“Clawed jumper swarm ahead. Big one. And where there are jumpers...”
“There are leapeaters,” Derek finished. He brushed his hair back in frustration. “Wonderful.”
Adam started loading some type of shot into his St. George as the scratching sound grew louder. He was learning. Shot ammo was perfect against swarms. “Anyone going to tell me what clawed jumpers are?”
“Evil frogs,” Ling said, limbering up.
Adam rolled his eyes. “Anyone else?”
Then a swarm of evil frogs rounded the corner.
Each one was pretty big, for a frog, about the size of a fist. Their hind- and fore-legs ended in sharp claws, both for defense and to help them latch onto things. They were all purple with big black eyes, and they advanced forward like a rolling carpet, each individual amphibian jumping a few feet at a time.
The claws, however, were only an annoyance. The real danger was that they were extremely poisonous. They secreted a dangerous toxin through their skin, which was absorbed by touch. While the dose you would get from a single frog was only enough to make you queasy, there were dozens in a swarm, which was enough poison to kill you in minutes.
Well, there were dozens in a normal swarm. This one had a couple hundred.
Akane stepped back, her mouth set in a grim line. Adam took the opening she gave him to fire his St. George. The shotgun roared, echoing around the sewer loud enough to hurt her ears. The belch of flame took out ten or more of the little monsters. The second she heard him eject the spent shell, she activated her speed and rushed forward.
Normally, of course, a sword was all but useless against a swarm. A bunch of tiny foes, all close to the ground and biting at your legs was simply not the type of enemy a blade was designed for. Jumpers were a little bit easier. Since they spent half their time in the air, it gave you a perfect opportunity to slash them. The only problem was that they were probably faster than you were, so you needed superhuman reflexes to be able to consistently fight them.
Luckily, Akane had super speed.
Half a dozen frogs leaped towards her as if in slow motion, almost like they were just waiting for her. She didn't disappoint. She slashed each one in half quickly and efficiently, then fell back. She had enough left in her reservoir to kill dozens more, but she didn't want to take any chances. She had suffered jumper poison once, and it wasn't an experience she intended to repeat.
Derek stepped in front of her as more frogs jumped, catching them on the glowing blue shield he had on his arm. Akane wasn't really quite sure how that worked. It wasn't like he could strap it to his arm or anything. Regardless, he was able to wield it like a normal shield, using it to fend off the jumpers and throw them back in the direction they came.
“Back up,” Adam barked behind them. He raised his shotgun towards the opening they had created and pulled the trigger, sending another echoing burst of flame into the swarm. He cursed as the gun nearly bucked out of his arms.
Over half were gone now, either sliced in half or burned beyond recognition. The rest jumped into the artificial river flowing through the sewer. No one saw any need to stop them.
Akane heard a sound behind her, and turned to see Ling shrugging off Laura's restraining hand angrily. “What the hell? I could have helped.”
“You would have brought the roof down on our heads,” Laura said bluntly. “Or gotten poisoned.”
“You'll have your chance in a minute,” Derek said. “The leapeaters will be here any second.”
Adam sighed as he loaded another shell. “I know I'm going to regret this... but what are leapeaters?”
“Evil birds,” Ling said with an admirably straight face.
Derek coughed in a way that was certainly not covering up a laugh.
Adam glared. “Any useful information?”
Laura smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Lighten up a little.” The smile faded. “Silver and gold, we all need a laugh.”
Everybody sobered up a bit at that. Whether they needed it or not, this wasn't the place to be making jokes. Even if Lizzy hadn't been harmed by the Composer, the monsters roaming around were dangerous enough by themselves. She wouldn't hurt a fly, but unfortunately that wouldn't stop them from hurting her.
“Leapeaters are featherless ostriches,” Derek said. “Territorial and aggressive. They're immune to jumper poison, and eat them.” He shrugged. “They're the fey's cleanup crew.”
Adam looked around at all our serious faces and raised an eyebrow. “Ostriches? Really?”
“Normal ostriches are dangerous,” Laura said, “though they aren't very aggressive. Leapeaters are buffed, both in strength and aggression. Stay back and let Akane handle them.”
Adam slowly lowered his shotgun, finally realizing we were telling the truth. He shook his head in befuddlement. “Ostriches...”
Derek chuckled. “Hardly the strangest monster. Remind me to tell you about the fire-breathing chickens one day.”
Akane smiled at that as well. Now she was getting hungry for some. If you killed pojoes just right, you didn't even have to cook them first.
Ling frowned, stepping away from the rest of them and cocking her head. “That's weird. I don't hear them.”
She was right. Normally, leapeaters were easy to hear coming. They had this sort of barking squawk when they were hunting. It was very distinctive, and they used it constantly.
“That's a good sign,” Adam said. He was wrong, of course, but he didn't have enough experience fighting monsters. Leapeaters always followed jumpers. “But if there are monsters, does that mean the fey are the ones who took her?”
Derek opened his mouth to retort, then closed it again, looking contemplative. He glanced at Akane.
She knew what he was thinking. Wild monsters were quite common. If a fey lost control of one of her creations, she didn't even try to catch them. And sewers were the natural environment of jumpers. They liked wet places.
But if there weren't any leapeaters chasing them, that could mean they were brand new, released by a fey specifically to guard this passage. Unless the fey set some of the birds after them, they'd be able to survive down here indefinitely. Jumpers bred true, but leapeaters didn't. Without a few minor alterations shortly after birth, they were just featherless ostriches.
“We'll find out soon enough,” Laura said without much emotion. “Let's keep moving.”
As they continued down the passage, Akane kept expecting the leapeaters to attack us at any moment. But they didn't. There was only the soft sound of rushing water, as well as distant dripping sounds. The normal sounds of a sewer.
It was unnerving her more than she cared to admit.
“How much farther does this thing go?” Adam said after a couple hours. He had stripped off his sweat-stained shirt, but had wisely kept on the armor he wore underneath. It might be a bit cheap, but it was much better than nothing. He had tried to take his headphones off, but we had all told him that was a bad idea.
“This system goes under the entire district,” Laura said, consulting the map on her pad.
Adam wiped moisture from his forehead. “What are the chances we took a wrong turn somewhere?”
“None,” Derek answered immediately. “Akane and I might not be as good at tracking as Alex, but sewers are easy. There's only one used path, and we're on it.”
Adam stared at them both. “How is a sewer easy?”
Akane snorted. “Moisture on the ground.”
He looked at the wet concrete beneath their feet. “There's moisture everywhere.”
She rolled her eyes. “People have been through here in the past few days. Seen a good amount of traffic. The side passages don't have any of the right signs.” She shrugged and turned her eyes forward again. “Ask Alex to teach you. We don't have time now.”
“Blood,” Derek said, dropping into a crouch.
Musashi's sword, he was right. Akane was in front, but she had missed it because of Adam's questions. There was indeed a watery runne
l of blood flowing under her feet, from the corner in front of them.
She drew her sword. “How fresh?”
“Hard to tell,” he said. “Alex would probably know, but...”
She understood. With the water keeping the blood from clotting, it was impossible for amateurs like them to estimate how fresh it was. Or, indeed, whether the source was human or something else.
Confronting an injured, angry monster was hardly ideal, but Akane's speed was still useful here. She sped forward, around the corner... and immediately stopped. Cursing again, she let her speed go and stepped back into the view of the others. “Dead.”
As they joined her, she shook her head and stared at the corpse. It was sitting on the ground with its back to the wall, a large and bloody wound in its chest. He was a Nosferatu, with thick armor and big claws. Probably one of Halifax's brood. He looked a lot like him.
The vampire was very dead, though Akane wasn't sure for how long. Probably less than a day—it didn't look like anything had started eating him yet.
“What's a ferret doing down here?” Ling asked, poking the body lightly with her boot. He slumped to the side, and she jumped back in fright.
“The Nosferatu were important participants in the Battle of Shendilavri,” Derek said. “They sometimes come down here to pay their respects to the dead, or just see what's left of the battle.” He shrugged. “It's a tourist trap for them, basically.”
“I hear Obox-ob has been making inroads into the region,” Laura said. “Or he was, a couple months ago. No one's really heard much from him since, but maybe he did this.”
“How long?” Akane asked, after Derek finished muttering a quick prayer. He pretended not to hear the exact words. He was always a bit embarrassed by his choice of religion.
Derek blinked, then nodded. “Ah... I'm not sure. Laura? You'd probably know better than me.”
She crouched down next to the corpse and studied it closely. Ling, Akane noticed, had turned away. She had killed dozens of screamers, maybe hundreds. This was grossing her out?
“No less than an hour,” Laura noted, sticking her finger into the large chest wound. She sniffed the blood on her digit and nodded. “An hour minimum.” She stood up, walked over to the sewer, and stuck her hand in briefly. Then she nodded again. “Five hours max. The mudfish haven't smelled him yet.”
Derek nodded, eyes hard. “So... about when Lizzy went missing.”
“Don't jump to conclusions,” she admonished. Then she grimaced. “But, yes. Most likely.”
Adam frowned. “Maybe he followed her kidnapper into the sewer?” He looked at the wound a bit closer. “What killed him, anyway? This doesn't look like a monster's handiwork.”
“A human hand,” Laura said bluntly. “Or at least, something the rough size and shape of a human hand.” She pointed to the wound, where on closer inspection it was clear the the ribs had been broken outward or simply pushed aside. “Someone thrust their hand under the ribcage and ripped out the heart.”
Ling stumbled over to the sewer and threw up.
Akane rolled her eyes. Seriously? She had watched her squash a man's skull like a tomato. How was this worse?
Ling wiped her mouth and smiled weakly, still trying to avoid looking at the corpse.
“Sorry,” she said quietly. “First time in a sewer.”
Akane nodded in sudden understanding. It got everyone the first time.
“This is taking too long,” Derek said. “Ling, your stomach settled?” She nodded. “Good, good. I think we're getting close. Be on your guard.”
As it turned out, they weren't close. At all. After two more hours and three more—much smaller—jumper swarms, it seemed as though they had walked under the entire district. Akane had done some long jobs before, but this was getting ridiculous.
Luckily, while mentally they were exhausted, physically we were fine. Enhanced endurance was a pretty standard toy.
“I need to stop,” Adam said, sliding to the floor. “Just... give me a minute.”
Ah. Right.
He had it harder than the rest of them, even ignoring the fact that he didn't have any toys to make it easier. He was still wearing all four of his guns, and maybe ten pounds of spare ammo, plus that armor. It was a wonder he hadn't collapsed sooner.
Laura carefully sat next to him and handed him a water bottle, which he drank from greedily. Akane kept an eye on her. She had some toys, sure, but she also wasn't as fit as the rest of them. Still, she seemed fine, or at least she did after she took a few gulps from her own bottle.
After ten minutes or so, they both scrambled back to their feet.
“Good,” Derek said with an encouraging smile. “It's not much farther.”
Adam just glared. “You've been saying that for four hours.”
Derek just shook his head. “This time I'm sure. The path leads off the main sewer now.” He indicated one of the dark side passages that popped up periodically. Akane's trained eyes could indeed see that the trail led that direction. “I think we're getting near the lair.”
Adam grumbled, but nodded, and took out his Caedes just in case. Akane drew her sword, Ling cracked her knuckles, and even Laura pulled out her gun.
Akane wasn't afraid. She was never afraid. Derek was leading us. He wouldn't make any major mistakes. This was going to end with at least a few questions answered.
Derek smiled. “Good. Be ready for anything. A horde of screamers, a fey and her monsters... whatever. We can take it.”
He led the way into the dark tunnel, and whatever lay beyond.
Chapter 57: APOCALYPSIS
DEREK
“Lizzy?”
She looked almost as shocked as they were. “Derek? Everyone? I...” Her mouth worked silently before she managed to get more words out. “I didn't think you would come! I was locked up...”
She somehow managed to look beautiful, despite her harsh turn of affairs. Oddly enough, while her skin was covered in dirt, blood, and a grisly mix of the two, her white dress was nearly pristine. Derek guessed the fey gave her a new one for some reason.
His head started to ache, but he just ignored it. “Are you all right? How did you get free?”
She gestured vaguely to what looked like an operating table in the corner of the small room. It was empty, and the straps undone, but it was covered in blood. “I got out when... I'm fine. I mean, physically.” She started trembling. “Things... were done...”
Derek holstered his Occisor and pulled her close. It was the first time he had ever hugged her, he was pretty sure. He tried not to enjoy it. This was hardly the time for such things. “It's all right. You're safe now.” He looked into her golden eyes, wide with fear. “We need to know: Was it the fey who did this? Or the Composer?”
She just trembled harder.
He would have continued holding her, but he had a job to do, and he was getting a headache. Why now?
He stepped out of Lizzy's embrace and aimed her at Laura. She glared daggers at him, but hugged Lizzy without complaint.
He headed forward, ready for trouble. There was only one other exit from the cold little torture chamber, directly across from the one they had used. While he couldn't hear any screamers nearby, he was still worried about monsters. He should probably ask Lizzy more questions so that he'd have some idea what he was dealing with, but decided against it. He could feel more headaches coming on even as he thought of it.
“Derek,” Akane called as I reached the doorway. “I'll come.”
He shook his head. “No, stay here. They could be back any moment.” She frowned, but nodded, and grabbed Adam's arm when he started to protest.
The path quickly led into a t-shaped intersection. Derek tried to follow the tracks on the ground, but his headache got worse when he tried.
Ugh. Of all the days...
On a whim, he turned to the right, towards the steady sound of dripping water. He could see a light on the left path, behind him, which likely led up to the surface. But
whether fey or the Composer, he had a feeling this one liked the dark places, and would flee down rather than up. Call it an educated guess.
There was a faint sheen of water on the floor, flowing from the direction he was heading, and his feet made small slapping noises as he stepped. This whole area was probably some kind of sewer maintenance or treatment plant, re-purposed into a lair.
He only had to walk for a few minutes before the smell hit him.
It was the sweet, cloying scent of rotting meat, one he knew too well from dungeon delves like this one. He held out his hand for a face mask without thinking, before remembering Akane was back with the others. He chuckled at his silliness, which made him feel a bit better, and drove away a little bit of the anxiety over what lay at the end of the tunnel. The smell was still stifling, but he just covered his face with his hand.
He found the source of the smell soon, and it was exactly what he had feared.
Human corpses, thrown haphazardly in a pile and shoved against the end of the corridor. Dozens of them, all tortured and mutilated nearly beyond recognition. They were fresh. They hadn't had time to bloat, but that just made it worse. Someone could kill this many in a day?
Some small part of Derek's brain noted that they were almost exclusively baseline. Did that mean it was the fey after all? Maybe these were escaped changelings, reclaimed and punished?
Water leaked between the corpses, and he belatedly realized that they were holding back the flow. It wouldn't be very strong even without them blocking the way, but it was the cause of the smell. Unlike the Nosferatu from earlier, these ones were exposed directly to the mudfish and similar organisms of decay that lurked in the water.
He still couldn't figure out what this corridor was for, though. This was definitely the end. The wall was solid and unforgiving. What possible reason could there be to have water flowing from here?
He steeled himself and moved the corpses aside, murmuring prayers and apologies as he did. It was slow going, not just because there were so many of them, but because they were in so many pieces, and he didn't want to disturb them any more than he had to. Not to mention that it was taking some effort to avoid the mudfish. He was probably getting covered in smaller creatures feasting on the corpses. He would need to take a long, hot shower later.
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