Tales of magic: grimoire of transmogrification

  Chapter 33

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  Arc 2 - "The hunter and the beast"

  Chapter 17- "Prey and Predator II"

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  "It's time to fight back, William. We've been running away for too long." Ein said, letting out visible air from his mouth. He was rubbing his exposed hands against each other, probably for warmth.

  "Have you gone mad? I might be your younger brother, but I'm not stupid. You want us to launch an attack on the queen- the Crown? That's impossible! Completely ludicrous! There's no point to it! You said it yourself, revenge is meaningless. I also don't have to remind you that we won't stand a chance."

  "See, William. This is the problem I have with you. It's like you're used to the idea of running away when the enemy tries to intimidate you. So what if she's stronger? So what if she has magic? Or the power of the gods? Whatever it is. We have only two options. One we roll over like weak innocent victims and we get trampled on by the likes of her. Two, we stand on our feet and fight back, no matter the odds. Which one would it be, Willie?"

  William Sharpside fell silent. Ein smiled, taking that as an admission of defeat. If it were a battle, he'd won.

  ~ 1869, seven days after the Day of New Pridon.

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  Sweat went down her brow, but she ignored it.

  It ignored it.

  Veronica was exhausted. More than ever, after seeing the same vision countless times. From the moment she'd stepped into the woods, to this particular moment, she had had no rest. No reprieve. If it wasn't the body-snatcher (It was usually the body-snatcher) then it was the pain from the wounds all over her, or it was f*cking William, or it was a fire that came out of nowhere...or it was the whole ordeal- the existence of magic, the monsters, whatever Ashley is/ was... Everything demanded her attention. She had to deal with it. And dealing with it was tiring.

  The questions for one, prickled her. They tugged at her, demanding to be answered. An amalgamation of her curiosity, fear and confusion further facilitated the flood of questions in her head.

  Who/what was that flying woman?

  Why did she kill Ashley?

  Since when did Lancaster have supernatural powers...

  There were too many. So many she had a headache.

  Not that it cared. After all, psychotic body-snatcher here doesn't give a damn if she lives or dies.

  The headache intensified. A reward for thinking too much. Great.

  But physical pain was the least of her worries. Now she had to think about which direction the body-snatcher demon would hunt her from, next. Which form would his next attack take? How would she brace herself for it? What can she do?

  Would it matter?

  It was right, I haven't given up hope yet. Even if I thought so, a moment ago, I'm still struggling. Still fighting back against it.

  But if I really want to win. I need a strategy. Instead 9f thinking about what I don't know, let's set things straight about what I know. Where do I start?

  Ahh, yes, my body isn't mine anymore. This thing has complete control over me. Not my thoughts though. I think my brain is still mine. Also, the thing can't read my mind like Ashley can. Could. Still shook up by her sudden death.

  Headache.

  F*ck. I can't even swear anymore. My mouth doesn't move. What else is new? Oh, yeah, I'm surrounded by monsters. It just so happens that I can still feel, see, heal, smell and probably taste, whatever shithead here is experiencing. It's a surreal experience, going through this torture.

  'Veronica' prowled the woods. It had to be searching for something, or someone. It was looking around too much. Eventually, after hours, it finally found what it was looking for.

  A monkey. Or to be accurate, a blue-eyed, green-skinned monkey in a black suit. This monkey stood upright on two feet, and wore a metronome. His tail curled around a tree branch and then it broke it off from the tree, hurtling it around so it spins and then catching a fruit- an orange-with his mouth, smirking. Throwing the branch to the side, he swallowed the orange completely, not chewing at all.

  At this point, nothing fazes me anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if the sky fell, and stars started to rain down.

  "Lich. What an unpleasant surprise."

  The other beasts, relaxed where they were, watching the conversation as it ensued. Minding their business.

  "I come bearing news from the north..." It was her voice. Her mouth. She hadn't spoken a word since the nightmare began. But now her mouth was finally moving.. Veronica didn't know how to feel.

  The language wasn't her own. Somehow she understood it completely. But she knew it wasn't English. What language was it? The monster language?

  "I know about the hunter and the other Magus... you're not welcome here. Go." The green monkey ate another orange...Devoured another orange.

  Little reminder they were monsters, not animals. Well, apart from the fact that they spoke.

  "There is more to it, Prima. Far more. The fire might've killed all of our livestock."

  "And? Do you expect a prima to care?"

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  So prima isn't his name then. Some kind of title? Or is it the name of his species? Good friend 'headache' told me to quit trying.

  "No. But I believe you'll care about the master's domain being in peril."

  "How? Hunter swore to leave us be. He only recently exterminated the demi-lions because they went out and killed humans. There is no threat to us other than Hunter. And Hunter isn't a threat anymore."

  "Wrong. Three other Mages are here."

  "So? I fail to see the problem."

  "The necro did nothing to anger the Hunter. But we still got our vast stock of human captives as well as the preserved corpses, burnt in an instant.. I only took over this female human because I had no choice. I would've died without a host."

  What? He... It'll die without me? I finally found a weakness. A way out. If I...

  What is wrong with me? There is nothing I can do.

  Also, I remember recalling that the fire started a while after this shithead took control over me. Is he lying to monkey on purpose?

  Regardless, Necro-lich continued, undistracted by Veronica I thoughts.

  "...The point is, Hunter has gone back on his words. He's launched a full blown attack on the woods. On the master's domain."

  Monkey/Prima ran out of oranges. He proceeded to scale the tree and pluck some from higher up. Veronica noticed his very pointed ears and the faint scar across the back of his head, parting his fur. From a fight? If it was, it meant this monkey gentleman was a fighter. By the way he handled himself, he wasn't a wild beast. More like a warrior.

  He took his time before responding to necro.

  "How many of you live?"

  "None of us died..."

  "Exactly. You have only been alive for, what, four years? You hadn't been spawned back in the days Hunter actively tried to exterminate us. You don't understand. If he was really trying to kill you, you would be dead, little lich." His voice was stern, but calm. He sounded as though he knew exactly what he was talking about. But apparently it sounded like madness to piece of shit body-snatcher. It was pissed.

  It tried to attack, rushing like a savage beast - which it was. Feeling herself, baring her teeth as though they were fangs,and running on four limbs, was scary to say the least...She'd felt it more than fifteen times, and it was still uncomfortable.

  Come to think of it, everything about this is uncomfortable.

  Being slapped around by Hunter should have taught it a lesson, but it didn't. Instead, this monkey slapped them around all over again. Every single time 'Veronica' got up, she was smacked back to the ground. And she got back up again, rushing single-mindedly at the target as though expecting a different result. Reality, harsh as it was, proved to be fair. Veronica ended up on the ground, facedown lying in a pool of her own blood.

  "That's enough, lich."

  Veronica's head rotated counterclockwise at a 180°. Somehow the neck was capable of doing that. Who knew?

  Her face contorted in some kind of combination of extreme disgust and anger. It was ugly, to say the least.

  "Oh. So you still want to fight?" The beasts around the area approached with less caution. They weren't hiding in the bushes anymore. Veronica's peripheral vision told her all she needed to know. The monsters were backing up Prima.

  Damn this thing!

  All of a sudden, somebody walked into the scene. The person's footsteps were nearly silent as they dodged the branches and bushes in their path. The person fell with a thud, tripping over a branch. The beasts stared at the newcomer, but Prima signaled them to wait. That was how a strange young man in a conspicuous black cloak interrupted the gathering of monsters.

  "You have guts, Mage. Did you really believe we would let you be just because of the marked name, enemy of chaos?" Prima asked, his back straight and his voice stern. He was clearly serious, but it was difficult to take a blue monkey in a suit with orange pulp all over his mouth, seriously. Veronica almost laughed, until she remembered she couldn't. It was in control.

  "Actually, I did...and I still don't have a plan to fight any of you. So I'll just wing it." He smiled boyishly.".. and I'm taking Veronica."

  Jordan..Why didn't I realise it earlier? His face is almost completely covered, and it's nearly pitch black out here, but it's obviously Jordan... How is he speaking the same weird language as the monkey? Right, supernatural powers. Almost forgot about it.

  "Oh, so I'm guessing Veronica is the name of the corpse this necro has taken over. She must be dead, there is no way to save her."

  Jordan..his face, it's so sad..why? We're not that close. I mean, I guess I'll cry if I heard he was dead too, but, this... this is more.

  "She's not dead!" Jordan suddenly yelled at the top of his voice. He used English this time. The other beasts looked at him with hostility. They were getting ready to attack.

  "So angry you forgot to use the words of magic..how amusing. I take it she was your mate? I'm jealous. By human standards, she is quite attractive."

  "F*ck you! She's not dead! I don't believe it. I'm not backing down." The other beasts started to get into a circle around Jordan. This is looking ugly.

  "You could find another mate. I don't see why you stress so much over it." It was Veronica's voice this time. Or more accurately, Necro-lich.

  "I said, she's not dead!" Jordan screamed, throwing off the cloak, which for a moment, obstructed Veronica's view of him. The beasts lunged in to attack, but they landed on the cloak. Jordan had somehow disappeared.

  The rest of the fight was a blur. Veronica could see the beasts immediately turning towards the left, sensing that Jordan was there. They might've smelt him. Somehow unable to pull off the stunt again, he began to run. However, the beasts caught up to him in seconds. More than a dozen monsters all tall and imposing, loomed over Jordan. Each and every one them were salivating. They didn't want to beat him, they wanted to eat him.

  And there's nothing I can do.

  Many of the beasts resembled apes and gorillas. Others looked like monkeys - like their leader. Nonetheless everyone of them was stronger and faster than Jordan. He didn't stand a chance.

  Yet I can't do anything. He's risking his life for me and I'm just lying on the floor and watching him. Useless.

  He didn't use any magic. Instead he fought with his fists. Jordan stood tall st 5ft 3, facing off against more than a dozen beasts that were easily more than 4ft taller. He would try to punch, but one would smack him to the side, and then another one would slap him again, with so much force that his shirt had the imprint of a hand on it. Then they would do it again. And again. Each time, getting faster, hutting harder.

  All of them had grins on their faces.

  They were toying with him. And they were enjoying it.

  Yet he didn't stop trying to fight back. He still had a defiant look on his face. He didn't give up. He was visibly scared. And he was weak. But he refused to quit, getting up each time he fell to the ground.

  Why? Why are you going so far?

  Soon enough, Jordan Middlesworth was lying next to her, hid body riddled with wounds and bruises. He turned towards her with a look of concern.

  "Have you had enough? I ordered them to go easy on you, since outright killing you could offend Chaos. However, us prima's don't do captives. We only hunt to kill, like the wolves do. We have grown weary of beating you, so we ask that you give up and leave." Prima frowned.

  "Shut up! Just let Veronica go! Please.." He managed to put in so much energy into that, when he could barely breathe.

  The monkey sighed.

  "Fine. Necro-lich is your enemy, take your battle elsewhere...I believe I gave you too much credit. You're a failure of a Mage. Not even a fair opponent against the weakest beasts in the Screaming woods."

  Then Veronica - Necro-lich - turned and smirked at Jordan.

  "Believe it or not, Mage, you saved my life. I guess it's alright to make a deal with you. You want your woman, you can have her. For twenty-four hours I will let her take control of her body. This is in exchange for you saving me. During this period, you would make no attempt to destroy me. Is it alright?"

  "Yes." Jordan said weakly, grabbing unto Veronica's hand.

  He turned over to his side and stared at her.

  "Ordine ut testis noster, verba nostra sint sigilla quae nos ligant. Foedus nostrum non frangetur. Si est, poena sit mors."

  "The Highest vow, Mage? You must really want her back. You do know that doing so would kill you if you break it? Very well then. Ordine ut testis noster, verba nostra sint sigilla quae nos ligant. Foedus nostrum non frangetur. Si est, poena sit mors."

  For a while, there was silence. Prima whispered something to the his beasts and they dispersed, going back to minding their business.

  "Jordan, your hand..." Veronica opened her mouth.

  I can speak. I can actually speak..

  "What is it?" He asked quietly.

  Tears freely went down her eyes.

  "It's warm."

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