Glitch Hunter

by Skyler Grant

  "Do that. If we do fight I want you to keep at a distance and throw your daggers covered in the oil. Jess, if you can manage any illusionary fire it might help. They'll be afraid of it," Alex said.

  "I don't like making people feel afraid, but I'll try," Jess said, with a frown.

  "These things have any vulnerable spots?" Ryn asked.

  Alex’s Grimoire hadn’t named any, but he could take some guesses.

  "The Fleshweaver can enhance items made from her victims and we know she’s wearing a dress made of human skin. So aim for her own flesh, not the dress. As for the Glutton, just a guess but aim at the mouth."

  With a plan in place they left the library and made their way out past the rows of cells containing Glitch.

  "We're on a schedule. No conjugal visits," Ryn told Alex.

  "Are you ever going to let me live that down?"

  "Sure, when you catch me doing something just as embarrassing. Until then I'm getting every bit of use out of it I can."

  The corridor wound upwards, working a way through the hill beneath the keep. They passed the room containing the three pedestals. The Coldflames were extinguished, but the other two still glowed brilliantly. There was nothing to do, so they moved on to another winding passage. Another few minutes of walking and there was a large chamber ahead. Alex motioned the others to be cautious as they crept closer to peer inside the doorway.

  It was well-lit, a bedchamber from all appearances, with magical runes etched on every wall. They were inactive, none glowed. A woman with grey skin and black eyes was sprawled in a chair and chipping away at a bone with a knife. Aside from the skin and eyes, the similarity to Sabrina was striking, this might have been her sister.

  The dress she wore could barely be called that, the victim’s skin crafted into strips that formed a latticework to leave the flesh underneath well exposed.

  Avery LaFele

  Fleshweaver

  Alignment: Black

  Level: 7

  Hitpoints: 73/73

  Alex noted she was a higher level than Sabrina. If this is what Sabrina created by accident out of the spare quintessence at her disposal, how powerful was Sabrina going to be if she completed her own transformation?

  Avery called, "Do come in, I can hear you scurrying around out there. I don't bite, that’s my husband."

  The group exchanged looks and with a shrug Alex led the way in. If she was willing to talk perhaps there was a way past her without a fight.

  Avery looked them over as they entered, her attention particularly focused on Jess with a gaze that was almost sensual. "Oh, how beautiful you are. The things I could make out of you."

  "Creepy lady is creepy," Jess said.

  "Simply a connoisseur of fine material," Avery said, with a wicked smile. "The other one is far too damaged although I could do such interesting things with the man. A corset, perhaps. How would you like to be pressed against my breasts for all time?"

  "Less interested than I would be in other circumstances," Alex said.

  "A shame, I get so turned on just thinking about it."

  "Still going to have to pass."

  Avery pouted. "How disappointing. Nobody ever has a proper appreciation for fashion."

  "When I say that, it’s way less weird. It is way less weird, right?" Jess said.

  "You're okay," Ryn said to Jess with a nod. "She is totally creepier than you are."

  "Do you know what’s been done to you?" Alex asked.

  Avery stared at him and sniffed. "You mean my horrible death? My unlikely new life due to the machinations of my too-clever daughter? Becoming a Glitch isn't the sort of thing you forget."

  "Your daughter wants us to kill you," Alex said.

  "I figured as much," Avery said, holding the bone up to study it for a moment before resuming her whittling. "I'm something of a disappointment to her, you see."

  "I kind of like your dress. I mean, you know, not the material but the design," Jess said weakly.

  "I was so modest and virtuous in life. Now that I'm dead I wonder why I bothered, it didn't help me when they came to kill me," Avery said, leaning forward. "If it makes a difference I'm sorry about the guard. When I came to life I was just so desperate to make something and cover myself."

  "You don't seem to be that desperate now," Alex said.

  "Oh, I want to do such delightful things with all of you. I’m trying to resist. But the pretty one would make a delightful dress, the damaged one some new needles out of her bones," Avery said, and gave a pained laugh. "Isn't it silly? I just mocked being modest and virtuous, yet here I am in death again trying to contain my new vices."

  "Do you think you can?" Alex asked.

  Alex wasn't even sure why he was asking, not truly. Was leaving behind someone like this even a possibility?

  "Do you think you can kill me?" Avery asked, looking between them.

  "No guarantees, but we're ready for you. We've prepared and we have a plan. I think if we fight, we'll win," Alex said.

  "I don't want to die, not again. But to answer you, no, I don't think that I can control my new urges. Left to my own devices I'll kill and skin again," Avery said.

  "The runes on this room are for containment. I don't know if that makes a difference," Jess said.

  "Did Sabrina mean to lock you up?" Alex asked.

  Avery said, "My daughter expected to get her mother back just as she was, and for me to be horrified by what she was attempting, so perhaps. But I gather this room was originally intended to hold that bitch Kationa.”

  Of course, Sabrina had been planning this for a long time. The vault was a recent discovery, and made a far more effective cell than this room. However, it seemed she had always planned to keep Kationa imprisoned and alive.

  "Not much love lost there," Alex said.

  "My husband’s adviser, and his lover, although I wasn't supposed to know that. I was always smarter than either of them gave me credit for," Avery said with a sad smile. "I'll happily make a chamber pot of her, given the opportunity."

  "You're actually thinking about this?" Ryn asked.

  "You agreed we should avoid a fight, if we can," Alex said.

  "That was before I met the thing that wants to turn me into needles," Ryn said.

  For Alex, issues were more complicated. If Avery had any true desire to mitigate the damage she could do, and he was in a position to help, as a Glitch Hunter didn't Alex have some sort of responsibility to help? That would include giving a repentant Glitch some sense of purpose.

  "My armor is made out of the hide of a drake. Could you make something like that?" Alex asked.

  "Come closer and let me see," Avery said.

  Alex kept his potion-caster primed as he stepped forward to stand before Avery.

  It was a strangely thorough going-over that Avery gave him and his gear, her fingers turning into talons at one point to tug the armor aside.

  "I can make anything I set my mind to. I'd not have designed it like this, but I could do something similar and add my special little touches too," Avery said.

  "That could be useful," Alex said.

  "It would have to be from the hides or bones of animals though. No plant fibers, no metals. I cannot work with these things." Avery said.

  "You're seriously thinking about this," Ryn said.

  "If all goes to plan the House of Bats is taking over this keep. We are killers with no shortage of bodies, and a need for good armor," Alex said.

  Avery looked sly. "Well, it sounds like maybe we have something to talk about. Instead of just bringing me hides, you bring me one alive sometimes?"

  Jess shivered. "You're back to creepy, but I still totally want a dress. Just you know, out of a cow or something and not a serving maid."

  Avery gave Jess a pitying look. "You'd deny yourself the softness of serving maid flesh against your own?"

  "There will be no killing of the serving maids," Alex said sternly.

  "Well, of course not," Avery said, giving
him an innocent look. "But I mean if one were to die of natural causes you'd hardly want her to go to waste."

  "No human flesh really shouldn't be that hard a rule to understand," Ryn said.

  "Elf flesh?" Avery said hopefully. "That is fine, right? They're hardly people at all and yet so delightfully soft and pliable."

  "No," Ryn said flatly.

  "Can you activate the holding runes?" Alex asked Jess.

  "Still not a mage," Jess grumbled, but moved over to the runes to have a look.

  "If you go out that door you'll find my husband. You ... won't be able to reason with him," Avery said, sadly.

  "If you can learn to control your new appetites, perhaps he can as well?" Alex said.

  Avery laughed without humor. "The wards aren't up, do you know why I'm hiding in here working on my carving? Because he is out there eating the mausoleum. Choking down the corpses of his ancestors as fast as he can shove them in his mouth. I begged him to stop, but he won't even look at me."

  Jess dropped her illusion, golden tattoos on her flesh glittering in the light as she began to trace the runes on the wall.

  Avery stared at her, mouth agape. "I thought she was stunning before. Do you know the things I could do with that pattern?"

  "You need to shut up now," Ryn said, matter-of-fact.

  Avery drew in a deep breath. "Right. You're right. I will not think of what a lovely parasol and matching hand-bag she would make."

  "I deal with some pretty messed-up people as a thief, but you've got it worse," Ryn said to Alex.

  "You're dealing with them too," Alex said.

  "I'm just leaning against things and looking intimidating."

  The runes glowed gold as Jess traced them and it took another ten minutes for her to activate every one in the room.

  "I said you could do it," Alex said.

  "It was easy. They were already set up to hold a Glitch since that’s what they were made for. I just had to change the containment target over to her," Jess said.

  "Are you going to try to save my daughter?" Avery asked.

  "I haven't decided yet," Alex said.

  They left Avery behind, sealed in her luxurious captivity. Up ahead they could already hear the sounds of chewing, loud and echoing. This was a fight that wouldn't pass them by.

  51

  “That ogre finally wanted payment, can you imagine? I had it killed, of course. I still came out ahead.” Lady Cecila Montague

  The LaFele family crypts were rooms of ornate stonework with elaborate caskets, the names of the past barons and baronesses engraved upon them. At least Sabrina didn’t have to go far to raise her parents from the dead. After whatever indignities their corpses had endured, eventually they were placed here amongst the others.

  The sound of chewing and lips smacking was coming from a hideously overweight, naked man, his black hair and pale skin creating a contrast. He had one of the coffins open, the stone lid pushed back, and he was crunching on a human bone, quickly working his way through it with gusto.

  Marcus LaFele

  Glutton

  Alignment: Black

  Level: 9

  Hitpoints: 95/95

  Marcus was stronger than his wife even though Sabrina had used less black quintessence to create him. It must be the corpses—he gained power by eating, and eating his ancestors must be giving him a particular rush of power.

  Ryn was applying oil to her knives and Alex did the same to his Songblade and Songhammer.

  Despite what they'd been told, negotiation had gotten them past the last threat and Alex thought it was worth attempting again.

  "Hello," Alex said.

  The figure turned from his feast, eyes looking over them all hungrily. "Meat!" he bellowed and charged forward. So much for negotiation.

  Alex drew his weapons and struck out a tone on his blade. The wrong tone, the oil had changed the harmonics, Alex struck again just as Marcus reached him and lashed out with a fist to his stomach.

  You have been punched by the Glutton

  Dissonant fist

  19 Dissonant Damage

  9 has been absorbed by your armor

  15 Blunt Damage

  9 has been absorbed by your armor

  16 Damage received

  Even with his armor the blow was enough to knock the wind out of Alex, his breath little more than a wheeze as he brought his blade down onto the Glutton's arm and his hammer swung at the face.

  You have hit the Glutton with your Songblade

  Harmonized

  Corpsebane

  9 Harmonized Damage

  Dissonant Flesh absorbs 2 damage

  8 Slashing Damage

  Dissonant Stone absorbs 4 damage

  15 Damage from Corpsebane Oil

  26 Damage dealt

  You have gained 33 Fury

  You are at 33 total Fury

  You have hit the Glutton with your Songhammer

  Magic

  Corpsebane

  5 Blunt Damage

  Dissonant Hide absorbs 4 damage

  6 Magic Damage

  Dissonant Hide absorbs 3 damage

  13 Damage from Corpsebane Oil

  17 Damage dealt

  You have gained 21 Fury

  You are at 54 total Fury

  The Glutton staggered backward, his arm half-severed and spurting blood. He lurched back to a coffin, reaching in to pull out a legbone before shoving it down his maw and crunching noisily.

  The blood flow from the arm stopped, the injuries rapidly healing. One of Ryn's daggers caught the Glutton in the back of the knee, dropping him to the floor. Fingers searched and plucked the weapon out of the flesh, throwing it away to clatter in the shadows.

  "We need to stop him from eating. Can you throw up some fires?" Alex asked Jess.

  Jess chanted under her breath and illusionary flames sprang up in front of the rows of caskets.

  Undeterred, the Glutton roared, straining as he lifted a stone lid over his head and brought it down on Jess. Immortal wasn't indestructible, and she had the opportunity to do little more than squeak before bones crunched and flesh splattered.

  The fire illusions rippled and faded.

  "Well, that didn't work," Ryn said.

  "Hate it when they're smart," Alex wheezed, twisting his wrist to fire his potion-caster, aiming the ampule directly towards the Glutton’s face.

  The ampule spun through the air and shattered inside his mouth, the Glutton letting out a bellow of flame before he swallowed.

  A fiery burp came afterward. The Grimoire hadn't mentioned that 'eat anything' included fire, despite the Glutton’s vulnerability to the element.

  Ryn caught the Glutton in the eye with a dagger, the eyeball exploding into black goo. Once again the Glutton reached into a casket to grab a bone, an arm this time, and chowed down allowing the injury to heal.

  They needed a new plan. They were doing damage—lots of damage—enough that the Glutton would be finished quickly were it not for his ability to heal so fast.

  "Jerk," Jess said, back together after being squashed. Her healing really did make Alex's seem painfully slow in comparison.

  "Jess. You need to let him eat you," Alex said.

  "He's not my type," Jess said with a grimace.

  Ryn said, "Not like that, Jess. I think Alex is hoping you make him choke, because if he's choking he's not eating."

  "I do this, you two are taking me somewhere nice with dancing and paintings and things," Jess said.

  "Deal," Ryn said.

  Jess ran forward and flung herself towards the mouth of the Glutton. The Glutton looked a bit surprised but hardly unwilling, his jaws extending to unnatural proportions as he reached out to grip Jess and start shoving her inside.

  "I'll go behind," Ryn said, running to slide between the Glutton's legs.

  If was important to cut off the Glutton's mobility, so Alex moved closer to plunge his Songblade down into one of the Glutton's feet while bringing his hammer down o
n the other.

  You have hit the Glutton with your Songblade

  Harmonized

  Corpsebane

  14 Harmonized Damage

  Dissonant Flesh absorbs 2 damage

  10 Piercing Damage

  Dissonant Stone absorbs 4 damage

  19 Damage from Corpsebane Oil

  37 Damage dealt

  You have gained 46 Fury

  You are at 100 total Fury

  You have hit the Glutton with your Songhammer

  Magic

  Corpsebane

  9 Blunt Damage

  Dissonant Hide absorbs 4 damage

  14 Magic Damage

  Dissonant Hide absorbs 3 damage

  20 Damage from Corpsebane Oil

  17 Damage dealt

  Stun triggered

  You have gained 0 Fury

  You are at 100 total Fury

  Maximum Fury effect triggered

  Special Effect Triggered

  Burst of Health

  Alex felt the Fury within him burning away and the damage inflicted by the Glutton's earlier hit started to fade away. His blows had landed true and the Glutton bellowed in pain, arms working to cram Jess into his mouth all the faster, but she seemed stuck and he couldn’t digest what of her was already inside.

  The Glutton stumbled forward, about to fall on his massive belly, and Alex took a step back to release another fire-ampule from his potion-caster. The ampule hit the floor and erupted into a blaze just before the Glutton fell into the flames.

  You have hit the Glutton with your Fire Ampule

  12 Fire Damage

  Vulnerability Exploited

  20 Damage Dealt

  You have gained 25 Fury

  You are at 25 total Fury

  The Glutton howled in agony and thrashed as he burned. From somewhere deep within his throat Jess was screaming in agony as Glitch super-digestion met Glitch immortality. Ryn somersaulted off the back of the Glutton smashing him deeper into the fire. Marcus’s back was a bloody mess of multiple dagger wounds that glistened with Corpsebane left behind.