Chapter 1: Brave New World

It was cold. A biting cold that went straight to Katlyn’s bones, but that was normal for this time of year and she wasn’t focused on that at the moment. No, what had her full attention was the shambling bulk of flesh and distorted body parts thundering after the sledge carrying her companions. The sounds of dead trees shattering under its bulk as it bulled forward echoed through the forest.

Another shot rang out as Arty fired his rifle. The ensorcelled bullet streaked toward the monster with a flash of red light before detonating. A mangled roar escaped from the monstrosity, its many limbs and heads focused on them as it continued its reckless charge.

“Well, that didn’t slow it down at all. Gods damnit Bren. Can’t ye get us moving any faster?” Katlyn yelled over the whistling wind to the slender brunette driving the team of elk, pulling their ride.

“They are going as fast as they can. Do you not think they want to flee as much as you do?” He called back. Katlyn turned her pale blue eyes back to the beast following them. It was large for one of the Warped. Far larger than it had any right to be in this area, at least eight feet at her best guess. It had nine limbs ranging from human arms and legs to those of a deer, and all of them were distorted to grotesque proportions. The same went for the heads. Glares of rage and rabid snarls escaping human and bestial mouths alike. Its flesh was covered in a thick fur that made it a tough target for most of their weapons, and worst of all, it was gaining on them.

Katlyn readied her blade, the sharp longsword held lightly in her right hand as she readied her shield in her left. She was tall, cresting six feet with a well-toned body of someone who had spent their life training to fight. She’d never admit it, but she was strong, especially for someone her age and level. Another shot broke the screaming of the wind as Arty tried to blow the legs out from under the Warped.

They were a small team. They weren’t meant to take on something like this. Hell, they were barely meant to be scouting the area.

Katlyn shook her head, trying to bite down the fear as she stood, waiting for the inevitable clash.

Suddenly, the trees gave way to a vast plain of snow. The sudden lack of the black trunks diluting the blinding white made Katlyn squint past her scarf and hood. This wasn’t good. The Warped was being hindered by the trees but free to run, it would be on them soon.

A sharp lurch of the sledge forced her to a knee. “The Hells is going on?”

“CLIFF!” Bren screamed back, panic pinching the words as he tried to turn the elk, or at least stop them.

“Feck,” Katlyn swore to herself. One heartbeat, two, and the thing was on them. A massive paw made from several human hands swung down, but was knocked to the side by her shield. A reverberating pain shot up her arm, numbness spreading quickly after. She grit her teeth, readying her body for more.

Then the worst happened. With a snapping of wood, the Elk broke free of the sledge. The panicked beasts bolted, leaving Katlyn, Bren and Arty to fend for themselves.

The monstrosity was on them in a blur of flesh, muscle, fur, and antlers. As the point woman of their team, Katlyn was left to take the brunt of the charge. She leapt from the sledge, planted her feet as best she could in the snow, and braced for impact behind her shield. A loud crash sent her teeth rattling and her arm burned as she met the Warped monstrosity’s furious assault. She grit her teeth and pushed as hard as she could, magically enhanced muscles forcing the beast to slow, and, after several feet of skidding, stop.

A scream of pain escaped her throat as a claw hooked around her right side, slashing through her leather armor with barely any effort. Blood welled, but the wounds quickly closed as Bren’s healing magic washed over her. Kat cursed herself for missing the opening strike, but quickly homed back in on the creature.

She lost track of her party as she focused on her life or death struggle with the Warped. A block to the left let it swing at her from the right. Barely ducking under the swipe, she slashed a line of bubbling black blood across its front. Thankfully, the wound didn't heal. Regeneration would have made this even worse. She stumbled back as another blow hit her shield. Her left arm was numb from the impacts, and keeping the rest of herself away from the many grasping, clawing limbs was tiring her quickly.

Katlyn's eyes darted right as she heard Arty take another shot. He had been circling around the bulk of the beast, peppering its hide with elemental explosions. Fire mostly, but some ice and force here and there. He took particular aim at the heads, hoping that taking them out would stop the beast, or at least confuse it. Bren was somewhere behind her, trying his best to keep her alive while she fought. He, like the others in the group, was young and fresh to his position, and he'd be running low on Mind soon.

Suddenly, there was a yelp to Katlyn's left. Hidden in the snow, a stone had tripped Arty.

“No!” Katlyn screamed. Time seemed to slow down as the Warped turned, sensing weakness, and charged Arty. It was over in a moment. The snow was splashed with red as Arty’s final screams were silenced with a sickening crunch.

Katlyn froze. For a couple of seconds, all she could do was stand there in disbelief as she watched Arty get torn to shreds by the creature. She felt numb and slow. Shaking hands grasping at her shoulders brought her back to reality.

“We have to move!” Bren all but screamed as he started pulling her back. She followed, still half in a daze as they moved toward the sledge.

They crouched behind the vehicle as wet noises echoed over the field.

“What are we going to do? We can not kill that thing! And now Arty is dead, and he was our damage. Oh, oh Gods we're so fucked Kat. So fucked, so fucked…” Bren's eyes welled up as he rambled in panic, his hands clutching his brown locks. The sudden initiative he displayed moments before he dissolved as fear took hold of him.

Katlyn wasn’t doing much better. Her hands shook, and she could feel the terror welling up inside her. This was supposed to be a safe, simple mission. Next to no danger. Maybe a smaller warped, like the two headed dogs they’d seen before. Nothing like this. She could not stop her sensitive ears from picking up each crunch and slurp as the beast continued its meal. Her stomach churned and she heaved, spewing her breakfast across the snow. Thankfully, something about the violent ejection brought her back, let her focus a little more as she wiped a woolen sleeve across her lips.

Katlyn shook herself and rose to peek above the sledge. The Warped was still gorging itself on Arty's remains. “Bren, hey, hey, I need you to listen, Bren.” She took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. “I'm about tae do something really feckin stupid here, and I need ye to do what I say. Ya ken?” A meek nod of understanding was all she got from the terrified man. “Good, I want ye to crawl over that way.” She pointed to the right of the sledge. “Stay low in the snow, even better if it covers ye. Be quiet, but be as quick as ye can.”

“I understand,” Bren whispered.

“Hey, yer gonna be OK.” A smile she didn't feel stretched across Katlyn's face. “Now get going. See ye in a minute.” She patted his shoulder and turned back to the task at hand.

Taking a quick moment to make sure Bren was well on his way and to make sure the sledge was close enough to the cliff for her plan to work, she stood and slowly walked around to the other side.

I'm gonna feckin die. Fighting the thought, she steeled her nerves, watching the Warped finishing its meal. At least one of us’ll survive.

“Hey ya big feckin beastie! Ya full, or are ya ready fer seconds?” She shouted out to the bloody mass of fur.

Eight sets of eyes swung her way, their baleful stares sending a shiver down her spine that had nothing to do with the frigid weather. Katlyn watched in horror as blood and gore dripped from its many lips. The creature turned its massive body to face her.

“All right. Ye killed Arty. I’mma make sure you pay for it,” Katlyn growled. She lowered her body, shield at the ready and made herself as threatening as possible.

With a distorted, multi-throated roar, the monster charged at her. She held her ground as she watched the beast pick up amazing speed, the many legs carrying the weight with ease.

Feckin gotcha! Katlyn howled, as she leapt to her right at the last possible moment. Guarding the glancing blow sent her spinning to the side as the beast smashed straight past her.

Loud cracking of splintering wood echoed over the field as the monster impacted the sledge. Through blurry vision, Kat saw its numerous limbs get stuck in the wooden vehicle as they punched holes through it. Additionally, straps they used to secure any equipment or cargo had snared the beast. Unable to stop its momentum, the Warped’s weight pushed the sledge up to and over the edge of the cliff. A surprised scream ripped out of its throats as it tumbled through the air.

Several seconds passed before a sickening crunch echoed up and over the lip of the ledge. Katlyn offered a silent prayer that the rocks at the bottom were sharp.

It took a couple moments of her panting and laying on her back in the snow before she felt a sharp pain lance up her leg. “Oh, oh, that's not good.” She felt like she was going to puke again, somehow. Bracing her arms and lifting her upper body, she could see her right leg bent and twisted in a way it shouldn't be. It looked like it had snapped at the knee and was almost backwards. The world swam as she looked in horror at her mangled limb before soft hands caught her.

“You did it, Kat, I can scarcely believe it!” Bren was saying as he kept her upright. “Hey, hey, stay with me. I'm going to do the best I can to fix you up, however my Mind is scraping empty. Kat? Kat, listen to me. I will need to straighten the leg first.”

She nodded, more on reflex than understanding. The pain was growing to consume her higher thoughts as her body and mind focused on the mangled limb, and she lost focus on Bren’s words.

“Hey, Kat, focus. I am going to set it. This is going to hurt a lot. Understand? I guess it scarcely matters if you do. Hells. Prepare yourself.” He glanced at her, blanching as he prepared to do what needed done.

Katlyn grit her teeth and screwed her eyes shut. “3… 2… 1…” A sickening crunch and her vision darkened, edges shimmering with sparks of light as she fought to stay conscious. She could tell that Bren was talking to her, but she couldn’t make out the words. Her entire world narrowed to the searing pain in her leg.

Finally, after several seconds, her muscles relaxed, and she slumped in Bren’s grasp. She felt a low trickle of healing magic working at her leg. It didn’t do much more than numb the pain, and not by much at that, but she could think again.

“We need to get somewhere safe,” Kat panted, wiping tears from her eyes. “I need tae not move much, and you need to rest and restore your Mind.” She groaned as she sat up again, feeling the dull ache that substituted the sharp pain she should be feeling. “Think ye can grab one of the pieces of the sledge and pull me?”

“Yes, yes, I believe I can manage. It will most likely be slow going. However, I saw what looked like an old building a mile or so back.” Bren said as he looked around for a big enough piece of wood. “It looked like some old mansion. It might not be warm, however it will be shelter.”

A few minutes later, they had a makeshift sled with some rope for Bren to pull with. It was, indeed, slow going, but Kat wasn’t about to complain. She focused on keeping her balance and watching out for any new threats. Truth be told, it felt longer than an hour before Bren caught sight of the old building. It was a massive two story complex. At least a hundred years old, from what Kat could tell. The walls were lined with gaping holes where windows used to be shuttered, and its siding was all but stripped of the decorative yellow paint that had once adorned the wooden walls. The steepled roof seemed to be mostly intact, a gaping hole to the eastern side, and there was a rough stone chimney to the west. “Thank the Gods for that. We can have a fire,” Katlyn prayed to herself.

Shoving open the heavy double doors that formed the main entrance, they looked cautiously around the main foyer. It was clear that whoever had lived here had been wealthy, but looting and the harsh winters had taken their toll. The place was stripped bare, with less faded spaces on the walls, all that remained of portraits or wall hangings. Snow drifted in from the hole in the roof covering the floor and grand stairs with a soft blanket of white and, strangely, footprints leading off further into the building.

“Did ye see any prints outside?” Kat asked as she looked around, leaning on a wall, trying to stay off her bad leg.

“None, and these look fairly fresh.”

“Yeh, couple hours old at most.” Kat’s eyes scanned the upper levels for movement. None was to be seen.

“Do you think they are still present?”

“Well, I don’t see any tracks leavin’. Ye wanna take a gander at the rest of the house? Don’t think I’ll be much help to ye like this.” Kat gestured at her lameness.

“I can, yes. May I borrow your knife?”

“Yeah, sure.” She tossed Bren the knife, still in its sheath. “Holler if ye need me. I’ll limp o’er to the side without the snow. See if I can get a fire goin’.”

“Very well, see you soon.”

She made her way through the halls to the Eastern wing, leaning against the walls for support. It got darker quickly as she got further from the gaping hole in the roof. Eventually, at the end of the main hallway was a large set of doors that should have led to the room with the fireplace.

The room with the fireplace was on the larger side. Enough that a few couches could have fit along with a table and some extra chairs here and there.

Kat set about doing her best to find some spare wood. Thankfully, someone had pulled up the floorboards in a corner of the room and had left the debris. Taking her starter kit, she arranged the wood and lit the paper with the fire crystal. Useful little things, they only needed a small bit of mana channeled through them to get the desired result, and with how cold it could get, they were critical to anyone traveling.

After a few minutes, she was starting to warm up, taking off her thick woolen cap and letting her long ears finally breathe after a long day. Chocolate brown locks tumbled down over her shoulders as she undid her scarf. She closed her eyes and basked in the warmth of the flames.

A noise behind her had her head whipping around to the door. It was Bren, standing there awkwardly with a rosy blush to his cheeks that didn’t seem like it was just from the cold.

“Hey, Kat, uh, I think I’m going to need your help with this one.” He said as he shuffled nervously in place.

“Huh? Find someone? Are they dangerous?”

“N… no? They, uh, she, he, they? They’re asleep. But, uh, yeah, you, I just, please help,” He stammered as he spoke.

“Askin’ a cripple for help? Yer truly a cruel taskmaster Bren.” Kat laughed. “Help me up.” It was funny, Bren normally had such a proper way of speaking, but when he got nervous it all fell apart. Something must have really gotten to him.

Leaning on his shoulder, Kat fought a groan as she stood. Slowly and carefully, Bren guided her through the building, up to the second floor and to the door of a side room. The snow was disturbed, obvious traces of someone entering the room.

“They in there?” Kat whispered, trying to keep the nerves out of her voice.

“Y… yeah, they are.” Bren stammered.

“Dangerous?”

“I… don’t think so?”

“Still dinnae know what’s got ye all flustered, but let’s take a look.” Kat brushed past Bren and sidled up against the door, slowly opening it with a soft creak. Looking through the crack carefully, she saw the intruder, but her subtlety dropped once she saw the other person in the room.

Atop a soft unspoilt bed of snow lay a sleeping woman, naked as the day she was born. Her tanned skin and supple curves contrasting her hip length dark grey, wild hair, fur, ears and tail. She was big, bigger than most people Katlyn had met, and unmistakably beautiful in a feral way. Even sleeping, her face had an air of soft pride to it.

Suddenly, in her sleep, the woman rolled to her other side, exposing her shapely breasts, abs, and face, but also between her legs, where Kat expected female anatomy. A thick cock instead slid into view before disappearing again as she settled.

“Oh.” Kat whispered with a blush. “Oh, ye don’t see that every day. Or ever.”

As you turn the page, you swear you see the text on the page shimmer, then fade. Turning back, you find all mention of the mysterious warped is missing. Blank parchment is all that remains where its actions and description once were.