Hello everyone!
A lot has happed in the past month or so... But hey, you don't want to hear that, right? (If you do, check out my profile.) So, let's get to the chase. The new part of the Shackled City has begun!
So read, and drop a review if you can. Stay safe, and stay cool.
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Shadowchasers
Shackled City
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Part 4
Blue Bloods
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"I use Contract With the Abyss!"
Maddie was dreaming, and as a result, the situation she was in was… muddled. It seemed her dream self knew things she was not privy to, like who this odd, masked duelist named Tiffany was and why they were dueling. It was almost as if she was watching a movie through the eyes of a dream version of herself.
Still, she knew what Contract With the Abyss was. It was a Ritual Spell Card that could summon any Dark-Attribute Ritual Monster, and among Ritual Monsters, Dark ones were some of the most dangerous.
What is she summoning? Demise? Zorc?
"I sacrifice Magic Mirror Spirit - Asogi to Ritual Summon Fiend's Mirror."
It was almost a relief to hear this. The Fiend's Mirror wasn't exactly powerful - it looked scary, being a man-sized hand mirror with a frame shaped like fiendish wings, but not much of a threat. (2,100 ATK)
Although, the reflection she saw wasn't… right… Not right at all. Maddie's face and hairstyle were okay… But she wasn't human. Looking at herself, she saw a demon with blue skin, short horns under her bangs, reptile-like eyes, a tail, wings on her back, and cloven hooves. Her clothing was wrong too. The leather leotard with emphasized cleavage and black gloves looked more proper for a high-priced harlot.
And strangest of all, she was almost glad to see it… She just loved to admire herself. ("What? I do?") She smiled at the dark image of herself, her smile showing small fangs.
"Yeah, keep smiling like that, monster," growled Tiffany.
Of course, Maddie wasn't afraid of the Fiend's Mirror. One of her set cards was Powerful Rebirth, and she had Scapegoat and Token Feastevil ready to go too.
She looked hungrily at her foe… Next turn, you lose, Tiffany… and your soul is mine…
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Blue Blood
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Chapter One
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The Call
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Maddie woke up in a cold sweat.
Sitting up, she looked at herself, patting down her torso and forehead. She nervously reached for the book of matches on the bedroom table, using them to light the candle, realizing for about the thousandth time how she had, all her life, taken electricity for granted.
Still, she managed to light it, and stood up, looking at herself in the actual mirror on the dresser she had been provided with.
She seemed to be okay. She was wearing her pajamas, her skin was still pink, and her eyes were still the familiar hazel color. She sat back on the bed, lifting her foot; it was still a foot.
She sighed, blew out the candle, and then lay on her back, now wide awake. Her window was open, and she heard the tolling of the clock tower on the other side of Cauldron, 2 AM. She could have really used a glass of milk right now, but a downside of being a guest in a place like this was not having access to the kitchen in the middle of the night.
Who was Tiffany?
She had no idea if this dream had any meaning; it seemed to have put her in the position of a criminal a Shadowchaser was trying to apprehend. Not all that unusual, sometimes it was useful to see the other side of a conflict you were in. The part of her dream that puzzled her more was the girl, the one who she somehow knew was named Tiffany, who now didn't seem even vaguely familiar. Why would…
Her train of thought was interrupted as she was startled by an explosion that caused her to sit up fast.
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Five days later.
On the other side of the world, Nichole was awakening from a nightmare of her own. As she sat up in bed, she gasped and trembled, as frightened as Maddie had been, nervously looking around and holding her chest. Her heart was beating fast.
But then, it was hard to blame her, seeing as a few minutes ago she was using her mace to fend off an onslaught from Ruin, Supreme Queen of Oblivion, the latest Duel Monster to challenge her in this odd dream she kept having. Still, she had gotten used to it by now, and after only a minute or so, the fear started to subside.
Keeping her eyes closed - something she had learned would keep the memory of the dream from fading too fast - she took several deep breaths and clapped her hands once, the clap activating the Clapper device and turning her bedside light on (she could not believe she had actually found a use for that lame gift her friend Cordelia had given her two Christmases ago). When she felt fully relaxed, she slowly opened them and reached for the notebook, which was resting on three library books; The Dream Interpretation Dictionary, The Alchemy of Your Dreams, and The Curious Dreamer's Handbook - all three had proven to be complete wastes of time, but at least borrowing from the library was free.
The records in her notes were changing in many ways, some ways subtle, some more obvious. Donnie's voice was no longer coaching her, and the monsters challenging her were getting stronger. Some were even bringing weaker monsters to help them - the last time Warrior of Tradition had appeared, a pair of Beautiful Headhuntresses had come to help her. And while many of the clearly evil monsters were still appearing, the "ambiguous" ones were more frequent. Centaur Mina had appeared, as had Cyber Angels Benten, Izana, and Idaten (she was not looking forward to Dakini), and Tempest Magician, the last having challenged her a second time, bringing Downerd Magician.
A strange idea came to her. Is this supposed to be some sort of crazy Hunger Games competition? Do they want the same thing I want? It was an odd theory, yes, but the whole thing was odd.
The most frustrating part was the victim that she assumed she had come to save - Mr. Nacht, Fawley's unfortunate assistant who had been killed by the slaver Ghulertas. As far as she far as she knew, the criminal had met his end under the executioner's axe, but it seemed he had left a mark on her psyche. The first few times Nacht he had appeared in this horrible dream, she had arrived too late, he had been tortured and then crucified, nailed to an X-shaped cross, and the killer was there.
But after defeating Ghulertas once, he had been switched for Darkness Neosphere, the first foe who had spoken to her, and in doing so, made her realize this was no mere dream.
Ever since then it was not too late, Nacht was still alive, but seemed to change each time, his body changing into something… something more divine. And each time after, he managed to free himself and flee by the time she defeated the foe. Somehow, she knew the key to figuring out this phenomenon was asking him, and little by little, she had come closer to managing to do so.
As she considered this, her stomach growled. She would have much more time to think about this later. For now, she needed a shower and breakfast, preferably with caffeine. She had a portal to use, a friend to meet up with, and a boat to catch…
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As Nichole prepared to travel to Cauldron, her allies and friends already there were keeping themselves busy.
As the town clock tower rang out eleven chimes, Magma Avenue was fairly crowded, with dozens of Cauldronites taking advantage of the break in the storms of the last few weeks to catch up on errands and just general meandering out of doors. There had been a few drizzles and a downpour or two in the past week, but it seemed the storms were behind them. The sky above was a stark blue in between the scattered clouds, although the chill in the air sufficed to remind everyone that yes, it was still winter. Clouds hung in denser clusters over the mountains that overshadowed the city to the east, a further reminder that the city would likely be facing more inclement weather before too long. But with the churches of the city equipped with the wands of control water recovered from the clutches of Cammy Grains and her co-conspirators, the terror of flooding had been eased, at least for this season.
Maddie was here in the east part of Cauldron, with her fellow Shadowchaser Sonya and their friend Sypha, getting some tasks done she had been putting off due to the whole flooding problem, a list that included looking into that odd explosion. Given what the local constabulary had said, it had been some tower owned by an alchemist who had caused a lot of accidents in the past, though when asked to elaborate - like whether the owner had survived or what sort of experiment he had been working on - they said they "were not authorized" to tell them.
In the meantime, they were a quaint part of Cauldron full of craft and curiosity shops that simply cried out for window shoppers.
"So, have you mainlanders heard about Grains yet?" asked Sypha.
"Uhm, no," replied Maddie, "should we have?"
"She's going to the Cleaners on Saturday."
Both Maddie and Sonya knew what that meant; "going to the Cleaners" or "sent to the Cleaners" was Cauldron-slang for "executed". This slang term was a throwback to where a "Cleaner" was a term for a member of the lower class tasked with jobs considered dirty or unclean, which included handling dead bodies.
"Public too this time," boasted Sypha, "at 5PM on Tuesday, she goes to the Leafless Tree."
"Just the place for teen couples to go on a Saturday night," sighed Sonya.
Maddie couldn't help but feel a little dirty upon hearing this. She had never taken much of a stand for or against capital punishment (it was very rare in the Shadowchaser's justice system) but this seemed so… fast for a sentence so extreme.
She changed the subject fast. "There it is." Ahead of them was the tower in question, or what was left of it. Most of the outer walls of the burned-out structure were still standing, roped off and with two Alleybashers standing guard. Clearly, the city watch was using these mercenaries more and more.
Not a good sign.
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Meanwhile, only two blocks away, Francis, Red Feather (two more of Maddie's colleagues) and the acolytes Malakar and their friend Barclay were at an open-air cafe.
"So, what is this stuff again?" asked Francis.
"Ungradi mushroom, onion, and potato soup," replied Barclay. "I hear mushrooms are one of the few good things the dwarves in Hollowsky produce besides beer."
It was hard to believe this sandwich shop with an outdoor patio was dwarf-owned, although there was a rumor that said dwarf shared ownership with an asrai (a type of fey water spirit who would melt like ice in sunlight), who naturally didn't come out much during the day.
The soup seemed to taste more like spicy beef stew; Red Feather was focused more on a drink called Pomegranate Toff (it seemed like a sweet wine cooler) while Malakar picked at one of the complimentary dinner rolls. For some reason, he didn't feel hungry all of a sudden.
"So, Francis," he asked, "are you serious about Colfer?"
Francis blushed a little and took a long drink from his glass before answering. "Well, this is going to make you laugh, but -"
"Francis, wait," said Red Feather. She stopped and concentrated. "Did you feel that?"
"What?"
"I swear I just felt… trembling…"
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"Hello!" said Sonya.
With her and Sypha in tow, Maddie had decided to check out Scent of Spirit, a boutique that sold all manner of potpourri, incense, and scented candles. Sonya's cheery greeting was addressed to a little pixie in a gilded cage that hung from the ceiling. The pixie didn't verbally reply, only pouting a little and shaking her wings, its pixie dust drifting over Sonya.
While Sypha looked over the merchandise on the shelves - taking interest in a juniper and lemon balm mix - the clerk (a tall, thin, young-looking woman who given her floor-length green hair and wood-like texture of her skin was likely a hamadryad) was quite willing to share with Maddie what she knew about the tower, though admittedly this wasn't much.
"I saw a lot of folks coming in and out of that place, usually in the evening when I closed up. I asked a few of them - most told me to 'Mind your own business' or 'You're better off not knowing', but one of them told me something about Mulgo's Pocket."
That didn't seem familiar at all. Maddie turned to Sypha, but the faun just shrugged and shook her head.
"I tried going in there about five months ago," continued the shopkeeper. "Door was locked; I think you needed a key to get in there. Heh, the place was probably an opium den or bordello or something. I figured after that maybe I should mind my own business."
"Well then -" started Maddie.
Then it happened. Something happened that seemed to shake the whole city. As three ceramic potpourri vases fell from their shelves, Sonya moved instinctively, making a diving catch and grabbing two of them, then twisting her body so the third landed on her stomach.
This would be time for Maddie to say something snarky in response, but all was not well, as screams started coming from the source of the odd tremor, a mere two blocks away…
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The slight tremor Red Feather had felt was all the warning she, Francis, and their allies had, as a building along the north side of the street suddenly erupted in a shower of earth and stone, spraying shards of shattered brick out into the crowd. People started screaming and running even before a massive form took shape out of the cloud of pulverized dust and dirt that billowed out over the wreckage of what had, until moments ago, been the front of a non-descript warehouse.
"Oh… crap…," said Francis.
The giant, bestial Shadowkind resembled a huge bug, although it stood upright and hunched over, with a hard, chitinous shell covering its alien, multi-segmented body. Massive mandibles snapped at the air as it emerged from the cloud of debris, and it grasped onto the rough edges of the remains of the wall with powerful claws, tearing down more of the structure of the warehouse down around it as it drew itself up out of the tunnel it had burrowed up from somewhere below the city.
The street scene erupted into chaos as the umber hulk roared with primal, animalistic rage. Francis made the first move, running to engage the beast, a move he'd regret later. Of course, he'd had no reason to prepare his berserk, though he doubted he'd be a match for this thing even with without it, his feet pounded loudly on the cobbles of the street, and as drew his weapon (his sword was somethinghe would feel naked without), he made an impressive sight as he charged across the street toward the lumbering hulk.
Even as Francis charged forward to engage the beast, Red Feather strung her bow and drew a long steel-tipped shaft from her quiver. In a single smooth motion she drew, aimed, and released. The arrow sliced through the air a mere handspan above the heads of the fleeing townsfolk, clipping the umber hulk on the back of its armored skull. The arrow glanced off of the hard chitin that comprised its shell, but while it clearly didn't hurt the beast any more than an insect bite would a human, it did get its attention. It spun ponderously about, staring out into the street with its four bulbous, multifaceted eyes.
Red Feather was able to keep her distance, quickly readying a second arrow. Getting its attention had been her intent; elven archers like herself knew that heavily armored foes had a notable weak spot, the eyes, and now that it had turned towards her, that was her target.
Unfortunately, she forgot a safety tip that one had to keep in mind with this specific armored foe. As she lifted the weapon to aim for the eyes, she looked directly into them…
Suddenly, she couldn't remember what she was doing here... Or where "here" was. She looked up… oh, the sky was such a pretty color today! People were screaming all around her, and that sounded fun, so she started screaming too! Such great fun!
Malakar cursed inwardly—it hadn't occurred to him to bring his mace, not having expected a need to use it on a simple lunch trip. He searched his mind for a spell that might be useful against such a monstrosity; would his command even work on this beast? Then he heard Red's screams over the noise of the crowd, and without hesitation headed in that direction.
"Malakar, wait!" shouted Francis, unsure whether or not the acolyte could even hear him over the din.
The Shadowchaser felt a wash of conflicting thoughts rush over him as he met the uncanny gaze of the creature, but he was able to shrug off the horrid glare, concentrating on focusing on this latest in the series of deadly adversaries that he'd confronted. The monster saw him coming - it would have been hard not to, as Francis was the sole individual on the street brave enough not to flee - but it ignored him and instead started widening the hole it had made in the front wall of the warehouse, ripping boards from the building's frame as though they were paper, and toppling most of the rest of the structure's framework out into the street. The roof above groaned as its supports gave way, and it sagged awkwardly, likely only moments away from collapsing.
Francis let out a roar of his own as he surged into the creature thrusting his sword into the part of the beast that passed for its hip. The strike barely seemed to faze the umber hulk, and did little but make it angry, as it spun and lashed out at him with its massive left claw. Francis was now paying the price for rushing headlong into combat without any preparation, as the claws so notorious for being able to burrow through solid rock and rend metal ripped deep gashes in his torso. Through a haze of pain, the Shadowchaser saw the hulk's head dart down, its mandibles snapping to take his head from his shoulders. He lurched backward just in time to avoid being decapitated but could not fully avoid the jaws as one ridged mandible sliced along the side of his skull, drawing a red line that laid open his head to the bone.
Miraculously, he managed to remain standing and conscious, but as blood flowed down his head and over his injured body, it was starting to become more and more likely he wouldn't survive this…
"By Cuthbert's Cudgel!" screamed a voice, and from out of nowhere, Gregory appeared from behind, his warhammer slamming into the beast's skull. More out of shock than anything else, the beast fell forward, cracking the pavement as it fell with a crash.
Gregory rolled as he landed, catching the wounded Shadowchaser before he could collapse. "Hold still, Brother Francis."
Francis felt a surge of power start at his chest where Gregory placed his palm, the powerful healing spell like energy literally flowing through his bloodstream - it was far more potent and invigorating than anything Nichole had managed. "Ugh, glad you could make it, Greg." He checked the side of his head where the wound had been - while the spell couldn't clean up the blood that was all over his hair and clothes, the wound was gone. "Where have you been anyway?"
"I'd love to explain, Brother Francis, but that isn't your concern right now…" He gestured to the umber hulk. "HE is!"
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"Red Feather? Red?"
Malakar pushed her way through a screaming crowd of people; most of them were focused simply on escaping the immediate area, but the ones unlucky enough to meet the beast's gaze had lost that sense of self-preservation. One woman staggered about as if dazed, and one man was inexplicably pummeling another with furious if mostly inaccurate blows with his fists, while his target just stood there, yelling something incoherent.
Madness… he thought
He pushed past a pair of brightly dressed women who had the look of noble folk about them and saw Red Feather. The Shadowchaser was singing in the elven language a song that Malakar - being himself a shadow elf - understood well. It was a nursery rhyme elf children would sing in kindergarten.
"Red!" he shouted. "Sister Red Feather, snap out of it, we have to -"
Red heard him. She looked at him and smiled sweetly…
…then raised her bow until the arrow was level with Malakar's chest, and fired…
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For all his bravado (possibly hubris), Gregory quickly realized that facing the umber hulk head-on was only going to result in his rather messy demise. He staggered back, opening his mind to the holy power of Cuthbert, letting the divine energy of his bond to his patron surge through him, readying a spell of a more offensive nature.
He underestimated the hulk's reach, however, as one of its gangly but powerful arms shot out, catching him across the face with a blow that knocked him roughly back into the rubble. The paladin slumped down, blood oozing from the cut across his face.
Then, the hulk let out a shriek as Francis broadsided it and finally scored a solid hit, his blade sinking deeply into one of the gaps in its armored shell where its leg met its torso. The creature turned again and roared even louder….
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Malakar twisted abruptly to the side, but Red's arrow still sliced across his chest, tearing through his shirt and leaving a long scratch on his chest before glancing off his shoulder. The impact, oblique though it was, still felt like he had been punched by an ogre.
He focused attention on Red, trying hard not to think what would have happened had that arrow hit him point-first. The Shadowchaser had drawn her Bowie knife and was spinning around, chanting something that seemed a combination of an Elvish opera and an Orcish drinking song. The acolyte could hear the roars of the creature as well and knew that Gregory and Francis would likely be needing her help right about now.
Finally, it came to him.
"Flee!" he spoke, channeling his command. Not at the umber hulk, but at Red Feather, who under the beast's trance made a far-easier target. Obediently, Red abruptly ceased what she was doing, and turned and ran, still screaming.
As much as he wanted to flee with her, now was not the time. He turned towards his two allies, and started to focus on a new spell, a remedial type that most every divine spellcaster knew, yet one that was always worth the effort. As the bless took hold both Francis and Gregory felt stronger and more confident. The Shadowchaser goaded the beast, who lunged, only for Gregory to dart around and clobber it at the base of the spine.
While the impact caused the beast to fall on one knee, it still didn't seem hurt otherwise. Damn, thought Francis, this thing must be made of the same stuff as the hammer.
Gregory tried to make another strike, but with a simple backhand strike, the umber hulk knocked him prone, and on his back. It looked at Francis, growling menacingly…
"Your move, bug brain," said the Shadowchaser.
He was prepared to dodge and counterattack when it lunged, but to his surprise, it took a different choice; with amazing speed, it burrowed back down into the ground, stirring up a cloud of dirt and dust that hung in the air briefly as it vanished from view.
"Looks like its running scared!"
Barclay had made himself scarce when the umber hulk had appeared, but the fenrir suddenly reappeared now, offering Gregory a hand to help him up.
"Ugh, not likely," groaned the paladin. He peered down the street, toward Scent of Spirit, the cloud of dust showing that was where the hulk was headed. "I think it's just going to find easier prey…"
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Sometimes, disasters bring out the worst in people.
The umber hulk's appearance had obviously caused a lot of chaos among the populace, and many of the available town watch were trying to evacuate the area. The stores around the Scent of Spirit shop were quickly abandoned, which unfortunately, left a lot of valuable merchandise unguarded.
Near Scent of Spirit was a shop called Curaro's Curio Cabinet, a jewelry store seeming to specialize in objets d'art, small bejeweled objects like statuettes, hardstone, alabaster, and ivory carvings, snuff boxes, Faberge eggs (imitations, of course), ornate music boxes… Basically lots of items that only had practical use as paperweights, but valued for their beauty and expensive materials - some people just loved paying through the nose for gold and jewels. And an unattended store full of small, lightweight, easily-transported and easily-concealed valuables was an opportunity for thieves, an opportunity now taken by Blas, Plurk, and Fulb, three goblin crooks whom the Shadowchasers had already crossed paths with more than once.
"All right!" laughed Blas. She climbed upon the shelf with the Fauxbergé eggs and grabbed the one made to resemble the Moscow Kremlin Egg. "We got a grade-A dozen here, boys."
"Ooh, nice, I skipped breakfast," said Fulb. Then he shouted "OW!" as Plurk hit him on the back of the head.
"Those are jeweled eggs, dummy, you don't eat them."
"Huh? What good are eggs if you can't eat them?"
"Just start grabbing, you mugs," shouted Blas, "this stuff is worth enough to buy a whole restaurant!"
They didn't need more encouragement than that. Plurk started stuffing a display of statuettes into his bag, pausing briefly to examine one of them, a reproduction of a certain work by Antonio Canova.
"Ugh, those Greeks were a bunch of pervs."
Such a narrow criticism of Neoclassical sculpture would almost be funny if not for the grave danger they were putting themselves in, something Maddie realized right away when she noticed them.
When did they let THESE idiots out of jail? she thought. "YO!" she shouted from the doorway.
"Ah-heh, busted…" moaned Blas.
"Are you three out of your goddam minds? Amscray, NOW!"
"Hey, cut us some slack here, mainlander," said Plurk, "when they let us out of the pen, they barely gave us enough for lunch."
The roar from the umber hulk shook the whole block. "You three are going to be lunch in a few minutes!" shouted Maddie. "BEAT IT!"
"Uh…" said Fulb.
Blas didn't need any more prompting, abandoning her bag of ill-gotten gains and darting for the door. "Move it!" she shouted, pushing past Maddie. Her two brothers followed suit; Fulb tried to take his sack of loot with him, but Sonya was right behind Maddie, and grabbed it as he ran past. "Dammit," he cursed, but kept running.
Fortunately, it seemed that, at the moment, the hungry umber hulk had found something else it liked. It had found a fruit stand across the street and was starting to devour a large cart full of watermelons, slobbering as it ate and getting the rinds and pulp all over itself.
"Gross," said Sonya. Of course, she wasn't naive enough to think the fruit would sate it or delay it for long, but she was also at a loss on how they could possibly bring down this Shadow that was ten times the size as she was.
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Hey! Stop! You're running the wrong way, you silly elf!
The little voice in Red Feather's head drew her up short, and she stopped running, looking around the street in confusion. There were a few people around her, all moving in the same direction that she had just been, but none of them seemed particularly interested in stopping to explain to her what was going on.
There was a battle, that... thing appeared, then...
She felt nauseous. Everything after that was a jumble, confused memories that seemed quite unlikely now. A particularly disturbing image leapt into her mind, of her shooting Malakar with her bow. She was holding her bow and her knife… The latter was very clean, that was a good sign… She couldn't remember... but it was clear, from the noises of screaming and destruction both in front of and behind her, that some bad business was still going on down there.
And her allies and friends were probably right in the middle of it...
Shaking the fog out of her head, she realized that more people were now running towards the place she had come from, a surefire sign that she was not running the wrong way, at least not now.
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"Don't look directly at it... avoid its gaze!" Sonya cried in warning, as she and Maddie — now with two members of the town guard and six Alleybasher mercenaries as backup - confronted the angry umber hulk.
It was, unfortunately, Sonya's fault it was angry. Before now, her only experience with an umber hulk (as she would explain later, much to the confusion and bemusement of Maddie, Red, and Francis) had been with some nutcase of a crime boss named Mr. Slur, possibly the only Ooze Genasi the Shadowchasers had ever encountered. He thought that if he shrank an umber hulk to the size of a man (exactly how he would do that, he never said), its physical might would be "concentrated", making a man-sized henchman with enormous physical strength. He claimed he had intended to train the beast to play American football - Sonya had to admit that was original. It was far from the only outlandish scheme Mr. Slur had thought up, but it never went anywhere - he had a habit of never finishing what he started.
One thing Sonya remembered from that is how she had asked her partner at the time, a brainy guy named Lenny, how acute an umber hulk's senses were. He theorized that its hearing was likely far more acute than that of a human's, being an underground burrowing creature that used tremorsense to find prey, and that their eyesight and sense of smell were likely poor.
It was just now that Sonya and Maddie learned Lenny's hypothesis was inaccurate. Trying to quietly sneak up on the beast while it was eating caused it to notice them quickly, and it roared loudly as it upset the entire display of produce.
The Alleybashers consisted of four burly, muscular half-orcs and two gnolls, part of the cadre that the Lord Governor had recently recruited to bolster the armed forces of the city in light of the recent disasters facing Cauldron. Two of them and both the uniformed guards heeded Sonya's warning, averting their eyes in time, but the other four looked into the creature's multifaceted orbs as its gaze swept over them. One of them - the gnoll - screamed and leapt at the creature, sweeping with its a large battle-axe, while the other lowered his weapon and just stood there, a vacant look on his face. The other two decided to pick a fight with whoever was closest, which happened to be each other.
Maddie didn't look away either. "How am I supposed to fight it if I can't see it!" she shouted to Sonya before leaping forward to join the guardsmen in engaging the hostile creature. Its gaze swept over her, but she seemed better at resisting it, though not as well as Francis. She clutched her forehead, the deluge of confusing thoughts and images that threatened to unhinge her sanity assaulting her like some horrible brain freeze that was the result of being force-fed ice cream. She looked in time to see the gnoll Alleybasher, driven into a rage by the effects of the umber hulk's gaze, lunge blindly at the creature.
"Stop!" she screamed, but it was too late. The gnoll brought its axe down on the beast with an overhand chopping motion. The blade managed to cut a shallow gash in the creature's shoulder, but the Alleybasher had little time to revel in his achievement as the hulk swept out one arm, grabbed the gnoll in its claw, and pulled him bodily up to its snapping jaws. The unfortunate mercenary had just barely enough time to scream before the mandibles sank into the sides of his head, squashing his skull like an overripe melon.
At very least, this was enough to convince the other guards and mercenaries who had not succumbed to its gaze to retreat, but the beast was at the height of its rage now, and as…
"TAKE COVER!" screamed Red Feather's voice. From a rooftop across the street from them facing the wrecked fruit stand, the elven Shadowchaser appeared aiming a special arrow at the hulk, a blunt one, with the point replaced by a tightly wound sack the size and shape of a small pear.
She fired, the arrow soaring over everyone who had heeded her warning, striking the umber hulk in the face in the space between its two innermost eyes, the impact breaking the blunt point, exposing the herbal mixture within - a potent concoction called alchemist's fire - to air.
Everyone cringed as the alchemy-made bomb exploded, blowing out the windows of five shops on the street and finally, it seemed, landing a blow that managed to hurt it the umber hulk. It tumbled backwards, crashing through the wall of the storefront behind it.
"Red!" shouted Sonya. The elf leapt from her perch, drawing a similar arrow from her quiver and landing on the street, facing the beast. It was down, but not out, yet.
"What are we waiting for?" asked Maddie, "let's -"
"Shush!" Red Feather strung the arrow into her bow but didn't fire yet. As the groggy and disoriented monster struggled to get up, she carefully aimed, estimating where its maw - her target - would be when it sat up.
This wouldn't be pretty… But a hit there before its eyes focused on her would finish the job, and…
"Glory!" shouted a voice.
This was something they could never have expected, not even Sonya, although it seemed that in Cauldron, nothing could be considered unexpected. The stern voice was followed by a confused grunt from the umber hulk, and a well-dressed man confronting it, getting closer to the beast than anyone else dared to.
He was an odd man, though he seemed human enough, looking about forty or so, with black hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. His expensive-looking Italian suit had an odd accessory, a black, flowing cloak.
"Stop this at once, Glory!" he ordered. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?"
The strangest part of this already-strange situation was not that he was scolding the umber the way a parent would a disobedient child, but that the hulk seemed about to obey him. It turned, looking at him, making a low growl as he offered his hand.
"That's it, it's me, Glory. You recognize me, right?"
"No… fucking… way…" whispered Sonya. Trying to get a good look at this bizarre interaction only made it more bizarre, and she finally noticed the beast was wearing a collar.
A lot of questions went through the heads of the three Shadowchasers, most of them involving the word "How" and even more involving "Why". Despite this, they hoped this odd man could end this without violence…
No such luck.
The umber hulk howled, its anger now melded with fear. Fortunately, Red had been less optimistic of the chances, and was ready to pounce. As the beast tried to slam its massive fist down on the man, she did so, grabbing him and rolling away right before the giant claw slammed down, making a crater in the cobblestone pavement.
The monster shrieked, and then started to lumber down westward, in the direction of the lake.
"Ugh." The well-dressed man rubbed his head. "That could have gone better…"
+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+
Back at the now-wrecked outdoor cafe where the umber hulk had first appeared, a large number of the city guard and Cauldron's version of an emergency response team - mostly healers from the Church of Pelor - had gathered, using both conventional and magical means to heal the civilians who had been injured or mesmerized by the creature's gaze. Francis was explaining the whole situation to a Sergeant Zhent, a uniformed soldier who seemed to be in charge.
Zhent was, to say the least, intimidating. He was both taller and more muscular than Francis, and had a long, full beard of chestnut-brown hair. His people - the verbeeg, a race of Shadow related to giants - would have actually considered Zhent rather short, but for now, there was little time to get acquainted.
"That's all I know, Sergeant, the best advice we could give is -" Then something on his Duel Disk started beeping. "-wait, hold on-" Flipping a switch on it, he said, "Maddie, where are you, we -"
"We know, Francis, we know. I assume you met Glory?"
"Glory? Wait, you mean -"
"Yeah, it seems this umber hulk is someone's pet. We were pretty surprised too."
#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#
Back in the street where Scent of Spirit stood, Sonya had "challenged" the monstrosity to a lethal game of tag - the hulk was "it", and the Shadowchaser was doing her best to evade and stay ahead of the beast's powerful blows, stopping every now and then to goad and cajole it, often blowing it the raspberries with the occasional "Nyah-nyah!" It was a dangerous and risky gambit, especially since she would get tired long before the hulk did, but at least its anger was now focused on her instead of everyone else.
Meanwhile, Dorian - the name the hulk's owner had given them, was as upset as anyone would be about his pet having turned on him.
"I don't understand this," he muttered, "I raised Glory from an egg, she's never done this before…"
"This is why we have rules about this sort of thing," scolded Red Feather.
"Red Feather?" exclaimed Francis' voice.
"Uh, yeah, she's here," continued Maddie into the Disk. "Listen, we need to find a way to take this thing out without killing it, if possible, any ideas?"
To be completely honest, she wasn't as concerned about the umber hulk's welfare as its owner had hoped. She was starting to wonder if this was less a random act of a hungry predator, and more an ambush set up by someone else. Francis and Gregory were both starting to have the same idea and taking the beast alive might give far more answers than killing it.
Of course, the big problem was how they would do that. Francis had no idea himself of a solution, but Gregory spoke up to answer first: "Well, I have an idea that might work, but we'd have to weaken the beast first, sort of a catch-22 there. Sergeant, how soon can you get some strong rope?"
Before Zhent could respond, Barclay interrupted with a suggestion. "Maybe we can distract it with some meat or something?"
"Wait." On the other end, the hulk's owner took hold of the Disk and spoke into it. "Listen, I might have an idea. There's a tavern called Kessel's Kettle on Ash Avenue and Monger Street, do you think you can get there?"
Upon hearing Dorian's voice, Zhent shook his head and muttered, "Damn, not again," but then spoke up and added, "I know where that is."
"Good, there's also a hardware store in the same boulevard called Woodz and Boltz, and it sells rope. Just tell the clerk Dorian needs it and he'll give it to you with no argument. When you have it, get to the tavern and wait, we're going to try to lure the umber hulk there."
"Uh, we are?" asked Maddie.
"Just be ready with this plan of yours."
"Roger," replied Francis.
As the communication cut off, Dorian added, "Novel little device."
"Uh, so -" started Maddie.
"I need you three to lure the beast to that tavern," said Dorian, sternly. "I'll meet you all there. Hopefully this plan your friend has is a sound one."
"Meet us there?" asked Red. "Where are you going to -"
"Taking a shortcut."
Then, Dorian just… dissolved, disappearing into some sort of black shadowy mist that dissipated quickly.
"Pushy son of a bitch," growled Maddie. "SONYA! THIS WAY!"
#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#
While it would seem getting an umber hulk to chase you is rather easy, so long as you can outrun it, the job on the other end was going to be difficult. Getting the rope was the easy part; the actual plan Gregory had, which he barely had time to explain to the others, was a divine binding ritual he had only successfully done twice, the first being a "dry run". It was called the binding of Sukumvit, invented by Justicars (an old, militant wing of Cuthbert's clergy) and dubiously named after the first criminal apprehended by it.
Right now, Francis, Zhent, and Malakar had one coil of rope apiece, but very little idea what they had to do with them.
"So, what exactly do we do?" asked Zhent. "My lariat skills are kind of rusty these days."
Of course, he meant he had no skill as such whatsoever, much like Francis, but Gregory assured them they wouldn't need it.
"Once I start the ritual, Cuthbert's power will do most of the work, all you three need to do is hold on. Then, we can, uhm -"
Kessel's Kettle was on the far side of the boulevard they had entered, and Dorian had indeed gotten there before them somehow. He was now directing a bartender and two waitresses, who were rolling out barrels that they assumed contained liquor and placing them in the middle of the street. Another employer - likely a bouncer, given his size - was using a crowbar to pry the tops off.
"Oh, I get it!" said Francis. He was actually surprised by the ingenuity. "We give Glory a little complimentary cocktail so we can nab her when she's soused."
"Are you absolutely sure this will work, Mr. Arlintal?" Zhent's stern tone seemed to show he both knew Dorian and didn't trust him, not that Francis was sure he should either.
"No, I am not absolutely certain," said Dorian, motioning with his fingers to imply quotation marks. "The merchant I bought Glory's egg from claimed this worked on her mother, that she went for a cask of beer like it was fruit punch and it put her right out."
"Is that how he managed to get the egg?"
Dorian looked nervous from the subtle accusation, answering, "Well, in retrospect, I suppose -"
"Uh, can we discuss this later?"
Malakar's exclamation was hardly needed, as they all saw it. Sonya, Red Feather, and Maddie were running towards them from the road to the east, and the now-enraged hulk was in pursuit.
"Okay, we can do this," said Gregory. "NOW!"
He, Francis, and two of the guards ran from the beast, positioning themselves in an alleyway facing east, perpendicular to the Kessler's Kettle. The bartender and waitresses retreated into the bar itself, where they locked and barricaded the door, while Malakar and Barclay concealed themselves behind trash cans next to the door, and Zhent and two more of the soldiers found a similar place to hide in the alleyway between two buildings across the street from them.
As Red, Sonya, and Maddie cleared the barrels in the middle of the street, Red somersaulting over them in the process, Gregory began the second part of the ritual magic.
Meanwhile, the umber hulk came to a stop, looking around for its quarry, who had ducked into the narrow side streaks. It sniffed the air, and then noticed the barrels.
"It's working," whispered Barclay.
It certainly was. The hulk went right for the barrels, grabbing one of them, gulping down the contents like a man drinking from a mug - well, most of it, as a lot of it spilled. It made a low growl, tossed the barrel aside and went for a second.
As this was happening, Francis had his eyes on Gregory, while keeping an eye on his wristwatch. Just a minute more, he thought.
#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#
"So, why are we doing this again?"
On a rooftop on a building nearby, a woman knelt, concentrating on a magic of a different sort.
Her name was Lady Taramanda Rivaldi, and that was all anyone - even her allies and friends - knew for sure about her. She was a slim woman and had pointed ears, something that suggested she was an elf, but her pale white skin and silvery, flowing hair seemed oddly unnatural. Her skin had a texture that seemed more like porcelain or ivory rather than flesh, with her hair an odd shade that almost looked metallic. Most notably, the four small tattoos, two under each eye, which looked like shimmering blue tears.
Her black and violet robes indicated she was a wizard, and she was in some sort of trance right now, kneeling and channeling an eerie dark magic, nigh oblivious to the world around her - the very reason two members of the Last Laugh thieves guild were there to guard her.
One of them - who had asked the question - was Jil, someone whom the Shadowchasers, mostly Francis, had become acquainted with. Her skin-tight outfit was that of a jester, in patterns of black and red, with white face paint and black designs. The other was even more bizarre than her.
Helensla was taller than Jil and tended to stand out more. While her outfit was similar to Jil's in overall design, hers was far more risqué than Jil's. It consisted of a short halter, a choker, leather fingerless gloves, tight booty shorts with a belt (which held a scabbard with a long stiletto dagger), and mismatched sneakers, one red, and one black, her socks each being the color of the opposite shoe. The same pattern applied to her hair, which was tied into waist-length pigtails, one dyed black and the other bright red. She also had a domino mask and a blue star on her cheek, plus a nose ring with a sparkling sapphire jewel.
"No idea what an umber hulk's limit is," said Jil with a chuckle, "but I'd say right now that one is getting close to it."
Then the beast let out a colossal belch. "Ugh, disgusting," said Helensla.
Jil looked down and saw Francis; for a minute or two, she focused her eyes directly on him, smirking slightly, until Helensla noticed. "Forget it, Jil, you're not his type."
Jil pouted a little, then turned to Rivaldi, who had not budged an inch in the last ten minutes. "Say… You think she'd even notice if we went through her pockets?"
"Not sure, nobody's ever been stupid enough to test it. You're welcome to try."
Jil frowned and went back to watching what was happening below on the street. For a member of the Laugh, Helensla sure didn't have much of a sense of humor…
#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#
"NOW!" shouted Gregory.
The plan he had laid out to them didn't sound easy to pull off but was at least easy to understand. The ritual was one of three parts. The first was a quick glyph he had cast on the ropes, enabling them to function as the receptacles for the second part, which he had just completed. Malakar, Francis, and Zhent - in that order - would throw the ropes, and as the magic of the second part took hold and bound the umber hulk, Barclay would grab hold of Malakar to brace him, two soldiers doing the same for Francis and another two for Zhent.
For several seconds, it seemed to work. Malakar threw his rope, and the enchantment took it from there, looping around the umber hulk's left wrist and trying in an enchanted knot…
…but this is where Murphy's Law reared its ugly head.
Even before Gregory had given the signal Barclay could feel a sneeze coming. He tried to stifle it as best he could, but as he went to grab hold of Malakar, it was released, and he stumbled. The hulk wasn't as inebriated by the three barrels of cheap beer as Dorian had hoped, and certainly noticed the rope; it crushed the barrel it was holding and with a low roar that seemed to suggest it was far more annoyed now than angry, gave it a swift yank, pulling Malakar off his feet and onto his face as if he were a rag doll.
The hulk drooled eagerly and started to reach for the downed acolyte…
"HEY, BUGEYES!"
The hulk turned to see the human it had been chasing a minute ago, eager, it seemed to remind the beast it hadn't tagged her yet.
"You really want that tripe?" laughed Sonya. She turned her back to it and slapped her behind. "Got your prime rib right here!"
"Ain't a braver woman alive…" said Zhent.
This opinion was only reinforced as they watched in horror as the beast grabbed Sonya, who made no resistance at all as it lifted her to eye level. It sniffed curiously.
"Yeah, that's it, take your time…"
The hulk opened its huge maw… Even Gregory was struggling to fathom how Sonya could keep from screaming. The beast was about to eat her as a human would a Twix bar, but her smile never quivered…
Then, Red Feather appeared in front of it, and fired the bomb-arrow she had intended to use before, but instead of aiming for its maw, went lower. Purposely aiming for its armored torso didn't hurt it much, but it clearly hadn't expected that, and as it dropped Sonya and struggled to stay standing, Maddie jumped into the fray and grabbed hold of the rope Malakar had dropped. Barclay grabbed hold of her by the waist the way he had planned to brace Malakar; then Zhent hurled his rope, binding its other arm. Then Francis threw his, and the third rope looped twice arounds its waist.
Of course, it tried to struggle, but the beer, plus the sudden strike by the bomb-arrow, plus the magic now being channeled by the ropes, was finally causing the beast to tire.
"Huh, look at that," laughed Maddie, "big girl's bark is worse than its bite now!"
Then the hulk let out a belch even louder than the earlier two.
"Ugh, but not worse than her breath," added Sonya.
"Any day l now, Gregory!" shouted Francis.
Fortunately for them and unfortunately for the hulk, this was the time, and the final part of the ritual was the shortest. He leapt in front of the beast, muttered a hasty incantation in Latin, and then slammed his palm into the ground. Three cracks of pure light darted from the point where he struck, towards Maddie, Francis, and Zhent, then through them as they continued to hang on, through the ropes, and into the beast itself. The umber hulk's howl sounded over the whole city, and the ropes tore from their holders grasp, winding around the beast and transforming into chains that still pulsated with holy energy…
Finally, it stopped struggling, and collapsed with a crash.
It was over. The umber hulk was down, and in a very deep slumber, given its low, guttural snoring. Francis was holding onto Sonya, both of them covered with blood and their clothes torn and dirty.
"I am never doing that again," Sonya said.
"Scuse me, sorry, coming through!"
The voice came from Sypha, who was pushing through the crowd of onlookers in front of them.
"So, uh, what'd I miss?" she asked.
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"Huh, it seems they did it," said Jil. She turned to Helensla and smirked.
"Fine, fine, I owe you lunch."
"And it's time for us to depart."
Rivaldi's comment took them by surprise, as she had not spoken during the entire battle with the hulk. Still, neither Helensla Nora Jil were eager to stay here much longer.
Hardly even acknowledging the two of them otherwise, Rivaldi walked towards the door that led to the stairs, which open on its own.
"And for future reference, if I ever find anyone's hands in my pockets, I'm keeping the hands."
Many of Rivaldi's now-dead foes had assumed she was unconscious while in that trance, or physically helpless, at very least, unaware of her surroundings. Why else would she need bodyguards? Truth be told, she could hear very well. She heard what Jil had said, just like she heard the nervous gulp from Jil now…
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And with that, we end chapter one.
Coming up in Chapter 2, Nichole returns with another old friend, plus more on what happened here, and a lot of loose ends from the previous part are addressed, as the Shadowchasers in Cauldron start trying to figure out what the devil is going on.
Plus, more Shadowchaser Files!
See you there.
