[Mkguild] "To Steal a Soul" -- Part 2

[Kendo Virmir]

"To Steal a Soul"
Part 2




"Are you all right?"

I felt a tender claw on my shoulder.  I apparently zoned out for a
moment.  I was shocked to find myself curled in a fetal position, tail
between my legs.  I hurt in a bad way.  Not from running or being
nicked by weapons, but magical fatigue.  Blast it, I wouldn't have had
any trouble with such a string of spells with the proper preparation.
But the patrols were so eventless and boring I had begun to get lazy
in preparing myself each morning.

"I'm fine," I muttered as I pushed her hand away.  I sat up.  A little
dizzy, but I'd been through worse.  Magical fatigue is a difficult
thing to describe to non mages.  Normally it manifests as simple
tiredness or soreness throughout the body.  But in more extreme cases
it can be a dull pain in the heart that spreads outward as it
intensifies.

"You're injured," Vale observed, pulling back the fabric on my left
arm.  That was of course the least of my pains.

"It's nothing," I waved her off as I managed to get on two feet.  I
held my tail firmly against the ground to avoid falling over.  But I
reared forward as I lost my balance, and she caught me by my chest.
On her knees she was eye level with me.  Curse this form...

"Can you go on?"  she asked as she handed me my sword.

"Yes."

"We need to find the others."

Oh, blast it!

"... Right."

She scampered off, and I limped after.  Argh!  What in blazes did I
get myself into?

We made our way down into the ravine we saw the others get ambushed in
a moment before we were trapped ourselves.  The grasses were padded
down and the shrubbery torn in a wide area, but there was no trace of
any living thing.  Blast it, there were a lot more of them there than
we faced ourselves.  Vale's eyes were wide with concern, and she
stooped down to sniff the ground like the canine she'd become. A
little unexpected for a noble.  I suppose she really did care about
them.  I could do nothing at that point but stand there with my mouth
gaping like an idiot.

I only had a moment's rest before we were on the move again.  "This
way." She pointed, and I followed.  She sniffed the air as she went
along.  How did she do that?  My own sense of smell had been magnified
with my transformation, but that only meant everything stunk a lot
worse.  I couldn't possibly conceive picking out an individual scent
and tracking it.  Perhaps with time.

After a few minutes of trotting along I gained enough of a handle on
my exhaustion to resume rational thought.

"Lady Vale," I let skepticism drip into my voice, "we are tracking a
small army..."

"Yes..."  She slowed down, flicking her black tail back and forth.

"... of unholy demons that can only be killed with fire."  I caught up
and walked by her side, taking a deep breath so I could talk
coherently between the panting.  "We were barely able to kill a
handful back there.  I cannot throw many more spells..."

She stopped and slowly crouched down.  I hated that.  Did she think
she needed to be at eye level with me?  Maybe she was just tired.

"I know..."  She pinched her sinuses with one claw, stabbing her sword
into the mud with the other.  We were in a peaceful grove.
Brown-leaved trees high above, leaves rustling in the wind.  Her blade
reflected the sunlight that crept through the branches.  "I know..."

"What would you have us do?  Turn back?" she asked sharply.

"And call for help.  Yes."

"Help will never make it in time."

"They're going to kill us.  There's no way we can fight them all."

I wasn't sure if she heard me or not.  She stared ahead at something
past the bushes.  She rose, blade in hand, then darted off.

"Oh, gods... no!"  She wailed as she leapt over a shrub.

"What?"  I demanded as I pushed through the bush, unable to see.
"What is it?"  The foliage was taller than me, and I stumbled through
it.  Blast it!  I fell straight forward to the other side, picking my
head up just in time to avoid landing square on my nose.  What was it?
 Vale kneeled in front of something... a body?

I pushed myself off the ground.  The dhole morph's ears hung low and
her tail limp.  She crouched next to a human female in leather armor.
And a bloodied chest.  It was Claudia.

"She's dead."

My ears perked so high I felt as if someone yanked them up.  Oh,
gods... no...  I stumbled backwards,  nearly falling over again,
unable to believe what I saw.

My knees felt weak and the world began to spin.  I felt a sharp pain
in my tail, and suddenly realized I was wringing it in my claws.  I
will not describe Claudia's wound.

Vale turned, her tear-soaked eyes boring into me.

"Virmir, go."  She stood, raising her mirror-like blade.

"What?"

"There's a Signal Tower to the southwest.  Go get help.  Hurry!"

"And what are you going to do?"

She bore her fangs now. "I'm going to find them."

"You're going to die."

"Go NOW!  That's an order!"

Without another word she leapt over the body and disappeared into the
bushes.  Blast it!  She was so reckless and stupid.   She was
sacrificing her life for a smelly pig man and a rude hyena who were
probably already dead.  Two cursed freaks that had never shown her an
ounce of respect.

Bah!  It wasn't my problem.  I wasn't able to do much more anyway.
I'd just do as I was told.  Let the Long Scouts or the regular army
handle it.  I didn't belong at Metamor in the first place.  Honestly,
who cared if they all died?  I'd probably just get assigned to another
squad and finish out my term.

I looked at Claudia and shuddered.

"He he he he he!!"  The voice echoed in the distance...

Then came another scream, then the repeated clanging of metal...

I shut my eyes and gritted my teeth.

----

Vale did not know fear.  She would never experience that emotion
again.  She would much rather die.

She met the onslaught head on, slashing her father's blade into the
neck and halfway down the chest of the impish creature.  Her father's
blade... why did she still think of it that way?  It was hers, and
hers alone.  She made it hers when she bloodied it, and that would
never change.  It was a man's weapon, too long and heavy for a
delicate woman.  But she wasn't really a woman.  She was a monster
now.

She yanked the sword out, sending the creature reeling.  Two more took
its place, and she slashed again.  Duck and weave, dance around their
blades.  The sword hummed as it cut the air.  It held its silver gleam
despite all the abuse.  More of the plant-and-earth creatures came,
their fanged muzzles snarling in glee.

She was going to die.  She deserved it, as everything was her fault.
If only someone competent had been leading in her place, none of this
would have happened.  She took slight comfort in the thought that at
least one member of her squad had escaped with his life.

Hack and slash.  Limbs flew from her opponents.  Chunks of their
clay-like flesh speckled the ground.  They felt nothing, and got up
again and again with mocking sneers.  "He he he he he..." They closed
in, tightening the noose.  Closer and closer with their poking,
stabbing weapons...

The crimson flash nearly blinded her.  Her head darted back and forth
and she forced her ears against her skull to shut out the shrill
screams of burning imps.  A wall of fire circled her, the flames
utterly consuming the dead leaves on the forest floor.  Virmir dropped
from the branch above, landing by her side.

"Plant your sword into the ground."  He had that commanding tone
again, like when he cast the other spell.  A tone that she dare not
disobey.  He was frightening.  His eyes nearly glowed crimson, his
lips curled in a feral snarl.  His right claw pointed towards the dirt
between the two.  His left was literally burning, and his black cloak
waved upwards in an unfelt breeze.

She jammed the sword into the earth as told, nervously looking around
as the circle of fire that protected them began to die.  The silver
furred fox clasped the blade just under the hilt and slowly ran his
claws downward all the way to the ground.  As he moved his hands, the
metal that he touched turned a bright red, brilliant flames bursting
from it.  When he was done, her weapon was a glowing sword of fire.

"Take it."

At that moment the surrounding wall of flame disbursed, and the impish
creatures who had not been scorched greedily stormed the two canids,
brandishing their jagged weapons.  Lady Vale took the burning blade
and sliced through them like butter.  Their plant-like protrusions
withered and died under the force of the sword.  They screamed as
their bodies were cleaved in two, each half engulfed in flames.  She
killed all eight in less than a minute.

The sword flickered out just as the last one died, regaining its
normal mirror-like sheen, though Vale could still feel the heat
emanating from the metal. She turned to see Virmir crouching low,
doubled over as if his stomach ached.  His triangular ears drooped and
his eyes were shut.  He blinked them open at the silence and stood
upon noticing her gaze, any semblance of pain erased from his visage.

"If we are to save them, we'd best do it more carefully."  His black
tipped tail snaked in and out from under his cloak, and he folded his
arms smugly, irritation plain in his eyes.

Vale scratched behind her ear, her heart still fluttering from the
experience.  "Right..."

----

Of all the stupid things I've done...

What was I to do?  Leave her to die?  My chest ached.  The pain began
to spread to my limbs.  Stupid.  To put myself at risk like that.  Why
should I care what happens to her?  I didn't.  Really.

I suppose I was merely doing my job.  I was dedicated, a man of my
word.  Fox.  Fox-child.  Whatever.

I had convinced Vale to move more cautiously, thus allowing me to
catch my wind. The pain would go away soon, I knew, and then I would
be able to cast more.  It always did before at least.  Pushing oneself
every once in awhile isn't a bad thing, but it is a good idea to stop
when it hurts...

We tracked the little monsters for a few hours, moving cautiously
through the thick underbrush.  I began to wonder if I could convince
Vale to return with me for help, but the look of determination in her
eyes never faltered.  And there was no arguing that would mean many
more hours of lost time.  The entire trek I expected to stumble upon
the hyena or boar's body like we did Claudia.  I did not wish them
dead, but if we had proof, then we could end this fruitless chase.

Instead we came to a cave.

Blast it.

Two monolithic boulders flanked the black opening, and smaller rocks
piled all around.  The brown-leaved trees provided a fair amount of
shade, but it was still plain as day.  We searched around the mouth,
fully expecting some sort of ambush, but there was nothing.  Finally,
we pressed our backs against the opposing boulders and peered into the
blackness.

Nothing.  I considered myself to have excellent vision in the dark,
but looking into darkness from daylight was impossible.

Vale took a few whiffs.  "They're definitely in there."  She said in
as close to a whisper as possible with a muzzle.

"The creatures too?"  I asked.

She shook her head.  "I don't know, I can't track those things.  They
smell like dirt, and I can't tell the difference.  I've just been
tracking Rufus and Vincent."  She ended with a slight smile. "Rufus is
very easy to track..."

I took a deep breath through my nose, trying to smell whatever it was
she was smelling.

"No," she corrected me from the other side of the opening.  "Take in
short, strong sniffs."

I frowned, knowing that I would look silly.  But she was serious, so I
angled my nose to the darkness and gave it a shot.  Indeed, I did
detect the mixed stench of alcohol and filth.  I grimaced, covering my
nose with a claw.

"Told you."  She smirked.

I merely narrowed my eyes.  "So, we're going in?"

She nodded.

I was on the right side of the opening.  I brought my left arm to my
hip and bent my fingers like a claw, cupping my right hand over them
and angling my right shoulder forward so may back was against the
wall.  I gathered energy just under visible levels.  Blast it.  Still
hurt...

I nodded at Vale and she nodded back, her silver blade readied in two
hands, her back and tail pressing against her wall.  We stepped into
the cave together and advanced with caution.  The circular entryway
was wide enough for two men to walk side by side, so we were by no
means crowded.  Blast the sharp rocks.  I stepped on several on my way
in before my eyes adjusted to the darkness.

A bland gray tunnel snaked before us, extending several hundred feet
at a shallow decline before the variations in the crooked path bent
the walls too much to see beyond.  We pressed onward at a snail's
pace.  I resisted the urge to send a wave of flame down the tunnel and
just be done with it.

What horrible surprises lurked in the darkness? Some sort of ambush?
Another army of plant-and-earth monsters?  Some new threat?

No, a dead end.  Of course...

A rocky room greeted us, boulders from half-collapsed walls strewn
about.  Slate shifted under our footpaws as we tried to keep our
balance. The floor was vaguely even, and in the center was a circle of
stones that emanated a pale blue light.  Crystals, perhaps?

"What is that?" Vale whispered.

I held up a claw and she stayed put.  Some sort of magic, that was for
sure.  I inched closer, crouching down to examine them more closely.
Five crystals jutted from the sandy cavern floor, circling an
otherwise nondescript patch of ground some four feet in diameter.
Each emanated just enough blue light to collectively illuminate the
cavern.

"These are power sources."  I pointed to the closest to my feet as I
stood.  Vale had neared by then, the outline of ears perked in
curiosity visible in the pale light.  "They're powering a spell."
Couldn't put it much more simply than that to a non-mage.

"What does the spell do?"

"No idea," I replied, folding my arms and looking down at the circle.
I wagged my tail back in forth, feeling the weight of my cloak upon
it.  What now?

"Their scent ends here,"  she informed me.

Well, obviously.

"Could they have backtracked?"

"Then I would have--"

"-- picked them up again outside, right, right..."  I cut her off.
Blast it.  I didn't like where this was going.  "Back up," I asked as
I waved her off again.  I grabbed a rock and took a few steps back
myself.  I then tossed in into the circle.

Plunk.

The sand rippled like water.  The stone was gone.

We leaned over the circle, our eyes wide and ears standing straight
up.  "Interesting," I muttered.

Vale waited until the ripples died down. "They're in there."

No, you think?

She waved her longsword over the sand, then stuck it in.

"DON'T!!" I screamed as quietly as possible, clenching my teeth.  My
fur and tail stood on end and the pain in my chest magnified as my
heart throbbed.

The sand merely rippled around the blade like water.  When she pulled
it out, nothing clung to the silver metal.

"I'm going in," she declared as she stared down at me.

I shook my head and bent over.  "These crystals are shot."  I pointed
to the one by my foot.  Up close, each clearly displayed large cracks,
distortions in their blue hue.  "They're overstressed.  They could go
out at any time, closing the portal and trapping us on the other side.
 Furthermore, if one shatters when we're passing through, we will die
instantly."  I pointed a claw upward, no where near the end of my
list.  "Not to mention the fact that we have no idea where this leads.
 And--"

"Two of my men are on the other side, Virmir.  I'm not going to
abandon them.  If I have to suffer their fate then so be it.  I'm not
making you come with me.  If you want to turn back, you're free to do
so.  Go get help."

"Listen--"

She rose her blade and hopped right into the circle, disappearing as
if she fell into a pool of water.  The distorted pool of sand waved up
and down but did not splash.

My mouth hung open.

"Blast it!"  I curled my claws upwards and growled.  Argh!  What a
fool!  I will have no part in this madness!  Yes, ignore the mage!!
The blasted Keepers are all insane!  Every last one of them!

I spun around and stormed towards the exit, tripping on a rock in the
process.  Blast it!  I paused to lean on the cavern wall with one arm,
glancing back at the still rippling circle.

And sighed.

I'm requesting to be transferred to a different squad once this is all
over.  That's for sure.

I stepped to the circle's edge, grabbed my tail so it would not catch,
then jumped in.

-- 
- Virmir
http://virmir.com