Not eager to spend his squad’s limited energy on the seemingly defensive Brute’s Almar attempted to communicate with Flacera first. A million thoughts were running through his mind as to her strange behavior but he lacked enough information to make a definitive decision. Sure it certainly seemed like the elven researcher was being protected by the wooden monsters, but there was a chance she had done something to augment their behavior somehow. Then there was the matter of the sketch she was taking from the colosseum floor. Why would Flacera bother copying some etching when the entire colosseum was under attack? Wouldn’t either her or her families safety take priority? In the end Almar decided to let the elf make her case if only because Sol had pledged military support for their people.
“Lady you’d better start talking or I’ll be forced to take you out.”
Not bothering to look up from the piece of charcoal in her hands Flacera huffed “No time. I’ve just discovered a previously unknown or lost character of runic script! Whatever it is you want to hear come out of my mouth is irrelevant in comparison.”
“Well how about you explain to me what’s going on and I’ll stop my friends here from destroying that lost character.”
Standing up so quickly it caused her stitched together fur lab coat to twirl Flacera nodded earnestly “Understood. What is it you wish to know sir?”
Already tired of the woman Almar sighed “Where these hulking wooden things came from and how you’ve tamed them.”
Without a single ounce of fear or fanfare Flacera walked over to the nearest brute in the circle surrounding her and gestured to its shoulder. Following her finger Almar indeed spotted a strange shape imbedded in the wooden armor. The marks were rough, likely made in a hurry with a chisel or blade, but definitely resembled a triangle, filled with some sort of liquid, with a large cork on the top as it bubbled within. Almar may not have been the most well-traveled Banner Eel but he felt confidant he’d never seen the rudimentary yet strangely precise character before. Even if he had though Almar knew something was different soon as he analyzed the markings. He was nothing compared to Noire but Almar was certain he could sense some sort of energy dwelling, and perhaps being formed, by the characters themselves.
“These guys came rushing towards me a short while ago so I pacified them with the Rune of Geysers and Rune of Blockage respectively. After I fixed their anger I spotted this beauty!” she gestured down at the marking on the floor “Not sure why one of the lost ancient rune scripts would be carved into a human structure but I simply had to copy it down! A few more interruptions showed up but they all calmed down after a quick reprogramming. That’s the problem with parasitic minions you know? Great for stealth missions but that limited mental capacity can get in the way once they’re on their own. I told my brother the same thing regarding the Resentment Seeds but all he could think of was- “
”That’s enough I got it.” Almar interrupted, “So you don’t know what caused these things to appear?”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
She shrugged “Not a clue. Strange plan though. What good does releasing a couple dozen strong monsters into a crowd do? Plenty of security and strong people around what with this being a fighting tournament and all. Could be a show of force I guess but to who? And even then to what end? Any resources spent on this little show would’ve been better spent outside while all the big players were in here watching the fights.”
Her comments caused Almar to pause for a moment. He’d been too focused on clearing the colosseum of the brutes to really dwell on why they were here in the first place. Someone had obviously planted the dormant parasites within the participants but to Flacera’s point, for what reason? How would they benefit? Or maybe the better question to ask was who would.
Shaking his head as he dismissed the line of questioning for after the immediate threat had been dealt with Almar asked his last question “I’d prefer to take the afflicted alive if at all possible. Would your method work on the other monsters as effectively?”
“Oh, it would probably work.” The elf said with a shrug, “Unfortunately I’m forbidden from disclosing the procedure to outsiders. Please understand.”
Everyone in his squad sharing a dumbfounded look as the strange woman bent back down to finish copying the apparent rune from the ground, leaving Almar to complain “Lady this is not the time to worry about procedure! Every second we spend here talking instead of turning these things back on each other results in more lives lost! Tell me how to pacify these things now!”
“I’m sorry sir, Father’s words are absolute. In the future after The Blight is dealt with we shall teach some of our methods to your kind as payment but for now I must refrain. And, no offense, but those are human screams. What do I care if a few more of them die off. For every head lost out their another 20 will be born within the hour. Do you not feel the same? Are they not a threat to your kind as well?”
Almar sighed before gesturing for his squad to move on. If Flacera wasn’t going to teach him the method for a peaceful resolution he could only move forward with the opposite approach. He’d have preferred to take some of the brute’s alive for future questioning or with hopes of possible recovery but unfortunately he didn’t have that luxury. His assigned mission was to save as many citizens as he could, not save the former fighters. Lethal force had been authorized for a reason.
As he turned his squad toward the makeshift hospital for fighters, where he could still feel the highest concentration of the brutes, Almar gave Flacera one last look and said “You’re not wrong about the humans, I’ll give you that. They constantly invade my home, kill my allies to make a profit, scorn me and my comrade’s existence, but at the same time... nothing will change if I reflect the same attitude back. Unlike you I don’t value their lives against mine as a simple battle of numbers. We are in a war for mutual understanding. So I’ll put aside my personal grievances and strive to lead by example, I’ll save their fragile, weak, insignificantly short lives here and now in hopes they may return the favor later in life. Maybe if your people understood the concept of give and take you wouldn’t be where you are now. Be sure your leaders notice how the people treat us once this is over. And be sure they’re aware they could’ve been a part of it.”
Now in a foul mood Almar boosted everyone away from the elven researcher at maximum speed. He didn’t have time to waste on the unhelpful. He could only hope that when the time came for him to fight alongside the seemingly selfish elves they wouldn’t be so cold.