6th of Searing, Year 120
It was the first village they came upon. The entrance to it was lit by a cart, turned over, with barrels that had poured out their contents now scattered across the ground. The cart was charred, with a small fire still raging near the base by the dirt of the road. Before them were a collection of small wooden houses, circling around a village square of sorts that largely ran against the length of an inn. Stepping forward, Taelian could see that the entrance to the inn was very much open -- but not by conventional means. It had been bashed through, a gaping hole consuming the front-right of the building. Already, he could see blood trailing out from the inn onto the wooden panels, going so far as to run down the steps.
Only, the blood was faint. Whatever stained the wood was left, but it seemed on first glance that it had been lapped up wherever it fell. "Gods," the Siltori whispered with a sigh. The two continued to step forward, though Iridith shortly after gestured for them to pause. She sent her Irothar into the inn, examining the building's interior before the two of them would follow and investigate. She did not want either of them to be surprised by the creature, if it still remained.
The Irothar returned from the inside, one of them slightly bowing the glass frame of its head to beckon the two to enter. Taelian stepped forward first, drawing Ard Fuil with its length lit by cinders, an ember line of molten flame running out from the pommel to near the end of the blade. He had a black cloak around his neck, with a scarf over his mouth. His nostrils faintly breathed into the warm fabric.
Taelian's eyes quickly caught onto the bodies -- there were a few of them. Mostly they were bone, but even then much of the bone was chipped and fragmented, with small portions of their spine remaining, and most of their skulls. It appeared that holes had been punched into the area of their skulls that held their teeth, as the creature had likely eaten their tongues. Then, the scalp area had been ripped off; he of course consumed their brains. The animal... it was Dranoch-like after all. It took everything, not satisfied by simple sustenance of meat. Most of the bones had been eaten, and the parts that remained were the ones typically too hard to be appealing; elbows, knees, and again, the spine.
"Iridith, the creature is gone," he called out. If it were still around, he imagined it would have already presented itself in some way. It was possible that it was a stealth predator, but -- it had just been feeding. It was hungry and voracious. Often, new creatures afflicted with 'being' a Dranoch could not control their hunger, though he knew of course that this thing wasn't actually a Dranoch. It was just... something, with some familiar traits. Traits that were, of course, as sickening as the models they were based on.
"It looks like everyone in the village barricaded themselves in the inn," he said. Taelian gestured to the wooden boards that had clearly been broken, scattered around the remains of the door. "They were all killed. It likely went out to the farm-houses to look for isolated individuals; if it really does intend to keep eating and keep killing. This was... quite a meal. It could be satiated."
"I don't know," the Thespian replied. She was clearly pondering. "Wylen told me little about it; he doesn't know much of it himself."
"How did it manage to break free?" Taelian asked.
"It was unexpectedly able to puncture through the cell that Wylen kept it in, in the mountains above Raellon. That's all I know. We don't know of its abilities, only that it's likely very powerful. Wylen said it's one of the strongest creature's he's produced; silly that he stored it in a container in the middle of nowhere then, yes? Now it's free to do whatever it wishes."
"Including killing scores of people -- tainting the Covenant's reputation," Taelian added. He shook his head. "We need to kill it fast and cover it up. No one can know from where it came."
Iridith's brow rose curiously. She smiled. "You are a wise one already. Eloise chose well."
