PreCursive

  Renauld jumped to his padded feet at the sight of us, while a rge smile stole across his vulpine face. He made as if to sprint our way in greeting, before he stilled as Akhoroth shifted from across the incongruously small table the two of them were sitting at. His smile faltered, but to my eyes, he still didn’t look like he was in distress as he motioned us closer across the distance separating us. I saw him cup one hand over his mouth as he shouted at us, the acoustics of the hewn cavern causing an odd echo. “C’MON!”

  I…didn’t know what was going on. Renauld didn’t seem like he was being held captive by the ancient betrayer of the Netherim people, but neither did it seem like he was free to leave.

  I exchanged puzzled, wary gnces with the rest of my companions, a question obvious in my gaze. Venix was stoic under, Kazuma looked uncertain, and Azarus just shrugged at me. I suppose they thought I would know what to do in these circumstances.

  I didn’t, really. But…

  I guess I’d go with my gut, as I sometimes seemed to do. And it was telling me to join them, no matter how hostile Akhoroth had been earlier in the hall of the dead.

  Oh, whatever. My gut feelings had yet to steer me wrong before.

  I cautiously crept forward along with the rest of my party, our weapons still drawn.

  I was willing to give this odd situation a chance, but I wasn’t willing to be stupid about it.

  Trust but verify.

  Before long, the four of us stood before the table that Renauld and Akhoroth were around, shadows dancing in the light of the flickering mp and our light abilities. This time, when Renauld stepped around the table to approach us and Akhoroth didn’t protest in any way. The great bulk of the man-turned-monster merely sat watching us quietly.

  To my surprise, Renauld immediately stepped forward and embraced me in a furry hug. Despite the unexpectedness of the move, I was gd to return the hug.

  Even with the oddity of the situation, it was relieving to see him in one piece.

  Our arms still around each other, Renauld leaned up until his snout was next to my ear. “Get me out of here,” He whispered furiously.

  Ah.

  I leaned in closer to his own fuzzy ear. My breath caused it to twitch from the proximity. “Is he holding you here?”

  The answer to my question didn’t come from Renauld himself.

  Instead, Akhoroth finally spoke up. The sound of his hissing voice causing the skin along my spine to crawl. “Yesss, for hisss safetyyy.”

  I suppose we weren’t being as circumspect as we’d thought we were being. In retrospect, the monster than had once been Jensen Harlow must have enhanced senses to some degree. To my surprise, Renauld broke away from the embrace and turned back to him and gestured in exasperation. “Look, Harlow. I appreciate everything that you’ve done, but you don’t have to keep me here anymore. My friends can look after me now.”

  He called him Harlow, not Akhoroth. The only way I could conceive of him knowing that name was if the once-man had told Renauld himself.

  Ahkoroth merely hissed in response.

  “What is going on here?” Venix asked with a frown, sheathing his four bdes now that it seemed like we weren’t about to engage in battle.

  “Good question,” Azarus muttered, lowering his hammer and shield but not putting them away.

  Yeah, what they said.

  “What are you pying at, monster?” Kazuma directly asked Akhoroth defiantly. Instead of lowering his weapon like the others, he raised his. “Why do you confine our companion to this dour hole?”

  To everyone’s surprise, Renauld turned to the Kawamaran samurai and held up his hands. “Hey, woah. Calm down, Kazuma. If it wasn’t for Harlow, I don’t know what would have happened to me. I just want to leave now that you guys are here.” He turned a side eye towards Akhoroth. “Hint, hint.”

  I slowly sheathed my own daggers, and directed a curious eye up towards the monster who had led to the death of every soul in this bunker. “What did you do, Jensen Harlow? And how did you do it? I thought…I thought you were essentially the sve of the Wyrm?”

  Akhoroth seemed to flinch from the sound of his own full name, but stayed silent. Instead, it was Renauld that answered my question, finally expining himself.

  “I barely remember what happened after the door tried to eat us,” Renauld started, copying Venix and crossing his arms. “I felt like I was falling for awhile, and then everything went weird somehow. It was like…the world started twisting and something started to reach for my mind. From what Harlow told me,” He nodded up to the twisted monster, causing him to shift once more. “Some wacky curse was trying to dig itself into my soul. I was supposed to experience some sort of…messed up ‘trial’ or something, but the door spat me out not far from where Harlow was resting. He grabbed me from the room I was in and ran me into this cave, and supposedly that was enough to keep the curse was attaching to me. We’ve…mostly been here the whole time, with him filling me on what’s going on in this pce. And keeping me from leaving.”

  “Ya never even had a trial?” I heard Azarus mutter under his breath, a note of jealousy in his voice.

  I didn’t bme him for it. I was a little jealous myself, and my own trial had been retively mild in comparison to what everyone else seemed to be put through.

  “Is that so?” I asked, finally speaking up. I frowned up at Akhoroth. “And did you mention how you tried to run me and a helpless little girl down and sughter us?”

  Renauld…winced. “Ah…he did, actually.”

  Oh.

  Huh.

  “Nooot I,” Akhoroth broke his own silence, sorrow thick in his voice. “When It is awaaake, I cannot control myyyself. It puppeeets me. I would neveeeer wish to harm the giiirl. I felt iiit when the dooor was opened once more, after so many yeeears. I rushed frooom my refuuuge to save who I couuuld, and fouuund this…creatuuure.”

  I saw Renauld’s eyebrow twitch at that. “I told you. I’m a Gnoll. They didn’t have Gnolls back in your day?”

  I swear I saw Akhoroth shrug his monstrous shoulders at that. “Perhaaaps at other facilitiiies.”

  Meanwhile, I was frowning at something Akhoroth had said. “Your ‘refuge’? What is this pce? Did you make it?”

  Akhoroth turned back to me and bobbed it’s caninesque head. “Through the looong years, It had nothiiing better to do than tooorment myyyself and ooothers. To escaaape It I duuug into the rooock of the mountain and cast a seeeming on the dooor. In thiiis pce, I can eeescape It for a tiiime, when it is tooorturing ooothers. Buuut if it focuuuses, it can still graaab me, especiaaaly when I am outside these waaalls.”

  Kazuma finally lowered his bde, but did not sheathe it. “And you left this hole in order to grab Renauld.”

  “Yeees.” Akhoroth nodded once again. “That is hooow I was made to chaaase you earlier. I do not want to huuurt anyone else. Noot anymore.”

  “And why hasn’t it ‘grabbed’ you again?” I asked with a frown.

  “I…do nooot know,” The twisted creature grudgingly admitted. “I coud feel It’s excitement when the dooor opened. It knooows you are here. But sooon after, It’s attention drifted and focused upon sooomething else.”

  Wait. Its attention wasn’t on us right now?

  Kazuma and I exchanged a quick look at that as we seemingly realized at the same time what that must mean. “It’s still fighting Shacklock up there,” I breathed.

  “And can’t focus on us.” Kazuma finished, triumph in his voice. “Ha! The old man still has it.”

  Well, I wanted to point out that it might just be the time dition effect between the bunker and the range outside, but I didn’t. Kazuma could have his moment of relief.

  Akhoroth tilted his head in confusion, seemingly unaware of the true purpose of the thing he called ‘It’. Just like Travers, Akhoroth-

  No.

  Harlow didn’t understand the true purpose of the creature Lucretia had impnted in their power core.

  “Okay. I get it. So…can we go now?” Renauld interjected, seemingly antsy. I suppose for as much as he didn’t want to hurt us, Akhoroth was still a ticking time bomb of a monster. At any moment, the Wyrm’s attention could fall back on us, and then we would have to either flee or kill.

  Which, now that I thought of it…

  Weren’t we going to have to kill him anyway?

  Harlow simply stared at the five of us for a moment, his head swinging back and forth as he seemingly studied us. “Nooo. I have kept yooou here for a reason, creatuuure. To draw your companiooons to your side.”

  Almost to a one, we all tensed. Kazuma and Azarus raised their weapons once more, and the samurai in particur almost looked ready to immediately attack the long, coiled form of the Maw.

  But I didn’t. I…think I knew what was about to happen, considering what Travers had told me.

  “I have but one desiiire, after all these looong years,” Harlow said, ignoring our posturing and simply staring off into space over our heads. “You cannooot imagine it. Milleniiia spent as the pything of a detestable worm. Huuudling, terrified, in the remnants of my ooown clothing. Sleeping, sleeping…and then tooorture. No maaatter my sins…nooothing could justifyyy this…” Finally, he turned his monstrous head down towards us once more. “Kill me, so that I may finally know reeest…”

  I…guess I was right. Considering everything…

  I might want to die as well.

  Venix was the first to react to Harlow’s request. He nodded stoically, and drew only one of his four bdes. “Very well, creature. Lower you head and I shall strike it clean. You shall have your rest.”

  Harlow shook the very head that Venix had offered to take. “That will not work. Lucretiaaa,” He hissed, with more hate in a single word than I’d ever heard before. “Bound my life to It’s. If you striiike me down, then I shall simply come baaack. And theeen it shall know we conspire against It. The grip shall tighten, and I do nooot think you five can sy me. You ck the streeength.”

  Venix seemed a bit offended by the implication, but I didn’t let it bother me. To be honest, I’d wondered the same thing. The creature that Harlow had become, Akhoroth, Maw of the Wyrm, did seem a…bit out of our league. He wasn’t on the level of something that only Grey or Honoka could handle, but…

  I was confident that together, the five of us could sy Akhoroth in a straight up fight, especially with my benefits. But in the midst of that battle, who knows what could happen?

  It might be a bit of a risk.

  And I was all about mitigating risks.

  There was…another problem, too. Travers hadn’t told me that the Wyrm could just resurrect Akhoroth when we killed him.

  I’ll be fair, though. Maybe he didn’t know.

  Maybe.

  And if he just kept coming back, while we were trying to get past him to the Wyrm’s true body…

  “There is ooonly one way to do this,” Harlow unduted in pce, almost in anticipation. “We must ensure It remains distraaacted, so a single bde can saay it. You must separaaate. One goes to the cooore, the rest keep it’s attention away from it’s true body.”

  “So, wait,” Renauld held up one hand at Harlow’s…idea. “Let me get this straight. Your pn is for one of us to go on ahead and sneak into the core. While at the same time, the rest of us stay behind, and at some signal, try and fight you so that this…thing’s attention doesn’t wander onto the assassin.”

  Oh, please don’t say that word.

  Venix cupped his chin. “It could…conceivably work,” He said slowly. “The only problem is we don’t have a way for the assassin to indicate that the battle must commence.”

  Not you too.

  Azarus shrugged, and raised his hand like he was in a cssroom. “I’ve got a line to ol’ Gas Bag, and he has an eye on everythin’ goin’ on in here. Hell, I can faintly hear ‘im right now. I bet if I ask-” He cut himself off for a moment, wincing, and then nodding. “Yup, he’s willin’. All the assassin would need to do is make some kinda signal and Tarus will tell me we’re good to go.”

  I saw that smirk, you asshole.

  Kazuma cupped his chin in thought. “But who shall we send to do the deed? I would ask Ms. Valen to do it, but she is unfortunately not here.” In response to his question, he received only silence. To the extent that he looked around for a moment in confusion. “What-? Oh.”

  To find that everyone else, including Harlow for some reason, was looking at me.

  I sighed.

  “Fine. I’ll do it. It’s not like we have any better ideas.”