I wasn’t too sure at what point of my new existence I grew accustomed to violence. Even less sure of when I grew to adore it. Well, I didn’t love it, as much as I saw the benefit and admired the strength we had gained.
So it was now, with Ren standing there, her rifle practically radiating danger, that I held my breath in excited anticipation. There was a tension there. Twice as much I’d normally be interested in one of her skills, because I knew she had
I almost knew exactly what was going to happen when she pushed that trigger—as if the effect made such an impression on me that it resonated back through time a few seconds before my living body actually experienced it.
And then, as she aimed for the chameleon-infused building down below us, she clicked and I learned in real time.
A blast of hot air washed over us with the blowback as a ball of white-hot energy burst out from her rifle at great speed. Far too big to fit in the barrel of the weapon, it looked more like a bowling ball—a miniature sun—than anything like a traditional bullet. As it lobbed through the window, it did not disappoint.
The ground vibrated, as a flash of bright light briefly blinded us. An explosion rocked my ears as wood and brickwork blew out of the building, collapsing all the internal structure. As my eyes adjusted, the edges of the exposed brickwork had bright red blood lining it.
“You think that did it?” she asked.
“I think something else exploded,” I murmured. “Ah, my heart, I mean. Do you feel like you have any further Guardian powers?”
She pulled a face, still looking down at the destroyed house. “I feel like… I will never reach the high of that first shot again. My life now is a dull shade, forever shadowed in the desperate search for a larger and more impressive explosion.”
“Gross,” I said, looking around the town. “You’re even starting to sound like me.”
The town shifted, and I found myself inside the temple. A quick spin, and Ren wasn’t here with me. Neither was the Chameleon. I smiled and summoned my patron sword. It didn’t look too happy to see me, but it was hard to read the single eye.
“Fancy some sightseeing?” I asked. “We have a Guardian giving us a guided tour of this quaint town.” The sword did not respond.
But the town switched again, and I was on the road near the… east? I scowled at the streets, my patron no longer here. Just as planned. I dropped two Hellhound cards and then activated
“Hold tight, pals. Things are about to get bumpy.” My cannon appeared by my side, and I stretched out my hands. A rifle shot cracked from the other side of the town.
And then we switched again. Top floor of a residential building. No demons with me anymore.
Just as soon as my eyes had focused, I moved again. Outside the front of the temple. Then again, I moved and was in the storeroom of a shop. Swapped again, and I became dizzy, just closing my eyes and focusing on staying standing.
Once more, and then a pause. I opened my eyes and wavered in place. My stomach settled, and I looked around. Present location seemed to be… oh, I was in an alleyway just outside the main marketplace area.
[Ren: Front of the temple. Now.]
I didn’t take a step, but switched with my demonic ace that zipped there in a second. I spun to see quite the sight.
Wolf was laying there on the stone road, soaked through with blood. In his mouth was the torn throat of a very battered-looking and unmoving Chameleon.
“He kept trying to escape,” Ren explained. “I saw the Guardian switch away from one of your demons twice, not wanting to risk getting attacked more. There were too many, and eventually he landed too close to Wolf by accident.”
The bear had his eyes closed, but I could see him breathing.
“Everything okay, brother?” I kneeled down beside him and put my hand on his bloodied head.
“No,” he stated, barely moving his mouth.
“I’m so sorry. Now you bear our curse.” I removed my hand and wiped the blood on my slacks. “Pun not intended.”
He managed to expel a long, groaning sigh, before one of his amber eyes opened and looked up at me. “If you’re expecting me to perform tricks now, you will be sorely disappointed.”
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I was already. While it was a big stretch to assume he would become more like me just as Ren had, there was still part of me trying to arrange the show pieces.
“Do you know what you can do now?” The elf asked.
“I don’t care,” Wolf replied, and closed his eye again.
A glum smile on my face, I stood and turned to my equal. Her expression was a reflection of mine, although she had a lot more of her own blood across it. “Could you let the others know what has happened?” I asked, feeling just as exhausted as the bear now.
She gave me a nod and her eyes went off to the side to look at her windows.
I sighed and sat myself down on the ground, leaning my back against the bear’s side. As much as he wanted to be left alone, I knew my way to his heart. Even as the Chameleon's blood soaked from his fur into the back of my suit jacket, I could feel the tension in him melt away.
“Could we stay like this for a while?” his deep voice rumbled through into my head.
“We have time,” I agreed.
It wasn’t long before Ren joined us, and I put my arm around her as we sunk into the comfort of the bear. The three of us had endured so much, and it never seemed to end. Nothing quite grounded us like mirroring those early days where we huddled up together for safety. A simple action on the surface.
We managed to stay like this, in silence, for a good fifteen minutes. Although the other groups hadn’t gone quite that far, they had waited to meet up with Tanya and Quinn, who had teleported reasonably nearby. Once they spotted us, the pair ran over ahead of the others.
“Everyone fine?” Tanya asked, concern across her face. “You look like shit.”
“It’s mostly the Chameleon's blood,” I offered, giving them a tired smile.
“Mine is mostly mine,” Ren disagreed.
Wolf just grunted.
The other two Parties stopped and gawked at the destruction. Bullet holes, ruined buildings still smoldering, and the bloodied mess we currently sat just beside. For most, this was a disturbing scene. We barely registered it, still too dissociated from reality after hell. Although, perhaps this amount of filth and gore was slightly uncomfortable.
“I reckon the town is saved now,” I said, moving away from my companions to stand back up. “To some degree. As keen as I am for us to plow forth into further malady, I ache to get washed down. Maybe eat something. A stew?”
Tanya nodded and turned to Quinn. “Get a fire and pot started up, babe.” She caught herself, blushing slightly before glaring at the others. “Set up a camp for lunch. I want a lookout and rotating patrols, understood?”
I held my hand down to help the elf up, giving her a knowing grin. We both thought the other two were a good couple, and I could see the giddiness in Ren’s eyes at the fateweaver using a pet name for the fixer.
“Thanks, Tanya.” I gave her a short bow. “I appreciate you organizing everyone.”
She gave me a wry grin, waiting for the two groups to start moving away before turning to reply. “When we first joined up, Fiona wanted to take the lead position and I had to fight to lead in your stead. I had to bust a few balls to keep them under control, but they do as they are told, for the most part.”
“You know I don’t see myself as the leader.”
“If your view on reality was the accurate one, we’d all be in the shit,” she said, her smile remaining. “I kept them together, but we’re all following your ambition and bullshit. Go get cleaned up and we’ll take care of Wolf.”
With another nod of thanks, we were away. Over to the nearest residential house, and up to where they had an all-too-familiar bath set up. We got in together and helped each other wash off, something natural that we didn’t even need to agree to. Our hunger for some hot food was even so great we managed to escape the comforting water with only a couple of shared kisses, nothing heavier than the empty weight in our stomachs.
By the time we were sparkling and fresh, the fabled stew was ready.
It didn’t appear that Wolf had moved at all, but he was now clean, at least. The corpse of the Chameleon had been moved somewhere out of sight and the streets washed of any blood and gore. I remembered now most people were put off by eating around dead bodies. Some uncomfortable scenes from our time in hell flashed through my mind, now seeming slightly more insane than they had felt when there.
“I’ve missed stew,” Ren whined, making a beeline to the campfire, Quinn holding an empty bowl ready for her arrival.
I walked over to the bear instead. “Don’t tell me you are still sulking, brother?”
He grunted, almost sounding like a growl. “I’m not sulking. I am just overwhelmed.”
“What can I do?”
Amber eyes opened up to glare at me. “Nothing that is in your control. Let me just process for a while longer. That is all I ask.”
“Fine.” I gave him a soft smile. “I’m here for you.” As he grunted, I turned and almost walked straight into the goblin. “Oh, sorry, Ruby.”
“I rubbed some goop on him,” she said, gesturing to the bear.
“Yeah? Did you find out anything?”
“I found out that he doesn’t like goop being rubbed on him.” She grinned, and we walked over to the stew pot. “Nothing overtly fucked with him, as far as I can tell. Poor old man is exhausted, though.”
Maybe his Guardian powers would give him some way of energizing or allow him to live longer. Wishful thinking, I knew. We all had an expiry date, but for his to be so much sooner than ours seemed… unfair. There was no real option available to us just yet.
“If it was up to me,” she continued, “I would have him retire. Or at least rest for a month or two. When I suggested it, he told me to fuck off.”
“Wolf said that?” I raised an eyebrow and looked back at the motionless bear. “That’s unlike him.”
“Eh, I was being annoying as shit. I deserved it.” The goblin grinned at me. “He’s a stubborn one, but you know him best, Max. You feelin’ alright?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, my mind elsewhere, before I repeated. “Yeah. I’d let you goop me, but I have just bathed and it’s nice being clean for a change.”
“Understandable. Eat well then, that’ll do you better than any of my gross stuff.” She nodded and left to go back to her Party.
I turned as Ren placed a warm bowl in my hands, vegetables and meat piled high within it.
“Looks like Quinn learned from the best,” she said, grinning. “Not only that, but we found out what happened to the bastard Wardens, and have erased the Guardian causing problems here. I’d say that was a successful day, huh?”
My eyes went over to the bear, who was still laying with his eyes closed, slightly away from everyone else.
“Sure,” I replied. “Everything is great.”