‘I’m out of options. I’m in no shape to fight properly, the odds of killing the crux beast were a level field, now it seems the assassin has joined in, I have no hope. Ideas?’ Rex asked, constantly flicking his eyes around the room, backing slowly to a corner in the wall.‘All I have is, do not die before your fighters arrive,’ Fafnir replied after a few tense seconds, his usual growl softer than usual.“It seems you at a loss young prince,” a woman’s voice rasped into the room.Seeing the crux beast slowly closing the distance between them, Rex spotted a display case with a sword resting on a stand. It had a fancy pommel and hand guard that deemed the sword purely for decoration with an absurdly large fat blade, but he hoped with enough force he could still inflict enough pain onto the crux beast to make it think twice about attacking him.Breaking the glass with his elbow, he reached in and picked the weapon up, scowling in dissatisfaction at how badly the sword was balanced and how
Once the two wolves were finally dealt with, an exhausted Rector and Ean both stared at each other, they had to combine their remaining strength to defeat their enemies, something they had not done in many years.“Now the simple task of the wolves has been dealt with, please follow me,” the huntress said, a small smirk showing on the corner of her lips as she strode past both men.“You call that a simple task?” Ean said, waving his hand toward the wolf corpses.“Yes, someone from our tribe half your age could have performed this task easier and a lot less sloppy than you both did, even if injured,” she added, raising one finger up seeing Ean and Rector about to protest.“I am not doubting the strength of the Akani huntresses, but these were fully grown, I doubt your elders are foolish enough to pit your young against one, let alone two,” Rector said, raising one eyebrow, smiling slightly upon seeing the huntress stop walking, turn her head slightly toward them and smirk slightly once
Arriving at a pair of huts on stilts that raised the floor a few feet from the ground, Ean and Rector both climbed the bamboo ladder and fell forward, both panting heavily, soaked to the bone from the storm that was currently raging outside, “I was speaking about the storm currently on top of us,” the huntress announced, entering the hut after them, stepping over their bodies simultaneously reaching into her satchel bag, producing a crystal that glowed a faded shade of gold, shaking it quickly and as it glowed brighter she opened her hand and it raised a few inches over her palm. “Thank you for the obvious call,” Ean shot back, rolling onto his back, groaning loudly as his damaged body protested performing any action. “I haven’t struggled to move this much in many, many years,” Rector sighed, using his elbow to roll himself onto his back, sitting up slowly, raising an eyebrow at what the huntress was doing, “So I know you will not tell us your true name because we are outsiders, but
“I will grant you your stories sound a lot like the ones passed on from our elders, but one fact remains. How could yours be true if those stories I heard as a young huntress almost five seasons ago?” Kita asked, her smile now had faded, and one eyebrow was raised. “Only five seasons?” Ean asked, scratching his head, a slightly confused look on his face as he looked to Rector. “One season is ten of our years Ean, have you already forgotten the basics for this plane?” Rector sighed, shaking his head with a slight smirk. “Your seasons are shorter than ours?” Kita asked her curiosity now piqued. “Considerably, when we arrive at your elders, they can verify what we have told you, and more,” Rector said, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck, a smile appearing on his lips as he inspected his body, “This cream is amazing, I still need a wash to remove the blood, but most of the seriousness of my wounds are settled.” “Most of the savageness from the storm has passed, so before th
“Worst f**kin words ever Rex,” Kealy swore quietly through gritted teeth when they had dodged the tenth pitfall trap while crossing the flats, Rex had just caught her by the back of her shirt to prevent her falling into one he had missed, he was busy scanning the few scattered lights around the camp they were approaching for people.“Hey, I caught you, didn’t I?” he replied, not doing anything to cover his smugness.“Yeah. Thanks, you’re too kind your princeness,” she replied, adding in exaggeration by calling Rex a prince. Feeling a breeze on her upper extremities when there shouldn’t be made her look down, her face went a slight tinge of pink when she noticed the upper buttons on her top had popped off under the strain of Rex’s catch and her body weight and it was staying open, “Swap shirts with me. Quickly.”“Why? What’s wrong with yours?” Rex asked while still smiling, peeling his eyes away from the camp to look at Kealy’s back.“It’s torn, in an inconvenient place.”“A simple tea
Creeping to hide behind a large tent on the top of the only slightly higher mound of dirt that overlooked the entire camp, Rex was straining his eyes to attempt to catch a glimpse of Kealy. Hushed whispering drew his attention away for a second as he heard women, “Teema, we can’t get out now. If they catch us before we escape through the flats and can get around the pitfalls for the hunt, they will kill us this time.”“I’m sorry Venya, I cannot stand around and let them continue to abuse us. You know as well as I do, if we continue to push aside the prince's advances, he will either take us unwillingly or kill us.”“So escape is the best option. You know father will not incur the wrath of him for attempting to rescue us from his blessed son, so it falls to you and me to escape. I know I prefer…”“Shh, they’re coming back,” the other woman hissed, Rex could hear slight clatters from inside the tent. Whoever these women were, it seemed they were captives of the son of his enemy, Sothis,
“Huh?” Ean asked, his brain still a little cloudy from being woken abruptly from sleep. “Your brother,” Kita whispered, looking toward the door, “He speaks to himself.” “He has…” Ean started to say, deciding to choose his words carefully, “A familiar. I think he is checking to see if they can still commune while in this place, if so, his familiar will be extremely helpful getting us through the Donréal forest without incident. I will go and check on him.” “You know of the Donréal forest?” Kita asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yes. I also know what stalks the grasslands and trees in that particular forest too, I doubt the predators have changed even in the time it has been since I last walked the trails,” Ean answered with a smirk, slowly getting to his feet, groaning as he stretched his aching muscles and joints. Kita opened her mouth as if to say something but thought twice and instead closed it and answered with a thoughtful frown and nod. Coming to sit next to Rector, Ean said in a
“What did your brother say about his familiar?” Kita asked, startling Ean as she sat on her heels next to him. “It seems his connection is not fully functional, but said his meridians are healing nicely, he said we were attacked during our portal here and he had to use more power than he could handle safely to escape the beast. Don’t ask me about that, if you can’t tell, I’m not the scholarly type,” Ean replied, letting his hand lower from the pommel of the blade he carried. “I have not heard of any beast being able to attack someone while in the portal space, alas I am not a scholar either, it is a question for the elders. I can tell from your reaction time you are more the warrior type, yes?” Kita asked, smirking slightly after seeing Ean react. “Yes, quite gifted in the heavier weapons and armour, a front-line vanguard” Ean replied with a nod. “I have another question,” Kita said, quickly adding when Ean turned to look in her direction, “If you have no issues answering questions