Chapter 30:
Across town, the double doors to The Weathered Wheel swung open and in walked the three. The Ranger led the way and took a seat at the bar; The cleric stood a few feet back eager to see if this was not just one of his attempts to stall and start drinking; While the paladin took a quick around the tavern and scrunched her nose at the disgusting locale
"What a disgusting heap." Sneered the paladin
Piles of sawdust covered the floor to soak up mysterious spills. A musty odor hung in the air, good layer of grime seemed to cover everything. In Varris' mind, it was rather fitting that the ranger would be drawn to a pile like this place.
"Oi Thaelan!" greeted the Halfling barkeeper "How ya been, mate? Care for a pint?"
"Hey Fink. No thanks." He said placing a hand over the tankard placed in front of him "I'm working. You seen anything weird lately?"
"Weird? Hmm. Can't really say I've seen anything off at all. Well, other than some tall bimbo coming into my establishment and calling it a shite hole." Laughed the Halfling
Varris charged ahead and grabbed the little man by his shirt collar. His smiling little face didn't shift at all during the man-handling.
"Listen to me you pint-sized puke! You are interfering with official Militia business! Now cut the jokes and talk-"
"-No, you listen to me." The Halfling put with a look of superiority in his slim brown eyes. "I don't have to take anything from a pretentious skank like you. You pathetic paladins are all the same. Without all that armor on, your just as easy to stab like the rest of us. Now how about you put me down, and I don't rightly carve a hunk of ham from yer fat arse."
Under her chin, Varris felt the sharp poke of a dagger touching her skin. She was surprised that the Halfling had the gall to pull a knife on her, but was even more impressed he was able to draw a blade without her or even Thaelin noticing.
Thaelin let out a long sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose "Myshka, put the nice man down before you do something stupid."
The paladin did as she was told. Slow and steady, as to not make the Halfling's knife hand slip and end up cutting her throat. Once freed, the barkeep spun the blade around in his hand and returned it to a sheath hidden under his shirt sleeve
"Now apologize." The Huntsman added
Rather than swallow her pride, Varris spun on the balls of her feet and exited the tavern.
"Sorry Fink. You know paladins. Anyways I need your help…" the rest of their conversation took place in a fast paced language Hastur and Varris couldn't understand.
When the two concluded their discussion they shared a firm handshake. The ranger made sure to flash Varris a flirtatious wink as he strolled by.
"Wait! What did he say?" begged Hastur
"Fink says that we're looking for a dwarf." Answered the man with a yawn. He slowed his pace to allow the women to catch up and talk while he walked.
"A dwarf?"
"Yup. A dwarf in the Forge District. Now that I got your intel, how about that kiss, Myshka?" he said puckering his lips.
The paladin raised her powerful arm up and held the man's smoochng lips away. "A dwarf in the Forge District, is like finding a needle in a hay stack. Do you have any idea how long that will take us?"
The ranger frowned at his dear's constant negativity. "Hastur. Pop quiz. On the latest body, did you see where most of the wounds were located?"
Feeling the spotlight on her, the mage cleared her throat before answering. As much as she didn't want to look at the mangled remains, she did notice much carnage on the lower portions. "The stomach."
"Yup. Most the wounds were low on the body. Telling us the attacker was short. So...a dwarf is our most likely suspect. "
"But what about the missing blood?" asked the cleric "You said the attacks most likely happened at night. Only a vampire could have done it."
The ranger scratched at his beard. "Its only a hunch, but the psycho might be a cannibal,"
"Blood and organs are used in Necromantic rituals. We could be dealing with a seriously powerful wizard on our hands" added
"Dont be scared Myshka, we fought a necromancer before, remember?"
Remembering Thaelin's story made hastur smile, the thought of her losing their vulgar 'game' made her want to chuckle greatly. She hid her grin under her hood and tried to change the subject quickly. Time was still of the essence.
"Okay. So what do we do, Thaelin?"
Varris crossed her arms "-We should gather the Militia. We can warden off the Forge District and corner the rat in no time."
"How about we put that on the list of things not to do myshka? If we do that, there's a chance he could catch word of the alarm and panic. I know criminals and if they even suspect something is up, they will bolt in an instant."
"So what do you just want to patrol the Forge district alone?"
"How about the three of us?" offered Hastur "I can take the south. Varris if you take the North and then Thaelin could pursue the West.
"This is a terrible idea." scoffed the paladin
The three looked on at the setting sun. That ominous orb lowering below the land and the creeping shadow of night trailing up. Their time was running out. The Forge District wasn't as big as it's counterpart, but it had more hiding corners.
The bounty hunter walked soft footed on the cobblestone trying not to alarm those nearby of his approach. The sun had set almost a half hour prior. And the city watch was beginning to ignite the streetlamps. The environment was perfectly to his favor. The darkness of the night helped conceal him. He had a better advantage when sneaking about to move more freely, it also helped a trait he was proud of, but not many knew he had. His darkvision caught the slight hints of light and appeared more clearly. Not many knew of this trick. It was one he was forced to obtain almost a lifetime ago in the darkness.
Towards the back of an alley between two blacksmith's shops, there was a glow of a small candle and a shadow of a black mass dancing across the walls. The closer the ranger approached the dark figure, the more macabre the scene unfolded. The disgusting sounds of slurping and lip smacking echoed down the alleyway. The closer he crept, the clearer his dark vision could make sense of the scene. There was a smaller figure kneeling down to a body. An old knife protruded from the corpse's chest. And the figures hands were reaching deep inside the corpse. The disturbing sounds of squishing sounds made the rangers stomach churn.
The wail of the ranger's bollock dagger being unsheathed grasped the dwarf's attention. A brushy black bearded dwarf with wild dilated eyes. Lurked over his shoulder and stated towards the ranger. The lunatic slurped up the last juicy bits of flesh and blood. The figure stared through the ranger. Not looking directly at him, but at something else. The dwarf wrenched the blade free from the corpse and brandished it towards the ranger. An eerie giggle echoed through the alley.
Knowing he no longer had the element of surprise, Thaelin shifted his stance and walked into the candle light. "Okay, asshole. Put down the knife or-"
Before Thaelin could continue his threat, the dwarf jostled forward with the dagger in hand. The ghoul made wild slashes toward the man's torso. Swiping left, right and thrusting forward with no exact target other than the man himself.
"Shit!" The man yelled jumping out of the way of the bloodied blade. He knew as erratic as the murders were, their fight may as well be worse off.
The Dwarf's violet eyes stared wildly at his opponent. The killer's bloody lips smiled as he broke his psychotic silence
"I can smell your blood!" hissed the assailant
"All I can smell is your crazy ass!" answered Thaelin drawing out his hand crossbow in his free hand.
The dwarf let out a painful wail before lunging again at the Thaelin. The ranger swiped away the incoming knife with his silvered blade and fired a bolt blindly at the dwarf. The bolt missed the lunatic but struck the stone wall behind him. The tiny arrow then ricochet off the wall and knocked over the candle extinguishing it in the victim's blood.
Deep down, Thaelin cursed, but now they finally, were on more even ground. Both of their dark vision allowed them to see each other in a spectrum of dim grey light.
Thaelin hastily reloaded his crossbow and used his ranger's skill to disappear into the darkness. The crazed dwarf looked around the alleyway franticly. Though the only thing he could see was shades of grey, he couldn't catch a single glimpse of the ranger.
The lunatic ducked his head just barely missing a well aimed bolt. With his wicked bloody smile, the dwarf charged into the shadows after the cause of the crossbow fire. In his panic, Thaelin dropped his crossbow before sidestepping away.
Once the blue shine faded from his eyes, his foe let out a soft giggle before he too meld into the darkness.
"Damn it!" Grunted the ranger looking around franticly for the unseen enemy. The sounds of footsteps paced through the dark alleyway "Show yourself asshole!" he yelled in annoyance
A sharp sting came from his right leg followed by vile laughter.
The voice continued to taunt the ranger from the darkness, just outside the range of his dark vision. The dwarf's tongue slithered out of his mouth and tasted the fresh blood gracing his evil dagger "Your blood. I-its…its…DELICIOUS!"
"God, you sure are a crazy fucker, ya know that?" Thaelin said grasping his leg. It didn't feel like that deep of a cut, but the wound was just burning badly. He tried to shrug off the pain before continuing his witty banter "I don't even want to know what kind of Oedipus complex type of stuff went down to make you this bat-shit nuts."
"I will feast upon your power!" snarled the dwarf chasing into the man's line of sight. Blade pointing toward his neck.
In one fluid motion, the ranger parried the blade and with his free hand, he caught the dwarf's arm, twisted it behind its back, tore the knife away and kicked the assailant away.
"You can feast upon my fist, freak."
The dwarf tumbled to the ground and wheezing in fatigue. He pat the ground around him "My knife! My knife! Where? Where is it?"
"Looking for this, asshole?" the ranger smirked flourishing the old blade in the air. "Nice blade. Maybe I'll kick your ass for cutting my leg.
"Give it back!" wailed the dwarf. "Its mine! Mine!"
like a deranged bull, the dwarf kicked at the dirt and snorted rabidly. Anticipating a ravenous strike for his opponent.
"Come take it!" Smirked the man gripping the blade tight ready to defeat the killer once and for all.
The murderer let out a sharp wail before charging blindly. Flailing his arms towards the thief. Before the dwarf was within striking distance a dome of silver light formed encasing the psychopath in a solid barrier. The dwarf's voice became muffled and the hushed booms of his hands banging against the silver dome.
"About time you two found me." Chucked the man. As he hugged his injured leg.
Down the alleyway came a squadron of hold guards holding torches that illuminated the alley into an orange glow. The light revealed the disturbing sight of the killer that had eluded them for so long.
Between puffs for breath, the first thing the cleric noticed was the enraged culprit bound in her restraining magic barrier. Assured that the barrier was strong enough, she severed the magical fetters and reinforced its structure to hold without her needing constant concentration to maintain the spell. She looked back towards her friend and pursed her lips. "Are you okay?"
"That crazy fucker cut me. Can you believe that? Fucking asshole."
Hastur let out a puff of relief. He may have been only slightly injured, but she was glad to see Thaelin still had his foul mouth.
Varris inspected the scene. She brought her torch closer down the alley and winced at the sight of the latest victim whose body looked mauled by a deranged animal.
"You failed to stop him from killing again." Yelled Varris, fuming in anger. A pair of manacles were retrieved from her belt. You will pay for that Thaelin!
"Whatever. I caught your bad guy alright? How about you fuck off. Im tired, sore, and could use a beer."
The trapped dwarf pounded against the magical prison. His blood smeared mouth frothing with an insane glee. His words were muffled a bit but he yell profusely over the theft of his beloved dagger and his thirst for their deaths.
"Is that the murder weapon? Give it here." Ordered the paladin, attempting to snatch the knife away.
"Fuck off! I'm keeping it. Consider it my payment for catching your killer. Alive mind you." Said Thaelin raising the blade out of arm's length from the paladin
Despite Varris' towering stature and clear height advantage, she managed to struggle to grab at the blade "Give me the dagger!
"No! Its mine! I stole it fair and square."
With her breath back into her lungs Hastur she sighed at the childish display before her "No. I am taking the thing."
Varris looked down at the pint sized cleric just like she did in the training grounds "Its evidence! Hand it over."
"If you have a problem with that, why don't you take it up with the Mother Superior?" Hastur said matter-of-factly.
Varris glared at the two. "Fine. Guards, get this beast out of here and into a dungeon cell."
The cleric gave Thaelin a tight hug. "Thank you Thaelin! I knew you could do it!"
"No problem, Hast. Just remember. I'm never doing a job for free. See what that nut-job did to me" he said pointing at his cut.
Hastur looked down at the dagger and tucked the blade into her belt. The thing was disgusting looking and stained with blood. But at least it was never going to harm another soul again.
'Thaelin has his trophies. And so do I.'