NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8
Zasutir/Lizard Man POV
His body is battered, bruised, and overall just beaten. The Religious Police couldn't let him off with abducting and selling him, could they? They just had to kick his scales in. The old lizard wheezes; as much as he could heal himself, his body wasn't meant to deal with such abuse at his age.
The wagon shudders and skips over whatever is out there, a grunt escaping from his bound snout.
He was right in the end; he knew something was wrong, children from the orphanages going missing, ill beastkin never returning from temple clinics, long-term 'jobs' where families lose all contact with those who took the jobs. Though, when he started rocking the boat and kicking a fuss, they came for him.
He probably should've kept his mouth shut, but screw it; he'd do it again if it meant he could help even one more person.
The sound of a grumbling stomach pricks his ears. His gaze softens as he turns to look at one of the several orphans on this particular carriage of the caravan with him. He shifts in place before jerking suddenly as a snap is heard behind him. While his arms were bound, the kids were shackled by their necks; barely an effort was made to restrain them.
With some more squirming, he rolled about a foot of his now severed tail over to the kids. "Eaf, shury thersh nuffin elsh.." He murmured apologetically.
The kids are tearful, sniffling, and whimpering but doing their best not to anger the guards outside with their noises. They take up the gamy tail and begin digging into their first meal in several days. He can only pray the others in the other carts are faring well.
Another bump in the road causes him to hiss, shuddering from the now constant dull throb aching through his body. Unwillingly he shuts his eyes, getting some desperately needed rest before an unholy cacophony of howls shatters his senses. Sounds of panic start clamoring about outside as he shifts more, pressing his head up against the cart and peering out through a hole in the canvas over it. Only to see a blur soar through the air, sending an acolyte crashing into the cart he was in, sending a spray of blood up that even stained the cart canvas.
Vitmori POV
I.. I can taste it, flesh and blood on my imaginary tongue. It's so satisfying in such a sickening way.
My perspective shifts over to Oururu, who is currently hung loosely around Basti's neck. Oururu has grown to 4ft now after that last burst of energy I've given him.
Basti, in turn, has grown even more, becoming more akin to a tigress than a lioness. Her build is bristling with the power of her muscles, yet she moves as silently as before, dashing up to one of the cart drivers and ripping him from his seat brutally.
Oururu hopped off Basti while she lunged, plopping softly onto the canvas top of the cart before slithering speedily over to the other side, dropping down on an elf in chainmail. The snake coiled around their throat and himself while the man tried grasping at Oururu to free himself. However, Oururu suddenly bit down on his tail, becoming immovable, much to the elf's misfortune. What I do notice is that the elf is rapidly losing strength, faster than what I would've expected from being choked out. Looking closer, I sense Oururu outright drains the man's vitality; the greedy snake isn't even sharing, hah.
Shifting my focus, I watch as a human woman in half-plate sidesteps the orc zombie mutant, redirecting the tackle with her shield as she shouts out. Her shield glimmers brightly with energy that flashes the zombie. I don't know what it's supposed to do, but the orc zombie is unaffected as she rushes the armored woman. The armored woman backed up in surprise, only to be tackled from behind by the pure black-skinned elf zombie. The two sink their teeth into her as she's put down.
Reonim POV
"By the gods… They're not even affected by Turn Undead.." He said breathlessly, looking over to Reyvyre for confirmation. "Have you heard of undead like that? I thought they only shambled around and smelt terribly.."
The elf shakes her head, looking back at the carnage before her as she gulps a bit. "Sure, there are fast undead, powerful undead too... But what doesn't make sense is how he could have turned ordinary criminals into monsters like that in less than a day.."
She shook her head once more as she noticed something happening. "There are runners; remember, we're supposed to make sure nobody escapes." She reminded Reonim as she stepped forward, leveling her staff as she began her silent incantation. Heavy bolts of ice form and sail in the air as they impale two fleeing caravan guards.
Reonim bellowed out a war cry and charged into the fight, wielding his massive hammer in one hand as he came up behind a holy knight in full plate, currently fending off a bird beast kin zombie and another human zombie. The holy knight is dealing damage as they cleave the bird's head off in a devastating swing before bisecting the human zombie. That is until Reonim brings down his skull cracker, caving in the knight's helmet, killing him instantly.
It isn't long before the remaining scattered guards and coachmen are run down by the dungeon's mysterious undead and prowler. The ambush had only taken a few minutes now that it was all over. "There were more guards than we anticipated; this would've been a hard-fought battle if it were not for the dungeon." He admitted, eyeing the undead warily as they blankly stood around now that the fighting was done. Their bodies are bloodied and covered with gore, not even their own. Despite their power, only 3 of the original eight zombies remained.
"You're right; who would've thought the Theocracy would be so brazen as to have holy knights accompany a smuggling escort.." Reyvyre shook her head again, exhaustion hitting her as she looked into one of the carts. Her sigh was stifled by surprise as she called out for Reonim and maybe Vitmori if he was watching. "We've got slaves here." She said; seeing the terrible reality in her face struck a chord with her as she looked them over. "Remain calm; you're being rescued."