Vera's Story
About
A short fight scene I wrote for the super-determined detective Vera Wong and her robot friend ALiCE. This takes place in the world of Rue and Woe before the events of the story.
“Alice, what’s available for our agenda today?”
“Informant 7C noted that Freiberg’s people are restarting recruitment. This would be an ideal opportunity to stop them and root out as many existing members as we can.”
“Shelve it, Alice. Freiberg is the least of our problems. As long as they’re not taking overt action, they’re just a nuisance. What else?”
“Informant 4 notes that the woodling Beck has recently shown interest in buying alfsbane.”
“How much are we talking?”
“About 40 individual plants.”
“That’s strange, but not a crime. What else is on the blotter?”
“Reports from the Duke’s scouts have seen increased evidence of highwayman camps- at least four detected this year.”
“Not our business, that’s for the militia to handle.”
“Yes ma’am. There is a notable uptick in missing women’s reports- up 10% from the last year.”
“That is concerning. Do we have specific leads?”
“Not to my knowledge, ma’am.”
“Put out a relevant bulletin for informant 6 and informant 7C. What other issues are there?”
“Yes ma’am. Concerned citizen reports of an unfamiliar man and a child roaming the area, notable because they seem to have been traveling with leather cloaks.”
“Really now? Any information where they’ve been?”
“They were sighted moving into and out of Visholme, ma’am.”
“Visholme… yes, we will definitely have to pay Levi a visit.”
“Ma’am, are you sure?”
“I am as sure as I can be. Was the child male or female? Blond or otherwise?”
“Reports are not sure, ma’am. Its appearance was obscured by a large gray object it was holding.”
“We’ll head out at once, Alice.”
“Very well, Miss Wong.”
Alice was a godsend. The golem servant appeared as a pale woman in an elegant black and white dress and long white boots, with a long dark hair and a long ponytail. She appeared and acted fairly human for the most part, but a hollow tinge to her voice and a few oddly stiff motions tipped off anyone in the know. She said her full name was Artificial Liaison Computing Entity and had been serving New Eris since the very start, whatever that meant.
Vera Wong turned her thoughts to her own preparations. She snapped shut her full briefcase, opened her closet and selected one of her many dress suits. She was tall, slim and long-haired, with her bangs cut short and completely level. A zero-bullshit look that was well-suited for her, or at least that’s the impression she got from others. Vera knew it important to be well-dressed to keep up with someone like Levi, and there would likely be rain around Visholme. She grabbed her trusty knife in case they had an unwarm welcome. Something told her the man and the child were exactly who she suspected they were, and she dreaded knowing she may be right.
New Eris was unseasonably rainy this morning. A light drizzle and a little sun peeking through, but dark clouds all around. No wind, so the air was rather stifling. Vera opened her umbrella and Alice quickly stepped under it. Alice was fine with water, but her clothes were not. Vera believed it would make more sense the other way around, although she didn’t know why. They hailed a carriage for the trip to Visholme.
The carriage did not make a particularly smooth journey. Lots of bumps along the way. Vera felt a little sick inside, but she didn’t complain. Alice showed little reaction, as usual. Finally a particularly nasty bump rocked the entire cabin up and then down. Vera cringed a little inside as the carriage rocked to complete halt. Alice suddenly wore an expression of concern- “The road between Segmentum and Visholme is normally well-maintained. Why is our journey suddenly this difficult?”
Vera thought for a moment, trying to overcome the sickness in her stomach…
“Could it be… someone damaged the road somehow...”, she surmised.
“Yes, and why-”
Alice was cut off by a loud shout of “STAND AND DELIVER” from not far away.
Vera clenched her jaw. Highwaymen. Perhaps she chose the wrong problem to solve today.
Alice emerged from the carriage first. She saw their unfortunate carriage driver held in an arm lock by a brigand dressed in dark tan rags that covered his or her shape and face. Another, similarly dressed stranger held a sword to Alice’s face. A third one leaned against the carriage. Alice did her best not to react, although the bandit holding her up must have seen something, because it spoke with confidence. “Whoever else is in the carriage, get out now or they’ll simply be the last to die.”, it said.
“Just one other person.”, Alice said. “But she’s kind of sick right now, the ride was really bumpy. Please give her a moment to recuperate.”
“No!”, the bandit said, brandishing the sword.
“Alright. Vera, do come out.”, said Alice. “These fine gentlemen would like a word with you.” She turned back to the person accosting her. “We have nothing of value.”
A third bandit in rags, this one unarmed with a pair of swords at his hips walked over to them. “On the contrary, we do have you!”, a clearly male voice said, bringing his finger up to Alice’s chin. Alice felt an urge to break his neck and ignored it.
“Hey, it’s stuck!”, said Vera’s voice from the carriage, rattling the door. The bandit leaning against the carriage rolled his eyes and walked over to the carriage, muttering something. As he reached the door, suddenly the window smashed apart and the bandit fell backwards, bleeding from the face. The door burst open and Vera swept out of it, suddenly standing with a bloody knife in her hand before the three surviving brigands.
“It really was stuck, because I jammed it myself. My name is Vera Wong, a woman of honest words and honest living, and I tell you only the truth. In the name of King Ethern, you are all under arrest for banditry and assault. Come quietly and I will do my best to see you receive a light sentence. Leave, and I will hunt you down like a dog. Or you can fight, and I guarantee it will the last time you will ever attempt this.”
The brigand with two swords laughs as he whips both blades out in a split second. He looks at the badge on Vera’s lapel. “A Royal Investigator? I would be worried, if your guardian angel wasn’t contained in a dinky little knife. I have mine in two blades!” As if on cue, the swords glow ever so slightly. Every human has their own guardian angel inhabiting an instrument of their choice, and Vera’s is the modestly-sized flip-knife in her hands.
Another bandit emerges from behind the opposite side of the carriage, sword in hand and crept up to Vera. Alice notices him first.
“Vera, do mind yourself.”, says Alice. Vera nods and side-steps the flanking bandit’s first strike, using the brief opening to rip open his thigh as she withdraws. The bandit grunts a little at the bleeding wound, and Vera lunges at his head. He brings up his sword to respond, but Vera suddenly reverses direction and goes low with her knife in a reverse grip, stabbing the wound in his thigh again. The bandit drops to one knee on his good leg and without stopping the motion of her arm, Vera rises her knife up and through his throat, before spinning away from the dying bandit, sending blood flicking off her knife. She looks evenly at the bandit with two swords, who evidently decided to take her seriously now, if his ready stance is any indication.
“Shoot the bitch!”, he mutters. An arrow speeds through the air, shattering itself against Alice’s body, as Alice intercepts it before Vera could react.
The two-sword bandit looks on in shock- how could she possibly be alive? She isn’t even wearing armor! Alice looks him over, points at his foot with one finger, and says, “bang”. A sudden flash of blue lights up between her hand and his body, and he slumps onto his side in pain, his burnt foot surprising and paining him in equal measure. The bandit holding the sword to Alice’s head stares in shock, and with a grunt of anger, Alice takes the chance to grab the person’s face and in one swift motion slam them against the ground.
Another arrow flies at Alice’s head and shatters completely, this time knocking her forwards, making her stumble a little. Vera swings her knife at empty air, staring intently into the reflection on the blade. She points at the hills nearby and shouts, “There, archer!” Alice recovers from the blow and looks around for the shooter, as Vera narrowly ducks underneath a third arrow.
The brute who had been holding the carriage driver tosses him aside and charges at Vera with a mace in hand. Vera awaits his arrival, and takes several, rapid steps to the side at the last second, forcing him to stop and spin around to face her. It was too late, as she jabs her knife at his face. He instinctively brings up his free hand to block and the knife opens up the back of his hand, sending a spray of blood out. He swings away with his mace, trying to catch her underneath sweeping swings, but Vera does not humor him with swordplay. Instead, she backpedals with very measured steps, always slightly out of reach. The mace would easily kill her with a single connection, and she is well aware of it. Her assailant seems to realize this as well, as he pulls back his strikes slightly to avoid leaving too great an opening, being content to keep forcing her back. He shows no signs of tiring and puts in just enough effort into his strikes to keep her on the defensive. His steadily bleeding off-hand does little to deter him, and he shows no sign of concern for his wound. Vera steps back from another careful but powerful blow, her mind racing. She knows from experience that she will eventually lose her footing, which will be fatal against such a weapon. There is only one resort.
After dancing out of reach from another blow, Vera swings back her arm and thrusts her hand forward, knife spinning out from it and into the bandit’s skull. The man bellows horribly and clutches at the knife in his forehead. Vera wastes no time in landing punch after punch into the man’s face, driving the blade further in, as he futilely tries to ward her hands off. He suddenly seems to remember he has a mace and brings it up against Vera’s rib cage, knocking her off her feet. He drops to both knees in one final scream with the knife having nearly split his head apart, and falls still.
From Vera’s estimation, she got very close- the mace didn’t have enough distance to travel, and that is why she is still thinking, and breathing, right now. Although it definitely does hurt to do either one…. She groans and carefully retrieves her knife from the bandit’s corpse.
She looks over at Alice and sees her in the distance, wrestling in a clinch with a massive man wearing a quiver of arrows. The man had animal ears protruding from his head- probably a changeling of some sort. Alice wouldn’t last long, she needs Vera’s help! But Vera’s lungs will not let her, as she trips and falls from pain after a few steps.
Vera gathers her will, takes a deep breath and forces her body back to standing and walking. She notices the bandit with that Alice threw to the ground is getting to his… her? feet. The bandit with two swords still lay on the ground cursing in pain, but he’d probably also rally soon. Vera mumbles a curse under her breath and hobbles forward, knife at the ready. The recovering bandit clutches at their head, but notices Vera all too soon. With a cry, the bandit runs at her, swinging wildly with the sword. Vera notes with surprise how slow these blows came- this was clearly an amateur. Vera cuts open the bandit’s sword hand with a quick lunge and retreats immediately. The bandit drops the sword, grabs their hand in pain, and then stops that immediately as Vera lands a left hook that reverberates through their skull. They drop to the ground without further protest and Vera clenches her teeth again, ready to finish off the last bandit laying on the ground.
The bandit with two swords notices Vera felling his teammate and immediately stops moaning in pain. He pauses, and then screams as loudly as he can and leaps to his feet, completely ignoring whatever pain he’s clearly feeling. He spins at Vera with both swords, taking her off guard. She narrowly avoids losing a hand, as the blade shaves off part of her left sleeve, drawing plenty of blood from the skin below. She grits her teeth at the pain, as the man’s other sword comes close to taking her throat. She leaps back and weaves back and forth, not risking a parry with her shorter knife. Vera brings her the top of her foot out and into the man’s injured leg, and he yells in pain and rage before renewing his attacks. Vera swears as the swords come closer and closer with every strike, the sweat building on her brow as the man dices away with his right hand, his left ready to disembowel her if she leaves that side open. She takes another cut to the stomach, thankfully not deep, and backs away from a followup that could take her head clean off. Vera can feel her legs failing her as the fights have been going on for far too long now. In a brief lull in her opponent’s strikes, Vera runs off, picks up a stone and hurls it at his wounded leg. The bandit yells in agony again and stumbles forward, this time his leg finally failing him, and he crashes to the ground. Vera wastes no time in kicking him in the head, causing him to spasm horribly and then the bandit’s body goes stiff and still.
Vera sighs in and clutches at the wound on her belly and tries to hide the gash on her sleeve. She can tell neither will kill her now, at least, but she’s definitely not in a shape to fight anymore. She hears yelling and smacking in the distance and looks into the distance to see the changeling pinning Alice and landing very audible punches onto her face.
“Hey asshole!”, Vera yells. “You forgot about me!” The changeling looks up, giving Alice just enough time to raise up her hand to his face. With another bright blue flash, the changeling howls at the burns on his face before dropping down and rolling. Alice gets up- not easily, Vera notes- picks up his head and slams it onto the ground… several times in fact. Alice then drops him and walks back towards Vera. That beating was likely still not enough, thought Vera- changelings are really tough bastards. Then as she walked away, Alice shot him again with the blue light, and Vera cringed slightly as she could hear a faraway sizzling sound.
Still shivering with adrenaline, Vera limped towards Alice, trying to stem her bleeding with her arms.
“You’re hurt.”, said Alice.
“Yes. You?”, said Vera.
“Not too bad. You had a few minutes before he’d irreparably harm me.” Vera didn’t even see a scuff on Alice’s skin.
“well-… ahahahahaaaa.” Vera laughed under her breath deliriously, she wasn’t sure why. “hahahaha, yeah, you’re so thick-skulled… ahhhh...”
“We need to get you medical attention.”, said Alice, “Now! Where is our driver?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ah, there he is. Hiding beneath the carriage. Hey, you, we need to go back to Segmentum. Take us to the infirmary, now!”
Vera clutched on Alice, who bore Vera’s weight without effort as she loaded the injured Royal Investigator onto the carriage.
“What about the bandits?”, said Vera.
“I’ll get them, don’t worry about me. You get back in the carriage and to medical attention. I’ll restrain and stabilize the survivors, and then wait for the constables.”
“Thanks, Alice, you’re a lifesaver.”
“At your service, Miss Wong.”
Vera had dark thoughts on the ride back. Could the increased highwayman activity have anything to do with the mysterious two wanderers and Leviathan? Would the trail go cold after she recovered and helped mop up the bandits? Why now, of all times, would they stop and directly attack a Royal Investigator upon realizing who she was?
She had only questions now. Speaking more to herself than anyone else, she said, “Well, these highwaymen are definitely on our agenda now.”
“Informant 7C noted that Freiberg’s people are restarting recruitment. This would be an ideal opportunity to stop them and root out as many existing members as we can.”
“Shelve it, Alice. Freiberg is the least of our problems. As long as they’re not taking overt action, they’re just a nuisance. What else?”
“Informant 4 notes that the woodling Beck has recently shown interest in buying alfsbane.”
“How much are we talking?”
“About 40 individual plants.”
“That’s strange, but not a crime. What else is on the blotter?”
“Reports from the Duke’s scouts have seen increased evidence of highwayman camps- at least four detected this year.”
“Not our business, that’s for the militia to handle.”
“Yes ma’am. There is a notable uptick in missing women’s reports- up 10% from the last year.”
“That is concerning. Do we have specific leads?”
“Not to my knowledge, ma’am.”
“Put out a relevant bulletin for informant 6 and informant 7C. What other issues are there?”
“Yes ma’am. Concerned citizen reports of an unfamiliar man and a child roaming the area, notable because they seem to have been traveling with leather cloaks.”
“Really now? Any information where they’ve been?”
“They were sighted moving into and out of Visholme, ma’am.”
“Visholme… yes, we will definitely have to pay Levi a visit.”
“Ma’am, are you sure?”
“I am as sure as I can be. Was the child male or female? Blond or otherwise?”
“Reports are not sure, ma’am. Its appearance was obscured by a large gray object it was holding.”
“We’ll head out at once, Alice.”
“Very well, Miss Wong.”
Alice was a godsend. The golem servant appeared as a pale woman in an elegant black and white dress and long white boots, with a long dark hair and a long ponytail. She appeared and acted fairly human for the most part, but a hollow tinge to her voice and a few oddly stiff motions tipped off anyone in the know. She said her full name was Artificial Liaison Computing Entity and had been serving New Eris since the very start, whatever that meant.
Vera Wong turned her thoughts to her own preparations. She snapped shut her full briefcase, opened her closet and selected one of her many dress suits. She was tall, slim and long-haired, with her bangs cut short and completely level. A zero-bullshit look that was well-suited for her, or at least that’s the impression she got from others. Vera knew it important to be well-dressed to keep up with someone like Levi, and there would likely be rain around Visholme. She grabbed her trusty knife in case they had an unwarm welcome. Something told her the man and the child were exactly who she suspected they were, and she dreaded knowing she may be right.
New Eris was unseasonably rainy this morning. A light drizzle and a little sun peeking through, but dark clouds all around. No wind, so the air was rather stifling. Vera opened her umbrella and Alice quickly stepped under it. Alice was fine with water, but her clothes were not. Vera believed it would make more sense the other way around, although she didn’t know why. They hailed a carriage for the trip to Visholme.
The carriage did not make a particularly smooth journey. Lots of bumps along the way. Vera felt a little sick inside, but she didn’t complain. Alice showed little reaction, as usual. Finally a particularly nasty bump rocked the entire cabin up and then down. Vera cringed a little inside as the carriage rocked to complete halt. Alice suddenly wore an expression of concern- “The road between Segmentum and Visholme is normally well-maintained. Why is our journey suddenly this difficult?”
Vera thought for a moment, trying to overcome the sickness in her stomach…
“Could it be… someone damaged the road somehow...”, she surmised.
“Yes, and why-”
Alice was cut off by a loud shout of “STAND AND DELIVER” from not far away.
Vera clenched her jaw. Highwaymen. Perhaps she chose the wrong problem to solve today.
Alice emerged from the carriage first. She saw their unfortunate carriage driver held in an arm lock by a brigand dressed in dark tan rags that covered his or her shape and face. Another, similarly dressed stranger held a sword to Alice’s face. A third one leaned against the carriage. Alice did her best not to react, although the bandit holding her up must have seen something, because it spoke with confidence. “Whoever else is in the carriage, get out now or they’ll simply be the last to die.”, it said.
“Just one other person.”, Alice said. “But she’s kind of sick right now, the ride was really bumpy. Please give her a moment to recuperate.”
“No!”, the bandit said, brandishing the sword.
“Alright. Vera, do come out.”, said Alice. “These fine gentlemen would like a word with you.” She turned back to the person accosting her. “We have nothing of value.”
A third bandit in rags, this one unarmed with a pair of swords at his hips walked over to them. “On the contrary, we do have you!”, a clearly male voice said, bringing his finger up to Alice’s chin. Alice felt an urge to break his neck and ignored it.
“Hey, it’s stuck!”, said Vera’s voice from the carriage, rattling the door. The bandit leaning against the carriage rolled his eyes and walked over to the carriage, muttering something. As he reached the door, suddenly the window smashed apart and the bandit fell backwards, bleeding from the face. The door burst open and Vera swept out of it, suddenly standing with a bloody knife in her hand before the three surviving brigands.
“It really was stuck, because I jammed it myself. My name is Vera Wong, a woman of honest words and honest living, and I tell you only the truth. In the name of King Ethern, you are all under arrest for banditry and assault. Come quietly and I will do my best to see you receive a light sentence. Leave, and I will hunt you down like a dog. Or you can fight, and I guarantee it will the last time you will ever attempt this.”
The brigand with two swords laughs as he whips both blades out in a split second. He looks at the badge on Vera’s lapel. “A Royal Investigator? I would be worried, if your guardian angel wasn’t contained in a dinky little knife. I have mine in two blades!” As if on cue, the swords glow ever so slightly. Every human has their own guardian angel inhabiting an instrument of their choice, and Vera’s is the modestly-sized flip-knife in her hands.
Another bandit emerges from behind the opposite side of the carriage, sword in hand and crept up to Vera. Alice notices him first.
“Vera, do mind yourself.”, says Alice. Vera nods and side-steps the flanking bandit’s first strike, using the brief opening to rip open his thigh as she withdraws. The bandit grunts a little at the bleeding wound, and Vera lunges at his head. He brings up his sword to respond, but Vera suddenly reverses direction and goes low with her knife in a reverse grip, stabbing the wound in his thigh again. The bandit drops to one knee on his good leg and without stopping the motion of her arm, Vera rises her knife up and through his throat, before spinning away from the dying bandit, sending blood flicking off her knife. She looks evenly at the bandit with two swords, who evidently decided to take her seriously now, if his ready stance is any indication.
“Shoot the bitch!”, he mutters. An arrow speeds through the air, shattering itself against Alice’s body, as Alice intercepts it before Vera could react.
The two-sword bandit looks on in shock- how could she possibly be alive? She isn’t even wearing armor! Alice looks him over, points at his foot with one finger, and says, “bang”. A sudden flash of blue lights up between her hand and his body, and he slumps onto his side in pain, his burnt foot surprising and paining him in equal measure. The bandit holding the sword to Alice’s head stares in shock, and with a grunt of anger, Alice takes the chance to grab the person’s face and in one swift motion slam them against the ground.
Another arrow flies at Alice’s head and shatters completely, this time knocking her forwards, making her stumble a little. Vera swings her knife at empty air, staring intently into the reflection on the blade. She points at the hills nearby and shouts, “There, archer!” Alice recovers from the blow and looks around for the shooter, as Vera narrowly ducks underneath a third arrow.
The brute who had been holding the carriage driver tosses him aside and charges at Vera with a mace in hand. Vera awaits his arrival, and takes several, rapid steps to the side at the last second, forcing him to stop and spin around to face her. It was too late, as she jabs her knife at his face. He instinctively brings up his free hand to block and the knife opens up the back of his hand, sending a spray of blood out. He swings away with his mace, trying to catch her underneath sweeping swings, but Vera does not humor him with swordplay. Instead, she backpedals with very measured steps, always slightly out of reach. The mace would easily kill her with a single connection, and she is well aware of it. Her assailant seems to realize this as well, as he pulls back his strikes slightly to avoid leaving too great an opening, being content to keep forcing her back. He shows no signs of tiring and puts in just enough effort into his strikes to keep her on the defensive. His steadily bleeding off-hand does little to deter him, and he shows no sign of concern for his wound. Vera steps back from another careful but powerful blow, her mind racing. She knows from experience that she will eventually lose her footing, which will be fatal against such a weapon. There is only one resort.
After dancing out of reach from another blow, Vera swings back her arm and thrusts her hand forward, knife spinning out from it and into the bandit’s skull. The man bellows horribly and clutches at the knife in his forehead. Vera wastes no time in landing punch after punch into the man’s face, driving the blade further in, as he futilely tries to ward her hands off. He suddenly seems to remember he has a mace and brings it up against Vera’s rib cage, knocking her off her feet. He drops to both knees in one final scream with the knife having nearly split his head apart, and falls still.
From Vera’s estimation, she got very close- the mace didn’t have enough distance to travel, and that is why she is still thinking, and breathing, right now. Although it definitely does hurt to do either one…. She groans and carefully retrieves her knife from the bandit’s corpse.
She looks over at Alice and sees her in the distance, wrestling in a clinch with a massive man wearing a quiver of arrows. The man had animal ears protruding from his head- probably a changeling of some sort. Alice wouldn’t last long, she needs Vera’s help! But Vera’s lungs will not let her, as she trips and falls from pain after a few steps.
Vera gathers her will, takes a deep breath and forces her body back to standing and walking. She notices the bandit with that Alice threw to the ground is getting to his… her? feet. The bandit with two swords still lay on the ground cursing in pain, but he’d probably also rally soon. Vera mumbles a curse under her breath and hobbles forward, knife at the ready. The recovering bandit clutches at their head, but notices Vera all too soon. With a cry, the bandit runs at her, swinging wildly with the sword. Vera notes with surprise how slow these blows came- this was clearly an amateur. Vera cuts open the bandit’s sword hand with a quick lunge and retreats immediately. The bandit drops the sword, grabs their hand in pain, and then stops that immediately as Vera lands a left hook that reverberates through their skull. They drop to the ground without further protest and Vera clenches her teeth again, ready to finish off the last bandit laying on the ground.
The bandit with two swords notices Vera felling his teammate and immediately stops moaning in pain. He pauses, and then screams as loudly as he can and leaps to his feet, completely ignoring whatever pain he’s clearly feeling. He spins at Vera with both swords, taking her off guard. She narrowly avoids losing a hand, as the blade shaves off part of her left sleeve, drawing plenty of blood from the skin below. She grits her teeth at the pain, as the man’s other sword comes close to taking her throat. She leaps back and weaves back and forth, not risking a parry with her shorter knife. Vera brings her the top of her foot out and into the man’s injured leg, and he yells in pain and rage before renewing his attacks. Vera swears as the swords come closer and closer with every strike, the sweat building on her brow as the man dices away with his right hand, his left ready to disembowel her if she leaves that side open. She takes another cut to the stomach, thankfully not deep, and backs away from a followup that could take her head clean off. Vera can feel her legs failing her as the fights have been going on for far too long now. In a brief lull in her opponent’s strikes, Vera runs off, picks up a stone and hurls it at his wounded leg. The bandit yells in agony again and stumbles forward, this time his leg finally failing him, and he crashes to the ground. Vera wastes no time in kicking him in the head, causing him to spasm horribly and then the bandit’s body goes stiff and still.
Vera sighs in and clutches at the wound on her belly and tries to hide the gash on her sleeve. She can tell neither will kill her now, at least, but she’s definitely not in a shape to fight anymore. She hears yelling and smacking in the distance and looks into the distance to see the changeling pinning Alice and landing very audible punches onto her face.
“Hey asshole!”, Vera yells. “You forgot about me!” The changeling looks up, giving Alice just enough time to raise up her hand to his face. With another bright blue flash, the changeling howls at the burns on his face before dropping down and rolling. Alice gets up- not easily, Vera notes- picks up his head and slams it onto the ground… several times in fact. Alice then drops him and walks back towards Vera. That beating was likely still not enough, thought Vera- changelings are really tough bastards. Then as she walked away, Alice shot him again with the blue light, and Vera cringed slightly as she could hear a faraway sizzling sound.
Still shivering with adrenaline, Vera limped towards Alice, trying to stem her bleeding with her arms.
“You’re hurt.”, said Alice.
“Yes. You?”, said Vera.
“Not too bad. You had a few minutes before he’d irreparably harm me.” Vera didn’t even see a scuff on Alice’s skin.
“well-… ahahahahaaaa.” Vera laughed under her breath deliriously, she wasn’t sure why. “hahahaha, yeah, you’re so thick-skulled… ahhhh...”
“We need to get you medical attention.”, said Alice, “Now! Where is our driver?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ah, there he is. Hiding beneath the carriage. Hey, you, we need to go back to Segmentum. Take us to the infirmary, now!”
Vera clutched on Alice, who bore Vera’s weight without effort as she loaded the injured Royal Investigator onto the carriage.
“What about the bandits?”, said Vera.
“I’ll get them, don’t worry about me. You get back in the carriage and to medical attention. I’ll restrain and stabilize the survivors, and then wait for the constables.”
“Thanks, Alice, you’re a lifesaver.”
“At your service, Miss Wong.”
Vera had dark thoughts on the ride back. Could the increased highwayman activity have anything to do with the mysterious two wanderers and Leviathan? Would the trail go cold after she recovered and helped mop up the bandits? Why now, of all times, would they stop and directly attack a Royal Investigator upon realizing who she was?
She had only questions now. Speaking more to herself than anyone else, she said, “Well, these highwaymen are definitely on our agenda now.”