Chapter 28: Bloodriders

Canyon walls closed in like the jaws of some ancient beast, their rusted metal and cracked concrete surfaces looming over the convoy as the three trucks rumbled along the narrow path.

Gio sat in the second vehicle, his Bioenergy humming at a comfortable 100/100, his mind still processing the tactical advantages of his newly acquired Swarm Wolf bioform.

Then the bracelets alerted.

[Bracelet Alert: Multiple Signatures Detected]

[Rank: D-Rank]

[Warning: Converging from multiple vectors]

"Contact!" Darwin’s voice crackled over the comms, sharp and immediate. "All trucks, defensive formation! They’re using the canyon!"

Before the lead truck could even slow, the wolves erupted from the shadows.

There were at least thirty of them, pouring down from the canyon walls, cutting off retreat.

"Gio, you’re up!" Kojiro shouted from the back. "The wolves are too fast for the trucks to maneuver!"

Gio didn’t hesitate. He slammed his hand against the truck’s interior wall.

’Come.’

White light exploded from his palm. The Iron-Boned Bear materialized on the road ahead, towering over the trucks, its iron-dark plates gleaming. It roared, and the sound shook the canyon walls.

But the wolves didn’t flinch. They split into coordinated packs, some darting under the bear’s legs, others scaling the canyon walls to attack from above.

’Burn them,’ Gio commanded.

The bear opened its maw, and a wall of white-hot fire roared into the canyon, turning the narrow space into an inferno. The wolves shrieked as the flames caught them, but more kept coming, their yellow eyes burning with unnatural hunger.

Then, from the canyon walls above, a new sound emerged.

Not the shrieks of wolves, but rather the thundering of hooves.

Dozens of massive shapes dropped from the cliffs, landing with earth-shaking force among the wolf packs.

Gio’s eyes widened.

They were horses. But not any horses he’d ever seen. Each beast stood nearly seven feet at the shoulder, its body corded with muscle, its coat a mottled grey-brown. And where a normal horse had four legs, these creatures had six, the extra pair positioned just behind the front legs, giving them terrifying stability and speed.

Riding them were humans.

But these weren’t the grotesque, mutated wastelanders Gio had expected. They looked like roughed-up normal humans, their faces painted with tribal markings in red and black, their bodies clad in scavenged armor—leather, metal plates, furs—all practical, all worn from years of survival.

They moved with the wolves like they’d been born to it.

The lead rider, a woman with sharp eyes and a spear in her hand, drove her six-legged horse forward, the beast’s extra legs churning the ground as it closed the distance to the nearest wolf. She leaped from the saddle mid-stride, her spear flashing, and drove it through the wolf’s skull before landing back on her mount without missing a beat.

Around her, the other riders did the same. They moved in perfect swarm-like coordination, their beasts working in tandem with them, cutting down the wolves with brutal efficiency.

Gio’s System pinged.

[Scanning...]

[Technique Detected: Marrow-Infusion]

[Description: Temporary biological enhancement through controlled bioenergy channeling. Riders infuse their own bioenergy into their mounts, boosting physical attributes and synchronization for short duration. High physical toll on user.]

[Note: Some riders display enhanced infusion levels, suggesting advanced mastery.]

Gio watched as one of the riders—a man with a scarred face and a massive six-legged bear at his side—placed his hand on the beast’s flank. The bear’s eyes flared red, its muscles swelling as it let out a roar that shook the canyon. It charged into the wolf pack, its claws tearing through scaled hide like paper.

’They’re boosting their beasts,’ Gio realized. ’And themselves.’

Within minutes, the last wolf fell, its body riddled with spear wounds and scorched by fire.

The riders pulled their mounts back, forming a loose circle around the convoy. The woman with the sharp eyes dismounted, her six-legged horse snorting steam from its nostrils.

She walked toward Darwin’s truck, her spear resting casually on her shoulder.

"You’re a long way from your cities’ walls, wall-dweller," she said, her voice rough but clear. "And you come with the kings scent..."

Darwin stepped down from the truck, his bionic arm whirring softly. His mechanical pupil tracked the riders, calculating.

"We’re on a mission," he said flatly. "The wolves attacked us."

"The wolves are the King’s hounds," the woman corrected. "They don’t hunt unless they’re sent. Which means you’ve been marked for some reason."

She glanced at the trucks, then back at Darwin. "We don’t know what you did to piss off the King, but if you keep moving east, you’ll be dead by nightfall. His packs are already converging."

Darwin’s expression didn’t change. "And you are?"

"Kira..." she said. "...BloodRider clan. We control this canyon. And if you want to live long enough to explain yourself, you’ll follow us to our settlement. We can hide you from the King’s hounds and erase the marking scent from you... Maybe."

Darwin was silent for a long moment. Gio could see the calculation in his posture, the way his mechanical eye flickered as he processed the offer.

"Alright, Lead the way," Darwin finally said.

Kira nodded, turning back to her riders. "Move out! We’ve got guests!"

The BloodRiders mounted their six-legged beasts, the massive horses shifting with unsettling grace. As they began to move, Gio noticed something else.

Not all of them were on horses.

One rider, a tall man with intricate tribal tattoos covering his arms, sat atop a creature that looked like a cross between a wolf and a reptile. It had six legs like the horses, but its body was covered in scaled armor, its jaws lined with razor-sharp teeth. It moved with a predatory grace that made even the war horses seem docile.

Another rider, a woman with a shaved head and a necklace of wolf fangs, rode what looked like a massive, mutated eagle. Its wingspan was easily fifteen feet, its talons gleaming in the canyon light. It perched on a rocky outcrop above them, its eyes tracking the convoy with unnerving intelligence.

’The important ones ride stronger beasts huh?,’ Gio realized. ’Not just the war horses.’

His System pinged again.

[Advanced Marrow-Infusion Detected]

[Description: Higher-tier biological enhancement. Riders with advanced mastery can infuse bioenergy into stronger mutated beasts, granting temporary but significant power boosts. Requires exceptional bioenergy control and physical endurance.]

[Analysis: Technique appears to be clan-specific. No known method of replication within archive without direct observation and understanding of bioenergy channeling pathways.]

Gio filed the information away. He didn’t know if he could learn the technique from the way the system was phrasing it, but the System’s analysis suggested it wasn’t as simple as just copying it.

The convoy rolled forward, the BloodRiders leading them deeper into the canyon. The walls grew higher, the path narrower, until finally they emerged into a hidden valley.

It was a settlement. Not a large city, not even a large town, but a collection of structures built into the canyon walls, tents, wooden platforms, metal shelters—all arranged in a defensive pattern that spoke of years of survival in hostile territory.

Smoke rose from cooking fires. Children played near the entrance. Warriors sharpened weapons.

It was alive.

Kira dismounted as the convoy came to a stop, turning to face Darwin.

"Welcome to BloodRider territory," she said. "Now, let’s talk about why the King wants you guys."