“I never asked, Stacey, where’d you get the new coat? It looks so cozy!” Jane said, seeming to have given in to her curiosity.
William figured she would’ve asked on the way to Serendipity, but his sister wasn’t the biggest of morning people.
“William had it made from the fur of that horrid Direwolf we fought,” Stacey replied, rubbing her cheek and neck against the fur collar in comfort.
“I’d love a coat like that. Maybe John will find and slay one some day and do the same for me?” Jane said, winking at John and giving him a cheeky smile.
“When I’m a powerful monster like William, then maybe, but that’s a goal a few levels away from us now,” John returned, with an almost wistful tone.
“Who knows?” William chimed in, acknowledging the two wooden sentries at the exit for Everglade.
Jane and John gave him blank stares at his vague reply before William continued, “I’ll make sure to stay ahead of you. Someone needs to ward away the bigger nasties from you guys after all. Ain’t I a benevolent being.”
“Benevolent my ass, man. I’ll catch up to your level and overtake you,” John said.
“Me too. Can’t let you get too cocky bro,” Jane added.
The group began passing through the new entryway as Stacey wrapped her arm around William’s own.
“I’m ahead of the both of you right now so you would need to catch up to me first,” Stacey replied, sticking her tongue out at Jane with a teasing grin.
“Traitor! You’re my best friend and you turn traitor taking my brother’s side,” Jane wailed, clutching her chest in faux pain.
“They joke but the cap’s level twenty so they most likely will catch up to Stacey.” William thought, not saying those thoughts as he was happy to let Stacey tease the others, at least until they exited Everglade.
Moments later they were on the other side of the walls, ready for their mission. The three others were still bantering behind him.
“Okay guys, serious time, we’ll need to be on it and aware now that we could be attacked in mere moments from anywhere,” William said, the words being uttered loudly so as to cut through the collective noise.
He was pleased when the group’s demeanor changed and their body language stiffened into awareness. That shift was a relief as they couldn’t afford to half ass the task at hand.
William’s group had their bonds scout thirty feet in each cardinal direction with Echo to the west; the direction they had to travel. The creatures would nudge their partners down the bond if they encountered a threat. William’s [Cartographer] skill was putting in the work as usual and within an hour of travel, they reached a small clearing that, from his skill’s calculations, was the area that the patrol vanished from. As they got close to the scene, metallic objects reflected the morning sunlight drawing the focus of the eye. William’s group started to collect what remained with their bonds playing lookout still and built a small pile of things in the center of the clearing to go through for any leads.
There were a mix of weapons and a few notes that appeared to be scout reports of things that William and his group couldn’t understand. They could read the language but it made no sense. It was just a jumble of words. A few moments of critique later, something clicked. “It’s a cipher.” He mentally surmised, and for a few more minutes, he tried to crack it and figure out the phrasing. He had asked the others to try, but no one had any success. He had hoped it would give some leads to where the patrol vanished to.
William shook off the frustration and looked at the situation objectively. The longer they lingered here, the less chance those missing people had to survive their fate. William stored all the collected possessions in his Spatial Storage willing them to be in an unused corner as a pile. He didn’t want the ring automatically sorting the items as it would be more annoying to track later. There would be tracks to find and with that, a use for his Grit resource. William straightened and started circling the area carefully for footsteps. Or broken branches or brush. After scanning for several minutes, he spotted a depression in the grass slightly larger than his foot. Looking close, he used his [Tracker] job skill and expended one hundred and ten grit for maximum detection and specific location of the source of the grass depression.
His mind received a strong pull to the south and instinctively knew that the source was nearly two miles away, humanoid, and with ten other humanoids. William was pleased with the skill and the information he had been provided. William mentally subtracted five from the group he hunted as those were most likely the captives, but also readied his spirit in case the skill only counted the associates of his quarry.
“Guys! This way, a group of people are two miles out!” William called over, to the others who had started checking other parts of the clearing for any tracks.
A chill breezed through the air and in the distance to the north, William started to notice clouds creeping over the horizon. If they were rain clouds, any tracks would be much harder to find. They made their way through the thick brush and weaved between the trees, relying on William’s [Cartographer] and [Tracker] skills to guide them through the rough woodland.
It wasn’t long before Echo told William through the bond that there was a ‘dead one’ as Echo put it, about twenty meters ahead. William relayed that to his group and they all slowed the pace edging towards the place Echo pointed out. When they got there, the group recoiled in surprise. The sight was grim, but William adjusted to the scene quickly and checked the body.
“Nothing. No items or possessions and their body is still partially warm,” William said, examining the body.
The corpse had a large ‘X’ crossed in deep wounds over the area that had been the man’s chest. The cut wasn’t bleeding much, mostly covered with blood that had coagulated and started to dry. Parts of ribcage and organ were visible through the twin gashes, but he had a feeling that the wound wasn’t the lethal blow. One of the man’s eye’s was a mush of blood and viscera, with a hole out the back of the skull that lined up perfectly with the destroyed eye. It was probably done after the chest wound, meaning that the ones responsible were twisted bastards. It was quite recent, most likely within the past hour or two. They were a good way from the original spot of the abduction now so it seemed pointless to kill the guy this way when they were unarmed and in the middle of nowhere. If they had cared about hiding their actions by concealing the bodies, then they wouldn’t have left such straightforward tracks. Flies had started to land and buzz around the corpse. William searched the man’s tattered clothing for any personal effects to return, but found nothing.
“What do we do?” Jane asked, her body language showing concern as she eyed the surroundings.
“Leave the body here. We can’t burn it without risking the fire from lighting the area up, and we have no means to bring the body with us safel-” William paused, eyeing his ring.
William grabbed bunches of leaves from the surroundings quickly and stuffed the open gash with them. He would seal the wound so it didn’t bleed inside his Spatial Ring. With a flick of his hand, the body disappeared.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Oh? OH! That’s clever!” John said, as the girls both nodded appreciatively.
William hoped that smell wasn’t a thing inside the ring and after getting his bearings once more, said, “Let’s continue on. Things will probably get a lot bloodier from here on.”
The group nodded and resumed their journey with the same formation. After several hours, they encountered another body. This one was a lot more cut up and filled with puncture wounds. “Possibly arrow or spear wounds.” William mused, considering how best to store this body. In a way, more parts made it easier to store, but he didn’t even know how the space would catalogue corpse parts, so he would will it to be in a heap in the corner opposite of the personal effects atop the other body already present. William was curious as to why he was cut up. The guy would’ve obviously died to the stab wounds before he was cut up as it made no sense to stab chunks of flesh randomly. Why waste the energy? William assumed that their prey had kept moving, but stopping to kill another captive here would have slowed them enough for a gap to reduce. He decided to use the last of his grit to use [Tracker] again. His eyes widened as the results flashed in his mind. They were owlishly wide as he counted the same number of humanoids as before. It appeared that the result included association with the tracked person.
That in itself was odd. Why did a natural tracking skill provide so much information? Numbers could be determined from tracks, but association and relation? That made no sense. A few moments more of his inner struggle of comprehension passed before he stopped himself.
“Probably System related shit.” William thought, as he said, “Okay guys, they are about five hundred meters west of here, eleven of them so we will need to ambush them and make sure that any captives aren’t caught in our attack. I’ll try and use my Alpha Strike to initiate the ambush and hopefully reduce their numbers before you guys get stuck in.”
“How we working this, William? What’s the full plan?” John asked.
William wanted to hurry, but it wouldn’t hurt to explain what he had in mind as long as they were quick about it.
“Okay, so I do my opener, if there is a separate group that one of you thinks can be caught in [Fire-Wall], incinerate them. If they have Medics and Mages, I’ll have Echo disrupt their Mana while you use ranged attacks to take those people out. That is only if you can’t safely [Fire-Wall] the enemy without harming the captives. Jane, sit back and support us with heals. I’ll get stuck right into their close range fighters. The spellcasters must fall quickly or we will be on the back foot. Severely. Any questions?”
“What stops them from trying to kill me as I’m also a healer?” Jane asked, worry creeping into her tone.
William smiled, trying to reassure his sister and replied, “I’ll be what stops them dear sister. If they get close, I’ll teleport there and protect you. As John and Stacey are both ranged combatants for the most part, you guys shouldn’t have any in your face if all goes well.”
Jane took a deep breath, her gaze hardening, a testament to her resolve as she nodded, keeping her eyes locked on William. He was proud of his little sister in that moment. William began to lead the group onward before a grin nearly cut his face in two, eliciting surprise and question to appear on his companions’ faces.
“It appears that they are stopping again, this is our chance. Let’s get em!”
No one cheered or jeered, they merely nodded ascent as being soundless here would make or break their rescue attempt. They kept that fact well in mind as they got nearer to the target. Ahead of them, a thick copse of trees parting with a person sized passage between the brush awaiting them, almost inviting them. As the group managed to get close enough to peer in, the sign of some tents being set up made William smile wide. They were setting up camp. There wouldn’t be a better time.
He was about to declare the attack when his face twisted in horror and rage at what befell his eyes beside one already erected tent.
Tied to a nearby tree were three disheveled women, clothing in tatters, some private parts exposed and others barely covered. They were bruised and beaten, and two of them stared into space with vacant expressions. One, however, had eyes of fire, scanning everything around them. Weapons, routes of escape, positioning of their captors and the like. It didn’t take a genius to see what had been done to them and would continue to be done until they were either rescued or dead. He almost charged straight in, but with a hand on his shoulder and tight grip, John kept William from that folly.
“I only see five enemies right now. There should be six more. We can’t run in without knowing where they are. We could get stabbed in the back or something if that happens,” John said, his tone barely a whisper.
William paused, took a few calming breaths and in a whisper of his own, replied, “You- You’re right. We need to watch for the others. Once they are all present, we make our move… unless any of those bastards touch the captives while we’re here. I don’t think any of us could just hide and watch that happen.”
Stacey and Jane were deathly angry at the sight, their faces were burning with rage and he had to admire their restraint, a restraint he wouldn’t have had without his mate to assist.
William and John gave their partners a hug, offering their reassurances in whispers to ears. Fortunately, the wait wasn’t long as the trees rustled on the opposite end of the small clearing. The six missing enemies had returned and started to put their own packs down. All had black robes on, hiding their identities and clothing.
One of them was tripped by the defiant captive, who unfortunately received a backhand from the one nearby and then a second from the one that had been tripped. As grim as that scene was, William had spotted something in the man’s pack as it hit, before it was hastily scooped back up. He had seen yellow dyed cloth of some form. If these were also people from Fort Boulder and not robbers who also got some patrol of theirs, then the whole region could be at risk. He was more than happy to kill more yellow-clad bastards, particularly the kind that seem inclined to rape, pillage, and plunder.
William assessed the layout of the camp. In the center of the clearing was a circle of stones, presumably for a fire. Around it were five tents so far, each seeming big enough for two people. A bigger tent lay closer to the clearing edge on the opposite end to where William’s group currently hid. That was also the tent that had been set up next to the captives. William guessed around twenty meters away. “No Problem.” William affirmed to himself mentally. Three of the cloaked foes were sat beside the firepit in conversation with one another while two others had started practicing thrusts with their spears, four of the remaining six were setting up the smaller furniture of their camp. At the back near the captives, the remaining two were discussing something inside the big tent. He could see inside due to the flap being tied open.
William assumed one of the pair had to be the leader of their band. “Maybe I should capture the leader.” He thought, conjuring the best method to secure the man’s capture. He didn’t take long to form an image of a plan. Assessing the other foes, he noticed that the three sat down by the fire pit were all armed with swords at the waist. Two pairs of daggers gleamed on two of the four enemies setting up camp. The other two didn’t have any visible weapon, and only one person had a staff. The staff user was inside the tent talking to another guy with no visible weapon. It seemed like there were two spear Fighters, three sword Fighters, two Scouts, two Mages, one Medic, and one unknown, probably another Mage. Those by the fire pit could probably be instant charcoal with a [Fire-Wall] cast, also hopefully catching the two spear wielders. That would leave more ranged people than melee, but William was fine with getting up in people’s faces anyway. He needed to move in a way that would allow him to use his Alpha Strike on those in the tent, under the assumption that someone capable of being the leader would find some way to survive. William intended to aim low anyway to remove their mobility. If he could dispatch the other remaining enemies with aid from his party, then he could resolve the issue with the leader. There was a lot of risk, but sometimes risks had to be taken.
Suddenly he felt eyes fall upon him. William froze up and slowly scanned the area. He assumed as he wasn’t a pincushion for arrows or had no [Danger Sense] activation, then it was unlikely to be more abductors. He finished his scan as his eyes met with the fierce captive’s own. Her gaze was beautiful, but piercing. William didn’t want her screwing them over and quickly put a finger to his lips. The woman’s gaze didn’t shift, change, or falter. It continued to hold his own. William next glanced to his allies who nodded, scanning the surroundings for any approach while William sorted the issue. William pointed to himself, then extended his finger to encompass his group before he pointed to the captors, and finished with a finger running across his neck. He watched then as the captive’s fiery eyes stayed the same, but this time were accompanied by a ferocious grin. She agreed with a slight nod, before looking away and going back to her earlier behavior.
William whispered the plan he formed to his party and with everyone in agreement, William summoned Flicker in one hand while his other held the hilt of the sheathed Severance.
It was time to spill some yellow blood.