Cheep!?
Chapter 66
“What do you mean, you can’t find them!?” Snapped Baron Enner as his meaty fists squeezed around the arms of the finest chair in the room at the head of a table laid out with a great deal of food. He had already eaten some of it, having judged that snubbing the adventurers that had put him off for so long was well within his rights. Tabitha had announced their presence, and of course he had instructed her to place them in the least comfortable waiting room they had. No attendants, no wine nor refreshments, naught but a scant view of the outside garden, save for a shrubbery wall. That the act was petty had never even crossed his mind.
And now that he’d heard they weren’t there, a dark outrage began to bubble up within him, “What do they take me for? I’m the Baron of Greenleaf!”
The only other man in the room, save for four brand new guards that had arrived today, was the steward. He was a reedy man with a wizened, cold countenance, bowed with one hand against his chest, “Truly outrageous, Master.”
The Baron reigned in his want to hit someone, given that the only one in range was his trusted steward, and the others were not technically his own guards. He took a deep breath, steadying himself against the newest wave of outrage at the knowledge that the loaned house-guards were almost certainly going to be reporting everything that happened here to the rest of the Noble faction. This was an embarrassment, but he would get things in hand soon enough.
“Fine. Where is Tabitha? Have her help in searching for them, they can’t have gone far.” The Baron feigned a dismissive attitude, affecting a calmness that he certainly didn’t feel within him.
The steward didn’t move from his bow, only hesitating for a moment before he said, “My deepest apologies, Master, but I could not find Tabitha, either.”
This time, Baron Enner had to strain not to throw something across the room, instead his hands clenched harder against the arms of the chair. He was only high tier two, and lacked the power to crush the wood under his hands.
But not for lack of trying.
“You mean to tell me that you cannot even find…” Enner began, before stopping abruptly. The man turned his gaze to the guards at the corners of the room, his rage suddenly vanished with a cold glint that made the men shift uncomfortably at his attention.
‘I’ve only just received these guards this morning, just before those adventurers got here. It’s taking some time to settle them into their proper places in the mansion. Is that coincidence?...’ He glared at the set table before him, suddenly feeling quite foolish, ‘No, if it’s Tabitha… She couldn’t possibly go against me. She knows what she forfeits if she…’
Once more, the Baron felt a tremor of uncertainty run through him, ‘Unless she knows where the Contracts are? Or my logs? Surely, she can’t get into the safe…’ His hopes tasted like ash on his tongue even as he considered them. A part of him refused to believe that Tabitha had anything to do with things, she’d always known her place, why would she turn–
“That bastard, Orson.” Baron Enner murmured to himself darkly. ‘Of course, if he was involved, maybe he promised her that he’d save her family. That’s not possible, but Tabitha doesn't know that. Poor dear, you’ve been misled.’ Enner sighed at the pitiful woman, ‘Now I’ll have to have them killed, too. Shame. I was hoping to get a new stableboy and a new maid.’ Instead of anger, a cold calm seemed to settle over the man.
“Bring Captain Androv here.” The Baron ordered, “And lock down the estate, no one is to leave without my direct permission.”
The steward bowed lower, “Right away, Master.”
With the ease of many practiced years, the man scurried off. The Baron turned his attention to the guards, “Clear the room.”
The four seemed uncertain, but did so quickly, perhaps noticing the crack in the calm facade the Baron had constructed. Without watching them go, the Baron stared off into space with forced apathy. When the last door clicked closed, a snarl ripped out of his lips with a sudden surge to his feet. He flung the chair out and away from him, letting it strike hard against the wall, gouging the fine wallpaper. The Baron slammed his hands down on the table, rattling the entire assortment as he bellowed, “You stupid, conniving witch! You knew better!” He shrieked, “Damned Karsk! Damned politics! Thrice damned, fool poachers!”
In his mind, he had no doubt that everything would have been fine if it weren’t for the poachers. They clearly had been incompetant, how hard was it to grab up some damned beasts!? For decades the Baron had been in control of Greenleaf, enjoying a life of excess and fortune, but now everything was at risk.
He heaved deep breaths as he surveyed the state of the room, now ravaged and scattered with broken wood, food, and porcelain destroyed. With a huff, he made to move to the next room over, just as his loyal steward returned with the captain.
Baron Enner closed the door of the dining room behind him, but the man accompanying the Steward had clearly seen it. Captain Androv was a tall, wide man with brown hair atop a balding head. Enner suppressed his rage at the careful mask of neutrality the man possessed, as it did nothing to conceal the contempt in his gaze.
“Find the adventurers and the head maid. You are to treat them as enemies of the estate and apprehend them. Kill them if they resist.” The Baron said, trying his best to keep his voice from trembling with exertion and adrenaline.
The man seemed like he wanted to say something, but instead merely inclined his head–a slight that the Baron would remember–and then spun on his heel without another word.
“Master, shall I call some maids to clean up?” The steward asked, unafraid.
“Forget it. However, bring with you some of our guards that yet remain loyal to the treasury.” The Baron clenched his fists hard, “Pack up everything you can, the most valuable first, if possible.”
At this, the steward paused before carefully asking, “Do you mean to visit your summer home?”
Baron Enner snorted, understanding that his steward was asking a different question entirely. “For the indefinite and foreseeable future.”
“Forgive my impudence, Master, but… do you expect that things will progress that far?” The man’s gaze shot in the direction that the Captain had already left in.
“If Tabitha has betrayed me, she would do so only with the certainty that she would succeed.” The Baron begrudgingly acknowledged, “These… cretins that parade around as guards aren’t here to help me, they’re here to clean up loose ends.”
The steward paled at that, “Then… are we?”
“Nobleman Karsk likely thinks so, at least. So, we get out of the area and I offer information in return for leniency.” He ground his teeth at that, “I swear by Samut’s name that I’ll get Orson back for all of this. Now get going, I won’t wait forever.”
The man quickly bowed and began moving, “Yes, of course, Master”
As the Baron turned away, he couldn’t help but mentally sigh. Losing his longest running steward was going to be hard, not that Oswald knew that he was as good as ghosted yet, but his summer home had more than enough wealth stashed away for him. Perhaps Oswald would manage to escape with some wealth of his own in return for being a decoy; Enner certainly found no issue with protecting himself first and foremost, and his steward only had himself to blame for not being the Baron.
—----------------------------
Niko watched the heavy-plated man charge forward, greatsword out already and essence roiling around his arms. If there was any doubt in Niko’s mind that the man was an enemy, it was gone the moment the man's eyes shifted to the Wyldwalkers with blatant animosity.
Before Ronald could reposition, Niko was already counter-charging the man, screeching as he did so. Almost automatically, the team organized behind him and the sole enemy judged the distance between them while running, winding up to strike at the Phorus.
Without warning, Niko pushed essence into his leg pattern and became a blur of sapphire, garnet, and amethyst color. The armored foe’s eyes widened, but couldn’t compensate as Niko reared and kicked, essence still surging through his legs. After having battled against golems for so long, Niko had become especially good at instantaneous and powerful strikes. This time Niko did not fold in his talons, instead using them as nature intended, gouging the armored man with his essence-powered kick. The squeal of metal filled the air as the struck man slammed backwards against a wall before clattering to the ground. His torso twisted unnaturally, and blood, and viscera splayed out from the breach.
Niko turned his eyes from the view, not taking pleasure in his kill, but being certain of it when the man didn’t move at all. An instant later, he felt an immense surge of essence flood into his body from his fallen foe, and Niko stood stock still as it raced through his veins. It burned like fire, and felt almost painful, yet in a heady, intoxicating kind of way. As it faded, he felt like he could run a marathon, ‘Whoa, that’s… a good bit more potent than before? Is this because I evolved, or did Venris’ blessing cause that? I could believe that… Damn, that’s a ridiculously feel-good feedback loop for any monster if that’s what that feels like. Yikes.’
“Bant’s bloody hand,” Dachna started, “That’s one helluva hit.”
Niko glanced backwards from the stairwell entrance, noticing that the gathered employees were now much more nervously regarding their group. He didn’t necessarily blame them, Niko hadn’t pulled his punches in the slightest. However, it wasn’t as though that guard had gone for a non-lethal attack, either, he’d immediately gone in for a kill. Niko had done what he had to do.
Ronald must have noticed the atmosphere shifting, because he shouted, “Alright everyone! We need to leave. Is this the only way in or out of here?”
The assorted people shuffled, speaking with one another before Phil finally stepped forward, “It’s the only one. If they’re waiting at the top–”
Ronald cut him off, “Then we’ll deal with it. Everyone, come on, quickly. Miss Tabitha, is there anything we should know?”
Niko noticed the appraising way in which she looked at Ronald as she spoke, “I don’t recognize this guard. He must be with the new ones that came in this morning.”
Ronald nodded at that before stepping forward into the stairwell before turning to look at Niko, “Me or you up front?”
“Me for the straightaway, you for the corner,” Niko answered with Skye’s help. The big man nodded, before pausing and taking the corpse's side-arm, a short sword that would be more useful than his dagger in the close quarters.
“Alright, let's go.” He gestured forward, and Niko started up the stairwell, his senses honed as much as possible to get any kind of early alert. He moved quickly, taking three steps at a time with his wider feet, and outpaced Ronald easily as he neared the bend in the stairwell.
And then noticed a slight shimmer of essence through the wall, barely visible with the ambient essence all around. Niko slowed, before turning his focus towards Skye, “I think there’s someone hiding around the corner.”
Before Ronald could get too far, Skye caught him and relayed the message anxiously. Ronald nodded, doing his best to appear stoic, but Niko could tell the man was nervous.
‘For that matter, I guess it’s odd that I’m not nervous at all. Score one more point for team Phorus, I guess.’ He sarcastically cheered to himself. Admittedly, though, being a bit of a battle-manic bird did have plenty of upsides.
Ronald squeezed past Niko while he continued to stare at the spot in question for Ronald’s benefit. The man followed his gaze while nodding, before intentionally being loud as he came up the last few steps.
When he hit the corner, Ronald was already ducking low, dodging the preemptive swing from around the corner that would have been perfectly aimed to hit him in the head. Ronald grunted as he struck upwards, angling his short sword into the enemy's helm. Whoever they were, they weren’t nearly fast enough to pull back after their invested strike. He shoved the body off of his blade, but didn’t manage to do anything else as he stared at the sight with wide eyes.
Niko waited for a few seconds, still hearing the others climbing the stairwell slowly. Niko himself had already killed people, but now that he thought about it, the Wyldwalkers hadn’t had to do any such thing to his knowledge. Ronald’s eyes told him everything he needed to know about how the man felt about it, too, a light tremble in his sword hand only further accentuating the point. ‘Ugh… I hope you don’t think I’m a callous clucker for this,’ Niko thought to himself before he clapped his beak closed hard. Ronald startled at the sound and looked to Niko, his gaze momentarily falling on the Phorus’ still bloodied talons from Niko’s own kill.
Niko pushed a wave of essence out with his words, trying to get his words directly to Ronald, “It’s hard, but we have a job to do right now. We’ll have time to sort this plucking stuff out later. For now, just remember that guy definitely tried to kill you just now.”
“R-right.” Ronald shook his head, glancing once more at the body and then to his short sword before his gaze firmed up, “You’re right. Okay.” He took a deep breath then, before forcing it out hard, “Thanks, Niko. Are you good for the next passage?”
Niko trilled an affirmative, stepping up and around Ronald. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to step on the body as he did so, and Niko tried to not feel disgusted at the crunch of an ankle under his own foot.
Ronald turned green briefly at that, but quickly mastered himself even as Niko shot him an apologetic look before pushing on. They ascended about halfway before Niko froze.
“What is it?” Ronald asked quietly before he saw Niko’s feathers slowly stand on end. “How bad?”
Niko turned his head towards Ronald heavily, enough that Ronald knew that Niko did not like their chances. “More than ten?” Niko nodded, “Tier two?” Another nod, “How many can you take?” Niko paused at that question, before swaying his head back and forth.
“Does that mean half?” Ronald asked, at which Niko shook his head, “Depends?” Niko affirmed that one. “Ah, depends on how well they respond to the shock attack?”
Niko nodded, “Hah, we’re going to be so pecking good at charades!” He allowed himself the brief amusement before Skye got to them, before sharing Niko’s words jokingly.
Ronald had a slight smile at that, but then tamed it for a more serious look, “Mithel, you think you can bomb the outside of the entrance?”
Mithel squeezed up closer to them, alongside Dachna. She frowned at seeing the door to the stairs closed. “If it’s closed, we’d have to get close enough… that could be… doable. But if I use a bomb, we’re definitely not going to get out unscathed like this.”
Dachna huffed before resting on the wall, then sat up a little straighter with an expression that looked like he’d had an epiphany.
“What’ve you got?” Ronald asked as the others focused on Dachna.
He tapped the wall behind him while looking meaningfully between Mithel and Niko.
The bird and gnome exchanged their own looks and nodded, “Hammertime Special?”
“Definitely.” Niko nodded.
“I like it. Good, let’s let Tabitha know first, they’re going to want to leave a rearguard for a bit. I don’t want to split our team.” Ronald gestured, “Give us a heads up before you get started.”
“Niko can give Skye a shout,” Mithel nodded to her friend before the group split. Niko didn’t need to listen closely to know that they were confused at what they were intending, but Tabitha silenced the unsteady crowd. Niko felt disgruntled at that a bit, they were putting their own hides on the line, yet the group of ex-employees were clearly not taking them seriously. Was it a power thing? Fame? Did Ronald need to act like a stick-up-arse hero to be taken seriously?
‘Actually, that might work? He’s partly there already,’ Niko reconsidered that before Mithel waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention.
“Hey, so, this isn’t the… uhh… normal stuff. I took your advice and amped it up just a little bit, but let me know if you feel abnormally murdery, okay?” Mithel poured out a slightly-purple, glowing dust mixture into a rag.
“Mithel, why the hell is it glowing this time!?” Niko squawked in dismay.
Skye was about to call the question up to Mithel when she pressed the rag to his face. “I’ve always wanted to say this… Stop!”
Niko, confused, inhaled deeply of the dust mixture, before feeling his attention hone to a needle point. He only barely heard Mithel grin and say, “Hammertime!”
‘That sounds real pecking fam–’ Niko’s thoughts stopped dead as he turned towards the wall, essence thrumming almost painfully in his body, a single-minded determination taking hold. He felt every muscle in his form wind up tightly with untapped power.
He only barely didn’t scream out like a psychopath before rearing his head back, sheer essence flow making his beak glow in the darkness. “Hammertime!!!”
Cheep!?
Chapter 66
“What do you mean, you can’t find them!?” Snapped Baron Enner as his meaty fists squeezed around the arms of the finest chair in the room at the head of a table laid out with a great deal of food. He had already eaten some of it, having judged that snubbing the adventurers that had put him off for so long was well within his rights. Tabitha had announced their presence, and of course he had instructed her to place them in the least comfortable waiting room they had. No attendants, no wine nor refreshments, naught but a scant view of the outside garden, save for a shrubbery wall. That the act was petty had never even crossed his mind.
And now that he’d heard they weren’t there, a dark outrage began to bubble up within him, “What do they take me for? I’m the Baron of Greenleaf!”
The only other man in the room, save for four brand new guards that had arrived today, was the steward. He was a reedy man with a wizened, cold countenance, bowed with one hand against his chest, “Truly outrageous, Master.”
The Baron reigned in his want to hit someone, given that the only one in range was his trusted steward, and the others were not technically his own guards. He took a deep breath, steadying himself against the newest wave of outrage at the knowledge that the loaned house-guards were almost certainly going to be reporting everything that happened here to the rest of the Noble faction. This was an embarrassment, but he would get things in hand soon enough.
“Fine. Where is Tabitha? Have her help in searching for them, they can’t have gone far.” The Baron feigned a dismissive attitude, affecting a calmness that he certainly didn’t feel within him.
The steward didn’t move from his bow, only hesitating for a moment before he said, “My deepest apologies, Master, but I could not find Tabitha, either.”
This time, Baron Enner had to strain not to throw something across the room, instead his hands clenched harder against the arms of the chair. He was only high tier two, and lacked the power to crush the wood under his hands.
But not for lack of trying.
“You mean to tell me that you cannot even find…” Enner began, before stopping abruptly. The man turned his gaze to the guards at the corners of the room, his rage suddenly vanished with a cold glint that made the men shift uncomfortably at his attention.
‘I’ve only just received these guards this morning, just before those adventurers got here. It’s taking some time to settle them into their proper places in the mansion. Is that coincidence?...’ He glared at the set table before him, suddenly feeling quite foolish, ‘No, if it’s Tabitha… She couldn’t possibly go against me. She knows what she forfeits if she…’
Once more, the Baron felt a tremor of uncertainty run through him, ‘Unless she knows where the Contracts are? Or my logs? Surely, she can’t get into the safe…’ His hopes tasted like ash on his tongue even as he considered them. A part of him refused to believe that Tabitha had anything to do with things, she’d always known her place, why would she turn–
“That bastard, Orson.” Baron Enner murmured to himself darkly. ‘Of course, if he was involved, maybe he promised her that he’d save her family. That’s not possible, but Tabitha doesn't know that. Poor dear, you’ve been misled.’ Enner sighed at the pitiful woman, ‘Now I’ll have to have them killed, too. Shame. I was hoping to get a new stableboy and a new maid.’ Instead of anger, a cold calm seemed to settle over the man.
“Bring Captain Androv here.” The Baron ordered, “And lock down the estate, no one is to leave without my direct permission.”
The steward bowed lower, “Right away, Master.”
With the ease of many practiced years, the man scurried off. The Baron turned his attention to the guards, “Clear the room.”
The four seemed uncertain, but did so quickly, perhaps noticing the crack in the calm facade the Baron had constructed. Without watching them go, the Baron stared off into space with forced apathy. When the last door clicked closed, a snarl ripped out of his lips with a sudden surge to his feet. He flung the chair out and away from him, letting it strike hard against the wall, gouging the fine wallpaper. The Baron slammed his hands down on the table, rattling the entire assortment as he bellowed, “You stupid, conniving witch! You knew better!” He shrieked, “Damned Karsk! Damned politics! Thrice damned, fool poachers!”
In his mind, he had no doubt that everything would have been fine if it weren’t for the poachers. They clearly had been incompetant, how hard was it to grab up some damned beasts!? For decades the Baron had been in control of Greenleaf, enjoying a life of excess and fortune, but now everything was at risk.
He heaved deep breaths as he surveyed the state of the room, now ravaged and scattered with broken wood, food, and porcelain destroyed. With a huff, he made to move to the next room over, just as his loyal steward returned with the captain.
Baron Enner closed the door of the dining room behind him, but the man accompanying the Steward had clearly seen it. Captain Androv was a tall, wide man with brown hair atop a balding head. Enner suppressed his rage at the careful mask of neutrality the man possessed, as it did nothing to conceal the contempt in his gaze.
“Find the adventurers and the head maid. You are to treat them as enemies of the estate and apprehend them. Kill them if they resist.” The Baron said, trying his best to keep his voice from trembling with exertion and adrenaline.
The man seemed like he wanted to say something, but instead merely inclined his head–a slight that the Baron would remember–and then spun on his heel without another word.
“Master, shall I call some maids to clean up?” The steward asked, unafraid.
“Forget it. However, bring with you some of our guards that yet remain loyal to the treasury.” The Baron clenched his fists hard, “Pack up everything you can, the most valuable first, if possible.”
At this, the steward paused before carefully asking, “Do you mean to visit your summer home?”
Baron Enner snorted, understanding that his steward was asking a different question entirely. “For the indefinite and foreseeable future.”
“Forgive my impudence, Master, but… do you expect that things will progress that far?” The man’s gaze shot in the direction that the Captain had already left in.
“If Tabitha has betrayed me, she would do so only with the certainty that she would succeed.” The Baron begrudgingly acknowledged, “These… cretins that parade around as guards aren’t here to help me, they’re here to clean up loose ends.”
The steward paled at that, “Then… are we?”
“Nobleman Karsk likely thinks so, at least. So, we get out of the area and I offer information in return for leniency.” He ground his teeth at that, “I swear by Samut’s name that I’ll get Orson back for all of this. Now get going, I won’t wait forever.”
The man quickly bowed and began moving, “Yes, of course, Master”
As the Baron turned away, he couldn’t help but mentally sigh. Losing his longest running steward was going to be hard, not that Oswald knew that he was as good as ghosted yet, but his summer home had more than enough wealth stashed away for him. Perhaps Oswald would manage to escape with some wealth of his own in return for being a decoy; Enner certainly found no issue with protecting himself first and foremost, and his steward only had himself to blame for not being the Baron.
—----------------------------
Niko watched the heavy-plated man charge forward, greatsword out already and essence roiling around his arms. If there was any doubt in Niko’s mind that the man was an enemy, it was gone the moment the man's eyes shifted to the Wyldwalkers with blatant animosity.
Before Ronald could reposition, Niko was already counter-charging the man, screeching as he did so. Almost automatically, the team organized behind him and the sole enemy judged the distance between them while running, winding up to strike at the Phorus.
Without warning, Niko pushed essence into his leg pattern and became a blur of sapphire, garnet, and amethyst color. The armored foe’s eyes widened, but couldn’t compensate as Niko reared and kicked, essence still surging through his legs. After having battled against golems for so long, Niko had become especially good at instantaneous and powerful strikes. This time Niko did not fold in his talons, instead using them as nature intended, gouging the armored man with his essence-powered kick. The squeal of metal filled the air as the struck man slammed backwards against a wall before clattering to the ground. His torso twisted unnaturally, and blood, and viscera splayed out from the breach.
Niko turned his eyes from the view, not taking pleasure in his kill, but being certain of it when the man didn’t move at all. An instant later, he felt an immense surge of essence flood into his body from his fallen foe, and Niko stood stock still as it raced through his veins. It burned like fire, and felt almost painful, yet in a heady, intoxicating kind of way. As it faded, he felt like he could run a marathon, ‘Whoa, that’s… a good bit more potent than before? Is this because I evolved, or did Venris’ blessing cause that? I could believe that… Damn, that’s a ridiculously feel-good feedback loop for any monster if that’s what that feels like. Yikes.’
“Bant’s bloody hand,” Dachna started, “That’s one helluva hit.”
Niko glanced backwards from the stairwell entrance, noticing that the gathered employees were now much more nervously regarding their group. He didn’t necessarily blame them, Niko hadn’t pulled his punches in the slightest. However, it wasn’t as though that guard had gone for a non-lethal attack, either, he’d immediately gone in for a kill. Niko had done what he had to do.
Ronald must have noticed the atmosphere shifting, because he shouted, “Alright everyone! We need to leave. Is this the only way in or out of here?”
The assorted people shuffled, speaking with one another before Phil finally stepped forward, “It’s the only one. If they’re waiting at the top–”
Ronald cut him off, “Then we’ll deal with it. Everyone, come on, quickly. Miss Tabitha, is there anything we should know?”
Niko noticed the appraising way in which she looked at Ronald as she spoke, “I don’t recognize this guard. He must be with the new ones that came in this morning.”
Ronald nodded at that before stepping forward into the stairwell before turning to look at Niko, “Me or you up front?”
“Me for the straightaway, you for the corner,” Niko answered with Skye’s help. The big man nodded, before pausing and taking the corpse's side-arm, a short sword that would be more useful than his dagger in the close quarters.
“Alright, let's go.” He gestured forward, and Niko started up the stairwell, his senses honed as much as possible to get any kind of early alert. He moved quickly, taking three steps at a time with his wider feet, and outpaced Ronald easily as he neared the bend in the stairwell.
And then noticed a slight shimmer of essence through the wall, barely visible with the ambient essence all around. Niko slowed, before turning his focus towards Skye, “I think there’s someone hiding around the corner.”
Before Ronald could get too far, Skye caught him and relayed the message anxiously. Ronald nodded, doing his best to appear stoic, but Niko could tell the man was nervous.
‘For that matter, I guess it’s odd that I’m not nervous at all. Score one more point for team Phorus, I guess.’ He sarcastically cheered to himself. Admittedly, though, being a bit of a battle-manic bird did have plenty of upsides.
Ronald squeezed past Niko while he continued to stare at the spot in question for Ronald’s benefit. The man followed his gaze while nodding, before intentionally being loud as he came up the last few steps.
When he hit the corner, Ronald was already ducking low, dodging the preemptive swing from around the corner that would have been perfectly aimed to hit him in the head. Ronald grunted as he struck upwards, angling his short sword into the enemy's helm. Whoever they were, they weren’t nearly fast enough to pull back after their invested strike. He shoved the body off of his blade, but didn’t manage to do anything else as he stared at the sight with wide eyes.
Niko waited for a few seconds, still hearing the others climbing the stairwell slowly. Niko himself had already killed people, but now that he thought about it, the Wyldwalkers hadn’t had to do any such thing to his knowledge. Ronald’s eyes told him everything he needed to know about how the man felt about it, too, a light tremble in his sword hand only further accentuating the point. ‘Ugh… I hope you don’t think I’m a callous clucker for this,’ Niko thought to himself before he clapped his beak closed hard. Ronald startled at the sound and looked to Niko, his gaze momentarily falling on the Phorus’ still bloodied talons from Niko’s own kill.
Niko pushed a wave of essence out with his words, trying to get his words directly to Ronald, “It’s hard, but we have a job to do right now. We’ll have time to sort this plucking stuff out later. For now, just remember that guy definitely tried to kill you just now.”
“R-right.” Ronald shook his head, glancing once more at the body and then to his short sword before his gaze firmed up, “You’re right. Okay.” He took a deep breath then, before forcing it out hard, “Thanks, Niko. Are you good for the next passage?”
Niko trilled an affirmative, stepping up and around Ronald. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to step on the body as he did so, and Niko tried to not feel disgusted at the crunch of an ankle under his own foot.
Ronald turned green briefly at that, but quickly mastered himself even as Niko shot him an apologetic look before pushing on. They ascended about halfway before Niko froze.
“What is it?” Ronald asked quietly before he saw Niko’s feathers slowly stand on end. “How bad?”
Niko turned his head towards Ronald heavily, enough that Ronald knew that Niko did not like their chances. “More than ten?” Niko nodded, “Tier two?” Another nod, “How many can you take?” Niko paused at that question, before swaying his head back and forth.
“Does that mean half?” Ronald asked, at which Niko shook his head, “Depends?” Niko affirmed that one. “Ah, depends on how well they respond to the shock attack?”
Niko nodded, “Hah, we’re going to be so pecking good at charades!” He allowed himself the brief amusement before Skye got to them, before sharing Niko’s words jokingly.
Ronald had a slight smile at that, but then tamed it for a more serious look, “Mithel, you think you can bomb the outside of the entrance?”
Mithel squeezed up closer to them, alongside Dachna. She frowned at seeing the door to the stairs closed. “If it’s closed, we’d have to get close enough… that could be… doable. But if I use a bomb, we’re definitely not going to get out unscathed like this.”
Dachna huffed before resting on the wall, then sat up a little straighter with an expression that looked like he’d had an epiphany.
“What’ve you got?” Ronald asked as the others focused on Dachna.
He tapped the wall behind him while looking meaningfully between Mithel and Niko.
The bird and gnome exchanged their own looks and nodded, “Hammertime Special?”
“Definitely.” Niko nodded.
“I like it. Good, let’s let Tabitha know first, they’re going to want to leave a rearguard for a bit. I don’t want to split our team.” Ronald gestured, “Give us a heads up before you get started.”
“Niko can give Skye a shout,” Mithel nodded to her friend before the group split. Niko didn’t need to listen closely to know that they were confused at what they were intending, but Tabitha silenced the unsteady crowd. Niko felt disgruntled at that a bit, they were putting their own hides on the line, yet the group of ex-employees were clearly not taking them seriously. Was it a power thing? Fame? Did Ronald need to act like a stick-up-arse hero to be taken seriously?
‘Actually, that might work? He’s partly there already,’ Niko reconsidered that before Mithel waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention.
“Hey, so, this isn’t the… uhh… normal stuff. I took your advice and amped it up just a little bit, but let me know if you feel abnormally murdery, okay?” Mithel poured out a slightly-purple, glowing dust mixture into a rag.
“Mithel, why the hell is it glowing this time!?” Niko squawked in dismay.
Skye was about to call the question up to Mithel when she pressed the rag to his face. “I’ve always wanted to say this… Stop!”
Niko, confused, inhaled deeply of the dust mixture, before feeling his attention hone to a needle point. He only barely heard Mithel grin and say, “Hammertime!”
‘That sounds real pecking fam–’ Niko’s thoughts stopped dead as he turned towards the wall, essence thrumming almost painfully in his body, a single-minded determination taking hold. He felt every muscle in his form wind up tightly with untapped power.
He only barely didn’t scream out like a psychopath before rearing his head back, sheer essence flow making his beak glow in the darkness. “Hammertime!!!”
