We run after the cloaked figure, passing boarded windows and abandoned street stalls as we quickly make our way through familiar streets of the town. Charles runs up beside me keeping his voice low as he speaks "There's nothing down this way but dead ends, how do we know this isn't some kind of trap?" We turn another corner nearing the end of the shopping district. "It might be, but it's also our only chance at answers." We pass through another alley, this one also marred with the blood of unknown victims.
I stop suddenly as the figure turns at the end of the alleyway. Charles nearly crashes into my back as the others skid to a halt behind me. "Why'd we stop?" Fireball whispers, their voice slightly winded from the running. I shush them and listen as I hear the creak of hinges followed by a shuffle and a soft click. After a moment of silence I turn the corner to find the figure gone.
"Great, we lost them." Charles laments as we walk through the now empty alleyway. "Not yet we haven't." I tell him as I set about examining the alley walls. "This is ridiculous, we should be heading to the capital, not chasing shadows through the town." Carina hisses, clearly discontented by my choice of action. I ignore her as I run my hands over the exposed bricks of the alleyway wall. "What are you look-" Tai's question is cut short as I find a brick carefully marked with a small carving sparrow wing and push inwards.
A trap door swings open from the alley floor, revealing a wooden staircase going down into the earth. "Still want to leave?" I ask Carina, giving a smug grin at the glare she shoots me. "How'd you know this was here?" Charles asks as we all start down the stairs, with me leading the descent and Carina taking up the rear. "Anyone who actually gets out at night in this town knows about its literal underground, Sparrow wing is a pretty popular hidden tavern" I inform the group as we reach the bottom of the staircase. As soon as Carina comes off of the last step, the trap door closes, plunging the room into darkness.
Fireball lets out a small yelp at the sudden lack of sunlight and I hear them shove past Charles and feel them blindly grasp at me before latching onto my arm. "Calm down Fireball, I'm right here." I soothe. I reach for my magic, preparing a light spell in my mind. Only to find myself beaten to the punch as balls of magical light take shape around Tai. "Thanks." I say as light fills the room. "Happy to be of service." They wink. I roll my eyes, though a smile loosely tugs at my lips.
I turn to set my sights on the wrought iron door in front of us and knock 4 times in rapid succession. A moment passes. Then another. "Do you think they heard you?" Asks Charles, squinting as a light ball passes too close to his eyes. "They heard me." I say with complete confidence. The door creaks open to reveal a frowning fair skinned stout woman, her freckle coated face framed by short brown curls, the low cut of her dress displaying her ample cleavage. "Fauna! How's my favorite barkeep doing?" "Shut up and get inside." Fauna hurriedly ushers us through the door, sealing it shut behind us.
Beyond the door the bar is full, but not in the way that I'm used to. Bodies fill the room, more injured than not. Bandaged townsfolk whisper to each other by candlelight while those sitting at the bar openly side eye our entrance. The hooded figure gasps at our entrance before leaping at me with their arms outstretched. I dodge the strangers hug attempt and reach for the hood casting a shadow over their face.
The hood falls back to reveal a pudgy, pale faced teenager with short green hair whose brown eyes widen in surprise at my sudden movement "Leena?" My question brings a relieved smile to her face. "I'm so glad you guys are okay, I couldn't find the shop and I was so worried that thing got to you." Tears spring to her eyes as the words pour out of her. She sounds like she was truly terrified but that's not the part that my mind latches on to. "What do you mean you couldn't find the shop?" Carina asks, just as I open my mouth.
Leena rubs the tears from her eyes and gives her a puzzled look "I kept trying to go over to the shop like usual but every time I got close I'd get this weird headache and then I'd just get completely lost." Mana confusion. It naturally occurs in places with a high frequency of magic use, the residual mana in the area muddles the mind of non mages those not acclimated to such a high density of mana.
But the shop has runes to absorb excess mana and protect the clients, the only way Leena could be affected by it is if- "That manipulative little BASTARD!" My outburst startles the others. "What's wrong?!" Fireball asks, their face a mask of confusion and alarm. "Morgana must've switched off the runes when I wasn't looking." The mana absorption caused by the runes is so normal to me I don't know how I didn't notice sooner.
"You said you were worried something got to us, what's going on?" Charles's voice cuts through my haze of thoughts as one of the bar patrons, a tall lanky brown woman with long black hair and a broken arm, turns to answer his question. "A monster stalks the streets at night, killing everyone and everything it comes across, those of us here barely escaped with our lives." A monster huh, lovely, just what we needed.
"What'd it look like?" I ask the woman, who shakes her head at me as her body starts shaking in fear. "I-I never even saw it coming." Fauna wraps an arm around the woman's shoulder and gently leads her back to the bar before turning to us. "Darcy has been… drawing it she's in the back, go see her." I nod to her as we start making our way through the crowd to the back of the tavern. Stares follow us as Fireball clutches at the edge of my top and the others do their best to avoid eye contact. Dozens are injured and even more are dead, to show up in the aftermath of a massacre with nary a scratch and no idea what's going on makes us… outliers to say the least.
As we reach the back I swing open the door to what would normally be the VIP section only to find it covered wall to wall in drawings, the floor covered in art materials. In the middle of it all lying on the floor, staring listlessly at the ceiling is Darcy, her long black curls splayed out against the floor like the halo of a fallen angel.
Darcy is a barmaid at the Ebony Tap tavern, I've seen her at least twice a week, every week for the past 2 years, but in all that time I've never seen her look as bad as she does now. Her radiant umber skin now bruised and covered in bandages, her cheeks sunken and hollow and as she turns her stunning hazel eyes towards us I see that the upbeat sparkle that always seemed to live within them has fled entirely, leaving only an apathetic dead eyed stare in its place.
I steel myself as I walk over to her prone form. "Heya Darce, been a tick, you look like hell." She snorts at my remark. "Which one?" "All of them." Her snort turns into a weak chuckle as a smile breaks out on her face. "I look how I feel then." I reach down and help her up off of the floor. "Who's the new addition?" She asks, jerking her chin towards Tai as she rises to her feet.
I cut Tai off before he can say anything. "That's our new friend Tai He/They, we met him on the way here and we agreed to be travel buddies for a bit." Tai frowns slightly in confusion at my lie but I quickly change subjects before Darcy can take notice of it. "I heard you got a good look at the thing that's been killing everybody, can I see the picture?" Darcy stiffens for a moment and I see something akin to horror flash across her face before she quickly stifles it back down. "Yeah, wait here." as she shuffles about the room rooting through papers Tai moves behind me. "Travel buddies?" They whisper. I roll my eyes. "Trust me, it's a much better answer than the truth." Before Tai has a chance to press me on the subject Darcy returns with the drawing.
"I could never forget what that monster looked like." Darcy hisses as she shoves the paper into my waiting hand. My stomach drops as I take in the full colour sketch. The drawing depicts a terrifyingly familiar all black creature, bloody gaping holes sit where its eyes should be, rows and rows too white, too sharp teeth jut out from its face at an obscene angle, its long spindly legs ending in jagged sharp points where its feet should be, its too long arms ending in razor sharp claws.
"Fuck."