“Well, have you spotted anything yet?”
“No, war hawk! Not thing!”
“D’a W’eenes, what did I say just now?”
“OH, right! Eh... Me meant... Oh, right. Quiet quiet. No want snake to notice...”
With that, the hulkish wolfkin proceeded to make one shushing motion with his finger for further emphasis. Such a sight alone caused some sweat drops to form on my forehead, and I could only thank the fact that everyone was still too occupied to notice how comical the two of us must be looking right now.
That said, given the ever-louder barrage of ohh and ahh, as well as a gradual dim in brightness, it seemed that the miraculous spectacle nearby might be reaching its end soon.
We didn’t have much time left until Mary Stew finished healing the archpriest, it seemed...
“Well? Still nothing?”
Such a query was answered with one nervous shake of the head, and it didn’t take long before my own anxiousness made itself known.
That snake was here, raring to reignite the conflict, no doubt.
After all, there was no other who could have been able to rile up both wildkins and the faithful this masterfully, and only one who would actually benefit from the fighting that ensued.
I could already picture it.
If the aggressors actually managed to inflict heavy casualties upon the local militia, then that bastard would simply swoop in with reinforcements from the Guild - both to get rid of the weakened scapegoat and plead that not all wildkins were bloodthirsty “beastmen”.
On the other hand, in the more likely scenario that the defenders won by a landslide, one “heartfelt plea for clemency” from a sudden peacemaker – who would, again, be backed by the might of adventurers all around – could make even the most vindictive of zealots think twice before continuing the conflict.
Regardless, no matter the outcome, Folen Frontier’s defense would be greatly weakened while that snake’s shadow grasp upon the town sink ever deeper as a result.
It was all smoke and mirrors for a subtle takeover.
How fitting for a rogue...
“C’mon c’mon c’mon!!!”
Left right left right, up down up down. My eyes squinted at every possible dark corner, despite knowing that said act was beyond futile.
After all, if the seasoned wolfkin next to me failed to track down such a slippery shadow, then what hope did I have?
“Damn it...!”
In the distance, Mary was offering a hand to help the archpriest up, causing the crowd to explode into cheers.
Yet, despite such a deafening celebration, it was the sounds of my own heartbeat that refused to leave me be.
*Thump*Thump*Thump*
Time’s up, it seems...
The thought left quite a bitter taste in my mouth, as if I had just failed to finish the most difficult question of a pop quiz despite so many careful preparations.
On the bright side, no attack had actually happened so far. So, uh... maybe I was worrying over nothing... In fact, today might actually be my lucky day and we could just end this on a wholesome note, even!
“... Sigh.”
Right.
Who was I kidding at this point.
“D’a W’eenes. Stop what you’re doing. Stay quiet and listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
“YE- Oh, uh... yes...”
After the healing spectacle ended, some people nearby had already stopped paying attention to it and instead turned to stare at the noisy beastman on my side instead. Thankfully, my effort at drilling the art of subtlety into this self-proclaimed “bestest follower” of mine had actually paid off, given how the wolfkin in question simply gave them a dead glare instead of doing his usual, thuggish shtick.
As the nervous onlookers finally turned away, I motioned for him to move closer so that my words wouldn’t be heard by anyone else.
*whisper*whisper*
Once everything was said, the hulkish wolfkin looked appalled beyond belief. Yet, before he could convince me to call off such madness, my feet had already started moving towards the center of the crowd.
Dallying would just sap away whatever shaking resolve I had managed to muster, after all.
... That said.
Desperate times, desperate measures.
And, with the way weirder and weirder things had been coming out of the dungeons, my gamble might very well determine if any of us could even hope to survive...
[ | ]
“Everyone! Three cheers for our Mary!”
“HUZZAH!”
“HURRAH!!”
“HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!!”
“Marry me, Mary!”
“Please have my babies! My husband and I still have a few left at home!”
“Okey-dokey!!!”
A merry mood seemed to spread throughout the town square as everyone celebrated a wonder on what was thought to be one woeful day.
Here, there, everywhere! By this point, there wasn’t any within the crowd who hadn’t heard of the miraculous siblings, especially when one of them had just accomplished what could only be described as a true miracle.
Perhaps, the hearsay was true.
Perhaps... There would be light at the end of this nightmare, after all...
“What utter bollocks.”
Such foolish dreams were quickly stamped down and spat upon, as hateful words once again reminded a shadowy figure of how cruel reality could get.
“Remember what happened to me...”
“The horrors that happened to us.”
“I shall never forget...”
“We will never forgive.”
With hardened resolve, the cloaked shadow once again meld into dark crevices as its shapeless form crept from cover to cover, all to avoid potential prying eyes.
“This much caution... Quite excessive, no?”
Said whisper caused a lone wolfkin – who was heaving sighs of relief upon seeing how his kins would not be prosecuted by the actions of a few – to look back in puzzlement.
Soon as he turned around, no one could be seen, though something certainly did jump out from the shadow below his feet and into the silhouette of a wall nearby.
Moments passed as the young outlander looked left and right in confusion, before shrugging and turning around
010101010101010101only to find
0101010101an enclosure01010101010101010101010101closing in
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
01010101010101010101010101! ! from all sides ! !
“...!!!”
With mounting dread, the wolfkin
0101010101010101010101010101010101010101could not scream.
010101010101010101010101had a mouth yet he
“Vigilance is a virtue, yes. Bad things can happen to careless minds, indeed.”
Barely coherent words echoed across the invisible walls which had always been one’s prison.
With mushy muscles and a sluggish mind, the panicking wolfkin felt as if he had been submerged in deep water. Then again, perhaps the lad had simply been thrown into some kind of nightmare that was just impossible to wake up from.
He frantically looked left and right, front then back.
There were only walls.
Transparent walls. Ethereal walls! Solid walls? I̵̢̦̣̚n̶̦̈́̀̽d̸̜̙̫́ȩ̶̾̇s̵̡͈̺̔c̴̣͕̻̈r̶̖̤͔͊̾i̶̲̞͔̊̐̔b̶͎̀̔a̴̝̼̭͌̈b̷̯̐͋l̸̟͗͂e̵̓̐͜͝ ̵̮̤͔̀̾̕w̴̧̤͉͂͒a̵̠͚̍̈́l̵͕͌̋̄ľ̶̼͒s̶͉͎̟̅̍̋...
So many shapes and forms of impossible constructs, constantly changing, as if the eyes themselves couldn’t comprehend-
There were... how many of them in total...!?
His head felt like it would explode... as if he had realized something great... and oh so terrible...
The wolfkin looked down to avoid thinking about what the mortal mind shouldn’t know.
Regret came in an instant.
Perhaps I had been turned into a bird, perhaps I have always been birb... So great was his shock that the wolfkin didn’t notice how human-like his mind had become. With a nervous gulp, the lad blinked once, then twice, yet the horror shown to him remained the same.
Lo and behold, down down down far below his feet were the very scene of a town square, as if looking at it from some great height above...
And, at the corner of one’s eyes, revealed the image of a familiar-looking wolfkin, who was groggily leaning against a wall...
...
... must be dreaming
... This must be some kind of nightmare...!
With intense difficulty, ??? opened h?s mouth, desperately screaming at the look-alike below to wake h??self up.
No sound could be heard.
Survival instincts kicked in as the mind desperately fought against a growing drowsiness.
Wake up!
??? has to wake up!
To accept0101010101is to meet bad end, where
Everyone already dead so that01010101can live, can reach Fallen0101010101to give up here is to spit upon01010101sacrifice
Wake-
“Please stop...”
“Why do you resist?”
Soothing sounds resounded all around, as if a lullaby was luring a lamb to its last rest.
??? tried to cover ??? ears with both hands, only to find that ??? limbs have disappeared.
The past seems to blend into presence of a present. Physical state ceased to be. Only the mind still persists.
“You’re making this difficult for everyone...”
“Close your eyes. Let us in. You are meaningless anyway.”
In the end, it was all for naught.
Like a drowning man, ??? floated further into the pitch-black darkness above, until the scene of a town square turned into nothing but blurry blots far below.
??? last thought was the wall and those countless pairs of eyes upon it – whose unblinking stares never hid their amusement from a show well shown.
...
With that, back in the “real” world, no one noticed a lone wolf being replaced. Said foul intent went unhindered, bypassing the various magic and miracles that should have warded against such misdeed.
All the while, the masses remained blissfully ignorant, like the sheep they were.
“I’m sorry... It’s for the best...”
“And nothing of value was lost this day.”
[ | ]
A loud yawn could be heard as some wolfkin shook off his sleepiness.
He pushed himself off the wall that he had been leaning on.
His feet were taking him somewhere.
There was a sudden urge – an urgent need of sort – that compelled him to do something.
“Hey!”
“Stop pushing!”
“Watch it, whelp!!!”
“Halt!”
A constable blocked his path.
Several other lawmen – who were making sure his fellow “beastmen” would be on their best behavior – seemed to have taken notice.
Some from the priesthood had been summoned.
“Hail, wayfarer. The path ahead is reserved for pilgrims with devotion in both heart and soul... and not only their stomach. If it’s extra alms you are seeking, the lineup is over there.”
Where those like you belong went unsaid, though the wolfkin’s sensitive ears managed to pick up the word “mutt” just before the priest covered it with a cough.
He tilted his head, causing the encirclement around him to tense slightly.
“Angel is kind, yes?”
The priestess at the front froze up, as if not expecting such a question.
“H... Huh?”
“Angel is kind.” The wolfkin nodded at the confused maiden, before pointing at another maiden who was at the attention of everyone else. “And such an angelic soul has moved us all. Me wants to talk, to thank, to show appreciation.”
“That’s... Miss Mary and His Eminence shouldn’t be disturbed right now-”
“Why not? Can’t me show gratitude?” Confusion, deliberation, sadness – a whole range of emotions were put to good use. “Or, are miss angel’s words wrong...? We not friends, or even frens, after all...?”
The priest looked as if he had sucked on a nasty piece of lemon, while the nearby lawmen could only wince at what they’d heard. Yet, before things turned even sourer, someone else had already spoken up.
“Heed me, penitent soul! Heed my inquiry and let honesty guide it all!!!”
Everyone turned to stare at the priestess – whose piercing gaze and clasped hands now glowed a golden spark.
The air shifted. It felt suffocating to even speak, as if uttering a word now required one’s utmost care and attention, lest divine punishment be rained upon a spinner of yarns.
“Heh...”
The wolfkin barely managed to hide a smirk as the priestess proceeded with her questioning.
“Is harm on your mind, once you approach His Eminence and the miraculous maiden?”
“No! Me grateful... Me will never do that!!!”
The true owner of this body certainly wouldn’t...
Satisfied with the answer she received, the priestess continued.
“Do you carry anything – be it weapon or item – that might defile this sacred ceremony?”
“None! Look at me’s clothes! No weapons, no bag of holding, not even bag of tricks! Me carries nothing!!!”
The spear-like artifact that was put on the w̶̤̻̃a̶̠͕̚l̷̲̘̂̌l̵̯͗ beforehand, so it could be brought out once the wolfkin got close enough, definitely wasn’t here.
Such technical truths easily bypassed the priestess’s miracle of honesty, and it didn’t take long before the golden glow left said acolyte as she nodded at him with a warm smile.
The wolfkin almost snorted at how the holy woman didn’t bother asking about his magical know-how, given his kins’ piss-poor reputation regarding such.
Then again... The power of his puppeteers was neither magical nor miraculous in nature. So, it would be a moot point, anyway.
That said.
As he glanced at the group of former skeptics, it was clear that their attitude regarding him had improved greatly.
Then, for one final, finishing blow, he gave the priestess his best puppy eyes impression – complete with frowny lips and droopy ears.
It worked like a charm.
[ | ]
“Ohhh... Brother, I have decided! This soul is innocent, so step aside!”
“But... sister, we shouldn’t just-”
“Are we, or are we not, shepherds of lost lambs?” The priestess cut off her companion’s protest with a grand flourish. “And, when a lamb has finally seen the truth, is it not our sacred duty to guide him into the light’s merciful embrace?”
“...”
Silence permeated their group as the priest looked back and forth between two people.
To his left, a priestess – whose zeal seemed capable of putting even an inquisitor to shame.
To his right, a seemingly enlightened savage – whose puppy eyes were doing a chunk of critical damage to his guilty conscience...
“... Sigh.”
Soon enough, the wolfkin smiled as everyone made way for him towards the town square’s very heart - where one angelic lass and a kind old man stood at the center of it all.
After a while, as the furry figure grew ever smaller before becoming one with the masses, someone next to him spoke up.
“I have met my fair share of ‘toothless’, as outlanders love to call their own halfblood kins. Yet, even compared to them – who were born and raised by educated minds – that one just now still seems oddly eloquent...”
The priest blinked, tearing his eyes away from the weird wolf and turning around to address a hooded lawman – whose insignia and uniform indicated a seniority over the constables nearby.
“Our benediction of guardian angel didn’t pick up any ill intent from that outlander, which already paints him in a better light than most of his compatriots.” He pointed a thumb towards the gang of beastmen not so far away – whose lingering bloodlust from a failed coup could still be felt. “Plus, sister Maive had already invoked the miracle of honesty and found no traces of deceit. Even the First Eagle wouldn’t have been able to lie against that kind of miracle, let alone one powered by a benediction, no less.”
“Perhaps... Heh, maybe I’m just a bit paranoid after this morning’s mess. Thanks for indulging my idiosyncrasy, holy brother. Now, if you don’t mind, I believe there’s something that badly needs my attention...”
The priest simply nodded as the inspector wandered off, his mind still on the wolfkin and thoughts that, perhaps, even outlanders could finally find salvation in the days of judgement that were to come.
With that, sounds from the surroundings simply became white noise in his ear - even the hushed conversation between a hooded lawman and his subordinate from some alley close by.
“Something’s on your mind, inspector Robyn?”
“Nah~ Say, mind covering for your boss a bit? I might have caught a rare illness and need to get some urgent rest right now.”
“What- Oh! Right, right... We’ll make sure to send words to your wife. The mistress would definitely want to make preparations in case things get worse, after all.”
“We can only hope it doesn’t get to that point, my good fellow. We can only hope...”