Chapter 32:
First Binding
Just like Nameless’s home town of Kettering, the main exports of the little hamlet of Fairbright were a mixture of grain crops and Lambda wool, so it was a little like coming home for him.
In fact, he would’ve sworn he’d seen that exact weathervane hanging on the gable of Wayne Charlton’s farmhouse…
When they arrived at his office they found out from the alarmingly skinny lawkeeper that there had been another attack the day before.
Grant took the news a lot better than Nameless did, but his instructor didn’t miss the anguished look on his face.
“We do the best we can, but we can’t be everywhere. So focus on what you can do now.”
At his instructor’s urging Nameless quickly shook off the misplaced sense of guilt as they headed out towards the farm where the latest victim lived.
“Might not seem like it, but this was a spot of good luck for us.”
Erica yowled in her throat slightly.
“How the hell do you figure that?”
He shrugged.
“Because now we have fresh intel instead of going over week-old information with Kyle at the outpost. These clowns are way too sloppy, mark my words: we’ll have this wrapped up soon.”
Countless roads spider-webbed all around the farming community, and not being overly familiar with the area they had to backtrack a couple times before they located the farm.
They made their way up a winding driveway to a large farmhouse and were soon introducing themselves to a pot-bellied but broad-shouldered man in his sixties.
“Ethan Davis?”
As usual there was that brief moment of shock when the man caught sight of Volka, but word of her return had long since spread so he didn’t make much of a thing of it.
“That’s me, you’re the Aegis?”
“We are” Grant confirmed.
The man grunted and gave a nod over his shoulder.
“Best come on back then. The girls’ll be in the field.”
Nameless’s training officer lifted an eyebrow at the terse greeting, but followed the farmer around the back of his house and out into the pasture where several Lambda were grazing, huddled together in the long grass.
“This is Grete, she was- well you can see for yourself.”
Sitting on her thighs alongside her sisters, Grete looked thin and waifish devoid of her wool. Her spiral horns seeming all the more prominent on her bald head even with the shawl she wore to hide it, her cheeks were constantly flushed and her eyes were unable to meet theirs for more than a second at a time.
They could all plainly see the scrapes and dark bruises on her jaw.
Without even thinking about it, Nameless reached out and put his hand on Nina’s shoulder.
He could feel here anger mounting.
“Grete, hun, these folk are the Aegis, come to lay a beating on the ones what jumped you.”
Though the farmer’s words were far from gentle, his tone was, and it was clear to Nameless and the others that he cared dearly for his flock.
Not wanting to crowd the nervous Lambda, Grant had the others back off while he introduced himself in a warm and soothing voice.
The others waited as patiently as they could while he took her statement, taking notes and asking the occasional question, at one point the poor girl broke down and he held her while she sobbed.
Nameless privately admitting to himself that Grant was probably better at this part of the job than Miranda was.
Once her spate of tears had ended and she had recovered as much as she was able, the experienced operative looked over his shoulder.
“Bruti?”
The Grizzly had been in the process of tearing up and munching on some dandelions when her master called her, but in a rare instance of self-control she dropped the quick meal and shambled over to the Lambda who quickly tensed up again.
Though she rudely shoved Grant to one side, Bruti moved with gentleness when she pulled the shawl back over the girl’s head.
“Just sniff, very safe.”
With that brief explanation she nuzzled her nose against the wide-eyed sheep to snuffle all along her neck and shoulders.
“Wh-what is she doing?” The Lambda meeped breathlessly.
“Don’t worry.” Grant said as he picked himself up off the ground; “Grizzlies have the best sense of smell of any monster girl. Even if it was yesterday, you struggled with those men, so they-”
“I have it. Two of them, male.” Bruti interrupted him with a snort as she leaned back, pulling the shawl back up for the Lambda and giving her head what she clearly felt was a reassuring pat with one massive paw.
Erica popped up to surreptitiously give the lambda a few sniffs herself.
“My nose is nowhere near that good, but maybe Jan’s?” She said uncertainly.
“What’s Jan?” Bruti grumbled as she wiped her paw across her face and yawned.
“Um, a Wolfen?”
Erica didn’t get a response as it was apparent that the bear had already lost interest when she went looking for more dandelions.
Silently Grant held up three fingers and mouthed ‘number three’, which left Nameless and the others wondering which breed had the second best nose.
Turning his attention back to Grete and her pot-bellied owner he gave them a quick nod.
“That’s all we need, there may come a time where we need Grete to testify, but we have a lot of evidence already.” He paused, and gave the Lambda a short nod; “I’m sorry this happened to you, but I promise we’ll do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
“Thank you.” She said with a wan smile as her flock crowded around her again.
On the walk back to the house, Ethan gave them a sidelong look, particularly at the Grizzly, Valkyrie, and Gigas.
“I’m glad the Aegis decided to take this seriously, though much as I want these sumbitches caught-” He jerked his thumb at the powerful girls; “-why’d you bring an ocean to put out this brush fire? Wouldn’t a puddle have done ya?”
“We have our reasons Mister Davis. For now though we have a job to do. Once this issue is resolved the Aegis will contact you.”
With that they set out once again, Bruti’s nose leading the way back into Fairbright.
“One of them is here, his smell is all over town.”
She snuffled at the air for a moment, earning some nervous looks from the locals, before directing them to a squat building.
When they stepped inside a bored teenager called in greeting.
“Welcome to Morty’s Emporium, the finest reliquary of general merchandise in all the-” He stopped midway through his rehearsed spiel though when Bruti stomped right up to him.
With one massive black claw she poked the suddenly white-faced young man in the chest.
“Him.”
His eyes darted around at the other exotic monster girls now flooding the shop, and not even Nameless missed the way he eyeballed the swinging door behind the counter.
“You run. I chase. You die.” Bruti warned with a glower.
Staring him down, she scooped up several pieces of hard taffy from a bin on the counter, clearly intended for children to beg their parents to purchase for them.
Her teeth crunched down on them hard, the noise reverberating through the shop.
“Bruti, we’ve talked about threatening suspects.” Grant said as he took out some coins and set them on the counter, his expression stern as he looked to the terrified clerk; “As for you, I’m going to need you to come out from behind the counter, right now.”
Eyes still darting to and fro and looking incredibly trapped, the teen clerk licked his lips.
Again, none of them missed the way his shoulders tensed up.
“He’s gunna book it.” Nina remarked.
A half second later he did just that, diving for the back door with an unmanly squeak.
They all watched him exit, then Grant turned to Nameless, who was waiting to follow his lead.
The instructor lifted one eyebrow.
“Well rookie? You going to let him get away or what?”
It took him a second to realize what Grant intended, but once he did he didn’t hesitate as his training took over.
“Right! Erica with me! Milly, Volka, go out the front and head him off!”
With dexterity hard-won from the academy’s unforgiving obstacle course Nameless vaulted the counter alongside his Katje and charged through the storeroom and out the gaping back door.
They heard their quarry before they saw him, panting and gasping as he awkwardly sprinted towards the mill beside the river.
“Stop! By order of the Aegis you are bound by law!” Nameless shouted.
“Don’t be a fucker!” Erica said right after him.
She was a much faster runner than her bond-mate, but for perhaps the first time in her life her reflexes failed her.
The clerk stumbled to one side just as she caught up and leapt at him, so instead of nailing him like she intended she overturned a bin full of freshly milled flour next to the mill and went down in a heap.
Nameless was right behind her though and his tackle was better aimed, his arms encircling the panicked clerk’s legs and dragging him to the dirt.
Though his nerves were stretched tight, his voice was level when he addressed the teen beneath him.
“As I was saying! By authority of the Aegis you are bound by-”
He didn’t get to finish.
His suspect wasn’t done struggling and rattled his teeth with a lucky elbow to the jaw before kicking himself free of his grip and scrambling up to flee again.
By that point though Erica had recovered and rejoined the chase and this time the two of them were able to subdue him properly.
“Motherfucker! He said you are bound by law! Now stop struggling and be bound!” The Katje gripped his wrists tight and planted her knee in the small of his back to ensure he couldn’t escape again.
At that point the clerk went limp and started to blubber.
Barely twenty seconds later and the others were at their side.
“You two look ridiculous.” The Gigas remarked as she took over from the Katje, one foot easily pinning their suspect in place.
Nameless white uniform was soiled with dirt from the brief scuffle and when he stood he had to straighten his belt at his hips, while Erica was covered in flour and looked like nothing so much as a pissed off powdered cat-pastry.
But aside from that, the pair of them were feeling pretty satisfied with themselves.
At least, they were until Grant gave Nameless a stern look.
“Congratulations on your first arrest, but why the hell did you tackle him? Are those canisters on your belt just for show?”
Nameless rubbed at his jaw as he glanced to Erica, struggling to respond.
“I, I was going to but he seemed pretty harmless, so it felt like overkill.”
The instructor shook his head vehemently as he reached down and pulled a straight-edged blade free of the clerk’s belt.
“Exactly the wrong response. I only let you chase him because I thought you clocked this.” He waggled the little knife in front of his eyes; “It might just be for opening boxes, but it could have opened you up pretty good if he decided to go for it. Your first instinct is usually the right one, you need to learn to trust it.”
Nameless turned a bit pink at the admonishment, but stood a little straighter as he nodded his understanding.
“I will sir- er, Grant.”
A gawking crowd had formed around the spectacle of the Aegis apparently arresting the local shop boy, so they quickly dragged him to his feet to take him away.
But before they could get him to the lawkeeper’s office, Bruti’s head snapped up and she began to sniff the air again.
“The other one, he’s here now too.”
Her eyes swept the crowd, people recoiling at her intense glare as she drew closer.
An older teen wearing a gaudy yellow shirt suddenly turned and began to walk away, trying his very best to act casual about it.
But Bruti had his scent, and within a couple seconds he found himself hemmed in on either side by a Grizzly and a Minotaur.
“I think I’m supposed to say you are bound by law mister.” Milly said with a frown as she bounced her spear against her shoulder.
Though of above average height, he was dwarfed by the powerful pair of monsters.
“Fuck.” He mumbled as his shoulders slumped.
Bruti brought her face alarmingly close and took a good sniff.
“You eat too much salt.”