kapuchu
DnafeinFilip didn't hesitate and he didn't look back. He had a chance to breathe and he took it, fleeing back into the city as soon as Lucie released him. He knew he had escaped death from multiple sides this night. He found a top of the line pump he knew and fenced the dagger for coin, purchased enough food so he wouldn't have to surface for several days, and headed down to his squat in the sewers to hide from the rest of the world until he would be forced to surface once more.
The Creature had the intelligence to be stealthy, well as stealthy as a seven and a half foot tall, four foot wide behemoth can be. Even with those limitations it could likely have lost Lucie and Aleksandra in the darkness of the woods that it knew so well. However it was very naive, never even suspecting it might be followed. It was easy for the two women to trail the creature and it never even thought to look back.
***
Deep within the forest, in the clearing all thought long forgotten, two horses shifted impatiently. Johanna and Wes were taking their time in the mill, studying the lair of the creature in its absence, putting together pieces of a gory puzzle. More than one pile of human remains were found, along with animal remains. Some were eaten, some were simply discarded like trash, there seemed to be no logic to it. The unsettled sounds of their horses, impatient and growing nervous, finally drew the two out of the building. In silence they mounted their uneasy animals and headed back the way they came, following the forest path in the gloom, lit only occasionally by moonlight, as they worked their way back to the city and eventually back to House Ianus and Johanna's lab.
***
Isabeau breathed a little easier after the Johanna and Wes passed her, a scant few feet away. The darkness had hid her completely, but she hadn't been sure, alert and ready to attack if she needed to. She wasn't by nature a violent woman, but she was a mother and wife...ready to defend her creation if need be.
She only had a few brief moments, time enough to check on Adam and note his, her, still unconscious state. That was good, easier that way. Isabeau's fury had not abated when she looked on her captive, Adam had ruined everything and Isabeau was left struggling to salvage what she could out of her plan. All her work hinged on her plans, the truth of The Panacea, even immortality were pending on this plan and Adam had thrown everything out.
She was still agitated, shifting from one foot to the other, trying to unsnarl the wreck of her great experiment, when she heard horse hooves. Again. The presence of so many others near her secret was disturbing to say the least. She pulled the horses further into the thicket and darkness, and crouched low once more.
She watched in disbelief that bordered on fury as the two riders rode up. Adam's personal body servant and the wench who had accompanied them. She couldn't even fathom such loyalty in a servant and the woman should have been long kicked out of the house. How had this happened? Her own people would have to pay for this, they were clearly slacking in their jobs. She would remove all of them if she had to. But for now she had to wait. She watched the manservant head off into the mill, he would likely explore it as the other two had done and finding nothing living he'd be on his way. But the woman seemed almost to fall asleep in her saddle.
Something prickled at the edge of Isabeau's psychic senses and called them to full wakefulness. This woman was trouble, of the psychic kind. A member of the society it was to be expected that she had some latent Talent at least, but Isabeau suddenly wished she had taken the time to learn more.
When the voice spoke behind her Isabeau knew. She had known such Talents existed and it was a simple matter to put two and two together. She kept calm however and her voice carried none of the stress she was feeling. A feathery tendril of her talent was reaching out as she spoke, apparently she could not affect Lily the same as other Talented people, or more likely Lily's ability to split her body and spirit somehow shielded her. But Isabeau was skilled at healing, or destroying, body, spirit, and Talent. She just had to keep the other woman talking till she found out what she had to work against.
“A little too devoted to be just a friend of the Master or I should say Mistress of the society aren't you? Are you her lover? Her sister? No matter. What is it you want?”
In the silence of the night, the unnatural silence that followed the Creature wherever it went, one could hear the distinct footsteps of it's odd rolling gait. The cool night air wrapped around it, rustling through the leaves as the breeze carried the scent of the thing onward, warning all those who lived by the nose that it was coming. The silence rolled ahead and behind it like a wave in the forest. A wave that swamped the clearing where the tense encounter between Isabeau and her pursuers was underway.
Isabeau hid her smirk as she heard the first edges of the deafening silence roll into the clearing. She knew what it meant. Things would unravel fast now and she would have to be ready to move. She had no idea that the creature itself was being swiftly followed and bring even further trouble with it.
The horse that Lily's body was on, and Ren's riderless mount, both sensed the oncoming Creature as well. The scent confused and frightened the poor animals, unlike Isabeau's horses they weren't used to it. The tossed their heads in confusion bordering on fear.
The Creature had the intelligence to be stealthy, well as stealthy as a seven and a half foot tall, four foot wide behemoth can be. Even with those limitations it could likely have lost Lucie and Aleksandra in the darkness of the woods that it knew so well. However it was very naive, never even suspecting it might be followed. It was easy for the two women to trail the creature and it never even thought to look back.
***
Deep within the forest, in the clearing all thought long forgotten, two horses shifted impatiently. Johanna and Wes were taking their time in the mill, studying the lair of the creature in its absence, putting together pieces of a gory puzzle. More than one pile of human remains were found, along with animal remains. Some were eaten, some were simply discarded like trash, there seemed to be no logic to it. The unsettled sounds of their horses, impatient and growing nervous, finally drew the two out of the building. In silence they mounted their uneasy animals and headed back the way they came, following the forest path in the gloom, lit only occasionally by moonlight, as they worked their way back to the city and eventually back to House Ianus and Johanna's lab.
***
Isabeau breathed a little easier after the Johanna and Wes passed her, a scant few feet away. The darkness had hid her completely, but she hadn't been sure, alert and ready to attack if she needed to. She wasn't by nature a violent woman, but she was a mother and wife...ready to defend her creation if need be.
She only had a few brief moments, time enough to check on Adam and note his, her, still unconscious state. That was good, easier that way. Isabeau's fury had not abated when she looked on her captive, Adam had ruined everything and Isabeau was left struggling to salvage what she could out of her plan. All her work hinged on her plans, the truth of The Panacea, even immortality were pending on this plan and Adam had thrown everything out.
She was still agitated, shifting from one foot to the other, trying to unsnarl the wreck of her great experiment, when she heard horse hooves. Again. The presence of so many others near her secret was disturbing to say the least. She pulled the horses further into the thicket and darkness, and crouched low once more.
She watched in disbelief that bordered on fury as the two riders rode up. Adam's personal body servant and the wench who had accompanied them. She couldn't even fathom such loyalty in a servant and the woman should have been long kicked out of the house. How had this happened? Her own people would have to pay for this, they were clearly slacking in their jobs. She would remove all of them if she had to. But for now she had to wait. She watched the manservant head off into the mill, he would likely explore it as the other two had done and finding nothing living he'd be on his way. But the woman seemed almost to fall asleep in her saddle.
Something prickled at the edge of Isabeau's psychic senses and called them to full wakefulness. This woman was trouble, of the psychic kind. A member of the society it was to be expected that she had some latent Talent at least, but Isabeau suddenly wished she had taken the time to learn more.
When the voice spoke behind her Isabeau knew. She had known such Talents existed and it was a simple matter to put two and two together. She kept calm however and her voice carried none of the stress she was feeling. A feathery tendril of her talent was reaching out as she spoke, apparently she could not affect Lily the same as other Talented people, or more likely Lily's ability to split her body and spirit somehow shielded her. But Isabeau was skilled at healing, or destroying, body, spirit, and Talent. She just had to keep the other woman talking till she found out what she had to work against.
“A little too devoted to be just a friend of the Master or I should say Mistress of the society aren't you? Are you her lover? Her sister? No matter. What is it you want?”
In the silence of the night, the unnatural silence that followed the Creature wherever it went, one could hear the distinct footsteps of it's odd rolling gait. The cool night air wrapped around it, rustling through the leaves as the breeze carried the scent of the thing onward, warning all those who lived by the nose that it was coming. The silence rolled ahead and behind it like a wave in the forest. A wave that swamped the clearing where the tense encounter between Isabeau and her pursuers was underway.
Isabeau hid her smirk as she heard the first edges of the deafening silence roll into the clearing. She knew what it meant. Things would unravel fast now and she would have to be ready to move. She had no idea that the creature itself was being swiftly followed and bring even further trouble with it.
The horse that Lily's body was on, and Ren's riderless mount, both sensed the oncoming Creature as well. The scent confused and frightened the poor animals, unlike Isabeau's horses they weren't used to it. The tossed their heads in confusion bordering on fear.