A Questing We Shall Go

     “This was not what I had in mind when I said I’d do this!” Roland screams as he runs away from a pack of monsters that most closely resemble over-sized sewer rats from back home. 

     “Collect the herbs, he says! It’s a simple deal, he says! Should make you a few coins without problems, he says!” Breathing heavily, Roland slips to the side and yanks his hatchet free from his belt as the enormous rodents try to stop and turn after him. Bringing his blade down on the neck of the nearest, he almost completely severs its head from its body. The rat collapses onto the ground and blood erupts like a geyser from the wound.

     He momentarily pauses to ensure that the damage was lethal and watches the rat’s limbs twitch more and more slowly as the monster bleeds out. The rest of the pack quickly turn back toward him and he’s forced to dodge nimbly out of the way of flashing teeth and claws. Their eyes gleam yellow in the shadows of the trees as Roland begins to run again, backtracking his previous path and racing toward the presumed safety of a thick group of trees. Turning, he takes a swing at the next beast chasing him. He misses a killing stroke, but the axe bites deep into its leg catching bone. The rat swiftly retaliates, squealing and lashing out at him with its over-sized, filthy claws. It slashes through his leather arm guard and cuts deep into his left arm, blood flowing hotly as he yells in pain and anger. 

“That’s going to leave a mark,” he grunts as he slashes back across the rat’s face blinding it. The monster emits an ear-shattering shriek as it backs off, striking out blindly and hitting two of its companions. This, combined with the overwhelming scent of blood in the air, causes them to quickly turn on the wounded rat. After a few moments of inhuman squealing and flying fur, the two healthy monsters dispatch their wounded comrade and drag it off for a leisurely snack of rodent tartare. As they disappear into the underbrush, the remaining rat comes straight at him. Roland goes to his knees as the thing leaps at him, jaws open wide enough to swallow his head whole. Flipping the axe, he jabs the handle straight into the throat of the rat. The thing collapses heavily onto Roland, thrashing and kicking wildly. As he clambers out from underneath the foul-smelling beast, he sees the eye shine from two more creatures glaring at him from the shadows of the trees. When they notice his stare, they quickly skulk off. Roland shudders slightly, feeling far too exposed and outnumbered to boot. He quickly brings his axe down into the skull of the rat next to him ceasing its struggles. 

Popping the top off one of the vials of greenish liquid Horn handed to him outside the guild this morning, he downs the contents trying not to think about the taste. “Well, it could be worse I guess,” Roland thinks to himself with a grimace. The healing tincture begins its work on his wounded arm, and it burns and itches as the cuts starts to close. 

“Only one more of those, need to be careful. Hopefully that’ll stop any diseases I might catch from that thing, too. May as well see if this Devour skill does something while I’m here.” 

Roland approaches the closest rat corpse, estimating it to be about the size of a cocker spaniel.  Taking a rope from his pack he loops it around the creature and drags is slowly back toward the town and away from the woods. Checking  the bag at his side making sure the few plants he did find were not crushed to bits in the fight.

“Well, those are intact at least.  Horn only set me up for a week at the guild, and members who don’t work find themselves out the door. Still, giant freaking rats are definitely not my idea of a good time.” He sighs heavily and starts walking back toward the path out of the edge of the forest. 

     Stopping at the trail head  Roland looks that the overgrown rat. “Well guess I’d better figure these skills out or I’m not going to last much longer.” 

    Slitting the things belly Roland removes the innards his hands covered with blood of the beast. He pulls the heart from its chest. Instinct grips him powerful and unavoidable. He brings the heart to his lips he canines elongated and he tears at the heavy muscle rich thick blood fills his mouth. And knowledge swims into his mind he knows now how to be this beast. 

—

Later at the guild, he waits for an open counter to turn in his quest to obtain the plants. 

“Thanks, Roland. The Old Man has been after me for more of these. He needs them for some potion he is making.” The guild reception worker smiles at him, ears twitching slightly, as she looks over the plants he emptied on the counter. 

“Kani, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but can you tell me the total for the quest? I nearly lost an arm out there.” Roland eyes the pile of grasses laid out across the counter waiting on the wolf girl to get done with her assessment. 

“Lost an arm? There shouldn’t be anything that dangerous at the edge of the forest.” Kani says ears pricking forward in interest, eyes full of concern. 

Dumping the corpse of the oversized rat on the floor he says.

“Well, you can tell that to the bunch of giant rats that chased me halfway back to the trailhead while attempting to eat me,” he says showing her the bloodied and ruined bracer still strapped to his arm.  

“If Horn hadn’t given me a couple of potions, I really might’ve had a problem. Well, that and the week-long basic training course from the guild.” 

“Jerin? That’s definitely not good. Those are dungeon beasts. That means either a new one has formed or an old one has reopened.” 

Kani looks around, grabs a scrap of paper, and scratches a note across it. She leaves the counter and Roland, face pinched with concern as she heads back through a door deeper into the guild. 

Coming back to the counter a few minutes later, Kani hands a copy of a quest bill to Roland. He looks at it and notes it’s a request from the guild to investigate the location of a suspected dungeon. “You get the first shot at it since you brought news of it. The reward is substantial because dungeons are a serious threat if left unchecked. It would set you up for almost a year with a room at the guild not to mention the gold reward.”

     Roland’s eyes widen at the prospect of some security. 

“A dungeon huh?”