Contracts - A Tale From Allegro

A Story by Storytime4You

My 2nd short story that takes place in the world of Allegro, the world created by my friend for use in play D&D. This story stars my character Mis, introduced in "Echoes". It's about an odd Contract.

Oblitus was a decent enough place. Being one of the main ports in the east, no one here gave me, a dragonborn a second glance as every kind of person had come and gone at one point or another. While there was plenty here to keep someone busy, Oblitus’ main draw is being a stepping stone to the larger fish that is Vandellia.

A contract had been put out by a noble of all people. Having been sent to the Venari directly, that told me it would be delicate but also high paying. After a bad experience with a Hag, Master Alexander insisted I have a sending stone on hand till I found an Apprentice. It was through that I had received a sending from HQ.

“Urban hunting contract in Vandellia, meet with Elder Joseph Von Rocren. Plenty able people in area for support if needed.”

Straight forward enough I thought.

I had taken plenty of ferries in my life, so for my trip from Oblitus to Vandellia, I opted to traverse the massive bridge that connected the two cities over the Blue Sea. It had cost a pretty penny but I was able to hitch a ride on a wagon making its way across the bridge through the night.

The toll guards gave us some hassle, asked for a name, any affiliated guilds- cross referencing it all with their records. Before I could step foot on the bridge they asked to see any weapons and the contents of my pack. Once they checked my wrist dagger, repeating hand crossbow, the silver sword, and then my various hunting and first aid supplies like medicine and my small jars of bait, they finally let me pass.

I had been sleeping on the roof of the wagon when we arrived at dawn. Never had I seen such large structures, countless towers reaching into the sky. For such a large city, the toll station on this side of the bridge had not even half the security. After some detective work involving plenty of city guards and the purchase of a city map, I finally had found the home of Elder Joseph Von Rocren.
The penthouse was twenty floors up; apparently he owned the entire floor of the tower. Once I had told the doorman who I worked for and the reason for my visit, he swiftly took me to the penthouse and opened the doors. The place was blindingly white, every door into another room was just a clear archway. The doorman loudly introduced me. “A visitor!” He announced, his voice crackly with age. “Mishenn Nemmonis. Here for the open contract, sir.”

Footsteps echoed through the rooms, though with all the space and open passageways, even I had trouble pinpointing the direction it was coming from.

A bearded man in all black emerged from one of the passageways. He was older for a human, maybe late 40’s, his posture and broad shoulders gave off an air of pride. When he spoke, the sound of his voice was scratchier than a dirt road, but his words still clear and enunciated. “You are interested in the contract?” He asked.

“Yes sir.” I replied. “I am apart of the Venari.” While I bowed, he kept his head held high, a man who knows his lofty position above the rabble like myself a little too well. “I heard that you had an issue to be dealt with.”

“You heard correct.” He said, signalling the doorman to leave and then for myself to follow. “My family has a history of keeping creatures of interest.” He explained. “The more challenging to tame, the better.” The hallway we were walking through punctuated his claim. Various paintings of Men and Women posing with living creatures. Everything from mastiff’s to owlbears. “I recently acquired a pack of Displacer Beasts. Sadly they seem to have escaped into the city. They were acquired specifically feral, so you can see why I must hire a killer rather than someone to re-capture.”

We had arrived in a study- white walls like the rest of the home, but with stark crimson furniture. It took me a moment to pull my gaze from the large window, looking out upon the city and fellow towers. I sat in one of the chairs while Elder Von Rocren grabbed a small pouch from a side table before sitting across from me. With his back to the window, the cityscape behind him looked almost like a painting. He placed the pouch on the table between us. “Here is the first third of the payment for your services. The remainder shall be paid out per head.”

The pouch was smaller than I would have expected. Especially for hunting a pack of Displacer Beasts. They were some of the more tricky targets. Besides being large cats, making them instinctively avid hunters, they are equipped with two tentacles which sprout from their shoulders, and they have an annoying ability to project a copy of themselves. The pay had better be good.

Leaning over to open the pouch on the table, I reached in and felt only two coins. Once they were in my open hand, I understood why. They were Platinum. My speech left me. Putting them back and swiftly slipping the pouch into my coat pocket, my attention returned to Von Rocren. Behind him through the window looked to be a person perched on the outside of the neighboring tower. A glare of light came from the figure. Before I could mention it, my confused expression had tipped off Von Rocren as he reacted immediately. In a moment, he had ducked from the view of the window just as a small hole appeared in the pane of glass, no sound except for the clink of the punctured glass. Warmth began spreading through my shoulder, it was bleeding. The pain finally kicked in after the shock of what had just happened faded. Elder Von Rocren, prone, commanded me to pay attention. “Is the shooter still there?”

Shooter? Guns and rifles were things I knew of but had never seen. Strange that it made no noise. Looking back to where the attacker had been, no one was there. “They’re gone.” I said, now seething in pain. My left arm was feeling more limp as seconds passed. The crimson chair looked no different now that its side was soaked in my blood.

Elder Von Rocren had applied pressure to the wound and told me it had gone clean through. He had his doorman rush for help and within 10 seemingly endless minutes of pain, a cleric was healing me. The perks of being injured in the home of the rich. To be sure the healing would bring my arm to 100% efficiency, the cleric recommended to have it in a sling for the day. Von Rocren wanted to find someone else for the contract but the reminder of the Platinum in my pocket fueled my resolve to keep the contract. A single bullet to the shoulder wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I had received before.

“I would like to add a secondary contract.” Rocren said, walking me to the exit. “As I will now be forced to spend time at my safe house, I want you to hunt down that assassin for me as well. Payment will be doubled. No one threatens my safety and gets away with it.”

“Alright, I’ll check that out the other tower he was perched on first. With the beasts, is there anywhere I could start?” I asked.

“The beasts killed a man of mine who had been tracking them down just last night in a nearby alley. I have tried to suppress the information but can only bribe so many guards to not take it to higher authority.”

He marked the location on my city map and I was on my way.

My investigation into the assassin took only two minutes to hit a snag. “Sorry Ma’am.” The guard at the other tower said. “This is a private building. Do you have an invitation or summons from anyone expecting you?”

Normally a bribe may work, but obviously the platinum was too valuable and a guard for nobles gets paid more than enough for him to not fall for what small amount I’d be willing to offer. A glance for any signage or iconography lead me to nothing of use.

Improv lying was never my strong suit. “I was attacked on the road to Oblitus.” I exclaimed, showing off my arm still in the sling. “They took many of my belongings and I no longer have my invitation.”

The guard seemed less than convinced. “What was listed on the invitation?” He asked.

“A summons to meet with the Mara family.” They were the only semi relevant family I knew, their name had been plastered on a sign when you cross the bridge to Vandellia.

The guard stared at me, silent. Knowing it hadn’t worked, I walked away out of view. With my healing arm I couldn’t simply climb the tower. An idea slithered through my head. I felt bad for what I was going to do, but it was the only thing short notice I could think of.

Staying out of sight of the guard, I waited for anyone remotely attractive to walk past. Finally a young woman was walking near the guard. I apologized under my breath. Focusing on her, pinpointing on her breathing, then pulse; I performed a blood curse I had learned from my training. The woman instantly froze up and toppled like a mannequin, paralyzed. The door guard and some onlookers rushed over to her, the guard shouting for them to give her space. I took my chance and slinked into the tower.

I had reached the floor our assailant had been on. The hallway was barren, a few doors on one side, large windows on the other. One of the windows could be opened, but once outside, anyone would be out of luck; there was no ledge. I poked my head out the window to look where the figure had been, there was nothing for them to perch on. Had they floated or flown? A shot like that wouldn’t have been taken with any sway, taking any form of flying or levitation off the table. They would have had to have been static, unmoving. Looking closely, I could not see a trace of markings from footwear on the windowsill, not even a trace of street dirt near the window. Did they even come through here? This had been a dead end, all I got were things the assassin didn’t do and more questions.

“You saw them too, didn’t ya love?” A voice asked from behind me.

I had been so focused, I hadn’t heard anyone come near me. I turned around, finding a Gnome standing there. Smoking a large pipe, he let out a puff of smoke, lightly obscuring his face; his bright emerald eyes still shown through. He was a scruffy fellow, chestnut brown hair and stubble- no styling to it. The long brown coat he wore matched his hair. “Sorry,” He said. “I didn’t mean to sneak up on ya.” He took another moment on his pipe, then put out his hand. “The name’s Tyllewan Glauc, but you can call me Wink on account of me showin’ up in a wink.”

I knelled down on one knee and shook his hand, introducing myself. “Mishenn Nemmonis, Mis for short.” From the shake, I could tell he wasn’t as scrawny as other gnomes I had encountered, he had some muscle on him.

He let out a final ring of smoke before continuing. “You saw the one on the wall yes?” He asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “I was across the way and they missed their target.” I showcased the sling to him as I stood. “They got me instead.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He walked over to the windows, looking out upon the city. “I myself am on their tail too. They sniped a noble lad uptown n’ I was hired to look for the culprit.” He then looked back to me. “Been followin’ the shooter a month now.”

“I’m not so sure he used a rifle.” I said, “From what I know of them, taking a shot makes a loud sound doesn’t it?”

Wink nodded. “Aye, they do. They’re the weapon of choice for a whole section of Frostpeak’s military. But our friend here is a smart cookie. My running theory is that they know enough magic to silence themselves.”

It made sense. “Well that’s terrifying, a silent shot like that from anywhere.”

Wink smiled and laughed. “F****n’ brilliant is what it is, love. Once I snag the bugger, I’m taking that tact straight to the military. For a hefty fee of course.”

We left the building, Wink showing me a back exit so we could avoid the door guard. I was still a little cautious about the man, but he gave me a business card that looked legit enough.

Tyllewan Glauc

Private Investigator

Vandellia

He was local. While I can track better than most, finding my way around the city was a different spectrum of skills I simply didn’t have yet...but last thing I want is someone following around. Wink had shown me to a decent inn nearby for me to leave some of my things, even offering to buy lunch.

Wink downed his first mug before speaking. “So you’re one of them hunters, yes? The scary-cutty-blood magic ones.”

“Not blood magic.” I said quickly. “We are just trained to ‘know your enemy’, so to speak.” As I brought my mug up for another sip, I slipped in one last defence. “The whole bleeding yourself for extra kick isn’t a thing I tend to do anyway.”

Wink then moved his gaze to my equipment. “A pack is an odd place to hang a sheathed sword.”

This made me quiet a moment. While I always was aware of the weight of the silver sword, I do tend to forget I actively have it latched to my pack. “Yes,” I finally said, then moving to change the subject. “I’m here on a contract for a noble.”

Wink looked at me from his 3rd mug. “I actually had an idea I wanted to toss your way. I’m good at trackin’ things down, but you probably could whip my a*s harder than the ol’ Blackrock slavers.” While complimentary, the direction he was going in was concerning. “How about I help you with your work, and you help me bring in our friend?” He asked.

Someone to watch over wasn’t something I wanted on my plate. Trying to shut him down I explained the contract as nonchalantly as possible. “I’m hunting down some loose displacer beasts in the city.” All the ale that was in Wink’s mouth was suddenly jettisoned back into the empty mug.

He look at me wide eyed for a moment, then his face grew concerned as his eyes fell to my slung arm. “Mis…” He said, “You know I now in good conscious can’t leave you like this goin’ after such beasts.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. Leaning back in the booth I tried my best to feign full confidence. “I’ll do the tracking and if it seems out of my league, I’ll enlist more combat help.” Hopefully he would back off. Wink then lowered his brow in thought, like he just picked up on something. “Don’t your kind usually have a partner or apprentice with you?”

A pause came to me. Once upon a time, I had an apprentice. But it was still too sore a subject. The weight of the sword they left behind still weighed my pack down, a reminder I couldn’t let go of.

Wink nodded. “I think I understand, no worries.” He finished his 4th mug and got up, leaving some silver coins on the table. It was just past midday.

The alley was one of the more claustrophobic places I had ever been. One long corridor, only two ways to go, a tower on either side blocking most of the sky. It was strange how this one space was void of life, yet each end had plenty of people walking past, going about their day.

A man who identified himself as a “watch” put in place by Elder Von Rocren had been guarding the scene.

At a first glance, it was an empty alley. It wasn’t until about half way in that the remnants of a blood trail became visible. It had been mostly washed away, probably just from morning seaside air. The short path ended at a manhole cover

“S**t.” Wink remarked. “Literal s**t.” Spinning around, I found Wink behind me, just standing there. We hadn’t left the inn together.

Out of reaction I nearly crossed my arms, then had to settle with my free hand on my hip. “So you’re going to follow me?” I asked.

Wink grinned. “Aye love. I can’t very well leave you be in this state, not with the quarry you’re seekin’.”

All I could do was let out a sigh. This was not in the plan. “Don’t fret about me.” He reassured me. “I do have some military trainin’ under my belt to hold my own. Rolling my eyes slightly, I had to give in for now, we were just investigating right now, no combat. Showing him the traces of the blood trail, I explained going down there was the way to go.

Being Dragonborn, the copper scales and thick skin of my legs would protect me from anything down there, even while barefoot. But being a city this large, he’d probably have to swim. “You may not like this idea.” I said, looking from the now open manhole to Wink. “You could get on my shoulders.”

Beast carcasses, corpses, and other nasty things had nothing on the smell of the opened sewer. Before climbing in, I got two pieces of cloth, one for each of us. There was a sweet diluted nectar I kept for bait. Dabbing some of it on the cloths and using them as bandannas would be a mild buffer from the noxious odor.

Leaving my pack and coat in the alley, I had to have Wink attach a small lantern to my belt as climbing down the ladder with one arm was difficult enough. Thankfully the ladder stopped on a platform above the river of waste. It acted as a walkway along the side of the sewer. Wink came in after me. While climbing down, I was able to get a closer look at his footwear, there had to be a reason he was able to sneak up so quietly. It appeared as though he was wearing something akin to slippers.

The immediate area of the tunnel was lit well enough from the daylight we emerged from, enough for the water’s reflection to reveal the tunnel up to an intersection on each end. At one intersection laid a body. It was sitting, back against the wall, it’s head bent down. I lightly skimmed the surface of the surrounding area with my fingers, hoping for a trace of anything. No noticeable tracks, fur, or even saliva near the body. Just signs of rats.

Gruesome is a concept I deal with frequently in my line of work. This was something even my stomach could hardly handle. Squatting down to meet the head of the corpse, I gathered enough the hair in my hand to gently lift his head. The man’s face was non-existent. All soft tissue had been removed, the bite marks around what was left suggested rats rather than a Displacer. The clothes on him were already in tatters, but Wink and I carefully removed what we could. As we did, a rat scurried out of the clothes, hopefully it hadn’t been inside the corpse.

The back of the body was where we had some luck as the rats hadn’t gotten it. On the mans back was the distinct mark of a hit from a Displacer beast tentacle, a large oval bruise with small puncture marks. But along with it were other long bruises from something blunt hitting him. Not enough to kill him, but enough to knock him out cold as rats did the rest.

“Nasty way to go.” Wink said, crossing his arms. “First a beast then rats to clean you off.”

I had to resist rubbing my fingers along my chin while thinking until I could get a chance to wash my hands. “I’m not so sure.” I responded. “The bruise here is for certain Displacer Beast. But…” “But?” Wink asked.

I stood. The man’s head slumping down with an audible crunch of bone. “But Displacer Beasts claw people. Entirely possible that it only used it’s tentacle, the longer bruises possibly from getting whipped, but no sign of any claw marks is strange.” I positioned the body to its state before our arrival. “This guy was also leaned against his back, if a Displacer got him from behind for any reason, there would be much more damage to his back and the rats would’ve gotten that side of him.”

Wink digested my findings. He looked up to the alley. “So.” he whispered. “What are you thinkin’ love?”

“Possibly,” I elaborated. “A displacer beast was involved for certain. But with the position of the body, there’s more to it that I’m not getting.”

Wink looked to me. “How about we go talk to your employer and get some more info?” He asked.

Thinking about it, nothing came to mind to suggest that Von Rocren hadn’t told me everything. “I have a better idea.” I said. “You know the city, I’m sure you know someone with eyes and ears, someone must have seen something. Can you go knock on some doors and meet me at the bar at sundown? I’ll stick around here. I want to double check that I’m not missing anything.”

Wink looked disappointed at the idea. But he went along with it and left back up to the alley

A second check revealed nothing new. This body was placed deliberately and had been attacked by a displacer tentacle. Few answers, many more questions. It was during this that I noticed the smell was fading on the cloth, I took a long breath- holding it as I reapplied the nectar bait on the rag, I just needed a bit more time. With one arm out of commission, exploring more of the sewer was too much of a risk. Displacers were apt at ambushes, but I could at least go to the next intersection.

Outside of my bubble of light, was walls of darkness. The only sounds traveling through the tunnel were of flowing sewage, the scurrying of rats, and soft echoes from the surface. Now I am not a claustrophobic person, but I do consider myself a smart person, and my brain was telling me this was a bad idea being this far away from the exit.

It had paid off though, at the intersection I found footprints in the muck. Looked to be multiple sets. There were human footprints, and a set of paw prints. The displacer beasts were following someone, but the footprints seemed small. Were they from someone of one of the smaller races? Next to the prints though was a discarded pipe. In the limited light it was difficult to tell if the red colouring was rust or possibly blood, but it’s width lined up with the bruises.

It was while I was squatted down examining the pipe that I began to hear clicking. The echoing of the tunnel made it difficult to pinpoint. Click, click, click, in a regular pattern, something moving. I couldn’t tell if it was getting closer or not, but I could bet gold on the clicks being from the claws of a displacer beast. I counted Six clicks from the echoes, six limbs. Gut told me to kill the light of the lantern, but I knew better, they could see in the dark so sacrificing my light would just hurt myself. The clicks were now getting closer. There was no way I could sprint to the ladder and climb with my one arm before it would hear me and catch up. Click, click. I had to keep my breathing steady and think fast. It was getting closer. What are the chances it would actually search me out while wandering the sewer system. “S**t.” I said aloud as I clued into my mistake, the f*****g nectar. The bait worked, at the one time I didn’t mean for it to. The clicking sound of claws were close enough to hear without the echo now.

The decision was difficult, but needed. I put one of the pipe in my mouth and slowly waded into the river of sewage. With one end of the pipe staying above the s**t, I closed my eyes and fully submerged myself into the water. Waiting in the silence of the water, I began to hear the clicks of claws above me, a chuff of a large feline. It was sniffing around. A thought crossed my mind. Was it checking the scene of the crime? The sound of scraping and dragging began, then a splash. It was disposing of the body!

Click, click, click. The sound began to fade, it was leaving. Time seemed endlessly slow while waited for enough time to pass to be safe. Something began slowly wrapping around my head, nearly causing me to shriek. The light current had pushed the corpse into me. My breathing became rapid as I felt the torn flesh and bone caress my face. It was too much to handle and I couldn’t help but burst out of the river, dashing for the exit. Reaching for the first rung of the ladder I began hearing the echo of the clicks again. Calming my heartbeat, I focused my energy. With enough concentration, my legs gained more strength. Leaping up, I had been able to reach the top rung and climb out. I glanced back down as I pushed the cover over the hole. In the growing darkness, what looked like a tentacle whipped past.

Covered in s**t, I had done by best to wipe off everything before returning to the inn. There I dished out the money for my clothes to be cleaned and as a personal relief, paid extra for a full bath with a maid to help scrub.

When meeting back with Wink, I definitely felt better and more comfortable in clean garments. He had been sitting in a booth already two mugs in. “I see you bathed too love.” He said with a smile.

Letting out an exaggerated sigh and joining him in the booth, I filled him in on what had happened after I had sent him away. The barmaid had to refill my drink for the 2nd time while Wink was refilling for the 4th time. He lit his pipe and let out a puff before speaking. “S**t. So there is a bugger down there.”

I nodded. “Seems like it. What were you able to find out?”

Wink blew out a smoke ring, followed by a failed attempt at an arrow or dart. “People are sayin’ fish have been gettin’ stolen on the docks. One youngin I talked to claimed a pair of panthers did it. Sounds like that could be your beasties.”

“Sounds like it.” I said, deep into my drink. Made sense being pack animals. But why fish and not anything bigger like people?

Wink then leaned in. “I also got info on our assassin friend.” This perked up my eyebrows. “Turns out our man is apart of a group, the ‘Birds Of Prey’.”

“Birds of prey? Like hawks and such?” I asked, taking a drink.

“Yeah,” He said. “Turns out they’re a group based out of the Isles, will take any contract.”

“Wouldn’t that step on The Company’s toes?” I asked. The Company were a group of assassins, to most people, they were just a myth. But I had heard enough stories from credible people to know they were more than rumor.

“More or less,” Wink said. “They’re at odds, but keep each other competitive.” He tapped the table with his finger, punctuating his next revelation. “Our friend is called ‘Strix', supposedly it means Owl.”

“Impressive,” I said, “You spent this long looking for him and you get all that in one day.”

Wink pointed to my arm. “Guy’s been sloppy; being sloppy leaves clues. You should know that by now love.”

Finishing off my mug, I was done for the day. Got shot and nearly attacked by a beast, time to call it for the day. “I’m going to head up and rest,” I said. “Tomorrow why don’t you peruse the docks and see if you can get a handle on where the beasts might be holed up. I have to handle some business and I’ll meet up with you.”

Wink held up his mug. “Sounds good to me.”

And with that, we clinked mugs, downed what remained, and paid for our drinks.

At the break of dawn I was climbing back into the sewer, this time with my lantern and the city map on hand. With my arm back in fighting shape I was confident I could handle exploring down here, couldn’t risk Wink joining me this time.

The plan was to take the sewers to the docks where the beasts may be hiding out. The direction the beast had come from the previous day had been from the direction of the docks. This time I was also more prepared. My wrist dagger was primed for use and my hand crossbow fully loaded.

The sewers were a myriad of intersections, turns, and rats. As the scurried towards me, I would just let them pass by, not bothering them if the didn’t bother me. When one eventually had the nerve to run around me rather than away, the sound of a soft punt followed by an alarmed squeak came from behind me. Turning around I drew my crossbow and extended my wrist dagger, something had been following me.

“It was hella dumb of you to ditch me love.” Wink called from the darkness, his voice muffled. As he came into the light, hands raised in surrender, I could see what had his voice muffled, it was a mask that covered the lower half of his face. Once I lowered my weapons, he lowered his arms, pulling another mask out of his pack and tossing it to me.

“Thought you might do this.” He said. Turns out Wink was more prepared than I was for the sewers. “Made these last night.” It was made with my face in mind, a rarity for Dragonborn. “It has two filters in it, between the filters, a bunch of aromatic berries and herbs.” He explained. Fastening the mask to my face, I could immediately smell what he was talking about. He continued, “You may want to do the lone wolf thing love, but there’s no need to fret. I can handle myself enough that I’ll only be help, not a hindrance.”

Looking down, I wasn’t sure how to feel. He was putting himself at risk, leaving that level of responsibility on someone who doesn’t want it. Before continuing down the tunnel, I looked back to Wink. “Thanks.”

We had wandered around for hours, now being well in the afternoon, the thought of giving it up for the day was beginning to cross my mind when Wink put out his hand, if he hadn’t whispered at the same time, I wouldn’t have noticed and walk right over him. Whatever he saw, I couldn’t. My lantern lit the tunnel up, but it was nothing to a Gnome’s natural darkvision. “Somethin’s up ahead.” He whispered. He began walking forward slowly, I followed. It wasn’t for a few paces that I could finally see what he had noticed. There were makeshift alarms hanging from the ceiling of the tunnel. Multiple strings with various bones and trash tied to them, any movement from them would make more than enough sound to echo enough distance to alert whomever set it up.

There was no space between them and the only way under was through the sewage. “I really don’t want to take another swim.” I whispered.

A wide grin formed on Wink’s face. “Don’t you worry love, I happen to know a trick or two.” He then made a quick gesture and spoke a word in what sounded like his native tongue.

“What did you do?” I asked. But no sound came. Tapping my claws on the stone wall generated no sound. Interesting, he had cast silence. He smiled and gave a thumbs up before turning to the alarms and just walking through them silently.

Once we were clear of the spells area of influence he turned to me. “Now,” he said, “I really don’t want to get the drop from some man eatin’ beast, so I’m gonna perform another trick.”

I nodded, but had to ask. “Does Frostpeak military really teach magic in basic?”

Wink shook his head. “No love, I was a little less than clear on that. I was a ranger back before the Calamity of Rangur.” That made me fall silent. Wink looked equally morose but then shook off his negativity. “Then I met William and have been takin’ contracts since.” Wink then did a small ritual like he had previously but this time he took a handful of materials from a pouch. Next thing I knew, shadows spread outward from us, without my own vision being impaired. I took a step and little to no sound echoed from it and not trace of a footprint was left in the muck.

“That ought to help.” He said, then beckoning us to continue. “You first.” Giving him an approving nod, I started back on the path.

It was then that I heard it. Click, click, click. From behind us. It must have slipped through the alarm before the spell had faded. S**t. It got louder and was already barely echoing. That was when Wink made a grave mistake. As I had turned to face the approaching sound, Wink continued down the tunnel, sprinting. He had only taken a few steps when he had triggered a wire. The puft sound of something ejecting rang out and suddenly I was hit in the back by Wink, both of us getting wrapped up in a weighted net.

Click, click. It was coming closer, a deep guttural growl accompanying it. While Wink was swearing up a storm trying to wriggle out, I flicked my wrist, extending the small blade. Having been knocked onto my stomach, it was difficult wriggling my hands free enough of start cutting the right sections of the net. In the shadows, two long tentacles danced. A large panther like beasts emerged slowly from the void, a Displacer Beast. It approached cautiously. At a distance it gripped onto a section of net with the tentacles and began dragging us down the tunnel. While I had cut the net enough for an escape, curiosity kept me from leaving. Why did it not attack? Who had set up the traps? Wink had been silent and petrified the whole time, the fast rhythm of his pulse was strong enough to feel. Doing my best to maneuver my hand to his shoulder, I reassured him I had a plan.

The beast had dragged us for a few stretches of tunnel before we were brought into a large cistern. It was almost the size of an underground church. The ceiling was high enough, there were portholes that allowed surface light to spill in. From my view, I could see various makeshift furniture, this must be their lair.

Finally we had stopped. The beast came over to face Wink and I. It didn’t look hostile, it’s something I couldn’t tell for certain, but it’s eyes almost seemed like it was begging, like how a dog looks at you when you have food. It stepped away slightly allowing for it’s tentacle to open the hole I had cut in the net by hooking part of it on some of the spikes that jutted from the pad at the end of the tentacle

My look of confusion had been noticed as the beast dipped it’s head and let you a small growl. Slowly climbing out of the net I stood in front of it. Standing, I was really able to grasp how large it was, it’s head was at the level of my chest. The beast did not move.

Taking a moment to look around, I could take in all the aspects of the large cistern turned lair. Opposite from the tunnel we had come from, was another, but it was boarded up, traps all around it. Next to it was a Displacer beasts, sitting there patiently, while what looked like a man slept a few feet away

Wink elbowed me in the leg. “What the hell’s goin’ on here?” He whispered. Looking at him, all I could muster was a shrug. Confusion seemed to be the word of the day.

It was to this that the beast in front of us walked over to a pile of soil and sand that had built up in the cistern. It proceeded to use a tentacle to write in the dirt. Baffled, all Wink and I could do was watch. Displacer Beasts were intelligent, but not to this level. The sleeping man must have trained them or something. Once the beast turned from it’s work back to us, slowly I walked over to what beast had written.

“Wait.” It read. Wait? Wait for what?

A growl echoed from the tunnel we had come from. The beasts perked up and looked to the opening. From the darkness emerged another Displacer Beast, this one carrying a small net of maybe a dozen fish. Were the beasts always this intelligent? It would explain why someone like Elder Von Rocren would pride himself in taming them.

Soon it began to get dark. Night was falling as the little rays of sunlight that lit the cistern began fading. This is what revealed the answers to so many questions.

The three beasts began sounding like they were in extreme pain, their fur became brighter, the 2nd pair of arms seemed to meld back into their bodies along with the tentacles. The howls became screams. Each of the Displacer beasts before us had changed into humans.

My jaw was on the floor. Was this some bastardized form of Lycanthropy? A curse? Before I could ask, Wink broke the silence for me. “One of you mind explainin’ to me what the hell’s goin’ on?”

A man and two women turned to us. They were bare and casually walked up to us. The first woman was the beast who had brought us here. “I’m sorry.” she said, “We your need help.”

The fire burned bright as the fish started browning. Our hosts were gracious enough to set up some old blankets for us to sit on as they clothed themselves and ate. The woman who had brought us here took a cooked piece of fish over the barricaded tunnel. She sidestepped every trap, placing the fish on a scrap of parchment and laying it on the ground in front of the makeshift wall.

Both Wink and I were silent as they had finished their tale. Failed experiments of science and transmutation magic, with a healthy bit of Memory altering. Beasts by day, human by night.

The woman sat back down with us, her long blonde hair almost touching the floor when she was sitting. She seemed to be regarded as the lead of this group. “Only thing we remember is language.” she said, “I feel I had a family once, odd flashes of a child's face in my sleep.”

The one man of the group spoke up, his voice was quiet and soft, stark contrast to his large, hairy build. “I have dreams of being on the ocean. On a ship.”

“Mine are of tending a field,” The second woman chimed in. “A volcano in the distance.” Her skin was a more tan shade than the others. With that I could guess she was from the Haven Isles at least.

“What about him?” I asked, nodding over to the man I had thought to be sleeping.

The group looked crushed. The blonde explained it to us. “He’s one of us, a few nights ago, a bad man tracked us. They fought as the rest of us ran. Our friend won, but was injured. Later he was getting ill, mentally. He was getting so scared of us. He built that barricade himself to keep us out.” My heart started beating faster, I had a hunch I knew what was coming next. Wink must have had a feeling too as he looked at me with grave concern. She continued. “Just tonight he began screaming, we rushed in and He began shaking violently and collapsed, he never woke up again.”

Standing immediately, I looked over at the barricade. “What’s in there?” I asked

The blonde and Wink both stood as well. “A younger one is in there.” She said. “While we believe to have been fused or something, we believe she was born. I think she has the same illness.” “S**t.” Wink exclaimed. “It’s Skips.”

The group looked at Wink and I in confusion. “Skips is a disease.” I explained as I grabbed the net Wink and I had been trapped in earlier. “It starts as paranoia, then seizures.” Using as much strength as I could, I tossed the net over the area the traps had been laid in front of the barricade. “If not treated, you die.” Pulling on the net set off most of the makeshift traps. Mostly snares and basic bear traps, probably stolen from the docks. “With all the rats down here, all of us could easily get infected.” A glowing pair of eyes looked through a gap in the barricade.

A young girl’s voice cried out, sounded no older than a teenager. “What are you doing! Get away!”

With my claws dug in between some of the boards, I ripped a large slab of plywood from the shoddy frame. Looking in, I could see the tunnel had been made into a small hut, a few meters away had been equally barricaded. In the back stood a small figure, trying to hide in the dark. Focusing on the figure, focusing on the blood pumping through her, I performed a curse. It gave a little shudder as it became paralyzed. When reaching my arms around it to pick the being up...it had fur, extremely short fur, but it was there.

Once in the light of the fire, I gently placed her down. Wink let out and audible gasp. She was a young girl, maybe twelve. But her skin- her fur, was the colour of a displacer beast’s, the black with a blue sheen to it. Her hair was unkempt, obscuring her human face that also had the fine fur covering it. What fascinated me most though, were the two body length tentacles, displacer tentacles, one from each shoulder blade, almost like wings.

“My gods.” Wink said.

The blonde woman knelled down and began petting the girl. Putting her hand through the girl’s hair. The girl’s piercing gold eyes began to dart much less.

Wink finally looked to me. “What do you want to do? You had a contract for them.”

That made the group suddenly stare at me, wide eyed. “Contract?” The tan woman asked. “For what?” The fear in her voice was unmistakable. For someone as smooth as Wink, that had been terrible timing.

Doing my best, I explained the situation. Ending with what I hoped was what would help everyone. “I have a plan.” I said, finishing my rundown of how I had been hired to hunt them. “You are clearly the victims here. You’re not evil creatures, that’s beyond clear. My plan is to take you to my organization.” I couldn’t help but crack a slight smile. “Our leader loves people that don’t fit in. At the very least, you'll be safe.”

The room calmed with that. But we had wasted too much time. The curse on the girl would fade soon and she would more than likely struggle, in her mind, my story probably had lead to millions of conspiracy theories about danger. We tied her up, restraining her and her tentacles

Due to the time difference, my gut said it would only be hitting late for Master Alexander. I took out my sending stone and sent him a message.

“Things got complicated. Need help evacuating, have four others with me. In heart of Vandellia.”

It was only moments till I received a response. “Acknowledged. Can bring you and others home from forest outside of Oblitus. Send when nearing.”

The moonlight coming through the ceiling windows was fading, we had maybe an hour or so before daybreak. Wink and I gathered our things. We had to get everyone out and hold up somewhere else till we could assemble everything for a safe trip. As we finished, the blonde had been looking at the body, lying there untouched. Approaching the blonde one, I had to bring it up. “He’ll attract rats soon enough. We need to dispose of him.”

She looked over to him, crossing her arms and taking a deep breath. “Alright. I wish we could give him a proper burial, without his bravery...we would never have escaped.”

“I’m sorry.” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. “Best thing we can do is to let him be taken out by the current to be found elsewhere.” With that I walked over to the corpse. Once I turned him over to finally see his face, I froze. “Wink.” I called out. “Want to come here a sec?”

He made his way over and upon seeing what I did he had also been stunned. “But...how?” He asked.

The corpse was of Elder Von Rocren.

A man, believed to be Elder Von Rocren, was now drifting through the sewer, hopefully to the outside where he may he found.

This lead Wink and I to be mostly in thought for the walk through the sewers. If that was Rocren, then who hired me. A twin? A disguise? Probably a spell. Going back over my interaction with the Nobel and the assassination attempt, something didn’t add up. But not with Von Rocren, with Wink. How did he know that the body was of Elder Von Rocren?

We had come this far. So why not just ask.“Wink?” I asked. He perked his head up in attention. “The Frostpeak military...they use rifles right?”

“Aye, they do.” He called.

“And as a Ranger in the military, you would have trained with a rifle. Like the one Strix used.”

“Yes love.”

“Do you think a spell like silence would suppress a gunshot?”

He chuckled, turning around and walking backwards to face me. “I suppose it could.”

“Do you think Strix would feel like he owed me, having nicked my arm?”

Wink formed a smile the went ear to ear. “Only fair, hittin’ a bystander.” He said, turning back around. “But now I got a question for you.”

Not being able to help myself, I had to say it. “Shoot.”

Wink chuckled and asked his question. “Your kind hunts evil. You think the livin’ Rocren fits that description?”

Thinking about it a moment. Looking to the girl, still tied up onto the back of the lead beast. All of them had lives before. Even if the living Von Rocren wasn’t behind the experiments themselves, he would have knowingly owned these souls. “Yes.” I replied.

We didn’t need light to tell when it was morning. The three humans changed into their beastly forms as we reached our exit. According to the city map, we were right under the tower that housed Elder Von Rocren’s white penthouse. With him at a safehouse, his should be mostly empty, any guards or staff could be safely handled.

With a pick of a lock, we were in the basement level of the tower. Wink cast another spell to allow us to pass through without leaving a trace, but we still had to be on guard.

Each flight of stairs was a gauntlet of Wink and I checking the halls and doors we all passed, checking ahead for any guards or even people leaving early for the day. It wasn’t until we all reached the floor of Rocren’s penthouse that we finally encountered an obstacle. Two men stood at the entrance, one awake, one seemingly asleep in a chair.

Looking back to the group, I held up my hand for them to wait as I moved in. Recognizing them from my first visit, I casually walked up to them. The man who was awake nudged the other to get up, both then stood before me.

“I need to see Elder Von Rocren.” I demanded

As one began explaining that Rocren wasn’t there, I focused myself, the sound of the voice grew distant as I breathed, my energy concentrated on my hands.

Neither of them saw me coming. A stunning strike the head of the first man, my fist strategically hitting his temple, following up with grabbing the other man’s arm as he attempted to draw a knife with one hand as my other performed the same strike on him, knocking them both out. Temporarily. Taking a breath, I beckoned the others to come into the hall.

One of the men had the key on them, all of us piled into the penthouse, tying up and gagging the guards. After a quick sweep of the place, we determined it empty. Wink made note to direct everyone to the penthouse hallway as it had no line of sight from other towers. We didn’t want any prying eyes.

Once settled, I went over our plan. “To confirm. You go, take the platinum, get a horse and covered wagon, leave it at the entrance for us, then you watch outside till nightfall.”

He nodded and put out his hand for me to shake. “In case this goes tits up.” He said. “It’s been a pleasure Mis.”

Hours passed. Resting, I was laying against a wall that faced the main entrance. The sound of voices, multiple, came to the door. Someone unlocked it.

Elder Von Rocren, along with a dozen fit men came through the doorway. S**t. I had only been expecting his usual two or three, five at most. Standing, I greeted the crew. “Hello there.”

Rocren looked understandably flustered. “What is the meaning of this?” He commanded. “What are you doing here? Where are the guards?”

Crossing my arms, I looked over each man. All were armed. Being someone who liked to fight smart, part of me still wanted to test myself against them all. “Joseph Von Rocren,” I called, “Why did I find your body in the sewers among a pack of humans turned displacer beasts?”

His expression was unmoving. “That does not concern you. Where are my men?”

Gesturing to the study I answered him. “Tied up in the study. Now who are you really?”

He grew agitated. “That does not concern you!” Taking a step closer, he asked again. “Now why are you here? This is not apart of your contract!”

I figured he wouldn’t be helpful. But I at least had wanted to try. So I answered his question.“I’m here to rid the city of corruption.”

Snapping my fingers, growls emanated through the penthouse. The three Displacer beasts showed themselves. Each bodyguard made the mistake of taking a step back in fear, leaving enough of Rocren in line of sight.

The sound of broken glass filled the room. Rocren’s head jolted to the side as he collapsed. Outside across the way, perched on the side of the building was Strix, watching from outside like we planned.

When my gaze returned to Rocren, another puzzle piece fell into place. The body on the floor bleeding was not Elder Von Rocren. It had the almost amphibious skin of a Doppelganger. To what end a Doppelganger would pose as a noble to keep experimented people was not something I had time to contemplate. While I was correct that without an employer some would run, only three or four ran away. The other almost dozen bodyguards moved in, the scraping sound of swords being unsheathed filled the room.

In one swift motion, I pulled the crossbow from its holster, firing off a few bolts at those nearest as I extended my wrist dagger.

“Go!” I called out. The three Displacer Beasts leaped through the crowd, tossing many out of the way.

Following in their path, one of the men getting up tried to take a swing at me, the bolt in his side made him sloppy, allowing me to deflect his swing with my dagger arm. This left me open though as someone had flanked me, plunging their fist into my other side. If I didn’t push forward, they began to overwhelm me. Bursting through the few still standing, I was in the stairwell. The sound of them running coming up on me, taking a deep breath to focus myself, I threaded the needle, and jumped over the railing into the void between the flights of stairs. Floor after floor flew past me, watching each one, I kept my breathing calm, concentrating on each stair railing as it passed. Once I had passed five floors, I grabbed the railing; leaping over it and continuing the escape.

Bursting through the main doors, a covered wagon was waiting, city guards trying to surround it, people running away screaming. The assassin, Strix, was standing on top of the wagon, the rifle’s barrel aimed at guard after guard. Once noticing me, emerald eyes pierced through the gold owl mask.

“C’mon love!” Strix yelled, turning to get the horses moving.

Shoving a guard in my dash over, I attempted to leap forward to grab the wagon as it started rushing away. Two tentacles wrapped around me to help me in.

Everyone was accounted for; three beasts and the beast girl. She was still tied and gagged and she begun looking more feverish, her eyes darted around, accusing everyone. The deep set paranoia from Skips in full force, we were running out of time.

Climbing out into the daylight, we were almost to the bridge that would take us to Oblitus. Joining Strix at the driver's seat, his hood had blown back leaving his frizzy brown hair to blow in the wind.

I could see the bridge up ahead. Strix snapped the reins for the two horses to keep their pace. He yelled out, “Hold on!”

The few guards manning the bridge toll began to move into a defencive position. Drawing my crossbow, I got the four near our immediate path in the leg, forcing them to kneel down for us to pass as the other unharmed guards tried to cut us off to no avail.

Strix laughed. “Not a bad shot! Maybe the Birds are your true calling.”

Leaning in I spoke over the sound of the horses. “Notice I didn’t hit them in the head. That’s why. By the way, does anyone actually call you Wink?”

“Not at all love.” He said, letting out a hearty laugh.

The pain reared its head then. The hit to my side must have been with a sword as I was bleeding heavily. Cursing under my breath, I crawled back into the wagon, each small bump was worsened by our speed. The horses soon slowed, they were living things and couldn't keep such a pace for long. We had bought some time, but not much.

Knowing only the basics of medicine, and only enough skills to do a simple patch job to prevent bleeding out, I managed a simple stitching and bandage; any direct hits to that area could lead to bigger problems. The displacer beast I pegged as the blonde one, did their best trying to help me with their tentacles. Once finished, I moved over to the girl. Her breathing was heavy and laboured; she glared at me with angry golden eyes.

Trying to calm her, I ran my fingers through her hair like the blonde had done in the cistern.

“I need you need to try to understand that I’m here to help you. You are sick and I can help. If I take off the gag, will you scream?”

She quickly nodded. At least she was honest.

Yelling came from outside. “They caught up!” Strix called. Looking out the back, a small outfit of guards, just more than a dozen were galloping towards us. We were barely a fifth across.

“Can we run?” I called back.

“Horses have been moving non stop, they’ll need more time or a stopped rest before another gallop!” Strix answered.

An idea came to me. Moving over to the girl, I prepared to undo her gag. Looking right into her eyes and pointing behind me towards the incoming threat, I asked her for help. “Men are coming to hurt you, hurt all of us. Even if you don’t trust me, please save yourself. Take the reins.” She was silent once free and climbed out to the driver's seat

“What the hell!” Strix yelled.

Climbing out to join them I filled him in, grabbing the reins and passing them to the girl. “She drives, we shoot!”

Strix nodded. It was as he climbed on top of the wagon that I finally got a good look at the slippers he wore, smiling as I clued in. They were slippers of Spider Climb, that’s how he perched on walls.

We both readied ourselves on top of the wagon. Strix with his scoped rifle, me with my crossbow. “No casualties,” I ordered, “They’re just doing their job.”

“Ah, alright. You’re no fun.” He said. Not sure if in jest or not.

Everything went silent. Even the wagon and horses made no sound. He had cast silence again. There was then a flash of light as his rifle fired, one less guard would be on the horizon. Soon enough they were upon us, the dozen or so now down to four. Turning to the girl, I grabbed the rein and showed her to whip it. The shock made the horses gallop faster than before. The guards kept pace.

My crossbow hit shot after shot, keeping them back just enough. The wagon swerved hard, knocking Strix off tumbling. I tried to reach for him, fingers just shy on grabbing his cloak, he had been thrown off. With his concentration breaking, sound returned to the wagon. I was about to have the girl slow us down, when he stood and yelled out. “Godspeed love!” Waving his arm for us to keep moving. He continued to defend us, the crack of the rifle breaking the silence.

We had reached just over half way across when the horses slowed, and then stopped. They couldn’t proceed. We were potentially safe for now, being too far away from either side for the law to effectively reach us without exhausting themselves. But there was no way the horses would be up and moving anytime soon.

There were caravans travelling around our wagon, giving us a wide berth while at the same time, staring at the young nonhuman driver. Disliking the thought, it was time to play the bad guy. Once a caravan came by with four strong horses, I waved them down. With the help of our intimidating cargo, I was able to persuade them to trade horses.

With only wasting a little less than an hour, we were back on our way. During the more relaxed stretch, I sat next to the girl. Her tentacles rose up to prepare to strike if I got too close.

“You did good kid.” I said, trying to ease the tension. “Want to talk to me yet? Even your name would be a help.”

She threw a side glance at me, her piercing yellow eyes trying to scare me. “Thing” she replied. Her voice was scratchy, could be her usual voice, could be Skips. Most don’t go this long without diving into a seizure and then death.

“Thing.” I said, nodding. “Not your choice?”

She shook her head no. It must’ve been just how they referred to her. I leaned back, act casual. “Once I get you healed up, we can find you a real name.” She didn’t show any reaction, just kept her eyes on the horses.

Hours passed. Soon land was in full view, followed by Oblitus, then by the small army waiting at the toll station where the bridge ended. We slowed to a stop once in view. Well over twenty armed and armoured men. Not surprised Vandellia and Oblitus would have a means of fast communication.

Pulling out my sending stone, I messaged Master Alexander. “Reached Oblitus. Small army here, will need backup and medical support, one aflicted with Skips. Displacer Beasts are ones to extract.”

And with that, a booming voice echoed from the men. “By order of Vandellia and the nation of Frostpeak, you are hereby accused of Assassination of a Nobel, Assault, attempted murder, and theft. We have been ordered to bring you in alive or dead, the beasts with you to be slain.”

The displacer beasts looked to me for guidance and for the first time, the girl did not glare at me with anger, her eyes showed fear. Being in the spotlight has never been for me. Everyone’s lives were at stake, no talking or tricking them out of this. The weight of the silver sword seemed to grow ten times over.

Not again. Standing on the wagon, I yelled out to the guards. “We surrender!” Feeling my resolve, I explained my plan to the others as we slowly drove closer to the militia.

All of us got out of the wagon. I unhitched a horse and mounted. Shooing the other horses away. Taking a piece of wood off of the wagon, I held it as a temporary shield. The girl got on behind me. Her arms wrapped around my waist, while it stung my patched side, it was reassuring. There was no keeping a steady heart and calm breath this time.

We all galloped forward, the Displacer beasts seeming to multiply. Looking at each of them, I noticed the one who was the blonde woman had the girl riding on her back too. A grin crossed my face, the girl was full of surprises.

Once close enough, a barrage of arrows were fired at us, while I blocked most of them, some still made their way into not just myself, but the horse and girl as well. Taking the chance, I drew my crossbow and fired the full clip across the group, knocking down a few.

Once we were in close, I dropped the shield and stood on the horse to prepare to jump; the girl wrapping her tentacles around me as she herself stood. Just as the horse began to turn as to not run into the men, focusing my energy into my legs, all of us leaped over the men, and tumbling just past the small garrison. Guards ran in to cut us off, a beast pounced on some as I fought others. Hit after hit, more guards fell. One guard charged at me but tentacles swiped him off his feet, the girl was beginning to defended me.

A guard rode up on horseback, sideswiping the girl and kicking me in the face, the blow spun me around on my toes before I fell to the ground. Everything darkened and sound muffled for a moment. When it cleared, the girl was standing over me, her tentacles tore the guard off his horse and was now choking him next to us. Standing, I pulled her from the guard and mounted his horse. We rode again to get out of the city, the three displacer beasts breaking from the fighting to follow.

One of them let out a roar, turning around to stand their ground. I called back for her, knowing it was the blonde woman, but she just looked back at us and roared again before lunging at some of the guards trying to follow. We rode away before, I didn’t want the girl to see how the fight would go.

The edge of the city was fast approaching, past that, the edge of the forest. Almost there. But at the city entrance stood a single man in robes. As we got closer, the robes stood out, they were of a priest from the temple of Bane, god of the seas, but underneath the robes seemed to be chain mail. A cleric?

As we rode towards him, just under us for a split second, a glowing symbol appeared. A glyph. All I managed was a gasp before a wave of electrical energy exploded from under us, tossing us and the horse in the air. The landing stunned all of us, the horse had barely been off the ground so it had no trouble getting up and running away.

The girl and I struggled to stand. The cleric spoke some chant and suddenly the girl began screaming. Her hands were patting her face, her eyes wide open, but they looked clouded over and milky white. I yelled at her but she didn’t respond, she just fell to her knees and flailed her tentacles wildly, nearly slamming into me till I stood back enough.

When I looked back at the cleric, he was casting something else. A shimmer of light started forming next to him. The visage of a ghostly sword formed from the eather.

I was on my own. The girl was still screaming. A pile on the floor. Like the pile of clothes from...a silver sword...my failure.

Looking around for the beasts that were unaccounted for, they were up and keeping the incoming guards at bay. It was just me on my own. I couldn’t f**k up.

As my dagger extended, it sliced my hand, giving it the spark of electricity it needed from my tainted blood. Rushing in, I lunged at the Cleric. Planting my foot, with a quick spin I evaded a swipe from the floating sword.

Trying to plunge my dagger into him, he deflected it with what I thought was a staff. It wasn’t until he swung it upon me that I discovered it was a warhammer. Ducking out of the way, I used the momentum to strike again, my free hand striking him in the crotch. As I did, his eyes sparked and his chain mail sent an electric bolt into me.

My training was for monster hide, not metal. In an attempt to pull back, the hammer slammed into my bad side. Knocking me to the ground.

Standing, I had just enough time to breath in, and heave my chest, allowing for the acid to escape. Hitting the cleric, or more specifically, his armour. In response he began another casting, an excruciating ringing sound exploded from himself, the force of it knocking me back; the landing winding me.

Getting up, I dashed at him, side stepping his ghost sword and warhammer, putting focus into my arms I swiped twice with my fists at his head, followed by a stab with the dagger into the weakened spot of armour.

The girl stopped screaming, his concentration had been broken.

Yelling as loud as I could, I commanded the girl and remaining beasts to follow. Grabbing the girl, we ran out of Oblitus towards the forest.

As we ran, I pulled out the sending stone.

“Now!”

In the distance, from a tree I saw a light. We were so close. Again I heard the cleric.

“Halt!” He commanded, his voice booming. The girl stopped running. Once I turned to just pick her up, another chant pierced the air. A bolt of lightning struck me in the shoulder, knocking me to the ground. Again he chanted, and a large spectral form appeared to be standing above me, a sword and shield of Bane in hand. It’s arms raised up, preparing for a final blow. I was going to fail again. The cleric stood a ways away, arms crossed like some smug son of a b***h.

A familiar voice then called out.

“Swift death to those who have wronged me.”

Multiple glowing arrows pierced the chest of the cleric, taking him down. The girl was still frozen. Looking back to where the arrows came from, two figures stood. Master Alexander holding the Oathbow, and a white haired dwarf woman...watching over me...as I fell into unconsciousness.

My eyes opened slowly. The white haired dwarf woman from earlier looking over me, Bianca, the planar Druid.

She put her finger to her lips to shush me as her other hand continued with some regenerative magic. She then slowly helped me sit up. We were in the mansion that belonged to Duke Aeon, the headquarters of the Venari, last time I had come here was to take the Hunter’s Bane. Master Alexander and his wife Oliva were waiting in my room too.

“Where’s the girl?” I asked. “How many made it?”

Alexander walked over to me. “The girl is in her own room, treated for Skips. She just needs to be watched for now. You made it to us with two other people.”

Another voice began from outside the room. “Want to explain how the these displacers are so smart?” Duke Aeon asked as he walked in. While Alexander had aged naturally over the years since he trained me, Aeon looked no different, his bright red skin showed no wrinkles, yellow eyes still alert.

I sat straight up, being this close to Bianca, a Shield Of Stone had been a surprise, but I had only seen Aeon once before, during the test. “Yes.” I said, “They all were experiments, transmutation magic. Beast by day, human by night. The girl was born the way she is from experimented parents.”

“Cool, cool.” Aeon said. His tail poking out of his cloak to pass him a drink Alexander had brought in. “Is the female you brought one of the parents?”

My heart sank. The blonde woman and the one man must’ve not made it. “No.” I responded, my at attention posture now completely deflated. “There were four, the three didn’t survive our escape.” Now I would have three lives to atone for. Three people whom I utterly failed. A hand began rubbing along my back. Bianca forced a smile and mouthed, “It’s okay.”

Thinking about our escape, I had to ask another question. “I made a mess of things in Frostpeak. Should we be worried about any difficulties with the government?”

To this, Aeon laughed. “No, no, no.” He said, waving his hand. “Don’t worry, it wouldn’t be the first time we fucked with a diplomatic incident and it won’t be the last.” Everyone in the room just looked at him as he continued. “The more important question is, what do we do with the beast and girl?”

Looking around at everyone, who were all now looking to me for my answer. “Well,” I said sheepishly. “We should research a cure for the Displacer beast woman, not sure about the girl.”

Aeon stood from his seat. “Alright.” He said, “We’ll see what we can do for the woman.” He walked over to a window that looked out upon the City. “Can’t really do much for changing the girl unless she’s interested in reincarnation.”

He said it so casually, like death was just a thing. It actually upset me after everything I had just done. Bianca must’ve been able to tell as she put a hand on my shoulder.

“Can I see her?” I finally asked.

She was asleep in bed, some bandages. Any bruises were virtually invisible due to her fine, dark fur. The tentacles themselves were splayed out over the bed.

Alexander looked to me. “Does she have a name?” He asked.

“No, she referred to herself as ‘Thing'.” Crossing my arms I shared my theory. “My guess is that’s what her owners called her.”

Aeon, standing next to us spoke up. “I know what we can name her.”

To this Bianca aggressively responded, “No. Not again. This little one can decide for herself.”

Aeon shrugged and leaned over the girl, gently tapping her tentacle. “Wake up bud.”

She gradually opened her eyes, now much clearer than I had seen them. They passed over everyone and her breathing sped up. Seeing such a motley crew of so many races, Aeon especially, being a demonic looking Tiefling, would concern many not accustomed to our community.

Sitting on the bed next to her, I began rubbing my hand through her hair like the blonde woman had done. “It’s okay.” I reassured her, “These are my people. Safe people.”

She visibly relaxed. We spent the next day talking with her, explaining how she could live her life now that she was essentially free, now that she was safe.

Eventually she decided on a name. Shiloh starts training next month.