Chapter 21 – The Hunt

  With their target given, they started into the forest. Making sure they were out of sight, Kaelin brought 6 maps out from her bag. Once she found the one for the eastern forest, she unfolded it and lay it on the grass.

  “What’s all this?” Zephyr asked.

  Kaelin was focused on finding their location, so Lena replied in her stead. “Sorry, we didn’t have a chance to tell you. Since we knew we were gonna be in the eastern forest, we thought we’d bring a territory map. But so we didn’t get caught out, we decided to bring the maps for a bunch of other areas which could’ve been picked.”

  Kaelin adjusted her gloves. “Right, we’re about here. Currently we’re in the Great Boar territory. We’ll have to cross through the Dire Wolves’ area before we can start on hunting the Purlovia.”

  Lena tapped her chin, thinking. “That shouldn’t be too hard. It would be best that we stay out of sight while we get over there. The points won’t count if we kill a Dire Wolf before the Purlovia. Zephyr, do you think you could use an illusion to make us invisible?”

  “I’m not sure. I can do it on myself, but I’ve never tried over 3 people before.” Zephyr replied.

  “Alright, tell us if you need a break, and Kaelin could use earth magic to cover us while you rest.”

  ***

  After 2 hours of travelling, the group finally made it to the Purlovia’s territory. On the way there, they had seen 4 groups of Dire Wolves. The illusions were almost foolproof, if it weren’t for Zephyr struggling to cover all of them. The illusion had even failed once, but Kaelin put them underground before anything could notice them.

  After making sure they were alone, Lena spoke. “I read up on the Purlovia before we left. Be careful to check the trees around you, they like to cling on to the trunks and jump down on top of you. Luckily, they stay away from each other, so we should be fine as long as we keep our eyes open.”

  Zephyr nodded. “I can handle getting it into a position for you to fight it. I could coax it down with some stone bullets, but you two need to focus on getting the kill.”

  Kaelin crossed her arms and looked at Lena. “How do you wanna split this?”

  Lena met her gaze. “You’re good at seeing patterns. You’ll figure out how it moves before we do. So try to stick behind me until you do. From then just go all out, and I’ll help from the sides”.

  Kaelin blinked. That was… unexpected. Lena wasn’t wrong, but she hadn’t expected her to acknowledge it. She rolled her shoulders. “Come on. Let’s get going. We’re gonna have to be quick if we wanna win.”

  They moved into position, carefully making their way through the thick underbrush. The deeper they went, the quieter the forest became. That was never a good sign.

  ***

  Night fell, and the air turned cold. They still hadn’t seen a single one.

  Kaelin crouched behind a cluster of rocks, watching the shifting darkness between the trees. A Purlovia could be anywhere. They had prepared an open area nearby. The idea was to funnel it there using Zephyr as bait.

  A twig snapped behind her. Kaelin tensed,her hands at the ready should she have to fight , but it was only Zephyr.

  He knelt beside her. “I’ve spotted one about a hundred meters away. Just wait here for when Lena and I come running past.”

  Kaelin exhaled through her nose. “Why is Lena going with you? Weren’t you gonna try get it down on your own?”

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  “That was the plan, but she thought it would be better if she protect me so it didn’t grapple me on the way down.”

  Zephyr disappeared back into the darkness of the forest, and Kaelin waited. Only a few moments later, Zephyr came running through, Lena in his arms, followed by a large badger-like creature, with long claws on both its hands and feet. It thundered through the path they had lay out like an entire stampede.

  Kaelin jumped out from the bushes where she was hiding and shouted to Lena, “I’m ready, get its attention, and I’ll start attacking. Remember, safety is top-priority!”

  When it heard Kaelin shout, it turned. She barely had time to react before it lunged.

  The Purlovia was fast – too fast. She twisted out of the way as sharp claws raked the space where she had been stood. Zephyr immediately countered for her, a large stone spear sent barrelling through the undergrowth, but the creature was already gone. A blur of black and white vanishing into the trees again.

  “Damn it,” Kaelin hissed. “It’s like its testing us.”

  Lena’s voice came from the other side. “We need to trap it!”

  Zephyr moved, his threads pulling on the earth to make a thick barrier. Kaelin’s heart pounded. The Purlovia was unpredictable, constantly shifting between visibility and shadows. If they didn’t pin it down soon, they’d be the ones getting hunted.

  Her mind raced. A solution existed. She knew it did.

  And then she thought back to the books.

  She hesitated. Just one spell. Just a second of absolute advantage. The book had a technique that could lock the creature in a time loop, keeping it stationary.

  She could win them this fight.

  But what was the cost?

  She would only be able to hold it for a few seconds, and it would most likely cause her to faint. But still… was it worth it?

  Kaelin clenched her jaw. She needed to decide. Now.

  Kaelin took a sharp breath. The decision was already made.

  She pushed energy into her legs and burst forwards toward the Purlovia. There was no way she would use any of those spells. If she used one once, what was to stop her from repeating this.

  The Purlovia lunged again, its claws outstretched, Kaelin ducked under its swinging arm and slid. She was trying to reach its underbelly for an open shot at a weak point.

  Lena was right. It hadn’t been long but she already understood how it attacked. Even with its speed, all Kaelin had to do was speed up her mind to match it. With the heightened processing speed, she was able to dodge the many shots it took at her.

  Kaelin was crouching on the ground underneath its belly. She took a deep breath before increasing the speed in both her arms and legs, with this extra energy, she threw a punch directly into its stomach.

  The Purlovia was thrown onto its back, legs flailing in the air.

  Before either Zephyr or Lena could take the opening Kaelin had made for them, the Purlovia was gone.

  No.

  Not gone.

  Just waiting.

  Kaelin saw it darting around behind the cover of the trees.

  Then it darted at Zephyr. He couldn’t see it.

  “ZEPHYR BEHIND YOU!” Kaelin shouted, but it didn’t reach his ears quick enough.

  The massive paw of the Purlovia hit Zephyr in the side, flinging him to the side, causing him to smash into a tree. He sat there, blood dripping from his chest and mouth.

  Lena didn’t hesitate, she ran at the Purlovia, erecting walls made from the thick roots of the trees which surrounded her. “Be quick! I can’t hold it off for long!” Lena shouted to Kaelin.

  “Zephyr. Can you speak?”

  He shook his head and grimaced. The pain seemed nigh unbearable.

  “Don’t try… I know we were told not to… but let me try to heal it. Please. You might not live long if I don’t.”

  Zephyr’s head fell, he wasn’t awake. She had to act quickly.

  Kaelin put her hands out to his chest, pulling the large splinter from his chest, she started.

  Please. Let him be okay. This is all my fault. I could’ve prevented this. We could’ve killed it by now.

  A great orange light erupted from her hands. It was blinding. So bright she couldn’t see what happening underneath. When the light died down and she took her hands away, he was healed. While his clothes were still ripped, and blood still sat around where the splinter had pierced him, the wound was gone.

  Kaelin shook Zephyr trying to wake him, to no avail.

  “Lena, I’m coming, hold on just a second longer!”

  Kaelin picked up the stone spear which was lying nearby from when Zephyr had launched it only a few minutes earlier and surged forwards. Her spear, robust as ever, plunged into the creature’s flank. The Purlovia shrieked, but Kaelin didn’t stop.

  Lena had contained it on three of four sides, and Kaelin relentlessly pierced it with the spear until it hit bone and broke. The shattered pieces of the spear sat inside the beast, like shrapnel, hurting it every time it moved.

  Kaelin suddenly felt dizzy. A sharp, stabbing pain lanced through her skull, her body swaying as her knees gave out beneath her. The world spun violently, her limbs too heavy to respond.

  She was aware of the sounds of battle continuing, distant and muffled, as though she were hearing them from underwater. The last thing she saw before the darkness took her was Zephyr darting past her, finishing the creature off with a brutal strike with some sort of stone club that sent a tremor through the ground.