CHAPTER 11: THE HUNTER

I stumbled out of the pub... another night spent drunk.

ever since that mission four years ago this is how I spent the majority of my nights.

Sure as a lady much more was expected of me but I didn’t care now that everyone that I grew up with and trained with had died that day.

I watched helplessly as a brat that was hardly ten years old took his time and ran a sword through each of them. I remember hearing them choke on their own blood as they gasped for air. I remember them crying in anguish begging for mercy.

Then even the monster that we had spent weeks trying to hunt down and kill had slipped through our fingers all because of that brat!

If I ever see him again I will wipe him from the face of the earth.

After that day, when I returned to the city with nothing but dead bodies my family thought I had gone mad especially when I told them that a child at about ten had killed the entire team.

They tried to hide me from the public, tsk like I would lie about how my own husband died.

I remember watching helplessly as his head was blasted by that brat.

Stuck in her thoughts as she stumbled down the alley way, she took another gulp of the ale in her hand, trying to drown the memories.

“You can come out.

I know I may not look like one, but I am an arch Knight ranked paladin so you little bugs can’t sneak up or frighten me!”

As I stumbled down the alley way I sensed the presence of a few men watching me from a distance.

I drew my short sword from the side of my dress and moved strands of hair from my eyes to behind my ears.

I thought I was strong, but then I heard clapping and that voice, that accursade voice that ruined my life I heard it again.

“Hello, Kamila Winchester. So nice to meet you again after so many years.”

I’ve waited for this moment for years. To finally run my sword through that little demon's head.

But now, now that the moment finally arrived I was paralzyed with fear, by the time I gathered myself and had my sword pointing down his neck he managed to utter the words I never wanted to hear.

“I invoke the blood contract!” That was the last thing I remembered.

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[Freya’s POV]

We have been walking in the forest for an entire day.

My underlings were ordered to protect us from the rear and had spent the entire day fighting wild wolves. They were pitifully weak to say the least but they had a passion that seemed to ignite when I gave them the right command.

My thought was interrupted by my lifelong cellmate who also walked beside me.

“Are you sure you should be ordering your men like that?

they seem…. overly zealous.”

I smiled as I responded.

“I promised them that anyone who kills the most monsters would get an all expense paid night at the best brothel they could find.

They have been such nice soldiers since then.”

Merrik’s face gained a frightened expression. He was speechless as I continued to walk forward.

I looked to our front, that young boy with shoulders that were better spent wrapped around me walked with focus and purpose ahead. He was questioning Adjutant Han as they continued.

I made out only some of what was being asked as they looked at the map.

I had brought some of my best underlings to try and impress him but the entire time he was focused on that map.

“You said it was around this area, right?”

Alric asked with an annoyed expression.

Han with his usual cowering demeanor responded,

“Yes sir. Our information is that he lives in that cavern over there.

I think it would be best if I leave now..”

Han said as he tried to hide further back into the line of men.

Looking at the cavern, and the claw marks on the outside, Alric could assume that his adjutant's information was right.

Despite his cowardice, the adjutant was very useful. If he wasn't so weak he would have gotten a commander position to tell the truth. But this world only respected strength.

“Gather the men, we are about to have company.”

I warned my men, while the boss drew my sword and started to touch the boulders that lay loseley in front of the cavern.

“zero gravity”

I heard him chant as the boulders started falling upwards into the air.

[Alrics’s POV]

“Bang!” “Bang!” one by one I dropped the boulders on the cave until a loud howl engulfed the forest.

My contract glowed slightly at the howl of the creature, however instead of the Adlet a hoard of wolves came storming from the depths of the cavern.

I slashed at those I could, however the majority still managed to run past me.

Merrik smiled at the sight of such low level creatures, with a swing of his broad sword a huge hole was cut into the hoard and a pillar of blood spurted into the air.

The wolves that made it miraculously past him ran into tentacles made of darkness magic.

The wolves tried to scream as they crashed into the tentacles but the moment they made contact they began to lose life energy and collapse. Inevitably the tentacles would fully cover them and turn them to dust.

Those that ignored Freya had a better chance as they rushed into the line of about ten men who each amateurishly swung their swords and tried to fend off the wolves.

At first I smirked feeling over confident, of all the creatures wolves were what I was most adept at killing. But these wolves seem to spawn without end.

We had been hacking and slashing for thirty minutes. I even released my kluddes to help in the fight but they continued to come at us without end.

The piles of canine like bodies stacked without end, and before we knew it we were breathing breathless and tired.

That was until I looked behind me and saw Freya and Merrik inside a ring of tentacles playing cards casually as the wolves were sucked dry by the tentacles of darkness.

My eyes opened wide in surprise. I jumped to the center of the circle to question Freya.

“And how long has this been up? how can you even keep a spell like this active for so long?”

she smirked coquettishly,

“Oh boss, this old thing. this is just my darkness grip spell.

It's a tier seven spell. It sucks the life force and mana out of anything it touches and feeds it back to me.

So long as I remain uninjured and they keep feeding themselves to my spell, hypothetically I should be able to keep it up forever.”

Alric felt stupid and recalled his kluddes who had also grew tired of the endless fighting.

He sat in the centre of the Darkness Grip trying to gather back the mana he had lost.

Alric watched as the wolves all took turns jumping at the wall of tentacles only to be sucked dry and the walls to grow even more dense.

The happy rest was broken when a powerful roar was heard.

The roar was so powerful that it shook the trees.