062, 2 of 2

Erick, Teressa, Rats, and Kiri, appeared in a blip of white next to human-Jane; she had transformed back to human in the last second or five.

The clouds were ribbons of dispersing moisture, the ground wet, but drying. And in the sky, in a sunbeam of light, hovered the bright red Flare Couatl, its white wings spread wide. It hovered above several piles of ash, the land around those piles scarred with tracks of melted sand; dirty glass.

The monster was a hundred meters long and curled up in on itself, just hovering there, like a draconic deity, its flat-nosed, sleek boa-constrictor like body, in a state of repose, or contemplation, or rest. Its nose was pointed down, while its eyes, to the sides of its head, were orbs of fire, and completely focused on Erick’s group.

It was acting just how the reports said it would act.

Soon, it would—

“Greetings, mortals.” The Flare Couatl’s voice boomed out across the Crystal Forest, further rending the sky and Erick’s [Call Lightning]. It said, “You were under attack, and now you are delivered.”

Kiri whispered, “Holy shit it really can talk.”

Poi said, “It has to be a trained message.”

Jane said, “I want to eat it, but that’s a bad idea for a hundred different reasons.”

All of them spoke over each other, arguing about what was happening right in front of them, but Erick stepped forward from the group, calling out to the monster, “Thank you! You have saved our lives. Is there anything we can do for you?”

The Flare Couatl remained hovering in the air.

“This is different from the report. It should be moving on.” Jane stepped to stand beside Erick, asking, “Is it actually intelligent?”

The Flare Couatl shifted slightly.

Teressa sent, ‘Combat protocol.’

‘No one move, yet,’ Poi sent.

The monster gently slithered through the air, like the sky was water and it was inquisitive. The monster’s giant red head was the size of a wyrm’s, but its head was sleek and healthy where a wyrm’s was jagged and rotten. The head slowly approached Erick. The beast moved like a cat, but its body was relaxed. Erick didn’t feel like it was going to strike, but that didn’t matter to Erick’s heart; the beating organ threatened to pound right out of his chest.

Erick sent, ‘Ophiel will take us out of here if need—’

The Flare Couatl stopped, twenty meters away, hovering like the sword of Damocles. Its scales glittered with fire. Its eyes were twin suns. Erick felt a wash of heat across the land.

“Do you know of the Cinnabar Hand?” Its voice was a calm thing, completely in line with the monster’s lazy, floating form. “I am looking for them. These were not them. They were common hunters.”

Poi said, “Independent hunter association.”

Erick spoke to the monster, “I knew of no Cinnabar Hand until now. I thought these people were assassins.”

“They were a group of common hunters, gathered to hunt uncommon archmage prey, but nothing more than that.” The Flare Couatl slipped backward, sighing, saying, “I would have known, otherwise.”

Erick quickly asked, “Did the Cinnabar Hand kill your Beast Master?”

The air thrummed with subdued rage. Erick might have just fucked up.

The monster roared, “They killed my VILLAGE.”

“Apologies,” Erick said. “I did not know.”

The monster breathed deep, then said, “No one knows, but now you do. Beware, for the Cinnabar Hand consumes the flesh of others, and hides in the crowd. They are skinwalkers who strike with the hands of neighbors you have known for years. They destroy, for they are happiest covered in blood, and I will see them put down.”

Erick felt the Flare Couatl’s malice, but it was not directed at Erick; it flowed across the land like an ocean of hatred, searching for enemies. Erick understood that hatred. This monster— No. This being. This Flare Couatl wanted people dead, for the crimes those people had committed and the pain they had caused.

In that bright second, Erick felt a kinship.

Poi whispered, “All true. No Cinnabar Hand sighted in Spur for years, though. We do routine random checks for that sort of thing.”

The Flare Couatl must have heard Poi, for it said, “There are none in your city, for they hide in the wilderness of this open country, preying on the young ones who try to tame the world. They are all over. Everywhere! And yet nowhere! MY SEARCH IS ENDLESS! If you want to help, then make a Particle [Scan] spell, and root out these evildoers from our midst!”

Erick spoke, as though to a colleague, “Is the Toxic Hydra on the same mission?”

The Flare Couatl’s skin shimmered brilliant red. It spoke with a heavy voice, “Yes. And he has lost his way. Put him down, if you must, for I… I cannot.”

“Are you a [Polymorph]ed person?” Erick asked, “I too, would like to prevent hunters from preying on the young, but everyone thinks you are a monster.”

The Flare Couatl chuckled, a deep, resonating sound, then said, “I am not a mortal. I am not a monster. I am vengeance given flesh and function. Cast your [Withering], and prove it to yourself, so that you may call off whatever hunts your guilds have set.”

‘Get ready,’ Erick sent, then said, “Okay.”

Poi, Teressa, Kiri, Jane, and Rats, each stood straighter, or stronger, or ready to move. Six ‘Affirmative’s came back to Erick.

[Domain of the Withering Slime].

A sphere of white light flowed into existence around Erick, translucent, as thick air spilled up from the Crystal Forest, washing across the talking monster. And nothing happened. Crashing air touched the Flare Couatl, passing across and into the monster’s opening mouth.

The Flare Couatl closed its mouth, then said, “No [Weather Ward]s. No grand rad inside. No insanity. You have your proof. Take this proof back to your people, and call off your kill quests. Stopping the youngsters from attacking me takes up valuable time.” The not-monster added, “Though… Kill the hydra. If you can. He has lost himself. He has given himself to the mana, and the mana has taken him, transforming him into a Scion of Destruction.”

A blip of red filled the sky. When the light passed, the Flare Couatl was gone.

Just like that. A decree, and then a [Teleport], and he was gone. Erick felt loss, somehow. He wanted to talk more. To ask more questions. To find out what was really happening with the Flare Couatl, and the Toxic Hydra; to ask if any of the other ‘monsters’ in the Crystal Forest were not monsters at all.

Jane asked, “What the fuck was that?”

Kiri said, “I have no idea.”

Erick stared at the sky, saying, “A village destroyed. A path of destruction. Not-monsters from Nergal hunting for hunters. I need to talk to the Mage Trio.” Erick said, “But first, I should tell Mog about this.”

Poi said, “Silverite and Killzone are being briefed, right now.” He added, “Mog is in the loop now, too. [Witness]es will come, soon. We should wait for that to happen.” Poi pointed up.

Erick followed Poi’s finger. He watched as a silver [Scry] orb appeared in the manasphere next to Poi, followed by a blue [Scry] orb, and a black one, too. The orbs looked around. The black orb quickly vanished, while the silver lingered for a moment. Both the silver and the blue orb vanished at the same time. They were only in the air for five seconds.

After the [Scry] orbs vanished, Jane asked, “That couatl wasn’t a [Polymorph]ed person, was it?”

“No. I saw a part of its mind, and it was wholly a…” Poi looked at the blue sky, and the dissipating clouds, saying, “That was a monster. But not a monster. I don’t know what the fuck that was. I have never, ever, heard of anything like this, ever before.”

Teressa said, “A lot of dragon essence in that couatl. That’s the only way it could have gotten that big.”

“And a lot of other magic too, no doubt,” Poi said.

Kiri asked, “Why hasn’t another dragon eaten it, yet?”

“That’s a very good question,” Poi said.

 

– – – –

 

The next two hours proceeded very fast. Silverite, Felair, and Hera appeared in a blip of silver, on the sands in front of Erick and the group. While yellowscaled Hera and Silverite asked questions of everyone present, bluescaled Felair cast [Witness]. Staring into the sky with eyes fully blue, Felair began piecing together what had happened during the hunter attack, when Erick and everyone were forced to retreat.

The first thing Felair discovered was that all eight hunters had ties to a [Teleport] location four kilometers away, and that they had been watching since before the morning even started. They had noticed the carrion pile, left under a [Scent Ward], and knew that people would be using it to start a Feeding Frenzy, soon.

This instantly started an argument over ‘how come we didn’t take this into account’. The answer came from Jane, ‘Shit happens. We could have taken them. All they had was the surprise.’ Felair relayed what he saw, and agreed with Jane’s assessment. All eight hunters had the same ‘fireball’ ability, but not much beyond that. Each one of them looked like young rookies, out on the hunt to kill some high leveled people. They were actually talking amongst themselves about leaving, but then the [Ward] wyrm came, and they saw how beat down everyone was, and they decided that it was now or never. They chose to attack, and then the Flare Couatl showed up, as if summoned somehow, in some way.

Erick had an idea about that summoning, but did not give voice to his half-formed notion.

Felair relayed the entire experience of talking to the Flare Couatl to Silverite and Hera; Hera wrote it all down. And then Felair went over the scene again. And again. Just to make sure that they got everything. While they did all that, Erick and the group went over the bodies of the wyrms, giving a pass across the ones they had already checked, and then the red [Ward] wyrm, which they had not checked since they had been interrupted by hunters.

The total count of grand rads, at the end of the day, was:

Three head-sized grey grand-rads from the first grey wyrm. Two complete, dried-out red mother mimics. Two chest-sized purple grand-rads from the purple wyrm. A single, chest-sized grey grand-rad from the second grey wyrm. A nearly meter-wide long blue grand-rad, from the blue wyrm. The spherical head-sized grand-rad from the black wyrm. And finally, the brilliant, shining, torso-sized red grand-rad, from the red [Ward] wyrm. All together, it was maybe 12,000 gold, for just those items alone.

But they found seven guild badges inside the [Ward] wyrm, along with the crushed equipment of at least two groups of adventurers. That killed a lot of the joy of the evening.

This time, the loot was split evenly. There was a bit of a fight over the shining red grand-rad between Kiri and Jane, so Erick took that one as his sole loot from the day. Problem solved!

As evening came on, Silverite was still investigating the Flare Couatl with Felair’s [Witness].

Erick and Kiri ignited [Cleansing Flame] across the fields of bodies. White and green heatless flames consumed rotten flesh, transforming it to naught but air, quickly clearing the land of the ever present scent of carrion.

As the fires ate through the corpses, vanishing dead flesh, five more guild badges fell out of the red wyrm’s body. Three guild badges lay shining on the sands, where the black [Stoneshape] wyrm was laid to rest. Two badges were found crushed against each other where the purple [Stoneshape] wyrm was put down. 15 badges were retrieved from the wyrm’s corpses, in total. Scouring the burn sites revealed another 1500 gold in various crushed and broken metals.

Feeling a heavy mix of emotions, Erick reconvened with the group, over the pile. Silverite joined them.

Silverite stood over the sheet where they had gathered all the objects they had found. Gold and grand-rads glittered in the twilight. The Mayor looked upon the spoils of war, and said, “You’ve saved a lot of future lives, today. No one will ever know it, but you should raise your heads high. You have ended threats against the world. Good job.” She smirked, and said, “And just so you’re aware, I’m counting up 20,000 gold here. Taxes are 10,000 gold. Fun times!”

Groans and grumbles started—

Erick barked a laugh. He joked, “I thought I was immune to taxes for at least a year.”

Silverite nodded, saying, “16,500, then. Which means 8300 in taxes for the rest of you.”

Kiri said, “Take whichever grand-rads you want. We’ll split the rest.”

“Nope!” Silverite said, “I don’t take bribes, Kiri. I honestly do mean taxes, for real. And you will pay them as normal, through normal channels.”

“Ha!” Erick said, “I’m sure she didn’t mean…”

Erick looked at Kiri and Silverite, as they looked at him, and then back at each other. Silverite just looked at Kiri, while Kiri paused, her eyes going wide.

“Oh?” Erick said, “That was… real?”

Kiri froze. She sputtered, out, “I didn’t mean to impugn upon your—”

“I would not have been able to remain the Mayor of Spur for 550 years, young lady, if I was willing to succumb to corruption, or take offense at every little thing. I understand that normal operating procedure is different in the Republic, but we tend not to do that sort of bribery around here.” Silverite looked south, saying, “Or rather, three thousand kilometers that way, anyway.” She added, “Don’t worry about it.” She said to the group, “Anyway! Those hunters? Felair was able to link the hunters here to other hunters reported in Vindin. That Flare Couatl cleared up a tidy mess, here.”

Erick asked, “What was that non-monster, anyway?”

“No rad, so it’s not a monster, means it’s not a Beast Master’s pet.” Silverite said, “My guess is someone created a being through summoning magic, then gave it some dragon essence. The beast’s intelligence smacks of necromancy, though. It would have had to have been in that form for a very long time for Poi to not pick up on a humanoid intelligence. This is the work of a powerful necromancer.” Silverite said, “This is nasty business, Erick.”

Erick asked, “You know the Oceanside Mages have been hunting a necromancer in the forest, yeah? This has to be related, right?”

Silverite said, “This is my feeling, too.”

“I want to help them.”

Silverite asked, “The mages? Why?”

“Not the mages. The Flare Couatl.”

Jane groaned. Kiri frowned. Teressa and Rats both went ‘tsk’.

Silverite frowned.

Poi said, “It’s not a person, Erick. If that is a necromancer’s work… It’s a soul in a monster’s body. The Toxic Hydra went monster. I… I am sure this one will, too.”

“That is my feeling as well.” Silverite turned to Erick, adding, “But if you wish to help this Flare Couatl, then make your case, Erick.”

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Jane turned to Silverite, saying, “What!”

“Erick.” Silverite said, “Your thoughts?”

Erick breathed in the twilight air. It was clean, and bright, now that the wyrms had been burned away. The moons hung in the sky, crescents on the horizon, as stars began to appear in the deeper purples of the eastern heavens. A cold wind blew from the north, like always.

He said, “I think we should reconvene with Ramizi, Maia, and Eduard, then continue this conversation.”

Silverite pursed her lips, then said, “Fair enough. But you and I are going to have a private conversation before all of that.”

 

– – – –

 

The journey back to Spur took minutes, once Erick got his Opheils on everyone and secured the loot.

Blip. Blip. Blip. Then one more, semi-complicated blip, for 9 people to split into two groups. Jane, Kiri, Rats, Teressa, and the loot, went home. Silverite, Hera, Felair, Poi, and Erick, blipped onto the steps of the Courthouse.

In a few more minutes, Erick stood alone in Silverite’s office, with the door shut.

Silverite leaned against the front of her desk. Erick waited for her to begin whatever it was she was doing.