All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 107: Little Monsters

I rolled in front of Tony and the crying woman. Contrary to her state, Tony seemed happier than I had seen him in days. There seemed to be some amount of moisture leaking from his own eyes, sure, and there was still a lot going on that my emotional models didn't know how to process. Still, he had a smile on his face. Probably.

He seemed pretty busy taking care of the woman and her small human, but it wouldn't be good to stay here much longer. I repeated my request to leave, nudging his foot lightly. Tony glanced down at me and cocked his head. "Cassy."

Tony tried to gently push the woman away, but she clung even tighter. “Cassy, it's important.”

I noticed Tony's shirt was soaking wet near where her face was pressed. Popping out my mop, I reached up to try and touch it. I didn't even need to get very close before all the liquid left the shirt, spiraling neatly into my little clump of cloth strips. I was about to put my mop away when I realized the shirt was once again becoming wet.

Still, now that I had Tony's attention, I continued explaining that the little humans kept trying to kill themselves. He seemed rightfully alarmed at the stupidity of those humans. Perhaps it was that these humans, in particular, were dumb? Either way, he got up and started going from person to person, letting them know that we were going somewhere safe with food. They were safe, but we all needed to move.

I went back to taking care of the kids. Specifically, the 12 that were not constantly being fussed over by one of the women. I started to herd them along the path when Tony was taking too long to get everyone moving. The sudden reduction in noise seemed to get their attention, and everyone was slowly moving after my group.

Looking back, I saw Tony going from person to person. In each arm, he held a little human too tiny to walk. Almost every one of the women carried two as well. The ones who walked along were not very fast, and this limited our speed. We were halfway out of the city, only having walked for ten minutes when the problems started.

The little humans would sometimes randomly sit on the ground and start screaming. It was exceedingly loud and not at all conducive to getting us out of the city. Their actions were, in almost every case, actively harmful. Some of the larger kids were put down to pick up the screaming ones, who struggled in the women's arms. This got us moving again, but not very fast at all.

My children were the best behaved. They stumbled and moved forward, but if anyone started to get out of line, I zipped around in front of them, and they rejoined the herd. The only major issue I had to deal with was one that started kicking rocks that hit the kids in front of it. A few judicious usages of my spray bottle to fire a jet of water at the offending child soon solved the issue, though.

Despite how well-behaved my flock of little humans was, I could tell that they were running low on battery. More and more frequently, I had to zip forward and catch a small human about to land on their face. Most of the time, I could get there to grab them by the collar and steady them. However, they rarely decided to fall alone. Inceasliy, they tripped in sync.

I just hoped that we would make it out of the city before we had to stop.

—-

Bee walked out of the gateway of the castle feeling quite refreshed. The sleep in a real bed had been heavenly, and the warm, home-cooked food was to die for. Silas and Lily had spent much of the evening catching up with Tony's family. They seemed to have no trouble integrating at the castle, so Bee felt comfortable leaving them again.

After she had slept and felt mentally refreshed, she once again tried to figure out the whole encounter with the skeletons. What had happened? She couldn't think of a reason for their strange behavior, but she could think of a couple of things that might have been related.

For example, when the rat ran past her in the catacombs, it ignored her. That was pretty much the opposite situation to this one, but it was also very unlike the undead. Maybe they were special somehow? Or was she? But then, if that was the case, why was she still getting attacked by ghouls and zombies?

She shuddered slightly. Anything that made the undead treat her as friendly couldn't be a good thing.

Regardless, it was time to set out again. Hiking up her pack, she activated Improved Pathing to get directions toward her master. As she expected, it pointed her down the road, and she set off.

***

Each time she passed a new trail, she checked the symbols even though she knew what she was going to find. Still, confirming that they didn't find anyone alive to save weighed on Bee's mind.

She followed her pathing skill further and further away. At a light jog, she was able to eat up ground at an incredible pace. In what would have taken normal person days to travel, she covered in hours. Her high levels had never been so obvious to her before. How much they set her apart from other people, she used to know. Could she ever become a normal person? Looking at the broom she carried, she figured that the ship had long since sailed.

The closer she got to Greg, the more she became nervous. She still could barely sense where her master was. When she left the forest and crested the hill to see the top of Greg's walls, she finally got a better idea of how to get to Void. Changing her course slightly, she skirted around the next hill.

Off next to the walls of Greg, she spotted a small group of people. Her skill told her that her master was somewhere in there. As she approached the group, she got a glimpse through the gates inside of Greg.

Stopping, she stared into the wreckage. What had happened here? Had her master finally gotten angry? What had the small city done to offend it so much?

Finally coming back to herself, she slowly walked toward the group of people at the edge of the city. As she came closer, she saw lots of children running around playing tag, with a familiar black shape deftly weaving between their legs. The group was made of about two-thirds children, she realized. At least Void spared the children.

Tony was sitting in the center of the group of kids. He was joined by a tall, brunette woman, a bit older than him and clinging to his shoulder with tear streaks running down her face. Tony didn't look much better. Bee ran up and gave him a hug without even thinking about it.

"Are you okay? What happened here?"

Returning the hug with one arm, Tony whispered, "I don't know. It was like this when we got here."

Bee felt a little bit of tension leave her shoulders that she didn't know she was carrying. They had found this. In retrospect, it was silly for her to think that Void had leveled a city. But ever since the outlaw encounter, she had been reminded of what her master was capable of. It brought back a feeling she hadn't felt since they first met. In a louder voice, Tony continued. "Yes, I'm alright. I didn't expect you to make it here so quickly. We could use the help."

He turned towards the crying woman. "This is my sister Cassy, and her child Abe. Cassy, this is Bee, my…. Friend?"

Bee thought about the title. Technically it should be something like superior or priestess, but she wasn't going to be a stickler for formality. The woman sized her up with a sniffle and a decidedly unfriendly look. "She's a little young for you, little bro, don't ya think?"

Feeling her face turn red at the suggestion, Bee spluttered, trying to speak. Tony's frown split into a small smile as he chuckled and punched his sister lightly in the arm. "Not like that. Get your mind out of the pigsty."

The woman looked Bee up and down again, this time with a hint of confusion on her face. She straightened slightly and wiped her face. "Friend? That's a story."

"Well, friend might not be right. Priestess might be better, but it's a bit too much, I feel." Bee hedged. That didn't have the calming reaction she had expected. Instead, Cassy's eyes widened.

"I didn't think ya were the religious type. When didja convert, bro?" Cassy asked excitedly. Before he had a chance to answer, Cassy turned to Bee. "It is always so nice to meet another member of the cloth!"

Bee felt like there might be some misunderstanding. Belatedly, she scanned Cassy.

Name: Cassy, Class: Devotee of Baludor the Blessed, Level: 8, Age: 26, Primary Stat: WIS

Ah, that explained it. Bee feared that this might get a little awkward. "Uh, yeah. Who is your Patron?"

"Why, Baludor, of course, silly! Who else could I possibly serve?" Cassy laughed as if Bee had told the funniest joke. Exchanging glances with Tony, Bee realized that they might be in for a bit of trouble.

"Haha, of course." Bee chuckled nervously. Tony tensed, and Bee made a mental note to talk to him in private later.

"Bee is a full Priest and will make sure we get to safety," Tony said loudly enough for everyone to hear. She understood what he was doing and didn't really mind. If her presence could help comfort all the women and children, she would roll with it. However, this might get them in trouble later. Still, she nodded to the group and climbed up a nearby rock to address them all.

"We hold the mage's castle at the end of the valley, and we will head straight there. It's safe with high walls and strong gates. You will all be safe there." She called. It didn't have the calming effect that she had hoped for. It would be nice to be able to see her full status sheet, but she suspected her charisma was nothing to write home about.

One of the women called out to her. "We had high walls in Greg and many defenders. The dead were barely slowed down. What can your castle do?"

Another called out before Bee could respond. "Wasn't there a great evil that drove the mages from that castle? And you want us to take the kids there?"

"I heard that the army passed through here to wipe it out!"

"How did you hear that and not know they were chased off by the dead? That's how we knew to prepare at all!"

As the women started to bicker, Bee furiously thought about how to explain herself. Clapping to get everyone's attention, she decided to tell the truth slightly. "The evil was defeated not by the army but by Void! The castle is safe, and it will protect us!"

She gestured to Void, who looked like it was trying to comfort a crying child who had just tripped over a rock and skinned her knee. Everyone followed her finger and stared at the little black disc. The group started to murmur uncomfortably as they watched the small mechanical hand gently pat the child's head.

"What can that thing do?"

"How can it protect us?"

One of the other children had wandered off and started walking back into the city's gate. Suddenly a gust of wind whipped up, and the child gently lifted off the ground and floated right next to Void. It screamed happily at the unexpected flight. As the little child landed, it bent down and patted the all-powerful god-like being with a happy giggle. It simply continued carefully cleaning the dirty scrape of a child's knee.

The group watched quietly. Some of the women's mouths hung open as the group thought. Bee held her breath, hoping that they would listen and follow them to safety.