Duskbound-Chapter 42Book 2,

Was it too much to ask to just have a few hours to myself? Nelspir lamented when he noticed Reldin and Talimar coming toward him. They were retired hunters who’d reached silver before transitioning into admin work, and both were staunchly loyal to the faction Pevril headed up. No doubt, they’d spotted him and decided to come harass him with more inquiries about which way he was leaning on various upcoming guild issues.

“Guild Master,” Reldin said politely.

At Nelspir’s side, Orlesia gripped his arm. He frowned and glanced at her for a moment before returning his attention to Reldin. It wasn’t like her to be grabby, not unless she was scared or felt threatened by the men.

“Reldin,” Nelspir returned. “Talimar. It’s nice to see you, but I’m trying to take a break from work, not do more of it. I’m only here to watch the play.”

“My apologies, sir,” Reldin said. “I’m afraid it’s a bit of an urgent matter. It’s come up quite suddenly. If you could come with us, I’ll fill you in as we walk.”

Nelspir rolled his eyes. Young hunters thought everything was urgent. The truth was that an extra few hours, or even days, very rarely had any lasting impact on anyone involved in whatever situation it was that had unexpectedly sprung up. He’d thought these two were experienced enough to know that, but apparently, he’d given them too much credit.

“What could possibly be so important that it needs my attention right now. I’m sure you two are more than capable of handling things without my direct oversight. Just take care of it, file your report, and I’ll review it in the morning.”

“No can do,” Talimar said as he moved to flank Nelspir opposite of Orlesia. “This is something only the guild master can handle. You need to come with us.”

“I’m afraid we really must insist,” Reldin said apologetically.

“The play doesn’t start for another twenty minutes,” Orlesia said. “Maybe we can take care of whatever it is in time?”

“What is it?” Nelspir asked in exasperation.

“Faster to show you than to try to explain it,” Talimar said. “Come on. We’ll get you back in time to watch your precious play.”

“Oh, fine. Let’s go then.”

One night. Just one night off. Was that really too much to ask for, Darshu?

The four of them walked out of the park, but instead of turning to the main road, Reldin led the group toward an alley. “We can save a few minutes if you don’t mind walking through some muck,” he announced. “With any luck, it’ll help you get back soon enough to pick a good seat.”

With an impatient sigh, Nelspir gestured for the man to lead on. I swear, if this is some joke Pevril’s playing just to piss me off, I’ll find a way to make him pay.

Something flashed by him, striking Talimar and sending him sprawling into the dirt and nearly throwing Nelspir from his feet when he got clipped by the younger hunter. Only Orlesia’s grip on his arm kept him from planting himself in the ground next to the clerk.

What the—Torwin?! What are you doing?

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Before he could react, silver light started leaking out of Reldin’s mouth and eyes. The man shrieked in sudden agony and began calling on his skills, attacking wildly with lashing tendrils of magical force. They whipped about, trying to find whatever was hurting him, but his blind thrashing did nothing more than shatter a nearby window and fling up chunks of dirt and mud.

Torwin smacked into a wall, thrown by Talimar somehow. That didn’t make sense. He was half Torwin’s level, though he was a warrior class, if Nelspir remembered correctly. Still, the level gap alone should have precluded Talimar’s victory in a contest of raw strength. Yet the proof was right in front of him.

That was the last thing he saw before a thick rope of force struck him across the face. He had just enough time to curse Torwin and Reldin both as his feet left the ground, then the world went black.

* * *

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Looking back on it, Velik could clearly remember every decision he’d made over the last three minutes, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out exactly how he’d ended up in some strange family’s kitchen with three unconscious men on the floor and one woman tied up, screaming into her gag.

“Look, I know this isn’t ideal,” Torwin was saying, only to be cut off by the owner of the house.

“My window! You broke it!” the man bellowed. “What’s wrong with you people?”

“And we’re really sorry about that.”

“And you smashed my stove!” the man’s wife added on. “Not to mention the hole in the wall here.”

“I will pay for all the damages—”

“I would fucking hope so!” the man said.

Nelspir groaned at Velik’s feet, and his eyes flickered, but no one else seemed to notice. “What happened?” the guild master mumbled.

“You got thrown through a window and landed head first on an iron stove,” Velik told him, squatting down.

“You!” Nelspir’s snapped open. He jerked away from Velik, but didn’t get far before bumping into one of the other men. “You attacked us! When I’m done with you, you’ll be lucky to be out of jail. And you can forget about your guild membership! I’m going to…”

He trailed off when he saw the young woman he’d been with bound and gagged a few feet away from him, then noticed Torwin struggling to keep the family whose home they’d inadvertently invaded calm.

It started so simple. We caught up, we were ready to pull Nelspir away from the monsters. None of them were even that strong, level 30 at most. How did we end up going through a window and destroying a kitchen?

It was Sildra’s fault, he decided. She’d tried to kill one of the monsters while it was still in the person it had taken over, and that was when everything had gone crazy. The monster had unleashed every skill its host possessed with no consideration for its allies or the environment around it. Nelspir had gotten caught in the frenzy, thrown through the window, and everybody else had followed along in an attempt to secure or rescue him.

“Settle down,” Velik said when the guild master tried to rise. He slapped a hand down on the old man’s shoulder and pushed him back into a seated position. “There are things going on that you don’t understand, and we need to get you caught up. The short version is that those three are monsters pretending to be human, and it looks like they were about to add you to their ranks. So, you’re welcome.”

“That’s preposterous,” Nelspir said, but then he faltered.

That’s right. You remember what it was we found up at the frontier. It’s not impossible anymore.

The girl’s screams got louder through her gag, probably in some attempt to manipulate Nelspir into standing up for her, but Sildra’s [Lunar Judgment] didn’t lie. She’d held off on trying to burn the monster out of them for now after the first two guys had passed out, but only because of Torwin’s quick thinking. If killing the monsters also killed the hosts, they needed Nelspir to be a part of it so he could see the notification. He had to know that they weren’t just murdering random guild admin staff.

So, a simple gag was made for the woman, and her hands were bound with a belt that Velik honestly struggled to believe she couldn’t break even without a physical-focused class. Sildra loomed over her, ready to ignite the monster inside the woman’s chest if she so much as tried to free herself. That was probably what was really ensuring her cooperation.

The couple that owned the house started yelling again, this time coming back around from the damages to the bodies all over the place. Honestly, they were remarkably brave for a pair of middle-aged non-combatants who definitely weren’t any higher than level 25.

Aria appeared at the window and took in the situation at a glance. “Boys,” she muttered. “Always making a mess. I don’t know why I thought you’d keep them in line, Sildra.”

“What are you doing? Don’t climb through my window!” the wife shrieked. “There’s enough of you in here already!”

“Oh, shut up,” Aria said as she entered the kitchen. “Gods, this was a disaster. Here, take this and go away.”

Decarmas started appearing out of nowhere and landing at the woman’s feet. Her eyes went wide as she quickly started tallying up the sum, but narrowed again when she took in Aria’s appearance. “Oh, sure, that’ll fix the damages, but what about the inconvenience of having to live with no stove to cook on and half a missing wall, huh? That’s not even mentioning scaring us half to death and the fact that you’re obviously breaking the law? You think you can just buy us off, do you?”

“Yes,” Aria said simply. She made a show of looking at the home, which looked normal enough to Velik, then sneered and added, “Here, for your ‘inconvenience.’ Go buy a home that isn’t a dump.”

Another stack of decarmas appeared, maybe two hundred or so, and the couple greedily snatched them up. “Let’s go for a walk,” the husband said. “I’m sure they’ll be gone by the time we come back, and we never saw what happened if anyone asks.”

After hustling out the door, the team was finally alone with their prisoners. “Was that really so difficult to think of?” Aria asked Torwin. “Or are you just that cheap?”

He rolled his eyes and reached down to haul Nelspir to his feet. “Okay, we’re in a bit of a crisis situation here, so let me explain what’s happening.”

“Unhand me!” Nelspir demanded, slapping the old [Ranger] away. “To be treated like this. My own hunters brawling with each other, right in front of me. And then this one starts trying to spin ridiculous lies about it!”

He jabbed a finger at Velik, who stared back at him blankly. “I didn’t lie.”

“I’m afraid he’s right, old man,” Aria said. “We’ve got a problem. It’s like this…”