ALL NOVEL 43 - Surprise Guest
Herold clicked his mandibles anxiously, “My boy, you have my eternal gratitude for pioneering this…Combo System. It is an unquestionably valuable contribution to the safety and stability of the Woodland Society.”
David’s ears continued to lay flat as he maintained eye contact with the enormous iridescent beetle while they shifted uncomfortably. Herold sighed, the noise oddly multi-tonal, before he motioned with his antennae for the three of them to follow him back inside the warehouse, quickly understanding that David and his group wouldn’t drop the conversation. Both Claire and Kai had added their voices to his, though Kai’s opinion carried more weight with the jovial beetle, and he was visibly torn on the idea of tackling the monstrosity again.
David simply nodded and began to follow beside him in comfortable silence, the rhythmic tapping of Herold’s large sturdy legs mingling with Claire’s thudding footsteps and his own nearly silently rustle of passing as they made their way across the training field.
“You have to understand, David, that many of the survivors here are still traumatized by the failed assault. Though many of the members present here hold me in high esteem, I cannot in good conscience attempt to persuade them to return to that fight so soon.” Herold spoke quietly, “The Hatchlings will have access to their Evolutions tonight at midnight and will be weak and largely untrained. The potential cost in lives is simply too high, and as I have previously stated, I am no one’s leader. I am simply trying to preserve what few people I could pull together and it has become what you see here.”
“I understand that, but you need to…How’s that go…” David paused slightly to think as they formed a line to enter the warehouse, “Get back on the horse? None of this is going to go away, and now we know that we can easily rank up our Abilities and gain levels without having to rely entirely on Quests.”
“It’s not so simple, I’m afraid. You are unnaturally brave, David. I have spoken with Claire at length about your experiences in the forest.” Herold hummed a bit, “Not everyone is possessed of the fortitude required to repeatedly throw themselves into the reaper's jaws.”
The group passed into the warehouse in an orderly fashion and trailed along behind Herold as he led them to a spare corner, shooing a few people away with an amicable sweep of his legs and a bit of verbal jousting. He settled down comfortably, his carapace scraping against the floor with a noise that made David’s teeth itch, and he fought the urge to lick his chops to rid himself of the sensation. Kai’s plumage had slicked down so far that he almost resembled the Herons David had fought the night before, and he clearly had strong opinions about the plan that he was having trouble voicing.
A deep rumble sounded from Claire’s chest as she disagreed politely with Herold’s last statement, the sound sending the few eavesdroppers scattering for the safety of other locations, and David’s sensitive ears easily caught the sound of their flight against the cold concrete floor.
“I disagree. I’d either be dead or still hiding in a hole somewhere if David hadn’t pulled me out of the forest. If there had been more of us out there he’d probably be in the same position you are now, with a horde of people to look after despite never once asking for it.” Claire snarled in dissatisfaction, “I’m sure he’ll get a fat head from hearing this, but he’s a genius at whatever it is that’s going on…or at least an idiot savant.”
“Hey!” David protested feebly.
“He’s always got some sort of stupid, half-baked plan that ends up working out anyway, and it’s always because he uses himself like a sandbag so nobody else gets hurt, even though he’s made out of cobwebs and tissue paper. He might be too dumb to realize that’s why he’s doing it, but I’m not.” Claire finished forcefully, with a pointed look at Herold.
“Look the simple fact is that if that thing is still alive, nobody here is safe.” David chattered as he plopped down on his haunches, “Uh…look, just humor me for a second and hear me out at least?”
Herold stared at them for a long time in silence, his antennas slowly waving to a halt, and David could almost see the gears turning in his mind. He liked Herold, the old man may have been a bit stubborn but his heart was inarguably in the right place, and the entire Park was a testament to his efforts to do something about the state of the situation they’d all found themselves in when nobody else would. Well over a hundred different creatures were surviving here in relative peace, isolating themselves from the savagery of the world passing by outside the walls and borders of Woodland Park, and David could respect the effort it must have taken.
“I always intended to hear your strategy, David. I simply cannot join you, nor can I command anyone to do so, even if I had the authority.” Herold nodded toward David, “I will, however, not prevent anyone wishing to do battle from joining you. Please, proceed.”
“Uh…Okay, sure. You guys aren’t safe here, you know that right? What happens when the second Wave starts if that thing’s still kicking?” David asked bluntly, “How many people are gonna wander right into something like that if we leave it alive? Claire and I agreed to stick around and help until everyone evolves, and that’s soon. What if it’s only a week between waves? A month? Even if it’s longer you can only kick the can so far down the road, and we have the technique to level faster now, even if it might only work until a certain point.”
Everyone gave him a bit of an odd look after he finished speaking, and David fought down a wave of embarrassment, willing his ears to stand up straight and trying his best not to cringe as the three gigantic predators stared him down. Kai cocked his head thoughtfully, and Claire seemed deeply amused by both Herold and Kai’s surprise that David could form an intelligent thought when he put his mind to it. David was about to continue when a quiet, beautifully musical voice cut him off before he even began.
“I want to help kill it. I’ll do anything, I don’t care what it takes. Please. Please.”
Herold almost seemed to sag in shock, his antennas freezing mid-wiggle as Kai’s head spun around creepily to lock onto the source of the voice, his beak falling open stupidly. David spun in place and found himself looking into a set of long, elegant legs ending in sharp hooves, following them upwards until he was staring into a gentle face crowned by an enormous set of antlers. The shaggy elk-like creature hung his head low, his eyes held tightly shut while he visibly shook with fear and forced himself to choke out the rest of his request as he slowly sunk to the ground and laid his head on the floor in front of David.
“I can’t live like this. Everyone that…didn’t make it b-becau– They deserve better. Better than having their bones just laying there in front of the fucking subway because everyone wants to pretend NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENED!” Leo finished with a bugle of pure agony that echoed around the warehouse like a trumpet blast.
The silence that followed was broken only by Leo’s heavy breathing and the sound of his hooves and antlers rattling slightly against the cold floor as he prostrated himself and begged to be included. David’s brain blanked out for a moment, and before he had time to register it he had given the poor man a comforting lick across the face before seizing the thick shaggy fur of his neck and gently lifting his head off the ground. He poked his snout under the man's head as he lifted it curiously, nudging and poking him until he finally stood off the floor and seemed to calm slightly while they stared at each other.
“That’s better, stand up. They’re not the only ones that deserve better, you do too. We all do, but here we fucking are.” David said firmly, “I want to kill it, if you’re in, I’m in.”
“Me too,” Claire added.
Kai’s feathers ruffled as he whistled sharply, “I’ll go.”
Herold looked like he might implode with happiness at what he was witnessing, exploding to his feet and bulling everyone, Claire included to her tremendous shock, out of the way to give Leo the best approximation of a hug that he was capable of. He leaned into the furry hide of the tall graceful creature, and Leo sagged against the green carapace before beginning to speak quietly. Herold let loose with a torrent of supportive exposition that quickly drew the attention of a few of the other Hunt team present, who hurled themselves across the distance and began to crowd around the pair.
“Leo’s talking again? Hey, man, you okay dude? What’s wrong?”
“Honey, oh my god, what happened?”
“Back I say! Give the man some space, let him breathe!” Herold boomed protectively.
David slowly crept closer to Claire as she picked herself up off the ground, levering herself off her side back into a sitting position with an air of wounded nonchalance as they watched Leo slowly begin to communicate with the rest of the group before a few of the members present peeled off to approach them. Dallas’ antennae seemed to be trying to fly off his head on their own when the insect screeched to a halt on the floor in front of the pair and looked up at them with his sparkling compound eyes.
“You’re going after it?” The wasplike man buzzed, “Fuck that thing. I want in too. Come get me whenever we’re making plans…”
“Same!” Thomas snarled wickedly from several feet away, “Fuck that thing. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Well…shit. That was easier than I thought it would be. Now we just need to get them trained up the right way, and we’re gonna flatten that fucking thing…I think what we’ll do is…
“Hey Claire,” David said quietly as they watched the mob of people around Herold and Leo steadily grow, “He said ‘in front of the subway’ right?”
She nodded, “Yeah, why?”
“Because if it’s gonna come out of a tunnel, I have an idea already.” David’s smile was anything but friendly as his lips wrinkled back over his fangs in thought.