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114 - Between Meals

Grugg stepped out into the village with as much caution as he usually gave to such activities. Thud waved in front of him, as if to prod at any invisible force that may be standing just outside. Brow furrowed over his single eye, there didn’t seem to be anything that immediately attacked him.

“You really need to see someone about your attitude.” Gregor crossed his arms and scowled at the wizard.

Bart raised an eyebrow. “What now? First, you all made a big deal about who and how to kill someone so that I had more shapeshifts, and now I’m apparently too much of a cold-blooded killer?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” the ratman mumbled. “The way you approach it now, ser Bart, is just… casual.”

The shapeshifter stared at him for a couple of seconds before shrugging. Instead of engaging the Deputy any further, he turned to their two captives. “Anything you’d like to tell us before we get back to headquarters?”

“No,” Jack shook his head. “Best we do everything somewhere safe.” His eyes then darted around their surroundings. “The fog has started to clear already.”

Grugg stopped and waited for them to catch up. He was eager to get out of this place - not only because it was drab and muddy but also because he needed to eat. Better they got back to the city before their prisoners accidentally fell into his stomach. Not that he would ever eat another human, of course.

His blue eye lingered on the pensive man for a couple of seconds. “Come on. Flower monster all dead now.”

The proof was clear for them all to see as they stepped further into the village. Petal-like sheets lay torn and in bundles amongst the thick mud, inert. When the creature had dropped itself down into the tunnel to chase them, it must have broken off the aggressive flowers.

“Where’s Kurt?” Lauren asked, moving up beside Bart with worry on her face. “Did the flower get him while he was restrained?”

Bart shook his head. “No, he is fine. In a manner of speaking.”

She stared blankly at him for a few seconds before she found the thread of reality to pull the curtain down, exposing the ruse. “Oh. Kurt wasn’t real.”

“He’s real…” the wizard began, then furrowed his brow. “It’s complicated. In some ways, I am the person I shapeshift into…”

“And in some ways, you’re just pretending.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “Should have known it was too good to be true.”

The wizard pursed up his lips and looked ahead, not saying anything further on the subject.

“Let’s try to find main road and wait,” Grugg said, trying to gesture for them to hurry up. Not only had they solved the mystery, but they’d also uncovered Nightshade finally. This was exciting news, and almost elicited a strong enough feeling to override his need to eat. He couldn’t wait to tell Claudia and Peony in person what they’d gotten up to.

They’d certainly be impressed.

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Claudia was bored out of her skull.

After returning to the main chamber for the continuation of the meeting, she found it hard to concentrate on the droning on of each of the various Investigators. Thankfully, she wasn’t being called upon for anything else - so just looking like she was awake was good enough.

The invitation for them all to go and investigate a dungeon that might have a connection to Nightshade was taking up what was left of her active thought processes. All this thinking was making her hungry, however. Even the promise of the secret restaurant couldn’t distract her from the dungeon.

It sounded like a big undertaking - less of an underground den and more of a lost city. Buried or created beneath the surface world. Hessler had been vague on some details. Who had made it and how old it was, for one. It was overrun with monsters and full of unexplained mystery, which is why he proposed it to them.

Things were never that simple though, she was sure of it.

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“It’s very simple,” Gregor said with bared fangs. “We just stand here with ser Grugg until the wagons come.”

The cyclops looked down at the two captives with a tired eye. Usually getting rid of prisoners was a short process, where they could easily hand them over to the local guard or perhaps anyone else with more patience and respect for the letter of the law. They could be waiting here a little while for their pickup, which helped neither his tolerance for the criminals, nor his complaining stomach.

“Grugg think things pretty simple.” He pulled a face and crossed his arms. “Person who annoys Grugg most gets eaten first.”

“First?” Bart asked, the implication being that there might be more than one of them on the menu.

“Very hungry,” the cyclops confirmed, and looked off back down the main road.

The fog had been clearing, as if a spell had been lifted once the monster had been defeated. What had started as a heavy gloom clouding the area had drifted away to a lighter mist, and some of the sunlight pierced through, illuminating the muddy road they had eventually trudged their way back to.

“I think ser Bart it the most annoying,” Gregor offered, before catching Grugg’s glare.

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As whiny as the captives had been—especially after getting stuck in the thick mud a handful of times—they were no match for how petty the ratman and wizard would be toward each other. Peony had suggested to him that the two be sent on missions together until they worked out their differences, but Grugg liked having at least one of them around.

While Bart was his closest friend, in part due to being telepathically linked with him for almost two weeks, Gregor had often gone above and beyond to help the group out. After secluding himself for years, Grugg was loving having so many close friends around at all times. His very own clan or family - in the Giant language, they called it Udok.

That didn’t mean he didn’t feel like snapping them in half sometimes, and he gave the wizard a renewed glare just so that the ratman didn’t get his sole ire.

“Something isn’t right,” Bart said, ignoring the bright blue eye to furrow his brow back to the woods. “Am I the only one that feels that way?”

“I’d say something definitely isn’t right,” Lauren huffed, still unsure on how to process the fact that the wizard was Kurt and that it had been a ruse.

“Grugg only hungry, and tired.” It had been a long morning… if it even was morning still? Although daylight now shone down, he couldn’t place where in the sky was brightest with the mist still clouding the area.

Gregor said nothing, but his hands went to rest on his weapons.

Silence spread through the group as they waited patiently, each trying to scan their surroundings for the hint of anything untoward.

Jack shrugged.

Either it was everyone being quiet, or just the edge of their morning wearing off, but now Grugg felt slightly off too. But there was nothing around them save for mud, trees, and the pale gray mist that grew in density the further off into the woods he looked.

“Tracks.” Bart said.

Although they didn’t look too new, with the fog now moving away, it was clearer to see the grooves through the mud that stagecoach wheels had made. Alongside what Grugg assumed were horse footprints.

This wasn’t new information, though, but hammered home what they had found out.

“That’s not all, ser Hat,” Gregor said as he sniffed the air. “A foul odor moves along the air.”

“What does ratman nose smell, Gregor?” The cyclops attempted to sniff the surroundings as well, but only the musky, damp mud greeted his nostrils.

He turned back to the detective, his crimson eyes glowing. “Death.”

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“I feel like I died,” Claudia complained as she sunk onto the table.

Peony smiled as signaled for the waiter from across the room. “Be thankful that it is only mandatory once per month.”

The clothesmaker sat back up straight and narrowed her eyes at the Investigator. “Didn’t you say this was a two-day job?”

“Correct.” She continued to smile. “But we won’t be sitting around listening to boring reports.”

Claudia wrinkled up her nose and looked back down at the menu. She didn’t even want to consider what Peony might have sighed her up for now. It might ruin her appetite.

Still… she found that her curiosity had found a life of its own since she had decided to tether her wagon to Grugg and the group. She had always wanted to be an adventurer, and now had that in spades - for better or for worse. After a few seconds, she realized she hadn’t even been looking at the words in front of her.

With a sigh, she looked back up at the pale woman. “It’s something more in-the-field?”

“See, astute as always.” Peony drummed her fingertips on the table. “It is something like that.”

Claudia deflated, but wasn’t overly disappointed. In fact, that was way more exciting than monotone reports and sitting quietly. It just seemed like the right thing to do to seem exhausted at the prospect. Only the foolhardy jumped into potential danger with gusto. Well, the foolhardy and Grugg, perhaps.

They made their orders and fell into a silence for a while, enjoying the soft ambience of the restaurant decorated in amber and deep reds. Music played in the background, something jovial but peaceful.

“You were right,” Claudia eventually said. “This place is nice. I’ll not tell the others about it.”

“Good. It’s nice to have something for yourself. Living all together can’t be easy. I honestly don’t know how you can put up with all of them.” Peony had a wry smile on her face, her question leveled in good humor.

“They’re not too bad.” She shrugged. “Bart and Gregor bicker like children. I have an artificially constructed sister in the basement that constantly insults us. The front door occasionally talks to himself at night… and… sorry, what was the question?” Claudia grimaced.

“It’s not for me to tell you how to live your life, but you need a break on occasion.” Peony lifted up her glass to take a sip of water. “You could do with growing as an individual not tied to the others, as well.”

Claudia frowned. “How do you mean?”

The Investigator smiled and placed the glass back down. “If you’re fine with being a side-kick that is okay, I just feel there can be more to you. I’ve had this conversation with some of the others already, just so you don’t feel put on the spot.”

“You have?” She still did, even with the clarification.

“Barthelemy for example - he was a proficient wizard over several decades. Right now he… is not. It’s been a big change for him and at first he wanted to try to power through gaining his old life back.”

Claudia nodded. “But you told him to grow his shapeshifter side?”

She wagged her finger in response. “Not told him, no. Some coercive language that helped him make that decision for himself. Part of his new powers involves directly killing people - I couldn’t force him to take that path.”

“Are you worried about where that might lead?” The clothesmaker worked her jaw. While they had a potentially criminal view of extra judicial killings, they usually had the blanket of the Crowns protection to make it seem acceptable.

“Of course. I worry about all of you, hence this conversation.” Peony gave a soft smile and relaxed into her chair. “I’m not just here to boss you all around and keep you on target for your investigations. I want the best for you all. Power, success, and a stable normal life to come home to.”

“Oh…” Claudia bit her lip. It was obvious she was more than their boss - they all saw her as a friend and the occasional fifth member of their group - but to hear it put so plainly… “I’m not sure what to say to that.”

“Say nothing.” Peony smiled and looked past her to the looming waiter. “Business talk is now over, as food has arrived.”

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Grugg could smell it now, too.

“Is it coming from the village?” Bart screwed up his face, trying to place the direction of the malaise. “Anything else you know about that we should know?”

The captives exchanged glances before Jack spoke up. “There’s… they had been building something a little further away. But we never went there. We don’t know what it was for.”

Gregor grunted and crossed his arms, his face one of disgust as his sense of smell was better than the others.

“Could point it on map?” Grugg asked. Sounded like they just found themselves another part of the investigation to delve into.

“Yeah… probably.”

“Tough,” the cyclops huffed. “Left it in adventuring kit back home.”

From the direction of the city, hooves clattered across the stone road, and two stagecoaches made their way through the fog to their location.

Grugg smiled, but looked back toward where the bad smell was coming from. He didn’t like leaving a mystery behind, but he couldn’t fight evil on an empty stomach.

“Good thing I told them to bring your kit and some lunch then,” Bart said, a smile on his own face in reading the unsaid complaints of the Detective.

“Enough with the cheery expressions,” Gregor said as his tail lashed in the air. “Death approaches.”

From the edges of the densest parts of the fog, dozens of shadows loomed through.