A merc and a god walk into a city... [Aeyt!]

[Rhindeer]

"This place stinks," Axieva said as she walked alongside her godly mate, Rit. She wrinkled her nose in disdain and looked up at him, ears back, wings folded, hooves clicking lightly with each step. She waved a hand in front of her nose. "I did not miss the city."

Because cities, indeed, reeked. To someone with a sensitive nose like hers, it was sensory overload. Humans had a particular...stench about them, and the city stank of human waste and industry and filthy animals kept in cages. Already she missed the wild places outside the human places, but alas, a girl had to eat. Animal meat kept her sated and nourished, but nothing compared to human livers.

And she had learned that society down south was different than her homeland, where perytons and humans came into violent contact frequently. Here, she was an outsider, and so she just had to learn how to cheat the system. She had found her calling in mercenary work, especially bounty hunting. It was a socially acceptable form of killing. How strange humans were.

Of course, to humans, they were the strange ones. Two perytons walking down the road, Axieva especially drawing disdainful stares. As usual, she wasn't wearing much at all: a thick fur skirt, and nothing else. She had gone all her life wearing nothing, or close to it, except when going outside into the cold, and after spending so much time with Rit in the woods, she had forgotten about human modesty. Her bare breasts were small, barely there, but her hips and presentation was feminine enough to give her away. She drew surprised or disgusted looks, or whistles, and Axieva hissed at them in annoyance as they passed.

The reason still hadn't dawned on her.

"I forgot how annoying humans are, too," she muttered under her breath, ears twitching. "What a shrill sound. Hurts my ears."

[Aeytrious]

        "I just want you to know I take offense to the title of this thread. I do not require nor desire the worship of mortals," Rit said as he walked beside Axieva. Inevitably she'd give him an odd look, so he placated her before she could. "Don't worry lover, I'm just talking to the Goddess." He decided that perhaps it was best to turn to internal monologue to communicate. No need to get the narrator directly involved, yet. I never claim to be a god, Rit thought to himself, knowing the Goddess could read the words on any number of screens she might access SotE through. And my powers far outshine any of the little g gods of this world that the Goddess and other lore creators have designed. I can puff them out of existence. Well at least my lore says I can, but we all know the only one with that power is the guy that destroyed net neutrality. At this point, the narrator decided to intervene. Rit would go on forever if he was allowed to.
        That's not really fair. The same guy that writes the narrative writes everything I say and do when the post is from my perspective.
        Good point.
        Anyway, back to the story. Rit and Axieva have just arrived in Ketra and she can't stand the smell.
        "It's not so bad really," Rit said to Axieva. "The smell I mean. Sure, humans are pretty dirty animals, but orcs and dwarves, at least in my more recent experiences, have been far smellier."

[Rhindeer]

Indeed, Axieva did flash Rit a strange look, but she rolled her eyes at his assurance and shook her head. She was used to that by now, the way he sometimes spoke to his strange deity like a person standing right beside him. But her kind hardly cared about the spiritual practices of others, as it was viewed to be a personal thing, and so she just let him do his thing and kept her amusement and puzzlement to herself.

His next comment, however, drew an audible snort. "You are more used to them than I," she said, feathers fluffing. "At least it makes tracking them simple. Now to find work..."

A tavern would be a good place to start, a good place to get information. Zantaric had made for easy hunting, but all human-places had humans they wanted exterminated, so the trick was just finding the folks who knew who the unwanteds were. The best place for that was where people gossiped with loose, alcohol laden tongues. The people who ran those places always knew the most.

As they walked, Axieva keeping an eye out for signs of such an establishment, she couldn't help but notice all the unattended children begging on the streets. Vulnerable, unwanted, malnourished, they would make for easy pickings--but her kind did not eat fawns. It was considered barbaric and cowardly to harm something so young and defenseless, and the sight of them, as before in Zantaric, made her uncomfortable. That didn't happen among her people. Even if a fawn were orphaned, others would raise it. It would never be abandoned.

But here there were no parents to yell at.

She shook her head and kept on walking until, finally, the familiar noise and laughter of a gathering place caught her ear.

"Here," she said, pointing. "We'll start here."

[Aeytrious]

        Ketra was the capital of Adela, but Adela was still a fledgling nation by comparison to the other countries of the world. It was still going through growing pains, with even the borders of tribal territories shifting. The scars of their war for independence were still visible, and the poverty in the larger cities was in disparate contrast to the Serenian inspired garden districts and merchant quarters, and especially the Noble estates. Axieva and Rit had crossed through the ever shifting Tent City into the outskirts of the poorest district of Ketra. A poverty stricken place, where the barely acceptable and downright illegal practices were hidden from the view of the wealthy. Feigned ignorance within their ivory towers let them live with clear consciences. In this poor part of the grandest city in Adela, a person would find the darkest edge of the persimmon district. Further into the persimmon district, where things looked brighter and cleaner, you’d eventually come to the Randy Peach. That was far from here.
        This area was dirty and lacked upkeep. The homeless slept in the alleys here, where there was often the stink of human waste. The taverns and bars were the dangerous kind, where you were just as likely to get a dirty mug as you were to get into a brawl. It was one such place that Axieva led Rit into. A board for postings held yellowed wanted posters and advertisements for high risk or especially nasty jobs.
        Among the rapists and murderers and well known bandits were two that caught Rit’s eye. One was for a female highway robber. She’d recently assaulted a noble in his carriage, and though nothing was stolen, she had injured two guardsman and the noble himself. The description and illustration were lacking but they got the hamsas right and Rit knew just who that was. The other one that caught his eye was for a bandit known as “Lex of the Wood.” The poster had no consensus on his physical description except that he dressed like a wood elf and had a wooden mask concealing his entire face, even his eyes. They did have a description of his voice though. Everyone agreed he sounded like an Adelan nobleman. Another note was that he had stolen large amounts of valuables but that any injuries he caused were minimal.
          Rit scanned over the rest of the board as he stood next to Axieva. “Anything look particularly tasty to you?”

[Rhindeer]

"Hrm..." Axieva scratched at one ear in thought, eyes scanning the posters and settling on one in particular: a young man with a scar slashed into his cheek. He would fetch a high monetary value, but she hardly cared about that. What she cared most about was his crime--multiple instances of murder and rape--and that he was wanted "dead or alive".

Which meant she would kill him, of course.

She jabbed a finger at the poster. "We will start with him," she said. "He looks...not tasty, but nasty. But livers all taste the same." She curled her lip, flashing sharp teeth. "I will never understand how humans kill their own. Or rape. We do not even have a word for that where I am from." It had been an entirely new and shocking concept for her, just as other things like prostitution and abandoning children had been. And yet humans called her kind barbaric.

"His death will be satisfying."

[Aeytrious]

        Rit read the rest of the poster. The criminal was suspected to be part of a group. They'd raped and murdered travelers, the members of an entire caravan, and even a few girls had gone missing. They were more savage than your usual bandits. So far they had eluded capture, and local authorities suspected they had a cave or other hidden location nearby.
        "I think this one will have an interesting outcome," Rit said. "Adelans are famously excellent at tracking, but they haven't been able to make any progress. It tells the location of their most recent confirmed attack. Perhaps we should start there."

[Rhindeer]

Axieva squinted at the poster. "The last attack was...off some crossroads somewhere. Near this village," she said with a nod, pointing at the village's name, which she wasn't sure how to pronounce. "Their attacks have all been local, then. Very stupid killers, hunting prey in the same place. But smart enough to be stealthy, and let no victims return. They could be here now. Smart predators blend in."

She ruffled her feathers, sending a loose one fluttering to the ground.

"Let's go," she said, turning on her hoof and marching out, ignoring the looks the two of them drew. "The attack was fresh. Their scent may still linger."

Once she was clear of the door, she snapped her wings open and took to the air, shooting an over-the-shoulder look at Rit. "Quickly!"

[Aeytrious]

        Rit didn't bother opening his wings or pushing off the ground with a powerful jump. He simply raised into the air following Axieva at the pace she set. The town that the latest attack had happened near, was the closest settlement to Ketra. More of a trading post for the farmers in the area than a real town. A family had been attacked on their way back home. Most of then had been found dead, but the daughter was still missing. These types of scum were the ones that Rit most enjoyed snuffing from existence. When they were necessary for the tapestry, they were also the ones he most hated staying his hand for. Flying to the small town would only take them a couple hours. No real time at all.

[Rhindeer]

It only took a couple hours to find the road the attacks had occurred on, just outside of the town. Axieva wasn't familiar with the town, though she knew from the description that it was several miles west of Ketra. That wasn't much of a clue to go on, but fortunately, as it turned out, there were others.

The mess of the attack had been cleaned up over the days by the weather, animals, and sympathetic villagers, but some signs still remained: a broken wagon wheel discarded on the side of the road, a doll lying in the mud, shards of pottery, and the faded disturbances in the earth--boot prints, furrows from dragged bodies--that pointed to violence.

Axieva cast a look over at Rit before she tucked in her wings and swooped down to land beside the wheel, a frown on her lips.

"This must be it," she said as she stepped over to the prints and drag marks and knelt down to sniff, nose wrinkling. "It's faint. Very faint. But I can smell humans. There was violence, so there might still be blood."

She began to follow the prints where they lead off the road and into the woods, stooping as they passed by bushed to examine the broken bits that had been trampled. She plucked a leaf and raised it to eye level, squinting. "It's dried. But it still has the scent," she said, and licked it. "And the taste. I'll be able to track them without issue, now."

[Aeytrious]

        Rit wasn't worried about Axieva's ability to track the villains. At worst, he could look through time to find an elusive quarry, but things were getting muddled in this timeline. He'd spent so much time in too many when's and where he could look and plainly see was getting more difficult. The greatest concern was that he might run into himself, which in of itself wasn't a real problem, it was more a matter of which him it was. Dirk would be dying soon - or not - and because of his own frequent interference he couldn't see which. If Dirk and Briar both lived, these men they tracked would already be dead, and the two would be enjoying themselves presently. If Briar was dead but Dirk had lived these men would be dead still, but Dirk would not have long to live. If Dirk was dead but Briar had lived, well then the scene at the end of this trek would be quite difficult for him, and if there was another him there, then things could be very bad. Rit just hoped that this little jaunt through the woods would be a happy turn of events. Otherwise he might lose Axieva and their unborn child, and that would displease him greatly. Which timeline were they on? He was too involved to see, but he motioned on for Axieva to lead the way. He couldn't fight the flow of time. All he could do was choose his place in it.

[Rhindeer]

Into the woods they went, Axieva's footsteps light and almost soundless. She was more sensitive to the scent now that she'd picked it up through smell and taste, and her keen eyes could easily make out the places where the plant-life had been disturbed. Humans were clumsy, and common, crude thugs were often arrogant and careless; they trampled and sometimes literally cut a path through the woods that was easy for any predator's eye to follow. She hardly needed their scent at all.

"A fawn could follow this trail," she scoffed, hardly able to believe their stupidity. It never grew old.

"It was a cave, yes? Or that is what was assumed?" She sniffed the air, frowning. "The smells I catch are old. Usually there is more...life. Fire, waste, food. Something is wrong..."

Because she could smell something else on the breeze. Something more rancid.

It smelled rotten. Which did not bode well for the missing human girl.

And then, up ahead, she saw it: a cave. Her ears perked. "There," she said, and took off at a swift sprint. She didn't care if they heard her coming; she didn't fear them, and was confident they wouldn't be able to do a thing about it, anyway.

[Aeytrious]

        Rit could smell the rancid odor as well, but he recognized it well. He had the same senses as any "humanlike" but with the added benefit of being, for all intents and purposes, a god. That was death. Multiple deaths, there was nothing alive in that cave. This was a decisive moment. If they found Briar or Dirk dead in here, things could get intense. All he could do was hope. Hope they were on the favorable timeline. Hope that the goddesses consort had been kind. Rit did not rush as he followed Axieva, but he did ready his weapons, and his powers. If he was to fight a distraught version of himself, he should be ready. He had a child to protect.

[Rhindeer]

The smell was awful, enough to make Axieva gag as she approached the cave, and she covered her nose with her hand and breathed out her mouth instead. There were no sounds coming from the cave.

Nothing but the buzz of thousands of flies.

She cast another look back at Rit, a disgusted one, and then steeled herself and stepped inside.

There were three human corpses in the cave, one partially naked, one headless, all laying in dried pools of blood. There were two dogs, too, in a cage, both bloody. Stab wounds. Slash wounds. It seemed someone had found the brutes first and had dispatched them quickly and brutally from the looks of horror frozen onto their faces. Disappointing; she had been hoping for fresh liver.

Frowning, she walked a circle within the cave, examining it. There was no girl here, which meant she could still be living--freely, or with survivors from this group, if there were any--or they could have killed her and discarded the body somewhere in the woods.

What a waste of time.

"Eugh...we were too slow," she said, swatting at a fly.

[Aeytrious]

        No Dirk and no Briar. Rit replaced his weapons, and let out a sigh. The smell really was awful. A wave of his hand, visually there for Axieva's benefit not because it was necessary, and the smell was wooshed, fresh clean air sweeping in to pull out the stagnating death. Rit could hear the nearby animals rushing away as the smell of death fled through the forest. He stepped on air and moved through the space disturbing nothing as he surveyed the area.
        "The person was barefoot," Rit said pointing to the scuffs and tracks. "Highly skilled, clean efficient strokes, no unneeded strokes of the blade. The weapon was immensely sharp." He then looked at the spot where the girl had been kept. "She was lifted from this spot, she left no tracks. Most likely carried out alive as there's no sign of death purge." Rit moved back to Axieva, "There are only three men here and there are signs that five or 6 were living here. Perhaps some of your quarry still lives."

[Rhindeer]

Axieva growled, annoyed but also hopeful that there might still be fresh meat about. "Perhaps. If they were the ones that left with the girl..."

She turned on her heel, eager to get out of that cave with its death and ghosts and rotting meat. "Come, then. If they are still living, they could have gotten far."

[Aeytrious]

        Rit followed. He knew the other bandits were not the ones to take the girl. Savages likely would have left her since their companions were now dead. And the barefoot person was not a corpse among the others, so he had been the winner. The smell of old blood and death was out here too. Axieva would find the others. They would be dead. but the trail would not be too long cold. There would be more tracks to follow, more people to find. The end of this road could still be trgedy, but the chances were now great that everything would be pleasant this day.

[Rhindeer]

"Hrm. More bodies," Axieva said as she followed the scent to discover the missing corpses. She wrinkled her nose as she nudged one with her hoof, finding the body quite stiff--and withdrawing quickly, because it reeked even more from the waste it had expelled.

"Ugh...what a waste," she said. "Nothing but meat for maggots."

But there were more footprints here, more of the barefoot ones, and something even more curious: hand prints, and dried blood on the ground, as though someone had been crawling, and those bare footprints followed that trail. Eyes narrowing, Axieva followed.

"This one survived, at least. It must be the hunter. It tracked a wounded one," she said as she walked.

[Aeytrious]

        Rit dutifully followed along, stepping on air, so that he wouldn't leave a trace of himself or disturb the tracks Axieva followed. He looked as she rushed along in search of her quarry. "These two corpses are older, if only by minutes. The tracks that led us here are muddled but the barefoot 'hunter,' as You've dubbed them, arrived and dealt with the two before moving to the cave and then returning." Rit pointed to the arriving tracks and the departing and returning tracks from the cave. "The wounded person that crawled away was not in the fight. Their tracks start further away and they seem to just appear from nowhere. As if they were carried to that spot before crawling away." They followed the crawlers tracks a ways. "They stopped here, and then they disappear again. Where the barefoot tracks appear again from that other new direction. Maybe they set aside the girl and then came to carry this person away as well." Rit shrugged and motioned for Axieva to lead once more.

[Rhindeer]

"Perhaps," Axieva agreed, and continued on her way. She didn't care so much about the whys, she just cared about where the tracks lead and what lie at the end of them. Maybe the wounded one was one of the villains, but had been carried away to be questioned. Who knew? It was a mystery, and at this point, she was just annoyed that someone else had gotten to the scene before she had and curious to find out who that was. If she and Rit had read the tracks correctly, the story it told was that a single person had taken out all those men.

What kind of person was that? Especially since it smelled human.

Familiar, even.

The tracks continued, and they followed through the woods and past a pool, further and further until--

...Huh?

Axieva stopped, a puzzled look crossing her features, as she realized she had lost the tracks. With a curse under her breath, because how had she managed that when they were so clear and easy to follow, she turned and backtracked. A short distance back, she found the tracks again, and she kept her eyes on them as she once again followed them. Strange. She must have zoned out for a moment or some--

...Eh?

Axieva stopped again, the tracks nowhere in sight. Impossible. She had been following them! She saw they stretched out ahead far further than this! Was she more tired than she thought? With a growl of frustration, she turned back around and trotted back to the tracks, which went straight on ahead while she had, for some reason, been veering off their path and to the left.

"Something is wrong," she said, bristling as she started to walk again and found herself slowly turning left once more. She came to an abrupt stop, a maddening sort of frustration settling on her like a weight, and she spun around to face Rit.

"The tracks go that way!" she said, throwing her arm out in the proper direction. "But I go this way!" she continued, thrusting out her left arm. "This is wrong!"

[Aeytrious]

        Rit felt the magic as they approached it, felt it turn Axieva aside. He could see the brightly lit camp just a few meters away. There lay the still form of Alba, breathing gentle breaths, wrapped cozy in a soft pile of blankets on a cot. He could sense his own magic on her making her sleep, and not far away, blocking the image abilities of the woman with Dirk. Briar was not shy about letting her pleasure known while Dirk drove himself into her. He could hear them, panting and grunting and moaning. If not for the magic, Axieva would hear them too. Instead of breaking it outright. He turned to his companion and explained.
        "Your quarry lies there," he pointed to the camp Axieva couldn't see. "They have set up a magic barrier to hide and prevent intrusion. I will help you resist it, but not to break it. As you grow closer, they will be alerted to your approach. I cannot assist you if a fight should ensue, but I don't think that will be a problem. Are you prepared?" Rit gave a small kiss to Axieva, that sent a small tingle of power through her. Her will and concentration alone would get her through the magic to the opening of the camp.