ALEXiThymiA: Interlude V

Interlude V

Bullford / Fletcher

It had been the purest sound the two had ever heard. A note so pure that the monsters they had both been struggling to conquer for years finally stopped. No, not just stopped, it was as if the components had never been there at all.

“For the first time since I took the final price to leave my trials with those blasted orcs, I feel free.” Bullford, the progenitor werewolf for the TSI Investigation squad, said.

At that Fletcher, the vampyre methuselah for the TSI Investigation squad just nodded. “Same. Ever since I took this form to gain enough power to escape my own prison against those elves, I too feel free. Not just in control, but free.” Fletcher said, a note of reverence in his voice.

Of course, the event that sparked this moment. The event that caused both to now feel this great sense of relief was caused by the same event. An event that almost never happened.

“So you mean it, no more being bound to blood? No more being caught up in your own rage?” Captain Johnston asked the two.

“It is a bit early to tell for certain if this is permanent or not. But I already feel myself becoming human, if that is a thing.” Fletcher began.

“Same.” Bullford replied.

“Becoming human? Now, assume I had to put all this into an incident response report. How would you describe to my boss, the Senators and Representatives of these great states, the effect of becoming human?” Captain Johnston asked.

“I finally feel in control of my own destiny. I feel like even the minor tethers that still bind me to each and every dungeon have been severed.” Fletcher stated.

“Have you tested this?” Captain Johnston asked.

At that Fletcher just lowered his head.

“I did, this time when I entered the dungeon I no longer got the message that my slave contract to the orcs was still in full force. That I was to go to a Red Dungeon and hear their orders for me immediately.” Bullford admitted.

“So it is gone?” Captain Johnston asked.

“Yes.”

With that Captain Johnston turned to Fletcher. “You need to go in now. Do not go to a red dungeon, it might still be a trap, but at least go in and let me know if that message still exists.”

With that Fletcher nodded his agreement and left. With Fletcher gone, Captain Johnston turned her attention back to Bullford.

“What do you think this means for her pack?” Captain Johnston asked. The her in this case was clear, they were clearly still talking about the giant six foot two walking headache that was Alexa Thyme.

Bullford just shook his head before answering, “I don’t know. They have always been weird. That girl, Julie, didn’t even see the warning about being bound to the orcs, when you questioned her about it during her witness statement. That either means that whatever Alexa did to them was so much that the alarm never went off, or…”

“Or?”

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know at this point.”

Silence.

Finally, after a few moments of the two contemplating what was happening, Bullford asked. “Is there any reason why we are here on Halloween, versus out looking for our serial werewolf controller?”

Captain Johnston looked at her werewolf, who was suddenly a lot less docile than before. At the moment, she wasn’t quite certain if this was a good thing or not, but something she decided to keep an eye out for.

“From all the data points we have, this seems to be near ground zero for the Master’s activities. Also, I just got word that a certain someone got a slotted class.”

“Who? Swinton or Rojas?” Bullford asked, referring to the two girls who were with Alexa when she made her unprecedented run at the dragons, a feat no one was supposed to be able to do.

Captain Johnston shook her head. “The brother.”

“The brother? But he…” Bullford trailed off, as he thought about that. “So do you think there might be something to the twin bond theory?”

Captain Johnston shook her head. “Look, I don’t care about any of that underground hoodo-stuff you two follow. All I know is that there is a future Prophetic Herald that already works for my TSI department as an informant.”

Hahaha.

“Did you just cackle?” Bullford asked.

At that the mirth that had been on Captain Johnston’s face suddenly dropped as she stared at Bullford, “I don’t cackle.”

Smoke.

Seeing the intense smoke form from the Captain’s lips it was clear that this was a somewhat serious subject for the Captain.

“Well this would be the night.” Bullford said, trying to cover.

“No, this would be the night when stuff hit the fan because we weren’t focused enough.” Captain Johnston said. Then turning her head to the left, she seemed to be watching a shadow move.

Then looking closely, Bullford realized that was exactly what she was doing. A shadow seemed to be slithering its way across the ground, out in plain view. Had it not been for the full moon out tonight, Bullford was certain he would have likely missed the shadow at all.

“Report.” Captain Johnston said, a faint puff of smoke rising from her lips.

At that Fletcher appeared. “Oh good, it appears you managed to annoy the Captain.” Fletcher said, getting in one quick jab at Bullford, before continuing.

“I can confirm, the command for me to go into a red level dungeon to meet with my elven masters has also been removed.”

At that Captain Johnston paused for a moment. “Is there any other possible reason for this? Did you two rub the same lucky moon rock, kiss Fletcher’s ex-wife today, anything?”

At that the two just shook their heads.

With that Captain Johnston just clicked her teeth in annoyance.

“What is it?” Bullford asked.

“You know this means I will have to report this. Both that you two are officially listed as full Progenitors and Methuselahs, but also the source of your miraculous cure. Or at least the alleged source of your miraculous cure.”

“What about you? Are you still bound to them?” Fletcher asked.

At that, Captain Johnston just turned her full glare onto Fletcher. “I have not now, nor ever been bound to anyone, you hear me. No one!”

Full clouds of black smoke came billowing from her chest, a sign that she was clearly getting worked up over this topic of conversation.

“All right, calm down.”

At that Captain Johnston held up on finger, “what have I told you about telling anyone to calm down.”

Flames.

At this flames erupted from the sides of her lips, as she stared at her subordinate.

“Don’t?” Fletcher asked, a slightly confused expression filling his face.

“Then why are you seemingly mocking my perfectly good advice to you!”

At that Fletcher looked visibly cowed.

“So that’s a no, it is gone?” Bullford asked.

At that, Captain Johnston almost twirled around in place to stare up at her overly large muscular underling. “Yes, it is a no. I am not bound to them anymore.” At that, the fire she had been breathing slowly died down and she was able to gain a bit more control over herself.

Silence.

“So how long are we going to stay here, staring at the dungeon entrance?” Fletcher found himself asking.

“As long as it takes. Our informant worked it out that the brother’s visions mostly detailed tonight.” Captain Johnston said.

The informant was of course Mr. Mackie who had served with Captain Johnston on multiple occasions before the Captain was reassigned to lead the TSI team.

“He said the dungeon?”

“No, but if something was to happen here on a campus, I would feel better starting here, at the center of campus and making our way out. Also, with us being here, should anything come out from the dungeon itself, we will be the first to know.” Captain Johnston said.

“How much longer?”

“Until two AM, so just over three more hours.”

With that, everyone nodded in agreement and waited. What they were waiting for, they didn’t know. They just assumed that they would know it when they saw it.

***

Master

Tonight, was the night. Master was in the right spot. The spot where his true masters told him to meet. He had gained so much power and prestige by being one of the few to fully listen to the true master’s commands.

Go to the red dungeon and listen.

That was where he had been given his orders by the Orc commanders his father had first bound himself to. A bond that traveled through the blood to him, and now all the many faithful followers that were under his command.

Master now could shift in seconds, also going so far as to control individual parts. He also had an enhanced war form, the Dire Werewolf form, a form that allows him to exert his control over those with lesser versions of the Lykanthropy virus still residing within them.

In all, the power he now controlled was on a far greater scale than he ever imagined. Even his bonuses for leveling were far grander.

He had his true master, an Arcane Shaman who helped him purify his bloodline. Someone who helped mold him into the true alpha that he was always meant to be.

Now all he had to do was one mission. He had to make it onto his former school grounds, to the same place where his niece now resided. From there he was to get into the portal just before midnight along with his pack, so they could all receive another blessing before the night was over.

He was told that some of his former converts were also here, the females that were to be handed out as rewards for those loyal to him. The only problem was that even here on campus he could not feel them, it was as if they had gone silent, as if the bond that subjugated them to him was completely missing.

Master made a note to look into that, when he got a chance. But for now, he had bigger fish to fry. In particular, he had to find out why he could no longer feel Lieutenant Bullford’s presence anymore. Before he had always been able to keep one step ahead of the TSI agents by keeping close tabs on Bullford. But there he was, talking so loudly that anyone could hear him.

Worse, he was there with that dragon spawn.

Master had a command to either kill her or, stay far away from the TSI Captain. After hearing about her exploits, Master wisely chose the latter. Just as orcs feared dragons, so too did the werewolves fear the servants of the dragons.

Still, he needed to get to that dungeon before midnight. There, they would get their final reward before the Integration took place.

That was the thing, Master was one of the few privileged followers who had been blessed to know that there was in fact going to be an integration, that the Integration would happen shortly after New Years day. Almost exactly one hundred years to the day, when a drunken fighter stumbled into a dungeon and challenged his first red level difficulty, and completed the Trials of Ascension.

That was a bane to the orcs as that man, the one who first succeeded, he had chosen the elves and started the first line of vampyres. That whole line of vampyres and their progeny have since been eradicated, but they were a bane in the eyes of his orcish masters for quite some time.

Of course that was before his grandfather went through his own trials, where he not only survived, but managed to make it so his future generations would be granted the glory of being werewolves. Werewolves who could always grow to be more powerful.

Master’s pack of twenty wolves waited. Normally being this close to a false progenitor like Bullford would be extremely difficult, but Master had been rewarded with a number of powers. The most formidable of which are Pack Meld. A power that let Master’ meld the sight, scent, and sounds of his pack into the surrounding forest. This was a tough power to keep active, and required his entire pack to be completely still to avoid being detected. Still they had been waiting for close to an hour at this point. Staying still for that long is tough for anyone especially those infected with Lykanthropy.

“So what should we do?” Erik, the number two follower of Master’s pack asked.

“We wait for a diversion, then we enter.” Master said.

“What if there isn’t a diversion?”

“Then we make one.”