Where the hell did they come from?!
Could it mean…?
Salamander fired a few darts at Artemis, forcing her to knock them away. Unfortunately, she didn’t notice the bulb-like protrusions covering them. When she smacked them with her hammer they exploded into clouds of multicolored smoke. She sucked in a noxious breath and immediately her head felt muddled while her limbs lost all strength.
“That’s why you’ll never beat me!”
Artemis fumbled with her hammer like a drunk woman. She stumbled several paces before she lost control and toppled to the floor.
Motherfucker! Trapped again! And she’d gotten Cloudhawk tied up in this. Artemis was humiliated and enraged.
81 Rescue
The maneater swung its spiked weapon, smashing the nearby statues apart as though they were made of tofu. They exploded into shrapnel. Cloudhawk had dodged the attack, but the resulting force of the blow struck him like a blast of thunder and knocked him to the ground.
“Aaaaaooogghhh!”
The beast didn’t give Cloudhawk a chance to run. It roared and lifted its cudgel for another strike.
Lying helplessly on the floor, the boy whipped his revolver from his waist and got off a shot. What happened next shocked him – as big as the maneater was, it moved with supernatural agility. It pulled the cudgel down in front of his face, deflecting the bullet aimed for its eye. The sparks that leapt off its iron cudgel seemed to mock Cloudhawk.
Son of a bitch! This goddamn freak is too good!
Cloudhawk didn’t bother with his exorcist rod. Even if he landed a blow, he doubted it’d do more than tickle this thing. But if he stayed within range of its cudgel, he was sure to be smashed to bits. His enemy was way more than he could handle.
The maneater lifted its cudgel again. Cloudhawk tried to slither to the right like a desperate snake.
Everywhere he scrambled to, the thunderous sounds of impact followed half a step behind. He was showered by rubble as stones were blasted apart.
Each time its monkey-like prey skittered out of reach, the maneater only grew more enraged. Its twisted maw emanated roars that would make mountains tremble. It swung its cudgel ever faster as it chased down Cloudhawk. The cudgel was headed right for the boy’s skull, and there was no way he could dodge.
Boom-!
The spiked club struck the ground, forcing the stone statues nearby to tremble and crack. But when the maneater lifted its weapon, he found nothing in the pit he made. The mushy heap of blood and flesh it expected to see wasn’t there. A perplexed growl rumbled from its throat.
Its pitifully limited brain couldn’t comprehend what happened to the human!
By now, the other maneaters had emerged from their hiding places and were attacking the outpost soldiers. One of them charged club first into the group like a rhinoceros, which the humans responded to by blindly firing their weapons at him. But neither bow nor gun could pierce the monstrous mutant’s armor. More than a few of the outpost soldiers were crack shots – able to shoot a bullet right between their targets’ eyes – but their targets this time were just as capable. In the midst of their charge, they used their weapons to protect their vital parts.
The maneater barreled through the hail of gunfire and into the group of hapless humans. The enormous iron club and the behemoth who wielded it bore down on them.
Bang!
A mangled body shot through the air and smacked into one of the half-collapsed statues. The corpse fell to the ground like a broken doll, leaving a crater where the statue used to be.
“Run!”
The soldier hardly had time to scream the word before a cudgel came crashing down on the back of his skull. Bits of bone went flying in all directions like broken glass, but the cudgel kept going. The soldier was smashed flat. Armor, weapons, clothes, and flesh were crushed into an indistinguishable mess.
Every one of these creatures was terrifyingly strong! There was nothing these outpost soldiers could do against them!
After falling prey to her foe’s poison, Artemis lay numbly in a heap on the ground. Though she couldn’t move her body, her mind was still sharp. She could see and understand everything that was happening around her. Her pretty face was twisted with anger and regret – she had underestimated Salamander, which is going to cause her death and the deaths of all those she brought with her.
“Salamander, you soft-dick shit sock! Now you’re the sweepers’ bitch, eh? You fuckin’ traitor!”
“Me? A traitor? You don’t see the irony in that, coming from you?” Salamander’s hoarse voice was heavy with disdain. “It was fine that you were one of Hydra’s flunkies but to throw in with a demon hunter? You’ve brought the outpost to the brink of war – you’re the damn traitor! The hunter sees us wastelanders as pawns, tools she can use up and throw away. Do you actually think she gives a shit about any of us?”
There wasn’t anything she could say to that.
Salamander was one of the oldest veterans of the outpost. He’d lived there for a decade before Hydra came and took power, but the late leader had never elevated him to a position of power. Hydra simply hadn’t trusted the man.
Salamander, face full of rage, hissed at her, “I lived half my life in the outpost. I watched as it was built, as it grew prosperous and populated. I love this place more than anyone, and I would never betray my home! On the contrary, everything I do is to save the outpost from disaster. You and your people come along and want to use it as a tool. Your greed and ambition have tainted this jewel of the wastelands!”
Artemis gritted her teeth. “What are you gonna do?”
“The outpost needs a real leader. Someone from the wastelands who can bring real peace.” His voice grew cold, “As for the demon hunter? That self-righteous bitch? I’m going to kill her!”
Artemis erupted in derisive laughter. “You think the demon gives a fuck about you? That asshole is gonna turn the outpost into nothing more than his personal farm. Why do you think Hydra was fighting for independence? You’re such a dumbass. Hahahaha!”
Salamander’s eyes grew dark and spiteful, and he drew himself up like a man slighted. He kicked her brutally, so hard that she spat blood. “Shut your fucking mouth, you stupid bitch! Better a farm than a tool in the hands of some demon hunter!”
In less than five minutes, the field of statues was caked in gore. Not a single warrior from the outpost survived.
Ten maneaters trundled by, their footsteps making the ground quiver. Salamander didn’t trust them – maneater was just what people called these fifteen-foot tall mutants who were the elite of the sweeper forces. These ten, in particular, were the cream of the crop. If they turned on him, Salamander would only be able to tangle with one of them.
One of them made for Artemis, who still lay prostrate on the ground.
“No, this one might still be useful.” Salamander’s voice was strange and monstrous as it scratched through his mask. “It isn’t safe here. Let’s go.”
The maneater snorted at him in irritation.
Cloudhawk hid behind one of the statues, watching everything unfold. If Salamander wanted to kill Artemis right now, there wasn’t anything Cloudhawk could do. He couldn’t save her, not with these monsters at his beck and call. He’d only succeed in getting himself killed.
Salamander took Artemis and left. Cloudhawk heaved a sigh.
Should he return and tell the Bloodsoaked Queen? He was afraid that there wasn’t enough time, and who knew if he’d be able to find them again if he left. The worst of it was that sweepers had reappeared in the oasis. This was a bad omen.
Artemis was a jackass, but she was the leader of Greenland Outpost! This was the worst time for her to get kidnapped. He had to get her back!
Cloudhawk mulled over his options in his mind. A direct attack was out of the question; that would simply be suicide as the chance of success was practically zero. But he had to make a decision, so he did and began to follow Salamander.
The mask
ed man was none the wiser, continuing to lead the maneaters through the oasis for two hours. The sky had begun to darken, and after a little while longer, night fell.
Salamander figured that soldiers from the outpost wouldn’t follow even if they found out. The oasis at night was too dangerous. Even the maneaters didn’t want to risk trekking through it.
“Take a break. Fifteen minutes!”
Salamander dropped Artemis against a nearby tree and ordered a few of the maneaters to keep an eye on her. She was still incapable of moving her body. Meanwhile, Salamander was pondering how to get close enough to a nearby brook to get some water without getting snatched up by man-eating trees.
Suddenly…
A growl arose from within the underbrush, followed quickly by several bear-like figures closing in from all sides. Salamander had been a denizen of the outpost for over twenty years, so he knew the best routes through the oasis. This sector should not be hunting grounds for dire bears. Why had they appeared outside of their normal territory?
Altogether, there were four or five dire bears. They were very different from the species they’d evolved from in the old days. They still had the recognizable characteristics of bears but were twice as big, had hides as thick as armor, and were strong enough to tear a man in two.
Several of the maneaters answered the dire bears with challenging growls of their own.
Oasis creatures were known for their foul temperament. Even though they knew their enemy was dangerous, they would never show any weakness… and so the dire bears roared back, with a few charging straight at the maneaters. Suddenly, the two groups of enormous beasts were locked in combat.
This clash was, of course, Cloudhawk’s handiwork.
He’d led the bears here and then hid with the help of his relic cloak, leaving the bears with no other target than his foes. Now that the maneaters were completely focused on the dire bears, he stealthily crept up to where Artemis lay. He gently nudged her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “Hey. You alright?”
“The fuck? You aren’t dead?!”
Cloudhawk flung her over his shoulder. Invisibility was pointless now, so he stopped channeling the relic’s power and ran for the outpost.
Salamander hadn’t been caught up in the battle with the dire bears, so he immediately saw that Artemis had been taken away. His face became a scowl. “Son of a bitch! Someone’s taken her. We have to go after them!”
Cloudhawk hadn’t been running for more than five minutes before he heard footsteps quickly approaching from behind. Artemis glowered over his shoulder. “You can’t outrun Salamander. Forget about me and get out of here!”
Salamander threw out his hand, and four or five darts whipped out towards them. They were envenomed and accurate, Cloudhawk knew, and if any of them hit, they’d be finished. He used his senses to dodge as many as he could, but one of them was aimed straight at Artemis. Cloudhawk gritted his teeth and spun around, using himself as a shield. Artemis gaped at him. “You’re crazy!”
He wasn’t, of course. The dart found its target but couldn’t pierce his masterwork relic cloak! It struck hard enough to leave a wound, but couldn’t deliver its venom.
Cloudhawk and Salamander were faster than the lumbering maneaters. Some of them were still fighting the dire bears, and those that had come with their human leader fell behind after a few minutes.
As he’d demonstrated, Salamander was not only fast but also adept at throwing darts. So long as he was alive, they weren’t getting away. With no other options, Cloudhawk skidded to a halt and put Artemis down. He turned, brandished his exorcist rod, and glared threateningly at Salamander.
“Heh. Take a good look at yourself, kid. You haven’t even grown any facial hair, and you want to fight me?”
Cloudhawk’s response was to propel himself forwards on his two legs… and then, all of a sudden, he disappeared.
Salamander stared at the empty air in disbelief. A moment later, an evil wind gusted his way, but by the time he reacted to protect himself, it was too late. The tri-bladed end of a metal staff was buried in his chest.
Evidently, Cloudhawk’s skills and speed were far greater than he had expected.
82 Conflict
Cloudhawk’s exorcist rod was constructed so that its sharpened end was a vicious three-edged point. The wounds it caused were large and difficult to heal. Salamander was caught off guard, resulting in the staff drilling four inches into his body [1]. Once it had buried itself in deep, Cloudhawk twisted his wrist, tearing open the wound even further.
A typical person would not survive trauma like this. Even if it missed critical organs, the victim would bleed out and die. Cloudhawk heaved, trying to shove the staff in deeper and open the wound wider.
Salamander’s left hand gripped the shaft of the weapon while his right hand flung poison darts towards the left side of Cloudhawk’s neck. The young scavenger jerked his staff free and dodged out of the way. Fresh blood spilled out onto the ground.
“So this is… the power of a demon hunter!”
Raspy breaths hissed through Salamander’s mask. He pressed his hands to the wound to try and stem the bleeding, all the while staring dementedly at his foe. He could hardly believe that this young punk had the talent of a demon hunter.
Cloudhawk lamented the fact that he hadn’t killed him with his opening strike, but he figured the masked man had to be half-dead at least. Not only was the wound deep, but it was also ragged and grave.
He soon discovered he was wrong.
The ugly wound bled for ten seconds before the flow stopped. By the time Salamander withdrew his hands from the wound, it had almost completely closed up. What incredible healing ability!
His talents weren’t in strength, agility, constitution, or control. Instead, he had a level of regenerative ability that was rarely seen. While it wasn’t to the level of that undead nightmare, the freak in black, Cloudhawk had never seen a normal human with this level of healing talent. It was at least several times superior to Cloudhawk’s!
Clang!
He knocked away the darts that were aimed his way. Salamander rushed ahead in their wake, throwing more darts with his left hand while his right gripped a glowing green dagger. The dart exploded in a hissing cloud of smoke right in front of Cloudhawk’s face mere moments before a deadly shadow fell over him.
Salamander’s fighting style was insidious and relied on poison. Artemis had discovered that the hard way, but Cloudhawk was prepared after seeing what had happened to her. The moment the cloud of poison spread, he disappeared once more, using the cloud as cover to retreat.
Salamander lunged into the spreading poisonous mist. His mask protected him from its ill effects so he could move through the toxic area freely. His target was gone, and he had no way of knowing where he’d vanished to. Worse, the power of the relic cloak made it so that Cloudhawk was too fast for Salamander to keep up.
However, as long as Salamander remained in the embrace of his poison, Cloudhawk couldn’t reach him either.
The booming footsteps of maneaters shook the area as they neared.
The veteran wastelander felt like victory was in his grasp. This young demon hunter’s invisibility was troublesome but not insurmountable. Salamander slowly lifted his left hand, aimed a deadly dart towards where Artemis lay helpless, and let it fly.
No! Cloudhawk scowled. This old fucker was crafty!
He’d remained invisible to look for an opening to launch his next attack on the man. He hadn’t expected Salamander to turn on Artemis, who was unable to defend herself. He was forced to reveal himself.
Cloudhawk was far away from the dart, so he wasn’t able to get to it in time to deflect the hateful thing. His hand went to his waist, gripped the handle of his revolver, and pulled it free. With all his psychic energy focused on the dart, it seemed to slow in mid-air.
Bang!
His bullet knocked the dart off its trajectory.
Dread crept into Salamander’s heart. He wit
nessed the dart being shot out of the air, which meant his foe had superior control and reaction skills. The only other people with those talents in the outpost were their elite marksmen. In addition to this talent, the kid could vanish, which only made him deadlier.
Hiding in the poison mist was no longer a safe option.
Without hesitation, Salamander jumped, followed by the second crack of the pistol. Had he been half a second late, Cloudhawk’s shot would have hit him, but instead, it missed. He landed back on the ground, but due to his haste, he couldn’t stabilize his legs under himself. Taking advantage of the moment, Cloudhawk charged towards him, whipping his exorcist rod around. With no way to dodge, Salamander pulled out a dart and lifted his left arm to block the strike.
Clang!
The force of the blow made Salamander’s arm go numb. In the instant the staff was knocked away, he brought his sickly green dagger around to cut into Cloudhawk’s flesh. However, he didn’t feel the expected rending of skin. Instead, his dagger scraped harmlessly against the kid’s cloak. Whatever it was made of, his dagger couldn’t punch through! It was thin enough that he lacerated the skin, but the poison didn’t penetrate.
Cloudhawk called on the power of his exorcist rod!
His psychic energy was mightier than it had ever been, and calling the power of the staff no longer required him to focus so intensely. His staff came alive in an instant, unleashing unparalleled impact and tearing force so overwhelming that it smashed Salamander’s dart to splinters. It continued to press down until the staff landed on the veteran’s left arm.
Salamander screamed in agony as his arm was smashed clean off!
Cloudhawk followed up immediately after with another lunge at his enemy’s chest.
The exorcist rod struck Salamander so hard that his armor was demolished. Vibrations from the impact shuddered through him and broke every one of his ribs and scrambled his organs. He was thrown fifteen feet away, hit the ground, and rolled away like a discarded rag doll. He was covered in blood, his flesh a mangled ruin. Even Salamander’s impressive healing abilities couldn’t save him anymore. At best, it would force him to linger on in pain until death finally took him.
The Wastelander Page 59
