Chapter 35

Janet and Lillian had been listening in on my comments through our link, so when I said I was not alone, Janet came crashing through the window that investigated the atrium. Lillian would make herself known when the time was right. We needed to keep him off guard if we were going to succeed. Seeing Janet nearby brought me a sense of relief, though I was worried about leaving Ingrid up on the second floor alone.

((Do not worry, Davik, I sent the two with me up to make sure she got to us okay and Lillian’s two are joining the fray very soon.))

I looked over to see Elise and Irenia had indeed entered the room with their weapons drawn.

“How! How did they get in here? I had guards and soldiers patrolling outside this place and had spies in town!”

“Thank your little pet over there,” I said, gesturing to Violet. “In her rush to get back here, she failed to close the doorway in the inn that leads to the tunnel system. Then all it took was just following Lillian’s nose to find the route Violet took to return here.”

“You Stupid Fucking Bitch!” Brenson screamed, his whole body shaking in anger. “Your incompetence led them here without any resistance! Who knows how much damage they have caused because of your thoughtlessness?”

“Fuck you, Brenson,” Violet yelled back, still pinned under the body of the brute. “If you had not left me, or had come to get me away from them, I would not have had to use your precious, fucking tunnels.”

I raised my hand, “I know how much damage we have caused, in case you were wondering. We have killed around fifteen to twenty of your soldiers and guards, as well as cured or killed the people down in the pens. The slaves that wanted freedom are waiting in their cells until we are done with you, when they will be helped towards living as free people.”

Brenson looked irritated and appalled that we were able to do so much before arriving to thwart his murder of Violet.

“You two,” Brenson barked at the brutes that were nearest to him. “Get down to the dungeon and do whatever you can to secure that exit! I do not want anyone else coming in that way and helping this bastard cause any more problems.”

“Oh, I would not do that if I were you.” I said, knowing that it would further irritate him.

His focus turned back to me and I just smiled back, relishing the situation I had been fortunate to be given. With each new thing I divulged, he only seemed to become enraged further.

“There are two reasons why you should not try and send those brutes down there. First, when I sent off the young girl - the one you had ordered to clean and feed me - down that tunnel, I had them disable the entrance permanently. That means you have lost that method of escape, at least from this side of the network.”

He screamed in frustration yet again, “Then what is the second reason, you irritating son of a bitch?”

“The second reason is, because she would not like it if you did, and I would not want to upset her.” I answered, pointing behind him.

Brenson turned to see Lillian in all her glory, with Ingrid, Kayla and Cherish armed and ready to fight. A look of terrified shock and unconcealed envy appeared on his face as he gazed upon her.

“How is this possible?” muttered Brenson, an astonished look on his face. “No Voguel can change without a blood moon! She has to be at least fifty years into the change to get that big; this is impossible.”

“Well, I am surprised that Violet did not tell you, when she was betraying her friends and loved ones. She has known about Lillian’s ability to change at will since she ran away from Cartha. Ahh, well, too late to tell you all about it now, because soon you will be far too dead to put it to any use.”

Brenson screamed, “Attack,” and the brutes leapt into battle, charging us as they did their master’s bidding. Brenson moved towards his throne, removing himself from the fight, but allowing himself a suitable position to watch from.

Despite using my enhancements, the brutes were able to keep up with us, even with the heavy armor that they were wearing. Even the masks they wore had a back piece, protecting them from injury and making my method of dispatching them no longer an option.

I tried to find an opening while dodging my current target’s blows, but mis-stepped and had to block a punch aimed at my torso. I was able to cross my arms in front of my chest just before his fist came in contact and the blow caused me to slide backwards a few inches. The force of the blow knocked the wind out of me, leaving me momentarily disoriented, and his next blow landed against my face, sending me flying. I crashed into the ground and rolled for a bit, before coming to a stop not that far from Brenson.

Janet became angrier at seeing me hurt like that and decided that the brute who hit me had to die, even with another one attacking her. She dodged each of his punches, causing him to become angrier with each try, until the brute’s blows became wilder and less controlled.

Once she saw her opening, she jabbed her sword into her target’s throat hard enough to push it clean through his neck. She withdrew her sword as the body fell and turned to face the brute who had attacked me. Lillian was dealing with a brute of her own, with Ingrid ensuring that the brute was distracted enough to not hit either of them. I noticed their tactics were like the rest of the girls who paired off to deal with brutes of their own.

This left only one brute who was stalking towards Violet. While I did not personally like what she had turned herself into, I was not about to let her die needlessly. I silently ran up behind the brute, noticing that he had an unprotected area to exploit. The crook of the knee did not have any mail or leather as a protective measure. I readied my knife and slid up between his legs, slicing horizontally across both legs. I succeeded in severing the tendons that ran along the back of his legs, causing him to fall to the ground. I leapt onto his back and brought my knife to bear on his throat, slicing it open.

“Why did you do that, Davik?” Violet demanded, anger in her voice. “After all I did and was going to do to you and everyone close to you!”

“Despite all you have done, I could not forget who you once were. That Violet would know that I would never let anyone I care for die, not if I can prevent it and especially not someone who is in no position to defend themselves.”

“I am not defenseless, “she muttered angrily, an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. “And I neither need your sympathy, nor do I need your pity.”

“Do not worry, Violet, and I will give you neither, but had I not stopped him, your face would have been punched into pulp.”

She stared at me in shock, though I was unsure what part of my last response had been responsible for that.

With two brutes down, that meant that only four remained and all of them were engaged in a fight with my friends. They would have no trouble taking care of them, which left me with the last threat remaining in the room. I decided to focus my attention on Brenson, who was watching my friends hold their own against his supposedly superior forces.

“What is the matter, Brenson? You did not think it would be that easy to defeat me and my friends, did you? That you would just make a bunch of oversized thugs, cover them in poorly made armor and expect them to plow through your enemies. That is just pathetic and just to let you know, my father’s failures turned out better than the armor these brutes are wearing.”

He turned his focus on me and I watched as my words struck home. Had he really thought it would have been that simple? Could he really be that naive and short sighted, that he honestly thought they would be enough to give him victory?

“That has been the failing of every single plan that you have put into place, your shortsightedness. You never assumed there would be any resistance to your schemes. You made unnecessary miscalculations that have caused you multiple failures.

“The first foolish mistake was when you gave a little shit like Brant, the power of a Voguel and control over Cartha. He had always planned to betray you once he had the means to do so, taking over your forces and using them to fulfill his desires.

“In fact, he wanted nothing more than to kill you the night he murdered his father, but he still needed your help. He was enough of a bastard that he could have been killed when he was in his human form, ending your plans before they began. Violet and Ruben nearly did so before I returned to Cartha - and afterwards.

“The second was assuming that no one would arrive in Cartha, at some point after the Patron’s death that would not wind up in a face off against Brant. He was a bully and all-around piece of shit, with over two thirds of the town wanting him dead. The attacks by him and his minions during the blood moon raids, were the only reason he had not been kicked out of Cartha.

“Neither you, nor he was prepared for me coming back and what I would eventually wind up doing to your plans.

“From there, you have been constantly trying to react to everything I do, giving yourself very little time to come up with a proper plan and failing to think of events going a different way than what you had imagined. You never expected me to get help from the Patron’s men, to rescue Liza from the bandits, which made your plans change and forced your hidden minion to reveal himself.

“You did not realize that your coated blade would cause me to react in a way that was other than you desired, both times it was used.

“You had two blundering oafs try and attack us on the way back from Dru’Tirk but did not prepare them for what I might do to thwart their attempt.

“You also did not count on Lillian interfering and making sure that I got home safe. You had Jethro perfectly placed in town, but he was far too obvious in his attempts to manipulate things to suit your goals. From the beginning, he interfered far too openly with me, forcing my hand and getting the Patron immediately involved. This caused the Patron and me to get close and become friends quickly, probably thwarting a plan to try and sour the Patron against me.

“Once Jethro was found out, you had to react again, pitting Ruben on me with no time to plan how to do so. This also left a very alive and talkative Jethro still in town, able to talk to us and tell us whatever he knew about you.

“Ruben failed and, in the process, I became changed by your efforts, even more so than I had been when I tried to save Liza, which only further destabilize your plans.

“Your only smart move was when Violet left, and Jethro was the one to see where she had gone. You had the perfect opportunity to get rid of a liability and ensure that our search for her was far more difficult. You got to her immediately, knowing that I would go searching for her, making our search for her even more difficult. This would have given you time to learn about us, mold her into what you want and prepare for our eventual arrival in Retvan.

“She was not as you thought either. She was pliable due to her selfish and volatile nature, but you did not account for her impulsiveness. She also, for some reason I cannot understand, failed to tell you important details. Perhaps this was to ensure that you would lose, but that I would end up hurt, dead or losing something I cared about in the process. Her plotting and failure to act any other way than impulsively, allowed my allies to get here to rescue me. Allowing us an advantage, to slip through this building undetected, as well as prepare an onslaught for any who dare escape.”

Brenson got angrier with each failure I mentioned, but then laughed, “Ha, ha, ha, you are quite the comedian, Davik, but you are bluffing. There is no onslaught waiting, my spies would have notified me by now.”

“I had one of the soldiers who came with me, guide that young girl I named Ivy to the inn. Faye has been ordered to gather as many soldiers and skilled archers as she can and arm them with arrows laced with the cure, before marching on your lair! If those who try to escape the building survive the arrows, they will never be Voguel again.

“If they do not survive, there are fewer monsters trying to hurt others in the world. Do you honestly believe that anyone would risk themselves and their positions in Retvan to warn you, and end up dead in the process? Any communications that leave the town, for any reason, would be monitored and intercepted. You have failed, Brenson!”

“NO!” he screamed, as his hands clenched tight in frustration. “She promised me that it would not happen this way! She swore that I would easily win over the unprepared masses of Barack province and that all would cower at the might of creatures they were not prepared for!”

That brought me up short, as I tried to understand what he meant. And then it hit me! He was just a pawn to someone far stronger. He was obeying orders from someone who had taught him everything he knew, but it had to have been over a distance, else he would have been far more experienced. It explained the half-veiled attempts to kill me, as they were planned by a novice, instead of the skilled, tactical mind of an old one.

An old one would have been able to have me killed with no one ever knowing it was them. Brenson had been too obvious, using himself instead of a middleman to make his threats. It would also explain how he was able to start making Voguel after so many failures - she had told him how to do it,

Ruben and my father had just been the first two prospects that had come his way. He hid behind the veil of an old one, to distract anyone from searching for the person behind him. As I looked into his eyes, he saw that I had figured out his ruse and he screamed once again in frustration.

“Who is she, Brenson?! Who is this person who has been using you to further her goals, at the expense of your life? You had to know that she used you, knowing that if anyone were caught, it would be you. This would leave her free to find another to do her bidding, while she remains safely detached from suspicion.”

“It does not matter,” he replied with a weak, cackled laugh, “she is beyond you! You will never find her, she is too well hidden, but it will not matter. You will be far too dead to do anything about it and I will finally be rid of you!”

He moved his arm in a flash and, despite the distance between us, I was unable to stop the knife from piercing my thigh, sending waves of pain through my body. I grabbed the knife and pulled it out of my thigh, grunting from the pain and then threw it as hard as I could at the nearest brute. It embedded itself in his back, piercing the armor due to the force of my throw. A few seconds later he began to sway on his feet, falling to the ground. With their brute now dead, Lillian and Ingrid went to help the others. I locked eyes on Brenson, a smug smile on his face. That is, until I stood up and began to walk towards him.

“There was a unique byproduct of my change, one that Violet was not able to find out about, as she had already run off. Celka and Lillian tested how my body reacted to Wolf’s Bane as well as curare and they were surprised at the results. I am immune to the effects of both, whether in their natural, poisonous form, or if they have been modified through ritual. So, your knife only injured me, but the lethal dose of curare will do nothing. In fact, it will promote faster healing. Your broth that was laced with it, had no effect on me either, or allowed me to focus my body on healing the damage you dealt more quickly.”

Brenson looked horrified to learn that his weapon, along with his poison of choice, did not work. His fear made him turn and run from the room, through an entryway on the west side of the atrium. I could not let him escape and continue this fool’s errand of his, so I ran after him, though the pain in my leg slowed me down some. I made sure to grab my knife from the ground and put it back into its scabbard, before I left the room, sharing a glance with Lillian and Janet as I went.