Chapter 18: Something lurking under the bed

Peril Harbor

An elderly couple lay in bed at night and slept peacefully. It was so late at night that even the streets were quiet, and perhaps a drunken shout could be heard somewhere in the distance, but the residents were so accustomed to it that it did not disturb their sound sleep.

A small hand with black, dirty fingers slowly slid out of the space from under the bed, and a shadow with a strangely large head pulled itself out. As slow as water, it slipped under the sleeping couple's blanket, but the blanket didn't even move.

A few moments passed when the blanket on the man's stomach suddenly bulged up slowly; it almost looked like a child was hiding there.

"Cold..." A whisper murmured.

"Cold... cold..."

The sleeping man's face contorted as he sensed something in his sleep.

"Cold... col-warm... warm..."

The man struggled momentarily between dream and wakefulness.

"Cold!" the voice sounded sharper now, and it snapped the man out of sleep completely. He opened his eyes, and they wandered around the dark room in confusion. He had no idea what had disturbed him from his slumber, and he didn't notice the strange bulging blanket on his stomach.

"Warm..."

The man heard a whisper, it woke him fully, and his heart trembled with alarm. Then his gaze flicked across the bed towards his wife as he froze at the sight of the bulging blanket. He was seized with terror because he felt nothing in that place; he felt no weight or movement.

"Warmer... Warmer..." At that moment, the voice whispered again.

A cold, horrified sweat appeared on the man's forehead. His children were adults now, so he couldn't explain what it was. What was hiding in there, or that he felt no weight.

Slowly, he reached out and grabbed the edge of the blanket. He was afraid to find out what it was, but he was even more afraid to do nothing.

"Warmer..."

The man gathered his courage and quickly lifted the blanket.

"'Fire! Fire!" The voice shouted the moment the man saw the old man's face with the large, bulging eyes and sharp teeth, the head and face unnaturally large compared to the creature's tiny, dirty hands.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!" The man yelled and jumped out of bed, startling his sleeping wife.

The woman sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. "What are you doing, husband?" She was angry, rubbing her eyes.

The man, who had gained several gray hairs in a few moments, quickly pulled his wife out of bed. "Something was here! Under the blanket! A monster!" his voice was still quavering.

The wife looked at her husband in incomprehension, walked over to the bed, and pulled the covers off the bed.

There was nothing.

"You were dreaming. I'm not making fish broth for dinner anymore. It doesn't do you any good," lamented the wife, throwing the blanket back. Neither noticed the tiny hands disappearing under the bed again.

"Damn it, woman! I can still tell when I'm dreaming and when I'm awake!" fumed the man, whose argument with his wife was calming his heart. The man calmed down and began to think rationally. "I'll report it to the hunters in the morning."

The wife slapped her husband on the back of the head. "You old fart! Bother them for a stupid dream!" The old man covered his head with his hand as his wife scolded him, but a warm smile appeared on his face.

***** 

But the man refused to go to sleep again that night, and his wife cursed him and went back to sleep, while he stayed in his chair and watched over his wife's sleep for the rest of the night. The monster did not reappear.

In the morning, he did as he said. He went to the Monster Hunters Guild to tell them of his problem. The Monster Hunter's Guild was an independent organization; most of its branches were located in places with larger populations, and Peril Harbor was a place without any police protection. There were only a few Exorcists among the priests, so their branch here was quite large.

The Monster Hunters Guild was located in a separate building made of three different types of sailboats stacked on top of each other, with a few other additions that were added later due to the growth of the guild. This could be seen with the naked eye as the material was different from the rest.

Monster hunters accepted payment for contracts if someone requested their help, but that didn't mean they didn't go hunting on their own. Monster bodies were easy to sell to temples or privateers for research purposes. The Church of the God of Steam, in particular, was most interested in monster bodies.

The guild was quite large, but the headquarters mainly served as a gathering place. The only ones who lived there were the Warden, who managed the guild branch, and the administrative staff. They handled orders, reports, statements, finances, and other important matters that allowed the hunters to focus on their monster-hunting duties without unnecessary distractions.

The old man, when he walked in, was alarmed to see that the place was almost empty. He only observed a few workers carrying papers back and forth and some people sitting behind the counter.

The building was divided into three floors, with a thick wooden column in the front around which a staircase wound up to each floor. The column was hollow, and inside were two windows where receptionists sat to handle public orders. At the moment, only the two reception desks on the ground floor were occupied, and the other two floors had a closed sign on the windows.

The older man slowly walked over to the counter and instinctively chose the counter with the young lady.

"Hello, Miss. I'd like to make an application," the man said, nervously fiddling with the hem of his old coat.

The young lady smiled. "Sure. Do you know how to write? If not, I'll fill out the form for you," said the girl helpfully.

The older man nodded. "Yes, I can write." He took the paper and ink and moved to a narrow counter on the side where visitors could fill in their details without blocking others. Although, in this case, there was no one else here at the moment.

When he finished, he returned to the window and handed the paper in. "If you don't mind me asking, why isn't anyone here?" he asked.

Miss, in the meantime, stamped the paper before folding it up and placing it in a small pouch, which she then held up to the hollow pipe beside her and pressed a button. The tube made a sucking sound and vacuumed the pouch from Miss's palm, sending it who knows where.

"It's morning, sir," the girl finally replied. "Monster hunters work mostly at dusk and at night. There aren't many daytime monsters in places like this," she explained patiently.

"Ah, I see. Um... what now? Should I wait?" the older man asked, but the lady shook her head. "A serious request will be evaluated for urgency. Based on that, it will then be decided how quickly someone will come to deal with your problem. Go home and wait. If it is assessed as urgent, then before night falls, a hunter will visit you."

The older man nodded, praying in his mind that his request would be assessed as urgent. Otherwise, he would probably forcibly drag the woman to his son's place to spend the night.

***** 

In another room, in a different location within the Hunter's Guild, two thin mechanical arms extended, producing a soft sound of moving wheels as they did so.

They unscrewed the sleeve and brought the paper before the eyes of the young woman placed in the jar. The jar was about fifty centimeters in size and filled with clear liquid. All that remained of the woman was the upper torso with the head, which was suspended in a special outfit, giving the appearance of being bound. She wore an intricate breathing mask on her face, allowing her to not only breathe but also to speak. The girl had bright orange hair that gently waved in the liquid, and her tired grey eyes.

The girl read the message before setting it down, and mechanical hands moved the paper toward her, beginning to write. "The description of the monster and its behavior matches a low-level monster - Coldfade. Coldfade feeds on the victim's warmth and terror. It is typical for them to appear on cold nights in late autumn or early winter. According to the witness's description, it is currently in the breeding stage, and the situation is of medium urgency. In the next two nights, it will become highly aggressive, and casualties can be expected. Coldfade are highly sensitive to the cold and try to hide from it. It is recommended to use cold weapons and frost blessings. Recommended for more advanced hunters."

Once she finished the report, she placed the paper back in the tube and sent it through the pipeline mail to another section in the guild. She sighed as a couple of pubes appeared and rose up to the surface. No sooner had she done that than another tube arrived by pipeline mail. "I hope they track down this high-level monster soon. I want some time off!" The girl in the jar complained.

She opened another message and read it. "Missing person case. No information on the monster. I'll send this to the long-term case section," she mumbled and did as she said.

***** 

Cotton strode merrily along, and Scar followed more heavily. The sun was slowly approaching the horizon, and the shadows were stretching, but these two were not afraid of the dark. After all, they were basically living in the dark.

Scar accepted the task of killing Coldfade at the last possible moment, as no other task seemed challenging enough. Monsters that receive a difficulty mark from the Hunter's Guild are already ranked as more dangerous than monsters without a difficulty mark. But a low level still wasn't good enough for experienced hunters.

"Haa..." Cotton sighed. "How much longer is this going to take?" she whined.

Scar looked at her small back, then rolled his eyes. "Even if they find the monster boss, do you think we have enough credit to be selected for the hunt team? Stop dreaming. The monster boss is no game," Scar tried to emphasize, but Cotton was too set in her ways.

"But we've reported monster behavioral abnormalities!" She protested.

"And plenty of others too! Stop nagging!"

"You're being mean. Buuu huuu." Cotton feigned tears but stopped instantly when Scar reached behind him and lightly lifted the large sword.

Cotton stuck her tongue out mischievously and lightly tapped her head, and Scar rolled his eyes again. Actually, these two got along very well. That's why they could argue carelessly and occasionally fight, but it was never anything serious.

"Let's better focus on the task at hand. Coldfade. Do you have frost blessings?" Scar made sure. Cotton reached under her clothes and pulled out three different talismans she had brought. Each one looked a little different, but the base was the same. Round with protrusions that resembled icicles, the inner part of the talisman was too intricately carved for the eye of an amateur like them to make out. After all, they don't make them; they just use them.

Not all believers who receive divine blessings join the church directly. Many others have other interests. If you want to get a stronger blessing quickly, you definitely need to join the church. As for Monster Hunters, it's the second best place to advance in power. Due to the fact that they often deal with monsters, they usually give to monasteries as a contribution to the church. Any hunter who kills a monster has priority in which church they offer the loot, for this reason, hunters usually pair up with those of the same faith to avoid arguments.

It was still a slower way than going straight into the service of the church, but it was still the second best way and not being bound by too many of the church's rules.

Cotton and Scar were both followers of the God of Steam. His blessings were mostly more universal and focused on technique. Cotton, for example, was masterful with firearms and could turn her fingers into barrels, her blood becoming reinforced bullets. Unfortunately, it was properly painful, so she tried not to take advantage of it.

Scar had a more practical blessing; he could wield a crossbow, but his specialty was close combat, where his body would harden and take on a bronze hue. His body would become half bronze and thus much more durable, but even this wasn't perfect, and he was susceptible to electricity in such moments, as bronze is highly conductive. Scar would not dare use the ability during a storm.

"Um, excuse me?" A clearing of the throat echoed behind them.

Both Cotton and Scar stopped and looked back. Behind them stood a middle-aged man with a gaudy orange beard and hair. He had a cutlass at his waist and a pistol at his other hip.

Cotton stood at Scar's side, and they both looked at the strange man. "Yes?" Scar asked. He wasn't hostile, but he wasn't exactly warm either.

"Hello. I'm new to the guild, and I've been assigned to join your quest as an observer for training. Here's the assignment." The man approached and handed them a paper.

Scar took it and ran his eyes over it, the stamp was official. "Marik Voss?" He repeated the name on it.

Marik smiled and pointed a thumb at himself. "That's me. Nice to meet you."

***** 

"I see. That's why they assigned the newcomer to us. You're a former adventurer and ship's captain," Cotton chatted with Marik, who walked at her side while Scar followed behind them.

"Yes, I'm not completely useless in a fight. So they put me with you because you're going on a mission that's a level above the ordinary," Marik nodded.

"Fine. So rules. Do what we tell you. Stand where we tell you. Speak when we tell you. Defend yourself if necessary, of course, but otherwise, don't lift a finger," Cotton lectured him, and Marik nodded, even as the corner of his lips twitched slightly.

She was his daughter's age, and now he was being lectured by someone like that. Marik suddenly felt older than he really was. "Yes, I understand. I will do nothing but watch and follow orders," Marik realized that this would work itself out for him. After all, he hadn't been doing anything else lately.

"What about your blessing? What can you do? Which god do you follow?" asked Scar from behind them.

Marik scratched his beard and knew he couldn't tell the truth, but he was ready for this. "I follow the God of War and Fire. I've only had the blessing for a little while, so I don't know how to use it very well. But it's kind of like cold fire," he admitted the lie he had made up. If there was an accident and he had to use it, at least he had an excuse.

"Cold fire? First I've heard of it. What does it look like? What does it do?" Cotton wondered.

"Well, it's like fire, but it doesn't burn, it freezes, and I can make armor out of it. But, like I said, I don't have much control over it yet," Marik tried to be as vague as possible. "So what can you tell me about the task?" he changed the subject.

Scar, hearing this, pulled out a paper and handed it to Marik, who read it and raised an eyebrow. He had never heard of this monster before. "Coldfade? What does he look like?" he wondered as he handed the paper back.

"We don't know either. These monsters aren't exactly common around here. So we'll be fighting him for the first time," Scar replied.

"So a rare monster? They'll probably pay a lot for that," Marik touched his sword and felt somewhat strange. "Maybe we should be more careful?" he suggested.

Cotton jumped and looked at him. "Why do you say that? We can handle this."

Marik adjusted his belt and cleared his throat before speaking. "It says it's in the breeding stage. So it's only natural that it's more aggressive than normal. Wouldn't it be better to wait until it's back to normal?"

Scar and Cotton looked at each other. "Then what will the victim do? The thing would eat him eventually. Within two days, actually. It was in the report, you saw that," Cotton shook her head dismissively.

Marik sighed inwardly. If it were up to him, he'd probably shut the place down until the monster calmed down and then act accordingly. He didn't know well enough how Hellcage handled these things, but he would either leave it up to Hellcage and if things didn't work then only then would he take more drastic measures. After the time that Marik had basically lived with monsters, he was more cautious of monsters and didn't try to kill them right away like before. But he couldn't explain that to anyone.

Marik finally ran his hand over the back of his head. "Haha. Sure. Forget what I said. I'm just a newbie after all," he apologized.

Scar and Cotton accepted his words and didn't talk about it anymore. Instead, they continued to discuss the task at hand and how they would proceed.

Before darkness fell, they arrived at the location.

***** 

An elderly man was lying in bed with his wife. His wife was harder than him and had no problem falling asleep. He was quite envious of her. It was a lot harder for him knowing there was a monster somewhere, plus there were other people in the room even though he couldn't see them. They had used some sort of blessing thanks to which they had erased their presence.

Unfortunately, because of the luring of the monster, the old couple had to be present and pretend like nothing had happened.

As the night deepened, the older man finally began to fall asleep. This time, however, the monster did not wait for the moment when he would be completely asleep.

"Cold..." came the whisper, and the creature pulled its hands out from under the bed and slipped under the blankets like last time.

"'Cold... cold..."

The blanket on the man's stomach bulged again, and he was jerked from his half-sleep when he heard the whisper. Despite knowing the presence of the hunters, he felt a sense of dread, just the thought of the thing crawling all over him was terrifying.

"Warmer..." the voice whispered as the man looked down at the bulging blanket and swallowed.

He closed his eyes for a moment before slowly reaching out to the blanket.

"Warmer... warmer..."

The man pulled the blanket off in a quick motion, and an even more terrifying face appeared than before. The monster looked different; the skin had turned gray, the mouth had spread across the face, and a few extra teeth were growing out of the face.

"Fire! Fire!" the creature yelled excitedly.

Thwack

There was a sound at the same moment the old man cried out in fright. "Aaaaaaaa!" He jumped out of bed.

With that, the monster was thrown off, and the crossbow bolt only pierced the blanket he had attached to the wall.

"Out! Out!" Scar yelled, scaring the two old husbands even more as they ran from the room as if they were all being chased by devils.

Marik, who was standing at the door, slammed it behind them to prevent the monster from getting out and moved along the wall towards the window.

"Fire! Fire! FIRE!" The creature shrieked angrily and shot out of the bed with unexpected speed.

Cotton was already clutching the talisman in one hand, muttering a prayer that made the talisman light up slightly with a steely color and pointing the barrel of the gun at the monster.

Bang Bang Bang

She fired three shots at once. The creature was like a bat, the first shot hitting the body, but the next two dodged.

Marik, who had slightly better eyesight, noticed that the creature had grey stretched skin in the space between its arms and small body, which it used to fly.

"Cold!" The creature wailed and fell to the ground. Cotton immediately aimed at it as did Scar, but Coldfade rolled over on all fours in a flash and crawled quickly across the floor and hid under the bed.

"Slippery bitch." Cotton grumbled and quickly began to reload her gun.

Scar put down his crossbow and instead drew his greatsword. His eyes glowed slightly in the darkness, and the moonlight coming through the window glinted off his slightly bronzed body. Activating his blessing, he raised his sword and approached the bed.

Marik, who had been watching all this, remained calm. It surprised him. After his time spent with Hellcage, such things wouldn't surprise him anymore. He was also intrigued by the way Scar used the blessing. It seemed different than the blessings used by Hellcage, Ellar, and Wendigo.

Scar raised his sword above his head, ready to shred the bed with his greatsword. Marik noticed two large angry eyes peering out from under the space beneath the bed.

"Look out!" Marik called out. Scar had already struck downwards with his sword, and at that moment, Coldfade jumped out with a screech and landed on Scar's face.

He jerked in surprise, but the blow landed on the bed, which split in two with the sound of breaking wood. Some feathers flew into the air, and the monster clawed and bit Scar's face with its sharp teeth.

Scar immediately released his hand and ripped the thing off his face. Coldfade immediately started crawling on the ground again in a flash and headed towards the bed, but when it saw that it was broken it immediately changed direction.

Bang Bang Bang

Cotton was now able to shoot again and chased the monster with his gun. She hit the body twice, and although the monster wailed, it didn't stop. Marik understood that it was necessary to hit the head, but the monster was moving too fast on the ground.

Coldfade changed direction towards Marik. This didn't surprise him much as he was standing at the only exit and was the only one not actively participating in the hunt.

"Marik, careful!" Cotton shouted, moving forward and chasing the creature with shots.

The creature leaped into the air, arms spread wide, darkness clouding its face and a frantic look in its eyes. Marik's heart skipped a beat in alarm, and he swung his sword to try and strike the creature.

He felt a burning sensation on his shoulder, and his eyes flashed blue as he locked eyes with the monster.

Coldfade's expression changed slightly, its eyes darted to the side, and Marik's sword strike missed as the monster suddenly changed direction.

Crack!

The creature crashed into the window, shattering it. Marik immediately covered his head with his hand and leapt forward to avoid the shards and a possible attack from behind.

Coldfade made no attempt to attack. It was running away.

"Quickly follow it!" Cotton shouted, leaping out the window in an instant, not even hitting the ground before she was firing at the creature.

Bang Bang

"Stop, you bitch!" Cotton shouted, and Marik heard her running after it. Scar broke the door open and rushed out as well. Marik was only two seconds behind and also ran after them.

***** 

The three of them chased Coldfade most of the night, but eventually, he disappeared into the alleyways, and they had no choice but to give up.

"Shit!" Cotton cursed, angrily kicking the corners of the houses. Slowly, they made their way back to the guild with no success.

"Sorry. It was my fault. I got scared when it jumped me, and my sword missed," Marik apologized, seeing how upset Cotton was. However, he wasn't sure if he would have actually hit the monster or even stopped it. The creature was fast and tenacious even if it didn't have much strength.

It wasn't surprising that it was a monster that had been given a classification. Cotton looked at him. "Nah! Don't worry about it, newbie." Her annoyance suddenly disappeared, and she proudly raised her head and began to show off the experienced senior. "Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. The most important thing is to learn and be better next time!" She gave him life advice.

A nerve twitched in Marik's eye, yet he smiled. "Yes, elder. Thank you for your wisdom and guidance."

"Hehe." Cotton was satisfied with the answer and began to pace lightly.

Scar rolled his eyes and evened his pace with Marik. "You're good with kids," he remarked.

Marik nodded, feeling a pang of pain as he thought of Riza. His only consolation was that he knew he would eventually free her. "Yes. I have a daughter her age. And I recently adopted two young children," he added.

"Adoption? That's good. Not many people do that these days." Scar appreciated that and smiled a little. "Does your wife take care of them while you're out hunting?" He asked.

Marik didn't feel much like answering, gritting his teeth inwardly. "No. Not really... my wife isn't anymore. My... roommate helps me with them," he found the right word, not wanting to have another misunderstanding. He was already suffering because of what Ellar and Wendigo thought.

Marik decided to change the subject again. "What more can you tell me about the guild?" He was seeking more information.

"Well... the guild has been in operation for many years. We are one of the medium-sized branches. The largest branch is probably in the United Islands. There are monster attacks there quite often, so both the temples and the guild have a lot to do. It's fine here. Most of the time. Smaller monsters, we rarely see anything bigger than low-ranked monsters here. Medium at most. And most of the time they're Drowned, you know... corpses." Scar shrugged but kept his eyes on the road, constantly keeping a wary eye on their surroundings.

"But things are different these days," Scar added.

That immediately got Marik's attention. "Oh, really? How different?"

"A lot more smaller monsters. Three times more low-ranked monsters. Twice as many medium-ranked monsters. Also, there are monsters that aren't common to see here. Like Coldfade." Scar frowned and rubbed his stiff shoulder. There was too much tension in his body.

"That really doesn't sound good. Any idea what the cause is?" Marik questioned cautiously.

Scar didn't suspect anything and had no problem answering. "It means there's a big animal somewhere. A highly ranked monster. These beasts are said to affect the weaker ones. They're more active, they swarm faster. The ones upstairs have been looking for it, but so far nothing. It's weird. The high monster isn't normally so quiet."

Marik's thoughts raced. A high monster. Could it be Hellcage? Or even Liege? Marik tried to imagine what such a clash between Hellcage and the Monster Hunters Guild would look like.

Marik was sure it would end in a massacre. On the Hunters' side.

***** 

Before they could return and complete everything, dawn had broken.

Marik, Cotton, and Scar emerged, with everyone displaying signs of yawning and stretching at various stages.

Marik yawned widely, one eye opening as he did so, and nearly bit his tongue when his jaw suddenly snapped shut.

He spotted Hellcage leading Dali by the hand, with Leo holding her back as she approached him. Hellcage had his walking cane in his free hand and was waving it toward Marik.

"Sorry, guys. I gotta go!" He bid a quick farewell and rushed over to them.

Cotton and Scar watched him go, and they heard Marik ask, "What are you doing here?"

"My, my... Wasn't this your first day at your new job? After all, it's only right that your family should come to greet you and tell you that you did a good job," an impossibly tall man in a top hat and a mask over his face lowered his head toward Marik, and they both sensed his indulgent smile.

"That... no... yes... that's nice. But that's not the point! You're going to cause some misunderstanding again!" Marik glanced back at Cotton and Scar in alarm, grabbed Hellcage by the arm, and began pulling him away.

"But, dear..." The rest of them couldn't hear as Marik pulled everyone away from the guild in a hurry.

Cotton and Scar exchanged glances. "Dear?" Cotton repeated, then covered her O-shaped mouth with her hand.

Scar scratched his head and shrugged. "Man, why is he ashamed of that?"

If Marik had known that they had heard and what they were thinking, he would probably have wept with despair.

***** 

"Cold... Cold..."

A creature slithered in the shadows in the dark alleyways, dragging its wounded body through the darkness to hide as much as possible from the daylight.

Coldfade had a limited mind, not quite like animals, but not smart enough to be a human child either. It was mostly driven by instinct and the need to fulfill its desires. It was sad and unhappy. All it needed was a little more, and it could transition to another stage.

At this point, the creature knew that if it didn't find food and shelter, it would soon die. The cold bullets were still lodged in its body, and it crawled on with nothing but the desire to survive.

"Cold..."

The creature stopped and turned its large head toward one of the dark alleys. Something was lying against one of the walls.

It turned and crawled in that direction, picking up speed.

"Warmer... warmer..."

Soon it was running, and when it was almost at the target, it took one big leap.

"FIRE!"