Private Tales Path of redemption

[Lara Angiris]

Lara stared at the night sky, her eyes fixated on the stars, "beautiful as always" Lara thought as she smiled.

Although as much as she'd liked to, Lara had no way to redeem her past crimes, 71 years....Alone, cold, she not once cared what happened to her,
all the sadness that she held in, flowed out like water, all she ever wanted was to be happy, but the cruelty of this world tortured her relentlessly.

Her smile faded away as she grew depressed, she never wanted to cause such pain to others...She only wanted to be happy...
But they took it all away from me...

Lara stood up from the ground and brushed off her skirt, putting on her cloak she entered the forest and wandered for a few minutes,
She soon came to a clearing where she decided to practice her dark magic, black butterflies fluttered around her,
Don't be sad Lara, you have us... They butterflies whispered but she couldn't hear them,

Lara continued to practice her magic, until she heard footsteps, "And who might you be...?" she asked in a small voice.

 

[Smiling One]

As beautiful as the forest can be, at night it is always dangerous. The worst kinds of monsters tend to lurk at night: Werewolves, Hyms, Lesser Vampires and Demons. Well all monsters are bad, but the monsters that roam at night tend to be most nasty ones. Willis Reede grumbled to himself, his dark fingers wrapped around a miniature torch. Travelers and even some mercenaries always advise to never walk at night especially alone but Willis is not a normal traveler and he's definitely more of a risk taker than a lesser mercenary.

He is a monster hunter.

The common phrase amongst villagers regarding monsters hunters is: "It takes a special kind of madman to become a monster hunter." Which Willis takes as a badge of pride unfortunately that doesn't mean that villagers pay handsomely for that madman who is willing to go out to kill a monster that is lurking in the woods at night.

That was the contract Willis read in the Village not too far from here. A monster was killing men and women at night. The village elder said that the victims were lead by a beautiful light before being viciously slaughtered. Willis suspected it was a lesser vampire due to the description of the victims but they weren't particularly clever creatures since they used what was described as a beautiful light. Of course the village wasn't particularly flowing in coin and their trade was in lumber which meant Willis can expect the same excuse "me kids are starving." or any of that shit. Sometimes the young man wished he'd go back to a mercenary company.

Just then a voice whispered as he continued down the path to the location. Willis instinctively grabbed the hilt of his Cutlass but the hoarse, small voice caused him to not draw it out. It was a woman's voice and she sounded tired and confused. What was she doing in the middle of the forest at night. "I'm a simple man trying to make a living in this world," Willis answered. "I'm hunting a monster that has been harassing a village for sometime? What are you doing here in the middle of the forest? It tends to be dangerous at night."

 

[Lara Angiris]

"....none of your concern" Lara answered, she looked at the young man and stared for a bit,
she wasn't used to seeing someone who wasn't out to get her, "A monster?"

Lara studied the man with sharp eyes, looking at his cutlass, his features, he wasn't dangerous.

To her at least.

"What's your name, child of man....?" she asked in a quiet voice, soft, she wasn't in the mood to be playful like usual, she was curious about the human man, the black butterflies fluttered bout around both of them,
the wings the each butterfly emanated a soft blue hue.

"Is the poor village nearby the one you're working for?"

 

[Smiling One]

It was hard to get a glimpse of the woman's face, the dark night combined with the fact that most of her face was hidden behind a hood. Her voice was cold and stony-hearted and made Willis flinch just a little, It was already strange to find someone in the forest in the middle of the night. Willis became more cautious when she spoke. What was her deal exactly?

"I see we're off to fantastic start." Willis said smirking a bit. The Black Butterflies flying around the two of them put Willis on edge. Villagers say that whenever there's Black Butterflies flying around, it usually meant a bad omen. Scholars of course dismiss this as superstition by the peasants but what do they know? They spend most of their time behind stone walls listening to second or third hand sources.

"Child of man?" Willis smirked getting a little closer to the woman. "Heh, that's pretty much all I know about my father." Might as well get to know her if she's hostile, Willis can take care of her quickly. "Willis Reede and yeah I've been contracted by the small village. What about you? What's your name?"

 

[Lara Angiris]

"....Lara, that's all you may gain from me." Lara replied harsh tone, she didn't feel like dealing with a hunter.

She removed her cloak letting her reddish brown hair fall on her shoulders, she let out a little whistle and the butterflies vanished, along with the staff that also turned into the black butterflies, "I'm am merely a traveling witch, nothing more." She said as she put her cloak in her bag.

Lara titled her head with curiosity her mismatched eyes landing on Willis "What monster are you seeking? i may be of help." she offered
she was after all a bit bored with her daily training.

 

[Smiling One]

Lara removed her hood revealing her to be an Elf with long reddish brown hair and mismatched eyes. She had a cute face but weary look combined with her blunt tone suggested that not only she wasn't to be trifled with and the way Lara locked her mismatched eyes with Willis was unsettling to say the least. Willis remained stoic but internally he was wary of Lara. It looked as though she wanted to rip the young man alive the moment she smelled any fear from him.

Willis didn't notice the black butterflies vanishing around them and instead focused his attention towards Lara who said that she's a traveling witch. Willis knew of Wood Witches who would travel the roads and would use their magic to heal the wounded or brew potions for a fee.

"Well," Willis said trying to choose his words carefully. "The village behind us has been plagued by attacks by a monster."

The young man crossed his arms and sighed looking at the dark forest ahead. "According to the Village Elder, the victims have been lead in by a beautiful light only to be dismembered. Right now I'm going to the sight where the last attack is. I wanna see If I can get any clues."

Lara still made Willis feel uneasy though he didn't show it. "So Lara," Willis asked. "You got any experience in Monster Hunting? I work alone but I don't mind having a partner with me. It'll make things a hell of lot easier with a Witch by my side."

 

[Lara Angiris]

"I've killed many different creatures these past 71 years, this will be an easy trip" She remarked and buckled on her blade whip, she eased her gaze realizing she might frighten the young man.

"Also...If you don't mind, care to tell me more of yourself? I'd liked to get to know my hunting partner." She asked politely and smiled, she fiddled with her silver ring and as they walked hummed a little tune.

As they continued the moon shined down it serene light and the trees swayed with the gentle breeze,
Lara continued to hum the gentle song that was rather old, old enough she almost forgot it.

 

[Smiling One]

It's easy to forget the age of Elves an Elf that looks like they're 25 is actually 55. Willis remembered a fellow elven Monster Hunter who calls himself T because he claims that his real name to hard to pronounce in the common tongue. T would ask newcomers specifically humans to guess how old he was. If they guessed right then T would give them two full coinpurses. Given his fairly youthful look, people would guess 30 and T would mock them relentlessly often bragging how short of a lifespan humans have compared to Elves.

"Human lives are like rodents," he would say. "The live, breathe, fuck and die quickly."

To Willis recollection, only he was the one who guessed correctly and he was only semi-serious about it and drunk. None the less this threw T in a rage and he stormed out of the fortress. Who knew guessing that T was 999 years old would anger him so much. It must be an Elven thing. Despite it though, it was impressive that T lived another 2 years one year over the average Elven lifespan before passing away. Willis couldn't imagine how must it feel to live life that spanned an age.

Lara was making small talk now? Maybe to put Willis at ease after that rather creepy meeting. She hasn't killed Willis yet so he supposed that's a good sign but it's still best to be cautious. "I'm from Alliria," Willis answered. "I grew up in the docks."

That's pretty much all he was going to say about that. Willis didn't like talking about his childhood that much. The boy he left behind the docks is dead. Willis is a new man now taking on a new life and loved every moment of it. "I'm a mercenary and a monster hunter," he continued. "I do monster hunting because it supposedly pays more but alas there's always penny pinchers who use the "me kids are starving" excuse."

The young man sighed listening to Lara's humming. "But of course I do it anyway," he said. "Enough about me though. What about yourself Lara? What's a witch doing in the forest at night."

He wanted to know her reaction. Will she be vague like Willis? Or will she be talk about her past in full?

 

[Lara Angiris]

"...I'm 100 years old, somethings are forgettable some aren't...I wish i could forget everything." She answered.

Lara wasn't going to indulge into her past, she didn't trust Willis fully yet if she told him her true nature he would try to kill her most likely, although she hasn't killed in months.

She fiddled with her silver ring, "I'm but a simple witch who lost her wife, and decided to become a traveling witch nothing much, I was here at night practicing my magic" she said and didn't continue she wasn't in the mood for much small talk.

Lara let out a little whistle and a black butterfly landed on her shoulder, she extended her hand and it flew onto it, the pattern on it's wings looked to be moving yet still, black as the deepest night, it glowed a purplish hue and began to flutter bout around Lara leaving a trail of magic behind.

 

[Smiling One]

Well Willis was waaaaayyyy off in guessing Lara's age. He'd thought she'd be at least 70 years old sometimes he wondered if Elves were annoyed that humans constantly pester them about their age. Probably not based on Willis' interactions with T but he was always an oddball even the Elven Monster Hunters found him strange. "Don't we all?" Willis shrugged in regards of Lara remarks about forgetting everything.

More than anything Willis wanted to escape his past. He wanted to kill the scared little boy who was covered in blood and bruises crying out for his mother who beat and abandoned him. That part of Willis life he didn't want to forget he wanted it to never happen. He is fine being Willis Reede: A man who forges his own path, a man has the balls to leave his home and explore every corner of Arethril. A man of confidence, bravery and intelligence.

The young man sighed for the most part, he purged that little boy but his blood seeped out from his corpse and infected Willis. Occasionally plaguing with dark thoughts about who he used to be. "I'm sorry about your wife," Willis said nodding curtly. What was Lara's angle? Was it to gain Willis' sympathy so she can kill him later? Well soon he'll find out.

The two of them soon arrived at the spot where the last attack was. Three corpses were present or at least that's what Willis though were three corpses considering that body parts were every where. "Let's look around," Willis said. "There's always clues on who this monster might be."

 

[Lara Angiris]

"Alright." Lara replied, she began searching with her butterflies scouring every spot.

They searched everywhere until Lara came across something under the finger nails of one of the corpses,
she scrapped under the nail and found skin that wasn't his, er, hers, Lara didn't know she wasn't capable of tell which gender it was.

"Hey, i found flesh that doesn't belong to any of the corpses" She told Willis and walk up to him the black butterflies following her, her tone was very blunt and monotone but she wasn't trying to seem rude,
"I can trace the ware-abouts with this if you like." she asked politely.

 

[Smiling One]

"Flesh?" Willis ran towards Lara's location and bent down near the corpse. It was unregonizable for the most part. "Its skin been blown off," Willis frowned. "Nothing left but guts and bone monster probably ate the poor soul but their body is mostly intact."

The young man raised an eyebrow it was strange that this person's body wasn't devoured compared to the others though it was still a bloody mess. "Sure," Willis said staring warily at the black butterflies. "I got a feeling that whatever happened to these people wasn't the work of a lesser vampire."

A Lesser Vampire would've devoured them all but this one corpse seemed peculiar. What was going on here?

 

[Lara Angiris]

Lara watched Willis as he looked at the corpse.

She noticed him eyeing the black butterflies swirling around her, "Is there a problem?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, Willis seems quite wary about them which caught her attention, no matter, she wasn't in the mood to explain.

She turned to the insects and muttered a few words, holding out the piece of flesh, the black winged insects fluttered about the item in question, soon the image of a creature formed, Lara wasn't able to tell what it was.

"What is this...Hideous thing?" She asked concerned, she has never seen this thing before.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis shook his head. "It's nothing," he replied. Willis wasn't too superstitious, but with those Black Butterflies flying around he couldn't shake off the feeling that something awful was about to happen. And boy did it confirm his fear. A large creature emerged from the shadows, it's webbed toes sank into the grassy field as it approached the duo slowly and cautiously.

Instinctively, the young man drew out his Rapier and got into his stance. His eyes focused on the giant monster examining the all of its grotesqueries. "Vanderhop," Willis answered to Lara. "A rare and powerful monster."

The Vanderhop was a large monster resembling an overgrown bipedal toad standing around 8 feet tall. It had skinny limbs with long sharp black claws along with a massive jaw with sharp, yellowish teeth. It also has bulbous, bulging yellow eyes that darted in all directions though it's entire body was pointed in Willis' and Lara's direction.

There was a slimy, gooey substance that began to secrete from its skin. It began to glow against the moonlight giving it an light tint. "That's the substance it oozes out when it feels threatened," Willis said. "It's a toxin that can be harmful if it makes contact on your skin. Some Vanderhops can known to secrete acid as well."

Vanderhops were very rare monsters who normally live in swamps. Despite their size, they're very quick with their speed matching that of a Vampire. They're infamous for lurking near villages and capture targets seemingly at random while sleeping and drag them away doing who knows what. Alliria has an issue with Vanderhops given that they it sits near the marshes. Given that most of the victims were criminals who reside in the Shallows, the Allirian Guard either let's it slide or does a token effort to investigate.

What happens to the victims of Vanderhops are inconsistent. Sometimes they're seen as dinner, other times they're just perfectly fine. A Vanderhops motivation is something that is baffling even to Monster Hunters. For the most parts Monsters have logical motives but their motives make sense to them alone. A giant fire ball formed in the Vanderhops mouth. "Shit!" Willis said beginning to sidestep. "Take cover!

 

[Lara Angiris]

Lara did a side-flip and landed on a stump, avoiding the fireball.

"Well great, I've never dealt with this thing before" She inquired as she threw a fireball back, the Vanderhop dodged and ran straight towards her "Fuck..." She jumped out of the way letting her butterflies wrap around it to tie it down, but ultimately fail and burn away.

Due to the butterflies manifesting from her and being apart of her she screamed in pain, "Gah! that hurts!" She yelled as she jumped back examining the creature "Hey Willis, could use some help over here!" she asked the monster hunter.

 

[Smiling One]

To say Vanderhops are tough creatures would be an understatement. According to the book: causes of death by a Monster written by Grandmaster Selina, Vanderhops were usually in the top 15. It was not surprising, Vanderhops are fast, strong and capable of high levels of magic with surprising versatility. Many Monster Hunters underestimate its intelligence as well. Of course why would they given that Vanderhops attempts steal people were successful in spite of their size and smell.

As far Willis knows, taking a Vanderhob in melee combat is tantamount to suicide. Not only is a Vanderhop durable but of course it has it is capable of magic. It is the favorite monster to summon amongst high level mages. Their ability to take people or items undetected proved to invaluable as well as being powerful allies during battle. Willis eyes lit up in fear when he saw Lara screaming in pain when the Vanderhop powered through her Butterfly attack. It seems their lifeforce was connected to her.

The young man checked his bag and saw he had an ice grenade left. Good. Willis armed it and threw towards the Vanderhop encasing it in a block of ice. That wouldn't hold for long as Vanderhops had immunity to some magical attacks. Rushing to Lara's side Willis held her up. "You all right?" he asked. "Keep your distance the Vanderhop will break out of it's ice block soon."

As soon as he said it cracks were starting to show around the Vanderhop. Willis held his Raiper up his eye narrowing towards the creature. It was odd Vanderhops rarely kill their victims before carrying them to their lair. What was going on with this one?

 

[Lara Angiris]

"I-I'm fine...I think..." She replied.

It wasn't something she was used to, a creature normally wouldn't be able to break free from such an attack! she lured her butterflies towards her and had them wrap around her.

The Vanderhop broke free and was now eyeing them both, Lara wasn't happy with what it did to her precious butterflies "This insufferable cretin...." she couldn't do much as the damage it did to her caused pain when moving, "I can't do much in my condition, it did a bit of damage to me when it destroyed some of my butterflies.."

It was moving closer and she wasn't capable of using her magic in her condition.

She Unsheathe her blade whip and held it tightly, she wasn't going to let the pain get in her way of killing this thing.

 

[Smiling One]

Blade whip? A rare and exotic weapon usually found amongst mercenaries and guards in the cities of the Savannah. Where did Lara get a hold of that? Well Willis didn't have time to dwell on that since an overgrown amphibian is rushing towards him. Purple energy began to form in front of its mouth. A shadow ball. "Dodge!" Willis said grabbing Lara by the shoulders. The two of them went to the ground barely missing the shadow ball as it hit a boulder.

Willis whipped his head seeing the boulder explode into. "Shit," Willis said slowly getting up. "The Vanderhop just blew up that boulder with a basic dark attack." Yeah the Vanderhops were powerful spellcasters but Willis never thought that they would be this powerful.

They got a long fight ahead of them. "Lara," Willis said. "Sorry for pushing you but-"

Willis got cut off seeing the Vanderhop was about to strike his face with one giant claw attack. The young man ducked just in time and did a half spin attack landing his blade across the Vanderhop's belly. The beast roared in pain and staggered back. "Don't let the mucus touch your skin," Willis muttered to himself as he rushed towards the Vanderhop. The young man knelt down and sliced the Vanderhop's knee sending him thrashing about its mucus flying everywhere.

Willis turned around making sure that it hit his red vest. "Let's see what I got left," Willis muttered taking out his bag as he spun around. A throwing knife? It'll have to do. Turning around, Willis saw that the Vanderhop readying a spell and he threw the knife towards it. Only to have it dissipate midair.

"Shit," Willis said. "Desinegration spell." The Vanderhop tried to walk but fell down as it had a limp. "Won't be long till it regenerates," The young man growled trying to thinking of a way to finish it off."

 

[Lara Angiris]

Lara wasn't in too much pain, but enough that she was a bit winded.

The Vanderhop tried standing up, staggering and stumbling.

She got up and saw the disintegration spell being formed, "Fuck it"
she used her butterflies to teleport behind the Vanderhop and stuck her blade into the ground,
it shoots up and wraps around the Vanderhop making the spell cease, it cuts into it a bit and the mucus flew at Lara.

Lara threw her cloak in front of her and the mucus landed on it some landing on the skirt of her dress
"Ugh, this damn thing is annoying." she used a sleeping spell to knock it out but ultimately failed,
it kept struggling, but Lara had enough and smacked it against the ground making sure it didn't die.

 

[Smiling One]

Lara was pretty impressive against the Vanderhop but given the creature's durability it wasn't surprising that she was struggling. The Vanderhop took a few steps back absorbing the Witches blow before recovering and summoning another fireball. The flame swirled on top of his palm forming a dark red sphere. "Shit," Willis said. "That's no ordinary fireball, that's Bemune's Flames."

During the Age of Urogosh, early humans worshipped a Demon named Bemune. He was the Demon of pleasure and passion often throwing lavish celebrations for no particular reason. Bemune taught his followers the magical arts and It is said that his fire spells are summoned from the Sun itself. There was no physical description of Bemune, but text written by his followers exists detailing his..... excesses.

Vanderhops are intelligent monsters so not a surprise it knows this spell. It probably found it in a temple located in the marshes somewhere. "Lara down!" Willis yelled throwing his knife at the Vanderhop's arm disabling it and dispelling the spell. The Monster growled and attempted to pull the knife out from its arm. Only to realize that it had a paper bomb wrapped around the hilt.

Willis ran towards Lara and covered her body with his as the knife exploded taking the Vanderhop's arm with it. Giant, red chunks began flying everywhere with some of it landing on Willis' back. The young man's ear's deafened for a brief moment his head felt as though an Orc repeatedly punched his brain. "I probably overdid it," Willis muttered referring to making the Paper Bomb.

The young man got off of Lara and observed the carnage. There was so much smoke obscuring Willis' vision but no sign of the Vanderhop. Did he get him? Hopefully.

 

[Lara Angiris]

Lara wasn't in a very good condition anymore.

"Well, you did some...damage" She said as she propped herself up against a boulder, she was tired and far to weak to fight now "I'm...Just...Gonna take a slight nap...." Was the last thing she said before succumbing to sleep.

Lara's butterflies swirled around her, They seem to be protecting her as she slept.

 

[Smiling One]

"Lara!" Willis shouted seeing the Butterflies surround the Elven witch. A growl was heard behind the smoke causing Willis to whip around holding his blood stained Rapier in front of him. The smoke immediately vanished revealing the Vanderhop covered in blood. It's eyelids began to flicker and it began to sway back and forth.

"At least the paper bomb did damage," Willis muttered he expected the Paper Bomb to have no effect on the Vanderhop because it either found a way dodge or got it out from its hand. The young man created a few bombs back in Wyvern's Nest. The Paper Bombs were one of the few exports Arethril received from the East. Not many ventured to the east and the people who live there are people tended to be isolationists. At least that was what Willis heard.

Still the people from the East were happy to trade some goods with Arethril. How to create a Paper Bomb was one of them. Take enchant the ink and write the word: "explosive" on the paper. The East or Easterlings as the people of Arethril call them didn't exactly send them a manual of their language so they began experiment with the bomb. The Common Tongue, Orcish and Elvish didn't work but they strangely found success with the Dwarven tongue. The Dwarves deny they've had any contact with the Easterlings and the Easterlings were mum about it but their relationship was that of debate amongst scholars.

Willis eyebrows rose up in fear as he heard noise which sounded like a snake shedding its skin. Or in this case an Vanderhop regrowing its arm. "Fuck me!" Willis said taking out a bomb he was about to release it but the Vanderhop leapt over him and Lara disappeared into the forest. "We need to get after him," Willis muttered but he stared at Lara and sighed.

"But first we need to take care of you," he said kneeling down and taking out a small vial filled with a health potion. "Drink up," Willis muttered placing the potion on her lips.

 

[Lara Angiris]

The butterflies swirled around Willis as he gave the health potion to Lara.

"Mnn..." She slowly woke up and looked around, "Ugh...This shit hurts like fuck" she cursed in her mind,
as she slowly got up she stared at Willis and let out a whistle, making all the butterflies disperse
"I. Hate. This. Thing." She said as she got her blade whip and grabbed i firmly, her expression mixed with anger and...Well...Anger.

She spins on her heels to grab her bag which she dropped when the Vanderhop lunged at her,
muttering pure obscenities and cursing constantly, she seems very pissed off for some reason.

Lara walked back to Willis and stared at him, "Well? Where is the little piece of shit?" she asked in a bit a rude manner, she muttered a sorry, she wasn't trying to be mean she was just a little pissed
She wasn't very happy to be knocked unconscious by some monster.

Whether or not they intended to question the monster, If they finish questioning it, Shes letting her precious spirits rip it's insides out.

 

[Smiling One]

"Tell me about it," Willis sighed wiping the dirt off his clothing. "This is my first time fighting a Vanderhop and they're already annoying as hell."

The first time Willis saw a Vanderhop was when he was 10 years old doing work for the Shadow Claws: A mercenary gang located in the Swallows. Willis was tasked of delivering messages and spying on rival smugglers. He remembered his boss: A middle aged Dark Elf named Droveth grabbing people who did not pay their debts on time. As soon as they dragged the victims deep into the forest, Droveth would play take out his Bronze horn and blow it loud summoning a Vanderhop who took them deep into their lair.

"It went east," Willis said squinting at the path that the Vanderhop took. "I can track it down easily, the Vanderhop likely left a trail of blood and mucus." The young man smiled at Lara. "You were pretty good holding your own against a Vanderhop," he said. "As you just witnessed, they're pretty powerful and I've heard that even the most experienced Monster Hunters were killed by a Vanderhop."

 

[Lara Angiris]

"You were pretty good holding your own against a Vanderhop,"

"Thanks." She said nonchalantly as she gave a Willis a slight smile.

Lara looked down at the mess her dress was in and let out a sigh "Damn, this was my favorite dress..."
She put her hair up, making sure it wasn't in her face, "I prefer having my hair down, but not when fighting.."
Lara said as she tied her hair up in a ponytail.

She went in the direction Willis had said and found trail of the Vanderhop mucus,
"We probably should be careful, it could lead us into a trap" Lara told Willis, she wasn't about to be knocked unconscious again.

They continued to follow the path until they hit a dead end, "Where is the damn thing?"