Back in the main room the crowd had calmed a bit. There were still several loud conversations arguing over what could have caused the lock-in, but most had relaxed and gotten back to their dinners and drinks.
Dani stomped over to the job board and tore down four notices. “Take this one, this one, that one and stick this one in your inventory.”
Peter juggled the pieces of paper thrown in his direction. Taking one at random he squinted to read the writing on one side. “Hey, I did this one. It’s about a little girl who wants her dog saved. I got my face eaten off.”
Dani shrugged. “We’ll do it again and this time keep your face covered.”
Peter did as he was told and pressed his thumb to the acceptance seal of the three and stuffed the last in a pocket. “What about the poor dog? How often does it go missing? How many dogs are there anyway?”
“No more questions!” Dani stormed out the door.
Peter caught up with her out in the street. He opened his mouth to speak but she just waved for him to follow. Silently was implied. Disgruntled, Peter complied.
Feeling malicious, Peter decided to take the insistence on quiet to the extreme. He followed Dani doing the absolute best he could to make no noise whatsoever. He watched where his feet fell like a hawk, touching no cobblestone that even might be loose. He pulled his hood up and cloak tight around his body. He even tried to breathe quietly.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Dani demanded after a few hundred meters.
Peter shrugged and spread his hands to indicate he had no idea what she was talking about.
“Are you messing about?”
Peter shook his head.
“Ugh. Fine. Whatever. The first house is just up here.” She spun on her heel and stomped off again with Peter close on her heel, his arm itching furiously.
While Dani dealt with the lady and her daughter, putting on a sickly sweet tone that hid her murderous rage, Peter checked in on his character sheet. Stealth: 0.2%. New Skill learned: Padfoot. New Skill learned: Breath Control. New Skill learned: Perception (Urban). Well, that’s quite the haul, he thought to himself. It looks like practicing the skill unlocks it. I wonder if I’d get a jumping skill for jumping up and down? Still, these tiny increments mean it’s going to take forever to get anywhere.
Something made him jerk his head to the side a moment before a slap would have landed. “Oi, daydreamer. We’re off. You still playing silly buggers?”
Peter smiled and shrugged again. She wants to be a cow, he could play this game all night.
“Look, we’re doing this for you. Talk to me or I’m going back to the city.”
Peter’s smile faded. “You can either tell me to shut up, or talk, but I can’t do both. You have been grumpy since we met Pham back there. I’m not in favour of letting an animal starve to death either, but nor would I use a poison or contagion like you do. I don’t judge someone’s tactics, death comes to us all very quickly and we all do what we can to avoid it within our own abilities.”
“Well, fine. Just don’t expect me to go using something like that.”
“Why would I expect you to use a tactic you’re neither trained in nor comfortable with? I know we only met a couple of days ago, but do I really seem like the kind of person who’d do that?”
The scowl on Dani’s face eased a bit. “I guess not. Look, can we just get on with this? I want to get to bed some time this century.”
The two of them left the town as dawn began to kiss the horizon. They walked in uncomfortable silence, together but alone in their thoughts. As they padded along the road towards the forest Peter kept up his practice of walking as quietly as he could, controlling his breathing and keeping a vigilant eye out for anything out of the ordinary. He was rewarded with another round of skill ups just as they reached a wooden gate set into the wall that separated the road from the fields.
“Right,” Dani whispered as they crossed the field towards the trees. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re here to get you skills and money so you need to be the one who strikes the killing blow.” She fished a series of parts from a pouches around her waist, quickly assembling a tiny crossbow. Loading it with a bolt with a white, bulbous head, she continued. “These are stunspore bolts, made them myself. You’re going to sneak in and take out any that are sleeping. If one of them even looks like getting up, I’ll pop ‘em in the face with one. There’s a small area of effect, so if you hear a whistle, hold your breath for a second. Got it?”
“Got it.” Peter nodded. He pulled his scythe out of his inventory, the blade glinting in the dappled sunlight. “Don’t forget the big one in the cave.”
Dani pulled out a different bolt, this one with a purple head. “She only comes out when the others are dead. I’ve got something special for her.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Peter nodded and checked his clothing again, making sure there was nothing that could flap, scrape or catch on a trunk. He even pulled off the hooded cape and stashed it, leaving DB rolled up in it’s warm folds. After a moment's thought he tucked into the lee of a tree to conceal the pop of it closing. “Let’s do this, without dying this time.”
He eased into the forest, this time around paying much more attention to where his feet went, finding that dry twigs and leaves stood out more even in the barely dawn light. He even tried to think invisible thoughts, remembering a book he had read years before. “I am transparent. I am a window. I am see through. I am like saran wrap.”
Ghosting into the clearing he found all the animals asleep this time. The pup he was here to rescue curled up in a hollow off to the side of the cave entrance, twitching as it dreamed. Instead of fighting each other, this time the foxes were piled on each other in a tangle of limbs in a small depression.
“I can do this,” he thought to himself. He eased the tip of the weapon towards the exposed throat of the topmost beast. With a sudden thrust he slid it up and through its head, feeling almost no resistance from the razor sharp metal blade. Notifications blossomed in the corner of his vision but he didn’t have time to pay any attention. He slid around to the second and was just about to thrust home again when the third fox began thrashing in it’s sleep. Peter’s target whipped it’s head around to nip at it’s compatriot for disturbing its’ sleep, ruining his aim. The blade ripped into its’ chest instead, and though it died it still had time to yelp loudly.
The third fox began to thrash harder, trapped under the dead weight but fully awake now. It opened its mouth to howl, but Peter heard a sharp whistle and clamped his hand over his mouth and nose. Even as the fox drew in a breath the tiny bolt slammed into the bridge of its nose and shattered, releasing a small white cloud. Instead of a howl, all it produced was a series of quiet, dry hacks. Peter took no time whipping the blade through its head, ending the fight.
Crouching behind down beside the bodies he looked back to the trees where Dani was still hidden. He spread his hands in a do I loot these now? gesture.
His only answer was a small rock bouncing off his head. He decided to take it as a no and move on. He walked as quietly as he could over to the tiny white dog and picked it up. Fluffy woke and sank its teeth into his hand with all the power a terrorised terrier could supply. Peter screamed in pain and tried to shake it off.
Another sharp whistle alerted him to the idea that all might not be well, so he grabbed the pup by its scruff, pulled it off his hand and dived across the clearing. As he scrambled up and tossed Fluffy towards where he guessed Dani was, a second stunspore bolt whipped past him and burst on something far too close behind him for comfort.
Peter rolled to his left, whirling the scythe into what he felt was a ready position as the hacking coughs the stunning bolt caused gave way to a menacing growl. Turning to face his aggressor, Peter found himself face to grotesque face with the biggest, meanest vixen he had ever seen. It was easily as tall as he, criss-crossed with scars and was missing many patches from it’s snow white fur. Surprisingly, it had beads and copper coins braided into the shaggy hair on it’s head and neck. Dark eyes shone with both intelligence and menace.
“HRRRR. HMIIIINNNEEE.” The growl sounded almost like language. The beast gathered itself and leapt at Peter, it’s jaws wide. Peter, expecting this move, dropped onto his back with the shaft crossways across his chest and thrust upwards as the massive body passed over him. The vixen tumbled across the clearing as Peter used the momentum to continue the roll back to his feet.
The vixen clawed itself back to its feet and began to growl again. The long drawn out rumble resonated in his bones, but he resisted with all his will and the effect sloughed off. Seeing that the growl had no effect, it crouched to spring again.
“Not this time, bitch!” The vixen yelped and whirled to growl into the forest, giving Peter a view of its back with a purple bolt sticking out of it. Peter took the opportunity to swing low with the scythe where he judged the tendons would be. A red flash rewarded his efforts and a new notification popped up: Crippling Strike. “Slow” status inflicted.
The vixen turned back to face him, much slower now. The purple bolt on its back was radiating dark black veins from the impact point. As he watched they were visible spreading, lending an unhealthy tint to the places where the skin was exposed.
“Look out, it’s about to turn.” Dani’s voice emanated from the trees.
Peter called back over his shoulder, not breaking eye contact. “It’s already facing me!”
“Not that sort of turn you idiot!”
Surely enough, the vixen had stopped completely and squatted on its haunches. The muscles under the skin began to twist and writhe and a monstrous howl burst from the beast’s snout. Slowly it stood, taking on more human proportions. Peter stood aghast as it flexed and howled again, the transformation from animal to were-fox complete.
“Hyuu. Tuk. Hmine. Foood. Hnow. Hyuu. Foood.” It stomped towards him on twisted feet.
Peter whirled the scythe as one would a quarterstaff. He swung left to block a slash, and took a punch to the face. Stars flashed in his vision as he reeled back. He tried faking high with the butt and lashing at the monster’s ankle with the blade, but it stepped over the blow and hammered a fist into his ribs. Rolling with the blow, he spun backwards and pivoted into a baseball swing, pulling the blade through an arm and earning a yelp of pain.
Both combatants reeled back a few paces clutching their injuries. “Any chance of an assist here?”
“You got this, I’ve got confidence in you!”
“I so do not got this!” Peter pulled the scythe back over his shoulder as the were-vixen reared back to charge again. “I do not got this at all!”
With a roar they flung themselves at each other.
Swish/slash.
Thump.
Dani rushed into the clearing to find both bodies lying face down. The were-vixen’s head was sitting a few feet away, so she was fairly confident it was no threat. She rolled Peter over onto his back, to find four massive glowing red rents torn diagonally up his abdomen and chest.
He struggled to breath as he lay there. “I… cough... I told you… hack… I did not,” he paused as a spasm wracked him. “Ah… got this.”
“Look, you did it. Hold on, I’ll get you back to town and get a healer.” She began trying to help him up.
“No. Agh…. End it... I’ll see you back in town.” He drew a wheezing breath.
“I can’t do that. It’s not right.”
Peter didn’t even try to argue. He snatched the dagger from the sheath at her hip and thrust it into his own chest. “I’ll see you. In town.” A last breath escaped his lips and his body disappeared, the dagger dropping to the ground.