— Faelyn Sylsalor, “A History of Necrophages,” page 123
Emily barely recognized herself anymore.
Weeks had slipped into months, and soon a year had come and gone. Now, standing in one of the changing rooms in The Tailor’s Shop, she was a completely different person. The full-body mirror stretched taller than it would normally have to, but it gave Emily a full and complete look at herself. She took a deep breath, and traced her fingers along the contours of her stomach, pressing into the firm muscle. She could hardly believe the difference. There had been a time when her ribs jutted out like scaffolding beneath her thin skin when she looked more like a corpse than a girl. Now, her body had filled out, the sharp edges softened by strength, not frailty.
She hadn’t noticed it until recently, not really. When she came into The Tailor’s shop recently to get fitted, the massive spider had taken the time to measure every inch of her body to ‘ensure the highest quality equipment.’ And as she stood there and watched The Tailor work, she had the opportunity to slow down and look over herself. Her waist was more profound, and she had an actual curve to her hips. Her arms no longer looked like brittle twigs. They had muscle, enough so that whenever Emily flexed her arm she could see her biceps tensing ever so slightly. It was the same with her legs. The muscles on her thighs and calves had grown stronger each and every day, and though before she knew she could run a fair distance, she could now run for what felt like miles before she felt a shortness of breath.
The girl who stood in the mirror before her was a girl. Not a withered husk. A girl.
Of course, her skin was still marred in bruises. She had a few yellow patches on her ribs, a violet bloom on her upper arm, and a scrape along her knee. But they didn’t bother her. If anything, they felt natural. She had gotten so used to them that if there wasn’t a bruise on her body, she would feel like something was wrong.
“Emily,” Mina said from the other side of the curtain. “Are you finished?”
She was pulled back to reality as a smile spread across her face. “Oh, no, sorry, I’m still trying them on!”
Emily gathered her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail and reached for the bracers, sliding the hardened leather over her forearms. Next came the hardened vest, then the long trench coat that swept past her knees. She tightened the belt around her waist, which was fitted with two holsters, and cartridge loops around its entire length. Sheathes for a set of daggers were sewn into her leather boots.
Emily turned, smirking at her reflection. She looked formidable. And for the first time in her life, she felt it.
The last piece was the scabbard Karaline had crafted for her, slung across her back. It was like Mina’s, in that it was designed to snap open at a moment’s notice. The sword was also just like Mina’s, with a short blade and a two-handed grip for better control.
With one final approving nod, she pushed aside the dressing room curtain and stepped out.
Mina was waiting on the other side, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She studied every inch of Emily but didn’t utter a word.
Emily hesitated. “Well? What do you think?”
Mina cocked an eyebrow. “What do you think?”
Emily turned back toward the mirror, taking herself in once more. “I love it.”
The pitter-patter of The Tailor’s needle legs sounded behind Emily. The giant stuffed spider reached out and popped her collar for her. “I would certainly hope so,” he said. “How does it feel? Supple? Restrictive? Can you move as freely as if you were wearing nothing at all?”
Emily flexed, rolling her shoulders, testing the give of the leather. “It feels… secure. Like armor, I guess. But probably not as heavy.”
The Tailor hummed in approval. “That is the intent. There is a reason my work is so exorbitant. If ever it suffers battle scars, do bring it back. I’d hate to see such mastercraft perfection go to waste.”
“But it’s not done yet,” Mina said.
Emily glanced at her, confused. “What do you mean?”
Mina pushed off the wall and strode across the store, stopping in front of a display. She reached up, plucked something from its perch, and turned back.
Then she dropped it onto Emily’s head.
A crooked, wide-brimmed witch’s hat.
Emily gasped. Her hands flew to the brim, running over the stiff, worn fabric. Her smile grew even wider as she let out a sharp, delighted laugh. Emily launched herself at Mina, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug. “Thank you!”
Mina reached into her coat pocket. “Don’t thank me yet.” She pulled out a folded piece of parchment and held it out.
Emily blinked. “What’s this?”
Mina gave her a knowing look. “Read it.”
Emily unfolded the paper, her heart pounding.
As of late, a hoard of ghouls has taken residence in the Nanroux Cemetery. Though we have tried to attend to the matters ourselves, it has become clear that we need greater assistance from those more skilled in dealing with such monsters. The ghouls are digging up the graves of our loved ones, and slaughtering our livestock. It is preventing our citizens from completing their work for Orsella Freight & Commodities. Each night they haunt the streets of our town and retreat to the cemetery during the day. As the village elder, I am offering a sizable reward to any volunteer vanquishing all the ghouls in Nanroux cemetery.
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Upon successful completion of this contract, those appointed shall return to me to collect the agreed-upon payment and any additional compensation for clean-up of the scene. If the appointed fails to complete the contract, he/she shall not receive any compensation or reimbursement for expenses.
I wish whoever finds this contract, and is brave enough to pursue it, the best of luck in vanquishing these ghouls.
— Antonius Blackwood
Emily re-read the paper one more time before furrowing her brow. “A contract?”
Mina nodded. “Your contract.”
Her heart stopped. “W-Wait… mine?”
Again, Mina nodded. “The stagecoach is in Nanroux as we speak. And you…” She reached out and tapped Emily’s forehead with two fingers. “... are going to help those people.”
The paper crinkled as Emily’s grip tightened. “Alone?”
“You’ve come a long way, Emily. You’re not that half-dead girl I found in that alley. You’re ready for this.”
Emily swallowed. The thrill she had felt just a moment ago had been suddenly whisked away. This was her first contract. Her first real contract. For the past year, she had done nothing but train. She had shadowed Mina, learned under her, fought against wooden dummies and sparring partners, and studied creatures she’d never even seen, or would have ever been capable of imagining.
She remembed her first hunt. The memory of that night sent a sharp, burning pain to her forearm. The scars had healed, but they would never fade. They were reminders of her mistakes. She didn’t want any more.
“I don’t have a choice, do I?” she asked quietly.
Mina shook her head. “No, you don’t. One monster hunter has already attempted this contract, and failed, at least according to Antonius.”
“You already spoke with him?”
Mina nodded. “I took the liberty of taking care of that portion this time. I want your focus to be on the hunt itself.”
Emily sighed. “A ghoul…”
“Multiple. But they’re relatively simple to kill. Then think of this as your first test. The next big step forward.”
Even if it wasn’t anything major, it sure felt like a pretty huge step to her. No matter how strong she had become, at the end of the day, she was still just a girl. An eighteen-year-old girl, for that matter. She didn’t have the sheer strength some a boy had, nor the muscles of the men who weren’t even as experienced as she was. It was something she had learned fairly early on in Peccatum. She couldn’t rely on strength. She had to use her small stature to her advantage. She had to use her instincts, her speed, and her mind. It was the same here.
After a moment, Emily let out another sigh and nodded. “Alright.”
Mina paused for a moment. “And… if you do well, you can take the night off to spend time with Lux, if you like.”
That got Emily’s attention. She was hardly, if ever, given the offer to spend time with her childhood friend, on account of Mina not liking her. If she had the opportunity to hang out with her, without needing to sneak out of the house, which she admittedly had done once or twice, she was going to take it.
Returning home, Emily wasted no time in gathering everything she would need.
She made sure her gear was secure, her weapons loaded, and that she had plenty of spare ammunition. When she thought she was ready, she made for the front door, pressing her hand against the bronze dial, but before she could turn it, she had a sense that she was missing something. Mina’s stare only confirmed that.
Emily thought for a moment, racking the deepest recess of her brain to try and remember what she would need. She was about to face ghouls. They were necrophages, corpse-eaters. They were drawn to blood, could smell fear, and hunted in packs. She had studied them for months, but knowing a monster's weaknesses was one thing. Exploiting them in a real fight was another.
Emily moved to the kitchen, pulling open the elixir cabinet. Glass bottles of all shapes and colors lined the shelves. She scanned the labels until she found a vial filled with a thick, black liquid. “Necrophage oil,” she said, holding it up.
Mina gave a small nod of approval. “Good. What ingredients?”
“It has a… coconut oil base with bone dust, ghoul’s bane, shadow-moss, sulfuric acid, and…” She hesitated. “Rose petals?”
Mina smirked. “And why rose petals?”
Emily huffed. “I still don’t understand that part.”
“They purify,” Mina said simply. “They help cleanse decay when mixed with the other ingredients.”
Emily shot her a look. “And they make it smell better.”
“Maybe just a little,” Mina said with an eye roll.
Emily slid the vial of oil into her coat pocket and triple-checked her weapons. She had everything she needed, but something about it was still off. The added weight of the trench coat, her bracers, the sword slung across her back, the pistols hanging from her hips, and all the ammunition, made her feel heavier. More cumbersome.
“You’ll get used to it,” Mina said as she watched Emily adjust her belt. She then turned the bronze dial and opened the front door. The familiar scent of industry wafted in from the street. Though Emily had never been to Nanroux before, or know where it even was for that matter, she could hardly distinguish it from Peccatum. The brick buildings stood tall, with soot-stained windows, and rainwater pooling in the uneven cobblestone streets, mixed with dirt and manure. But despite that, it was still cleaner than the human capital. The atmosphere was less oppressive, and with significantly fewer people walking around, Nanroux felt more open and spacious. It wasn’t as industrial either, more like a small countryside city that felt like a branch of Peccatum rather than its open thing.
The cemetery wasn’t far from where Mina had parked the stagecoach. It was enclosed by a six-foot-high brick wall, reinforced with a layer of wrought iron spikes. The main gate was bent inward, nearly crushed, the pockmarked steel was crushed and twisted like a wild tangle of vines.
She covered her nose as they approached. The foul stench drifting from the other side of the wall was enough to make her gag. “What the hell is that?”
“Ghouls,” Mina said, wrinkling her nose. “That’s their pheromone. Means they’ve nested and laid eggs.”
Emily groaned. “Fantastic.”
“It’ll fade once the nest is destroyed. The city will have to deal with the smell until then.”
Before getting any closer to the gate, Emily stopped and simply stared at it. She couldn’t just walk in without a plan. Ghouls weren’t mindless, but they weren’t smart either. Like most monsters, they we weaker in the sunlight, which Emily had to her advantage this afternoon. They would be a tad slower, and more manageable. They also wouldn’t leave the nest, which, from the looks of it, seemed to be the entire graveyard. They had effectively trapped themselves until nightfall, for that was the only time of day they would leave the nest.
“I have to burn the nest,” Emily said out loud, then looked at Mina to gauge her reaction. But, of course, Mina was stonefaced. “Unless it’s too big?” she then tried correcting herself.
“And if it is?”
Emily paused. “If it’s small… we burn it. But if it’s too big, we blow it up?”
“Say it with confidence.”
“If it’s small, burn it. If it’s too big, blow it up.”
Mina gave her an approving nod.
Emily nodded back and reached for her sword. The sheath snapped open with a loud click, and Emily polished the blade with the necrophage oil. When it was ready, she sheathed the weapon again and drew one of her revolvers.
This was it. After a year of preparation, it was finally time to put it all to the test. She was ready for this. Emily took a long, deep breath, and after another moment of hesitation, stepped into the graveyard.
My friend wanted to do concept art for Emily, as well as Mina. I gave him the descriptions from this chapter, and he was able to produce this. Yeah, that's Emily. She looks absolutely adorable, and I love this image so much. She is going to be in for a lot this volume, and I'm so excited to continue on with her adventures into the world of monster hunting!
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