Chapter 26 – Within the Fortress Walls, The Huntsmaster Prowls

“How long?” Eliza asked.

“Not long. I can hear it.” Fleur replied.

Fer dashed through the fortress as another wall collapsed. Five openings now. She turned a corner to see one of her minotaurs holding a squealing man in the air. One crack and the man’s limbs fell lose, the life drained from his eyes. She ran further.

In this room, four cultivators were duelling with a dozen of her beastmen. Claw bounced against sword. Horn parried blade. Three beastmen fell to the ground to a cheer. Fer jumped to the wall, knelt and pushed herself off it. Four men against a God. She tore through them like a bear. A sword desperately flew into the air to protect its owner, her teeth wrapped around it, pushed it back and crushed steel and bone alike.

Another room. Too-late. A dead minotaur surrounded by three human corpses, his body pockmarked with a hundred cuts. Fer’s ears moved, she stopped, sniffed the air and rushed into the wall. A grandmaster. Fifty swords spinning around him like a carapace of steel. They danced and cut flesh and flesh. He turned to the Goddess, his eyes wide in surprise, his mouth a confident sneer.

Fer rolled to the side as the swords gave chase. Fire burst from the man’s arms. It rushed after her like a snake. Fer was faster, she picked up a table leg, threw it at the man. He raised his hands to protect against the shards of wood as his blades sliced them up. When he lowered them, the only thing he saw were Fer’s red eyes screaming for her bloodlust to be sated.

Fer shrugged the cuts off her body. She was beginning to regenerate slower now. She bit into the man’s flesh and felt some of his strength enter her, a meagre amount, not useful for healing, but useful to keep away fatigue.

Iliyal is gone?

Yes. He disappeared with two hundred men. Training he says.

Lyca smelled blood. He didn’t know how it was blood, it smelled nothing like blood. It smelled sickly sweet, he could feel it on his tongue. A burning so terrible it was like the first time he had ever tasted vodka. He couldn’t help smiling. He wanted more. The four held hands, took a step and travelled a mile in the span of a breath to the top of a nearby hill.

“Oh.” Fleur said.

“Oh indeed.” Edmonton added. He dropped his backpack on the ground and fiddled with the heartstone ring on his finger. Lyca fashioned a necklace, Eliza a staff, Fleur a wand from Anassa’s gift. Before them lay a forest. The remains of it. The ground was blackened with fire. Several huge spires of ice grew in odd points, animals and beastmen frozen in them. A crack ran across the valley floor, traces of magic still left in it. The river flowing was painted black, bodies floated along it, humans and animals all.

Then they saw the fortress. A huge burning boar’s head was carved into the mountain above it. The fortress was a rampaging monster in itself. Men flew around it, shooting beams, cutting vines with sword and spear and glaive. Some disappeared into the building, others flew out, panting and injured and were taken to a spot on the ground covered by guards. “We’re going into that?” Eliza asked.

The fort rumbled, roared and a vine screamed through the air. Three men were grabbed and disappeared to become part of the wall. It roared again, this time the vine was frozen. A single spear cracked it into a thousand shard. “THAT?” Eliza shouted this time.

“We’ve made it this far haven’t we?”

“What’s the plan?” Fleur asked. Edmonton pointed to the mountain to either side.

“We know we can do a mile jump easily.” He spoke. “My estimate is three miles, three jumps? Make it four.”

“Add recovery time.” Fleur said coldly.

“Ten minutes if we push.”

“The last two should be quick succession.” Lyca spoke up. “Onto the roof and then inside, we don’t…” His voice was cut off when a man in beautiful flowing yellow robes flew towards them. “Oh shit.” He stood on a thick blade as if it was a blade, two more swords hovered by his side. His narrow eyes squinted at them, he crossed his arms and he tilted his head and said something utterly incomprehensible.

“I suppose no one here know Guguoan?” Lyca said.

“It wasn’t on my priority list, if I’m honest.” Edmonton replied. The man shouted at them and pointed behind. They turned around, there was nothing there.

“I think he’s telling us to go away.” Eliza said quietly.

“I think he is too.” Edmonton said. Fleur lifted her wand towards the man and he barked something else at them. In the next moment, his chest exploded and he collapsed to the ground. The blades fell next to him. Lyca looked at Fleur utterly impressed.

“WHY DID YOU DO THAT?” Eliza screamed.

“I wanted to see if I could.” Fleur replied.

“And?” Edmonton asked. “How was it?”

“Easy.” Fleur said softly.

We’ve taken casualties but the outer walls are completely breached. The plant monsters have been burned away. The moat has also been cleansed.

Good. The Pantheon God wants to go in.

Should we allow him? It’s our hunt.

Better him than us. Send him.

Fer grabbed a man, lifted him above her head and tore him apart. His blue robes came apart as easily his bones cracked and muscles tore. She licked her lips and tasted the blood flowing down her. A man screamed as his will snapped, he broke and fled. A dark fur stepped forwards, hands pointed forwards and the man collapsed to the ground as his life left his body. “ALL DARKFURS!” Fer roared. “INTO THE CAVERNS! ALL WOUNDED, TAKE THEM AWAY DEEPER! HOLD THE THRONE ROOM!”

The throne-room was in the centre of the fortress. Dwarves always built them like that, it was a beating heart, every passageway an artery. Losing control of that meant the herd would be separated into packs. Lone packs were easy to hunt.

Fer’s ears quivered again as she spun on the spot and grabbed a sword blade and crushed it in her palm. The bleeding stopped quickly, but the cut didn’t bother to heal anymore. Fer licked her own blood. That tasted good. A man stood in the doorway. Grey robes, two belts: grandmaster. He chuckled, raised his hands and the blades around him turned to ice.

A minotaur rushed him. Five steps he made it. Two swords pierced his skull, ten more his chest. He collapsed, his blood frozen and shattered into large fragments. Fer took a step and reached for her chest. The armour was starting to grow heavy. She looked up and saw a hundred blade tips aimed at her.

They rushed forwards and her gaze was obscured by black fur. It immediately pierced by steel, one blade even made to touch her cheek. It was so cold she took a step back and almost fell over. The darkfur in front of her collapsed to knees, his body shattering as the flying blades retreated to their master. The man chuckled to himself as Fer tried to catch another breath.

She hated that her eyes grew large in terror. She hated that she fell backwards and tried to scamper away. She hated that final instinct every animal knew: fear. She turned to the man, he swung his sword through the air, took a step forward, clapped his hands. Fer embraced death.

Death never came.

For her at least, the man’s eyes bulged, he looked at his chest. Patted the growing bloodstain on his robes and fell onto his chest. The blades fell with him. A man was stood behind him. A young man, tall for a human, black haired. With sharp blue eyes and a cold face, he had a ring with beating heartstone on his finger and heavy clothes for trekking. He looked to Fer, calculated something and then turned behind him. “Guys! I found her!”

“Who?” Fer said quietly as picked herself up. She unstrapped the dwarf-bronze breastplate, it was chipped and bent in odd places, but it had saved her life at least a hundred times today. It was too heavy for her now. “Who are you?”

“Edmonton Weaver.” He said. “Are you Fer?” Fer took another heavy breath and nodded. Respectability be damned, she did not care if saw her naked at this point.

“I am.”

“Anassa sent us.” Edmonton said and bowed. Fer’s ears plucked up and she felt a tear in her eye. Sister sent them? Sister sent them! Anassa had heard! They made it!

“She said four?” Fer asked.

“We’re all she’s got.” A girl appeared. Tall and thin, with pale hair and modest in every respect, but her eyes were worse than a snake’s, so sharp. Her words rung true. Fer felt her heart beat even faster. Sister sent everything she had! She held a wand, tipped off with heartstone.

“Thank you.” Fer said as she pointed to the floor. “Down here, hole.”

“Let m-“ Her words were interrupted by another girl.

“LYCA DISSAPEARED!” She screamed. Short, brown hair, brown eyes, like a bear. She raced into the room.

“He’ll be fine.” Edmonton said. “You saw him, didn’t you?”

“But he’ll!”

“HE’LL BE FINE ELIZA!” Edmonton roared. “WE’LL FIND HIM ONCE WE’RE OUT OF DANGER!” The girl, Eliza, took a step back and nodded. Fer smiled, the young love flowing out of that little bear was cute. “Look, we’ve found her!” Edmonton pointed to Fer. The girl looked to Fer, did she really not notice her before? Her eyes grew wide in surprise and she bowed.

“I’m…”

“Introductions later.” Fer growled. “Hole, here. Down.” The taller girl took a step forward, whisked her wand through the air and part of the floor tumbled into the throne room. It made a perfect circle for them. Fer stood up and jumped down into the throne room.

There was blood all over the place, but the attackers had been pushed back. Corpses, both friend and foe lay over the rubble, although darkfur and minotaur and satyr and wolfman still prowled around the columns. The three children floated down the hole. Some of the darkfurs looked on curiously at them, the larger beasts merely turned their heads. Only one of the young satyrs played a fool. He launched himself at them with the intention to kill.

Fer jumped, caught him in one arm and flung him into the wall. “NO! OURS!” She sat down on the steps leading to the throne to take a breath. A wolfman came up to her with a towel. “Logar, how is it going?”

“The Huntsmaster is inside.”

Atis felled another beastman with a single spear thrust. This was like the old days.

Lyca walked into a room where two men in robes, one blue, one yellow, were duelling with a wolfman. The beastman was barely holding his own. He snarled and tore at the air with his jaw but had to take another step back. This was the third time in the passed ten minutes Lyca had come across humans.

Lyca leapt forwards, his hands blazing with flames. One man set alight instantly. He dropped in a scream as the acidic odour of burning flesh filled the room. He turned and writhed on the ground until Lyca crushed his neck with his heel. The other man, he punched. His hand burst through the man’s chest, his face in disbelief and life quickly left those brown eyes. Lyca smelled the blood on his hand again. So sweet…

He licked his finger. It tasted like ambrosia. It tasted like nothing he had ever tasted before. It rejuvenated him. It powered him. It made him want more. Lyca glanced at the wolf man, the fellow had fallen backwards and was scampering away, his eyes in sheer terror as they looked at Lyca. He quickly rolled over and ran away on all fours, like a dog.

Lyca didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t about to hurt a member of the pack. He felt the Pack Master two floors below him. Injured. He should go to her.

Fire trailed behind Lyca and he bumped his head on the way out of the room.

Atis stood in front of the doors behind which Fer lay. He could feel her. She was his prey today. A hunt that had been spanning since before the Great War was going to end today. The Guguoans thought they had a Great Hunt? He had the Greatest Hunt.

Fer looked up as the doors opened. Robed men and flying blades spilled into the room as her beastmen took up rank. Tiny dull explosions were coming from outside, they were probably planning to collapse the fort on them. The intruders filtered in and formed their own battle line on the other side of the great hall. In the middle of them strode a giant.

Not a giant.

A God.