Monster's Mercy

by William D. Arand

  Olivia Ferdan… and who are you Olivia?

  Are you but a child? A young girl?

  Were you abducted in the night or on your way to school?

  What brought you here and has you stuffed in a barrel?

  Unconscious, bound, and gagged more than likely, to be led off and put into a dark cell.

  Even as he thought all this, Rene stepped up to the wagon, grabbed the trailing end of it, and stepped up onto its rear mounting board.

  The die is cast; the choice is made.

  Let’s put our foes on blast and give their victims aid.

  Accompanying that statement, Rene felt an overwhelming and driving desire to become more than what he was.

  They’re holding out for a hero!

  No… no singing. No.

  Holding out for a hero ‘til—

  Rene groaned, and he did his best to tune out the Monster as it began to sing at the top of its imaginary lungs.

  Chapter 36

  Are you done?

  I think so.

  Maybe.

  It’s just such an appropriate song for this.

  Not really. It’s sung from the point of view of the person needing it.

  Then call me Olivia.

  Cause I need a H—

  No! No. We’re done now. All done with that.

  No more.

  Because we’re there.

  The wagon had rolled along the roads. Completely uninvestigated, ignored, and avoided. It was fairly obvious at this point, everyone who should know what it was, did know.

  What it was and how they were supposed to handle it.

  To deal with it by letting it pass by without even glancing at it.

  Straight up to the ugly house that sat behind the ruined prison. Rene would bet it had a tunnel that led into the dungeon itself.

  Putting these kids into something very akin to where he’d found himself and Odelia.

  Rene felt like he was going to enter a full-on rage, just thinking about it. At the very idea that Olivia could be little better than a child stolen away from her parents.

  Flexing his hand slowly, Rene knew what he had to do today.

  He reached up and pulled off his Mask, then donned his Black Hood persona. He’d thought it wouldn’t be needed anymore.

  He’d been wrong.

  There would, at the very least, be one more Black Hood performance.

  Drawing his hand-crossbow out, he hooked it to his belt. It didn’t have a massive pull weight, but it’d be more than enough to punch through unprotected rib-cages and into organs.

  Second, he retrieved the club Bill had made for him. It was steel shod, short, and made for clubbing people down.

  Then, he pulled his short sword free from his inventory and stared at it.

  We should name it the Collector.

  Bill made it and it’ll have everyone pay what they owe. Their bill.

  Bill’s Collector.

  Bill’s Collector.

  Sheathing the sword and pulling his club from its ring on his hip, Rene was ready.

  He stepped off the wagon without bothering to look around. Rene knew what he needed to do. It was likely going to cost him, too.

  Getting down low in a crouch, he ghosted up behind the large number of people who were headed into the house.

  He didn’t have to watch long to see all of them vanishing into another room with a trap door in it. One that led straight down and probably into the tunnel, he was expecting.

  Stopping there, Rene wasn’t quite sure how to proceed. He suddenly wished he’d gone and collected Irini. Having a partner for this would be ideal.

  In fact, could we teach her how to sneak?

  Should we? She’ll try to stab us while cloaked.

  Moving back to the wagons, Rene had to think on that. Irini would probably indeed try to stab him if he taught her how. But it might be worth it to have her here helping.

  Glancing down the line of wagons, Rene was able to count out three remaining waggoneers, with the closest being right in front of him. He was fussing with something just on the inside of the wagon bed.

  Not bothering to do anything fancy, Rene just pulled his arm back and clobbered the man upside the head with a good amount of force.

  The hollow clonking sound made him wince as the man went down in a heap.

  Grabbing him by a shoulder, Rene shoved him under the wagon and then nudged his arms and legs this way and that.

  In a few seconds flat, it looked like the man was dozing under his wagon.

  Let’s check Olivia now. We’ll have a few minutes at worst and quite a while at most.

  Yes. That’s a good idea, I think it’s wise.

  Confirm the contents with our own eyes.

  Moving up into the wagon, Rene went straight to Olivia’s chest. He’d been unable to take a peek the entire wagon ride over and it’d made him beyond curious.

  Inspect and Analyze had both failed, because he wasn’t able to see the girl.

  The chest was locked tight with a padlock, which would need a key. Not wanting to waste more time, Rene smashed it with his club.

  With a ping, the shackle shot out of the housing of the padlock.

  Flicking the twisted thing out of the loops, Rene lifted the top of the chest and peered inside.

  It was a young woman who looked about Odelia’s age. With blue-black hair, dark green eyes that were almost brown, and a pale face with a smattering of freckles.

  She was pretty, clearly well cared for, and wearing what looked like a very expensive dress. Mistaking her for anything other than nobility or wealth would be stupid.

  Sickly and pale, she looked drugged and somewhat out of it. Like she’d been left in the chest far too long on top of everything else.

  It really is just like us. This is… it’s all connected.

  “Help me,” pleaded the young woman, her eyes turning up toward Rene.

  Heroic! Be heroic!

  Pull off the hood and reassure her!

  HEROIC!

  Unable to help himself, and feeling like he had to do this, Rene bent down and pulled his hood up to reveal his face.

  “Well, you’re in luck. Because that’s exactly what I’m here to do. Help you,” Rene said. “But I need you to close your eyes, relax, and just take a nap while I finish up here. Alright?”

  Pulling a knife free from his belt, he reached into the chest and quickly cut the bindings around Olivia’s wrists and ankles.

  Olivia’s eyes focused on him for a few moments as he worked. Then they unfocused, and her eyelids slowly slid shut after he was done freeing her.

  “Okay,” Olivia murmured, her body slumping into the chest.

  Yes!

  Hero!

  Closing the chest once more, Rene pulled his hood down and felt stupid. He shouldn’t have done that, but he hadn’t been able to help himself.

  He was getting caught up in the flow. His Monster wasn’t directing this—he, Rene, was allowing it.

  In truth, he did want to be a hero.

  Dropping down out of the wagon, Rene decided the next course of action was to eliminate everyone who’d remained up here with the wagons.

  After that, he could go down below and finish this.

  Glancing toward the next wagon in the line, he found what he was looking for.

  The waggoneer.

  Rene caught up to the second man as he was unhitching the rear wall of the wagon, so he could unload.

  Smashing him behind the ear with his club, Rene shoved the man up into the wagon.

  The driver went limp even as he was pushed up into the wagon bed.

  Peering at the man, Rene was rather certain he wouldn’t be waking up any time soon, if ever. There was a definite risk to killing someone when you clubbed them in the head.

  Sliding the rear wagon wall back into place, Rene made sure the man wasn’t visible.

  Two down.

  One to go.

  Creeping toward the lead wagon, Rene
watched the last of the waggoneers. He was peering at the side of one of his wheels. Rene had no idea what he was doing, but as long as he was distracted, it was all the better for both parties.

  When he got within range, the man suddenly turned and looked straight at Rene.

  And at the club descending on his face.

  With a crack and a weird popping noise, the steel-shod truncheon smashed into the man’s forehead. The man fell to the ground in a boneless heap, then started to stiffen up.

  His arms slowly came up in front of chest as his legs straightened out and went stiff.

  Shit. That dimpled his skull. He’s done.

  He’s brained for sure.

  Pull him off somewhere. He’ll be too obvious.

  Rene grabbed the dying man by his collar and dragged him off to the side of the house. Pushing him into a dead shrub that wouldn’t do much to hide him, but was better than nothing, Rene shook his head.

  He’s not going to wake up from that.

  Nope.

  Glancing at his alignment bar, Rene could see the red bar had moved further down. Clearly, that had been a no-no in the good and bad books.

  Not a lot left. This is… going to be very difficult, I think.

  Looking to the wagons, Rene now truly regretted not having Irini here. If she were, they could split into two. She could get the wagons moving away from here while he went and closed out the kidnapping ring.

  Now he had to deal with the ring in the tunnels, while leaving all his would-be alignment gain untaken.

  Someone could stumble upon this, while we’re down below, too.

  Angry at his choices, and promising himself to bring Irini along for all things in the future, Rene went back into the house. Back inside, into the room, and to the trap door.

  Staring down at it, he had a feeling this wasn’t a good idea. That it was actually a very bad idea.

  That it was likely going to end with him dying or worse.

  Olivia needed a hero. We’re the hero.

  Now we have to make sure she gets out of this.

  Grinning stupidly at that, Rene nodded.

  Olivia needed a hero.

  But more than that, the kids who come next will need a hero.

  Screwing his courage to the sticking place, he decided that failing wasn’t an option. His death was acceptable as a loss—leaving the present and future children to their fate, wasn’t.

  Slowly, Rene began to creep down the stairs, using his Sneak ability to the fullest.

  Step by step, he made his way down into the dark itself. There was no light coming from below. Quickly enough, Rene’s world became that of absolute darkness, unless he looked back the way he’d come.

  Feeling more and more uncomfortable, he kept moving. There was no sense in hanging out and waiting here. That and everything he needed or wanted was up ahead.

  Remember that really old cartoon movie we saw as a kid?

  I don’t know. Which one?

  It was about the hungry little bums who eat all day and drink?

  I don’t know.

  And… why would you ask me? If you don’t know, I won’t know.

  Hm. Good point.

  Well, anyway.

  Down, down, to goblin town.

  You go, my lad.

  Ho, ho! My lad.

  Could we stop singing? Please?

  It’s really just mildly awful to have you singing in my head.

  My head, too. And we’re nervous right now.

  Singing helps.

  Rhyming doesn’t quite have the same relief it used to.

  Rolling his eyes, Rene reached the bottom of the stairs and found himself in a hallway. He couldn’t see anything here at all. Walking forward again, he began to wonder if he’d bump into something before he actually saw it.

  Finally, he saw the first hint of light. He could just barely make out a dim glow peeking out through what was likely to be the bottom of a doorframe.

  Not bothering to try and hide it, because there was no going back, Rene pushed his hand against what he assumed was a door.

  It swung inward, and Rene found himself staring into a room full of very nasty-looking men and a few women. They all had weapons, leather armor, and looked like the type of people no one wanted to talk to.

  The type of people you’d cross the street to avoid.

  Though Rene didn’t have that choice.

  They were all staring back at him.

  “Hello, there,” Rene said and stepped into the room. Without thinking about it, he whipped his club around at the closest individual. This was certain death and Rene had to trust in his body’s ability to take a hit now.

  A hollow bonk that sounded awful was followed by the man hitting the ground.

  Drawing his short sword in his off-hand, Rene lunged toward the woman who’d been standing next to the man.

  He skewered her through the breast and straight into a lung, then ripped his blade out of her.

  A burning pain flew up along his back. A pain he was very familiar with.

  He’d been stabbed.

  Ignoring it, Rene simply moved forward through the gap he’d made.

  Pivoting to the right, he lashed out with his club and blasted it through a man’s kneecap. As the man tumbled backward, Rene stabbed at him, catching him in the side of his chest with his sword.

  Moving away again, Rene looked up to find he had three more opponents to deal with.

  He dropped his club completely and pulled up his hand crossbow, then aimed, and pulled the trigger.

  The thump of the string shooting forward was followed by a second thump of the bolt smashing into a woman’s chest.

  Switching his short sword to the right hand, Rene went forward once again.

  Facing up against him was a man with a bloody blade in his hand.

  You’re the one who stuck me, huh? Well. Let’s return the favor.

  Getting in range of Rene, the man struck out quickly. His weapon came out in a straight and sure thrust.

  Rene knocked the man’s wrist to one side with his empty hand. Bringing his sword up, he caught the man under the jaw, his sword tip going straight up and stopping cold against the inside of the man’s skull.

  With a grunt, Rene jerked out his blade and kicked the man in front of him into the second.

  The man crashed into his compatriot, and they became little better than a pile of arms and legs.

  “No, no, no! You do—”

  Rene stomped down on the man’s chest to silence him, knocking the wind out of him.

  “Your boss up ahead?” Rene growled, hooking a thumb toward the only other door in the room. There was a hallway that led off into the dark, but Rene figured that actually led to the dungeons.

  Nodding his head, the man looked like he was desperately trying to catch his breath.

  “Thanks,” Rene said, then drove his sword down into the man’s chest, spearing his heart completely. He’d be dead in seconds. “Best I can do.”

  Looking at the rest of the bodies around him, Rene was confident they were all dead or dying. He didn’t have time to be certain however. He needed to get moving.

  Glancing at his health bar, he found it was at about one-third of its total value.

  There was also a flashing red box beneath it.

  Checking it, Rene was somewhat disheartened.

  Status: Bleeding heavily, wounded, regeneration reduced severely.

  It was that stab wound he’d been given, obviously. Best he could figure, the man had been somewhat competent and had hit something Rene really needed.

  The timer beneath the box verified he’d continue to bleed for another hour or so. His health regeneration would clearly be limited by that timer.

  Which means I need to be a bit more careful with boss asshole.

  He picked up his club and hooked it to his belt, not about to leave anything behind of Bill’s. Then he grabbed the crossbow and re-cocked the string. Going to the woman he’d shot, he contempl
ated getting the bolt out of her.

  Except it was up to the fletching and she was still in the process of dying. Blood was trickling down the sides of her mouth and she had both hands on the bolt.

  “Eh… cutting that out of you is way more likely to break it than get it back,” Rene said critically.

  “Don’t want to die,” groaned the woman.

  “Well, should have thought of that before you started kidnapping kids, huh?” Rene said with a sigh.

  He’d have to leave the bolt despite wanting to get it.

  Putting a new bolt in the crossbow he pulled the locking mechanism attached to the string over it, so it wouldn’t fall out. He put it onto his belt, then pulled out his club, and looked at the woman.

  “Last words?” Rene asked.

  “I didn’t… want to do this. I had no choice,” the woman pleaded.

  “Yeah. That’s possible,” Rene said, nodding his head. It was why he’d started his Redemption House. “You’re just too old, though.”

  “What? I do—”

  Rene clubbed her in the temple with as much force as he could generate.

  The steel-shod tip of it crumpled her skull, and a wet crackling noise accompanied it.

  “There, now you won’t even feel death,” Rene said, and he turned to the door. “Now for your boss.”

  Walking to the door, Rene wasn’t quite sure how to handle this. If it was an open room like the one he was in, there was likely no possibility of him hiding himself.

  He’d have to simply fight and kill whoever it was outright.

  Something caught his eye at that moment.

  A sharp, bright, flashing red light.

  Looking up at his alignment bar, Rene was shocked and frightened.

  It was red. From top to bottom. It had only the smallest sliver of blue at the edge of it. As if all that remained was him reassuring Olivia.

  He didn’t have the alignment to spend to end this man’s life. He’d have to capture him alive without damaging him.

  There was no other option available to Rene.

  If I step on a damn ant, I’ll end up losing myself. Can’t even swear at this person.

  Opening the door, Rene stepped inside with his sword raised.

  It was an office. It was well appointed and rather tastefully decorated. In fact, it was clear that a significant amount of money had been spent on getting it to a certain level.