Bloody Crucible- Lone Wolf

by E C Chii

I hope that one day you know the truth

  For we shelter the Harbingers of death

  Forgive us our selfish ways, we do that which needs done

  Vigilance, dedication, duty, our war must be won

  -Vincent Mikall-

  Stunned by the poem several things that he thought he knew were turned on their head. He couldn’t seem to tell how much time flowed, but he felt himself waking up as a presence he recognized a Colonel ‘Vixy’ walking up.

  Chapter 29 – Sienna’s Lament

  2 hours before the Wolf’s trial

  Sienna woke in a room permeated with the smell of herbs and alcohol. Her enhanced smell made every smell and every sound amplified by at least a factor of three. She smelled the antiseptic, fouled bandages, and every other thing that comes from being in a healer’s hut. Last thing she had remembered was being ambushed by several shadowy figures when she was asked to meet Wolf in the clearing near the village under the moonlight. Initially she was surprised as this was not something she was expecting. She was taken aback since they had just met several weeks ago and only just started having an illicit relationship.

  However, due to cultural taboos not showing would make her absence a great insult to him. She didn’t intend to accept his proposal as she was just having fun with him and had no intention of making him her mate. At least not yet. When she got to the clearing she saw what she thought was him standing with his back to her. Luckily, she had the foresight to bring some of her light armor and spear just in case a forest lion was prowling nearby as they tend to do.

  The battle was fierce and bloody where she managed to kill several assailants who had ambushed her. They dressed like Imperial Conscripts but didn’t move or fight like them. She managed to kill two of her assailants and severely wounding a third before being critically wounded and falling unconscious. Examining herself she saw that several new scars had come to the forefront. A dull pain on her left ear made her reach up and felt the tip of her left ear had been sheared off. Also noticing that her smallest finger on her left hand was missing. Further examination left her aghast at the sight of her tail having been split in two down to half way point. Strangely where they split she could still move them independently. It was an odd and strange feeling being able to move both sections of her tail independently.

  Checking out the rest of her wounds she noticed the familiar throb of a broken leg and pierced gut from a sword. Hissing in pain as she adjusted to become more comfortable. The sound of her movement and grunting attracted the attention of the village healer.

  “I see your awake. That is good. You were hurt bad and we just barely managed to save you. What do you remember about last night?”

  “I remember being ambushed by several people…I remember being able to kill two of the three but the third got away…After that things get a bit fuzzy.”

  The door to the room opened again this time the village elder and Siris.

  In a pompous, condescending tone the village elder asked, “So that cretin Wolf attacked you?”

  Sienna responded with sarcasm and mirth, “It isn’t for certain that he was the one who attacked. I never saw him, and it wouldn’t make any sense for him to attack me.”

  Aegom chuckled sardonically, “It would if he was working for the Empire. You never can tell with their agents. Regardless he is a marked being. He killed an Imperial General’s son, they will have bounty hunters chasing him to the ends of the lands to seek revenge.”

  Siris took the opportunity to speak this time. “Initially, he was tasked by Lady Arete to escort me to the Tall Spire ruins. With him having a bounty on his head, going with him will simply draw too much attention and trouble for the trip. We found you near several Imperial Conscript’s corpses”

  Sienna’s brow scrunched her brow, “I remember they were dressed like Imperials, but they didn’t fight like them. They fought more like bandits than anything.”

  Interrupting Charle walked in wearing his full armor with his helmet under his arm, “Several of your hunters have examined clearing that Wolf was in. Something doesn’t feel right with it. There were far more footprints than should have been, and the amount of blood present doesn’t justify a duel between those two. Something happened there.”

  The village elder waived his hand dismissing the fact and looking toward Sir Charle, “We have already discussed it Sir Charle. We need the Empire to chase after him. The half-breed should feel grateful that he will be the distraction we need for Lady Siris to reach Tall Spire. The fact that he will serve a purpose for us to usurp the Empire is a good thing. In fact, he should be grateful that someone not from this world is of use to our righteous cause.”

  Sienna’s eyes narrowed, “What are you talking about? It’s like you know for a fact that he didn’t do this to me, and it was a third party?”

  Sighing the elder looked back to Sienna. “Yes, we know the truth already. We decided he will be guilty of murdering Ezie. She was part of the Eversmeet Liberation Front, a distasteful group of separatists that we have once worked with but since parted ways. They wish to see all non-elves eradicated from this world. We once had similar goals at one point, but their wanton disregard for the civilian population left a bad taste in our mouths. It is highly likely that they are the ones who coordinated this whole ordeal.”

  Baring her teeth, a bit, Sienna let out a low growl, “So you are planning on declaring him a murderer knowing full well that this was an attack perpetrated by the ELF?”

  Charle grimaced, “You are correct. This situation leaves much to be desired, but the truth is, that travelers from other worlds simply bring too much chaos and the changes are simply too drastic. Remember from the history from over forty thousand years ago when an unknown army suddenly appeared in the world? Stories say that they were from a similar world as Wolf’s. The day that they arrived marked the rise of the Empire of Kuing. Since then the world has never been the same.”

  Snarling, Sienna exclaimed with pure distaste “I thought you believed in justice and law? That is why I decided to join you all. I will not have a part in this!”

  The elder simply smiled in such a way that caused a cold chill to shiver up her spine, “You my dear don’t have a choice. This is something we do for the greater good.”

  Looking at the elder with defiance, she saw him walk forward several steps with a pinkish purple haze covering his hands that she recognized as a spell.

  “What are you going to do? I will not assist you in this injustice.” She pleaded only now realizing that she was restrained to the bed and the discomfort she felt was from the tight bindings that kept her there.

  The elder gently touched her bare ankle. She watched with horror as the haze slowly crept up her leg covering more and more of her body. Every place the haze touched became numb and she was unable to fully control it. Looking over to see Siris looking away in shame, and Sir Charle frowning like he had just eaten something disgusting. When she looked back to see the smile of victory on the elder’s face, she simply knew that there was much more to his plan than the elder had told them about. She wanted to say something but by this time and realization the haze had reached her head and fully enveloped her. She fought with everything she had to beat the spell, they seemed to fight for several hours before she finally lost the war of wills. The smirk and signs of victory were gone from the elder’s face, replaced by intense concentration and with beads of sweat forming on his wrinkled forehead.

  She could still hear, see, and think but was completely unable to control herself. Once the elder’s spell was complete and he had confidence that she would pose no threat or break free from his control he pulled a small blue and slightly larger red vial from his robes. Quickly drinking the blue vial and then commanding Sienna to take and drink the red one. When the red vial touched her lips and its contents drained down her throat she immediately felt all pain disappear.

  ‘Health potion?!’ she thought as bones mended and several of her wounds healed quickly over a fe
w moments. These freshly healed wounds left an itchy sensation and was still tender. ‘Not a health potion. Health elixir.’ she concluded.

  With a ragged breath from mental fatigue and exhaustion the elder said, “Good I have control over her for…at least for a while. She had a much stronger willpower than I was expecting.”

  Cutting her bindings, the elder turned slowly as if he had just aged an additional fifty years motioning for her to join him. In his exhaustion he was slower than usual as they got to the dais that would serve as the trial area where she was commanded to stand and stay silent.

  She watched as Wolf was brought in front of them in chains and the trial started. All the while she screamed with impotent rage inside her own body. When Wolf had eventually caught on to the fact the trial was simply a ‘Dog and Pony’ show as he called it, she smiled inwardly. When he was branded an outcast she again screamed with rage. His next reactions made her think that what they had done was the biggest mistake the people of the Kokuri village had ever made. His pure anger and hate had reached such a level that even she was afraid of what he would do next. Several threats later, he and the elder walked toward the village storehouse. She was led away to the very same cell that Wolf had been in.

  Sir Charle had an obvious disliking toward the whole procession but still went with it regardless of his personal feelings and locked her in the cell without a word. She did not know how long she was in the cell, but did notice strange writings scrawled across the walls, floors, and ceiling. She didn’t know what any of it said but the smell of sweat, and the craters in the wall told her that Wolf wasn’t idle in his captivity. She suspected that the craters were from him practicing the strange magic that he had used against her during their first duel. Magic was an exceedingly rare talent in any Beastkin tribe and seeing it even one that was not of pure Beastkin bloodline was even more so.

  While she was lost in her thoughts a window came up and somehow broke the spell that was controlling her.

  Congratulations! You have started the quest ‘Vhisk’s Justice I’

  Type: DivineDifficulty: Easy

  Conditions: You must become a bounty hunter and take the bounty on ‘Outcast Wolf Mikall’, after meeting two other half draconic beings who understand the runes written in the cell.

  Rewards: Unknown

  To say she was surprised would have been an understatement. The last time the god of mischief had given one of his quests was over sixty thousand years ago and afterward the Alune Kingdom had fallen twenty thousand later to the Empire of Kuing. She was unsettled that she didn’t have a choice, but to say ‘no’ to the god of mischief would only invite misfortune and strife.

  With control of her body returned she could closely examine the writing on the walls and ceilings. The writing or runes had a very organized and elegant form to them. She spent her time waiting copying and re-writing them over again and again until several sleeping cycles later Sir Charle opened the door to the cell and let her out. He was both shocked and impressed that she had somehow broken free from the elder’s spell but also very relieved.

  When they left the cell Sir Charle happily said, “I really am glad that you broke free from that distasteful spell. I don’t like the situation any more than you do. However, I am bound by my order’s laws to not interfere in the decisions made by sovereign townships.”

  Sienna responded with nothing more than a grunt and stomped past him to the tavern. Sitting at one of the bar’s empty stools she ordered a mug of piping hot mug of Kumis. The tavern keeper scowled at her request since he knew when she said piping hot she really meant lukewarm.

  Sitting next to her, Sir Charle ordered a chilled glass of brandy.

  Sienna let out a low growl to show her displeasure at his company.

  “Easy, I just wanted to talk then I will leave you to your milk.”

  Sienna let the growl carry for a few more seconds before letting it drop. “What do you want now?”

  “I was just curious what you planned on doing now? I am certain that you won’t be staying here from your reaction to what happened a few days ago. So, I am just curious.”

  Sienna replied smarmily, “What business is any of it yours? You are the one getting into bed with those…what was it that Wolf called them…Card carrying oxygen thieves. Its none of your business what I plan on doing. I will do what I wish and leave when it is time for me to leave.”

  Taking a sip of the brandy and savoring its flavor he replied again as he got up to head to another section of the tavern, “Well if you need anything or decided on something, let me know. You will have any support I can bring, and I mean anything.” With a poorly concealed wink he walked off leaving her wondering if he knew something more than he was letting on.

  After several more mugs of Kumis she retired to room she had shared with Wolf. She had found out that he had only been gone for two days and his scent was still on the bedding. Surrounded by his scent she fell into a drunken sleep.

  In her dream that night she was visited by two deities. Vhisk the God of Mischief and Tatneas the Goddess of the hunt. Vhisk told her that she needed to go after Wolf as he was key to several plans and events he was personally interested in. Tatneas the patron goddess of the Feline Beastkin, informed her that she had given her blessing on her seeking out Wolf. She insisted that as a huntress it would be both a great honor and challenge to catch him. To any Feline Beastkin, the hunt was both a sacred and spiritual task. In her tribe there was only two ways to gain a mate, through raiding others to attain the wealth needed to ‘buy’ a mate or to attain one through hunting them. While the hunting way had fallen out of favor since it ran the risk of one or the other participants in the hunt ending up dead.

  When she woke she now felt better regarding taking on the bounty hunter badge and subsequently hunting Wolf. One thing that Tatneas was right about, Wolf would be a worthy prey for a hunt. With a goal and mission in mind she set out to spend her coin on supplies needed for the hunt. Something in her gut told her it would be quite possibly one of the longest hunts she would ever embark on.

  Her first stop was the general store where she looked around at the various traveling bags. To carry enough supplies, she felt she would need. Looking at one of the more expensive areas was a traveler’s pack that held over 150 items of large to medium size with an 80% weight reduction. At a whopping 12 gold the price tag was much too expensive for her since she only had about 3 gold all together. Sighing she figured that she should probably start with weapons and armor first. Leaving the general store, she headed to the blacksmith to replace her badly damaged spear.

  Antoanio Missagi greeted her at the counter with a smile so large that she thought his face would split.

  In his odd accent he asked, “How are you Sienna? It is good to see you up and about. We were told that you were barely able to stand at the trial.”

  Canting her head at the casual remark about her being unable to move about piqued her interest. Deciding to play along she said, “Yes…it is good to be up and about among the free again. The injuries I sustained were not the best. I will carry the scars both from the magic and from the fight for a very long time.”

  “Magic? We were told that Wolf attacked you with only blades. I didn’t know he used magic on you as well.”

  “He didn’t.” She said letting the seeds of discord sow. “Anyways, I am here for a new spear. I will be going on a hunt soon and my prey is quite possibly one of the most dangerous I will ever face. What have you got, also why is your forge not going?”

  “Ah, I am taking a break. I needed to take a day or two to decide how I will proceed in my craft. I recently just attained the experienced rank in my blacksmithing craft. I need to decide if I will specialize in weaponsmithing, armorsmithing, stay in the general smithing category, or even go with the exotic classes of weapons. It is a hard decision to make since the type of sword that Wolf showed me really piqued my interest.”

  “I thought he only showed you how to make tha
t one type of weird sword. What else did he show you?” she asked inquisitively.

  “You might be interested in this one. He called it a ‘Yari’. It is like a regular spear but with blades sticking out to the sides. He said that it could also be called a cross-spear too.” Antoanio said as he pulled the cross-spear’s head from the back of his shop.

  Sienna being incredibly adept with spears saw the various applications and uses for this type of spear.

  “How long would it take you to mount this on a 2-meter-long pole?” Sienna asked excitedly. She had decided that she simply must have this spear.

  “It took me a week to forge it, but since it was just an experiment and isn’t my best work I will only charge you forty silver for the spearhead and another five for mounting it. Would that work?”

  “Yes, it would. When can I pick it up?”

  “Come back tomorrow afternoon. It will be ready for you to pick up then. Because I am pretty certain what you will be hunting I will even throw in a leather covering for it to keep the rain off it”

  “You have my thanks Antoanio. Will you put your makers mark on it? I will be taking this style of spear back to my tribe one way or another and wish you to receive credit for it. I truly never have seen anything like it.”