A medley of shrill screeches assaulted Buzur’s mind. He staggered in place, the disorientation so great he could barely stay on his feet. And the three harpies swooped down at their hindered prey.

  These were the smartest pack they had encountered thus far. So wary and craven they spared not even the slightest complacency against a single target. But three stones smashed open their skulls just the same as the others.

  Banda didn’t spare them a second glance. Instead he turned his focus to check his surroundings with composed vigilance by Eres’ side, as the hunters tentatively collected the monster cores.

  Humans were oddly similar to beasts in that regard. The natural order of things dictated that he has the strongest would claim all the cores, or in the case of humans, the shards that came from them. But he was not someone who would bite at hares while the deer slipped from his grasp.

  He would let them take the shards if it meant they would stay obedient as they aided him in this task. He could always hunt more, if the need arose. Avoiding what Otto may do should they fail his task was far more important.

  The hunters murmured quietly amongst each other before Buzur walked a bit closer over as their apparent representative.

  “We need to make a decision.” He said.

  “On what?” Banda asked.

  “We’ve culled a fair bit, now. Maybe half their flock. We could keep going, but it won’t take much longer until the leader realizes what’s happening. It’ll call the rest back and then it’ll be nearly impossible to kill.”

  Buzur took a pause in his words to hear Banda’s thoughts, but the savage returned only silence as he waited to hear the rest.

  “...We could rush the leader at the den before it can gather the rest. But if we take too long, the rest of the remaining packs will come back all at once and we’ll be slaughtered.”

  “How many at the den?” Banda asked.

  “I don’t know…” Buzur admitted. “Likely the leader with two or three packs.”

  “It’s risky.” The old mystic Gestu said. “Perhaps it will be best if we did what we can today and finish tomorrow.”

  “Otto said to finish today.” Eme reminded. By Gestu’s silence, it seemed he knew the implication.

  “Just scout the place out.” Eres spoke up casually, her words directed only at Banda. “Take one of them and see what we’re up against.”

  Banda looked at her. She had been oddly quiet on this hunt. Banda would have thought she was simply bored with it all, were it not for the subtle sharpness in her eyes with which she observed everything around her.

  He considered her words for a moment before looking towards the archer. “You, lead.”

  Igin flinched ever so slightly but quickly accepted his fate. He headed off as swiftly as he could while maintain the necessary vigilance, and Banda effortlessly followed behind.

  Their path was far more direct and efficient with a specific goal in mind, compared to their mostly aimless hunting.

  Igin glanced behind at Banda. He had not told him to suppress his aura or to move as silently as possible, yet the savage had done so without hesitation.

  Despite being so close, Igin couldn’t feel the slightest emanations of his aura and his movements were so quiet he wondered if the feral man was using a trait or an art.

  Even the incomprehensible sense of danger that had saved his life a few times where his truer senses failed seemed of no help.

  A bead of sweat rolled down Igin’s face as he tried to put it to the back of his mind. Part of him felt less distress at facing a den of harpies than the thought of facing the person following behind.

  It didn’t take too long to reach their destination. Banda stopped as Igin did. Ahead of them just barely within sight was a a small plateau on the side of a cliff and a large cave within.

  Six harpies fluttered around with lazy flaps of their wings in a disorganized manner. But a seventh harpy with green feathers hovered with steeled composure in front of the cave.

  “The leader.” Igin said. “It’s a variant. Stronger than the others. Too risky to test, we should head back to the others.”

  Banda eyed the creature for a moment, then slipped away silently to return to Eres. He felt no strong urge to hide from the harpy leader and it did not seem the scheming type to conceal its strength.

  Far more worrying than these harpies, was the idea of leaving Eres alone in the wild too long. Especially surrounded by humans.

  ---

  The journey to regroup and return to the harpy den was a short one. All seven members of the hunting party now stared out at the plateau cave from what little cover they could find on the mountain range.

  Little had changed. Six regular harpies still casually patrolled around while the green-feathered leader hovered in front of the entrance. A formidable sight by the standards of the first floor, but one Banda hardly found intimidating. He could hunt them all on his own.

  “A Denmother.” The old mystic Gestu said quietly. “It favors magic over the body.”

  “What kind of magic?” Eres asked.

  “...they manipulate the winds, usually. For both attack and defense.” Gestu answered.

  “Me and Gestu will take the leader, everyone else kill the others before they call for more.” Kiri spoke, then turned to Igin. “How long until the next shift?”

  “Not long.” The archer answered. “Most are already growing restless.”

  “Harpies do not handle boredom well. A tribe must shift between those who hunt and those who stand guard often.” Buzur explained to Banda and Eres for their benefit. “We need to wait for the next shift, otherwise that patrol could return while we are fighting, and call the whole flock.”

  Banda raised his hand suddenly and silently, a signal for the others to be silent too. Buzur and Igin paused for a moment, then followed his gaze to see the distant silhouettes of a pack of harpies drawing closer.

  The hunters held still and waited in silence. Soon the pack of three harpies arrived back at the den, followed by a pack of four from another direction. Vigor and enthusiasm seemed to find the ones that currently loitered around their dwellings, and they quickly formed into two packs among themselves and flew out into the range.

  Banda waited until new patrols left the range of sight and sound, then lunged with a signal to the rest. He whipped two stones before the harpies could fully turn, which shattered two of their skulls.

  A third inhaled deep, but Banda clawed out its throat before it could wail. One arrow soared through the air behind him and split into several. The small cluster peppered the remaining harpies enough to stunt their decisions.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  Banda coiled into a stance. The bow-wielding human had finally acted. A slow response and an unimpressive one, as Banda expected, but the arrows accomplished what was needed. The harpies were distracted, enough for a reckless lunge to reap the lives of the remaining guards.

  Banda turned his gaze to the side. The old human rose a wall of stone from the ground that just barely withstood the destructive bolt of wind the Harpy Denmother spat. Kiri bounded out from the cover towards the green-feathered leader with two thin swords drawn.

  As the creature gathered its wind again, Kiri’s form started to flicker and overlap. The denmother spat out a second Wind Bolt, and the swordsman darted one step to the side with great.

  In a range the harpy spat several more bolts in quick succession, but with great effort Kiri sidestepped them all and drew close. The denmother took to the sky like the wind to escape his gleaning sword, and a stone followed.

  A burst of wind exploded from the harpy’s body to form a barrier against the bone-breaking stone Banda three. And an arrow followed after. Derision took its expression as the harpy unleashed another burst of wind, but the arrow transformed into a weighted net.

  Surging wind passed straight through the gaps of the net and wrapped around the harpy. With the use of its wings bound, it plummeted to the ground. A quick burst of wind fended off another of Banda’s opportunistic rocks, and the creature hit the hard slope of the cliff.

  Finally sense seemed to reach its thoughts. The harpy ripped out of the net with its large talons, but freedom had come too late. Blood splashes as an earth spike pierced through its back from the cliff it laid on.

  Wretched wails of pain and fear of death lasted only a moment. Kiri arrived before the creature with bitter resentment and severed its head in a single slash. The harpy’s head tumbled down the cliff to the ground just outside the cave, and Kiri sneered.

  “Ha!” The swordsman kicked the hateful creature before he started to dig out the gem on its chest, and only Banda sensed what came next.

  Another harpy appeared right besides Kiri in an instant, this one larger with red-tipped white feathers and blank eyes. It released an otherly wail, and Kiri fell dead.

  “Matriarch!” Buzur yelled in fear as he tried to reach Gestu.

  But the Harpy Matriarch reached them first, and its Soul Scream felled the two of them as well. Its eerily blank gaze shifted over to the two women, and Banda’s intensity sharpened to the extreme. He whipped a stone with wind-searing speed, and the harpy appeared right beside him.

  Dense mana emanations reverbed down on him heavily as he felt the quality of the harpy’s presence clearly now. A presence that surpasses Rank 1.

  Banda hurled a stone, and the harpy screamed. Its wail lasted only a brief moment before the stone forced it away, but that was long enough for it to strike deep into Banda’s core.

  He felt his soul grate and strain and creak to its limits, just as when Otto displayed the threat of the Soul Seed. It was dangerous. Far too dangerous. Banda armored himself in monstrous form, and slammed his fists on the ground.

  The cratering blow sent a shockwave that blocked the harpy’s path, much like the Denmother’s wall of wind before. Banda struck the same blow again and again to create a constant barrage of defensive booms.

  Unable to draw near enough, the harpy hovered back on the outskirts of the shockwaves, and Igin made a move. The archer picked up his sole fellow survivor in Eme and sprinted away. As he fled, Eme channelled her aura to weave vines and blades of grass around Eres’ legs.

  Eres’ expression tightened in anger. They meant to use her as bait to enable their escape. She summoned her Avatar in preparation for a fight, but the harpy appeared before the fleeing hunters and sundered their souls.

  The Avatar’s spear deftly cut through the vines as Banda rushed to Eres’ side. And the harpy matriarch turned its focus on them.

  “Soul attack.” Banda reported, just before the harpy made its move.

  A rushing charge led to another soul scream, but the Avatar’s shield blocked this one clean, as though the attack were physical. The golden spear’s thrust followed like lightning, but the harpy dodged, its speed equal to the Avatar’s.

  Swirling wind brought it behind the duo in a blur and it tried another wail. But this one too was blocked by the shield, and a second thrust of the spear met the same success as before.

  Banda took measure of their fight. The harpy was too much for the Avatar alone, but his stones were useless and it was too risky for him to leave the protection of its shield. Banda thought fast. If Gugal was another soul, then he would wear it like a scaled hide against the white-feathered harpy.

  With great horns and monstrous form, Banda thundered towards the harpy to the creature’s shock. The harpy wailed at its defenseless prey, but its Soul Scream was useless against the might of the bull.

  The harpy matriarch had not doubted its ability for moment. And that confidence now resulted in savage hands too close to evade. Surging wind helped it avoid the worst, but Banda’s mauling hand struck hard and dealt heavy damage.

  Mindlessly rampaging eyes focused on the weakened prey, but the form suddenly dispersed from him along with all its power. Banda lingered in stunned confusion among the waning traces of divinity, and the harpy wailed.

  Searing pain carved through his soul as small fractures cracked over. Banda’s instincts flared, but Eres arrived in time to block a second wail.

  Banda fell to his knees as pain wracked his spirit. His soul had taken too much damage. Another direct hit like that would be fatal.

  The harpy looked down at them taking cover behind the Avatar, and let out a piercing screech. A call soon responded to by a chorus of singing screeches from all around.

  “Can you still fight?!” Eres asked.

  He grit his teeth and looked up through the pain. They were at a standstill before. With reinforcements, the two of them were now at a dangerous disadvantage.

  It did not take long with the harpies to return to the den, and they attacked without hesitation. Eres’ Avatar cleaved through two diving harpies before they even knew what happened, as Banda shattered another’s skull with a stone.

  But the matriarch blurred to the side and wailed. Eres managed to shield it again, but the matriarch darted back and waited for more harpies to strike first.

  “Sly creature…” Eres cursed. It was trying to kill them in the openings created at the sacrifice of its underlings’ lives. And there was a threat it could work.

  Banda raced through his mind again, under the pain of his damaged soul. “Kill the leader when I make an opening. The others don’t matter.”

  Eres glanced over at his words, but did not ask any questions. Instead, she steeled her gaze and readied herself.

  Banda focused. He drowned out all distractions and heightened his instincts to their limit. As Eres dealt with the relentless harpy attacks, the harpy matriarch appeared again at the perfect opening. But Banda acted first.

  He whipped a rock at it with timing too perfect for the matriarch to handle, and broke one of its white wings. Uneven thrashes clipped it against the ground as the matriarch desperately tried to return to the sky, but Eres’s Avatar had already charged.

  Its golden spear pierced clean through the harpy’s chest. Flaming cloth bound the creature in place as the spearhead ignited into a blaze to burn the monster from within.

  At the same time, Banda pushed his Feral Form to wipe out the remaining harpies before their talons could reach Eres. And the mountain became calm amongst the carnage.

  “How bad is it?” Eres asked, as Banda flinched from the pain.

  “I can heal it…” He spoke through gritted teeth.

  Eres’ posture relaxed at his bravado. “Well… this wasn’t that bad, all things considered. Though you lose marks for falling for that obvious act from that healer. I told you to expect betrayal. Honestly, it does bother me that you’re the gullible type that gets tricked by any pretty face.”

  “I did not trust her.” Banda frowned. He resented the claim. And more importantly, he was far more concern with how little time his trance had lasted.

  Banda opened his mouth wide and consumed the souls of the fallen harpies. But he did not stop there. This time, the souls of the fallen humans were not spared either.

  The light of his eyes returned with a bitter expression. Human souls tasted vile, so he ignored them before. But every moment of his trace was precious power. He could not avoid to waste any hunt when his life was at stake.

  Eres’ eyes went wide at the sight. Not out of fear or disgust, but concern. “Do not do that anymore.”

  Banda glanced at her. A unusual seriousness drenched her expression. “I need power-”

  “Consuming enlightened souls is a path to the Abyss.” Eres proclaimed with all gravity. “It will taint your soul, and eventually drag you down. Promise me you will not do it anymore.”

  Banda paused for a few moments, as he felt the severity in Eres’ genuine request. “...fine.”

  Eres held for a moment more as well, then exhaled her tension away. “Alright… No point staying on this mountain any longer than we have to. Let’s harvest these cores and head back to the town.”

  Banda got started without objection, more than approving of avoiding more danger than was necessary. This fight had been dangerous. More dangerous than he expected. It was another reminder that he was not what he once was. Another reminder of the urgent and ever present need to gain power.

  ---

  Within the comfort of the north manor steps, Otto watched the two novice monks carving out harpy gemstones through the hazy mirror made of magic that Shamura had created for him.

  He had seen it all. Banda’s horned form and Eres’ Avatar.

  The mirror started to flicker, and then it dispersed. Shamura slumped unconscious as her ability came to an end, and Otto smiled. These two newcomers that had fallen into his hands were his chariot to Eden.