Linus Toria

Chapter 11

Manon was terrified. She was good at hiding it, but that didn't make the feeling any less true. It took everything she had to not lash out at the dwarves surrounding them. Violence had always been and would always be her first reaction when she felt threatened.

Barely registering the conversation taking place between Lina and the dwarves, she was trying hard to keep her mask of casualness from cracking. After all, she had repeatedly told Mathieu that she was already over her trauma and she didn't want him to start questioning the validity of her statements. She was aware of her own lies but that didn't mean that she wanted others to recognize them as well.

Stealing a glance at her leader, she saw that he was thankfully not watching her. Instead he was facing Lina with a strange expression. Manon couldn't describe the emotion for what it was because Mathieu rarely showed his feelings openly. Maybe it was a mix between wonder and disgust? She wouldn't bet on it.

Manon watched Lina opening and closing her mouth quite a few times but she couldn't make sense of the words the girl was spouting. Was she trying to reach a peaceful solution just after the dwarves had cried for their blood? Manon really hoped, that the girl wasn't that foolish. And the dwarves listening to her were probably just waiting for the right time to start their attack.

Thinking about the forthcoming battle with so many opponents in a restricted area made her ears ring and the edge of her vision darken. Suddenly, everybody was turning towards Elodie and Etienne and she had no idea why because she was unable to follow the conversation. But she saw that Lina was pointing towards them and all eyes followed her obediently. Was she trying to sell them out to the little monsters to ensure her own escape?

Manon wouldn't have that. She stepped forward until she was in front of the two wizards and assumed a protective stance. The safety on her pistol had long been removed and she was ready to die in battle for her friends.

Before she could point her gun at the mass of her adversaries, Etienne yanked it out of her hands, whispering: „What're you doing?! Don't you dare start a fight now! The situation's almost been resolved!" Elodie just watched her with wide eyes.

„Resolved?", Manon echoed without understanding, „I don't think so. Step back or I won't be responsible for -" Elodie understood what was going on and unceremoniously rammed a syringe in Manon's neck.

„This is for your anxiety. It will take effect in about two minutes. Until then, don't kill anybody", Elodie instructed her.

„How can you say 'Don't kill anybody'?! I have to, they're about to take us apart!", Manon tried shaking Elodie's hold on her off but had no success.

„Manon!", hissed Elodie, „Look at Mathieu! Does he seem troubled in any way? No. Therefore you can also relax. Our leader has again and again proven that he's good at assessing the situation. He has never been wrong before. I know you trust him with wholeheartedly so calm down. You going all triggerhappy on us now will only worsen this. Etienne will keep your gun until I say you can have it back"

Manon still had no idea what was going on. Was Elodie alright with being sacrified? Even if her friend was, Manon wasn't. She had already lost count of how many friends she buried and she wouldn't add Elodie to the list.

Still, she didn't want to start this fight unarmed and Mathieu had yet to give the signal to attack. So she could wait a little. Next thing she knew Lina had walked up towards the dwarves and was fraternizing with them. Manon wanted to shout at her for the betrayal but she couldn't muster up the strength. Her eyelids were starting to drop and her whole attention focused on keeping them open.

Suddenly she was leaning on Mathieu's shoulder and wondered where he had come from. Manon wanted to stand on her own, but her leader didn't let her. She pouted at him. He paid her no mind. She didn't like being ignored by him. He didn't notice her displeasure. She jabbed him between the ribs. He recoiled, letting her fall.

Her head hit the ground with a dull sound effectively knocking her out.

+++

When Manon came to again, she felt very groggy. Somebody was bandaging her head. Manon's tip was on Elodie. Turning her head sightly, she confirmed her guess. The gentle hands did indeed belong to her friend.

„What happened?", she inquired hoarsely.

„You fell. After freaking out because we were surrounded, I injected you a sedative and while Mathieu was supporting your weight you made him let you go. Now you have a big bump on the back of your heat. It's also bleeding a little. Since you're robust it shouldn't be a concussion but I'll keep an eye on your condition just to be sure. At the moment we're in a seperate room the dwarves prepared for us until you came to", Elodie retold gallantly.

Manon was lying on a coarse blanket in a chamber not much bigger than her. It had the same depressing dirt-brown colour as the other walls around here and was also illuminated by torches. Elodie was crouching besides her head and treating her injury. „What about the actual situation? The dwarves?"

„We made a deal with them: In exchange for inactivating the magic array they forget about the whole us killing their prince thing"

„Aren't they the masters of the magic array? Why can't they control it? And what prince?"

„Turns out the chimera Mathieu killed upstairs was their prince. The dwarves living here were enslaved by an infamous witch and her alchemist husband experimentating on chimeras. They forced the dwarves to mine for valuable ores in these ruins and sporadically chose a few of them. The chosen ones got turned into chimeras of the manticore type.

You know about the second appearance of manticores during the Great War, right? That was the same witch. She died while assaulting Medina and her husband who had stayed here committed suicide after the war ended. The dwarves couldn't leave due to the magic array with a couple of manticores prying on everything in sight. The chimeras hunted each other down but the one who used to be their prince prevailed. The stupid dwarves recognized him and didn't kill him; as long as they fed him enough he didn't attack them. So they started catching travellers to keep him happy and when they couldn't get enough they gave him one of their own. Pathetic, right?"

„What lovely contemporaries", Manon snorted, „But shouldn't you help Etienne with the inactivation-thingy?

„He probably won't need my help at all. Lina told us that the array can probably be broken by manually removing the core. After that the dwarves who were unable to approach it should be no longer bound to this place"

„That sounds like a task about anybody who from the outside could do. Well, anybody but Etienne. He's a nice guy and all but I wouldn't trust him with anything magically... Why would this removal require a magic user anyway? And why are we trusting Lina's information?"

„You need to stop doubting Lina's every action. She has no reason to harm us. And it's better to have somebody capable remove the array in case that witch built in some traps that would activate only when trying to get rid of the whole thing. A wizard like Etienne or me can always watch out for those traps while you would only notice them once they explode. And Etienne should be able to do that much wthout me" Elodie commented dryly. „You really need to refresh your magic knowledge"

„Why would I do that when I've got you by my side?", Manon responded cheekily.

„Nevermind", Elodie resigned herself, „By the way, what happened to you earlier? Didn't you tell Mathieu that you got over your trauma?"

„Shit, please don't tell him. I thought it didn't bother me anymore", Manon lied through her teeth, „I guess it was just a short relapse?"

Elodie didn't look convinced at all but she didn't press the matter anymore. She returned Manon's gun and then the two left the room to meet the rest of the team.