We accepted the offer, of course. He’s a friend on Carim and we’re mercenaries. Also, we need the can’t sell porcelain in a town that relies on wooden utensils. Arthur said we need to meet later that night when Liv is helping birth a child in town. That'll give us the time to sneak inside and hear what Arthur has to say.
—
“Have you consulted with Queen Frigga’s men?” Carim asked, frantic at the sight before him.
“Didn’t you think I already did that? They’re too busy fighting some war in with Arslan. I tried Almar but they said I’m a deserter and I should not be given any help. I tried the guilds, the mercenaries, and the cutthroats. I even sold the lance just to get more money and get that infernal thing out of our land. Most took the coin but all returned looking like my sons.”
Before us is the bed stricken bodies of Arthur’s sons. Both lie unconscious and chained in the bedpost. They look healthy except for the thing on their faces. They have no faces. Arthur described the beast as a Face Steal. A human pickpocket cursed in eternal torture of stealing faces but could never have one for his own. They used to live in cities but given that these past few years have seen growing xenophobia against monsters, most were driven far from their home. Most lived in the desert and in the city of Melcrux where outlaw rules the land. But one Face Stealer managed to drive its way into the forest bordering Belfiore. It stole the faces of the game in the area. When it got boring, it stole the faces of poultry and cattle. The villagers didn’t mind first but when it stole the faces of shepherds and lumbers, it was an all-out war. People conducted manhunts but most failed and more villagers lost their faces to the monster. By the time Arthur and Liv moved here, the villagers had their ritual to keep the face stealer at bay. They’d request criminals from the neighboring town of Malvar and sacrifice it to the monster. It appeased its quench for a while until it got bored once more and stole Dirk and Aylwin’s faces. It’s a good thing that Liv knew how to sustain a human with her magic and so, they kept the sons in their rooms ever since then.
“Please I beg you. Slay this godforsaken beast.” Arthur grabbed an orb in the drawer and showed it to us. It portrays the whole family. Aylwin has a soft-spoken face while Dirk has a fiercer tone fetched from his mom and dad. “This is what they look like.” Arthur swiped the orb and showed a crude map of the forest. “It’s not far but there’s a cave where we assumed the beast is hiding.”
The beast sleeps in the night and wakes in the morning like humans. But unlike humans, it does not succumb to the delicacies of simple men. It has a deformed body with nimble fingers that enables it to swing from tree to tree. Despite lacking facial orifices, it can see better, hear farther and smell clearer. The only time it’ll be weak is the time when it wears the face of another. It’ll turn human and experience the frailty of the human body. It’s crude but Arthur asked of us to burn its cursed flesh and inflict it the pain it has caused them for months. Burn it with the sword or with the two bottles of Almarian Fire he so kindly gave us. Throw it at the beast and the liquid will turn into a fiery blaze that couldn’t be put out by water. I could also coat my dagger with it but Carim suggested not. He has his experience with the concoction and it doesn’t fare well like the scar in his left leg. A mere drop of the stuff and it’ll cut through your skin. Imagine the pain of having a whole bottle thrown at you. Imagine two!
—
Dusk has ended and the night shimmer of the moon began. The forest was silent and the trees spoke in hushed bristled tones. The cave is in view and there’s light from the inside. A giant shadow springs forth from the cave and danced in its infernal tone. Carim crept inside and I followed. Enchantment and steel are held firmly in our hands and the bottles of liquid flame rest surely in my belt.
“Ha!” A voice came from the inside. “I know you’re there. Come inside and we’ll talk.”
Carim and I looked at one another. As much as we want to fight, diplomacy is a whole lot better. We walked inside the flame and surely, there’s a grotesque figure in front of us. Its flesh is coiled around its limbs like the way you rise a tablecloth. It has no face but there are bloody spouts where the ears should be. When it walks, it makes a sound from its mouthless mouth. It horrifying especially when it talks.
“Pardon me for my current figure, but I seem to have scared you with my appearance.” God, the movement of his non-existent mouth is making me puke. “Wait for a second for I shall return,”
And that the monster did after disappearing deeper into the cave. In its hands was a mask made of flesh screaming in agony. It flipped it over and draped it like a napkin over the blank flesh of its faces. There was a smooth glow coming from the seams and in an instant, flesh foamed where the holes were and crept throughout the monster’s body. It covered everything and smoothed out the creases of his horrendous limbs. It also gave the monster a prepubescent penis over the empty slot of his groin. The blank holes in the mask glowed the brightest and soon ended when eyeballs, teeth and a tongue formed. Come to look at it, the face looks familiar. Wait! It looks like Aylwin Demagogue.
“This face is the one I’m most comfortable with,” It said in a different voice. “So why are you here humans? Come to kill me?” It eyed the blades in our hands and the Almarian Flame in my hips. “Why am I asking? Of course, you’re here to kill me. Like the others before you, your face will be added to my collection.”
“Okay!” I said before they could raise their blades and nails popping out of Aylwin’s hands. “Let’s just sit down and talk. Okay? Like civilized people.”
Carim sat down and the beast did so too. Carim is disgusted at the naked boy before him so he gave the beast a cloth which used it as a loincloth
“We just want that face and his brother’s. You can keep the others. Do so and we’ll be on our way.” Carim said.
“I’m sorry but I have to decline Mr. Killer. I’ve grown attached to this face. See these brown eyes, snow cheeks, and this boopy nose? See it?”
“I do and I’d like it returned to its proper owner. You stole it and it was never yours, to begin with.”
“Just like how you humans stole our land? Eh?”
“This again? It was a long time ago before your great knee-grand father is even born. Your land was conquered and by the rights, it is now ours. Almaria is for humans now.”
“Humans? We’ve been living in Almaria too for centuries!”
“Living and hiding. Stealing faces like what you’re doing now. Look, I know you hate humans but you shouldn’t put it against those boys. They’re innocent.”
Despite having a sweet face, the monster seethed in anger with blazing eyes. “Innocent? Humans tried to kill our kind. The town tried to kill me. The older brother didn’t hunt for game. He was hunting me for petty glory and he was stupid for bringing his brother with him. And now you’re here to kill me just as the ones before. There is no talking out of these humans. Ready your blade and I’ll do mine.”