Monster Fucker - Redux Ch. 04

The brunette sighed, watching him attempting to muster his confidence. Rolling her eyes at Eliza's attempts at subterfuge, Lisa stood, startling the lanky boy.

Alex looked up from her bowl and Lisa smiled," I'll be heading to bed as well," she said, catching the deck hand's expression flicker between a smile and sudden disappointment.

Alex nodded," then I'll see you tomorrow."

Lisa nodded, seeing her return to picking at her food before shuffling towards their cabin. She brushed by the boy and whispered," night before we depart," as she stepped down below.

The junk's below deck was like most boats its size, three small cabins, space for goods, and a small rune and oil powered engine at its back. The engine was an amalgamation of magic and engineering and looked more like a black and blue lump of bags with pipes sticking out of it. How the glowing and faintly wheezing thing worked was entirely beyond her, but it was the last thing on her mind as she stepped into their tiny, shared cabin and found her friend bent over.

Uh hum."

"Shit,"

Lisa smirked," yeah it's not there."

~Harold

The art of thievery, much like most things he'd learned beneath the iron heel of the church and the cold-hearted guardianship of John, was a skill so ingrained he could have done it in his sleep. And after three days of scouting and planning he was more than eager to get going. To rob an imperial governor and the governor of Shijin no less was a deed that'd mark him as one of the greatest thieves on the continent, if anyone ever found out. It was truly a legendary proposition and something he'd always planned on doing in the future, and despite his current circumstances he was still giddy about it. He'd do it and if everything went according to plan he just might also free himself from the fat bastard. Beatrix though...

He shook the thought, now wasn't the time. He'd figure out how to save her when this was done. Now more than ever he needed to focus and take in the final details of the estate's layout and run through his plans again for the umpteenth time. It was also a better use of his mental faculties than thinking about the enchanted canary's talon necklace wrapped around his neck.

"A little insurance," he'd said.

"No shit," Harold muttered, remembering when the friar had placed the accursed thing around his neck. It was...

He shook his head again, now wasn't the time.

Inhaling, he cleared his thoughts with his exhalation and returned to the task at hand.

The governor's estate much like Goh's home was a testament to Imperial wealth and power. But, where the city guard captain's home was a lesson in imperial restraint, whatever that counted for, the governor's home was Imperial opulence on display and with the midsummer festival in full swing, the walled but sprawling estate was the gem of a wealthy colony.

The compound like Goh's was built with a towering keep in its center. The building was a red and gold-trimmed tiered monstrosity with shingled arched roofs decorated by red paper lanterns with golden tassels. A spider's web of silken cords heavy with paper talismans and more lanterns spread out from the central spire to connect to the roofs of every building within the estate. The most prominent of which were two other tiered but smaller towers that flanked the central building, forming a triangle in their arrangement.

Despite being bureaucratic offices and the guest homes for visiting nobles with more clout than most, they were no less garishly decorated with lights and golden trimmings and Imperial banners. It was a bit much as far as Harold was concerned, but this was a governor's palace and Imperials liked nothing more than to show off their wealth.

A fact that was made even more evident by the decorations dangling and plastered on the five other buildings surrounding the middle three. These were the offices of minor bureaucrats, guest homes for minor nobility, and servant quarters. And despite their lowered status the one-story buildings with their connected shaded patios were no less opulent with their polished lion statues flanking their entrances and the litany of softly glowing talismans hanging from their eves.

Put together the entire setup of the buildings made it look like a giant wagon wheel from Harold's perspective hidden in the shadow of a heron statue mounted on the roof of one of the guard towers, that formed the corners of the governor's walled estate. It was truly something and with the various minor shrines, small, secluded gardens and ponds surrounding the buildings and flanking the marbled paths that connected the buildings... The place was truly a gem for all intents and purposes, Harold thought, taking in everything. And with the guards and finely dressed servants scampering about the compound despite the hour, the final night of the midsummer festival was going to be a hell of a party...

And the perfect time to pull off his greatest theft.

Tomorrow was going to be a hell of a day, he thought, committing the final details to mind, and slipping back into the shadows.

Leaving the governor's estate, let alone approaching it like he'd done would have been impossible if this were like any other territory owned by the Imperials, but this was Shijin. And in a place filled to bursting even a sprawling and walled off estate like the governor's home had neighbors aplenty. Which provided convenient roofs to hop onto. Still though, under normal circumstances it would have been close to impossible for a normal person to leap the distances between the opulent roofs, but thankfully the friar was a notoriously well-organized hoarder, and because of it, Harold found himself snug in the warm and supple embrace of his old silken bodysuit from his years, when he lived with John.

The bodysuit much like the one he'd had before being captured was black, skintight, and enhanced his movements. But where the one he'd so unceremoniously gotten seized; this one was a masterwork that made his old suit look like rags. Various minor enchantments were woven into the thing's fabric, that dulled his presence, boosted his mobility, and provided some protection from weapons if he ever had the unfortunate luck of getting into a fight. And best of all, it was lined with more pockets than one would have thought possible. It really was something and reminded him of the few good memories he'd had working with the church and John, no matter how rare they were. Whatever the case was though, he was going to be keeping the suit when this was all over. It was only fair, considering all the shit they were putting him through.

Leaping onto the pointed roof of another guard tower, he came to a stop, realizing where his body was absently driving him as his mind finalized the rest of his plans.

He shook his head at the decorated tower with its guards and the one thing he couldn't simply steal.

"Beatrix..." He whispered, willing every fiber of his body to turn away from the tower, its upper floor, and the silhouette of...

He had too...

And before he knew it, he'd taken a step then another, and another, and before long he was leaping, bounding from elegant roof to roof. He was halfway there when the high-pitched shriek of a bird rang in his ears and a pain like no other shot through him. It took the breath out of him in an instant, locked his muscles and toppled him to his knees. He wanted to scream, but it was of no use, his jaws were locked, and the rest of his body was as equally unresponsive.

He knelt there, the echoes of the cry ringing in his ears while its magic racked his body, seemingly stretching out the moments to infinity. It churned his guts, dredging up bile from his core.

"Insurance."

The words echoed in his thoughts and he remembered the leash around his neck. Calming the panic that'd started to bubble in his gut, he inhaled, willing himself to move away as the pain and the tension slowly subsided. He'd get away one way or the other.

~Amelie

There was one thing constant about Amelie's imprisonment besides the empty void gnawing at her insides and that was the rotation of the guards, that brought her food. There was the fat one who'd taken her to see that accursed monstrosity known as the friar, the guard that always crouched and leered at her, and finally there was the scrawny hooked nose one with the stuttering voice. All three were a special kind of monster in her opinion for they were all twisted abominations born from a perverse version of the goddess, and worse of all they were part of the reason her family was now in pieces. And she wanted nothing more than to see all the barbarians and their vile abominations dead.

Still though, she still held some apprehension about what she was about to do. In the days she'd concocted her plans she'd managed to chip away at the rocks of her blackened cell and secured an obsidian sliver barely the length and thickness of a finger. It was barely a weapon, but it would do, and if she wanted to find the rest of her family and hopefully save them before...

A shudder racked her body as the memory flashed through her thoughts. She had to get away, if not to save her family but to save herself from what'd already happened to the sisters she'd seen in that monster's embrace.

Which meant she had to do what she'd planned. There was no other option besides escape, and this was probably her only shot. So, she lay still, waiting, shard beneath her hand, her heart racing at a horse's gallop, and her senses straining with anticipation.

And like the seasonal rains of the Kantack, her cell was opened, and a guard stepped in. She smelled him more than anything for her eyes were closed. He stunk of rotted meat, blood, oil, and the vile reek that seemed to permeate the entire place. And from the way he shifted about the place nervously she knew which one it was. He may have been the nicest of the bunch, but he was still a barbarian, and she needed to get away. So, she lay still, kept her eyes closed, and steadied her heartbeat.

He laid her plate down and waited.

She lay unmoving, lowering her heartbeat with every passing moment.

"hey," he stuttered," food's here."

"..."

He shuffled.

Her heartbeat crept lower.

He tittered," food's here," he stuttered again, trying to shuffle around her prone body.

Heartbeats passed into moments, that seemed to stretch out into ad nauseum.

He tsk'd, clicking his yellowed teeth before sighing and shuffling towards her.

She felt him looming over her. Every muscle in her body tensed, coiling like a serpent waiting to strike. He grumbled something beneath his breath, yet she remained still. She'd readied herself to be struck but nothing came, and from what she'd seen done to the other prisoners they probably had orders not to touch her or something along those lines.

Another sigh escaped the guard's thin lips before he crouched down, bringing his head and more importantly his twig like neck close to her mouth as he readied to check her pulse. His stench was utterly repugnant doubly so with the excessive heat that seemed to radiate from every one of the vile abominations. It raised her gorges and turned her stomach, threatening to make her spill her guts. She pushed it down, burying it before it reached her throat as her heartbeat reached the steady pace of a snail. It was equal parts the calmest she'd ever gotten her heart and the most tense she'd ever been.

Mother would be proud, she mused, the thought nearly jeopardizing the thin veneer she'd constructed.

She sunk deeper into herself. She may not have had her magic, but years of priestly training and esoteric ceremonies were in a sense paying off. She'd always struggled entering into the sensory trance during her days in the village, but at the very moment it was the easiest thing she'd ever done. There were probably a million reasons why she now found it so easy, but whatever the reason she was more than thankful.

To all but the keenest of senses she may as well have been dead. Yet to her everything thrummed like the beating of a hummingbird's wings or the insistent buzz of bees. There was just so much information flooding her senses, it was even more overwhelming than when she'd transformed, and she didn't have the goddess's blessing to help her sort through it all. Yet she really didn't have to, all she needed to focus on was...

Tap.

And like a rock skipping across water, she felt it. The moment his greasy calloused fingers touched her throat, and his neck was mere inches from her mouth, she struck. Blood rushed into coiled muscles, her heart bolted to a horse's gallop, and rock met throat before the man could react. She plunged the makeshift dagger into the thin flesh of his neck, puncturing veins, and his windpipe. As the realization of what'd just happened started to worm its way into the guard's mind, she struck again, ripping the jagged instrument of her freedom from his neck, and plunging it once more into the meat of his throat again and again.

Blood sprayed and all that escaped the man's chapped lips was the wheezing burble of a suffocating animal.

By the time, the barbarian was dead, and she'd stopped, her body was a tapestry of blood and his neck was not but torn skin and gutted meat.

She panted, trying to calm the bestial heat flooding her veins. It was...

She inhaled, trying again to quell the exhilaration roiling through the entirety of her being. The kill. The culmination of springing a trap. The animalistic glee of the hunt. It was intoxicating. It was...

She shuddered.

Plop.

She blinked as realization once more dawned on her. She needed to get away.

Shifting, she sat up, dropping the guard's gangly corpse. Her body and face were a mess of blood, but it didn't matter. First things were first and with eyes locking onto the keys dangling from the abomination's robes; she moved to escape.

With her shackles removed, and the moonstone collar around her neck gone, she crept out of her cell, the barbarian's body slowly cooling behind her. Poking her head out of her cell, she took in her surroundings. The black stone hallway was empty as usual. As far as she knew, her cage was located in a secluded portion of the flying mountain with no other prisoner's close to her, despite the fact she could constantly hear them from within her confinement.

Seeing no one approaching, she stalked down the dimly lit corridor, the floor cool and damp beneath her bare feet. With the suppression of the moonstone gone, she could once more feel her magic. It was not but a trickle, but it would return soon enough. Despite it all though she could coax a bit of her transformation back to the surface. And with that she felt her feline ears sprout from beneath her blood matted hair and her eyes take on the slitted appearance of a cat's. It was for all intents and purposes wonderful, to feel a part of the goddess thrumming once more within her soul and with her senses sharpened to predatory precision she stalked, searching for a way out.

She'd managed to cobble together a vague idea of where she needed to go, following her visit with the Friar. There'd been a portal mirror nestled into a room in one of the myriad hallways they'd passed within the labyrinthine mountain. The things were rarer than rare and was most likely stolen from the palace when the monsters raided their home. It was just another reason to hate the barbarians. All they did was take and take. She'd...

She exhaled, calming her heart before the loathing overtook her, as she felt her canine's elongate and her claws threaten to emerge from her fingers. It'd be so easy too...

She bit down the bestial urge thrumming just beneath the surface. It was tempting to just fall into it and run wild. It was a luring call, and a sensation she'd almost forgotten. As liberating and wonderful as it was to have the goddess's presence once more nestled within her soul, it was a double-edged blade for it amplified everything and like mother always said," Amelie was nothing if not spontaneous."

That thought sobered her up. Right now, of all moments she didn't need her emotions clouding her judgement, she needed to escape. So, with blunted steps she continued her creeping, avoiding the sporadic guard patrols and the cages and cells full of not only her people but others of the jungle. Just how many the loathsome fiends had taken was beyond her, and what they were subjecting them to...

She bit down at the roiling anger within her core. She'd find a way to stop them.

Making her way down another corridor and coming to a junction she realized she'd gotten lost. Between identical dimly lit obsidian hallways and the constant battle to keep her emotions from bubbling over, she'd gotten turned around somewhere. A curse bounded to the tip of her tongue ; she bit it back down with a hiss as her ears perked at the sound of approaching feet.

They were...

There was...

Eyes met, she cursed and before the malformed creature could utter an alarmed call, she lunged. Clearing the dozen or so feet in a blink was exhilarating and a testament to the power returning to her, however sinking her claws into the coarse robes and leathery postural filled skin of the roaming guard was something else. She tore his neck out before they fell to the ground, spraying them in a geyser of blood.

Standing, she took in her surroundings.

Hopefully, no one saw that, she thought, eyes scanning. Looking down at the corpse at her feet, she sighed, there was no way she could hide the body. It didn't matter, getting out was the goal, subtlety was just an extra not a requirement.

Now, she thought, looking around once more. She still had no idea where she was, but moving was her best option, and going down the same route the barbarian came down probably wasn't a good idea.

Turning around she made her way down the opposite hallway. And like every other corridor she'd stalked down, it was all chiseled obsidian and flickering torches. She found no more guards in the moments she spent making her way through the hallways till she came to a dead end, a cavernous room before her with a glittering crystal the size of a man nestled into its wall. The crystal was a shining mass of blues, silvers, and white with veins of itself spidering from the jagged main body to spread across the entire space. It thrummed with so much magic, she could feel it from where she stood.

It called.

It was...

Her feet moved, her eyes dilated, and her breaths came in shallow bursts.

It was so...

"Hey!"

She blinked, her fingers inches from the pulsating gem.

"Hey!"

She blinked, the voice finally reaching her mind and jarring her out from her trance.

A curse slipped from her lips. Looking over her shoulder she found a brute of a guard behind her. It was...

"you..." She growled underneath her breath.

The leering bastard grinned.

The sight of those yellowed teeth and that vile face churned the already roiling sea of emotions in her soul. The barbarian was blocking the only way out and from the approaching footsteps, more of the abominations were approaching.

"Come and..."

She lunged, cutting him off as her claws dug into his oxen like body. He staggered, grit his teeth, and smashed his head against hers. Light flashed, pain burst into her body and she found herself flung across the room, skidding to a halt a moment later.

"Can't kill ya," the brute sneered," but the Friar didn't say nothing but roughing ya up a bit."

She spat, sitting up. Her head still throbbed, but her surging anger blunted the sensation to nothing but a dull annoyance. Baring her teeth, she lunged again, claws out and with only one thing on her mind. She'd tear his...

"Ghwack," she gasped, finding herself flung once more and crashing into the crystal. Pain shot through her being, blinding her with flashes of light.