Main Wing, Corridor
In the next few seconds the crack multiplied as the floor sharply rose, a dark shape mostly hidden by dust and rubble emerged from it blocking the way on the whole corridor.
Veronique hadn’t had the time to do anything but take a step back, not that there would have been anything else that she could have done in the first place, not as eight year old and not even as her former adult self.
A giant open pincer was coming her way and she froze, Rhea and her dogs were hiding behind her, relying on her yet Veronique was stuck in place a blur came to stand in front of her and the attack was swiftly deviated by an halberd, she recognized Kain’s back.
One, two, three times he kept deviating the hits till a second pincer was added to the attack aiming straight for Kain’s waist, one of Rhea’s Knights got in the way trying to deflect the hit with his sword but it failed.
The pincer got him by the waist and caught a bit of Kain’s side as well as it clamped down, the man yelled arching his head back in agony, the sound gurgled by the spray of blood busting out of his mouth from the pressure and a crunch accompanying it.
His torso fell on the ground, the eyes glazed over before it even hit it.
Kain barely hissed as he held his position to keep the other pincer at bay, while Lucia and Penelope had rushed forward to grab their respective charges and lead them to safety as the remaining Knights stepped forward to help Kain.
Veronique had scoped up Mos and Bos under her arms as Lucia grabbed her, while Penelope had Rhea in her arms in a second flat, the two maids were running off, Veronique kept looking at the fight from over Lucia’s shoulder and then when she saw Miss Hawking running towards the monster and jump at it heel first.
A thunderous rumble filled the air when the woman disappeared in the dust cloud.
A mere moment later all sounds of battle were over.
The two maids stopped in their tracks as more Knights passed by them to rush to the scene.
“Did they kill it?” Penelope asked, Rhea was clinging on her even burying her head in her chest, the poor child was trembling in her arms
“I-I don’t know” Lucia had responded as she let Veronique down, but still held her close by grabbing her shoulders, Veronique on the other hand didn’t let Mos and Bos on the floor.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
A minute later they were all open mouthed to see Miss Hawkings marching towards them, the usual prim woman covered head to toe with blue viscera, most on it concentrated on her right foot.
“What are you two doing still there? Get the children to safety on an higher floor, while I finish dealing with this nasty infestation!” Miss Hawkings scolded them as she got close and passed by them
“Understood!” the two maids repeated in chorus, Penelope immediately took off with Rhea, as Lucia tried to lead Veronique away, but she stayed rooted on the spot
“Wait! Miss Hawkings” the redhead called out for the woman, who stopped in her tracks with an impatient sigh and a frown “Is Kain alright?” Veronique asked before the older woman could start scolding her for wasting her time during an emergency
“Don’t worry Lady Veronique the Undead are far tougher then a normal human” Miss Hawkings responded as her face relaxed “he will be fine”
Only then did Veronique allow Lucia to lead her away towards the nearest staircase, here the redhead’s eyes fell on a odd figure leaning against the wall.
It was a woman, covered similarly to Miss Hawkings was with blue viscera, she was trying to clean her glasses with a stained blue magenta cloth squinting her green eyes as she focused on the task, only she was getting visibly angrier as the endeavor failed due to her hands being soaked with the blue viscera.
Veronique didn’t understand what felt so odd about her, but she swore she saw the unknown woman’s teeth and fingernails grow.
Duke’s Study
The atmosphere was tense, yet the place was lighter due to the Duke’s usual bodyguard being absent to quietly aid in the effort of disposing of the carcasses before they rotted.
“Commander Regulus, how many dead?” the Duke asked, holding his head in his hands as his subordinate was on his knee looking absolutely mortified from the recent disaster.
“About twenty-three, only four of them were part of the staff and we have dozens of injuries” he informed him “The tally would have been far worse if they were fully grown and we didn’t have the Knights posted inside”
“Scorpions underneath the Aurelia estate, how did this happen?” the Duke asked again, disbelief clear in his voice
“Someone dug a small tunnel from outside our perimeter and planted the eggs directly under the Main wing” Commander Regulus reported “we were lucky only a few were grown enough to emerge and we quickly disposed of the rest, now we are getting rid of the tunnels”
“Are you sure someone is responsible of this?” the Duke inquired his voice filled with a warning tone
“Scorpions had been long eradicated in this area and regardless the tunnels were far too small to have been made by them” the Commander explained his reasoning “had an full grown scorpion made its way all the way under the Main Wing we would have noticed it long before it reached it”
“The King will need far more proof to believe such claim and there are many who wish for the Aurelia to fall” the Duke said as a matter of fact, he would only look like a fool if he went and accused some unknown noble house of doing such thing.
“I will set countermeasures so it can’t ever happen again and fortify our security all around” Commander Regulus decided to focus on what he could do
“I want Knights to be permanently stationed inside, prepare to hire more men to make up for the loss in manpower for your patrols around the border” the Duke ordered as he recomposed himself
“It will be done my Lord” the Commander affirmed with a bow of his head, but before he rose to leave he had another thought to share “perhaps we could pin the blame of Margaret’s death on the Scorpions”
In one instant the Duke fixed him with a glare.
