“Finally!” Mon screams as Crimson walks out of the armory with his gear on. “You took forever.”
Crimson looks over his team, the smoke from the forges doing little to impede his enhanced vision. Mon was wearing her usual stomach guard; the only change was it now being scaled to allow for more flexibility. Her new additions included boots with claws similar to her gauntlets, what looks like holsters for her gauntlets, pauldrons made of a light looking metal instead of leather, and a hood similar to Crimson’s. The only difference in their hoods being that Mon has a mask attached to hers and has no cape to speak of. Despite Echo’s clear efforts to keep Mon on a low profile with the addition of the hood, her mutation gained ears poked through holes on the top. Mostly to keep the girl comfortable. A surprising feature being that her clothes had a half and half mix of black and white. By Crimson’s guess it was because Mon hadn’t liked the full black.
“The cloak took a bit to secure,” Crimson explains. “Shouldn’t be as difficult next time.”
“Well at least you have a bit more armor than before,” Deidra says, her helmet tucked underneath her arm. “I was quite concerned you’d be under armored, but with Echo doing the work I guess that concern was unfounded.”
Deidra was similar to Mon in the regard that few additions had been made to her gear, more upgrades than anything. Her sword and shield was repaired, some decals added for style. An extra sword attached to her back, this one being significantly longer than the one on her side. The longsword style and golden engraving making it look angelic. She was still wearing Fey’s old armor but Echo had approved upon it greatly. The armor now fit Deidra like a glove, the steel armor now reinforced with scaled steel in vital areas. If someone were to look at the armor when it wasn’t occupied, you could see pillow like cushions lining the insides of the armor. Its application meant to resist impacts and support Deidra’s bosom. Her hair was still in a long ponytail, the look still fitting her well.
Echo jumps off the bench she was sitting on, giving Crimson a better look at her new gear. Her hair was still cut at medium length and she wore no helmet, but her goggles had been reinforced to ensure that any impact they did receive would shatter the glass and harm her eyes. She now wore a copper looking cuirass, silver lining tracing the edges and eventually lining into the chest region where they form the shape of a heart except on the wrong side of the body. Her broken bucklers now replaced with similar models, the only real difference is that they now matched her cuirass. That and they have additional rigging and supports where they retract and expand to increase their stability. A large maul on her shoulder, a spike at the end of the handle. The head of the hammer was in the shape of a nail. One side used to pierce heavy armor and the other to crush it.
“Did you think I was going to set him up in some leather garbage?” She accuses, fake hurt in her voice. “I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have added in those supports for y-“
“No, never assumed that!” Deidra said cutting Echo off with a bow. “Thank you for your work…and the additional cushions.”
Crimson and Mon snicker at the exchange, eliciting a smirk from Echo and a rising blush from Deidra.
Crimson looks away and peers down at his own armor, making sure everything is secured and comfortable. His cloak was hanging from a clasp around his neck, the built in scarf allowing him to hide his face should he require it. He checked his new gauntlets, the metal bracers being used to support the force of his new bow and were strong enough to block a decent strike if necessary. On his hip was a new short sword, its size lacking but it is entirely concealed underneath his cloak. It wasn’t eye catching at all and that was the point, an archer that couldn’t hide would make a better corpse. He decided against a helmet, the bulkiness of anything effective hindering his accuracy too heavily. The tradeoff was his new chest piece sported a metal collar around his neck, a good advantage to make sure his head stayed attached. Another important feature of his new chest piece is the facemask that can be pulled up from the innards of the piece, two eye slits and the curved plate allowing Crimson to still aim the bow effectively despite the hindrance. While it may not be effective against blunt force, it will keep his face protected from arrows and swords alike. While most of the team has a splash of color or metallic armor that can reflect in the light, Crimson’s is almost entirely black. His armored made to aid him in avoiding attention.
“Come on,” Crimson says as he finishes his gear check and begins walking towards the stairs out of the forge. “I doubt Fey and whoever is supervising us will want to wait long.”
Following him, they eventually make their way to the doors. Pushing through them they see Fey dodge a punch from a larger man with his back towards them. Not knowing how to react, the team sits and watches.
The larger man throws another punch aimed for her gut. Fey’s hand meets it and stops the momentum, pulling the man in` and head butting him. The man recoils in pain, just for Fey to plant her foot in his stomach the force sending him to the ground with a grunt. As he stands Fey whips her body like a cyclone causing the back of her fist to smash into the side of her opponents face, the man staying down this time.
Fey stretches her body with a grunt of relief, and then begins walking towards the downed man. Instead of finishing him off like Crimson assumed she would, she puts her hand out towards him in an attempt to lift him up. The larger man takes it, standing with a grunt of effort.
“Hell, you seem to get stronger and stronger every time we spar,” Grunt says with a grunt. “Honestly, your fist never hurts less.”
“Well I have to stay ahead of you somehow,” Fey says with a grin. “Maybe you just need to get punched less.”
Grunts begins laughing at the advice, only noticing the team’s presence just as he begins to control his laughter. Crimson simply shrugs at him.
“Well, looks like the hypnotist managed to survive,” Grunt says, walking over to Crimson. Grunt grabs onto Crimson’s elbow and squeezes his bicep. “You even managed to put some meat on your bones, and all in a month’s time. That’s impressive.”
“You two know each other?” Deidra questions.
“Yeah, he was at the gate when I first arrived,” Crimson responds. “He’s how I figured out I got the hypnosis.”
“Yep, Fey told me she busted your eye though,” Grunt says as he snatches Crimson’s glasses off his face. “Let’s see if it still works.”
Grunt stares into Crimson’s heterochromatic eyes. Eventually Crimson takes the glasses out of Grunt’s hands and returns them to his eyes, the action causing Grunt to jolt back suddenly.
“Yep!” He yells. “It works.”
Fey shakes her head at Grunt. She then whistles, prompting Kitty to land behind her.
“You four listen to Grunt,” Fey says as she mounts the wydran. “I’ll go on ahead and complete my job, I should catch up to you all in a day or three. Grunt will fill you in on what your objective is.”
Without another word Kitty soars into the air, the wind forcing Crimson to plant his feet into the ground to avoid being knocked over.
Grunt grunts as he watches Fey fly away.
“I really need to get one of those,” He says. “I think I’ll name it dog.”
“I’m starting to think all members of Stena have terrible naming senses,” Crimson mutters. “Honestly who names a creature like that Dog, hell who names it Kitty?”
“If you put too much thought into a name, you begin to get attached to it. A simple name avoids that to an extent,” Grunt says suddenly, apparently having heard Crimson’s complaints. “Another way to avoid the pain of loss.”
Crimson doesn’t respond after that, the implications of that sentence hitting him hard. Grunt stays quiet for a moment before shrugging off the depressing atmosphere.
“All right you four, let’s get going,” He says with a smile, as he begins walking towards the gate out of Stena. “This mission should be easy, especially so since we have three different veterans on it. At least once Fey gets back.”
“Wait, I thought it was just you and Fey. Who else is coming?” Mon asks excitedly.
“It was originally but we got word of another Siren in the area who is supposed to be working on it as well,” Grunt says. “If we’re lucky she’ll have already completed it. But I doubt she could’ve.”
“Is it too difficult for one person?” Deidra asks, avoiding a pair of sparring initiates as she does. “Also, what is our mission? We have yet to be informed.”
Grunt walks up to the gate and then throws his hand up. The gate suddenly begins opening and everyone walks through, Crimson just catching a glimpse of a few janitors operating a gate mechanism on the walls.
“Our mission is to clear a possible fleshwalker infestation out of a nearby town,” Grunt informs. “It shouldn’t be difficult since it’s unlikely they’ve spread far, but the Siren who was supposed to fix it isn’t exactly…proactive.”
“That doesn’t seem like a good trait to have in our line of work.” Echo says.
“Vibrations to speech, neat trick,” Grunt says. He then suddenly stops, slapping his head in a face palm as he turns towards the group. “What are your names? I know hypno over here but not the rest of you.”
“Deidra.” She says with a bow.
“Mon.” She says with a smile, her sharp teeth showing unconsciously.
“Echo.” She says with a tilt of her head.
Grunt nods, reaching up and taking off his helmet. Showing Crimson something besides his eyes for the first time. Shaggy blonde hair sat atop his head, a chiseled jaw lined with a numerous scars making him seem older than he probably was, and lazy green eyes that give him an almost brotherly aura. The biggest shock was a slight dent in his cheek, though it didn’t detract from his looks.
“I’m Grunt,” He says with a nod. “Sorry for not introducing myself, I tend to forget things like that.”
Grunt returns his helmet to his head, and turns back around.
“We should get there in six hours if we jog,” He says, securing the large morning star he has on his back before continuing. “Alert me if you need a break, if you can be carried then alternate along the way.”
He breaks into a fast jog, just below a sprint. The unpaved road leading out of Stena giving him little trouble. His quick start forcing the rest of them to follow. Within four hours of running through various landscapes, Echo and Crimson having taken turns atop Deidra’s back. Mon even taking a turn, not because she needed it but just because she thought it’d be fun.
Eventually Grunt raises his hand in a fist, stopping everyone’s movement. Mon jumps off of Deidra’s back, stretching as she does. Suddenly she begins sniffing the air, her face contorting into a scowl.
“I smell blood.” Mon reports.
“Exactly, those are some good senses,” Grunt says as he nods. “I take it you could track it too? Feel like taking the lead?”
Mon nods as she flips her hood over her head. She sniffs around the area, the sparse trees around them giving her enough cover to traverse silently. She claws her way up a tree and begins searching for the scent. Grunt looks up at her as she disappears into the trees. He waits until he sees a glimpse of her moving in the tree line and begins following behind her. Eventually he stops just behind a tree and Mon drops down silently next to him.
“Thirty yards ahead in a small clearing is a woman covered in blood, I can’t see her weapon. She’s eating a corpse, but has an induction mark,” Mon says in a whisper. “Maroon hair, tanned skin, and a bit taller than Crimson.”
“She’s the other veteran that’s supposed to be here, but she could have been taken by a fleshwalker if she’s eating a corpse,” Grunt says as he begins creeping towards the woman. “These things kill and takeover people’s bodies, they can somewhat mimic the hosts personalities too. Don’t let your guard down and don’t make any sounds once we get near. If she attacks me, take her down.”
Everyone nods back. Crimson, already nocking an arrow, begins climbing onto the tree Mon had jumped from to get a vantage point. Echo, Mon, and Deidra crouch down and begin to attempt to encircle her. Each of them staying within the tree line to avoid detection.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Hey Vulture, backup has arrived,” He says as he places his morning star back on his back. “Want to explain who you’re eating?”
The woman snaps up to look at him, her red eyes narrowing at his figure. She jumps up from her crouched state and stares at him, the blood coating her face increasing the tension in the air.
“Oh hey Grunt,” She says as her bloodied face morphs into a smile. “I’m glad they sent you, armor always makes fleshwalkers a breeze…What’s with the entourage? Specifically, the kid aiming an arrow at my throat.”
“You know the deal with fleshwalkers, that and the whole corpse eating thing has us on edge,” Grunt says. “You know the drill.”
Vulture’s face drops into a frown as she puts out her armored hand, taking off the glove and showing Grunt her skin. Grunt pulls out what looks like a lighter and puts it against her skin. Vulture grimaces as the flame burns at her skin but doesn’t react violently. Grunt sighs in relief as he puts the lighter away. He then pulls out a bandage and attempts to wrap the wound, just for Vulture to take another bite out of the…arm…she was chewing on. After a few seconds the burn slowly heals.
“I always hated that mutation, please tell me this isn’t common anymore.” Grunt says with an uncomfortable smile.
“Of course not, one of these guys just got a lucky stab,” She says as she pulls her collared shirt down just enough to see a rapidly closing stab wound underneath her clavicle. “I tried to be civil and this was the thanks I got, I’m sick of villages. Even with fleshwalkers prowling around they couldn’t help but try and jump me while I was relieving myself, these people are savages.”
Grunt rubs the bridge of his nose with his fingers. He then motions his hand forward, beckoning them to join him. Crimson drops down from the tree, landing with a roll and placing his bow onto his back. Echo walks out from behind a nearby boulder, quickly followed by Deidra. After a few moments of silence Crimson walks up next to Vulture and sticks his hand into the deep brush, pulling out an annoyed Mon by the hood.
“You always ruin my surprises,” She says with a pout. “It’s getting annoying.”
Vulture looks down at the cat-like girl, her hair falling over her eyes as she looks into Mon’s eyes.
“You’re adorable!” Vulture screams as she hugs Mon faster than the girl could react. “I could eat you up!”
Mon’s claws instinctively dig into Vultures back, successfully taking a chunk of her back and piercing a lung. Vulture drops Mon in a hiss of pain, holding her sides as she does.
“Alright, I could see how that was seen differently than intended,” She says with a not sorry expression. “Give me a minute.”
Vulture sits on the ground in a huff. Crimson goes to help but is stopped by Grunt, who grunts and points as Vultures wounded side. The wound closing at a speed that Crimson had never seen before, a kill shot reduced to an inconvenience.
“Those claws do hurt,” Vulture says as she stands. “If I hadn’t just eaten I could’ve been in trouble.”
The seemingly undying red head rises to her feet and stretches. Her beauty and the mass amount of blood covering her adding to oddity of the scene in front of them.
As Crimson watches a thought pops into his head. He walks back from Vulture, who has now moved on to pestering Deidra about her armor, and stands next to Grunt, tapping him to get his attention.
“Odd question, but have you noticed that almost every female member of Stena is…well there…you know…” Crimson stammers, trying to find the right words.
“Beautiful?” Grunt says with a cock of his head.
“Yeah that, I mean I was going to say insane but that too,” Crimson says with a nod. “Any reason as to why they’re like that?”
Grunt thinks for a moment until the answer finds him.
“Fey once told me that monsters are made to instill fear; Stena members accept that they become part monster,” Grunt says with a contemplative smile on his face. “and nothing is more terrifying than a beautiful woman.”
“That was actually pretty poe-“
“Or they’re just a bunch of good looking freaks.” Grunt says, interrupting the now face palming Crimson.
Before the conversation could continue, a pair of ears, quickly followed by a head, jump out of the tree behind them. Both Grunt and Crimson turn towards the noise to see Mon standing there.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” She says, faking a hurt face. “I’ll have you know neither of you are much different.”
“How did you even manage to get behi-“
“What did she used to say…oh I remember, nothing hurts more than the scorn of a handsome man,” She says, clearly happy she remembered it. “So don’t act like you two are out of the woods…now that I think about it she gets really deep when she’s drunk.”
“Drunk Fey isn’t something I ever want to se-“
Grunt lets out a boisterous laugh, holding his armored stomach as he does.
“You really are Fey’s daughter!” Grunt yells as he laughs.
Crimson grunts in frustration at being interrupted yet again and turns on his heels, heading towards where Deidra, Echo, and Vulture were talking.
“I should be good to go in a bit, I don’t like to walk without two functioning lungs,” Vulture says. “Sorry for the hold up.”
“Don’t be, she got you pretty bad,” Crimson says with a smile as he sits down. “I nearly had a heart attack when she clawed you, so a few minutes of downtime isn’t a problem.”
Vulture nods with a smile as she rolls her shoulders, the bones popping with a satisfying crack as she does. The sound draws Crimson eyes towards her equipment, probably the most unique he’s ever seen.
She wore little to no armor, the only piece Crimson could see were her gauntlets, a plate over her heart, and a rather large choker around her neck. She wore basic clothing, much of which was now ruined. A red linen shirt covered her top, a pair of blue pants sporting a make Crimson had never seen covered her bottom. She had no obvious weapon, the only guess Crimson had was that she had hand to hand combat training.
“So what’s with the pants?” Crimson blurts out. “I’ve never seen a kind like those.”
Vulture at Crimson in confusion then looks down at her pants and then back up to Crimson.
“I forget these are pretty new,” She says with a chuckle. “They’re called jeans, pretty cool right? Easily my favorite clothing choice, even if they are expensive as hell.”
Crimson nods, absorbing the new information as he stares at the comfortable substitute to pants.
“So what’s your deal? I know she’s the socially clueless warrior, and she’s the snarky dwarf” Vulture asks, pointing at Deidra and Echo respectively. “But I know nothing about the dashing ranger of the team, care to spill the beans?”
Crimson looks at her, noticing the sarcasm in her voice. Not hurtful sarcasm, just enough to heat up his face. Seeing nothing else to do, and rather enjoying her jokes, he pulls down the hood of his cloak and points towards his bow.
“I’m Crimson, not many beans to spill. I’m just the resident annoyance for any monster we come across,” He says with a joke. “What about you, miss I eat corpses?”
“Oh, a feisty one,” She says with a grin. “Good to know one of you is good with words, at least I’ll have someone to banter with during this boring mission. These guys don’t tend to enjoy jokes much.”
“Tell me about it, most of Mon’s double as threats, Deidra’s aren’t jokes half the time, and Echo’s…yeah they’re just bad,” Crimson says with a chuckle. “No offense you two.”
Vulture erupts into a giggle fit after looking at Echo’s and Deidra’s faces. Each of them displaying a different level of annoyance and anger.
“I guess the fleshwalkers are going to be comfortable when I don’t feel like saving you.” Deidra says as she walks away.
Echo just thumps him on the head and follows Deidra.
“Oh come on!” Crimson yells as they head towards the waiting Grunt. “Threats are Mon’s territory!”
Vulture kip ups from the forest floor and begins walking towards Grunt as well.
“If you die, you can die knowing at least one person enjoyed the joke.” Vulture says as she laughs.
Crimson shrugs and follows behind, eventually standing in front of Grunt.
“We’re about a ten-minute walk from the nearest village, we don’t think there are any fleshwalkers there but we are still required to check,” Grunt informs them. “Vulture and I will begin checking the civilians. You all will be checking the houses, and anywhere else they could be hiding. You will not take anything from their homes, we’re already being paid and Stena has a reputation you need to uphold. Teams of two, divvy that as you deem fit.”
Everyone nods at his orders and begins walking towards the village. Their pace far slower than the exhausting sprint they had done before. Eventually they enter the village. Its aesthetically similar to Crimson’s old village, albeit his was a significantly smaller than this one. The villagers all begin filing out of their homes and gathered in a crowd in front of them. Some of them with looks of relief on their face, other with fear, but most don’t react at all.
“As many of you know, a fleshwalker infestation was reported in a nearby village. We will be checking each of you and your homes. Nothing will be taken, and any wounds we inflict will be properly taken care of,” Grunt says as he alerts the crowd. “Cooperate and we will be gone within the hour!”
Grunt turns away from the crowd and back towards Crimson and his team. He pulls out a small package out of his bag and hands it to Crimson.
“Inside is two chemical lighters, one for each team,” Grunt says as he nods to Vulture, the gesture prompting her to begin checking the villagers. “Check anyone you find in the homes and the surrounding area, if it doesn’t change bandage it and move on. If it changes, turn it to ash. Nothing gets a pass.”
Crimson nods as he opens the package, pulling out the two lighters.
“All right, I’ll go with Deidra since I’m no good up close. We’ll check the west side, nearest to their town hall,” He says as he hands Echo the other lighter. “You check east, near the shoemaker.”
“What’s a shoemaker look like?” Mon asks in confusion. “Never seen one of those.”
Crimson stares at her in disbelief before Echo steps up.
“I saw it on the way in, we’ll get it done,” She says with confidence as Mon follows behind.
Crimson turns on his heels as he begins walking towards the town hall but stops when he sees Deidra just staring at the village.
“Anything wrong?” He asks in a worried tone. “See anything?”
“No, just haven’t seen anything like this before. A village I mean,” She says, clarifying as she goes. “How do they live without walls? Aren’t they scared of invasion or attacks? They don’t even seem to have a militia.”
“Well most villages don’t, at least not many I’ve seen. Which aren’t many to be honest,” He says as he looks around. “Most have at least a neighborhood watch, anything they can’t handle they just move or ignore. Most monsters don’t bother with villages, and the ones that do don’t tend to be a problem if taken care of early. Though it wouldn’t hurt.”
Crimson continues walking towards the edge of the village, Deidra now following behind him.
“It isn’t the safest life but they get to choose how they live, and they are pretty close to Stena HQ so it isn’t like getting help is impossible,” Crimson says as he shrugs. “It’s a risk, but some find it to be worth it, or at least that’s what I was told.”
“It doesn’t seem like the ruler of this region cares much about them if they don’t supply them even the basic defenses,” Deidra says, her helmet not revealing her saddening face to Crimson. “It’s sickening they would allow this.”
Crimson stares at her in confusion for a moment as they stop in front of the town hall.
“These people aren’t being ruled, they’re independent. That’s why they have a town hall, decisions for the community are made there,” Crimson explains. “I doubt many of the villages we’ll see are being ruled, at least not by a huge kingdom. Have you never seen an independent village before?”
Deidra shakes her head as they enter the town hall, both of them searching it together.
“No I haven’t. Though I’m sure I’ve passed by a few. I’ve been in kingdoms, bandit camps, independent castles, but never something as unprotected and…peaceful as this,” Deidra says as they finish checking the town hall. “It’s very odd, yet nice.”
“Well, you’ve certainly seen a lot more than me,” Crimson says with a chuckle as they open the door to a rather spacious home. “The only thing equivalent to a castle that I’ve seen is Stena HQ. Castles and armies are few and far between around here. Most of civilization is either places like this or larger cities as far as I know at least.”
Finding nothing yet again they exit the house, enter the one just across from it as they continue their search. Crimson taking note of the houses different size than the others they had checked.
“You aren’t going to tell on me for talking about the past are you?” Crimson says in a half joking tone as he pulls upon a cellar door. A wine cellar, village chief’s house he confirms.
“Why would I? You were merely offering information, not reminiscing about past events weren’t you?” Deidra says, her tone of voice alerting Crimson to her understanding. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Crimson chuckles as he delves deeper into the cellar, Deidra eventually joining him.
“Nothing upstairs,” Deidra says as she walks up next to him. “Anything down he-“
She cut off by the clinking of glass, a movement behind the shelves of wine bottles that circled the cellar.
“Well now that you ask,” Crimson says as he pulls out his bow as well as pulling his facemask up. “I’ll cover, try to move those shelves.”
Deidra nods as she sheathes her weapons and begins pushing the shelves. Crimson keeps his eyes open until a small movement catches his eye. He turns towards the cellar door to see a cat scamper out of the room.
“They can only take over humans right?” Crimson asks as he continues to look towards where the cat left.
“Crimson!”
Crimson quickly turns towards Deidra’s yell and sees a child height creature rushing towards him, he quickly pulls up his bow but the creature lunges before he can shoot. It lands on top of him and takes him to the ground, the proximity giving Crimson a good look at the being.
Sickly grey skin covers the full lengths of its body, two black saucer eyes looking at him with a bloodlust, and small claws attempting to tear into his cloak. The most disgusting part being the long, proboscis like tongue trying to pierce the plate in front of his face.
Crimson throws his hands up and forces the creature off of him, its small body giving him little trouble. As it looks like it’s about to lunge at him again a boot connects with its head, throwing it into the cellar wall and luckily missing the expensive wine. Before it can recover Deidra sinks her blade between its eyes, a deep maroon blood oozing out of the fatal wound.
“Well that thing was pleasant,” Crimson says as he climbs to his feet. “That’s my bad, got distracted.”
Deidra pulls her blade out of its head, cleaning the blade on a cloth she pulled from one of her pouches.
“No, I should have stopped it. Won’t happen again,” She says in a melancholy voice. “My apologies for not protecting you.”
Crimson shakes his head as he puts his facemask back into his chest piece.
“You shouldn’t have to protect me, so how about we call it even?” Crimson says as he grabs the creature by its neck and begins walking towards the cellar.
Deidra nods and follows him.
“That was the last house on our end,” Deidra says. “We should head back to Grunt and Vulture.”
Exiting the house Crimson and Deidra can see a small fire burning where they left Grunt. Eventually they see Grunt, Vulture, Echo, and Mon standing next to it, as well as two bodies burning inside the fire.
“Good to see neither of you ended up dead,” Echo said with a smile. “Took you a while though.”
“I figured to give you all a smaller part of the village,” Crimson says as he throws the small fleshwalker’s body into the fire. “Easier for me since I know places like this.”
“Sure you didn’t just get lost?” Echo questions.
“Because we sure did,” Mon admits, eliciting an annoyed look from Echo. “Echo is really bad at directions.”
Crimson chuckles at Mon’s honesty and sits down next to her, stretching his legs as he does. Deidra standing aside him, keeping look out like usual.
“Only one?” Vulture suddenly says.
“Yep, in the village chief’s wine cellar.” Crimson confirms.
“Good, that could have been bad if they’d made more. Must have only gotten their hands on a child at first,” Grunt announces. “Three in total isn’t good but luckily we caught them early.”
Grunt stands from his seated position, motioning for the rest of them to do so as well.
“It doesn’t look good for the village that started the infestation,” Vulture says as she stands. “Hopefully the infection is only flesh deep.”
Grunt groans at the terrible pun and begins walking away, presumably towards the next village. Mon, Deidra, and Echo follow him. None of them any happier about the joke. Vulture looks to Crimson for support but sees him already readying his equipment.
“I want to give it to you, I really do.” He says as he walks past her.
Vulture shrugs as she begins jogging to catch up with them.