Chapter 21: Chapter 21.

“How did you find the Hillside Butcher? How did you know it was him?” The commander asked me.

The light coming in from the single window into the brotherhood’s office had grown dim. But, outside it wasn’t any colder yet. After waking up, I had simple meal, then spent an hour tuning my plate armor to fit well over my new padded coat and leather gloves. Afterward, I took a pleasant walk to the Brotherhood headquarters by myself. And this time, I came fully geared just in case.

“Was I wrong?” I asked. “I had spotted the skulls underneath the floorboards through a crack. I pressed him about it, and he came at me with a knife, so I killed him. Afterwards, I confirmed that the skulls belonged to young women.”

Commander nodded. “I believe you. One of the skulls matched a woman. She had an injury to her chin.”

This time, the office had more people in it. Five men stood around the office. They were conveniently spread out to surround me. I could tell that they were only pretending to be working.

The commander brought out a hefty coin purse. He loosened the drawn strings on it. Methodically and stack by stack he counted out eight stacks of ten crowns each. He placed them out them before me on the counter, then handed me the empty purse.

From what I observed, the commander looked like he was retired, but just wouldn’t stay away. While he did a great job of hiding it, I could tell he had an injury from the way he walked and stood. It was probably why he was on desk duty now, instead of being out on the streets. Being stuck indoors like that would make me mad too.

My other suspicion was that the commander had the Bounty Hunter profession just like me. It was probably a lot more upgraded than mine. That, plus all the other five men in the room surrounding me meant one thing. He knew.

I started taking the stacks and placing them back in the purse. The coins were heavier than I had expected, and made me feel rich.

The commander cleared his throat. “A few had gone missing recently. There’s even a reward if someone knows the location of a body.”

There it is. “Is that right? What are their names?” I said casually.

Commander recited me the names of the five missing. “You don’t happen to know what happened to them do you? They might have been with Stefan.”

I was right. I considered acting like I had no idea what he was talking about. But for one, I knew it wouldn’t work, and two, I didn’t want to play this game of pretend like a couple of kids.

I sighed. “They had killed and looted a group in the crypts on Arcby. Ember’s party. We discovered them, but were caught by Stefan and his men. It was either us, or them. We won.”

He nodded. “And I should believe you? You may have killed Ember’s group yourself, and then Stefan caught you instead. So you killed him and his party.”

I shrugged. “I’ll take you to where they are, and you can check yourself. But, I fully expect the ten crown reward for that information.”

The commander gestured to a couple of men. “Go with him and check that he’s telling the truth.”

I didn’t like being babysat, but it was unavoidable. Plus, it was well worth the extra coin. I had good plans for it. I took the remaining stack, and hefted the coin purse up and down. The coins jingled, felt heavy. I tucked away the purse in my satchel.

This time I knew which way to go, and had a fair recollection of the crypts and path to take. We took the street heading west to the portal, then another until we arrived on Arcby. The sun shone bright above. The visor on my helmet provided shade for my eyes, and the rest of the gear kept me cool for the time.

All along the way, the two men didn’t speak or ask questions, which was fine by me. They didn’t look like no rookies. Both of them were well armored and carried swords. We entered the catacombs and descended lower. When we arrived at the vast chamber, the staging area was deserted, and silent.

“Something is off,” I said. Unless we happened to come at a dead time? “Don’t you-”

“Shh-” one of the men said, and they both unsheathed their swords and donned their helmets.

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Good, I wasn’t the only one feeling it. I detached the star from the shield. I had maxed it out to the thirty pound limit. Now the blades were meaty, and it had extra steel in the center to give it serious momentum.

I pointed in the direction to the passage leading to the crypts. “There,” I whispered.

They glanced at the floating star and shield beside me but didn’t say anything. They sneaked ahead, scanning from side to side.

The light from the lanterns carried by the two did little to illuminate the many dark areas and alcoves. Last time I was here, the light from the groups in the area had lit up the place. Now it felt like we were walking into an ambush. They must have felt it too, because they slowed to a crawl, stepping light so as not to make any noise.

A stench of death and decay hung in the area, stronger than before. I spun up the star on my right, moved the shield to cover the rear. Subtle clicking sounds of claws against stone drew closer. Like a dog running over marble flooring. Then it was silent again.

A couple of shapes crashed down on top of the two men ahead of me. Pinned them to the ground. Their lanterns clattered, one went out.

I cast burst of clarity. Scanned from side to side. To my left an undead was in a midst of pouncing at me. Dead yellow eyes, pale skin, chunks of flesh hanging off. Its cold hands were aiming for me. I recognized his face.

I barely had time to duck. It careened over my shoulder, hit my helmet, tumbled past me.

Ahead of me, the two men were screaming, metal clanged against the ground. The attackers were fast. Incredibly so. Armor or not, the two men were being ripped apart, limb from limb. Blood sprayed the ground.

I directed the star in their direction, but something swung at it with a loud clang. Sparks flew, and the star was flung aside out of my control range.

Growling sounds surrounded me, grew in intensity. More shapes drew closer. Undead. I recognized their faces too. His especially.

I turned and blinked toward the exit, and away from the light. I cast Ironclad too. Plates of iron materialized, coated my body.

Something grabbed at my foot, and then the other. I crashed down, felt myself being pulled back. I swung at whatever held me, but it did nothing. As if the very darkness itself had a hold of me. The tips of my gauntlets scrapped against the ground, but I couldn’t find anything to latch on to.

I was pulled right back, right to the overturned lantern. The tendrils of darkness lifted me up by my feet, left me hanging upside down right before them.

Several undead were feeding still. They had cracked the two men wide open. Blood covered them, dripped from their mouths down to their bellies.

Stefan’s gaunt face looked me in the eye. His head was crudely stitched on at the neck. His blonde hair was marred in blood.

He removed my helmet and smiled. “I was hoping you’d come back,” Stefan said in a voice that no longer sounded human. “But, I would have come hunting for you and your friends soon anyway.”

“What the hell are you?” I said.

He laughed. “Life was a curse. Let me repay you.”

He grabbed me by one of my horns, brought the blade of his sword up to my neck.

I spat at his grinning face, and cast [Backtrack, 70 min]

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