Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 57

Chapter 561

Iratus and his group were already running away from the campsite. The mouse boy waved his sword and slew two gray masks, the brown-robed beings who collapsed without a body when slain, and reached Victoria.

Iratus: "Terrible idea! It is time to go."

The racoon girl fired off another shot before nodding.

Iter and Studium were slowly coming back to the group as they fought off a small group that chased Iratus.

Iter: "Wait, hold on, what is that?"

She pointed to flames rising from the east side of the campsite.

Iratus: "Probably just Ignis. We don't have anymore time; let's go!"

The party was able to retreat deep within the forest before slowing down and allowing another small group of gray masks to engage them. Two were shot down by Victoria by the time they entered melee range. Iter, the goat man, blocked off two more gray masks who used their dagger to stab past his breastplate and stabbing into his lower torso, with Iratus coming in to swat away one and Iter stabbed the other, but bits of red started to fill his gambeson.

Iratus: "You okay?"

Iter: "I'm alive." He grunted. "I am still able, so let's continue!"

Victoria and Studium finished off the last of the group and motioned to hurry up, with many more gray masks slowly getting closer.

Once Iratus and his group got to the road, they met up with the others.

Iratus: "How did everything go?"

Confodere: "We slapped quite a few of them. So, pretty good."

Ignis: "I granted one of the cabins the ability to burst into flames."

Salvos: "I know we were not supposed to go too far in, but she insisted on doing her little arsonist thing."

Victoria: "We don't have the time for this. I can see them from here; let's go."

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Chapter 562

Iratus pointed to the north.

Iratus: "We'll never make it to the tower. The cave is far closer, so we should head there."

No one protested and followed Iratus to the cave north of their location. The tents were still there, and once there, Iratus and the rest of the party did their best to sring them up in the entrance as some sort of barricade. Once the gray masks showed up, Iratus looked at the enemy numbers closely.

Victoria: "Alright, if we can get to the tight passages, we should be able to line them up for an easy win."

Iratus looked outside and saw only a few gray masks.

Iratus: "Their numbers look severely deminished."

Five golden-clad conduits approached with gold-colored masks.

Malignitas: "If those are my former allies, I'm going to be mad."

The conduits made a motion, and the gray masks charged at the cave.

Salvos: "Too late to flee!"

Iratus and Victoria worked together to create a spear line with the gray masks charging through the tents and entering the cave, with several going down from the ranged attacks of Salvos, Bellum, and Victoria.

One gray mask came close to Salvos and through a hand axe at him, which bounced off his shoulder, but he grabbed at his sholder and started to stagger around. This jerking made his neck wound open up, and his eyes went wide as he retreated back further to dress his old wound.

Ignis dropped to a knee from a stabbing as she used her spear to defend Salvos instead of herself.

Ignis: "Iratus!"

The mouse boy came in with his longsword, slaying two gray masks on his way to Ignis, deflecting a blow for him, and in the same parry, attacking the gray mask on Ignis, killing it.

Ignis: "It threw a weapon! Did you see that?"

Iratus: "Busy, can't talk."

Then the five conduits walked into the cave.

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Chapter 563

The conduits were easy to identify, their folk species traits showing through like the bovinefolk's horns sticking through his hood.

Malignitas: "What the boiling silver ore is this crap? So he offers you a giant mansion to live in, and then you wear his colors and fight his battles? You abandoned me to fight this battle. I hate you all!"

The conduits were silent as they continued to fight the group, and their battle style was more like the gray masks, then themselves back at the tower.

Distorsio: "You'll have to forgive them; the wounds you inflicted on them were quite severe."

Iratus dueled the cloaked shark man, who used his own longsword that was about the same length as his. Iratus parried and walked away with a strike from his foe so that he could look around. He saw Distorsio staying back, and his group nearly finished with the gray masks when the enemy hyena man spoke up.

Distorsio: "No! No! I need more men."

And a few seconds later, another six gray masks came from the tree line and hurried to the cave, which caused the party to back up further into the cave, trying to find better ground. The golden gleam of his breastplate faded as he and his group were envoloped by the dark cave, but once they were forced to group tighter by the closing walls, the party halted and stood in defense. Iratus steadied his breath and focused completely on the foe before him. Iratus's eyes saw the slightly sluggish movements of his foe, and he pounced at his foe.

The shark man blocked with his sword, and sparks from their blades flew, with Iratus grimming at the damage done to his sword. Iratus tightened his grip on his longsword and readied himself as the shark man swung his sword in a wide arc, clearly overreaching. Iratus stepped back with his right foot and moved into a guard position, his sword being held with the blade pointing towards his opponent’s face, his body poised to deflect or counter any attack. The shark man gave another sloppy attack, in which Iratus easily turned his body and allowed the enemy blade to slide past him.

With his cat reflexes, Iratus moved into a thrust, extending his arm, lunging forward with muscle memory, and aiming for the gap between the Shark Man’s mask and his shoulder. The conduit barely managed to parry, but the deflection had little strength to it.

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Chapter 564

The gray masks were being slain quickly, and more kept pouring in; each time Distorsio yelled and screamed for more men, and each time Iratus got angrier. Iratus put all his strength into a winding maneuver, his blade circling around to bind the Shark Man's sword and control it. He stepped in, closing the distance to use his body as leverage. The Shark Man, sluggish and uncoordinated, tried to back away, but his movements were hindered by whatever was affecting him.

Iratus gripped his blade near the middle with his right hand, his off-hand, for better control. With a powerful shove, he pushed the Shark Man’s sword aside, opening up his opponent’s defenses. Without hesitation, Iratus thrust his sword forward, aiming for the exposed side.

The Shark Man tried to twist away, but Iratus' blade found its mark, sliding through the gold cloak and biting into flesh. The minion let out a guttural cry, his movements becoming more chaotic as he tried to back up. The mouse boy pulled back, his sword slick with blood, and shifted into his classic high-guard stance.

Distorsio: "It's not enough! Give me more! More!"

This time, three gray masks with tall, inhuman torsos and cartoonishly long arms crawled into the cave; their hands were instead spikey things that stuck into the rock, and the creatures walked around with a spider-like profile.

Iratus was starting to lose his posture as his anger was slowly burning him up. His foe seemed desperate as he launched a series of wild, uncoordinated attacks. Iratus parried each one with precision, his training evident in every parry. He used a high attack, deflecting the blade downward, and with the same strike, came in to slice the shark man’s leg.

The conduit stumbled, his balance faltering as he went down on one knee. Iratus brought up his sword to finish his foe off, but then his good nature stopped him; the idea of killing someone was strangling his will to survive. However, when the shark man looked up, Iratus couldn't see anything in the eye holes, like all the other gray masks; it was like nothing was there, and then Iratus's fury forced him to bring down the blade and cleave the head from the body. Then Iratus saw the red blood and the physical head roll, the body physically slump, and he started to get a worried look on him, but was snapped out of it as the others in the battle were starting to faulter.

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Chapter 565

With no one at his side, the enemy mousefolk was easily cut down by Iratus on the flank. Iratus took a glance back and saw Salvos getting back into the fight, firing a shot from the crossbow and landing a lucky shot into the eye hole of the squirrelfolk, who immediately dropped her weapons and fell on her knees, unmoving. Iratus clearly saw his friend's neck wound still bleeding, with his improvised medical care clearly not holding up.

Distorsio: "No, it's not fair!"

He started to back up and then turned around, running away, giving a cowardly and ragging breath on his way out.

Ignis was tossed down to the ground with a wet crack and blood from her face dripping into the stone, but as the malformed gray mask came closer to continue pummeling her, it and the other one—the third was already slain—started to shakle and became slow in their actions. This lag in their decision-making ability allowed Iratus to help Ignis move out of the line. The last former bandit also collapsed in a bloody puddle as Malignitas continued to stab his body with the iron spear, giving harsh breaths as he attacked until he was too tired to continue. With that, the very few remaining gray masks were quickly slain, and everyone took notice of their wounds.

Salvos went back to working on his wounds, but he could only stop the bleeding and not fix the open wound itself. Ignis was pouring alcohol from a bag over her forehead, which was bleeding horrifically, and Bellum as well had several spots in her fur on her head that were stained red. Malignitas stomped around angerfully as he tried to drown out his pain, his gambeson dripping red, and the man was panicking. Confodere looked over himself, saw only a few hide-deep stabs, and started to put his armor back on. Victoria was in the best condition, with no visible wounds. Iter and Studium only needed a few bandages.

Iratus sighed and was about to sit down when he noticed he was bleeding somewhere. There were bits of pain, but he only found bruises and couldn't figure out where he was bleeding from for a minute.

Once he was bandaged up, with Victoria helping him, of course, the mouse boy quickly got everyone ready and got them to head out for the tower.

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Chapter 566

The party got back to the tower and began to throw off their armor and weapons, with the girls fixing up a quick feast for everyone while Venatio and eventually Ignis went over everyone's wounds.

Iter: "My good sir, you fought bravely with us." He talked to the one-eyed feline.

Malignitas: "Yeah, that fight sucked." Then there was a pause. "Oh, I mean, thank you."

After medical care and food, everyone started to disperse.

Aestus: "Wait, where are you going? The bad guys could appear at anytime."

Malignitas: "I'm going home. I already have too much work to do, due to the old lady."

Confodere: "I myself am not in the best health right now."

Iter: "Hey, I'm still here. I just need to find a way home without using that road."

After an hour of rest, Iratus, Aestus, and Venatio went with Iter and went behind the forested hills, following the creek to the once-fox cave, now an insect panther hive, and went past it. They went around the road until they were far enough away to walk back on it. The group left Iter to finish his journey home, but this time the three used the road instead of walking from behind. The day was already getting dark, and this darkness saw these three gain a sense of confidence with their eyes glowing from light reflection. Their steps became more silent, with no change in their pace; they didn't even seem to notice that they were being more stealthy.

The pair were on high alert, their senses feeling out the area, but they got nothing and made it home without any sign of their foes.

Aestus: "I guess the gray masks are in hiding again."

Iratus: "I think we should keep the pressure on then."

Victoria: "Ask me tomarrow; I'm going to sleep."

Iratus with a curious head tilt: "So soon?"

Venatio: "You are all tired and deserve a break."

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Chapter 567

Once the morning glow burned into the afternoon of day 15, Iratus gathered people up to search again. However, by the time he had gotten his battle kit together, Venatio and some of the others were rushing into the tower.

Venatio: "They are back again!"

Iratus: "Alright people, let's move!"

Victoria and Salvos, with the other crossbow, went upstairs to rain down bolts upon the enemy, while Irarus, Aestus, Ignis, Venatio, Studium, Resonantia, and Bellum went outside to fight the gray masks.

Iratus: "Will you be okay, Venatio?"

Venatio: "I'll have to be. We don't have the others with us."

Aestus: "Hopefully they come by soon."

Outside, the gray masks were already swarming in, but they were still few in number, and worse, the four former bandits turned conduits were also back. Iratus sneered at the once-dead or even twice-dead conduits as they went in with the normal gray masks. Resonantia fired a shot at Distorsio, who ducked down to avoid the shot while the bovine went down from a bolt.

Iratus: "Dude, your guys are undead! Can you not figure out that you are the bad guy here?"

Distorsio motioned to the remaining gray masks, and they took cover behind the few buildings.

Distorsio: "You killed them; it's your fault."

Iratus: "They fought us, and we defended ourselves!"

Bellum: "Malignitas stopped being a jerk and gave up his hate; why can't you?"

Distorsio: "Confodere was once my best friend; I don't hate him."

Iratus saw movement from the gates.

Distorsio: "Speaking of which."

Confodere and Malignitas hugged the wall until they joined the spear wall, with the ranged folk firing their weapons to cover them coming in. This time the sharkfolk was sent flying to the ground from a shot from Resonantia.

Distorsio: "Look at you, killing your kinsman!"

Resonantia, with calm in her voice: "Shut up already." Then, with a slightly angry tone, "Why think about such things in a war?"

Confodere: "Stop this now! Just think about what you are doing for once."

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Chapter 568

Malignitas: "I don't think he is in his right mind. He sent a hit squad to attack us, which made us know our friends were in trouble. Not the best tactic."

Distorsio: "You abandoned me back home. You never listened to me, and you left!"

Confodere: "This again? I already spoke on this last time you invaded this tower; I was done with partying and focused on my job. I will say this one more time; grow up!"

The two remaining bandit conduits spoke in unison: "He abandoned all his friends; he abandoned the one he loved the most."

Then the two and Distorsio said in unison, "No time for games, no time for children, and so she said no!"

Confodere was about to respond, but then stopped and rolled his eyes.

Venatio: "If you have a problem with him, then come over here and do something about it!"

And with that, all the enemies swarmed out of their hiding spots to attack the spear wall. The tower folk raised their spears and skewered many of the gray masks. The squirrel and mouse conduits were easily impaled, while Distorsio never got far, for he stood still, a bolt in his heart. The hyena man then spoke with a distorted voice.

Distorsio: "Same as his life; irrelevant."

Then he dropped to the ground, dead. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and then quickly rounded up the loot and body, for the bandit conduits left no corpse and died the way the other gray masks did. Fading back into the void of nothingness.

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Chapter 569

The group was mostly done before they started to drag the body outside the walls, but before they could finish, metal spikes popped out of the corpse, forcing Malignitas and Victoria to drop the body. People started to search for danger, while the more vulnerable among them sought shelter in the tower. Salvos was still in the tower, watching this happen while the combatants started to quickly form a circle. 

The body of Distorsio was limp as the metal protrusions became like legs, and he hauled his body to Confodere, where it stood up high and launched a series of attacks that stabbed the hyena man many times, dropping him to the ground. But before the gray mask creature could continue, Iratus and some of the others came by to knock the creature away. Several spears were stabbed into it, but it gracefully walked back and ripped the spears out. After that, it turned its attention to Iratus, who did his best to defend himself, but the unconventional weapons of the spider, like iron legs, make it nearly impossible to deflect. Soon enough, Iratus was stabbed twice in the torso, his shoulders now bleeding.

Iratus did his best to back away while Bellum and Venatio filled his spot and used their spears, and when Iratus backed out, he felt delirious. He looked over to Confodere, who seemed completely zoned out with a large puddle of blood under him. Victoria and Malignitas were fighting off several of those spider-limbed gray masks who were climbing over the walls. Finally, Iratus collapsed to the ground and saw so much of his own blood filling the ground below.

An arrow from Resonantia staggered Distorsio enough for the others to pin him with their spears. Everyone was scrambling to get the two wounded back into the tower, and eventually Iratus blacked out.

Iratus woke up with a jolt and quickly took in his surroundings. He was in the medical room of the tower, which had been greatly furnished with medical equipment from the hospital.

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Chapter 570

Iratus was heavily bandaged around his shoulders, and they seemed to continually bleed.

Iratus: "That can't be good."

He headed down to the second floor, where most people were. Everyone greeted him, and once he sat down, Iratus was barraged with small plates of snacks.

Iratus: "Woh, woh, just tell me what I missed."

Venatio: "You and Confodere got stuck with some smart metal, basically nanomachines, and they are bleeding you two out."

Off to the side, the hyena man gave a wave.

Venatio: "We need to fish something out of the hospital in order to get the machines out."

Iratus: "Or we'll bleed to death?"

Venatio: "With enough medical care, that won't happen, but you would need treatment about every hour or start to bleed everywhere."

Iratus: "Okay. So, was it just the two of us?"

Confodere: "A few of the others got slapped, but it looks like only the two of us got stabbed the right way."

Iratus: "I suppose we should get a move on then?"

Venatio: "I need a few things before we can start."

Iratus looked over to see Malignitas strapping up to head out.

Iratus: "Hey buddy, thanks for fighting with us again."

Malignitas: "I just wanted to see that hyena guy die. A shame one of you killed it before I did...uh, twice."

Venatio: "Don't you leave yet; you have work to do."

Malignitas: "Hell no. I'm tired as brass bells."

Venatio: "Too bad."

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EPISDOE 57: END

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Episode 57 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 16
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: several minor back wounds (light stab wounds), a leg cut (moderate stab wound), shoulders (deep stab wounds)

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, crossbow, several pounds of C4
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 15

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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 20 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 49 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
---

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 64 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
---

(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 103 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

Malignitas of House Brokensand
feline, male, light black fur, light black hair, brown eyes (single eye), 6'7, age 29, b day 343.