Chapter 4 – The Monstrosity of Cripthaven Manor

“So these graves, they're all for monsters?” Twilight asked.

“Only witches and the like, love, anythin' else don't need all this but the damn hags are a stubborn lot,” Dust Storm said.

Spirit, Dust, and Twilight had left the Chapel with haste at the urging of the Elder Council, taking a short time to stock up on food and other supplies. It would be a long journey to Hoovesburg.

“Why do you need to bury witches though?” Twilight asked. “And why bury their heads separate from their bodies?”

“Well that's simple, innit love? You bury 'em so they can't get back up and ya put their 'eads in a different grave or else they'd just place it back on.”

“But... how? What process do they use? Is it a ritual? Some sort of alchemy which allows them to live without their head?” Twilight spoke rapidly.

“Listen, uh...” Spirit began.

“Twilight.”

“Right, Twilight, we're Hunters not Scribes, I can tell you what something is and how to kill it,” Spirit shrugged. “But I don't know a thing about the Deep Magics, and trust me you're probably better off not knowing.”

“But surely knowing more about how all of it works could help you better fight these dark things!” Twilight insisted.

“Ain't that straight, love,” Dust shook her head. “Every thrice-damned abomination we face takes a toll ya see, a toll on the mind, normal folk ain't meant ta' see them sorts of things and we're nothing more than normal folk, we're already pushin' ta drive ourselves mad but readin' up on the deep magics is a bad idea, that's curse knowledge there and only trained scribes can decipher those old runes and keep their sanity.”

The three of them passed through the crevasse and back out into Oldhill, when they entered the town proper Dust approached a large notice board at the centre of town which was plastered with posters and notes.

“Don't you think we should focus instead of picking up new contracts?” Spirit asked.

“I's know you're low on money, don't ya like ta me, love,” Dust tittered. “Besides, the front all the way on the otha side of the damn country, a few stops along the way won't hurt us.”

“Y-you're going to hunt monsters while we travel?” Twilight asked, her voice shaking.

“Most of the time when people put up these sorts of things they ain't anything serious,” Spirit assured her. “An annoying ghost, maybe a troublesome drackonid, but we can embellish the story and make a pretty profit off the rather jumpy nature of common folk.”

“Sounds like you're just taking advantage of people,” Twilight said with a frown.

“Ah don't get ya tail inna twist, love, it's just good business,” Dust said dismissively before plucking a notice off of the board. “What about this one Spirit? Right along our route.”

“Pass it here,” Spirit said and Dust gave him the notice.

“REWARD FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF SOME UNHOLY BEAST” it read. “TWENTY SIX SOULS ALREADY CLAIMED BY IT, SPEAK TO BALIFF SPADES IN CRIPTHAVEN

“Criphoof is only a few leagues north of here, and that's the direct we be headin'” Dust chirped.

“Sounds good to me,” Spirit said. “Let's go, keep up Mage!”

“My name is Twilight!”

“Don't care!”

The road was a long and twisted one, old cobblestones overrun by moss and accompanying plant life. As they travelled along its path the trees around them because taller and darker, branches twisted and gnarled with the cracking of the wind through their limps to accompany them on their past to Cripthaven. Soon their eyes would alight upon a quaint vestige of dark stone houses and manors, a rather wealthier area if remote, the town laying at the base of a hill where if one cast their eyes to it's peak they could see the blackened and elder ruins of a once great manor.

“Something feels off about this place,” Twilight said, in a hushed voice as they entered the narrow streets of Cripthaven. Nary a soul walked the streets despite it being the high hour of the day. The sun cast long and often oddly shaped shadows between the cramped buildings and alleyways, giving the illusion of thing moving just at the edge of sight but always unseen.

“Maybe we should just keep moving?” Twilight asked.

“Love, you're gunna have ta get used to the strange and disturbin' if yer gunna travel with us,” Dust Storm said. “Now, where's about ya think we may find this Baliff?”

“The jailhouse seems like a fair start,” Spirit said.

They quickly located the small castle-like jailhouse, a rather run down thing with stains of decay all around it. When they entered they saw the interior was just was mistreated, a stench of rot hung in the air mixed with foul stenches of stale ale and vomit. They found the Baliff, an aging stallion of little impression and much grey hair, unconscious in a pool of spilt ale which had formed on his desk.

“No wonder residents feel so safe,” Spirit said, rolling his eyes.

“Uh, excuse me? Bailiff?” Twilight called out, prodding the limp stallion with the butt end of her staff. The Bailiff merely groaned and shooed her away.

“Well I don't feel like waiting,” Spirit grunted, he spotted a nearby bucket and filled it at the build in pump next to it, he then mercilessly poured the icy cold water over the Bailiffs head, causing him to jolt awake if a fury of splutters and curses.

“Holy goddesses twin asses what the fuck ya do that for ya git!?” The Bailiff shouted angrily.

“Didn't feel lime waiting,” Spirit shrugged.

“So very sorry for disturbing you, sir,” Twilight apologized. “But we're here to inquire about a possible beast you have troubling your town?”

The Bailiff peered at Twilight and at Spirit and Dust, grunting as he wiped some water from his face.

“Two Hunters and a Canterlot mage, strange times indeed,” He mumbled. “hmpf, yes well, it started occurin' not long after the local lord's manor went up in flame, no idea how that happened either, just one place was on fire.”

“Anyways, the lord who owned the manor was never found, guess he burnt up, but then everyone started getting these... dreams, nightmares really, always about something coming up from underneath them; had the same one myself. And even during waking hours ya'd find yerself on edge all the damn time. Word among us is that his lordship may have passed in that fire, he never liked us lot, wouldn't surprise me if he was hauntin's us right now.”

“Your notice mentioned twenty six victims already,” Spirit said. “What happened to them?”

“Most of 'em were my deputies which I sent ta investigate the manor after the fire had quelled, only one came back and he came back stark raving mad before he put his life at the end of a rope,” the Bailiff shook his head sadly. “The rest were wanderers and treasure seekers who thought some manner of gold may be hidden in the ruins.”

“Any of the survivors talk about what they saw?”

“Like I said, they were raving mad, kept babblin' nonsense about 'the Flesh' and whatnot, means nothing to me.”

“Means nothing to me either,” Spirit said. “You two?”

“Nope,” Dust said.

“Never read any mention of 'The Flesh' before,” Twilight shrugged.

“Like I said, stark raving mad,” the Bailiff grunted.

“Mad people often speak the greatest truths,” Spirit said. “Well there's nothing for it, we'll half to take a look in the ruins ourselves.”

“Is that completely necessary?” Twilight asked in worry. “Perhaps we should just notify the nearest Temple and let them handle it?”

“What? And give up honest work to the Solar Paladins? Not on my life!” Dust Storm laughed.

“Besides, the oh so holy paladins would probably burn this whole town do the ground to prevent the spread of dark heresy,” Spirit grumbled.

“I'm willin to pay quite the fee to you lot if you can get rid of whatever's plaguing us without burning as all alive,” the Bailiff said wryly.

“Nine hundred,” Spirit said with a small grin.

“Six.”

“Eight-fifty.”

“Seven-fifty.”

“My dear Bailiff, we have a deal,” Spirit smiled and tipped his hat. “Now if you excuse us we'll take a look at that manor of yours, or what's left of it at least.”

They lead the jailhouse and began following the gravel road which led up to the peak of the hill where the manor's remains stood. As they got closer a chill entered the air and their breath began to steam in the air despite it being warm just a moment ago. No wind blowed and yet the barren trees began to crack and creak around them as if being disturbed by some other force.

When they crested the hill to stand at the entrance of what was once a great manor the noise stopped and the world was eerily quiet save for their hoofbeats on the ground. They stopped in front of what was once the front door.

All that remained of the manor were blackened pillars and odd geometric shapes of both wood and stone, it was barely recognizable as a home save for the vague doorframe and genera square outline of the debris. Sunlight shine through the mostly destroyed rooftop to cast long shadows along the ground.

“Keep close together, and be on your guard,” Spirit said, leading them in.

“Oi, Twilight,” Dust grunted softly. “Wot spells do ya know?”

“Oh! Uh... I can cast Shield, Blinding Light, Bolt, Telekinesis, and Fireball,” Twilight said. “Well, there's others but I'm sure they wouldn't be useful to you.”

“Wot ya said is plenty, now you listin 'ere,” Dust said carefully. “Anythin' jumps out at us you cast Shield and back off to a safe distance, I'll probably flank around the other side while Spirit here stays close quarters, if we need ya to start casting we'll let ya know.”

“O-okay,” Twilight said nervously.

“It'll be fine,” Dust said soothingly.

The sun had begun to set and the shadows lengthen as they searched through the rubble, Twilight cast a spell which produced a small ball of light which float amongst them and illuminated their surroundings brightly.

“If there was anything here, it would have attacked us already,” Spirit said. “Something's not right.”

“Maybe whatever it was ran off when we approached?” Twilight suggested hopefully.

“Nah, damned thing took down larger groups than us,” Dust. “It's possible it's only active during the night?”

“Spread out but don't go out of earshot,” Spirit said. “Look for any signs of anything.”

Twilight carefully picked her way through the rubble, shifting burned pieces of wood out of the way with the butt end of her staff. She knocked over a rather large log and when it fell there was a distinct echo that reverberated from where it fell. Where Twilight had thought was just a plank of wood laying on the ground she realized was embedded into the stone foundation itself, and as she shifted more rubble she found hinges and a handle. A hatch.

“I found something!” Twilight called out.

Spirit and Dust converged on Twilight and helped move the rest of the rubble out of the way, fully revealing the hatch. Spirit gave the handle a tug and it didn't budge open even slightly.

“Hold on a moment, and stand back,” Twilight said, lowering her staff so the tip of the crystal touched the hatch as her horn glowed brighter and she closed her eyes. “Oscail suas cac beag duit!”

A bolt of energy shot out from Twilight's horn and travelled down her staff until it arched from the crystal to strike the hatch. Blowing the hinges clean off and sending the hatch flying open.

“Nice trick,” Dust said.

"Why thank you," Twilight said as she dipped the end of her staff into the inky darkness below, the crystal tip glowed and from it came forth an orb of light which travelled downward to illuminate the damp and rocky cavern.

"Not too far down," Spirit said. "Should be able top hope down no issue."

"Careful!" Twilight warned.

Spirit swung his hind legs into the hole, dangling them down while he held on to the edge with his front legs. Then after a quick steadying breath he let go and fell the short but still intimidating distance. He landed hard and with mild pain on his hooves but with no serious injury. He was followed by Dust who landed skilfully with a tuck and roll, and then Twilight who slowed her fall with magic.

From her staff Twilight produced another orb of light which flew forward of them and illuminated more of the caverns, a craggy wet place with smooth walls.

"Looks like his lordship was hiding something down here," Spirit said. "Question is, what?"

"Maybe it's whateva is makin that horrid smell?" Dust said.

"Don't smell nothing, you're the nose here Scout," Spirit said.

"Smells of decay, rottin' bodies, pus and the like... look out!"

As Dust Storm yelled out as a mass appeared into the light, moving quickly, it was all any of them could do to jump out of the way. When Spirit recovered he spotted what had lashed out at them; a long tendril of flesh which appeared to be rotting in many places, with patches of blacked and inflamed skin falling off to reveal bones of unnatural construction.

The whole thing appeared to be a melted concoction of other things put together. Yet that was not all, as the end of the tentacle latched onto the far wall and began to pull the rest of the hulking thing into the light.

The horror that faced them was a mass of anemic flesh, piles upon piles of rolling skin and contracting muscles loosely connected by a nonsensical array of blood vessels and bones. From its bubbling surface stared at them many eyes of different colours and sizes, all blinking and staring at them as if from a crowd.

With the tendril pulled taunt the monstrosity dragged its damp mass across the stone ground towards them, with a gurgling cry spat out of a mouth unseen.

“Hunters of Old, guide my blade,” Spirit said softly, pulling his silver sword from his scabbard. “Go wide! Dust!”

“Aye!” Dust said, running swiftly to flank the beast from the right side. The thing turned and shifted another one of it's fleshy tendrils to lash out at Dust, this is when Spirit rushed forward and delivered a swift uppercut to the side of the thing. The flesh where his silver sword cut open and sizzled, the wound widening as the flesh was eaten away by the silver's purification.

The horror let out a moan as it slowly tried to turn towards Spirit but this is when a crossbow bolt came flying out of the darkness to strike one of it's many eyes dead on, penetrating deep. However, the flesh didn't seem to notice as it swung a heavy tendril at Swift who tried to dodge but was caught but they blow and thrown across the cavern to land roughly on the ground. A second bolt took out another eye yet the horror had only a mind for Spirit as it moved with surprising speed, shifting it's mass like a slug to slide in towards Spirit to go for the kill.

Yet at it reared back it's body to simply crush Spirit under it's weight a cry was heard as Twilight dove between the two with her staff ablaze with energy. And as the horror came crashing down the Crystal tip sparked forth a translucent dome with enveloped them and when struck by the beasts flesh it repelled it back with a flash and bang of power, making the think cry out and recoil.

A fiery bottle came tumbling through the air and broke upon the beasts body, the cocktail burst into flames which caught on the things decaying flesh and spread to a wide area as the thing thrashed around in apparent agony.

“Fire works!” called out Dust as yet another bolt struck out one of the things eyes.

“Fire...” Twilight said to herself as the shield she had cast drew back into her staff, the energy coalescing and sparking forth a flame which shot forth and struck the horror's flesh, exploding violently outward and carving out a considerable chunk of of it's body with the edges of the wound catching aflame. Yet the thing still moved and lashed out towards Twilight and Spirit.

Spirit dashed forward and ducked under the tendril to carve upwards and cleave the thing off, he then ran wide of the beast dragging his blade along it's form as he did so. As he stepped back he noticed within the large open cavity that Twilight had created lay several beating hearts. All he had to do was gesture to them and immediately a bolt struck one of the organs causing the horror to shutter as blood poured out of it. Spirit then rushed forward and cleaved through two more of the hearts before rolling out of the way as a second fireball flew through the air and struck the same place as the last.

The resulting explosion came out the opposite side of the monsters body, exploding it's innards about in a grotesque shower of blood and visceral as the rest of it's form slumped over dead as flames caught upon it and began to burn away.

Spirit stood before it catching his breath as Dust Storm and Twilight joined him, it was only a moment before Spirit rounded on Twilight with fury in his eyes.

“If you don't want to fucking die I suggest you don't do that again!” he spat.

“Wha- I just saved your life!” Twilight said in shock.

“You almost died is what you just did, you didn't know what this thing was, you didn't even know if it was susceptible to magic, for all you knew it would have phased right through your shield and killed us both!”

“Lass,” Dust said, cutting off Twilight's retort. “Let's go above, trust me, leave it be.”

Twilight clenched her jaw but held her tongue as she followed Dust back the way they came, the moment they surfaced Twilight slammed the butt of her staff into the ground in anger.

“Ungrateful little.... ugh!” she shouted.

“Alright, alright, sit down,” Dust Storm said calmly, as she unstrapped her saddlebag and began rummaging through it. “How're you feeling?”

“Angry!” Twilight said.

“Yes I know that, but anything else? Tired? Still scared? Any sense of foreboding or impending doom?” Dust asked.

“No?” Twilight said. “Why? Should I?”

“It's good that you don't, but natural if you did,” Dust Storm said as she produced a small bottle of reddish brown liquid. “Take a small sip of this, small I tells you.”

“What is it?” Twilight asked, taking the bottle and smelling it's odour, her nose wrinkling at it's foul smell.

“Laudanum,” Dust Storm said. “All unnatural beasts of this world and others tend to affect the mind, especially over time, many a old Hunta have gone insane from too many hunts. Rest helps but easing the mind with various... substances has proven the most effective, you'll feel a tad light headed fer a while but it's for the best trust me.”

Grimacing Twilight knocked back a small sip of the Laudanum, it burned her throat on its way down and she came back up spluttering. The concoction burned in her stomach and immediately made her feel woozy and lightheaded.

“You'll get used to it,” Dust said, laughing as she snatched the bottle back and took a generous swig, apparently not effected at all. “Now, as fer Spirit's little outburst, don't let it get to you, the stallion hates it when people save him, mostly 'cause he's had too many friends die that way, I say it's because he's got too much pride. Tha's why me and him work together so well, I stay off in the distance and put of the way, if you don't wanna catch his ire you'd best do the same.”

“You'd think a master Hunter like him would act more mature,” Twilight said bitterly.

“Lass, you'd best drop any assumptions about us Hunta's, we're nothin' like people say,” Dust laughed again.

Down below Spirit had begun searching the cavern where the horror had dwelt. At first he found nothing but remains of the beast which had fallen off long before they had arrived to slay the thing, yet, under one pile of decay he found the remains of a pony skeleton which appeared not to be a part of the flesh's mass. And laying next to the bones, half soaked in blood, was a journal.

Many of the pages were ruined, yet some still bore words that could be made out.

“..my zeal for blood rituals and summoning rites had begun to ebb, as each attempt invariably brought only failure and disappointment. Progress was halting, and the rapidly accumulating surplus of wasted flesh had become burdensome.

I could not store such a prodigious amount of offal, nor could I rid myself of it easily, possessed as it was by unnameable things from outer spheres. When excavations beneath the manor broke into a cavern of considerable size, I knew I had found a solution to the problem of disposal.

The spasmodically squirming, braying, and snorting half-corpses were heaped each upon the other, until at least I was rid of them. The cavern had become a landfill of snout and hoof, gristle and bone – a mountainous, twitching mass of misshaped flesh, fusing itself together in the darkness.

Yet, no longer a problem for me.”

“Cocky idiot, messing with shit he didn't understand,” Spirit said once he had rejoined the others and gave them the journal.

“We should contact Old Chapel and get them to send a team to consecrate this place,” Dust said. “In case the necromatic rituals pull that thing back together.”

“Is that likely?” Twilight asked, a tad fearfully.

“It's not impossible,” Spirit grunted. “We have to assume the worst.”

“We can send a message from the town,” Dust said. “It's getting dark so lets rest and leave at first light.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Spirit said, casting an eye back to the ruined manor as they left it.

Author's Note

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