The trees draped in wires intercepted the King’s lightning. It was enough to protect the hunters, though the wood smoldered and the metal softened like taffy being pulled apart. When the lightning abated, the hunters emerged from behind the trees to attack.

Borba immediately drew the bear’s attention, and the two antagonists launched themselves at each other. The rest of the hunters punished the bear for ignoring them. Inleio’s spear, in particular, pierced deep. His movements, spare of ornamentation, pure of intention, embodied the hunters’ spear arts. He held nothing back, and in doing so, his spear reciprocated.

The attacks must’ve stung, because the King swiped at Inleio. The small shield attached to the hunter’s prosthetic was ripped from his arm. The moment’s distraction let Borba slip in a strike, and a rusty glow spread unto the bear’s side. The bear leapt away before Borba’s spear could bite into him more deeply.

The hunters got back into formation, and the King stared them down, his eyes calculating, his breathing rough. There was blood on his fur too, but not enough given the wounds across his body. He should be bleeding to death, but wasn’t. None of the injuries appeared to be fatal. If he retreated now, no doubt he would return to full health.

The standoff continued long enough for me to slip into position behind the hunters and for the separated piece of Yuki to station themselves twenty yards to the left. “Be ready,” I whispered.

None of the hunters turned around, but I felt the swirling of their qi intensify.

I dropped Scentless Hunter, and Yuki pulsed their qi. The King of the Forest raised his head and narrowed his eyes. A moment later, he leapt at where the hunters gathered. I dodged back, and cloaked myself in Scentless Hunter as I moved to the right. The bear and the hunters now fought in the space between me and the separated piece of Yuki.

The bear swiped with his claws to clear the area of foes, but that didn’t deter the hunters. They dove in and out in a shifting, flexible assemblage of spears. The bear sparked electricity along his fur in response, but before he could discharge it, the separated piece of Yuki dropped their Scentless Hunter to pulse their qi.

The bear spun and leapt, but the separated piece fled into the underbrush, its scent masked as soon as the bear was in the air. The King roared in frustration at losing the scent, and a bolt of lightning arced into the nearest tree.

It took only a moment for the hunters to get back into formation. They charged him, and I used the chance to find a new position, once again opposite the separated piece of Yuki.

The strategy repeated once more--Yuki and I distracting the bear and moderating the pressure on the hunters. That is, until the King decided that he didn’t want to play anymore. He backed off and refused to be lured in by Yuki’s qi.

The dolbecs taunted the bear. They waved their spears and yelled insults. When that didn’t work, they charged, the other hunters following after, but the bear leapt away and kept his distance.

He watched the hunters, his eyes considering.

The hunters pivoted and charged again, but this time, the King received their attacks. He batted them aside and retreated, not letting the hunters get behind him. None of the spears reached his body, so the hunters focused on attacking his paws and legs.

Throughout, Yuki pulsed their qi. The bear noticed--he glanced my way--but the distraction was minimal and didn’t create any opportunities for the hunters.

The fight became a slog. The hunters desperately fought to pierce through the bear’s defenses, but their magics eventually ran dry. Their attacks slowed and weakened. They lost the capacity to pressure the King. The hunters began to tire, as well. They made small mistakes and got in each others’ way.

Inleio was the first to drop out, his qi guttering and his speed and grace gone. He carefully withdrew to keep from becoming a liability to the other hunters.

From where I crouched, I saw his back bow and skin wrinkle. My heart sank as his once vital body diminished before my eyes, aging twenty years in the process. He stayed close by, though, to call out instructions and warnings. The others fought on, determined to see the hunt through.

How long could they keep it up before they too were spent? The King of the Forest had Unending Endurance. There was no way the hunters could outlast him, no matter how determined they were.

Only Borba kept the pace, but he alone wasn’t enough. The hunt would fail and more people die unless a new variable was introduced, one that changed the fight’s dynamics.

Hit Points 12/12 Mana 16/20 Qi 35/35

I was untouched. My qi was full thanks to Yuki feeding me theirs, and I’d used only a small amount of mana to reinforce myself and my weapons. Tension ran through me. Terror too, if I was honest, but I resolved to keep going.

I checked Bearbane, and the spear was in good condition. Nothing I’d found could nick the spearhead, and that included the King of the Forest’s bones. The canteen at my side contained enough water for two healing spells.

I felt Yuki’s readiness, and through them, Sun-on-Snow’s. She lay in wait, prepared to pull me out of danger if it became necessary.

Ah, if only my version of the Blink spell worked as well as hers.

Inside my heart dantian, a small cage hummed. Inside that, a qi sculpture crafted by Yuki waited to be connected to my meridians. The cage and sculpture were Yuki and I’s attempt to mimic the role of body power in the Blink spell. In effect, the structure was a kind of emulator based on what we’d seen when comparing a regular lynx to Snow.

The emulator even worked. I was able to successfully teleport from one side of the glen’s pool to the other. But then I had to cast consecutive Healing Water spells to stop the internal bleeding that resulted. Bleeding III to be specific.

We tried to refine the emulator in time for the hunt, but the work was slow and frustrating. As a result, the spell wasn’t feasible in the middle of a fight, not unless I wanted to bleed to death in the process. Which was why Snow was on standby.

I felt Yuki communicating with her, telling her what was happening and even letting her see through my eyes. A quick merge and shift, and we saw that she’d moved in closer to the fight. Her intensity of focus was breathtaking, and we took a moment to dwell in it and sharpen our own resolve. We couldn’t take long though, and we soon separated our component consciousnesses. Each of us had our parts to play.

Inventory complete. All the players ready. There was nothing else but for me to attack.

I circled around to the bear’s rear. The noise and chaos of the battle masked my approach and gave ample opportunity to line up a Sensei-approved thrust. Bearbane leapt forward to strike the King in the ass. I’d aimed for his testicles, but he moved at the last moment. Still, the spear sank a good two feet into his rear before I had to dodge the kick that came at me in response.

The King roared his outrage and swung around, exposing his rear to the others. They pounced and tore into the hole I’d opened for them. A wave of rusty light swept over the back of the bear’s body. The King swung around again, but Borba was already running for the trees, his body thicker than before.

I expected the King to chase him, but I underestimated the bear. He’d smelled Yuki within me once before. There was a good chance then that they were still with me, and that caused him to hesitate--to choose between the danger to his qi (Borba) and that which was most delicious (Yuki). The King’s decision was to arc lightning in all directions.

Point blank, I took a massive streamer to the chest. My mail bled the electricity into the earth. The ground quickly became saturated though, and some came back up through my shoes. Fortunately, the lightning protection potion blocked it.

The sweat that accumulated in my hair and under my clothes vaporized in a flash. My skin scalded, especially around my groin and under my armpits where the steam didn’t have any easy exits to escape.

I gasped and threw myself aside. It was just enough to dodge the King’s lunge. Yuki cast a quick Anesthetic to numb the pain, and I followed up with Dog’s Agility to open the distance. The other hunters also scattered to avoid the lightning splashing out from the bear.

Borba kept running, his arms and legs pumping. The King, his qi continuing to bleed out, chased after. With a mighty leap, he smashed through a stand of pine trees to close the distance. The streamers wrapped around Borba, but they seemingly made no difference. The hunter focused on dodging and weaving between what was left of the trees. The King let the aurora peter out and ran after him.

I hurriedly poured Healing Water down my pants and splashed it on my head and under my arms. The blisters diminished, and the skin’s color faded from an ugly red to deep tan. There was a hitch in my step--a pulled muscle--but I let the water run down my leg and that smoothed out my gait. Manipulating my qi for me, Yuki shifted us from Dog’s Agility back into Camouflage.

Hit Points 11/12 Mana 4/20 Qi 31/35

I was almost out of mana now, but my qi ticked back up to 35 as Yuki refilled my reserves.

How’s your qi?

We’re at about half.

That was worth about another 30 points of qi then. Yuki estimated that they had twice my capacity. The two of us together represented a ridiculous amount qi when full--over 90 points worth.

Inleio had watched me fade into the background. His voice was thready, but there was steel in it none-the-less. As the hunters gathered to catch their breaths, he said, “Haol, switch to archery. You’re not doing much good with a spear. Tegen, withdraw for healing, but return quickly. Agath and Moon, how are you holding up?”

The dolbecs took stock of their arms and armor. Their shields had long been shredded, and there were several blood-soaked rents in their brigandine. Thin wires dangled from the small plates under the cloth. The team from Albei had followed the Voorhei hunters’ lead by using wires to protect against the bear’s electrical attacks.

“We have strength enough,” Agath said for them.

“And I have qi for one more Pierce,” Mumu said, panting.

“Same,” Kuros said, and Banan nodded to show he’d also saved enough qi for a Spiral Pierce.

Inleio turned to watch Borba dodge the King’s claws. The bear looked like a giant porcupine with all the arrows and ballista bolts sticking out of him. Still, Borba’s efforts bought the others time to recover.

“We need a fatal strike,” Banan said, his eyes also on the battle. “A heartshot.”

“The muscles around it are too tough,” Mumu said. “It’s like striking iron. What about his brain?”

“The bones behind the eyes and mouth won’t be any weaker,” Kuros said, shaking his head. “Even with Pierce, the small ribs were enough to deflect my spear.”

“A blind bear is its own good though,” Agath said.

“We’ve been trying to blind him,” Kuros said, “and it hasn’t gotten us anywhere, you stupid--”

“That’s enough,” Banan said. “The bear knows the danger that blindness poses.”

In the distance, the King crashed through the forest and left it in tatters. The spirits who lived in and among the trees raged at its destruction. An ill will collected around the combatants, the forest’s spite.

The last of the rusty light on Inleio’s body flickered out. He shuddered, and was no longer able to stand upright. The Lodge Master waved off Mumu’s offer of help and leaned on his spear. His voice was barely a whisper. “Eight?”

“Yes, I’m here.”

“Another ambush with Bearbane, but this time from the side. Banan will follow to make it look like--” Inleio coughed and blood splattered what was left of his prosthetic. “He’ll make it look like we're aiming for his heart. It will be good if the strike lands true, but the real targets are his eyes, which will be Mulallamu and Kuros’s responsibility.”

“And us?” Agath said, gesturing to herself and Moon.

“Will charge from the rear. To break his stance.” Inleio turned to look at each hunter. “All is for the purpose of creating an opening for Mulalluma and Kuros. Understood?”

The hunters nodded one-by-one, with Banan the last to agree. They checked their gear one last time and left Inleio behind, leaning against a tree.