The Necromancer's Cauldron

Chapter 8

AN: Sorry for the wait. I've been battling fevers and a sinus infection for a week now. If it's not one thing, it's another. It's getting annoying. I just want to write, god damn it. Well, I hope you enjoy reading.

-

Chapter 8:

As unnerving as the shouts and screams of shock and fear were, it made tracking down the violent wendigos a lot easier. And as night drew closer, hunting down the wendigos was something Drayce needed to do as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, the guards of the city were attempting to bring some calm to the situation.

And the guildmaster himself was in the middle of it.

So was a certain skeleton entity.

It scurried along the paved roads, like some kind of deranged, frightening insect. It was surrounded by potential targets and seemed unable to settle upon which one to attack. It almost seemed...excited by the smorgasbord of mortal flesh.

If it was indecisive, Drayce would have to make its decision for it.

He clutched at his gun as he summoned a Decoy Shield in an area that was devoid of frightened citizens. With its mana and purposeful irritating presence of the shield, the wendigo whipped its head around at an unnatural angle, immediately honing in upon the decoy. And it swiftly took the bait; it sprung up from the ground and landed atop of the shield, the sudden attack causing the shield to collapse backwards. But it maintained its form.

With the wendigo busy attempting to shred the shield to pieces, Drayce dropped down to one knee and raised his weapon. It took him a moment to level his aim. Thanks to the blessed bullets, he didn't need to aim for a small target like the skull. But the way the wendigo was thrashing about made it a difficult mark.

And Drayce didn't want to waste a single bullet.

He drew in a slow breath, waiting for the Decoy Shield to lose its physical form. As the shield disappeared and the wendigo rose up in an attempt to search for another victim, Drayce levelled his sights upon the centre of the ribcage.

And pulled the trigger.

Fragments of bone showered through the air and a high-pitched, wince-inducing shriek sliced through the air. The skeleton maintained its form for a moment, before rattling and falling apart. Piece by piece.

Drayce breathed a sigh of relief. These bullets were amazing.

Hopefully he had enough.

"Egar!" Drayce jumped to his feet and quickly made his way toward the guildmaster. "I'll explain later, but my guild and I will handle this, I need your guards for crowd control."

With his ever-present helmet, it was hard to discern what kind of state he was in. Though his commanding posture stated that he was calm to the best of his abilities. "Is this connected to the museum and that wraith?"

"Yeah."

"Then that is all I need to know for now. Do what you need. I will ensure Prince Ramus' safety."

Good. He would have to speak with Ramus after everything was dealt with. Which, hopefully, would be soon. Before nightfall.

Drayce took his minor break to check the maintenance of his weapon. "They take on the form of skeletons. If you encounter one, aim for the skull. Maintain your armour. Do not, under any circumstances, let them draw blood."

"Understood."

Grateful for Egar's immediate acceptance of his words, Drayce drew in a deep breath to settle himself before propelling himself back to his very dangerous mission. With the guards working to calm and control the panicked locals and citizens, his thoughts turned to his teammates.