Ruthless V5Ch46-Collision Course

How goes the mission? James sent upon accepting telepathic contact.

I greet the Progenitor, Doppelganger sent telepathically. The mission… proceeds. The Soul Eater Orb and I wished to update you on the most recent developments.

James sensed the slightest reluctance in the Doppelganger’s voice, but before he could pry into that, Roscuro added his own voice to the telepathic channel.

I have unlocked a new Skill, master—and I can increase my size to a much greater extent now than I could before! Roscuro eagerly burst into the conversation.

That’s excellent, Roscuro, James replied smoothly. I hope you and Doppelganger manage to continue the killing and acquire additional abilities for you.

That may be difficult, Progenitor, Doppelganger sent. That is part of why I wished to update you. The Panther Army is fully aware of our activities now, and as I am certain you know, there is a terrible sound whenever the Soul Eater kills someone and absorbs their soul. Some discreet killings may still be possible, but I fear more use of the Soul Eater Orb as a weapon may lead to our capture.

James nodded to himself before he remembered to send the gesture as a telepathic signal.

In fact, I must inform you, I believe our activities have had an unforeseen and unfortunate side effect, Doppelganger added. There have been moments when I have wished that there were twenty like me here, so that we could make a real dent in the enemy’s numbers. But now I think that my being the only one may have been of benefit.

Why? James asked.

It’s better if he shows you, master, Roscuro interjected again. I think I understand Doppel’s concern, and simply reviewing his memories would be quicker than an explanation. Your dream power will work for that, right?

Should do, James replied. Just go to sleep, then, Doppelganger. Unless you think you can explain this more quickly than me just experiencing the memories inside your mind.

As you will, Progenitor, Doppelganger replied. I prefer a more thorough accounting anyway…

James could tell, as the monster closed his eyes, that he would be asleep in only a few seconds.

I’m glad you’re doing well, Roscuro, James sent.

Luna was already asleep in front of him.

James quickly pulled the barrier that he had erected to prevent entry into the bedroom down, just in case Mina or the children needed him. Then he closed his eyes.

Your creation has been extremely accommodating of my needs, Roscuro sent smoothly. My powers have doubled since the last time we met, master. You will hardly recognize me when we meet in person again.

I guess I’ll look forward to witnessing that for myself, then, James sent. Especially cool that you finally developed a special Skill for yourself.

James imagined that would have happened sooner if he had allowed Roscuro to eat more corpses rather than insisting on Pillaging most of them, but Roscuro did not bring it up, so he did not mention that impolitic fact himself either.

Good luck with this Queen, master, was all the Soul Eater replied. She seems quite confident that she can handle you, though I do not know where it comes from. But she is a warrior. A true fighter. No mistaking that.

James smiled to himself. Roscuro didn’t know the half of it. James knew her better, probably, than almost anyone, having spent so much of the last two weeks in the Queen’s dreams.

Thanks, Roscuro, he sent. I’m going to meet Doppelganger now.

He used Dream Mastery, and his mind was instantly thrown back to the location he and Hester had spent every night the last several weeks, the Dreamspace directly adjacent to the minds of the Panther Army. The Fisher King and the spider had to move slightly every night to find them again, but it grew easier with time. Every mind had a signature, a distinct feeling to it that a Dreamwalk user—or a Dream Mastery user, as the case might be—could hone in on, and James had recently become even better at all aspects of dream manipulation and the related uses of the Skill than he had been previously.

Now it was easier than ever to track those whose dreams he had previously visited.

James appeared in the ever-shifting background of Dreamspace, instantly spotted Doppelganger’s mind, and entered his dream without a moment’s hesitation.

He saw that the dream was already underway. Doppelganger was hidden, invisible, in front of a tree, but James could see through it due to his connection to Doppelganger. In the distance, there stood three furry figures. James saw one that resembled the Panther Scout who his mother had captured. The other two were of similar but slightly bulkier builds.

He guessed they were more the physical combatant type.

But the Pantherfolk did not seem to know where Doppelganger was, if they had been searching for him, because they began walking in completely the wrong direction.

James sensed, rather than saw, movement to his right. He did not need to turn to recognize it was Doppelganger moving this time.

He’s climbing a tree?

James imagined himself weightless, gently pushed off the ground, and floated up to keep Doppelganger company in the tree.

Once his monster had gotten comfortable on a branch, the two looked around the forest briefly. James saw several scouting groups walking around—he imagined, looking for Doppelganger—and having no luck.

There was a group with what James interpreted as a magic-using Pantherfolk—he looked thin and wiry and carried a staff—and two of the bulkier types who actually walked right underneath Doppelganger’s tree at one point. Still, no one so much as looked in the invisible monster’s direction. It began to seem as if they had no idea what to do to find him.

“Let us report back,” hissed the magic-using Pantherfolk below, drawing both James and Doppelganger’s attention. “The Queen will want to know of our failure.” He seemed to deflate as he finished his sentence.

The Queen knows, then. James had discussed these middle of the night and early morning attacks with Doppelganger before, and he had even collaborated to make them more effective.

With Dream Mastery, it was possible for James to keep dreamers asleep despite stimuli around them. He could also affect more than one person’s dreams at once, although his capabilities strained when he tried to affect too many individuals. But he had helped Doppelganger every night—including during the twilight when this operation took place—by keeping the Panther Queen and certain key personnel asleep during Doppelganger’s attacks.

Given that, and the fact that James knew the Pantherfolk had been uncertain about what was happening and reluctant to tell their Ruler about it without having any answers for her, he was surprised that they were going to go and announce their failure to her.

Doppelganger slipped back down the tree as the Pantherfolk moved out of view. Invisibility still active, he followed after them

Because the dream was mostly comprised of a memory, James knew that he could not go very far ahead of Doppelganger. Not without altering the memory or stepping into territory that would be speculative for Doppelganger’s mind, forcing him to adapt and possibly even slowing down the sequence of events that had actually occurred in real life. James did his best to bear that with patience.

He kept pace with the Doppelganger, who followed the little group of Pantherfolk as best he could.

But they seemed to have slipped away. The creatures were naturally stealthful, and Doppelganger’s Perception was still far behind that of James. In the memory, they were limited to Doppelganger’s senses.

He pushed through a set of trees and suddenly found himself standing in a small clearing, with the Pantherfolk he had been trying to catch up to all staring straight at him.

Not through him or past him, not moving their eyes over him and looking at what was behind him or to his side. No. Just looking straight at him. Through invisibility.

That’s not good, James thought.

Belatedly, he saw the aura that now surrounded the members of the squad. It was the same power the Queen had cloaked her fighters in when they engaged with Dean and his fortification. Apparently, that power allowed them to penetrate Invisibility.

“You took your time,” said the magic-user Pantherfolk.

Doppelganger deactivated Invisibility.

“I was not aware I was keeping you waiting,” he said stiffly. Then he took up a fighting stance.

The Pantherfolk chuckled darkly as a group.

“Did you think that we would keep letting you get away with this?” the magic-user asked.

The blow fell from behind, as Doppelganger was deciding which of the enemies to strike first. It struck him in the back of the head and drove him into the ground. For several seconds, Doppelganger did not get up, as the other Pantherfolk who had been hidden stepped out of the trees.

There were about a dozen of them in all. James could tell this number of enemies was beyond Doppelganger’s actual abilities just then, especially without the advantage of the element of surprise on his side.

Two Pantherfolk thrust their feet toward Doppelganger, hooked them beneath his torso, and kicked him under the ribs and around the kidneys.

Doppelganger flung himself up, avoiding further damage—his Health was limited, so there was no room for casually tanking hits. James watched as Doppelganger fought the squad of Pantherfolk for several minutes, but James had already quietly given up on the skirmish. He was now quietly assuming that this dream was Doppelganger and Roscuro’s way of explaining that they had been captured by the enemy.

But Doppelganger surprised him in a few ways.

First, he did not use Roscuro in the fight at all. The Soul Eater Orb had reverted to the form of a bracelet on Doppelganger’s wrist. Maybe they were trying to hide the fact that Roscuro was a weapon at all. It was what James would probably do, if he was fighting enemies who he knew would survive the fight for almost certain.

Second, Doppelganger fought for longer than James had imagined, skillfully weaving between enemies and dodging blows too strong for him to block, getting in hits and generally being annoying to deal with despite being physically weaker and slower than his opponents.

But finally, Doppelganger’s luck seemed to run out. He took a spear point to the knee, and then a brawny Pantherfolk managed to grab him by the arm and twist it until the elbow bent the wrong way. Another Panther Warrior struck Doppelganger hard in the stomach with the hilt of his sword, causing him to double over in apparent pain.

Then Doppelganger gave James his final surprise of the fight. He raised his head, smiled through gritted, crimson-streaked teeth, and looked around at all the faces surrounding him.

James thought that Doppelganger was about to surrender.

Then, without any warning, his body exploded outward—or parts of it did.

James understood a split second after watching, what he had seen.

Bones and bone fragments detached themselves from every area of Doppelganger’s body, except for the spine, and they shot out in all directions at high velocity, aiming to destroy the squad sent to capture or kill him. The bones took pieces of Doppelganger’s flesh and blood with them on their way out, spraying his bloody bits to all sides as they streaked toward their targets.

Doppelganger turned himself into a living pipe bomb, James thought, impressed. That’s pretty hard core. I’ve never gone that far with Full Body Control before. Maybe I should. He watched as Doppelganger slumped to the ground, his body completely limp aside from his back, teeth clenched in pain. Maybe if I’m really desperate.

Half of the Pantherfolk were caught by such surprise that they actually died from what Doppelganger did, pierced through by a rib bone through the eye or an ulna to the chest. They fell instantly, mostly near Doppelganger, having been struck at almost point blank range in the majority of cases. Three other Pantherfolk coughed blood, writhing in pain on the ground and struggling to get back up with finger bones in their eyes or chests and various leg bones sticking out of their bodies in random places.

The rest had been further back. Most of them were merely grazed and had only been struck by bones that had depleted most of their velocity already. They looked more annoyed than hurt at Doppelganger’s last ditch move. The magic user had actually blocked everything moving in his direction with a shield that seemed to have been triggered by the sudden movement—rather than by any quick thinking on his part—a wall of fire that had blocked all the bones from reaching him by burning them to a crisp on contact.

James did note that as the fire wall disappeared, the magic user at least looked winded at the sudden expenditure of Mana.

The Pantherfolk who were unharmed took a single step forward, and they suddenly froze. A winged monster had darted forward from out of the treetops behind James and Doppelganger. It grabbed Doppelganger by the scruff of his neck, flapped its wings, and took off, soaring out of the Pantherfolks’ reach before they could react.

Oh, that was one of mine, too, James thought. Well played!

The dream turned hazy for a moment, and then James found himself in a slightly different location. He was standing at the edge of a clearing, where countless tents stood. James could see the stumps of trees that had been cleared to make room for the campsite.

Outside the tents, James could see uncountable Pantherfolk, somewhere either in the high hundreds or the low thousands.

“Where am I?” James said aloud. “What just happened?”

“You are watching from a different perspective, now, Progenitor,” came Doppelganger’s voice. “Since I could not be there in person, due to my condition after the fight you just witnessed.”

“And because they could see through Invisibility,” James added.

“As you say, Progenitor.”

James nodded and turned back to look.

Then he heard the Panther Queen. She had apparently been in mid-speech when Doppelganger got one of the other monsters close enough to observe.

“We now know who has been slaying our missing soldiers,” the Panther Queen growled, loud enough to be heard everywhere. “The Doppelganger of the Fisher King! We have been making our way there, since our scouts to that territory went missing and were presumed dead, but we will no longer dawdle in our hunt! Today, we call back all our raiders and accelerate our march. We will show the Fisher Kingdom what it means to tangle with the Panther Army!”

She continued in this vein for a little while, mingling threats and plans.

In both his real body and the dream, James just smiled.

Excellent. I have her right where I want her…

“Thank you both for doing an excellent job,” James said to Roscuro and Doppelganger after this last part of the dream had petered away to nothing. “I assume that you are unable to further involve yourselves in the effort against the Panther Queen—”

“Progenitor, I will do whatever is necessary to assist you,” Doppelganger interrupted. “I know little about this world, but I know enough to understand that she is threatening your territory. Your people.”

“Thank you for those sentiments, Doppel,” James said. “Don’t try any more ambushes of the Panther Army, though. Instead, heal and try your best to be ready to fight if I need you when the Pantherfolk get closer to me. I will also need you to tell me if they make any preparations for war and let me know if they suddenly alter their direction of travel. Each night, I will be tracking it myself, but I can only trace their locations when they’re sleeping. In the day, you’re my eyes and ears.”

“You can count on us,” said Doppelganger.

“The monster speaks for me as well,” said Roscuro simply. “Thank you for this opportunity to get some good killing done, master.”

James nodded and then dismissed the pair.

He opened his eyes and sent a simple message to the tortoises and other inhabitants of the territory he had acquired most recently—and through which his aura now permeated fully, both above and below ground.

[The time has come. Execute my previous instructions.]