Azaria Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Beginnings of Revenge

Lance Teron

Sitting at the café, I was starting to get nervous that the control affect on the woman was only temporary. I would be just my luck for it to be as such. I took a sip of my latte while waiting for the time to pass. I needed to get to a place I could print stuff later. Part of my deal with Azaria was plans for theme parks.

While I wasn’t sure how in depth I should get. I figured just a basic layout and some designs for rides should do. They were public knowledge as the world had more pressing matters to deal with nowadays. I glanced towards the door for the dozenth time as someone entered the café. 

The woman from yesterday walked in. She glanced around until she saw me then made her way over to me. She sat down without ordering anything but the staff knew better than to ask questions given most people could kill you with a flick of their wrist.

“How are your injuries?”

“Better. It will be a few days before completely healed.”

I nodded then turned back to my phone. I had thought about what to do with her yesterday but hadn’t hit upon a good idea yet. I had debated forming a team with her. That way if more than just myself emerged from the dungeon it would look less suspicious. The problem was keeping her alive. Azaria made it clear that she wouldn’t be pulling any of her punches.

“You’re a bounty hunter. Do you have any obligations that I should know about?”

“I must complete one contract a week or risk losing my license. I have four days until my next head is due.”

“How do you know you’re targets?” 

She reached into her pocket and handed me her phone after pulling up an application. Looking it over, I noticed quite a few people from the black market I was at the other day. As well as a couple of the thugs that had jumped me. This would make things easier.

“I have to scan the targets retina and it will mark it claimed on the app,” Mollie explained as I handed her phone back.

“You don’t have to turn the bodies in?” 

“No. There is an Organization we call that cleans up the mess. A lot of time, the body is barely recognizable due to the fighting.”

I thought about my own fighting and nodded in agreement. It can get messy. I was probably an outlier in that scale but there were plenty of people with known powers that could rip a person limb from limb. Just take Kyle for example.

“Alright. Here’s the plan. I want you to go to the local library and print off as much information as you can from the items on this list. I will be heading into the dungeon once I gather a party.”

“Is that all mistress?”

“No. Next time we meet, I will be wearing a different face. Keep that in mind.”

“Understood.”

I pulled up the app on my phone for the parties. It only took me a few minutes to find one that was taking members. I had to stifle a chuckle when I saw that all but one of them were on Mollie’s bounty app. I had to wonder about our society when murders and rapists could be easily found with a single click on an app.

Mollie and I left the café at the same time with her heading a different direction down the street. I had about an hour to kill before the party I’d joined would be heading into the dungeon, but I decided to head there now as it wouldn’t be the first time that a party got in early due to a party falling in the dungeon. 

When I arrived, I found my party talking to the last person in the world that I wanted to see. Kyle and some of his goons stood chatting with the leader of my pick up party. They looked to be good friends at that. I dug my nails into my palms to control myself. I might be able to kill him right now but given I had almost zero ways of dealing with telekinesis. I would be throwing my chances away.

“Ah! Friz! Glad you decided to come earlier. The party before us has already wiped. We’ll be heading in soon.” The leader, a woman by the name of Erica, called when she called me. 

“Erica.” I held my hand out to shake. I didn’t want to say anything else in case I lost my control.

“Sorry. What were you saying?” Erica said turning back to Kyle.

“I said you need to come to my party in two days to celebrate my recovery,” Kyle said placing his hand on her shoulder. I felt there was more to the story than just friends. That and I thought he swung towards men. Though, it wouldn’t be the first time a person in power covered that up by taking a few women every now and then.

“Next party! Five minutes!”

We turned to the attendant of the dungeon and Erica shouted her acknowledgement before turning back to Kyle. “I will do my best.”

We made our way over to the dungeon while I tried to hide my grin. I had my target for this party. I would make sure she suffered for being friends with that monster. My illusioned claws itched to slice through her skin.

This party did much better than any so far. We defeated both of the dolls on the first floor. The second party to do so with one this morning having accomplished it as well. From what I heard, Azaria had the highest death rate of all the dungeons on record.  I found that ironic considering she seemed to loath killing.

On the second floor landing, we didn’t see much. Only a few rooms on either side of the landing and a large doorway right in front of the stairs. I got on one side while the other rogue got on the other and we pushed in. We looked in to see Starburst standing in the center of the room.

“Is that… a unicorn?” Erica asked with speculation. 

“Damn first dolls and now a unicorn. I feel like we’re in some little girl’s playhouse,” the mage of the party said with some annoyance.

“No one is sure how the dungeon gets their theme. Maybe there was a dollhouse in the station it was born from,” I said with a shrug. Considering Azaria, a girl’s playhouse was pretty close to the target.

We moved into the room with some trepidation. For sure this was the first true boss of the dungeon. That only meant it was even stronger than the two dolls. I pulled my cleaver out, while the others also drew their weapons. I moved towards the side and back some, given that I was a rogue type after all.

The battle started without a sign. Starburst charged across the room in a second flat aiming directly for the main defender. His horn pierced through his shield and the man was sent flying a dozen feet. Erica and another melee fighter slashed at Starburst with their swords, but Starburst parried the leader with his horn and took the blow from the man.

I thought he had been made of cloth, but the sword acted like it’d struck metal. The party’s mage channeled Aether into a spell of what looked like ethereal blades. They sailed through the air and stabbed into Starburst’s flank. He whipped his head towards the mage, and I felt more Aether fill the air as he flashed forward.

The next thing we knew, the mage was impaled on Starburst’s horn until they impacted the wall. There was a loud crunch sound and the mage instantly stopped breathing. I took in the situation and moved behind the group’s archer. 

When Starburst turned to charge the other mage in the group, I reached up and wrapped my hand over the man’s mouth. After that, I stabbed the man through the back with my clawed hand and ripped his heart out. He fell to his knees before collapsing all the way.

“What the fuck are you doing!?” Erica shouted at me. She really should have been paying attention, as Starburst’s back legs came up and kicked her across the room. After that Starburst finished off the rest of the party in less than a minute. I moved over to Erica’s prone form and kicked away her sword.

“Revenge. Sadly, you’re going to help me get it. Whether you like it or not,” I said kneeling next to her.