Night faded and so came the dawn, as a pair of Salamanders stormed across the vast, unbroken plains. The Zuum breeds had been running for hours and dared not stop even for the gray light of morning. And so they ran, blood still staining their bodies from a midnight feast of Hare and Garu. They had come upon them in the dark, breaking into the monster shed and killing all that breathed there. All while the Ranch owner lay asleep in his bed, dreaming pleasant dreams as his monsters were eaten alive. Normally the twin Salamanders would have settled down to sleep off such a meal long ago, but they had not expected to be discovered.
They had not expected to become the hunted.
He chased them even now, dogging their every step, a hunter of mithral and gold. They must have put leagues between him by now, they must have, but still they ran. Nothing had ever frightened this pair before, if they had ever known fear at all. They were feral beasts, long since abandoning words and reason for base instincts.
Finally they both ducked behind a large group of boulders, the only thing there was to hide behind in these flat lands, and promptly collapsed. Their breathing came in gasps and then dragging snorts. They were free of the hunter at last, or so they thought.
A looming shadow warned the two monsters of another's presence. There, atop the boulder they rested behind, stood the hunter. It was a durahan, but a type not often seen, his armor a brilliant shade of blue, crowned with gold atop his helmet and shield. His sword was a wondrous thing to behold, like a golden bolt of lightening lined with a blade of blue crystal. A Hermes, this monster was called, but the Salamanders knew him only as an enemy. Gathering their wits they leapt up, both spitting balls of flame at their pursuer.
The Hermes took to the air in a flip so graceful it defied all logic, turning in midair as his shield deflected yet more balls of searing flame. One of the Salamanders became impatient and rushed him, biting and snapping. The Hermes fended him off with his shield. The first blow struck the side of the heat, knocking several of the Zuums teeth loose and breaking it's jaw. The second brought the edge of his shield down the center of the monsters skull.
The second Salamander watched, uncertain, as it's twin fell to the dew coated grass, it's head now a mess of blood, brains and shattered bone. A twitch of the tail and then it moved no more. The Hermes, meanwhile, calmly shook the brains and gore from his shield and took a fighting position.
The remaining Salamander charged, out of desperation then anything else, leaping into the air to come down on it's enemy like a raptor. The azure warrior stepped aside, almost calmly bringing up his shield to block the tail strike he knew was coming. The Salamander viscously clawed at the shield, but only managed to snap most of it's talons before being shoved backwards.
"If there is any sense in you, turn yourself in and live to see another day. Otherwise..." The Warrior raised his sword over his head. "I fear I must put you down before you harm another civilized creature."
A feral growl told the warrior all he needed to know. As the Salamander opened it's mouth to spit another barrage of fireballs, the Hermes hastened forward. A clean swipe took the monsters head clean off, leaving smoke and embers to fly from it's neck. Finally the Salamander collapsed beside it's twin, the warriors task complete.
"You there! Are you the one called Pharis?"
The voice of an angel stirred the warrior from his private thoughts. He turned around, unsurprized to see just that, an angel descending from the sky. He gave a gracious bow, always the gentleman after all.
"Aye, that is what I'm called. Are you in need of aid?"
"Not me personally."Despite being exhausted, she couldn't surpress a light giggle. Though she quickly resumed her business like demeanor. "I have been sent by to find you. The F.I.M.B.A would like your assistance. There's been a murder...ten miles north of here."
"A murder? Not another one... How many monsters were slain?"
"It was a trainer, Sir Knight, a human was murdered...by an unidentified monster."
"I see... that is even worse. I loath seeing our kin slain... but the death of a trainer truly effects us all. There are those who will seek to use this to their own sick advantage. I swear I will get to the bottom of this!"
He looked up, only to see the Angel flying off for a well deserved rest. ten miles north... ten miles north on foot? TEN MILES?
"As if I hadn't been running all night as it is! The things one must do for the sake of justice..." He said in a tone of resignation, stomping off to the north for what would be another long day..
*********************
Pharis arrived at the ranch some hours later. The entire area was crawling with F.I.M.B.A investigators, humans and their suezo companions, diligently searching for clues. A few local law enforcement patrolled, keeping horrified onlookers at bay. It was a sad sight, to see the barn boarded up and the training equipment being packed. This Ranch would be a dead place soon, resting silently until another talented rancher took over to breath life into it again.
It was easy enough getting passed the security. Few had not heard of the exploits of the Azure Knight, the rouge Hermes. They let him pass with a respectful nod or a nervous glance to the very big sword he held. Pharis entered the house, unsure of what he'd find, and unprepared for what he did.
An old Suezo hopped around, squinting his huge eye at the floor as he scanned for tracks or prints or anything of use. His trainer, a middle-aged man with black, slightly graying hair and a short beard, turned away from the corpse that lay on the dining room table. Pharis couldn't see much, thanks to a white covering, but a slender hand peaking out from underneath told him it was most likely a woman.
"Good of you to come Pharis. I'm glad my Angel found you in time..." He shook his head, shoving his hands into the pockets of a long, brown trenchcoat. "Worse thing I've seen in a few years, this. Cold blooded murder. We don't know much yet except that a monster was the culprit."
He pulled back the cover for Pharis, who forced himself to look upon the gruesome sight. "Those.. those look like knife cuts. A human could have done this, Inspector Slade."
Slade just shook his head grimly. "Take a closer look. This was hardly quick. This woman was tortured and then most likely went into shock and bled to death. And those cuts, I've seen there like before. This was done by a Wracky ... sadistic little beasts."
"That makes some sense... Wracky's are certainly not above something as terrible as this, but even they usually don't run through the country side, killing at random." Pharis put a metal finger to his faceplate, stroking it thoughtfully. "More likely the Wracky was sent by another."
"If that's the case, then it's trainer is just as responsible. We'll know soon enough. There aren't many Wracky owners in our records." Slade covered up the body once more. "I'm confident this matter will be dealt with but it's always good to have a...backup plan. I want you to do some checking. Perhaps you'll turn up something we've missed."
"Consider it done... this life shall be avenged! This I swear in the name of-"
"Do you gotta be so melodramatic?" Slade chuckled, though there was no humor in his voice. "Besides, I need your help with something else."
Pharis learned what he was speaking of soon enough as he was lead out back. There, sitting against the iron bars of a large cage was the most pitiful thing the Hermes had ever seen. A wingless pixie, a Undine to be precise. Her turquoise hair was a disheveled mess, her tiny frame covered with cuts and bruises. She sat with her knees drawn up against her, rocking back and forth, refusing to acknowledge those working around her.
"This was the victims monster, still in shock the poor thing... I was thinking maybe you could take her with you."
Pharis was about to object. After all, how was he supposed to track a murderer and babysit and distraught Undine at the same time? A flash of recollection made him push those thoughts to the side. Who was he to turn away a fellow monster who obviously needed someone. He couldn't leave her with the F.I.M.B.A to be retired ro frozen before her time.
"I accept. Now, please, open the cage. That is no place for her to be right now."
********************* (Meanwhile....)
"I swear, Dalton, working with you has to be the worse decision I've ever made!"
"Mr. Tellar, I must ask you to lower you voice. Truly, is this how you treat friends and fellow committee members?"
"You are no friend of mine, nor this organization!"
"Careful Tellar... you were involved after all. I go down. You go down."
F.I.M.B.A committee member, Andrew Dalton couldn't help but smile despite the threats and accusations. He held the power after all. True enough, the entire affair with the Kathela tournament had gone sour. But the fact remained that no one involved could point out Dalton to the chairman without incriminating themselves as well. Dalton held the power here, he knew, he reveled in it.
He glared over his desk, his contempt centered on a small, portly man with graying hair and short, stubby fingers. Tellar was fidgeting even though his apparent anger, a sign of nervousness perhaps? Either way, all the fat fool could do was choke and sputter. How Andrew would have loved to simple reach for the nearest blunt object and bash his pathetic head in. This man didn't deserve to be breathing the same air as he, let alone throwing accusations.
"You knew full well what you were getting into. We all did Tellar. You knew there was a slight chance things might go wrong. That's why it's called gambling." Andrew gave a quick shrug. "Sadly, we lost, but next time will be different, I assure you."
"There won't be a next time!" Tellar was shaking, but with anger or fear, it was impossible to tell. "I heard about what happened to Lillian. She was a good woman, and a great trainer."
"She was a imbecile and a second rate Monster Rancher. I could raise better with my eyes closed. I'm sure the country is better off without her."
"Murderer! I know it was one of your monsters! The blood of that poor woman is on your hands! What kind of unfeeling animal are you??"
"Well, no need to be so dramatic about it." Dalton smirked and spun his chair about for the fun of it.
"I-I don't care. I don't care if I go down for this. I cannot stand by and watch you butcher peoples lives! The chairman will hear of this Dalton!"
"That's too bad. I sort of liked you, Tellar. Make no mistake, your an idiot, but an honest idiot." By now Tellar had turned to run, but the office door was locked. The short man turned around to see the large bookcase in the back of the room shift to the side, revealing a hidden aclove where a Jelaydon waited. The ebony beacklon stomped towards him and Tellar screamed. His screams were cut short, however, when the monsters fist caved in his skull.
"Curses! Grim, you've gotten brains on my floor again!" Andrew rubbed his temples, as if the entire affair no more then agitated him. "No matter, get him out of my sight."
Andrew Dalton sunk back into his chair with a dramatic sigh. Now he had a corpse to dispose of and yet another cover-up to engineer. As Grim dragged the body out of sight, leaving long streaks of blood behind, Dalton reached into his pocket. There his fingers ran over the unnervingly smooth surface of a bronze sphere. He lofted it from his pocket, watching how it caught the sun light and pulsed warmly in his hand. Never had he left the sphere out of his site, and many times it brought him fortune. Another large sum would be perfect about now, but the price had grown too great in recent years.
Too great...
Still... one more time couldn't hurt too much. Just one more time...
~Still playing games I see. Still wallowing in that pit of self-endulgence.~
Dalton froze, the bronze sphere vanishing once again into the protective darkness of his pocket. That voice... cold, emotionless. As harsh on the ears as grating metal, the only sound Dalton had come to fear despite his wealth and power. The color drained from his face as he slowly spun his chair around, knowing what he'd find, and that fact only served to unnerve him further.
It was a flickering shadow that stood before Dalton. Standing eight feet tall, a misshapen silhouette that might have been human once, but now looked only vaguely so. Face and features were blacked out, save for the eyes, that shone like red lasers. Andrew had never seen it's face in all these years. It existed always as the hint of a threat, something terrible just beyond his vision that he wanted to see, and at the same time, didn't.
"I-I don't recall asking your opinion." Dalton tried to put on a brave face and regain his composure. "And I must ask that you stop popping up in my office."
~Dalton... you try my patience.~ That voice made Andrews ears burn and his head throb with pain. ~I have been watching you and your pitiful games of manipulation. The Key is not a toy, pawn, it is a wonder of a lost age dating back to the time of the great wars.~
"I know, I know, you've told me all this before. And we need that.. compass thingy to find the unimaginable power and wealth it unlocks. It's the last bit I have trouble with. I've found no mention of this 'compass' anywhere. How do you even know it survived the great war?"
~Say one more word, and I will kill you, pawn. I keep you alive merely as a matter of convenience but you ARE replaceable. We made a deal, you and I, now fulfill your end and find the compass.~
"I just told you I can't find it! Where would I even begin to start?"
~I was prepared for your incompetence, and have made my own inquires. Apparently the compass did not survive the war intact. It was purposely split, it's pieces scattered. One piece has recently been discovered around the neck of a Zan. A special Zan... It was found frozen in the northern wastes of Brillia. An Izuna...~
Andrews eyes widened... The Izuna were creatures of legend, a sect of Zan trained in the way of the ninja. It was thought they were wiped out long ago... to think one might still be alive, preserved in Ice all this time. It was then that Andrew remembered, there had been word of a rare monster finding. One that the F.I.M.B.A was transporting frozen to the capital. That must be the Izuna.
~Yes. Kill it. Take the compass, but dare not allow the Zan to live. It is do dangerous a foe. If you fail me in this Dalton, I will see you lose everything you hold dear. Your name, your reputation, your fortune. Everything. Good hunting.~
The flickering shadow vanished without another word, leaving Andrew Dalton to stand and pace a hole into the floor of his office. A part of him hated taking orders and being moved about like a pawn on a chessboard, but the mere thought of the promised wealth was enough to allay those fears. Nadira wanted to make up for her last failure, and she would have her chance. Tomorrow at dawn, She, Grim and Jabber would be sent out on a mission...
Home
LC