Without so much as a running start she jumped, kicking off a wall to land on a nearby rooftop. Now that she was outside the public’s eyes, she started to run, easily jumping over the city walls. Though Enma had made her body to look human, she had furnished Claire with exceptional physical abilities. Together with the fact Zilbagias had replenished her magic supply just a short time ago, athletic feats of this nature were effortless for her.
But, the moment after she touched down outside the city walls, she froze. Something was coming. Darkness swirled around her, coalescing into forms both in front of her and to her rear.
“My, quite the suspicious sight this time of night? Who might you be?”
“Clearly not a human, oho ho ho!”
Two well-dressed gentlemen, one skinny and one fat, appeared to accost her. Their formal clothing was quite old fashioned, their complexions pale, and as they revealed their conspicuously long fangs as they spoke. Claire gave an impressed expression.
“Would you look at that, the vampires are actually doing their job. This is who I am.” She pulled out her identification, showing it to the skinny vampire. Then, she peeled back some of her human disguise.
“Oh, His Highness’s favorite undead?” the vampire replied, like he had just picked up a rock only to find a particularly disgusting insect beneath it.
The fatter vampire made a show of sniffing at the air. “Oh, indeed! Is that...the smell of rotten meat?” he chortled. Somehow his failure to show any displeasure was even more off-putting.
“His Highness told us not to interfere with each other, but ignoring you now would be to neglect our duties. So, what are you doing here? Or rather, what were you trying to do?”
“It’s nice to see you’re so passionate about your work,” Claire replied. “Did you know the new village is under attack by a fiend?”
“The City Guard did just deploy. That will be quite the tall order for them seeing how they can’t even see where they’re walking,” the skinny vampire said, looking up at the half-moon hanging in the sky above them.
“I see. How many of them were there?”
“About fifty, I’d say. That priestess Charlotte was leading them.”
Charlotte’s name was well-known among the denizens of the dark in Evaloti. She could perform healing miracles capable of restoring lost limbs, and was lucky enough to have survived an encounter with Zilbagias on the battlefield.
“Oh, her? She’s probably the only useful person they got.”
“Why do you care?” the vampire asked.
“That fiend is a manticore. I heard it from those who fought it and died, so I know for sure.”
The two vampires shared a look. “A manticore? One of those breathless dragons?”
“Oho ho ho! Without any heroes or Swordmasters, a lone priestess doesn’t stand a chance!”
“Right?” Claire sighed, putting a hand to her forehead like she was suppressing a headache. “Her holy magic should keep them from being wiped out instantly. But they’ll only last as long as her magic and the troops’ morale holds out.”
“I suppose someone should inform them. Perhaps they could form up more appropriately with this information?”
“I don’t think adding more small fry will change anything. Besides, I am under orders to maintain my disguise as a human. This is entirely outside my job description. Why don’t you go let them know?”
“Unfortunately, we are also under orders to keep our presence hidden,” the vampire responded.
“I guess we’re in the same boat. Oh well, I do have to report to the prince. I figured I’d at least see their final moments with my own eyes so I could tell him about them. So I’m going to go on ahead and sneak after them.” Claire gave the two vampires a wave before walking off. “And didn’t I hear something about the prince liking to reward you vampires for exemplary service?” she added as an afterthought before running off into the darkness.
The two vampires shared another look. “What do you think, Sir Mavil?”
“Oho ho ho! It would behoove us to consult with Miss Yavka, wouldn’t you say, Sir Avv?”
“That seems wise. As tempting as a reward from the prince is, acting on our own would be rather reckless.”
The vampires nodded to each other, dissipating into twin clouds of mist before floating off toward the center of Evaloti.
†††
With torchlights at the ready, the City Guard rushed until they finally arrived at Raian Village, only to be stunned by what they saw. Anything even resembling a building had been flattened. It looked like a tornado had ripped through the settlement. On top of that, huge splotches of blood stained the ground, plainly visible even in the darkness. But with all that blood, no bodies accompanied them. The only indication of any source of that blood came from the occasional scrap of meat. And that meant...
“That thing ate them whole. It’s gotta be huge.”
“Look at these footprints! The toes are as big as my torso!”
“Has anyone seen anything like this before?”
“Of course not! But if I had to make a comparison...they look like a lion’s?”
The guards’ voices trembled as they reviewed the evidence.
Charlotte surveyed the scene with a dire expression. “Vice Captain Tafman!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Tafman stood up straight, pulling himself away from his muttering with the other guards.
“Divide into two squads. One will search for survivors, the other will stand guard. Please remember the fiend may still be nearby. In particular, all beastfolk need to be on high alert!”
“Understood!”
Tafman divided up the City Guard as per her instructions. With this much destruction, there was a good chance the fiend responsible had already eaten its fill and moved on. If that was the case, they needed to send word to the other villages to warn them of the threat. However, it would be reckless to send out messengers when they couldn’t guarantee their safety.
Besides, the possibility remained that the fiend had left momentarily with the intention to return... Or, it could be hiding out downwind, hoping the large amount of bloodshed would lure more prey.
But before the search and rescue operation could even begin, Charlotte’s worst fears materialized.
“Crap!” the black-furred beastfolk Dober shouted the moment the wind shifted direction, his hair standing on end. The other beastfolk sniffed at the air, and they all turned to face the same direction. Just outside the village—
“Call off the search! Shield formation! Beastfolk, spread out!”
At Charlotte’s orders, the soldiers rapidly formed up. Weighty, self-assured footsteps approached from the darkness, indicating that whatever creature was lying in wait understood it had been detected.
“I-It’s...huge...” one of the soldiers squeaked out as moonlight played over the fiend.
It had the head and body of a lion, the wings of a bat, and a venomously barbed tail like a massive snake. Even on all fours, it was taller than the village’s walls. A true monster, on a completely different level than the warbear.
“Hii Yeri Lampsui Suto Hieri Mo!”
May your holy light shine in my hands!
Charlotte shouted, silver fire igniting around her.
“Pu Rostacia!”
Blessings!
Silver light washed over the human soldiers, wiping away every trace of fear in them before they settled into an impenetrable formation.
The manticore growled, as if it found their resistance amusing. Fresh blood gleamed around its muzzle.
And then, it attacked.
“Here it comes! Shields up!”
“Beastfolk, focus on ranged attacks! Aim for the eyes!”
“Flas!”
Let there be light!
Claws exceeding the size of the soldiers raked through a line of their forces. Stones and chunks of rubble from the beastfolk pelted the manticore’s face along with arrows of light from Charlotte. Voicing its irritation with snarls, the manticore attempted to lunge at Charlotte, but the shield wall at its feet replied with a flurry of radiant silver blades. Though they weren’t able to penetrate its thick hide, the holy magic delivered searing agony regardless.
The manticore roared in pain, attempting to flatten the soldiers below with its sheer mass, but they in turn formed up into a pincushion of sword blades and stood their ground. Using its tail and claws, the fiend attempted to disperse the soldiers as it stepped back. However, the shields held firm. The utter force it brought to bear alongside its size was enough to break bones and crush the soldiers in the first rank, only for replacements to slip into place without a moment’s hesitation.
Neither side knew how to break the deadlock. But the fight drawing out for as long as possible played to the advantage of the manticore, not the guardsmen. Though their holy magic burned fiercely, it wasn’t life-threatening. Meanwhile, each blow from the manticore shaved away soldiers from the human formation. It all came down to whether the manticore would give up before the City Guard ran out of men. If they had a hero, a Weaponmaster, or a mage among their ranks, perhaps they could have sneaked in a fatal blow while the shield wall kept the beast at bay. But...
I told you so... Within the darkness, Claire sighed to herself. They’re doing well, but it’s only a matter of time.