Chapter 16
Domitor and Lenrick continued down the road they’d found, heading for what appeared to be a massive tree in the distance. It was almost night time, with that weird skull moon thing starting to peak over the mountains in the distance.
“We need to find shelter for the night,” Lenrick said, a dark look on his face. “Lorenzo has done a lot of research on this dimension, and at night those things we fought are much more active. Plus other threats.”
“Okay,” the stallion said, looking around. “How will we find shelter?”
Lenrick chuckled, pointing to a dirt path up ahead that had a few warnings posted on it. “Simple, we walk up to someone's house and ‘ask’ to stay the night.”
“Ah,” Domitor said, nodding slowly.
The pair made their way down the pathway, which led to a large house with rocks surrounding it, pressed up against the outside of the building on all sides. Only the front was visible as they approached.
“Quaint little house,” Lenrick chuckled.
As they approached the front porch, a large mean looking Kejtdra male stepped out, a large rifle held in his claws.
“Stop right there!” he bellowed, pointing the gun right at the pair, causing them to come to a stop.
“All yours kid,” Lenrick said with a smirk.
Domitor frowned, but cleared his throat, “Um, we-”
“Did you not read the MANY signs?! Trespassers will be shot on sight!” he yelled, pointing the gun at Domitor.
“We did, but it’s almost night time and-”
“And? And nothing! Should have thought of that before traveling this late!” he then narrowed his eyes, “what are you two supposed to be?”
“My good sir,” Lenrick said, taking a few steps forward.
“Stop!” the Kejtdra yelled, but Lenrick kept slowly walking forward.
“We only require a single nights rest, surely you can-”
The angry Kejtdra fired his gun, sending a small ball of energy into the ground right in front of Lenrick.
“That was a warning!” he yelled. “Leave, now!”
“That bullet traveled pretty slow compared to what I’m use to,” Lenrick said with a smirk as his hand grabbed the hilt of his sword.
“Don’t do it,” the Kejtdra warned, raising the gun to level it with the man.
But Lenrick just kept walking forward. Another gunshot rang out as he fired a shot for Lenrick’s chest. In one quick motion, his sword flashed and deflected the pink ball of energy, and he dashed forward.
The Kejtdra began to fire quickly, clearly panicking as Lenrick closed the distance, dodging and deflecting any shots that came at him.
As he neared, he sprang into the air and landed next to the Kejtdra, crouching down next to him with his sword now embedded into the ground behind the rifle wielding man.
The large Kejtdra stood there, wide eyed as he let out a cough and fell to the ground, coming apart at the chest from where Lenrick’s sword sliced through him.
“They always die so easily,” Lenrick commented as he stood up and wiped his sword off on the dead Kejtdra’s shirt. “Come on, Dom, let’s clear the house.”
Domitor walked up, frowning at the dead man. “Did we have to kill him?”
“If it makes you feel better,” Lenrick chuckled, “then it was self defense. He fired first, so I acted appropriately.”
“I guess so,” he muttered.
With a grunt, the man kicked the door open and stepped inside, “Now, let’s check out our new digs.”
The two stepped into the house, taking everything in.
“Uh oh, our friend out there had a family,” Lenrick said, nodding to a portrait by the front door of a solemn looking family, with the parents and three kids. “You take the upstairs, I’ll clear the first floor.”
“What do I do if I find them?” Domitor asked hesitantly.
“What do you think, kid?” he laughed, walking for what looked to be a messy living room.
Reluctantly, he walked upstairs, his sword shaking a bit in his hoof as he walked on his hindlegs.
The first two rooms yielded no results, thankfully, which just left three more doors to check. The next one was a bathroom with nothing of interest inside. As he approached the next door and put his hoof on it, a pink ball blew through it, barely missing him.
He yelped in a panic and shoved through the door, rushing in to find a female Kejtdra standing there with a pistol in her hands. In one motion, he sliced the pistol from her hand just as she fired again, the pink bullet flying past his left cheek.
“Stop!” he hissed in a quiet voice. “I’m not going to hurt you!”
“Lies you monster!” she yelled back, backing up to stand next to her children. One of them handed her a second pistol and she leveled it with him.
“Wait wait wait!” he said, flipping his sword and putting it back in its sheath on his slide. “See? I’m not going to-”
“You murdered my husband!” she hissed, her finger starting to pull the trigger.
“My friend did, but I didn’t!” he pressed, trying desperately to defuse the situation.
But she didn’t let up as she pulled the trigger.
With a flick of his hoof he pulled himself across the room, just as the bullet zipped through the air where his head had just been.
“I’m not going to hurt you, I swear!” he said in a low voice. “Just take your kids and-”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Lenrick suddenly appeared in the room, his blade flashing like mad as everyone screamed. But after a few seconds, everything fell quiet.
“Dom,” he said as he slowly stood up amid the carnage, “I get you haven’t killed anyone yet. But you need to get over that, right now.”
“I-”
“If you’re going to be one of us, you can’t hesitate or try to spare anyone who has a weapon on you,” Lenrick said, wiping some golden blood from his face and sword. “Next time I may not be here to save you.”
“I’m sorry,” Domitor grumbled, lowering his head.
“Yeah, you got a lot to learn, kid,” Lenrick said as he walked for the door. “Now come on, I found something that looks like alcohol, ever drank before?”
“Erm, no?”
“Perfect!” Lenrick laughed loudly, giving Domitor a rough shove. “Let’s see your tolerance for a good time then!”
ooo000<^>000ooo
The next morning
“I hate this shit already,” I mumbled as I performed my daily quest, doing push ups in the dirt outside Raffy’s house.
“It’s worth it,” Rosemary said as she sat on my back as I went up and down. “Besides, at least you only have to run today, no flying.”
“I hate running,” I grumbled as I finished the required number of push ups and rolled over onto my back to do sit ups.
She just laughed as she watched me work out, “you complain as much as Loric.”
“Didn’t I ask you to stop comparing me to him?” I asked with a touch of annoyance.
“So you talk to yourself as well?” Raffy asked as he stood in his doorway, holding a cup of something hot in his claws.
“I have another soul inside of me,” I replied casually, causing him to chuckle. “She bugs me all the time. Keeps me on track too I guess.”
“You’re just full of surprises.”
I smirk as I keep up my work out, “trust me, you’ve seen nothing yet.”
Once I finished my sit ups, that just left a five mile run. Yay.
“Do you work out like this every morning?” he asked, stepping outside and walking over to a large vehicle with large wheels.
“Every morning, every day,” I replied, getting ready for a long jog around the property.
“Ah youth,” he said back as he put his cup down on the large truck and grunted as he climbed up to check on the engine.
I looked over at him as he struggled to open up parts of the truck to get at the engine. “Uh, need help?”
“No, I do not,” he said in a voice that insisted he did not want my help.
Ignoring him, I flew over and began to open all the hinges on the truck and pulled back the hood to reveal the engine.
He grumbled as he began to lean into the engine, “Thanks, lady.”
“No problem, old man,” I said with a wink as I flew back to my original spot and took off running, wanting to get this over with.
ooo000<^>000ooo
Daily Quest complete! 3 skill points awarded!
Level up!
You have 8 unspent skill points.
“Finally,” I groaned, coming to a stop right next to Raffy’s truck as he continued to work on it.
“I’d suggest spending your skill points, Shayla,” Rosemary said, causing me to roll my eyes.
I brought up the menu and looked at my attributes, trying to decide on which was the best way to spend them. Thinking back to what happened the day before, I decided to try and combat that.
Four points went into Perception, two into Brain Power, and two into Reflexes.
After hitting complete, I didn’t feel much different.
“Trust me, you are getting stronger, it just doesn’t seem like it since you’re only increasing your stats a little at a time,” she assured me.
I shrugged and walked over to Raffy. “So, what’s the plan here?”
He glanced back at me, covered in grease, “we’re going to town and I’ll drop you off at the Beltosh’s workshop.”
“Seems simple,” I commented, getting a laugh out of him. “It seems that way, doesn’t it?” Then he frowned as he looked me over, “however, you walking around on all fours makes you stand out. Makes you look like a feral Rust.”
“A Rust?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Raffy chuckled as he jumped down and turned to me, using a cloth to wipe his hands, “you have a lot to learn about this world, Ms. Beltosh.” He waved for me to follow him as he headed for the house, “simply put, a Rust is a corrupted person or creature. Nasty beast that’ll kill you for no other reason than to simply satisfy their bloodlust.”
“Sounds lovely,” I replied as we stepped into the house.
“Oh it is,” he chuckled, going to a sink to wash off the grim. “Now, we have one problem to address before we leave.”
“What problem?”
“We can’t have you walking around on all fours for one,” he said as he leaned against the counter. “Are you able to walk on two legs?”
“That’s child’s play,” I remarked as I stood up straight.
“Oh perfect! I thought we'd have to do something creative to fix that problem,” he laughed as he finished cleaning the grease off of himself. “Alright, I’m going to give you some of my clothes so you’ll fit in. Luckily, your head looks Kejtdra enough that you’ll pass for one as long as you keep a hood up.”
“I got to wear old people's clothing?” I asked with a frown, causing him to smirk.
“Nothing wrong with my clothing,” he remarked playfully.
“You’re wearing a dress suit with coveralls over it,” I deadpanned. “That makes no sense.”
He glanced down at himself and patted his clothes, “I think I look unique and snazzy.”
“Sure, unique for sure,” I chuckled as he waved me off and walked to his room, hunched over as he moved.
“You’ll be happy to know I used to be an adventurer,” he said as he disappeared into his room.
I just stood there in the kitchen doorway, waiting for him to return. He wasn’t gone long, and when he stepped out of his room he was holding a few bundled up clothes and some belts.
Raffy placed them on the couch and sat down in his chair, smiling at me as I stepped up to examine the clothing.
“Uh…” I muttered, seeing the clothing definitely did not match his current fancy look. “What kind of adventurer were you?”
He just laughed, slapping a knee, “a damn good one!” After laughing a bit more, he leaned back, folding his hands over his stomach, “I used to be a gunslinger, kid. Fastest shot this side of the planet.”
“Why’d you stop?” I asked, lifting up a jacket and examining it. It had a symbol on the back; just a simple laughing Kejtdra face with two revolvers crossed behind it.
“Old age,” he said sadly. “Got to the point I can’t draw and fire my gun without my hand shaking.”
“Shit sucks,” I said in sympathy as I began to put the clothes on.
“It sure does,” he muttered, sitting there looking to be lost in thought.
Once I’d got all the clothing on, I stepped over to the only mirror in the room, checking myself out. And I had to admit, I looked good. Like really good!
I had a black bulletproof vest on over my chest, with a wicked cool jacket on over it with a high collar that reached up to my ears. Under the vest was a second lighter jacket that had a hood attached to it, which hung out behind my head and over the high collar. The pants themselves were loose fitting at the top, but the lower part of the legs were held tight to my legs with straps that needed a bit of adjusting to fit properly.
A set of belts wrapped around my waist, with plenty of attachment points for any kind of gear I could think of. Two empty holster’s sat on either side of my waist, as he hadn’t provided anything to go with them. The only downside was my wings were hidden under the clothing.
“Can we cut holes for my wings?” I asked, getting a shrug from him.
“We could, but wings are not normal here. You’ll stick out like a sore claw if you have wings sticking out your back,” he reasoned.
“I guess you’re right,” I muttered, giving myself a spin. I left the jacket unzipped, choosing to show off the bodyarmor for the cool factor. “This outfit does not fit you at all. This is straight up a rebel’s outfit.”
“I was fun in my youth,” he chuckled, then he gestured to my empty holsters. “Sorry for not providing pistols, I sold mine a long time ago.”
“It’s alright,” I replied, raising my claws and clenching them into fist, “I’m better with my hands anyways.”
“And you’re able to fight while standing up?” He asked, “because from here on out you’ll have to stand up on two legs, otherwise you’ll blow your cover.”
“What happens if I blow my cover?”
“People will treat you harshly, and some might even attempt to do you harm. We’re at a… strange time in our history right now. Lots of mistrust going around at the moment.”
“Noted,” I said with a frown as I flipped the hood up. “Well luckily for both of us, I’ve spent most of my life learning to fight on my hindlegs.”
With a grunt, he pulled himself up. “Well, Ms. Beltosh, you ready to get your adventure underway?”
I smirked as I gave him a finger gun, “you know it, old man.”
He reached down and picked up a pair of cloth wrappings. “Almost forgot, wrap these around the hair on your tail. It’s a dead give away.”
This wiped my smirk from my face as I took the wrappings and whipped my tail up to myself, “this is just dumb.”
As he walked for the front door, I wrapped my tail tightly, making sure all the hair was hidden from view. I ran the wrappings up my tail a bit, making sure they were tight and secure. Once I was sure they weren’t coming loose, I followed after Raffy.
“Come on,” he called out from the driver seat of his large truck. “We got a few hours' drive ahead of us.”
I sprinted over to the passenger side and pulled myself up into the truck's cabin, taking my seat and throwing my legs up and reclaimed back like I owned the place.
“Comfortable?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Very,” I replied, putting my hands behind my head.
He rolled his eyes and turned the truck on and put it in reverse, backing down his driveway carefully.
ooo000<^>000ooo
“A city that is built into a massive tree?” Henbeck, formerly Hester, commented as the group stood before a gate that blocked their path into the city before them.
“I love mega cities,” Lorenzo said with a wide grin, “anything can happen.”
Leem licked his lips as he stared up at the city. “Walking all night was worth it for sure. I can smell something… tasty.”
“Henbeck, you’ll use your invisibility to get us through that checkpoint, then you and Leem will remain invisible. Can’t have him scaring everyone away,” Lorenzo ordered, getting nods from everyone.
“We have a week to kill, so let’s do some time killing,” he said with a sinister grin as Hester reached out with his Ego and attached it to everyone, turning them invisible.