“I knew we should have gone with you rather than leave things up to that disguise,” Kseniya muttered as the Divine Blessing adventuring team regrouped at the Siren’s Alcove. They were sitting in the room with the double bed. Nyx sat on her bed and Kseniya coiled in the middle of the room. Trixie was on Brivaria’s lap. The angel was hugging the affectionate golden while also using the dog as a shield against the incoming storm of criticism.
“Nothing happened!” Brivaria said while only partially hiding behind Trixie.
“You met with the woman who attacked us,” Nyx replied, clearly taking Kseniya’s side.
“Who maybe attacked us. I didn’t see any other summoners in the profiles I looked through but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. Those might not have been her wolves… though they likely were,” the angel admitted the last part quietly.
“I spoke with the guard. The man they have in custody is Lucian Ashford, a member of the bronze rank adventuring team, Seasoned Steel. I bet that’s the team the summoner is ‘considering’ leaving,” Kseniya’ emphasis on the word “considering” wasn’t lost on anyone present.
“I think she really is considering leaving them. My intuition says so,” Brivaria said while squeezing Trixie. The dog wuffed, delighted by the attention she was getting.
“Even so,” Kseniya began, “meeting her is probably a bad idea, you know? Even if we meet in a public place there’s nothing to stop her team from following us and ambushing us on the way back to the inn or even while we sleep.”
“Brivaria is hiding her wings but we haven’t changed inns so it wouldn’t be too hard to find us if they were determined. Besides, we’re running low on coin. We got here before room prices went up. Maybe we could find rooms at another inn but we’re probably looking at a way worse price than we’re getting here,” Nyx added. Brivaria rested her cheek on Trixie’s fur.
“We really need to earn some more coin. I should have looked at the available requests while I was at the guild,” the angel said with a sigh. Kseniya shrugged.
“Eh, more than a few teams are in the same boat, I’m certain,” the dark-haired lamia cut in. “The mercenaries are doing the guild no favors. Their skills may be dedicated to fighting other combatants but their swords cut monsters just as easily as people. The apparent mercenary leader walking into the adventurers guild and taking a coin purse probably made a lot of teams upset for all that goes.”
Brivaria wasn’t a fan of the growing number of attempts on her life but she was starting to get a better picture of everything that was going on in Barton. Well, it was a slightly better picture. They had no idea where Terrance Grand was nor where the monsters that ambushed them on their way back to the city came from. It was tempting to just pack up their things and leave. Their only purpose in staying in the city was finding Mr. Grand and they were no closer to that than they’d been when they arrived. The angel’s thoughts were taking a turn for the worse when Nyx spoke up.
“I say we go meet this woman. If she confronts us with her team then we’ll all be at full strength to deal with whatever happens. We beat up the knife guy and the wolves so I feel good about our odds when we’re all together,” the cat girl said while getting off her bed. Brivaria peered over Trixie at her serpentine teammate.
“Ah well, I am outvoted. I will go get ready,” the lamia said with good grace.
This had been the first proper argument between team members since they formed in Pemburne. It was rather painless. Back in Heaven, there were no arguments. The overseer gave orders and angels obeyed. Angels could disobey as in Brivaria was fully able to say no to Balthazar but she never had any reason to. All of the orders he gave made absolute sense to her so such a thing was never truly considered. Debating a course of action and being part of the decision-making was something Brivaria found that she enjoyed. She made a personal note to tell Balthazar about that when he got back in contact with her, if she remembered.
The next hour consisted of everyone getting ready for the meeting. Kseniya got ready in her room leaving Brivaria and Nyx mostly to brushing one another’s hair. Neither girl had any truly nice outfits and they were half-expecting a fight so there would be no point to wearing such things anyway. Once they were done with one another’s hair, Brivaria produced a pair of dog brushes and they went to work on Trixie. The golden was once more overjoyed at the attention and she received a very thorough brushing.
Some time and a stroll across the city later, they were at the Fleece and Flagon. It specialized in lamb dishes and its staff dressed in lamb and sheep costumes. The latter ranged from wearable horns to much more elaborate outfits though Brivaria noted that there wasn’t a single sheep or lamb-type Celian in the mix. She imagined that would have been awkward.
Meanwhile the eating area was divided into two halves. One half had a stage with live entertainment which currently had some musicians playing. The other half had the bar along with a smattering of tables and booths for the folks just interested in getting something to eat or drink. Not seeing Isolde after peaking their heads into the entertainment half, they opted to take a booth at the far end of the quieter side. This was partially because it would give them a view of the door and partially because most of the tables were taken. It was going to be a busy night at the Fleece and Flagon.
The decor was mostly the standard wood fare that was prolific in the region of Velk. Trees were numerous and wood was the backbone of pretty much everything produced. The Fleece and Flagon’s furniture was the same lacquered wood used everywhere but each table had either a little stuffed animal or a wood carving in the shape of a lamb. Meanwhile, the walls had absolutely enormous pelts in a variety of colors that had to come from some extremely large sheep.
Brivaria moved into the booth followed by Nyx. The booth was a semi-circle so Trixie hopped onto the bench and walked around until she was sitting by Brivaria. The golden looked at the stuffed animal on their table and the angel took it so the two could look at it together. The staff hadn’t said anything about the dog. It seemed that most people generally assumed Trixie was an animal companion and Brivaria wasn’t intending on changing that perception any time soon. She quite liked being able to take Trixie just about anywhere.
“Here, let me get this for you,” said a woman in a sheep costume. She lifted a wood panel that hung from the end of the table and unfolded a pair of table legs. Kseniya couldn’t sit in the booths like the others so this gave her a more accessible table to eat at. “We don’t get many lamia, centaurs, or the like but sometimes we do so our booths all have an extension. If you have more coming then I can push another table over here to give you even more room.”
“Oh, no that’s alright. We’re expecting just one more,” Brivaria answered.
“Alright then, my name is Mandy. What can I get you ladies? We have a lovely selection of meads and the meals on offer tonight are mutton stew and spiced lamb balls,” the waitress began. Only the more expensive taverns with extensive preservation runes similar to Brivaria’s Inventory skill kept a wide variety of meals on offer. Most, like the Fleece and Flagon, served whatever meals had been cooked in bulk beforehand. Sometimes the house special was the only option.
The girls talked over the selection of meads and each picked something with Brivaria asking for a spiced mead. Trixie was given a bowl of water and a bowl with several uncooked lamb bones beneath the table though the dog was still more interested in the stuffed animal. The stuffed lamb was very cute and Brivaria wondered if there were more of such things. Maybe when they had a bit more coin she could buy something like that for Trixie.
The group was unwinding more than they probably should have been but the atmosphere was relaxing, the mead was tasty, and the staff were very friendly. It felt more cozy than many of the places the angel had eaten at in other towns. The three adventurers were making small talk when a new voice interrupted them.
“Brivaria? Sorry if I’m late,” Isolde said while sliding into the booth opposite the team. The lephori woman looked exactly as she had that morning. The brunette summoner even wore the same nondescript blouse and slacks from their previous meeting. What was different was that now there was an added tension which Brivaria attributed to the fact that Kseniya was glaring at the rabbit girl. The angel decided to speak first.
“No, you’re not late. We’re early. Before we start, we need to know the truth. Are you a member of Seasoned Steel and did you attack us alongside Lucian Ashford?” Brivaria asked as serenely as she could manage. There was no point in beating around the bush. She could see the shifting emotions on the other woman’s face going from surprise to shame to resignation.
“Yes, how did you know?” Isolde asked, pointedly avoiding eye contact with the lamia who could casually crush Isolde’s bones to dust with a single constriction of her large, black tail.
“I didn’t. It was a guess. Summoners are rare and I didn’t see any others in the cards I looked through. It was either a summoner or another class that specializes in conjured creatures,” the angel explained.
“Hold on,” Kseniya said before pulling out a small wand with a gem set into the handle. The gem glowed briefly showing that it was a magical catalyst and then the sounds of the tavern faded leaving them in silence. “Small privacy ward. Good for ensuring a conversation is not overheard by unwanted parties. Safeguards sensitive information and screams for help alike.” The lamia’s smile was positively frigid.
“So what is this then?” Isolde asked.
“We want to know what’s going on,” Brivaria began, “we’ve been attacked directly or by proxy three times. We’d been in town for a whole day when your rogue teammate decided to put a knife into my heart and you tried to kill my friends. Why?”
“We thought you were Zenith Penrose and that you were kidnapping that woman,” Isolde replied flatly. “Lucian and I have no hope of beating an experienced and high level mercenary captain in a fair fight so he decided to strike first.”
“So you attacked an innocent group of people and nearly killed them because you had every single, possible fact wrong?” Kseniya said, unrestrained anger in her voice. Isolde winced visibly.
“Lucian attacked you. I didn’t make that call,” the lephori said defensively.
“Yet you still sent your wolves. If he’d succeeded then we’d have died and you’d have helped him murder us,” Kseniya argued loudly and Brivaria was thankful for the privacy spell.
“He’s my teammate. I had to choose between supporting him or letting him take on the highest level warrior in the region on his own. He’s an idiot and we were mistaken but would you stand back and watch one of your teammates die?” Isolde’s tone was sincere rather than angry which took some of the wind out of Kseniya’s sails.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“I’d have checked my facts before doing anything,” the sorceress said derisively. Isolde had nothing to say to that. Nyx decided that was the moment to ask a question that was on her mind.
“So we’re not dead and the guy who started it is in jail. That worked out. I get why you mistook Brivaria for Zenith. I haven’t seen her myself but everyone we’ve talked to says they’re practically twins. What I don’t understand is why you thought we were kidnapping Jasmine. Is this mercenary woman kidnapping people? If so, why not tell the guards?” Nyx questioned.
“Lucian and I overheard parts of your conversation with Baroness Westlake. She addressed you as Zenith and you spoke to her about being cultists and kidnapping people,” Isolde tried to explain but all three faces reflected confusion.
“The first thing we explained was that I wasn’t Zenith Penrose. She mistook me for the mercenary. We didn’t tell her we were cultists either. We had a robe from someone who might have been one. Even that turned out to be a bad lead. It sounds like you missed some very important parts of the conversation,” the angel said with some cheer.
“Yes, it seems that way,” Isolde spoke while sitting back in her seat. Brivaria took that as her cue to continue.
“This has all been one big misunderstanding. I think it would clear up a few things if we told you how and why we came here.” Brivaria looked to Nyx and Kseniya. The cat girl nodded with a smile. Kseniya didn’t smile but she wasn’t giving Isolde the death glare anymore so that was progress. When the lamia nodded, Brivaria began to explain.
The angel talked about how they met Mr. Collins at his farm, learned about the disappearance of Terrance Grand, and came to Barton to look for him. She mentioned the first attack which she’d already described somewhat earlier that morning, and their meeting with the baroness. When it came to the cultists, Brivaria chose to describe them as a fishing club for their own safety. Finally she explained about the eldritch monsters they ran into on their way back. Those were honestly the biggest and most worrying part of the situation but weren’t immediately relevant.
By the end of the explanation, Brivaria suspected the only reason the rabbit girl wasn’t banging her head on the table was the plate of spiced meatballs in front of her. They’d ordered and received their food. The meals were very good but only Trixie seemed fully capable of enjoying hers under the table. The dog ate, drank, and then crawled back onto the bench next to Brivaria to beg for attention. The angel ate slowly and gave the golden the desired pets between bites.
“Not only did we screw up by attacking you but we’re probably looking for the same people. What a disaster,” the rabbit girl muttered.
“Quite the show of incompetence, indeed,” Kseniya added. Brivaria threw the lamia a look which made the sorceress sniff disdainfully and turn away.
“We should work together,” Nyx said suddenly. Four pairs of eyes looked to the cat girl though Trixie was only looking because everyone else was. “What? If both of our teams want the same thing then why not work together?”
“Maybe but I’m surprised you would suggest such a thing.” Isolde looked to be waiting for Kseniya to shoot it down so Brivaria decided to preempt that.
“We’re three people,” Trixie interrupted Brivaria mid-sentence with a happy wuff so the angel amended her words. “We’re three people and a dog and this is a big city. We’ve got a discount at our inn but we can’t afford to sit in town for weeks to figure this out. Either we solve this soon or we have to move on.” It hurt to say that. It felt wrong to leave when something was going on that they had the power to stop yet the reality of living on Zlithia was that they needed money for food. Isolde looked thoughtful.
“I’ll talk to Alden. Our employer offered us an additional stipend if we needed extra assistance. We don’t know any other teams in the region too well so we haven’t done anything with it. It wouldn’t be much but it might take the pressure off as far as room and board goes.” The lephori smiled and Brivaria returned it. Nyx nodded her assent and the group looked to Kseniya. Trixie was particularly enjoying the game of everyone taking turns looking at each other. Maybe it would be her turn next!
“Ugh, fine but you two are too forgiving.” The storm that was the serpent woman’s ire wasn’t going anywhere but there were at least a couple rays of sunshine poking through the clouds. The offer of money didn’t hurt either.
Isolde made plans to talk to Alden and meet the group at the adventurers guild the next day. Brivaria had one last question and Isolde admitted in confidence that things were a bit rocky with her group. She got along well with Alden, the team leader, but had a rockier relationship with the water mage and rogue. This wasn’t the first time Lucian had done something questionable though it was still spectacularly bad.
Everyone paid for their meals and the Divine Blessing adventuring team parted ways with Isolde. Brivaria spent part of the walk back to the inn scolding Trixie. One of the angel’s meatballs had mysteriously gone missing. The scolding turned into petting before long as it turned out Brivaria was extremely bad at disciplining Trixie. The golden was an endless well of playful enthusiasm which made it very difficult for the angel to be upset with her.
Everyone was enjoying themselves when Trixie stiffened. The golden looked up, around, and then backward. Nyx did the same. Brivaria and Kseniya heard it seconds later—booted footsteps coming from a nearby alley. A dozen knights in silver armor stepped out and into the deserted street behind the group. The armored warriors moved awkwardly. They had a jerky, wobbling gait that was obviously inhuman. Brivaria summoned her sword, shield, and armor from inventory.
“Hello? We don’t want any trouble,” the angel called out to the group of knights. She received no response. The creature in the lead drew two swords from its back and then began to grow. It didn’t so much get larger as all of its appendages stretched. Fleshy, black tubes were exposed as all four limbs plus its head stretched with bits of armor strewn unevenly across its new-elongated limbs.
“Ogramites,” Brivaria called out as they all began to change. “Aim for their chests, everything else is just a limb.”
Ogramites were natives to the Between. That is to say they were from the eldritch horror catalogue of monsters. When they broke through the veil between universes, it was often in a place with an unused set of metal armor. They would infest the armor and begin laying eggs with the goal of seeding more suits of armor.
Since armor were usually not a natural product of nature, there was a limit to an Ogramite infestation for most species and worlds. Worlds like Zlithia where dullahans, living armors, and shield maidens existed created a breeding ground for the abominations. Those races needed to be especially wary.
Brivaria had encountered them on many interventions because they were disposable foot soldiers. Call an Ogramite into a vault with 10 suits of armor and you would soon have 10 Ogramites. They were great murder monsters if one had the means to control them. Even better, they leeched power from the armor they resided in. Want a bigger, badder minion? Throw them in a bigger suit of armor. Want one more dangerous and more deadly than the norm? Throw them in a magical suit of armor. One could literally pick their favorite flavor of shambling, armored abomination.
Before the group could move to engage their foes, something no one expected occurred. Someone else stepped out of an alley even further back—another knight but this one armed with a large, two-handed sword. The warrior moved with speed that had to have been born from a movement skill and thrust his sword straight through the body of an Ogramite, piercing the armor it inhabited with ease.
The nearest Ogramite extended a long, rubbery, metal-covered arm upward and then brought it down on the warrior. The blow was blocked as a shield of water coalesced above the swordsman’s head. The water then curled into the form of a scythe only to retaliate and cut through the monster’s arm.
The water further splashed everyone around the warrior, dousing many of the Ogramites. Finally, a small blue bird flew over the group of eldritch monsters. Cerulean motes of magic fell from the bird like bejeweled snow. Freezing cold spread through whatever it touched. It froze the water and magically hardened the ice.
Some Ogramites were merely slowed but others had their armor magically frozen shut, preventing the monsters from fully extending their limbs. Two of the least fortunate Ogramites were locked in place as their bodies were frozen to the ground. Far behind the warrior, Isolde and a bald-headed man Brivaria didn’t recognize were weaving their magicks.
Trixie began barking, immediately drawing the attention of four monsters not magically frozen away from the warrior. Nyx barreled into the horde and drove her claws into the chest of one unfortunate Ogramite. The cat girl’s Kinetic Discharge punched a hole in its armor then her new Double Strike skill caused an identical strike to occur half a second later. The effective of two Kinetic Discharges back to back was explosive and the insides of the abomination were shredded by Nyx’s assault.
The lamia’s assault was no less deadly. Kseniya held her scepter out vertically before her and a green bow projected upward. The sorceress then drew a golden arrow from the scepter’s orb which was held by a magical string. This wasn’t her standard killing poison but a paralytic one instead. Kseniya drew the arrow back and released.
It behaved exactly as a normal arrow when the sorceress released it. The magical arrow flew, impaled itself through the armor of one Ogramite, and then dissipated as the magic flowed into the abomination. The Ogramite stiffened and came to a halt, suddenly unable to move any of its limbs. A second arrow followed the first then a third. Every creature struck by the magical arrows was rendered utterly helpless, incapable of doing anything save waiting for another adventurer to finish it off.
For the first time in a month, Brivaria took on a support role. She used her Wind Formation skill to conjure small, invisible barriers. Ogramites tripped upon stumbling into an invisible rock or had their swings come up short as their long, tentacle-like limbs found resistance in mid-air. She also used Current Control to add speed to Trixie, Nyx, and the deadly swordsman who could only be Alden Porter, the leader of Seasoned Steel.
Alden was a greatsword fighter through and through. His greatsword wasn’t a wide, heavy thing like many Brivaria saw. It was a large sword, yes, but it was sized to be wielded with finesse as much as raw strength. He could swing it easily in long arcs as well as thrust with the blade. It even had grips along the metal above the hilt to be wielded in different ways. Given a speed boost, a horde of slowed or paralyzed monsters, and a shield of water protecting him, Alden cut through foes one at a time with practiced expertise.
Brivaria stored both her sword and shield then hurled a rock infused with Bleak Radiance into the middle of the melee, further weakening the Ogramites. Between creating Wind Formations and a few Withering Rays, the angel had very little to do but watch Nyx and Alden tear the monsters to pieces. This would have been a dangerous, perhaps deadly, encounter were Brivaria and her friends alone but, as it was, this was a one-sided slaughter in their favor.
When all of the Ogramites were dead, Brivaria waited expectantly for a certain, familiar System notification. She was disappointed upon realizing, after a long moment, that none would be forthcoming. Even the System seemed to deign this fight as unworthy of a level. The angel wasn’t inclined to disagree as she’d used only a quarter of her mana.
“Alden Porter?” the angel asked as the warrior hefted his sword onto his shoulder.
“At your service,” the swordsman answered easily. Alden’s voice surprised Brivaria because she could sense actual warmth from it.
“What are you doing here?” Brivaria shifted her gaze from the warrior to the bald man she presumed was their other mage. He regarded her with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. Isolde, on the other hand, was grinning.
“Isolde said you’ve been ambushed several times since you arrived and I asked her what the odds were of it happening again. I think it seems only right to return the favor. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving group of monsters.” Alden’s tone was disarming. The warrior was armed but relaxed. He spoke like they were old friends rather than strangers.
“And you decided to follow us back to our inn without our knowledge?” Kseniya asked.
“Lady sorceress, I will be straight with you. As the leader of Seasoned Steel, I take responsibility for my team’s actions. I will formally apologize for the actions of my team and humbly ask your forgiveness. I cannot go back in time and undo the harm my teammates caused but I can do my utmost to ensure there isn’t a repeat of the past and move forward productively. You are entitled to your views but I tell you now that our intentions tonight bear you no ill will.” Trixie came over to curiously sniff at the warrior while he was talking. Brivaria decided to once more intervene before an argument could start.
“Thank you for your help tonight but we will not accept your apology.” Brivaria’s words got surprised looks and she continued. “You are the leader of your team but the rogue is accountable for his own actions. Isolde has apologized and I’ve forgiven her. The rogue has not and I don’t know if we’d feel inclined to accept it right now even if he did.”
“That’s fair,” the leader of Seasoned Steel said after a pause.
“Let’s talk tomorrow after Isolde catches you up on everything we talked about over dinner. Someone definitely wants us dead and we could use all the friends we can get,” the angel offered the warrior a smile.
“Tomorrow then,” the warrior agreed.
The monsters had nothing of value nor held any clues about their origin. The guard arrived shortly after the battle and Brivaria was mildly amused that the guard who interviewed them was the same man from after the stabbing. It seemed this was his evening patrol. The angel did store a couple of the swords in her inventory. They joined a growing pile of things that she really needed to discard or sell but one never knew when something would come in handy.
The Siren’s Alcove was just a few minutes from where they’d been attacked so the team declined an escort back from both the city watch and the Seasoned Steel. The odds of a second attack in the same night were low but no one dared say that aloud.