Vermin Tide Quest
Chapter 15
As Victor and the others got back around to the fork in the road, they took positions behind cover, and waited for the Skaven horde to make their attack. After a few minutes passed, a the sounds of a swarm of them running over could be heard, and the group tensed up, ready for a battle. However, upon hearing a woman screaming in anger, they realized the Plant Monsters were still alive, and the screechs the rat-men were making was them being routed. Soon, several corpses were thrown and hit the rocks around the corner, and a number of Skaven Slaverats ran around the corner, before a Plat Monster made of what looked like vines covering her body in a vague dress of some kind followed them, and whip cracked her vines at them.
The plant tendrils cracked backs and cut intense gouges into the terrified Slaverats flesh, and Keriallian stood up, causing the entire group to pause as she let loose several arrows, perfectly hitting the hearts or heads of the cannon fodder of the Skaven. As two more Plant Monsters came around the corner, the one that came first pointed at the Ubersreik Five and screamed something at them.
"Oh by Khaines' bloody hands." Keriallian muttered, as the Plants then rushed at them. She pulled a silverthorne arrow, which flew out and homed in on the Plants, impaling one in the stomach and piercing through her abdomen, nearly bisected the thin Monster in the process. As the Plants scattered in terror, Kerillian turned to the others while the Monster that she shot fell over and grasped at her wound, gasping in pain and shock. "The loud one was angry and accused us of leading them into a trap alongside the Skaven."
"Seriously?" Markus asked. "Of all the things they could have accused us, it's being in league with the Skaven of all things?" upon confirmation by the Way Watcher, the State Trooper face palmed and sighed before speaking again to the Wood Elf. "Let's just go and try to finish the mission. Are there any more Skaven running about?"
"No, so far they're still engaged in combat with the Monsters. That was mostly nothing more then a group to broke and ran, with the Monster pursuing them. The Plant Monsters surprisingly might have a chance to destroy the base, but that Waprlock Jezzail is picking them off one by one, plus the sheer numbers of Skaven rushing down at them has ensured that they are being held down from moving away. Want to go around the battle field and complete the objective One-Eye?" Kerillian asked, turning to Victor Saltzpyre.
"No, that is too risky, especially with the Rat-Men on alert. What if we cause havoc within the Skaven lines, and let the Monsters pick them off for us?" he suggested to the others. After a brief moment, they agreed, seeing as they had no particular attachment to the Monsters. "Excellent. Now then, what could provide a generous amount of disruption to the Skaven morale?" Sienna cleared her throat, and created a fireball in the shape of a skull, which floated on her hand.
"Wouldn't that burn some of the Plant Monsters as well, since that's a spell that can't be controlled?" Bardin asked. "We did agree to keep the collateral damage to a minimum."
"And we're in a forest." Kerillian added, causing Sienna to sigh as she put out the spell.
"Well, Warpstone is volatile, what if you just cast it in the Skaven camp itself?" Markus asked. The others looked at him, and then thought back on the mental image of setting it off. "No wait, Warpstone is volatile, which why that makes it a bad idea."
"No no, you're on to something. Best solution is often the simplest one and all that." Victor said. Sienna perked up, as the Witch Hunter looked at her. "Sienna, you know what to do." Sienna smiled widely, as the Ubersreik Five went into the brush, ignoring the Monster as she crawled away from them, burbling in fear.
**POV SHIFT**
As Famiara and her sisters continued to slay and maim the Rat-Men attacking them, the Alra Umbrella looked at the tower that damned sniper was at, and dodged as her eyes sighted that sniper was preparing to shoot her. The projectile flew out in a split-second, and the Monster cringed as the ground behind her but a moment ago exploded. She used the giant mushroom she carried as both spear and shield, keeping the hordes of filthy vermin men away from her. Two of her sisters, both Alra Vores were flinging their pitcher plant-like mouths, dousing crowds of the beasts in acid. However, they kept coming, almost like an unending wave of seawater, and thus the Monsters were being pushed back. Famiara herself swung and struck one of the more fully armored ones, sending it screaming as it sailed over the air and crashed against two of its kin.
She looked to her left and saw that a group of Rat-Men were eating the corpse of one of her sisters. The sight enraged her, as Famiara's vision turned red at the borders of her vision. As she sailed at them, she ignored the cry of one of her sister Monsters, who was then shot by the Skaven sniper, her head exploding as her body was pulled away by several of the more starving rats. Famiara sped toward the creatures, and swung hard enough that the impact of her mushroom 'umbrella' broke both it and the back of the Rat-Man she hit with it. With her mind, a voice urged her on, and though she barely understood what it was saying, some part of her knew what it wanted.
It wanted her to kill, and to do so in the most gory and bloody way possible. So she punched into the stomach of one of the Rat-Men assassins that were seen occasionally weaving in and out through the battlelines of the two groups fighting, and ripped it in half. The creatures around her watched in shock, and Famiara smelled the scent of urine being leaked from weak bladders. With a bellowing war-cry of feral rage, she began to rip and tear the Rat-Men left and right as they fled, while her sisters stopped and stared in awe, as Famiaras' vision was consumed in the redness that covered her vision.
**POV SHIFT**
As the Ubersreik Five ran forwards to go around the battle, they stopped upon hearing a screaming that sent chills down their spines. They all felt the kind of sensation that came with it, and knew what was happening. Victor was the first to speak out, as he confirmed audibly what he others came to the same conclusion.
"Daemons are being drawn in somehow... we might require setting the entire battlefield alight then." Victor said. As they pushed through the brush and watched the battle, they immediately saw the Monster that was suffering from Chaos corruption. She in particular was screaming in inarticulate rage, ripping apart weapons and armor and tearing into the flesh of the Skaven around her with a speed that was frightening to witness. Her companions were also making similar pushes, but their body language suggested they were disturbed by what they were seeing.
As it stood, Victor and his party had shown up just in time to see the Monsters get hit with a volley of Warp Lighting shots, as several Doomwheels rolled out. The machines were made mostly of wood, slapped in a rough shape of a wheel, and had two cannons of some kind which had Warpstone crystals at the end of each pointed at the front, which fired a second barrage that raked the Monsters and Skaven alike. The Plants and Skaven infantry began to panic, and scattered at the Doomwheels drove themselves into their midst, not caring who they ran into as their drivers let out malicious cries of jubilation. One particularly big Monster managed to side-step one of the machines, and struck the Doomwheel as it past her, knocking it over sideways. Her berserk sister then turned and screamed as she ran at the Monster in question, before she tackled them.
The Monster on the ground resembled a flower with tree roots for legs and arms, and yelled in pain and confusion as she her fellow Plant started beating her to death. As the enraged Monster was pulled off with tentacles and vines. Sienna channeled the Wind of Aqshy, and summon a cackling skull, which flew into the Skaven base while Kruber pulled out his handgun, and aimed it at the enraged Monster. When everything went into a confused and paused state from the random skull of fire now running amok in the Skaven camp, Markus shot the Chaos corrupted Monster, who fell limp after her head jerked back, a dark red substance leaking out in a manner more akin to sap then blood. Her companions looked in stunned silence, and looked at the Ubersreik Five. When they grew looks of intense hate towards Markus specifically, the State Trooper paled.
"Shit." he muttered. The others quickly saw the two Monsters running over, with Bardin pulling out the two drakefire pistols he had with him. After firing several missed attempts, one of the Plants was struck multiple times, screaming as she was ignited, drawing the attention of both Skaven and Monsters.
"RUN!" Victor screamed, and the Ubersreik Five once more ran for it, letting the chaos unfold behind them in the process slow down and distract any pursuers. After a while, the group stopped, and hid in some undergrowth to rest and recuperate. As Saltzpyre looked around, he then noticed a smoke plume rising from the sky. "Well, that's useful for navigation. Somewhat." he muttered as the others nodded in agreement.
"Alright now, on to find Olyesa mayflies. Follow me, and don't fall back." Kerillian said, before moving aside some of the forest brush. As the others followed, Bardin spoke up.
"Wait, are we actually going to make it back before sunset?" the Dwarf Ranger asked.
"Not likely. So I guess we'll have to prepare for camp eventually."
**POV SHIFT**
As Luka awoke, Alice watched him from some distance. She had put up the tent, and watched over the Human, and upon sensing him stir and awaken, Alice also felt Morr retract his presence from Lukas' mind. Leopold and Arnold were sent back by Tamano back to the other Imperials in the Monster Lord Castle almost as soon as Morr left with the now deceased Nanabis' soul, both so that it could at least calm the Humans there down since they found out about the dungeons that Human slaves were kept for breeding and feeding the Monsters there, and also because there wasn't anywhere for them to go anyway, other then any one of the places in Illiasburg, and those people weren't likely to tolerate the two Imperials on a good day.
"Hey, you awake now?" Alice asked. Luka groaned as he got up from the mat she laid him down on, and looked around. As he opened his eyes, the Human boy stopped, and seemed confused. "Is there something... what is with your eyes?" the Lamia asked. Lukas' eyes still had the red-orange glow in his pupils that Tamano had. As Alice scryed him, she realized that his bodys eyes and brain were altered, along with his adrenaline and other hormone glands. Suddenly Luka jumped in fright, as his brain went haywire with activity, and Alice flinched at the sudden outburst as he cried out.
"Who are you? Where's Alice?" he asked, trying to put some distance between him and a now confused Monster Lord.
"What are you talking about, I'm right here." she replied in annoyance, pointing to herself. As Luka suddenly grabbed the Angel Halo, he snarled. Alice realized something was wrong then, as she spoke.
"You're not Alice. First of all, she doesn't have black fog emitting from her body. And my eyes are fine, even if you have her voice nailed perfectly." he growled, the glowing effect intensifying with his anger. Alice narrowed her eyes as Luka tried to stab her with Angel Halo, and missed when she dodged. She held back the urge to just vaporize him right there and took stock of the situation.
Wait, is he passively scrying me without knowing it? Alice thought. She then looked at a mirror, and pointed to it. "Luka, are you sure your eyes are fine?" she asked, causing Luka to look at it. He suddenly twitched and turned back for a second, realizing apparently he took his eyes off a potential enemy, before stopping for a second and doing a double take.
"Alice?" he said, before turning back to her. "Why are you looking like a shape of dark fog here, but normal with your reflection?" he asked. Alice face palmed and sighed.
"Id... Luka, I think you have the ability to scry, which at its most basic form is the ability to activate a second sight to sense and perceive magic in a manner that is understandable to the mind, and should only be possible to do you are an Angel or Monster, not with Humans." Alice explained. Upon getting a blank stare, Alice simplified it with, "You can sense magic now."
"Oh." Luka said. "Wait, you also said something about my eyes? What do they look like?" he asked. Alice was about to insult him again, then remembered that he only stopped upon looking into the mirror, and realized he was also getting much more twitchy, his heart-rate raising to a rapid beat among other changes.
"Um, yeah I should probably teach you how to turn it off first, as it seems your body is freaking out. Now, do you see my eyes?" she asked. Luka nodded as he spoke, but trailed off as he started to focus on the grass
"Yeah, they're... um, Alice is it normal for you to see colors and things you've never seen before while scrying?"
"What? No, what do you mean?"
"Because I am seeing some weird stuff right now, like a weird green, but not green energy flowing like a river through the ground and into the nearby planets, among other things." Luka explained. "In fact, I can actually in fact see through the tent, but where everything is projected on the canvas?"
"Um, that is not how scrying typically looks, its more like getting a general sensation of where magical energy is focused. The closest one should be able to get to 'seeing' magic in the way you are describing right now is picking up on the sheer able of Darkness energy I have in my body." Alice explained. Which is likely why you freaked out just now, she thought observing him closely. "Now, imagine your vision returning to normal." she instructed him. After Luka closed his and did so, his body began to calm down, and eventually it returned to a semi-normal state, albeit with residual adrenaline in his body, which was an abnormal reaction too scrying. Human physiology rejecting it in someway perhaps? Alice thought. Or is it the Light energy within him that his mothers keepsake ring released temporarily that was rejecting it?
Luka then began to fall over, and was caught by Alices' tail as it looped around his waist. As he breathed heavily, the Lamia placed him down on the mattress. After a few minutes, he got up, and walked out.
"Alice, whose grave is that? And what happened to the Treasure Cave?" his voice asked, and the Lamia tensed up at the question. She then slithered out, and had to struggle to keep her voice neutral. Remembering the Daemon as it was called supposedly controlled him, it was likely the creature had wiped his memories of killing Nanabi it seems, so she chose her words carefully.
"It collapsed. Apparently a big battle happened, and the cave collapsed from taking damage. You were injured by a magic spell of some kind, which is why you woke up outside in a tent." Alice said, a half-truth that she told as to not upset him. Luka nodded.
"How long was I out for?" the boy asked.
"About five hours. There was a Kitsune named Nanabi there, and she was killed in the cave-in."
"Eh?!" Luka was shocked. "That's horrible! I'm... I'm so sorry." he said. Alice screwed her mouth tightly, keeping her thoughts to herself. Suddenly Luka jumped up. "Wait the Bell! Is it buried in there?!" Alice widened her eyes, and realized he was right. Then when he looked at something behind her, and Alice followed his gaze at what looked to be a tunnel being dug under by a tree. The roots were somehow growing, and then stopped and tensed, following by the trunk and canopy of the tree they were connected to pulling itself to the entrance, slowly but surely. Alice scryed it, and saw that it was not abnormal in anyway.
"What the hell?" she muttered to herself, and then recalled a legend about Humans known as Druids that once communed with the world, in a manner similar to those that use Gnome to feel the world around them. However, unlike those who use the Spirit of Earth Magic, Druids were often dismissed as nothing more then crazy hermits by both Monsters and their fellow Humans, and disappeared over time.
Alice read a book about them once, and came to the same conclusion, as their philosophy included that plants were indeed thinking beings, and can communicate with each other in an intimate manner that transcends even telepathy. In the end, they were nothing more then followers of Illias that more loopy then other fanatical lovers of the Goddess of Light, as they often denied they were the ones casting magic, and said that they merely communicated their needs to the plants.
"Alice, are you seeing this? I started scrying the tree, and it is amazing." he said with a elated voice. The Monster Lord turned around, and saw Lukas' eyes are glowing.
"Seeing what? I scryed it as well and somehow, that tree is moving while I can't sense any magic from it. So it shouldn't be moving, but it is." Alice said, getting annoyed more then anything. Luka stared at her in confusion.
"You don't see? The not green green energy I was talking about, the tree is channeling it through its own body, and animating itself." he claimed. "Mom used to mentioned that a group of now extinct Humans called the Druids used to talk with the plants around them, and were once created by Illias to cure blighted fields of wheat."
"Oh by the First Lord, plants don't have feelings Luka!" Alice screamed, while Luka jerked back in fear, the two not noticing the way the forest seemed to turn towards them, while the tree that was moving slowed down. "The Druids were nothing but a bunch of Humans that got high on eating mushrooms, their belief that plants could speak were naught but not realizing that Fay Folk were fucking with them, and plants. Are. Not. Alive!" she screamed in anger. "It's bad enough you let yourself turn into that thing, and caused Nanabi to die!" as soon as the words left her mouth, Luka fell backwards. He then stammered.
"Whuh, what do you mean?" Luka asked. Alice then grabbed Luka, and pulled him up by the collar as tears streamed down her cheeks. As her emotions overwhelmed her, she continued yelling at Luka.
"Exactly that you idiot! You let that thing take control of you inside the cave. While it possessed you, it killed Nanabi, and laughed while doing so! You are an accomplice to murder, and you didn't even know it! I lied to make you feel better, and went so far as to not kill you in your sleep despite everything in me screaming for me to do so, as well as when you actually pointed the Halo sword at me. And you have the gall to think you can get away with lying to me?!" She pointed a finger at the forest, and continued screaming in anger. "Look at the forest again Luka, and tell me with a straight face that there is some magic I, a direct descendent of the line of Alice the First, am not sensing some mystical magic that does not involve the Four Spirits!"
"Alice, what do you mean by direct descendent of the First Monster Lord?" Luka said. Alice growled, and dropped Luka.
"You know what, go! I don't care, just get of my sight!" she said. Luka got up and tried to say something. Alice interrupted him by screaming "GGOO!" and slammed her tail in front of her body, kicking up sand and making Luka jump back. He then turned and ran away, dropping Angel Halo in the process. As she bent down pick it up, the Halo wailed at her with an angry tone. "Shut it, you probably en-"
"Aaalll...lllliicccee." The Lamia paused, and turned to her left. To her shock, the bark of one of the trees formed a shape as she watched. She somehow couldn't see what it was despite her vision, and so slithered closer, brandishing Angel Halo in one hand, and reading a spell with the other. "Aaalll...llliiccceee." the voice she heard said. The Monster Lord for some reason couldn't tell whether it was a male or female voice, and examined the shape on the tree more closely, and saw it was a face.
"What in the world is this?" she whispered. Suddenly, an arm made of wood shot out, and punched her in the face, and several roots and branches coiled around and captured the Monster Lord. She broke out, and yelled as she threw the Angel Halo sword as the tree, intent on dispelling whatever enchantment was placed upon it. The sword thudded into it, and stuck into the tree.
She smiled in victory, and rubbed away the trail of red blood running down her nose. Her smile turned into a frown however, as the tree lurched. Then a creature made of wood burst out, the Halo sword embedded on it.
When it looked at her, it looked like a skeletal being that reminded her of Undead beings caused her to freak out, as its ghoulish skull of a head glared at her, which glowed with a pale green aura. As it pointed at her, the being spoke, its voice sending chills down her spine.
"You. Fool. Ish. Girl." the creature pulled out the Angel Halo sword, as several more came out and stood behind it. It spoke in a broken tone, as though trying to put its thoughts into words that Alice could understand. As it continued on, the creature threw the sword back, which landed in front of Alice. "Bring. Luka. Back. Set him. Back to. His quest. Beg for. His. Forgiveness." It intoned commandingly to Alice, and began to fuse back into the tree.
"What... what are you?" she asked, shock and fear making her voice quiver. With all but its face back into the tree it came from, the creature spoke one last time as it faded back into the trunk.
"We. Are. The. Forest. We. Are. Those. You. Deemed. Not. Alive."