Realm of Monsters - Chapter 634: Blood Fang Part 1

 Chapter 634: Blood Fang Part 1

  The horned beast charged through the woods, tearing the roots out of bushes as easy as picking flowers. Its towering form made it seem big even in the forest of giant ashen trees. 

  The hunting party had only wanted the elk but when one of the goblins shot the elk, none of them had noticed the camouflaged giant monster lying in wait behind the elk. It seemed that they had killed the monster’s dinner. But they hadn’t realized it until, Halrin his soldiers to pick up and drag the elk away.

  That was the mistake that had cost two of his goblins their lives. Now the rest of them were running for all they had, screaming prayers to Lunae and Solis to save them. Yet no help arrived when the horned beast barreled through a small tree and caught another in its jaws. The woman’s screams died with the sound of a heavy crunch and a splatter of blood.

  Half of the hunting party was already dead by the time Halrin and the others met a dead-end between a ravine and the beast. The goblins looked to Halrin for a solution, desperation in their yellow eyes, but as Halrin looked up at the horned beast approaching only two thoughts crossed his mind. Sheer helplessness and that death from a broken neck would certainly be quicker than being eaten by a monster.

  “Halrin, what do we do!?” one of his friends shouted in panic.

  “I…” His mouth felt dry. He was going to die here. They all were going to die.

  A figure leaped out from a tree branch, landed atop the beast, and stabbed it with a sword in one fell swoop. The outsider drove the sword as deep as she could with her one hand, but the blade hardly sank halfway into the monster’s flesh. The horned beast roared an angry guttural noise and shook itself like a dog after a bath. Stryga went flying off and slammed into a tree.

  She groaned in a daze as the monster turned on her and charged. Halrin thought she was dead, but at the last moment, she rolled out of the way and jumped back to her feet. Stryga leaped back onto the beast and ripped her sword out from between its ribs in a spray of blood. The horned beast stumbled, but it did not fall. It quickly turned around and lashed its tail out sporadically. 

  Halrin watched in stunned disbelief as the outsider woman somehow evaded every strike, it was almost as if she was dancing on the wind. The beast roared in frustration and charged, its head low, horn glistening with the blood of Halrin’s friends. Stryga crouched low and held her sword behind her back. She kicked off the ground and met the beast head-to-head. Spinning in a blur, she evaded the horn and rolled to the side, before coming up with a slash, her sword cutting right through the beast’s jugular.

  The monster staggered to the side, uncertain of what had just happened. It blinked several times and moaned as its blood gushed on the ground. The horned beast tried to run, but it only got a few steps before wobbling to the side. Its large frame tipped its weight and it fell right over and into the ravine.

  “…Fuck,” Stryga groaned quietly.

  Halrin and the others could only wince at the sight of the beast disappearing. That amount of meat could have fed their camp for weeks. Some of the goblins gave the outsider woman irritated glares and muttered curses at her as they walked away. Harlan watched the outsider, cautious to see if she would retaliate, but Stryga simply sat down on a fallen log and slumped her shoulders.

  Halrin stared at her for a long moment before he followed after the rest of his party. Hopefully, the dead elk was still there, but knowing these woods, it had probably been dragged off by some other beast.

~~~

  Stryga Veres had heard the panicked cries of the goblins echoing through the forest and she had chased after them as fast as she could. She refused to be a burden and when she spotted the horned beast she had leaped into action. Only for the entire thing to fall apart. Sure, the beast was dead, but they had nothing to show for it, save a few dead comrades.

  If Stryga had gotten there sooner or had managed to down the beast before it went and fucked off into the ravine then— No, it was too late. There was no point dwelling on it.

  Still, it stung when the goblins glared at her and cursed her name. She sighed and felt the weight of the last few weeks press down on her as her shoulder slumped. Instead of turning and facing the goblins, she simply sat on the log and waited for them to leave, pretending that she couldn’t hear their curses or that it didn’t bother her.

  Ever since Stryga had been exiled into Vulture Woods by the gods everything she did seemed to fail. A few weeks had passed since her exile and while she had recovered from her injuries, her magic had not. Whatever seal Stjerne had placed on her had held and nothing she did had changed that.

  She hadn’t realized how much she had taken her magic for granted until it was gone, doubly so for her left arm. She still had her mastery of life force but the Gale Style was meant to be used with two hands. And every time she tried to channel her life force into her iron sword it felt as if she was trying to pour water through thick wool. The sword could hardly channel any energy, let alone handle it for long. 

  Stryga raised the short sword and stared at the chipped edge and small cracks with a grimace. A few more strikes and the blade would shatter, like the two she had already gone through. She wasn’t sure if Captain Nalindor would give her another.

  At first, the captain had refused to let her have any weapon. But after the hunting parties had stopped coming back with food and eventually not coming back at all, Nalindor had reluctantly given her a weapon. It was meant to be a longsword, but in her hands, it was a shortsword.

  Still, she had tried to make do. Every swing of her sword reminded her of those that had come before. Gwyn, Syrak, the Gales and Veres. She thought of Gian training diligently and waiting for her underneath their tree. How long would he wait for her to come back before he realized she was never coming home?

  Stryga squeezed her eyes tight to stop herself from crying. After a long breath, she opened her eyes and stared at her chipped sword. She needed to survive. For their sakes. She’d kill as many monsters as it took. For Gian, she would do anything.

  “How am I supposed to kill anything with this?” She laughed self-deprecatingly and considered tossing her sword into the ravine briefly. No, a weapon was still a weapon, even if it was broken. But gods, she missed Krikolm. What she wouldn’t give to have her Blood Fang back. Maybe then she might stand a chance at surviving through the coming winter. 

  At least the goblins weren’t treating her like a prisoner, not after that whole incident with the blue giant, Sylas. They were afraid of angering the gods if Sylas came back and she wasn’t there. For the most part, the goblins kept to themselves, save for Sev who occasionally struck up a conversation when they randomly bumped into each other. But even he was somewhat standoffish at times.

  Most of her time was spent alone, except for when she helped the goblins build a wall around the camp’s perimeter. Even with one arm, her mutations made her far stronger than the average vampire, let alone goblins, and that was without channeling her life force.

  Stryga was willing to do more, in fact, she wanted to, but Nalindor was reluctant to have her involved with his people whatsoever. She lived among them, but she wasn’t one of them. To the goblins, she was simply the odd blue one.

  “Are you crying? Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  Stryga spun around, sword at the ready. She froze. Stjerne sat crouched not three paces away from her, staring at a single yellow flower wavering in the wind. Even crouched, he was still taller than her.

  “Y-You… You’re…” Stryga swallowed and wiped the tear in the corner of her eye. “Why are you here?”

  “Making sure you’re alive, keeping your side of the bargain, and all that,” he said, though he did not once look at her, he seemed far more interested in the flower.

  “You came all the way here just to make sure I’m alive?” It seemed odd to her that a god would need to travel all the way here just for her. Then again, he was the Traveler. Perhaps she had accidentally insulted him with such a thoughtless question? The idea of incurring his wrath sent shivers down her spine.

  But he didn’t react, his focus entirely on the yellow flower. Finally, he spoke, “I simply came to check up on you. Is that so hard to believe?”

  Yes. Though, she refused to tell him her true thoughts, lest he smite her right then and there. “N-No?”

  “Good. So, what were you doing here anyway? Besides crying, obviously.”

  “I wasn’t… I mean, I was just thinking about my sword, I guess.”

  “Your sword?”

  “Krikolm. I lost it during my battle against the dragon. I can’t fight nearly as well without it.”

  “Or without an arm, I’d wager.” He chuckled at his own joke. Still, he did not bother to even look at her.

  “I guess you’d win that bet, but you probably win all your bets.”

  “I gambled a lot on this one particular girl. Then she turns around and stabs me in the back with a rebellion. So, no, I don’t think I won that bet.”

  “I’m… sorry?”

  “Do you think you’re weaker now because you do not have Krikolm or because you are missing your left arm?”

  She furrowed her brow. “Both.”

  “You’re wrong. On both accounts.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Stjerne reached out and touched the yellow flower with the tip of his finger. It wilted at his touch. “Before I was born, my mother, in her anger and pain, imparted to me a piece of her soul. Death. My powers cannot heal or bring life to others, even if I tried. I am nothing more than a Calamity to bring horrors upon this land.”

  Stjerne finally looked up at her. “I choose to defy that reality. I am not what others say I am. I am who I choose to be.” He pulled out a vial filled with golden liquid from his pocket and poured a drop on the wilted flower. Its petals bloomed and it glowed more vibrantly than it had before. “Who will you choose to be, Stryga of House Veres? The girl who cannot fight without her precious sword or…?”

  She didn’t know how to respond to that, but before she could make up her mind, Stjerne jumped to his feet with a light touch and grinned. “This time, I’m betting on you, Stryga. Let’s see if I win.”