Redux: Lineage

After managing to drag Annerose out of the arena, the Queen of Combat not willing to leave her throne of unconscious people until it sat at least three meters higher, she finally calmed down and allowed one of the mercenary's medics to take a look at her injuries. She wasn't too badly beat up; barely anyone had managed to get any decent blows on her, and she'd only started slipping after taking down about thirty of them, but there were a few dings and scratches we needed to clean up so as to not get them infected.

She'd received a decently-sized shiner on her right eye, that being the only direct hit anyone had managed to score on her, as well as a bust lip, scratches on her elbows and knees from grappling on the floor, and a few light bruises from the strikes she'd managed to dodge mostly the brunt of; although, she managed to take a few spare knuckles and toe. The medic was swabbing the cuts on her knees with rubbing alcohol, to which Annerose showed no more reaction to the pain than a brief twitch in the eye as she sat back and waited for her to finish up.

"You really shouldn't be arena fighting," the medic said in a disapproving manner. "You're much too pretty to risk having your face smashed in."

"I'm also too good to ever let that happen," she shrugged, resting her hands behind her head.

"That black eye tells me different," the medic said, looking up at the swollen flesh around her eye.

"Is 'Nagging condescension' gonna be included on your consultation fee?" Annerose asked, her temper clearly flaring up. "Because if it is, you can put your crap away and let me go now."

"I'm only trying to say that you should reconsider the path you're walking on," she said, sounding rather offended by Annerose's tone. "There's no need to for you to get so irritable."

"And there's also no need for you to stick your fucking nose into places where it doesn't belong," Annerose snarled. "So you better pull it out of my business before I boot it to the back of your skull."

The medic had clearly had enough of her at this point, immediately getting up and demanding that Annerose leave, pointing to the doorway where I was standing with an enraged expression.

"Fucking finally," Annerose yawned, stretching out and grabbing her coat as she moved towards me. "Figured I'd be getting my yearly check up by the time you'd finished."

The two of us left the room, the medic slamming the door behind us and audible cursing Annerose as she stormed back to her instruments.

"So-" Annerose said, turning to me with a smile. "Where's the rest of our Bum Chums?"

"They went to find this city's Hunter's Guild," I answered, resting my thumbs in my belt as we walked. "We've got a manticore to take care of."

"Sounds fun," Annerose nodded. "Haven't been for a good hunt in a while, have we?"

"Indeed we haven't," I said with a smirk. "What was the last thing we took down? Was a Leichfress, wasn't it?"

"I thought it was a Volthound?" Annerose asked, looking at me with a curious expression. "Outside Quincy, eight or nine months ago?"

"But wasn't the Leichfress before the snow melted?" I asked, both of us confused to all hell by this. "It was, right?"

"It's apparently been so long that neither of us remembers," she shrugged. "But anyway, a manticore's a bigger deal than the other two. Do we know much about it?"

"Not much other than that it exists and it kills people," I said, shaking my head. "We'll pick up hints about it once we start tracking it. Hopefully the other guys get a full brief when we join up."

The two of us made small talk as we made our way through the city, following sign posts and resident directions to find the Hunter's Guild. It wasn't a particularly impressive construction; nothing more than a simple stone building, three stories tall, with a sign on it featuring a dragon's head with a sword through it, and a basic job board under an overhang, possibly to protect it from the rain.

"It's no wonder the dragons don't get along with us," I chuckled, looking up at the sign on the building.

"I thought it was because they're a bunch of stuck-up nob jockeys that refuse to accept that they're not the best thing in town," Annerose suggested. "Pretty sure that's a bigger issue than them getting a little pissy at a sign of ours."

"True," I shrugged. "Just wonder how Heimili's going to be when we finally get to her."

"If I have my way, then she's going to be dead," Annerose said in a determined manner. "Now, let's see how the other two are doing."

We entered the building, feeling a warm rush of pub chatter and hot air blow over both of us, and looked around for Grael and Zane as we meandered through the other hunters. There truly were people here from all walks of life, men and women, each packing different armour, weapons, and gear for their own hunts, ranging from spears, to swords, to magic in a few rarer cases: a woman by the fireplace on her own holding what appeared to be Summoner Cards, magically infused playing cards that allowed the user to summon all kinds of magical creatures to fight for them, and a group of three young girls, possibly no older than fourteen, all wearing Elementa Gauntlets, magically enchanted armour that would allow them to create and control whatever element was infused into the gem set in the back of the hand.

"Truly a varied bunch," I said, motioning for Annerose to take a look around.

"Indeed they are," she nodded, crossing her arms and looking around for the other two. "See them anywhere?"

I closed my eyes for a second, focusing on the link I had with Grael and feeling a warmth in the back right of my skull; the heat was our link's way of telling each other where we were. I turned around, looking up slightly to the second floor and feeling my head get warmer, knowing that he was up on the third floor, judging from the heat being at a single location, but not as hot as it should be if he were closer.

"They're upstairs," I said. "Wonder what they're doing up there?"

"Let's go find out," Annerose said, locating the staircase up to the next floor and going towards it, allowing me to follow behind her.

The second floor appeared to be a dining area, where yet more hunters were sat around discussing things over their food and drink, the mix of smells and scents being both pleasant and sickening, depending on where you were in the room. We continued past the dining area, and up to the third floor, finding this one to be a mix of the administration offices and bed chambers, both public, presumably for the hunters, and private, for the owners of the place.

I could hear, and practically feel, Grael's bassy voice vibrating through the floor from a room closed off by a large, posh oak door with a guard positioned outside of it. I waved my hand to the guard, getting their attention, before walking over to them and inquiring about what Grael and Zane were doing.

"I'm guessing you two are the friends they mentioned?" the guard asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we're here for the manticore hunt," I nodded. "Nobody else taken it yet?"

"That's what they're finding out," he said, nodding to the door. "You'd best see for yourself."

He stepped out of the way, allowing both of us to enter the room and see the sight going on before us. There were the other two standing on one side of the room, in front of a desk where an old, short woman sat with a very bemused look on her face, and on the other side of the room was a woman I could swear I'd seen before, but couldn't place the face. She was a hunter, that much was obvious, and she was one that was both serious and accomplished when it came to this line of work. She was a tall woman, being the same height as my mother, with jet-black hair, sleek, beautiful features, and one of the worst cases of resting bitch face I'd ever seen.

She was garbed in black plate armour, the matte finish and long, flowing cape attached around her neck really giving her the look of grim death, and the cold stare in her blood-red eyes really didn't give any other impression. I could make out a sword by her waist, the hilt of which was hidden by the cape over her sides, but from the look of the sheath, it was a high-quality make. This was a woman that screamed of power and authority, someone who'd paid for her armour and weapons with the blood of dead beasts and seemed to have no qualms on turning her blade of humans, judging by the look she gave me.

"Great," she snarled in a cold, hate-filled voice. "More amateurs coming to waste my time."

"Nice to meet you too," I said in just as unfriendly a manner, looking over at Grael. "She going to be a problem?"

"A big one," Grael nodded, eyeing up the female knight with pure hatred in his eyes. "But nothing we can't handle."

"I’d like to see you try," she smirked. "I want all four of you to know that if you try to take this contract from me, I will kill you all as soon as you set foot outside. Nobody is taking this job from me, and I promise you that."

"So we've got a big girl with a big mouth and a big ego?" Annerose asked in an angry manner. "Perfect. It's more than satisfying to hear them plead for mercy after I've beat them to the floor."

"Wanna test that, honey?" the knight asked, storming over to Annerose.

I got in the way of the two of them, only for her to attempt to shove me aside, really wanting to start a fight with Annerose. Deciding that if she was picking a fight with one of us, she was picking one with all of us, I grabbed hold of her wrist and twisted it viciously, causing her to bend over before slamming my knee into her stomach. She gritted her teeth furiously, shoving me back with beyond-human strength into the wall, cracking the wood on impact and knocking the wind out of me.

Grael leaped at her, snarling viciously, only to be caught by the throat and thrown around, directly into me, bringing us both down for the count. She then moved on Annerose, booting her full in the chest and sending her crumpling to the floor, leaving only Zane to stand up, launching his chair at her as he did so. The wooden object smashed against her without so much as annoying her, her red eyes turning on the enormous man. She rocketed over to him, Zane showing no look of fear in his eyes despite her strength, and she threw a punch, putting all of her power into the blow, only for Zane to catch it in the palm of his hand without so much as blinking.

Her eye widened in fear for a brief moment as Zane, dragged her hand down, using his other hand to grab her by the throat, lifting her entirely off her feet and choke-slamming her into the floor, cracking the wood loudly and making everything in the room shake. Not finished with her just yet, he cocked back his other fist and punched her as hard as he could. I think she counted herself lucky that her strength was backed up by resilience, as I'd seen Zane punch through people before, and a blow like that would've turned her skull to paste if she was a normal human.

The blow slammed into her, knocking her entire body deeper into the floor, nearly through the damn thing, before she booted Zane in the chest, knocking him back into the wall and destroying a framed picture. The other three of us were back to our feet at this point, weapons and teeth drawn as Zane prepared himself again. All three of us rushed at her, but once she had her weapon drawn and her expectations for what all four of us could do in an accurate ball-park, she seemed nearly untouchable.

A flurry of lightning-fast and devastating strikes was launched from her blade, fists, and feet. She sliced deep into Grael's shoulder, making the enormous Direwolf yelp like a puppy, punched Annerose so hard in the stomach she began vomiting blood before she even hit the floor, and kicked Zane through the door we'd entered through, knocking him straight out into the corridor. She then turned on me, flipping her sword around in her hand and aiming a stab straight for my unarmoured stomach, only for a furious bellow to sound over the din and bright, yellow magic blasted all around the room, freezing all of us in position.

Confusion was abounding at this point, only to be removed when we all spotted the magic had come from the old woman. She got out of her chair, eyes alight with fury, before she began scolding us.

"It says on the sign outside: 'Keep your petty squabbles and hunter's beefs outside of this building!'" she snapped. "When we're in here, there will be no fighting, no maiming, and certainly no killing. Once you're all outside, I don't give a damn what you do. But I will not have you thunder-heads ruining my home over something this childish!"

With that, we were all released from the magical seal, only for our knight friend to aim for a dirty trick. She relaunched her attack, once again plunging her sword towards my stomach, only for the old woman to teleport in front of her, holding up her exposed palm and allowing the sword to hit against it; to my surprise, the sharp tip of the blade barely dented the skin. The black knight's eyes widened in fear as the old woman's lit up brightly, anger sparking in them as she cocked back her fist and punched the black knight as hard as she could, clearly breaking her nose on impact and launching her, not into, but through the window in the room and out into the street down below.

Her pained yell soon faded from existence as she landed hard on the floor. We couldn't see what she was doing, but since there was no massive leap back into the room, we assumed she wasn't stupid enough to try and pick a fight in here again, especially against the powerhouse of a woman that ran it.

"Are you okay, young man?" she asked me.

I nodded frantically, rushing over to Grael and Annerose, each lying on the floor and whimpering in agony, Grael's shoulder cut open down to his bone being visible, and Annerose's internal organs clearly being ruptured by the punch alone. Zane and I were mostly fine, apart from the sheer panic spreading through us.

"What the fuck are we gonna do!?" I demanded. "Annerose isn't gonna survive this! We're nowhere near a healer!"

"Calm down," the woman said. "I'll tend to the girl first."

She did as promised, kneeling down next to Annerose, the poor girl's face stained with blood and tears as she convulsed and continued to vomit out blood, her hair now soaked from the puddle of it she was lying in. The woman's hand lit up a bright yellow, gently placing it against Annerose' stomach and closing her eyes, humming a tune to herself quietly. There was no visible sign of her injuries getting better, and my heart was pounding in my chest like a ceremonial drum as the fear of losing my friend consumed me.

Several moments went by and Annerose' expression told me that the pain had ceased, and so had the vomiting. She sat up, placing a hand on her stomach and breathing deeply, seemingly nervous about experiencing pain should she breathe too fast, but she experienced no such thing. She wiped the blood from her mouth, clearly feeling dizzy from the loss of such a large amount, but was able to stay conscious. The woman then moved onto Grael, the Direwolf putting on a very brave face as his shoulder was visibly spit, blood pouring into his fur as the muscle, sinew, and bone remained on full display.

The woman set about healing that quickly, seemingly looking much easier to knit the muscle and skin back together, patted Grael on the head once he was healed, and congratulated him on being a good boy. She turned back to us, looking over me and Zane before deciding we were fine, and then headed back to her desk, sitting down with a heavy sigh.

"I think it best you four remain here for a while," she said in a calm tone. "Arala is not a forgiving woman, especially when scorned and humiliated as she was here today."

"Arala..." I mumbled. "I know that name from somewhere..."

"One of Princess Luna's exiled knights," the old woman answered, getting my attention immediately. "The Lunar Alicorn often takes on apprentices to train in the same manner she did, enhancing their abilities as they pass each stage of their training. Arala was one such trainee, but Luna refused to finish her training after she revealed herself to be an unstable psychopath."

That's why the name sounded familiar. I'd heard Luna talking to my mother and aunt a long time ago about her, said she was entirely unstable and derived too much enjoyment from killing, no matter what it was. I looked back to my friends and back to the old woman, a second question coming to my mind as I looked at her for a long moment.

"Who are you, exactly?" I asked her.

"My name is Angie," she answered. "Angie Svert."

"Angie Svert... as in world-famous Construct Mage Angie Svert?" I asked, knowing that name from Twilight's book collection.

"The very same," she nodded. "Are you a fan?"

"My Aunt Twilight is," I nodded. "A huge fan."

"Young Miss Sparkle?" she asked, a surprised expression spreading onto her aged face. "You're her nephew?"

"Yeah... have you met her before?"

"I was the one that trained her how to use Construct Magic to begin with," Angie nodded. "The last time I spoke to her, she said that you were still teething. Goddesses Above, has it truly been that long since I've seen her?"

"What are you doing here running a Hunter's Guild?" I asked her. "Shouldn't you be out making millions running a school or something?"

"I did, a long time ago," she said. "In fact, it was your Aunt Twilight that holds the title of my last student. I shut down my Academy after running it for four hundred years, and she managed to get her foot in the door, so to speak. This was back before she'd undergone her transformation, that gene therapy, or whatever it was Celestia had done to her. I don't think I've ever seen a more powerful human mage in all my years..."

"Not to interrupt the pleasantries-" Zane said, keeping an eye on Annerose and Grael, despite the former's insistence that she was completely fine. "But we need to get signed up to go after that manticore before Arala does."

"You don't need to worry," Angie said with a polite smile. "Even if she does kill it herself, she never signed off on the contract, so she won't get the money. And she's not the kind of woman that works for free."

"Though she's definitely going to be keeping an eye out for us," Grael said in a heavy tone. "A woman as angry as that doesn't let something like this slide, not even for the world."

"So if she comes after us, we kill her," I shrugged. "Simple."

"After the beating she just handed us?" Annerose asked in a sceptical manner. "You're fucking joking, right?"

"Hey, remember that she got the drop on us in an enclosed space with no prep time," I explained. "I know that if we're ready to fight her next time, we'll take her down."

"I hope you're right," Angie nodded. "She's a tough customer, if there ever was one. One of Luna's best, from what I've heard."

"So then we'll just have to be tougher," I said. "Hell, we already know that she and Zane are evenly matched, so if we get her all tied up dealing with him, she won't have a chance to defend herself against us."

"Let's not go out chasing a fight, okay?" Grael asked, walking over to me. "We really shouldn't be distracting ourselves with other matters. It'll only make this take longer than it needs to."

"So let's focus on the manticore, the money, and then the mercenaries, okay?" Zane jumped in again. "And if Arala shows up looking or trouble, we'll take care of her then, and only then, understand?"

I nodded my head with a sigh, baying for blood after what she'd done, but knowing the others were right again. I cast my eyes over to Annerose, the blood-stained young woman having barely said anything since she'd been healed, only responding with anger when she'd done so, and I could clearly see that something was wrong with her. I was about to open my mouth to address her, when Angie beat me to it.

"Girl, let's go and get you washed up," she said, walking over to Annerose and putting a hand on her shoulder. "You're a sight to behold, looking like this, you know?"

Annerose didn't say anything, but begrudgingly followed Angie to a bathroom on this floor, leaving the three of us alone to discuss our plans for the manticore, but it felt impossible for me to shake my worried feeling about Annerose, no matter how much I tried to.