A Nation of Dolls

The small dachshund trashed about, unable to grasp the reality of its new vessel. Its consciousness failed to fathom why it was now this small and... extremely dumb. Instead of barks, the miniature dog emitted a scream.

"AaAAGAaAgAAAgaH!"

The horrific sight of a dog howling in agony with a human voice was enough to instill terror to anyone. But not the architect of the dog's misery. Almina laughed while Izma fumbled about, he cannot get used to his new body.

"That form suits you well, master. You have finally become the mutt that you truly are."

As her final goodbye, Almina kicked the wooden dog, making it whimper in pain. She had thought of taking the captive, but it that would be a waste of her time since being stuck in that wooden body for all eternity was torture enough. Without the ability to speak coherently or grasp anything with its paws, Izma was doomed never to reclaim his soul from Almina.

Thus, Almina left the wooden dog, heading towards the rest of her brethren.

+++

With one push the gate towards the assembly of dolls was opened.

Here laid were the army of the most gorgeous dolls, the unnatural sheen of their skin combined with their synthetic hair of varied colors were a sight to behold. Their uniform, a mix stylish black coat and pants. Their old master was tempted to put them in dresses but no matter how gorgeous these dolls are, their attire must serve their purpose, their attire must be combat ready.

Almina held the the dagger in front of her. How to bring her brethrens to life was something engraved in her soul. Channeling her mana into the dagger of sundering, her eyes along with the blade shone an immaculate blue glow.

"Arise, my army of perfection! Arise and show these fleshbags our superiority!" The excitement from Almina's tone was palpable as the surrounding air became pregnant with hex, overflowing with magical energy that would serve as a portent for the sinister things to come.

In perfect harmony, the dolls all opened their eyes, heeding the call to life of their new master. All of them stood, carrying with them the impassive expression of doll but with one difference, they carried the fire of life in their eyes. They possessed souls.

Like the faithful familiars that they are, the dolls all kneeled before Almina. The ear to ear grin on her face was telling on how she felt. If she had a heart it would no doubt thrum in excitement. All these gorgeous killing automatons are hers to command!? Splendid!

The auburn haired tiefling at the front question, "What is thy bidding, Master?"

"I want you to show these meat suits that today rises the nation of dolls! The nation of perfection! I want you to instill in them fear, have them witness firsthand that they are beneath us!"

The dolls stood, ready to sound the trumpet of destruction, harking the birth of Almina's utopia.

+++

One of the dolls resting on the pulled out the embedded dagger on its forehead, shrugging off what should have been a fatal wound to any living being like it was nothing, continuing to follow its deceased master's order and charge at the Gorgon.

Slithering from side to side as she evaded and slashed at the dolls, Yazmin was finally starting to feel fatigue from her dance. An wry grin crept under her mask. Looks like she's gonna need to use her gift to dispose of these wooden pests, they were hardly worthy but she didn't want to keep hacking at them all day.

But right before she could do so, the sound of cackling lightning could be heard from the distance. Back up had arrived.

A fork of lightning spell shattered the front glass of the shop, arcing Yazmin and hitting the dolls around her, as if forming a lightning barrier for her lover. After incapacitating the dolls surrounding Yazmin, Althea jumped into the fray.

"Yaz, are you okay!? I rushed as soon as I heard the explosion!"

With the two lover's pressing their backs against each other, Yazmin felt they would emerge victorious no matter how many dolls were thrown at them.

"Never been better, my love. By the way, I have found the person we were looking for. He hid himself somewhere at the back of this shop, if my venom still hasn't gotten to him yet, we can still bring him to the guards for questioning."

"You engaged the serial killer alone!? You should have contacted us first!"

Worry seeped from Althea's tone, making Yazmin guilty for engaging Izma alone.

"I apologize for making you worry, let me make it up to you after we dispose of these dolls."

With her Katana drawn, Althea smiled, "You better."

The sound of running hooves were getting louder and louder. The other display glass was shattered as the centaur rammed his way through. Telmano trampled some of the dolls, while his battle axed cleaved others in half.

On the centaur's back was the ranger wood elf, with a smirk on his face, he notched his bow and unleashed three arrows made out of pure destructive wind at the dolls, punching holes at his three targets simultaneously.

Telmano's stampede ended with all four grouped up.

"Are we...are we fighting mannequins?" The centaur was at a disbelief.

"Do not let them fool you, they move faster than the untrained. But that's about it." Yazmin warned.

Marionne chuckled, "So we have nothing to worry about then, good to know."

With how skilled both of them are, it would take a more than a mannequin to prove as their match. For the wood elf, they would be nothing more than agile target practice.

As if to spite Marionne for haughtiness, the ground not far from them collapsed. From it erupted a legion of dolls, one different from the one Yazmin faced before. Not only were their numbers higher, large enough to be considered a small army, they also carried an aura of great magical energy, like they were elite mages all wearing stolid expressions.

One of the dolls, a blonde woman pointed her hand to the wall. Yazmin gasped, a fireball larger than the one the Dollmaker launched earlier shattered the wall, allowing the doll's comrades to escape the shop without passing by the adventurers.

These mannequins were smart, with one glance they sensed the magical energy they harbored and deemed the spellblade a massive threat.

"They are escaping, stop them!" Althea commanded.

Telmano ran, all four of his legs moved with haste to cut down as many of these irregular dolls as he could, but one of the dolls, this time a female human, bent to press her palms on the soil. The sound of rumbling rocks echoed.

The slumbering earth underneath the concrete arose, forming rows of tall jagged spikes, embodying the name of the spell itself, Earth spikes. Like a living being, the spikes moved, towards the centaur. With no time to hop back, Telmano was about to be impaled and gutted by the very earth itself!

While the spikes were about to protrude from under Telmano, Marionne's keen eye focused to its limit, from his bow was shot another arrow of pure wind that hit the earth spike dead center, making it explode before it could kill his best friend.

Forced to retreat and reevaluate the threat, Telmano wiped his brow at the close call, he was once again reminded why he was letting Marionne ride his back.

"You owe me." Marionne smirked.

"I know, I know. You can ask for your favor later." Telmano gripped his axe. "I have feeling these are no ordinary mannequins."