The Homunculus Knight

Chapter 28: Simmering Down.

“You feel it, don’t you, when an elder graces you with their presence? The trembling of our blood, as it senses another with black veins much richer and potent than your own. Listen to these whispers; much can be learned from them. The strength of a fellow Vampire, the lineage they trace, and even what house they hail from if you know how to really listen.” - words of Count Yani Kulac to his scion Esquire Orm Kulac

Natalie watched as Baron Sicar fled from Cole’s assault. Garlic burned the Vampire’s face, and he desperately sought safety with his main army. A wide, cruel grin spread across Natalie’s face as she closed in on the Baron. He’d left two separate groups of bodyguards to die, cutting off his tail to escape like a trapped lizard. Yes, the comparison seemed apt in Natalie’s mind. Sicar might be of Archduke Dracon’s blood, but he resembled a blood-drinking skink more than any Wyrm.

Running after the fleeing Leech, her wolves at her side, Natalie prepared to avenge her earlier suffering. She’d spent the time between fights thinking of ways to counter Sicar’s range advantage. Sicar’s spear and, to a lesser extent, his durability decided the fight in his favor last time. Natalie wasn’t certain she could punch through Sicar’s psychic defenses now that the Leech knew about her skill. So, her path to victory would require some innovation.

Closing in on Sicar, Natalie let her blood claws grow, taking what she’d seen the Dame do earlier and modifying it. A quartet of long needle-like blades grew from Natalie’s fingers, extending out like black icicles from her knuckles and fully covering her digits in obsidian lance tips. These alone might be useful for puncturing Sicar’s armor and reinforced flesh, but that wasn’t the purpose Natalie made them for. It wasn’t just Vampires Natalie witnessed using blood magic; Cole possessed a range of useful techniques, and she was planning to borrow one.

Sicar turned his head as a quartet of wolves slammed into his side. Still recovering from the garlic and silver explosion, Sicar stumbled off-balance. Quickly regaining his footing, the Vampire slowed his pace to fend off the snapping jaws of the Lupus pack. Taking this opening, Natalie held out her hand and focused on the blood lances covering her fingers. Dredging up memories of Alia’s crossbow, Cole’s blood bolt technique, and flickers of Isabelle’s skill, Natalie said. “Red arrow send the dead to their barrow!”

Natalie’s hand exploded. Every withered blood vessel in her hand popped like over-pressured pipes as a puff of ash and sizzling ichor billowed off her ruined fingers. Biting her own tongue so hard, a fang went straight through it; Natalie stopped herself from screaming and focused on the prey in front of her. Four half-meter-long spikes of solidified blood stuck from Baron Sicar’s back. Sitting in a semi-diagonal line going from his left hindquarters to his opposite shoulder.

Grinning in victory and trying not to look at the ruin of bones and dead meat that was once her hand, Natalie let her wolfpack descend on the Vampire. Forcing blood into her hand, trying to get at least the basic musculature intact, Natalie muttered to herself. “Why is it always my jagging hands!”

Sicar was almost at the fortress walls, and Natalie’s wolves snapped at his heels. This close, Natalie could see the breach opened by the Ghoul Bear and the fight raging for control of it. Sicar parted his soldiers, desperate to reach the enemy lines. Natalie wouldn’t let him attack the fort’s defenders; their blood would invigorate Sicar and turn the battle back in his favor.

Forcing more of her rapidly dwindling blood supply into the Lupus pack, Natalie made her familiars stronger and faster, letting them finally knock the Baron to the ground. Armored Rattlers moved in to protect their master, and Natalie let her wolves tear into them; she was almost upon her prey and could see the terror in his eyes.

Hand outstretched, Sicar wailed. “Please! Please! I surrender! I request a parlay! Take me hostage. I’m va-”

Surging forward, Natalie pounced on the Baron and fulfilled her promise to him. Sinking fangs into Sicar’s neck, Natalie moaned in gleeful hunger as oily dark power flowed into her. Wounded and over-taxed by the grueling fight, the Baron’s blood supply wasn’t anything special, but it was still a wonderful meal for the similarly exhausted Natalie. Enraptured in the kill, Natalie barely noticed Cole’s footsteps behind her or the shocked soldiers in front of her. Finally, as the creature known as Baron Sicar crumbled to ashes, she looked up at the fortress and the battle raging against the Ghoul Bear.

The Bear swung one massive paw and sent a score of soldiers or their body parts flying. Wincing, and wondering if she and Cole could have prevented this, Natalie said. “Jagged hearts, we are too late”

Cole came up next to her, his eyes flicking between her finished meal and the rampaging Bear. He’d removed his helmet for some reason and walked slowly as if in pain. Beneath his cowl, Natalie could see Cole’s frown of concern for her and the situation around them. As the swirling mania of Sicar’s death flowed through Natalie, healing her hand in its entirety, she offered Cole a small smile and nod.

Approaching the battered shield wall of soldiers who’d held the breach for Gods knew how long, Cole pulled down his hood and showed his amulet. “I am Paladin Cole, servant of Master Time. Please let me pass so I can deal with the threat.”

Trying not to look at the light shining from the medallion and letting her wolves shy away from the holy power, Natalie watched as one of the soldiers pointed his sword at her. The rough-looking man growled. “What about her?”

Plucking the Baron’s skull from his remains, Natalie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I’m Natalie, and I fight for the living. We can talk later, but I think Cole needs to deal with that jagging bear before it kills more people.”

As if to prove Natalie’s point, the Bear tore through another cluster of defenders, filling the night with ugly screams. Unwilling to look away from her, the head soldier said, “Do what you can; just don’t leave our sight, Vampire.”

Unable to stop herself, Natalie rolled her eyes at this now trite song and dance, calling out to her wolves and sending them off to ambush anything skulking around the fort’s walls. Having the pack around her while dealing with this garrison probably wouldn’t be good for first impressions. Looking down at the skull of Sicar, Natalie had to wonder if that ship and its entire armada already sailed. Begrudgingly, she could understand the caution of the soldiers and honestly agreed with it. But being suspected by people she had just rescued still annoyed her.

Cole gave Natalie another concerned look and then turned his full attention to the Bear. Unbuckling his hoarfrost-licked helmet and putting it back on, Cole started to call up his power. Icy fog poured off the Paladin as he passed between the awe-struck soldiers, the full mantle of Master Time’s will resting on Cole’s shoulders. Reaching down to Sicar’s remains again, Natalie picked up his spear with her regrown hand and followed Cole as he shouted his battle cry.

“MAGNI! MORTAE! MUNDUS!”

The soldiers also parted for Natalie as she followed Cole, but they looked at her with fear and trepidation. Doing her best not to let this bother her, thinking about her own terrible experiences with Vampires and how these soldiers just survived a night of necromantic horrors, Natalie tried to keep her mind on task. Her thoughts kept bouncing around, and nervous energy leaked into every movement. Now that Cole brought her attention to the side effects of consuming another Vampire, she was more aware of them. Her jagging mind and body wouldn’t sit still, and Natalie kept fighting off intrusive thoughts.

Resisting the urge to mount Sicar’s skull on his spear and leave his remains as a vengeful parody of Barlstine’s suffering, Natalie followed Cole into battle. There would be time for melodramatic justice later, but until then, there was still a Bear to deal with. Cole was charging the Ghoul Bear from behind, a silver glow covering Requiem’s head and a trail of frost following behind him. The monster was busy fighting someone else, a soldier who, if Natalie wasn’t hallucinating, only had one arm but was still keeping the Bear away from his fellows.

Cole reached the Bear’s hind legs and swung Requiem into the creature’s calf-equivalent. The halberd’s edge struck bone, and Cole tore his weapon to the side, snapping muscle strands like a ship’s taut rigging. The beast spun its head about, dribbling a shower of rotting blood from its ruined mouth as it changed focus. A bolt of lightning shot from the roof of one of the fort’s buildings and struck the Bear, staggering it and igniting some of the creature’s fur.

Both Cole and the one-armed Paragon attacked then, tearing into the beast’s fore and hindlimbs. Caught between Paladin, Paragon, and Battlemagi, the Bear flailed and roared, a horrible bubbling sound issuing from its ruined throat. Cole danced between the beasts’ shuffling legs, tearing into flesh and cracking bone with every strike, leaving trails of quickly growing frost wherever he struck. The Paragon swung his battle axe with renewed vigor, finally catching his breath after dueling the monster by himself.

The Bear swiped out towards Cole, having turned to face him. Dancing away from the horse cart-sized paw, Cole severed one of the monster’s toes, sending a clawed digit tumbling to the ground. Skulking about at the periphery of the fight, Natalie held Sicar’s spear in both hands, trying to see an opening for her to join the fight. She wasn’t about to experiment with any more blood arrows, and the constant stream of fire and frost battering the Bear dissuaded her from getting too close. The air stunk of burning hair and dead flesh as gouts of arcane fire and pitch-dipped arrows peppered the beast’s flanks. Working as an improvised team, the Paladin and Paragon kept to the Bear’s front or back, forcing the beast’s attention on themselves.

Every strike tore into the Bear, hacking it apart by a hundred strikes. A fire that glowed a little too blue to be natural danced along its back, burning away thick hide and brown fur. Yet, by virtue of sheer size and supernatural durability, the damned beast wouldn’t fall. Moving towards the Bear’s front, where the axe Paragon held his own, Natalie wondered if she could reach into the monster’s mind and stop it that way. Considering she didn’t want to drink any of its blood, the best way to do this would be making eye contact, but that was a lot easier said than done. The Bear didn’t stop moving; it kept attacking and changing direction with a speed rendered disturbing by the thing’s impossible size.

But like all great edifices facing time and violence, the Bear started to crumble. Its movements slowed, and yellowed bone was visible in patches where fur and flesh were torn away. With a clumsy swipe that dragged along the ground, the Bear tried to crush the axe Paragon. Even with one arm, the soldier was mighty and could do more than just dodge the strike. With a sound like an ancient oak being cleaved apart, the Paragon brought his axe down on the Bear’s wrist. The enchanted steel struck with enough force to tear through flesh and fracture bone. Natalie watched as the axe-head disappeared completely into the Bear’s wrist. Planting his feet on the ground, the Paragon pushed back against the Bear’s swipe, using the beast’s own momentum to drive his weapon deeper into its limb.

A roar to shake the heavens escaped the beast, and it lunged forward, seeking to crush the Paragon beneath its upper jaw. At that moment, Natalie saw her opportunity to seize psychic control and realized it wouldn’t work. The Bear’s eyes were ruined, fire and arrows having torn them apart. But as Natalie was quickly learning, adaptability was the secret of martial success.

Pouring bloody power into all her muscles, Natalie dropped Sicar’s skull and raised his spear like a javelin. With all her might, she threw the spear forward, aiming for one of those burst eyeballs. She missed her target but not the Bear. The spear sunk into the Bear’s forehead, jerking its head back with surprising force. Using the moment Natalie bought, the Paragon escaped the beast’s jaw as it slammed into the ground.

The one-armed soldier was forced to leave his axe in the beast and quickly picked up a fallen comrade’s sword and looked at Natalie, his eyes widening upon realizing her nature. Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Natalie pointed at the recovering Bear. “I’m here to help. Now, are you going to kill the damn thing, or will my knight beat you to it?”

Accepting that, the soldier ran towards the Bear. Using its working front paw, the Bear started to haul itself up, an effort stymied by the sword driven straight through its wrist. The Paragon’s blade snapped off inside the wound, and he cursed, then quickly looked at Natalie. “Throw me a jagging weapon!”

Grabbing a longsword, still slick with it’s owner’s blood, Natalie ignored the temptation to lick the blade and tossed it handle first toward the Paragon. The one-armed warrior caught it and drove this weapon into the Bear’s elbow joint, tearing muscle and shredding cartilage. As he did this, Natalie saw movement from the Bear’s back. Flicking her attention there, half-expecting something horrible to burst from the monster’s flesh, Natalie felt relief upon seeing it was Cole running along the back of the incapacitated monster. Cresting the hump of muscle above the Bear’s shoulder blades, Cole was cloaked in swirling frost, his weapon shining like a thousand funeral candles. With a roar to match the Dire Bear’s own, Cole brought Requiem down right on the end of the monster’s spinal cord. The ensorcelled halberd tore through burned and broken flesh, finding the segmented bones beneath.

Like a puppet with its strings cut, the Bear stopped moving as Cole tore apart its spine with holy fury. Natalie flinched and looked away from the silver light that cascaded off the Bear’s back. Blinking away shining spots, Natalie let out a pointless breath of relief. The Ghoul Bear was destroyed, its body too damaged to function, and the power animating it cleansed. Yanking Requiem free of the Bear’s spine, Cole slid down its flank, landing on the ground with a pained grunt.

Using his halberd like a walking stick, Cole hobbled towards Natalie, one hand clutching his side. Fearful of what injuries he might have suffered, Natalie moved to reach him when a sharp edge came towards her throat. The one-armed soldier brought a newly scavenged blade to a finger span from her neck. Eyes cold and hard as his sword, the soldier growled. “I think we are due a jagging explanation.”

Looking at the blade and doubting she could harden her flesh enough to resist a Paragon’s strike, Natalie said, “My name is Natalie, and I fight for the living.” gesturing at her boyfriend, she continued. “I’m one of Paladin Cole’s companions and came with him to help all of you.”

Approaching slowly, Cole nodded. “We ran into the enemy’s rearguard and dealt with most of them, chasing the survivors here. I’m sorry; I let the bear escape despite my best efforts.”

Nodding slowly, the soldier asked. “Well then, Paladin Cole, would you please explain what an army of jagging corpses is doing on this side of the Alidon?”

Cole and Natalie exchanged glances, and the Paladin spoke. “Crowbend Castle is under siege, and the enemy has set raiding forces loose on the lands west of the Castle. The army we just fought was coming here from Barlstine, having conquered the town. Natalie and I liberated the town and chased the escaping Leechs until we encountered the rear guard and the full army. I’d appreciate it if you could send a messenger bird to Barlstine when you can; we left most of our group there.”

The sword at Natalie’s neck moved away from her neck as the soldier asked. “Considering you took down that jagging bear, I’ll believe you’re a Paladin. But I’m curious why you have a pet Leech.”

Still debating if she could dodge the blade near her throat, Natalie answered. “Because not every monster wants to be a monster. I’m-”

A voice cut her off, “Oi! I’ve heard of you two!”

Stumbling towards them was a ginger Magi with singed robes. Pointing at Cole and Natalie, he said. “He’s the Paladin who saved Vindabon from a Demon! And she’s his Vampire lover!”

The one-armed commander looked at the Magi and said. “What are you on about Benj?”

Battlemage Benj snapped his fingers, sending sparks from his digits as he tried to gather details. “My little sister is at the Ivory Tower; she sends me the gossip prints! The pair of them have been the talk of the town back at Vindabon!”

Uncaring of the tense stand-off, Benj ran up towards Cole, a sooty hand outstretched. “Is it true you bested a Scarlet Knight in single combat at the solstice? Oh, and that your lady was the one to capture the Heart-stealer?”

More than a little befuddled, Cole shook the offered hand. “That… this is accurate.”

Benj laughed, a nervous sound filled with relief. “Well, that explains it! We were all in the deep shit, and then you showed up to save us! Ha! Seems like the Gods were listening after all!”

Turning to the one-armed commander, Benj continued. “The Paladin and his lady are here to help, Captain One-fist!”

A tired grunt escaped One-Fist, and he dropped his sword away from Natalie’s throat. Seemingly deciding Natalie wasn’t an immediate threat, the Captain started barking orders. “The danger’s not over yet! I don’t know how many more rotters are skulking outside our walls!”

Soldiers moved about, carrying the injured towards healers, laying out their dead, and piling up the enemy’s. Cole finally reached Natalie, his steps slow and deliberate. “How are you?”

Frowning in concern, Natalie said. “Better than you, what’s wrong.”

Tapping his breastplate, Cole asked. “Can you help me get this off?”

Nodding, Natalie worked to unbuckle the armor and remove the solid Hakon Steel. Even before the plate fell away, Natalie knew what she’d find, the smell of Cole’s blood reaching her even over the surrounding stink of rot. A large stain clung to Cole’s lower right side, forcing herself not to breathe in the delicious scent; Natalie realized something was poking out of his arming doublet right at the center of the stain. Squinting, she tried to understand how he’d taken an arrow or similar without it piercing his armor when realization dawned. One of Cole’s ribs, or at least part of it, was sticking out of him and through his clothes.

Covering her face with one hand, partially out of shock, partially to hide the scent, Natalie swore. “Fuck! How are you standing!”

Cole gave her an almost amused expression. “Practice.”

Glancing around, Natalie said. “We need to find you a healer that could puncture an organ if you move about too much!”

Looking down at his injury, Cole shook his head. “It can wait; I’m using a little of my power to keep it frozen in place.”

Natalie’s eyes went between the wound and Cole’s face for a few moments before she hissed in annoyance. Turning from him, she went towards a nearby soldier. “Hi! What’s your name?”

The soldier was a hard-looking man with salt-and-pepper hair and a nose that hadn’t been set right after at least two breaks. Eyeing her with undisguised caution, the soldier said. “Sergeant Varga.”

Nodding, Natalie pointed at Cole. “My partner is putting on a brave face, not wanting to take up a valuable spot in your healer’s triage lists, but one of his ribs is literally sticking out of him. Can you point me towards someone who can help him?”

Still frowning at Natalie, the soldier approached Cole, one hand still on a chipped sword. As he walked with Natalie, she realized something. “Hey, you were one of the breach defenders, right? The one leading them?”

Grunting, the Sergeant said. “I didn’t know Leechs could eat each other.”

Deciding to ignore that, Natalie watched the Sergeant bend down to look at Cole’s wound. “Bugger me, how are you standing?”

Instead of being glib like before, the Paladin nodded at Varga. “You and your men did good work holding that breech. Fighting the Bear and a host of Rattlers together would not have been easy.”

Expression still hard, the Sergeant didn’t meet Cole’s eyes. “Let me take you to the healers. We are at war, and having a divine champion die from infection after the first real battle would be a jagging mess.”

Cole let himself be led towards a building marked with the hand of healing, Natalie trailing behind him. To everyone but Natalie’s surprise, Cole didn’t let one of the healers look at him at first; instead, he busied himself cleansing Soldiers exposed to the Plague. Finally, when he almost collapsed while walking between cotts, Natalie got him to lie down and let a pair of stunned healers set the rib and patch his torn flesh. The mixture of magic and mundane healing they used sewed Cole back together, and the healers said it would take weeks of rest before his bones and muscles fully healed. Natalie didn’t know what that translated to with Cole’s unnatural regeneration, but she doubted he’d follow the healer’s advice.

Staring down at the bandages covering his waist, Cole wore a pensive expression. Sitting on the edge of his cott, Natalie asked. “What’s wrong?”

Glancing at her and then around the room, Cole said in a very quiet voice. “They aren’t sick.”

Frowning, Natalie looked at the injured soldiers around her. “What do you mean?”

Shrugging and then wincing in pain, Cole kept staring at the battered and bloody soldiers, his eyes glowing faintly. “The ones I cleansed showed no sign of the plague. Once the Gallarwyll was gone, they were fully healed. Whatever plague was in them just… faded away.”

Grimacing, Natalie sniffed the air, smelling the mixture of blood and death filling the air. “Isabelle said grief protects people, right? Well, I think everyone here is grieving someone.”

Natalie helped the soldiers repulse two small clusters of undead in the night; her blades and wolves acted as the hammer to the garrison’s anvil. Cole tried to join in the defense until Natalie threatened to drink him into unconsciousness. The healers were worried Cole’s rib could snap again and, this time, drive sharp bone into his organs. While Cole might be able to survive or resurrect from such an injury, Natalie was not willing to risk being stuck surrounded by mildly hostile soldiers waiting for Cole to resurrect. So, in the spirit of compromise, Cole simply helped free the dead, sending their souls to the Beyond and giving the garrisons’ Priests time to fulfill their other duties.

As dawn crept closer, Fort Carnum started to look less like an abattoir and more like a proper castrum. Great burn piles were set up outside the Fort’s walls, and the quartermaster found enough usable pyrewine to destroy the now quiet dead. Smaller, more personal cremations were being set up for the dead soldiers; their ashes would be collected for their families, not scattered to the wind like the monsters they fought.

Standing atop one of the Fort’s walls, staring out at the dozen pyres flickering in the early pre-dawn light, Natalie watched Cole lead a prayer for the deceased. His voice wasn’t exactly musical, but it was clear and strong, proclaiming an ancient dirge for the departed. Witnessing this, Natalie felt her dead heart ache; she’d been at too many funerals over the past half-year. Memories of her father and his horrible end flashed behind Natalie’s eyes, and she let out a tired sigh. She’d managed to avoid thinking about that loss for a record amount of time, but now that she’d poked the wound, it hurt just as much as she remembered.

Trying to pull herself out of the melancholy chewing at her mind, Natalie turned to a soldier standing watch nearby. Dressed in light scout’s armor, with a bow slung on her back, the soldier’s eyes flicked between Natalie and the pyres below. Once the soldier realized Natalie was staring at her, the archer’s eyes widened, and her full attention was on the Vampire. Waving in what she hoped was a disarming way, Natalie asked. “Hi, are my eyes red? Like not the irises but the whites of them?”

Hand on her combat knife, the scout squinted a little and said. “Kind of, they look a little bloodshot.”

Nodding to herself, Natalie turned to look east towards the brightening clouds. She hadn’t felt the same overwhelming rush of energy after eating Sicar. While she did feel invigorated and flush with blood, it wasn’t the same near maniacal intensity of eating the Dame. Making a mental note on that, Natalie wondered if Isabelle would have any answers. It shouldn’t be long before Natalie spoke with her skull-bound friend again.

They’d sent a messenger bird to Barlstine with news of events and a request for Mina, Alia, and the others to join them. That wasn’t the only bird sent out in the pre-dawn hours either; a small flock of homing pigeons set out to different settlements carrying news and requesting information. At Cole’s suggestion, the birds were splattered with carrion bat blood, which, while not ideal protection, should scare off individual bats scouting the skies.

As the pale grey of dawn brightened, the soldier near Natalie asked. “Shouldn’t you… you be finding somewhere to sleep so the Sun doesn’t burn you?”

Looking at her, Natalie smiled, making sure her fangs were hidden. “I’m not a normal Vampire; I’ve got Master Time on my side.”

Frowning, the soldier accepted that, and Natalie went back to her ponderings. The truth of her nature wasn’t nearly as secret as it once was, but there wasn’t any reason to proclaim her status as reborn Alukah to anyone who asked. The dawn funeral service finished up right as the sun crested the horizon. Turning her head away from the blinding light and forcing herself to stay awake, Natalie noticed the soldier staring with undisguised amazement. Spurred by the erratic energy procured from Sicar’s death, Natalie bowed like an eager performer and then vaulted herself over the battlements and down to the ground outside the fortress.

She found Cole nearby, staring up at the fortress walls, a frown on his face, silver light leaking from his eyes. Natalie watched as Cole tentatively held out a hand and let his armored fingers trace the ancient stonework. Looking towards her, blinking away the glowing tears of magic, Cole smiled softly. “How are you doing?”

Shrugging as she walked over towards him, Natalie leaned against Cole, enjoying the feeling of him. “Tired and also unbelievably energetic. I can’t tell if I want to sleep for a week or dance the night away.”

Cole’s frown deepened. “Effects of eating Sicar?”

Natalie nodded, letting out a tired huff. “The Dame was much more intense, but this is still enough to have me feeling strange. I hope Isabelle arrives soon; she should know something about this.”

Eyeing her sidelong, Cole said. “She might not; you aren’t displaying any of the normal side-effects of Vampire cannibalism. This… might be an Alukah issue. Speaking of Isabelle, did you talk to her about body stealing?”

Wincing, Natalie replied. “Not yet, but I’ve got a few ideas on how to placate her. But we can discuss that later; what were you doing with the walls?”

Cole took a moment to accept Natalie’s request to change topics. “Examining the power built into them. It’s ancient and withered, but someone wove complicated spells into its foundation. I’ll need Kit to look at it, but I think the magic only recently awoke.”

Staring at the walls, Natalie offered. “We could ask the fort’s battlemages; they might have some insight.”

Shaking his head, Cole explained. “I asked Benj, but he didn’t have a clue about what I was talking about. He offered to examine them, but I didn’t want to distract him from his work. Much needs to be done to prepare for what’s to come.”

True to Cole’s words, soldiers came and went from the nearby portcullis, hauling bodies and pieces of bodies towards the large burn piles. All of the garrison looked at Cole with the cautious reverence Natalie knew to expect by now. Among the soldiers was the grizzled veteran named Varga, the leader of the breach defenders, who now helped organize the grim work. Natalie noticed Varga would spend his few moments between tasks watching her and Cole. He didn’t look at them with reverence or fear, just suspicion. This bothered Natalie; she was used to people being cautious around her, but this felt different. Some instinct told Natalie Varga’s behavior was a response to witnessing her consume Sicar. Perhaps hiding that behavior from allies would be prudent in the future; even Cole reacted badly when she cannibalized the Dame.

Returning to the fort’s innards, Cole consulted with Captain One-Fist, discussing events and trying to gather as much information as possible. Fort Carnum sent outriders to scout the region and gather information. Word of Crowbend’s siege and the Worc attacks were carried by winged and hoofed messengers, hopefully finally cutting through the shroud of silence layering the region.

Natalie, for her part, tried to channel the jittery energy coursing through her into something productive. She’d joined with the unfortunate soldiers trying to move the Dire Bear carcass outside the fortress walls. Someone found an old but serviceable crosscut saw, and after lots were drawn, a pair of unfortunate soldiers got to work cutting up the monolithic corpse. Even with a pair of draft horses and Natalie’s strength, getting the smaller chunks of Bear out of the fortress was exhausting, gristly work. As bits of Bear were added to the burn piles, it became very clear the garrison made the correct choice in not simply trying to cremate the body where it lay. The flames of the burn piles now rivaled the fort’s guard towers in height. It took Benj the Pyromancer’s intervention to stop the pyre from growing into a wildfire.

The day burned on, and as afternoon turned to evening, a signal whistle sounded from one of the watchtowers. Uncertain if the shrill sound marked friend or foe, Natalie leaped up onto the battlements, ignoring the shocked soldiers and their hands reaching for weapons. Natalie did her best to appear unthreatening to the soldiers, which wasn’t easy considering she was drenched in rotting gore.

Peering out along the distant road and past the slowly dying pyres, Natalie fed blood into her eyesight and found what the watchmen noticed. A familiar-looking wagon was crawling down the road in the distance. With a breath of relief, Natalie watched a pair of soldiers ride out to meet the wagon. Leaving the fortress walls, Natalie went and found Cole in the infirmary; his bandages were being changed by a grumpy healer with an ill-kept beard. Glancing up at her, Cole asked. “Is something wrong?”

Shaking her head, Natalie said. “Mina and the rest are here.”

Cole’s posture relaxed slightly; it seemed Natalie wasn’t the only one silently worrying about their friends. While leaving them to chase down the Vampires was the smart decision, they’d still practically abandoned them in what amounted to enemy territory. Standing up, Cole checked the fresh linens wrapped around his midsection and got dressed. After buckling on the last of his armor, the Paladin thanked the healer and followed after Natalie.

As they walked towards the front gate, Natalie remarked. “It can’t be comfortable wearing your full panoply all the time.”

Cole shrugged, sending said armor clattering. “Emma is an excellent smith; it sits on my frame well. The only real issue is keeping cool, but my mantle helps with that.”

A snort escaped Natalie at the implications of Cole using holy cryomancy like a lady’s summer fan. Before she could comment on the idiosyncratic behavior, a surprised shout, followed by arguing voices, came from the fort’s gate.

Paladin and Vampire ran out of the opened portcullis and into an armed standoff. A dozen soldiers carrying swords and spears pointed them at the wagon and its occupants. Alia flitted her crossbow between targets, Kit levitated a few pebbles ominously between his fingers, and Mina desperately tried to keep things calm. At the center of this tense scene was Yara, thrown to the ground, a sword at her neck. Standing above her, his face red with anger, was Sergeant Varga. Yara stared up at the soldier with undisguised terror.

Running forward, Natalie yelled, “What in the world’s name is going on?”

Sword still at Yara’s throat, Varga pointed at Natalie and roared. “I knew it! I knew the pair of you seemed familiar.”

Refocusing his attention on Yara, the sergeant barked. “You were in on it the entire time? Do you know how many people died? Entire jagging villages drained and raised up by that cold-blooded bitch over there!”

Cole’s hand rested on Requiem as he asked in a steel-hard voice. “Explain yourself, Sergeant. Why are you holding one of my companions at sword point?”

Eyes flicking towards Cole, the veteran’s jaw set as he gestured with his sword at the prone Yara. “I know this girl! She brought a dead knight to the army camp outside Bekesburg! She warned us about your Vampire and the Ghouls she left in her wake!”

Natalie’s eyes widened as events from months ago came surging back. Of how Dietrich tried to frame her by killing a Hippogryph Knight and setting a swarm of corpses loose in the Southern Marches. The Scarlet Knight’s ploy would've cost Natalie her life if it hadn’t been for Morri’s quick thinking. Somehow, the thought that Yara was involved, or even key to the scheme, had never crossed Natalie’s mind until that moment.

Looking down at her unwanted thrall, Natalie saw the resigned terror on Yara’s face. A mixture of animal panic and exhausted acceptance filled Yara’s being, oozing from her expression and body language. Yara reminded Natalie of a mouse still caught in a trap after struggling for hours to free itself.

A terrible thought came to Natalie then: how this presented an opportunity to rid herself of Yara. How easy it would be to throw Yara beneath the wagon wheels and let her face military judgment for whatever schemes Dietrich used her in. Shaking her head and dismissing the insidious idea, Natalie pulled her eyes from Yara towards the furious Sergant. “I can explain events if you let me; just please take your sword from my friend’s throat.”.