NOVEL WEB Ch. 19 Vile Mother (Charles/Gormand)
The town of Riktdon sat glowing in the distance. Illuminated in the darkness of the night, Charles inspected the trading hub while he stifled a yawn. He glanced at Alison as she diligently watched a distant figure approach the nearest town gate.
“I’ll be honest.” Charles whispered to his traveling companion. “I didn’t think you would let him go after what you did to his friends.”
Alison shook her head. “Think about what he told us.”
Charles wrinkled his brown and started listing things off on his fingers. “We found out we’re in a kingdom called Mornir, they’re a big exporter of raw ores, their biggest trade partner is the Favelian Kingdom to the north west, and our friend Gormand works for a band of thieves that call themselves Basilisk that prey on that bountiful trade.”
Charles glanced between his fingers and Alison. “He really didn’t know much. I gathered that this world is fairly similar to a lot of the isekai stories you asked me about earlier so I’m fairly confident I know the basics about society and how we might find jobs or a means of making money. That still doesn’t answer my question.”
Alison nodded as the distant figure reached the gate. “He doesn’t know much. He’s just a low level thug, but he reports to someone who probably knows a lot more. Come on. We have to hurry before he’s too far inside.”
Alison grabbed Charles’ arm and dragged him towards the gate as the figure of their would-be attacker disappeared through the town gate.
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Gormand
Gormand cursed and tried his best not to wince with every step he took. This late at night there was hardly anyone out on the street of Riktdon. Those that were took one look at Gormand’s blood stained pants, grimacing scowl, and painful limp before dipping down side streets or alleyways to stay out of his way.
Without warning Gormand stopped in the middle of the stone street and whipped around. He glared at the empty market stalls that lined the road.
That woman… Gormand shuddered at the thought of her.
It was like he could still feel the unholy fire from her eyes on the back of his head. Despite the street being deserted he couldn’t shake her presence from his mind. With renewed fear in his step, Gormand finished limping his way to a small tavern tucked out of sight down one of the narrow side streets. He knocked twice, paused, and knocked three times more. A scrape of a wooden chair could be heard before a metal lock loudly clicked out of place and the door creaked open.
“Back so soon Gormand?” A tall burly man sneered at him.
Gormand’s eyebrows tilted down. “Shove it in your ugly face Collins. I need to speak to the vile mother.”
Collins didn’t respond, instead, he peered up and down the side street.
“Where are your boys?” Collins snorted. “Don’t tell me they ran off on you.”
Gormand narrowed his eyes. “They’re all dead.”
That caused Collins to take a step back.
“Dead? How? Why?” The large man demanded.
“A wom… No. A demon killed them all.” Gormand corrected himself. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”
Gormand forced his way past Collins and the large man let him through.
I technically didn’t lie to him. Gormand reasoned to himself. That woman… she’s more demon than human. There’s no way she could have taken on my boys if she was normal.
The tavern’s interior held a loud group of about two dozen rowdy men and women. There were a few nods in his direction but most of the looks from his peers were of loathing and disgust. Gormand paid them no mind. Not everyone in the group could appreciate the art of highway robbery like he could. Most considered it a braindead occupation, but failed to see the potential such a profession truly held.
Shaking unnecessary thoughts from his head Gormand spotted his destination in the back of the room. An older woman sat alone at a dim table, flanked on either side by the strongest bodyguards the Basilisk organization here in Mornir could afford. She had white hair, a weathered face, and a faded black traveling cloak. A carefully organized line of vials and bottles with an impressive array of colors and fumes sat in front of her at the table. The local leader of their group. The vile mother. Before Gormand could get too close, the bodyguards stepped forward and placed a pair of incredibly strong hands on his shoulders.
“Vile mother. I come bearing news and a warning.” Gormand dipped his head respectfully in the older woman’s direction.
The bodyguards looked at the vile mother for directions to which the older woman waved a dismissive hand to allow Gormand through.
“You’re not due back for several weeks.” The woman spoke in a weary raspy voice.
Gorman nodded and took a seat opposite the vile mother. “That is true, vile mother, but there was an incident.”
The vile mother lifted her head slightly. “An incident you say? Guard patrol?”
“No, it wasn’t the guards. My boys and I were attacked.” Gormand swallowed hard. “Everyone but me is dead.”
The older woman showed no outer reaction to the news.
“Who?” She asked flatly.
Gormand felt a line of sweat forming on his brow. “A woman, but not some ordinary human. She was stronger than all of us, faster too. Some type of monster in human skin. I don’t know!”
“You didn’t use the poison I gave you?” The vile mother scoffed. “I bet you lost it like the last-”
“She drank it.”
The vile mother paused and looked at Gormand with genuine surprise.
“What do you mean she ‘drank’ it?”
Gormand let out a humorless laugh. “I mean I pulled out the poison to line my blade with, like you taught us, and she took the vial from me and drank it.”
“Impossible.” The old woman balked. “You must have grabbed some other vial by mistake.”
“She listed off the ingredients of your poison.” Gormand noted solemnly. “She called it weak.”
“Well then she’s surely dead by now.” The vile mother huffed. “How did you manage to escape then?”
Gormand blinked. “I uh… I was let go.”
The vile mother paused. “Let go? Why would-”
There was a loud crack from the front of the tavern as the door was kicked off of its hinges.
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Charles
“You’re just going to start stabbing people?” Charles called to the insane woman in front of him as she brought down the doorman with one swift strike before he could recover from her dramatic entrance.
“You said murder was legal here!” Alison shouted at him while pulling one of her daggers free from the enormous man.
Charles gripped the side of his head and ducked out of the way as people leapt up from nearby tables to attack Alison.
“I never said that! I told you that the rules of self defense would be different in this world and you didn’t have to shout out ‘if you come any closer I will be forced to defend myself’ any time you get attacked!” Charles explained as Alison took down three more patrons inside of the tavern.
Alison whipped a bloodied dagger in Charles’ direction. Charles flinched but the dagger flew past his head and planted itself in the chest of someone that had managed to creep up behind him.
“If you tell Devin about this I’ll kill you!” Alison warned Charles while she headbut another patron.
A surge of bodies rushed towards Alison giving Charles the chance to slink around the bloody conflict. Towards the back of the room Charles spotted the thug they had spared and followed her, Gormand. The cowardly man had slunk back into a booth and was quietly sobbing and begging for Alison to go away. Charles shook his head but quickly spotted a far more interesting sight. An older woman and two burly men were hastily walking towards the back of the room.
Gotta be important. Charles deduced before sprinting after the trio.
The bodyguards spotted Charles and quickly planted themselves between him and the mysterious old woman.
“Wait!” Charles held up his empty hands and stopped a few feet away.
“Stalling won’t get you anywhere.” The old woman continued towards the door at the far side of the room.
“All we want is information. If you agree to help us I will call her off.” Charles shouted after her.
The old woman paused and turned back.
“Is she your attack dog then? Just who are you?” The woman demanded.
“No, actually I’m just a friend of her husband.” Charles chuckled. “Do we have a deal?”
The fight was not going well for the old woman’s subordinates. Over half of the tavern was on the floor dead or bleeding. Alison had a few bumps and bruises but she only looked more pissed off than she had been when the fight first started.
“Where is he!” She roared at the cowering men and women before laying into them once more.
The old woman shot a glance at the door in front of her.
“You can run.” Charles shrugged. “But I doubt you’ll make it very far.”
He glanced at the blubbering Gormand in the booth before shifting his eyes pointedly back to the old woman.
“Fine.” The woman crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll answer whatever question you have, just get her to stop.”
Charles nodded and turned back to the fighting. “Alison! They’ve agreed to answer any questions about Devin.”
Alison froze in place, her dagger inches away from the chest of a frightened young woman.
“Devin?” Alison blinked hard and stepped off of the young thief.
The remaining members of the Basilisk organization all backed off wearily. They stared at Alison with a mixture of pure fear and horrifying wonder at the damage she caused in such a short amount of time.
“You can help me find him.” Alison fixed her haunting gaze on the old woman and began to stride towards her.
The blood soaked knife in her hands dripped ominously on the floor. The old woman shuddered.
“W-whatever you want to know, if it’s within my power to tell you, I’ll do it.” She pleaded.
Alison smiled brightly and Charles shook his head. Her beautiful and relieved smile cast a stark contrast compared to her bloodied appearance and horrifying surroundings.
“Thank you for your help!”
