93. The King of the Forest I (Patreon)

A single incandescent streamer arced toward Borba and flung him to the ground, convulsing. The streamer bridged the air to Inleio, and he was knocked away too. He kept his footing though. The lightning protection potion worked.

The King swiped at Inleio, but the master hunter dodged back and flicked his spear forward to pierce the gap between the bear’s claws. The King scowled, and I saw a cunning in his eyes, an intelligence that noted the combatants around him, as well as those farther out. I saw…I saw his decision to trigger the expansion of that single streamer into auroral conflagration.

Coronal streamers arced from the King’s body in every direction. They struck the close-in hunters as they ran for the spears’ protection with enough energy to send them tumbling. The air ionized. I smelled heated iron and smoldering buckskin, burnt hair and charred wood.

The aurora spread and covered the whole of the field. The King gloried at the blazing center of an electrical storm. The intensity of light and its afterimages obscured my vision. My breathing labored under the pressure of his intent. And yet, I was untouched. The lightning licked at everything and everyone except for me and Otwei.

The corona dissipated and left behind random discharges of electricity between the planted spears. The King ignored them and the prone hunters, and chose instead to pounce upon Otwei. She dodged aside, but the tiniest sliver of shock, of disbelief, slowed her. The King’s claws tore through her left shin, ripping her foot from her body. Blood sprayed, but Otwei marshalled her qi stem its loss. She spun away, but the bear followed with another swipe that tore her open from chest to belly.  A final swipe severed Otwei’s head from her body.

Alarm rang through Yuki, but the piece of them inside her escaped through the sudden gap in time; before the King snapped up Otwei’s head and crunched it. He bit into her body, and swallowed her down.

I ran in with my spear. Honestly, it was a stupid move, but all I could think was that I had to save Yuki. To distract the bear. So, I thrust with my spear, but his muscles bunched to keep it from penetrating too deeply. More ballistae bolts thunked into him. Arrows peppered him from all directions.

The King scowled. He sniffed at the air and turned towards me, saliva dripping from his jaws.

Yuki’s alarm only intensified. They recognized the hunger in his eyes. It was the same as when they resided in the Red Room; when the King came to visit to feast on the eilesheile--the thing he most loved to eat in the world.

Time. We needed time. To run and think and plan for this new development.

The piece of Yuki that used to be inside Otwei pulsed with qi. That drew the King’s attention like iron to a magnet. He lunged, but the lichen sped away--small and fast, thanks to Dog’s Agility, they avoided his attempts to capture them. Meanwhile, I ran for the trees, released my Dog’s Agility, and plunged into Camouflage and Scentless Hunter. I did my best to regulate my breathing and calm my thundering heart.

The other combatants picked themselves up to rejoin the fight. Their renewed attacks caused the King to lash out at them, which in turn was distraction enough to give Yuki the leeway to get the separated piece into hiding too.

The King knocked the hunters’ spears aside. His massive head swiveled, but he was no longer able to sense Yuki. Both the main body within me and the separated piece were well hidden. His anger and frustration grew as the hunters’ spears poked and prodded him.

Electricity crackled along the King’s fur, ready to discharge, but the dolbecs charged into his side to knock him off balance. They were blasted back for their trouble, but the opening was enough for Inleio and Mumu to get in front of him. Their spears went for his eyes.

The King ducked and lunged, their spears scraping the top of his skull. He got under the hunters and tossed his head to send them flying.

The King leaped away to search for Yuki. He sniffed at the air and batted aside the hunters who got in his way. And then--when he realized that he’d lost them--he roared his frustration. Lightning splashed in all directions, filling the field with its radiance. The planted spears drew away what they could, but the hunters still struggled to remain standing.

I was well away by then, hidden and still.

A pair of ballistae bolts hit the King across the scruff of his neck. Raging, the bear launched himself at the closer of the two hills. He landed with a crash and splintered the logs protecting the emplacement. I moved forward for a better view and saw the crew retreating. The ballista was crushed under the King’s weight.

He leapt at the other emplacement, but a basher hit him across the shoulder to deflect him aside. Another smashed into his nose. And then a third, just as quickly. The last was a stinger, and it pierced the flesh between shoulder and head. The three bolts flew too quickly--magic must’ve been involved.

The attacks infuriated the King even more. He launched himself at the emplacement, but the crew was already gone and running down the hill. The ballista was smashed apart by attack after senseless attack.

The hunters on the field picked themselves up. Inleio spoke to Mumu, and she signaled with her hands for the outside teams to retreat. For Kesa’s team to fallback and dive in only if there was a hunter in trouble.

Inleio and the rest had enough time to reposition: the dolbecs and their shields in front, Tegen behind them, and the rest behind him. Banan and Kuros hadn’t run--if anything their faces were stony, their eyes narrowed as they gripped their spears tight. Was it loyalty to Otwei? A desire for revenge? She would’ve understood that.

Not a friend and almost an enemy--I was surprised by my own feelings of loss at Otwei’s death. Yes, she was spiteful and petty, but I’d also spent days nestled against her thoughts. I’d learned from her, and now her experiences were gone. At least from the material world. Her ghost yet raged, her voiceless mouth spitting anger at the King.

The bear bellowed when the destruction of the ballista was complete. A massive stroke of lightning announced his triumph. He leaped back down onto the field of battle and charged at the dolbecs.

They knelt and braced their shields, the same position they’d used against the charging musk ox alpha. The King didn’t have a charging Talent, but he outmassed the musk ox by many times. He smashed into Agath and Moon and threw them aside. Yet, they slowed him enough for Tegen to drive his spear into the gap between the King’s shoulder and head, the wound left by the ballista bolt. The other hunters flowed around him, quick as a blink to thrust their spears at the bear’s face.

Borba didn’t have Dog’s Agility. Where the others attacked three or four times, his spear lagged. And yet that worked to his advantage. Avoiding the dangerous fast spears, the King ignored the slow one, and it bit into the open wound at his shoulder. A rusty glow spread from Borba to the bear, and it surrounded the wound.

The King reared to avoid further attacks on his shoulder. For the first time during the fight, he backed off. The rage in his eyes diminished, and he looked at the hunters before him. The glow at his shoulder didn’t dim. It pulsed, and the glow along Borba’s arms pulsed in time with it.

Stick-thin Borba grew visibly thicker. The expansion started at his arms and moved into the rest of his body like a balloon being filled.

At the start of the battle, the King was a tower of qi, but the level of qi dropped as he generated lightning, losing significant amounts during the coronal discharges. If Yuki sensed correctly, then he had half his qi left. And now, it decreased even further, a slow leak that fed Borba.

He threw himself at the hunter, his mouth gaping to bite Borba’s head off, but he was warded off by Mumu and Inleio’s spears long enough for the dolbecs to intercede and knock him aside.

Banan thrust his spear at the unbalanced bear. His attack was straightforward--polished, mechanical, and powerful--and Kuros flowed after him. Kuro’s spear was like water, a series of rippling thrusts and slices that tore through the King’s hide to create gaps for the others.

And so, the combatants fought--the King swiping at the hunters to keep them at bay so that he could reach Borba, the others doing everything in their power to keep that from happening. Borba hung back, his body slowly swelling.

This wasn’t part of the original plan. No one knew that Borba’s dusk abilities would be this effective, but these were all experienced hunters. They adapted, improvised, and fought tooth and nail against creatures that often vastly outpowered them.

Finally, the bear could take no more. He lit up with lightning’s fire--the streamers pouring from his body. I turned my eyes to keep them from being blinded, but only long enough to reinforce them with qi. The spent qi was immediately re-filled from Yuki’s reserve.

When I turned back, I saw the hunters struggling to stand. All, except for Borba, who this time seemed unaffected. He charged at the King to keep him from attacking the others. They were in no condition to defend themselves.

As far as I knew, Borba still wasn’t able to cast spells--his dusk abilities were instinctual--and yet his strike against the bear reverberated loud enough to hear it from my hiding spot. His attack was faster too. The second thrust hit the bear across the right foreleg. Blood arced along with the lightning.

The bear struck, and Borba rolled to avoid it. He stood back up in time to dodge a second attack, but the third he had to block with his spear’s haft. The wood sheared, and the King’s claw carved Borba’s chest open.

The King’s corona died, and I blinked my eyes clear of tears.

Borba stabbed with what was left of his spear, his face twisted in rage. I saw the white of his ribs though and the mottled gray of his lungs. One lung was torn, and the tissues fluttered as he moved.

Yuki--

Yes.

I dropped Scentless Hunter, and Yuki pulsed their qi. The King turned to where I hid, but that didn’t stop his final strike. His claws tore into Borba once more, and the rusty glow that’d surrounded him dissipated.

The King leaped towards my hiding place, but I’d already re-cast Scentless Hunter and changed positions, moving as quickly as I dared. He shredded bushes and knocked down trees to find me. When that didn’t work, he poured lightning into the area.

The lightning licked at me, but my chainmail drew the worst away. I closed our mouth and eyes, but a trickle penetrated through my nose, only to be blunted by the lightning protection potion. My body felt numb, heavy, and jittery, like I’d drunk too much coffee after staying up for two nights, but that was all. I opened our eyes, and the potion’s protection held. I continued my escape.

The King rammed trees at random, knocking them down. All around me, trees fell creating a kind of corral. When I realized what was happening, I moved back towards the field of spears, so as to not be trapped.

In the middle of the field, Mumu knelt beside Borba, and Inleio stood guard above them. She listened as Inleio talked, her mouth set in a grim line. Was Borba still alive? His spirit still seemed to be attached to his body, and the connection grew as Mumu poured the contents of her canteen across his chest. Healing Water no doubt.

She took Inleio’s canteen and poured that as well, and then Haol’s. Borba jerked awake, and the others had to hold him down as howled to get free. He was thin again though, and the wound on his chest was only partially closed.

Inleio knelt and grabbed Borba’s hand to force the remnants of his spear into it. Inleio then pushed the spear into his own chest. The rusty light ignited upon Borba’s arms, and it spread to Inleio’s body. The lodge master stepped back, but the light followed him. He visibly began to shrivel.

Mumu screamed at Borba. She slapped him until he came back to his senses. Borba stopped struggling then, and the others let him stand. They gave him a new spear, and reformed their formation. Inleio took his place among them.

Then it was his turn to catch fire: a tiny spark that began in his belly. I saw it as it was reflected in his spirit, an orange-red glimmer that spread to his chest and limbs. His body filled out, and his strength returned to him. His qi was full to bursting, spilling out of him when his body could no longer contain it.

The hunters jogged towards the forest, and their path took them close enough for me to hear.

“I have about five minutes,” Inleio said.

“We’ll finish it before then,” Mumu said.

Inleio shook his head. “We do what we must. If it takes longer than I have life left, then that’s the way of things. Now, let’s go.”

Horrified, I remembered that he had a spell called Body Burner. That he was part of a group called the Last Line. Theirs was the duty to sacrifice their lives for the village.

“Inleio,” I whispered.

The hunters must’ve heard me, but none stopped. Mumu nodded and Inleio smiled.

Years ago, in another life, I was reviewing footage from World War II: soldiers pressed against each other in their landing craft, traveling across the water to storm the beaches at Normandy. There was a lad among them, sandy-haired and freckle-faced, who’d caught the camera man filming and smiled.

I asked the editor to stop the reel, and stared at the frozen still for a good long time, communing with the dead and trying to understand that innocent, haunted smile. I sensed meaning there, but it was too deep and too complicated to parse.

“To fear death is to fear life,” I whispered, and turned around to sneak back to where the hunters fought.