The Mimic in Monsterland

Another booming crash came from down the street of the unfinished guildhall. Terl’s whole being focused on the source of the sounds. We got to the front of the construction site. The street was abuzz with movement. Hundreds of children, younger teens, and other adults were being rushed down the road by guards, heading toward the gate leading to the merchant district.

Everyone else on the road hustled in the opposite direction, where the booming sounds were coming from, each carrying a weapon and hastily putting on armor. Terl tugged on me.

“Move.” He shoved me into the street.

“Wait a second. What's happening?”

Terl’s nose twitched and his face filled with annoyance. “I can explain while we move, so move.” He shoved me again, in the direction of the booming.

We fell into rhythm with the rest of the soldiers. Terl spoke up now. “It's an attack.”

“A raid? I thought those only happened once a month or something.”

Terl shook his head. “This is different. You will see when we get there.” His focus returned to the road. He spoke in a lower voice, to himself. “It had to be the Academy District. Shit.”

We continued forward. The streets were more packed than I’d ever seen, not that I’d been here that long. I was getting slightly claustrophobic from all of the bumping and shoving committed by others rushing to get to whatever awaited us. I was guessing it was more monsters. What else could it be?

Ferals? Do they attack the city directly like this?

I remembered some of what Daila told me about them. How they attack caravans and will steal from the city. But this doesn’t feel like that. Why would they attack in broad daylight? It doesn’t add up. And what exactly was that boom?

Weird thing to wish for, but I hope it's monsters. Everyone heading this way is geared up for a battle. I just don’t want that battle to be with other humans. Or I suppose humanoids.

“What weapons do you need?” Terl’s voice broke me out of that train of thought.

“Daggers, or a spear. Either will suffice.” I answered.

He nodded once, not saying anything further. I could tell his mind was racing.

We continued our march for the next ten minutes. I could keep track of the time by watching my cooldown timers. Gremlin was still the only form I had available, Tigris was thirty minutes away. Apis was closer at ten minutes. But it certainly looked like Gremlin was going to be the only choice. My weakest form. Damnit.

Anxiety reared its ugly head once again. A cold chill went down my spine. I was heading toward another battlefield. With others this time, which I thought would lessen the worry. It didn’t. I can’t quite say it's worse, it's just different. These people I’m jogging with might die. My mind replayed the horrible sounds from the first raid. The screams.

Another bump pulled me from my thoughts. But it wasn’t an accident this time. It was Terl. I looked down at the shorter man. “Get out of your head. Concentrate on the here and now. And that.”

The sounds of crashing and fighting became clear as we got closer. It was definitely a battle, no doubts there. But there was still no indication of what and who was fighting.

Until we got close to the outer walls. My eyes locked onto one of the fields next to the wall. People were fighting a whole host of monsters. Nothing like the scale of the raid, but they numbered in the lower hundreds if I had to estimate. Splicers fought back in heated combat with them, yet they were horribly outnumbered. They need help.

The section of the great tree wall that surrounded Laurelhaven had a huge hole blown out of it. Monsters poured out of it.

Everyone in the street hopped over the fence leading to the field and rushed into the battle. I was about to join them before I felt Terl tug my arm again. He shook his head at me and pointed over in the direction away from the battle.

My eyes followed his gesture over to a roughly made tent, positioned near the building closest to the battle. Others that hadn't jumped straight into the fray were heading for it as well.

“We are heading for that medic station first. We need to get information on what happened and what monsters are fighting, as well as making sure it is protected at all costs.”

I nodded. It made sense, a basic strategy. Defend the healers. Simple. A pit grew in my stomach. I looked back at the battle as we moved. People struggling to fight off the horde. My skin felt prickly and itchy.

We followed the street all the way down; once we were in front of the two story building, we ran up to the medic station. The sounds of the battle roared in my ears.

People were laid out among cloth stretchers on the ground. The smell of blood and iron filled the air, making me almost gag. Terl just walked forward, heading for the back of the tent, unperturbed by the gruesomeness surrounding us. I followed after him, albeit slowly.

But I was forced to stop. A hand grabbed my foot. I looked down and saw a girl. She had silver gray hair, matted in sweat, dirt, and blood. She had cat ears that matched her hair. But one of the ears had been violently ripped down the middle and the other was torn in half. My eyes scanned the rest of her body. She was missing an arm.

My stomach rolled over on itself. The arm was bandaged but blood seeped from it. She stared into my eyes. “Help me.” My vision blurred, and my stomach turned even more. My mouth dried up. A dry cough left my mouth.

But before she could say more, her eyes wavered, and her head fell down. Her grasp on my foot softened. I gulped. Did…Did she just…

I couldn’t finish the thought, Terl pulled my arm again. He gave me a hearty slap across my right cheek. He then grabbed my face with both of his hands.

“Focus. We have work to do. Work that will make sure that,” he nodded toward the cat eared girl, “doesn’t happen to others. Now come on.” He let me go and gestured for me to go in front of him. My mind was blank while I walked.

We arrived in front of a big table that had a few people around it arguing. A woman with dark green fur running down her arms, a man with large canine teeth protruding from his mouth, and another woman with feathers for hair. Each with panicked looks on their faces.

Terl walked up and slammed his hand on the table. “I am Terl Blocke. Head Support and Medical Officer of the Fourth Legion Of Laurelhaven. Give me a rundown on what happened.” Everyone shut up immediately, each turning to the newcomer at the table. They looked around at each other, trying to figure out who should speak first.

Finally the green furred woman spoke. “I am Bev, the dean of that school and a professor of,” Terl raised his hand, shutting her up. “Don’t care. What happened? Do we have a rough estimate of the monsters? And where are the wall guards for this section?”

Bev swallowed. “I’m not exactly sure, we were all in the middle of teaching classes when the first explosion went off. Gus’ class was running drills outside.” Her eyes darkened and her gaze fell to the table.

Explosion? What monster did that? And where is Jaren? Shouldn’t he be here already? He was only a few minutes ahead of us.

She recomposed herself. “Umm, some guards showed up after the monsters started flowing in from the hole they made. We don’t know how many exactly. We haven’t heard anything from the wall yet. When can soldiers from the barracks come?” She asked, slightly panicking.

Terl just shook his head. He spoke up again. “Why isn’t there a guard officer here now?”

The toothy man answered this time. “He had to go help bolster the line.”

“What's his splice and trope?”

“He’s a Salamandran, he’s bald, dark skinned, with a long tongue. Wielding a glaive if I remember properly.”

Terl turned back to me. “Did you get all of that?”

I nodded.

Terl took a deep breath, then shouted out. “I am taking over as head of this defense until someone more suitable comes. First order, Liam.”

“Yes!” I yelled out of complete instinct.

“Go retrieve the guard he just described. I need him back here to be able to give proper orders to the troops.”

“Right.”

“Which direction did he head in?” Terl asked the man. He pointed out towards the right side of the battle.

“Anybody here have a dagger or a spear?! Bring it here!” Terl announced, this time turning and yelling at the whole tent. Someone raised a spear above their head and limped over to the table. Terl grabbed it and put it in my hands.

“You have your orders.”

I looked at him and the others, then turned and left in the direction the man pointed out.

“Alright next, how many healers and supports do we have? We will probably have to set up another…” was the last thing I heard before Terl was out of earshot.

I gripped down on the spear, it was much higher quality than the sticks the gremlins used. I looked back into the battle. Then shifted into Gremlin form.

 

——

 

Fennel’s eyes drifted open. He was on one of the stretchers in the guild hall infirmary. His head hurt and his body was sore. He wasn’t sure what happened or why he was there. He heard some familiar humming beside his bed.

It was Gloria, she had her eyes closed and she just hummed that soothing tune. He was tempted to close his eyes, to let the melody engulf him. But he caught a glimpse of sunlight through the window. He had to get up.

He sat up and pain shot through the back of his head. Gloria turned to him. “Slowly.” She rasped. “They did a number on you.” She whispered.

Fennel swung his feet off the side of the bed. They didn’t quite reach the ground. He turned to Gloria. “What happened?”

She giggled for a second. “You happened. They were saying,” she stopped and took a quick drink of water. “They said some stupid stuff to you and you were not in the mood for it.”

She touched the back of his head, causing him to wince. “Zaner gave you that to stop you.” She took another sip of water and coughed.

“Sorry Gloria, you don’t have to speak. I know it hurts.”

She waved him off. “Quit treating me like that. It’s getting better, you doofus.” Fennel couldn’t help but smile at her, one she returned in kind.

“WHERE’S FENNEL?!?” An outcry resounded into the infirmary.

The two separated and Fennel jumped off the stretcher to go see who’s shouting.

But before he could get to the door, Jaren swung it open.

“Fennel get your ass in gear, we’ve got a break in!”