Chapter 44 — We are Going to Die

When they got closer, it became more obvious that Lisa’s arrow was pointing to a wide patch of disturbed dirt floor, and Lisa let out a little sob. “Stripes…”

Ranger started digging in the dirt and when he uncovered a bit of fur and bone, Ria told him to stop. “Lisa, do you want us to dig him up for you?”

Lisa shook her head and sniffled.

“Deactivate #19.” Ria put her general-purpose scroll away and took back the now used-up pet locator scroll so Lisa could wipe her eyes. With both scrolls returned to her satchel, she hugged Lisa until the girl calmed down.

Leon started looking around the cellar for clues while he waited, and Ranger followed him around.

“I-I knew he probably wasn’t coming back,” Lisa mumbled and sniffed. “But I didn’t want it to be like this.”

Ria stepped back from the hug to give Lisa some space.

“Thank you for helping find him, Ria.” Lisa dried her face with her shirt sleeve.

“It’s no problem. I’m sorry you had to find out like this,” Ria comforted. “Let’s hurry back and report what we found to Captain Bastach.”

“But, you said…?” Lisa looked surprised.

Ria grinned slyly. “That was so the monster wouldn’t attack us if we tried to leave.”

“Eh?”

“It might not have let us leave if we were going to come back with help,” Ria explained.

“I’m still not convinced that it didn’t leave to get help of its own,” Leon insisted. “Can we get out of here now?”

Ria thought about copying down the Spirit Magic ritual but decided against doing that with Lisa there. “Yeah, let’s go.”

When they exited the stairs, Leon closed the cellar door. “We need a way to make sure it doesn’t get back into the village while we’re getting the captain.”

“Someone will have to stay behind then, and with it being a shapeshifter, it can probably open the door,” Ria warned, and they looked down at where the dusty footprints from before had been obscured by their own passage.

“Ugh. Maybe if Ranger and I stay?” Leon offered, trying to be brave.

“Woof!” Ranger agreed.

Ria hesitated then nodded. “Alright, but take my Wand of Sleeping Winds. If you push your energy into it, a glittery wind will come out and put anything it touches to sleep.”

“Ah, …okay,” Leon agreed reluctantly and received the wand.

Maybe it would have been better if she had just tried to put the creature asleep from the start. But, if the creature had resisted the magic, then it probably would have attacked them. Having the lightning wand ready for defense wasn’t wrong.

Shaking off her second guessing, Ria grabbed Lisa’s hand, and they ran out of the building to find Captain Bastach. Once outside, she let go Lisa’s hand so they could run faster.

Lisa took them to the north gate, where the north barracks was located and the guardsman on duty took them to Captain Bastach’s office right away once Ria removed her helmet and he recognized her.

Captain Bastach looked up and rubbed his forehead. “Ugh. What is it this time? Another riot? Don’t tell me I’ve got to explain to more families why their sons were found face-down in the muck…”

Lisa was looking at her in shock.

“Aww, don’t say it like that!” Ria complained. “We found a shapeshifter! And something you need to see. Leon and Ranger are guarding the location by themselves, so we need to hurry.”

Captain Bastach bolted upright. “A shapeshifter! I had a suspicion, but… of all the possibilities… do you ever bring good news, girl?!” He complained.

“A shapeshifter…,” the guardsman waiting behind them breathed out in dismay.

“How’d you identify it?” Captain Bastach asked, half-fearing that he didn’t want to know.

Ria took out the generalized locator scroll and placed it on the Captain’s desk. “Activate #19. Captain of the guardsmen.”

“Wha-?!” Captain Bastach shouted and dodged around his desk as the shadow-arrow appeared, and when it followed his movement, he exclaimed, “W-what are you doing?!”

“It’s a locator scroll. Deactivate #19,” Ria said and retrieved her scroll.

“I’m not cursed?” Captain Bastach asked, worriedly, and Lisa took a few steps closer to the guardsman who was backing out the door.

Ria gave him a confused look. “Why would you be cursed? It’s a divination enchantment.”

“A divination enchantment? And it can find anything you ask for?” Captain Bastach asked, surprised.

“There are range and duration limitations. Simple requests give better results. I can sell you some if you like later, but we really should hurry. I’m not confident that Leon and Ranger can stop the shapeshifter if it returns,” Ria warned.

“You mean, you don’t have it trapped?!” Captain Bastach asked with alarm.

“It escaped into some tunnels-,” Ria began.

“Oh gods, tunnels under the village…,” Captain Bastach groaned.

Ria shook her head, and corrected, “More under the wall than under the village, I think.”

“Ugh. Like that’s better!” Captain Bastach complained.

“There were strange markings on the floor too!” Lisa added.

“Is it…?” Captain Bastach asked Ria for confirmation.

Ria nodded. “I’m not familiar with the spell, but it looked like Spirit Magic involving animal sacrifices.”

Captain Bastach went pale and barely breathed out, “Necromancy?! Oh, gods!”

“Oh, no… poor Stripes,” Lisa gasped in dismay.

“Can it get any worse?” Captain Bastach muttered.

“Don’t say that, Captain! If the gods hear…,” the guardsman by the door complained.

“Gesler. Send someone to get the priest and Master Rigure. And, I need five men ready to fight, asap!” Captain Bastach ordered.

“Yes, Captain!” Gesler replied crisply and ran off. Shortly Ria could hear him yelling commands to the other guardsmen in the barracks.

“Ria, go wait for me out front. I just need to ask Lisa a few questions. I’ll be right out,” Captain Bastach said, kicking her out of the room and closing the door.

Ria sighed. The man may have promised Jarrel to keep her safe, but he still didn’t trust her.

She made her way out of the barracks. One guardsman was already waiting with studded armor, a mace, and crossbow.

After Ria greeted him, he nodded and said, “Figured you were involved somehow."

"This village is my new home. I want to help out where I can," Ria affirmed.

He seemed surprised. "Huh. I wouldn't have guessed for a foreigner—and a witch at that—to feel that way."

“I’m Ria, by the way.”

“Ravini.”

Three more guardsmen showed up, armed with clubs and crossbows. Their leather armor wasn’t that much better than Leon’s.

“Ah, Ravini. That’s the witch girl with you, isn’t it?” one of the new arrivals asked, looking a little apprehensive, but not as apprehensive as the third of the bunch who pulled his helmet down and tried to be inconspicuous. It would be cute, if these weren't people who might kill her when scared enough.

“Yeah. Looks like she’s going with us, or we’re going with her,” Ravini replied and glanced at Ria for confirmation.

Ria nodded. “I found a shapeshifter and some problematic things related to the recent pet disappearances in an unused house by the wall, not far from Sal and Marlene’s meat stand. Leon and my familiar are keeping watch for us.”

“Shapeshifter?! And I thought witches and barbarians were bad enough!” moaned the second of the new arrivals.

The first of the three elbowed the second and spoke up, "Umm. Miss witch, the three of us owe you apology for our sons’ behavior."

Ria tilted her head to the side. Could they be…?

"I'm Meslin, Bester's dad. The rude guy here is Bevin, Jerome's dad. That guy hiding behind his helmet is Errol, Gebs' dad."

"Ah, Mr. Errol! Thank you for not shooting Ranger yesterday. I'm sorry he scared you. It was his first delivery, and he was really proud of himself. It would have been really sad if he got hurt. And umm, it was immature of me to cut Gebs shirt. I was scared because the boys are so much bigger than I am, and I wanted Ranger to remember his scent in case he caused trouble again or stole something. Captain Bastach told me to return it. I didn't curse it or anything like that, and I'll pay for the shirt if you want," Ria spilled out, taking the chance to clear as many misunderstandings as she could.

Errol stared at Ria in surprise, then mumbled, "Umm… well, thanks for not hurting my son. I know he was being an idiot, please don't hold it against him."

Ria nodded. "Okay. I don’t mind, since no one got hurt, and my new dress didn't get ruined. But make sure to tell him that I've been training with Tina, and I won't go as easy on him next time he tries to beat me up and take the money that my mom and dad left me."

"Ah… I don't think you need to worry about that," Errol muttered.

Somehow Ria thought she might have made a new misunderstanding, because all of the guardsmen were shifting their weight and looking away when she tried to meet their gazes.

Captain Bastach came out and glanced at the guardsmen, looked at Ria, and sighed. "You guys, huh? Ria, did you tell them what you found?"

"Yes, Captain Bastach. But I left out the specific details of what was in the cellar, since the public already seems on edge," Ria reported.

"Probably for the best," Captain Bastach nodded and addressed his men, "You guys, whatever she told you, I'm sure it's way worse than whatever you are imagining. Anything involving ritual animal sacrifice can't be anything good. Stay sharp."

"Wha-?!"

"For all that is holy! What. The. Hell?!"

"You're kidding?!"

"I didn't sign up for this…"

Just then a fifth guardsman showed up still buckling his belt.

"You're late, Harvin," Ravini reprimanded the late arrival.

"Got locked in the outhouse. Someone probably thought it a funny prank or something…," Harvin complained.

"Probably trying to save your life," Errol commented.

"Huh? What did I miss?" Harvin asked and then he saw Ria. "Oh gods…"

Ria pouted a little. She didn't understand why they always assumed bad things were going to happen just because she was involved.

"Well, let's head out. We can meet up with Master Rigure and Priest Dohan on the way," Captain Bastach decided. "Ria, lead us to the house."

"…"

"Rigure is coming…"

"Dohan is coming…"

"Shapeshifters and animal sacrifice…"

"We're going to die…"

"Yes, Captain. Follow me." Ria glanced back at the five scaredy-cats muttering among themselves and led them back the way Lisa had brought her, setting a jogging pace. "Is Lisa not coming?"

"No. This is much too dangerous. Gesler is recording her official statement to give to Lord Vorshan. One of the guardsmen will make sure she gets home okay," Captain Bastach replied.

"Thanks, I'm sure she's had a difficult enough day. It would be terrible if she had to walk home alone and got scared or if something happened to her," Ria said then glanced back at the guardsmen following behind. "Speaking of scared, I'm not sure that the shapeshifter is actively aggressive against people, and it might not be strong enough to go after large animals either. Ranger and I encountered it in the form of a black cat over by Sal and Marlene's, and it wasn't particularly aggressive even though Ranger was messing with it. When Ranger encountered it again later that evening, the shapeshifter hid. And when we had it cornered in the cellar, instead of attacking to prevent us from warning others, it chose to flee into the tunnels."

"That's not unusual behavior for a shapeshifter,” Captain Bastach told her. “They like to blend in and go unnoticed. Sometimes they try to find a person to provide them with food. The problem is that they need both magical and physical sustenance to maintain their forms, and while physical sustenance is usually obtainable by eating vermin and pets, for magic energy, they often target the weak, generally elderly and babies.”

“Ah! The elderly couple that died in that house!” Ria realized.

Captain Bastach nodded. “It’s certainly possible. Now, the ones large enough and intelligent enough to mimic people, those open up a whole new set of problems.”

“I see.” Ria was thinking that it might be mean to kill the little guy for eating pets and vermin, but if the shapeshifter was killing old people and babies… that was different. Still, it didn’t explain why the guardsmen were scared of it.