Cass followed Tindra as she went deeper into the Old Ward, arguing the whole way.
"Where are you even going? He blew up his old HQ, do you even know where he is?"
"Dhall's as predictable as they come. He's only got himself a handful of places he'd be."
"Did you predict he'd use sorcery or ally with demons? …Hello?"
Tindra's pace hastened. The old hangar was wide open, yet darkness completely enveloped the 2nd floor walkways. A biting air wafted from the rusted structure. Inside, there was a man hunched over, muttering to himself as he set a flask onto a hotplate—and no sign of Dhall. From what Cass could see, skulking in the shadows of the 2nd floor walkways, Festus was toiling away at his noxious concoction.
"Is this where Henry gets his fix for sorcery?"
Before he could get lost in thought, something had caught his eye. Near the walls of the hangar, steeped in shadow, appeared to be some of Dhall's men. Even with sorcery, Tindra shouldn't have much trouble dealing with them. Still, something about the scene made Cass feel uneasy. The problem was how odd they were acting…or not acting.
"Why are they so still? Are they drugged up?"
Some were sitting, some were standing—facing random directions…none moved, and none seemed to pay any attention to Tindra waltzing into the hangar.
"You look for Dhall, yes?"
Tindra stopped. Festus didn't look up as he continued working.
"Festus know where he is…yes. Help Festus and-"
Before he could finish, Tindra dug her hand into Festus's chest, lifting him up by his tattered clothes and a fistful of flesh. He howled in pain. His hands shook violently, rattling the crucible he had been holding.
"Tell me where he is, or I'll rip you to pieces."
To Cass's surprise, Festus coughed out a laugh. "You stupid…like boy…"
Festus slammed the crucible into the bubbling flask. An eruption of blue, iridescent smoke filled the area around him and Tindra. Cass readied himself. He could only hear Tindra coughing as she jumped back out of the cloud and took a fighting stance. A long, raspy inhalation could be heard from within the cloud. Suddenly, a smattering of movement stirred from the perimeter of the hangar. As the figures came into the light, Cass felt the hairs on his arm stand on end.
"Unbelievable…"
The man in front had large sections of skin missing from his half naked body. His face was emaciated with wires holding his jaw in place haphazardly hanging in all directions. Beneath the exposed fascia, interweaved with the abominable muscles, were the synthetic fibers Cass had seen in the factory.
"His eyes…They're just like Ariayah's and Captain Stanev's."
What unsettled him more were a few of the people surrounding the man. They acted the same; their eyes stared blankly. However, they lacked the lifelessness Cass had become all too familiar with.
"What did they do to these people?"
Suddenly, with incredible speed, one made a break for Tindra. She knocked him out of the air into a steel support. He bounced off and landed on the floor in a heap. Not long after, he slowly got up and continued his slow shamble. Several others repeated this process. Each one was dealt with accordingly. Cass started to get worried as more and more poured out of the shadows. If their strength matched their apparent durability, he could foresee what would happen.
"Where is that shriveled little gnome!?"
The cloud had dispersed and Festus was nowhere to be seen. Cass was ready to move when he felt something cold and slimy slide along his neck. He resisted the urge to stand up as he turned to see a woman staggering behind him along the walkway, seemingly oblivious to his presence. Her skin was ghostly pale and her eyes clouded so much they looked like cue balls rolling around in her skull. She appeared to be heading to the stairs, towards Tindra.
"I need to find that little imp before he notices I'm here."
Cass skulked along the walkway, careful not to make a sound. He wasn't confident his parlor tricks he learned from Henry would be enough to fool an actual sorcerer. Nevermind getting into a full-on sorcery battle with one.
"I was just trying to play to his ego. Who'd have thought that decrepit man would be able to control this many people. Dead or otherwise."
Tindra continued to toss and beat the puppets that pounced on her. Unfortunately, more and more were closing the distance. She was still coughing. The cloud had irritated her respiratory system more than Cass expected.
"Not good. I wonder if that was zyme? Looked similar."
As Cass rounded the second corner of the walkway, he noticed a strange distortion in space on the first floor. It was right on top of a large, rusted out machine, and was vaguely human shaped. It was almost perfectly transparent, but the odd ripple and glint of light gave it away.
"There's the rat!"
Cass readied himself, calculating the distance he'd need to leap to reach his target. He didn't have any projectile to throw this time…unlucky. As he prepared to jump the rail, he found himself tumbling through the air, wrapped up in a bear hug.
"Tindra!? No…it's too rough…the arms are cold and clammy."
They came crashing down onto the rust machinery with a thud. Festus's grating giggle echoed in Cass's ear.
"Boy stupid! Very stupid…yes."
Cass felt his bony, icy finger tracing his face as he spoke. He was too busy dealing with his attacker to bask in the rage he felt. The man was overweight and bulky with the same pallid color the other puppets had. Most of the skin on the man's face was missing, which didn't seem to bother him one bit. Cass struggled to get him off with little success; He was incredibly strong.
"Did you make these things!?"
"Make? No…recycle…yes. Bodies weak, no use. Festus keep…make useful."
"If these were normal humans and they're this strong now…Festus must be able to control an immense amount of mana or these synthetic muscles are truly amazing."
He could hear the continuing battle between Tindra and the puppets beneath them. Every time one would slam into a wall or support beam, the entire warehouse would shake.
"She's too focused on defense to deliver a catastrophic blow to any of them…if that's even possible. Who knows what this demented freak did to them. She'll be overwhelmed at this rate. Wait a minute, what about me? Think clearly, damn it."
"You want powerful sorcerer, yes?" His giggle grew sinister. "Make you strong…yes. Very strong…"
He pulled a vial containing a thick, sickly deep blue substance. Cass would assume it was black tar if not for the streaks clinging to the side of the glass.
"You die…whore suffer…yes. Festus take body…yesss."
Festus poured the contents onto Cass's mouth, not seeming to care if any went in. Cass immediately began holding his breath. Festus had covered his own nose and mouth before pouring. Considering he had just basked in a cloud of the stuff, that fact didn't bode well to Cass. Between the adrenaline and struggling against his attacker, his breath didn't last for long. With the first inhale, the world around Cass began to swirl. His racing mind began to calm and a warm sensation climbed out from his heart, creeping its way into all of his limbs and tingling his spine. The attacker had moved, but Cass wasn't in a hurry to get up anymore.
"Who would've thought a rusted hunk of metal could be so comfortable."
The richer and brighter colors of the world slowly faded. Cass's eyelids were so heavy…and when would he ever find such a comfortable place to sleep again? It's not like he could ever return to Misha's lap…