Headed By A Snake

He liked being a militia guard. He earned consistent pay, twice a month. He fed himself and his younger sister well. She was getting married in a month, so he was drinking less and saving money where he could in order to help pay for the wedding. He had recently arranged to take a coworker"s night s.h.i.+ft. Guard Captain Varen was a lenient superior and approved his s.h.i.+ft after being informed of his financial situation.

Nevil looked forward to a quiet evening, his only company being his halberd and trusty lantern, the stars above, and the noisy but natural song of the crickets in the gra.s.s.

A young green-haired man ran out from behind a building as if his life depended on it. Skidding to a halt, he made a rapid 90 degree turn and began running towards him.

Nevil readjusted the buckle on his guard helmet and cleared his throat. The running youth was mildly threatening his worry-free evening. It was his duty to confront this suspicious young individual-- or at the very least, have him stop running in the streets. He prayed that no issues would arise from it...

However, soon appearing behind the running green-haired youth was a pale, blue-haired boy who easily closed the distance. They ran side by side, though the pale youth"s movement resembled more of a magical glide than a run.

Nevil thought it strange and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

When he looked once more, he"d found that a giant of a man ran with leaping strides behind the two of them, also catching up far too easily. The red-headed giant wore a terrifying grin on his face, running comfortably while carrying a far-too-large greataxe on his shoulders.

Nevil wanted absolutely nothing to do with whatever in the Seven h.e.l.ls was going on.

He placed his lantern on the street and promptly power-walked into an alleyway, well out of sight. He held his breath in worry, but soon saw the group of three run past. He listened to their fading footsteps, only deciding to breathe a sigh of relief when they"d been well out of earshot.

Adventurers. Cold sweat covered the whole of Nevil"s back. It was common knowledge in Nice that the more unique that adventurers appeared in dress and action, the more inherently dangerous they were. By that measure, any interaction with those three would have been catastrophic.

"Still, though… I wonder what they wanted…"Nevil spoke to no one in particular, facing a blank brick and mortar wall.

Nevil looked curiously on, as the bricks began to crack and crumble, revealing an inky black underneath. And from the darkness, a white ooze-like visage of a woman emerged, her pale skin, glossy as if made of wax. Blood began to stream from her eyeless sockets, matting her unkempt black hair.

Nevil lifted up his hands in the starlight and found that they, too, were covered with blood. It was real. He opened his mouth to scream, but could find no words.

And then he heard its voice.

Its voice spoke before him, behind him, with his tongue, with that of the dead, and in languages that the living no longer knew.

"(WHaERRrreeee iSss tHaa ChhHiiiiIIIiiiiiLLLLDDDD?!?!)"

…

Blood-curdling screams rang out sporadically in the evening town.

"I"ve found him, Boss." Wroe said to Tycon, gently gliding alongside him. "I had to ask a few people, but I have a pretty good idea of where to find Bucket."

Tycon was clearly out of breath and no match for Wroe"s or Dragan"s const.i.tution, but still, he responded to the best of his ability using half-words and grunts, "Mhm. Ya. Yeah?"

The trio slowed down to a stop as Tycon struggled to catch his breath. Wroe, nonplussed, continued, "A young child has been seen earlier today being taken to the Baron"s manor. Probably Bucket."

Dragan seemed to choke on air, placing his hands on his hips and bursting into unapologetic laughter, "The pedo guy? Bucket got captured by the PEDO GUY?!" He wiped tears out of his eyes, before continuing, "Oh, haha! Yeah. We have to save him, haha. That"s-- that"s terrible."

Tycon didn"t have much energy, but he did have enough to glare daggers at Dragan, "If the Baron rapes Bucket, I"m going to have you do the same to the Baron."

"Whaaat?!" Dragan looked both hurt and unwilling, "But Boss!"

"Consider it motivation. Go back to the inn and get Barza. Make sure he is armed. With a weapon."

"Alright, Boss, I"m on it," Dragan placed a hand over his chest. "Shall I get the girl, too?"

"If you want. I"ll go to the manor ahead, to scout it out."

"But Boss, you"re gonna get to kill all the bad guys!" Dragan the Difficult a.s.sumed a look that he probably thought was indignance.

Wroe smiled a smile too wide. "He"s right, Boss. You can"t have all the *fun.*"

Tycon stood up, sweating, breathing hard, and looking generally miserable, "First, I wish it known that I hate both of you."

Wroe fixed his neck and smiled weakly, while Dragan shrugged. "Y-yeah, you"ve told us." "Oh, we knew that, Boss."

"And second, I don"t plan on killing anyone. The Baron should have trained and armored troops." Tycon"s voice took deeper and more obvious tones of annoyance, "Now. Go."

Tycon watched the two respectively glide and bounce away as he finally was able to catch his breath. From an earlier conversation with Sorina and company, it seemed the Baron wasn"t well liked in the town. And if his business practices were poor, the Adventurer"s Guild or whomever was in charge would likely look the other way, if a conflict were to arise.

If they disabled any instead of outright killing them, any upper echelons would look upon his actions more favorably. Tycon was unsure if he could defeat the ma.s.s of armored guards bloodlessly, but he had no doubt that with his companions, Dragan and Wroe, the process would be more than plausible.

Tycon took in another deep breath of air.

« System, directions: Baron Tavor"s manor. »

[Calculating route.]

A transparent, simplified map of the area displayed in front of Tycon, causing him to curse. The manor was the near-opposite direction of where he was running.

He, again, began to run, this time peaking at a jogging pace, as he headed towards the n.o.ble"s manor.