Chapter 477

Standing at the head of my pack of people, we hurried through the forest in pursuit of the traces of shadow Magic that my hunters could sense. The Misti Hawar had dwelt here for so long that the dark tendrils of their magic remained everywhere, but I had every confidence in my Sik’Tal. The hunting caste didn’t hesitate to lead the rest of us ever onward, fifty pairs of feet lunging onward until we found our prey.

As soon as we’d entered the cover of the trees, I extended a constant domain of my magic to weaken any magic workings the Misti Hawar did, just enough to cover all of my people. An added side effect of that was that my Tremorsense was amplified to feel everything nearly to the point of feeling snowflakes falling on the drifts a hundred feet away. A part of me smiled, realizing that this was the side effect of my Intelligence stat being as high as it was, that I could feel and understand so many things at the same time and not be overwhelmed. That thought only flickered across my mind as I instead focused on the path ahead.

Whistled calls echoed from the front to the back of the column of Saharliard, letting the rest know how close the people in the front thought the enemies were. One of the latest warnings sounded out as my intuition and Tremorsense screamed at me in unison.

“Defend yourselves!” I shouted as my scales along my left forearm slotted back together into the shape of a deadly gauntlet as I raised my spear in my right hand.

No sooner than I called that out than did blades of shadow burst from every deep pocket of darkness in the surroundings. I threw my head back and roared, the sound of reverberating over the area and shattering the initial salvo from the Misti Hawar. My people gathered together, hissed commands and chittering shrieks of challenge filling the air as another wave of magic lanced towards us. I drew on Spear of the Many as soon as Tremorsense directed me towards an enemy to confront.

The movement of an enemy was on the other side of a foot-thick tree.

I didn’t care.

I threw myself forward, crashing through the tree and reducing it to splinters as my spear pierced towards the hunched figure there. Something in my shoulder cracked, but I paid it no mind. The Misti Hawar’s head exploded like an overripe fruit as my spear pierced it. The scent of blood and offal filled the air as I activated Combatant’s Bloodlust and saw the shadowy figures in greater contrast. Those nearby screamed in fear as I appeared in their midst, but I wasn’t nearly done. They’d gathered in a small cadre to strengthen their magic, which now provided the perfect opportunity for me to visit my wrath upon them.

Dozens of sharp shadows wrapped around my limbs and managed to find small weaknesses between my scales, but I’d done more damage to myself by smashing through the trees than what they could do with so little warning. Small wounds covered my body along with my aching, possibly dislocated right shoulder, but I stabbed forward twice with my spear, each attack killing an enemy and letting the metal drink their blood. Each enemy that died at my hands served to strengthen me and heal my wounds, driving me to more slaughter. I struck out again and again, never taking more than two hits to kill one of the breaking ranks of ambushers.

Five remained after I killed four, and they slipped off into shadows to slither away from me as fast as they could manage. I pushed a deadly amount of magic from my sonilphon into the spear before I threw it into the grouped mass of escaping enemies. There, it landed and a visible thrum pulsed through the snow and shattered the swimming shadows. Their magic dispelled, Misti Hawar tumbled through the snow, quickly finding their feet as they sprinted away on all fours. For the first time, I could see the similarity they bore to some predators, like a longer, lither bear with gray fur and spots.

Regardless of their ability to get distance from me, I was far from their only enemy in these forests.

A pack of a dozen Saharliard hit them from the broadside, and the five Misti Hawar began hissing, their appearance becoming more and more that of frantically fighting beasts. Despite the ferocity, they were outnumbered, and my spear continued to vibrate with the effects of my magic. I disregarded a flashing System notification in the corner of my vision as I turned and looked for another enemy.

For now, there was nothing, and my pack gathered back together as the fight died out. There was no attempt to take prisoners, and I didn’t care to ask them to try. We'd attempted diplomacy before, it went nowhere, and now this was a battle for survival. We were reasonable until the battle started. Now, we would become their greatest mistake.

“How many others did you catch?” I asked the others.

“Five,” came the answer, and I nodded.

“Then we’ll collect these, toss them back into the clearing, and continue on our path. No need to waste good food.”

My people voiced their agreement, and we all hustled to gather up the corpses, sprint them to the edge of the clearing outside of Nievtra, and toss them as we called out for others to come collect. As soon as I saw a movement on the walls, I turned back around and led our people back into the forest. After all, my real targets right now were the spawn, not the weak footsoldiers. These were just snacks, and I was looking for the full meal.

***

Kusi’Wi

“They’re not retreating!” Unanki reported. His attitude had shifted over the past months, no longer resisting her rule. Her ability to summon the Great Hunter’s presence into the army had sealed her position as the greatest Nyust’taa the Principality could remember. Some of the daily records from the third Nyust’taa mentioned entreating for a blessing from the Great Hunter, but they’d only received a minor blessing, a temporary boon to strengthen their magic.

She, however, had been able to summon the spawn of their god! They would grow stronger the more they hunted, and it was only a matter of time before they would roll over the walls of that damned city and rip them all apart. What a tragedy that it was taking so long for them to grow and that so many had already been killed. Of the 50 that’d been provided to her, 29 remained, and they were already more dangerous than all 50 would have been.

“Then we’ll remind them why they’re under siege, not us,” Kusi’Wi answered, taking a deep breath and feeling the shadow pulse around her in time with her heartbeat. She’d bless these soldiers to go and tear through the damned lizards that had already outlived their usefulness. They’d already united the Principality. Now, it was time to give up and allow the stronger, improved Misti Hawar to reestablish themselves as an overwhelming force on the continent.