4
All right, she was willing to admit that a long expedition might not have been the wisest decision. Sure she'd stuffed her satchel full of toxins and cures, sure she'd come beyond prepared, and sure she had assembled a great team, but there was an infinite amount of undead crawling here that made the halls seem never ending.
Reynauld, she was going to reward somehow for managing to keep everyone calm (somewhat…). She didn't know yet how she was going to—
"Fuck!" Tardif snarled, smashing his axe down on a brittle skull. The cranium exploded into millions of fragments that looked remarkably like confetti. Paracelsus froze momentarily distracted by the particles, her goggles reflecting the torch light as her head tilted to the side slightly.
A Bone Lancer slid his spear down their line making an attempt at impaling them all. Paracelsus just barely managed to twist to the side, avoiding a probably-fatal blow (And phew!). Lily was nicked by the spear and screamed out in pain (and ouch!). The Vestal's eyes shifted from the Unholy horrors to the dancing shadows beyond that drew ever closer in their dwindling torch light. It was as if the very claws of Death were reaching out for them. Lily whimpered in pain and fright.
Reynauld raised his banner high, casting a holy glow across the room that brightened even the darkest corners briefly. The action was usually accompanied with platitudes from the Verse Book about Light banishing Darkness… as an intellectual, the concept of Religion… Paracelsus' thoughts trailed off as the Lancer's empty eye socket seemed to fix on her. And undead weren't supposed to be walking around either…
She squealed in fear as she tossed an acid vial at the foot of another skeleton, a Shieldwall this time. It was eerie how much the shield-wielding monster reminded her of the old Man-at-Arms… her thoughts trailed off again as Tardif viciously punched the head off the Shieldwall with a vicious uppercut (She couldn't restrain herself from crying out in delight if she tried). The bones clattered to the floor in a heap.
The Lancer (being the last dead standing) was quick to fall with Reynauld and the Bounty Hunter tag teaming it. Holy sword and axe making short work of it. There was no stopping Paracelsus' excited clapping as they all stood there panting with effort. She fist pumped and called out encouragements that fell on deaf ears (except for one).
Everyone took a moment to take a deep, relaxing breath. Paracelsus clenched her hands closed to prevent them from shaking and straightened her back. She was not going to break under pressure, she was a reed, not an oak. A reed bends, an oak does not, it breaks.
"We should camp," Lily finally broke the silence, her voice barely a whisper in the ensuing stillness. Paracelsus was nodding in accord as she turned her head to look at the Crusader pleadingly.
Metal grating on metal echoed as Reynauld turned his head to glance back at them. He tilted his head forward a bit to better see the Sister (he completely ignored the Plague Doctor). He remained still for a brief moment before he nodded abruptly. There was a general sense of relief as they pushed on to the next empty room.
Lily was the first to drop her pack to the ground. The Plague Doctor gently set her satchel down and plopped beside it unceremoniously. The Crusader waited until they were all in the room before he barricaded it with an old, rotted and very large bookshelf that was already near the door. And he did this alone (internal whistle of appreciation).
The Vestal put her hands together close to her lips, "Let safety be upon us...let us be veiled in holy Light . " The fire flared briefly and the whole room was encased in light. It was of such short duration it would have been missed if Paracelsus had blinked, which she had not.
"Forget not that our errand is holy and just! Light will prevail!" Reynauld said solemnly as he sat back down on the ground beside the Bounty Hunter.
"Even towering beasts can be killed with a well-placed blow," the Hunter murmured to no one in particular, he was staring at the dancing flames of the fire.
Paracelsus was debating trying some experimental vapours on Lily. She was almost positive she had created a healing concoction but she wanted to try it on a wounded body. Although by the slight tremble to her shoulders, she doubted Lily would be accepting of her help. So instead she wrapped a bandage over the Vestal's wound and murmured a platitude along the lines that she needed to change the bandage at least twice daily.
"Whoever packed all this food, I could kiss you!" the Doctor's beaked head turned towards Reynauld and she blinked in surprise as she watched the Crusader break apart crusted bread and cheese. He'd lifted the visor of his helmet and was eating whole heartedly.
"We have enough firewood to last the night," Lily's voice was calmer than it had been before. Paracelsus was clinical in her analysis. The stress was literally melting off her party, and she smiled to herself behind the mask. This was good. Stress killed many here...
This group was evenly matched and well-balanced, they had a healer, a de-stresser, a heavy hitter and a status effect-dealing expert (that was her). There could potentially be some good synergy between them if their luck continued to hold out, and she was positive it would.
It wasn't long after feeding that everyone turned in for the night, except Paracelsus. She went through the motions, she curled up with Lily, holding the Vestal close until the latter fell into a deep sleep, stayed on her side for twenty minutes before giving up.
She sat up deliberately and glanced about their campsite. The Crusader had fallen asleep sitting up, his long sword was pointed downwards towards his feet while he hugged the hilt to his armoured chest. His helmed head was leaning forward a bit. He looked to the outside world like a man guarding the camp, although his soft snoring would immediately give away to anyone sneaking up on them that he was really sleeping.
Tardif was on his back still wearing his helmet, both of his arms up with his hands beneath his head, and Lily was curled in a fetal position at the edge of the fire. Paracelsus sighed heavily and tossed another log on the fire, she didn't notice the Hunter turning his head very carefully in her direction. He remained silent.
She sat staring at the fire for a few more minutes, contemplating the journey on the morrow. She sighed again before she curled into a tight ball between the Vestal and Tardif. She tossed and turned most of the night until a big, scaled armoured hand grabbed a hold of her gloved fingers and tightened. She stilled.
"Run!" Reynauld hollered as he raised his shield to block a vicious-looking hit from a terrifying-looking monster. It looked like a giant insect trying to masquerade as a human. It was even dressed in a mode of fashion that had been out of style for at least half a century (torn and rotted fashion). A disheveled white wig sat atop its head, out of place with its large antennae and circular eyes. There was a couple giant mosquitoes with it, buzzing from their wings grating on already frayed nerves.
Paracelsus narrowed her eyes behind her goggles and grabbed a large, green bottle from her satchel. Run? Out of the question. The big beastie was begging to be dissected. She smashed the bottle on the ground right at the feet of the man-centipede (A Chevalier). Although, Paracelsus tilted her head to the side, it looked more like a centipede and a praying mantis mated and this was their love child.
The creature shrieked and its large head dropped. "Ah ha!" she screamed happily, she'd stunned the damn thing. She couldn't help herself as she grabbed Tardif's scaled shoulder and pointed to the stunned insect. "Finish it!"
The Hunter glanced back at her briefly and his nod was missed as she was staring at the monster. He flipped his deadly axe in hand a couple times, watching for an opening between the giant mosquitoes. He remained still for half a heartbeat before he took off like a wolf. He dodged the smaller insects, reached back with his ax and threw himself at the Chevalier.
He made a crunching noise as he hit the bug. She was unsure if… the monster broke in half. That answered her unspoken question. He'd done it! She squealed. Now they just had to deal with the Sycophants. She corrected herself, Sycophant, Reynauld had just killed one. He'd cut the wings off and then had stepped on its horrible head with his armoured boot, popping it like a mutated pimple.
Lily healed the group, murmuring verses from the Book, quoting Psalms incessantly. Tardif snorted as the mosquito flew just out of reach as he made to cut it down. Reynauld raised his banner and Paracelsus decided she'd had enough and unsheathed her unofficial scalpel, a tiny flamberge dagger. She moved quickly as she got beneath the insect (it had floated back within reach) and raised her dagger. The blade entered the thorax and she eviscerated the creature. She was covered in entrails when she returned to the group.
Her heart was drumming in her head as she removed as much yellow gore as she could.
"What was that?" Lily whispered, her voice shaking.
"A monster from the Courtyard," Reynauld answered, sheathing his sword, "This changes things. We're not prepared for this."
"What are you talking about?" Paracelsus asked as she bent over the corpse of the Chevalier, using her dagger to open its mouth.
"We did not come prepared for the Curse," Reynauld said, looking in the Plague Doctor's direction.
Paracelsus wasn't paying attention to him any more. She was too busy examining the creature's mandibles… and tongue. Very distinct human tongue. She pulled away from the monster and shook her head slowly.
"I need more specimens…" she was cut off by the Vestal.
"We're leaving!" The Sister was final.
Paracelsus frowned and would have objected had Tardif not grabbed her face, squishing her beak against her chest again. He wasn't hurting her but he'd successfully silenced her. "Shhh," he brought a finger to where his lips would be, "Shut up for once and just nod your head." Her arms failed about as he forced her to nod her head. She was cursing him when he turned around and grabbed her like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder she was too stunned to react. "Let's go back now."
She was struggling, punching and slapping his back and ass. "Put me down!" She shrieked. He jostled her roughly, the air was knocked out of her by his shoulder in her stomach. He got his point across and she was silent the rest of the way to town.