Cerdo didn't waste any time before following the Mayor’s orders. The Captain of the guard wanted to keep Jeff happy and oblivious to his extracurricular activities. That meant doing his actual job to the best of his abilities.
Brunch had already been served so the restaurant patio was pretty much abandoned. A few stragglers hung around, pleasant expressions stretched across their faces. At first everything seemed normal, but then he spotted the problem.
Nobody was bundled up. Cerdo was at a high enough level to ignore the fog, but he found it unlikely that these people were capable of such things. One waved politely at him, as if wondering why he was here.
Cerdo wandered around to the back. There was a large sliding door that led to a cargo area or a stable. He gave it a knock. Nobody answered, but a few seconds later the door slid open.
Cautiously the Captain stepped inside. Besides the largest draft horse he had ever seen, the stable was empty. He sniffed the air. It didn't smell right. Something was missing.
The horse clopped her way over to him, no doubt looking for some kind of treat. Cerdo didn't have anything he thought would be appealing to a horse. But from the way the beast of burden’s nostrils flared, he wondered if he might be wrong. There was also the question of who had opened the door for him.
The sound of a throat clearing interrupted his train of thought. Credo looked over to see a young man in a green robe holding a kitten in the crook of his arm. “Hello, who might you be?” Zane asked, gesturing for the horse to leave his guest alone.
Cerdo watched as the horse stalked off to a convenient corner. “I'm Captain Cerdo of the city guard. I take it this is your restaurant?”
“No, this is my stable. The restaurant is in front,” the young man said as he stepped forward to get a better look at the captain.
It had been a long time since Cerdo had felt like he was in danger. But he recognized the sensation instantly. Cold sweat trickled down the backs of his arms and he became incredibly conscious of his own breathing. He couldn’t put a finger on what was triggering the response, but for a second it almost overwhelmed him.
The Captain managed to press forward through the fear. “I was hoping to ask some questions and see if you had seen anything suspicious lately.”
“No, I can't say that I have.” The young man stroked his kitten thoughtfully. Then he sniffed the air and frowned. “Have you been playing with fire, Captain? You smell like smoke.”
Cerdo felt his mind go into overdrive. Did this chef somehow know about his involvement with the Midas gang?
“There was an incident in a warehouse,” the Captain replied, sweat beading up under his armor, “The whole structure was lost.”
“How terrible,” the young man said, circling around the Captain, “I hope nobody was seriously injured.”
“Nope. The place was empty when it burned,” Credo said with a smile that lasted all of three seconds until he looked down at the kitten in the chef’s arms. The distinctive black and white swirls of a void stalker made him stop cold.
The young man continued to stroke his pet abomination as if nothing was wrong. “Is there a problem, Captain?”
“No. I just realized there is somewhere else I have to be,” Cerdo lied, stepping back towards the doorway. The Captain should have been paying more attention to where he was walking, because his foot caught on the raised sill, sending him tumbling backwards.
The young man tried not to laugh as Cerdo stumbled, almost caught himself, then toppled over anyway. The Captain barely had time to realize what had happened before his head hit the ground and everything went black.
Zane’s smile faltered as he realized that Cerdo wasn’t moving. Well, that’s not good, he thought to himself.
***
“What did you do?” Pinky demanded as she saw Zane with a city guard slung over his shoulder.
“Nothing,” he replied, “Captain Cerdo here is one clumsy son of a bitch. I hope people don't sue restaurants here. That would suck.”
“So what are we going to do with him?” She went to check the man's breathing. He was alive, but definitely unconscious.
Daisy gave the guard a sniff. “I say we harvest his light. It is wasted on one so clumsy.”
Zane was inclined to agree. He could feel the essence in Cerdo’s core and free experience was nothing to scoff at. But the man hadn't done anything to harm him. The guard’s only crime was being a bit too nosey, which could have been for any number of reasons.
More than likely he had been sniffing around for a bribe or some free food. That was pretty typical police behavior where Zane was from. He decided to leave the decision in fate's hands.
“I say we let him rest. If he wakes up, we escort him back to whatever passes for a guard barracks. If he dies, we save some money on horse food.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Pinky wasn't too keen on the idea, but she also didn't like the thought of bringing someone to the guards that might die later. They would inevitably get blamed for the Captain’s death.
“Fine,” she said, “But swear to me that this was an accident.”
“I cross my heart and hope to die,” Zane promised, “The dude is just clumsy.”
At first, the kitsune wasn't entirely sure she believed him. Then she remembered who she was talking to. Zane would have carved up the guard in a heartbeat. Knocking the man out first was unnecessary work.
The twisted logic of the situation made her pause. She knew Zane hadn't hurt the man, because he was still alive. Pinky shrugged. That was good enough for her.
***
Cerdo woke up to something warm and furry purring on his chest. The Captain’s head was pounding and his vision was blurry, so he didn't immediately recognize the void stalker. But when he did, his scream alerted everyone in the restaurant.
Dumpling purred even louder as she dug her claws into his breastplate. The void stalker opened one eye and peered at the guard.
Normally, this would not have been cause for alarm. Kittens usually opened their eyes within two weeks of being born. The only difference was that this eye was in the middle of her forehead.
He stared transfixed as the black void like the dead space between stars locked onto him. It had no iris or pupil, only alternating bands of shadow and deeper darkness. Two more equally frightening eyes opened to either side of it. They were a vivid yellow banded with red.
Dumpling spoke, her words boring directly into his brain without bothering to filter through his ears. Each syllable crashed down on his mind with the force of a sledgehammer. “YOU EXIST, BECAUSE WE ALLOW IT. YOUR HEART BEATS, BECAUSE WE DO NOT BOTHER TO STOP IT,” she purred.
Cerdo could barely breathe from the pressure on his chest. His steel breastplate was crumpling as if the kitten weighed a thousand pounds.
“YOU CANNOT CONTEMPLATE THE POWER AND GLORY THAT IS THE AWAKENER,” Dumpling continued, her whiskers twitching, “HIS VICTORY IS INEVITABLE. ALL WILL BE CONSUMED.”
The void stalker walked forward, each dainty step leaving a paw print embedded in his armor. She moved with the crushing weight and inevitably of gravity itself.
Cerdo had done some bad things. He wasn't sure if there was a place where bad people went when they died, or a lower form of reincarnation reserved for people like him. But he was almost certainly about to find out.
His lungs were on fire, but he had to do something. He had to try and bargain with this creature. “What do you want?” Cerdo asked, his heart pounding in his chest.
The kitten looked at him with all three eyes. “I WANT TO SEE A WORLD WHERE ALL BOW BEFORE THE AWAKENER. I WANT TO CONSUME THE CORES OF THE FAITHFUL AND CRACK THEIR BONES TO LIBERATE THE GOODNESS TRAPPED WITHIN. ALL THIS AND MORE I WILL BRING TO PASS.”
Dumpling purred at the thought of their total victory. Then, she once again grew serious. “AS FOR YOU, WORTHLESS ONE. I HAVE A DIFFERENT PURPOSE IN MIND.”
***
Pinky and Zane watched from the kitchen as the guard captain stroked Dumpling. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be attempting not to move. No doubt he was worried about accidentally disturbing the kitten.
When they heard Cerdo’s yelp of surprise they had expected the worst. Yet there he was, serenely stroking the spirit beast curled up on his chest.
“He must be a cat person,” Zane observed.
“Do you think he knows it's a void stalker?” Pinky asked.
“Nah, you said they were pretty rare. He probably just thinks she's a pretty little kitty. Which is good, because I've been meaning to socialize Dumpling more.”
She looked at the duo. “Do you think we should go over and check to see if he's alright?”
The chef shook his head. “Nah, let him rest and pet the cat for a while. The poor guy is probably pretty embarrassed after what happened. Besides, I read somewhere that a cat’s purr has healing properties. It's something to do with the vibration.”
“Huh, weird.” Pinky decided to defer to Zane on this one. The chef had actually spoken to the unlucky guard before he fell. Zane probably had a better understanding of how the Captain would react to the situation than she did.
They decided to let Captain Cerdo tell them when he was ready to go home. An hour later, he was still laying on the floor, gently stroking Dumpling as if she were made of the most delicate porcelain.
“Wow,” Pinky said, “I guess he really does like cats.”
“Called it,” Zane replied smugly.
***
The next morning Cerdo made his report to the Mayor. The Captain had nothing but good things to say, mostly because he had no desire to die. Whatever this awakener was, he would be sure to stay out of its way.
He also couldn't shake the feeling that the chef knew about his involvement with the warehouse and what was inside. Cerdo wasn't sure if Zane was the awakener, or if that honor belonged to another. But it didn't matter. He wasn't coming near that restaurant ever again.
The blaze had set his plans back, but he would make arrangements to secure more cores. They would be back on track in time for the winter festival.
“Anything else to report?” the Mayor pressed.
Cerdo tried to come up with something that would satisfy his boss without being cause for alarm. There was one thing that had seemed strange to him, besides the homicidal spirit beasts masquerading as harmless animals.
“It was very clean, sir.”
Mayor Jeff looked his subordinate up and down. He wondered if a bribe was responsible for Cerdo's lack of ability to find anything. The man was wearing a shiny new breastplate instead of his old battered one, and armor wasn't cheap.
“Captain, what happened to the armor you were wearing yesterday? This set seems new,” the Mayor asked.
Cerdo tried not to swear. Jeff was as observant as ever. “I wanted to replace it in time for the festival, but couldn't resist trying it on early. The old one was scratched and dented. It wasn't something that I felt proud of wearing on such a special day.”
“Fair enough. Carry on, Captain,” the Mayor said, dismissing him with the wave of a hand.
Cerdo exited the office with his heart beating a mile a minute. His first instinct was to run. But leaving the city now would set off too many alarms. People would come looking for him, maybe even start asking questions about his recent activities. More importantly, he couldn't let his plan fail. Not when it was so close to completion.
The Captain mustered his resolve and forced himself to walk at a normal pace. There were still tasks that needed to be finished. But once they were done, he would be riding away from the city as fast as his horse could carry him.