Chapter 11: The Lesser Evil
"What do you leeches want?" Said the saint while hovering a meter off the ground.
The saint looked like Haas in his late twenties or early thirties. He wore a white robe with a lowered cowl. At his side was a decent quality sword and knapsack.
"We have come at the request of the townspeople to perform an investigation. We are even doing so free of charge. We're hardly leeches." Said Fel who remained mounted.
"Such generosity." He said disdainfully. "You're probably only here hoping to kidnap another one of the God-touched if you can find one. And one act of 'generosity' does not change what you are?"
"Oh, and would you truly claim the one responsible for your God as a God-touched. The perpetrator seems more devilish than even these girls behind me."
He turned to glare at us. Evelyn matched him glare for glare, but I found it difficult to meet his eyes.
"Whoever is responsible, if they weren't already killed will receive divine retribution for misusing the gifts of God. He does not need your help to rectify man's failings."
He turned away then and flew up and began scouring the damaged houses on the opposite side of town.
"What a tool." Snorted Fel.
We then met with the local chief. They had at first wanted to burn the body of the attacker to ashes after finally bringing it down. The death count had been 22 with many others injured.
There had been a worry, though, that this might be the first of more attacks, and clues would be needed to learn the cause of this. The attacker had not run into town, but appeared from within their midst. No eye witnesses from when it began its assault were alive, unfortunately.
Thus, as a compromise a limb and a tail were removed and preserved while the rest of the body was dragged outside, burned and buried in barren land too poor for agriculture.
Still, they did not want to keep the samples. They had already offered one to Saintshold, and the remaining sample, the tail, was for us. We were to do what we willed with it as long as it left the city within a day. I understood their fear.
The Organization had conducted a number of covert raids to damage the Red Hand's support base and drive them away from the East. Easton was part of the central region dominated by the church, but it was close enough to the Organization that the Red Hand's presence was extremely unlikely.
Nevertheless, tales of where they had attacked were infamous, and Easton had no desire to attract their attention.
We were taken to a barn after that. Inside was most of a tail.
"It looks like strips have been cut out of it." Said Fel.
Uncomfortably the leader explained that some locals had probably snuck in to cut pieces off to try to sell.
"Fools. What do you see, Clare?"
I walked around it. Lifted it up, and tore off a tiny piece. The scales were almost black but we're too dull to shine.
"I get the feeling this form is very fluid. It probably got stronger as you fought it, so it needed to be beaten before it became too powerful."
"That's right." The chief confirmed. "When Roland first spotted it, I think it was two meters tall. When we brought it down it was closer to three. Midway through it seemed to open a third eye too, but that might have just been grown."
"What sort of tactics did it use?" I asked.
"It seemed to go after anyone close to it and tried to tear them apart. It never seemed too interested in taking time to eat them, though. It also didn't seem to identify or care about those of us with weapons anymore than those without. That's one reason we called you. It fought like an animal, not like a Yoma."
"I got the same feeling. It would be easiest to take it down with traps or ambushes before it manages to do much damage. It's growth isn't directly tied to time so much as the concept of damage, but I'm not quite sure how?"
"So all you can do is confirm the chief's report. Fine." Said Fel unfairly. "Is it giving any lingering youki signature?"
"No, sir." Said Evelyn stiffly.
"We'll pick it up then on our way back. Let's go back to where it happened."
We spent another few hours combing the site for clues with Fel periodically speaking to himself. I had unobtrusively copied his memory and was only half paying attention to the investigation. Mostly I was keeping a look-out for trouble.
The other half of my mind was collating names and places for secret labs and projects. I had never gotten access to the memories of someone this high up. He wasn't formally in charge of research, but he had a background in it and kept his own projects separate from the Head of Research and Development. He also kept abreast of their newest advancements.
My arm was one of no less than a 14 projects aimed at increasing the strength of their forces in a controlled manner. I hadn't realized but if I went rogue my arm was equipped with capsules of poison. The right aerosol agent would eventually get into my system and kill me from the inside within an hour. Drawing on youki would only delay it to two hours.
Probably less since I would likely have directed my youki flow to my lungs instead of my hand and bloodstream.
The most disturbing project was the Farm. A breeding lab for new Power Users complete with a trauma and brainwashing program. I wanted to do something about it but there was nothing I could do.
Then I saw project Infection.
"Clare! Hurry up. If we fall behind Fel again he'll get even angrier." I had frozen. Luckily Evelyn was watching my back and dragged me towards where Fel was analyzing some footprints.
"It looks like it jumped in size whenever it hit a house with a lot of people in it. Houses that were nearly empty didn't have the same effect so it definitely wasn't property damage." He muttered.
"Sir," I decided to report my biggest find. "When I was looking at the first house to be attacked I noticed someone broke into it from the kitchen window. That's probably the one who assisted it in making the first kill. My power was suggesting from the way they entered and the wounds on the first body that the perpetrator is probably a human power user. I do not think we're dealing with a voracious eater. If it was a yoma then they cloaked their youki very carefully and never used it at any point."
"Good that jibes with the information I got from one of the Saints."
"They're working with us." Evelyn said in surprise.
"No, but he wanted the info I had on any yoma signatures in the vicinity. I traded him for it." Fel said with a wicked smile. I think he took pleasure in the thought that the so-called Saint had to lower himself to speaking with us.
I sure did, but I still felt a little queasy from the earlier knowledge I got.
"Let's go." At last, Fel said. We had no leads about where the one who assisted in the first murder had gone. Eva might drop by in the future, but the trail was cold and only going to get colder.
When we got back to Staff we found it in chaos. A facility in the north Eastern area of Sutare had been attacked and reinforcements had been dispatched. Me and Evelyn were also sent immediately patch up Headquarters' perimeter since sending reinforcements had left large holes in our defenses. 8 hours later the last of the survivors had made their way back to Staff.
Numbers 18, 28 and 36 had been killed along with several trainees. The survivors spread rumors of black infiltrators who cut down warriors without slowing down a step. And a dark, monstrous, three-eyed lizard that decimated the facility until it collapsed inwards.
What caught my eye the most, however, was the look of the people returning. I recognized a few as important people related to the Farm. The Farm that had been in the Northwestern region of Sutare.
(?)
"Ms., I can't ever thank you enough."
"Thank them. They could use some more encouragement to stay on the straight and narrow." She said thinking of the disaster in Easton. That insult had not been worth the lives of dozens. Even if they would have done the same to others who couldn't take it. We'd also had to offer the weapon to the villagers to get them to claim the death had come at their hands.
"Besides, we're not home free. The beast left in the opposite direction towards another project. If it survives long enough to reach it, hopefully, it will serve as a good distraction again. In the meantime we need to get the pregnant and children further away."
It was days like this that made me long for my cave.
"Ms. I don't think we'll make it all the way out of the East no matter what distractions we muster."
"We don't have to make it that far, I said finally sensing the party we'd been trying to rendezvous with. They approached us from three directions. And surrounded our small caravan.
"Is this all? We were expecting over fifty."
"There are dozens of children in the wagons. These were all I could find." I said. I suspected our information was off and there were multiple farms. Unless they were butchering people right and left the numbers kidnapped vs the number we rescued plus the new generation just didn't match up.
"Fine. The Silver King appreciates your charity, and will fulfill his part of the bargain." Said the bald man wrapped in a blue cloak.
"I turned back to the recently liberated captives. I'm sorry, but we'll need to split up from here. I'll disrupt pursuit while these three will escort you to a man in the north. He is a tyrant, but a lesser evil, and he will ensure your families are not preyed upon or enslaved in exchange for your fealty."
I met their eyes and saw the sparks of hope reignite. The two helpers to the side looked slightly bitter. I didn't care. They were my responsibility and would do things my way. We weren't playing heroes-merely nicer villains, and we were about to hand over our spoils of war.
"One last thing," I asked the three who had come from the north. "Have you heard any further rumors of trouble?"
Interlude: Fiona
I once worked in my village as a tailor's assistant. One day a yoma attacked they killed four before a Claymore came and killed it. The yoma turned out to be my husband. After that I was driven out of our village by the four families who lost someone.
I was touched by...something. When I awoke I had a new power. I felt cold. No matter what I bundled myself in, I felt cold unless I was touching fire. Apparently I could also touch fire now. When I had warmed myself I could also emit that heat out in nearly invisible bolts. All that you could see were distortions in the air.
Things were looking better. I had heard about others with powers like mine. They could make their way to a major city and be employed as a guard or honorary knight. The Rabonian church also was working hard to recruit them.
I never gave a thought to hiding this ability. I figured if bandits or yoma attacked I would just burn them. The Silver Witches wouldn't harm me as a Yoma, and none of the wild beasts were as scary as a Yoma.
I was wrong. They came for me after I left a city on my way to the central region of Toulouse. I had earned pocket money as a street performer swallowing fire and then belching out smoke. I also baked bread in my hands for the crowd.
That night was the beginning of the darkest portion of my life.
I had nearly lost hope when she appeared. Covered from head to toe in blood. She tore the door off its hinges and called out for me follow her before doing the same to our neighbors. One after another until she had reached the end of the line.
We followed her. Over the bodies of those evil men and past beheaded or bisected silver witches. She met up with her twin who had another group of a dozen following her and then another identical one. I stupidly thought they were sisters until I saw the fourth one and realized they were identical clones.
The last one had been loading children into several covered wagons. In the background a dust storm and the roars and screams of others filled us with fear, She told us there was nothing to fear. It was simply her helpers. Her clones turned to wisps of smoke that flowed back into her.
Then we ran. The wagons were filled with only the children, the sick and the heavily pregnant. I did not qualify yet thankfully.
We walked and walked until we met strangers and our savior split off. To keep our pursuers busy she said before sprouting four new clones. Her back as left her behind looked so strong. I pictured myself standing there like her. After raiding the den of evil, and then daring to stand up to them again. I thought this must be what a true Saint looks like.
We left our savior behind and entered a land of frost. The few blankets they purchased were inadequate but one among us could remove the bark from trees in a single pull and another refashioned it into warm sleeves.
I was perhaps the luckiest. With my power I could just absorb a couple campfires worth of wood and be warm for the entire day. I even helped with starting the fires at night.
Our three escorts held themselves apart from us at first. I think we impressed them, though, when we fashioned cloths or parted the waters of a river to helps us cross. They began bringing down deer and birds for us. Once we went further north, though, they just brought back chunks of meat. I found a finger in it one day and threw up. I told no one what I saw.
It was a much needed reminder that we were lambs among wolves. We needed to become wolves.
Two days later we arrived in an valley oasis. The temperature itself in the valley was a little warmer than everywhere else. The heat seemed to bubble up from the earth and while it was still cold it was warm enough for them to grow some crops. The largest city we'd seen yet was nestled in this oasis. It didn't look like much because they built deep rather than up.
They took us to a courtyard and from a balcony approached a man and woman. The man held a thick mane of silver hair and an aura of authority and confidence. The woman seemed mildly amused by us but also had the most striking red hair and clothes too fine for a commonborn woman.
He welcomed us to his city and presented the rules. We were his flock and as long as we followed them he'd protect us. This was his vow.
We joined his city and they gave us jobs suited to our abilities. I was given a breathing apparatus and worked underground carving tunnels for lava to help direct the flow to new regions of the city.
Through the city we heard rumblings of war and disaster. A plague that displayed incredibly wide-ranging symptoms. Some called it a curse and others a message from the Gods to close off trade and contact.
I was glad I was in the far north. Even if the crops we harvested looked like deformed humans, at least we were safe and could leave whenever we wanted.
In my heart, I promised myself that one day I would head south. After I trained more with my powers and learned more of the fighting arts. I also would need better equipment and partners, but one day I would go south and stand as that woman had stood. I needed to or I would never forgive myself.
Within the pit of evil I had left my child. It was one of babies that we didn't bring with us, and I did not ask them to stop and look for it.