Fates of Grenora: Return of the Night

"You know when it said choose wisely, I didn't think it meant for us to drag a knocked out bandit," Pierre reminded Jared for the ninth time.

Jared rolled his eyes. "Well, what would you prefer us to do? Sacrifice each other like it probably implied?" He snarkily replied.

Pierre kept his mouth shut, sneaking glances at the unconscious bandit they dragged by the arms.

"It would have been so bad if he hadn't run," Pierre grumbled, changing the subject.

Jared nodded his head. "Fair."

"And if he didn't have to run so far," Jared added.

"Also fair," Pierre agreed.

They marched through the woods in complete darkness after looting a few more [Potion of Night Vision] from the dead bandits. They were in a hurry back to the area where Aldrin had slain Gýt in order to complete the Quest they both were offered. Arriving at the still kneeling Aldrin, who shook uncontrollably at their presence, specifically the bandit they dragged.

Aldrin reached out for them, his arm shaking from hunger. "Hurry," he wheezed, his throat scratching like sandpaper.

Jared and Pierre dropped the unconscious bandit in front of Aldrin, whose fangs immediately elongated with saliva dripping off of them. Finally able to let loose the slippery control he had over himself, he latched onto the wrist of the bandit. He slurped deeply, awakening the bandit with pain and fear. Aldrin's ironclad grip held the bandit from running. Each tug from the bandit made the beast inside Aldrin tug back harder.

All it took was one bad tug from the bandit, and Aldrin tore the arm off of the bandit, cradling it as he sucked the last drops of life from it. The bandit screamed even more, clutching his torn arm. Jared looked away, slightly queasy at the sight, while Pierre continued to stare stoically at the gruesome sight. Dropping the lifeless limb, Aldrin slowly stalked towards the bandit on all fours, unraveling the little sanity the bandit had left.

Lunging at him, Aldrin tore the other arm off and flung it away, letting the blood splatter over both their faces. His claws grew to sharpened points before he jabbed them straight through the ribcage of the bandit and tore free his heart. Blood ran down his forearm when he raised the heart over his mouth, squeezing it for the life source inside. Slowly, he reverted back to his normal self, then he looked down at the dead bandit.

"I know this is what I have to do, but it doesn't make it any easier," Aldrin said to himself.

Pierre heard but chose to say nothing when the Quest completed, awarding him 5 Skill Points and 1,000 EXP with the choices of Servant unfolding before him. He closed them out, wanting to go over them with Aldrin.

Sighing, "We go back to the camp and get what we need," Aldrin turned to face them, feeling the tingling on his skin begin.

Ignoring the System Alerts for now, they rushed back to the bandit camp to pillage it before others could. They arrived at a free-for-all as the bandits that had returned were killing each other for the right of leader.

"They already know Gýt's dead?" Aldrin asked them.

Jared cleared his throat. "Well. . . we kinda let one or two get away," he sheepishly said.

"Let's hurry then before they decide a leader," Aldrin ran into the chaos.

Pierre and Jared followed soon after, trying their best not to draw eyes on them. Fires raged from the burning tents as horses fled, with their dead riders dragging behind them. Over the metal clashing against metal and the battle roars of the victorious or dead came a sound that combined a child screaming with a squealing pig, silenced the camp. Freezing everyone in their tracks, all eyes turned to a dark patch of the forest.

Streaking out of the forest, a pale humanoid shape sprang out, landing in a burning tent. It stood on two thin legs that had hooves for feet, its arms were gangly and thin that ended in claws that were as long as razor blades that gleamed from the fire, an exposed torso showcased its skin as it clung tightly to the rib cage leaving nothing to imagination. Its head resembled a horse's skull, jagged antlers adorning the top; its mouth was serrated bone with bits of flesh stuck between the teeth; worst of all, its empty eye sockets promised endless hunger and pain.

"Is that what I think it is?" Pierre stared wide-eyed at it.

"It is," Aldrin answered quickly, identifying it for the basic information.

"We have to go now!" Aldrin hissed, with no time to decipher why he could see the Relation.

No need for further prodding, the three of them dodged and weaved through the camp. Meanwhile, Saloth took to gleefully dismembering anything in its path as it chomped away at any loose limbs. The bandits, being bandits, either rushed in an attempt at foolhardy glory or ran from the carnage made flesh. Either way, Saloth proved to be a blessing in disguise for the three.

Pierre was in the lead with Jared in the middle and Aldrin covering their backs, snaking their way through the camp towards the now destroyed main hall of the camp. Arriving out of a cloud of dense smoke, Pierre and Jared collapsed, their singed lungs desperately trying to recover. At least grateful for no longer needing to breathe, Aldrin stood guard, listening to the screams of those being ripped apart by Saloth.

"Ready," Jared was the first to recover, wiping the soot off of him.

"Do you know what we are looking for?" Adrin asked, ignoring his appearance.

Huffing, "No, it just said that it would shine when I was close," Jared informed.

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"Great," Aldrin deadpanned.

"Loot everything then, and we will sort it out later!" Pierre said, struggling through the last of his coughing fit.

Piles on top of piles of coins and treasure were still ripe for the taking. Aldrin had only seen this amount of wealth one time, and it was from the man who killed his mother and turned his father crazy. Shifting uncomfortably, Aldrin shook off the reticent memory threatening to overcome him.

Thanks to an empty Inventory Aldrin had no issues taking large swathes of treasure as all of it disappeared into the pocket dimension. Jared whistled, gathering everyone's attention to him. He pointed to a small, inert spherical stone that sat atop another pile of treasure. The stone was barely translucent, letting everyone peek at the small flashes of rainbow lightning streaks that bounced around inside.

"I think this is it!" Jared called out.

Pierre and Aldrin rushed to converge on Jared, who grabbed it along with the treasures it was sitting on. The fires outside were slowly making their way over along with Saloth as the terrifying roar of it grew closer. Aldrin briefly Inspected the inert gem before Jared put it away in his Inventory.

Taking one last look at the loot left behind, Aldrin's heart sank.

"Don't get greedy or we will die!" Jared surprised both Aldrin and Pierre, clapping them both on the back as he ran by.

Running past the threshold of the door, Jared was the first to fly off his feet when Saloth charged into him. It stood at its full height of 8 feet, the gangly Wendigo roared in triumph with its arms wide. Pierre was the next one to get knocked away and into the side of a tent, barreling through it. Aldrin wasn't sure if either had survived just from the brief brush with Saloth. Turning towards Aldrin, Saloth dropped down to all fours, menacingly growling and pacing back and forth. Aldrin's beast inside threatened to surface to challenge Saloth.

Quickly reading the Alert while keeping an eye on the pacing and slobbering form of Saloth, Aldrin concluded that everything was meant to kill him ever since he became a Vampire. Knowing full well he barely survived Gýt, and that was including his buffs to himself, Aldrin knew for a fact that even with all of that he was not going to survive his encounter with Saloth.

"I forfeit," Aldrin announced.

Saloth roared at him before turning and bolting off to find new victims to feast on. Aldrin let out a shaky breath, a habit he had when faced with overwhelming odds when he was human. Now, as a Vampire it didn't do anything to shake the feeling of dread off him. Inside, the beast raged at the cowardly move that ruptured through Aldrin's body, forcing him to fall to his knees and clutch at his chest.

"I'll come back, I promise," Aldrin wheezed out, hoping to appease the monster inside of him.

That seemed to abate some of the searing pain that washed over him, allowing him to stand up. He struggled to check on Jared first, who had barely regained consciousness when Aldrin began shaking him awake. Aldrin helped Jared drink a [Health Potion] that mended the broken bones slowly. Assuring that Jared was going to be alright, Aldrin went to dig for Pierre in the tent he was swaddled in.

Finding him bleeding from the side of his face, Aldrin stepped back, afraid he would rip into him. Surprisingly, the sight revolted Aldrin's stomach, filling him with white-hot anger directed at Saloth. Filing that little tidbit away for later, Jared soon came and helped dig out Pierre.

After administering a [Health Potion] Aldrin filled them on the time crunch involving Saloth. Not needing another reason to escape the bandit camp, all of them grabbed what they could from where they were at. Assuming the same positions as before, with Pierre at the front, Jared in the middle, and Aldrin bringing up the rear, they weaved through the camp. Littered with bodies that were torn apart by Saloth or simply sliced to death from other bandits, the camp looked more like a battleground than a hidden encampment.

Stopping suddenly, "Wait! We have to grab transportation!" Pierre shouted.

Off in the distance, Saloth thrashed through another row of tents, ripping apart more bandits that stood in its path. The three looked at the limbs being thrown into the air, glad that they weren't sharing the same fate as the bandits.

Dreading the answer, "Which way to get transportation?" Aldrin asked.

Pierre pointed in the opposite direction of Saloth, at which Aldrin breathed out a sigh of relief. Shifting for another mad sprint to get to the other side before Saloth could rampage through there. They arrived at an area that had a row of carriages from previous ambushes.

Scrambling up to the driver's seat of a plum colored low profile carriage, "Jared! Wrangle us some horses! Aldrin, secure the inside!" Pierre commanded, gathering the harnesses for the horses.

Aldrin opened the carriage door, looking for any signs of anyone choosing to hide in there. Unfortunately, the inside was smeared with dried blood, which made him scrunch his face in disgust.

"It's clear!" Aldrin called out before hopping in.

Jared came back with horses in tow. Hooking them up, Pierre hopped in the driver's with Jared sliding in next to him. "Everyone ready?!" Pierre asked, eyeing the destruction incarnate known as Saloth rampage in their direction next.

Flicking the reins, the hoses brayed and reared up before peeling off on a turn with the carriage leaning on by two wheels. Aldrin rumbled back and forth ‌inside ‌the carriage. Pierre egged on the horses as they sped past more of the burning encampment. Not bothering to move the curtains inside the carriage to get a good look at the passing carnage, Aldrin opted to sit back and enjoy as much as he could.

The prickling sensation on Aldrin's skin grew to pins and needles, signaling the sun was looming on the horizon. Hoping and praying to whatever deigned to listen that the carriage would be enough to cover him from the sun. He knew he only survived to this point by sheer luck. The thought of being barbequed in the back of some unknown carriage, leaving remnants of a grisly murder and his ashes wasn't one way he thought he would end.

The distant triumph roar of Saloth reverberated through the forest as they made their escape. Aldrin slumped down to relax finally. The adrenaline that coursed through his body dissipated, leaving only tiredness in its wake. Sadly, being a Vampire that tiredness only lasted for a few seconds thanks to Undead Body.

Jared opened the slit from the driver's seat outside and peered in. "How is it back there?" He gave a soft smile, minus the bumpy ride.

"It'll be better when we get to Lor-Vold," he said.

Chuckling, Jared shook his head and closed the slit, leaving Aldrin to his thoughts. Moving the curtain of the carriage window aside, he peered out into the looming darkness that retreated from the morning sun. With time to rest and recuperate, Aldrin let the System Alerts unfold before him, letting him see all of his exploits.