Looting the 13th Floor 2, page 28
part #2 of Looting the 13th Floor Series
“Nice,” I said. “Cleo?”
The cat-girl leapt onto the wood with her eyes narrowed in concentration. She carefully placed one foot in front of the other like a tightrope walker as she hurried after Hobble. I placed a boot on the wood next, and I took my time as I climbed onto the fallen tree. The deep grooves of the trunk helped with grip as I took each step slowly.
Kali hovered above us as she monitored our progress and kept close enough to grab our shoulders if needed. Hobble finally reached the other end of the tree bridge and gave a deep honk as he stepped onto dry land.
“Great work!” Kali said happily. “Good boy! What a cutie!”
I kept my eyes on the wood in front of me as Cleo’s feet stayed a few paces ahead. My boots were doing a solid job of keeping me steady, and I tried to keep my head down as rain fell into my eyes.
Then a sudden nearby splash stopped me in my tracks.
I swung my head around to try and spot what had made the noise, but I could only see droplets of rain making any movement on the water. Cleo stood still as she stared over to the left, and I felt a deep sense of unease as we examined the dark flood.
“Keep going,” I said quietly.
The cat-girl nodded as she began to walk again, and Kali stayed right beside us as her iridescent wings fluttered in a blur of silvery stars. We only had a few feet to go, but I tried not to speed up too much in case I slipped.
Then the noise came again, and Kali screamed.
I looked up to see a creature had erupted from the water and grabbed the nymph’s ankle. It was a humanoid figure that had blue skin and a stretched out face like that creepy, screaming painting. The monster had hollow eyes in its gaunt head, and a fish-like tail flapped at the surface as its long arms flailed. A deep wail escaped its thin lips as it gripped the nymph’s leg.
“Liam!” Kali screamed. “Help me!”
“Get off her!” I yelled as I leapt forward.
I pulled my blade out as I jumped past Cleo, and I landed on the creature’s back as I slammed my knife into its throat.
It dropped Kali immediately while it screamed, and blood oozed down my hand as the beast vanished underwater. My legs were plunged into the freezing current as the body sank, and I had to use all my strength to pull myself back onto the tree.
Cleo and Kali grabbed my arms to help as I shakily got back to my feet.
“What the fuck was that?” I asked. “A mermaid?”
“That is not a mermaid,” Kali said in horror. “I have never seen anything like it.”
“Go!” I urged as I gently pushed Cleo. “Go!”
Then three more of the monsters leapt up to the fallen tree with their long fingers wiggling at our feet.
Two of them wrapped their spindly digits around Cleo’s ankles as the third went for my leg. I stomped my boot down on one of the bony hands, and the beast howled as bones crunched against the tree. Its broken hand flopped into the water as it vanished into the darkness clutching its wounded arm. Then I grabbed Cleo’s waist to keep her on the tree as the monsters pulled at her, and I kicked at their wrists.
“Kali!” I yelled. “Hold Cleo’s hands! Keep her up!”
The nymph reached down and grabbed the cat-girl’s wrists so that she was being pulled up, and I started to stomp down on the bony wrists of the monsters. They screeched as my feet connected with their flesh, and I felt the sickening crunch of bones as I broke their arms.
“Liam!” Cleo yelled as the two beasts dropped her legs. “There’s more!”
I saw more heads start to slowly appear from under the churning water, and I knew it was time to bring out the rifle. Hopefully the thunder would cover the noise well enough.
“Run!” I yelled. “Go!”
Cleo kept one hand clutched in Kali’s as she raced down the trunk of the fallen tree, and I hurried after her as carefully as I could as I gripped my rifle.
The haunting faces rose as they swam toward us and held their skinny fingers out. One of the creatures was almost at Cleo, and I aimed my weapon at its long face. Then I pulled the trigger and sent a bullet flying right into the side of its head.
There was a crack as its skull ruptured, and the beast fell down to the water as blood oozed from the bullet hole. It sank down into the deep, but the shot hadn’t scared the others off. Another one of the fuckers tried to leap at Cleo, but I shot it right in the shoulder. Then I quickly shot a second bullet in its neck, and it gargled up blood before it slunk back under the water.
Cleo leapt onto the ground from the end of the tree, and Hobble grabbed her cloak in his mouth to pull her away from the edge. I followed right behind her and spun around as my feet landed on solid ground.
There were only two faces left poking above the water, and I fired right into each of their foreheads. Broken bone fragments and blue skin went flying as they fell limp, and the creatures sank back below the dark flood until the surface was still.
We stood silently for a moment as we looked out at the eerie water, and I kept my rifle ready to shoot. My skin crawled as I pictured those empty eyeballs lying deep under the river with their long fingers reaching up. Hollowfell never failed to deliver with its fucking nightmare fuel.
“I think I know what those were,” Kali said in a small voice.
Her face was pale as her damp pink curls clung to her cheeks, and she bit her lip as if she didn’t want to say it out loud.
“What is it?” I asked. “They’re not… nymphs, are they?”
“No,” she said. “But it has something to do with trophies. I heard the pirates talking when I was captured, and they would go on about how much High Society wanted mermaid girls.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “But you said they’re not mermaids.”
“The banshees,” Kali muttered. “They have all the spells.”
The nymph looked like she might faint, and Hobble hurried forward to nudge her gently.
“The pirates spoke about these experiments,” Kali continued. “The banshees thought that maybe they could make their own trophies.”
“Holy shit,” I said as I stared at the lake. “Those were the banshee’s attempts at mermaids?”
“I think so,” Kali said weakly. “It would make sense.”
“But how did they get here?” Cleo frowned. “I do not understand why these pretend mermaids would be in the flooding river?”
“Maybe they just released them,” I muttered. “If they realized they had fucked it up, there wouldn’t be much point in keeping them around.”
“Perhaps this is good,” Cleo said. “If they make creepy trophies, would they stop hunting us as much?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “It doesn’t look like they are exactly very good at it.”
The rain had died down slightly, but the thunder and lightning had gotten worse. I was grateful that the deep rumbles had covered the gunfire well, but the flashes of green and blue added a creepy filter to our surroundings. My feet were soaked along with the bottoms of my pants, too, and each foot squelched unpleasantly with every step.
“Let’s go,” I sighed. “Back onto Hobble.”
The girls climbed onto the creature’s back as I gave the swelling waters one last look. Those long faces were burned into my brain, and it chilled me to the bone to think of the High Society creating life. There was no doubt in my mind that whoever created those potions never intended for them to be used in that way.
Hobble moved even faster now that the rain had died down, and he carried us through the depths of the forest as I kept my rifle clutched in my hands. The red moon peeked out from behind the dark clouds, and the black stars glowed against the bright lightning.
We neared the edge of the woodland as the sound of metallic thumps rang out with the thunder. Hobble stopped a few feet away from the end of the tree cover, and we had a view of the front side of the mine from here.
“Alright, let’s see what we’re working with,” I muttered.
There were huge circular entrances to the chutes that dipped down into the ground, and a large gateway sat in the middle and led to a steep slope. Hunched-over workers trudged in and out with wheelbarrows and sacks. Some were human, some were dwarves, and many of them were humanoid creatures with deep green skin and pointed ears.
“Poor wood elves,” Kali sighed. “They were the biggest population in the forest, and so many of them have been enslaved now.”
“There are many guards,” Cleo said as we watched the frog-legged bastards stomp around the doorway.
Two of the armed creatures stood at either end of the entrance and seemed to be checking a list as they stopped each worker. They shoved and prodded the miners as they chuckled to themselves horribly.
“They’re checking them all in,” I said. “There’s no way we’re getting inside that main gate without being stopped.”
“How will we get in?” Kali asked. “That looks like the only entrance!”
“Not technically,” I said as I eyed the chutes.
Workers filled bags with tools before they tied them up and threw them down the tunnels. The guards weren’t paying attention to the holes, and they were more than big enough for us to fit inside. If we managed to get inside unnoticed, then we could use the smoke bombs for a distraction when we needed to come back up.
“Liam,” Cleo said slowly. “Are you thinking we go inside those chutes?”
“Yup,” I said. “I think it’s our best bet for getting past the guards.”
“Oh, dear,” Kali squeaked. “Down those huge slides? Really?”
“This is crazy,” Cleo groaned. “But it might be the only way.”
“We slide down a chute,” I reasoned. “Get loading our diamonds up, and Kali flies back up with the loot. She throws smoke bombs to distract the guards, and she uses the chance to fly out here and load up Hobble.”
“How do we get back out?” Cleo hissed. “We do not have any wings!”
“That’s when Hobble will need to be a hero,” I said. “If we can get him to race by the front entrance, then we can gun down the guards and jump on.”
“This is so dangerous,” Kali said as she tugged a pink curl. “Are you sure that’s the best way?”
“Give me another minute,” I said. “We’re hidden from view, so we can spend a bit longer scoping it all out.”
I studied the mine as we stayed hidden behind the trees, and I slipped off Hobble’s back to get a better look. The blue glow brightened up the storm above as the clanging of tools against stone rang out.
My eyes fell on a tower that sat on the right of the mine. It was a single stone structure that was half-hidden inside the cover of the forest, and I wasn’t even sure if it was part of the mine at all.
“Is that a watchtower?” I muttered as I tried to see if anyone was moving inside the slim window.
“Looks like it,” Kali said. “There are probably more guards inside there.”
Then I saw a glint of a bald head as someone in dark clothing walked onto the stone ledge beside the window. He held a crossbow by his side as he scanned the trees, and I pulled the girls back into the shadows.
Even in the darkness I could see the cross embroidered on his robes. It wasn’t just the leviathans and guards we had to avoid. The trophy hunters were here, too.
Chapter 18
Every bone in my body wanted to shoot down the bald trophy hunter, but I had to keep my cool for this heist to work. I hadn’t planned on armed men being stationed high above. This was going to add a whole new element of danger to the mission, but it only fueled my adrenaline more.
“Okay,” I said quietly. “We can’t have eyes on us from above. He’s going to be able to see us no matter which chute we go down.”
“What do we do?” Kali whispered. “I don’t want to leave Hobble here in danger! He’s too squishy to survive a bolt!”
“That is your concern?” Cleo asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Well,” Kali said. “I care about you both, too. But he can’t protect himself as much.”
The creature gave a soft honk as if he objected, and Kali stroked his head lovingly.
“Listen,” I said. “I didn’t want to do any fighting before we went inside, but we have to take this guy out. It’s way too risky to have him up there looking down on us all.”
“Yes!” Cleo hissed eagerly. “Slit the throat of the trophy hunter!”
Her grin widened to show off her tiny fangs as her tail swished with excitement. I could certainly use the cat-girl’s silent ways to our advantage here, and I had a flying nymph to work with, too. It really was the ideal team for a looting mission of this level.
“Let’s make sure it’s only the one guy,” I said. “Then we can ambush the fucker. Cleo, how easily could you climb that tree beside the tower?”
“Pfft,” she snorted. “That is nothing compared to the things I have had to climb. I can be up there in the time it takes for him to blink.”
“Perfect.” I grinned. “I want you two to distract the fucker while I get upstairs. Cleo can climb in the tree, and Kali can fly around the back of the tower. We just need enough movement for him to take his eyes off the stairs, and I’ll put my blade through his brain.”
“We can do that,” Kali said. “Cleo and I are so good at distractions!”
“Also at being sneaky,” the cat-girl said. “Sneaky experts.”
“That’s my girls,” I said. “Okay, Hobble. You’re just going to stay hidden for now, alright?”
The beast chewed the grass beside us quietly, and I found it hard to believe there was much going on inside his wide head. Then Kali gave him a gentle pat on the head before we darted to the next tree to peer up at the tower.
I looked through the low-hanging branches to see the bald man wandering around the outer ledge. His eyes scanned the ground as he walked with a ridiculous swagger. Clearly this asshole thought he was king of the fucking castle. He disappeared from view as he turned the corner around the tower, and I couldn’t see any more movement from the thin window of the inner room.
“Looks like he’s alone,” I muttered. “Awesome. I want you both to stay hidden and silent until I’m almost at the ledge. Then stay out of sight, but make enough noise to draw his attention from the stairs.”
“What if he looks down anyway?” Kali asked. “The stairs are at the back of the tower, but he walks past them each time he patrols.”
“Then I’ll shoot him,” I said. “That’s a serious last resort, but I won’t let the fucker live. Let’s try our best to keep this silent and stealthy, then we can go and loot some diamonds.”
“I’m ready,” Cleo said.
“Me, too.” Kali nodded.
“Then let’s do this,” I said.
Cleo vanished up the next tree so quickly that I did a double take. I glanced up to see the tip of her sleek tail vanish into the twisted branches, and the cat-girl might as well have been invisible.
“Fucking awesome,” I muttered. “Okay, make sure you stay around the corner of the tower. Otherwise you could be seen from the mines.”
“On it,” Kali said with a determined nod, and we both made our moves.
The nymph flew silently around the corner of the tower as she carefully stayed close to the stones, and I raced up to the start of the staircase. It was narrow and steep with black moss growing out of the thick cracks, and I waited until the bald man passed the stairs and strode around the corner before I began to race up the staircase. It would only be about sixty seconds until he reappeared on his patrol.
My heart thudded against my chest as I pulled my knife out and took the steps three at a time. I tried to land as lightly as I could, but the thunder and mining sounds gave me more leeway with noise. The stone was slippery from the rain, and I had to grab the tower for balance as my foot skidded on one of the stairs. Then I continued to race upward until I finally reached the ledge.
It was freezing cold being up so high in the stormy air, and I couldn’t see the man from the top of the stairs. The square walls of the central room blocked him from view, but Kali fluttered up nearby and pointed to the left.
“He’s going to turn the corner in a few seconds,” she breathed.
“Get ready to distract him,” I hissed. “Do it when he’s on the back ledge.”
Kali nodded as I raced around the corner, and I heard the man’s footsteps turn around to the back of the tower with the stairs. There was a sudden hiss from the tree as Cleo moved around, and I peeked around to see the man swerve to face the forest with his crossbow ready. Kali whistled from the right, and he spun around again so his back faced me.
Then I jumped around the corner before he had time to investigate, and I leapt onto his wide back.
He was a head taller than me with muscles for days, but I had the element of surprise. The man buckled as I threw my weight onto him and brought my blade straight into the side of his neck. I twisted the knife deeper as the trophy hunter dropped his weapon, and the crossbow clanged against the stone floor.
Cleo and Kali jumped onto the ledge to join me as warm blood spilled down my arm. I slowly lowered the body to the ground as he gave one last spasm before he fell still. The bald fucker’s eyes glazed over as he bled onto the stonework, and I gave him a kick in the side to make sure he was dead.
“That was so beautiful,” Cleo sighed as she grabbed my arm. “The way you drove the blade into his neck was perfect! You drew so much blood from our foe.”
She leaned up to kiss my cheek as her ears twitched happily with bloodlust.
“Teamwork,” I chuckled as I bent down to pick up the crossbow. “How about we take this with us? No point leaving a shiny toy like this lying around. It will give us the ability to shoot quietly, too.”
I was surprised with how light yet sturdy it felt. There was a leather pouch of bolts around the dead man’s waist, too, that Cleo skillfully unclipped, and she offered it out to me.
“I’ve never used one of these,” I said. “Have you?”
“Never,” the cat-girl said. “My blade has been my weapon of choice since I was small.”
