Chapter 8-Monster

A few days later Clint felt the sea breeze as he stared out over the sheer cliff face of a trashed seaside fishing village. Most of the stone buildings built to withstand dangerous storms, but not inhuman monster attacks. Every last building was seared by smoke and fire damage. It was clear this place had been not just attacked, but ransacked afterwards as well. A cursory search of several homes, shops, and fish drying storehouses made it plain that furniture was chopped to pieces by invaders looking for valuables. Three times he had gently chided Lynne when she instinctively started to enchant her broom to attempt to sweep up the overwhelming mess. In one tiny house, he found a discarded hooded tunic with ear holes punched out in the top, and his frown deepened. This had obviously been a town inhabited by people just like Usagi, Rosa and Raphtalia. The creepiest sight was a patch of disturbed earth that indicated some sort of fresh grave. The massive stone block jammed into the earth was only adorned with a chiseled icon of a set of crossed swords.

"You can thank Lord 'dunghill' Rabier for this mess," Rosa snapped. "In the chaos following the First Wave, his first action was to purge Rurorona village of its inhabitants and sent those that weren't slaughtered off in chains." Her expression grew pained as she traced her finger over the icon.

The Spear Knight was curious what Rosa knew about this gravesite, but he didn't want to rip open badly healed emotional scabs.

Lynne looked up at the sorrowful Hawk maiden with sympathetic grey eyes and gently hugged her side. "Mister Sweepy hates chaos and disorder…and meanness."

Clint was seriously worried about his maidservant as well, and wondered why she only spoke to her cleaning tools instead of talking to either of them. Her past trauma must have been severe.

Rosa sighed in frustration, "Yeah, I know sweetie." She then faced her master, "Before you ask, I've never been here before." Her hazel eyes looked downcast, "My Lady just has a good network of information. I'd love to march into town and gut that Lord myself, but we are still too underleveled to make a go of it."

"Yeah," Clint agreed. Attempting a suicidal assassination attempt against a well guarded Noble in the middle of a sizable trading town right before a Wave was not a wise move on their part. Justice would unfortunately have to be deferred for the time being. "Let's go back to that storehouse and set up camp. This mist is getting too thick to see through and the sun is going down fast."

A sudden animal-like moan pierced the gloom. The three warriors exchanged concerned glances and then started a thorough search through the village to find its source. They soon heard the indecipherable groan again, ran through a pair of shattered double doors torn apart by monster claws and reached a smashed staircase within a stone walled town hall with the roof caved in.

Clint looked up at the twenty foot gap in the staircase and then looked expectantly at Rosa with a restrained smirk.

"All right, all right, boss," the hawk kin chuckled and gently lifted the Spear Hero aloft onto the teetering upper balcony. She then returned for the short maidservant and the three of them cautiously exited out onto the parapet.

All could see a cowering figure in the swirling mist that made seeing more than a few feet all but impossible.

Clint adjusted his glasses and smiled to the maid a year his junior, "Now, Lynne."

She gave a firm nod as she addressed her featherduster, and incanted, "As source of my power I order thee; decipher the laws of nature and enact Spick and Span."

The small tool with ticklish feathers proceeded to levitate and lightly brush over the three heroes, magically cleaning off the grime off their travel cloaks and filling them with a surge of energy and vigor. Most of Clint's fellow players on the The Legend of the Sacred Jade Heroes MMORPG found characters who specialized in buffs and debuffs to be 'lame'. Clint couldn't disagree more as he knew that having a skilled noncombantant could make the difference between success and failure. His spear telescoped out into its full size as he pointed at his opponent, "You. Friend or foe?"

There was a shrieking chain, as the figure lunged forwards.

Rosa drew her drawstring back on her bow. She wasn't about to take chances.

Just as the Spear Hero's weapon lightly touched the mysterious assailant's throat, the burly, bearded man stopped dead as his chain secure his right wrist snapped taut. He stared directly at Clint with crazed brown eyes and shaggy black hair. The muscular man was dressed in a dirty grey tunic, pants and nothing else. He reached out with his left arm, but the wrist ended in a stump swathed in bloody bandages. His tattered shirt featured an embroidered symbol of a pair of crossed dark curved swords emblazoned on a red background, making Rosa stir in anger.

She walked a few feet to the left and growled, "Clint. With your leave I would like to dispatch this scum."

The Spear Hero was taken aback. Rosalia was nearly always laid back and easygoing; so seeing fury in her hazel eyes made him take pause. He quickly shook his head and commenced the investigation. He inquired softly, "You know him?"

"By reputation only. The Black Sabers are a Mercenary company on the payroll of Lord Rabier. They were directly involved in ravishing this village and sending the survivors off into bondage." She gritted her teeth and seethed, "Ask him if he was there, Clint."

Clint induced his crystal gemstone to bathe the area in a distinct crimson glow, penetrating the gloom for a few precious feet. Only then could the three horrified travelers see that the Merc's mouth was delicately stitched shut with a thread that was as fine as a spider's web!

"Wha…? What the fuck is this?" The young man's eyes widened behind his glasses as he fought down a flare of nausea. He grimaced and used the spear tip's edge to slice through the threads.

The man collapsed in gratitude and proceeded to kiss Clint's boots. "Thank yah. Thank yah so much, Sir Spear Hero. If you free me I promise that I will never sin against God again! I swear!"

Rosa looked at the groveling mercenary with her gaze dripping with contempt. She sincerely hoped she'd get the chance to kill him later; still she assumed that her new Master was determined to unravel this horrifying enigma. Even she was wondering by the Shield Hero God how a burly warrior had ended up alone and short a hand, atop a ruined building chained to a wall, with his lips stitched shut with only a large keg of water to sustain his life.

The man drunk from the water barrel using a mug, now that his mouth was freed from its maddening prison. After choking on the drink, he coughed and slumped back against the cracked retaining wall, "I have to tell my tale. The demon insisted it as a condition for my life! Please listen, brave Spear Hero and friends."

The Spear Hero and his allies quickly had a seat, as Clint compelled his lance to retract to its palm-sized form and set in on the stone floor to act as an ad hoc lantern. He noted with a low growl, "Your life is on the line. Speak plainly and honestly."

"Yea', Sir Hero!"

…

Gvrunk walked down the village path for the next building to set afire. He was a simple man with simple needs. All he wanted out of life was a warm bed, three square meals a day, a heavy mace to bludgeon things to death with and the occasional desire for sexual release with female company. The last of the carts hauling the surviving scrum-sucking demihumans had left the village only a few hours earlier. He was a tall, ugly, muscled man dressed in steel armor over a dark tunic. Like the other dozen or so men in company B, he was a prideful member of the Black Sabers. His black hair was slicked back and his dark eyes regard the inhabitants of the world as victims, bosses to suck up to, or nonentities. He loved the mercenary life as it gave him countless opportunities to inflict pain, despair and death upon his adversaries, especially the lowly demis. He stifled a huge yawn as he bashed in a door with his heavy mace and set the timbers doused with alcohol alight. Serves those dumbass demis right from getting uppity as they had sat out the last war that Melromarc had waged against the demihuman dominated Kingdom of Siltvelt. He watched the fires spit out of the rafters with delight as a comrade approached.

His tall, lanky ally named Heeger snarked, "Having fun, you dung-headed pyro?"

He laughed, "Screw off." He beamed cruelly, "Did'ya see how I slapped that dog demi whelp for trying to bite me? I promise he won't raise a hand, or lip off to a human ever again!"

I'm glad you're so proud of yourself for beating up a kid."

The muscular mercenary jeered, "Kiss my arse. We're gonna hit the town and raise hell when we get back to the city tomorrow."

"Sure thing arsehole," Heeger laughed as he started another fire.

Gvrunk started to speak but both humans gaped off as a thick night mist rolled in off the sea past the steep cliffs and all across the village. Within seconds, the visibility dimmed to nearly nil. His eyes suddenly sparked concern, "Hey, do yah think its magic?"

Both men watched stunned as the raging fires choked and quickly died out.

Heeger ran for the bonfire in the village square and bellowed, "Chief! We've got trouble!" He took out a horn and blew on it to summon the other mercs.

Chief Roleigh looked around in consternation with his blue eyes as the fires consuming the burning structures were snuffed out one by one. He barked at the arriving warriors, "Men, form a defensive perimeter!"

An almost gentle raspy voice spoke barely above a whisper, but still every unnerved soldier heard the stranger clearly, "Do you truly think destroying innocent peoples' lives to be just and honorable? Are you good men? Are you noble men?"

"Where's the bitch", Gvrunk railed but his eyes could perceive nothing through the impenetrable mist.

Now the last structural fire was out leaving nothing but the suffocating bonfire left as the sole means of illumination. Soon enough, it too died out to embers. Roleigh kept his head and barked, "It is a powerful mage! Light! Now!"

Another panicked guard breathlessly incanted, "A-as s-source of my power I order thee; de-decipher the laws of nature and enact illumination!" A ball of light lit up the maddening fog only a few paces out.

Within the nearest building, a pair of luminescent violet eyes faintly pieced the gloom but the very sight of them made the guard who had cast the light spell piss himself and run in terror. In his blind panic to get away from the demon, he ran past a crude headstone marking a grave and plunged off the cliff edge to the rocks far below.

Another guard loosed an arrow, but a second later the missile returned to its owner striking him squarely between the eyes. He gawked stupidly and then toppled stiffly over with his face frozen in a stupefied expression of shock.

The voice hissed, "You who remorselessly prey on the weak…are you not chivalrous?"

"Kill it," the captain shouted. "Stand your ground!"

A pair of archers loosed several volleys into the darkened doorway, and an eerie stillness fell over the clearing. The Captain moved in and as his archer aides moved into a better firing position, a dark shape appeared to the closer one with tan skin and rotten teeth. He gasped and fired blindly, but it was too late.

The monster's glowing violet eyes was mirrored by the matching hue of the incantation she was casting, "Age of wisdom. Heed my call; magic answer my command and enact Miasma." She held her free hand up, a group of floating purple runes before her outstretched palm as the look of horror on his face appeared. The dark orb of magic slammed into the man, who screeched in terror before collapsing into the glowing embers of the fire pit. The other mercs saw his expression locked in a blank stare of terror as dark energy crackled over his corpse.

"Ahh! W-what the hell," Gvrunk spat out in terror. Not even killing feral beasts from the First Wave was half as frightening as this very intelligent and sadistic creature that was picking them off one at a time.

Several arrows from his lone remaining archer shot into the gloom as the Captain roared, "Fuck! Face me you bitch!"

The voice spoke in a calm, almost soothing tone, "I know the Black Sabers use some of the female clan slaves as 'confort women'. Have you never thought how despairing and helpless they feel when you crawl atop them? I believe you understand that impotent fear now. After all, are you a kind man, Captain?"

"Silence you filthy beast", Roleigh barked. "Why should a monster like you care about the demis anyway?"

Finally their assailant dispelled some of the fog and walked into the light. Frankly Gvrunk wished that he hadn't seen the clearly inhuman opponent. She was tall with flaxen hair hung long and loose, with bloodlessly pallid skin. She was attired in a tattered brown cloak and shirt, dark pants and scuffed up black boots. A jeweled choker encircled her neck and a very intimidating two handed axe glinted off the light spell. Her glowing purple irises were inset in black scleria, terrifying the men further. "Because it my karma to punish the wicked and avenge the tormented innocents."

The Chief growled, "The infamous Death Rider herself, although stuck on foot apparently!"

Their enemy softly noted, "I admit it is an inconvenient to fight dismounted."

I never would have guessed you were a Dullahan." He sneered, "Take her out! Lord Rabier will surely reward me for this!"

The men rushed her en masse, but the undead creature ducked back into the mist she had generated and took out one of the swordsmen with a giant swing of the war axe that shattered his sword and took off his head.

Heegar raged as he tried to skewer her with his spear, "Damn you!"

The muscle bound mercenary couldn't believe this was happening. Nothing that the proud Black Sabers had encountered was beyond their abilities. How was one monster able to outmaneuver then so easily? He yelled as he saw a shadow in the swirling dark mist and scored a hit on the monster's skull with his heavy mace. "Got'cha," he triumphed. His elation switched to horror as he saw that he had accidentally struck a fellow Black Saber. The scarred axe wielder gawked at Gvrunk with reproachful grey eyes, blood pouring down his face before he collapsed to the ground. Now for the first time in his life, he truly felt panic.

Heeger gleefully stabbed the creature's arm with his spear. The unconcerned dullahan snapped the haft in two and plunged the splintered pole into the stunned merc's chest as repayment.

Gvrunk screamed as he swung at the distracted monster bashing her head clean off her neck! He crouched down and saw his friend sprawled on the ground, gasping for air with an ashen face, "Don't die, you arsehole! Don't fucking die on me!"

Heeger scowed in pain and managed a pained smirk, "S…screw off, ya bastard." His face then fell slack.

"No!" He felt a squeezing pain in his heart and noticed too late that the undead monster was still moving as she raised her axe. He tried to parry with his mace, but her floating head bit into his ear from behind causing him to lose focus. The next thing he knew he was huddled on the ground with his left hand severed from his wrist, as he howled in pain.

The beast's head reaffixed to her body as black blood dripped off her head wound. She engaged the Chief and their weapons sent sparks flying as their massive weapons clashed.

The scared blue-eyed archer, barely out of adolescence, shot arrows into their enemy with white eyed panic.

She kicked Chief Roliegh back with a sturdy kick to his side and flung a large rock into the chestplate of the terrified kid, knocking the breath out of his body. He groaned and toppled to the ground.

The Chief ran the heinous monster through as she merely smirked and sunk the axe into his face. He gurgled, fell to his knees and toppled over.

It was all over. The badly mauled Gvrunk couldn't believe Company B was completely annihilated in less than three minutes. He watched with a dumbfounded expression as she walked over to the youngest member of the outfit and ripped off his crushed breastplate and applied a healing spell to repair his injured ribs. She spoke to him calmly, "Hello Mister Ville. I know your only crime was thinking joining the Black Sabers was an astute career move. You also never mistreated the demihuman slaves in any way. Never go back to your HQ or Rabier. Run away and find a new purpose." She calmly ran her pallid fingers through the terrified ginger-haired youth's locks and urged him, "You are a good man. Now go."

Ville didn't need to be told twice. He ran off shrieking into the night without looking back.

Looking almost comically like a pincushion, with a sword and three arrows sticking out of her body, she approached the last remaining mercenary. "I'd have slain you already Mister Gvrunk, as you have committed countless foul deeds. However, I need a favor from you. When the Cardinal Hero visits Rurorona village in a few weeks, kindly tell him or her what you witnessed. You will be spared if you convey that message and turn over a new leaf."

He cradled his stump that had been tied off with his belt as a tourniquet and gasped, "W-why me?"

She removed the sword and arrows that pieced her body and took out her medical satchel, and forced him to gag down a knockout drug, "I know you struck that dogkin lad for daring to sass back to you. I want you to know you will never lay a hand on or mouth off to innocents like him again."

He collapsed and darkness claimed him. If only he had never woken up again.

…

All three of the Hero's party looked beyond horrified at the tale. Even Rosa seemed to have at least a fragment of empathy for the bastard.

Clint shook his head ruefully, "So the gravestone was for the cremated remains of Company B, correct?

"Yea. All but Ville and me." He bowed low, "I guess that horrid creature admires the Cardinal Heroes. She wanted to meet one of you. Why, I dunno."

The Spear Hero stood up and severed the chain at the point where it attached to the ring mounted into the parapet. "Fair enough. As far as I'm concerned, you can go back to your asshole lord and tell him what happened."

"Thanks. Yer a saint, Sir Spear Hero."

"Whatever", the blue-haired warrior mumbled. He handed over a rope for the half insane mercenary to shimmy down from the balcony. Soon enough, they saw his shadowy form dash off into the mist as fast as he could run. He sighed out loud, "Miss Dullahan, you can come out now."

A dark shape resolved on the roofline, blocking their escape route. Her raspy voice was just as the hapless jerk had described it, as it was husky, but surprisingly soothing. She mournfully noted, "What a long and lonely story I have Sir Spear Hero."

"Uh... excuse me?" Clint queried, as he sarcastically noted that this wasn't the slightest bit creepy.

"Tell me... what do you think of monsters?" She asked as her glowing eyes bored into him, and Clint raised an eyebrow at the question.

"I don't think of you as being a monster for being an undead dullahan," he responded quietly. "But did you seriously need to sew that guys lip's shut? Are your deeds not the actions of a monster?"

"He murdered innocents for their valuables, took liberties with slave women that served his guild, and fully supported his Lord's bigoted agenda to crush the beast clan's spirits, rights, and lives." She tilted her head, "Was my actions not merciful, as he still owns his worthless life? By all rights he should have joined his reprobate comrades in that grave."

"Lady, you have a strange sense of mercy." Clint sighed, "Why did you want a Cardinal Hero here? Is it to fight me, or for some other reason?"

She hopped down as she calmly caressed the razor sharp blade of her two sided axe. "I want to bring justice to this unfair and cruel world, impossible as it may be." She gave a respectful bow. "If you think of me as an irredeemably foul monster, by all means, let us fight. Otherwise, I wish to serve as your agent of righteous vengeance."

The Spear Hero shook his head at the absurdity of the situation. In four years on the online game, he had never allied with an undead warrior before. Well there was a first time for everything, he reasoned. "I will allow your aid against the Waves on one condition. Do not go about slaughtering people without my say so. Deal?" He extended his hand cautiously.

The surprised dullahan bowed deeply, "I swear I will follow your lead. I am Penny Anterisa, and I would be honored to serve at your side, Sir Redmond." She shook his hand gratefully. Inwardly she still started to think of loopholes she could exploit to smite the wicked without violating her oath.

On his status screen he saw a new ally appear, Penny Anterisa-Level 29 Axe Cavalier/Dullahan Mage. He really, really hoped this wouldn't bite him in the ass later.

*A/N: Thanks to Vaati Star for the Penny character design and dialog suggestions.*