"Keep yourself safe," Nela told Ronny, giving him a final quick embrace.

  The group was gathered at the very same barricade they'd entered the safe area through, along with Takhat and a few of her men. The guards seemed wary, almost certainly due to Ugotlas being there. Not the most disciplined bunch, given how they kept glancing away from the barricade towards the sphinx.

  "I'll try," Ronny answered, smiling down at her, "And I'll keep Edeline safe too."

  "How about I keep Edeline safe?" Edeline retorted, before grinning, "This should not be too difficult. We will be back tonight with whatever information we find."

  "One way or another, we'll learn something," the Witch of Wrath said, clearly intending it to be a joke. Nela wasn't sure it was all that amusing.

  "Open the way," Takhat ordered. Her men hurried forward, pulling aside the tables with strained grunts...only for them to gasp.

  Nela smelled it before she saw it - the scent of a corpse. Stepping a bit closer, the dead body of...something came into view. Upper half man, lower half beast...wait, there were horns growing out of his head. Like the horse creature from before, he was disturbingly thin. A few bugs flew idly around, drawn by the promise of feeding off the body.

  If this was a pattern, then they wouldn't have to worry about the creatures much longer - another few hexdays, and they would all die of starvation. A cruel end, and all the more reason to stop the Sluice from doing this again. Edeline better get working on that, Nela thought, and fast.

  "Who was on duty here last night?" the captain demanded.

  "Uh, Nebtamos, I think," one of the men said, "Saw him sitting down to eat earlier. You want me to go bring him?"

  "No need. I'll speak to him later." Takhat wrinkled her nose in disgust. "We'll need to move the body away from the barricade, before it draws more of them."

  Wondering why it hadn't already, Nela peered past the group out into the street. Getting Edeline, Ronny, and Floire out there would be that much more complicated if there was...

  ...another, like the bird woman perched on the rooftop just ahead.

  Edeline spotted the bird woman at the same time. "Get back," she said, drawing her sword.

  As the men readied their weapons, the creature didn't show any signs of reacting, instead just staring down. But not at the dead body, not at any of their group, not at the armed guards. She wasn't even looking at Ugotlas. The bird woman was staring...

  ...directly at Captain Takhat.

  If they really were the beasts they'd been told of, that shouldn't be happening. The only way this made sense was if whoever this was had kept their intelligence despite the transformation. And furthermore, could there not be others?

  Suddenly the bird woman turned her head as if hearing some sound. A moment later, she spun and awkwardly walked off. As she dropped out of view, everyone around visibly relaxed and lowered their weapons.

  "That was unusual," Ronny said, breaking the long silence.

  "Who knows with these beasts?" the captain answered. If she'd noticed that the woman had been fixated on her, she showed no sign of it.

  "Look at this," Hamond said. He was studying the tables that had made up the barricade. Stepping to the side to see as well, Nela couldn't miss the long thin scratches in the wood. She was sure those hadn't been there when they first arrived either.

  Her suspicion rising, Nela darted over to the body. "What are you doing?" Ronny asked in confusion. Ignoring him, she reached down and turned over one of the beast-man-thing's hands.

  There it was, clear as glass: the nails were cracked and broken with jagged edges. The scratches were done by him. The question now: was this trying to savagely claw through the barricade, or a desperate attempt to get the attention of whoever was on the other side? That one guard that had been mentioned might be the only one who could answer that.

  "Really messed up his fingers," Nela commented, standing back up.

  "He did that?" Edeline asked, catching on, "Why?"

  "Forget that last order," Takhat said, walking up to join them. "Go tell Nebtamos to stand by. I want to question him immediately."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "I'll do it," another of the men said, before taking off running. Some of the people here may question the captain's leadership, but it was clear to Nela that the guards were absolutely loyal to Takhat. Given how Takhat tried her best to keep them alive, that loyalty was deserved.

  "I'll drag the body off," Ronny offered, moving over to stand beside Nela. "We'll dispose of it somewhere, then head to search that street."

  "Very well. We're falling back then!" Takhat stepped back behind where the barricade was. "Good luck, you three. Heavens protect you."

  Nela trotted back to stand beside Hamond and Jylania. Turning, she watched as the guards shifted the barricade back into place. Just before the last table was set, she caught one final glimpse of Ronny's face. It was reassured and calm.

  "I want backup material to reinforce this spot," Captain Takhat called out, "We also need to check the other entrances, see if any other creatures tried to break in. Let's move fast. I want this done before the midday heat sets in."

  "Right, captain!" A chorus of voices answered Takhat.

  Nela glanced over to Jylania. "Time for us to get moving too." Getting back to that once-tavern to check on the patients was their concern right now. Not that she wasn't worried a little about Ronny, but he had his task, and she had hers. They both knew the importance of staying alive and getting back to see each other again.

  It was a lesson Hamond probably could stand to learn. That had to be part of what kept him up and awake two nights ago. While she was sure he'd actually gotten to sleep this past night, Nela suspected he still was holding back every kind of fear possible. He really needed to sit down with Edeline and talk this shit out.

  It didn't take Nela and Jylania long to get back to the tavern. Upon entering, the first thing Nela noticed was that once again Merytuya was absent. Nela wasn't all that surprised. If she'd been thinking to quit after Jisry's behavior, getting threatened by the Witch of Wrath would be the final push to do that. It was a shame, because Nela had enjoyed the woman's company. Hopefully Merytuya was happier for it now.

  The thunk of wood on the floor drew Nela out of her thoughts. Emerging from the back was Jisry, leaning on a cane he'd somehow gotten. Going by the grimace on his face, walking was still painful. As much as Nela wanted to say he deserved it, she knew better. There were a few people here still in similar pain, and she couldn't ignore the possibility that more could join them.

  "I see I am yet to be rid of you," Jisry said coldly.

  "Funny how I feel the same," Nela muttered. Jisry wasn't in good enough health to go out on his own, not with the lingering effects of the bite he'd suffered. He'd have to stay here, and Nela would just have to deal with him.

  She still didn't have to like it though.

  "At least I won't have to wait much longer."

  That comment, so darkly confident, got Nela's full attention. "And why is that?"

  "Because I overheard your talk with that witch." Jisry started to cross his arms, an instinctive gesture on his part that ignored the cane supporting him. He just barely was able to reach over and grab it again before it fell.

  "Really then." It wasn't as if Nela had tried to be quiet, or the Witch of Wrath either. Odds were that all of the patients had some idea of what happened, even if they hadn't heard all the details. They certainly would've noticed Merytuya's disappearance.

  Recovering his balance, Jisry continued. "As little as I trust you, I'd trust her even less. Someone like that who claims to have killed a king? One skilled at heka at that? Ridiculous."

  With a sigh, Nela looked up at the ceiling. "What do you think actually happened then?"

  "Poison, probably from one of his own men. The kingdom made up a story using some random woman they found, so they could claim it was one of their own that won the battle."

  This was beyond stupid. They had seen the spells. They knew the Witch of Wrath had tried to kill Lord Kelshir and the Aetheric Knights. Despite all that, Nela knew there was nothing she could say to convince this man. He'd rather follow his own twisting trail of thoughts instead of accepting the simple truth.

  "And you do not believe me." Jisry's response wasn't surprising. Nela had made no effort to hide her disbelief.

  "Did you really expect me to?" Nela just couldn't understand how this man...existed. "Even if I did, there's not a thing I can do about it. She's not here, and I'm not going to be working with her."

  "So it's still the same. Another person fooling the captain into thinking they're a weretheka." Nela had to admit she'd not expected that accurate a guess from someone who believed in such nonsense. "Sooner or later, all the lies and deception are going to collapse."

  "Maybe," Nela retorted, "But ask yourself this. If and when they do...who's going to save you?"

  "Oh, I will die. So will most everyone else here." Jisry's voice was a strange blend of smugness and despair. "And it will all be on your heads."

  "Unless we do what you suggest, right?" Nela wasn't about let the unspoken words remain silent.

  "It's far too late for that." Jisry grinned, a smile that Nela could only describe as full of madness. "At least we will serve as a lesson for the world. They will know the mistakes made here and-"

  "Doroneiroi."

  Jisry fell sideways, before being caught and lowered down by the relatively small hands of Jylania. His cane clattered to the floor the other way, bouncing a few times before coming to a rest.

  Jylania quietly making her way around the room without Nela or Jisry noticing was no surprise. It was a little more astonishing that the girl had figured that spell out after only seeing Nela use it once. Or had she used it in front of Jylania back in Kelshir? Shit, Nela couldn't quite remember.

  It did create a new problem though. "You do realize we have to get him back to his room ourselves now." Jylania had struggled to hold the man up, and Nela was not known for her strength.

  "Oh. I was just trying to help."

  "I know." Nela could hardly be angry at Jylania. The girl looked up to her, probably far more than Nela would ever deserve. "But I can handle people like him myself. Don't worry about me."

  "I understand." Jylania said with a nod.

  The good news was that it meant that Jylania now had a means to defend herself, if it came to that. Nela really hoped it wouldn't. "Let's go see if there's a guard or someone nearby outside that can carry him to the back."

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