Caracara's Hunt

Corwal pulled out his sword and advanced toward the middle of the arena. It was much larger than he had ever seen it before, and there were a lot more traps. Larger and smaller rock spikes had been raised all over the place, creating small pockets of safety to hide from the enemy"s sight.

But one moment of inattention could lead to instant loss. There were three ditches full of water on Corwal"s side of the arena, and they were made in a way that a person couldn"t see them from the distance.

Fires also burned throughout the arena. There were lanterns hung from many earthen spikes. Some of them had candles inside them, and some burned oil that stank.

The opposite gates finally opened, and Corwal focused on his opponent. There were a few creatures that could be brought out in such duels, depending on what the king had managed to get his hands on. Everyone found it the most interesting if the hero in the arena fought against a terrifying foreign creature.

But there was no need for him to wonder for long. The creature rushed into the light and roared. Its black fur looked glossy in the sunlight, and its razor sharp claws tore through the ground as it rushed at him.

"It"s a beast, of course, it"s a d.a.m.n beast." Corwal cursed and let go of the ether he had been about to call upon. It would not help him in this situation. "Where did he even get one at this time? Couldn"t it have been some starved foreign animal or something instead?"

At his thoughts, there was a sound of metal from where the beast had come. With a bad feeling, Corwal glanced there, ready to take flight in case something unexpected happened.

Crazed growls and roars announced the animals before they even came out the gates. First, it was a lion, then a bear, and a rhinoceros to top it. There was a whole menagerie for Corwal to choose from for his duel.

"Great, the starved animals are here too. What else do you have to offer?"

Instead of advancing, he swiftly retreated. The crowd booed him, but he tuned the voices out and focused on his surroundings. There was only him and the four creatures in existence, but just one of them could remain standing in the end.

No animal would attack the beast, so he chose to get rid of them first. Once they fought each other to their deaths, he would have the arena free to think of a way to kill a creature immune to magic and with skin tougher than armor.

The rhinoceros was dangerous when faced head on, but it wasn"t a predatory animal. Avoiding the beast"s pounce, Corwal dashed for the black-skinned gra.s.s-eater. Calling to the ether, he turned the ground under its feet into mud, entrapping it. The rhinoceros bellowed in fury, attracting everyone"s attention, but its days were numbered.

Corwal came from the side and stabbed his sword into its neck. Fresh blood poured down the animal"s side, and it turned to him, but Corwal wasn"t waiting for his reprisal. He pulled his blade out and vaulted over the animal"s back to avoid the beast that had come after him.

Its claws tore through the rhinoceros" hide, exposing his insides. Yet despite being starved, the beast didn"t even glance at its prey. With single-minded intent, it went after Corwal like it was its life"s mission to ensure his early death.

"Not so fast, friend," he murmured while rolling to avoid another pounce.

Upon jumping to his feet, he noticed that the lion and the bear had noticed the downed rhinoceros and were both eyeing it with hunger. The lion was the first to rush over and gorge itself on the meat it had been denied for who knew how long. Jealous, the bear rushed at it like a mountain.

The fight might have been a glorious one, but Corwal didn"t have time to admire it. The beast was after him, and it wasn"t falling for any distractions, no matter how tempting.

He dashed behind an earthen spike and plastered himself against it, hiding from the beast"s vision. His sword was raised though, ready to strike the moment it came for him.

Yet it didn"t. It should have attacked a fraction of the second after he hid, but it did not. As he wondered what had happened, there was a loud crash from above him. He looked up and saw the beast"s mad grin above himself.

Without time to think, he dropped to the ground, but he wasn"t fast enough. The claws scratched his back, drawing blood. He rushed to his feet, but the beast had landed on all fours and came for him right away.

Its powerful pounce shook his heart, and he dropped on his knees again while blocking the claws with his shield. It broke from the first impact, leaving him defenseless. He threw the remainder to the side and retrieved one of his daggers.

"This is not working," he muttered while dodging again.

The beast was fast, but not much faster than him. As long as it didn"t come from his blind spot, he could dodge its attacks without getting injured. But what kind of a fight was that? Did he dare to go into a battle of attrition with it?

Not at all, so it was time to come up with some kind of plan. Unlike Arawn, he didn"t have enough raw ether to blast the beast into oblivion, which meant the plan also had to be somewhat complex.

But the problem with fancy plans was that they had the bad habit of going wrong. Complexity was usually a sign that the idea was a horrible one and would not work under normal circ.u.mstances.

"I don"t seem to have any options though."

The beast pounced on him again, and he called to the ether. Not having expected that, the beast didn"t have time to react. It had let its guard down when he didn"t use it against it straight away.

Corwal turned the ground before it into mud, making it lose its footing upon landing. Then, before it could catch a breath, he rushed to its side while sending a waterfall from the sky on its head. The beast growled and shook its head under the swift stream when metal came through the curtain of water.

Corwal stabbed the beast"s eye while drawing ether into his muscles. With enhanced strength, he then ran away for dear life. The beast howled in such fury that the whole arena shook. The two predators having a life-and-death duel farther away froze and cowered. With heads lowered, they backed away toward the walls of the arena to get as far away from the beast as possible.

Swearing, Corwal hid behind another earthen spike. This time, he was prepared for the beast to come from any direction. There was no telling what it would do, but he was sure that he would not like whatever it chose.

Right on that thought, he heard another howl, and two submissive cries from the other predators. "Don"t tell me they"re allying against me…"

If Corwal wasn"t in a do-or-die situation, he would have certainly thrown his hands up and called the whole thing off. What stupid kingship was worth dying for? And as a spectacle for the ma.s.ses too?

He calmed his breathing and rested for the couple seconds he had. Fury at the king would do him little at that moment. There had to be a way to survive; he just had to find it.

"Wait, three creatures… s.h.i.t!"

He pushed off the spike and dove forward with all his strength. The next moment, the two predators came from left and right while the beast hit the spike with its shoulder while in the air. If Corwal had been a moment slower, he would have ended up as food for the starved animals.

"Don"t be in such a rush to devour me, okay? I don"t taste that good. All muscle and no tender meat."

His call for truce, however, was ignored. The three animals came at him like vengeful ghosts, and he had to dodge their attacks for dear life. But it was impossible to avoid every attack. The beast alone could kill him in a moment of carelessness, and now it had companions that were no slouches either.

"Is today my last day then?" he wondered when the lion"s jaws snapped by his nose. The bear"s claws slashed through his arm, leaving a burning trail where they pa.s.sed. "Is this because I promised the princess to return?"

With a wry smile on his bloodstained face, he parried the beast"s attack. Its claws went through his sword like it was b.u.t.ter. Suddenly annoyed by that, he didn"t avoid the lion about to pounce on him and went straight for the beast. Blinded in the left eye, it didn"t see his action for a second too long.

He stabbed what remained of his sword into its other eye. As he did so, the lion reached him and threw him to the ground. Pressed down by its heavy paw, Corwal called upon the ether and sent a jet of water at the animal. It distracted the lion for a second. During it, the beast regained its senses.

In a blind fury, it lashed out at its surroundings, trying to hunt down Corwal. However, he was lying on the ground while the lion was standing tall above him. It thus suffered the brunt of the beast"s attack and was instantly killed.

The lion"s body fell on Corwal, and he found himself lying under a creature that weighted four times his weight. He was about to try and get himself out when he thought better of it.

It was better to wait till the beast killed the bear as well before leaving his safe harbor. In the meantime, he could even heal some of his wounds. The ether came to him like an eager friend and poured into his injuries, drawing them closed. Most of the damage remained, but at least the bleeding stopped.

"Have to treasure the little that I have left. Must have already dyed this whole arena by myself."

The only reason he was still moving was because of the ether. Despite it being illegal to draw it into oneself, he was getting way too familiar with it. What had started as a way to save himself had become his daily practice. Without it, he had a hard time feeling alive.

A pained cry came from somewhere to the side, and with a sigh, Corwal changed the ground under the lion"s back legs into watery mud. This made it easier to push the animal off himself, and he rose with a little bit of a stagger.

"Great, I can"t even stand straight anymore."

The moment of peace was more of a problem than he had expected. His body had decided it was over and began entering shut down mode. The excitement from before was too much for it.

The beast heard his movements and turned to him with blood dripping from its eye sockets. The right eyes still held his sword like a macabre accessory. With a furious howl, the beast lunged for him.

Corwal prepared to avoid it, but his body was sluggish, no longer willing to obey his commands as fast as he needed it. Like a drunk, he almost fell over while leaning to the side to dodge the blind beast"s attack.

"We"re both injured, but while I"m at my last bit of strength, it could fight against another five of me. How do you kill a creature that"s immune to all your attacks?"

He didn"t have the energy to chip at the beast"s hide for an hour or more to whittle it down. If he wanted to win, something had to be done right then. Otherwise, he was a walking corpse.

Not having a plan just yet, he called upon the ether to send it into the ditch nearby. While doing it, he sneaked a little bit into his finger and sent it through his system, revitalizing it. His mind cleared, and he straightened. Although the energy filling him at that moment pushed his body past the point it could bear, it didn"t matter. He needed to kill the beast.

A glance at its body gave him a sense of desolation. How was it that he was on the verge of dying, and the beast didn"t have a single injury on its body? What had he been doing all this while?

Shaking his head, he took in a deep breath and fell into a fighting pose. There was no other option. He could only try something suicidal if he wanted to leave the fight alive.

When the beast went for him again, he waited in place with patience. One breath, two breaths, and it was upon him. Yet he didn"t dodge. Instead, he went forward and voluntarily thrust his hand with the dagger into the beast"s mouth.

The beast snapped its jaws closed, and intense pain rushed through Corwal"s arm, but that wasn"t enough to even slow him down. If pain had ever mattered to him, he wouldn"t have survived this long.

Ignoring the tearing sensation in his arm, he pushed the dagger into the back of the beast"s throat. It didn"t throw him off straight away, trying to bite off his arm instead, and he grabbed the hilt of his sword which was in its eye. With all his strength, he pushed it into the beast"s head, desperate to reach its brain.

More, he needed more power! Ether gathered around him, threatening to rush into him all at once, but he didn"t want to self-destruct! It would be the stupidest choice ever, and so he refused the light surrounding him.

"You"ve already lost your humanity, so just be good and die already," he snarled while concentrating all his energy on the last push.

It was all or nothing. He fell on the sword"s handle with all his weight and the strength remaining in his body. The blade went a little further, and the beast"s body shook. It whimpered in the back of its throat and swayed before bringing Corwal to the ground with it.

His left hand was a b.l.o.o.d.y mess, and he didn"t look at it. If the king wanted, it would be repaired, and if not… Well, being one-handed wasn"t too bad. Maybe he could finally get some rest then.