by Aaron Oster
“I’ll scope out the area here,” he said as Lumia took off from his shoulder. “You find a spot a couple of miles away, and then we can set up an ambush.”
She was a bit wobbly in her flight, her tolerance for Morgan’s form of travel being lower than his own. But, seeing as they’d trained together as much as they had, she was far steadier than Grace.
Lumia gave him a nod, then took off, winging her way north as Morgan began to search around. The idea of traveling this far was so that only the fastest of the beastmen would be able to make it here in time. When Herald or Le’vine heard this information, they’d know he wouldn’t be staying for long, and as such, they’d pass along the message to whoever was in charge here, and they, in turn, would send their fastest warriors to try and nab him.
He didn’t know much about the dwarves as a whole, but from what he knew of the smith, the man was a bit of an outsider. He lived apart from the rest of his people, and seeing as he lived fairly close to the border, Morgan was pretty confident that no dwarves would make it here in time.
They were still an unknown factor. He didn’t know how they looked, fought, or what their strengths and weaknesses were. The beastmen, on the other hand, while still somewhat of a mystery, were still better known to him. The whole reason he was setting up an ambush, rather than just waiting to see who would come, then leave, was because he wanted to eliminate their fastest warriors.
He wasn’t sure if this was a wise course of action, but taking on the strongest they had out here would be a good indicator as to the overall strength of the beastmen. It didn’t take him too long to find a good spot and set up some traps. The work was quick and dirty, and by the time he was done, Lumia had returned.
“Have you found a good spot?” he asked, wiping his muddied hands on a rag.
“The perfect one,” Lumia replied, alighting on his shoulder.
“Excellent,” Morgan said, tucking the rag into his pocket. “All we need to do now is give Katherine a call and see which traitor we can catch in our trap.”
***
Gripper had never been the strongest of beastmen. As a Landstreaker, the smallest of their kind, he was, in fact, one of the physically weakest there were. Even so, he didn’t let his small size stop him from rising high in the ranks of the beastmen tribes. His mage abilities were powerful, and when coupled with his naturally high Agility, it made for an excellent combination. That was why, when they received word that the enemy agent had somehow slipped through their line and was making his way east, it was his unit that was chosen as pursuit.
“You have maybe an hour before he moves on, Gripper, and your unit is the only one that can catch him,” Marcus’s voice said over the small communicator. “I’m placing my trust in you, so don’t let me down.”
Gripper grinned, knowing that catching this spy could lead to a very lucrative promotion. As much as he enjoyed leading a squad, leading a full regiment would be far more rewarding.
“Come on, boys! Let’s nab us a spy!” he roared, turning to his group.
They weren’t all boys, of course. In fact, over half of his squad was made up of females. It was a general term used by their race to shorten the need to specify by gender. It was the reason they were called beastmen, and not beastmen and beastwomen. Though not the strongest, the ten-odd beastmen in his squad were not to be trifled with, and when they found that spy, he’d regret invading their lands.
***
Morgan sat high in a tree, Grace clinging desperately to the branch next to him and looking as though she’d rather be anywhere else. Unfortunately, with Lumia off at the other ambush site, this was the safest place he could think of for her. That didn’t mean she was happy about it, and Grace wasn’t one to keep her opinions to herself.
“Why can’t I fight?” she demanded. “I’m not a kid, you know!”
“That’s exactly what you are,” Morgan answered, keeping his eyes trained on the darkening woods.
It had been over an hour since he’d given Katherine their location, and now he was just waiting to see if their enemies would arrive. Seeing as he was pretty sure it was Herald who was the traitor, he’d told Katherine to lead Herald’s man here. If Lumia was the one to be attacked…well, he didn’t want to think about it. He was sure Grace wasn’t guilty of betrayal, but with her father in Le’vine’s custody, she’d be unreliable, and he’d have to let her go.
“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Grace demanded, face red in indignation.
“What rank are you right now?” Morgan asked, finally turning to look at her.
“I don’t see how that has anything to do…” she tried, but Morgan was having none of it.
“Nine,” Morgan said. “Between your super and mage ranks, you have a total of nine. You have five in your super ability and four in your mage ability. The people coming here will probably be somewhere in the range of 50 to 60, so unless you put on a whole bunch of ranks in the next few minutes, you’ll be staying up here.”
Grace glowered at him but didn’t do much more than cross her arms and huff. She was smart enough to see the logic in his reasoning, so she backed off. This didn’t mean she’d let the ‘child’ comment go, and Morgan had a feeling he’d be hearing about it later. If they even made it out of this fight in one piece, that was.
The darkness continued to creep in, the world taking on an eerie emerald cast as the moon began its upward climb. Morgan’s eyes adjusted quickly, and he had no problem seeing in the dark. Grace wasn’t as lucky, so she was forced to resort to squinting into the dark and clicking her tongue to try and spot their enemies. Seeing as she only had a twenty-foot range when using her Echolocation and they were more than fifty off the ground, she wasn’t getting much.
Finally, Morgan spotted movement, the flickering forms of several beastmen making their way through the trees. They’d spread out, pulling a flanking maneuver to try and surround him. He’d set up a small, makeshift shelter below, one that he’d rigged to collapse as soon as someone tried to enter.
Reaching for his neck, Morgan pressed on the small button on the side of his pendant, Katherine’s voice sounding through a few seconds later.
“What is it?” she asked in a tense voice.
“They’re here,” Morgan replied simply. “We’ve found our rat.”
This was greeted with several seconds of silence, followed by a long sigh.
“I was afraid of that. I was sure Herald could be counted on. I’ll let you go now. Please check in when you’re done, so I know you’re still alive.”
“Will do,” Morgan answered, then dropped the pendant inside his shirt.
He then turned to face Grace. “Stay here, and don’t make a sound. I’ll come for you when this is over.”
He felt her hand snag out and grab his sleeve, forcing him to turn back and face her. She looked scared.
“Please promise me that you’ll be careful. I don’t know what I’d do if you…” She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
Morgan placed a comforting hand on her head, mussing her hair a bit. He knew she hated that, which was why he liked doing it.
“Don’t worry yourself too much. No one’s managed to kill me yet, and I don’t plan on letting anyone do it now.”
Grace let out a small sound of protest, slapping his hand away and smoothing her hair. Before she could say anything else, he vanished, appearing behind one of the ambushers and pulled his arm back to strike.
33
Morgan’s arms reached out, one clamping over the beastman’s muzzle and the other wrapping tightly around his neck. The beastman tried to struggle for a moment, but Morgan used Maximum Increase, then flexed his arm, yanking back and tearing the beastman’s head from his shoulders. His Aura Sense, now contracted to just a few inches, would only give him information on a target if he made direct physical contact. His second of contact with the beastman had told him that he was a rank 47 mage.
That was not a good sign. They’d have
had to move pretty quickly to get here, and judging by how easily he’d been able to crush that beastman’s head, his Constitution hadn’t been all that high. That could only mean he focused mostly on Agility. Morgan hadn’t left the beastman alive long enough to ascertain whether that was true or not.
He vanished once again, appearing behind yet another beastman. She tried to cry out as well, but Morgan tore her head from her shoulders just as easily as the other. In short order, Morgan took another five out. However, when he came to the seventh, grabbing the muscular female beastman from behind, she managed to get out a sound, and it was one that sent him reeling.
The howl attacked his eardrums, making him feel ill and queasy. Morgan staggered back, clutching at his head and trying to shake off the horrific noise. By the time he managed to clear his head, he found himself surrounded by the remaining beastmen. Judging by the looks on their faces, none of them were too happy about all of their dead comrades.
The female beastman let out another howl then, forcing Morgan to stagger back as he fought the nausea. Even as he hunched, a mass of roots tore themselves up from the ground, ensnaring his body and constricting tightly. The howl petered off, and Morgan flexed his arms, tearing the roots to shreds. He emerged just in time for another beastman to charge him. Morgan threw his arms up in a block, catching the powerful blow and stopping it from hitting anything vital.
Still, the force of the attack sent him flying back, smashing through one of the massive trunks and knocking the forest-giant to the ground. Morgan righted himself just as another beastman, this one small and slim, appeared to his left. His fists flashed out, delivering a series of invisible blows, each hitting with the force of a charging bull. Morgan was driven back and to the side, trying to fend the beastman’s attacks off while planning a counter.
A wall of vines slammed into him, driving him to the ground and pinning him there. At the same time, the one fighting him leaped back, a howl exploding off to his left and deafening him once again. A tree came crashing down then, the forest-giant hitting him full-force and driving him a good foot deeper into the ground.
The breath was driven from his lungs as his bones creaked under the strain. Individually, none of these four could best him, but their teamwork was incredible, and they were starting to make up the difference. Morgan had to think fast about how to destroy a team.
Well, he thought, that part is easy.
Morgan teleported out from beneath the crushing weight of the tree, appearing before the female beastman who’d continuously stunned him. Before she could utter so much as a sound, his hand flashed out, fingertips slamming into her throat and making her gag. He spun then, kicking her in the chest and sending her body crashing through several of the massive trees, tearing a swath of destruction through the ancient forest.
He had no idea whether she was dead or not, but he’d separated her from the rest of her group, which was the main idea. A wall of vines flowed up around him once again, and Morgan identified the attacker as another female beastman, this one with black fur and oversized teeth. He vanished from between the encircling vines, appearing behind her.
The beastman, wise to his attacks, whirled the moment he vanished, striking out to the area he’d arrive. Morgan caught her hand and used Gravity Tear, dragging her half a mile from the fight, and leaving her to empty her stomach on the ground as he returned to deal with the other two.
All that remained of the group was one larger, gray female beastman, and a smaller, tan male. Neither looked intimidated by his display. On the contrary, his attacks seemed only to have infuriated them further.
Morgan didn’t care. He’d faced deadlier beasts than these and wasn’t planning on going down anytime soon. He charged, rocketing across the distance between the two and taking a hard swing at the one on the left. She nimbly dodged to one side, then struck forward, a pillar of roiling blue fire exploding from her fist.
Morgan teleported away, summoning a spear at the same time, and hurtling it at the larger beastman. She growled, opening her mouth, and allowed a stream of fire to burst forth. He continued to dodge around, hurtling spears at her, only for them to be destroyed before they could reach their target.
Their teamwork was well and truly broken now, the tan male being forced to stand back as his teammate went on a rage-filled rampage. The forest was now on fire, flames licking at the trees and beginning to spread rapidly. The woman didn’t seem to care or notice, so intent on killing the man who’d killed so many of her comrades. Morgan, seeing that his strategy wasn’t working, decided to switch things up a little.
The female punched out once again, and this time, a wall of earth rose to catch it. Morgan teleported at the same time, appearing right before her, even as she turned to attack the man she was sure would be at her back. The air compressed around his fist, and Morgan struck out, the stream of air obliterating her head in an instant.
He vanished, reappearing before the other beastman before he could react, and drove a punch toward his stomach. The beastman reacted just as he thought he would, leaping back to avoid the attack, and right into the earthen spike that Morgan had conjured from the ground behind him.
The beastman screamed as he was impaled through the chest, his entrails dangling before his eyes in a gruesome and very unnerving manner. Morgan put him out of his misery quickly after, shattering his head and leaving his body to collapse.
“Nooo!”
Morgan turned to see the female that had used the attacks on his senses fall to her knees, staring in horror at her dead team. He didn’t take any pleasure in their suffering, so he finished the female off much in the same way he had the others. Teleporting behind her, he quickly removed her head. He vanished then, appearing back where he’d left the last beastman. He was nowhere to be seen, leaving Morgan to curse and scramble after him in the direction of the disturbed landscape.
The beastman was fast, and Morgan feared that he wouldn’t be able to catch up. Then, from up ahead came an earth-shaking roar, followed by a bright burst of flame. Morgan felt a grin spread across his face, and that attack was one he’d seen many times before. He let out a whoop as he saw Lumia, massive and in her full glory, swoop from the sky and land before him, the charred remains of the last beastman clutched in her jaws.
“Judging by all of this blood, I take it that Herald is the traitor?” Lumia asked, not bothering to shrink down.
“Yeah,” Morgan replied, eyeing the burned husk.
Lumia simply nodded, and the two of them turned to head back to the scene of the battle. There was little either of them could do to hide the amount of destruction their fight had caused, what with all the shattered and burned trees, and the bodies of all the dead beastmen bleeding everywhere. Morgan shrugged it off, figuring that this should send a powerful message anyway.
Morgan felt his heart skip a beat as he neared the tree that he’d left Grace in. The massive tree had been shattered near the base, falling to the ground below.
“Grace!” he yelled, dashing toward it, Lumia shrinking down to her hybrid form and coming to join him.
They searched around the base of the tree, Morgan frantically trying to catch some sign of her. He even tried opening his Aura Sense, only to be blinded by his surroundings. He grimaced, turning to the tree at last, feeling his heart rate increase. If Grace had been crushed beneath this tree, it would be all his fault. Not only that, but he’d have to live with the knowledge of killing an innocent girl – accidentally or otherwise – for the rest of his life.
“Come on, Lumia, and help me move this,” he said grimly, reaching his fingers beneath the heavy trunk and heaving upward.
In truth, he didn’t need Lumia’s help, as his strength was more than sufficient to move the massive tree. He heaved, straining his muscles and feeling sweat bead on his brow as he moved the forest-giant and began dragging it to the side. He walked until he was sure the area was clear, then let the tree crash to the ground once again. Holding his breath, Morgan tur
ned, surveying the area where the trunk had lain.
“Oh, thank the heavens!” he exclaimed, leaning over and letting out a huge sigh of relief.
Grace was not under the tree as he had feared. But if she was not here, then where could she have ended up?
“Can you get a read on her?” he asked, turning to face Lumia, who now had her nose up in the air.
The drake circled the area a few times, then shook her head.
“There’s too much blood and smoke masking the scent.”
Morgan gritted his teeth, but nodded, knowing he couldn’t blame Lumia for Grace’s absence.
“Alright. I guess we start here and spread out in a circular pattern until we find a sign of her,” Morgan said.
“You do realize that the longer we stick around, the greater the risk of discovery, right?”
“Are you saying that we should just give up on her?” Morgan asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Not at all,” Lumia answered. “Merely pointing out a fact.”
“I guess we just need to work quickly,” Morgan replied, already beginning to scour the ground for signs of her passing.
Grace was his responsibility. He’d brought her here, and he’d placed her in danger. Now she was out there all alone and most likely afraid, and he’d be damned if he didn’t find her, even if it took him all night!
34
The world slowly materialized around her, Grace’s eyes flickering open to a dull roar sounding in her ears. She groaned lightly, sitting up and bringing a hand up to her throbbing head, only to come into contact with something sticky and wet.
Blood, she realized dimly as she swayed to her feet.
The world around her was hazy at best, and her ears were ringing. She groaned quietly, feeling the urge to vomit. Seeing as there wasn’t anything left for her to throw up, all she did was dry heave. The tree next to her was splintered and broken, and the forest was alive with flickering orange light.
