Linus Toria

Chapter 6

Mathieu was excited. After Manon had reported back to him, he was ecstatic to know that his missing scout was alive and that he had to fight a manticore to retrieve him. That was nothing short of a never fulfilled wish for him as manticores were very rare and nobody knew where to look for one. They were notorious to be unyielding and blood thirsty and he couldn't wait to fight one. He fully embraced his battle maniac personality.

Seemingly having gone in daze, daydreaming about his spectacular soon-to-be fight, he received another elbow between the ribs from Manon. She reminded him: „We better hurry up and get him out of there. Just now the manticore was ignoring him but who knows how long that will last. Maybe he is getting hungry right now and decides to take a bite. I'm sure you would prefer a Gaspard with all of his limbs intact, so let's hurry up"

„Ok, battle plan: We will go downstairs together and I will confront the manticore and once I have its undivided attention, Manon and Elodie will go to Gaspard and the girl to check up on them and provide first aid if needed. Meanwhile, Etienne will stay at the door to make sure nobody tries to sneak up on us. If one of you encounters any additional creatures that might pose a threat kill them on sight", he commanded his group.

A round of 'Yes, sir's assured him that everybody knew what their job was. On his signal the whole group moved quietly down the stairs and stopped in front of the door. Cursing, he saw that Gaspard and the girl were now awake and the manticore was about to pounce on them.

Mathieu launched himself forward with a battle cry to get the manticore's attention. The chimera spun around and bared its hideous three lines of teeth at him in warning. He paid it no heed and went in with a careful placed dropkick to the head and was rewarded with a satisfying crack.

It wasn't enough to take the beast down and he backed up a few steps to avoid its retaliating claws. Closing the distance between them once again he made a feint to the right and went in with a left hook smashing the manticore against the nearest wall. Before it could slide unconsciously to the ground he drove his favourite dagger through its throat and nailed it to the wall.

After making sure that it was really dead he turned his focus to his teammates. Walking over to Elodie who was doing a checkup on Gaspard he asked: „How is he?"

Before his medic could answer him, her patient interjected with a huge smile not befitting his situation: „Never been better", then he pointed to his left and told him, „This is Sofia. She will be travelling with us from now on"

Mathieu took a look at the girl he had been ignoring until now. While she was most likely already old enough to be called a woman her size compared to his teammates was simply too small. So he would stick with that description for now.

She didn't look like a Sofia. That name sounded like a shy maiden and he was sure that nobody travelling by themselves fit those character traits. And the one to decide who joined their group was still him. He was about to reprimand Gaspard, but was interrupted by a scowling girl.

„What's wrong with you? Just because I didn't tell you my name, doesn't mean you can give me a new one. But if you must insist, call me Lina. And I'm not going to travel with you"

„Why, wherever you are travelling, we just happen to be going into the same direction. So travelling together would benefit us all", Mathieu lied shamelessly. He would only agree to this if she was also going towards Europe. And her refusing tone reminded him of Manon who often made firm statements while actually wanting the opposite.

On a whim, he had decided to support his friend's wish. Gaspard had in their 30 years of friendship never asked much of him and if he now wanted this and nothing else, he would help him. As long as nothing happened to his teammates he was fine with it.

Besides, the girl really didn't look dangerous. Normally that would have alarmed him even more as a lot of supernaturals were far more dangerous than their looks gave them credit for. But the girl – or Lina – didn't seem capable of hurting a fly. And if worst came to worst he was still there to protect the others. Even though they could fend for themselves just fine he enjoyed patronising them a little.

At this point Lina looked ready to tell them off again, but got cut off by Manon: „We are also going to Europe. Why are you being stubborn? Just come along with us. We don't mean you any harm" Mathieu was proud that Manon was so loyal and always argued for his side. She even seemed to have forgotten her earlier reluctance. Yet, Mathieu was sure that this evening she would chew his ear off with her worries and complaints. He didn't really mind as long as she talked with him and didn't wander off to pout in some corner.

„How did you know that I was going to Europe?", Lina asked doubtfully.

Elodie who had been quiet until now decided to take part in the conversation: „That was the only logical conclusion. There is nothing around here. Everything got destroyed by the war and the rumored restoration workers are still busy at the more important locations like London, Tokyo and New York" Mathieu saw Elodie's statement as her approving of having one more travelling companion and was happy that everybody in his group was concordant as Etienne always had the same oppinion as his partner Elodie.

„That still doesn't explain why I should go with you. I don't even know you", Lina persisted on being difficult, „You could just be waiting for me to let my guard down and sell me to the next friendly slave trader you happen to come across!"

Gaspard who was in a great mood continued: „We would never do that. When I proposed you to join our group, I mostly have your safety in mind. The five of us were soldiers in the Great War and know how to protect ourselves and others. The group thing also helps. But you are travelling alone and bandits will see you as easy prey and assault you.

While I'm sure you're a capable fighter, it will still affect your travelling pace because you have to be extra careful. Furthermore, some larger gangs might gang up on you and nobody likes being outnumbered in a brawl. If you were to travel with us, you wouldn't have to concern yourself with these problems. So please, reconsider?"

Lina went quiet and Mathieu could literally see the wheels turning in her head. While she was immersed in her thoughts the rest of Mathieu's group seemed to hold their breath in expectance of her decision. Even Etienne was listening intently from his position at the door.

Finally, Lina opened her mouth again: „Fine, let's travel together. Where in Europe is your final destination?"

„France, Paris to be exact. Or what's left of it",supplied Manon.

„Good then until Paris I hope we will be able to get along", replied Lina formally.

Mathieu watched as Gaspard started smiling like a cheshire cat and was happy that his scout had broken out from his constant bad mood he had seemed to be in since Ciel's disappearance. He himself also got the unexplainable feeling that he just did something good that would help his team greatly.