Chapter 11
Rimsky walked out from shadows of the alley, followed closely by Dittmer. Nuntius immediately caught a whiff of something foul, like burned flesh. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that it was coming from the two tank crewman, and when he did he had to force himself not to recoil.
"How the heck did I not smell this in the tunnel?" he thought.
Rimsky interrupted his thoughts "We weren't sure if you would come back for us. Oster left you a note of sorts, but still. I bet you can figure out where the tank is." he said, gesturing with the hand that held the pistol to the shed/warehouse structure with the obvious tracks leading to it.
"Oh yes, I found the 'note'." Nuntius replied, relaxing and quickly getting over the smell. When he had first heard the "Freeze!" command, he had nearly sent some stun bolts their way. He wasn't the type to kill without sound reason.
"Good thing I've got good self-control." He thought.
"Took me a little detective work to get here though." He continued out loud.
Rimsky nodded as he walked the couple meters over to the shed's barn type doors and gave them a few hard bangs. Dittmer didn't follow him and stood just outside the alley entrance quietly watching Nuntius. Nuntius got the feeling that he didn't trust him.
"Hey commander!" Rimsky yelled after banging on the doors. "That guy is here! The one you left the note for!"
"It's Nuntius."
"Huh?" Rimsky said turning to Nuntius.
"My name is Nuntius."
"Oh." He said. Then yelled at the door again "Nuntius! That's his name!"
"This is going to have to be a quick meeting guys." Said Nuntius as clanking noises emanated from inside the shed.
"Why's that?" asked Dittmer.
Before he could answer, the shed door noisily rumbled opened and out stepped the rest of the crew. Behind them, the front half of the tank loomed out of the shadows of the shed. It looked like a monster, just waiting to be unleashed. To either side of it was about a meter of clear space.
Two of the crew, Ulex and Vaerst, stood in front of the vehicle, partially blocking it, and staying under the shed's roof. Oster walked out in front. Rimsky went back to Dittmer, who was still behind Nuntius, but no longer in the alley entrance.
The fowl meat smell suddenly became overwhelming. Nuntius flinched before he could catch himself. Oster noticed
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing." Nuntius said quickly. Too quickly.
"Something's wrong. You flinched when we stepped out. Are we that hideous looking?"
"It's just, uh, the smell. You smell like rotting meat." Nuntius closed his eyes. This had gotten awkward very fast. He did not like awkward situations.
Oster and the other two behind him were quiet. Nuntius could almost feel their eyes boring holes into him. The quiet lasted for at least half a minute, during which the only sounds where the weird wet sounding noises the crew made every time they breathed. Even the birds were silent, and the wind was still. Finally, Oster said:
"So, you can smell it too."
His tone wasn't as harsh as Nuntius had expected. Instead, it sounded almost sad, resigned almost. He opened his eyes. Oster had taken his cap off and started playing with it. Behind him, Vaerst let out a grunt. The others were quiet.
"Yes. Like rotting meat."
"Well," Oster sighed a long, wet sigh. "If you can smell us, then others can smell us. We might be found."
This was not what Nuntius had expected to be the first thing he would say, but he wasn't going to complain. He thanked his lucky stars and said:
"I don't think you have to worry about that. I only smelled you when I could see you. I would have totally missed those two if they hadn't said anything." He gestured behind him at Rimsky and Dittmer.
"I am Herr Rimsky to you, and that is Herr Dittmer." Rimsky said, obviously annoyed at having been called "Those two".
"Sorry, Rimsky and Dittmer." Nuntius corrected himself.
"Herr Rimsky and Dittmer." Rimsky said.
Nuntius was about to reply when Oster cut him off.
"That's enough Rimsky." He said sternly. Rimsky went quiet.
"You found us faster than I thought you would." Oster said.
Nuntius was relieved to be done talking about the smell.
"Oh?" he said.
"Yeah. We just left that tunnel. I thought it would take you at least a day or two to find us."
"It would have if you hadn't left that uh, note." Said Nuntius.
Oster smiled. His burned skin causing his teeth to leave impressions where the skin was drawn taught by the smile. That smile gave Nuntius the creeps. What on earth had Messor done to these people?
"I wondered if you'd get that." Oster said. "I got the idea from something back on earth. I think it was some settlers who went missing in America. Left one word on a tree."
"I didn't know you remembered that story captain!" Rimsky said from behind Nuntius.
"Yup, for once you and your dumb history lessons came in handy."
Rimsky frowned at his little history lessons being called dumb, but he was obviously pleased that Oster had remembered.
"Why don't you two come around here, it's rude to be speaking from behind our guest."
"Guest?" Nuntius thought. "What a weird thing to call me."
He heard gravel crunch and a few seconds later Rimsky and Dittmer took up positions near their captain. Vaerst and Ulex quickly joined them.
"How did you learn about this place?" Nuntius asked, gesturing to the decrepit buildings and overgrown roads.
"A map." Said Ulex. "Dittmer found an old one in a small room further down the tunnel. We think it was the track monitors booth."
"Ah. Well, it took me forever to get here."
"Sorry about that." Ulex said in a voice that didn't relay any sympathy.
"So, what do you want us to do exactly? You never really answered that last time." Oster asked, walking over to the shed door, leaning against it and crossing his arms. He looked relaxed, but Nuntius could tell he would be able to jump into action in a split second. This was not a guy he would want to cross if he was a mere mortal.
"And why did you say this was going to have to be a quick meeting?" asked Dittmer.
"Because, I have to meet some people, I mean mammals, soon. As a matter of fact, I might have you meet them."
Oster raised an eyebrow. Actually, it was more like he just moved some skin over his eye, as all the hair on his head and face was gone.
"And who might they be?"
"A pair of police officers."
At this, everyone let out some form of a derisive noise. It was obvious they did not like the idea of coming in contact with the police. Especially after having crushed a couple of their vehicles and blowing a hole in the road.
"The Gestapo?" Vaerst asked quietly.
"No Vaerst, not the Gestapo." Oster said with annoyance. "This isn't Germany."
Vaerst didn't say anything.
"I think you will like them." Continued Nuntius. "The mammals around here are quite kind, these two in particular."
"What about the smell? The smell of meat." Ulex asked, speaking up for the first time.
"I'll deal with that." Said Nuntius. "But I don't think it will be too much of a problem."
Oster nodded and started rubbing his chin, as if in deep thought.
"I'm guessing you want us to stay here until you have met with these police?" he asked.
"That is correct." Replied Nuntius. "I don't want to have to come looking for you again, and because of some recent developments, I no longer need you to go search for the gem. Instead, I will need you to help me get it."
"Ah, so you have found it?" Oster said, hope in his eyes.
"Not exactly."
The hope went away, replaced by that distant look that they had always had.
"But I have a source who will tell us. We just have to do some things first. It won't be too long, a day or two at most."
The hope came back.
"And you will get us when it's time?"
"Yes."
"What if it's far away?" Ulex asked. "Will you make us drive? Or will you do some magic? If we drive, it'll be slow."
"It's nearby. I'm sure of it. But if it isn't then yes, I could work something out to have you teleported."
Ulex nodded. Driving for long distance in the Panzer IV was not the most comfortable of things.
For a few minutes, the six of them just stood there looking at each other. The eerie silence of the long-abandoned town was not something Nuntius was fond of. Sometimes a breeze would spring up and rustle the tree leaves, but if it blew right, the rotting meat smell washed over him and left him queasy. He cleared his throat.
"Well, I should be going now." He said. He still had a couple hours till Misericors's time window expired, but he didn't really want to stick around. Especially since he didn't really know what to talk about.
"You're leaving so soon?" Rimsky asked.
"Yes. I have some other business I have to attend to."
"Such as?" Oster asked, raising the skin above his eye again. Nuntius wondered if he knew how creepy that looked, the way it made the rest skin on that side of his face taught.
"It concerns the lead to the gem's whereabouts. That's all I'll say."
The others all looked at him skeptically, but there wasn't anything they could do to stop him leaving so Oster just said:
"Good luck then, Herr Nuntius. Get us to that gem as soon as you possibly can. We want to see our families again."
"Don't worry, it won't be much longer." Nuntius replied. He looked at his watch. Still few hours till the meeting with the fox and rabbit. Nick and something. He couldn't remember her name. And, as if on queue, he felt something warm against his right leg, the leg that was behind the pocket that he had put the pink stone in. Even though he knew the warmth meant that it had been activated, he still took it out to see if it was glowing. It was.
"Well, it seems I doubly have to go now."
The tank crew were non-plussed by the appearance of the glowing pink stone. Nuntius had the feeling they were forever going to be hard to surprise. It seemed like almost as if they had no souls. Maybe that's what Messor did to the dead, take their souls. He didn't like thinking about it too much though.
"Goodbye Herr Nuntius." Said Oster. The others echoed him. Nuntius shivered. Gah, they were creepy.
However, without further ado, he closed his eyes and visualized Misericors's home. The whooshing sound came and went, leaving the pressure. Then it came and went again, and the pressure went away. He opened his eyes to find himself standing in front of Misericors's front door.
He walked up to the door. He was about to knock when he remembered the wink Misericors gave him before he went for the tank crew. He wondered if Primas or anyone else was going to be with them. He really did not want anything awkward to happen.
The hesitation quickly passed though, and he knocked three loud knocks on the hardwood door. They were answered within seconds.
Before he could utter a sound, Misericors grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.
"Shhhhhh!" she said.
"What the heck?" Nuntius whispered. "Something going on?"
"Yes!" Misericors whispered back harshly. "That goat you brought in, I broke the binding aspect of the gem, and as soon as I did, he attacked me. I beat him off, and ran out of the spell room and locked him in. He's just standing in there quietly."
"The spell room? Isn't there a window in that room?"
Misericors suddenly looked like she had been slapped.
"Yes there is! And its easily big enough for him to fit through. But I don't think he could go through it, it has bars."
Nuntius didn't wait for her to say anymore. He raced through the house to the spell room, which was located at the very back. The door leading into it was a stout oak door with steel hinges and a large old-fashioned ring stile handle to open it. There was also a thick steel bolt that had been thrown closed by Misericors when she ran from the deceased goat. The bolt was there specifically for times like this, yet it was sort of useless thanks to the window. They would have to fix that.
"Felix! You in there?" Nuntius called knocking on the door. No answer. He knocked and called one more time, and again received no answer.
"Ok, we're going in. Stand back." Nuntius said, holding out his arm to keep Misericors back.
Nuntius slid the bolt back then slowly pushed the door open. A chemical smell wafted out, carried by a breeze from the broken window. The window had two bars set in a plus sign pattern. These broke the window into four quadrants, all of which were too small for the goat to fit through. However, the goat had somehow broken the lower bar of the plus sign out of the wall, making an opening just big enough for him to fit through and in the process knocking small glass bottles and herbs all over the place.
Misericors favorite wooden chair lay on the ground with a broken leg and a splintered back. Misericors let out a groan when she saw it.
"My chair." She said, bending down and pushing the pieces around. Apparently, the chair meant more to her than all her science materials.
Nuntius stood at the window and gazed out at the open landscape. He leaned out the window and looked at the ground. Clearly impressed into the ground were hoof prints. Nuntius followed them with his eyes until they grew to faint to see. He pulled back into the room.
"I know where he's going." He said
"Where?!"
"Messor's place." Nuntius replied with dread. How did the goat know where Messor lived?
"How do you know?" Misericors asked skeptically.
"Because, that's the way to his house, and the tracks go straight that direction for as far as I can see." Nuntius replied as he walked back to the front door, followed closely by a nervous Misericors. No one liked being around Messor.
The two went around to the back of the house and found the tracks under the window. They followed them for about ten minutes until the came to the crest of a small hill. In the near distance they could see a small stone house without a chimney. Messor didn't like heat, no point in building a chimney if you didn't need a fireplace.
"Yup, straight to Messor's house." Nuntius said groaning.
"You do the talking." Said Misericors. "I don't like talking to him."
"You think I do? But fine, I was planning on it anyway." Nuntius replied sourly.
They covered the last hundred or so meters to Messor's house in silence, the window slowly picking up and making a moaning sound. Nuntius wondered if what information the goat had would be worth talking to Messor. He hoped so. Nuntius knocked on the plain wooden door set into a windowless stone wall.
A few seconds later the door slowly began to open, its unoiled hinges creaking up a storm. Nuntius and Misericors instinctively took a step back. The door finally finished its inward swing letting out a rush of cold air that sent shivers through their bodies and revealing a dark interior, save for a faint candlelight that was mostly blocked by a shadow.
The shadow slowly stepped forward and revealed itself to be Messor, his dark cloak rustling without making a sound.
"Yes?" he said in a soft, deadly sounding voice that issued forth from under his hood like it was coming from the bottom of a well.
"Um," Nuntius cleared his throat. "I think there is a goat in your house that we are looking for."
Messor didn't reply right away. Instead, he stared, or presumably stared, at Nuntius and Misericors, causing them to fidget nervously. Finally he said:
"Yes, there is a goat here."
"Can we speak to him?"
"Why do you want to speak with him? You traumatized him enough bringing him back and then doing those experiments on him. Why should I let you speak with him?"
"Because, um, it will help us get the gem."
Nuntius knew Messor did not like the gem. Messor detested its existence because it was something that negated his duties. He didn't like it when the dead were brought back, it messed up the order of things.
"I will let you speak with the goat on one condition." Messor said.
"What is it?" asked Nuntius, though he was pretty sure he already knew what it would be.
"You must give me the gem so that I can destroy it." Messor replied, confirming Nuntius's suspicions.
"What if I keep it in a box where no one can get to it and keep it in my spell room?" asked Misericors.
"No. Give it to me, or I will not let you speak to the goat. And let me keep the goat."
Misericors huffed. She didn't want the gem destroyed, especially after going to all this trouble to get it back. But she knew that that's what should be done. Nuntius didn't really care about the goat much, all he wanted was the information he might know.
"Fine. Nuntius, that good with you?"
"Yes." Said Nuntius.
"Ok then." Messor said in his whispery voice, then stepped out of the doorway to let the two in.
The light let off by the single candle was barely enough for them to see by, but they could see the goat sitting quietly on a stool next to the short table the candle was burning on and looking intently into the flickering flame. He looked pale as flour.
"Why are you here?" he asked, not looking at either of them. His voice sounded like sandpaper.
"We could ask you the same question." Said Nuntius.
He and Misericors walked up to him without bothering to look for something to sit on. They weren't planning on staying long enough to need to sit.
"Because, Death has already tired me. Now that I am in control of myself, I could follow my instincts. They led me to Messor. He knows where I belong, and he has promised my soul rest."
Nuntius didn't know what to say to that, so he just nodded and went on with his next question.
"After Fallax raised you, did you overhear him say what his destination was?"
The goat, Felix, answered the same way he had the first question, staring into the small flame of the candle and seeming not actually seeing it.
"He said something to the strange looking one about a small town. Sanora I think it was. I remember it was one of the abandoned ring towns."
"That's what they're called? The ring towns?"
"Yes."
"The one he mentioned wasn't Coniston was it?" Nuntius asked.
"No. I know it wasn't Coniston. I'm pretty sure it was Sanora. The place where the larger herbivores came from. He said there was a large cemetery nearby, and Sanora has the largest cemetery of the ring towns."
That made sense to Nuntius. If Fallax was trying to do what he thought he was trying to do, then the larger the cemetery, the better.
"Ok Felix, that's all we wanted to know. We'll let you be now."
They turned around and hurried back to the door, eager to get out of the cold dark house.
"Kill him for me, will you?" Felix called after them as they left.
Nuntius stopped and turned around.
"I can't do that, but I can promise you he will be punished."
Felix didn't reply. He barely gave any indication he had heard. Nuntius didn't care though, he turned back around and hurried outside, where Misericors already was. He heard Messor close and bolt the door behind them.
"So, you got what you were looking for?" Misericors asked once the bolt was thrown.
"Yes, but I don't know where Sanora is, and since I've never seen it, I'm going to have to get there without using teleportation." He was not looking forward to that until he remembered the tank. He could just ride in that instead of walking. That was much more appealing. Plus, he could get to know the crew a little better.
He checked his watch. Half an hour till the meeting.
"Well Misericors, thank you. I think you just saved a whole world from something very bad."
"But the gem has to be destroyed now." She said, her voice had a hint of anger in it.
"Yes, but that should have been done a long time ago." Nuntius replied.
Misericors huffed, but she didn't say anything. She knew he was right, but she didn't want to admit it.
"I have to go now. I've got to meet some of the local um, law enforcement, about the gem. I've sort of brought them in to help me."
"Don't get too attached to them Nuntius. It seems like good things never happen when you get attached to the locals."
"I won't." he said. "I'm going to meet them now. You can walk back on your own right?"
"Yes, I guess so. But I don't want to. Do you have to leave now?"
"Yes. I want to get there before they do so I can make sure it's safe."
Misericors gave a little sigh. Without warning, she leaned over and gave Nuntius a quick peck on the cheek, completely taking him by surprise. He immediately started blushing.
"I, um. Uh." He stuttered.
"Shh. Now go." Misericors said quietly. "Go save a world."
Nuntius nodded, still too surprised to say anything. He closed his eye, the rushing came and went, then came and went again, to be replaced with the hustle and bustle of a busy city. He opened his eyes to find himself standing in the same alley as last time.
"Welp, time to go save a world." He said to himself.
Ok folks, chapter 11 is finally out. Yes, I know it is a bit short, but I wanted to get something out. Plus, I found a good place to end it, which means I have a good place to pick up in the next chapter.
As always, I would love to hear from my readers. Any ideas or suggestions you might have, or maybe corrections, or maybe just a comment.
I have no schedule for my chapters. I just get them out when I can. I'm not the most prolific of writers, so it takes me a little while to come up with chapter plots, and to get all the little nuances like timing and what not correct. Thank you all for bearing with me, and I hope I continue to put out a story that my readers like.
Signing off,
Erwin.
PS. When i finish this story, which only God knows when that will be, I'll go back and add to these shorter chapters. Sort of flush them out some. Esspecially chapter 1, as that was the first and shortest chapter i wrote.