Ophilia managed to maintain her composure but there was a solemn drag to her step and Primrose couldn't blame her. The former slave had seen death firsthand, more than once, but it was nothing like the sight before them. Even Olberic was breathless and H'aanit, who had already seen the scene once, was shaking with rage. The forest was dark, made worse by a cover of mist, but there were torches conveniently placed to illuminate the horrible scene.
Several bodies – wolves and people, murdered in horrific fashion, defying nature's logic. When an animal kills, it's efficient and clinical to optimize the meal; when man does it, it's precise and subtle since brute force rarely works.
The lifeless bodies laying before them weren't like either of those at all. Parts were separated from other parts. Things that should have been on the inside were on the outside and any bodies that still had everything in the right place were positioned perfectly for display.
Primrose could hear Ophilia whispering panicked prayers to herself. She leaned up against her friend, who was probably too distracted to notice the perfume smell this time and said to her softly, "Ophilia, there's no shame in turning back. No one would think any less of you."
That wasn't entirely true. Primrose could see the insecurity in her friends huddled body language. Ophilia would definitely think less of herself if she ran away. The determined blonde shook her hair. "This is where I need to be, but what would drive a monster to practice such violence? It's clear it wasn't for food, and I doubt it was self defence."
Hand firmly on her bow, H'aanit answered. "This creature is a raren foe indeed. It's body be that of a monster, but it's soul hath becomen infected by the pride of man. It's ego hath displayed this scene."
Ophilia knelt next to the closest corpse. This man's body had only been mildly mutilated – a hole of melted skin through the chest and minus one leg that was just barely unattached. "Then this monster must be stopped," Ophilia said through gritted teeth. "I need to stay here but you three should carry on."
Primrose objected, "that's not going to happen." H'aanit's white leopard quietly growled in approval (probably). "I'm not leaving you on your own out here."
Pressing her hand to the dead man's forehead, Ophilia was focused during her mutterings. "I'm not so feeble that I need my hand held in the dark."
Primrose wasn't sure if the messenger of the gods was being prideful, ignorant of the danger or was so naive that she thought herself invincible as if the monstrosity they hunted would draw the line at interrupting a religious ceremony but the dancer wasn't about to let the holy woman become a snack, or worse.
"Look at what this thing is capable of, Ophilia. None of us should be alone."
Olberic crossed his arms and nodded as H'aanit put her arm on Ophilia's shoulder. "She speaketh the truth. Thou needeth take caution if we seek to avoid more spillen blood." Turning to Primrose, she added, "Perhaps Linde might stayeth by thy side to keep watch."
That was no small offer. Primrose got the impression that the hunter and her companion only separated when necessary and both of them feeling comfortable with the leopard staying behind would have been a sweet gesture were Primrose not as stubborn as Ophilia. Rather than feeling honoured by the offer of sharing something so treasured, the dancer felt like she was being given a babysitter.
At some point, she would realize how profoundly idiotic it was to be insulted at the notion – that she and a distracted Ophilia needed more protection than the amazing combination of Olberic and H'aanit, but that revelation would have to wait.
"She should stay with you. When you find the monster, have her come fetch me." Linde growled at the demeaning phrasing and Primrose corrected herself. "Have her come find me." Despite the circumstances, Primrose was glad to see that H'aanit was drawn to things that were cute and proud. "As long as the real danger is focused on us, Ophilia will be fine on her own."
Ophilia got up, finished with the first body and forcing a smile. "That's right." Humming, the cleric gingerly moved on to the next victim. This body was all in one piece, though its entire torso was pried open, exposing its insides like model for a science class. The holywoman sighed as she began prodding like she had with the last.
"Very well. Keep thine eyes open." The two fighters readied their weapons and strolled into the fog, quickly vanishing.
When the impressive pair were out of sight, Primrose directed her attention back to Ophilia who was in the midst of something unsettling. "Good gods, are you touching that dead man's heart?"
"It's all part of the ritual – bless the heart in the name in the name of Aelfric." Her hands emerged, covered in dead people goop as she got to her feet. She's pulling off the bloody white much better than I did. "Traditionally we simply touch the chest, but I believe that is only for practical reasons. It only makes sense to hold the heart when I can."
Humming even louder, Ophilia moved on to the final unfortunate human body. His remains were close to resembling a jigsaw puzzle and Primrose asked, "if you're blessing the heart, what's all the other praying for?"
"The entire pantheon provides support for souls in their final steps into the next life." Like Primrose saw with the first blessing, Ophilia pressed against the man's forehead, progressing from there. "The Scholarking and Runeblade keep wisdom and intelligence together, the Charitable preserves hearing, the Starseer gives them the ability to see the bridge to the afterlife and the Trader preserves their voice to speak in it."
Firm in her resolve, Ophilia crawled a metre over to the next part of the body. As she sifted through the mix of mud and blood, she casually carried on, "the Flamebringer preserves the heart's passion, the Warbringer gives strength to the body, the Thunderblade gives them will and the Lady of Grace helps them find their place on the other side."
Primrose was regretting asking. She had been following along and knew they had only gotten halfway through the gods. There was a reprieve as Ophilia got up and muttered, "oh dear, where are the legs?" As the newly minted bloodstained hero wandered around, she called back to Primrose, "earlier, you said you never hated me; I'll give you the benefit of trust, but the first time we met, I saved your life. If you had no problem with me, why were you acting-"
"Like a bitch?"
"I don't like that word," Ophilia said calmly as she sifted through more mud.
"Neither do I, but I wanted to give you a one time pass. Besides, I've been called that so many times that I was curious to see how it felt when I actually had it coming for once."
Ophilia turned and walked back towards Primrose. "I was going to say acting so difficult."
As she admired Ophilia's dedication at finding dead body parts, Primrose insisted, "Now isn't the time to discuss it."
"You said you owed me some honesty."
"I'm withholding for your benefit, Ophilia. Just like there are things you can't unsee, there are things you can't unlearn." Primrose knew that her and the cleric would soon part ways and all this would be forgotten. There was no need to delve in painful truths. She can't know. She's too clever and she'll-
Primrose lost her train of thought when Ophilia began marching towards her. A rant seemed imminent until she saw the cleric look up with an, "aha!" Covered in everything the forest had to offer, she brushed past Primrose and pulled a leg out from a low hanging branch.
Waving the limb around, Ophilia calmly said, "Whichever horrific secret you think you're protecting me from, I believe I'm fit to handle it."
"Yes, you are, but that doesn't mean you should, and..." It had been years since Primrose had felt an overwhelming sense of dread but in that moment, it was well earned. "And how the hell did that thing just sneak up on us?"
Olberic commented to H'aanit, "you wield your bow with impressive skill."
"I could sayeth the same for how you handle thyn blade."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Primrose grabbed Ophilia, whose surprise offered no resistance, and yanked the cleric back. Drawing her knife, the dancer stepped forward and covered her friend.
Before the monster even stepped out of the shadows, Primrose knew it was the one they sought. It was immense and she could tell no forest animal could compete with it. It's bright orange eyes were haunting beacons of chaos and as it came into the light, something became apparent to the dancer,
That is the most hideous thing I've ever seen in my life.
It's bulging, crossed eyes were just the beginning. The monstrosities mouth hung open with green drool pouring out of it like a feeble dog that drank too much swamp water. It's porcupine body and unreasonably long, furry tail might not have been so off putting were they not so sharply contrasted by it's hairless, leathery limbs. It would have been comical were it not for the circumstances – specifically that Primrose doubted her and Ophilia could handle this thing on their own.
As a dark purple eldritch aura surrounded Primrose, she ordered Ophilia, "you need to find Olberic and H'aanit. Now!"
To Ophilia's credit, unphased by the monster or the building arcane darkness, she remained perfectly composed as she responded, "I believe I can lead them to us."
Primrose grinned at how pathetic her black magic was about to appear. "Close my eyes?"
"Close your eyes."
It was hard to imagine just how bright Ophilia's divine light would be if Primrose had been unprepared. Even with her eyes shut and her hand covering them, the explosion of holy magic burned though her eyelids so harshly that she could hear the luminessence.
The good news was twofold: There was no doubt that the spell got their allies attention, and the monster hated the light a lot more than Primrose did. By the time her vision returned, the thorny imp-monkey was still screeching and thrashing in agony. Going for a killing blow was too dangerous with its jaw blindly biting down at any possible threat, but Primrose knew she could at least do some damage to it.
With the divine flash finally dissipated, Primrose's darkness was once again on display. Channelling it into her weapon, she charged the dog-rat's side, slashing into its hind leg, spraying blood and shining ichor from the wound, leaving her in need of more laundry service. It served as motivation though as she'd never allow her corpse to be so repulsive.
The porcupine demon had recovered from the blinding power of Ophilia's spell, but it was still whining in frustration from the small wounds Primrose was inflicting. She was enough of a bother to draw an attack from the slim, hairy tail as she went to circle around behind it. The dancer had the acrobatics to slide under the swipe, but not the foresight to expect it swinging at her again from behind
Primrose had an idea of what the strike would feel like. She expected it to be like a whip – searingly painful, but something that could be pushed past through force of will, but the appendage carried far more weight than it should have and struck like a massive club, slamming her into a tree.
"Primrose!" Ophilia was still trying to compose herself. The amount of energy she put into the signal to their comrades was almost everything she had. It had only been the shame of watching her friend fight while she knelt in pain that brought her back into the moment.
Content with its attack against Primrose, the monster gave its full, grotesque attention to Ophilia; she needed more time to fully channel her holy magic. Bringing about a light bright enough to illuminate a room was easy, but an entire forest was a different story. The struggling white mage still had one spell left in her but she could either heal Primrose, or try to blind her opponent long enough for Olberic and H'aanit to find them.
Her instincts screamed at her to support her wounded friend. She would put another life above her own without question, but this problem went beyond selflessness. This was a battle – one that needed the best possible outcome, whatever that might be and as the monster crept towards her, Ophilia cried to herself, Cyrus was wrong. I can't talk my way out of this. My kindness can't save us. I don't know how to win this fight. I strayed from the path of tradition and now Primrose is in danger because I am not ready for the task
I will not let my weakness bring harm to another soul. Someone else can bear the Flame, but no one can save Primrose but me.
"Aelfric, save your child!" An aura of healing enveloped the surrounding area. It wasn't much, but it would keep her friend in one piece. Unaware of the presence of divinity, the beast kept crawling forward. It was slow but despite that, Ophilia was still too weak to outrun it.
Her only choice was to draw her staff. Every second counted right now and if a well placed whack could buy them even half a one, it was worth trying. If nothing else, she would die on her feet, with the honour of the kind of Flamebearer she wished she was. The creature's impish ears perked up as it closed in on her and it's acidic mouth opened wide. The horrible stench of the whole thing was constricting her breathing and she wasn't sure she could even swing her weapon. There was nothing the light could do to save her now.
So some darkness would have to suffice.
The beast stopped moving, growling in confusion. Looking over at Primrose's body, Ophilia saw that her friend had made the most of her healing spell and was on her feet. A black tendril extended from each of her hands, wrapping around the hind legs of their terrible opponent.
Ophilia was able to see that the black mage's shoulder was dislocated and she wheezed as she spoke. "I didn't even know I could do this." Neither woman was going to question this turn of events, as odd as it was. "Ophilia! We don't know if Olberic and H'aanit have run into trouble. Get yourself out of here and get Cyrus. I can't defeat this thing, but I can hold it off."
That was a questionable claim. Primrose had halted the monster, but she only seemed to be making it angrier. With a screech, it started to gain ground towards Ophilia again, but she had no desire to flee. She could get to her feet again, but the cleric opted to back away to match the creature's pace. "Retrieving Cyrus will take too long! I just need a bit more time and I can use my magic."
Two more tendrils erupted from Primrose, each wrapping around the two front legs. Ophilia wasn't sure what she was expecting when she looked over to her friend. It seemed intuitive that these new dark tentacles would extend from Primrose's hands as well, but when Ophilia gazed upon the hellish spell again, she realized the first ones were actually coming from her bracelets and the newest pair from her necklace.
Sufficiently irritated and in some amount of pain, the monster began thrashing to try and break free of the arcane grip. All it managed to do was turn around to face Primrose, getting itself tangled up by the lashes around it. Ophilia's view was obstructed but she could hear a violent hissing followed by a wheezing, "I'm sick of your disgusting face."
The monster's screaming became muffled and Ophilia deduced that a fifth dark lash had wrapped around the maw of slobber and the creature did seem immobilized and Primrose called out with exhausted confidence, "Ophilia, This abomination isn't going anywhere. Go find Cyrus and we can end this."
Their enemy was getting progressively weaker with no way of breaking free. If Primrose isn't in any danger, Perhaps getting the professor is a good idea, is exactly what Ophilia would have thought were it not for the tragic turning of the tides. Both women assumed the beast was subdued – only its tail was free and Primrose was well out of range of a swipe, but in defiance of the gods vision of nature, it had a secret weapon.
It's tail raised up and plucked one of the thorns from its back and tossed it like a spear. Primrose was too focused on her magic to dodge, but before the needle could make contact, the dancer was tackled out of the way by an emerging H'aanit. This would have been great news if the metre long shard hadn't impaled the hunter instead.
