"What are they talking about?"
"I don't know Amy, but it seems Heather made her move."
"Still, I don't think that they'd normally call her a beast…"
"I know that, but there's still a need to find her."
"HEY, you can't be here!"
"Um!!!"
We all realized that this was too high a level for only 4 of us.
"Listen, it's too dangerous out here for the low levels. Everyone below 400 should be inside."
He didn't realize that we were enemies. We played along.
"What's going on exactly?"
"I don't actually know, but what I do know is that the killer commander was scared by it."
"Is that bad?"
"Is that bad… of course it is!"
The level 400+ led us through a road then we all froze as we saw something.
Someone, no something was hunched over.
We heard the sound of bone crunching and meat being bitten into.
The guy looked disgusted.
"Hey peasant. It's not safe. Especially for rats like you that aren't in the system."
He seemed to regard the strange thing as lower as there was no sign of it being in the system.
"Oooh?! More food approaches?"
"What?"
It leapt at him and ripped him to shreds before chewing on his corpse. The voice was too distorted for us to make out.
It stood up and looked around, sniffing.
It was huge, almost a full foot taller than me. Birdlike legs make it harpyish, but its draconic horns were odd. With tattered wings and a melted face we all knew.
We found the person we intended to save, and we were too scared of her to even move.
"I thought there were more… Oh well, I can find them later."
She leapt away, Going from tree to tree.
We all realized we were holding our breath.
"Okay, what the **** was that?"
Thalia's voice made us jump.
"I think that was Heather…"
"I know that was Heather, Dallel, but what was THAT??!"
"I don't know."
"Can you talk with Luma and ask her?"
"No, she doesn't have access to capitals."
"Crap, should we head back?"
"Not without her."
"…"
Ausar sighed deeply.
"We're following her, aren't we?"
"Yes."
"Great, let's notify Mark to prepare our funerals."
"The skill Nation will keep us safe from her."
"May I remind you that the skill was Rose's. We don't know if Heather even has the Nation skill. If not, then she could be as hostile to us as that guy."
He pointed to our temporary guide who was then little more than a twisted corpse.
"Remember, they have all people under 400 indoors, and that guy was way above that limit. We aren't winning."
I sat down and considered the possibilities.
"If we leave and explain, then they may understand, but that leaves her with a higher chance of being killed, but if we stay, we could be dragon food, but we would have a higher chance of saving her."
Thalia shook her head.
"I don't even know why we are thinking of leaving. We came here to save her, didn't we?"
"Yeah, but-"
"No buts! We came to save her, so save her. If we leave because we got spooked, then how can we call ourselves fighters much less her friends?!"
I shook my head.
"You're right. We came here to save her, so let's save her."
Ausar sighed.
"I guess I can't let you all face certain death alone, let's go."
We ran in the direction we saw her going.
"Come on, I see some light."
We entered a clearing and saw someone unexpected.
"D-Damien?"
"Dallel… what are you doing here?"
"We came to save Heather… You're the mole?"
Damien's face soured.
"You were always too clever for your own good."
Then a scream that made everyone in the clearing jump.
"CRAP, SIR!!! SHE'S BACK!!!"
Damien turned his focus away from us.
"Prepare the weapons, we'll catch her this time, and get someone to watch these four."
He looked over and gave an annoyed look.
"I would kill you immediately, but I'm a bit busy."
I was still in shock. Damien, the vice-captain of my Kingsguard squad, a higher being. And not only that, but one of their commanders.
Then, right as I was about to attack him out of rage, half of a corpse fell from above making everyone freeze. We looked up.
"A spider web."
And in the middle of it. Heather sat, upside down, with a melted smile.
She looked at me. The next thing I saw was the clearing a long ways away.
"Heather?"
"Dal Dal Dallel. Y y y youuuuuu came for meeeeieiie!!"
Her voice was distorted and many of her words were stretched or squeaking.
"Safe…. Here…"
She put me down, looked at me, and smiled.
"Friend… safe…"
-
Thalia POV
What just happened? Dallel was right next to me, and now he was gone, and so was Heather.
Now, both of them disappeared.
"Well, that deals with one problem."
Damien's words made us jump, but Amy remained composed.
"What do you mean?"
His smile made me want to vomit. His next words didn't help.
"Oh please, she's been hunting and eating our men for two hours now. Given her savagery I wouldn't be surprised if that little elf is chow."
"Sir, I had an idea, what if we bound them and hung them from a tree and let the beast grab them, then we can capture her while she's eating."
"Good man, Bind them all, and as she's a dragon make sure they are bleeding, it'll draw her attention easier."
A guy grabbed my arm. I shook him off.
"Get your hands off of me."
Another guy grabbed Ausar, and he started struggling.
"Smite."
A hole appeared in Ausar's chest, and he fell over.
We all looked at Damien in shock as he smirked.
"I should tell you; I suppose. My name is Damien, the god of Shadows in Falsel."