Chapter 2-56: Chained Results (2/2)

Her Vajra meant she didn’t have to worry about the flaming debris coming down, or the poisonous smoke and inferno the air was turning into. The muck on the ground was all alight now, the oil storage tanks were covered with flames, and she wouldn’t be the type to not capitalize on that, would she?

Ah, what would Dad say if he knew I was making alchemical thermyte in the barn?, she wondered, as she clambered up the brick wall to get out of there, looking out over the mess she’d made of things.

Tremble fell apart into a metal-corded sling, and Sama pulled the first of three globes out of her Masspack.

They were glass, with a brass Rune etched onto them she now broke with her nail. The dark pasty stuff inside seemed to gleam for an instant as she loaded it into the pocket, and whipped it around once, twice, and sent it out in a long, arcing flight towards her target.

The Rune not only activated the thermyte, but rendered the sphere contact-brittle once it hit something.

This wasn’t an attack weapon, per se, as it was too easy to brush off. But for setting things on fire and burning through them, it did the job better than acid... and with all the flaming shit everywhere, who wouldn’t believe that these decrepit tanks weren’t burned through here and there... and the proof was going to be lost when they exploded, anyway.

The long and high arc of the first sphere wasn’t even completed before the second was flying out towards another containment tank. Glass stuck metal, shattered into basically motes of sand, and the sticky stuff inside splattered and stuck to the painted steel.

It heated up very quickly, and burned and melted a path down through the steel with acrimonious intent, opening up an air vent into the shale oil and its fumes below... along with a lot of heat.

The eruption blew out the hole the thermyte had been made, tore a gash in the tank, sent a lot of burning oil spraying in every direction, and increased the airflow to the resulting blaze.

Two more tanks followed the first one in short order. The fire spread on the ground even further, and blazing smoke climbed into the sky.

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A slender arm wrapped around State Trooper Harvey McGinnis’ throat, and a pair of slender legs clutched around his waist as he staggered in surprise, especially when a smooth cheek came up next to his own before he could say something, and something else golden and prickly sharp was humming between them.

“Officer,” a mild, smooth, and rather androgynous woman’s voice sounded in his ear, making him stiffen, suddenly aware he was in a very dangerous situation. “I need you to do some great Good Deeds tonight.”

His eyes darted around. He was basically standing next to his patrol truck, and nobody was looking his way. The fire trucks and police officers from three counties were here, trying to get this blaze under control, and basically waiting until some Casters could come up here and put the unnatural green and red flames out.

“What do you want?” he demanded, unable to keep the hostility out of his voice, knowing he was in danger, and how many ways he could die right now. Her leg was right in the way of him drawing his pistol, too.

“Do you see that blockhouse over there?” she asked, turning both their heads to look at one of the buildings set off to the side, basically ignored by everyone for now.

“Yes,” he confirmed harshly.

“In the courtyard to that place, you will find the corpses of six mutated werewolves and six inhuman Aberrations being employed by the company that does business here. You will also find several coolers full of human flesh, and in the stomachs of those creatures you will find rather large quantities of that flesh.”

Despite himself, Harvey felt his stomach turn and his face go white. “Is that so...”

“Yes. If you are Ambitious, you will be the one to find them, deduce what they are, and start an investigation. If you are Smart and Ambitious, you will very quickly place a call to the Temple of Harse, and demand they get an Inquisitor out here right now. You are going to need the legal acumen and backing of the Church to make Hexar truly pay for what they were doing here, and no doubt the company is attempting to do damage control and sending people right here, right now, to cover things up.

“If you are Really Smart and Ambitious, you will contact the Idaho Pack Council, let them know there are mutant cannibal werewolves here, and you might need their help to make sure their employers are properly punished. I imagine they will get here the fastest of all of them.”

“And why aren’t you doing this?” he asked coolly, not sure whether or not to believe her, but realizing an immense opportunity might be right in front of him.

“Well, I don’t have a working phone, and I’m not a respected member of law enforcement,” was the amused reply, with a musical lilt to it. “Oh, and don’t involve the local sheriff. He works for them.”

There was a flash of light in front of his eyes, and the legs, hand, and face disengaged themselves from him smoothly. He cursed and stepped away, spinning around and rubbing at his eyes. When they cleared up a few seconds later, naturally there was no sign of who had spoken...

He looked around once; nobody had seen anything.

His eyes turned to that blockhouse.

Human-eating mutant werewolves... and other things... spoken with the surety of someone who had seen them.

He hadn’t heard of any elven vigilantes working this area, and of course, he had to wonder if she was responsible for this disaster.

Then again, if they were employing cannibals, they deserved everything that was being done to them...

He started to walk away, then paused. Slowly, he turned around and reached for his com. “Edith, this is Harvey. You copy?” At the confirmation, he continued, “I need you to put out two very, very high-priority calls for me...”

Being Really Smart here was probably the right call for his ambitions...