Wallace

"Fuck that." Cassius declared, "You want to be the big man? You deal with this thing your own damn self. The hell do you even expect me to do?"

I gestured to where my weapons leaned, just inside the door of the mill, "I've got the axe, you can take the rifle. You don't even need to hit the thing, just make sure the rounds don't end up in my back."

"I don't know how the hell to use a gun," he protested.

"What do you mean you don't know how to use a gun? You're, you know, American."

"An American, from Oakland."

"It's not like I can get one of the villagers to use it, and it's only going to do me so much good," I insisted, "I can't shoot and hold the axe at the same time, and if I need to reach out and touch someone I can use magic. Look, I'm not asking you to help me fight the thing. I just need someone to watch my back, and I can't trust any of the villagers to do that."

"Alright, fine. I'll help," he relented, "But I'm still not sure how you plan to catch this thing."

"The monster only comes out when it's properly dark. Today's Dark Even', which means it'll have been a few days since its last chance to hunt. It'll also need to strike before the gas giant comes back out, which'll be around midnight. We cast the wallhack spell I figured out yesterday, and watch over the animals this evening. I've already talked to the villagers. They'll have them all in the same field. Not super close together, but near enough we can watch them all."

"I thought the range on the spell was pretty limited?" he frowned, "You only picked up on Rolf coming down the road when he was twenty or thirty yards away."

"We can just pump more mana into it. I've done something similar with Sense Electricity, all it takes is more juice. I brought some pearls with me. We can use those."

"And once the fugly monster shows up?"

"We just shoot the thing. Either it'll be dead right there, or wounded enough for us to chase it down and finish it off."

"I dunno man, you seem pretty optimistic about this whole thing. This seems more like a boss fight than some side quest."

"Maybe you're right," I granted him, "But whatever we're going up against isn't going to have any context for either guns or magic, and we've got both. Besides, this thing is skulking around, snatching up goats and sheep. We've got a better chance of finding a bunch of mangey coyotes preying upon the flock than some man-eating lion.

"Wally?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know about you, man, but that looks a hell of a lot like a lion."

Cassius and I were concealed in the bushes atop a small rise, overlooking a field of scrubby grass. It was high enough not to be swept clean by the daily tides, but since landing here, the villagers hadn't the time to clear it for farming. There were stumps spread here and there, left from them harvesting firewood, along with a scattering of variously sized stones that had proved too troublesome to move.

The sheep were out in the open, though took some shelter from the wind in a small depression by the base of the hill. The goats were huddled among one of the larger rock clusters, though some had strayed into the nearby copse. We'd had our eye on it since settling into our position, as it stood at the very edge of the village's safe territory. And sure enough, shortly after a light rain began to fall, a few of the goats had strayed into the trees to shelter from the weather.

And damn if the beast stalking them didn't look exactly like a lion.

With the cloud cover blocking out what little starlight there was, and camouflaged by the trees, I could see only its outline as illuminated by the Sense Body spell.

Even in silhouette, I could make out the muscles rippling under the skin of its legs and back, as well as the deep chest and sizeable blunt-featured head. A thick mane hid its short neck, and the creature stalked low to the ground as it advanced through the brush towards one of the goats.

"Have you got a clear shot?" I whispered.

"Nah, here," he replied, offering me the rifle, "Trees are in the way."

I set my axe aside and sighted down the scope. I could see a little better with the optics, as the magnification brought more light into my eye, but it only did so much without a night vision setting.

With the blue silhouette to guide me in, I found the target with ease, but it was as Cassius had said. I could see just well enough to realize this wasn't going to work. The rounds the rifle used were pretty heavy, not quite big game, but on par with what most militaries would use in a marksman or sniper rifle. So I was pretty confident that the rounds would make it through the tree trunks. I was less sure, however, that they'd have the effect I wanted.

It was a damn big lion, after all. Nearly as long in the body as I was tall, it was almost twice the size of anything you're likely to see in the zoo. Even if the rounds made it through the trees without being deflected, it was possible they'd lose too much energy to do any good.

I passed the rifle back to Cassius and once again laid my hand upon my axe.

"What's the plan?" he whispered.

"We try to shoot this thing, and we'll just piss it off, and I don't want it knowing we're after it," I explained, "We're going to let it grab one of the goats, and then follow it home. Once it starts digging into the goat, we'll pounce."

I heard Cassius sigh, "Really? Pounce?"

"Shut up and follow me down the damn hill."

Though there was a little wind, I trusted the rain to keep our scent from carrying as we approached.

We'd just made it down the slope and were passing by where the sheep sheltered when we heard an animal scream. The sheep bolted up the hill, and the two of us quickened our pace as much as we dared, concerned as much by discovery as we were the rough terrain.

Now that we were level with the rest of the animals, they obscured the outline of the lion and its prey, hiding from view what transpired. I caught Cassius's arm and pulled him behind one of the larger boulders as the goats came streaming past, flowing around the rocks like a stream over rapids.

Cassius and I pushed our way through the last of the animals, and as the swirling outlines cleared, I was able to fix my gaze upon the shape of the lion and its prey.

The lion's outline went fuzzy around the middle, from about the shoulders to just above the hips, as it wrestled with the goat. Rather than taking the corpse up in its jaws, the lion lifted with its forepaws and began taking bounding leaps with the carcass clutched in its claws.

It was neither quick nor graceful, affording us plenty of time to catch up as it bowled its way through the trees and down the slope.

With the pearls I'd brought we'd each put enough power into the tracking spell to give us a fair amount of range, which allowed us to apply a little more strategy than if we'd been tracking by simple sight and sound. With the lion making enough noise to cover our movements, we'd wait for it to pass a promising bit of cover, then advance quickly up to the new position.

Leapfrogging from cover to cover also allowed us the chance to rest and catch our breath, while the lion seemed happy to tire itself out.

"The hell?" Cassius whispered, "Did this thing get dropped on its head as a cub? Are we hunting a handicapped lion?"

I leaned my shoulder against the rough bark of the tree we hid behind, and adjusted my grip on the axe, "Maybe it's injured?" I guessed, "You think the villagers took a shot at it and didn't tell us?"

I heard a rustling of cloth as Cassius shrugged, "Dunno, come on, time to move."

I'd seen flashes of movement here and there as the spell outlined various animals. Mostly birds and squirrels that took the hell off the moment they heard the lion battering its way through the wilderness. But as we found ourselves beginning to advance up a gentle slope, a mess of cluttered shapes popped into sight some distance up the hill.

I couldn't make sense of it. It looked like several small shapes overlaid atop each other, but the lion seemed to be heading for its general direction.

We waited for the creature to crest the rise before advancing up the hill, finally stopping just below the top of the hill to listen. The creature didn't go much further, only a few more of its bounding leaps. And this time the sound took on a flat, echoing quality.

"It's stopping, maybe a cave?" Cassius asked, daring to peek his head above the rise.

"Come on," I prompted, backing slightly down the hill, "We'll come around from the side."

He followed as I retreated slightly, and we jogged about a hundred yards around to the right before summiting the hill and coming back around. We crossed over the cluttered shapes on our way back, and it became evident that whatever the shapes were, they were below ground.

I knelt and felt at the earth, finding it loose.

"Man, that's a fucking lot of bones," Cassius murmured, standing beside me.

"You ever hear of a lion burying its kills?"

"Nah, doesn't make any sorta sense. Lion don't care. They leave what they don't want for hyenas or whatever."

"That's probably why it's burying the remains."

"Trying to keep vultures away?"

"Yeah, but as you said, a lion wouldn't do that. Makes me wonder just what it is we're chasing."

"Then how are we taking this thing down if we don't know what it is? We're going to have a real bad time if we get in there with it, only to find out the motherfucker breaths fire or spits acid."

I pondered it for a moment, before shaking my head, "It's intelligent."

I felt around in my pocket and pulled a couple of coins free from the roll and tucked a couple into each hand, holding them against the haft of my long axe.

"If it charges, I'll open up with magic. Maybe you take a shot at it with the rifle. But if you're not sure, or if it doesn't attack, hold your fire."

"You're gonna try to talk to this fuckin' thing?"

"If it's intelligent enough to speak, then yeah, it deserves a chance. I don't mind putting down an animal that's going after the village's livelihood. But if it's an intelligent creature stealing to feed itself, then we should hear it out."

I heard Cassius let out a breath, and by his blue outline saw him nod, "Fair enough," he agreed.

Walking along with the rocky outcropping to our right, we almost missed the cave the first time, the opening lost in the jagged shadows that were all one could make out against the dark stone.

Deep within, we could hear the creature digging into the goat, though it lacked the ravenous abandon I'd been expecting. Instead, it seemed more like it was all the beast could do to choke down the raw meat.

There was no light within, but I sensed that we were moving from a narrow corridor and out into an open chamber by the way the sound echoed.

My eyes were all but useless, and I couldn't even see my feet. It gave the impression of floating in a black void, and I felt a sudden rush of vertigo. I knew, consciously, how close I was. I remembered how large the outline of the creature had appeared against the landscape outside. But now, without a single point of reference to go by, it felt as if the hovering outline of the monster could have been inches from my nose, or miles distant.

I placed a hand on the wall of the cavern, the feel of damp earth against my fingertips, and steadied myself. With the coins still clutched in hand, I raised it, only slightly, towards the creature.

"Ahem," I uttered quietly.

The creature froze, and then slowly turned its head toward us.

"So, uh, how are you doing?"

"Are you kidding me right now?" the big man squeaked.

"Hush," I hissed, "I got this."

The creature spoke, its voice dusky and feminine, with a deepness that belied not so much age, as power, "What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, had a bed but never-"

"A river," I supplied.

The creature paused, and then rose to all fours. Turning away from its meal, it faced the two of us, and spoke again, "Four brothers visit this land, the first is welcomed with joy, the second is beloved, the third always brings sad tidings, and the last is feared. They visit each year-"

"The seasons," I answered, "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, you're talking about the seasons.

There was a gust of wind and a flash of movement as the creature unfurled its wings and beat the air once, it's voice growing deeper and louder in the small space, "What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the-"

"A man."

Its wings beat the air once more, carrying the scent of blood to me, and its voice boomed, the frustration evident in its tone, "There are two turtles-"

"Both of the turtles are blind," I replied with a yawn.

In my defence, I'd been up for a while and was getting pretty tired.

"My turn," I cheered, setting the coins aside to withdraw Val's torch, "What has the body of a lion, the head of a human, the wings of an eagle, and likes telling riddles?"

I slowly turned the head of the torch, and a cold metallic light gradually grew to fill the room, revealing the creature standing before me.

It was more or less as I'd described, with the body of a lion, enormous tawny wings, and the face of a beautiful woman. What I'd taken for a mane was instead a shock of extremely tangled red hair. Dark blood stained her mouth and chin.

"I will allow you to keep your life, but state your purpose with haste," the sphinx demanded.

"Would you like," I began eagerly, "A bubble bath?"

I heard Cassius' palm smack his forehead, but I kept my gaze on the hot lion lady.

"I've not heard that one before," she replied.

"Oh, it's not a riddle," I informed her, "It's just like a normal bath, but with bubbles."

"You can't be serious." Cassius hissed.

I spread my arms, "Bubble baths, great food, silk sheets," I recited, "Just think about it."

"You there, little human, what is wrong with the giant?"

Cassius threw up his hands and let out a strangled noise.

"Explain yourself, giant," she demanded, "Why do you intrude my lair, speaking nonsense?"

"It's a long story, but it boils down to, the villagers will swear fealty to me if I deal with the monster that's been stealing their livestock. So we came around to see what was up. Then I realized you were intelligent, and I figured that instead of, you know, trying to kill each other, I could invite you to come hang out with us."

The sphinx wiped her mouth with the back of her paw, and peered down at the blood that stained her fur with disgust, "Am I to believe you are truly so eager to make alliance with me? When you first set off this night, doubtless you were ready to slay what you found preying upon the herd."

I shrugged, "You're sapient. Killing an animal is one thing, case in point," I added, nodding towards the half-eaten goat, "But as long as you don't try to hurt me or anyone I care about, you're just another person that maybe needs a hand. Unless you want to hang out in a cave eating raw goat."

The sphinx growled and beat the air, "Do not taunt me, giant. I know what I am, I know I am a monster, and I am wise enough not to be fooled by honeyed words and enticing lies."

"Mmm, nah," I mused, "Not buying it. You don't think of yourself as a monster. I don't know what your homeworld is like, but no one thinks of themselves as the bad guy. Not even, I dunno, nazis. Sure, you're kinda scary and probably really dangerous. But so is a dude with a rifle-" I hesitated, "Right, a rifle is-"

"I know what a gun is, giant," the sphinx replied sourly.

I frowned in confusion, "You do?"

"I am not some mystical creature," she growled, "I was engineered. You are looking at the key feature of the second day for most visitors to Dragon World."

I felt suddenly sick. Here I was, ecstatic at meeting a creature out of the Monster Manual, happy to banter and argue with it, envisioning myself as the plucky Bard who talked the monster over to the party's side. And that had been precisely the point.

I considered what I saw in a new light, only now realizing how absurd it all was. Her wings, while impressive, were far too small to ever lift her off the ground. They were there for show, and little else. And there was the biomechanics to consider, a human head atop a lion's body with a set of wings tacked on? I thought my body was high maintenance, but I could only imagine what an overengineered mess her skeleton must look like, and the troubles she'd have as she aged. Then there were her paws. They looked every bit like those of a lion, perfectly fine for ripping and tearing, but entirely lacking in opposable thumbs. She'd never, for example, turn a doorknob or pick up a fork. From the look of her face and hair, she couldn't even clean herself properly.

I set the axe aside, put my coins away, and then pulled off my pack and set it infront of me. I dug around until I found my canteen and a cloth.

"Here," I soothed, wetting the cloth and approaching her, "I'll have no more of this nonsense. We'll get you cleaned up, some proper food, make you feel like a person again."

"Giant..." she began slowly, drawing back as she raised a paw and extended her claws.

"Hey, hey, put those away," I chastised, gesturing with the cloth, "We both know you're not going to hurt me. Come here and let me help you."

She squirmed only slightly as I wiped the blood from her face and neck, and didn't protest further.

"You would really take me into your home?" she asked quietly, her eyes averted, "A creature such as myself?"

"As long as you promise not to bite anyone who doesn't bite you first, sure," I agreed warmly, "I'm Wallace, by the way."

"Regina," she said softly.

"Name's Cassius," Cassie offered, "And I'm sorry about before. I was a bit of a dick."

"You weren't to know," Regina allowed

"Just one problem, what do we tell the chieftain?" Cassius asked, "And where are we spending the night?"

"I think we're going to get the chance to tell him sooner rather than later," I grimaced.

I'd returned my gaze to Cassius as he'd spoke, and in so doing, spotted the crowd of silhouettes ascending the hill behind him.

Cassius whirled, "Fuck. They're pulling some shit, aren't they?"

Regina's hair bristled, and her gaze flitted between the two of us, confusion on her face, "Explain."

I waved a hand vaguely, "Magic," I explained, "We can see them through the ground. Trouble is, Rolf said his people were too afraid to go after you and they didn't say a damn thing about helping out. And now here's a crowd of them coming to join the party."

"Must have followed us," Cassius nodded, "The hell do we do?"

"I don't want to get trapped in this cave. Come on. We'll meet them as they reach the top. Regina, once we get out of here, you break left, find somewhere to hide. Let's hope we can talk our way out of this. Otherwise, I'd appreciate it if you could help, Regina."

"I will do what I can," she agreed.

I shut off and pocketed the torch before exiting the tunnel, and went with Cassius to meet the approaching villagers. Though before we'd even reached the crest of the hill, we saw the group split into thirds. The main group, led by Rolf and his buddy with the shield, came straight up the hill while the other two circled wide.

A glance to the left told me that Regina was far enough out not to be caught up in the circle. Indeed, if it did come to a fight, which was looking more and more likely, she'd be well-positioned to tear into that flank.

"Those sons a bitches," Cassius muttered, "They're here to kill us."

"Or finish off the monster," I offered, "Either way, they didn't plan on us making it out of here."

He winced, "Man, I don't want to shoot all these guys."

"I don't know that they're going to give us much of a choice. Regina's got their left flank, you take right. Just hide somewhere till it kicks off. That thing is loud as hell," I told him, nodding towards the rifle, "And they've never faced anything like it. If we're lucky, they'll break and run, and we won't have to hurt too many of them."

"Goddammit, fine, just try not to get yourself dead."

He unlimbered the rifle and went to find a firing position, while I straightened, and walked to the crest of the hill.

"Ho, Wallace," Rolf bellowed once he spotted me, "Do you fare well? What of the monster?"

"Dead," I called back down to his group.

I counted a dozen men, Rolf included. Each man aside from the chieftain carried a spear a little shorter than themselves, the stone tips catching what little light there was. Only the chieftain's bodyguard bore a shield strapped to his arm. As for Rolf, he still wore his sword, as well as a shield across his back.

While the spell outlined their body, the same could not be said for their weaponry, though being able to see their posture so clearly helped guide my eyes as they filled in the remaining details. It wasn't anywhere near as useful as proper night vision, but it was more than any of them would have.

"Fantastic, what of Shaper?" the chieftain called.

"Oh, monster got him."

"Ah, well that's too bad." Rolf sighed, "Not a quick death, I imagine," the chieftain drew his sword, gesturing at me with it, "We'll feast to your memory."

I adjusted my grip on the axe, noting the feel of each coin I had pressed against the haft.

"So this was always the plan?" I asked tiredly, "Was peace never an option?"

"My daughter, nosy little thing, was listening," Rolf laughed, "She told me what the two of you thought of us," he shook his head, "But it truly made little difference, you were a fool to believe I'd get down on my knees for the first foreign chief to come through my lands."

Rolf raised his sword and gave a cry that was quickly taken up by the rest of his group, followed a moment later by the men on the flanks. And cut immediately short by the roar of a lion and the crackle of rifle fire.

I focused on the coins under my left hand and drew in the mana, then opened my right hand, sending the coins forth like a burst of shrapnel from a claymore.

The men cried out, the momentum of their charge broken, and two of the men went down clutching at bloody wounds in their face and chest.

I roared and threw myself at the crowd. Not into their centre, but at the right end of the line. The man there thrust his spear at me, but I threw the attack aside with the butt of my axe, then swung it back to bury the blade in his shoulder.

He screamed like a man broken, and I put my boot against his chest to get the needed leverage and tore my weapon free with a scream of fury.

I took two stumbling steps back before finding the footing to steady myself on the uneven ground.

The tactic worked, and now instead of meeting me as a group, they were busy fighting to get around each other. The first two men to get around their fallen comrade came at me cautiously, weapons up, ready to catch my attack on the haft as I'd just done.

I roared again, and struck at the man on the left, bringing the axe's beak down in a high right to left strike. He brought his weapon in line to parry, just as his companion dodged aside. But with so much mass and momentum behind my swing, I blew right through his block, bringing the beak down to shatter his shoulder. I kept my gaze on him just long enough to see his arm go limp, his weapon start to fall, before shifting my weight to the right and reversing my grip on the axe.

The change in positioning effectively put the axe's head over my left shoulder, the haft held high. I swung across my body, lunging forwards as I did, at the man who'd dodged.

As expected, he'd dodged again, and that proved fatal. If he'd stayed, tried to block perhaps, again I would have smashed through it. But at the very least he would have caught the haft of my axe on his side. Ribs would break, he'd likely go down, but he might have lived. Instead, he'd stepped back into the path of the broad blade, and it sunk deep into his side.

He tried to scream, but when he opened his mouth, only a raspy wheeze emerged.

I took a wide stance and jerked the axe free, turning it into a clumsy right to left horizontal swing that caught only air, but served to drive back the trio of men going for my side.

"Flee or die," I bellowed, "Flee or die."

The three men came at me in unison, stabbing forward with their spears. I thrust forwards with the top spike in the same instant, leaning back, and letting go with my forehand as I did. The stone speartips met only air, while the steel spike atop my axe tore into the centre man, just under the ribs.

I pulled my axe back in a flash, once again taking it in two hands, and bellowed again, "Flee or die," as the man fell.

I could still hear Regina's roars, but the rifle fire had died down from its rapid staccato to a single shot now and then.

While men pushed in to fill the gap I'd made and fill out the line, they looked as if they were just about ready to take my offer. It was then the chieftain and his shield-bearer charged, coming around the formation to strike at my flanks. The shield-bearer came from the left, up the slope, while the chieftain came at my right, from down the hill.

Rather than allowing them to encircle me, I threw myself at the chieftain, axe across my body in something like a cross-check, twisting as I did to catch the blade of his upraised sword on the haft.

I tried to stop my momentum, to turn and face the attack I knew would be coming at my back, but lost my footing, and both of us went tumbling down. I landed atop him, axe still held across my body, and I heard something crack.

We skidded to a halt about halfway down, and I threw myself to my feet, whirling to face the remaining men. They hadn't moved. Their chieftain was at my feet, his head twisted at an impossible angle, and his shoulders and upper torso crushed when my weight had come down upon him. The blade of his sword shone dully, dropped near where I'd first crashed into him.

"Flee, or die," I said simply.

At first, I wasn't sure the shield-bearer would break and run, but then the others in his group began to notice the men in the flanking teams streaming down the hill, fleeing from Cassius and Regina. They began to edge backwards, and once he saw the wind begin to shift, the shield-bearer called a retreat. I gave the men space as they retrieved the dropped sword and edged around me. They didn't take their eyes off me until they'd put a good two hundred yards between us.

"Cassius, Regina," I called, trudging back up the hill, "You guys okay?"

"Okay? Nah man, I'm pretty fucking far from okay," Cassius retorted as he emerged from the brush, "I just killed like three people."

Regina was nearly silent as she joined us in the clearing, though I could see her favouring her front right leg.

"Do not weep for them," she intoned, "They'd have killed each of us, given a chance."

I lit Val's torch, and swept it over Regina, revealing a bloody gash in what would have been a bicep in a humanoid.

"Lay down," I told the sphinx, "I'll get that cleaned up, and then we can beat feet."

Cassius spread his arms, "Where the hell are we going exactly?"

Regina laid down, turning slightly to give me easier access to the wound, "We certainly cannot remain here," she pointed out, "They will return for their dead, come morning, and in greater numbers."

"We've got time, not a whole lot, but enough. We've got about eight hours, little less, to cover around thirty miles. The gas giant'll be out in another two, and the light should help, but we've got to set out now. Are you going to be okay to walk?" I asked Regina.

"You need only ensure the wound does not become infected. I assure you I can keep up."

I finished washing my hands as best I could with the canteen, and set to work on the wound, "I just hope Val's had better luck."