Hello again friends, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter because this was originally part of it… along with the beginning of the next chapter. I was getting carried away with how I was doing the chapter and realized that it didn't really fit together so I split it into chunks, rewrote parts of it and then made them into their own chapters, because the way it was before wasn't going to work… anyway now for the reviews!
Small note, as I'm writing this I'm at 5k words… but I ran out of meds so if shit gets… weird, blame the national shortage of ADHD meds for it and no one telling us about it.
Vanhellsing9000: don't worry, Layla's going to get her shotgun… after I break her spirit a bit, hehehe.
Guest, who probably won't see this: Yeah I know i'm not confident but i'm trying damn it, this was one of the earliest things I had ever written.
CrackedCeramic: Thanks for the site recommendations, I'm on AO3 and Scribblehub already but only my DXD story is on those sites… Although that might change soon. I've been wanting to do a full refinement of this story and never got around to posting the crappy chapters I have on them. I'll probably post my Kuroinu story on them however. Maybe once I go through the rest of this story and fix my mistakes I'll post them.
"Normal speech."
'Normal thought'
"Normal writing/flashback."
~actions~
Snapshot in the dungeon.
Chapter 19: The Hunt part 2.
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3rd person pov.
Much to the relief of all the marshals, the rest of the journey to Hazelwell went about as well as it could have with a bunch of jumped up people with weapons and magic ready and willing to beat the shit out of the first thing that spooks them. The folk with better hearing each had a stick up their asses and a nasty bit of snark. This included Layla by the way. One or two fights nearly broke out as a result of a Chienthrope running his mouth but before it could get out of hand Maple stepped in, putting the offenders as far away from each other as he could without putting them directly on the edges of the group, saying something about how they needed to calm their nerves down.
That was about as exciting as it got, the rest of the paranoia slowly left everyone once it got apparent that the monster wasn't about to jump out and start attacking them. As for their arrival to hazelwell…
Their arrival was not greeted with fanfare and people welcoming them with flour and praise, far from it in fact. As the carriages passed through the wood and stone walls Layla had taken the operation to apprise the guards that were wandering around or on the walls. Those that had their helmets off each had bags under their eyes as they sat around basins of water scooping the liquid out with cups or trying to get some sleep on crates despite the sun being directly overhead. A few shivered as they huddled around fires that had been erected despite the sunny skies, playing card games or eating something as they did. Those on the walls had the bone deep exhaustion of someone who has been awake for far more than they should have been. It may have been Layla imagining it but she swears she saw one of the guards taking coffee beans out of a bag on her waist before popping in into her mouth like a peanut.
She shivered in disgust at the very thought of doing that, that must taste bitter as hell.
"I don't think I've ever seen so many people so skittish." Layla muttered to no one in particular, her head swiveling back and forth to stare around the town as they walked. "It's like looking at a group of deer in a forest that just heard something roar in the distance."
"They're nervous." Alister muttered.
"Can you really blame them? This monster's been supposedly terrorizing them for weeks now." Iris, who had decided to join the Shamaid and had dragged Alister along with her, said cocking an eyebrow. "The groups the high marshal sent before didn't do anything to help and their guards have barely been able to keep the thing from storming through the gates."
Still, they each watched as people almost jogged around as if they were afraid that spending too much time outside of their homes would cause the monster to appear out of thin air. It was honestly a little bit disturbing to watch. Layla had never seen people so fearful before and was feeling more and more out of her element as she walked. Throw her in front of a monster or bandit, she could handle it no problem with a few smacks of her mace but dealing with a bunch of
Was it bad that she wished she was back in Orario diving into the dungeon fighting for her life than here trying to deal with this shit?
Probably.
The caravan continued making their way through the town noticing that the further they went people slowly came out of the buildings, and rather creepily, silently stared at the marshals as they passed. Not saying anything directly to the passersby, just looking at the adventurer with hope filled eyes as they mumbled to each other. Layla bit her lip as she saw two young children hiding behind their mother clutching her dress, both of them looked as if they hadn't had a good night's sleep in days if not a few weeks with how large the bags under their eyes were. She quickly turned away, not wanting to stare any longer. By now they had attracted a semi large following, a few of the guards that had been patrolling the town were now up front with High Marshal Maple discussing something with him while the townsfolk trailed after them.
It might have just been the atmosphere of the town, or perhaps it was the the begging eyes of the people but Layla felt like she was under a lot of scrutinizing gazes. She didn't like it. They had left Orario with most of the lower ranked marshals that hadn't been able to dive into the dungeon, the higher ranked adventurers were already inside the labyrinth trying to beat the morning rush and get as deep as possible before they either needed to leave or reached the 18th floor. This meant that while they may have numbers, definitely more than the monster, they might have the power to easily deal with it.
The only high ranking marshal they had in the caravan was high marshal Maple himself, but he was still one man.
Speaking of which, Maple was in the front of the caravan walking in what looked like heavy plate armor that combined with his short stature made him look like the world's shortest knight. His armor was a dark gray material that was most likely steel with thick plating that covered nearly every bit of skin, dark blue edging around each place and engraving that caused it to look angular in places when they connected. Wrapping around one shoulder was a deep blue shoulder cape that held the symbol of his Familia in a red hue. Around his waist was a dark brown belt that held two pouches on his left side and a sheath on his right. Inside of said sheath was a sword that came out to about 40 inches long including the hilt and the guard, no one could see the blade since it was still sheathed but the hilt looked worn with a few scratches on the guard. That said it was obviously something Maple was very familiar with using if the way he kept one hand resting on top of it was any indication.
Maple was also looking around, far more subtle than his marshals were anyway.
He could see the exhaustion the people of Hazelwell were exuding, that much was obvious. What wasn't so obvious to the untrained eyes were the ways the guards were acting.
"Drilm as soon as we reach the town hall I want you to have some of the other marshals go to the highest ranking Guards person you can find and have them start taking over some of the shifts, the locals look like they need the rest and ours can start getting familiar with the towns layout while they patrol." Maple said as he slowed down to the lead cart, where two of his highest ranked marshals were sitting. "Make sure they keep track of everything they see, possible entry ways, out of the way areas where the monster might be able to hide in, anything they might think could be useful I want to know.
"You got it boss, I'll grab two teams before starting." A tall lanky human said before jumping off and walking away.
Maple stared at his back for a second before looking at the cart's other occupant, who was a dwarf that was cradling a warhammer to his chest trying to wipe away some kind of smudge with a rag to no avail.
"Fredrick, as for you I want to know how the defenses are doing. I don't know whether or not the monster can break down the gates or not but I don't want to get caught off guard because one of them happened to be slightly rotten or something. I'll leave it up to you."
"Hmpff Aye." The dwarf practically grunted the words out before jumping off the cart, leaving the few other marshals looking at him with expectant eyes.
He sighed. Maple didn't have much for them to do, immediately that is, he needed to meet up with the mayor of Hazelwell and the guard captain so they could start coming up with a plan to take down whatever the monster was. Hopefully with as few casualties as possible, for his marshals or the inhabitants of Hazelwell. In the meantime the marshals can start getting their supplies taken out and distributed. The Hume Bunny would admit he was far more knowledgeable about dealing with monsters and bounties than the sort of problems that towns under attack dealt with, he knew monsters not people.
"What do you want us to do boss?" one of the people asked, jumping out of the cart and snapping maple out of his thoughts.
"For right now I want some of the lower ranked marshals to gather bandages, potions and some of the lighter food together, no meat just yet. Hazelwell no doubt has some folk hurt and I don't know how large of a medical supply they may have had, it could be depleted for all I know. Have them bring it to wherever the most injured are being kept." Maple said after a second of thought. "Make sure to tell whoever you send that the ones with combat experience and the critically wounded are to be given priority for potions, even a single weapon can make the difference with a town as large as this."
He mentally winced at how much potions he may have just given away, all guilds and subsidiaries had a large stock of potions to use for members or in case of emergencies but Maple hadn't had the time to grab much supplies beyond the smaller crates and barrels. With how long these attacks have gone on for, they might use a large chunk of their supply before the day is even out.
Maple prayed they would have enough for the coming days.
"Yes sir." The marshal said, running off to do just that.
Within moments the entire caravan of marshals was stirring like a beehive, the 'lieutenants' High marshal Maple had spoken to quickly gather everyone they needed while the rest continued to follow the rest of the caravan until they reached wherever they were going. Probably the town square, those places always had more than enough room for a bunch of wagons to sit in. Better than staying outside at least. Could you imagine how fucked it would be if a town asked for help only to tell them they have to sleep outside?
Anyway it didn't take long for the third marshal to rope Layla's team along with a few others into helping bring medical supplies over to the local guard and the healers. Layla had debated on whether or not to offer the supplies she had in her backpack but with how depleted they were after months of use it would have been a pittance in comparison. It still made her feel a little bit guilty.
"How long do you think it will take for this job to go to shit?" Layla asked after a few minutes of walking.
Iris let out a groan.
"Ah come on Layla, don't be such a downer. I'm sure with all the marshals and guards here we can take the monster out pretty quickly."
"If it takes more than a few days, I'll eat my boots." Alister said as he shifted his cargo, the crates in his hand not having anywhere comfortable to grab onto. "There is no way this entire group has enough luck together for it to not go ass over head, not even the gods themselves have that luck." He paused for a second, tilting his head before he continued.
"Well the gods of luck might, but I don't think anyone here's been blessed by one of them."
"Is there any god of luck actually in Orario?" Layla scrunched up her nose in thought, trying to remember the list of gods that resided in the city. "I thought the city had some really strict gambling laws that made it so any place that has card games and stuff had to go through like crazy strict requirements."
"There are, but they don't do much." One of the other people said, piping in from behind Layla's team. "I think most of them live in either the red light district or in other countries. But enough about the deities of luck, does anyone have any idea what kind of plan the High Marshal has?"
No one spoke up for several seconds, the only noise being their gear clunking around.
" …he does have a plan right?"
"After what happened to the last people who came trying to help, I don't have a lot of faith in us being able to do anything" A young man with small bags under his eyes spoke this time. "I mean the people who tried killing the monster before were level 2 and level 3 adventurers and they were barely able to hurt the damn thing from what I've heard from the gossips. We got a lot of level 1s and 2s making up the bulk of our group with only a smattering of anyone higher. Some of the guards we passed, the ones who were resting, were talking about how the monster seems to be healing itself somehow."
Everyone grimaced at that, the situation was about as bad as it could be really. The only way it could have been worse would be if they had less adventurers here, be as it may they would have to hope that the numbers they had would be enough to either kill the monster or stall it long enough for some higher level adventurers to reach Hazelwell.
If they could even do that.
\~~~~~~/
For the rest of the short Journey everyone was silent, mulling over everything they had heard and talked about. The simple fact of the matter was that none of them had any idea on what to expect, they might all be marshals but only a few had gone on any truly dangerous missions where one mistake could end up with dozens of people dying. Now they had to deal with the fact that there was a lot to protect with this mission, a whole town with hundreds of people living in it, scared out of their wits of the monster that was terrorizing them. Picking them off one by one. There was no moment to relax for these towns folk, they had to be ever watchful of their walls. Layla had wondered what it was like in the past, back when monsters on the surface were a lot stronger and numerous. The days before the Gods descended and the monsters were for the most part sealed within the Orario dungeon. She wondered if Hazelwell was experiencing what they did, the fear of monsters breaking in and killing people at any moment.
It didn't take long for the group to find the local Apothecary's building that was somewhere halfway between the edge of the town and the town center. The Apothecary's building was a decent sized humble 2 story building with several raised garden beds planted with flowers that looked like it had once had a warm exterior like the rest of Hazelwell but has grown more sullen since the start of this whole fiasco, although it looked like some tents had been set up outside the building. Layla couldn't see inside of them but she guessed they were for more people. More than one guard was stationed outside the building, each of them on high alert, as they patrolled around the building in pairs.
"Halt, state your business." One of the guards stepped up to the group upon noticing them. He looked to be the most senior guard here as well, judging by the blue streak on his shoulder. "This area is restricted to outsiders for the time being. You'll have to wait to see doctor Ramor if you have any injuries as he's currently stretched thin."
"We're not here for the Apothecary, technically?" Layla was the first one to speak, by virtue of being in the front. She shook her head when the guard sent her a frown. "We're a part of the Marshal group that just arrived, our commander has given us orders to help out Hazelwell in any way we can and our detachment was selected to bring medical supplies and potions to the Apothecaries before helping them in any way possible."
"Hmm, stay here. Jonas," The lieutenant looked at one of the guards behind him, the guard saluted upon hearing her name. "Go inside and see if one of the doctor's assistants can come out and check these supplies, I don't want to give them boxes of stuff they can't use."
"Yessir." She said, turning around quickly before disappearing into the building.
The two groups stayed silent, the guards too exhausted to make small talk and the marshals feeling far too awkward to speak up. Layla shuffled nervously and opened her mouth to try and say something but closed her mouth when nothing came out. Biting her lip she turned to say something to Iris when the door opened again. Turning back to the door she narrowed her eyes, tilting her head as she examined the amazoness that stepped out.
The amazoness was tall, almost the same height as Alister with dark caramel colored skin, messy light brown hair that reached her shoulders and had a colorful feather hanging from one bang, green eyes that seemed to pierce everyone her gaze landed on, a torn white vest shirt that showed off her impressively muscular arms and the scars that covered them, green slacks that had slits along the sides allowing the spring breeze to drift in and out, a empty knife sheath along her waist with a few pouches, a pair of gloves over her hands, and a pair of closed sandals. Her steel-like gaze passed over each of the marshals, as if judging them for something they didn't know about. The two marshals that had accompanied Iris and her team each shifted uncomfortably when she looked at them
Layla tilted her head and squinted, she looked familiar like they had extensively talked to each other.
'Where have I seen you before?' She wondered, racking her brain over every name she could place to an amazon. She didn't know many of them and they generally left some kind of impression, either because of their demeanor or because of how forward they are, but she was sure she would have remembered seeing someone as hot as the woman in front of her. Her gaze drifted over to the lieutenant who was sneering at the woman standing between them. She watched as he mouthed something to the other guard when it clicked. "Oh! I remember you now, your Ascrya right? Wow you've really changed since I last saw you. Did your muscles get bigger or am I just having a moment of gay panic?"
Ascrya's attention snapped over to the shamaid who stood up straighter, and might have flushed the smallest bit, when she saw those eyes were sizing her up more intently than before. Iris shot her a look as well… not that Layla noticed as she ogled the amazon. Alistor also sent his teammate a questioning glance but looked away with a what can you do expression.
"You seem familiar as well, warrior." The amazon said, narrowing her eyes. She ignored that last comment however. "Where did we meet? I would like to think I have a great memory when it comes to people."
"You probably don't remember me because I was too busy stitching up some of your girls and I never got the chance to introduce myself because the guards were arresting your group. Then I got chewed out for talking back to the guard and had to head back home." Layla rambled, shrugging carefully to not jostle the potions too much. She was sad her attempt to flirt was rebutted so hard. "I also wasn't wearing armor when we met for those brief moments. How are your girls doing? I tried to think of a way to send a letter to someone here to ask about your group but I couldn't get it to not sound creepy as shit."
"My girls, those who still live here, are doing as well as they can with the current situation." Ascrya spoke with a frown, looking back slightly as she seemed to eye at the guard behind her. "A few of them ran away a few weeks back when we first heard about the monster attacking this town. I don't know if they are still alive or have perished running from the monster. We can't exactly send out people to find them right now."
If it was at all possible, the amazon seemed to age several years right before their eyes. Sighing deeply as exhaustion seemed to radiate off of her in droves, she straightened back up after a few seconds and stepped forward to start examining the supplies their group was carrying. Iris frowned when the amazon finished with her box of supplies, from what she remembered of the bandit group they had been asked to help deal with so many months ago, the third sister Gang had been running past Hazelwell with a bunch of injuries. Layla had nearly caused them to lose the pay from that impromptu job when she started mouthing off to that Sargent that led them to the bandits. She wondered if what they had been running from had followed them to hazelwell and this new monster had followed it in turn. If the monster had come from Elsos it would certainly explain why no one had ever seen it before now. The gods knew what was still lurking in that wasteland.
"You can chatter later, preferably when some of the guards aren't bleeding on the beds." The guard in charge said, not sparing Ascrya a glance as he stepped forward. "If you're lucky, you might even be able to meet up before this bandit is sent back to her cell."
"Her cell?"
The guard had the gall to snort. "What do you think just because there's a monster running around these bandits would get special treatment? They do their community service for a few hours and then it's back to jail for them."
"That seems… a little bit harsh considering the last we knew the third sister gang had never attacked Hazelwell." Alister said with a frown. He set his crate of supplies on the ground and rolled his shoulder. "Sorry it was getting heavy. I would have thought the gang would have to help out around down for a few weeks, maybe 2 or 3 months then be sent on their way but it's been months right?"
"Yeh, it's been several months."
The Guard snorted derisively and crossed his arms, and after sending a quick gesture to Ascrya and the other guards to grab the supplies, turned back to speak to the group.
"Normally they would have but with how injured they were it took time before they help out in any meaningful way other than just using medical crap, after that we had to find something they could do and not fuck up. Their service to Hazel well got extended to help pay off the amount of supplies it took to keep them alive." The guard said something under his breath, which judging by the look on Layla's and Ascrya's face was definitely not kind. "They would have been released sooner but the mayor doesn't want to send even these bunch of low lives to their deaths, for reasons I don't care for."
No one said anything for a second as they passed the supplies around. No one seemed to know what to say to the guards' open hostility to the, almost, former bandits. Layla kept sending the guards and Ascrya glares or glances respectively. It created an odd kind of tense atmosphere around the two groups and everyone looked like they wanted to get away as fast as possible. Eventually the Guards and Ascrya brought the supplies inside the apothecary building and the adventuring group turned to walk away after they were told there was nothing they could do to help, despite Layla being a medic.
Before they left however, Layla had managed to lure the amazon away from the rest of the groups to speak with her. She had gestured for Iris and Alister to distract the guards really quickly and thankfully they had picked up on it.
"Listen I don't know If I should be offering this…" Layla looked hesitant and unsure of herself, a stark contrast to her normal self or how she was ogling Ascrya earlier. If anything she looked like she was about to start fidgeting. "But if you and the rest of your girls want to give up on the bandit life completely, I'm not telling you to just… give up on everything you know but to give you an option. My goddess in Orario would be happy to welcome you into her home if you want to do something that involves fighting but not with other people. I think. We're only a small Familia but I truly think the goddess Hestia would greet you warmly."
Ascrya didn't say anything, instead giving the Shamaid a neutral look for a few seconds. She didn't nod or smile, she became as blank as a wall and Layla was having a lot of trouble picking up anything from her body language.
"I will… think about it before I bring it up with my sisters." Ascrya finally said after the silence almost became too long. "We have not had the opportunity to think about what we plan on doing with the monster attacks, with so many of us dead or injured returning to Elsos and trying to reclaim our old camp grounds is all but impossible."
"That's all I can ask, I don't like how these guards are treating you and the least I can do is offer you and your crew someplace you would be welcomed even if it would be tight." Layla said as she let out a sigh of relief, the tension bleeding from her shoulders. "My goddesses' home is always open to those who wish to enter."
SNIPTD.
"Did you seriously need to flirt with the amazon Layla." Alister said as the group walked back to the carts to find something else to do. "I mean, we did kind of arrest them a while back, I don't think flirting a little bit helps with how hostile the guard is with them. They might even blame you a little bit."
"Alister…" Layla paused and she took several seconds to compose herself. "Alright you know what fuck trying to be subtle with this. I saw how big her biceps were and my brain kind of fried when I thought about how big her thighs would be. It was also the first time I consciously flirted with someone, give me some slack ok?"
"Her… thighs? What do her legs have to do with flirting?"
"You sweet summer child…" The shamaid shook her head in mock sadness. "Imagine this, a buff, hot amazon is naked in your bedroom standing over you in the dead of night with only candlelight and moonlight to see with, the amazon wraps her thick muscled thighs around your head and forces you to pleasure her. As you do she is squeezing her thighs around your head like a vice but while you are trapped you can still feel how squishy and soft they are. you are in heaven as you buck beneath her. Or maybe she lets you play with her thighs as she dominates you like a pet in need of discipline. Or maybe she lets you caress her thighs as you kiss her, or… why are you all looking at me like that?"
Iris had a full face blush that seemed to go from the roots of her hair into her neckline and refused to look at the shamaid, instead focusing on the ground clutching at her skirt with tight fists. She was imagining exactly what Layla had described with a few… differences of course. Her eyes shot towards Layla's long legs and her blush deepened. She was definitely going to have to find a private place tonight.
On the other hand Alister had a considering expression on his face as he looked towards the sky as if it would hold answers. He was also rubbing his chin, mouthing something Layla couldn't make out but somehow involved… tails? Layla would ask him later, because she then noticed that the people around her, the other adventurers and townsfolk were also giving her expressions of 'why would you say that out loud' or in a few cases 'would you please continue.'
"What, are you telling me you've never wanted to be choked out by a hot woman using her thighs?" Layla asked with her own confused expression. "You've never thought about your loved one letting you use their lap as a pillow at least, I have! I've had many a night where I just thought about… errr, shutting up now and I am walking faster!"
The shamaid speed walked past everyone with a blush of her own, ignoring the looks both the townsfolk and her own team were giving her as she tried to get away as fast as possible. She may have been saying some things that she would have rather kept private, especially from Iris who she thinks she may or may not have a crush on. She really didn't mean to go on a tangent about thicc thighs. Not in public like this at least. That was more of something you admitted after getting hammered at the bar, not in the middle of a job. Layla felt so embarrassed about it, and kept her head bowed to stop her from seeing the looks she was getting. The glares from the few elderly folk was making the Shamaid cringe in her mind. She really hoped there hadn't been children nearby to hear her.
"...are we going to talk about this later?"
"I don't know… do you want to talk about Layla's thigh fetish with her?"
"Nope."
"Then we will never speak of this again," Alister nodded his head firmly and resolutely, and soon followed after his teammate. Leaving Iris to trail behind him. "I have absolutely no intention of dealing with this. You two are my friends, don't think I don't care about you two but I'm not listening to either of you talk about such things."
"That's fair."
The two didn't say anything about the incident, keeping their mouths shut when they caught up with the still blushing Layla. The shamaid hid her face from her teammates, slamming her helmet over her head to hide her blushing face. The trio kept walking in silence, not daring to look at each other lest they start an awkward conversation about what had just happened.
SNIPTD.
3rd person POV
Over the next few days the Marshals and the Hazelwell guards did their best not to step on each others toes as their higher ups worked out the details on how they were going to work together, much of the problems stemmed from the fact that adventures almost as a rule did not have anyone that truly commanded them apart from their Familias captain and their deity. This naturally caused friction between the structured Guard that regularly patrolled the walls of Hazelwell along with the streets, and occasionally left the safe confines of the walls to check up on the few people who either refused to leave their farms or were unable to leave for one reason or another and the Adventurers who normally just did whatever they wanted when on the job or used brute force to solve whatever problem was in front of them. It was difficult, the adventures were called lazy dickheads and guards were called stuffy bitches, but fortunately High marshal Maple cracked a few skulls and the Guard captain yelled at her suburbanites and everyone got along marginally better.
Layla and her team made regular trips to the apothecary, offering their assistance moving the injured or bringing more supplies to the apothecaries, on one occasion they had even offered to help move the bodies of those who had unfortunately not survived. They were not taken up on that often, the guards eyeing the group with suspicion once they caught Layla quietly talking with Ascrya and the Apothecaries didn't trust someone who said their experience came from patching up wounds gained in the dungeon and not actual healing magic. One had even sneered at her for calling herself a medic.
To the adventurers it was like the entire town had turned on them, compared to the cordial greeting they had gotten the last time they were here, the hostile looks and barely held back contempt was mentally draining and made frictions erupt regularly. The town felt like the adventure's response to the situation was dismissive and not what it should have been, as if sending several teams of adventurers to help wasn't enough and they should have done so sooner. It grated on Maple's ears when he heard the venomous remarks.
But eventually the adventures and Guards entered a tense but stable working relationship. The adventurers with their better physical abilities and combat experiences in most cases were stationed near the gates and sent out into patrols to scout the edges of the forest to look for any tracks or clues that the monster had been skulking around. Nothing really came out of it of course, few adventurers were trackers and those in Hazelwell who were refused to step close to the tree line until the Monster was driven off or killed. It was a… not at all good strategy but with the limited resources available it was the best they could do for the moment. Sending teams of adventurers into the forest was an obvious no go and none of the guards got along well enough with the marshals to really consider the idea of combining forces.
Layla and her two friends were stationed at the gate nearest to the forest on the walls, a small outer barricade had been built outside and inside the walls in that area as it was thought of as the most likely place for the monster to attempt to break in through. The barricades were crude and only wooden stakes that had been driven into the ground at an angle but for the moment it would have to do. With the three friends a few more teams of adventurers were stationed there as well as 20 guardsmen who did not look like they were happy about it.
The days continued to pass slowly, and the town grew more tense as the attack they waited for didn't come. The townsfolk grew paranoid and more tired as they waited for the monster to try and get through the walls to get to the people. The adventurers had become increasingly irritated, hating the idea of letting the monster attack them first rather than hunting it down like every other monster they had faced.
Just as tensions were reaching the boiling point, on the eighth day, the monster finally attacked.
SNIPTD
1st person POV.
A sigh escaped my lips as I looked into the night sky, another day another night with no sign of the monster. I was starting to wonder if it had packed its bag and left because according to the few Guards, who didn't immediately sneer at me, the monster had attacked every few days. Either it attacked a farm and took some livestock, or the unfortunate person who hadn't made their way to Hazelwell, or it probed the walls of Hazelwell. Supposedly the Guards had been prepared to defend the town while we were still traveling but the monster hadn't appeared, much to their confusion it hadn't attacked one of the remaining farms either. When we had arrived the guards expected the monster to attack within the first night at least only for it to never show up. It was perplexing to everyone.
I leaned back on the wooden barricade and absently rubbed a rag along my rifles barrel out of habit, it was boring staying up all night but thankfully High Marshal Maple had everyone keep watch in shifts, changing every two hours and it was getting close to the time Me and Alister would swap out. I looked at my watch.
'Only half an hour remaining, then I can get to sleep.' I thought with a bored expression.
I noticed Alister walking towards me and inclined my head towards him.
"Hey Layla, have you heard anything yet?" He asked as he leaned against his axe. He had gotten rid of his Gnaesha mask a few days ago, saying something about it being hard to see though at night and replaced it with a green bandana around his head. I shook my head and he sighed. "I can't decide whether or not to be thankful that the monster hadn't attacked us. On one hand it means we can continue to prepare for it and the injured can get back on their feet but on the other hand the suspense is killing me you know?"
"I get it, everyone's more wound up than a clock right now." I replied easily, tilting my head down to get a better look of the gate. "There's something that's been killing people for months now and we've only arrived after it started killing entire farm houses, now we're effectively in a cage while it prowls around us. No one is happy about believing me. I heard a few people saying we should drive the monster out into the open but really I just want to get home. Let's get this shit over with already and stop the suspense."
Alister nodded glumly and we slipped back into silence, the quiet night was strangely calming to my ears. I couldn't even hear crickets, just the sounds of the Guards walking along the walls or chatting with each other as they got something to drink or munch on. The normal thing. I stifled a yawn and tiled my ears beneath my helmet, trying to see if I couldn't hear something interesting from the other conversation. I was trying to practice using my Larger ears to pick out things, it might come in handy in the dungeon if I could hear where the monsters were coming from.
It was more of the same, when was the monster going to attack, I'm tired of this, a sharp whistling sound, the grumbling of a soldier adjusting his pants, a guy banging hard tack to break…
'That's… not normal whistling?' I frowned and slowly sat up, a strange pit forming in my gut, and readied my rifle. Alister noticed my shift in demeanor and gave me a quizzical look. I ignored him and focused on the sound as much as I could. 'Is it getting louder?'
I turned towards my big friend with a question forming on my lips when I heard an extremely loud crash come from the gate. I froze for a second and turned to look at the source of the noise. Nothing, the gate 'looked' fine from where I was standing a few dozen feet back, but on the walls I could see the silhouettes of the Guards and adventurers patrolling the walls scrambling to get a good look at what had happened. I shot Alister a concerned look and double checked my rifle to make sure it was fully loaded. I then pulled my bayonet out from its sheath and plated it at the end of the barrel, easily locking it in place. I heard another whistling sound getting louder and tensed, pointing my rifle at the gate with an unsure but slowly firming expression.
Then I stumbled back, almost falling directly on my ass if it weren't for Alister as something crashed a few feet away from me. I gaped at what had nearly hit me.
"Is that a fucking log!" I exclaimed in surprise. I looked at Chienthrope who was also surprised and the pit in my stomach grew larger. "How did a fucking log… oh you better not-"
I heard the roar, the bone chilling sound that made me freeze again as the monster finally showed itself. The adventurers and guards all gave yells and screams of their own as they launched arrows and magic into the night, one of them launching some kind of spell into the air that reminded me of a flare. I took a deep breath and steeled myself, I didn't have the luxury of freezing, not now.
I dropped to one knee and raised my rifle so it was aimed at the gate as something crashed against it, not the monster but another lock judging by the fact the people on the walls didn't start turning around. We were as ready as we could be, reinforcements were on their way, and the monster was heading towards a death trap of its own making.
It was time for the monster to die.
[END]
And there we have it, after reaching Hazelwell and receiving a less than warm welcoming Layla and the marshals have prepared and are just about to fight the monster. I'll be honest the last 2000 words were written not long before posting this chapter and I'm not sure if I got all the grammatical mistakes, I double checked but I can't say I got them all.
Now, as for the weird jump I did from them arriving to literally the start of the fight between Hazelwells defenders and the monster? I don't think anyone wanted an entire chapter of Layla doing boring menial tasks that really… would have just been filler at that point. I didn't want to write it regardless so I didn't. Call me lazy if you want. I know that's a bad excuse but I really didn't want to write Layla walking around doing nothing.
Oh and before I forget the poll for Snapshot in the dungeons new cover is… is Image 1!
When I post this chapter hopefully the image will change as well.