Eodem: A Rifle and Sword Adventure (Complete)

Chapter 63: Mara

Mita sighed in relief as she stripped off most of the Share-Holder's otherworldly items off her. It was quite the challenge for even a lithe-handed rogue such as herself to peel them off of Samantha as she slept. Although the Yaohu Oil kept her red-headed hellion lulled into a deep slumber, it was difficult to separate her from the Otherworld items that she passed over to her fellow Crows onto a table. She couldn't get rid of the Share-Holder's skin-tight Silken bodysuit in particular. Her best Crows concluding that it was probably some kind of embedded under-armor of sorts that the Demons had bestowed to her as a sign of her allegiance to their designs. She would just pass them off to what is left of the Empire's Arcanists to see what they can do about it upon her delivery to Ghana's Wall.

She and about five of her remaining Crows had made camp of about 5 or so miles north off of Egni. Of the thirty Crows who assaulted the Demonic Butchering Camp, only eleven remained alive. Of the eight, five proffered to escort the refugees they forge ahead with rescued to safety and report back to Marshall Huguet of their findings. The other five stayed with Mita and continue their clandestine actions around Kalmte and continue scouting and performing any subversive actions against the invaders in the meanwhile.

At the present at their Camp, Mita's Crows were in a mix of calm and a consoling elation that they have survived so far. Sharing, drinks, stories, and their rations with each other whilst expecting their roguish tools. One of them, a more industrious minded of Crow, was put to work by the Crow Master to tinker with the Chosen One's strange paraphernalia. He had accounted several of the items already on his logbook with rudimentary descriptions and drawings of what he observed.

"Some kind of Leather Cuirass? Pockets everywhere... like ours feistiri." The Tinkering Crow showed Mita the amber-colored vest.

"And that Blue Banner... with the rings? They look like they form... a flower. Strange." one of the Crows eyed curiously on the Vests flag patch. "Does the Demonology Books match this Hex?"

"I don't think it does." Mita nodded. "All is this too strange for me... You have to be careful with those. Who knows what could happen to you?"

The Tinkering Crow dropped down the amber vest away and laid his hands onto the next piece of alien contraband: Samantha's peculiar 'Black Stave'. Unlike the typical magical staff seen by many of Battlemages and scholastic Wizards, it had an artiste-like design of sleek metal furbished into delicate separate parts. There was a handguard, much like a crossbow at one side of the Stave whilst their were several curious holes that were noticeable upon an erudite examination of the device.

"So, they hold them like this or..." the Tinkering Crow's fingers glided across the alien weapon, holding it upright as his eyes peered over its hollow focus...

BANG!

A thunderous crack sent the seclusion of the Crow Camp into disarray. The Crow somehow causing the Stave to discharge its magicks onto him.

Mita and the rest of the Crows looked on in horror as the Tinkering Crow stood still, eyes once alive with curiousity become limp as he turned slowly to them to reveal that his throat began leaking blood. The accursed magicks of the Stave had smited him!

He looked on in horror to his fellow Rogues as he collapsed onto the floor, eyes fading into tears. The grasp of Tivna's hand slowly enrapturing into her deathly embrace. The Stave he held followed down to the floor, causing the stave to again discharge its invisible missiles one more time as it collapsed to the campground, its speedy missile, slinging away a chunk of wood from a nearby tree with its piercing gaze.

"No!" one of the Crows rushed towards his bleeding comrade, frantically trying to grasp his pockets in a panic to find something or anything to seal the bloodlust, finding a lonely and crumpled up hankerchief on one of his least used pockets on his leather cuirass. But as he placed the cloth onto his wound, it was too late, the Tinkerer's hands grew limp and his eyes twisted back. Tivna has taken him away to her garden.