“We brought honor to our home.” Lee said, also emphasizing two more of the creed tenants.

“Yes, yes. Very good. Now, where are the younglings?” The alchemist said as he quickly descended the stairs.

All three Fettore looked at him in surprise. He must’ve rushed over quickly upon hearing the matriarch’s death throws. Trailing behind him was another crocodile-like lizardfolk, wearing the same shield insignia on his armor. Though the shield was black on his white and gold garb, opposite fo the symbol on the voidsteel door. This warrior was darker than the two others the Fettore had seen earlier, a good head taller, and much more menacing.

The alchemist looked at the trio expectantly. When he noticed that none of them held a young kraken, he tanned face began to visibly redden. “You killed them?!” He accused and his magnificent wing wings flared out. “You were ordered to keep them alive. Typical barbarians, you lack all honor and strength to do what was promised.” Seteshan said as he bared his sharp teeth. His lizardfolk companion let out a deep growl that promised violence.

“Don’t jump to assumptions yet, your majesty.” Lee said, not concerned by the display in front of them. He put a hand on Uther’s shoulder again. “Our skilled hunter here had the wisdom to not injure one of them.”

The prince’s demeanor shifted instantly. “It’s alive?” He asked as he retracted his wings.

“Indeed.” Lee answered.

The prince gave an excited grin, his two different colored eyes constricting and giving him a look of madnesss. “Well, go get it.” He barked.

Lee raised his hands placatingly, and the three Fettore turned toward the water and began walking into it The trio had to tread deeper and deeper until they were eventually around the floating corpse of the dead matriarch a thick ring of her blue blood around her body. Fortunately, they weren’t past knee level.

While they searched, they could hear the alchemist cackling back on shore. The lizardfolk soldier had pulled in the nearly bisected corpse of one of the younglings. Both of the shield agent imperials were holding and leaning over the corpse as the prince examined it, completely engrossed upon taking in the specimen. “Guys, I’m not seeing this thing. There’s a good chance that it may be gone already.” Uther lied as he whispered to his fellow Fettore. With Mark Prey still active, he knew exactly where the creature was. He wanted to make sure the strange royal alchemist wasn’t listening in.

“We better find it.” Nicholas hissed in reply. “I will not ruin this chance to honor the clan.”

Uther looked back at the alchemist and soldier. Both had their backs turned to the group, but Uther could hear the wet sloshes as they were ripping apart the dead youngling’s body. Uther let out an involuntary shiver. He didn’t know what the alchemist was looking for, and he didn’t want to know. That seraphim gave him the creeps.

After another minute of pretending to search the water along the cavern. Uther was forced to expose that he had found the young kraken. It was indeed hiding under its mother’s floating body. It locked eyes with Uther and pulled itself back slightly. The creature was clearly terrified as its large red eyes didn’t stop looking at Uther and its body began shivering uncontrollably. Uther looked back to see that the two imperials weren’t looking at them. So, Uther carefully gestured to his comrades to come over to his position quietly.

The two men trudged over. “It’s under the mother. It is shivering and terrified. I implore you, please cancel this contract. There is no honor in working for that viper of a man over there, and there is no honor in us killing a scared child.” He quietly pleaded.

“This is hilarious. So, you, “Uther The Saberbane,” suddenly have a problem with killing a beast? Where did this come from? I’ve heard stories about you boy, all the Fettore have. You’ve done plenty worse than just kill a young creature. I will say, no one had ever doubted your loyalty to the clan, not until now.” Nicholas said.

Uther grit his teeth. The glasses-wearing Fettore was right. Uther had done worse, but to question his loyalty. The man knew just how to get under Uther’s skin.

Lee sighed and rubbed his bald head in frustration. “I hate arguing about the damn tenants.” He muttered before addressing the two. “Look, I’m not going to lie to you. That prince is creepier than a cursed doll possessed by a wraith, but we’re in too deep now. If we don’t finish it now, that could lead to the Empire declaring war on us.”

Uther exhaled, clearly torn.

Lee softened up some and said, “Look, I understand. If this is a person, a child, I would be having the same doubts. All you need to do is look at it for what it really is though.” He then prodded the large corpse of the matriarch with the bottom of his spear. “It’s a monster.”

Uther nodded his head to his senior’s words but couldn’t shake this doubt building up in his heart. He trusted the jarl. In fact, he had made it his life’s mission to serve her and Skjoldheim. Still, does that not mean she could be wrong? Even though he trusted her, could he not also believe that she could make a mistake in having the clan accept this task?

Uther wanted to just agree and go along with his comrades’ words, but there was something in its large eyes as he looked down at it. The small kraken didn’t have a classic face like Uther did, but it could still clearly convey emotion and intelligence in its eyes. He couldn’t say exactly how he knew this, but the hunter could detect a clear kindness from it past all the scared shivering. “I-“

His words were cut off by the alchemist, “Have you found the blasted creature yet?”

“Indeed we have.” Lee shouted back. “Oh..” The bald man said in surprise as he looked at the pair on the beach. Both Uther and Nicholas turned and their eyes widened in a mix of shock and disgust. Both the seraphim and lizardfolk had faces covered in blue blood. They had been eating the dead kraken youth right there on the sand before the body had even had a chance to cool.

Both the imperials snapped their heads towards where the still living kraken was hiding. Greed flashed across their faces, plain for all to see. The seraphim shoved his comrade toward the water. “Retrieve the youngling, and keep it alive.” He ordered before turning away again.

The soldier scowled but not directly at the prince. The crocodile-like man held a large ripped- off tentacle in his free hand as he began trudging forward. The Fettore stood there in shock as they watched him open his maw and begin to scarf the tentacle raw. Lee and Nicholas looked away, but Uther couldn’t. Whether or not he was supposed to, he gazed momentarily into the darkness of the man’s maw as he ate. It was just for a glimpse, but when he looked at that strange darkness, his spine went cold. He saw a void and could somehow feel an equal parts mix of hunger and malice come from it. He felt it more than any person he’s ever pursued for a bounty, more than any bloodthirsty beast he’s hunted. It gave off an aura that he could only accurately describe as evil.

Uther let out an involuntary shiver as he saw that. A similar darkness seemed to emanate from the soldier’s mouth as he consumed the body part. It even seemed to flow out from his body as a whole for a few heartbeats before disappearing. Nicholas and Lee stepped back to allow the soldier to come by and pass, not even bothering to give the soldier much attention. It’s clear that though they were uncomfortable, they just wanted to finish this job as quickly as possible and get out.

Uther hesitated though. Unlike the other two, he noticed the darkness that had temporarily came from the soldier. While it was clearly malicious in nature, there was something else to it. It was familiar…Uther then let out an involuntary gasp in recognition. It was the same nullifying darkness that came off the alchemist earlier when he had halted his experiments.

Uther lowered his blood red spear at the Shield Division soldier and moved to stand between the reptilian man and the young kraken. Uther used Odin’s Eye.

Name: Argok

Level: N/A

Race: Lizardfolk

Pact Status: Bonded – Ra

Profession: Soldier Specializaion: Royal Guard

Class: Warrior Specialization: Zealous Blade

Languages: Common, Lizardspeech

Feats: Zealot

Pools & Resistances

N/A

Lizardfolk come in many forms. As such, there are many specifics depending on the type of reptile they share a heritage with. Still, there are many commonalities. Cold-blooded, they have a hard time surviving in cold climates. The trade-off for that is that they thrive in high heat areas that many others couldn’t withstand. With their thickened hides, they are remarkably durable warriors and have exemplary fortitude. They are not known for their magical prowess however, and many forgo even attempting to practicing magic in favor of more physical classes and professions. Still, every so often, a prodigy arises among their ranks. Beware if you face a lizardfolk who embraces the path of magic.

Uther let the information wash over him to understand his foe. He didn’t know what the Zealous Blade or Royal Guard specialization provided, but he noticed that the soldier and the alchemist prince shared the Zealot feat and were both bonded to the god Ra. That couldn’t be a coincidence. Still, he was confused. From what he knew, Ra was the god of the sun. So, why were both of these zealots to the god using some sort of malicious darkness?

His internal speculation caused him to not keep focus. It was just for a moment, but the soldier noticed it. The lizardfolk gave a toothy smirk, surged a couple steps forward to close the distance, and back-handed Uther. The Fettore’s neck twisted suddenly and he spat out blood as he lost a quarter of his health from just that single blow. Uther’s body skipped once from the sheer impact on the water before he rolled and recovered. He knew not how this lizardfolk was so strong, but the hunter was no stranger to strong opponents.

Despite the sudden pain and slight ringing in his ears from the strike, Uther slammed the back end of his spear into the sand and used the momentum of his body to swing his body around and use his Vault Kick ability. The soldier was caught by surprise and was kicked squared in the gut. The crocodilian man let out a surprise grunt and was forced back a couple feet, but he looked nowhere near as hurt as Uther. Before his fellow Fettore could move to stop him, Uther pressed forward. One of the first lessons Uther had learned from his master Ronnie was his catchphrase: “Strike first, strike fast, strike last.” While Uther failed to do the first part of that, he would make sure he did the last two.

“Thrust of Gungnir,” He said and then surged forward in a flash, his spear being shoved forward towards the soldier’s neck, where he had no armor. Before it can stab the lizardfolk, the man showed shocking strength and speed by grabbing the spear by the blade. The spear of the vampiric hunter was halted in the middle of its path. Uther’s arms shook as he tried to move it forward, but it wouldn’t budge.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Still, the newly enchanted blade was sharp enough to cut the soldier’s hand slightly, drawing blood. Uther felt the spear drink in the man’s blood greedily like it was sucking it out of a straw. Instantly, the Fettore felt the spear transfer the vital fluid to him. The blood crawled up his arms and to his aching neck before it was absorbed. Immediately, Uther felt..better! Some of the acute pain had vanished instantly!

The soldier cocked his head to the side curiously and let out a low growl. “Interesting enchantment, heathen, but your power is truly pitiful.” He said in a low, almost clicking voice.

“Uther, what you are doing?!” Nicholas hissed.

“Silence, fool!” A command came from back on the shoreline. There, the alchemist gave a smug grin. Blue blood was all around his mouth and there was no trace of the kraken corpse at all. “You’re “hunter” here was idiotic enough to think himself equal to us. We are Shield Division, wielders of a hidden divine power, and the most dangerous force in the empire. I warned you what would happen if you displeased me, now your welp here will face our wrath.”

Nicholas’s jaw tensed, but he said nothing in response.

The seraphim gave a smirk of superiority at that. While Uther’s heart sank. He’d hoped his act of defiance would reveal how they shouldn’t continue to work for this sinister branch of the empire that had hired them and that they would join him. While he was successful in the first part, he had failed in the latter. His fellow Fettore were not going to help him. The only consolation is that while the obviously very evil prince was monologuing, the enchantment of the spear continued all the while bring Uther back to full health.

The seraphim looked to the soldier and nodded, “Show him our patron’s true power.”

The lizardfolk soldier gave a bloodthirsty grin in response. He looked down at Uther and uttered one word, “Consume.” That same dark power that Uther had seen before, that malicious hunger erupted out from the soldier’s palm that gripped the blood red spear. The weapon shook in Uther’s grip, and his eyes widened as he saw the enchanted spear begin to dissolve before him.

He could tell the man would kill him if he didn’t do something soon. If his spear was destroyed, Uther was finished. While capable warriors, Fettore were first and foremost lancers. They needed their spears available to fight at their fullest. The foe before Uther required nothing less. Uther kicked up some water at his opponent.

A membrane moved over the soldier’s eyes, instantly protecting his vision from the water. Fortunately, Uther didn’t intend that to obstruct his vision. The Fettore intended it as a distraction. “As I said, pitiful. Gr-“ He suddenly groaned as Uther kicked the man.

While the lizardfolk was a bond-wielder and stronger than the typical imperial soldier, he was not invulnerable. As a hunter Uther had trained to exploit the weak points of his targets. Naturally, as a bounty hunter, he learned to exploit the weaknesses of his humanoid targets too. One place was always a safe bet to try, and that was the groin.

While the surprise attack didn’t force the soldier back, the surprise nature of it and the acute, sharp pain did make his grip weaken slightly. That was all Uther needed. “Mark Prey. Thrust of Gungnir.” In just under a second, the soldier’s body glowed red in Uther’ vision, and the Fettore drove forward once again. While the spear of the vampiric hunter was partially dissolved, what was left was still plenty sharp. With the boost from Mark Prey and the precision of Uther’s strike, the doomed was able to strike in the center of his opponent’s neck.

The crocodilian soldier gave a choked cough of surprise as the spear burst through the scales out the back of his neck, going completely through his toughened hide. The lifeblood that liberally coated the damaged weapon began to be immediately absorbed into the metal. The spear rapidly consumed the fluid like a thirsty man in a desert, and it immediately reformed as the Sanguinous Healing Enchantment activated.

The soldier’s reptilian eyes widened as his slitted pupils constricted and looked distant. He wasn’t looking at Uther. Still, a look of complete terror overtook the lizardfolk’s face. “No,” he choked out before his health hit zero. To Uther’s surprise, instead of the body going limp, something else happened. His body began to collapse inward on itself as a sinister energy pulled at the corpse. The soldier’s body sloughed around Uther’s spear as it was being drawn in and compressed as if there was some sort of magic vortex in his body. The vortex enveloped the dead soldier’s form, devouring every inch until nothing remained but a small, polished black rock.

Uther stared in amazement at the stone, before gravity took hold and it unceremoniously plopped into the water. The three Fettore stared at the stone under the water with matching dumbfounded expressions. They truly did not know what just happened. Before any of them could say anything, the alchemist had rushed forward to Uther with surprising speed. He grabbed the young Fettore by the cloak and hurled him onto the sand.

Lee and Nicholas moved to help Uther, but the Alchemist raised his hand and bared his teeth to them. “If either of you so much as takes a step to help this infidel, I will make sure that every man, woman, and child of your pitiful nation is slaughtered like the pigs they are. Unless you want war, you will stay out of my way. This heathen owes my patron and my empire a blood-debt.”

Though not as overtly muscular as either of the Fettore, Prince Seteshan continued to hold himself with a noble air. With every word he said, he radiated more power than the other man had ever given off. Both the men were intimidated and confused. They knew they man was a bond-wielder like them. Uncomfortable dietary preferences aside, he shouldn’t be able to emanate this much power. It reminded them of their jarl. They both felt suppressed and at a loss. Feeling that their hands were tied, Lee and Nicholas didn’t move to help Uther.

The young Fettore stood up and bared his teeth. If they weren’t going to help, he’d do what he knew was right on his own. Despite the malevolent aura coming from the prince, Uther was not as affected as his clanmates. Perhaps it was because he’d already defeated a foe with a similar power. It didn’t matter to him at that moment.

What mattered was his clan and the words he lived by. Sure, he lived by the Skjaldheim tenants: Strength, Honor, Loyalty, Wisdom, and Home, but there were also the teachings of his master, the teachings unique to Uther. Yes there was his first lesson about striking first, but the most impactful lesson was the last. “No matter what, do what you believe is right. If you do that, you are truly living by all the tenants.”

Uther bared his teeth at the prince. He would overcome this evil and bring honor to the Fettore. “Mark Prey. Thrust of Gungnir.” Uther lunged forward, but the alchemist drew a khopesh made of a black metal, voidsteel, and batted away Uther’s spear with contemptuous ease.

“You killed my friend, heathen. Now, I will make you feel utter despair as you realize just how weak you are. Only after I break you, will you have my permission to die.” The noble said with cold hatred. Uther was not deterred however. He had committed himself to this choice, the right choice he believed. There was no going back, so he went all in on trying to kill the prince. Uther used his training, skills, and equipment to the best of his ability. He used Gungnir’s Justice to do a ranged attack before trying to get in close and activating his cloak’s enchantment, but both his weapon and the magic of his cloak was easily dealt with by the voidsteel weapon. The anti-magic properties of the metal were particularly difficult for Uther.

The doomed was a highly-trained warrior possessing a specialized fighter class and used that expert training to the best of his ability. He parried, dodged, and used every relevant skill and ability to take down his foe. Hoping to catch the noble by surprise, Uther activated Odin’s Skewer. It was a multi-thrust attack with his spear that progressively got faster and faster the more stamina he fed the ability. Plus, it was not magical. So, the voidsteel couldn’t negate it.

Though the prince possessed neither a class or profession that was combat related, he was still able to easily deal with Uther’s barrage. He may not have had a combat focused class, but he had clearly been trained. Uther could tell in the precision of the seraphim’s movements, the focus of his strikes, and the grace that he used them all with. The seraphim deflected all of Uther’s strikes and even landed a few successful counter attacks against the doomed, drawing thin lines of blood in multiple areas.

Uther grit his teeth. Truly, the most difficult part was Seteshan’s strength in-tandem with his skill. Uther had fought skilled opponents, had faced strong creatures with monstrous strength, but the prince was a foe who possessed both deadly traits. Uther parried a casual swing of the voidsteel khopesh, but wasn’t able to deal with the prince’s follow-up strike. He got a cut across the forearm, one of many on his body. Seteshan however, was unscathed.

Uther growled while the prince gave a sharp-toothed grin. “You see the difference in skill, heathen. Now, despair at your own weakness. You are no hunter. You are an insect before my power.”

“Oh, yeah? Then why’d you hire us in the first place? If you’re so strong, why’d you need to get someone else to do your dirtywork? That’s what a weakling would do.” Uther spat. He wanted to buy time to recover, but he was genuinely curious too.

Seteshan’s two different colored eyes went completely black for just a moment as his grin seemed to grow too wide for his face. He laughed, “Weak? Hahahaha! You are the one covered in wounds and have the audacity to call me weak? Well, it seems you still haven’t learned your lesson then, heathen.” At those words, the seraphim unfurled his large wings with a powerful burst of wind.

Seteshan gave a mighty flap of his wings and instantly closed the distance in a display of speed the seraphim hadn’t shown before. Uther didn’t raise his spear up in time to block, leaving himself exposed. The voidsteel khopesh slashed over the right side of Uther’s face. Uther cried out in pain as the right-side of his vision suddenly went dark. Warm blood began to flow down from his face to his neck.

Adrenaline running wildly through his body, Uther instinctually fought back. He went to sweep the prince’s legs, but the Seteshan just stomped down on the Fettore’s spear, forcing Uther to lose his grip on the weapon. The seraphim gave another powerful flap of his wings. He flew forward and grabbed Uther by the throat. In a just over a second, the seraphim flew over and slammed the doomed into the stone wall of the cavern, his hand still gripped tight on the Fettore’s throat.

“You know why we hired you?” Seteshan asked as he boasted. “It’s because we of Shield Division are too good at killing. We hired you heathens because we didn’t want the emperor knowing what we’re up to, and you’re much too weak to pose a real threat. With you lot fighting, we knew there was some chance of the creatures living, and some chance is better than no chance.”

There were many curious things the prince said there, but Uther didn’t have the time to ask. He was too busy trying to be able to breathe. The prince’s smile turned savage. “It’s clear that you’ve outlasted your usefulness. Now, die like the worm you are.” He said and squeezed harder on Uther’s throat.

Uther fought back desperately, but to no avail. As he struggled and his life balanced on a knife’s edge, Uther thought back to his master Ronnie and to his family, all of them had died because he was too weak. He was about to die here because he was too weak. Though darkness began to overtake the edge of his vision. The doomed looked over and noticed the large eyes of the small innocent-looking kraken. It was clearly scared, and Uther was its last hope.

Reinvigorated with desperate hope that he was the creature’s only chance to survive. He tried to knock the alchemist’s hand off his throat. The seraphim’s arm was like iron however. It didn’t budge despite Uther’s effort. As he struggled and the last vestiges of air began to escape his system, Uther’s wrist rubbed against the saber tooth he had strung around his neck. His eye widened frantically as an idea came to mind. He reached for the tooth, but his blackness began to overtake him as his consciousness started fading.

Before the black took him though, something surprising happened. Just as he was starting to lose consciousness, a pair of voices shouted from behind the prince “Reach of Gungnir!” Two spearheads then emerged out of the prince’s back and through his abdomen. The seraphim cried out in pain and dropped Uther to the sand.

Uther landed on the sand like dead weight. He wheezed and coughed as he fought to get a good, deep breath. He was successful, and looked up with his one good eye to see the monstrous prince gripping the spears impaling him. Uther smiled. His clanmates had made the right decision. Despite being able to breathe again, Uther’s vision almost immediately became hazy after that. He had gotten free of the chokehold, but he was still losing a lot of blood from the deep wound across the right side of his face.

His hearing became muffled too. He was pretty sure he heard someone say, “Run,” but he couldn’t tell. Uther could still see the prince before him, and the hunter refused to not aid his clanmates in this fight. The Fettore ripped the long canine tooth off his neck and lunged forward to stab it in Seteshan’s neck, but the prince had one last trick up his sleeve

“Hunger of Apophis!”

Before Uther’s attack could land, the malicious darkness surged out from every orifice on the seraphim, including the holes the spears had made, only this time it came out much stronger and without restraint. The entire cavern trembled from the sheer force of the ability, and Uther was thrown back from it, cracking his head against the stone. Out from Seteshan, what looked to be a hydra made of pure darkness emerged, each serpentine head roared in a terrifying discordance. The shadowy heads lashed out in all directions, towards any creature it could detect.

Despite the terrifying thing that was before him, Uther could only get up to his knees. Where he’d struck his head against the stone was with no protection from his horns, causing the doomed to lose even more blood. Barely conscious and severely weakened, he somehow had found his spear and raised it up defensively.

His eye began to close just as the serpentine head of darkness began to strike. Then, Uther had moved out of the way, narrowly avoiding the terrifying shadow serpent head. It bit down, missing the doomed’s flesh but managed to successfully bite off the top fourth of his spear. While the dodge was remarkable, it wasn’t of Uther’s own volition. Something pulled him. Uther had barely any strength to resist and could barely register what was happening. The serpent head roared and lunged for Uther once more.

The same thing that had moved Uther before tugged his body once more. This time however, he let go of any resistance, and he was pulled into the embrace of the water beneath.