Cannibal Cohort

Liel and Elienoire had left the inn as soon as the sun had set, ignoring the curfew. Rain poured down onto the stone-tiled street in droves, causing waves of water to nip at their boots. In the darkness of night, it became much harder to see their footsteps, and so every pace forward risked an imminent fall.

The two women grasped onto each other as they walked through the darkness, a lamp borrowed from the innkeeper illuminated sparsely in front of them. They made their way to the front gate of the town, hoping that the lazy guard she had seen many times before would finally have taken his place, but to Liel’s dismay, he was still nowhere to be found.

Instead, a short way past the gate, Liel found an empty carriage, horses having gone missing. The reins were left hanging at the edge, and the attendant seemed nowhere nearby. It was the carriage belonging to the old man that had first taken Liel to Estelle.

‘That’s strange. Did he decide to go into town after all? He is old, and the weather is still cold… maybe he had a change of heart. But where could his horses have gone? I don’t think townspeople are often happy to allow such massive beasts past their gates… although it’s not like there’s any guard here to stop them from wandering in…’

The darkness churned, and gravel crushed under boots resounded within the shadows around them.

Silver suddenly shot out from underneath Liel’s clothes, creating a thick, impermeable shield behind her head. The heft of a sword deflected against this surface; an attacker dressed in a black cloak became the target of Liel’s own sword as she swung it straight out of her sheath towards his neck.

The black-hooded attacker dodged backwards, the sword barely scraping against the edge of the hood. In unison, several other shadows emerged, surrounding the two women.

Siltte had a strong urge to ‘protect’ whoever it had been bound to whenever it sensed killing intent. This was effective in most cases, as long as the attacker couldn’t out-speed the protective function of the Tree’s blood. Of course, this didn’t apply to the main enemy of the Paladins, Horror, only normal people. Who besides an inhumane creature would be brave enough to attack a Paladin?

Of course, the black-cloaked attackers were.

“Miss, get behind me!” With her free hand, she shoved the wolf-like woman backwards, using the length of her body to shield her. She glanced back and forth rapidly, taking in the number of attackers in an instant. There was a dozen of them, all encircling her as she raised her blade.

‘Damn it… I was flying too close to the sun in my investigations. I provoked the suspects too much, showing off my presence too much… are these the ‘cannibals’!?’

Suddenly, a flash of grey swiped through the air, slicing a large gash into the throat of one of the attackers. The man let out a wailing groan, falling to the ground in a heap as crimson spurted from his throat, letting out suppressed choking sounds.

“Leave, or I’ll kill you all just like him!” A gruff, harsh voice echoed out into the darkness. Liel handed the lamp to Elienoire, who illuminated the area ahead of them. A man with stark-grey hair and a leather breastplate brandished a spear, standing between them and the attackers in black. “My Lady, there was a reason I was so forthright with the curfew!”

The mysterious lazy guard lurched forward, slamming his foot into the face of the fallen attacker. His skull was crushed under the man’s boot, deforming his face which could still be barely seen under the dim lamplight.

One of the attackers lurched towards Liel from behind, but seeing the figure’s shadow approach, she sliced backwards with her blade, cutting deep into the attacker’s chest, causing blood to spray outwards onto the ground.

In the middle of the road, blood intermingled with rainfall, causing the streets to run red.

The guard speared another of the attackers through the shoulder, but this person was far more prepared. He immediately slashed through the heft of the spear with his own blade, slicing it in two and took a few steps back. The attacker threw his blade, slicing through the flesh above the lazy guard’s collarbone.

In an instant, before either of them could think to launch a counterattack, the attackers fell backwards and disappeared into the shadow, disappearing as if they had never existed at all. Only the disfigured corpse of the first attacker remained, silent and lifeless.

‘Was this that cohort of cannibals? Have they come to attack me for trying to investigate the disappearances?’ Liel glanced over at the guard. ‘That’s the son of the Chieftain… is he really not affiliated with them? He killed one of them… of course, I can’t just clear him as a suspect based off of that… but…’

The guard turned to the two women, his expression a bit angered. “You two should really be inside right now.”

Liel shook her head. “There are some things that are more important.”

“So important that you would risk the life of this woman?”

“She’s the mother of the missing girl. If I weren’t to take her with me, she might just ignore the curfew anyway and go on her own. Wouldn’t this be even more dangerous for her?”

Alongside her point, Elienoire nodded vigorously to emphasise it. The guard scoffed before turning his gaze away. “What are you trying to do, look for the girl? If you’re so adamant on doing so, then I’ll accompany you. That violent mob might return, and it wouldn’t hurt to have any extra pair of eyes, would it?”

“I’m not opposed.” Of course, if she had any reason to deny his company, Liel would have. If he were truly complicit in the disappearances like she first theorised, then he was currently attempting to keep her close in order to stifle her investigative progress. But if she were to tell him she didn’t want his protection, he might take more drastic measures in comparison. He might even bring back the black-robed cannibal cohort to attack them once more, and he definitely wouldn’t help protect them in that instance.

Besides, it was said it was better to keep your enemies close, even if only to keep a better eye on them.

Liel glanced down towards the corpse on the ground. Because his face had been crushed inwards, it was impossible to determine who it was. Although, even if the attacker’s face remained intact, it wasn’t as if Liel was an expert. Estelle wasn’t a small town, either. It was unlikely Elienoire would have been able to identify the person. It wasn’t a great loss.

The more pertinent information was that she must be getting close to the truth. If they were willing to silence her, they must suspect that Liel had stumbled upon something of significance, or their plans were nearing its completion. If given time, dozens of Paladins would flock to Estelle in order to purge the corruption. Killing Liel would equate to summoning one’s own demise.

‘What could they possibly be planning? I need to find out, quickly. First, I need to solidify the theory that a ritual is about to occur. If the missing townspeople are really a part of this ritual, then there should be more unmarked graves!’

The lazy guard eyed Liel suspiciously as she pulled out a map of Estelle, which she had borrowed from the innkeeper.

“What are you looking for?” He asked.

“You’re looking for more bodies, aren’t you…?” Elienoire’s soft, sullen voice rang out from behind her. She had been quiet since they had left the inn, lost within her own contemplations.

“…I am.” Liel couldn’t hide her true thoughts any longer. She had long assumed Isabelle to be dead, only going along with the search in order to gain further clues towards the supposed Cohort’s plot.

“I see… then, we should look… together...” Elienoire’s eyes filled with a distinct lost emotion, as if she had grown hollow. It was alike to the mask Liel often wore when speaking to others, but it was far more genuine, more tangible.

Liel nodded her head solemnly. “We shall, Miss. I’ll be by your side the whole time, don’t worry.”

Elienoire reached out, grasping Liel’s hand with her own tightly. Her gaze fell to the ground, stuck watching her feet as if she couldn’t bear to look up at the world in that moment.

“Why do you need a map to search for bodies?”

“I can try and restrict the search to certain areas based on patterns.” Liel measured her words for a moment, trying to determine how much of her theory she should reveal to someone suspected to be part of the Cannibal’s Cohort. She smiled slyly, continuing, “I think a ritual might soon take place. If unmarked graves like the one I found previously are being used as points in a diagram, I can use certain geometric patterns to determine where the other unmarked graves may be. When it comes to ritualistic diagrams, the distances between each point must be fairly accurate. I found the first grave at the North-most point of town.”

“So, all you have to do now is check certain patterns in order to determine whether or not a ritual really is about to take place? If the unmarked graves are found relatively close to where you determined they would be, it becomes highly likely that it is the case.” The lazy guard nodded his head in agreement. “It’s a smart strategy to confirm your suspicions. Shall we go look?”

Liel looked up at the tall guard, smirking, still holding tightly onto Elienoire’s hand. ‘If this guard really is associated with the Cohort, then he’s a brazen person. I can almost respect him in that way. It’s incredibly interesting!’

“Yes, let’s.”