Chapter 11: Rabbit Hunt

The morning after Bella’s transformation, an emergency summons was called for every knight in Colbrand, and Alexis, Sophia, and Cyrilo could imagine why. Alexis, in her battle dress, and Sophia, in her white vestments, made the journey to the palace with Cyrilo in tow. They walked the busy streets, taking no time to sample the smells and sounds of the city waking up.

“I knew I should have replaced that lockbox. I just kept putting it off and putting it off. This is what I get for being lazy,” Cyrilo muttered softly to herself.

“I can’t believe this is happening. Our Bella has become a ravenous monster,” said Sophia.

“Damn right, she’s ravenous, she took a big bite out of me,” said Alexis. Sophia had managed to heal her many wounds, from her concussion and broken bones to her bite wound, but she was still in a sour mood from the encounter. “Explain this to me again. Bella was sick and came to you for medicine?”

“That’s right. She said a customer had bitten her and felt something was wrong. Before I could try to help her, she began to transform,” said Cyrilo.

Alexis stopped and turned around. “Uh-huh, and you expect me to believe that.”

“That’s exactly what happened.”

“Is it? Sophia?” Sophia couldn’t meet Alexis’s gaze. She had given Cyrilo her word she wouldn’t tell anyone about the venom, but though she was bound to keep her secret, she refused to lie. Her silence was all Alexis needed to understand the situation. “You should hope the king and his attendants are more gullible.”

As Alexis turned back around and resumed walking, Sophia grabbed Cyrilo’s arm. “I tell you this now, I will not lie to my superiors,” she said in an angry whisper.

“That’s fine, just keep your mouth shut and let me do all the talking.”

“And what happens when people start dying? You think you can talk your way out of that?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time. Listen, how this started doesn’t matter, only how it ends. We go in, tell everyone that Bella was bitten by the “real” culprit, and let them run with it, now let go of me!”

“I can hear you both!” Alexis hollered from up ahead.

They hurried to the castle, where every knight had gathered in the throne room before the king. Standing beside the king, Berholm stepped forward. “Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I’m afraid we have a situation. Two bronze knights and several civilians were murdered last night in an apparent monster attack. However, the one surviving victim reported that it was actually a woman with superhuman speed and strength, attacking like a rabid animal.” His words shocked everyone, and in the back, Sophia felt her heart drop into her stomach. “Now, we’ve kept this quiet from the public, but we’ve had reports from Prince Lupin of a resurgence of the Profane in Welindar. He’s been fighting mutated beastmen afflicted with dark powers. In all likelihood, this woman is one such case.

For those of you who are unaware, the Profane are monstrous cannibals, feeding on the flesh and blood of the innocent. They are nocturnal predators, avoiding the sun at all costs, but they wield unholy magic that makes them incredibly powerful and dangerous. The two slain knights were killed before they could even draw their swords. Any questions so far?”

Cyrilo raised her hand. “Excuse me, but there is something I must say.”

The crowds parted, letting her face the king. “Madam Cyrilo, is that you? What are you doing here?” Berholm asked.

“I am indeed, and I’m here to take responsibility. The woman causing this terror is one of mine, a working girl named Bella. She came to me last night, claiming that a customer had bitten her and left her feeling ill. The customer had vanished, and before I could help her, she began to transform as the curse of the Profane spread throughout her body. Were it not for Lady Veres and Lady Rosege, who fended her off as she went on a rampage, I would surely be dead.”

“Thank you for coming forward with this. I’m sure you understand that we cannot allow this Bella girl to live, even if she hadn’t murdered several others. Her very existence is a threat to the city. Now, rumors about the murders have already begun to spread through the public. They believe it is a monster attack, and that’s exactly what we want them to think, at least until we’ve put this girl down. We don’t want a panic spreading. We’re going to fan out and we’re going to search this city quietly. Go door to door, check attics and crawlspaces, anywhere she could hide from the sun. We don’t rest until she’s found. We can’t give her another chance to feed.”

The king then stood up from his throne. “All of you, this is an ancient evil that our ancestors gave their lives to vanquish. Be ready to make that same sacrifice, for that is what it will take to fight this menace. Go now, and may the gods watch over us all.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” the knights chanted with a salute.

“Madam Cyrilo, Lady Veres, Lady Sophia, please approach,” said Berholm.

As the rest of the knights streamed out of the throne room, the three women approached, but surprisingly, one other knight stayed behind. “Sir Elyot, are you involved in this as well?” Berholm asked.

“Not exactly, but I know Bella and am acquainted with Madam Cyrilo. This is of a personal interest to me,” the hooded mage replied as he straightened his glasses.

“Very well. Madam Cyrilo, tell us everything you can about this woman. It might offer us insight into her next move.”

Cyrilo cleared her throat. “Bella worked for me for a number of years and was one of my best girls. She was cheerful, friendly, and loved her job. However, things changed when a certain someone passed through my doors.”

“A certain someone?” the king asked.

“Noah, the Wandering Spirit. I befriended Noah, and he helped me with my business, as you know. He and Bella established a certain ... routine; he coming by frequently while studying at the academy. Noah was her favorite customer, and she fell head-over-heels in love with him. After the events of the previous Knight’s Day, when Noah had to flee the city, Bella felt abandoned and fell into a downward spiral.

She was inconsolable, and her grief wore away at her sanity. She became violent and delusional, obsessed with Noah’s return. Sophia and I tried to help her, looking for ways to stabilize her emotions, but nothing worked, and eventually, I told her that she would have to leave the Knight’s Sheath. That’s when she was bitten and transformed, then tried to kill me. Fortunately, Sophia was able to drive her off with her holy powers.”

“Then she’s likely to return to the Knight’s Sheath,” said Elyot. “She’ll want to satisfy her grudge with her newfound abilities, as well as eat her fill.”

“If you’re right, then that means we can set a trap for her,” said Berholm.

“I’m fine with being used as bait, but I don’t want any of my girls to be put in danger.”

“If she does return to the Knight’s Sheath and finds anything amiss, she may suspect what we have planned,” Elyot countered.

“If I may speak?” Alexis piped. “We can avoid endangering civilians if we replace all the customers and girls with knights. Then we can have a full house of people ready to attack should she arrive.”

“An excellent suggestion,” said the king. “Sir Elyot, I’m leaving you in charge of setting the trap. Assuming we fail to find her before nightfall, we’ll lure her to the Knight’s Sheath.”

“I’ll begin making preparations immediately,” he replied with a bow.

“May fortune be on our side. All of you, dismissed,” said the king.

Elyot and the three women left the throne room, walking down the palace corridors. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, Lewis?” Cyrilo asked. “I see you’re doing well for yourself. I’m glad.”

“Don’t call me that. We aren’t friends.”

“We used to be, once.”

“And like you said, it’s been a long time.”

“You’re still mad and think I stole Bella from you.”

“I am mad, but not about that. I’ve long-since realized that she and I were a bad match-up. She made it clear I couldn’t give her what she wanted, and if she didn’t leave me for the Knight’s Sheath, she was going to leave me for something or someone else. I’ve come to terms with that. But I still care about her just enough to be mad at you for not keeping her safe.”

“I’m mad at myself for that, believe me.”

“Still, to think she would fall so crazy-in-love with Noah, of all people.”

“It was a one-sided romance. Bella was his favorite girl, but I think that’s just because she was so eager to please him. It used to be that only wealthy customers could afford her, but when it came to Noah, she was basically his pet. She’d wait by the window anxiously, counting down the days until his next visit.”

“My student sure has left quite the mess in his wake.”

“Student? He had probably surpassed you before he even left the academy.”

“You know what he truly is, don’t you? I’ve heard details from Lady Veres’s testimony, but you probably have the whole picture.”

“He’s like no one in this world, I can tell you that much.”

“And what about you two? Did he tell you anything?” Elyot asked Alexis and Sophia.

“Let’s just say that his nickname is apt,” replied Alexis.

While the group of four returned to the Knight’s Sheath and prepared, knights and soldiers scoured the city, searching for Bella. They checked everywhere she could be hiding, even using dogs following the scent of her perfume, but they found no track or trace of her. As the sun began to sink, all the knights were directed to the Knight’s Sheath to set the trap. There, male knights pretended to be customers, while female knights disguised themselves as courtesans, all dressed in fitting clothes. All of the real working girls had been evacuated to a safe location to wait, and any clients arriving were turned away and told that Cyrilo was hosting a private party.

“This might be one of the worst assignments I’ve ever had,” said Frigga, dressed in stockings and a lacy corset and delivering drinks to one of the tables.

“I think you look good,” Holmes teased, receiving his mug.

Everyone was only allowed to drink water and nonalcoholic beverages, assuring they would be sober and ready for battle should Bella arrive. Distributing drinks was all a part of the act, making it seem like everything was running normally, just in case Bella was observing.

“Do you have any idea how many men here have grabbed my ass since I put this costume on? Men I work with and see every day? I don’t think they understand that this is just supposed to be a rouse.”

“Well, if things go south, hopefully, getting your ass grabbed will be the worst thing that happens to you tonight.”

“I’m serious. The next man who touches me is getting beaned in the head with a mug until I’m holding just the handle and—eek!” She jerked as someone from the next table over reached out and copped a feel. “Oh, that’s it!” Frigga shouted before attacking him.

While this was going on, Alexis was running the bar with Lucius. It felt strange to be surrounded by all these knights. Contrary to the establishment’s name, knights did not typically frequent brothels for fear of tarnishing their reputation. Then, a familiar face entered the building and sat at the counter, to her shock.

“Sir Aithorn!” she exclaimed, face-to-face with the elf.

“Lady Veres, it is good to see you,” he said, surprising her with a polite smile.

“You as well, sir! I haven’t seen you since we were paired up during the last Red Revelry.”

“Yes, I remember. You proved yourself to be an exceptional archer and knight.”

“Thank you, sir! Your words humble me.”

“I heard you even used those skills to take down an ogre pack.”

“Who told you that?”

“Our mutual friend, Noah.”

“Wait, you’ve met Noah?”

“I did. I was tasked with arresting him for the incident with Prince Seraph. I followed him and Lady Zodiac all the way to Sylphtoria. He and I actually became friends.”

“Sir, please hold on for a moment.” Alexis spotted Sophia and waved her over. “This is Sir Aithorn, he knows where Noah is!”

“Really? Please, tell us everything!”

“Well, as I was saying, Sir Gradius and I were tasked with arresting him and Lady Valia, but the two of them ended up defeating us and all of our troops. Still, I pursued them, going on ahead and following them into the Anorvan Forest. I arrived in Sylphtoria to find a sickness spreading through the people, and the queen, in her just wisdom, tasked Noah with solving the epidemic while I was assigned to supervise.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that Noah was an expert in his field. I watched him create amazing tools and medicines. Not only did he avert a plague, but he captured the one responsible for spreading it, preventing the queen’s assassination in the process. For that, he was granted the title of Lord and became a friend to the elven kingdom.”

“If anyone could avert a plague, it’s Noah,” Sophia hummed with a smile.

“He’s really been busy since leaving the academy. And how is Lady Zodiac?” Alexis asked.

“She and Noah came to Sylphtoria looking for her brother, Valon, and they managed to track his location in an abandoned island in elven territory. We went there, and though we found him, he was not cooperative. Our resulting battle nearly leveled the island, and Valon escaped. Me, Gradius, Noah, and Valia barely survived, but everyone we brought with us was killed in the fighting. Just the four of us returned to the Anorvan Forest.

Valia took the failure hard, and it didn’t help that she had to nurse Noah back from the brink of death after the fight. The last I saw her and Noah, I left them on the dock before sailing with Gradius back to Colbrand.”

“To think that Noah is now living with the elves. Oh, what I would give to visit Sylphtoria, just once!” Sophia said dreamily.

“I hope to see them again,” said Alexis. “There is so much to talk about. What does this mean for Noah’s wanted status?”

“I already told the king that I would not arrest a lord of Sylphtoria, not after everything Noah has done for my queen and my people. I suppose he remains a wanted criminal, and there is still the issue of the bounty on his head.”

Their conversation was paused as all attention was drawn to the stage, where Daniel stepped up with his guitar. “Hello, everybody. I’m Daniel, the Bard of Rock. You know, where I come from, famous musicians will go to warzones and entertain the troops of their home countries, so you could say that being up here is a dream come true for me. I see a couple friends and familiar faces up here. Hey, Holmes.” In the audience, Holmes waved. “Holmes, how long have you been a knight for?”

“Too long!” she shouted, drawing laughs from the other knights.

“Yeah, but you’ve worked in Colbrand for a long time, haven’t you? Fought a lot of bad guys, saved a lot of good people? You’re a real hero, a real ‘Man for all Seasons,’ some might say. Holmes, this first song is for you.”

Daniel began to play his guitar, filling the Knight’s Sheath with mana. The music left all the knights hypnotized, while the lyrics made them laugh, with Holmes shaking his head with a grin and red cheeks. After the song finished, Daniel looked around the crowd.

“Oh, Frigga! Come up here.” Frigga was hesitant but climbed onto the stage, standing nervously beside Daniel. “Now, nobody knows this, but Frigga and I once spent a long romantic vacation together.” Like Holmes, Frigga burst into laughter and shook her head, denying everything, with everyone in the crowd laughing with her. “Oh, come on, you and I had fun. It was pretty epic and passionate. You could almost say it was a ‘Delirious Love.’”

He once more began to play, bewitching everyone with his music. Frigga stood beside him, grinning and blushing in embarrassment and occasionally throwing her head back in laughter at the lyrics. Daniel played to the adoring crowd as he did every evening, and once he was finished, all the knights went upstairs to resume their rouse. In every room, candles were lit, and curtains were drawn, but there were no knocking boots or shaking mattresses. Everyone was lying in wait, now fully armed and armored.

Hours passed, with the evening activity in Colbrand steadily winding down as lamps and candles were extinguished and people took to the comfort of their beds. Eventually, the city was quiet, save for patrolling soldiers looking for a particular nighttime predator, and one drunk shambling down a dark street. While muttering, he took frequent sips from the bottle in his hand, only to eventually realize it was empty. He cursed and dropped it down a nearby well, then turned away to keep walking, but stopped. He should have heard a silent pause and then a splash, but instead, the bottle struck something almost as soon as it left his hand.

Curious, she shambled back. He peered down into the well, and out of the darkness, a pale hand reached up and grabbed his face. He was pulled into the well, never even having the chance to scream. For several moments, there was only the sound of ripping flesh and dripping gore, then silence, and Bella slowly crawled out from the depths of the well, now soaked in blood. Despite her meal, she was still hungry. It was time to hunt.

Bella crouched down onto all fours and then jumped, launching herself high into the air as if thrown from a trebuchet. She soared over Colbrand before landing atop a cathedral tower. Perched like a gargoyle, she looked out across the city, her eyes picking up every minute detail and her ears aware of every noise. She spotted a group of soldiers on patrol, out searching for her. She decided to save them the trouble of looking.

Bella dropped down from the tower and landed silently on the ground, then once more got down on all fours. She pushed off, shaking the ground with her dismount, now sprinting through the streets so fast that she was a blur. As she closed in on the soldiers, her body transformed. Two massive talons grew from her heels, each razor-sharp like scythes, while a pair of bone blades grew out of her forearms. She closed in on the soldiers, none of them hearing her approach. Bella zoomed through the group as though rushing to get past them, only to stop. Behind her, the men all collapsed, hacked to pieces. Their steel armor was cut as easily as their flesh, and they all died without knowing what had happened.

Bella feasted on their butchered corpses, tearing into their muscles and organs and drinking their blood. Their hearts and brains were her first pick, providing the best flavor. As soon as she finished eating, she felt herself getting hungry again. She had devoured several times her own body weight in solid meat, yet her belly wasn’t even swollen. She needed more.

She went on the prowl again, ending up in an open area before a chapel. She knew this place, not just because she had been there before, but because it was the scene of the Night of a Hundred Heads. This was where her darling slaughtered an army of bounty hunters. Of course, such a feat was easy for her beloved. He was a true warrior, and she had witnessed his lustful strength plenty of times. It was just a shame that it was so long ago. She would have given anything to have been there while he worked, surrounded by all those delicious bodies, ready to be drained and eaten.

“Darling, oh darling, where are you?” She stood up and began to hum a song her mother used to sing to her, then slowly started to dance. “Hush, hush, let the dream fall...” She imagined Noah was with her, one hand on her hip, the other clutching hers, the two of them dancing in the moonlight through a lake blood. “Just as snow drifts from the white sky...” Someday, she would find her darling, and they would get married, just as she always wanted. “And all the world will hear your call...” Would they retire to a small cottage in the countryside and raise their children together? “And wipe the tears from your bright eyes...” Or would they use their combined powers to take over the world and rule as king and queen, spending every night in the royal bedchamber, their bodies intertwined, Noah making her moan and cry out in bliss just as he used to?

“The fire warms the hearth of home...” Once she found him, she’d never let him go again, never be without his touch. “The wind blows the seeds of spring...” Would he accept her as she now was, having become a feaster of human flesh? “The memories sink into the fertile loam...” Of course, he would accept her. How could he not? They were soul mates, destined to be together forever. “And the rain will guide you back to me.” Her thoughts were interrupted by her rumbling stomach. She needed to feed again. Maybe she would be satisfied if she consumed everyone in the Knight’s Sheath. “Soon, darling, soon I will find you. But for now, I have business to attend to.”

She set off, running across rooftops towards the Knight’s Sheath. When she arrived, all was quiet and dark, but she could sense countless beating hearts inside, all waiting to be swallowed. The question was how to get in? The doors would all be locked, but her bedroom window wouldn’t. She launched herself towards the Knight’s Sheath and latched onto the wall beside her room, then opened the window and crawled inside. Crouched in the window, the air smelled pungent to her, filled with thick incense and perfume. It stopped her from smelling the person in her bed and distracted her from the sound of her heartbeat.

“Hey, Bella, eat this.” Alexis released her arrow, sending it drilling through the side of Bella’s head and skewering her brain. She turned to Alexis and emitted a bloodcurdling shriek, then dodged as Alexis came at her with a sword. “She’s here! Everyone move!”

Bella burst into the hallway as every door opened, revealing countless knights with their weapons drawn. Holy light flooded the building, not enough to wound Bella, but enough to sear her night vision. Regardless, Bella ripped the arrow from her head and charged, attacking the knights with her own blades. The knights with warrior and monk magic faced her first, augmenting their abilities to counter her own, yet they were knocked over like bowling pins as she ran them over. The less fortunate lost blood, limbs, and even their lives.

Three arrows planted themselves in Bella’s back from Alexis, but she shrugged them off and turned the corner. “Madam Cyrilo, where are you?” she sang with a demented laugh. She arrived in the parlor, where all the furniture had been removed, and Lucius was waiting.

“Bella, please don’t make me do this,” he said, brandishing a sword.

“And what can you possibly do against me?”

“I can distract you. Now!”

Lucius then ducked behind the bar just as Bella was struck by a wave of magical sound. She turned around, spotting Daniel onstage and playing his guitar, now laden with enhancement gems. However, instead of a typical song, it was a searing riff, focused into a linear attack and hitting her like a tsunami. The sound waves were assaulting her superhuman hearing, and the mana was scrambling her thoughts, robbing her ability to think.

As Daniel kept her occupied, the knights swarmed down into the parlor and surrounded her. They threw harpoons at her like a whale, each tethered with a chain and lodging themselves deep in her flesh. The knights pulled hard on the chains, restricting her movements and pinning her.

Next, Madam Cyrilo and several mages stepped forward and blasted her with jets of fire from multiple directions. The building had been enchanted with resistance to fire and magic, so there was no chance of it going up in flames, but the same couldn’t be said for Bella, who was screaming in agony as they burned her alive. All they had to do now was deliver the finishing blow. Daniel paused his music, and the mages halted their magic for just a moment, and Aithorn pounced, wielding his lightning-wrapped spear to end her life. At that moment, Bella retaliated.

A tremor moved through her charred body, all her muscles suddenly swelling and ejecting the harpoons as though spitting them out. She caught the shaft of Aithorn’s spear, her blackened hand already regrowing new skin, then jumped up and kicked him in the chest with enough force to send him flying. Her movements were so fast that not even his elf eyes could catch them. She then hurled the spear at Daniel, stabbing him in the shoulder and taking him out of commission.

Lying on his back, impaled, Daniel groaned and cursed in pain. “Where’s the fucking holy hand grenade when you need it?!”

Bella stood up and released a mad cackle as her body regenerated with frightening speed. Standing naked, she held out her arms and hopped like a boxer. “Come on, boys! Who thinks they’re man enough to satisfy me?! I’ll take you all on, no charge!”

Lucius attacked her from behind, aiming for the back of her neck, but to his horror, Bella’s head spun around three rotations, and she caught his sword with her teeth. Her body twisted around to match her head, and she used the rotational momentum to build up speed and kick him in the chest, sending him flying just as she did Aithorn.

All of the knights charged Bella as one, swinging their weapons, and so did they meet their end. Bella rushed through the crowd, hacking and slashing with her blades, carving the men down. Holmes went at her with a fencing thrust of his saber, and with a mad grin, Bella took the attack head-on, letting the blade pierce her eye and burst out of the back of her skull. Holmes stared in horror, with Bella staring right back and grinning.

“What a surprise, Holmes. For once, you’re not slacking on the job.”

She swung her leg and sliced off his arm with the talon on her foot. As she wrenched his sword out of her brain, a knight attacked her with a mace and smashed her across the face. She took the blow without even staggering, then turned to him with her jaw bone nearly ripped from her skull. She reaffixed her jaw into position, only to then unhinge it like a snake, widening her mouth enough to take a massive bite out of his skull. Having lost his face and half of his brain, he fell to the floor, dead like countless others.

Bella leaped to the side, dodging a sword slash from Aithorn. He chased after her with a fluid sequence of slashes and thrusts, sending black blood flowing from countless wounds, only to immediately heal. Aithorn was barely keeping up with her, finding his elven speed soon surpassed by Bella’s fiendish agility. Though not a trained warrior, her evasive abilities rapidly improved, with each injury Aithorn inflicted smaller than the one before. It wasn’t long before she retaliated with her blades, bringing them to a stalemate.

“Sophia! Give me a buff!” Alexis shouted as she jumped into the fray, her blue battle dress billowing.

Sophia, busy tending to the wounded, aimed her hand at Alexis. “Blessing of Advanced Thought!” she cast, augmenting Alexis’s reflexes. While healing the fallen knights, one blessing was all she could provide, but it would have to be enough.

Alexis attacked Bella from the opposite side of Aithorn, the two warriors trying to crush her. She and Noah had fought Valia like this in the academy, but things were very different now. For one thing, though Valia was sparring with them as a teacher at the time, Alexis could sense nothing but madness and bloodlust coming from Bella. Her desire to kill was a palpable force, and every time Alexis looked into Bella’s eyes, she felt like an icy hand was around her throat. And while Valia’s movements were honed from centuries of training, Bella’s were purely instinctive and primal. She could not be compared to a mere wild animal, but rather a predator far superior to the species of elf and human. Her moves, while feral, were performed with such speed and power that they negated the effectiveness of actual skill.

Their attacks failed to inflict meaningful damage, while she grew more powerful with each passing second. She blocked and countered with the blades on her arms and the talons on her feet, jumping and twisting with seemingly limitless flexibility. Aithorn was just barely holding her back, and if not for Sophia’s blessing, Alexis would have already died. As Bella’s attacks grew in deadliness, so did her killing field expand, with Aithorn and Alexis having to step back to escape her sharp acrobatics.

“Sir Aithorn!” a knight shouted as he tossed the elf his spear.

“Dragon Impaler!” he cast the moment he caught it.

With lightning radiating from the blade, he spun the spear in his grip, creating a deadly drill of pure energy. He lunged forward, aiming for Bella’s heart, but she stepped to the side to dodge it and reached towards his face with her forearm blade. It stopped just an inch from his eye, halted by Alexis stabbing Bella through the arm. Alexis released a cry of fury and wrapped the edge in mana, then pushed her sword forward towards Bella and opened her arm like she was pulling a zipper. Her blade slipped free at the shoulder, and she sliced through Bella’s neck.

Bella staggered, and for one brief moment, it appeared she had been decapitated as her head fell back and exposed the severed muscles, arteries, and windpipe. However, the spine remained intact, and Bella suddenly lurched forward towards Alexis, swinging her partially-severed head like a flail. Their foreheads collided, and Alexis was knocked to the ground, left unconscious.