A few of the people in this camp must have some kind of real magic knowledge, T’Kere determined, as a few of the thirty or so bandits blocking in the mouth of the cave were shaking. That meant they either knew who she was or realized how complex a trick it was to seal dungeon gates. They must have been from a different group than the rest. Their varying armors, weapons, and appearances implied they were a mass of different organizations of bandits; it appeared this was meant to function as a town for multiple groups to coexist in for short periods of time.

Idly she noticed that the free-standing gate in question was no longer decorated by crabs. Instead, it had turned an even darker shade, with bloody splotches in the shape of zombies.

Huh. Neat. It was always nice to see your work recognized by the universe.

“Mighty dumb thing you did here, T’Kere,” ‘tsked the avariel elven bandit in the front center of the lot. Their tan and grey mottled wings spread widely, smugly. “We left you and your ilk alone cause you weren’t worth the fuckin’ trouble. But you had to go an’ kick the hornet’s nest, didn’t ya? Well, unfortunately, now we’re gonna have to go and teach that lot a lesson after we’re done with you. You idiots are gonna have to make up for those lives you just took, after all. Just remember when you’re popping out another little bandit, you forced our hand.”

T’Kere patiently listened. Ah, this type loved to posture and boast. But that only made their death all the more satisfying. Besides, she could feel more of them getting nervous.

Fear was contagious, and grew like the sweetest of crops. The more there was, the more satisfying it was to reap. So he talked, “On the upside, that kid of yours will make a g-”

They stopped once she removed his lower jaw. The smug arrogance took a moment to leave his eyes, even as his tongue wagged in open air and the hinges of his jaw spurted blood like a fountain in all directions. An ugly, wet gurgle emitted from their maw, eyes going into shock as the pain set in.

“Nice wings, pigeon. I think I’ll take them,” she purred, eager, and an aura of intimidation spread out in a radius, influencing the minds of those who saw to perceive what she did as scarier than they normally would.

And they were about to have plenty of material to exaggerate.

This was followed by grabbing his arm, half tearing it off at the shoulder with force as she spun him around, and grabbing his wings at the base as she shoved him to the dirt.

Something between a scream and a burble came next. One of the loudest death rattles she’d heard in her life, in fact, as she slowly, slowly removed the wings. Almost as loud was the sound of tearing flesh, cracking and snapping bones, and her laughter.

It was half an intimidation tactic of course. She didn’t take particular pleasure in suffering. But when you threaten Varo’K, drowning in your own blood wouldn’t do. No, then you earned something special.

Once the wings were extracted, and almost entirely intact, she decided to give some degree of mercy. A punch directed a sharp wave of force to separate one arm, then the other. Then the legs. Their silence shortly followed.

Standing from the gruesome kill, she turned to look at the crowd that watched in abject horror. An open palm blast of force turned the dead bird’s now lonely torso into a mess, entirely collapsed, organs pulped. T’Kere was coated in blood on her front, head to toe, and now the cave around her was similarly coated.

Staring them down, she smiled at them. “Sit still for a moment,” she ordered in a positively chipper voice, watching for those who would disobey. Whose anger outweighed their fear. The guard captain started a chant, making hand signs once more. A minute in, bone chips began to float out of the ruined corpse, cutting out of the body of the bird-like-elf with wet noises, forming into a complete skeleton, coated top to bottom in viscera. Sans the jaw, which still sat on the floor in front of the bandits.

The still mostly complete wings levitated to touch to the back, but without flesh, it was tough to connect. “Hmm…” murmured T’Kere, before glancing back over.

She strode over, her skeleton following as she got close to the group. They smelled particularly of terror, frozen in place both by the crowd around them and horror at the idea of what would happen to them if they disobeyed.

The Inzi and skeleton circled around the lot in opposite directions. They made a couple of passes before one of them whimpered. The empty sockets of the gore-splashed skeleton locked onto the one who made the noise before pointing at them and curling a bony finger. The crowd parted in a surge, not wanting to be mistaken as the target. Another Avariel elf, this time with blue and green wings.

“That one?” She asked, looking them up and down repeatedly, as if examining cattle. She raised his arms over his head, laid them back down. Lifted his legs and tsk’d as one of his knees made a loud click. The whimper became an open sob as she opened his mouth and examined the inside. A snap of her fingers saw a light form behind her as she held open one of his eyes, watching them dilate. The poor subject flinched hard as she snapped his fingers again first in one ear, then the other.

Her cursory examination over, she grunted. “Fine. They’ll do,” she said with a sigh. “A little tall though, and pretty ugly too. But it’s up to you I guess.” A rattling was heard as the skeleton shivered in what seemed to be excitement. “Follow,” she ordered, walking off towards the mess of meat on the floor.

They were reluctant, of course, but she sighed and turned on her heel. “Follow me, or another one of yours will follow, too,” the necromancer snapped at them, clearly annoyed. The smell of fear intensified, but he didn’t move. Another one of them snarled at the chosen cattle, “Fucking move, dumbass! I’m not dying because of you!”

This ambitious brigand, a grey-green scaled snow orc with light green skin and a missing piece of ear, grabbed the target by the hair and marched forward. They were a whole six foot eight, and broad at that. “Smart man,” T’Kere commended as he shoved them both through the crowd. She pointed to the pile of ripped up muscle and skin, and without question the large bandit roughly threw their once-comrade down into the pile.

Grinning, T’Kere patted the helpful one’s shoulder. “Make sure he stays there,” she said as she walked behind the group again, to the very mouth of the cave.

Out in the floating stone platform city, they had clearly prepared for her attack. They seemed to have realized that their initial plan had failed when it took so long, so they instead prepared a more thorough defensive position. Behind this, a larger force of bandits had gathered, presumably the rest of the town. It looked like they were planning on interrupting the party, so T’Kere shut her eyes, focusing hard, directing and gathering her energy. After twenty or so seconds, she let out a sigh; the invisible screen of force she had been building was complete. It was by no means a powerful wall, but it would hold them off long enough if they charged.

Going back to the terribly messy bandit crying in the remains of what was clearly the leader of this lot, she leaned down. “Don’t worry. It’ll be quick,” she said with an almost sympathetic tone, and put a hand on his chest as she closed her eyes. The pressure around her increased as she flooded it with her ki, manipulating specific points in the air, outlining the victim just so.

A moment later, she shoved them into the floor and then surged to her feet, and not alone. The body was crushed nearly instantly, fulfilling her promise to the one chosen, and his flesh was mixed into the puddle of the one below, making two into one. Then the amalgam rose with her to slam into the skeleton, who drastically reformed before everyone’s eyes.