It’d been a couple of weeks since Uncle Iro left. Sengmar still won’t tell Alkara about what’s been bothering him, no matter how much she prods him. And now the Waste Walkers are on their way to Charlotte’s office for a debrief on an assignment. Her assistant had seemed quite anxious when she’d summoned them.
Alkara had done her best to lay low and not piss anyone off. Though she’d still ended up yelling at one of the local barons for trying to drag her into some drama between him and the Honest Peddlers. In his courtyard. In front of everyone. And yet she’d still managed to get paid. Minus Kierra’s fee of course, She thinks acidly. And walked out of there without so much as a scratch. Guen helped with that. No one wanted to mess with a panther.
Sengmar had grown almost white as a ghost when she’d told him. “People have died for less.” He’d said. And Alkara knows he’s right. But she’s also pretty sure that Baron Pellington wont’ dare touch her. Sengmar wasn’t so sure.
As Sengmar steps forward to open the door for her and the others, all other thoughts are driven away as Alkara sees the look on Charlotte’s face with anticipation.
In fact, the longer she looks the more she feels positively giddy. It’s the look of dread and trepidation Charlotte always gets when she’s about to give the Waste Walkers a particularly tough assignment.
And those are always Alkara’s favorites.
“Alright,” Charlotte begins. “Two days ago the Retrievers assisted the Northern Blackshaw Company on a contract out in the Wastes. There’ve been a string of unusual deaths, several Company members included, and they tracked the thing they believe is responsible out to the Wastes.” Charlotte grimaces, “Our team returned yesterday, without the Company team. Said they watched the creature tear the Company team apart. Literally. As I’m sure you’re aware, Kierra’s teams are some of the best in Three Rivers, but they don’t necessarily know how to deal with aberrants as well as we do. Our scouts saw a very large aberrant creature not only sling spells at Kierra’s team, but fly up to them and tear them limb from limb, without so much as flinching as their weapons struck. We also believe that the creature is stealing brains, though the scouts didn’t witness that. We don’t know what it does with them, but several of the victims have had their brains removed.”
Charlotte sighs, her lips pressed firmly together as she gives a hard look at each of the Waste Walkers in turn. Her gaze lingers on Alkara for an extra moment before she shakes her head and continues. “You are not obligated to take this contract, but I think you’re our best shot at taking this thing out. Hopefully before it kills anyone else. Do you accept?”
“Tch! Of course!” Alkara says with a crooked grin on her face. “Taking out the thing that took out one of Kierra’s best teams? She’ll never live it down. One less glory play for the Northern Blackshaw Company.” Alkara crosses her arms, grin growing wider by the second.
Charlotte frowns at Alkara, but before she can say anything Dre interjects, “I may have a solution that will ensure our weapons are at least somewhat effective against the creature, but it requires some ingredients that I don’t have. I’ll need to requisition some rarer reagents from the Retrievers’ stores.”
Charlotte nods, “Take whatever you need. You too, Sengmar. We’ll work out the details of cost later. We just need this thing dead.” Charlotte looks at Alkara, “Kierra wasn’t forthcoming with this information, but we believe that the Company has been tracking this creature for several weeks now, if not longer. This isn’t just a problem for Kierra and her Company, it’s a problem for the city. Do you understand?”
Alkara’s smile never leaves her face, “I get it Charlotte, don’t worry.”
Charlotte frowns again and she stares at Alkara for a little while longer before saying, “Alright. Prepare as quickly as you can. Find it. Kill it. [For the city.]”
“[For the city.]” The Waste Walkers repeat as they nod and head out the door.
It takes them longer to prepare than Alkara likes. She’s itching to get out there and fight this thing. She knows all too well just how good Kierra’s people are. She snorts to herself, well. Her best people. And now Alkara had her chance. She can’t wait to take this thing down.
After a few days, the Waste Walkers head out with the original scout team. The creature had been sighted lumbering southward from the position from which they’d observed the first encounter. Alkara wasn’t sure she could be more excited. Or happier. She loves hunts with her family. It was just a shame Uncle Iro wasn’t here. “If it’s heading south from here, it could have headed into the ruins of the city this side of the river.” She notes as she scans the horizon.
“If it’s been making its way into the city for the past month, hiding there makes sense.” Sengmar muses as the scout team bids them farewell and heads back across the river.
Alkara waves them off, “Yeah, but how in the world has it been getting around in the city unnoticed if it’s so big?” She asks as they head toward the run-down buildings.
Sengmar purses his lips, “Its manner of flight is likely geometrically unsound, others of its kind fly using spatial dispensation. Their magicks aren’t confined to Urda’s rules, so its flight could be silent. It’s also possible that the creature is able to harness its magicks to turn itself invisible. And most of the deaths took place either on the outskirts or in areas that don’t typically see large crowds.”
Before entering the ruined section of the city, the team stops to apply the oil Dre prepared to their weapons. Dre swallows nervously as she passes out the bottles, “This should do the trick. I haven’t had to make it in a while but… it should…”
Sengmar smiles up at Dre as he helps Alkara apply the oil to her arrows, “Don’t worry Dre. We all know how good your memory is. I’m sure it’s perfect.”
Her face tight with worry, Dre nods, “Just don’t underestimate this thing. Aberrant spellcasters are… we just need to kill it fast.” Dre looks at them all to make sure they’re taking this seriously.
“Yeah guys, stay alert, don’t lose your head.” Chiron says with a straight face.
Alkara rolls her eyes but then follows Sengmar’s example and smiles at Dre, “Come on Dre, we’re good at this! And Sengmar’s plans always work. Chiron will get one of his traps in place with one of your sticky bags, we’ll kill it fast, and everything will be fine. It will barely have the chance to touch us.”
“Sengmar’s plans don’t always work. And it won’t need to touch us Alkara, it’s a spellcaster.” Dre snaps.
“No, not–” Alkara sighs, “We’ll be fine Dre. Trust your team.” The shift in the group’s energy after that shifts markedly. Alkara can almost feel Dre become more centered and grounded, as well as Sengmar and Chiron after Uncle Iro’s usual instruction. She nods. “Now let’s go kick this thing’s ass.”
Dre opens her mouth but Alkara cuts her off, “No I don’t care if it doesn’t technically have an ass Dre!”
Chiron snickers as he moves up to scout ahead, and the team moves into the old, blight-infested ruins.
Alkara only catches sight of the thing a couple of times. And it was big. Even the small glimpses send shivers down her spine. Fighting the horrors from the Far Realm was a matter of course for them at this point, yet somehow new ones could still chill her to the bone.
Tracking this one was proving exceedingly difficult since it could fly. Normally a big, lumbering creature like that would be a cake walk. Guen’s keen sense of smell was all that kept them on this thing’s trail.
After several hours of following it back and forth through the ruins, Alkara notes that even Sengmar is losing his patience. “Does anyone else feel like it’s studying us? Why else lead us on this goose chase?” he mutters.
Alkara frowns, rather irritated herself. That would be bad. Though thankfully they hadn’t given the thing much to study.
They hear a signal from Chiron and move quickly toward his position toward the westward edge of the ruins, but by the time the rest of them catch up it was already flying off out into the wastes. Alkara growls with frustration and picks up her pace. “Chiron, chase it down. See if you can hit it with one of Dre’s sticky bags. It doesn’t have anywhere to hide out here.”
Sengmar grabs Alkara by the arm, pulling her to a stop, “Chiron, wait!” He turns to Alkara, “We can’t follow it out there, we’re not kitted or prepared for an overnight pursuit into the Wastes.”
Alkara whirls on Sengmar, infuriated, “It’s right there! We can catch up if we chase it now. You’re wasting time!”
“Alkara,” Dre says a little breathlessly as she catches up to them, “Sengmar is right. It’s not in the city, and it’s almost sunset. We can kill it tomorrow.”
“And I’m not even sure I could catch up to it Al. That thing is fast.” Chiron adds as he shimmers into view.
Alkara grits her teeth and looks back out, the creature becomes smaller and smaller on the horizon. With a small grunt, she gruffly pulls her arm away from Sengmar and whips around away from the team, stalking back toward the river crossing, “Fine!” She knows they’re right. But they’d been so close! And now all that back and forth had been for nothing!
The team follows her in silence the whole way back, though Sengmar quickly moves to walk next to her. Alkara is grateful. Her bad mood didn’t have anything to do with them, and everything to do with the hunt. He knows that. And he doesn’t try to talk her out of it. He just lets her be. Alkara had been surprised the first time, years ago now, he’d come to sit with her when she’d been sulking. He hadn’t said a damn thing. Though she kind of wishes he had. Even so, just having him there was a comfort.
After they get back across the river, Alkara sighs and turns to the team in the dusklight, “Alright. I’m sorry guys. How about we hit up The Melted Gryffin for dinner? I’m buying.”
“Uh, actually Alkara,” Sengmar starts nervously. He pulls her a little away from Chiron and Dre after giving them a significant look. Alkara looks back and forth between the three of them in confusion. “I was hoping that perhaps I could treat you to dinner tonight. Without Dre and Chiron.”
Alkara gives Sengmar, Dre, and Chiron another confused look, notes the looks of confusion on Dre and Chiron’s face, then looks back at Sengmar, “You don’t want them there? We always eat together.”
Sengmar swallows, “Of course I want them there, but I was hoping to speak with you about something.” He sighs. “Something confidential.”
Alkara furrows her brow and drops her voice, “Does this have to do with what’s been bothering you lately?”
Sengmar starts a bit, but then smiles sheepishly, “Actually, yes.”
“Well but, you can tell them too, can’t you? We’re all family.” Alkara says, crossing her arms.
“We are, but–“
“Come on Sengmar! Out with it!” Chiron says as he suddenly appears behind Sengmar with a wide grin, abruptly grabbing his shoulders and messing with his hair. “You can tell us!”
Embarrassment clear on Sengmar’s face, his smile falters, “Alright, alright! Later. Let’s get some food first. I’m exhausted.”
“Yus! Food!” Chiron fist pumps the air as he turns away to head to the tavern. “Come on Al, I know you’re hungry too.”
Alkara smiles a little, “Yeah yeah. Let’s go.” She looks over at Sengmar, surprised to see him looking at her a little… sadly? What the heck was wrong with him? As they both begin to follow Chiron, with Dre trailing behind with Guenwyvar, lost in her own thoughts, Alkara asks quietly, “What’s going on, Sengmar?”
“Later, please. After dinner?” Sengmar asks with a sideways glance.
Alkara furrows her brow and looks at him a little longer before offering a small smile, “Alright. Sure.”
After making their way through the ruins and back across the river, the team collectively sighs with relief as their favorite tavern comes into view. Alkara winces a little at the roar as they enter. It is packed. But Glin makes room for them, shooing out some customers she said were leaving anyway. She brings out extra food for Chiron and Alkara, who both quickly tuck in after Alkara tosses her the coin.
“Man, can you guys believe how fast that thing was?” Chiron says with his mouth full. “We’re gonna have to be careful when we fight it. It looked pretty beefy too. Might want some extra wire to tangle it up.”
Alkara shakes her head, “I barely saw it. Were its eyes…?”
Chiron looks up thoughtfully as he pulls the spoon out of his mouth, he waves it as he talkes, “Not where I thought they’d be. Not sure I know where its eyes are.” His face darkens, “I did see little storage pouches on top of its body though. Not sure what was in them. Couldn’t get close enough.”
Alkara glances at Dre, but she’s buried in one of her notebooks, “Dre?”
“Yes?” She says without looking up.
Alkara rolls her eyes as she swallows a mouthful of her dinner, “What do you think the pouches could be for?”
Dre just shrugs, still not looking up, “Could be anything. Food. Spare parts. Maybe material components for spells.”
Chiron makes a thoughtful noise, “Huh. What about those brains that have gone missing?”
Dre finally looks up, thoughtful curiosity on her face, “It’s possible. Seems odd to put such precious cargo in such an exposed place though.”
Alkara arcs an eyebrow at Dre but just shakes her head as she pushes her first plate away and starts on her second. She glances at Sengmar.
Sengmar has barely touched his food. Alkara furrows her brow. “Come on Sengmar, eat. Even Dre has eaten more than that. And she has the stomach of a bird. We need to keep up our strength and be ready for this thing.”
Sengmar just stares at his food. Finally, he sighs and looks up at Alkara. “Alkara–” But suddenly his eyes widen and unfocus. After a moment, he shakes his head and stands, “Sending from Charlotte. We have to go. They found another body down the street near the Lonely Isle Bridge. They think the creature headed south from there.”
After a beat of stunned silence, the team grabs one last bite and swig of ale, scrambling to regather their things and head out the door. After a few moments jogging toward Gate Street, Guenwyvar leaps down from a nearby roof to join them.
They begin to search the area between the street and the river. Warehouse after warehouse, they sweep the area as quickly as they can. Nothing.
“Maybe it went farther south, through the gate? Let’s head there.” Alkara suggests
Almost immediately after passing through the gate, they notice two things. A loud banging noise on what sounds like heavy metal. And that the guards are all staring in that direction with fear in their eyes. Good a clue as any, Alkara figures.
They round a corner to see a square of several warehouses, all marked for the Northern Blackshaw Company. One of the warehouse’s front wall has a huge hole in it, and it’s difficult to see much inside. Dre pulls two beads from her pouch, dashes up to the opening, and quickly sticks them just inside, one on the left and one on the right. As the beads make a popping sound, the begin to emit light, illuminating ten feet or so of the warehouse.
Chiron and Sengmar start murmuring. Chiron disappears from view, and Alkara hears his footsteps head into the warehouse. She glances over to Sengmar and watches as a scroll seems to dissolve in his hands and a fey warrior appears next to him. Sengmar quickly explains the situation and hands him a vial of Dre’s solution for him to apply to his weapon. Or at least that’s what Alkara assumes they discuss, seeing as how she doesn’t know the fey language. All the while, the loud banging continues.
Alkara kneels down and puts a hand on Guen’s head, murmuring her own supplication to Urdima, while Dre puts a hand to her crossbow and utters her arcane words, a green sheen appearing to coat the bolt loaded into her crossbow.
They all glance up as they hear Chiron’s return signal. “Alright.” He begins quietly, “Inside the warehouse is a ramp that leads down about a hundred feet. The creature is at the end of the ramp, clawing and scratching at a big metal door. Thing must have found a guard or something because it’s also smashing a body against the door. We have room to flank the ramp. I should be able to set up a trap with one of Dre’s sticky bags and then lure it back up so that we can ambush it.”
Alkara looks to Sengmar, who’s nodding in agreement. It was close enough to the original plan. Alkara nods and looks to the rest of them, “Alright then. This is it. Trust your team. Take care of each other. Let’s take this thing out.”
Moving as quickly and quietly as they can, the rest of the team takes up their position while Chiron sets his trap. Near the back of the warehouse, the descending ramp is finally deep enough to be completely underground. The fey warrior crouches at the lip, waiting to drop down behind the creature. Alkara and Guen take the left side, Dre and Sengmar take the right. And even though she knows it’s there, Alkara can barely make out the string attached to Dre’s sticky bag, tucked just out of sight close to the fey warrior. Alkara grins. No way the creature would see this coming. Particularly with Chiron antagonizing it the way he was currently, now that his trap was set.
She hears the banging cease and a guttural roar, and sees Chiron suddenly dash past them, the ends of the tight braids that line his scalp bouncing madly. Alkara shakes her head in impressed amusement. Chiron had suddenly tripped on nothing, stumbling away from the creature as though terrified, but really it was to make sure the creature was right where he wanted it to be when Chiron set off his own trap.
As the creature finally comes into full view, Alkara’s eyes widen with horror. The large, green creature has six crab-like legs, in addition to the two claws and giant maw she can see in the front. Its eyes are moving quickly, taking in its new opponents, but they aren’t on its central torso near its mouth. They’re lined down its front legs, four on each. On the top of its central thorax are the pouches Chiron had seen, and Alkara gags as she realizes that most of them have brains in them.
Alkara quickly realizes that it can see all of them, and that they did not have much of an element of surprise as she’d thought they’d have. But they had enough, because Chiron’s trap still flings Dre’s sticky bag through the air at the back of the thing as Chiron himself throws another one at its front. Both bags burst apart and covers the creature in thick, tar-like liquid that quickly hardens, hampering the creature’s movement and sticking it to the ground.
Alkara is grateful that her instincts take over. Even as the fey warrior drops down behind the creature, Guen leaps down in front and attacks in concert with him. Alkara draws her first arrow, swallowing bile as she looses it on a brain sack. The arrow pierces the sack, causing it to leak whatever liquid is inside. Probably preserving the brains, Alkara thinks. Dre would love to get her hands on some of that. She looses another arrow and bursts the sack completely. The creature roars, Alkara would guess in anger, but it’s abberant, so who really knows. She sees four eyes glare in her direction, and would swear it would have killed her then and there if it wasn’t also barraged with a bolt from Dre, as well as three rays of fire from Sengmar, one of them bursting another sack. Not to mention the gouges she can see from Guen’s attack.
Alkara grits her teeth as the creature struggles against the sticky substance and manages to break free. They’d been hoping to keep it pinned for longer than that. The thing whirls on the fey warrior and swipes at it twice. Alkara winces as she hears him cry out in pain, mentally promising to reserve some healing for him when this was over.
And it would be over soon. Dre’s oil was working. The creature was already considerably injured. As the team lays into the creature again, having made the terrible mistake of turning it’s back on Guenwyvar, she claws and bites into its meaty back. As the creatures rears, Alkara looses two more arrows at the brain sacks. She curses as the arrows miss the sacks, but consoles herself with the fact that at least they’ve lodged themselves into the creature. Three more beams of fire slam into it. The fey slashes at the creature’s eyes, attempting to blind it, though she can’t see if it hit any eyes, she still notes the creature flinch from the attack. Alkara winces as she sees the creature flinch just out of the way of one of Dre’s bolts. They were doing well, but she knew they couldn’t relax until the things was dead.
Just as Chiron lunges toward the creature, it disappears. Alkara looks sharply at Sengmar as he gasps, a hand coming to his head, his eyes wide.
“Sengmar! What’s wrong?”
Sengmar shakes his head, trembling, “I tried to stop it from escaping, but…” He presses his lips together firmly, “We need to find this thing. Fast. It won’t be far. Still in the city.”
Alkara nods and looks around at the rest of the team, “Everyone alright?” She makes eye contact with the fey warrior, who just stares at her blankly. She quickly looks to Sengmar, “Is he alright?”
After a brief exchange, Sengmar looks back up, “He says to save the healing. He’ll be fine.”
Alkara nods, “Alright then. Let’s go.”
The team dashes out of the warehouse, looking all around, desperate for some clue as to where the creature had gone.
Then they hear the screams to the south and bolt back to Gate Street. As they run down the major thoroughfare, they start seeing townsfolk running toward them, away from the castle across one of the rivers. Alkara tries grabbing at a few of them to ask where the creature is, but they jerk away from her. The one man she has the misfortune of getting a grip on quickly turns on her and strikes her in the face. Amid the shouts of surprise from Dre and Sengmar, Alkara stumbles back, grumbling. “Chiron! Grab someone and find out where this blasted thing is!”
But as they run through the next intersection, Alkara quickly realizes they won’t need to. Another body, lying in a pool of blood. It looked like the head had been sawed in half. The only people not fleeing were staring in horror. And next to it, an alleyway.
“Alkara!” Dre calls out after inspecting the body quickly, “She’s a member of Flights and Fights!”
Alkara, watching the streets carefully for any sign of the creature, suddenly flinches as though she’s been smacked in the face.
“We have to cut it off before it gets to their guildhall. Who knows what happens if that thing devours another spellcaster. Sengmar, with me. We’ll follow it and make sure it can’t retreat. Everyone else, head down this street so that you can cut off its route. You too Guen.” Alkara says at the panther pawing at her thigh. “We’ll be fine. Go. You’re all faster than we are. You’ll find it first. We’ll come up from behind and flank it again.” She looks at them all quickly before nodding, “Let’s finish this.”
They all nod. The party splits.
As Alkara and Sengmar head down the alleyway down which the creature had fled, Alkara has time to register that there’s no sign of the creature, which was good because that means its ahead of them. All according to plan.
Then she dimly registers a guttural, gurgling noise, and staggers as her mind suddenly blanks. She wonders what she and Sengmar are doing alone in a dark alley. She looks at Sengmar, who also looks a little dazed, and then she realizes they’re not alone.
The creature shimmers into view, slamming a claw into her, knocking her back into a wall. As she slides down the wall she hears Sengmar call out her name. She looks up to see the creature grab Sengmar, who struggles against the claw’s grip. He glances frantically at Alkara, quickly speaking through a series of arcane words and tracing symbols in the air.
More gutteral gurgling. And it seems to Alkara that Sengmar replies, but in his own strange, arcane words. Then four glowing darts launch themselves at the creatures. The creature staggers back in apparent annoyance, and Alkara feels the weird brain fog lift. Her mind suddenly sharp, she grabs her bow and looses an arrow at the creature, but it bounces off the hard carapace of the legs on which its eyes sit.
“Alkara!” Sengmar shouts as he struggles. “Run!”
“Not without you!” Desperate, she tries to think of some way to help him. There has to be something she can do! She nocks another arrow but the creature suddenly moves forward and slams another claw into her, pinning her to the wall. She gasps as she feels a rib crack. Drawing her dagger and stabbing at the claw, its like she’s not even there. She looks back up at Sengmar as the creature pulls him in and wraps its tentacles around the crown of his head. As they slowly rotate around, blood spills down his head in sheets as if the tentacles themselves had small razors in them. “Sengmar!”
Sengmar screams her name one more time and then he has no more capacity for words, the pain and agony are so blinding. He barely registers that she’s screaming his name, and then–
Alkara is frozen with utter terror. Until she throws up. The contents of her stomach drip down the claw that pins her and then onto the ground, mixing with the growing pool of Sengmar’s blood. She coughs and sputters and sobs Sengmar’s name. But he’s gone. She hears the creature drop his body and turn toward her but she doesn’t care anymore. She simply looks up and sees the new brain, already glistening in a sack on top of the creature that killed her brother.
As it reaches toward her with its other claw it suddenly rears back and roars, releasing her. Alkara sinks to her knees and stares blankly, unresponsive at the snarl that echoes through the air, or even when Chiron and Dreonna make it to her side. Chiron plants himself firmly between Alkara and the creature as another Chiron runs toward the creature. Dre, more pale than usual, looses a bolt, but it also bounces off the creature as it writhes and shakes Guenwyvar off from the top of it. Guen finally loses her grip and is flung off. The creature disappears from sight.