Over the next few days, things went well. Kyto had been into town and spoken to Miss Agnos about his payment for the contract and had been pleasantly surprised that he had been paid twenty stacks. This was after the report that TJ had submitted stating how much Kyto had helped with the healing of Gar, obviously not incorporating the details of how he had helped. TJ had informed Kyto on his next return from the fishing district that they had eventually managed to kill the Grylack and, thankfully, without any further injuries.
Kyto had not been back into town since closing the contract, but they had all discussed the incursion and the threat it held over New Talisia. This meant that Lars and TJ were watching for any news of any strange activities. The problem was that TJ was often away, travelling to several remote sites around the township. If it were not the fishing district, he would regularly head to the fuel depot to provide escort duties with his men for the loads regularly required in the township. Due to its population, there was an almost constant demand for fuel.
Crystal and Tabs were sharing their stall with Sniffer, and Elizabeth was helping sell the wares from New Haven. They had both been frustrated at the need to wait to purchase a truck, but Paul was unwilling to sell anything outside the auction house's planned date. They had seen a truck that they wanted to get. It was similar to the homes on wheels Kyto had been in awe of when he had looked at them, and from the description from Sniffer, it seemed to be a half-and-half version with a living area and also a storage area which would be big enough for Tiddles and the cubs.
Elizabeth had also been sharing her medical knowledge, and Crystal was quickly learning new adaptions for her tonics and salves. The imbued tonics had nearly been sold, and Kyto had slowly gained experience. Tiny amounts in most cases, as many issues were for coughs and colds rather than anything that required severe healing, but all the experience was adding up. The most significant experience gained was healing a customer suffering from pneumonia, which had granted him 280 experience. In total, he had earned just short of 800 experience from them, which, when shared, meant it was only 400 experience each. Kyto had been delighted to find out that the imbued tonic also worked towards his mana streaming target for his quest, so for each of the bottles consumed, he was earning 300 towards the goal, which had added a further 2700 so far. This meant he now had made 4240 of his 25000 target.
Kyto and Tiddles had been training, and by training, Kyto believed it was more a form of torture. Tiddles had been pushing him like crazy, making him perform various exercises and running. He had never had to run before, and it was a hard slog trying to keep up with what Tiddles described as a fast walk.
The main training exercise usually consisted of him having to dodge the cubs Tiddles would send to catch him. The Cubs thought it was a brilliant game chasing him around, and only once had Pouncer got a little overzealous and nipped his hand. It had only taken moments for him to heal himself from the bite. Tiddles, though, had scolded Pouncer so severely that he had felt sorry for him, and the subsequent chase had allowed him to catch him easily.
Kyto had always been fit, but even over the few days they had been training, his acrobatics, endurance, and brawling had all increased by one.
The main reason that Tiddles had given him all the training was to improve his reactions so that he would not stand still, allowing himself to be run over by a Stomper again. The worst part was that the cubs started shouting, "Here comes the Stomper," when they ran after him, trying to catch him, which had brought fits of laughter from Tiddles and the cubs. He initially felt so humiliated, but now it has become a joke.
The best part of their training regime was when they went hunting. If Kyto was within five hundred metres of Tiddles when he did hunt, not the cubs taking the kill, he shared the experience. This had been helping them both as the healing was not providing anywhere near the same regular boost. Tiddles had earned them a further 2450 experience each so far. Tiddles had slowly been working towards his quest. His hunting tier 1 required that he had to kill one hundred targets. He was currently at 37 out of 100 after massacring two small herds of Prangton. He had killed giant rats, but they had not counted towards his total, so there must be a minimum size requirement for a kill to count. He would not usually be as wasteful as he had been killing the Prangton, as he would usually only hunt what was needed. Still, with the quest, he had made an exception due to the Prangton being so prolific in the northern region.
TJ returned from one of his trips on the evening of the eighth day since Tiddles and the other's arrival, giving them their first hint at unusual behaviour. None of the others in the group had heard anything in town, and TJ was only aware of his position as a guard supervisor. TJ informed them that one of the small Keefir herds out towards the northwest had been attacked. The attacks were unusual and did not appear to be from the usual suspects of predators. The herd had only consisted of four Keefir, and they had all been killed, but rather than the typical remains of the bodies being left behind, the carcasses had been removed.
"I think we need to go and investigate," Tiddles said.
"I agree. Let us head out there tomorrow," Kyto suggested.
"We should take Sniffer with us; he is really good at tracking and investigation," Tiddles said.
"Oh, ok. I will ask him when I see him." Kyto said. Sniffer and the others had yet to return from town. The stall had been doing well and almost sold all the items they had brought from New Haven. The most significant increase in sales, though, had been for the tonic and salve since Kyto had been imbuing more tonic, and with Elizabeth's help improving the salves they made, they were getting an excellent reputation, meaning that they were working later most days.
"Sniffer, are you free tomorrow?" Kyto asked.
"I can be. Why? What is wrong?" he asked on his return from town.
"There has been some suspicious activity at one of the Keefir herds, and we were planning on going to investigate," Kyto said.
Sniffer's eyes lit up, "Well, I normally take the truck in, but if Crystal and Tabs are happy? I can cross-load what we have left, and I am sure Elizabeth will not mind going by herself. She has really been enjoying working with them."
"Tabs has been singing Elizabeth's praise every night. She has learned so much from her." Kyto said, smiling.
"Yeah. They get on really well." Sniffer added.
"We plan on heading out first thing in the morning while the location is fresh. TJ has given us directions; the farm is about fifteen miles northwest."
"Sure, sounds good. I will go and speak to the girls."
The next morning, the house emptied as usual, and they went their separate ways. The cubs had been loaded into the cage in the back of the truck, and Tiddles jogged alongside as Sniffer drove them out to the farm. It took them just over an hour to reach the farm as the road leading there was not maintained regularly, and they had to be careful compared to driving around the central township area.
The farm was only a tiny area, and where the herd had been kept was evident due to how short the grasses stood compared to the surrounding fields through the Keefir grazing. A small farmhouse was situated a couple of hundred metres from the field, and as they approached, they saw a group of men standing outside by a truck. As they approached, Kyto recognised the truck as one of the Talisian guards.
They pulled up, and Kyto climbed down to see a friendly face he recognised.
"Hi, Tim," Kyto said as he approached the guard and the other men.
"Hey Kyto. What brings you out here?" he asked.
"TJ asked us to come over and for Sniffer and his beast to look around." he lied.
"Well, we have been out to the field, and you can see where they were hit, but nothing is left there. Everything has been taken, which is very strange. None of us recognise the tracks that have been left, and there were many of them." Tim said.
"Do you mind if we go look?"
"Not if TJ has asked you to," he said, smiling.
Kyto listened to the farmer's conversation with the man with the guards. He wore official clothing, and from what he could hear, the farmer was arguing for compensation due to the lack of protection he had been given.
"Go on, boy," Sniffer said.
Tiddles bounded towards the paddock area and began sniffing around. Kyto and Sniffer made their way over to him.
"They smell like mould," Tiddles said.
"What do?" Kyto asked.
"Whatever was here attacking the Keefir? I have never seen tracks like this before."
Sniffer was busy bending, looking at the remaining tracks in the soft earth. Kyto leaned, looking at what he was observing.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"See here. You can see that whatever they were, they had three toes on each foot. Looking at the print, I think they are bipedal, but like nothing I have seen before. The tracks look more like a flighted Wild One than anything else, the way the toes are spread, but they are not a variation, I know. Also, looking at the number of tracks, this was a large party." Sniffer said.
"How do you know?" Kyto asked.
"See here the differing length in the track that has been left. If it were a small party, then the prints would be much fewer but also less varied than these are. There are at least twenty different prints from what I can see in the area."
"So, a pack of Wild Ones."
"Possibly, but again, I have never seen anything like it. What do you say, Tiddles?"
"I agree with Sniffer. There was a large party here; they smell of mould, but many variances of the scent still exist in the area." Tiddles said.
"He agrees with your guess and says they smell like mould," Kyto said.
"Mould? In all my time of seeing Wild Ones and seeing what Tiddles has hunted, I have never known a Wild One smell of mould before." Sniffer said.
"I can track them and see where they go," Tiddles said.
"Yeah. Let’s follow them." Kyto replied.
Tiddles began to head off into the next field. The initial trail was easy to follow as they could see the drag marks where the large carcasses had been taken. Whatever had moved them, though, had to be strong as Keefir were not small Wild Ones weighing a few hundred pounds. It was only when they got to the edge of a wooded area that Tiddles slowed. Just inside the treeline, he could see where trees had been broken down, and looking around the area, whatever had hit the Keefir made something to help move the bodies.
There were drag marks of what looked like stretcher frames across the earth leading deeper into the woods.
Upon observing what Tiddles had seen, Sniffer said, "Whatever has done this is not a Wild One."
"Nope, definitely not. They have constructed frames to move the bodies," he added.
"Tiddles says they have made frames or similar," Kyto said.
Sniffer looked at Tiddles and smiled. "Great minds think alike."
"Frames, though, what would make frames?" Kyto asked.
"No idea. In all my years of tracking, I have never seen an attack where the bodies have been removed like this. I have witnessed Keefir being dragged off by Grylack or even Spylore, but never anything that can make tools or similar." Sniffer stated.
"The kills were precise as well," Tiddles added.
"Tiddles mentioned the kills were precise?" Kyto said.
"Yes, they were. If a normal Wild One had attacked the herd, they would have bolted before they were all taken out, so the incident area would have been spread further, and there would have been much more blood due to slashing and biting wounds. The blood trail would be clearer than the drag marks." Sniffer said.
"So, we have an unknown predator or pack of predators that can make tools or even have weapons?" Kyto said.
"Looks that way, although I have no idea what they could be," Sniffer said.
" I am going to go look around," Tiddles said as he bounded into the woods.
"Where is he going?" Sniffer asked.
"For a look, apparently," Kyto replied.
It took Tiddles only a short time to follow the trail of the Keefirs and whatever it was that had taken them. The trail led him to an old factory building a couple of kilometres from the farm. The smell of the mould was powerful, and he knew that something had been here recently or still was nearby. He triggered his Shadow meld and approached. The factory was a three-storey building left to rot like most others. One side of the building had virtually collapsed, and the remaining three standing walls did not look stable. The floors from the original building also looked as though parts had fallen through, and it was overgrown with the usual flora and fauna.
Tiddles slowly approached the building, the scent getting stronger with every step. He was following the edge of the grassed area surrounding the site and picked up a noise ahead of him. Hitting his stomach, he began to creep forward. The sound originated inside the building, and he had never heard a sound like it before. It was a low guttural sound, more like a deep croak than anything else. The scent was overpowering now, and he began to pick up the sound of breathing as he approached the edge of the factory. It sounded as though whatever was inside the building was asleep and snoring.
The nearest wall collapsed, and there was an opening leading inside. He slowly approached the space, peering into the darkness. He could not see anything looking inside, so he cautiously entered the factory. His eyes adjusted to the different light levels, and he gradually began making shapes inside. What he saw was unlike anything he had seen before. Curled up in the corner of the factory were what appeared to be several small shapes; there were no signs of any Keefir bodies, although Tiddles knew they had been through here previously as the scent of their blood could be traced.
As he observed the shapes, one of them moved. It slowly uncurled itself from the others and stood up. It was between four or five feet tall, shorter than Tiddles and appeared to be wearing nothing. He could not tell the colour of its skin, but it looked pale and dark-coloured. It had a round face like a Risen with no hair and with large bulbous eyes, and no visible nose, and two small slits instead. Its ears pointed downwards, and it had two protruding upward-facing canines. It walked away from the others, and Tiddles watched as it squatted on the ground and relieved itself. The smell of it defecating was horrendous, making Tiddles wrinkle his nose in disgust. Looking at the pile of bodies, it looked as though there were six or seven of them here, but I could not be sure as they were lying on top of each other. That was much fewer than the number of tracks he had witnessed at the farm.
The creature stood back upright after finishing its business and turned, walking back to the group again. Its arms were long for its body and seemed to drag on the ground nearly, and it walked as though stooping over slightly. Its hands had three fingers, each like the footprints, but what surprised Tiddles more than anything was that as his eyes adjusted further in the light, he noticed the weapons they had stacked to one side. There was a pile of long, crude, lethal-looking spears with either stone or iron heads. The spears were easily half the height again as the creature, and the shafts were made from rough tree branches. The beast returned to the pile of bodies, kicked out with its foot, making another one croak and then lay back down with them.
Tiddles slowly backed out of the factory, ensuring he did not disturb anything. He would have left tracks in the soft mud as he approached; he knew that, but he needed to let Sniffer and Kyto know before he did anything about them. It did not take him long to return to the farm, where he found Sniffer and Kyto at the truck. The guards and the official had left the farmhouse, and Sniffer and Kyto were talking to the farmer.
"They promise so much and never deliver. All they ever seem to do is add more taxes onto everything," he said.
"Taxes?" Kyto asked.
"Yeah, they tax me for selling my milk in Talisia. One stack per one hundred bottles," he replied.
"I had no idea they taxed people," Kyto said.
"A tax will be due somewhere if you sell goods in Talisia. Did you not say your girl works there?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I am unaware of any tax," he added.
"How long have you been here?" he asked.
"Nearly three months now," Kyto replied.
"It will be due soon. They usually start taxing permanent traders after a few months," he said.
"Shit," Kyto replied in surprise.
"How else do you think they make their money to pay the guards." the farmer said.
"I never thought of it that way," Kyto said.
Tiddles bounded over, startling the farmer. "He is with us. Do not worry," Sniffer said. "Find anything, boy?"
"Yes. Two kilometres west, old factory, maybe six or seven of them. Ugly little fuckers, I could have taken them out, but I wanted to let you know beforehand and get Kyto closer." Tiddles said.
"I think he may have," Kyto replied, looking at Sniffer.
"Let us go and see then," Sniffer said.
"Thank you for the information, and I really hope they compensate you properly," Kyto said to the farmer as they returned to the truck and out of earshot.
"Two kilometres, six or seven of them at an old factory," Kyto repeated to Sniffer.
"What do they look like?" Sniffer asked.
"Four to five feet, three fingers, three toes, no nose, bipedal and their shit stinks," Tiddles said.
"Four to five feet, three fingers, three toes, no nose, bipedal and their shit stinks," Kyto replied.
"Oh, and they have weapons," Tiddles added.
"With weapons," Kyto said.
"Could you take them out?" Sniffer asked.
"Easily, I think, they were sleeping," Tiddles said.
"Easily, apparently," Kyto said.
"I think we should take them then. We do not want things like that here so close to town." Sniffer said.
"I agree," Kyto said.
They returned to the factory following Tiddles's directions, and it took them only a short time before it was in sight. They lay up, observing the building about one hundred metres away.
"I will go in," Tiddles said.
"Wait," Kyto said as he pushed his strand, filling Tiddles's pool.
"Thanks," Tiddles said as he activated Shadow meld and virtually vanished again in daylight. It was freaky seeing a beast the size of Tiddles seemingly disappear.
Sniffer and Kyto watched as Tiddles approached the factory.
Tiddles went back to the same opening as before and again looked inside. The pile of bodies was still where it had been, along with the mould and foul smell of the shit from the one that had been. He moved inside until he was within pouncing range. The weapons were still where they had been. He activated his bite and claws and launched at the prey. His claws and teeth ripped into at least four of the forms before they even realised what had hit them. His claws punctured through their skin as if it were butter, with the added flame damage, and as he landed on them, he went straight through two, killing them outright as his display flashed notifications. His jaws had killed the other two, his wide mouth clamping down around the head of one and through the torso of the one lying underneath it.
The remaining bodies writhed underneath and around him, all letting out startled croaks. Tiddles lashed out at the one on his left, catching it across the backs of its legs as it tried to move away from whatever had just attacked them. It fell prone, its tendons running down the rear of its legs perfectly sliced through cut through, unable to use them. The two that had moved the other way were heading towards the spears. Tiddles turned and pounced at one of them, landing on its back, flattening it into the ground, and listened as the air left its lungs and the crunching sound of bone as its rib cage was shattered by his weight.
The final creature, still standing, reached for its spear and pulled it backwards, thrusting it straight towards Tiddles with the blunt end. Tiddles snapped his jaws at the spear and caught it, splintering it. The creature then spun the spear around so the point was facing Tiddles and thrust towards him. Tiddles dodged the strike easily as the creature was still coming to terms with being startled from its sleep.
He was impressed by how fast they had reacted, immediately turning to fight and not just run; his elemental fear bonus, he knew, impacted some of his prey as they were more skittish even when he was using his shadow meld skill as though they sensed him without seeing him. Standing upright, the creature standing before him did not even reach his shoulder. Tiddles slashed with his paw, catching the spear as it was again thrust at him and snapped the shaft in two before launching forward and clamping his jaws down around the creature’s body, nearly swallowing it whole before he bit through, shearing it in two, allowing its entrails to fall to the filthy rubble ridden floor.
He turned, finished the two he had initially landed on and clawed. They were both weakly croaking with blood pouring from their punctured bodies. The one he had crippled was trying to pull itself across the floor away from the immediate scene of slaughter, and he walked over and punctured it straight through its weak body. In under sixty seconds, he had mutilated all seven.