“Thank you for talking to me, Sir Wrath,” the heiress says, giving him a small kiss on the cheek.
Timoran stands up straight at the sound of suspicious shuffling, his keen vision noticing a strange shadow darting around a distant corner. He reaches down to get his great axe off the floor and is impressed when he sees Kira has drawn her weapon out from under the table. When the night is shattered by a gurgling scream, the bronze-skinned woman is the first to react. She is already over the railing and sliding down her kusari-gama’s chain as the fleet-footed barbarian rushes down the marble stairs.
10
Kira’s scream of horror drives Timoran to run faster, the barbarian charging around the corner of the building with his great axe held high. Seeing the splattered gore ahead, he swiftly turns around and blocks the young woman’s view as best he can. He looks over his shoulder at approaching footsteps and waves to Delvin, Asher, and a gathering of armed guards. The men stare at the bloody scene where a body has been eviscerated and dismembered. Even with the face bitten off, everyone recognizes what is left of Timbre. Choking down his grief, Asher kneels next to the remains and whispers a prayer that Inyo the Innocence God takes his brother into The Pasture. Frustrated with Timoran’s interference, Kira elbows him in the side and tries to run toward her brother’s corpse, but falls to her knees weeping after a few steps.
A few minutes pass before anyone realizes that Luke has been with them the entire time. He is leaning against the building with his drawn sabers hanging limp at his sides. The half-elf is covered in blood, but his steady breathing assures the others that he is not severely injured. Bruises are forming on his face and Delvin sees a chip of bone sticking out of a small cut when he gets closer. Luke picks the foreign shard out and drops it to the ground, letting his numb arm dangle again. Neither of the warriors are ready for Wayland Grasdon, who barrels into the half-elf and slams him into the wall by his sweat-stained shirt.
“What did you do to my son?” the merchant growls in a choked voice. He knocks Luke against the solid marble, the blank expression on the forest tracker’s face angering him even more. “I want to know what happened. Tell me or I’ll throw you to the city guards as a murderer and have you executed at dawn.”
“Leave him alone, dad!” Kira shouts, struggling to her feet. “Luke didn’t kill Timbre and you know it. Look at his face if you don’t believe me. That’s shock.”
A choked cry from behind Timoran stops Wayland from arguing with his daughter. The large warrior moves to reveal Quill, who has fainted into Sari’s arms. The gypsy struggles to stop him from falling onto the bloody ground, the slender man heavier than she expected. Fizzle appears above them and wraps his tail around Quill’s arm to drag him to a nearby bench. With the unconscious noble settled, the blue-haired girl walks over to the others and gently removes Wayland’s hands from Luke. She spins on her toes and bows to her rival before relaxing the half-elf’s muscles with a kiss-delivered spell. Delvin helps lower the forest tracker to the ground while Kira and Sari pry the sabers out of their beloved’s hands. The heiress refuses to look the gypsy in the eye as they step away, each holding a surprisingly clean sword.
“It dropped from the roof,” Luke says, his eyes locked on Timbre’s body as the guards put a sheet over it. Feathers sprout around his neck, but they retract when Delvin puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. “The thing went right for Timbre and I got in its way. I stabbed it in the chest, but the wound was gone by the time I withdrew my sword. The creature is like a large monkey with scales and fangs. It simply couldn’t be injured even when Timbre gouged out its eyes with his sickles. That didn’t even slow it down and that’s when it got him.” He leans closer to his friend. “I don’t think I should be saying this in front of Kira.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Delvin promises, rising to face the heiress. The fierce glare she aims at him makes the warrior step away from the half-elf. “I think you’re going to have to keep going, Luke. She’s determined.”
“It might be best if-” Wayland begins to say, stopping when his daughter points the saber at him. “Very well. Suffer foolishly if you wish.”
Groaning in pain, the forest tracker uses Delvin to help him stand and gathers his weapons from the two women. He slips them into their sheaths, rubbing the rubies in the hilts as he thinks. Wayland moves to yell, but is silenced by Asher covering his mouth.
“Give him time, father,” the young man states. “You don’t know what it’s like to fight these monsters. Let me tell you that his shock is more than appropriate.”
“As I said, we couldn’t hurt the creature and everything we did to it was ignored. In a real fight, it would have been killed at least seven times,” Luke explains, regaining more of his senses and composure. He closes his eyes to remember the fight in detail, shivering at the sight of the strange beast. “I need to give this thing a name, so it’s easier to talk about. The . . . Felcri knocked me away with its tail when Timbre thought he blinded it. So he didn’t expect it to . . . rip his arms off. I tried to get to him, but that thing hit me with the severed limbs. You see why I didn’t want to talk about this?”
Wayland walks to where Quill is resting and sits next to his nephew, drawing a glass orb out of his robes. The merchant focuses on the communication sphere, which turns a dull yellow and rotates in his shaking hand. He does not react to anything around him, leaving Asher and Kira to order the guards to take the body inside. Eileen is stepping around the corner when her mistress gestures for her to go back to the room, the maid hurrying to let the groundskeeper know that a priest should be contacted.
“Where did this creature go?” Timoran asks Luke in a low voice. He curses under his breath when Kira joins them. “I already know you will argue about going on this hunt. I can see the desire for a fight in your eyes. How did an heiress become so quick to enter a battle?”
“Blame Luke and Selenia,” she replies with a forced smile. She wraps her kusari-gama around her body, letting the sickle dangle in front of her. “There’s also the fact that these monsters have killed most of my family. I’ve already been on several hunts for these things and killed a flying one over the ocean last week. My experience and knowledge of the area will be useful, so I’m going with you.”
“By the dripping fangs of Urgas, you aren’t going on this hunt!” Asher shouts as he approaches. With a bored yawn, he slaps his sister’s finger out of his face. “Don’t argue with me on this, Kiki. I’m going and taking your friends with me, but you’re staying in the manor where it’s safe. We’ll have the drite stay here to guard everyone.”
“These are my friends and you can’t stop me, Ash!”
“There are plenty of ways to stop you.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“We have healers for a reason, dear sister.”
Asher draws his sword and Kira expertly unravels her weapon, knocking his blade aside as she backs up. They stare at each other, neither wanting to make the first move. The dark-haired woman flicks the club end of her kusari-gama at her brother, smacking the bloody ground at his feet. When he steps forward, she darts to the side and swings the blunt end at his back. The clang of metal on wood echoes throughout the courtyard when Delvin gets his shield in the way. Asher is about to take advantage of the distraction, but Luke disarms him with a quick flick of his sabers. With a grin, Kira tries to copy her brother’s tactic and attack, only for Timoran to catch the sickle and yank the weapon out of her hands.
“This isn’t the time for a fight that both of you will regret,” Sari announces, stepping between the angry siblings. She gives Asher a calming kiss and does the same to Kira, who still manages to slap the gypsy in the face. “I’ve got to learn a better way to deliver that spell. Thank me for not hitting you back, princess.”
“I have a question if we’re done with this mess,” Delvin states while the Grasdons put their weapons away. “How have you killed these creatures if you can’t hurt them? This Felcri walked away without
severe injuries. Come to think of it, why didn’t it try to finish Luke off?”
“It ran away in a panic when Timbre screamed, which was from the gutting. Your brother was really tough since he kept kicking at the Felcri after he lost his arms,” the forest tracker says, putting an arm around Kira. He sees a flash of pain in Sari’s eyes and lets his arm drop back to his side. “It’s possible that the loud noise scared it. Some animals get terrified when a person raises their voice. Almost like they think we’re calling for others and they have to escape before more of us arrive.”
“So these creatures have a bestial mentality,” Timoran claims while sheathing his great axe. He bends down to examine the ground, gesturing for Luke to do the same. “There is something strange about the tracks too. Did the Felcri ever face you of its own accord or only when you attacked it?”
The half-elf sniffs at the ground to pick up the Felcri’s scent, a small growl rolling in his throat. “It was focused on Timbre. This is strange. I can only smell myself, Timbre, and the manor’s animals. This thing doesn’t have an identifiable smell. Do you think the Felcri is more like a spirit that the nomads are directing after specific targets?”
“It doesn’t matter because we don’t have a way to kill it,” Delvin interrupts as he crouches next to his friends. “We’ll worry about the other stuff when we have a plan on how to stop it. I’m guessing the Felcri is waiting for another chance to attack.”
“These beasts can be destroyed by regular weapons, but we’re not sure how,” Asher says before clearing his throat and blinking away the last of Sari’s spell. “For example, the one that Kira killed was struck by many arrows and spears before she finished it off. We don’t know how she did it and the corpse always dissolves immediately after death. Our best guess is that damage is incurred, but not shown on the body. Maybe this Felcri could have its heart in a different place than its chest and it could have a backup sense if blinded.”
“I’m still going,” Kira demands, shoving Sari away and getting in her brother’s face. “I’ll follow you if I have to.”
“Let’s not start this again,” the gypsy hisses, grabbing the heiress by the arm and pulling her away. “This isn’t the time for acting like a child.”
The shattering of the glass orb against the building startles everyone and they turn to face Wayland. He has a proud smile on this face and hurries to the wall, drawing an old key from an inner pocket. With a dull hum, the rusty object sinks into the stone and turns with the click of an opening lock. A door swings open to the street and a small group of warriors enter the manor grounds, four of them all too familiar to Timoran. He grips his great axe when his eyes meet the cruel smile of Alanik and the other barbarians.
“I asked the city guard if there were any mercenaries in town and these men were staying nearby,” Wayland happily says, patting Sentrent on the arm. He moves away when Ralgin growls at him and Banton lazily swings his maul at his side. “The Luck Goddess must be smiling on us because they had such good fortune getting to Bor’daruk from the north. I’m sure their good luck will help in hunting this monster down. Thank you, Cessia.”
“I have an odd feeling that another god is behind this,” Luke whispers, his voice low enough so only Timoran can hear him. “Life on Ambervale must be really boring for him to keep doing this to us.”
“All of you will go!” the merchant announces, pointing at his remaining children. “Both of you are capable warriors and must avenge your brother. Quill will stay here and I will keep the drite as a bodyguard until you return. This is an excellent plan.”
“It appears I am not the only one that Gabriel is toying with,” Timoran mutters to Luke, the two exchanging a look of dread. “I assume he is bored and wants some entertainment out of us. Can you handle both of your women being on this hunt?”
“Where did the beast go?” Wayland asks as he claps his hands.
Luke sighs and points at where Quill is still resting, the noble rolling over and whimpering in his sleep. Asher hurries to his cousin and Fizzle is in the air ready to cast a spell, but they stop when the half-elf whistles. Jogging over to the area, he picks up a stone and rolls it under the bench. Instead of hitting the wall, the rock falls into a hole and bounces for a few seconds until landing with a watery splash.
“I think it came in this way and was waiting on the roof for an opportunity to strike. By attacking here, it could make an easy escape into a place most people would think twice about entering,” Luke explains, removing his blood-soaked shirt. The four barbarian mercenaries are confused and gesture for him to explain further, causing him to roll his eyes. “The Felcri is in the sewers.”
*****
Everyone in the hunting party blinks in the dim light of the sewers, the illumination coming from gems spread along the moist walls. A rolling river rushes a few feet below the wide walkways that run along the edges of every tunnel. The small group is able to walk in pairs, except for the barbarians who are too big to comfortably walk next to anyone. Alanik and his men take up the rear while Timoran plods along behind Luke and Sari, the stench turning all of the large men’s stomachs. Muck-covered ladders help them move between the levels, causing the hunting party to get lost within the tunnels. It does not help that every tunnel is made from the same gray stone and none of them understand the glyphs that they find at every intersection. After an hour, their only hope of finding their way around the sewers is to depend on Luke’s tracking skills.
“Have you found any sign of the Felcri?” Sari asks when they stop to let the half-elf examine another ladder. “We can go to the surface and see if it went up there. That way we can get some fresh air too.”
“Is the water princess feeling sick?” Kira mutters from behind Timoran. She scowls at the large warrior when he faces her and opens his mouth to scold her. “Naiads are fairy royalty and they don’t do well around polluted water. There are purifying barriers throughout the sewers, but most of them are near the docks. This water is filthy, so my question stands even if it was said with disdain.”
Sari makes another attempt to clean some of the nearby water, but the small patch is swiftly devoured by the dirty river. “I have a bad headache. Thank you for your concern, Kira. I guess I’ll look to you for protection if we get in trouble. After all, I’m sure you’re a shining example of warrior training and have honed your skills since graduating. Especially with all the adventures and battles you’ve been on.”
“Stop it or I will drag both of you to the surface and leave you there,” Timoran snaps before covering his mouth and fighting the urge to retch. “I am sorry for that, but I am not in the mood for infighting. Let us get this done quickly.”
“This way,” Luke announces, beckoning for everyone to follow him.
“How do you know?” Asher asks, earning a mumble of agreement from the mercenaries.
Alanik blows his nose and spits into the water, grinning at Timoran’s frown. “The little guy is lost. There’s no way to catch a scent in here and he doesn’t have a barbarian’s ears. I haven’t seen any tracks either.”
“Well, you’re not him,” Delvin states from behind the armored barbarian.
Alanik tries to whirl around at the sound of laughter, but slips on a patch of slime and nearly falls into the raging sewage. His arms are caught by Delvin and Asher while Kira wraps her chain around his waist. They haul the barbarian back and he presses his body against the slimy wall. He takes a big gasp of air and vomits into the river due to the horrific taste that consumes his tongue.
“He means thank you,” Sentrent nervously says, scratching his head.
“Can we stop wasting time?” Luke impatiently asks while idly spinning his sabers. “I can hear the Felcri, but it isn’t easy. The further away it gets, the harder it is to track. If we lose it then we’ll have to wait for it to attack again.”
“How are you really tracking it?” Sari whispers as they lead the party around a sharp turn. She glances down into a dark abyss, sensing the roili
ng water below. “You had to put a new shirt on and the rest of us had to get our gear. The Felcri would have been too far away for your sound sight. What’s the secret?”
“There’s no secret,” Luke says helping the gypsy over a cold stream of brownish green water. “I can’t pinpoint the creature, but I hear it ahead of us. It hasn’t moved since we got into the sewers. That’s why I took my time just now. I stopped before to give us some time to rest our legs. The Felcri is fast, vicious, and I think it’s waiting to ambush us.”
The group enters a large chamber where many of the sewer tunnels meet and empty into an enormous shaft. They can see a swirling pool far below them, the crashing currents mixing and flowing into various openings in the slick walls. A large grate can be seen in the distant ceiling and it lets in several narrow beams of blue light from the winter moon. The walkways are narrower than the tunnel edges, so they are forced to walk single file behind Luke. It is a challenge for him to use his sound sight due to the loud water, so he is forced to depend more on his eyesight. He scans every shadow, stopping when he thinks he sees a form moving near the top of the chamber.
“This is the perfect place for an ambush,” Kira says over the roar of the filthy waterfalls around them. “I hope dad listened and has some healers ready to purify us when we get home. I don’t want to think about the diseases we could get down here. Do you think there’s anything incurable in here, Ash?”
“Good chance of that,” her brother replies, peering down at the polluted pool. “This is why you should have stayed home.”
“Now isn’t the time to have this fight.”
“It’s only a fight if you argue.”
“Watch out for the slime.”
Sleeper Of The Wildwood Fugue (Book 7) Page 19