After arriving at the inn I made my way to the room we had rented, I was aware of how early in the morning it was, but time was of the essence. After unlocking the door, I looked at the room or at least what I could see in the dark. It was a nicely funished room with two comfortable looking beds, and a table with chairs located by the window. The decorations, color of paint on the wall, were all homey feeling, but otherwise I was uninterested. What did interest me was the sleeping form on the second bed. I silently moved through the room and when I stood over the slumbering form of the Amazonian, I intiated my evil plan.
*poke, poke* "Hey, Morganna. Wake up." *poke, poke* I whispered queitly while poking at her. She remained unresponsive to my pokes, so I gently nudged her shoulder.
*Shunk*( not sure how to spell out a stabbing)
Or I tried to nudge her, but before my hand made it to her, I found a sword impedded in my chest. And if the penetration of said sword meant anything with it was sticking out my back, it told me she had regained some of her strength. And fuck did it hurt! Not enough to yell in agony but I felt it all the same.
As I was marveling at my new chest peice, Morganna had already produced another weapon from somewhere, a large knife, and was about to stab me with it as well, when she appeared to realise who I was. She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes, and looked at me.
"Alec, what in the infernals do you think you're doing approaching a lady when they're sleeping! Your not supposed to do that! Oh, shit! Did I stab you? I'm sorry!" Morganna said frantically. She was worriedly trying to think about how best to remove the sword she ran me through with.
"Ouch." I said as I removed the sword. Note to self don't wake an Amazonian from their beauty sleep. " You know, had that been Nix, she'd be dead right now."
"Well, luckily it was you. Besides, Nix knows how to wake me up, and not trigger a harmful response. Was there something you needed? And what time is it?" Morganna irritably asked looking out at the still darkened sky.
"Well, I have some questions to ask you, but should we take this somewhere else? I'm suprised Nix isn't awake, what with the stabbing and all." I said looking towards Nixs' still sleeping form.
"Oh, don't worry about her. She sleeps as hard as a treant, nothing short of throwing her out of bed will wake her. Lets take a seat." Morganna said dismissively, moving towards the table and chairs.
"Okay, what was you wanting?" Morganna asked after I took I seat.
"Well, How many bodies can you currently control, and for how long?" I asked. I made sure to keep my voice at a low level, even if it didn't wake Nix, it was still a courtesy to do so.
"I can control about twenty right now with my current energy levels, add a few more in a couple of weeks. I've been trying to gain my energy and recharge it up to were it was before the imprisonment, but it'll take months for me to be the Reaping Preistess I was before. Why do you ask?" Morganna asked curiously.
"The bandit quest, it may be more difficult than I originally thought. I've learned that there are around 350 bandits, possibly more by the time the city commander engages them. And I believe they are being aided and protected by someone, so the sooner we start the easier it'll be." I said. Morganna looked trouble that so many bandits were gathered together. And I agreed. Based off the memories I've consumed since I got here, bandits were usaully wiped out or forced away before they even got close to the 100's.
"Thats not good, but whats that have to do with my minions?" Morganna asked.
"When I done the quest in Burke, the armoured wolf varaint had a berserker pheromone it could unleash. I now possess that ability along with Fenris. I plan to use that, my naturaly infiltration skills, and as many minions as you can safely use, to kill all the bandits." I answered her.
"Wait, most of what you said made sense. But, all of them? Even with my minions, we couldn't take on that many of them on our own." Morganna said. Oh, ye of little faith.
"We won't be doing it by ourselves. With my new mutation. I can get them to fight themselves. The number of men they have will just turn into more swords at their throats. So long as we can inflict enough damage, and kill the leaders, the rest should disperse before the soldiers arrive." I said.
"Why can't we just join with the city soldiers and attack them then? The risk is less, and the rewards aren't going to change. Though if your conscerned about the loss of human life, its touching. But why?" Morganna stated.
"Well, theres a reward for getting it done without the help." I answered with a smile.
"What kind of reward?" Morganna asked, her eyes sguinted with suspicion or it could have been curiousity.
"They only said it would be from the Guilds vault, and it would be very hard to find items like those in the vault anywhere else." I answered, shrugging my shoulders. " I figured it was worth the effort to atleast try."
"Fair enough. We'll go with your plan on this one. When do we begin?" Morganna said.
"Now."
( A short skip here. )
After waking Nix up, which almost earned me another stabbing, I explained my plan to her. Like Morgann, she was sceptical at first, till I told her what the reward was. She was shocked and when we asked about her reaction, she told us this. The Guild vault, depending on the location of the office, usually contained items that were very rare, highly sought after, and almost always incredibly dangerous. Both to anything you used it on, and those that possessed them. Some were cursed, or believed to be cursed. Others that weren't cursed often brought endless duels and assination attempts from those wanting it.
And it was it was considered impossible to hide the fact that you had such an item. After all who would weild such a thing and never use it?
She agreed that the reward was worth the risk, but she asked if I would still get it if she and Morganna helped. I assumed so, I never said that the 'somebody' was alone, and the quest wasn't excluded to myself. They just needed to be done and turned in by me.
Morgana also filled me in on the details of her controlling of the dead ability. It goes like this, she absorbes the energy of the fallen(soul or essence), then converts it into her own energy. This usually takes some time depending on the quality and quantity of the souls consumed. She can then implant a body with that energy, and control it. The newly arisen minions still have their skills(muscle memory), and enough smarts to obey simple commands. But don't expect a noble peace prize, or any form of higher thinking from them.
She also said that the bodies she controls won't rot, as there is energy inside them. They will rot away when she releases them or if enough damage is done to the body, and the body becomes inoperable.
We gathered our things and headed out of the city. The bandits camp was in a nearby wooded area.
I changed into Darvy, when we got nearer the camp. Just in case there were lookouts or patrols near the camp. I had Morganna and Nix proceed to their part of the plan. Corpse snatching and body jacking. If Morganna could get enough men, Fenris could proceed with his part, while I got to work in the camp. Oh man, this will be fun!
So, after we split up, and I continued to the bandit camp. I found out that there were indeed patrols in the woods around the camp, but after they seen Darvy they paid me no mind. I made my way through the camp, a collection of tents, leen-twos and makeshift shacks, I did my best to ignore the odor most of these bandits seemed to possess.
I made my way towards Michs' tent, which was slightly larger than most of the grunts. Entering through the flap, Mich turned towards me with a annoyed expression. Mich as it turned out was short, but not a dwarf, and a bit round. Black greasy hair had grown to his shoulders, and looked like it hadn't been tended to in forever. He wiped his bangs out from infront of his eyes, reveiling his face. While he would never win any beauty contests, he wasn't horrifying. No he was just ugly. Pudgy face was riddled with warts and scars, and was adorned with a scragly beard as unkept as his hair.
"Ya' not sapposta be her' Darvy. Whatcha you want?" Mich growled in barely intelligible speech. A quick look around the tent and Darvys' memories, and I realized I had interupted his usual drinking habit. Meaning no one should be bothering him for a bit.
"Got some new targets for the boss. Here take a look at these." I said, making like I was going for some notes I had wrote.
With a grunt Mich made to move away from his endtable he was drinking at. But before he could finish his drunken attempts to stand, I grabbed him with my left hand and pulled him towards me. I then swiftly stabbed him in the throat with my right hand, and absorbed him before he could even stutter a sound.
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I took a seat as I looked through the fresh memories. So the boss of this camp was called Blaze, which I already knew. But what I now know, is that he's called Blaze because he somehow learned to throw fire at people. Luckily he couldn't throw firballs or comets at people, yet, for now all he could do was a flamethrower like spray of fire. Mich knew him from way back, and back then, Blaze didn't have this magical gift. He was just some slightly more intelligent bandit with unrealistic ambitions. And Mich had some ideas on how he came to possess this magical ability.
Whisperer. Thats what the man in black robes called himself the first and last time Mich had ever spoken to him. He showed up with Blaze about six months ago. Blaze wanted Michs' bandits to join his, and a few other groups he had gotten together, thus forming a sizable group of bandits. This Whisperer had contacted Blaze with a business proposal, the Empire would help him in his ambitions for power, in exchange for acting as their muscle in this region. Mich didn't know how he did it but he was sure That man was behind it.
They had been attacking merchant caravans headed to and from the dwarven lands carring weapons, minerals, and the famous dwarven whiskey. Raiding a hamlet here and there, kidnappings, attacking military patrols, anything that would destabilize the region, they did.Ofcourse there was no way they could attack an established or fortified city, not yet any ways, but they were growing larger every week. They would trade the people and goods they captured in exchange for gold, weapons, and other things with the Empire. This drew the attention of bandits, thugs, and other low lifers wanting a share of the good life.
They were being used, and Mich didnt like it . So he decided he would drink some of the worries away. Now, he didn't have to worry at all.
So the Empire is covertly active in the region huh? Oh well, I'll just have to deal with them if given the chance. Unfortunately, this Whisperer guy wasn't in the camp at the moment. He had left yesterday, and probably wouldn't be back for a few days, if he followed his usual routine. But I best get back to work.
There was no way I would be able to get to Blaze right now, he was in some kind of meeting with his captians, and Mich wasn't invited. So I'll have to wait for an opportunity. Or will I?
'Fenris.' I said, sending my thoughts out.
'Yes, Alpha?' Fenris responded.
'How are things on your end?' I asked.
'Slow, Alpha. The girls have managed to kill, and add six bandits to her pack, but it won't be long before somebody notices their disappearence. I have also killed a group of fifteen bandits that were returning to the camp.' Fenris said. He was right about the gils side of the plan, they would eventually look for the missing patrols or sentries. But they would have no idea of Fenris killing groups that had been away from the camp. I may be able to do something with this.
'I am going to start my part early, you guys continue what you're doing.' I said to him, as I left the tent.
I went towards the kitchen tent, there was bound to a group or two of bandits there. I absorbed bandits as I went, makining sure not to be seen, and only targeting those by themselves. I wasn't able to absorb a lot of them, only a few, but it was a few less I would have to deal with later.
When I got to the kitchen section of the camp, I was glad to see there were a fair number of bandits here, about twenty, more than enough for my plan. A cauldron was over a fire in the middle of a small clearing of tents, with a larger tent behind it. I assumed that was were the food was prepared or stored. Bandits were sitting on the ground loosely around the area eating or conversing with one another. I made my way to the cauldron, acting like I too was there for some food, but when I neared the middle of the area, I released my rage pheromones. I went towards the kitchen tent with a brisk walk, making space between me and the soon to be raged killers.
The bandits began to attack one another quickly, using whatever they had near them. The sound of fighting drew other bandits that were nearby, some were watching the bloodshed, seeming to approve of the actions the enraged men were doing. That is until some of the ragers started swinging at them with their weapons, killing two in the sudden confusion. They had thought this was some kind of disagreement between rival groups, so a fight and some blood seemed natual in this case. But now that they were being attacked, they didn't give a fuck and drew their weapons, killing the ragers in front of them.
More bandits arrived, drawn by shouts of an attack and yells of help, but there wasn't anything they could do. The first group of ragers were starting to come down from their exposure, this caused most of the ones left alive to be killed in their now weakening state. Two people had survived their little trip, and now lay on the ground in pain from the extreme exhaustion their body was experiencing. But twenty-eight bandits were dead, and a few more were seriously wounded.
Assuming someone with authority was on their way here to investigate the disturbance, I released another burst of pheromones. I moved through the crowd that had gathered here, either in curiosity or because they wanted to loot the bodies. I released my pheromones as I briskly walked away from the crowd, making sure to spread as much of it as I could, as quickly as I could. By the time I had made it to the end of the crowd, the first burst had taken effect, and the crowd once more bursted into chaos.
Those not infected were unsure if the ones around them would soon turn, so even some of those not infected becane to attack eachother. All the while the raged bandits were attacking anyone they could find. Someone had hacked the arm off one of the ragers, only to have the rager lunge at him, and start biting chunks out of his face.
While this tactic worked on small groups, it would be woefully ineffective in a camp this large. I wasn't sure what my next move would be after I consumed Blaze. That is until I remembered something from earth. I could use all the stored bio mass to fuel an area wide release of my rage pheremone. Sure the effects might not overcome some of the bandits, but it would infect most of them.
I made my way to his command tent, only to see the ruckus earlier hadn't drawn the meeting to a close. Must be something important going on in there, or a fight breaking out wasn't an odd occurence here. Well time for plan B.
I went around consuming stray bandits that no one was watching while I waited for the others to complete their preparations. A dozen or so bandits later I was contacted by Fenris.
'Alpha, Morganna wishes to tell you that she has gathered her full pack. She will engage at your signal.' Fenris said.
I don't think she said that but some words probably translated easier for him. My signal being a lot of fighting or any large or abnormal disturbance. Untill then she and Fenris would elimenate all the remaining sentries.
'Good, be ready to chase any straglers. I want no survivors.' I said to him.
With the others in position I went towards where most of the remaining bandits were. My attack earlier had most of the bandit gathered in groups, likely discussing what had happened. I stopped walking when I reached near the center of camp. I gathered all my bio-mass and began pouring it into the pheromones. My body doubled over as my skin writhed with tendrils. The bandits saw this and shouted warnings, screams of fear and demons. Some moved towards me, trying to strike down the abomination in front of them, but before they could move more than a few steps I released my power.
A wave of red fog bursted out of me with the force enough to knock over tents and nearby bandits to the ground. The wave of red spread guickly, spreading out it covered the camp in seconds, then it dissapated. Like it was never there. But the bandits frothing at the mouth would prove that assumption otherwise.
Within seconds of exposure the camp errupted in a mad fit of violence and savagery, as bandits started doing their best to kill everything in sight. I grabbed a bandit near me and consumed him. I activated my claws, and my armor form, and started hunting those not under the effects of my attack. Those that were affected would be easy prey after it wore off. As I was slicing into one man after another, a sudden eruption of fire from the command tent drew my attention. I moved towards the tent cleaving anything in my way.
Blaze was burning everyone near him that seemed crazy or if they weren't listening to the orders he was shouting. As I neared him I realized he didn't seem to be able to do much with his 'fire' magic. All he seemed capable of was a flamethrower like spray. While his magic seemed effective at setting things on fire, it was easy to read, and if one could move quick enough it was avoidable.
I cleaved my way to him, moving quickly through his men, I had to kill him before the effects wore off. He spotted me coming towards him, though I think the arm flying passed him might have tipped him off. He looks horrified, both at the mutilated bodies around me, and my appearance.
He got over his fear quickly, rage was now shown on his face, my claws flexing as I smiled in anticipation.
"Die! Demon, die!" Blaze roared, as he thursted his arms towards me, fire spayed from his hands. I ran through the flames, I've been hit by napalm bombs before so I doubt I'll die from this, but just in case I sheilded my head with my left claw. The fire burned and seared my flesh, causing quite a bit of pain, but my regeneration rate is pretty good, so I wouldn't be seriously harmed. Blaze kept the fire on me, expecting me to be burned to a crisp, but I kept running toward him. By the time he realized I wasn't burning , I was a few steps from him, the flaring nature of his fire actually helped concealed me. He tried to reach for his sword, but I was too close to allow that to happen.
Still on fire I slashed out at Blaze with my right claw, slicing through his arm and leaving large gashes in his torso. He screamed out in pain, I slashed out with my still flaming left claw, and cleaved his head and some of his right shoulder from his body . Blood spayed around his body as he lifelessy fell to the ground. I stabbed my claws into his body and absorbed his remains. A flood of memories came to me but I'll dig though them later. I still had bandits to kill.
Nix, along with Morganna and her new minions, had attacked the camp after the fog dissapated, while Fenris ran circles around the camp to ensure no one escaped. After the effects wore off, the bandits were too exhausted, or too injuried to fight back effectively. Some tried to, but were cut down immediatley, this continued till the camp had been cleared. And while Morganna had lost a few of her minions, there were no serious injuries to any of us. With Fenris and I using our hunters sense, we made sure all the bandits were dead.
After a quick check, we all gathered at the center of camp, in what was left of Blazes' tent.
"So, are we going to just wait for the city guards to come here?" Morganna asked while she and Nix sat in some chairs around a table. She had her minions gathering weapons, armours and any thing of value, from around the camp. They were thankfully smart enough to do this.
"I hope not. You said they would be here sometime tomorrow afternoon, these guys are going to start smelling awful way before then." Nix said, as I pulled up a chair and took a seat.
"Well, how else are we going to prove we did this?" I asked them. We sat in thought, or atleast Nix and I were in thought, Morganna was humming some weird tune while smiling. Must be reaping the souls.
"Why don't we just take their heads as proof? You know like Orc trophy hunting?" Morganna asked.
"Orcs head hunt?" Nix asked her.
"They used to, yes. Not sure if the still due with them being part of the Helenic Empire." Morganna said, shrugging her shoulders. Her idea wasn't bad, it was pretty good actually. So we began the laborous, and dirty job of beheading the bandits. We piled them into a cart the bandits had stolen, armours,weapons, and anything that wouldn't fit in our one cart was left were piles at the camp. We didn't need them, and taking them with us would have been to much trouble So if it wasn't information, a head, or coins, it stayed.
After we were done, we headed back to Junction City, and the reward that awaited us.