Val strode towards the fortress gates, clad in the armor he had picked up from Joanne"s. He felt a bit awkward in his new getup, but in this society he fit in just fine so he tried not to think too hard about it. He had his leather jerkin, now lined with sections of chainmail st.i.tched so it shielded his shoulders near his neck and continued down his torso. Being st.i.tched into the armor itself, it made hardly a sound as he moved. The leather pants had been reinforced with lighter material, some kind of stiff plating made from thick hide had been st.i.tched in around his outer thighs, and the back of his calves. It seemed Joanne was comfortable working with metal plating as well, fitting him with some metal shin guards and bracers that had flat metal rods inserted in them.Overall he was quite satisfied with the gear, having tested it out at her workshop, practicing his usual sword routine. To his surprise she had even taken measurements of his boots and in less than half an hour had fitted steel caps onto them. The jerkin extended partway down his shoulders but he had declined what looked like some sort of shoulder guards, insisting on retaining full range of motion.
Checking his watch, it was fifteen till midnight, the market was just as lively at night, though some of the wares and services were replaced. He noticed a shop that was now open, though a brothel would be more accurate a term, judging by the alluring and scarcely clothed figures of various races enticing men and women alike. He was not too surprised until he noticed a couple successfully courted for their services, staring as they followed their hosts inside.
"Quit gawking, you"ll have time for that later if it interests you so much." Asha remarked with mild disgust as she pa.s.sed him.
"What— N-no, I was just surprised! It"s uh, very… liberal around here." Val stammered, hastening to catch up to the elf who he was sure was walking faster than she was before.
"Mmhmm, not interested?"
"No!" Val insisted.
Asha seemed to be suppressing a giggle, amused with his reaction. "So, a child after all."
*d.a.m.ned if I do… and even if I don"t* Val grumbled to himself, itching at the warmth rising around his neck.
Approaching the gates, they needed only show their issued visas to the guards before being allowed to leave.
"Oy, hold up." One of the guards approached, an older dwarf judging by his face, carrying a long poleaxe.
"Something wrong?" Val asked.
"Reason for leaving?" The guard asked.
"Bounty on the monster in the hills."
The guard looked them both up and down. "Where"s the rest of your group?"
"This is the rest of our group."
The guard looked at Val like he was stupid. "You have a death wish or something? There"s more than a dozen greedy fools dead to that thing. I advise you give up on it."
"Are we not allowed to try ourselves?"
"It"s not about whether you"re allowed or not… But honestly I"d rather not see another group of sell-swords depart and not return by morning. If you really insist, sign up with one of the mercenary groups, they"re recruiting just about anyone who can carry a weapon, it"s not the whole bounty but they"re paying well, and it"s safer. h.e.l.l if you just need money, the guard issues work too." The guard insisted, looking genuinely concerned.
"I appreciate the concern, but really, we intend to try hunt it down ourselves."
The guard paused, a conflicted expression on his weathered face. "What"s your name?"
"Val."
"Alright. Look, Val, if you"re really going out there, watch out for howling. It sounds almost like a man crying out in pain, not like a beast"s roar, if you hear it, run, if you wait for it to approach, you won"t escape in time. Some of the fastest folk around were run down by the monster."
"Thanks for the information, it helps. But really, I think I"ll be alright." Val offered his hand, the dwarf looked at it in surprise for a moment before offering his own firm grip. The guard"s eyes widened further as Val activated his magic, his brand glowing through a circular s.p.a.ce cut out, only covered in a double layer of mail. It seemed Joanne had taken the liberty of partly showcasing the brand for reasons he was not entirely sure, perhaps intimidation.
Asha and Val left the guard in his stupor where he was, departing as the gates were opened for them to pa.s.s.
"Captain Durnham, you alright?" One of the guards who did not question their departure called to the guard.
"Did none of you see that?"
"See what, sir?"
"The sign of Tyr…"
. . .
"From what I"ve heard, the monster is up in the hills to the North." Val said, he and Asha were pa.s.sing an abandoned corral, several such farmsteads were in the area, the farmers had moved their livestock for the time being.
Asha swept her emerald gaze over the hills, looking for any hint of movement. Val himself began channeling his magic, activating his brand as his mana coursed along his body, lighting up his eyes as he adjusted to the shift in his perception.
"I don"t see anything yet, perhaps the ravens will pick up something." Asha replied as she continued to study the hills. Huginn and Muninn had departed earlier than them, searching for signs of the monster.
"Well, nothing for it I guess, let"s head up."
"Yes, but not too far, if we need to make a retreat, the hills won"t help us."
The pair trekked into the hills, reaching a more level area, they were a couple hundred meters into the hilly woods, judging by a rough count of steps Val was trying to keep track of.
"Stop. Any further and if this thing is as fast as the guard suggested, we"ll be forced to fight." Asha instructed.
Val nodded, lifting his palm to the sky he invoked Sigil, issuing a brief flash of incandescent light to signal the ravens. It was barely a few minutes before they both returned, alighting on some branches above.
"Find anything?" Val asked.
"We have not seen anything, but there was an unnatural howling not too long ago." Huginn replied.
"Sounds kind of like a man in pain?"
Huginn eyed Val in surprise. "Yes, actually, you were out here already?"
"No, guard told us about it, how long ago?"
"An hour or so ago, we have not heard anything since." Muninn replied.
"Suppose we should have brought some bait or something—" Before Val could finish, the strange howl issued in the distance. Asha whirled in alarm towards the sound, and Val drew his sword immediately, eyes flaring as his battle instincts kicked in.
"f.u.c.king h.e.l.l, guess it"s attracted to light just as well."
"A small light would have sufficed, you did not need to light up the entire hillside." Huginn remarked flatly.
Asha began to concentrate, and for a moment Val felt he could not hear anything from his surroundings. The wind seemed to turn around suddenly as a gentle breeze swept upwards through the spa.r.s.e trees. Not a minute later the howling could be heard again, when he focused on the noise, it really did sound like a man in pain.
"It"s approaching, I"ve masked our scent but it"s charging in our direction. Just under half a mile out— At this rate it"ll be here in a minute."
"You"re kidding, it"s as fast as a horse? In this terrain?"
"Yes, get ready."
Val gazed into the dark woods, contemplating the risk of wildfire as he practiced a couple runes to cast a firebolt. Thirty seconds felt like several minutes until he could feel the ground trembling and hear the howling monster galloping towards them. Huginn and Muninn took off into the air, trying to catch sight of the monster, and Asha finally drew her shortswords. Matching ornate patterns like a depiction of a breeze seemed to glow along the almost blue steel.
Ten seconds until it was due to arrive, Val caught sight of the monster as large as a car and without hesitation cast his runeword, a brilliant bolt of almost red flame issued a second later, streaking between the trees and making direct contact with the monster"s left shoulder. A horrible scream issued as the monster stumbled and arrived tumbling towards them, toppling a couple saplings in its wake, the nauseating smell of burnt flesh and hair threatened to make Val gag. He cast Sigil with Radh to create a brilliant lamp in his left hand, only to immediately regret doing so.
The monster was a hulking ma.s.s of exposed flesh, it seemed to have no skin, not even lips, aside from the long mane of matted hair on its head, it was completely raw. Lanky arms as thick as tree trunks, and stout legs with knees that bent forward, all ended in what looked like humanoid hands and feet with dirty black claws nearly an inch thick at the base. The creature was an enormous ma.s.s of rippling muscle as it screamed and clawed at its shoulder, lacerating its own flesh and spilling its own blood. Val saw two rows of jagged teeth in its jaws that seemed disconnected between its upper and lower halves. In alarm, he realized that the monster resembled a ma.s.sive, misshapen man.
"Val! Move!" Asha shoved him aside before leaping away as the monster recovered and lunged at him.
Val rolled back to his feet, steeling himself as he discarded his light, wielding his sword with both hands toward the monster. The monster seemed tireless, leaping at Val repeatedly as he maneuvered his way around it, taxing his focus as he had to divide his attention between the creature and his own footing for fear of snagging roots.
"Try to pin it down!" Val called out as Asha swiftly and silently dashed forward, slashing at the monstrous rear legs. It seemed she had severed something important as the beast lost power from its reckless lunges. Val took a full step forward and brought a heavy strike down on a flailing arm, cleaving right through the flesh and bone of the upper arm. The monster screamed and howled in anguish, the sound pounding in Val"s ears and causing him to stagger backward.
Asha seemed less affected, delivering a flurry of slashes at the nearly two meter long torso of the monster, before driving a blade between its ribs. From the gurgling noise hampering its screaming, it seemed she managed to take a lung. Recovering as soon as the monster paused his screams, Val lunged forward, almost dragging his blade along the ground as he took the monster"s other arm at the elbow, this time following up immediately by plunging his blade through the side of the monster"s muscular neck.
Withdrawing his sword from the monster, it finally collapsed on the ground, Val took deep breaths as he leaned against a tree, winded from the ordeal but more relieved. Ghouls were close enough to people, he was not used to fighting enormous monsters, the danger combined with the uneven footing cost more effort than he expected, interrupting his breathing enough to earn some harsh criticism from Valor.
"You ever see anything like this?" Val almost wheezed.
"Not like this, no, at least not this size. Some ghouls and other sorts of undead monstrosities that are similar, but I don"t know if you noticed… This one seemed alive, yet its blood runs cold, and red."
"So?"
"Even lizards will find ways to maintain warmth, cold blood is an unusual characteristic, usually found in corpses animated by magic. There"s magic about this one but not enough to animate a corpse of this size, and it relies heavily on the integrity of its flesh to move." Asha whisked her blades clean and sheathed them, walking away to study an arm Val removed.
"I have not seen a creature like this either, but I"m also not so familiar with this land." Huginn added.
"Super, well, contract says get the head, so…" Val returned his sword and pulled out a knife, trying not to gag from the sight and smell.
Just as he was about to set to work on removing its head, he heard a disgusting crunching and squelching noise as flesh and bone all but literally exploded from the stumps of the monster"s arms. In hardly a couple seconds the monster was nearly whole again, Val broke from his shock to clumsily leap back as it swiped a ma.s.sive, newly formed claw at him.
"Val!!" Asha cried out.
"f.u.c.k, it"s still alive—" Val suddenly fell to a knee, an acrid, copper taste rising in his mouth. Asha dashed forward to bar the monster"s path.
"Run! Huginn, Muninn, lead Val away from here!" Asha cried out, as she moved with superhuman agility to remove fingers and sever tendons to disable the monster, even if only temporarily.
"What are you talking about…" Val realized in horror what had happened as he finally noticed a warm wetness along his stomach and thighs, followed by intense pain. He clutched at his abdomen, feeling the warmth of his own blood flowing through the shredded leather and mail.
"Can you stand?" Muninn landed on his shoulder.
"Y-yeah…" Val shakily stood to his feet, wincing in pain and clutching his abdomen as if to keep his guts from falling out.
"GO!" Asha yelled at him, claiming a whole hand from the monster.
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"East, that way, quickly, we"ll not outrun it downhill. These two will be fine, she can outrun the beast and confuse her location, you cannot." She instructed, as Huginn remained to support Asha, raking the monster"s face with his talons, Val was not sure but Huginn looked much larger than he remembered.
Val loped away as fast as he could manage, using the trees as occasional support, heading East into the dark hills.