It was particularly horrible for Margot. She was in such pain. Such emotional distress. And here were these men, having the times of their lives, laughing with merriment as they swapped tales of their exploits. Exaggerated tales, as they were called out on multiple times by their brethren who had also been present at the time.
Of course, this merely elicited more laughter. Pretty much everything did at this point. They were getting off this world and that meant very soon they would be getting paid. That was how it worked with Gromm. If you signed up on his crew, you would make some very good money, but not until the job was done. When it was completely finished, however, their accounts would be flush. But they’d not see a single credit until that time.
Rylinn was the only one able to negotiate a different arrangement, but he was a very specialized sort and as such commanded a much higher rate. He also acted a bit superior to the men, which, to be fair, he clearly was. But they didn’t like his attitude just as much as he found them boorish and dull. So it was that Rylinn remained in his quarters while the others frolicked, only exiting to collect a plate of barbecue to take back to enjoy in relative quiet.
Margot actually enjoyed the occasional barbecue back home, and she briefly thought about trying to score a tray for the prisoners, but the smell of charred meat only served to bring the thought of Braxxos burning to death, his ruined body just another pile of death among the others caught up in the conflagration.
A whiff of flesh hit her nose like a smoky fist. Her stomach heaved hard, a trickle of acid-bile running from her lips, snottrickling from her nose as she sobbed, trying to get control of herself.
Amazingly, a flash of cold, hard clarity washed over her, as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her head. She was thinking clearly, for the most part at least. And Margot very much wanted revenge. So much so that she didn’t hear the faint, muffled screams of the sentries as they were torn limb from limb, decapitated and mauled, disemboweled with malice, their remains sent flying into the woods.
A beast was among them. And he wasnothappy.
Margot felt something strange stir in her runes. A powerful, odd, yet familiar sensation. Her heart raced as the realization set in.
He’s alive!
Had she not felt it in her Infala, she’d have discovered the truth soon enough, for her mate was laying waste to every last mercenary he found. And with the benefit of Braxxos’s rational mind mingling with the beast’s, he was doing so with not only speed and terrifying aggression, but also a degree of stealth the raging monster had never been capable of before.
As it was a festive situation, with the Dohrags and monster both eliminated and the remaining escapees either captured or dead, the men had packed up before the party, prepping to ship out the following day. As a result, most of their gear, including the vast majority of weapons, had already been stowed and secured. It was a bit of premature celebration that would cost them most dearly.
“Oh shit!” a guard managed to scream before being ripped in half and sent flying. He died instantly, but his cry had been enough to turn the festivities into a frantic scramble for any weapons available.
“It’s here!” someone yelled. “Kill it!”
The men, their feeble minds bolstered by liquid courage and the perceived strength in numbers, let loose a roaring battle cry and charged at once, all of them attacking in a single, not terribly cohesive but nevertheless unified front.
It didn’t matter. The beast ignored the cuts inflicted by the puny knives the men wielded. Blows from clubs and other improvised melee weapons likewise served no effect other than to further enrage him. They’d stolen his mate, and as he raced to her rescue, he heard them bombing his beloved forest. As a result, he’d run even harder, not once changing back to his smaller form.
It had taken a full day to cover the distance, and any normal man would have been entirely spent from the effort, but this was no ordinary man, and he was on a mission. Fists flew, teeth gnashed, and bodies tumbled through the air as he lay waste to the inebriated mercenaries with zero mercy and no remorse.
In all the chaos, Margot grabbed what she hoped were the keys to the cages from a deceased guard and took off running, throwing them to Floxxia through the bars.
“Get out. This is your chance!”
“What’s going on?” the woman asked, utterly confused as they had no line of sight to the inner goings-on of the camp.
“No time. Just hurry and run!”
Margot spun on her heel and raced back as fast as she could, wondering what was going on in her absence. Quite a lot, actually. Nearly all of Gromm’s men were dead or dying, and their employer was only now becoming aware of the situation.
“You!” Gromm bellowed, stepping from his ship with fire in his eyes and a huge blade in his hand.
He didn’t bother with any formalities such as declaring his hatred for the beast, or monologuing how he had cost him ships and many men. No, he simply shouted his battle cry and charged, his runes flaring up bright, ready for arealbattle fora change. The beast was bigger, but not by much, and Gromm had the advantage of all his additional runes pouring even more power into his bulging muscles.
He swung the blade hard and fast, the metal slicing an arc through air where the beast had been just moments before, barely missing his target.
“Think you’re quick, do you?” he growled, the two circling one another, stepping over, and upon, the dead and dying without a care. “I’m gonna end you.”
He lunged, faking a stab, instead diving into a roll and coming up hard and fast, slashing the beast’s flank. The blade cut deep, but the orange-eyed creature didn’t seem to pay it any heed. The complete lack of reaction made Gromm feel something he was not used to feeling. A tiny flare of concern.
He pushed it aside, crushing any hint of weakness within himself in an instant, launching into another dizzying attack, changing course and style repeatedly, and far faster than a man his size should have been able to move. He may have been a brute, but he was a very highly trained one.
It also didn’t hurt that the additional runes on his body were making him hyper-fast, and in addition to the extra speed, the blows he landed carried far more force than a normal man might possess. As a result, the beast was soon covered in slices and bleeding rather profusely.
That didn’t stop the beast, though. Not for one second.
It was his turn now, adjusting his attack, surprising Gromm as he switched from brute strength to finesse, charging at him with a mighty bellowing cry, but then pulling up short just as Gromm moved to deflect his attack, putting all his force and weight behind it.
