Refraction
The carriage rolled down the open street, flanked on all sides by bronze knights and leading several soldiers. Three silver knights sat in the interior, surrounding their lord.
"Your Highness, we've almost arrived," said one of the knights, a bearded man named Paulman.
"We've almost reached our destination, but are we any closer to our actual goal? That is what concerns me," Prince Lupin replied.
The jaded words befit the situation, for after months of dead ends and dead soldiers, his patience was nearing its end, but he was too tired for anger. His knights understood his weariness and that he directed blame at no one. They, too, were fatigued by stress and fighting with nothing to show for it.
All conquerors, be they liberators or tyrants, inevitably fell victim to the weight of responsibility upon claiming dominion over new lands. Here in Welindar, Lupin was no different. This beastman city had held back the armies of Uther for years, before, at last, falling under his control. He had won the city, but keeping it was a new battle against a new breed of enemies.
"I probably shouldn't say this, but the laces of my boot broke this morning, a bad omen," said another silver knight, a young man.
"So does that mean we can blame you for any bad luck we might suffer?" the bearded knight asked.
"If it'll make you feel better, go ahead."
"Paulman, Reynolds, you two shouldn't talk like that. We should all keep our spirits raised and focused. Besides, I have a good feeling about today," said the prince's personal healer and secretary, a woman with short blonde hair. She glanced at the prince, looking for any reaction, but he stared out the window. It was probably for the best, as his word of agreement or praise would redden her cheeks.
The carriage drove past a perimeter of Utheric soldiers, keeping the street and surrounding houses free of civilians. The citizens of Welindar stood at the edge, glued to their spots by curiosity. Men, women, and children all bore the traits of their totem beasts with pride, from ears and tails to beaks and claws. The arrival of the royal carriage parted the crowd without issue, and it pulled to a stop in front of a house surrounded by soldiers, and everyone disembarked.
"What's the current situation?" Lupin asked, speaking to a bronze knight at the scene.
"We have everything locked down, My Lord, as per your orders for such events. A man bearing the insurgent mark was spotted and pursued here to this house. We found him hiding in the cellar, as well as a concealed door to a larger underground structure. None of us can make sense of what's inside, but hopefully, Your Highness, it's what you're looking for."
Lupin looked over to a pig-faced man tied to a tree beside the house, already bearing several cuts and bruises. "Has he said anything yet?"
"No, sire. He's a strong one."
"Did you check for parasites?"
"He's clean."
"Good, keep him there."
Guarded by his knights, Lupin entered the house and found the cellar door. With torches in hand, the four descended below ground. The earthy room was nothing special, holding just some tools, preserved food, and drying plants, but that's how it was supposed to look. There was an open door disguised as the dirt wall around it, and upon passing through, the prince and his subordinates found themselves walking down stone steps in a brick-and-mortar passage. They could see a light at the end, bringing them to a new chamber stinking of rotting flesh and chemicals.
"By the gods," the female knight gasped upon the sight before her.
"I'm afraid the gods had nothing to do with this," Lupin cursed.
Before them was a table upon which a bipedal creature lay after being opened up and dissected. Its skin looked molted like necrotic muscle, and each limb had a different bone structure, but, looking at the head, it was clear this thing was human at one time. Several jars sat along the table, each holding one of the creature's removed organs. There were other tables, not covered in bodies, but strange tools and equipment, and numerous papers written with magic formulas and nonsensical data. The light came from several illuminated glass tanks set against the wall. Within each one, a large flatworm-type creature gestated in clear liquid.
"We've finally found it, the source of the infestation," said Paulman.
"No, this isn't the true source. This is just a singular support station," said Lupin as he examined the workshop of horrors. There were numerous magical tools that he could not identify, made of either metal or some unknown material. The documents used a mix of magic ruins and letters of the local language, perhaps some kind of code, but it might as well have just been gibberish.
"Nell, go back and tell the soldiers to bring the suspect to the castle for interrogation. I want him spilling all his secrets before I get back. Then begin questioning the neighbors."
"Yes, Your Highness."
As she left, Lupin turned to Reynolds. "Don't touch that body. Nothing living or dead in here gets handled without gloves on."
"Prince Lupin!" they then heard Nell shriek from outside.
The three men rushed outside to a scene of horror. The pig-nosed man was gone, replaced with a hulking bipedal boar, knocking soldiers aside like ragdolls. He was twice the size of an average man, walking on hooved feet while swinging his massive arms like tree trunks. He released a deranged snarl from between a pair of long tusks and two sets of jagged teeth, accentuated by a grunt with every attack. Beastmen could either change their appearance to take on some of the traits of their totem beasts or turn into animals altogether, but not a snarling juggernaut like this. This was the result of an outside force.
The surrounding soldiers and knights lunged with their weapons, slashing and stabbing at the monster with everything they had. Their swords were enchanted with light magic, inflicting holy damage to the creature that burned his flesh, but it wasn't nearly enough to save them from the monster's wrath and fury. Irritated by the knights' holy steel, the beast grabbed one soldier and threw him, sending him crashing through a nearby house, then shrieked as another soldier stabbed him in the back with a spear. He turned and swatted the soldier with a backhand strike, but that was enough to send him flying through the air with mangled limbs and a crushed torso.
"Archers, keep him distracted! The rest of you, aim for his legs!" Lupin shouted.
The soldiers followed his commands, with archers blanketing the monster's face and chest with arrows and the melee fighters ducking under the barrage and attacking his legs. However, though they could tear his flesh and bloody his coarse hair, their blades and arrows struggled to cut through his muscles, and any pain they inflicted increased his fury. He grabbed one soldier, ignoring the man's terrified screaming as he pulled his meal towards his jaws.
Paulman jumped into the fray, striking the back of the monster's knee with his glowing axe. Forced to kneel, the snarling boar was too distracted to kill the soldier he was holding. As he roared in pain, Reynolds, holding a crossbow, took careful aim, but the bow was empty. Blue mana crept along the weapon as moisture gathered from the air and formed a bolt of suspended water.
He pulled the trigger, and with the assistance of magic, the launched bolt embedded itself in the monster's eye socket. The arrow then burst with explosive force, as all the drops were repelled from each other, setting off a powerful shockwave. While not a fatal wound, it distracted the monster long enough for the grabbed soldier to escape.
"Spearmen! Now!" Lupin ordered. The infantry troops charged in and stabbed the monster from all sides, sending their pikes deep into his chest. "There is a parasite hidden somewhere on his body! Find it!"
Despite the impalement of his organs with holy steel, the monster would not stay down for long. Already, pus was oozing from the wounds as they closed around the spears, and his body was beginning to further mutate.
"My Lord, I think I saw it when I was taking aim before," said Reynolds as he formed another liquid arrow. "It appears to be attached to the roof of his mouth!"
"Kill it, now."
Reynolds shouldered his weapon again, trying to get a clean shot, but the boar regained his fighting spirit before he could release it. The beast leaned down and devoured one soldier's head, then raised his arm, now sporting long claws at the tips of his fingers, and slashed another soldier across the chest, ripping him wide open. The monster got back to his feet, having healed from Paulman's attack, and when he tried to deliver another swing of his axe, he was kicked square in the chest. His armor was bent and crumpled like aluminum foil, bearing a perfect mark from the monster's hoof. Knocked through the air and vomiting blood, he was still faring better than the soldiers being crushed and ripped apart by the rabid behemoth.
As the boar was about to grab another soldier, a length of chain wrapped around his wrist, wielded by Lupin. Before the monster could react, Lupin swung the other end of the chain and struck his foe in the Adam's Apple with pinpoint accuracy and crushing force. The boar staggered back, struggling to breathe, and Lupin acted. The chain around the beast's wrist unraveled as though it had a mind of its own and returned to the prince.
"Critical Sequence!" he cast, the chain now glowing.
Holding the chain by the middle, he swung it with practiced grace and technique and whipped the boar across the chest with both ends. Blood flowed from two shallow cuts, courtesy of the metal spikes at the ends of the chain. Lupin didn't allow the chain to stop for even a moment, already twisting his body and pulling it back to lash out again. He whipped the boar a second time, cutting even deeper than before. Still swinging his arm, Lupin pulled the chain back and struck thrice, splashing blood in all directions.
