Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 54

Chapter 531

Iratus looked around; he saw Studium sniffing around the cheats and tents, Confodere investigating the trees outside, and the others gathering up.

Bellum: "I found a few rations, but I think the people here took all their things with them." The cheetah girl flicked her tail in annoyance. "Also, way too many smells. I can't figure out anything from my nose."

Procella: "I don't think any of us can get a good count by smelling everything out." The weasel girl looked over to the fox boy in the back. "Unless you got something?"

Studium: "I've never had to use my senses like this. I can only tell that there are a bunch of people with at least one female."

Iratus: "I think we should come back later."

Iter: "Yeah, well...when? Who knows when they will be back, and if you come back, maybe they are hostile? I don't want to be shot at; how about arriving at night? But that is suspicious and likely to turn them hostile or extremely wary."

Iratus: "And if we meet any of them out in the open, it is likely going to end up in blood shed. However, I do see your point. I'd like to ignore them and focus on the real problems we are facing, but it is better to sort these people out first."

Procella: "Want Iter and I to hang around then?"

Iratus: "But what about the farm?"

Procella: "I'm telling you, it's fine."

Iter: "Hold on." The goat boy raised his hand for a second. "Let's just do a quick check-in and then come back. It won't hurt to make sure everything is golden."

Procella: "Alright. We will meet you at the tower later."

Iratus nodded his head and then motioned for the group to move out. When he met up with the hyena man, he spoke out.

Iratus: "Anything over here?"

The hyena man scratched his black hair.

Confodere: "In and out. There are too many paths. Who knows where they have gone, and it makes me wish I did a better job studying tracking."

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Chapter 532

Time passed as Iratus helped the rest of the tower folk build scaffolding against the wooden wall. Items were stashed nearby in preparation for the fight that would soon come, along with blankets, sheets, and alcohol.

Iratus: "I doubt the Gray Masks have given up on their plan to lure that giant animal to us. Do we have anything to combat it?"

Venatio flicked her tail in annoyance.

Venatio: "What do you think these are for? We are going to light fires everywhere. Animals seldom experience the presence of fire."

Soon enough, the thumps of something coming near were heard by everyone, and Iratus climbed up the ladders and onto the platforms above to look over the wooden wall. At first, Iratus didn't see anything at the moment, so he got down and started ordering everyone to get ready for a fight.

Everyone got into their battle kit with haste as Iratus kept popping back up on the platform to look over the walls—still nothing. Iratus looked over to Victoria, who was handing her crossbow over to Venatio.

Venatio: "I don't know if I'm good at the moment to join the fight."

Victoria: "And I've given birth, like, forty days ago. I'm not at my best either."

Iratus: "You might not have much of a choice. We will soon have an enemy army upon us, so we can't afford to not have as many spears as possible."

Victoria thought for a second while Venatio spoke up.

Venatio: "I have medical reasons to retire right now. I'll guard the kids room."

Resonantia: "Same here. It may not look like it, but I am clearly pregnant."

She handed her bow and quiver off to Iratus, who came over to grab them.

Aestus took time to walk over and check all around the other areas of the walls, while Ignis made sure all of the extra equipment was ready for use and all the extra quivers were filled with arrows and bolts.

Iratus went back inside the tower with the other two to look over the tower. Once nothing looked out of the ordinary, he came by and nodded his head as he headed out the door, the babies wailing as they were disturbed by being gathered in a safer part of the tower.

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Chapter 533

Iratus looked over to the Winter Winds Clan, who were wearing their own combat kit, which was basically the same as everyone else: a bronze breastplate, gambeson, steel spear, and various other tools and sidearms.

Iratus: "Will you three be good to fight?"

The otter girl and the cheetah girl both hugged their lover.

Fuligo: "Luckily, he will protect us."

Bellum: "That, and if you forgot, I am a kinsman. I may not have had soldier training, but I was quite the combatant in tournaments and martial arts matches back home."

Studium: "Hey, I've done training with Iratus. I'm just as good as you!"

The mouse boy nodded his head.

Iratus: "Test by fire, as we say."

Leitmotif, the snake girl, headed for the tower.

Iratus: "Staying in the back too?"

She placed her hand on her belly.

Leitmotif, "Of course, unless you think pregnant girls should fight in wars."

Iratus: "No, but that does remind me of a story."

Leitmotif, "A story from your people, please, do tell."

Iratus: "Basically, it's about a city under siege that lit a flame when the invaders broke into it. Everyone tried to flee to the castle, and this is a true story, but one woman had to fight off three separate enemy soldiers in her burning house to rescue her three children, and she was very pregnant at the time."

Leitmotif, "When it comes to do or die, especially for one's children, I expect nothing less from a mother."

Iratus: "Just watch over your Salvos too."

Leitmotif, "I sure will."

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Chapter 534

Iratus looked out again over the wall with Victoria, and now several cloaked figures were slowly patrolling the outskirts of the tree line.

Victoria: "The gray masks are making their move."

Iratus: "See any conduits yet?"

Victoria: "Not yet, but we should see one soon, I think. The only real question is if any of the others will be able to reach us here."

The stomping became louder as, finally, the t-rex came into view, stomping and stalking its way slowly over to the walls as the gray masks, clad in their signature brown cloaks and grainy gary masks, closed in on it, which seemed to herd it forward. The animal looked around and took two more steps forward. A gray cloak got too close, and the creature's tail slapped it hard enough to send it flying, slamming on the ground with its mask and cloak scattering, its body gone upon its death.

Aestus and Ignis went outside to light some of the debris around the wall and quickly retreated leaving the fires that quickly gained momentum, which made the t-rex stop for a moment until it continued forward once more, but by this time everyone had their next plan in motion.

Victoria and Iratus were shooting with their ranged weapons, which did a lot to trim their foe's numbers, while Bellum and Ignis tossed a large sheet on fire from the alcohol over to the t-rex. The strategy was a bit too early, but the animal did recoil greatly from the fire and ran amok on the gray masks.

Iratus changed his target to the dinosaur and fired a few shots at it, which caused the creature to slam his tail into the wall hard enough for most people to get staggered. Then the t-rex fled, stomping past or killing gray masks as it did.

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Chapter 535

The fox boy yelled out.

Studium: "Over here!"

Iratus, looking at Victoria: "I'll go."

Iratus jumped down as Aestus, Ignis, and Bellum jumped down to plug the open entrance up with a spear wall. Iratus went to the back side of the walls and saw three gray masks climb over the wall, these ones being very odd, with each one having six limbs, with the four extra being disgusting purple chiton and skin mixed with claws instead of hands. Studium was already in the process of stabbing one of these creatures as Fuligo grappled with another close to him. Iratus quickly took aim and shot the third one as it was just about to finish climbing over, with Fuligo taking hits from her foe that didn't get past her armor. The fox boy finished his foe off and turned to help Fuligo dispatch the final gray mask.

Iratus: "How's the back?"

Studium: "Nothing, though these three coming out of nowhere was a surprise."

Iratus: "If that's the case, I'd like you to join us in the front lines and Fuligo to keep watch."

The duo nodded their heads, and the fox boy climbed down to join Iratus, and they got to the front opening to see the gray masks and everyone else holding at a stalemate.

Iratus saw a gray mask come a little closer, and Ignis stabbed forward with her spear and impaled it. When the other Gray Masks moved in, everyone else held out their spears, their spear walls keeping their foes at bay.

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Chapter 536

The t-rex was slowly turning around and headed back to the opening, much to everyone's surprise.

Victoria: "I'll get another fire sheet ready!"

Behind the dinosaur were five people—people and not gray masks—who used pikes, which are really long spears, to hear the animal back towards the tower. The t-rex ran up and bodied the gray masks aside or under its feet as it leaned down to rip apart the tower folk below, but Iratus got an excellent hit in with an arrow that stuck the animal almost in the eye, which sent it into a rage where it spun around in pain, its tail pushing the spear wall down, with Ignis particularly taking the brunt of the force.

Victoria threw a flamming sheet down, and while it missed the t-rex, who was already out of range, it was enough for the dinosaur to surge past the gray masks as it truly fled this time into the trees.

Iratus looked around for the five folk, but they seemed to have disappeared. With that, he focused on the wounded and started to drag Ignis back as everyone else got back into position.

Several gray masks took the initiative to dive into the tower folk and started to push them back with what seemed to be the conduit, bringing more gray masks with it.

This gray mask was, of course, quite different, with it having dark brown padded armor and a third of it being a completely different kind of padding, with it being a light brown diamond stitching cloth. It had no cloak, and most strangly of all, its mask was not the norm and instead was a golden-light brown mask. The creature readied its long sword as it slowly came into the fray.

Iratus fired off one more arrow, and while he missed his target, the conduit, it still landed on the side of another gray mask. He dropped his bow, drew his own long sword, and headed off the conduit by himself. When Iratus took the high guard stance, the conduit took the same, and they walked closer, slowly slowing down as their walk to each other became a crawl, with Iratus taking the first strike and sweeping his blade to the side with the conduit following his strike.

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Chapter 537

The conduit was forced to follow Iratus as he led the dance of strikes, left from right and right to left. This circle continued for a few seconds, with Iratus continuing to shift his weight each time until he broke the rhythm and cut straight down, but the foe's armor absorbed most of the blow, and Iratus was forced to take a step back to avoid retaliation. The conduit also took a step back, shook their hood, and checked their armor for damage.

Iratus was staring for a second before realizing the creature was off guard and starting to move in, but two normal gray masks covered their boss. Iratus used his superior range to slay one and then sidestepped and cut into the back neck of the other one as it ran forward with its short sword. The conduit and the other gray masks backed up and retreated to the tree line, which was far away, as Iratus and the others made sure there was a large line of sight from their tower.

As they retreated, Procella, Deficio, and Confodere came around to the opening.

Procella: "Sorry that I'm late."

Iratus: "You're early, actually."

Confodere: "What did we miss so far?"

Aestus: "The giant lizard was beaten back, and the conduit has shown itself."

Confodere: "Right, and these things usually take the face from someone's past? Whose face is it?"

Iratus: "I don't know yet, but this one is a strange one because I've never seen one wear a mask like that."

Deficio, the lion priest, examined the empty clothes and dropped weapons from the slain gray masks.

Deficio: "No blood?"

Iratus: "These things don't have real bodies. No body, no blood."

Deficio: "Could have sworn they bled."

Victoria: "Heads up, they are coming back!"

The weasel woman, Procella, got into the spear wall with her own spear, with Confodere walking to the back of the area.

Confodere: "I'll keep watch in the back for a few minutes."

Deficio stood behind the spear wall as he brought his shotgun this time, but still only had extra padding clothes for armor. Though his left arm was only wrapped up in cloth, his metal limb was still exposed.

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Chapter 538

Several gray masks were coming closer, but when they were shot down by Iratus and Victoria, the monsters backed up to the trees again. Everyone waited for something to happen as they watched the gray masks.

Ignis: "Perhaps they have met their match in our disciplined and orderly resistance?"

Iratus: "Well, their strengths are usually ambushes."

Aestus: "Really, because all their plans usually fail."

Ignis: "I mean, they have slapped us enough through their deceptions."

Iratus continued to watch the trees, and then his ears twitched as he heard a racket coming closer, and then he saw those five people come into view.

Iratus with a commanding tone: "Take cover!"

Aestus and Studium were confused, but once everyone else dispersed, they figured out what to do. The five people were of various folk with various clothing, mostly from a more post-digital age time period. Three of them used crossbows and laid down suppressing fire against the tower folk. The gray masks slowly walked out, and to Iratus's surprise, they walked past the people and kept coming towards the tower.

Iratus: "Unbeliviable!"

Deficio: "I've seen stranger."

The priest moved out of cover to shoot off a shot from his shotgun, which made the people scatter, but the gray masks continued, and eventually everyone had to start backing up, with Iratus picking up the bow and Victoria climbing down to follow him into the courtyard. First, everyone took cover behind the houses where Iratus and Victoria fired off a few shots, which slew a few more gray masks, but once the enemy folk walked in, everyone fled to the tower.

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Chapter 539

Iratus took stock of everyone and saw that Fuligo and Confodere were missing. The lion priest opened the door and fired off another shot as Victoria used the murder holes to shoot her bolts.

Deficio: "Iratus, I need some backup, please."

Iratus: "Right."

He fired off a shot from his bow and backed up behind the priest, who came out and fired off another shot. Everyone tried to cover their ears each time they saw the man about to fire off a shot.

When the gray masks came closer, the door was shut and locked, and the gray masks started to go off and surround the tower, with the enemy folk taking cover.

Iratus gathered everyone up and started to put them into teams, and once they were aware of their tasks, Iratus opened up the door but stopped when one of the folk came out from behind a building. It was a felinefolk with light black fur and hair, with the hair long and in a ponytail. He wore a casual-like, sturdy dark brown shirt and loose, light brown camo pants. He wore a light brown cloak, and his most striking feature was a deep-cut scar across the left side of his face and an eye patch over his eye.

Felinefolk: "People of the tower, give us the weasel girl, and we will leave."

Iratus talking to the others: "Procella, something you want to say?"

Procella: "I don't recognize him."

Iratus yelled to the feline: "I think you got the wrong woman."

Felinefolk: "Procella, remember me? You left me and these boys here to die in that cave some time ago."

Procella: "The fu-" She moved next to Iratus and yelled down to the foes. "You tried to rob, you tried to kill an innocent man and his kid, and worst of all, I would have thrown you a rope if I had any! I couldn't do anything then, and remember, your group was in the wrong!"

Felinefolk: "You left us to die, you heartless woman!"

Procella: "Says the bandits who go around killing people? I'm going to beat you to death and eat your corpse!"

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Chapter 540

Iratus's ear twitched as he heard the gray masks close in, so he motioned to the others, and everyone quickly got into their respective battle lines and kept the gray masks at bay while Deficio aimed at the buildings to scare the bandits. Iratus fired his bow based on which side needed it the most, and as the fight continued, he saw Confodere and Fuligo come in from the open wall, most likely jumping from the walls to the outside. The two lines were starting to break, so they had to back up into the tower once again, with Deficio turning to blast apart several gray masks before he went in and closed the door.

Iratus: "Guess it's a small world."

Victoria: "Considering Resonantia fought off the person who killed her in life, I say there is something about this place that pulls stunts like these."

Deficio: "I also have such experiences, so I agree."

Victoria fired another shot and just managed to take out another gray mask.

Victoria: "There are barely any left. Let's try the spear wall in a half circle and finish them off."

Deficio: "I'm out of ammo."

Iratus: "They don't know that; keep them scared and let Victoria and I punish them if they get wise to our trick."

Iratus opened the door once again, with Victoria firing a shot at the enemy folk group to keep them down and let the others come out and form a spear circle. The gray masks started to close in again, and the enemy folk started to jump out and fire their own shots at the group.

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EPISDOE 54: END

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Episode 54 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 15
Coverings: blonde fur, white gambeson (many repairs, some leather patchwork), leather gloves, tactical vest, tailorcraft backpack, leather plate helmet, delicate gold chain with a small pendant shaped like a lion's glare, flashlight, bronze breastplate
Weapons: long sword, 3 knifes, short sword, hammer, 1 dagger
Equipment: belt, belt bag, water skin, leathercraft backpack, 2 bags, 5 copper coins, 1 small silver bricks, 20 silver coins, 30 gold coins

Wounds: large cut on left leg (mostly healed), large cuts on both arms (mostly healed)

Relevant Community Stash: a fire starter, whetstone, several leather items, 2 glass jar, 12 bottles, 1 fish net, primitive sewing kit, a bunch of small wooden figures, wooden dice, metal scrap, lots of rusted metal, several small fish nets, sextant, some bedrolls, a tent, a large barrel, writing material, 68 cloaks and other clothing materials, some fabrics, 4 carts, 4 stitched tents, skin drum, beautiful arts of tropical scenery, floatation devices, wildlife figures, lots of tropical clothing, ancient era hyenafolk clothes, gas generator, four flood lights

Armory: 40 short swords, 34 knifes, 19 daggers, 26 metal spears, 4 arming swords, 4 long swords, 2 extra gambeson, semi-automatic rifle (no ammo), 3 hunting traps, 6 snares, 12 backpacks, 3 katanas, 3 short katanas
Aestus: gambeson, bronze breastplate, leather helmet, metal spear, 2 knives, short sword, bronze long sword.
Victoria: bronze breastplate, gambeson, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword, crossbow, 2 daggers, flashlight
Resonanita: steel breastplate, gambeson, metal helmet, metal spear, short sword, 1 knife, compound bow, flashlight
Ignis: bronze breastplate, gambeson, leather helmet, metal spear, crowbar, 1 knife

Treasure: 13 copper coins, 2 silver coins 12 iron coins, a tarnished silver brooch, a small ornamental figurine, a few antfolk tapestries, some antfolk art, bronze lantern, bronze idol, some jeweled trinkets, iron lantern

Home Base, Tower: Large Storage Area (many crates, clay pots, and wooden chests), Basic Workshop Area (lots of tools, woodcarving tools, glue, sandpaper), Kitchen Area (many tools, many cutlery items, pots&pans, makeshift grill), Library, Armory, Infirmary Room (surgery tools, first aid kit, plenty of medicine and equipment), Children's Quarters, Master Bedroom (proper bedding, sensual antfolk sculpture), Six Bedrooms (proper bedding)

Outside Base: Butchering Hut (modern butchery kit, smoking rack), Tannery Hut, Underground Storage Area, Garden Area (fenced in), Tool Shed (fishing gear and supplies, trowel, woodcutting axe, woodworking tools, lots of rope, rope ladder, plows, hoes, sickles, rakes, shovels, scythes, chisels, anvils), Wooden Wall, Small Cabin (Venatio), Large Cabin (Winter Winds), Large Cabin (Dark Sky Family), Gravestone

Books: 3x woodworking books, weathered leather-bound journal, war game booklet, sketch book (from warband), Bathhouse Reviewers (entire 80 book series), cards, Fractura's Notes, Tempestas's Notes, 12 survival guides, 3 technical manuals, 46 fiction novels, 11 encyclopedias, 4 dictionaries, 22 cookbooks, 2 gardening guides, 3 crafting books, 20 educational textbooks, 5 religious texts, 4 diaries

Year 2, Day 8

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TOWER FOLK:
Iratus of House Lionheart
mouse, male, blonde fur, blonde hair, gold eyes, 6'6, age: 16, b day 350
-
Victoria Mother of House Lionheart
raccoon, female, gray fur, black hair, brown eyes, 6'3, age: 16, b day: 5
-
Aestus of clan Riversinger
otter, female, red fur, red hair, blue eyes, 6'1, age: 15, b day: 99, (preg 13 days)
-
Ignis Yang
red panda, female, reddish-brown/white fur, black hair, golden eye, 6'4, age: 16, b day: 344
-
Resonantia Diamond Heart Steel
shark, female, blue-gray hue skin, white hair, blue eyes, 6'5, age: 16, b day: 2, (preg 42 days)
---

CHILDREN:
Negligere Lionheart
shark, male, steel gray skin, white hair, gold eyes, age: 1, b day: 2
-
Ruina Lionheart
otter, female, orange fur, vibrant orange hair, blue eyes, age: 1, b day: 330
-
Gula Lionheart
red panda, male, brown fur, dark brown hair, gold eyes, age: 1, b day: 340
-
Tenacitas Lionheart
raccoon, female, silver fur, dark blonde hair, amber eyes, age: 1, b day: 345

Frustra Lionheart
raccoon, male, gray fur, blonde hair, gold eyes, age: 0, b day: 338

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NEIGHBORS:
Venatio of Wise Storms, Mother of House Black Jewel
fox, female, red fur, red hair, brown eyes, 6'6, age: 72, b day 299
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WINTER WINDS CLAN:
Studium of Winter Winds
fox, male, gray fur, black hair, blue eyes, 5'8, age 13, b.day 190

Fuligo Leaf Shadow
otter, female, black fur, blonde hair, blue eyes, 5'6, age 13, b.day 245

Bellum of House War Knuckles
cheetah, female, blonde fur, blonde hair, blue eyes, 5'11, age 14, b day: 91
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DARK SKY FAMILY:
Salvos Dark Sky
wolf, male, black fur, white hair, copper eyes, 6'8, age 26, b day: 66

Leitmotif Schlange
snake, female, yellow and red scales, naga bodied, gold  eyes, age 24, b day: 229, (preg 57 days)

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(farm)
UMBRA OCEAN FAMILY:
Procella Ocean Drinker
weasel , female, blonde fur, black hair, green eyes, 6'5, age 22, b day: 207

Iter of Sanguinem Umbra
goat, male, white fur, blonde hair, brown eyes, 6'7, age 20, b day: 334
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(farm)
THE COBALTS:
Commercium Jade Blue Cobalt
rabbit, male, white fur, black hair, gray eyes, 6'8, age: 25, b.day 221

-
Abrasione
hyena, female, tan fur, blonde hair, gold eyes, 6'5, age: 20, b.day 4, (preg 96 days)

-
Kuxatura
hyena, male, tan fur, black hair, gold eyes, age: 1, b day: 284

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LAST MISTAKE
Deficio
lion, male, gray fur, rich gray hair, green eyes, 6'6, age: 46, b day 111

Confodere Oculi Acuti
hyena, male, dark brown fur, black hair, gold eyes, 6'9, age 26, b day: 239