Caracara's Hunt

But in what way was it stronger? The beasts were certainly powerful physically and resistant to ether attacks, but so what? They could never match even a tenth of the deadliness of his ether form. It could kill a beast without much effort.

As Arawn puzzled over that—for the moment ignoring how Corwal was asking to be killed since it was too unsettling of a thought—the large bears reached the crowd of criminals. A couple were taken down instantly, and their screams excited the audience into a frenzy.

Everyone was shouting and screaming to the point that it was hard to tell what came from those stuck in the arena and what from the people watching.

Rain and Betty muscled their way through many people to try out all the keys before finding the one that fit their shackles. Once free, they helped Val and together attacked the bears who were feasting on their first victims.

The two animals didn"t even notice what happened when some ten people attacked them with all the elements. In a moment, there were only two large bodies lying on a couple human corpses.

The survivors cheered a little while hurrying to free themselves as well. No one would risk injury, let alone their lives, for others, but they chose to work together to take care of the starved creatures released by the king.

This was mostly because the majority of people didn"t seem to be real criminals. Based on their clothes and how easily scared they were, Arawn was almost sure that their crime was being born Mairyan. Few of the people below even knew how to fight.

Val organized them while the gates on the other side began to raise up again. This time, a herd of buffalos rushed out. They stampeded straight toward the grouped up humans who were shaking on their feet.

Upon seeing the large herd coming for them with horns lowered, many people panicked and scattered like chickens. Their flight was noticed by the buffalos who became even faster at that moment. There was madness in their bloodshot eyes when they sprinted forward to skewer the humans on their horns.

Right before they could, however, Rain and a few other earth mages planted their hands on the ground. A huge ditch opened up, and the buffalos fell in, breaking their legs. Despite that, those in the back continued to rush forward.

The fire mages sent a volley of fireb.a.l.l.s, setting their hides on fire. Water mages, in the meantime, brought water and began suffocating the animals one by one. Everything was uncoordinated and all over the place, but the group of mages put up an obvious resistance.

The normal civilians hid behind them, watching with fear and trepidation as their fate was decided by other people. There was absolutely nothing they could do to make it better for themselves besides praying for the G.o.ds to protect them.

Rain formed a blade from the earth and attacked with it. The strength and durability weren"t the same, but her real blades had been taken away a long time ago.

The fight continued for another ten minutes, and the humans defeated the animals with only two more casualties. Their survival rate was quite good, which calmed Arawn a little. Maybe everything would be all right in the end. Rain and Val were strong. They might survive and without his help. They were trained fighters and not just random civilians, after all.

"Don"t look so hopeful," Corwal said after glancing back at him. "It"s an execution. The battle is just for everyone"s entertainment; there"s no winning it."

At his words, more animals were released. First it were some vicious cats, then a giant grey creature with ears the size of wings. Its every step shook the ground, and many people lost their lives before the mages could put the animal down. Their connection to the ether was growing thin, and it was getting harder for them to call upon it. Soon, they would be no better than normal people.

Arawn watched with rapt attention how his friends were doing. Both Rain and Betty had acc.u.mulated a number of wounds. Val was a little better off since he tended to stay away from direct combat, but even he had been nabbed by a large cat. His thigh was still bleeding despite quite some time having pa.s.sed since then.

Eliot had been pushed into the group of civilians, so he was safe and sound. Yet for how long would that last? Arawn"s heart skipped a beat when he saw a pack of large cats released again. These ones were orange and striped, and they moved with a strange grace despite looking quite overweight.

There were five of them, and they circled the surviving thirty people. Then, one of them lunged forward. It was instantly followed by another, and a third. The mage they had aimed for tried to raise a wall to defend himself, but the large cats came from all directions. They focused him down without allowing anyone to interfere.

Instead of gorging themselves on the blood and flesh of their prey like the other predators had done, however, the giant cats began circling again. Without a sound, they harried the people, keeping them on constant alert.

If anyone relaxed their guard, the giant cats would lunge forward. Their speed bellied their size, making it extremely hard to avoid them.

A few earth mages tried to trip them, but the animals seemed to sense the movement of ether. They would jump away the moment the humans thought to trap them in an earthen hold.

Val then tried to suffocate one with water, but all four of the other cats lunged for him at that moment, making him immediately lose concentration. He had to dodge for his life and hide behind Rain and Betty who held earthen swords.

If the group had met the cats at the start, they might have had enough mages to work something out, but now, they were left with only five earth mages, two fire, and one water. The last woman who had used wind was thrown across the arena by the giant gray creature.

There were also two etherless fighters among the group, but that was it. Out of the thirty people still alive, only a third could put up any fight.

The cats noticed it in no time and started aiming for the weak spots. Rain and Betty had to be everywhere. Everyone had bunched up into a small circle, but there were still too many of them. On top of that, Mutallu and the other fire mage weren"t trying to defend the others. They only fought once their own life was in danger.

In the middle of the group, Arawn could see Eliot"s pale face. The kid was trying to call upon the ether, but his hands were shaking, and the ether slipped through his fingers. It scattered again and again, never even reaching the lantern on a nearby earthen spike.

His frustration echoed Arawn"s own feelings. He called upon the ether, but it didn"t do anything. No matter how much he collected, it was pointless.

The only part of him that could move was his eyes, but it was too minimal. He chipped the wall around his face, but that was it. A whole decade would be required for him to escape like that.

"But I need to leave!"

Every glance down fueled his desperation. Since the large cats had appeared, the end seemed eminent. The survivors were simply too tired and uncoordinated to put up a real fight against the pack of cats that seemed to have hunted together many times before.

But even if Arawn wanted to change, he didn"t know how. He had never done it because he wanted. It wasn"t a conscious decision.

Val was scratched, barely avoiding losing his other arm, and Arawn"s heart almost jumped out of his throat. He tried to clench his fists, but the earth held him still. Even the simple reaction of worry was denied him.

"No, forget it. Focus. You need to change."

Everything depended on it. If he changed, he could save everyone below, and while the king was distracted by his transformation, they could escape. And although Corwal was sure that Arawn"s beast would be able to defeat everyone, he didn"t even consider it. His ether form was the monster, not the simple animal that had nothing but its claws to attack. He was sure the countless guards standing all around the arena would stop him straight away.

"And then everyone would be safe. I just have to change… change… But how? They keep on calling me a monster, a demon, but is that even me or something inside me? If the latter, how do I call it out?"

He rapidly attempted everything he could think of—begging, pleading, ordering, and bargaining. None of them had any result. There was no answer form his inner consciousness no matter how many times he called out to it.

But wasn"t it a fact that he had never gotten in touch with his "ether form"? In all his twenty years of life, he hadn"t interacted with it, so if it was a different person in him or something, wouldn"t they have encountered each other at least once in all that time?

There was no time to look for explanations, however. He needed to change before one of his friends got hurt.

Cold sweat broke out on his back. His friends? Then what about all the other people below? Weren"t they worthy of saving too? When had he become so preferential?

For a second, he closed his eyes and mourned the child he had been. It seemed it was dead for good. The outside world had finally gotten him accustomed to seeing the deaths of strangers and not minding it.

When he opened his eyes, his gaze fell on Corwal who was sitting with his back to him and watching the event below. There was a blank expression on his face as he followed the progress of his two kids. He frowned a little when Mutallu barely pushed back a striped cat with his fire, but did not move.

Despite proclaiming to care about those he saved, Corwal was sitting high on the stand and doing nothing. Even if they were about to die, he wasn"t planning to do anything to save them.

It was like a punch in the gut to Arawn. The Corwal in his mind would have never done that. For all his faults, he would risk everything for those he cared about.

In a moment of clear-mindedness, Arawn realized that everything was really on him, and that he didn"t want to be like Corwal. He would never leave those who trusted him on their own.

The king had bound him and left to see the proceedings in despair? Fine, just watch him!

With madness in his eyes, Arawn bit his tongue right through.

The ether rushed into him in an avalanche of power, but unlike before, Arawn didn"t let go. He held onto his consciousness like a starving wolf on its prey. No matter how much it hurt or how tempting it became to let go, he refused.

Soon, he would either meet the ether form or would become it himself. Either way, he would get to save his friends.

He was a monster? So be it! It was not like humans were any better. At least his crimes were done because of ignorance forced upon him while the tens of thousands of people around the arena knew full well what they were doing and could stop at any time they wished. Yet they watched others be killed and enjoyed it. Not one of them even considered being horrified and extending a helping a hand to those below!