"why"
This was the one single though he had as he layed on the floor, the building burning as smoke and fire engulfed the place.
His body felt weak, his legs like jelly, as he crawled through the building, finger tips raw and bleeding.
He couldn't die here, he refused to die.
He just had to find out the answer to that one single though going on in his head.
Even if he had to drag him self out of the maw of hell.
View of Darkness
The Huntsman opened his eye, scanning around quickly (force of habit when ever he was aggitated), before slumping back against the tree, his left hand shaking.
"Compared to that heat back then, i feel so... cold" he muttered to him self as he looked up.
It had been a few hours since he and his 2 companions, Sasha and Reina, had left the desert and entered the twisted landscape that belonged to the undead, one which was soaked with a thick, demonic taint.
You couldn't even call it residual back ground energy, the air was thick with the stuff, each breath for the Huntsman heavy and uncomfortable, despite the medallion he wore filtering out a large portion of it.
Worse still, was the fact that the mass amount of energy dulled his ability to sense nearby monsters signifcantly.
At most, he could sense Sasha and Reina, who were with in 10 metres and that was with some effort.
His 'sight' was even worse, as if somebody had put up a wall of darkness in front of him.
All he could see was twisting black energy.
The Huntsman took a deep breath, the air being sucked in through his nose, before expelling it out through his mouth, a very basic technique he had picked up which helped to keep him calm and in the right frame of mind.
"Get up, we're moving"
Manipulation
Reina walked through the forest of twisted trees, sniffing as she did, her ears sharp and alert, ready to catch the sound of any potencial ambushes.
She was followed by the Huntsman, who kept a 10 metre distance from her, his right hand holding a knife.
Lastly was Sasha, who was humming happily, her hips swaying from side to side as her tail swished to and fro.
Both Sasha and Reina were in their element here, the demonic energy in the air having a refreshing scent compared to the dry desert they had been in.
Each breath they took rejuvinated them, energy coursing through their veins, the air having a refreshing effect as it entered their lungs, though that did nothing to cool their body heat.
No, quite the opposite, not only did each breath fill them full of energy, it also caused their bodies to heat up, their blood to boil.
It didn't help that the object of their desire was nearby, the urge to simply assault and ravish him almost unbearable.
The Huntsman had accounted for this, so he had whispered a few words to both of them, out of ear shot of the other before they had packed up their supplies from the camp they had made before.
To Sasha, he had told her to keep an eye on Reina and the surroundings, trusting her to be his back up if anything went wrong, which had fired her up with a fervor that would rival that of some of the mightest heros of the order.
To Reina, he had played on her ego, telling her that if she tried to take him without making sure no one would disturb them, then she could end up having him stolen and raped by a gang of other monsters working together, or even by Sasha if she got a one up on her.
He had basically set them against each other and every other monster that may inhabit the land, which would help to keep their attention off him and perferably on each other.
Though he didn't expect it to work forever.
Sooner of later, one of them would snap and let their instincts kick in, that was garenteed.
He just had to try and delay that inevitable senario for as long as possible.
He really couldn't afford to waste energy in this place.
Tread Lightly
"Stop" The Huntsman whispered while holding his hand up, casuing Sasha and Reina to halt as well, with Reina twisting her head.
"What, why sho... " Reina was cut off in mid sentence by the Huntsman covering her mouth with her hand, the warm sensation of his flesh agaisnt her lips causing her to moisten, much to the annoyance of Sasha, who would of created a fuss if it wasn't for the Huntsman who was brandishing one of his daggers.
"You 2 don't sense it... that we're not alone"
The Huntsman pointed towards a small patch of dirt in the direction they had been moving, it was nothing out of the ordinary, apart from a few stones which were sitting next to the dirt, some half covered in dirt, like they had been removed from the ground.
To the Huntsman however, he could clearly see there was something underneath, the concentraion of demonic energy coming from the dirt gave away the hidden occupant.
Zombies by nature, while strong, are both slow and incredibly stupid, unable to follow even the simplest of plans, relying instead of sheer physical resilience and strength to pin down their victum, though in most cases people simply ran at the sight of them, easily able to out pace the lumbering sack of meat the average zombie was.
Julia had spent considerable time thinking about this problem, along with ways of defending agaisnt order incursions, a very common ocurence thanks to the proximity of her lands to the orders.
She solved both these problems in one very simple, but dangerous (for any non-monster visitors) way.
First, a spell was cast on the zombies, one that put them into a coma like state (admitdly not much different from their normal selves, just less moaning), next, they were buried, shallow enough so that they could quickly come out of the ground and grab any unfortunate victum, but deep enough that the soil on top could be patted flat to make it less obvouis that something was underneath the soil.
Now when, lets say a order scout came along, the residual spiritual energy in their sweat and breath would cause the Spell on the zombie to break, in turn causing them to wake up and attack the near by scout.
Still, even with the advantage of surpise, any one with a good level of training could easily dodge a zombie trying to claw its way out of the ground, which is why they were usually buried in groups, ranging from a few zombies to dozens or even hundreds, with a few of their number being buried with modified versions of the sleeping spell which would set off every other zombie if they were woken up.
One may be easy to dodge, a few can be problematic, but with hundreds of zombies surrounding you, it would be very difficult to escape or defeat them all.
The Huntsman took a deep breath while removing his hand from Reinas mouth, ignoring the fact that it was now covered in drool.
"Both of you need to keep an eye out for any loose stones with mud on them, any ground where the soil as been turned over and any out of place shrubbery, it's an indication that something is buried under the ground near by" The Huntsman whispered as both Sasha and Reina listened closely.
"And i'd rather not wake anything up, so tread lightly and keep your mouth shut" The huntsman ended as he started to walk slowly, moving around the patch of dirt with the upturned stones, with Sasha and Reina following suit.
"Julia, you really know how to make things difficult"
Predators Gaze
"How long will we have to continue like this" Sasha whispered in complaint as she side stepped another buried zombie.
They had been at this for 30 minutes, with no end in sight as they continued to avoid mound after mound, which had pushed Reina to the point of exploding.
Unknown to Reina and Sasha, they had already passed through the trap, the dirt mounds they were now side stepping were empty.
The Huntsman however didn't tell them this.
He was using this to shift attention away from him.
He was not in a good state.
While the medallion had warded off much of the demonic energy in the air, it couldn't ward it all off.
It had seeped into the Huntsman body, every breath he took felt thick and suffocating, his limbs felt heavy.
"I have to hurry" he mumbled to him self as he rubbed his forhead.
His head was ringing and it seemed like it was quiet.
As if he was the only one there in that place.
".ar..n."
The Huntsman stopped, turning around to the source of the noise as he felt some thing hit him in the front, causing him to fall backwards, hitting his head on the ground which dazed him.
He let out a groan as he felt some thing crawl on top of him.
"..t of. m. .arl.ng"
It was closer this time, the sound clearer, yet he couldn't quite make it out.
He focused his 'sight' in front of him, the black wall in front of him shifting, taking form.
The form of something... human.
He shook his head, trying to refocus, only to feel the sensation of something grabbing the sides of his head, forcing him to look forward.
As he gazed forward, he felt the sensation of a predator glaring at him.
The gaze only stopped when he felt the weight on top of him lighten, shortly followed by the sound of something hitting the dirt and shouting.
He sat up as his hand scurried through his cloak, shortly coming out with one of his stimulants.
He took the top off the vial, bringing it to his mouth and drinking the contents.
For a few moments, nothing happened, he just sat there as the sound of shouting continued.
Then, he felt it, the sensation of his senses clearing, the light headedness disappating as he returned to his senses.
His head was no longer hazy, he could clearly think.
... and he was angry.
The Difference Between The 2
"He's mine you stupid over grown scaley bitch" Reina shouted as she kicked Sasha off of her, quickly scrambling to her feet as she fixed her gaze on Sasha, who managed to remain on her feet as she skidded across the dirt a few meters before standing upright, her tail flicking about in rapid skits, slamming her fists together as she met Reina's gaze.
"Yours, you must be joking, your just some overgrown mut who came along recently, while i've known him so much longer and i'll be damned if i let some fluffy hussy try and take him away from me" Sasha snappily replied as she charged at Reina, who promptly followed suit, both takinga swipe at each other the moent they got in range, a scaled fist striking Reina's darked fur covered face while Sasha gritted her teeth as she took Reina's strike with her arm, groaning a little as she felt the shock travl through her arm, though quickly focusing back on Reina, whom surprised by the strength of Sasha's blow, decided to try and grapple with Sasha, spreading out her arms as she went to grab Sasha.
Sasha immeditaly darted off to the side, narrowly avoiding Reina's attempt at a grapple as she continued charging forwarda few meters before finally managing to stop her self, turning around just in time to see Sasha's palm striking her, this time hitting her chin with a powerful blow which casued her to tumble on her feet.
Reina snarled at Sasha, but found her self unable to fully focus on her, blinking multiple times as she tried to scramble to her feet, only to quickly lose her footing and fall on her back, causing her cheeks to flush red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
Sasha smiled as she watched Reina's feeble attempts to scramble to her feet, her tail now swishing slowly from side to side.
"Strange isn't it, that sensation, the feeling that no matter how much strength you put into your limbs, they are nothing but jelly, that your sense of hearing is dulled, making it difficult to focus on its direction or even understand the words being spoken"
Reina blinked as she looked at Sasha, no longer attempting to get up, instead tyring her best to focus on what Sasha, understanding some, while part seemed to escape her, almost like Sasha was whispering to her, and that ringing in her ears, a distraction that only seemed to slowly go away at it's own pace.
"I believe it's called a concussion, not sure what it truely means, only that it makes it very difficult to fight back or do anything if your inflicted with it" Sasha spoke in a low but almost... loving voice, like how a wife speaks to her husband, here tale swishing almost violently as she spoke now, while she held her claws to her chest, her heart throbbing rapidly as she looked towards the Huntsman, who was sitting up now, his hand seemingly fiddling through his cloak, though she quickly turned her attention back to Reina with an almost ice cold gaze.
"I've known him longer, i've watched how he moves, listened to how he speaks, how he acts and everytime i've seen him fight, i've made sure to burn the image in my mind, he is everything to me and while he's not mine yet, soon i will become his match, his perfect companion"
Sasha moved her face closer to Reina's, who seemed to try to edge away dispite the fact she had now recovered from her concussion, able to feel Sasha's hot breath on her face.
"This is the difference between us 2, you... all you see him as is a prize, to take away to some cave and rut with" The spite in Sasha's voice could clearly be heard as she clentched her claws together.
"Me, i respect him, aknowledge his ability, one greater then mine and i never... NEVER FOR A MOMENT THOUGH HE WAS WEAKER THEN ME"
Those words echoed around as Sasha shouted as loud as possible, this was the respect she had for him, one that she had aknowledge as not simply her equal, but her senior, one stronger then her.
Reina was panting, her eyes looking at Saaha, almost fearful, but she quickly mustered the courage
"He is a prize, the prize i've got my eyes on and nothing YOU say will change that" Reina angrily bit back.
"Then... maybe i can change that"
Reina and Sasha both turned around, both staring at the source of the voice, the sound chilling them to the bone.
The Huntsman?
The Huntsman stood there, his heart thumping, blood boiling, pulse racing, muscles twitching, an horrific throbbing in his head, as he stared towards Sasha and Reina, first tilting his head as he looked at Sasha, before turning his gaze towards Reina, whose hair stood on end.
Both Reina and Sasha broke out in a cold sweat, their mouth's becoming dry and their limbs feleing almost weak as they looked at the Huntsman.
He was just standing there and yet, all they could feel was a growing sense of tension... and fear, one that casued their inbuilt instincts to tell them one thing.
Run. The only reason they didn't obey this most primal of defensive urges was due to a move overpowering one.
Neither of them wanted to give the Huntsman up to the other.
Yet, as they both stared at him, it felt like they were looking at an entirely different person, one that filled them with dread... and one filled with anger.
They both watched as he drew something from his cloak.
His rusted blade, filled with chips and cracks, one that looked like it would snap at the mearest breath of wind and yet, the moment their eyes locked on to the blade, they could only sense one thing from it, a sickening aura that seemed to surround them, grabbing on to their lungs and trying to squeeze every ounce of breath from them.
Death.
???
Authors notes:
And i've added a part, beena long time since i did any additions, feels good.
Laterz
Update 28-08-2015
I am currently revisting chapter 4 (old wounds) and plant o make major alterations to it, meaning i won't be continuing this chapter until i've done that.
Update 07-10-2015:
Doing significant updating and changes.
Update 25/07/2016
It has been a VERY long time since i didn even a ounce of posting, so for any one that still reads or watches out for my stuff, i can only apologise, it's just, nothing poped into my end, not ina satisfying way that i felt like putitng down onto..um... text, until now, hopefully this'll keep up and i'll actually start typing like i use to.