Vol. 3 Epilogue 1

"You are late, Althea. I will not hold it against you, heaven knows you needed the break after yesterday's battle. I trust that you are well rested now to deliver a concise report?"

Twirling his moustache in front of the lovers, Captain Odjour was lenient enough to excuse the two for being two hours late from their appointed time.

"Heh. Rest..." Yazmin grinned. "...worry not, Captain, I made sure Althea had plenty last night."

"Yaz, zip it!" Althea coughed. "Ehem, where were we? Right, the Dollmaker."

Althea handed the leather journal towards the captain. Explaining about the involvement of the First Fallen cult and how they were planning on amassing an army using the dolls. Although what they intend to do with it was unclear, even Izma was left in the dark. They could only guess that they were preparing for an invasion of some sort, but where...and when?

Upon reading the disturbing details of Izma and her experiments, the guard captain closed the journal.

"How revolting, torturing his own like this. It's a relief to hear that this man is now deceased."

"That's not entirely the case, Captain." Yazmin chimed in. "The doll that contained a part of his soul, Almina. Was not among those that perished in the city skirmish."

"What the... he's still alive!?"

"Yes, and no. It's not Izma anymore, but purely Almina. His soul forfeit to the new sentence of the vessel he transferred it to. Aside from the destructive stunt she pulled with her dolls, I don't think she has a motive to raze this city to the ground." "

"Drat, I shall send scouts and try to track the whereabouts of this runaway doll." Odjour said. Even as Yazmin explained that the doll might not return, any potential threat must be purged in order to keep this city of progress safe. "If this is all, then you are both dismissed."

+++

One of the armored human guards on either side of the captain's office stood firm, his trusty halberd by his side, there is nothing that would distract him from his duty of keeping the captain of this garrison safe.

Aside from the centaur right in front of him that was trying to strike up a conversation.

"Nice halberd you have there. I'm more of a battle axe guy myself in case you're not aware. I tried using a halberd once, it was my first and last. It just doesn't have the battle axe's sense of overwhelming power as you grip it. You can argue that battle axes might be a bit on the heavier side but the feeling of decimating your foes with each swing is too damn good to pass up on, you feeling me?"

"No, he's not feeling you, you dumb horse. Stop distracting the guard from his duty." Sitting by the guests' chair, Marionne chided.

"I'm simply trying to pass the time! I'm sure I'm not causing any distraction!"

"You walked up to that guard and immediately talked shit about his weapon. That's pretty fucking distracting if you ask me."

The two way gate opened with Yazmin and Althea stepping outside.

Telmano's attention shifted from the guard to the lovers, "What took you both so long?"

An audible sigh was heard from the guard that Telmano initiated his one-sided conversation with. It ticked off the centaur but what can he do? He lamented the fact that not everyone wanted to praise one of the most glorious weapons to ever exist. He simply pranced on his merry way to have lunch with his companions.

"I had to give my statement on how we managed to track down this doll maker and explain what was inside of his twisted journal." Yazmin said.

While the party walked out of the building, Marionne jumped into the back of his trusty centaur friend. You could say that they were overdue for lunch with the time being two in the afternoon, Marionne was already famished.

"I am sooo hungry, let's hit the nearest tavern already!"

A dramatic gasp escaped from the centaur's lips, Telmano asked…

"How hungry!?"

++++

"The nearest inn is still several miles away, I reckon we can stop and camp here." Yulia on the driver's seat said.

The carriage carrying the royal rouges halted, the first to step out was Stefano, grabbing and readying Gloria's wheelchair.

With a bit of help from Shatter Sound princess carrying Gloria, the mermaid was ready to blitz through the forest.

Not far from them, their wyvern pet landed, Ellamir jumped from its helm and into ground. Her attention on her communication ring as she approached the rest of her companions.

"It's time for us to set up camp, I will call you later. Tell little Ellani I love her...Yeah, yeah, I love you too." With that, Ellamir turned off her ring.

Agitation loomed over Shatter Sound, the prospect of once again confronting her tribe's killer weighed heavy in her chest. Naturally, Yulia took notice of the antsiness of their resident werewolf.

"Well make sure Vicious won't escape us this time. Try to relax while we're at it, it's going to be a messy if the Queen won't hand Vicious to us." Yulia flashed a reassuring smile.

"I...I will try. Thank you. Let me go and hunt some food."

Before Yulia's very eyes, the emotionally frail looking woman contorted her muscles, shifting into a tall ferocious beast. With a howl, Shatter Sound ran on all fours in search of wild prey that the party can feast upon for the before evening settles in.

While Stefano and Yulia were busy setting up tents, Gloria noticed a small animal with a long snout, walking towards their direction. Its fur silky white while having black patches around his upper body, giving it the illusion that it was wearing a black fur vest. It was an anteater.

"Aww, look everyone, it's a strange looking dog!" Gloria beamed with joy. Her wheelchair rolled towards the mammal with caution as to not spook it. Lo and behold, the animal even let Gloria pet its head. An oddity for creatures that are easily threatened.

Being a sea dweller, Yulia merely giggled at Gloria's mistake, correcting her in the process.

"That's not a dog, you silly mermaid, that's called an anteater."

It would appear that the two are in mutual agreement that the letting is satisfactory for the anteater hasn't budged an inch since Gloria started doing so.

Gloria tilted her head, "Anteater...Anton! Do you want to camp with us tonight, Anton?" Thus, the anteater was a given a name on the fly.

"Really? You're going to name this little fella Anton simply because he eats ants?" Stefano approached the two, his tone mocking, making it no secret that he found the name lame.

As if to defend his newfound name and honor, the anteater stood before Stefano could finish his approach, making it clear that he doesn't want the cleric near him or the mermaid. Its arms outstretched in a 'T' fashion, almost as if to barricade Stefano from closing in.

"Stefano, I don't think it's wise for you to get close to Gloria right now. That anteater is going to attack." Yulia warned. Meanwhile, Ellamir watching from the distance smirked, one that said, 'This is going to be good.'

"Attack me with what? Look at its snout, it doesn't even have a teeth, it has a cone for a mouth! Besides, I mean it no harm, I'm just going to take a closer look."

A closer look was all the anteater needed to get back on all fours and charge towards Stefano. With how furious it was, he might have understood that Stefano insulted him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The cleric fell to the earth, screaming in agony as the anteater's powerful claws, ones that can even break concrete, dug deep into Stefano's legs. Its revenge now fulfilled, the anteater ran towards Gloria's side once more.

"Motherfucker, it swiped me! Oh, Mithra, I'm fucking bleeding!"

The dark elf's laughter echoed from a distance, "Heal yourself, you dumbass!"

And from this day onwards, Stefano developed a phobia for Anteaters.