“Are we there yet?” Cili groaned, lying down on the wagon bed.
“No,” Ace said, exasperated.
“Are we there yet?” Cili asked just a few minutes later.
“No.”
“Are we there yet?”
“Yes.”
“Really?!” Cili sat up with excitement.
“No.”
“Ugh!” Cili exclaimed, falling back onto the wagon bed.
“Perhaps if we had slept 4 hours like I said we should—” Draxl said.
“No!” everyone else shouted.
Draxl put his hands up. “Just saying.”
Kai tiredly hung over the end of the wagon bed, glancing out at the thick forest that surrounded the party. “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with T.”
“Is it a tree?” Riven said without a hint of enthusiasm.
“Wow, how did you know?”
“Maybe because trees are the only thing we’ve seen for the past THREE DAYS!” Riven shouted.
“Well, at least it's some scenery. Better than those open fields,” Halvor said. “Forests are quite nice.”
“I don’t disagree, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing,” Galina said.
“Are we there yet?” Cili asked again.
“Actually,” Ace said.
“Wait, seriously?”
“You tell me.” The wagon slowly rolled to a stop.
The group all stepped out onto the road. Just ahead of them was a wall of darkness that stretched far into the forest, beyond their vision.
As the group cautiously approached the wall, their reflections shimmered into view on the surface of the darkness like staring into a lake. Examining it closer, they noticed that the wall was selectively reflective. The group, the trees, and the horse appeared on it, but not the dirt road.
“Maybe it only reflects living things,” Riven said.
“Look!” Cili exclaimed. Her hand was plunged through the wall of darkness, and disappeared behind it.
Kai mimicked Cili. “Woah.”
Ace looked closely at his reflection. He was still adjusting to seeing red in his eyes. Creeping over his shoulder in the reflection, curling its fingers around his neck, was a familiar visage: the Devil.
Ace turned around, only to see nothing behind him. He spun so quickly that he lost his footing, and tumbled backward, into the darkness.
“You alright?” Galina asked.
Bolting out from the darkness, Ace rushed toward the wagon and grasped the reins. “Everyone in! Now! We need to move!”
“What’s going on?” Halvor asked.
“You’ll see in a second,” Ace said.
Once everyone was in the wagon, Ace cracked the reins, as hard as he could, and the horses dashed toward Wickerbound.
As the wagon delved into the darkness, the group reunited with a scent they had become intimately familiar with during their time on the gallows: fire.
The town of Wickerbound had been plunged into pandemonium, its streets alive with chaos. Flames ravaged the town, their fiery tongues leaping skyward, casting an eerie glow over the town surrounded by a dome of darkness.
Townsfolk rushed out from the collapsing town, holding on tightly to what little they could salvage. Their hurried footsteps and horrified expressions spoke volumes of the fear that flooded them.
“I can’t tell what’s going on,” Kai said, looking over Ace’s shoulder.
“What kind of spyglass is that?” Cili asked, inquiring about the instrument Kai had pressed up to his face.
“They’re binoculars.”
“Any chance we can wait this out?” Draxl asked.
“You can, but I’m not,” Halvor said.
“Our lifeline is in there,” Galina reminded Draxl. “I doubt you want to gamble on their survival.”
“I suppose you have a point.”
Ace weaved the cart through the frenzied townsfolk as they fled from the inferno they called home. Eventually, the crowd grew too large, leaving the wagon nowhere to move forward.
Ace brought the wagon to a halt just off the road in the woods. “This is as far as we go. The rest will have to be on foot.”
The group burst out of the wagon and sprinted through the woods toward Wickerbound. Just as they reached the outskirts of the town, the group noticed a pool of blood gathered at the base of one of the trees.
Halvor was the first to rush toward the blood. A wounded town guard with dark skin and a salt and pepper beard sat propped up against the tree’s trunk. His armor, battered and torn, bore the scars of combat; a shattered sword lay at his side. The man clutched blood-soaked bandages wrapped around his waist. His face was etched with faded determination that had been chipped away by exhaustion and pain.
“Are you alright, sir?” Halvor asked.
“Who are you all?” the guard asked between weary gasps of air.
“The Hangmen,” Ace said. “For our own reasons, we’re invested in Wickerbound’s safety.”
“Can you fight?” the guard asked.
“Well enough,” Galina answered.
“I’m not gonna ask strangers to put their lives on the line,” the guard said. “I’m heading back. You’re free to follow.”
The guard grit his teeth and forced himself to his feet. As he stood, a flash of pain from his wound shot through his body.
“Woah there dude,” Kai said, catching the guard. “No need to be a hero alright.”
“Leave that to us!” Cili exclaimed.
“I’m going back,” the guard insisted. “All the other guards ran. I’m the only one left.”
“Listen, you'll live, but only if you stay here,” Riven said. “If you go, you’re going to die.”
“They’re waiting for me!”
“The townsfolk have mostly fled,” Draxl said.
“Not them!”
As Ace stared at the guard, trying to comprehend what he meant, his view became obfuscated by a flash of text.
[ The spirit’s overwhelming will has made their desire known. ]
[ Desire: Rescue my family. ]
[ Would you like to form a pact? ]
Ace was surprised. Up until now [Pact] had only worked on dead people. He knelt, getting eye level with the guard. “I’ll get them back. Trust me.”
He extended a hand out to the guard.
“What the hell is this?” the guard muttered under his breath.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ace said.
“Fine.” The guard sighed, and grasped Ace’s hand. “Guess I got no choice but to rely on you all.”
[ Pact Formed! ]
[ Active Pacts: 2/2 ]
“Can any of you use connectors?” the guard asked.
“I can,” Riven said.
“Up on top of one of the buildings there’s a water tower. It’ll be pretty hard to miss. It’s got a connector built into it to disperse water across the city. Use my name, Jahad, to get access.”
“Mind telling us what we’re running into?” Draxl said.
“Raevens.”.
“Anyone care to enlighten me?” Ace asked.
“Raevens look like a cross between humans and ravens, though they aren’t hybrids. Their forms are humanoid, but they’ve got talons for hands and feet, wings, a beak, and they’re covered in feathers.” Riven informed the group. “They mainly fight using their talons, and by throwing their feathers like knives. They’re pretty quick in the air too.”
“So how do we beat them?” Cili asked.
“Hit them until they die,” Riven said.
“I think we can work with that,” Kai said with a smile.
“I’m not sure I can.” Ace raised his hand in protest. “I’m not really a fighter.”
“Take this.” Kai handed Ace the revolver from his hip. “Point the barrel at something, then press that, and it’ll disappear. The bullets are explosive, but because of that, they’re hard to make. It’s only got six shots so make ‘em count.”
“Thanks.”
“Before we go. One moment if you will,” Galina said. She closed her eyes and grasped her staff. “[Link].”
Stolen story; please report.
Can you all hear me?
Galina’s voice echoed through everyone’s minds.
This will help us stay in contact amidst the chaos, Galina said.
Wait, so everyone hears what we’re thinking? Kai asked nervously.
Only what you want them to hear.
Oh, that’s good.
“Are you just going stand there and stare at each other?” the guard asked.
“Alright, Hangmen,” Ace said, “let’s go play hero.”
----------------------------------------
“Mom! Dad!”
Amidst the blazing ruins of Wickerbound, a young girl, trapped in an alleyway by fallen rubble, cried out as tears streamed down her soot-stained cheeks.
“Mom! Dad!”
A cacophony of beating wings echoed above her.
“Mom! Dad!”
The flapping of wings began to grow louder, and closer.
“Mom! Dad!”
The sound of the wings faded.
“Mom? Dad?”
The girl spun around. Behind her was a raeven. Its form was as mesmerizing as it was twisted. Its large wings, dark as midnight, scraped along the sides of the alley as it inched toward the girl. Its razor-sharp talons tapped on the street, creating a haunting rhythm, like the melody of a song as it approaches its end.
The girl’s cries faltered into stunned silence. She became transfixed by the raeven’s eyes that gleamed like polished onyx.
“Caw!” the raeven cried. It loomed over the girl and ruffled its feathers. Suddenly, the feathers shot out from the raeven’s wings like a fan of knives.
The girl shut her eyes and braced herself. She felt nothing. Her eyes blinked open. The feathers were suspended in mid-air as if frozen in time, just inches from her face. The raeven’s gaze was fixated on something above the girl.
Standing atop a floating tree trunk was Galina, her hand outstretched. Galina slammed her staff into the trunk, launching the suspended feathers back at the raeven who had fired them. The barrage of feathers riddled the raeven, decorating the alley with gouts of black blood.
As the raeven’s lifeless body collapsed to the ground, Galina beckoned the girl to hop aboard the trunk. “Come on. You’re okay now.”
Without hesitation, the girl climbed onto the trunk and held onto it with all her might.
“You ready?” Galina asked.
The girl nodded.
Soaring up into the air, Galina and the girl flew right above the wreckage that had trapped the girl inside the alley, and back down to the city streets.
Galina gestured to the southern gate a few meters from where she stood. “Okay, you see that gate?”
“Yeah,” the girl said.
“I want you to run towards it okay, as fast as you can. And don’t worry about your mom and dad. My friends and I are taking care of things.”
After a deep breath, the girl looked at Galina, nodded her head, and made a dash for the gate.
Galina hopped on the trunk and levitated it back into the air high above Wickerbound. With a bird’s eye view of the action, Galina was able to micro-manage the battlefield; she kept a lookout for any survivors or enemies.
Status report, Galina said.
Galina’s attention remained fixated on the girl she had just rescued until the girl made it out of the town. However, her narrow focus left her open to being surprised.
The flames cast the shadows of two raevens over Galina alerting her to their presence. As she spun around, the raevens unleashed a storm of feathers in her direction.
“[Wind’s Grace]!”
Surging up from beneath Galina, Cili shouted out her skill and interposed herself between Galina and the raeven. A tempestuous wind centered on Cili sent the feathers flying in all directions.
“[Ricochet] X [Wind’s Grace].” Cili fired an arrow at the raevens. The arrow pierced through the first raeven sending it tumbling to the ground; the crossing of [Ricochet] and [Wind’s Grace] caused the arrow to defy reality, and ricochet off the very air itself to strike the other raeven right between the eyes.
Cili spun around and gave Galina a thumbs up, which Galina quickly reciprocated.
All good with me, Cili said.
----------------------------------------
In the darkness of Wickerbound, lit only by flames, a new source of light cut through the darkness. A sigil carved into a rooftop water tower glowed a vibrant sky blue. A flock of three raevens charged toward the beacon of light.
Descending upon the rooftops, the three raevens fixated on Riven as she examined the sigil, chanting under her breath to activate it. As the three raevens landed, they surveyed their surroundings; finding nothing, they silently approached Riven.
Clinging to the rooftop’s ledge to remain hidden, Draxl waited until the raevens had turned their backs to him. The moment they turned toward Riven, Draxl vaulted onto the rooftop, drew his shortsword, and dashed toward the raevens.
It wasn’t until Draxl was almost within striking distance that the raevens noticed his approach, and tried to ready themselves.
“Shine bright, [Flash Step].” A blinding burst of white light momentarily blinded the raevens. Draxl vanished from sight, then reappeared behind the disoriented raevens, and with a single strike bisected one of the raevens.
Coming out of their stupor, the remaining two raevens lashed out at Draxl with their talons. Draxl parried the attack on the right, his shortsword catching on the talons, then twisted his body to avoid the attack coming from his left. The raeven that had missed, stepped in closer and tried to plunge its talons into Draxl’s back.
“[Quickdraw].” Before the raeven could sink its claws into Draxl, in one swift blur, he pulled one hand off his shortsword, then pulled a dagger from the sheath on his chest, and drove it into one of the raeven’s eyes.
The raeven screamed as it stumbled backward, clutching the dagger, as black blood oozed from its eye.
Draxl immediately turned his attention to the raeven that was wrangling for control of his shortsword. The raeven was taken aback, as Draxl completely let go of his blade, and ducked down. He swept the raeven’s legs, causing them to lose their balance. Before the raeven hit the floor, Draxl lunged forward and plunged his dagger into the top of its head.
He turned around to face the other raeven, only to see it's corpse laid on the ground, with Riven’s dagger embedded in its skull.
“The plan was for me to keep guard,” Draxl said. “You need to focus on the sigil.”
Riven pulled her dagger from the raeven’s corpse. “Turns out it's really hard to read runes, when my bodyguard is blinding me.”.
“Just get back to work, please,” Draxl said..
“Only because you said please.”
Everything’s fine over here, Draxl said.
Yup, everything’s great, Riven reiterated.
----------------------------------------
A raeven stalked the corridors of one the houses that had yet to fall in Wickerbound. A brief flash of light and a loud sound from the upper floor of the house had lured it inside.
The raeven swung open a door. Its eyes immediately noticed a razor-thin line of wire that had just snapped. Between the gaps of a small iron octahedron that lay hidden at the top of the doorframe, a fiery light glowed for just a moment, before a booming explosion erupted, incinerating the raeven.
Kai set the modifications on his rifle to maximize distance and accuracy. As he gazed through the scope, he tracked the flight of a raeven as it circled the area. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, the force of the explosion below rattled his weapon causing him to lose his mark.
“Always the worst fucking times man,” Kai muttered under his breath.
He took a breath in and out, then looked through the scope again. It took him a moment, but Kai managed to find the same raeven he had been tracking—luckily its flight path hadn’t changed at all. Once Kai pulled the trigger, he didn’t need to see whether he hit his target.
The bullet pierced through the raeven’s skull before it even heard the crack of the rifle. Its lifeless body slammed onto the streets below.
Kai turned to examine the room he was in. A dense gas cloud permeated the entire room. Kai’s gas mask—which he had taken the time to repair during the group’s journey to Wickerbound—prevented the gas from knocking him out and his goggles stopped it from irritating his eyes. On the floor were the unconscious bodies of five raevens that had tried to attack Kai. He planned on finishing them off once the fight was over.
Got a few problems here, but none that haven’t been dealt with.
----------------------------------------
Ace raced through the chaos of Wickerbound. He didn't know where he was going, but he could feel the spirit of Jahad guiding him. Ace dodged collapsing rubble, powered through the intense heat, and endured the acrid smoke.
Ace finally arrived at a home that had managed to escape the raging fires that surrounded it.
“ARGH!” A cry of pain from inside sent Ace into a full sprint toward the house. As Ace got to the door—the same sixth sense that had guided him here taking over—he instinctively reached underneath the welcome mat and grabbed a key.
Bursting into the house, Ace was greeted with a harrowing sight. A young man—the spitting image of Jahad—had collapsed to the floor. Gashes riddled his armor, blood leaking from each one. His whole body was shaking; through equal parts determination and adrenaline, the man forced himself to his feet and grasped his sword with both hands.
The man stared down a raeven, but one that was unlike any of the others attacking Wickerbound. Despite never hearing of raevens until today, even Ace knew the raeven he was faced with was anything but natural.
Raevens had two sets of talons—one set that acted as hands, the other as legs—one head, and one pair of wings, but this one had twice as many of each. Its hulking form was double the size of a normal raeven too. It looked as if the raeven’s body had forced itself to grow, twisting its muscles and bones to accommodate the extra appendages.
Ace knew his only opportunity to strike would be the brief moment before the raeven could react to his entrance. Without hesitation, Ace aimed the revolver Kai had given him at the monstrosity.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each shot of the revolver nearly ruptured Ace’s arm. The weapon’s firepower and recoil were closer to a hand cannon than it was a firearm. The bullets exploded, annihilating whole chunks of the raeven’s body.
However, the chunks of flesh Ace’s shots had destroyed, regenerated in seconds. The completely healed mutant raeven turned to face Ace.
Hey guys, I think I’m gonna need some help.
----------------------------------------
“Can you hear me?! Anyone?!” Halvor waded his way through thick smoke.
“Help!”
Halvor could hear the voice coming from the first floor of the house; the voice sounded young and strained.
“I’m here!” Halvor shouted. “Keep talking!”
“Over here!” Following the voice led Halvor further down the hallway. At the very end, he found a young teenage girl, pinned to the ground by a fallen wooden beam.
Halvor rushed over to the girl and grasped the beam. “On three ready. One, two, three!”
Halvor’s arms shifted to stone. With all his might he lifted the beam high enough for the girl to crawl free.
“Follow me,” the girl said. “I know a way out.” She guided Halvor to the kitchen. She tried to force open one of the windows, but the moment she struggled, Halvor stepped in and shattered it. He placed a nearby cloth over the broken glass and ushered the girl outside.
Once they were both out the girl thanked Halvor profusely.
“It’s my pleasure,” Halvor said. “Now make your way to the southern gate.”
“Wait! Our neighbors!” The girl looked over to the neighboring house. The lights were still on, and a figure could be seen in the window. Fortunately, the house had managed to avoid catching fire, but it wouldn’t be long before it was up in flames.
“They’re an elderly couple. They don’t have the best hearing or eyesight. I don't think they have any idea what’s happening,” the girl informed Halvor. “Can you please help them?”
“Right away.” Halvor nodded his head and took off toward the neighboring homestead.
Rather than waste time with a door that could potentially be locked, Halvor burst open the window with his stone fist and leaped into the house. Finding himself in the kitchen, he quickly realized that the figure he had seen in the window was not an elderly person, but a young woman.
The woman’s skin was white as a pearl. She was dressed in simple clothes: a short-sleeved black shirt and white pants. Her rough-cut white hair was tied in a bun. She waltzed around the kitchen as if it were her own home, and everything was peaceful outside.
A high-pitched whistling sound filled the space as a kettle boiled. The woman grabbed it and poured the water into a mug she had set on the table.
“Hey Halvor,” the woman said, playfully. “Been a while. I’ve seen what you’ve been doing. I have to say, you saving people is not what I expected.”
Fractures shot up Halvor’s stone arms. “Why are you here, Vivyan?” An intense anger bled into Halvor’s voice as he struggled to keep his composure.
“Is that any way to talk to a friend? Didn’t your mother ever teach you any manners? Oh, wait, that’s right.” Vivyan tried—though not very hard—to stifle her laughter.
Halvor raised a leg, transmuting his skin to stone, and took a single step toward Vivyan, sundering the wooden floor with a thunderous crack. “KNEEL, [Quake]!”
The whole building violently shook; the cupboards flew open and shut, and their contents rattled. Vivyan stumbled, spilling her freshly brewed tea, before catching herself on the dining table.
“Guess the old you is still in there somewhere,” Vivyan said with a sly grin.
Without a second thought, engulfed by rage, in a display of sheer brutality, Halvor plunged his earthen arm straight through Vivyan’s chest until his elbow was covered in crimson.
“And now it’s in me too.”
“WHY ARE YOU HERE? AND WHERE IS MY MOTHER?” Halvor drove his other fist directly into Vivyan’s rib cage. Her sternum shattered with a sickening crunch as she was sent flying across the room.
Vivyan slammed into a wall, and her body went limp. It looked as if she was passed out. However, the void where her stomach used to be miraculously regenerated. Bones mended, blood vessels reconnected, skin stitched itself back together, and muscle tissues reformed leaving no evidence of the gruesome injury.
“Why am I here, you ask? Doctor’s orders,” Vivyan said. “I’m meant to observe one of his experiments. Another mutant like you and me. It involved my DNA, so it only makes sense. Hopefully, this one won’t reject its gifts in an idiotic display of self-righteousness.”
Vivyan pushed herself to her feet. “Now as for your mother’s location, you’re gonna need to hit me a few more times before I give that up.”
Halvor cracked his knuckles, chips of stone breaking off and clattering to the ground. “Fine by me.”