Comeuppance

Sera awoke with a start, coming fully out of bed in an instant. She was already clawing at the air when she realized that she was back in the infirmary. "Huh...how?"

"Mike rescued." Came the unemotional reply from Tal. The elven woman was sitting in a nearby chair and calmly scratching under Audra's chin. The little dragon was comfortably curled up in her lap, doing her best impression of a sleeping cat.

"What? How did he find me? The Cabal shouldn't have left any traces..."

She listened patiently as Tal haltingly explained what happened, as well as the purpose of the strange glass orb that Mike had smeared her blood back during the siege. Once she had a grasp on the full story, she had only one thing to say.

"That asshole! How dare he treat me like some kind of summoned monster! When I get my hands on him..." She trailed off as her words began to fail her, so intense was her anger.

"Was effective." Tal argued, seemingly unfazed by her friend's outburst.

"I know it was effective! That just makes it worse!" She collapsed back into bed, switching to melancholic tears in an instant. "Ugh...I thought I was done for this time. I mean, a part of me knew he was going to come looking for me, but I was worried that he wouldn't..."

Tal patted her arm companionably.

Sera sighed. "I know I should be grateful that I was saved at all, and I am, but...couldn't he have done it differently? It makes me feel...dirty. Like, am I so cheap that he can just summon me like...like some kind of animal?"

The elf nodded sagely. "Mike foolish. But wise...sometimes."

"You got that first part right. Not too sure on the second." She buried her face in her hands. "Ugh, I don't know what to say to him...hey, now that I think about it, where is he?"

"Cabal hunting."

"Eh? Is it because of me...no, that's not important. Doesn't he know that's dangerous?! They have a wealth of powerful agents in their employ, and the one that's leading this particular group is really bad. I've heard rumors about him, and if half of them are true, Mike could be in serious trouble."

Tal just gave her an even look. "No problem. Not anymore."

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"RAAAA!" The strange being known as Grim kicked the table over, sending the rotting rood on its surface spilling throughout the peasant's kitchen. Albrecht dimly noted pieces of maggot riddled chicken falling into the still open mouth of the house's original owner, something that would have amused him under different circumstances. The old farmer's corpse had been left where it had fallen a few days ago, and was beginning to add its own character to the omnipresent stench of the hovel they were using as a hideout.

Albrecht knew better than to get involved while his master was on a rampage. As one of the highest ranking members of the Cabal, Grim not only had the authority to do as it pleased, but also the power to ensure that no one could complain.

Add to that a tendency towards emotional instability, and the creature had all the hallmarks of being the kind of boss that killed his subordinates in fits of rage. As such, he thought it wiser to remain in his position near the door and wait patiently for the disturbing colony of worm-like monsters to calm its collective emotions. He'd been doing so for nearly a half hour, and honestly he was more impressed that there was much of house left.

While his master began punching holes in the wall, Albrecht took a moment to adjust the white mask which covered most of his face. The transformed skin of his left cheek was sticking to its ceramic surface, causing minor irritation every time he moved his head.

[I wonder if they will let me wear a cloth mask. Although, I suppose I'd have to worry about the pus soaking through. Maybe leather would work better?]

"HOW? HOW DID SHE DO IT?!" Grim roared again, smashing one of the kitchen's two remaining chairs against the floor and shattering it into pieces.

The senior Cabal member was referring to the Oracle they'd recently captured, who had somehow disappeared before their very eyes. She'd been lying on the ground, unconscious while Grim was gloating over the ease of the acquisition. Then, in a brief flash of light, she'd vanished completely.

[Clearly some kind of magic, imbecile. I'm not a mage, but even I can tell that much.] He thought to himself before coughing slightly. "Perhaps her allies used some form of spell to rescue her, master?"

Grim rounded on him, and yelled, "I took precautions against that exact sort of possibility, idiot! She was kept in a warded chest during the entire trip here, and this house, pathetic hovel that it may be, is still protected by the best shielding spells we have access to. It should have been impossible for them to locate her, let alone pull her out with some form of teleportation."

"Could we have been followed, master?" He offered, hoping to direct the uncomfortable gaze elsewhere.

"Ridiculous! Unless the Lacotians decided to renege on our agreement or they managed to employ one of the undead to track us, our life wards would have detected them."

It seemed to be finally calming down now, putting its rather disturbed intellect to the task of deducing the method she used to escape. "No, the only way she could have been accurately evacuated in that way, was to have some sort of passive connection with the caster. One that didn't require knowledge of her location...it couldn't be that simple..."

Albrecht sighed mentally. Obviously, his master had discovered a hole in its plans, and now had to work through the implications.

"I can't believe they would resort to something like Calling Magic on a living human, but...it would fit." The robed figure stood still as whatever served as its brain worked full speed to work through the problem. "It would require a rather inventive method of binding, perhaps some sort of magic item to serve as an intermediary, but if they got past that obstacle, it would have been simple to recover the Oracle without even needing to know where she was."

[Congratulations, you figured it out.] Albrecht returned sarcastically in his mind, before speaking in much more polite terms. "Then, what shall we do about it, master?"

"It is unfortunate, but I believe we can safely assume that our enemies are now aware of our presence in the area, and will likely be on guard against any future efforts to capture our target. This will make it difficult, but not impossible. Fortunately, they should still have no idea that we are using this farmhouse as a base of operations-"

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure of that." A new voice broke in from the doorway behind Albrecht. One that he didn't recognize as belonging to the other Cabal members in their makeshift compound.

A trill of fear passing up his spine, he whirled in place, sword already out of its sheath. Thanks to his gifts from the Cabal, the blow was incredibly fast. Honestly, it was one of the best strikes he'd ever executed. Most Tier 2 fighters would have been unable to even perceive the attack, let alone block it. Even Tier 3 warriors would need to be ready for it to have any chance of surviving. Unfortunately for Albrecht, his opponent surpassed both categories.

Before he'd even laid eyes on the doorway, he felt a sudden lightness in his sword arm. Not having the time or wherewithal to think about such things, he followed through on his strike, delivering a rising diagonal slash which should have cut into the intruder, based on where his voice was coming from. However, things turned out differently than he'd imagined.

Rather than a sword, his arm projected a line of red liquid which splashed against the young human in the doorway. It took Albrecht a few moments to realize that the liquid was blood that was pouring out of the stump of his severed sword arm. An impossibly clean cut, just above the elbow had removed the limb before he'd even finished his swing.

It was then that the pain struck, and all Albrecht could do was collapse backwards with a strangled grunt. Unconsciously, he scrabbled away from the door, some half-remembered instinct telling him that he needed to distance himself quickly. His training took over, and he was able to fight through the haze of agony long enough to bear witness to the rest of the encounter.

"Ugh...Alright, that was a mistake. Next time I won't try to be cool and just kill them quickly." The youth exclaimed in a disgusted voice as he briefly used Lifestyle magic to clean his clothes. "There, much better."

Turning a golden-eyed gaze towards Grim, he began speaking in a confident, almost jaunty, manner. "I take it you are the leader of this particular bunch...whew, that's quite the title you have there. Honestly, based on that alone, you're more of a monster than the Skull Lord. And that's saying something, considering that he killed a nation's worth of civilians in the pursuit of power."

For those not used to the worm creature's mannerisms, it might appear that Grim was still standing calmly in the center of the small kitchen, but Albrecht knew better. The small tremors of motion that could be seen under the grey robes covering its 'body' indicated that it was highly agitated.

"You! You were the one that stole my prize! Return it to me! Now! Or I shall make you suffer like none have ever suffered before!" The creature howled, shattering the illusion of calm as it clenched its 'hands' in boiling rage.

The young man looked shocked and then amused. He glanced over at Albrecht and asked, "Is this thing dumb? Would I have come here by myself if I wasn't confident in my ability to handle him?"

Albrecht was unable to respond, even though a part of him wanted to agree with the intruder.

The air began to vibrate as Grim summoned forth its power, howling in fury. "INSOLENT FOOL! I WILL-"

"That's enough of that." The man broke in with a simple waving gesture. A sudden blast of air flattened the worm-creature to the ground, crushing it against the hard-packed dirt floor. "I've heard that too many times over the last few days."

He sighed before continuing, "I had planned on questioning you about a few things, like the location of the Cabal headquarters, your aims, where you have the most influence and things like that, but that seems foolish now. Judging from your race and title, I doubt you'd be willing to share." He gestured towards Albrecht, "And the rest of these minions don't know anything of value. Unfortunately, it seems that this is a waste of my time."

"What...are...you..." Grim managed to squeeze out, despite the crushing force that was pressing it into the ground.

"Done with that question too." The youth replied as he turned and left, exiting the house in short order. After a few seconds, there came a simple command, delivered in a firm voice.

"Burn it."

As the windows shattered and a wave of intense, devouring flame rushed toward him, Albrecht had just enough time to regret his path in life before he knew no more.