Shapeless Hero

50 - Excursion VI

We make it to the other riverside, barely below the estimated time.

"Shit, those guys!", Liszka curses. Two newcomers appear, blocking our exit. Their full-body camouflage rustles, as they ready their over-sized crossbows.

The four of us stand still, not sure what to do, until one of the crossbow-wielders looks to the river and shouts at us: "Adventurers! To the side!"

It takes me a moment to realize, they're addressing us. The flight grooves of their crossbows light up. Blue, immaterial bolts appear, ready to be released. Liszka and I jump out of the way, just in time for their bolts to whistle past my ears. 

We watch the bolts fly over the river and to the other side of the cave, as we get back to our feet. A few seconds pass, before two deep gong-sounds reverberate in the cavern. The air on the other side of the river is filled with colorful noise in my mana vision, the area of effect far bigger than what Liszka conjured up before.

One after another, more purple-ish stalactites fall beyond the other riverside. A few wolf-kin lose their invisibility and jump into the river for safety, but our two new allies use their crossbows to kill the stragglers, ignoring us for the time being. Finally, a moment of respite.

I hold a hand in front of Liszka to stop her from pouncing at our saviors, then ask in a lowered voice: "Why did you call them trouble? They seem to help us now, no?"

It takes a moment, before Liszka leans back and answers. "People like them pulled me out of the queue in front of gates and questioned me several times. The less we understood each other, the more they made me a suspect. I was certain, they just waited to off me and take my...", she trails off for a second, "And take something from me."

I sigh. If they can pull people out of a queue without guards intervening, that might mean they're part of a local authority—perhaps the overly cautious kind, like some instances of border security from my old world.

 "Do you think it would help, if I talk to them—in their language, I mean?", I ask Liszka.

"Be my guest, but just in case..." She pulls out two vials and hands me one. It's mana-replenishments. "Sponsored by the killed puppies."

"Thanks. Can we find a new sponsor though? The branding seems off to me." I down the vial. My magic reserves start to regenerate, albeit very slowly.

We check our belongings and watch out for any other assassins but the two newcomers have been thorough. Once they're done with the "cleanup", they approach us again.

"Thank you for waiting.", one of them calls out to us.

"Thank you for saving us.", I respond in return. "Did you know, we were here?"

"After we found wounded adventurers on a different branching path of this cave, yes. We were told that two people were still missing."

"I see." Whoever the other adventurers are, they didn't care to specify how we looked. Lucky me.

"Do you have any clues where they're from?", asks one of our saviors, pointing towards some of the killed assassins.

I look to Liszka, whose conflicting thoughts show in her face, but she shakes her head. "Nope.", I answer for us two.

"I see. Good job staying alive. Get back to the entrance, we'll ask you more about this later." The two head towards one of the bodies near the river.

"Let's go.", I say to Liszka, happy to get away from potentially hunger-inducing wounds.

A blade hums. A cold sensation travels through my neck. 

My vision blurs for a heartbeat. My body feels suddenly lighter. Liszka dodges away from me, her eyes on something behind me.

I turn around. The moment I recognize the wolf-kin assassin, I draw my blades and dodge away too. I hear a thud of something hitting the ground. It's my head. It lies between me and my executioner, yet I stand.

The assassin's widened eyes dart between me and Liszka. "Wh... what?", they manage to mouth.

I need that biomass back, as quickly as possible, otherwise I can't rebuild my imitation of Liszka. To my relief, our two saviors are still too occupied with their cleanup to have noticed us. I seize the confusion of the assassin and kick them unconscious, making sure they don't bleed or acquire deep wounds, which could get my troublesome hunger to resurface.

I turn to Liszka, trying to ask her how she is doing, but no words come out.

Oh right, my head... 

I walk over, where it parted from my body and with no idea what otherwise to do, I try to reattach it to my neck, as one would try with a broken puppet. After a few clumsy attempts, I get my head connected correctly, a few squelches from the air escaping from the merging biomass. My "normal" vision returns along with the hearing and smelling of the arctic fox-kin.

"Sorry about that show.", I say to Liszka, happy that it worked out. "Are you okay?"

Liszka stares at me for another handful of heartbeats, before shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "I'm f-fine. If anything, I should be asking you. You...didn't lose anything from that decapitation?"

I nod. "As I said, I'm kind of a homunculus." I pause. "Could you keep it a secret, though? Consider it a favor for saving your life with my likeness."

She hums in thought. Her eyes narrow. Even in such a situation, she has enough nerve to negotiate for more. I can respect that. "How about this:", she starts, "I'll keep your abilities a secret, but in turn you keep helping me out like this. This won't be the last time, those pups will try a number."

"You're travelling around the world, I assume?"

"Yeah, but to nowhere particular. Just collecting a bit of coin. For now, at least."

"How about this:", I start this time, "Fylka and I are part of a slightly bigger group. I see no reason, why you couldn't come along with us. We'll be all over the place too, after I've worked at the guild a bit. Better than travelling alone, right?"

She looks up to me from the defeated assassin, she started looting a second ago. "Can I trust your crew though? You've pretty much proven yourself, but they haven't yet."

"They aren't adventurers or mercenaries. Hells, one of them is an Imperial commander even."

"Imperial, you say?" She rubs her chin, her eyes flickering as she seemingly weighs unspoken arguments against each other. "I'd like to meet them, before deciding on the details of our deal then..."

"Sure." I'd prefer an immediate answer, but maybe I should use her delay to think of better conditions for myself.

Liszka stands up and walks towards the cavern's exit, dropping another mana vial into my hands, whilst passing me. "I could eat something. Let's go back."

"Good idea." 

We stay quiet during our traversal of the cave. I'd rather hear another assassin approach than get Liszka killed on the last few yards to the cave-system's exit. She seems to share the sentiment.