I gradually woke up, eyes fluttering open as I realized I couldn’t fall back asleep. The dull cream popcorn ceiling was there to greet me. But no sooner had I had a glance than I felt the bed greatly shift, and I rolled towards the center. I hit something, and I looked up to realize it was Elizar. I was surprised she took me up on my offer, but looking around I saw there was nowhere else for her to go.
Sitting up, I saw the Dragonborn sprawled across the couch, lightly snoring. The pungent stench of alcohol came off her in waves, and I stifled a giggle as the memory of her chugging the barrel resurfaced. I wondered how that had gone. Against the other wall, Aella was sitting up against the headboard, sharpening her weapons. I made eye contact with her, but she didn’t say anything.
I looked back up at Elizar in time to see her eyes shoot open and lock onto me. She glanced down, where I was still up against her, then back up at me with a raised eyebrow. I gave a sheepish grin.
“Not my fault, “ I told her, shrugging. “Over 6 feet of pure muscle weighs a lot more than I do.” I waved at the obvious slant in the bed, and it was her turn for a shy smile.
I threw my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Aella joined me, sheathing her swords. Elizar rubbed her eyes and got up, grabbing Ziera by the hands and hauling her off the couch. Her head swiveled and her eyes widened at the movement but was quick to right herself. She looked around at all of us.
“Why are we all awake?” She questioned, yawning.
“You know the murder?” Aella asked, and Ziera bobbed her head. “We’re working on it. We figure whatever the shadow is, it’ll be more active at night.”
Ziera nodded her understanding, and we moved out of the room, through the tavern, and out into the streets.
The moon gave very little light, and from what I gathered, it seemed to be waning. We’d get even less light the next few nights. Fortunately, that wasn’t a problem for me. My eyes adjusted, painting everything in about a 60-foot radius in greyscale. Elizar looked fine, but Aella and Ziera fumbled around, and I could tell they couldn’t see much. It’s good for something, I guess.
“We should start at the farm,” Elizar recommended. “I visited it earlier, but I swear there’s something off there.”
We all agreed, and followed, walking for several tens of minutes before arriving, even passing the theater, which was on the outskirts of town. We reached a wide landscape of crops, a farmhouse in the distance, no doubt the people that run it live there. Though there was tons of land, besides a gentle rustle from the wind, there was nothing out here.
I turned to Elizar. Her jaw was set in irritation, but I could tell she knew there was nothing here. She turned, and I ushered the others back as well. On our walk back, I was more concerned with where we would go, but Elizar’s head kept flicking around.
Suddenly, her whole body turned, and she made a break for the theater. I followed, all of us trying to be as sneaky as we could. We rounded the back of the building in time to see a dark figure turn the corner around the other side. I skidded to a stop, breath catching. They had stolen the head. Fury riding in my veins, I started sprinting again, saying to the others,
“Don’t let her get away!”
We followed the shadow, Elizar leading us back in the direction of the farm, but not towards the house. We reached a huge field, and upon seeing what was there we skidded to a stop.
About 300 feet away, an unusually tall windmill stood, a dark figure perched on top. And between us and the windmill, an open field filled with wraiths. My blood boiled. I could feel the anger radiating off of Ziera, but Elizar and Aella seemed, not upset, just determined.
“What are they saying?” Aella asked. From the wraiths, deep wispy sounds moved back and forth. “Maybe we can learn something.”
I sighed.
“Give me a second,” I told them, grabbing my book out of my bag. I saw my invocations but moved past them. I had scrawled all the spells in the margins. I didn’t know if I was supposed to, but It’s the only way I could keep track of them.
My eyes landed on the one I was looking for, ‘Comprehend Languages'. Seemed like what I needed. I grabbed my components pouch strapped to my belt and pulled out a pinch of salt and a bit of soot. I combined them in my hands, then traced my eyes and ears with it. They melted into my skin, and slowly the marbled mess coming from the wraiths morphed into something understandable. Unfortunately, it wasn’t anything useful.
“The shadow has been fed, the shadow has been fed,” They mumbled, over and over. The good thing was that whoever was behind the murder was connected to these wraiths.
“Well, what are they saying?” Ziera asked.
“The shadow has been fed,” I informed them, locking my eyes on the figure on the windmill. I saw the others turn their attention there as well.
“We could all make an attack at once,” Aella suggested. “Catch them off guard.”
“I’d have to get closer, my ranged attack doesn’t go this far,” I told her.
“Same,” Elizar agreed.
Ziera and Aella pulled out their bows, though Aella’s was much bigger. “We’ll stay back here,” Ziera confirmed.
“On my signal,” I told them, and they nodded in response. Elizar and I turned towards the windmill, and the wraiths we’d have to sneak past to get there. I rolled my shoulders and made my way into the field.
I moved slowly, gliding through the tall grass. Elizar was more noticeable, but she just barely ducked out of view as a wraith noticed the noise. When I was barely over 100 feet away, I stopped. Looking back, I saw that Elizar had stopped a couple tens of feet back.
They all loaded their weapons, and I figured I should, too. I pushed my palms together, then ripped them apart, sparking light blue lighting-esque energy in both palms. I held one hand up to the sky, giving the signal. I reeled back, then released, throwing the blast at the figure. She took the blow, keeling over. Unfortunately, I was the only one that hit her.
I saw two arrows shoot past her head, and I turned around to see one poking out of the ground not two feet from Elizar. She turned back and glared, though I didn’t know who shot it.
The woman straightened up again, and the five wraiths in the immediate area all slowly turned their heads towards us, eyes blazing with purple fire to contrast their wispy black structure. I saw two headed for me, but before the first one could reach me I fired another shot at the figure on the roof.
I blocked my face with my forearm as the first wraith to reach me swiped with wispy claws, but the way they ripped through my arms made them feel more solid than anything else. I cried out, and although the cut wasn’t that deep I felt like my strength was being sapped out of me in waves. I righted myself, kicking the wraith away from me.
I swiveled my head back up at the windmill to see three glowing bouts of magic forming a triangle around the figure. They met my eyes, and I saw a slight smile reach them as they sent all three directly towards me.
One sailed right past my head, and I had a split second of hope that her aim was off before one pummeled into my stomach and another into my chest. I keeled over, trying to find the air that had just been forced out of my lungs. The other one must have been headed for someone else because those hit just the right spots to send me reeling.
I heard a whistling headed through the air, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught an arrow headed right towards me.
“Look out!” I heard Ziera scream. You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. I dropped down and rolled out of the way, also sliding out of reach of a second wraith’s attack. I yanked the arrow out of the ground and sent it into the closest wraith, and it screeched in pain.
I sprung onto my feet, ignoring the wraiths that surrounded me as my eyes locked onto the figure, fury burning in my eyes. How could they do that to this town? To these people? I lit my Eldritch Blast again and sent it flying up at the figure. Despite her best attempt to dodge, I caught her right in the abdomen.
During my preoccupation, the two wraiths had surrounded me. I gulped as I studied them, realizing there was little I could do. But I barely took a second glance at them before the first bared its fangs and shot at me. I managed to get out of the way, but at the expense of stepping right into the second. His fangs bared, and his claws scratched across my stomach as his fangs dug into my shoulder. I screamed, the sound dissipating into the field. In a fit of rage, I drew up my magic one more time, and Eldritch Blast-ed this fucker into oblivion. It screamed and was forced back, light blue sparks sending him away.
The distance opened up a window for me to see how everyone else was doing. Ziera and Aella had this wraith surrounded in the distance, taking turns bashing it with swords and maces, but not without taking the occasional blow.
Moving forward, I saw Elizar and a wraith circling each other, her greatsword seeming like a feather in her hands. It glowed with some certain aura, and it was obvious I was wrong before. This Orc was no stranger to magic.
The wraith closed the gap, striking her weak spot and sending her back a few feet. The same sap of strength seemed to happen to her, and her greatsword wavered in her hands. Her jaw set, and her eyes began to glow bright violet. I thought she was gonna cast a spell, but what actually happened shocked me.
Her back hunched over, body elongating and morphing into many different shapes, hair sprouting in all different places. I gasped, appalled. This couldn’t be the wraith’s doing, right? But as time went on, I saw her hands hit the ground, or, I guess they looked more like paws. It suddenly clicked. Towering above the wraith, stood a deep red and dull grey colored... werewolf. It reached over and grabbed its sword. Elizar’s eyes narrowed, and she charged.
I smiled.
I flicked my attention back to my own problems, taking another hit from a wraith as I tried to dodge. Ignoring the searing pain that threatened to blind me, I sent another spark of magic up towards the figure. This time when they doubled over, I caught a slight shine of bright light, but the next second, they were gone. I swiveled my head around searching for them, but it was like they had faded into nothing.
A wraith decided to use this time to send its claws into my back, raking its hands down my spine. Oh, I’m so done with these gods-forsaken wraiths.
Punching the wraith away, I shoved my hand into my components pouch, pulling out a tiny sliver of glass. I flicked the glass into the air, then used my hands to pull apart the air in front of me, and the glass stretched into thousands of spinning daggers, all centered around me. The wraiths screeched, getting caught in my cube of knives. I could tell they were dying, the daggers piercing through their flesh. It only took about a couple of seconds before the wraiths let out agonized screams and dissipated into black dust.
I sighed and released the spell, daggers fading into thin air. Looking around, I saw Aella and Ziera had just as much success, looking over just in time to see their wraith shrivel away as well. They looked tired, but not defeated.
A mangled yell called across the field, and my adrenaline boosted again. I saw Elizar’s wolf swiped by the wraith, and my anger kicked in. I started sprinting over, sparking my magic and sending it as I ran. Elizar must have done a lot of damage though, the spell barely had to touch the creature before it went up in smoke.
I came up next to Elizar, expecting to see her shift back now that the threat was gone, but instead, she turned to me. Her eyes were burning, thirsting with an intensity I could only describe as savage. I slowly stepped back, hands out, sending her a smile despite every muscle in my body wanting to give out. Then, in an instant, it was gone. Her eyes returned to normal, and I couldn’t sense any more malice in her. She slowly started to shift back, hands forming and spine correcting itself. But even when she was fully back, her scrapes and wounds remained. She hadn’t had an easy fight. Nonetheless, she stood tall, shoulders back.
“How… do you… manage…” I panted, hands on my knees, my adrenaline slowly starting to wear off. “To stand… like that after… what… you just went through?”
She gave me a half-smile, wiping off the blood from a cut on her cheek. “I’m a military man.”
It clicked. Why she was so formal. Why she never seemed upset. Why she took this whole murder thing like it was just some walk in the park. I looked her over, realization dawning over my face. She’s in the military. Or...was. The military didn’t run in the neutral towns. Despite her tall stature, she couldn’t have been much older than me. In and out of the military so young…impressive. But the thought I couldn’t shake was, why did she leave?
I started to feel woozy, and my cuts started to burn, the adrenaline seeping from my veins.
“I can’t believe she got awa-” Elizar started, but I stumbled forward, crashing into her. She righted me in her arms as my vision faded in and out. “Calypso? Can yo-” was the last thing I heard before the last of the adrenaline leaked from my body. My vision faded completely and I passed out.
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