Shadowbane

~Somewhere inside the nation of Kellog.~

The young girl on my shoulder lifts her head up in a daze. She looks to and fro, trying to make sense of her current situation. When she realizes that her mouth, arms, and legs are all bound, she begins to panic, squirming back and forth trying to escape my grasp.

"Awake are we? Don't worry dear, we're almost there."

I lift the girl up and quickly bring her back down onto my shoulder, knocking the wind out of her completely. She gasps for breath as I open the final door she'll ever go through. The master beats excitedly as he senses his food draw close. Despite her situation, the girl tries to scream as she sees my master open his mouth wide, but between her lack of air and the cloth tied around her mouth, it instead comes out as a sharp squeal.

"There's no need to be so frightened. While understandable, I'm not a monster. I don't plan on feeding you to my master alive."

Grabbing the back of the girls maid outfit, I carry her near the stone table and smash her head onto one of its sharp corners. The girl goes limp instantly.

"See? And even if you did survive, you won't be awake to experience the pain of being eaten alive. I told you I'm not a monster."

Walking over to my master, I throw the girl into its now wide open mouth. Master makes short work of her, turning her into sustenance in a manner of seconds.

I was put in a tight spot when the Guardians showed up, but I always had a backup plan in case anything went wrong, and master just ate that very backup plan. Luckily for me the young kitsune maid had an Eldritch soul parasiting her, so the amount of fuel she just supplied master is leagues higher than using hundreds of normal citizens. I originally didn't even plan on sacrificing her, but after the Guardians showed up I had no choice. As soon as master finishes its metamorphosis, they will all understand why this was necessary.

Masters mouth closes as it drifts back off into hibernation. While watching this I can't help but think about the other problem that showed up in my nation.

"The white one..."

The book spoke of her, an abomination from another realm. It also claimed she died long ago, so imagine my surprise when I first laid eyes on her. White hair, red eyes, eerie mana aura... She was exactly as the book described. Her little tale she told in the drawing room explained nothing. While it was fascinating to hear about the origins of the master and those who came before me, it still answered nothing about how she revived, nor did it explain anything else happening in my nation.

"Master... Should I deal with them, or leave them be?"

Master beats a few times before returning to its dormant state.

... No reply as usual, which means it wants me to decide for myself. While I love that it believes I will make the correct choice, I really do need some help here. Damnable Guardians, I didn't think they'd actually show up. Judging from the reports our spies have sent, the Guardians, Viseux, and Khan Uluhm should be way too busy to assist the 'barbaric' nation of Kellog to the south-east. Viseux must be stretched thin if they let the Guardians travel to our lands... And that line of thinking leads me to the most confounding question of all. Why in gods name is Lady Aresa here?

"It's maddening... It makes no bloody sense!"

The white one aside, I would sooner expect the king of Khan Uluhm to come down here to personally assist us before Lady Aresa would. The only 'daughter' of the late ruler of Urza, a known shut-in who may or may not be plotting to overthrow Viseux... Here? Now? I don't... I don't understand. No matter how hard I think about it I don't fucking understand. Throwing her into masters mouth would evolve it instantly, hell she'd probably push it to the next level, but there's no way I'll be able to pull that off. Not alone anyways... And master won't tell me if I'm the only one working for it right now.

"Oh right I just remembered. Master, if a large raven-like Eldritch shows up anywhere in our lands, please tell me."

Why they think the Tengu is coming here is another mystery that I can't be bothered to worry about. If the damned bird attacks, then so be it. Apparently that's why most of the Guardians entourage are here so the problem should fix itself... Unless they die, which would be fortuitous but then we'd be stuck with a Tengu Lord in our nation. With how powerful they are, finding master would be easy for them, so it is still a concern, just not one I need to worry about right now. Plus, there's nothing I could do in that situation anyways... I wonder if the Tengu is the reason Lady Aresa is here? Bah, that makes even less sense.

I turn around, walking through the door and closing it behind me. Putting my pointer finger on the crystal embedded in the center of the door, I reactivate the trap.

"Hopefully this is unnecessary, but who knows what might happen in the near future. With so much going on it's hard to predict anything at this point."

The door to the living room opens as Alicia walks in and calls out to me.

"Rei, are you still up there...?"

"Yes? Is something wrong?"

"Hmm... Not sure yet, they said Fei volunteered to wake you up and bring you to the living room during your stay here. She didn't show up at all?"

"No, you're the first one to come through here."

Cid's daughter seemed like a diligent young girl, so she's either sick, or...

Alicia sighed. "I hope nothing is wrong with her. For now I've done my part, everyone is waiting for you in the dining room."

She turned around and went back the way she came. After she left I jumped out of my sleeping place, scanning the area outside the window for anything out of place.

Not that I expect to see Fei out there, but I need to make certain she isn't.

After confirming that nothing is in the field stretched out before me, I lightly jog towards the living room, passing a few maids on the way.

They look a little panicked, that's not what I want to see right now.

Ishar locks eyes with me as I enter the living room, motioning for me to follow him back into another hallway. Alicia is already waiting for us when we arrive.

Ishar speaks up first. "This is a major problem. For it to will someone to take the girl, or even force the girl to feed herself to it, the situation might be more dire than I thought."

"You're certain it's the broodling that took her?" Alicia asked.

"No, but it's a little convenient on the timing. We only discovered it was here last night, and immediately someone was disappeared?"

"Why a young Kitsune girl? She's a maid in training, I doubt her soul had a high capacity worth devouring." Alicia said.

"You of all people know why, there can be only one reason. It's why we serve Terra'ka."

Alicia's eyes went wide. "She had an Eldritch parasiting her soul..."

"Does that mean the broodling will be 'full' for awhile?"

Ishar nodded. "Most likely, and I bet it went into deep hibernation so we can't trace the corruption to its source anymore. In hindsight it was stupid of us to discuss it so openly, but what's done is done. Just know that we probably got that girl killed. I assume you're used to such situations Rei, but Alicia don't let it interfere with your work. We need to find and kill the creature, that's what matters right now. Plus, you played no role in the reveal anyways, so don't act like it was your fault. A lot of new recruits like to make the mistake of blaming themselves for every little thing."

"While that's true, it's hard to say it gets easier over time. I don't know if Crotia struggle with such things, but I'm going to have a hard time facing Cid after this. She was a really sweet girl... But it's also true that even if it doesn't get easier, you do get used to it. Tragedies like this are the norm in our world sadly. This is just the way things are... You'll have to get used to them eventually, whether you want to or not."

Alicia looked between the two of us before putting her head down.

"... I know you're right, and I also know what I signed up for. Honestly, it's not bothering me at the moment, probably because I barely interacted with the girl, but I'm dreading seeing her Mother. She's the one always behind Euphemia. Cid and her are still on good terms despite being divorced."

"Your parents still around?" Ishar asked, surprisingly.

"Yes. I paid my apartment off for the next couple of years before I warped over. I also left a letter telling them I'm fine and that I'd be back at some point to explain. I probably should have talked to them properly, but the invasion was already taking place and I didn't want to miss it."

"Hang on, can you warp others as well Alicia?"

"Yes. Oh right, you wanted to go back to Aetheria right? Sorry, it didn't even occur to me that I could bring you back there. However, considering where my home is it'll be a long journey back to the Elven continent if you want me to warp you. Normally I'd question why anyone would willingly go to that hellhole, but I know your story so it makes sense. I'll give you some money for the train as well, but it'd be way too much for me to pay the entire way there, so you'll have to figure something out after a certain point."

Well this is a surprise... I didn't expect to find a way home this easily, and it'd be to a safe region as well.

"Thank you very much! That's actually a huge relief to hear... But It'll be awhile before I want to head back, I'd rather I didn't go back there while I'm this weak. Especially when I consider where I'll be heading."

Alicia smiles. "That's for the best. Lots of monsters up north, but there is next to no Eldritch, so you'd struggle there I'm sure. Unless your family is still around and buys you a good power armor. From what you said though, you have no way of knowing if they're still alive. So if you arrive destitute in one of the Elven cities, the only thing awaiting you is a mercs life with no gear."

"Yeah... That's exactly why I'm waiting. Forget machines, the monsters up north would be too much for me as well."

"That aside, I'm changing our plans. Fuck this 'Tengu', we have far higher priorities now." Ishar said.

"What are you proposing? I'm still planning to go to one of the empty villages today."

Ishar motions toward Alicia, "Me and orange hair here are going to look into the disappearances that took place here when the broodling appeared. If the sacrifices all came from a specific area we might be able to track them if there wasn't much snow back then. Honestly, I'm not expecting to find much, but it's worth a shot. This is also assuming the one known as 'Seifer' isn't being controlled."

Right, we need to worry that anyone here could currently be under that thing's control... What a nightmare this is turning into.

"Is that all we can do? I want to try and look around the manor, see if I can find how they took Fei." Alicia asked.

Ishar nodded. "Not a bad idea, you do that then. I would love nothing more than to call the Lizardmen in and have the shamans trace the broodling's location, but after speaking to Terra'ka last night, I know we're on our own."

"I thought you said we couldn't trace it?"

"None of you can, because this moon is not used to dealing with Xerath. Shamans know exactly what to look for, so no amount of subterfuge can save the broodling if it doesn't find a way to stop the shamans from channeling, which also will just so happen to expose the broodling. Unfortunately they can't make it here, so we'll have to figure this out on our own. I can't say I like our chances... Worst case scenario, we'll need to flee before it starts affecting our minds as well."

"W-Wait, we'd have to abandon this whole nation?! That's..." Alicia trailed off, looking down.

"As Rei said earlier, this is the norm in our life, you'll need to get used to it. This won't be the first time we have to abandon tens of thousands of people, and it certainly won't be the last."

"And then you kill the god after it sprouts, resulting in the whole nation dying? Or can the Lizardmen save them?"

"Nope, it's exactly as you say, we have scouts locate the god and we launch a full-on assault to kill the god and only the god. The meat shields will die on their own afterwards."

Alicia shook her head. "Meat shields... I hope we can find the damned thing, I really don't want it to come to that."

"Me either little one, me either."

Ishar almost sounded compassionate when he said that. I guess that shows just how serious this situation is.

From further down the hall Aresa appears. After she spots us she begins running to our location.

{All translated, want to read it?}

"The skeleton's log? Sure, hit me with it."

Aresa hands me a fancy piece of paper.

"... Nice embroidery. Even your paper is on another level."

Aresa rolls her eyes. {Read it! It's crazy.}

"Crazy huh?" I said, lifting the paper up to read it.

There is no escape. We fled to another continent... It found us. We fled to another planet... It found us. We fled to another moon and went deep underground, hiding amongst a colony of unknown creatures... It still found us. What we didn't expect, was when it had to flee from the creature which rules this colony.

It matters not though. It waits. We can feel it just far enough away to not provoke the creature nearby, but just close enough to let us know it is waiting. The bottle is nearly empty now, this is the last time we can flee from it. I do not remember the way back up, but Philip says he knows the way. I hope he is right, or we are lost.......

No, we are lost. It will get us this time, I know it. I wish I could tell my wife that I am sorry... This was all my fault for being greedy. If anyone finds this notepad on this backwater moon, I know it is impossible, but in the unlikely event that you know how to get to the planet Zhegu, then tell my wife Hana Jie Young who lives in Namchong what happened to me. Bring this notepad and photo to her, and my wife will reward you handsomely. After all, me and my best friend are filthy rich now due to my actions. Not that we were given the time to enjoy such a lifestyle...

"Is there any way to know how long ago this man died? If it was decades ago then this is useless, but if it is recent then I'll need to be concerned about several things mentioned in this notepad."

{Not without the soul, which is long gone. Oh wait, if your 'test' later shows that the sky blocks Meizha'thul from stealing souls, then that means he died before all this started, right?}

"Yes and no. All their problems began soon after the blackout appeared, but that doesn't mean the beings responsible weren't here all along. The land being blanketed in darkness could have just been a perfect opportunity for them to strike."

{Hmm... I see.}

"It'll still be good to know if he died after the blackout, you're correct about that. His corpse was picked clean but that could've just been the insects, there's a ton of them underground." I handed the paper back to Aresa. "Let's head back now that we're done here, we need to eat and get to work."

The others nod and follow me back into the dining room. Seifer is now present and calls out to me immediately.

"I'm sure you heard, but Cid will not be joining you today. Tyra however is still with you, and she's waiting outside with the criminal."

"Perfect, thank you Seifer."

"We can begin eating immediately. The princess is not feeling well today, or so I am told." Seifer said, glaring at the maid behind Euphemia's empty chair.

"Apologies Master Seifer, but she does not want to see anyone right now. She is with Mia right now and does not wish to be disturbed."

Shana leans over and whispers. "Mia is Fei's mother. I've talked with both of them a lot during my stay here."

I see... As the head maid she is probably quite close to the princess.

Shana stares at me mere inches from my face.

"Uh... Is there something else?"

"I'm... Angry. Very very very fucking angry. Cera was right, I do need to focus on the Tengu so I can protect my best friend there, but I was teaching Fei some tricks on how to use her soul realm better, and she... She was a quick learner. I think she wanted to join the Guardians when she came of age. Her Father didn't know, but her Mother did. Are you going to be looking for her?"

"Technically all three of us will be. Ishar, Alicia, and me. Alicia is going to be handling the direct search around the manor, so if you want to help her while you're here I'm sure she'll appreciate it. I'll be doing what I originally planned, which may or may not lead me to the broodling."

Shana pulls away and looks over at Alicia. She continues staring at her as she shoves half a pancake into her mouth.

Is she wary of her? Both her and Ishar are outsiders so I suppose that could give her pause, but this is Shana we're talking about here. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that this girl hates most of Urza, so anything from outside of Urza should be seen more favorably... Or so I thought. Oh well, that's Alicia's problem to figure out. As a new recruit I'm sure Ishar wants her to learn how to make allies herself.

A few minutes later Cid opens the door. When he sees me, he makes the same motion Ishar did earlier.

I assume he wants my help, and it's not like I'm opposed to it...

Sliding the chair back, I stand up and walk to the same place I converged with Ishar earlier.

"How you doing Cid?"

Dumb question, his distress couldn't be anymore obvious.

"Not good. You heard about Fei, right? I've been scouring the manor but I can't find anything. With your eyes though... You know, maybe?"

... Damnit, I understand why he's doing this, but the people here are much more knowledgeable about the manor, and Alicia will also have Shana with her. Actually she'll probably have Cera and Blackwall as well. Although thinking back on it, I've only seen Blackwall one time since we arrived. Where the hell is he?

"Stop this right now." A voice from further down the hall said.

Looking over I see it originated from Mia. Euphemia is standing next to her as well.

Honestly, they both look horrible right now. The reasons why couldn't be more obvious. Between Fei and the broodling, it must feel like they're both living in a nightmare.

"Mia you don't understand. This girl saw a scrap of clothing so small that neither me or Tyra could see it no matter how hard we tried! If it's her... Yes, if it's her!"

"Stop... Just, stop. She has an important job to do, while we already have hundreds of people searching the area. There is nothing more she can do for us, so please leave her be and go back to looking for our daughter."

Cid looks down while gritting his teeth. After sparing me a single glance he stomps off past the two girls towards the main entrance.

Mia comes up to me. "I'm sorry dear please forgive him. As you can expect, he's not thinking straight right now. He just... He just needs some time to come to terms with it."

It seems a little odd that she is writing her daughter off already, but one look at the middle-aged Kitsune woman and I can tell that she's on the verge of breaking down.

"It's okay, I don't blame him for trying to use every advantage he can in finding his daughter. Don't worry, the others will do the very best they can to try and find your daughter, I promise you."

Mia smiles weakly and bows. After that she walks into the living room.

Euphemia suddenly takes on a much more regal look as she walks over to me.

"Be honest with me Rei. She's gone, isn't she?"

"... Those ears of hers aren't decorations you know? They can hear much better than we can."

"That's why I'm talking low. Besides, the dining hall is quite loud right now. She cannot hear us, so please answer the question."

"Fine. Yes, she's probably gone. I'd say there's a ninety percent chance that she was fed to the broodling. Which also means that someone here is being influenced by it directly."

Euphemia shakes a little hearing that, but fixes her stance immediately.

She wanted honesty and that's exactly what she got. Her training must have been impressive, she was able to mostly keep her noble posture up after hearing that. The bags under her eyes and the frightful look in them tell another story though.

"Look princess, you wanted to know how I survived right? By doing just that, surviving. Your world just came crashing down around you, the days of looking out that glass window and dreaming of 'what could be' are over. You want my advice? Stop being scared and get mad. Something disappeared your people, then something else incinerated your people, and now something just ate the daughter of your best friend. That very same creature is slowly worming its way into your soul, hoping to turn you into a slave. Doesn't that just piss you off? If it doesn't, it should. Force yourself to be angry yet coolheaded, and then think about what you can do in this situation. All of your efforts should be focused on eliminating the enemy. Anytime you get scared, override those thoughts with anger directed at the broodling. The only thought that should be in your head right now is how you're going to kill the fucking broodling."

I walked past her after I finished speaking. She said nothing to me, as she was quite literally stunned into silence.

Hopefully I've given her something to think about. Everyone else has probably treated her like a baby, saying they'd take care of everything for her. It's not like I expect her to be useful in this situation, but I... I just really hated seeing her like that. She reminded me of when I was young, as I sat there in my hiding spot crying day in and out, hoping someone would save me. I was only five or six at the time so obviously that's exactly what I'd expect out of someone that age, and yet there really isn't much difference between her and the six year old me. Because of her upbringing she's basically still a sheltered child. The one difference being that she's also lived a long life in a cage which probably built up a lot of resentment and sadness over the years. With everything happening right now, this might be the perfect chance for all of her pent-up emotions to erupt. She only needs a target, and I just gave her one.

Exiting out the main doors I see Tyra waiting in the same spot as before. There's a topless man on his knees next to her.

"One last punishment for the road?" I asked, pointing at the mans bare chest.

For a human to be almost nude out in this weather... It must be quite painful.

"As he deserves." Tyra replied.

"From what I heard it sure sounds like it."

I enhance my right fist and drive it directly into where is heart is, but not hard enough to punch through his bones. The man convulses once and immediately stops moving afterwards. Blood dribbles out of his mouth onto the snow as his head hangs down.

"Destroyed his heart without exposing his chest? Mighty fine control you have there."

I hate leaving messes. My job is much easier when people just disappear, instead of the alternative which is leaving a bloody carcass on the ground. The only problem is when the body empties itself, but I usually have enough time to hide it before that happens. Although it's probably for the best that I don't say any of this to Tyra.

I lay down in the snow, staring up at the blackened sky.

"Let's give it twenty minutes. Five is enough, but I want to be certain."

I can hear Tyra sitting down. Looking over at her I see she's entered a meditation pose.

Training in her soul realm even now huh? Quite the warrior. Not for me though. I'm going to relax and take in this moment. I love these quiet moments on the job, where I get to just lay here and take it all in. The maids and butlers shuffling around outside. The muted noise from the manor. The bell ringing in the distance... I love it all, I want to make sure my soul is recording this scene with perfect clarity.

"She take it?"

"Nope... I gotta admit, this is not what I was expecting."

Well shit, so these clouds really do block off Meizha'thul? Ever since I was young they've been nothing more than a curiosity of mine. I wanted to know what these clouds were and who made them, but now that I know they're strong enough to completely block an old god... I'll need to tell the others about this. Blocking sunlight and bad weather are probably only the tip of the iceberg.