Chapter 100

Riley's nose burned, and her ears twitched at the sound of bubbling liquids. At the desk, just across the room, Tobias was working feverishly.

A large wooden case was open on the floor beside his feet, its contents disgorged upon the workspace, where beakers and glass tubes, some heated by candles, ran fluids into a central collecting beaker that was glowing with his orange fire magic. She sneezed, inspiring a furious face groom, which did little to chase the sulfurous odors from her muzzle, nor did the cracked basement vent that led to a hidden output in the alleyway.

"This is where urban legends come from. I bet there's yellow smoke percolating up from a hidden grate, inspiring tales of a skunk monster loose in Ashenvale!" Riley drummed her hindpaw in agitation, the foul air making her moody.

"Wha?" Tobias tilted his head away from his alchemical kit for a brief moment, revealing tinted brass goggles that covered his eyes.

"I said you're a mad scientist!" Riley yelled louder than she had any need to, which inspired Tobias to wince.

Tobias's head cocked as he turned slowly after checking a candle flame and the contents it was heating. "Another Rileyism?"

"They're scientists, and they're well… mad… driven to nefarious or evil ends in the pursuit of their discipline. In the old movies, there was always some kind of kooky dude who was mixing up mayhem, or attaching laser beams to animals' heads, or things like that." She explained, feeling his confusion only blossom like some strange flower.

"Rileyism." He said, agreeing with his previous observation before turning back to his work.

Riley huffed. "Just what does it do anyway?"

Tobias drew a small bit with a dropper out from the beaker and let one drop fall to the floor. A bright flash whited out her vision as a thunderous boom rocketed through the floor, making her paws tingle with the shockwave.

"Holy shit." Her ears went flat as the tinnitus raged, and Tobias coughed.

"It works!" He announced, holding one finger aloft in victory.

"Mad… Scientist." Riley shook her head as the world began to come back to sense, only for the sound of someone racing down the stairs to become prominent.

Sabine busted through the door a moment later with her sword drawn. "Ranger Tobias? What in the name of the Thirteen are you doing down here!?"

"I spilled a drop; needless to say, it works." He lied as Riley's eyes narrowed in his direction.

Tobias put on a sheepish smile as Sabine let her sword fall into its scabbard. “Dropped… right…”

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"I'm sorry for the noise; it's a bit more potent than I expected." He explained as he set up ten vials in a rack, then donned a thick leather glove and carefully poured the contents into each as Sabine turned pale.

"Mind that you don't spill!" She cautioned as Tobias took on a sadistic grin again.

"I've got my towel set up strategically; there's little chance of danger." He said in a cool professional tone.

"That work table has slats, and you've already shaken the foundations. What have I been telling you about keeping a lower profile?" Sabine crossed her arms and stared, demanding an answer.

"I've done nothing but take deliveries and spend Riley's money all day. If you have a mission for us, we'll leave by nightfall." He replied amicably.

"Justinian sent word by messenger it's going to be at least another week on Riley's armor; he said he's putting some "extra work" into it, and as to your mission…" Fearlessly, she slapped down a rolled-up scroll on the table next to the Alchemy set.

Tobias turned pale this time. "Careful!"

He shot out of his chair and plastered himself against the wall as Sabine chuckled darkly.

"I thought as much." She said. Riley giggled.

"What about the people that want to kill us?" The hare asked.

Tobias unrolled the scroll and began to read it over. "Is this right?"

"As to the people that want you dead, I'm meeting with people that know people. It's best to leave it there, but I'll be chasing my way up the chain while you chase monsters, and that scroll is 100% accurate. We've a confirmed sighting of multiple monster infestations within the fourth and fifth defensive rings around Ashenvale." Sabine's tone grew grave, dripping with threat.

"When did this come in?" Tobias's finger was moving from word to word, furiously reading.

"Just this morning, a lone survivor made it into the third ring, and the guard sent a messenger. It's likely I'd have sent you anyway, that or handling it myself. Sometimes things work out. There's information in there about where you will be billeted. From the never-ending stream of deliveries this morning, I assume you're well supplied." She assumed.

"Oh, this is nothing. One of these days remind me to tell you about a little something called "Amazon."" Riley said.

"Where's the guard in all of this?" Tobias asked.

"They are holding the perimeter; otherwise, we are keeping this quiet, which is why we're sending in a Ranger team sooner rather than later. The lone survivor that ran the message has been sequestered, so you're to move in, neutralize the threats, and then move out before this gets out to the greater population. This kind of thing could inspire a crisis of faith, and with the rate of monster attacks increasing, that could translate into a loss of faith in the Ashen throne. We cannot allow that to happen." Sabine's voice took on all the dulcet tones of a drill sergeant.

"How often has this happened?" Riley asked.

"It once was so rare as to almost never occur; this is the third time in the last year." She replied.

"Roughly when did the first one tick up? Say around a year and a half ago? I understand it got bad around then." Tobias asked curiously.

"Roughly, what are you driving at?" Sabine eyed him with curiosity.

"That's about the time the murders began," he rubbed his chin in thought.

"Don't go leashing all your cockatrice to the same wagon. We don't know if they're connected." Sabine lectured.

"No, we don't, but it is a strange coincidence. What I'm driving at is, what if we're not looking for a murderer? What if we're hunting a monster? It started about the same time; there's a definitive pattern to their work with only a few outliers. I wonder...." Tobias rose and strode over to the map, staring at it as if it would give him an answer.

"Until you can present me with actual evidence, it's just a theory. You have to be careful about playing to your biases, so consider it, but consider more, too. Now, have you ever ridden a Cockatrice?" Sabine smiled wickedly.

"A few times, I know the basics, but I'm by no means a gifted rider," Tobias replied.

Sabine only smiled wider. "You're about to get a lot more practice."