I could feel the vibrations of their feet next to mine.I wasn’t prepared for this level of speed, but thankfully my body seemed to react on its own to the threat and duck as it lunged over my head and straight into Ragnis’ shield. She bashed it so hard that it flew back over my head, and I took the opportunity to move my hand from the page, steady my dagger and crack the skull of the beast with the pommel in hopes that I could prevent an acid splash.
It seemed to work for the most part, though I could see the blood from behind its eye sockets begin to ooze and I could tell I hadn’t killed it yet, so I spun my dagger around and went for a deeper plunge through the top of its head where I’d cracked the skull. It was at this moment I noted that the skull was on the outside of the head, and the thin fleshy membrane around it was only there to cover the gaps in the bones where the ligaments may be exposed. I left my dagger in its broken skull, assuming it would rot away before I could use it again, and kicked it out of range for the time being.
At the same time Ragnis and I had done that, June had managed to catch one by the mouth on her blade, skewering it vertically down to its tail. She used it while she could as a bludgeon to slam the other one approaching down before the claymore melted away. It seemed they had one basic tactic of lunging for our throats, and that proved to be their weakness in this case. Not only did Ragnis bash mine away, but in the same fluid motion she spun her axe around to the one June had slammed and cleft it down the middle with an unpleasant mixture of cracking, sizzling and splashing.
Without leaving formation, we had managed to fell three of them, but not before another three were headed our way. The larger one remained toward the back, still growling as the others charged.
“Do they have an Alpha male?” I asked out loud as I flipped my book back open to the force blast, tore it out and let it loose in front of us. The three beasts flew back behind the bodies of their allies and forze for a moment, and we continued our talk during.
“Looks like it.” June agreed. “Which means this is definitely a pack, and they’ll turn tail if we take out the leader.”
“Sure, but how do you plan to get over there?” Ragnis argued. My blast only bought us enough time to exchange those words, as the three charging us now stood again and began to charge as if they never toppled. Thankfully, I was ready on the second ward again and was able to apply it just as one of them used the other to launch an aerial assault, which would have ended Ragnis had the ward not pushed it out of alignment just slightly. I heard her let out a shriek and knew she had taken a hit, but I couldn’t let up and ask where it was just yet. I logged this information for later and heard Ragnis grunting as she swung her axe again, followed by the sound of a clean cut – like an onion on a cutting board – beforeI felt myself get bowled over by something below me.
As soon as I hit the ground I could feel it – the burning sensation of landing in something acidic, just below my shoulders. It seemed as though the one that attacked Ragnis had hooked me with its tail, and when Ragnis felled it, it took me down to the floor to feel the burn. I almost screamed, but I couldn’t do that now – June would lose focus and then Ragnis would have to protect her, and we would be finished. Instead, I rolled out of the acid with pained cursing under my breath and got to my knees, seeing that Ragnis had indeed cut the tail off of the one who attacked her. I stood just in time for her to finish it off, and flipped through the book with shaking hands to another page I knew would be useful; A rune that created a cone of flames. I could hardly feel the arm I’d used to roll out of the acid, but I needed to tear the page out of the book to activate the spell, so with all of my energy I did just that. The page in my hand heated rapidly, and I held my arm out with what little stamina I had left to engulf whatever was in front of us, smiling to myself when I heard the squealing pain I’d caused the creatures.
I could barely see what June was doing, but I did see one of their tails in her hand and the torso of another impaled atop it. I assumed that Ragnis, June and I had each killed one of the three that had rushed in the second wave. This left only the largest of the group, staring us down with its six eyes filled with hunger and tongue loose, drooling some blackened saliva beneath it. The frills on its neck expanded to cover its body behind it as it let out a piercing roar in a tone that matched a human scream combined with a monstrous howl in a way I’d like to say I never had to hear again before it charged as well. I had a feeling this one was far more intelligent and thus would require more finesse, but I also knew that two of us were injured at the moment and likely couldn’t provide backup as we would like to. June couldn’t handle this herself.
I had almost accepted our fate when the beast stopped before us, giving us all pause. Me, clutching my arm which was finally done sizzling and Ragnis who was toughing out her injury to her arm and her leg as best as she could, both stared back at the beast. June almost raised a fist to attack it, but a sudden calm fell over our group. The creature seemed to gaze directly at June, the two of them able to make eye contact without either of them kneeling, finally putting into perspective just how much larger this one was to the others. Its eyes all shut simultaneously, and it sat on its hind legs, with its middle legs stabilizing it and its front legs acting like short arms in this pose. It was taller than her now, but its posture was submissive in nature.
“What’s-” Ragnis tried to say something before June let out a shriek and her hair began to glow violently, illuminating the area around us. All at once, we saw her ears start to bleed, and I knew she was under some form of magical assault. Ragnis and I were too injured to do much about it, but we tried with all our might. I unleashed one final spell at the beast, but out of fear that I’d hit June too as well as my shaky aim with my injury I had missed entirely. Ragnis slammed her axe hard as she could into its spine, but it deflected right off and broke the handle in half. We thought for sure that she was done for and we would be next, if not for an exceptionally loud sound followed by the creature falling over to the side. Acidic blood rushed from its head to the ground where the wound of the unknown attack came from, piercing it effortlessly. I recognized the sound after a moment, and turned behind us.
“Al-” I cut myself off as I saw her with her finger to her lips, and she pushed someone else forward.
“Zephyra?”
“Thank everything I found you all in time.” she said, calmly despite her shaking hands. “I heard a terrible roar and a few cries that sounded human, so I rushed over. What… Is this thing?”
“No time for that now.” I said, feeling pained to even speak. The acid must have done a number on my back that I couldn’t see. “We need to get them medical attention. June suffered some kind of mental attack, so she’s top priority. Then Ragnis- “I coughed hard, my body telling me to shut up. “- Is there anyone else here?”
“No, just us.” Zephyra responded. “Come on, let me give you a shoulder.”
“Not me, them-” she put a finger to her lips much as Alarice had before.
“Seems they’ve got each other covered. Come on, let me help.”
I sighed, turning to see June carried by Ragnis. It was a pained carry, but it was working. My defeat evident in my slouched stance, I offered my good arm to Zephyra, who I realized immediately was too short to legitimately do this particular gesture with me and laughed – which made things hurt more.
“Maybe we should get a carriage.” I said, reaching for my Sending Heart to contact my sister. I pressed both my hands together to activate it, and the injured arm couldn’t take the pressure of that, giving out on me.
I felt my consciousness leaving me then, and all I heard behind me was concerned calls for the Princess. I couldn’t even be recognized outside my title after fighting together, and as my mind went blank, I found some depressing humor in that.
The next thing I remember was waking up in an uncomfortable lying position, near silence around me save for the murmurs of those around me. A bright light shone through what I could now determine was a window adjacent to me, and on the other side of that window I saw June, unconscious but breathing. The room we were in seemed to be well kept, with wooden flooring and lined with books reaching to the ceiling. The air was chilly, but that could also have been from the needle in my arm connected to the fluid bag I was attached to. As soon as I finished processing that, I turned to the other side and saw my sister, as well as a man with longer blackened hair parted down the middle unevenly, wearing the crest of my family and a regal dark wine colored half-cloak that touched just below his hips. A tunic of finer embroidery than my own underneath that, as well as a thicker necklace with gold and a single jewel inside that pulsed red with energy.
“F-father?” I stammered out, to which I saw him smile brightly.
“Thank Creation you’re alright.” he spoke to me in a voice I hadn’t heard in weeks, using a tone I hadn’t heard in years. “Do you know where you are?” he asked. I shook my head, and turned over to June again.
“Is she okay too? Where’s Ragnis? And Zephyra?”
Father nodded.
“She’s sleeping, but she woke first. The other two are outside right now, but they are both fine. You’re in the Tower District, on the seventy-second floor.”
“How did I get here?”
“Your bodyguard carried you. She’s quite strong for someone so much smaller. Do you know what happened to you?” he asked. Try as I might, I couldn’t remember a thing about these injuries, so I recalled what I could.
“I remember accepting a bounty to fend off some wolves with my roommates. We arrived on location, and the rest… I’m sorry, I don’t remember.”
“Same as her.” he pointed to June. “The other two girls say that you wound up fighting some terrifying beasts. You’re lucky to be alive.”
“I feel lucky.” I said, yawning the long sleep away as a realization came to me. “What did you mean when you said bodyguard?”
“The small one, Zephyra.” he spoke calmly. “I offered her seven thousand Eagles a year to protect you, seeing as she did such a stellar job operating in a crisis.”
“What did she do?” I asked, trying to sit up and having my sister force me back down waving her finger.
“Don’t even think about it yet.” she said coldly. Father laughed.
“Zephyra used your Sending Heart after you collapsed to contact Tariah and told her all of the details she was aware of. Tariah contacted me, and together we made our way over. It took me a day and a half, but you were taken care of well in this place.”
“H-how long was I out?” I asked nervously.
“Six days.” he responded without missing a beat. “The girl next to you was out for five. We haven’t spoken much, but she reminds me of my blood grandson, long before your time.”
I debated whether or not I should tell him that she was in fact his descendent, but I decided against it. That was a conversation for them to have together if it ever came up. Part of me hoped it never did, because I know June didn’t want the ritzy noble life for herself.
“So… What happens now?” I asked hesitantly.
“As your father, I want you to return home to safety.” he began, sighing. “I almost lost you, and after saving you from that doomed village and adopting you as my own I hoped I’d never see you in that sort of predicament again.”
He paused for a while, standing to peer out the window while Tariah stayed put, ready to keep me down in this resting position.
“However, as your Emperor… I couldn’t be more proud of the work you’ve done in the short time you’ve been staying in Magnum. Thanks to you, we have established good relations with the Peacemakers and demonstrated combat prowess within the nobility. Not only will they treat us with more respect in our initiative, but perhaps this step was essential in recruiting more aid to search for Saint Foxtails’ killer. I heard what you did in aiding the investigation of that Librarians’ killer and how you turned in a tome with dangerous text. I heard about your… Possession. And I’ve heard about how you shook all of that off and still managed to not only do everything I sent you here to do, but also discover a new threat to the common folk in the form of this uncategorized beast that nobody can describe.”
I tried not to smirk, not only because it would probably hurt but also because I was more proper than that.
“You’ve made many great strides. That’s why, on the condition that you remain with a bodyguard, I’ve decided that you are to stay in Magnum and continue working towards whatever leads you have.”
“Thank you, father.” I said, trying to sound more composed than I was and likely failing. “As a matter of fact, if I can return to the scene of the attack, I will likely be able to remember what happened that night and put it to paper. May we do that?”
“You may. I’ll come with you this time, to guarantee no ill fortune befalls you again.” he paused, and turned to the door. “You may rise, if you are able.”
“Thank you.”
I stood shakily,supporting myself with the arm I knew was intact and finally had the courage to look at my injured one – only to see that it, too was fine.
“Did you-” he cut me off.
“Yes, as I did for the others.”
“Father…” I realized in that moment that I was still wearing my torn and dirtied attire from that night, and urged for him to leave. He closed the door behind him, and I began to remove the destroyed outfit piece by piece. Thankfully my smallclothes remained intact, but my outer cloak, especially on my back, was melted away. I pondered what could have done this specific type of damage, when flashes of the creature appeared in my memory. I recalled the largest of them staring us down and blasting Junes’ mind with magic, and I recalled the pain I felt in my back and my side as I rolled out of the acidic blood of another.
It then occurred to me, and I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t thought of it sooner, but I checked my shoulder for my magic seal.
It was gone.
Magna Varia 