PreCursive

  Azarus’s whole body tensed. His arm thrown ay shoulders began to feel more like a steel bar. Whatever he nning on, he didn’t get the ce to a it.

  The guards advanced on us with startling speed.

  One of the guards lu us on range, arm outstretched. At the same time, Azarus first yanked his arm from around my shoulder and shoved me behind him. The the lunge of the guard with one of his own. In one smooth, practiced motio his stand grabbed the outstretched arm of the dwarven guard, and threw him. The armor-cd guard flew through the air, g all the while, before impag the dirt with a crash. The entire exge only took a few seds.

  I blinked.

  Azarus reset his stance, feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent, and back slightly hunched. His arms were curled out to his sides, with his hands curled into pseudo-cws.

  The rest of the guards halted their advance, wary to approach.

  Someone armor, not one of the town guards, stepped out of the crowd to advan our position. After a moment, I actually reized him. This was the guard that had been apanying Magnus, the day that he had bought me. He was still wearing the same nearly oral silver and gold armor, wearing a simirly gaudy green and gold tabard with the image of a rearing bull on the front. Azarus must have reized him as well, because I saw his back tense up even more.

  “Cease this foolishness, boy.” A voice rang out from the helm. Whoever was in that tin almost sounded bored of the situation. He didn’t evehreatened, standing almost casually with one haing on the pommel of his sheathed sword.

  Azarus let out an eveh. “’t do that, Stonebreaker.”

  The knight, Stonebreaker apparently, sighed. “It’s just a sve.” He said dismissively. “There are over a hundred of them in this settlement alone. If you need another after this one is used up, I’m sure you find another.”

  Azarus didn’t answer, still standing protectively in front of me.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Stonebreaker said derisively. “Yht this on yourself.”

  I couldn’t track what happened . One moment Stonebreaker was standing about twenty feet away from us nontly. The , Azarus was doubled over in pain, with the fist of the armor-cd dwarven knight buried in his stomach, right where the diaphragm of a dwarf must be.

  I…guess that Azarus couldn’t track him either.

  Azarus fell to his knees, clutg his injured chest. I stood behind him gormlessly, still clutg my injured arm.

  One of the guards approached the knight. “Thanks, Stonebreaker. I don’t knoe were going to-”

  The guard was interrupted by Stonebreaker. Specifically, by being baded halfway across the clearing by the knight. He didn’t even turn to face the guard that he had struck. “That’s ‘Sir’ Stonebreaker to you maggots. Don’t fet that.” He said ptuously. “What are you waiting for? Restrain them.”

  The guards hurried to obey him. Two of them grabbed the weakened Azarus by his arms and hauled him to his feet, while one approached me. I tried to back away, but I wasn’t quiough to stop him frhly grabbing me and pinning my arms behind my back. The guard’s move agitated my previously broken arm, causing both it ao cry out in pain. Both of us were hauled in front of Magnus, who had been watg the entire se with a sick sense of glee.

  He tsked at Azarus, faux shaking his head. “Now what did that aplish, cousin? Look at you now.” Turning away from the two of us, he poi a handful of guards that were standing off to the side. They visibly straightened up at his scrutiny. “Go round up a few strong-looking sves, and bring them to the back clearing. Now.”

  The guards saluted at him in the dwarven manner and hurried off to do his bidding.

  “Wait.” Azarus struggled to say, hoarsely. He lifted his head sluggishly.

  Magnus paused, turning back to Azarus. He smirked at him. “Oh? Do you have something to say, cousin?”

  “If,” Azarus said, breathing heavily between every word. “Yoing…to do this…at least…let him have…a on…”

  Magnus ughed at him, shaking his head. “I’m not going to waste a perfectly good on on a sve of all things.” He said, still chug. He turo Stonebreaker, who had been standing off his right. “What about you? Are you going to give the cattle your sword?”

  The knight’s helmet-cd head turo face Magnus slightly. “No.” He said with finality.

  “In…the cart…spear…” Azarus mao wheeze out.

  That caused Magnus to raise an eyebrow. He flicked a hand out at anuard after a moment. The guard hurried to obey the dwarven lord ao rummage around the cart for my spear. Shortly thereafter, he jogged back over to Magnus, spear in hand. He wordlessly ha to him and then stepped bato the crowd of uards. Magnus looked over the on he had just been handed with a sneer.

  “Your work, I’m assuming?” He asked Azarus ptuously. “I reize the plebian style.”

  Azarus didn’t answer, somehow still struggling to breathe.

  Magnus suddenly smirked. “Hmph. Well, this just won’t do.” He said, holding the spear aloft. “After all, this sve is injured, isn’t he? You wo funing arms to use a spear.”

  Uh, I mean, that wasn’t teically true. I could probably still use the spear with one arm fucked like this. It’s not like the spear Azarus had given me ike or something.

  A few of the guards exged gnces as well, while Stonebreaker audibly sighed inside his helmet.

  Magher didn’t notice or didn’t care. “No, no, no. This won’t do at all.” In a sudden move, he gripped the spear with both hands and brought the shaft of the spear down upon his knee. With an audible crack, the spear splintered in half just below the point of the spear. He tossed the broken shaft off to the side, before holding up the bde. It only had a few inches of haft left, stig out of the bottom of the socket. “A dagger suits a sve better, I feel.”

  Azarus stared up at Magnus, despair creeping onto his face.

  With a smirk, Magnus threw the ‘dagger’ at my feet. I just stared down at it bnkly for a moment, before looking back up at Magnus. His smirk shifted to a scowl.

  “Are you going to sy generosity, sve?” He growled, threateningly.

  I didn’t even know what was going to happen to me, but I guess I should take my new ‘on’. It probably wasn’t anything good. I bent down to pick it up, careful of the splintered end. When I looked up, Magnus had turned away from me.

  “Well, time to get this show on the road,” Magnus said, wicked delight in his voice.

  ……………………………………..

  The guards marched Azarus and I through town, and along the side path that I was familiar with by now. Before long, assed right by the path that led to Azarus’s house. I couldn’t help a longing gn that dire.

  Strangely, Azarus was still hunched asping for breath as we were both marched along the path. The guards had stopped manhandling us by this point, assured we were cowed. I sidled up to Azarus, keeping a wary on them anyway.

  “You okay?” I whispered to him.

  Azarus cast a side eye at me between bored breaths. “I’ll be fine.” He wheezed. “Stonebreaker just has some strong afflis, that’s all. Ya should worry about yourself.”

  I furrowed my brow. “What’s going on? What’s a hunt?” I said to him, careful to keep my voice down.

  Azarus opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted.

  “Quiet.” Someone said behind us. I started, turning my head slightly to see who had spoken. It was ‘Sir’ Stonebreaker, which surprised me. Somehow, he had snuck up on us in full armor. “If you ruin the boy's fun, I’m the one who’s going to have to listen to his whining.”

  Azarus turo face Stonebreaker and glowered at him. “Fuck you, Vinzo Stonebreaker. You know this shite is evil just as well as I do.”

  The knight just hummed nonittedly. “Maybe. But I don’t care. The Prince ordered me to obey his son, and that’s what I’ll do. That’s what loyalty is.” He said pointedly.

  “Piss on your loyalty,” Azarus grunted.

  Stonebreaker didn’t reply. He just kept walking behind us at a steady pace. I guess he was our watcher. Or rather, Azarus’s watcher.

  Azarus looked back over at me and worked his jaw for a moment. A resigned, almost defeated look fell over his face before he shook his head at me slightly. “You’ll see.” He said quietly, almost ashamed.

  The rest of our walk along the path ent in silence. I kept a white-knuckled grip upon the ‘dagger’ that Magnus had giverying to keep myself calm. I was sure that whatever was going to happen to me wasn't going to be unpleasant.

  Before long, we had exited the path out into the small backyard of Magnus’s manor. I could see that across the clearing, the guards at the back gate clearly hadn’t been prepared to see their liege-lord. Much less the rge party that was following him. Magnus just strutted across the clearing as if he ow. Which, I guess he did.

  He didn’t eveo say anything to the guards, they just moved to immediately opee as we drew o it. Without even gng at them, Magnus strode through the gate, everyone else following him. Once everyone had passed the gates, he gnced around and frowned in irritation.

  “Where are those fools?” Magnus muttered to himself audibly, tapping his foot in impatience.

  Everyone in the clearing beyond the gate stood around awkwardly in silence, while Magnus began to get more and more annoyed. We must have been waiting around for nearly five minutes before someone cleared their throat nervously behind me. ing my head slightly, and seeing that everyone else did the same, I could see that it was one of the guards. He ointing a finger over his shoulder in an awkward, anxious manner.

  “Ah, my lord?” The guard said uneasily. He fidgeted when Magnus turned around to gre at him. “They’re here.”

  Following his thumb, I could see three guards just exiting the same path that we had.

  They were herding three other sves, all of them male. All of them whipcord thin, and emaciated. All of them visibly terrified.

  I guess they knew what was ing.

  I could see Magnus smile malevolently out of the er of my eye. “Excellent.”

  Ohe guards had prodded the other sves into the clearing with us, Magnus turo face me and crooked a finger. Before I could even think about disobeying, one of the guards shoved me. I stumbled forward, almost tripping and falling on my face. When I found my feet again, I discovered that I had been forced to the front of the group. Right o the rest of the sves. They didn’t even look at me, too busy watg Magnus with wide, frightened eyes.

  Speaking of, Magnus spread his arms wide and fixed a manic grin on his face. “Wele, sves! To my little monthly hunt!” He cackled. “While I reize you three sorry ingrates, there’s a newer sve in our lot! I’m sure you know what this is, but I doubt the new cattle does.”

  The other sves didn’t even turn to look at me they were so petrified.

  Magnus snorted. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You four,” He said, pointing at us. “Are going to ehe forest. But, you see, you’re not going to be doing any traditional hunting, oh no. Rather, yoing to be the ohat are hunted. Not by anyone here, of course. We’re not savages after all.” He broke into a chuckle.

  The guards broke into an uneasy, forced chuckle as well. As for me, I felt a chill down my spine and tried to fight a sense of growing panic.

  “You see, yoing to be hunted by the mohat are lurking just beyond the wards.” Magnus tinued after he stopped chug. “Your job is to herd the mohat hunts you back to this clearing so that I kill it. After all, I o titing levels somehow, don’t I?” He chuckled again, shaking his head. When he finished, he held up a finger. “However! There are rules to this little hunt. Firstly, you o herd a monster back that is actually worth my time to kill. After all, it’s not like I’m going to get much Aether from some piddly level five monster, now, am I? Sedly, there is a time limit to this hunt. You have until sundown to successfully herd a monster bae.”

  Magnus looked up at the sky, shading his eyes with his right hand.

  “That might just be a little under six hours, I believe.” He looked back at us. “Now, ‘Lord Magnus’, you must be thinking, ‘how am I supposed to do that when my virtues and skills are suppressed? We ’t even use Observe to tell what monster is good enough!’. Well, that’s just not my problem, now, is it? Because here’s the final rule. If you don’t succeed, you die.” He smiled, almost benevolently at us. “If you herd a substandard monster back here, you die. If you don’t plete your task in the allotted time, you die. If you try to run and never return, well, you get the idea. And that’s all thanks to what I have right here.” He finished, drawing a polished ste of bck stone from an inner pocket in his robe.

  I furrowed my brow seeing it. I swear to God, it looked simir to a tablet puter from bae. It wasn’t, I know, as it was very obviously stone. But the resembnce was there.

  Azarus audibly grunted in disgust at the sight of the stoablet. “Swiped that from Orin, did you?”

  His words made Magnus smirk, but he didn’t aowledge them beyond that. “With the press of a rune on this ste, I kill any one of you instantaneously. And the beautiful part? I don’t know how you’ll die. Every sve I own is fitted with a colr that has a random death entment on it. Poison, beheading, or even explosions, I truly don’t ’t tell which you have. But you’ll be dead all the same, so I suggest you try hard.”

  When Magnus finished, he made a motion to the guards. The guards that had been looming over us four sves stepped back. I ook my eyes off of Magnus, however. He had stepped to the side, and made an almost sweeping bow in the dire of the forest. Wheraightened back up, he found that we hadn’t moved an inch. He raised a mog eyebrow in our dire.

  “Well? If I were you, I’d get to it. You don’t have all day, you see.” Magnus said, tauntingly.

  None of us moved for another moment before one of the other sves took an unsteady step forward. As if he had broken something that was holding the others back, the other two sves broke out into unsteady and panicked runs in the dire of the forest. Nearly tripping over his owhe st sve took off into a stumbling run of his own.

  I just stared disbelievingly at Magnus for a moment, before a shout broke me out of my stupor.

  “Go!” I heard Azarus cry out behind me. “He’s not joking! Go!”

  Nearly out of instinct, I broke out into a run of my own, as if I was a rabbit startled by a gunshot. By the time I had crossed half of the clearing, I was full-on sprinting. Before long, I had reached the tree line. Risking a gnce back over my shoulder, I somehow caught Azarus’s eyes over the distance. He mouthed something to me, but I couldn’t quite make it out.

  Resigo my fate, I turned back around aered the forest.