Chapter Thirteen Clearing Streg

Streg had always been a quiet community about a week away from Arcs on foot. Settled a short distance from the banks of the Yutal River. Hikaru had stayed here briefly when he’d traveled to Arcs from Varitul. The locals were a mix of fishermen, farmers and lumberjacks. The river made it easier for them to ship their lumber down to Arcs.

Yet now the air around the village was eerie, the walls far too quiet, the sturdy wooden gates stood open, and one hinge smashed, the broken wooden door left on the ground. Not one soul was to be seen, the fields were silent and no boats were in the water.

Hikaru stood outside the walls a short distance away, on a hillside overlooking the village. The knights were on standby waiting for the scout report. Eren and a few other scouts had snuck into town to scout things out. They wanted to know where the children were being kept and how many survivors were present and where. It would inform their battle plan.

Hikaru was itching to just charge in there, he’d been there not that long ago. They’d marched back as quickly as they could, getting to Arcs in just four days. He keenly felt how each minute meant another baby died, and who knew what the pregnant women and the children were facing.

A noise drew his attention to the left, just as Eren emerged with a couple of other scouts. A lanky young man in black, and a lithe young woman with long elven ears. They’d been paired together as one of several recon units.”

Eren didn’t look happy, “That bad?”

The fox girl groaned and collapsed on a log, “Well they are done with the damn sacrifices, we found the corpses, dozens of them.”

The young man spoke up, “They didn’t kill all the babies, just the boys. We found the girls in a strange nursery, being tended to by something a little bigger than hellspawn. We think they were hellfiends.”

A knight came over, she was quite pretty with vibrant blue hair and a regal face and she looked quite impressive in her full suit of plate armor. Her name was Roselyn, leader of the Order of the Eagle and far out of his league. “So there are still some babies to be saved. What about the children? The pregnant women?”

Eren sighed, “Found them both, the women were easier to find. They have them naked and chained in the village square.” she shuddered a bit, “Felt real creepy, they were acting odd, eyes all glazed and they had strange markings painted on their bellies.”

“Okay that’s good to know, and you said you found the children too?”

“Yup, they are being kept in several larger houses near the square. It was hard to get a good look at what was going on, but they seemed alright. No obvious wounds but they are being kept naked and chained in the front rooms. Several hellspawn and a few of the larger fiends were in each room. Occasionally a child would be escorted down into the basement, where we lost track of what they were doing. The kids have been split up based on gender and age it seems, but based on the number we saw? I think most of the kids are still here in town and alive.”

Roselyn turned to one of her knight buddies, “I want everyone ready to march in a handspan, Adventurer Polca and scouts come with me, we’ve got a rescue to plan.”

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An hour later, or a handspan later as the locals called it, Hikaru was leading the party into town. The knights were setting up at choke points around town, and the first squads were right behind them. Hikaru had to be impressed with their discipline, it wasn’t easy to move in sync like that. The operation was going off like clockwork, not that the locals had any of those, they didn’t even know what a clock was. He missed clocks, it was much easier than judging time the way the locals did.

Such thoughts fled from his mind as he focused himself for battle. A hellspawn scurried into view, it was an ugly thing humanoid with skin so black the night sky looked grey in comparison. Twisted spikes ran down its back, and its gangly arms ended in sharp nasty claws. Its open mouth revealed rows of sharp fangs, and its eyes were a menacing red. The thing saw them and screeched in a harsh guttural tongue, several shouts rang out. It seemed the alarm had been raised.

Alarm raised, the thing charged and Hikaru shifted into a stance. Time slowed down and the seconds ticked by, his sword moved slowly into position. Then all at once time sped up, his sword flashed and bit into the flesh of the evil creature, its head flew into the air, blood spurting from its neck. Just moments before the body slumped to the ground, idly he noted the blood wasn’t red, it was dark blue. “Everyone keep an eye out, they know we are here.”

Something that proved true as more swarmed into the streets. Polca let loose a bolt of ice that speared several, but they kept coming. Arrows felled more, then the things were in melee range. Hikaru intercepted them, each strike quick and lethal. Beside him Kuon was holding them off with his shield, as a squad of knights joined them to assist. Blade and spear used with deadly precision to slay the nasty beasts.

Pain suddenly flared from his back, he cried out, then Kuons blade speared the thing that had jumped his back. He thanked him and downed a potion quickly, before slipping back into the rhythm of the fight. Vines sprouted from the ground to snare the creatures, slowing them down, making them easier targets for spells, arrows and blades.

Hikaru wasn’t sure how long the fight lasted but it was over suddenly, leaving dozens of small black-skinned bodies on the ground. He took a quick look around, noting Polca’s robes were shredded revealing bare skin beneath, and Eren’s clothing wasn’t much better. Several potions were missing from their belt, but he’d used a couple himself defending the front. A few wounded knights were being tended by their comrades as well, their armor punctured in several places. Those claws were deadly.

Roselyn showed up, “Any dead?”

“Just hellspawn, healers are helping the wounded.”

“Well don’t get cozy, we only fought hellspawn, we still have to face fiends. Polca? I want your group to join a squad of my knights, you’ll clear out the nursery.” She turned to a knight, “Iris take your squad with her, Fredrick I want your squad to sweep that house...”

As Roselyn was giving orders, Hikaru quickly conferred with the party. Checking how many potions and arrows they had left. Thankfully they had not used too many potions, but only Kuon had emerged unscathed, mostly. Kuon’s shield had furrows in it and looked a hair short of shredded. It was a miracle the thing was still intact, and his armor did have a few rents, but nothing that penetrated the underlying layers. The same couldn’t be said of his own armor, the back of his breastplate was ruined, any deeper and those cuts would have severed his spine.

Hikaru was just grateful for his good luck and the quick-acting nature of otherworldly healing potions. It certainly helped make the girl’s outfits slightly more erotic in their torn state, not that he was really enjoying them. He was too focused on surviving another day and he knew there were more enemies here.

After conferring and determining they were good enough to go, they pressed on with the knights. The nursery was located underground and access was through a house in the square, so he got a look at the naked pregnant women on the way to it. It was certainly eerie seeing them just sitting there, eyes glazed, strange symbols etched across their swollen bellies. Even more strange was that they were glowing an ominous shade of red. He noted that they all appeared to be between three and six months pregnant. He didn’t stay long enough to count how many were chained in the pen, but it looked to be around twenty maybe thirty.

Hikaru also noted the strange altar, black stone dark red lines that glowed, strange symbols and a ring of spikes decorated the vile thing, a moat of blood filled a pool around the altar. From which it flowed into a channel leading down into a pit. One that certainly hadn’t been here before. Off in the corner of the square was a pile of dead babies, marked with ritualistic wounds.

They walked past the pit, towards the house that had been scouted earlier. Stepping inside Hikaru noted the walls had been smashed to clear space. Four pillars of black stone supported the roof and a pit had been dug into the floor, leading down toward the nursery. Hikaru, noting there was a path towards the original stairs, asked, “Was there anything upstairs?”

Eren spoke up, “No, they took the walls and furniture down. I saw some materials scattered about, a few hellspawn working.”

Two knights quickly bounded towards the stairs and went up. They came down after a moment, “Clear, likely moved out after the alarm.”

Polca gestured towards the path down, “Then we head that way.”

The group shared looks before shifting into formation and taking the wide stone steps around the perimeter of the pit. Eren carefully checked for traps, but none showed nor did any monsters charge at them. Hikaru felt rather unsettled by the eerie lack of action, the shadows and strange lighting didn’t help the feeling. Almost like something could just suddenly leap out at them from the darkness.

After far too long in the strange well, they came out into a poorly lit room at the bottom of the pit. A large door blocked the passage further, Hikaru wasn’t sure what it was made from but it wasn’t wood or metal. It felt hard and sturdy to the touch when he pushed it open. Eren commented, “The babies are just down the hall, there are spaces on the left and right that look like living spaces. We saw fiends and hellspawn when we scouted it earlier, be on guard for both.”

Hikaru and the others nodded as they advanced into the hall. Almost immediately a form showed itself, it was much larger than a hellspawn, where the little black humanoids were diminutive standing around a hundred to a hundred and twenty centimeters tall. This thing was almost as tall as him, standing easily a hundred and eighty centimeters tall in a grotesque imitation of the female form. She was entirely naked, her arms a tad too long, her build lanky, her legs odd. Long sharp claws tipped her hands and feet. Large red eyes sat on a strangely feminine face framed by long white hair that contrasted with her dark shiny black skin. 

She vanished into a side room, almost instantly giving him a brief view of her backside and the ridge of spikes running down her spine. Hikaru noted that she was fast, faster than those hellspawn they’d fought earlier. Raising a hand, Polca made signals, the knights went left, they took the right path after the Hellfiend.

Almost instantly they were greeted by several more, they varied in appearance, all of them naked, but a couple of them were clearly male. They looked similar to the females but they were larger with tusks on their faces, rippling muscles, and they were hung. The oddly shaped dick hanging between their legs wasn’t only large, it looked unpleasant.

Hikaru didn’t think more than a second about that, as he held his sword at the ready. A male Hellfiend leaped forward, several hellspawn at his back, just as a bolt of ice flew from Polca’s hand. Hikaru stepped forward, and slashed his blade moving quick-as-a-flash to connect with a claw. His next move cut through a spawn that got too close while he was fighting the fiend The fiend tried to take advantage of the distraction, but a quick parry barely blocked its next strike. He felt the powerful muscles almost force him back. It was strong, not just larger.

His blade flashed as he moved through the forms, a dance of strike and counter-strike. Clang after clang filled the air, a second fiend, female this time moved in and he barely avoided a deadly blow. Blocking it just in time with a well-timed parry, a clang rang out as her claws were deflected. Just a moment before a bolt of ice tore through the abdomen of the first fiend.

Blood leaked from the wound, but it didn’t stop the thing. It kept moving, and tried to strike again. Hikaru parried the blow, then stepped back to avoid another hit from his second foe. Two-on-one wasn’t a pleasant fight. Something had to change, but thankfully Polca was assisting from behind. Suddenly one of the fiends slowed, his foot caught in a chunk of ice. Hikaru moved fast, and sliced him open with a well placed cut, before sidestepping another blow from the other and transitioning into a counter that found purchase across her chest. A gasp erupted from the fiend, but it wasn’t down.

Hikaru had to dodge a pair of rapid follow up strikes, barely avoiding getting torn open, his armor was ripped open from the front, with blood leaking from several shallow cuts. Nothing fatal, so he ignored that and countered, a quick slash transitioning into a rapid thrust and the fiend went down.

He took a breath and looked around, noting the crumpled forms of several hellspawn, some taken down by the blade, others by spell. All the fiends had been taken out as well, leaving them the only ones standing in the room.

That gave him a moment to notice the large bed in the room. It was the only furniture in the room and it was huge, easily big enough for a dozen people. A second door to the side led into what was clearly a kitchen and dining area. 

Carefully they checked that area out but there weren’t any more fiends there, so they joined the knights in the hall before moving on into the nursery. Two fiends tried to jump them at the door, one knight went down but both fiends were cut in two. With their forms slumping to the ground, Hikaru stepped into the nursery, a breath leaving his lips. For a moment they just stood there, Eren had called it strange but he hadn’t been entirely ready for the sight.

The nursery was a large open room with several rows of ‘cribs’ if you wanted to call them that. A couple of fiends were certainly tending to the babies but... it wasn’t good. Nothing about this could be called good. Each ‘crib’ was more of a table rising up to about waist height with a low wall around the base of the floor. The sides were transparent which gave him a very good view of the babies, each and every one of them had been restrained, black cuffs locking their limbs in place. Tubes were connected to their limbs, some of them had also been cut open to expose their organs.

Further back at the rear of the room he could see babies hanging suspended upside down over a pit, its dark maw glowing eerily with red light. The only thing keeping the babies up there were strange glowing tendrils that gave off the same creepy red light. What just made the sight even stranger was the lack of crying in the room, the babies were all clearly alive yet not one was crying. Polca spoke up, “I know you said Hellfiends were tending them but I didn’t expect this.”

Eren said, “Well I didn’t know how to describe this mess.”

Hikaru moved deeper into the room, “Lets get those last two fiends, then we can see about rescuing the babies.”

A female knight commented, “Rescue? They are going to need a healer.”