Night 49: Hunting In A Forest of Nightmares

--- Jon ---

“We can probably handle these things one on one, so let’s try hunting them down one by one.” He told her after a moment.

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Audrey asked as she pulled out her phone.

“Wolf should be able to track them easily enough via sound or smell.” He paused and Wolf nodded to confirm that yes she should be able to do that. “From there you said you should be able to take the big ones out in a single shot, while I can deal with the fliers or any other Creeps that come out of the wood work while you’re busy.”

“It’s not a bad plan but I’d feel better if… Damn.” Audrey cursed. “I’ve got no signal out here, so I can’t call Val or Artemis for back up. How about you?”

He went ahead and checked his phone before shaking his head. “No signal here either.”

“Fuck.” Audrey grimaced, pushing her glasses up so she could pinch the bridge of her nose. “Alright, give me a second…”

He kept quiet for a moment as Audrey seemed to do a self-inventory of sorts, or that’s what he guessed was happening given how he could feel something about her shifting as the other teen began to faintly glow.

“Okay, assuming I’ve got a minute to catch my breath between each fight I can probably fire off another seven or eight [Crushing Vines].” Audrey told him, before giving him a look. “Will Craft ain’t exactly cheap magic wise, even with the forest boosting me a bit.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded. “I’m guessing once you’re tapped you’ll want to get out of here?”

“Honestly, I’d prefer to leave before I’m tapped.” The other teen admitted. “After all there’s enough distance between us and the edge of the forest that I have no doubt something is going to try and ambush us on our way out.”

“Probably.” He conceded, knowing that the only time that didn’t happen to him was because he’d raised such a ruckus back in Blackwell that the Corrupted had already thrown their best at him. (Which Audrey probably isn’t going to want to risk.) (Shame.)

“Right, well, if we want to do this we need to get moving.”

--- Audrey ---

She wasn’t sure if continuing this hunt had been the best call, especially given how she had no doubt that more than a few of the corpses they were leaving behind were going to be taken and eaten by the cannibalistic Creeps by the time she got Sanctuary here to pick them up.

While part of her wished she could just call them to collect the corpses now, she also knew that given the circumstances if she called Sanctuary for backup here it would end badly for her. In part because she’d basically be leading them into an ambush while they’re already stretched thin, but mostly because a Hunter was supposed to know when to call and push a Hunt.

Normally that would mean knowing when to get Sanctuary involved -be it calling for backup or just reporting something important- but given the fact that Sanctuary was the one asking for help so that they could prepare for what was essentially a siege, calling for help would mean she wasn’t prepared for the job she accepted. (Something that can get your license revoked if you fuck up badly enough.)

And that was something she -nor Val who was counting on her- could afford.

(On the bright side, our numbers are going to be high enough that no one is going to question if I’m too young to have my own agency.) She couldn’t help but note as Whitaker jumped out of a tree and snapped the neck of another one of those flying Creeps.

She was starting to get what her informants meant by hyper-competent if his mother was anything like this.

(Kind of glad, he came to me about the Creep thing rather than me having to trick him into it.) She’d admit that while he wasn’t dangerous in the same way her or Val were in their ‘Can Level A Neighborhood’ kind of way, he absolutely was dangerous in the ‘I can kill without you realizing it’ kind of way. (Shame Arty ‘s terrified of him, they could compare notes.)

Spotting the Insect Creep she was responsible for, she began pushing her magic into the ground, stretching it out as far in front of her as she could, slowly taking control of the multitude tree roots and plant matter beneath the earth, before willing it to grow with her magic.

From beneath the Creep massive tree roots erupted from the dirt before quickly latching onto the massive monster and slowly wrapping around it. And once the Creep was suitably encased in roots she twisted the magic still in the roots to crush the monster, feeding ever more into the spell as she had it apply far more force than any mundane plant could manage. Until finally the Creep’s carapace gave out and its squishy insides gave in to the force far more easily.

“And another one down.” She said, idly noting how Jon had somehow gotten in front of her without her noticing.

(Yeah, really going to need a refresher on that [Bark Skin] spell.) She told herself, knowing that her reaction time with it was nowhere near fast enough to outpace a knife from behind. (Need to fix that.)

--- Jon ---

“I think that makes four fliers and seven of the insect Creeps.” Audrey told him, as they continued through the forest. “If we manage to collect all the corpses in the morning then that’s about five grand a piece.”

“Huh, that’s a lot for one night…” He blinked.

“Even more when you consider that five you made from the storm drains.” Audrey reminded him with a smirk. “Hunter biz can be really lucrative if you’re in the right place at the right time.”

“Maybe… but it seems a little… exploitive to take money for getting rid of monsters.” He admitted, having spent all summer fighting the Corrupted for free. “Especially for that much money.”

“Not really when you consider paying for damages, replacing equipment and resources, scarcity of jobs, renting a business location, or even just the fact that we’re getting hazard pay for this.” Audrey argued as she listed out expenses. “Take all of that into account and the profit line is on average between a grand or two a week per Hunter. Next year when the Haunt is focused somewhere else we’ll make maybe half of what we’re making tonight over a week.”

“Hmm, I’m guessing that’s also part of why you guys split up rather than sticking together?” He figured, since the other teen had already mentioned having to play it safe due being by herself usually, and the only reason he could figure was, “Splitting up lets you track down more Creeps.”

“Yeah, and given that scarcity of jobs thing I mentioned, most Hunter Teams can’t afford to have more than three or four people.” Audrey nodded. “So during these events where quantity is more important, we can’t really have people teaming up. I think the only ones who do are Guy and Daisy, but they’re a two person team and they’ve got… something going on that lets them keep their numbers up.”

“I see…” He frowned, before glancing down at Wolf who was looking around. “Something up girl?”

Wolf seemed to tilt her head side to side.

“Okay, so it might be something or it might be nothing…” He translated before glancing at Audrey. “Think we should investigate or leave it be?”

“Mm, I can take out another of the big guys if I have to but-” Audrey was cut off as something tackled her into a nearby bush.

“Audrey!” He called chasing after, only for a flier to drop in front of him, a flame growing in its mouth.

He threw himself to the side as a torrent of flame erupted from the Flier, licking at the nearby foliage and setting it aflame as the Creep tried to direct the flame towards him.

Spotting Wolf off to his side he made to continue towards Audrey, forcing the flier to continue turning until his canine companion was able to lunge at the flier biting into its wings and ripping them off as she tackled it to the ground.

Trusting Wolf to be able to handle the now downed Creep, he pulled out his axe as he ran after Audrey and her attacker.

In the clearing over he found one of the werewolf chimeras standing over Audrey, biting into her forearm as she struggled to keep the beast close enough that it couldn’t rear back for another attack. Something proven by the way that a number of smaller vines were rising from the dirt to keep its claws pinned to the ground.

Rushing forward he stepped onto the Creep’s back, before grabbing it by its horns and pulling its head back just enough for him to chop his axe into the beast’s neck. A feat that proved even more effective as one of his axe’s enchantments triggered causing a flash of light that seemed to burn the blade even deeper into the snarling Creep’s neck,

Shifting his footing he climbed further up the chimera’s back as he climbed up it, ripping his axe free before stepping off and using his dropped weight to finish cleaving the Creep’s head from its shoulders.

“You alright?” He asked Audrey as he helped her out from under the werewolf chimera.

“Yeah, fuck…” Audrey grimaced looking down at her shredded sleeve and what looked like bleeding wood beneath it. “Managed to keep it from biting me with a armor spell, but it still cracked the armor enough that it broke skin.”

“Pix!” He whistled, drawing the little fairy’s attention away from Wolf and the Creep she was still mauling.

Seeing Audrey clutching her arm, Pix flew over before making a series of chirping sounds as she began to pull at the bits of wood.

“Need the wound empty for her to start healing.” He translated for the little fairy.

“Right, just give me a second.” Audrey told them as she seemed to focus before a faint glow of green wrapped around her arm and wooden remnants of her armor fell off. “That good?”

Pix gave her a nod before her healing light sunk into the bleeding wound, slowly mending it shut.

“Yeah, think I’m about ready to call this a night.” Audrey admitted, watching the little fairy work.

“That’s fair, that’s the second time they’ve caught you like this.” He agreed.

Audrey gave him a half hearted glare before shaking her head. “Yeah, not worth arguing, bu- ah, shit.” The other teen cursed, spotting something behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder and couldn’t help but grimace as he noticed that the foliage the flier had set aflame was still burning. Something that wasn’t helped by the growing buzzing as said flames grew ever bigger.

“Ah, crumb biscuits.”