Chapter CCCXXV: Never Send a Reptile to Do a Man’s Job ~Multehx

As the gang moved about the marsh, Scilas impatiently swatted aside a branch of a tree above him, breaking it violently off and sending the twig flying into the muck, where it shortly was pulled under. The assassin groaned as he moved on top a rock protruding from the swamp, getting a better vantage point. From what his trained eyes could see, Redaz had just easily made a natural resident (albeit ugly and violently mad) deader than it had been. Yes, it DESERVED the comparative degree on the verb, it was so smitten.

He smirked, mildly amused at the young man's zeal and slightly haphazard nature. Such reminded him of the agent... He shook his head sadly. The agent, what had happened to that strange chap anyway? He wasn't all that bad...even if the little jerk beat the snot out of him for that incident with taking the Quicksilver back when they first met. Yeah...he still felt his ribs ache when he laughed that certain way, but it was only soreness. Was that any reason to come between friendship? Of course not. Scilas even had to admit, he did deserve it.

But this was enough. Those...those...incompetent blunderers! They weren't even responding! Only the mage had a vague idea of what they were here for, and he was torching the wildlife. Still, it was better than just dinking around. With a frustrated groan, he leapt to a raised portion of rocky ground that formed a natural plateau above the muddy swill of the moors. Kenzo glanced over to see what this movement was for.

Turning to the others, Scilas shook his head. "I don't know about you folks, but this is just ludicrous. We've lost the masked member of our crew, another's off running towards what we're after with heck knows what stalking him, as I know I saw it dart past, and folks have just wandered off. I'm headin' after our goal, I'm through playing scavenger hunt in the swamp. I remember exactly what Jaded ran and I'm gonna catch up with him. Anyone who wants to do something, do it. I'll be at this source of evil if anyone needs me."

With that, he took to his heels and ran off. D'Nel and Ray Noh glanced nervously to one another, then to the others. "Uh...I dunno about you guys...but....I'm followin’ the scary one. I've learned that doing such tends to keep you alive. So, we'll see ya around."

And he and his robot companion dashed after the assassin at remarkable speeds (speeds only years upon years of fleeing from every losing fight...all fights but like two, grants).

The others looked after them. Kenzo sighed at this and shouldered his axe. Turning to Keshi and Chrono, he jerked his head back towards the village. "Come on, kids, let's check out the town again. The masked-girl probably ran off there. And sides, you fellas need a someone to watch your backs in these harsh parts." The knight grinned as he twirled his giant axe around single handedly, tosses it to the other, and pointed it back to the village. "Lead by the mighty K-Oznek, let the party ADVANCE!" he proclaimed, marching off in that direction.

Ratch just stood there for a moment. Then, he turned and tromped in the direction Redaz has headed. His memory kept notation on the direction the other four of his comrades had gone, so he figured he could assist the mage in surviving any more beasts of this swamp as they trekked to the spot.

* * *

Jaded panted tiredly as he rested on a rock ledge. His fight had tired him out a bit, and since then, he had continued running and reached the base of a massive, mountainous rock structure. The source of the evil forces was coming from the summit, he knew, so he had begun to scale it. However, the climb was long and the footing treacherous indeed. He was fortunate he had done this before, as quick thinking had already saved him from plummeting back down and to obvious death, as the ground was rock and hard enough to crush in his skull should he make impact, and help was too far away if he simply broke both legs to reach before infection got him.

So, this break was indeed a blessing. So he took every second, drawing labored breath after labored breath. A rock fell loose from somewhere above and bounced harmlessly off his shoulder. He gritted his teeth as a new feeling came to him. It was a familiar presence he could feel indeed...but there was a horrid darkness to it. And it knew he was there too. So it was waiting for him. So there was only one option now. The mercenary climbed on.