Adventure of Rekka Ch. 03

Bill stared at the unfortunate man, his stomach churning, wondering if he should put him out of his misery or leave him to suffer. The man had been aiming at Rekka before he'd blown himself to hell. The choice was taken from him as Rekka strode forward and cleanly put the man down with a slash of her claws. She seemed to have an easier time behaving as a decent human being than he did, despite her tail.

Rekka turned as Bill moved forward and wrapped her in a one-armed hug, face pressed into her hair between her ears as he shuddered with relief that she was unhurt. She began to return his embrace enthusiastically when she abruptly stiffened and yelped.

"Your arm!" Rekka cried, "Oh! Oh no. I'm sorry, I thought they'd all be fightin' me, cause you're so harmless."

"Harmless? I got two of them," he complained, waving his punctured arm in their direction, wincing at the pain the movement sparked. Rekka tsk'd in annoyance, gently securing his arm while she looked him over.

"Two more that I coulda took without getting an arrow through me. You should'a just run. I'm sposed'ta take care of ya' now, husband," she replied.

"Well, I'm a lover, not a fighter," Bill said defensively, looking over the four men she'd easily dispatched without a scratch. Like he could call himself a man if he ran and left her to fight his battles. That'd be a good way to take a bolt in the back.

Rekka laughed and shot him a grin saying, "Mm, don't I know it, sugar." She then focused on his wound, concern filling her eyes. "Now, hold still, this has'ta come out," she said, turning serious.

Bill slipped his arm out of her gentle grip and said, "Nuh-uh, It's part of me now. You're just going to have to get used to it." He backed away, unwilling to process the thought of yanking that bolt out of his arm. Rekka's eyes narrowed and her ears fell back as she growled and yipped at him in frustration.

Bill endured her barks for a few seconds before rolling his eyes and sighing, "Alright, enough with the angry dog noises."

Pointing with his skewered arm he said, "Pull that dead assholes backpack over here. He'd better have alcohol and bandages in there or me and Mister Bolt are sticking together until you find us a doctor."

Rekka eagerly retrieved the pack as Bill lowered himself to the grass, shaking and weak from the adrenaline leaving his system.

His guess was right, apparently most of their supplies were in the large rucksack poor Matius had been hauling. A rough medieval first-aid kit was included. Clean linen bandages, needle, thread, and generous flask of eye-watering clear spirit. Bill splashed some on his arm, hissing at the burning. "And one for me. Cheers," he said, raising the flask to Rekka and Mister Bolt before draining half its contents. Choking and sputtering he wondered if that hadn't been some form of rubbing alcohol, but not really caring as the calming warmth filled his empty belly. Rekka crinkled her nose cutely as he breathed out the fumes.

"Ready?" she asked, concern filling her voice as she kneeled before him. "No, but go ahead beautiful. Just be careful, it's barbed and I don't want to feel those feathers sliding through me, either." Rekka's smile flashed brightly at his words, then she simply leaned over and nipped the fletching end of the bolt off with her teeth. Only a nub remained as she turned and spat out the rest.

Bill was impressed, it had barely jostled his wound at all. Realizing her teeth were razor sharp he recalled how eagerly he'd been thrusting his tongue in there last night.

"Okay, sugar. On three," Rekka said, grasping the bolt just below the head with one paw, her other curled around his elbow. He nodded numbly, knowing what was coming. "One..." she said, huffed a breath, and abruptly ripped the bolt free in one fluid motion. She grinned at him and tossed the bolt into the grass with a flourish.

"Ow," Bill said thickly, wheezing at the ragged little hole in his arm. It had hurt like hell but drink and shock had done its job. Mostly he just felt too worn out to break down crying. Shuddering, he reached for the flask of spirits to disinfect the wound when Rekka leaned her face over his arm.

She was cleaning his wound, her tongue hot, soft and gentle. He considered the sanitation of licking at an open wound but figured she must know what she was doing. Anyhow, it felt soothing. When she was satisfied she aided him by holding two bandages against the wounds, applying pressure while he wrapped linen securely around his arm. Tying it one handed he finished and thanked Rekka with a kiss to the forehead, her tail swishing happily.

Flexing his left hand into a loose fist was painful but he managed. Thankfully it hadn't snapped the bones. Bill speculated a few days before gangrene set in and he'd have to amputate. Until then, he would have pretty fair use from it. Struggling awkwardly to his feet he pondered what to do with the other six moaning and unconscious bodies they'd acquired. More importantly, he wanted a better look at the less than impressive musket.

Bill trudged over to the site of Matius and his spectacular exploding flintlock, while Rekka poked around the battlefield. Crouching, he began sorting through the pieces, flicking bits of Matius off the largest parts and examining them closely. He couldn't tell much from the barrel, other than it had originally been solidly crafted before attempting its sad impression of a trumpet. There was no sign of the trigger mechanism, likely embedded somewhere in what remained of Matius's face. The stock was pretty much as he'd expected, a thick piece of sturdy wood shaped into a comfortable grip and shoulder butt, now cracked severely. Flipping it over his eyes narrowed as he considered the markings carved into its side.

Bill called over to Rekka, "Hey, Rekka. Don't suppose you can read, can you?" he asked hopefully.

Rekka scoffed, pulling a short sword from one of the downed soldiers and tossing it onto a pile she'd been gathering. "What d'you think, sugar?" she responded cheekily, flipping the groaning man over with careless ease to check for hidden blades.

Bill just nodded, disappointed but not surprised. Reading was likely not much use out here in her untamed wilderness. Still, he really wanted a second opinion on these markings. Standing, he tucked the shattered stock under his arm. Making his way over to the whimpering man with the broken spear in his thigh, he stopped by the scene of his impromptu surgery to gather up a few supplies.

Now standing over him Bill saw that the soldier was closer to his own age, a bit younger, around eighteen if he were to guess. Shit, just a damn kid, Bill thought. He glared down at the whimpering boy, whose eyes were clenched shut from the pain, before dropping some bandages onto his chest and kneeling down to take hold of the spear. The soldier's eyes flashed open, panicked, meeting Bill's. "Please, I beg of you, I yield," he cried, his hands holding to his thigh above the spear.

"Alright, shitbird, I'm pulling this out on three," Bill said, before simply wrenching the spear free one handed. "Three," he stated flatly, tossing the broken spear towards the pile of weapons Rekka was securing. The soldier bucked into a seated position, mouth open in a silent scream as he stared at Bill with shocked disbelief. Before he could recover, Bill pushed him back down and quickly poured a splash of the sanitizing alcoholic spirits into the wound. The man sputtered and howled as Bill held him down with one hand and waited for him to settle. "Stop squirming, this is probably good for you," he said, not really caring if his nonexistent medical knowledge was causing more harm than good.

When the kid's agonized howling subsided, he slumped back no longer resisting. Panting and whimpering he gratefully accepted the flask Bill offered, immediately draining the remaining spirit. Using a knife pulled from the soldier's belt, Bill cut away fabric around the wound giving him access to the bloody oozing hole. It looked pretty nasty, he had to admit, and wasn't certain if the bone was also broken. Likely there were bits of fabric stuck into the wound as well, doing it no good at all. For lack of any better idea Bill simply pressed a large wad of bandage over the hole, and tied it securely with more bandages to hold it in place. Satisfied at a job done poorly, he turned his attention back to the young soldier.

"So, my names Bill, what's yours?" Bill asked in a pleasant tone as he casually pointed his pilfered dagger towards the kid's face, looming intimidatingly above him.

"Cluvius, sir. Felix Cluvius. You not going to kill me, are you?" he asked, eyes locked onto the dagger before him.

"Cluvius, huh? Sensing a pattern with all these -ius's lately," Bill said, "And no, Felix, I'm not going to kill you. Just answer my questions and you the rest of your merry band of dickheads can limp home."

Felix nodded eagerly, saying "Aye sir, I'll answer best I can." He seemed desperate to please, obviously terrified. Bill almost felt sorry for him, but suppressed the feeling and continued his interrogation.

"First of all, what were you assholes doing out here?" Bill asked.

"We were to protect the Lord Flavius, sir. He'd told us we were to travel into the frontier until we found a proper tough monster," he said, his eyes rolling to Rekka's form. Currently she was lying on her side next to her pile of looted weaponry. Legs splayed, Rekka was bent nearly double holding her thigh in the air as she enthusiastically used her tongue to clean herself. Bill and Felix took a moment to appreciate her flexibility.

Bill coughed and waved the dagger to regain Felix's attention. It took two tries. "And why the fuck would you do that? Hunting pretty girls something you folks do for fun?" Bill said, his anger evident.

"No, sir! Lord Flavius wanted the weapon tested on a live monster," he said.

"Weapon? You mean the musket. Don't know if you noticed, but it didn't work. Your friend blew himself up using it," Bill said, slipping the dagger behind him. He picked up the cracked stock and waved it at Felix.

"Oh, poor Matius," Felix moaned, sitting up painfully and searching until he saw the broken body. "He was so proud to be chosen to wield it," he said sadly.

"Yeah, sucks to be him," Bill said. "Only, he was aiming at my girlfriend when it happened. Those happy accidents occur often?" he asked.

"Your girlfriend?" Felix asked in surprise, looking around and seeing only Rekka. His face twisted with revulsion for a moment before he said, "Oh, yes, the monster. No, they used them many times on the archery butts. None ever exploded before. It's supposed to throw a lead ball with amazing force into whatever you aim at."

"Yeah, I know how guns work, you primitive screwhead," Bill muttered, rankled by the monster remark. "Why would you march all the way out here to shoot at her, she's not bothering anyone," he demanded.

"Why, the war sir," Felix said, as though that answered everything.

"War?" Bill prompted.

"The war with the monsters, sir? Lord Flavius said the weapon would change everything," Felix replied eagerly. Then, frowning, Felix asked, "How do you not know these things?"

Bill sighed and said, "Let's just say I'm not from around here. Never seen a 'monster' before last night, and far as I can tell she's better company that you lot. Why not just leave them alone?"

Felix's face twisted with anger and spat, "Ask your 'girlfriend'. Every year there's more of them and less of us. They constantly raid our villages and carry off men to spawn more of their vile kind. Soon there will be no humans left, its us or them!" He glared at Bill defiantly.

Bill's brow rose in surprise and asked, "What, their own men not getting the job done?"

"You really don't know?" Felix asked, looking at Bill as though he'd grown another head. "There aren't any males. The monsters need to mate with human men to spawn their brood, which are always female," he said, as if talking to a child.

"Huh," Bill said, not sure how to feel about that. All the times Rekka had gushed about puppies he'd assumed was just hopeful ignorance on her part. He hadn't really considered that they could even be compatible in that way. Well, after last night he probably needed to start thinking about it pretty damn hard if Felix wasn't bullshitting him.

Shaking his head, he decided it really didn't matter just now. "Whatever, fuck you and your war. Just answer me this, can you read?" Bill asked, holding up the shattered stock, pointing at the writing etched into it.

"Aye, a bit," Felix said, leaning closer to peer carefully at the writing. Shaking his head finally he said, "Never seen writing like this, doesn't mean anything to me. The artificer was a strange fellow, though, maybe it's his foreign lingo."

Bill sighed, he'd been expecting something like that. "Where's this artificer now?" he asked.

"Fort Carcere, where we're stationed. Lord Flavius brought him down from the capital to make and test the weapons," Felix said, clearly ashamed to be spilling his guts so freely, but desperate to keep himself usefully alive.

"Where is that from here, and how far?" Bill questioned.

"Well, I'm not entirely certain," Felix said, looking around thoughtfully. "We've been traveling mostly south, I think, for five days. We followed Lord Flavius's Huntstone seeking monsters. Mostly they evaded us, I think we were too well armed for any of them to consider attacking." He frowned, and looked over at the still smoking remains of his comrade. "Matius was a woodsman, he was to guide us back when we'd finished testing the weapon," he said, worry creeping into his voice.

Bill snorted and said, "Shit luck for you and him both, buddy. What the hell is a hunt stone?"

"There, on my Lord's saddle," Felix said, waving at the horse, now on the other side of the clearing idly nibbling at the grass. "I've never used one, but a Huntstone will flash with light when pointed in the direction of a monster. The stronger the monster's demonic energy, and the closer it is, the brighter it flashes," he explained helpfully.

Bill nodded, remembering the odd little crystal Flavius had toyed with during their brief conversation. He'd have to grab that Huntstone when he looted those saddlebags and retrieved his stolen Multi-tool. Standing, he brushed the grass from his pants and said, "Well, that's about it. I'd better go wake your friends and send you off." Felix nodded wearily, lying back down to concentrate on the pain of his leg and feel sorry for himself.

Bill figured he'd wake Flavius first, try interrogating him to make sure Felix wasn't lying or just an idiot. Also, that way the Lordly jackass could organize their ignominious retreat and save Bill the trouble.

Unfortunately, as he stood over the arrogant prick it became obvious he wasn't going to be any help to anyone, ever again. The fall, or Rekka's percussive maintenance, had broken the fool's neck.

Bill turned to Felix and called, "Yo, Felix. Who's second in command of this shitshow?"

Levering himself to one elbow, Felix called back, "Sergeant Tullius, sir. Why, is my Lord Flavius unwell?"

Bill snorted and prodded Flavius's battered breastplate with his foot, responding, "You could say that. You could also say he's stone dead. Broke his damn neck in that fall." Felix choked back a sob, and slumped to the ground.

Shrugging, Bill jogged over to Tullius and began softly jabbing him in the cheek with his boot. Finally, the man flinched awake, swatting at the offending boot. Tullius groaned, sitting up and clutching at his broken nose. Two impressive bruises were beginning to show around his eyes, looking like the mask of a raccoon.

"Wha' 'appened?" Tullius moaned, looking around. Sighting a grinning Rekka guarding their weapons he winced. Slowly his eyes turned up at Bill. "Shid," he said, his broken nose affecting his speech.

"Shid is right, fucker. Flavor Lord and Matty are dead. You're in charge, so gather the rest of these morons up and get the fuck out of our forest," Bill said, prodding him again with his boot.

Standing, Tullius glared indignantly at Bill before pointing at the body of Flavius, asking permission. Bill waved him on and they approached together. Seeing the broken neck for himself, Tullius sank to his knees with a moan of despair. "Gods, my Lord. I'll be hung," he cried.

"Look at me," Bill ordered, not feeling sympathy for his would-be murderer. Tullius tore his eyes away from his dead lord and glowered up at him. "You need to pull yourself together. You've got a long walk through 'monster' infested forest, and I personally can't recommend traveling by night. Get your men up and start them moving," he said coldly.

Tullius sighed and climbed to his feet. Glancing at Rekka's treasure trove and then back to Bill he asked, "Our weapons?" with hope in his voice. Bill just snorted and shook his head. Despairing, Tullius asked, "The horse, at least? To carry my dead?" Bill considered this for a moment before shaking his head. The last thing he wanted was one of them using the horse to ride for help and bring back a vengeful army.

"Sorry, Tully. Looks like you're walking. You're lucky I'm letting you keep your boots," Bill said.

Tullius sighed in defeat, coming to terms with his fate he turned to rouse the three remaining soldiers. The one Rekka had knocked out with his own spear was clearly experiencing a remarkable concussion, but they managed to get him upright and moving in a nearly straight line. The crossbowman she had bowled over with her deer missile was doing slightly better, seeming to only suffer from a broken arm. The man that had shot Bill was grey faced and breathing shallowly. It looked as though the sword Bill threw had cracked his sternum, agonizing but he was able to walk. Bill greatly enjoyed his pain.

Taking pity on Felix's sad pained hopping, Bill cut him a crude crutch from a y-shaped branch. The least concussed soldiers decided that they were all too injured to be carrying the dead and would be forced to leave them. Bill promised to give them a decent burial, lying through his teeth.

With that, he tossed Tullius the pack of supplies and pointed in the direction he thought might be north. Honestly, he had no idea and just wanted them moving away with all possible haste. It was a terrible risk letting them go, but cold-blooded murder just wasn't something he was capable of.

Watching them leave, Rekka crept up behind him and wrapped him in a hug from behind. He sighed, her familiar heat relaxing his tense muscles. "Do you think they'll make it?" he asked her, running the fingers of one hand through the silken fur of her paws.

He felt Rekka shake her head against his back and reply, "Nuh-uh. Five unarmed men, an' miles of mamono filled forest? They ain't gonna get more'n a day before they're run down an' claimed."

Bill nodded, he'd been counting on that based off of the things Felix had explained to him. "Mamono?" he asked.

"That's what we call us, y'know? It's what I am," she said quietly. That was good to learn, Bill thought, better than referring to them collectively as monsters.

His stomach growled, startling them both in the quiet. He laughed, and patted at her arm before pulling free.

"Let's clear this mess up quickly, then I'll get lunch started. We missed breakfast and I'm ready to eat that damn horse, but the deer will have to do," he said, smiling down at Rekka. She grinned back at him, pulling his head down for a kiss before running to clear away the weapons and bodies.

"Then we have a lot, to talk about..." Bill muttered quietly to himself. Lifting the broken stock, he traced the text with one finger.

Boomstick Mk. II S/N 0003, it read in clear unmistakable English.