Edited by Solyom

We weren’t moving through the main paths in the valleys, instead, we were moving over the cliffs – inches from the edge. One wrong step… and I doubt that I would survive that. Even with the regeneration of a Hydra, as there would be nothing left to regenerate. The goats were doing great, Kaito… not so well. Note for my future-self: Wargs are not universal mounts.

- “Atta boy! You are doing great!” I kept whispering in his ear.

- “You are trying to convince him or yourself?” Gisele laughed from behind me.

- “Don’t listen to her, you are such a brave boy, ain’t you?” a quiet whimper let me know what Kaito was thinking about this matter.

- “Zari, I think that it would be safer if you would move on your own…”

She just suggested that I should morph.

- “Sweetie, I am not sure if you are aware that we are not traveling alone.”

- “Trust issues? As far as I can tell, dwarfs are not very judgmental… as long as you are not an elf. You have already gained their trust so I doubt they would care if you would tell them you are a freak.”

- “One, I am not a freak, two: Kaito is doing just gre..AAEAEA…” guess who’s mount’s paw slipped on the rocks. After some struggles we regained balance, still – seeing few rocks rolling off a cliff did not boost my nor Kaito’s courage.

- “Ok. It’s getting dangerous. GUYS!...” she turned around facing the company of dwarfs following us “… I need you to know that Zari is a freak. If you would see some hideous, ugly monster that is not a greenskin, don’t attack it!”

YOU LITTLE! Also, what’s wrong with your explanations?! There is no way someone would be ok with that! One, the data you gave are simply lacking dozens of crucial information!

Do I have a problem with that? OF COURSE, I DO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT! One! It is my secret! MY – FOR FUCK SAKE GISELE, you have no bloody right to tell it left and right! Two, it will only start hundreds of questions: “What freak?” “What monster?” “Why was he hiding this from us?” “What are his intentions?” “Can we trust him?”…

- “Copy that commander!” one of the dwarfs said.

- “Roger-roger!”

- “Will do as you said! Makrov! Yell to the boys at the back the new orders!”

- “HEY! IF WE WERE TO SPOT SOME UGLY-NOT-GOBLIN-BASTARD WE ARE TO LET IT BE! THAT WOULD BE THE WITCH-BOY!”

… What the hell? That’s it?

- “See? Told you. When they already start liking you there is no going back!” she smiled at me.

THERE IS NO WAY I WILL ACCEPT THIS REASONING!

- “So? Go on! Turn ugly!” she said poking my side with her finger. “You are slowing us down! Come on! Be ugly!”

- “That’s not the words one would want to hear from their woman…” I gave up. She is crazy. Dwarfs are crazy. Everything and everyone is crazy. It is hard being the last creature having bits of intellects on this world.”

Shifting in process

[Custom form]Physical ModificationsBat Ears

Minotaur’s legs

Snake's oral cavity

Hawk's eyes

Insectoid wings

Wolf's skull

Wolf's clawsAttributes BonusesStr +5

End +5

Agi +10

Rfx + 10Skill BonusesEnchanted Senses [Passive]

Echolocation [Passive]

Venom attack - Acid Spitter [Toggle/On]

I will never get used to this feeling. This awful itchy feeling as your bones becomes denser, as they stretch your skin which adapts after a moment. How fur slowly starts growing from my body turning me into some mutated werewolf. My head was now some furless hybrid of wolf and human. It did not become more handsome when my ears became about ten times bigger.

The skin on my back broke creating horizontal cuts. Through the wounds slowly, and bit painfully, twin bee-like wings emerged. They needed to grow larger… more! More! After they became almost as large as rest of my body I stopped accelerating its growth. They wouldn’t let me fly, maybe glide a little. Still, better than turning into a pancake after my leg would slip.

- “Kaito. Thank you. You can rest now.” Oh my! That voice. Nightmare material!

The warg yelped one last time before turning into smoke.

- “So that’s what she meant by ugly…” one of the dwarfs whispered “… To be honest, if I were alone in a room with two goblins and him, if I would have crossbows with two bolts, I would shoot him… Twice.”

- “Ay. Looks like an ogre… just with its insides out.”

- “Are you happy now?” I asked Gisele with a somewhat angry tone.

- “Seeing you like now? Absolutely no. The image of your face has been burned in my memory! I won’t be able to kiss you for a week!... But what’s more important. Do you think you will be able to keep our speed without a mount?”

- “Wrong question. You should ask if I would be kind enough to wait for you.”

I said after I started running onward.

My hoofs kept hitting the hard surface of rocks. It was a strange feeling, not really pleasant. Yet I didn’t have time to be bothered by the lack of comfort.

My ears were moving in all directions, every few dozen meters my tongue would slip through my mouth tasting the air, my dog–like nose was sniffing constantly, my eyes were darting over the peaks of the mountains. I was looking for traps and ambushes.

The smell was strong, unfortunately, it didn’t mean a lot – in the end, these valleys were recently crossed by thousands of greenskin. I was looking for something new. Something fresh… something…

I jumped on a lone tree growing from the side of the cliff. I needed to wait a minute for rest of the company to catch up with me.

- “You found something?”

I raised my finger pointing to the opposite side of the valley.

- “I see noth…”

- “Rocks. Put into one, nice pile. Don’t you think that if someone would push them down, for example, an army marching down…”

- “I see. Give us a second and we will get in there…”

- “No. No need for that. Such “trap” requires only a few goblins or one ogre. We would waste more time relocating riders to the other side. My mobility is the best. I will take care of that. Keep moving. I will catch up with you in few minutes.”

She hesitated for a moment, but then she just nodded. The advantage of having an adventurer-girlfriend, when you say you will do something, she would just acknowledge it and do her part of the job.

The company moved alongside as I moved circling around my potential enemy. If that was indeed a trap and not some kind of extremely weird natural formation, the attacker would look at the valley below, maybe bit back to the East, to see if the dwarfs are marching. It means that I should be more or less invisible for him if I would move a bit further to the West before crossing the path… AH! FOR FUCK’S SAKE! LESS TALKING, MORE KILLING!

I rushed in that direction, running from one pile of rocks to another, just in case, I quickly started climbing over the almost completely vertical surface, both my legs and my claws did their job wonderfully. I was over two hundred meters from the target as I heard the slow breathing. His (because he was alone) heart beating could be heard from 50 meters away. He was well-hidden. His skin was brown, so it almost completely blended with the dusty ground around him.

… I was disappointed. As he was lying on his belly, he couldn’t put much of a fight. Some part of me wanted to let him know that I am few meters away, so he could get up, pick up his weapon lying right next to him.

But that would be simply foolishness. Tsh. I will have my fun. One way or another.

Same time – Gisele’s team

They have been riding for a couple of minutes before they spotted a small group of greenskins. They were able to see it only because they were traveling over the cliffs.

- “Lieutenant? Are we attacking?”

- “We should wait for Zari…” then she heard it. Actually, everyone heard it. A painful scream of agony from directions they came from “… You know what? Forget what I just said.” She said grabbing one of her axes. “Let’s paint the ground red.”

She didn’t know why, but she was a bit angry at Zari. Maybe because of her woman intuition, she felt that Zari was enjoying himself instead of being a “cold professional”. She decided to relieve her frustration a little on certain greenskins below.

Factory and Warehouse of Alexander Runner.

- “Hey, are you sure it’s a good idea? I heard that Runner hired a new watchdog, some adventurer…”

- “Easy, I asked about him. Jason Jasny. No one ever heard of him, and on top of that… he looks like a bloody homeless, he even smells like vodka! I am sure that he asked for this job to drink as much as he can!”

- “If you say so…”

The group of four thieves started to lockpick the side door for the workers of the facility. It took some time (and quite a few lockpicks), in the end, Alexander Runner spent a small fortune to keep his products safe.

Yet the thieves were patient and skilled. They have also practiced for this particular heist. Eventually, a characteristic “click” sound could be heard as the door was opened.

- “Ok. The recipe is supposed to be in the vault, in a strongbox. We will have to crack through several locks and doors. The position of the new sample is unknown, it should be somewhere in the warehouse. Follow the plan. If we wouldn’t kill anyone we would get a bonus, still, if you have no other choice… completing the task has priority. You know what to do. Spread!”

They walked in together, yet each time some a side corridor would appear one of them would leave the group. They needed to locate the spare keys to the vault located in the guard's room, that would greatly reduce the time they needed to complete their task. At the same time, one of them would already start lockpicking the doors to the vault, and rest would keep looking for the sample while providing a distraction. You know, knocking some bottles down to drag the guards attention and such.

One of the thieves, a self-named master of the shadows quickly located the guard's room, as usually – it was located near the entrance. The keys weren’t hidden well, actually – they were hanging on the hook on the wall. Easy. A bit too easy.

The door behind him was shut. This was when he noticed he was not alone in the room. There was a guard. Indeed, just like boss said – he really looked like a beggar.

He exhaled air in relief.

- “Old man, you scared me. Look, I know you want to earn a coin too, but unfortunately for you – I am younger, faster, stronger and armed. No one needs to get hurt. Sit on that chair, I would tie you down. Tomorrow morning someone would find you…”

- “Welcome in Runner’s factory and warehouse. Heaven of every adult man. State the reason for your visit, otherwise you will face the consequences.”

- “Look, man, I really don’t want to hurt you….”

- “You have entered heaven, yet you are not worthy. Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting…”

- “Ooook, I see you are already drunk. That will make everything easi…”

In the next moment, light filled the room blinding the thief. He closed his eyes by instinct. He didn’t even notice where the blow came from.

The old man surely wasn’t carrying any weapon. He also wasn’t wearing gloves to hide brass knuckles, so why were his hits so painful?

The light vanished and the thief could see again. At least a little. The old man was moving quickly, definitely not like an around 40 years old man. The guard shortened the distance and attacked from the left. The thief raised his guard to protect himself from the assault… yet he got hit directly in the chin. From the right? How?

The image of guard got blurry for a second. Illusion! He is a mage! Tsh!

- “Thou soul was seen and it is covered in sin. Yet rejoice, for thee stand before me, the light of judgment, by my sentence you shall be purified of your impurity.”

AND HE IS INSANE!

- “I am the protector of this world’s order!” another blow came throwing the thief across the room. “I am a soldier! A blade of the light!” the thief ran into a corner and raised his fists up protecting himself from attacks from every possible direction. “I am a sentinel! A divine Knight!” Yet no more physical attack came.

The thief noticed far too late that the words that the illusionist spoke were not just religious rambling… but a chant.

- “Be purified by flames, for I am a fright!”

An explosion could be heard from far away, two thieves raised their heads looking in the direction of the sound.

- “W..what was that? Alexander set some explosive traps?”

- “In an alcohol storage? Impossible. Follow the plan.”

- “But what if…”

- “Just do it.”

What could he do? Disobey the boss? Thank you, but no. He just returned to looking for the sample. Before coming here they memorized every kind of label that was being used in the factory. This way they could quickly tell if the bottle they were looking at was their target. They were looking for everything not fitting the description of existing labels.

- “BINGO!” boss hissed happily.

His companion quickly left his position to join him. Indeed, on a special-looking pedestal, a vial with “prototype” label was put. The boss, after double checking for possible traps, stretched his hand toward the bottle…

… and his hand passed right through it.

- “What the…” once again he tried grabbing it, and once again there was no effect. “…AMBUSH!”

They managed to jump back in the last moment. A powerful beam of light crossed through the place in which they stood a second ago, leaving a burned trail on its path.

- “Oh woe, woe me, the sorrowful one, for I was told to punish thee, who have drowned in the sin. I will play you, oh lost lambs, my song of sorrow, praying that thee would find peace and redemption.”

A man clothed in old, dirty cloak stepped out from the shadows.

- “HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HARMLESS!”

- “FORGET ABOUT THE BONUS! KILL THE BASTARD!” the leader of the group took a knife from behind his belt and threw it at Jason.

- “I fear no evil. Even though I would walk the valley of the shadow of death. She is with me, she is guiding me, yet not into fields of green, She leads me into evil’s lair, for I am her Sheppard, my duty is to protect my lambs, be gone, evil wolves, thou shall not feast on the children of mine...” the knife met half-transparent bright aura and melted after contact. “Foolish one, I am not merciful, I am not pure, my sorrow comes from my sense of duty. I am sorrowful, for I know what needs to be done… I FEAR NO EVIL, FOR I AM A FEAR INCARNATE! MY FAITH IS MY SHIELD! MY HATE IS MY WEAPON! AND IMMORTALITY SHALL BE MY REWARD!”

- “FUCK IT! RUN!”

The light filled the room.

The last thief heard the footsteps behind himself.

- “Are you done? Ha, ya did it quickly. Got the keys?” he asked without turning back.

Indeed, someone gave him the key to the vault.

- “Sweet!” still, without turning back, he took the offered keys and opened the vault “DANG! Another door!? Alexander is one sick dude! You probably don’t have the keys to this one, do ya?” it was supposed to be a joke, yet another set of keys was given to him “Mate, you did magic here!”

Oh, poor bastard, he had no idea…

- “Great, the vault is open now… wait, there should be a strongbox here…”

Indeed, the vault was completely empty. It was just a room, 5x5 meters, yet only a table and a few chairs were inside. And tools. Lots of nasty looking tools.

Then the body of an unconscious thief was thrown inside. And another. And yet another.

This was the first time when the thief turned around…. Aaaand as soon as he did that he “kissed a fist”.

Dang! He felt as if he was punched by a minotaur.

One of last thing he noticed was that the doors were being shut behind the man.

- “Now, poor sinners, poor lost lambs who put wolfskin on themselves, becoming evil… I will purify thee, I will turn you into lambs, even if it means that I will have to tear off the skin of the wolfs first…” the old man said picking up a sharp-looking tool “…but first things first. You knew what you were looking for… You know the labels, you know the security system, you knew the layout of the rooms. We know that there are spies here. I want a name. And a name I shall receive. Forget about lying, I can easily tell when somebody lies… Oh, just so nobody would disturb us…” he grabbed one of the chairs and put it under door’s handle. None could get inside even if they wanted to.

- “Where were we? Ah, yes. WHERE ARE THEY?!”

Author is sorry for WH40k references. Chapter was written while listening to Litany of Fury on YT

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Chapter RSS About the author 2 Fictions 0 Posts 0 Threads Anuel Follow Author Saturday, September 30, 2017 9:18:51 PM

Bio: Some people want me to write with Style, some people want me to write with Passion, some people wish to see me using logic, yet I... I find madness to be much more alluring.

Srsl tho, I am kinda crazy, ya know?

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