Sean caught up to Emma as she was halfway through the passage. It looked wide enough to fit a cargo cart, and it connected to a larger alley – he assumed deliveries came this way, while pedestrian traffic would go into the smaller one they had used to get here. The incomplete-quest candle flamed ahead and toward the large building on the other side. He recognized the Gremlin-event warehouse, but this was a different section. The building was pretty big, stretching all the way there and beyond.
"Wait, stop…" he instructed and snuck a peek outside. The alley could easily fit two cargo wagons side-by-side, but it had far less elaborate architecture than the Pathway – this neighborhood had mostly pragmatic, simple housing. He saw the main entrance to the warehouse to one side, and a team was fighting there – the shouting and clashing were barely audible. Even further away to the other side, there was another team waiting. Presumably a different queue for Gremlins.
A small door across the alley was seemingly unnoticed by everyone.
If the large double gate at the end of the queue-alley was meant for cargo, then this door probably served as a personnel entrance – easy access for the dock workers and the like living in the area. Except nobody lived around here and – judging by all the junk everywhere – hadn't for a while now. The alley was mostly blocked on both sides: on the left by an overturned wagon and on the right by two carts and some other mess. Apparently, Gremlins had already looted these for anything useful.
"What's up?" Emma asked and peeked out as well.
He began, "Whoa, what are you–"
"You don't have to constantly be so protective, ugh!" she complained.
"Well, the last time I scouted a new area – I got hit by an arrow to the knee, remember?" he commented, and she rolled her eyes. Sean took one more glance at the sides and added, "This place looks safe enough, though."
"Oh really? Are you sure? Have you checked your knees for any arrows?" She was clearly mocking him, but he did glance down… just in case. No arrows or new injuries to be seen.
"Let's focus on 'not' getting overrun, okay?" he suggested, but it came out more like wishful thinking.
"Uh-huh, let's just get this over with…" she remarked and stepped into the alley.
"Stop, what are you– Come back here!" Sean hissed.
Emma stopped and turned around, but didn't come back into the passage. She asked, "What's the big deal?"
He exhaled tiredly and argued, "Have you forgotten what the guys in the queue tried to warn us about?"
"Don't get swarmed," she answered, then added, "Why?"
"What if there's a bunch of Gremlins behind that door – it wouldn't be the first time…" he reminded.
"Then… we run, I guess? Whatever," she commented. Sean was still trying to come up with a suitable counter when she added, "Besides, they were probably newbs too."
"What?" he asked.
"Like the Swedes?" she clarified and shrugged.
"That's not how–" he started, but then remembered and changed the topic to: "Wait, what was that about Mr. Overpowered earlier – where did that come from?"
"Somebody asked if you always one-shot the mobs, or were just showing off that one time – when we fought back inside," Emma recounted. "I told them… not usually? Then again, you did break that Gremlin's neck with your bare hands, so…" She trailed off.
"That was adrenaline, I think," he speculated. "Or something – you're the medical expert, you tell me."
"Yeah, adrenaline doesn't give you superpowers," she argued.
"In any case, let's prepare for this and check the place properly ," he instructed. She rolled her eyes again, but finally came back from the alley.
They put out the candles and he stashed them in his pouch. The warehouse had lightly tinted windows, or so it seemed, so they left the torch burning in the passage – in case they needed to re-light their candles, or explore some dark spaces later. Sean snuck up to the window by the door, and it turned out to be opaque. Then he realized that it wasn't glass: the window was covered by some thin sheet that barely let any direct view of the inside. Almost like a roller shade but on the wrong side?
He could still see vague shapes, so he tried to examine the interior: the place looked clear of monsters, or at least there was no apparent movement – just wooden shelves with crates and bags stacked everywhere. It was messy, seemingly completely ransacked, which made sense if Gremlins came out of there.
He checked the alley: nobody seemed to have noticed them, so he whispered, "Okay, let's go in – but pay attention. If you see anything, then–"
"Yeah-yeah-whatever!" Emma interrupted and prodded him toward the door with her staff – at least, for once, both her hands were on the thing.
Sean stared at her for a second, then just shook his head and peered into the warehouse. The place was mostly what he had gathered through the sheet-window: shelves and stacks of wares, some spilled onto the floor. The sacks contained various staples: from grains to vegetables – he figured Lobehelm's main export must be food. Or maybe these were the goods that Gremlins didn't touch?
Either way, it looked clear, so he ventured inside carefully. Emma followed, this time managing to remain silent. Once she closed the door behind her, the room became much quieter. He glanced at the windows, and now it was obvious they were made of some thin fabric or parchment: allowing dim, diffuse lighting inside, but blocking most wind or noise. Magical, perhaps? He found it odd that windows weren't glass – then again the houses here didn't have windows at the ground level, so maybe glass was scarcer in this world.
He focused on the elongated chamber: thirty or so large shelves with narrow passages between them. They had entered in the corner of the room, and there were some wardrobes along the wall. He checked one – mostly out of curiosity and maybe hoping for some loot like in video games, but it was completely empty. Another only had some old sandals. The shelves were similarly uninteresting – apart from the nearest one that had a stone statue placed on top of it. Sean thought to himself, 'Why would anybody do that?'
He approached it. The shelf alone was ten feet high – it must've taken quite an effort to haul the statue all the way up. It was like one of those cathedral sculptures, the ugly kind, and this one was particularly bad: uneven-grayish but glistening in places, rough cuts and an asymmetric look, a face somehow both flat and disfigured at the same time, a pair of wings that couldn't possibly suffice for flight. Sean noticed the right foreleg had four claws while the other only three. He concluded it was either a bad AI-made model, or the first work of a very impatient artisan. Or maybe somebody wanted to sculpt a dog without ever seeing one… but also with wings on its back.
It didn't matter, and he moved on. There were some Gremlin sounds coming from behind a thick door to the side, so he snuck up to investigate. It sounded less like the arguing they would do elsewhere and more like… loud chanting? It was weird. There were two doors connected by a wide stone path that was unusually smooth compared to the floor or the rough pavement outside – Sean figured it must be for ease of transporting goods back and forth, and the room was probably just one of many storage compartments.
Emma asked before he got to the door, "Do you think it might be a gargoyle?"
He glanced back at her and hissed, "Be quiet – there are Gremlins around!" Then he followed her gaze: she was also pointing at the stone gargoyle perched on top of the shelf. It looked even more disfigured from this angle. Sean took a couple of steps to the entrance, where Emma still stood. He whispered, "And sure, it might be that – but why do you…" He trailed off as the statue moved.
Had it moved?
Sean shook his head, unsure if he had seen the thing move or just hallucinated it somehow. The statue was completely still now, but it seemed almost like the poorly sculpted silhouette had bent its forelegs… as if to pounce?
He glanced at Emma and started, "Wait, did you see it–"
"Look out!" she cut in and raised her staff. He turned to the statue and jumped back at the last moment – the gargoyle landed right where he had been standing. One more step back for safety and he swung his axes at it. The blades bounced off the ugly head, not even making a dent in the stone skin. 'How does it move with stone skin!' he thought, somehow outraged by the very idea.
The beast swiped at his torso, and the four-clawed paw definitely left a mark. It hurt, but he tried to focus. Emma hit it from the corner of the room, and the gargoyle growled, or hissed… or snarled, perhaps? A mixture of different sounds – none were the right name for whatever came out of its misshapen vocal cords. If it even had those. It turned to Emma and away from Sean.
"No, you don't!" he yelped and struck again, hitting its malformed wings, and a small sliver broke off. It grunted and lashed out at him, but this time he was ready and evaded the attack. The beast lurched forward and punched him with the other arm, or foreleg – or whatever its limbs were. The force of the impact pushed Sean to the side and the pain intensified. Another projectile came from Emma – the gargoyle was between them, which also meant it was blocking his retreat.
But a modest chunk of its torso fell off where the magic attack impacted, and he realized that the thing must've been made of solid stone, though oddly colored, and it was heavy! Or dense, maybe? Either way, it was the size of a lion, so close-quarters combat with this thing was not an option. He tried backing away, but the gargoyle started turning to Emma. He swung at it just to keep its attention and managed to dodge its strike.
"Hit it again!" he instructed.
"I'm trying, I'm trying!" she complained and it reminded him that cooldowns still existed. His axes and glitched skills were completely useless here – if only he had practiced some magic spells…
The thing pounced at Sean, and he managed to move out of the way. It was strong, but relatively slow. He looked for weak spots, but there clearly weren't any. Not its head – the wings, maybe? He aimed at them with his attack combo as the gargoyle was turning around after passing him, but he missed and instead hit the beast's hardened back. His hands went a little numb from hitting solid stone – even through the handles.
Emma complained from behind him, "Move! You're blocking the–"
"What?" Sean cut in and glanced at her, distracted.
The monster swiped at Sean again, and he got knocked into the shelves. His torso hurt… a lot. He barely noticed another magic attack hitting the gargoyle, then the beast charging at Emma. She yelped something. Shit! If she died, then who would heal him! He got up and grabbed the first thing within his reach to throw at the rampaging thing – which turned out to be a sack of some odd-looking vegetables.
The sack burst open around the creature's head and Sean jumped on top of the beast in a fit of rage. He punched the gargoyle's torso a few times and his gloved hands started bleeding, but at least the monster stopped chasing Emma. It made an almost-bark sound, then tossed him off its back. He found a flat stone in his hands – a piece of the wing that got torn off in the chaos.
This time he recovered quickly and jumped away as the gargoyle was about to leap at him. The stone-thing was very strong, and extremely hard to kill – but it wasn't very smart: it pretty much aggroed on the last enemy that attacked it, no planning or smarter target selection. He ran to pick up his axes, but his side hurt really badly.
He noticed Emma further away, so he instructed, "Healing please, any day now!" – and turned to evade the charge of the stone monstrosity.
"Right, heal… heal-heal!" Emma mumbled in a panicked voice, pointed her staff and concentrated.
Sean felt a lot better and ordered, "Now shoot it." He prepared to dodge another attack as the gargoyle was still coming at him.
She asked, "But what if it attacks–"
"Just do it!" he interjected while backing away from the stone beast taking swings at him. He lured it away from Emma but tried to keep it in her clear line of sight. She did finally cast a magic projectile at the gargoyle and another piece of its torso fell off – now from its back. As Sean had expected, the creature turned to her. He used the distraction to hit it on the back with both axes. Maybe a tiny chunk of stone broke off, probably not even that. "Now more healing…"
They kept going at it for a few more rounds: he evaded most of the gargoyle's attacks and kited it around, was healed from the wounds he took, and kept axing it for almost no effect – other than keeping its attention on him. Emma kept pounding at the thing with her offensive spell. Eventually the monstrosity broke in half and collapsed into a shapeless pile of stones.
Sean kicked it out of spite, then walked to Emma. He asked, "A bit more healing, please." She focused and he felt better, almost back to normal. It had been so simple – so he complained, "Next time, if you could heal me when I'm hurt instead of waiting until I almost die, that would be–"
"But you didn't die," she cut him off. "So what's the big deal? And you don't have to order me around like some kind of–"
"Wait, shush!" he stopped her and turned around.
Emma asked after a second, "What's wrong?"
"There was some kind of Gremlin chanting from the next room over… and it went quiet just now," he explained, then headed to the exit. He added, "Let's leave before we have to find out what that's about."
Emma followed him but pleaded, "But wait! Maybe we could kill, say, two more of these gargoyles? Since we're already here and there's more of…" She trailed off as the side door opened.
Three Gremlins entered, the big kind. One of them wielded a staff and pointed at the intruders without a word. Sean felt a sense of tiredness… even exhaustion – but only for a brief moment.
"Let's get out before…" he started and glanced at Emma – who was already lying on the floor, breathing, seemingly asleep. "Great!" he commented to himself and checked on the Gremlins: they weren't advancing, so maybe he could take them? It might be tough – especially without a Healer, and his armor was badly damaged from the long fight, but perhaps…
…then another gargoyle walked into the room through the same door.
Not a chance now, not even if Emma were awake. He wanted to run, but he couldn't just leave her here to die. The monsters were still at the side entrance: halfway through the long chamber and seemingly arguing. "Screw this!" he blurted out and crossed his axes over Emma's torso, then lifted and carried her limp body in his arms – kicking the exit door open on his way out.
He did not look back to check if anything was chasing them.