DREADWOLF

◈ Chapter 161:

The grand city walls of Florence rose far above like chalk white cliffs, hundreds of feet high and stretching into the distance either side of the road to the main gate, they were an impressive sight to any newcomer.

 

The gatehouse itself was like a castle, a huge building with a cavernous entrance that swallowed the ever constant stream of people entering into the city. 

 

One of those was Inquisitor Baera, her long legged stride steadily eating up the ground as she made her way down the paved road, fools seeing her and panicking as they dashed and leapt to get out of her way, wary of the oversized mechanical arm on her side. She vaguely recognised a number of them, refugees from Lynthia, a handful of the thousands of refugees they had seen on their way to the city. If they recognised her in turn it seemed they knew better than to bother her and kept well away.

 

Behind her scampered Jilli, her young red headed assistant, books clutched to her chest as she hurried to keep up with her master's longer stride.

 

But perhaps the real reason they drew so much attention was the thing that followed behind them, the thing far larger than both of them, a thing that clanked as its steel armour stepped down the road. 

 

Fearful faces looked up at Bane, his hellish dog-like visage flatly ignoring them as he stared straight ahead. 

 

There was a certain uneasiness that just looking at him seemed to cause. An unsettling feeling. While there was such a thing as dog-like levelers, there was something about this one that felt… wrong. Any leveler could naturally tell the difference between a monster and a leveler, but with Bane… he felt as neither monster nor leveler, he gave the impression of being something else entirely and the 'armour' he wore only enhanced that, monsters weren't known for wearing armour.

 

They reached the castle gatehouse and the hundred foot high cavern that was the entrance. A grid of walkways lay over the crowd's heads as guards milled through the levelers seeking entrance to the city, sorting and checking those who looked even remotely suspicious.

 

Of course, with Bane in tow, they attracted immediate attention.

 

A trio of guards dropped down in front of them from the walkways, halting Baera from taking a step further.

 

"What the hell is that?"

 

Baera glanced over her shoulder at Bane who was staring at the guards like he wanted to rip into them.

 

"It's my pet. A slave."

 

"It's wearing armour, like a leveler…"

 

"Yes? is there anything wrong with that?"

 

"You put your monster in armour…"

 

"Is it even a monster?" said another. 

 

"It is a monster and its none of your concern what I decide to dress my slave up in."

 

"It is our concern if you don't have a permit for that thing."

 

Baera rolled her eyes but pulled a medallion from her pocket and tossed it to one of the guards. They caught it clumsily and peered down at it. A dragon head was marked on the thing.

 

"I-Inquisitor?! I mean, Inquisitor! Sorry Inquisitor we were only just-"

 

"Doing your job, yes, I am aware. Now get out of my way before I end you."

 

The three guards shuffled back to let them by. Bane smiled at them as he passed causing them to flinch.

 

It wasn't long until they were passing out of the vast castle gatehouse and into the city proper, the white canyons of the city streets replacing the cavernous space of the entrance. Bell towers, what looked like great horns, and other strange buildings collected near the walls.

 

Jilli looked around in open mouthed awe, walking into Baera as she failed to look where she was going.

 

"S-sorry!"

 

"Hmm, I understand that this is new for you Jilli but please look where you are going."

 

"Y-yes master!"

 

Baera's expression became a touch less severe, "You will have plenty of time to see the city as we hound our quarry Jilli, you will be able to play doe eyed tourist all you like."

 

"D-doe eyed?!"

 

"Looking around in a stupor, yes."

 

Jilli bit her lip and tried her best to stop staring at the surrounding city.

 

They continued onward, making their way deeper. Although they didn't get far before a group of passing wall guards stopped them, demanding an explanation for Bane. As before Baera was able to fob them off by flashing her proof of being an inquisitor, which more than shut the guards up and got them directions to their destination all the quicker.

 

They came into a mid leveler area and Baera promptly picked out what she was looking for, a well kept middling building. She pushed inside as the others followed. They stomped up the stairs, unlocked a door, and emerged into what appeared to be a spacious and open apartment, one that was well furnished.

 

"Is this yours?" asked Jilli, looking around in surprise.

 

"One of my apartments, yes, I own property in several cities, all the places I have worked and a few others I frequently travel through. Inquisitor wages are quite generous."

 

"I- I see…"

 

Bane stepped inside, the floorboards creaking under his weight. He looked around, narrowing his eyes.

 

"StAying hEre?" He opened his mouth and produced a metallic voice. It still felt like a cheese grater on the ears but it had improved somewhat from when he had acquired his steel tongue. 

 

"Yes, staying here for the moment."

 

"hUnT."

 

"Yes, yes, but we can't begin the hunt until we have a starting point and for that I need to speak to my contacts both in and out of the inquisitorial offices. For the moment you will be remaining here while I make inquiries, I can hardly walk into headquarters with you in tow, and some of my more seedy contacts will be terrified enough of the sight of you that they are more likely to run away than to talk."

 

She turned  and began to make her way back to the entrance but suddenly paused glancing back at Jilli who was following in her steps.

 

"It would be best if you remained, something like Bane here might create problems if there is no one around to explain, he would be accounted as a wild monster and attacked."

 

"Stay?!" squeaked Jilli, her voice unfortunately high pitched.

 

"Yes, stay, I realise your confidence has been scattered since the dungeon Jilli but you really do need to overcome this. Get a grip girl. You can't go through life living as a coward. Stay here and make sure Bane doesn't get into trouble, I'll be back in a few hours."

 

Jilli watched in a mild state of shock as Baera left, the door shutting and locking behind her leaving her alone.

 

Alone, that is, apart from Bane.

 

The small girl turned to see him. He towered above her, well above seven foot tall, a hellhound like head, body rippling with muscle, limbs sheathed in dangerous looking plate armour, although she knew that was just the outward appearance, his limbs were metal all the way through.

 

The hellhound thing gave her a steady look but then turned away, stepping into the kitchen, ducking down to fit through the doorway. 

 

Jilli hesitated, but then hurried to see what he was doing.

 

She found him pulling open cupboards and then to her surprise pulling out food. A hunk of ham, an entire sirloin of beef, in fact it was mostly meat. Strangely, all of it was all perfectly fresh. Enchanted cupboards if she had to guess, Baera was far more wealthy than she had realised.

 

Bane took a bite from a raw leg of lamb, a few droplets of blood falling from his jaws to spatter on the ground. He noticed her looking as he chewed.

 

"hUngrY?"

 

Jilli flinched, a shiver running up her spine as the metallic sound hit.

 

"N-no, s-sorry, I'm erm, I'm f-fine..."

 

Bane finished walking back into the living room, slowly chewing his way through the leg.

 

His gaze flowed across the room, over the sofas and chairs, the tables, across the walls, the ceiling. 

 

"tHis WiLl Do."

 

He tossed the remaining lamb bone aside and turned to JIlli.

 

"Erm yes?"

 

Bane beckoned, plate armoured hand motioning her forward.

 

Hesitantly Jill approached him.

 

"Is there something you need-

 

The hand suddenly lunged and grabbed her by the face, steel fingers wrapping around half her head like a cage.

 

She screamed as red light blasted from the surface of the steel and directly into her eyes. Red light and visions, horrible visions, a river of running red, a river of flowing blood,

 

Her body convulsed as she was held, lifted into the air, light pouring into her through her eye sockets.

 

And then it was done. The hand opened and her limp body collapsed to the floor.

 

"Hmm." spoke Bane looking down at his metal hand.

 

He stepped toward the nearest wall and placed his metal hand flat against it. In a moment red glowing lines spread from beneath his palm, forming concentric occult circles and intricate runic geomatrices across the surface.

 

He pulled away even as the red lines continued to grow, multiplying and spreading, reaching out to certain points and then beginning the formation of new circles, reaching across the ceiling, the floor, the walls, over the furniture, until the whole room glowed a deep threatening red, every surface covered in occult shapes.

 

Jilli clutched at her face and shakily stood.

 

"Oh gods, my head," she groaned. After a moment she managed to peek between her fingers, finding the apartment now transformed.

 

"Wh-what is this?"

 

"PrepaRation. CoMe to me." Bane's voice was significantly more controlled, the metallic effect dampened.

 

Jilli found her body moving, moving without her command, turning and stepping up in front of the tall Bane. 

 

She looked down in distress, unable to make her body do as she wished.

 

"Wh-what did you do to me…" she croaked in horror.

 

"Thrall…" Bane paused, "aNd fiShing."

 

"F-fishing??"

 

"Yes."

 

He lifted a hand and extended one finger, plucking at the top of her blouse then moving down, tearing open button after button and exposing her bra clad chest.

 

His finger stopped on her sternum between her breasts and then began to pull back.

 

Jilli watched in horror as a cotton thin string of red flowed after his finger, a line of her blood.

 

"WaTch."

 

Bane gestured and the end of  the string detached from his finger tip, floating down from his finger and drifting onto one of the red glowing circles, right at its centre. The line of blood touched down and then seemed to pass beyond, not connecting with the floorboards or the red glow but slipping through.

 

After a moment the string of blood snapped taut and Jilli stumbled forward as it yanked at her chest.

 

"H-Help!"

 

Bane leaned down and grabbed hold of the string and then hauled back on it, stopping it from being pulled further into the diagram and pulling it back out.

 

It didn't come back out easily and he had to lean into it, hell hound feet gripping the floorboards, the metal of his arms letting out a metallic groan... But eventually the blood string started to come free.

 

The string emerged and on the end of it came black hair, black hair parted by a pair of red horns. 

 

Jilli froze, too scared to move even a fraction of an inch as a red skinned succubus slowly rose from the diagram, a stark naked succubus, one with small wings, and a curvy body, about five and half feet tall.

 

She came to a halt standing and glared up at Bane, her cheeks puffed, the string of red leading into her mouth.

 

"dRop iT." he commanded.

 

Bane raised an eyebrow and after a moment the succubus spat the end of the line free with a 'bleh', and a tangle of red.

 

"This has to be one of the rudest summonings I have ever heard of! Gosh! I was just having a lovely stroll through the plains of hell when this lovely smelling string appeared, like a straw to suck all the juicy bits on the other end through!"

 

"She was going to do what?!" shrieked Jilli.

 

"SilEncE."

 

Jilli's mouth clicked closed.

 

"Yeah, you, although I barely got a sip of you. Next thing I know I'm being yanked into the air and appearing here! I mean really, couldn't you have done it the old fashioned way, with all the chanting and the fancy giant doorway materialising?" She frowned and looked around, "Do you even have any prepared sacrifices for me to absorb?" After a moment she seemed to realise it was just them and her eyes turned on Jilli once more. Hungry eyes.

 

"No. ThIs one is minE. Do you knOw where you are?"

 

The succubus folded her arms and tilted her head, voice becoming annoyingly sarcastic. "Your shithole of an apartment I assume. Look, if this is one of those sex summonings you should tell me now."

 

"You arE in a city of Millions."

 

The succubus's arms dropped and she straightened up, surprise evident on her face.

 

She licked her lips.

 

"M-millions? A mega city? I had heard stories, but no leveler has been crazy enough to summon us to one in decades, its always secret cabals in the middle of bum fuck nowhere. Nice for the survivability factor you know, but so little to absorb, so little to grow powerful with."

 

"Do as I comMand and you Won't be fouNd."

 

She glanced around at the complexity of occult diagrams. 

 

"Right… these are some nasty magic chains, pretty unorthodox too, but I guess that's to be expected from the fucking succubus fisherman fisher… dog." She frowned as she stared up at Bane. "Wait, are you a fucking hellhound, what the Fu-"

 

"Quiet. ShOw me a disguise."

 

The succubus stuck her tongue out at him but her body shifted, changing form. One moment a stark naked succubus stood in the apartment and then the next a stark naked elf with similarly black hair, her wings and spaded tail gone. 

 

She spread her arms, presenting herself with a little smirk on her face.

 

"Pretty good huh? Now if you would just let me go get a little bite to eat, I promise it won't take long."

 

Bane shook his head. "No. We sUmmon your sisters now."

 

The succubus blinked, took a moment to comprehend what she was hearing, and then stared hard up into Bane's eyes.

 

"Did I just hear you right dog boy? You want to summon more than one of us?"

 

"Yes."

 

"But that's…"

 

"Insane!" squeaked Jilli.

 

"Brilliant," grinned the succubus.