CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO

The Light of Memory, Part 1

The explosion that rocked the clearing was the very definition of danger-close, and the force of its shockwave sent Sam hurtling into a nearby tree. However, although a great deal of pain racked his spine, Sam was still quick to rise to his feet and get back into firing position.

ALERT! Your HP has dropped considerably. [Regeneration (ζ)] is currently working to heal you of friendly fire damage.

“What the hell was that?!” Sam yelled, surprise flitting across his face.

Farsight had never said she’d packed an explosive arrow into Sam’s quiver. What if he’d died from that? What if the hind had?

“Oh, gods, is it—”

A cloud of smoke and dust obscured his vision, making it difficult to determine his enemy’s position. But the beast didn’t seem content to hide within the smoke for long as it rushed out of the cloud only moments after Sam notched another arrow to his bow.

“You’re alive!” he yelled, and then, “Oh, crap, you’re alive!”

The hind—its chest sporting some painful-looking burns—lunged for Sam with outstretched claws the size of kitchen knives.

Interestingly enough, Farsight had packed a second explosive arrow into Sam’s quiver, and it was this arrow that Sam knowingly notched to his bow now.

“If you didn’t die from that last hit”—he let the arrow loose into the ground between him and the hind—“I think you’ll survive this too!”

A second earthshaking explosion rocked the clearing, and Sam, whose ears were still wringing from the last one, had to duck to avoid the shockwave that came of it.

“What in Hades did Farsight put into these things?!” he complained.

Golden flower plumes in the explosion hint at ancient Chinese red powder, Chiron deduced. Nasty stuff…more volatile than the black stuff used in gun powder these days.

“Where does—”

Sam ducked to the ground to avoid a broken tree limb flying at him.

“—a high school student get—”

He ran back toward the tree line for some cover because that last explosive arrow—although it had been aimed away from the hind—had packed one hell of a wallop.

“—her hands on Chinese red powder?!” Sam complained.

She’s a Fated Sister. Finding stuff’s their shtick, Chiron answered.

After the explosion stilled, an eerie silence permeated the clearing. No indignant roar or wild thrashing about—just the quiet, and the wheezing of Sam’s chest. Sam didn’t like this. It was too quiet. And, as his eyes drifted toward the burning trees on his left, he couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling that suddenly gripped him.

If that last attack didn’t knock the hind out, then can anything I do make a difference? he wondered. I’m still just a delta...do I have what it takes to solo a legendary sacred beast?

The doubt slithering into his mind intensified after he heard the monstrous roar from somewhere within the cloud of smoke hovering around that patch of burning trees that had been caught in his AOE attack. Then the smoke cloud cleared and revealed a damaged but still-standing hind rising out of the burning wood.

What now? Chiron asked.

“Stick to the plan…” Sam reached for the quiver strapped to his back. “I’ll keep firing—”

His fingers grasped air. The quiver was empty.

“Oh, no…” Sam groaned. “The arrows must have fallen off in the scuffle…”

Not caring that he had lost his ammunition, the hind rushed at him on all fours with a speed that seemed to shrug off its earlier sluggishness. It reached him just as Sam got to his feet and sliced at him with antlers that would have decapitated Sam if his reaction was just a second slower.

Watch out, kid… All the pain you’ve caused it might have dulled the effects of your arrows quicker, Chiron warned.

“I guess we’re”—Sam rolled to the left to avoid the stomp of the hind’s hoof—“done with the foreplay.”

Quick as a cat, Sam got to his feet and jumped out of the way from another swing of the hind’s antlers.

“And getting right”—he weaved out of a follow-up lunge meant to skewer his shoulders—“down to the climax!”

He reached for Onus—his fingers grasping tightly onto its handle—and then sent it streaking forward in a single sideward motion.

ALERT! Wielding [Onus, the Load Bearer] provides you with the following temporary bonuses based on your current burden’s value: Strength +4, Dexterity +2

Onus’ cylindrical-shaped head smacked hard against the side of the hind’s skull, forcing the beast to stagger sideways. However, as if it had found its second wind, the hind snapped instantly back into position.

“What the—”

With its face mere feet away from Sam, he watched as the hind’s mouth widened into a terrifying grin that stretched to the edges of its snout.

“Gods!”

In a panic, Sam hurled Onus into the same spot he’d smashed previously—and the result was the same. The hind snapped back to its position in front of him with its spine-chilling grin still set in place.

Sam gulped.

In his head, he could hear Chiron warning him that the poison inside the hind was turning it fully dark and that Sam had little time before this process became irreversible. Sam heard all of that, but he didn’t react. Somehow, he’d been caught in the gaze of the beast standing over him almost like he was in a trance. His mind had drifted off, remembering a memory he’d shut deep into its deepest recesses.

It was the night his family died. Sam had run into his parents’ room after he’d heard his mother’s screams through the walls. When he found her, the expression she’d shown him—that manic look in the eyes, and that smile that crept to the edges of her face—were an exact reflection of the thing staring at him now.

In his daze, Sam barely saw the hind swing its arm at his face, and it might have been survival instinct that caused him to pull back at the last second so that the beast’s claws merely raked the side of his cheek.

“Ugh—”

However, this last attack was simply a feint made to disguise the blow that came streaking straight into his chest. All he could manage was drift to the left so that the hind’s claws failed to pierce his heart. It went deep into Sam’s right side though and caused him tremendous pain.

“Gah~~h!”

Sam coughed out blood. His vision blurred.

ALERT! You have sustained heavy damage. The system recommends you refrain from taking action while [Regeneration (ζ)] works to heal you.

Triple-A enjoys stating the obvious... This silly thought probably kept Sam from blacking out then and there. “No...can...do...”

Sam coughed some more, and blood spilled from the corners of his mouth. That’s when the hind’s head dipped down to within inches of his face, its beady black eyes alight with triumph. Although Sam could barely see it through the haze of black dots hovering over his vision.

A memory flashed in Sam’s mind; the sight of Thunder standing over him and taking the bite that had been meant to end his life that first night when their fates became intertwined.

“No...” Sam gasped. “I’m not...that weakling...anymore...”

He raised his hands forward and latched onto the two halves of the hind’s antlers right at the moment it chose to aim them at him.

“It’s not...over yet!” Sam growled.

Wielding what little strength remained to him, Sam began to pull the antlers apart to break them off the hind’s head. Although the pain that came with this desperate move was excruciating, Sam didn’t falter in his task. He continued to resist the hind, pulling at its most powerful weapons while the beast pushed against him—until at last, he heard the cracking of bone.

You’re giving me goosebumps here, kid! Chiron yelled. Go on! Tear that thing apart!

Just before he could tear its antlers from its head, however, Sam let go of the rage that had gripped him too, opting instead to drive the hind’s head down into the ground with him in a kind of clinch maneuver. He remembered. He was tasked to save a life, and Sam would try to do just that even if it might kill him.

ALERT! Your HP is now below [15%] of its total value. Damage over time will continue while the hole in your side remains open. Loss of [1 HP] per second until [Regeneration (ζ)] manages to heal this wound.

“It’ll take...too long,” Sam realized.

The hind buckled in Sam’s grip while the rest of its body reared up to lift him off his feet. However, either through sheer force of will or some divine intervention, Sam’s strength, which should have been depleted by now, endured throughout this ordeal, allowing him to keep the hind’s head down on the ground with him.

He heard Chiron screaming in his brain, but he couldn’t understand his master’s words. Because it took all Sam had to keep his strength intact long enough to attempt one final Hail Mary. With his arms preoccupied with keeping the hind’s head locked down, Sam pressed his forehead to the patch of grass between them.

“I'm going to save you,” he promised. Then, in a voice that was barely a whisper, he said, “Rejuvenation...”