Witch of Fear [Mild horror, Isekai High Fantasy]

Prior to events with Nelva.

Liddie ‘Kraken Eater’ Eastoft, Inferni Swashbuckler.

Liddie sighed deeply. She missed the ocean. Missed the freedom to go wherever the wind willed.

As she strode behind her flame-haired alchemist, looking as menacing as possible, she cast her eye over her surroundings. She hated cities like this; too many people, too many walls. There were so many places ambushers could hide.

Pyre haggled with the shopkeeps they passed by. Despite not knowing the local language, the alchemist spoke the universal language of commerce. A few flashed coins got her the attention she desired. After that, it was just pointing at what she wanted and holding up a price. Of course, the merchants tried to rip her off, but the young alchemist was no fool — she knew the value of what she was looking for, even if it was something new.

Liddie didn’t understand what Pyre was looking for, but knew to watch for those a little too interested in their business.

Which was far too many people for her liking.

As she stared down a group of young pickpockets, who suddenly decided that there were better marks elsewhere, the pirate pondered over the strange party she’d found herself amongst. In the beginning, way back in Duskfields, she’d only joined because of two reasons. One: She’d been bored. And two: their leader, Nethlia, was hot. Autumn wasn’t a bad looker either; if you were into that dark and brooding look.

Her plan had been to sleep with Nethlia, and/or Autumn, steal a bunch of gold, then head back to sea after a mission or two.

Now?

She didn’t know — they’d grown on her. Somewhat.

Liddie didn’t like it. It was an awful feeling. Something she’d thought she’d abandoned long ago. The last person she’d trusted betrayed her and tried to kill her. Their body now lay at the bottom of Brokenship Bay.

Who would’ve thought a simple goblin raid would turn out this way? 

Not her, that’s for damn sure. She’d have walked the other way. 

Too late for that now. The only way back home was to follow along with this madness she’d found herself in. As they say, the only way out is forwards…or something like that.

However, it wasn’t all bad.

Thanks to her bargain with the rather affectionate water nymphs, Liddie could now breathe underwater. It’d accelerated her plans by decades. Once she was back on the mortal plane, and had gotten her fair share of the bounty, without stealing more — how embarrassing! — she’d set back out to sea in search of the sunken wreck of her former ship; the Drunken Naïve.

Or, more accurately, the plundered gold still within its hold.

All the gold they’d gained so far paled compared to the war plunder she’d taken from the southern humans in her glory days. It was a good thing then she was the only one who knew its whereabouts. It’d take quite a while to make that so.

After all, dead men tell no tales.

Liddie snapped her attention back to her surroundings. Currently, they were making their way down a set of twisting back-alleys towards the southern slums. There they were told an elderly herbalist lived, one who might have a collection of rare herbs Pyre desired. Liddie expected it to be all horseshit; another lie to get them alone for thugs to jump them. Still, Pyre insisted.

Some people just had to jump into the shark-infested waters if there was gold shining in the reef. 

Not that she was any different. 

As she scanned the narrow streets, Liddie got to thinking about her new crew. They were all fuckups. Herself included, obviously.

Nethlia, for all her brawn and surprising amounts of brains, wasn’t that much of a leader. Most of the party’s decisions she left to their resident witch to make. Granted, Autumn was the most knowledgeable one here, but Liddie hadn’t missed the way the dark-haired girl cried herself to sleep some nights. The big burly brute needed to learn how to take charge and not let Autumn put all the weight onto her own shoulders.

The pirate grimaced — that almost sounded like she cared.

As for the others? She didn’t have much to say. 

Edwyn was old. Perhaps older than they looked. With that age came knowledge of all things metal and rune. While Liddie knew little of Manus culture, or dwarves in general, she got the sneaking suspicion that the Runelord wasn’t as highborn as they portrayed themselves to be. As the lowest of the lowborn, Liddie could spot the cracks in their facade.

Also, Edwyn should really stop messing with Autumn over being called a dwarf. While watching their human squirm is kinda funny, it is weird how she doesn’t know these kinda things.

As for their actual highborn? Nelva is a strange fit to their less than noble party.

Liddie hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on her, but knowing she was on the run from a vampire of all things was interesting. It sounded like some sort of opening to an adventuring story. She was almost tempted to stick around just to see how that played out. 

Eme and Pyre were in over their heads. 

That much was true. They shouldn’t have been on this sort of mission so soon. Cleaning out the sewers and basements of rats had been more their speed. Autumn too for that matter. For all her scariness, the witch was only a baby adventurer. The scars the three bore told the tale of that. Still, she could reluctantly admit they were holding themselves well against the trial so far.

Liddie’s attention snapped back to the alleyway as she noticed movement.

“Ah shit — I knew we were being followed.”

Around the pair a group of male drow appeared, spreading out to block off the alley’s exits. Near a dozen, Liddie counted. She eyed their crude clubs with disdain.

Some sort of local gang? she wondered.

At the head of the group stood the largest of them, styling themselves as some sort of leader. In a crude dialect, they spoke in broken common.

“You come with us now!”

Pyre looked around nervously, yet Liddie was unconcerned by their numbers. She snorted. 

“And why, pray tell, would we do that?”

The drow furrowed his brow, a look of confusion flashing across his face. Angrily, he barked again. “You come with us now! Leader see you!”

Liddie chuckled. “Not the brightest candle, is he?” she whispered to Pyre. 

“What do we do? There are too many of them,” Pyre whispered back. 

Liddie waved her hand dismissively. 

“Nah, I can take them. I’m more interested in what this is all about. Stick beside me, and if anything goes wrong, throw some fire about would you?”

Pyre nodded. “Shouldn’t we tell Autumn what’s going on?” 

“Let’s not interrupt her date just yet. We can always let them know in an instant if things get wild,” Liddie grinned. “Besides, we can handle ourselves.”

Annoyed by their delay, the drow barked again. “Time no wasting! See Leader!” 

Liddie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t get your drow panties in a bunch. Lead on, whoever you are.” 

“Give weapons!” 

“Yeah no,” Liddie laughed in his face. “Look here piss-for-brains. Either you take us to your leader or move aside. I’ll not weep over your dead bodies.”

The surrounding drow tensed as a look of fury washed over their current leader’s face. A war of emotions rolled beneath the surface. Snarling, he gestured to the dozen armed drow. “We more number than you!”

Liddie arched an eyebrow. “So? Try it and find out.”

A tense standoff ensued between the two groups made all the more troubled by a lack of understanding. The pirate didn’t back down, her hand rested calmly upon the hilt of her cutlass. 

Gritting their teeth, it was the drow leader who relented first. Turning around, they stormed deeper into the slums. 

“Come!” they growled. “Meet leader!” 

A wicked, mocking grin crept across Liddie’s face. 

As the pair started following the angry drow, themselves followed by the dozen drow gang members, Liddie felt the cool glass of a potion vial slip into her palm. Surreptitiously, she looked down. The pirate recognized the dull gray potion Pyre had slipped her as a rock-skin potion. Quietly, she tucked it away in easy reach.

The deeper they went into the slums, the worse the conditions got. Here, the perpetual crimson hue between the cobblestones was darker, deeper, as though they’d set the stones into blood.

Through twisting alleys and broken courtyards they traveled, watched all the while by distrustful eyes. Windows and doors closed with a snap as they passed by. 

It felt like home. 

Liddie memorized the route as they went.

The drow led the pair into a dilapidated courtyard before an old, broken-down tavern. More members of the drow gang loitered around the edges, trying, and failing, to look menacing. Following the lead of the angry drow, they entered. 

Quietly, both Liddie and Pyre downed their protective potions. 

Inside, what had once been a cramped, dimly lit tavern was now a cramped, dimly lit hideout. Worn tables and benches lay cluttered around a grimy bar burdened by substandard ales, while broken and discarded weapons lined the bartop like a pathetic armory. Around the walls hung crude banners and flags depicted the symbol of whatever gang this was. Taking up a significant portion of the already scant space sat a second-hand, maybe even third-hand, desk that’d been not-so-cleverly fashioned to look like a crime-lord’s desk.

And behind it, reclining in a frayed armchair, sat a winsome drow, long of hair and sharp of complexion.

He eyed the pair coolly as they entered, although his eyebrow twitched at seeing them still armed.

“I hope my men weren’t too — what’s the word, ah yes — discourteous in their invitation? They can get a little…unduly motivated in their duties.” A slimy smile crested the drow’s face. One which didn’t reach his eyes. “I am Chaszomph Freneld, and it is my pleasure to introduce you to the Free Brotherhood of Nasurin.”

Liddie’s eyebrow twitched.

If this was a recruitment pitch, she was blaming it on the robes. She was a demoness, hells damn it! She had curves! Small ones, but she had them!

“Oh look, you can actually speak. Cut to the chase then. What do you want?” 

The drow gang-leader’s smile widened. “It’s rather simple; you work for me now.”

Liddie chuckled darkly. “Oh? How do you figure that?”

Reclining back in his armchair, the wannabe crime lord posed with a hand on his chin. A playful smile now quirked his lips. “Right now, my men are already rounding up the rest of your compatriots. Soon I’ll have you all reunited, then you’ll do what I say when I say it, or else there’ll be consequences.”

Pyre tensed up, but Liddie just gestured for her to calm down. Unamused, the pirate locked eyes with the smirking drow through her mask.

“Or what?”

The smile froze on Chaszomph’s face. Confused, he blinked. “Excuse me?”

Liddie looked at him as one might a child. “What are these so-called consequences of yours?” she drawled.

Chaszomph looked around the room full of thugs in confusion. “I’ll kill you?” he said-slash-asked.

“Can you? We are necromancers, you know. It’s kinda our thing not to stay dead. And besides, if you kill us, how can we work for you? Last I checked, we were the necromancers, not you.”

Chaszomph flushed. His eyes narrowed at her.

“Don’t you care about your compatriots? One word from me and they’ll be dead or sold off as war slaves or whores.”

Liddie shrugged. “Again, necromancers. Also, they can take care of themselves. What is this all about, anyway? Free Brotherhood? What, did your mama not love you enough? You wanna overthrow the matriarchs or something?” she drawled with a smirk. “Tell me if I’m close.”

Indignation colored the drow’s features. The armchair screeched back as he stormed to his feet. Snarling, he spoke. 

“You know nothing of how the matriarchs treat us! How they hold our collars! We seek to overthrow them, yes, but for our freedom! So that no longer are we the ones that’ll lick the other’s boots for a scrap of respect they’ll never give!”

Her race understood freedom more than any, but disdain was all Liddie felt as she looked at the drow. 

“So that you’ll never be the ones that’ll lick the other’s boots? Implying they will? You’re no better than they are.”

“Enough!” the drow roared. The other drow around the room shuffled aggressively at the sound. Chaszomph sneered at her. “Once my men return with your friends, we’ll have all the money we need to finally arm ourselves for revolution. I need no understanding from necromancer ilk!”

Liddie was hardly listening as a message blipped into her mind. 

[Autumn here. We got ambushed by a group of slavers. Regroup at the Inn, immediately.]

[Yeah, about that…] Liddie replied. Hearing Autumn sigh, she continued. [Me and Pyre are currently in the den of thieves, as it were. A Brotherhood of Wanking-Each-Other-Off or something. They’re the ones who sent some goons after you.]

[Where are you? Do you need aid?]

Liddie dug a finger into her ear — it was a weird sensation to have your brain whisper to you without your ears’ consent. 

[Nah, me and Pyre can handle it. Are you guys good? Nelva and Edwyn?]

[We took care of our lot and apparently Nelva dealt with hers. Are you sure you don’t need help?]

[Positive. How do you end this thing? Cease! Stop! Think about naked butts!]

Autumn’s sigh came back over the line.

Turning her attention back to the drow, Liddie interrupted their rant. 

“So, it was all about money, huh?”

Chaszomph paused as he realized he’d spilled more than he meant to. He went to speak, but Liddie cut him off. 

“No matter. I don’t really care. How about this? I’ve a counter offer for you: you give us everything of wealth you own, and I’ll let you live.”

In the face of her generous offer, the drow purpled — well, purpled further. A bark of harsh laughter escaped Chaszomph. But there was no laughter in his eyes. He glared at Liddie. 

“How humorous. You’ve caught me in a rare good mood, so I’ll give you one last chance to bow down, or else your friends will die.” 

Quick like lightning, Liddie unsheathed her cutlass and decapitated a pair of drow that’d been standing behind her. As the bodies dropped to the floor, she turned back to the stunned wannabe crime lord. 

“Nah, I think I’ll pass — they’ve already killed your goons.” 

Chaszomph paled. “Kill them!!” he screamed. 

His scream turned to one of pain as a flash-bomb detonated. Bright light spilled out through the gaps and cracks as it seared any unshielded retinas.

Liddie pulled her robe collar away from her eyes and set upon the disorientated drow like a shark amongst chum. Her white-gold blade sliced and diced with ease as more potions splashed around the room. More screams of pain erupted as fire engulfed the room. The pirate flinched back as a fireball overwhelmed a group rushing in from the outside.

“Hey! Watch where you’re throwing those things!”

“Sorry!” Pyre apologized. “This recipe is new! It’s stronger than I thought it’d be,” she said gleefully.

Liddie shook her head ruefully.

A noise from behind the bar caught her attention. Turning towards the noise, her eyes widened as a group of crossbow wielding drow unleashed a volley upon the pair, seemingly uncaring for their allies in the way. Bolts scythed through drow bodies as they made their way towards Liddie and Pyre.

A dozen bolts slammed into Liddie’s chest…

…and plinked off her stone-like skin.

Laughing maniacally, Liddie dashed for the bar and leapt over it, her mithril blade flashing. Screams soon joined her laughter. But only briefly.

Fresh blood splattered across the bartop, soaking into the wood. It coated the cheap ales in a film of crimson iron.

Popping back up with a rag and glass in hand, Liddie called out to Pyre in a bored drawl. “Welcome to Liddie’s Lusty Saloon. What can I get you, miss?”

“Stop messing about!” Pyre screamed back. All around her, potions popped and exploded, turning the dilapidated tavern into a slaughterhouse. With wild eyes, the alchemist scanned the burning tavern. “Where did that drow boss go?!”

Curious, Liddie looked about.

“Oh, there he is, crawling away!” she laughed.

The once oh-so-proud wannabe crime boss was crawling away on his hands and knees towards the exit as his tavern exploded all around him. Picking up a crossbow, Liddie loaded it and took aim. With a smooth pull, she launched the bolt across the room. She watched as it slammed into the drow’s back, sending them slumping down with a gasp.

“Drat!” Liddie cursed. “I was aiming for his leg! These crossbows are so shitty! They’d never revolt with these! They need some sort of scheme to make some money…oh~ Right!”

“Stop messing about!”

“Yes sir, Pyre sir!” Liddie laughed. 

By now, the fires Pyre had started were filling the cramped interior with smoke. Coughing and sputtering, the few remaining drow could put up little resistance against Liddie’s superior skills. Annoyingly, the pirate found her new gills stinging as the smoke curled about them. Pyre, on the other hand, was unaffected by the flames or smoke.

After looting what they could, the pair stumbled out into the relatively fresh air.

Another crossbow bolt bounced off Liddie’s chest. She looked angrily at the source and saw a quivering drow boy.

“Scram!” she barked.

The drow boy yelped and fled.

“Well, wasn’t that an adventure and a half?” Liddie grinned as the tavern burned behind her. “Did you have as much fun as I did?”

Pyre glared. “That,” she gestured back at the burning building, “wasn’t fun at all! I’m down a lot of potions! AND we didn’t even find the herbalist we were looking for!”

An amused smirk lit up Liddie’s face at Pyre’s rant. She pointed ahead of them at a building opposite them, the porch and window festooned with dried herbs. Sitting in a rocking chair was a crotchety and extremely elderly drow woman, glaring at them as if they’d just made a bit of a ruckus rather than slaughter half the district and set a building on fire.

Pyre’s cheeks turned a brighter shade.

“Not a word,” she growled as she marched over to the scowling drow.

“Sure thing, little Firestarter.”

“Don’t you dare!”

Behind the bickering pair, the weakened building collapsed in on itself, sending the inferno roaring into the air.