053 - The Great Hunt

It was mid afternoon, the sun dipped behind the horn and cast a cold shadow over the many gorges and cracks in the earth on the west side of the peak.

In the shade, down the stream running through the Sable gorge came two figures dressed all in white. Magnus watched them approach, watched them stop just outside the boundaries of the formation he'd set up.

"Brother Soo! What is it? Brother!"

"Did you not feel it Min? Somewhere here . . you smell that?"

"Smell?" The black haired girl sniffed the air. "Blood. Its blood, right brother?"

Magnus felt his heart skip a beat as Soo stared right at him. The man's black eyes seemed to pierce right through, penetrate right into Magnus core. Magnus' fists tightened, going up on one knee and preparing to launch himself out at the man.

"What is it Soo?"

"Nothing. It's nothing Min." Soo shook his head, turning his eyes away from Magnus. "Forget about it."

Up close the brother and sister really looked . . unreal, unlike anyone he'd ever seen. They were both slim and tall, pitch black hair and black eyes. Their clothes were pristine white, a black belt around their waists with a short curved sword in a plain sheath, both identically dressed.

They chatted cheerfully, walking on down the gorge, Magnus thought that their voices were like songbirds, hers bright and happy.

"Where to now Soo?"

"You like the Griffon's egg Min?"

"Enn! Delicious!"

"The auction is not for another month, I thought we'd visit Meridie before then."

"Enn! What kind of delicacies do they have?"

The brother and sisters voices faded once they passed out of sight. Magnus untensed, breathing a sigh of relief. The whole time the two had been near he'd been filled with a sense of immense danger, as if there were a sword dangling over his head. He'd seen the brother, Soo, fight the Griffon off with ease, even break the iron staff . . could they be Alchemists? They looked nothing like Festus or the Alchemist in the swamp, no potions or robes.

Ah hells, forget it! Banish! Magnus shook his head, casting away all thoughts of the strange couple. Focus on the task at hand! Right, right . . the Griffon . .

Its scarred beak lay open, both its eyes rolled back and showing white, the massive wings limp on the ground. Two long white arrows had pierced right through one of the wings, each of its talons was as long as his arm. The creature was wounded . . but not near death.

It should be alright, Kujata had taken great pains to warn him again and again; never eat a dead creature, never try to even go into a beast near death. To do so would be to invite death into your own body, a deadly poison for anyone with a living thread.

Magnus stood over the unconscious Griffon, his heart resolute. So far, apart from Lars, Magnus had only been eating wild boars and forest creatures, every beast he'd devoured with the red living threads had been like a flood of energy rushing into his body, but it was not enough.

It was never enough, the force he swallowed boiled through his body and vanished, disappeared into his fractured core. If he left it too long the black skin and pus would bubble to the surface once more. He needed more, always more - Kujata said there was nothing to it; he simply would have to find more powerful creatures.

From his fingertip a single red thread emerged piercing through the beast's skull and into the inner seas and skies. It was a familiar place to Magnus now, nothing within the Griffon surprised him. The inner world of ocean and sky and the myriad of lights flashing all around appeared like a feast before his eyes.

The red thread spread out, a vast network of threads and red mouths shot into the skies, pierced through the countless lights and into the ocean. The whole world shook, enormous waves rose and crashed down, storm clouds erupted and thunderous bolts flashed through the skies.

A vast amount of powerful animal instincts flooded into Magnus, more power and energy than he'd felt before, more than any of the creatures he'd devoured. Like an endless rush of pure adrenaline, the life force of the Griffon rushed into his body, a wild torrent of powerful energies stampeding through his arms and legs, gathering in the pit of his gut and forming a fast spinning whirlpool around the fractured core.

More! Devour! Consume!

The core spun faster and faster, an intense heat rising up. Magnus was entirely focused on his task, his body groaned and his bones creaked from strain; every part of Magnus became infused with the beasts life force, his core rotating ever faster and growing ever hotter.

Magnus felt his skin tighten, from all his sweat glands a white steam shot out, his throat and mouth scalded by every breath.

Under this intense presser his core solidified, the many cracks and fractures glowing white hot. The core shrunk, smaller and smaller until it was the size of a tiny seed, spinning faster and faster, every part of his body trembling.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the inner world collapsed.

"Pah!" Magnus fell back collapsing onto the ground. Blood erupted from his mouth, a vile stinking dark blood thick with sticky blood clots. His whole body was covered in a layer of filth, greasy bloody coloured slime that stained right through his hunters clothes.

Magnus lay panting on the ground, his body slowly cooling. What a rush! What a meal! He felt stuffed, bloated, as if he'd just eaten a horse and drunk an entire barrel of booze all at once, now the only desire that filled him was to sleep it off.

Shutting his eyes, Magnus lay in the shade of the Horn, beside him the corpse of the Griffon and a burbling stream that ran through the Sable gorge . . .

"Skriee!"

Magnus shot to his feet, the piercing cry of the Griffon burst through his head.

"Skrieee!"

He looked about in panic, the cry seemed to be coming from everywhere all at once. Beside him there was the lifeless remains of the Griffon, no matter where he looked he could see nothing else, no other people or creatures.

"Ahh!" Magnus cried out, clutching his head. From within his head came another roar, and another, each louder than the last. "AHH!" Magnus felt every muscle tighten, every vein throbbing, every inch of his body shake uncontrollably.

The world turned pitch black, Magnus felt uncontrollably dizzy, his mind turning and heaving like a boat thrown about by stormy seas. Within the blackness emerged a creature, talons and wings and sharp beak thrashing wildly . . it swooped and shrieked in the dark, every movement sending Magnus reeling, as if the whole world kept turning upside down.