“-cker…” Marduk finished his words frowning slightly as he looked around at his surroundings and found himself looking at a lithe woman.
The woman was in a purple dress with a split skirt that reached her ankles with a black sash around her waist and wore black lace stockings and gloves. On the front of the dress was a neat white design of a lion roaring sewn into it, as well the dress she wore had a frilled lavender collar and cuffs for the sleeves.
He instantly assumed she was some kind of queen or princess with how over the top and expensive looking the dress was. Not helping was the fact that she was the first person he’d seen so far who wore any sort of makeup that he could recognise, hers was in the form of mascara and eyeliner a dark black that framed her eyes like a cats.
“You have to either be the stupidest lizard I’ve ever seen or the most blind, neither are mutually exclusive in this case.” She spoke in a strong rich voice that was far deeper than he honestly expected.
She had intense bronze coloured eyes and soft lightly tanned skin as well as short shoulder length bob cut black hair.
“Probably the former if I’m honest” The golden eyed Saurian answered not expecting the woman to laugh.
“Haha!” Barking something hysterical, Marduk took the moment to inspect where they were.
They were in a small storefront that looked out onto one of the streets in the town from above. The store appeared to be some kind of fast food place with hotplates and a counter with tables and seats past the counter. They were standing in the kitchen part of the building, though Marduk wished it was somewhere much larger because he was hunched over quite badly to fit in the place.
It wasn’t long before the woman slowed her laughter to a chuckle as she wiped a tear from her eye and smiled up at him.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on now?” He couldn’t help but ask.
“Hm? Oh yes! Sorry I just found your honesty humorous, it's my first time meeting one of your kind so I didn’t expect you to be capable of answering my statement.” She replied before curtsying.
“I am Princess Medea of Chrysanthe, also called the Witch of Chrysanthe.” She smiled, raising her head.
Responding in kind the Saurian lowered his head “Marduk of the Ahkula, I’m just called Marduk.”
“To answer your earlier question, the town is under the attack of a Cockatrice, it has taken roost here.” Medea answered, sighing with her shoulders slumping. “I have been attempting to deal with it for almost a week now.”
“A cockatrice?” Marduk asked, sounding confused.
“The monster you saw, that is what it is called, they spew a breath of stone that petrifies those it touches.” The bronze eyed woman answered, motioning a hand outside the store.
“Those statues then…? They were..” His voice trailed off.
“Yes. they were the townsfolk, the curse can be undone so they will be fine once the monster is dead, we just need to deal with it.” Pulling a small book from the sleeve of her dress she flipped it open and quickly wrote something down with a pencil that was being used as a page marker.
“We?” He questioned wondering what he was already roped into.
“I’ve narrowed its weaknesses down to lightning based magic- that sword of yours is mana conductive so I can infuse it for you and we can set a trap for it.” Shutting the book she put it away.
“Wait my sword is mana conductive?” The Saurian held out his obsidian weapon.
‘Wait does that mean I’ve had a magical sword this entire time?’ His thoughts came to a sudden stop focusing on particular details of the idea.
‘I feel like that was something I should have noticed or been told about sooner.’
“It is yes, we can discuss this later, however I think it best I show you to the lord of the town so you can work out your own deal with them.” Medea blinked before motioning for him to follow her.
It took about an hour for them to trek across the town unseen by the Cockatrice before reaching the location where the Witches employer.
“Oh my, a lizardfolk visiting my lovely town of all places? How delightful!” Aoibhinn laughed a melodic tone with a wide grin that sent shivers down Marduk's spine.
The person in front of him had long red hair, pale skin, bug-like green eyes, long pointed ears and enormous butterfly wings coming out of their back. They were short and androgynous in a way that he found very difficult to tell what they were. At first he assumed they were some kind of Áes Sídhe, but at the same time it didn’t really make much sense to him for a reason he couldn’t quite place.
They were in some kind of bar at the moment, he felt weird being in such a decadent place after sleeping outside for the past few weeks, it had taken him much longer than the expected time frame he was given by Cesare when he asked before leaving.
Maybe it was just his body getting used to being outside all the time again?
All his time in Logos was spent inside basically, he barely got a chance to sunbathe, which was one of those weird things he enjoyed far more than he should have because of his cold blooded nature.
“You say he can help us Lady Medea?” The faerie-like ruler said, turning his attention to the woman who had led Marduk to the meeting place.
With a nod the woman answered. “Yes, he has a sword that conducts magical energy so I can infuse it before he begin fighting it which should allow him to keep its attention while I cast a spell I believe can fell it.”
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Aoibhinn clapped their hands with an excited expression. “I see! I see! How wonderful! Then I shall compensate you as well…?”
“Marduk of Ahkula” The Saurian answered.
Medea had given him rules or how to speak with the winged ruler but hadn’t explained why. One of the rules was only to say his name when prompted.
“I see, I see… well Marduk you’ll be considered a great saviour of our town when things are settled.” With a smile they quickly left afterward.
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Marduk felt a deep trepidation as he waited in the position the bronze eyed witch had put him in after they spent a day planning how to deal with the Cockatrice, he was to act as their vanguard and keep the monster distracted long enough to wound it so that the witch could cast her spell. According to her the spell was very powerful and would take two and a half minutes to gather the ambient mana to cast, she was confident in his ability to hold it.
Which he thought was a but suspicious but the woman had been trustworthy so far so he was willing to let it slide for the time being, that and she had assured him so long as he could cut the monsters wattle-sack it couldn’t spew the petrifying mist any more making their lives significantly easier.
He was standing with his back against a wall along the main street of the town where they had realised it regularly checked said street for animals or more people, well ‘they’ was actually the witch informing him about its habits since she arrived and his realising the pattern from his years of hunting.
Thump thump thump
The heavy sound of the rooster headed monster stomping along the street reached the Saurian as he peered around the corner of the building, thankfully the monster didn’t see him and he returned behind it to move further along and climbed up the side of the wall.
Reaching the roof of the two story building he stood in a low crouch with his sword in hand, the weapon soundlessly crackled and writhed with yellow sparks.
He thanked Zäna internally when the monster didn't look up, failing to notice him as he stalked closer to the edge of the roof, thankful that it was made of strong tile instead of thatch.
As the monster neared he eyed the filthy black feathers that looked as though they'd never been washed before wishing he didn't have to get near it. Waiting until the last possible second before he leapt from the roof coming down on the base of its neck and shoulders the full weight of the five hundred pound crocodilian slammed into the monster with a loud crunch as its shoulder broke under the weight of the enormous man.
Almost forgetting what it was he was trying to do as the pair smashed into the pavement of the street shattering stone as they did, Marduk attempted to slash the throat of the monster- barely managing to as it buck and wailed a horrific sound when putrid black and blue blood poured from the wound in a violent fountain that covered the Saurians left side.
“Holy shit…!” He cursed as his body began to slow, it felt like walking through the densest sludge in the Ahkula swamps again as the blue hued black blood flowed down his scales.
Stumbling backward he narrowly kept his head from being bitten off as the beak clamped down on the air where he had been standing. This gave him a great view of its teeth.
“AAAAHHHH!!” A roar of pain erupted from the Saurian as he felt his left arm become numb before searing with white hot cold.
The limb fell limp and shrivelled as the black liquid turned the dark green scales white as ash and fell to the ground shattering into cracked stone. Golden eyes glared and his maw hung open as he stared at what had been his arm, a jagged bone protruded from his shoulder, pinkish-white flesh bare to the air.
“Omph!” Breath fled his lungs when a black wing hit the Saurian sending him flying across the street, crashing through two stone statues and into a building.
The smattering broken stone collapsed onto the hulking lizardman.
His vision blurred and became murky, failing to stand as he tried to use the now gone limb.
Thunk thunk thunk
The thundering footfalls of a thrashing beast reached him before shadows cast over him and Marduk felt an enormous clawed foot pound down into his chest as croaky garbled cry erupted from the Cockatrice.
Distant thunder rumbles
A bright violet flash exploded from beneath the monster as became a spray of gore and viscera coating the street and surrounding buildings in foul black liquid.
Marduk’s vision grew dark as clouds rolled in over the town of Zaros and he closed his eyes.
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The Witch of Chrysanthe felt uncomfortable with the outcome of her ‘Quest’ as her Aunt had called it.
She sat in the guest branch of Zaros’ palace watching over the still unconscious form of Marduk of Ahkula, it had been five days since their attack on the Cockatrice, he’d lost a limb in the fight when the coagulated magical energy in the blood of the monster turned the man's arm to stone.
As a pursuer of the mystics and magics she was all too familiar with the condition that caused the limb to fall, she’d seen it in Minotaurs before as well. Certain peoples of the world could not take mana into their body at nearly the same rate as even a human child causing a visceral backlash from the act either causing death physically or mentally and in some cases her Aunt had told her of the corruption of body parts.
It was called Lautrec’s Curse
A defilement of the being that corrupts and destroys the self and contamination of the soul.
Madea had never seen it in person, but wished she hadn’t now that she had.
Thankfully she wasn’t alone with her thoughts for much longer as the green scaled man began to stir