“How long?” Eliza asked.

  “Not long. I hear it.” Fleur replied.

  Fer dashed through the fortress as another wall colpsed. Five openings now. She turned a er to see one of her minotaurs holding a squealing man in the air. One crad the man’s limbs fell lose, the life drained from his eyes. She ran further.

  In this room, four cultivators were duelling with a dozen of her beastmen. Cw bounced against sword. Horn parried bde. Three beastmeo the ground to a cheer. Fer jumped to the wall, k and pushed herself off it. Four men against a God. She tore through them like a bear. A sword desperately flew into the air to protect its owner, her teeth ed around it, pushed it bad crushed steel and bone alike.

  Another room. Too-te. A dead minotaur surrounded by three human corpses, his body pockmarked with a hundred cuts. Fer’s ears moved, she stopped, she air and rushed into the wall. A grandmaster. Fifty swords spinning around him like a carapace of steel. They danced and cut flesh and flesh. He turo the Goddess, his eyes wide in surprise, his mouth a fident sneer.

  Fer rolled to the side as the swave chase. Fire burst from the man’s arms. It rushed after her like a snake. Fer was faster, she picked up a table leg, threw it at the man. He raised his hands to protect against the shards of wood as his bdes sliced them up. When he lowered them, the only thing he saw were Fer’s red eyes screaming for her bloodlust to be sated.

  Fer shrugged the cuts off her body. She was beginning tee slower now. She bit into the man’s flesh a some of his strength enter her, a meagre amount, not useful for healing, but useful to keep away fatigue.

  Iliyal is gone?

  Yes. He disappeared with two hundred men. Training he says.

  Lyca smelled blood. He didn’t know how it was blood, it smelled nothing like blood. It smelled sickly sweet, he could feel it on his tongue. A burning so terrible it was like the first time he had ever tasted vodka. He couldn’t help smiling. He wanted more. The four held hands, took a step and travelled a mile in the span of a breath to the top of a nearby hill.

  “Oh.” Fleur said.

  “Oh indeed.” Edmonton added. He dropped his backpa the ground and fiddled with the heartst on his finger. Lyca fashioned a neckce, Eliza a staff, Fleur a wand from Anassa’s gift. Before them y a forest. The remains of it. The ground was bed with fire. Several huge spires of ice grew in odd points, animals amen frozen in them. A crack ran across the valley floor, traagic still left in it. The river flowing ainted bck, bodies floated along it, humans and animals all.

  Then they saw the fortress. A huge burning boar’s head was carved into the mountain above it. The fortress was a rampaging monster in itself. Men flew around it, shooting beams, cutting vines with sword and spear and give. Some disappeared into the building, others flew out, panting and injured aaken to a spot on the ground covered by guards. “We’re going into that?” Eliza asked.

  The fort rumbled, roared and a vine screamed through the air. Three men were grabbed and disappeared to bee part of the wall. It roared again, this time the vine was frozen. A single spear cracked it into a thousand shard. “THAT?” Eliza shouted this time.

  “We’ve made it this far haven’t we?”

  “What’s the pn?” Fleur asked. Edmonton poio the mountain to either side.

  “We know we do a mile jump easily.” He spoke. “My estimate is three miles, three jumps? Make it four.”

  “Add recovery time.” Fleur said coldly.

  “Ten minutes if we push.”

  “The st two should be quick succession.” Lyca spoke up. “Onto the roof and then inside, we don’t…” His voice was cut off when a man iiful flowing yellow robes flew towards them. “Oh shit.” He stood on a thick bde as if it was a bde, two more swords hovered by his side. His narrow eyes squi them, he crossed his arms ailted his head and said something utterly inprehensible.

  “I suppose no one here know Guguoan?” Lyca said.

  “It wasn’t on my priority list, if I’m ho.” Edmonton replied. The man shouted at them and pointed behind. They turned around, there was nothing there.

  “I thielling us to go away.” Eliza said quietly.

  “I think he is too.” Edmonton said. Fleur lifted her wand towards the man and he barked something else at them. In the moment, his chest exploded and he colpsed to the ground. The bdes fell o him. Lyca looked at Fleur utterly impressed.

  “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?” Eliza screamed.

  “I wao see if I could.” Fleur replied.

  “And?” Edmonton asked. “How was it?”

  “Easy.” Fleur said softly.

  We’ve taken casualties but the outer walls are pletely breached. The pnt monsters have been burned away. The moat has also been sed.

  Good. The Pantheon God wants to go in.

  Should we allow him? It’s our hunt.

  Better him than us. Send him.

  Fer grabbed a man, lifted him above her head and tore him apart. His blue robes came apart as easily his bones cracked and muscles tore. She licked her lips and tasted the blood flowing down her. A man screamed as his will snapped, he broke and fled. A dark fur stepped forwards, hands pointed forwards and the man colpsed to the ground as his life left his body. “ALL DARKFURS!” Fer roared. “INTO THE CAVERNS! ALL WOUAKE THEM AWAY DEEPER! HOLD THE THRONE ROOM!”

  The throne-room was in the tre of the fortress. Dwarves always built them like that, it was a beati, every passageway an artery. Losing trol of that meant the herd would be separated into packs. Lone packs were easy to hunt.

  Fer’s ears quivered again as she spun on the spot and grabbed a sword bde and crushed it in her palm. The bleeding stopped quickly, but the cut didn’t bother to heal anymore. Fer licked her own blood. That tasted good. A man stood in the doorway. Grey robes, two belts: grandmaster. He chuckled, raised his hands and the bdes around him turo ice.

  A minotaur rushed him. Five steps he made it. Two swords pierced his skull, ten more his chest. He colpsed, his blood frozen and shattered inte fragments. Fer took a step and reached for her chest. The armour was starting to grow heavy. She looked up and saw a hundred bde tips aimed at her.

  They rushed forwards and her gaze was obscured by bck fur. It immediately pierced by steel, one bde even made to touch her cheek. It was so cold she took a step bad almost fell over. The darkfur in front of her colpsed to knees, his body shattering as the flying bdes retreated to their master. The man chuckled to himself as Fer tried to catother breath.

  She hated that her eyes grew rge in terror. She hated that she fell backwards and tried to scamper away. She hated that final instinct every animal knew: fear. She turo the man, he swung his sword through the air, took a step forward, cpped his hands. Fer embraced death.

  Death never came.

  For her at least, the man’s eyes bulged, he looked at his chest. Patted the growing bloodstain on his robes and fell onto his chest. The bdes fell with him. A man was stood behind him. A young man, tall for a human, bck haired. With sharp blue eyes and a cold face, he had a ring with beatistone on his finger and heavy clothes for trekking. He looked to Fer, calcuted something and then turned behind him. “Guys! I found her!”

  “Who?” Fer said quietly as picked herself up. She unstrapped the dwarf-bronze breastpte, it was chipped a in odd pces, but it had saved her life at least a huimes today. It was too heavy for her now. “Who are you?”

  “Edmonton Weaver.” He said. “Are you Fer?” Fer took another heavy breath and nodded. Respectability be damned, she did not care if saw her this point.

  “I am.”

  “Anassa sent us.” Edmonton said and bowed. Fer’s ears plucked up and she felt a tear in her eye. Sister sent them? Sister sent them! Anassa had heard! They made it!

  “She said four?” Fer asked.

  “We’re all she’s got.” A girl appeared. Tall and thin, with pale hair and modest in every respect, but her eyes were worse than a snake’s, so sharp. Her words rung true. Fer felt her heart beat even faster. Sister sent everything she had! She held a wand, tipped off with heartstone.

  “Thank you.” Fer said as she poio the floor. “Down here, hole.”

  “Let m-“ Her words were interrupted by anirl.

  “LYCA DISSAPEARED!” She screamed. Short, brown hair, brown eyes, like a bear. She raced into the room.

  “He’ll be fine.” Edmonton said. “You saw him, didn’t you?”

  “But he’ll!”

  “HE’LL BE FINE ELIZA!” Edmonton roared. “WE’LL FIND HIM ONCE WE’RE OUT OF DANGER!” The girl, Eliza, took a step bad nodded. Fer smiled, the young love flowing out of that little bear was cute. “Look, we’ve found her!” Edmonton poio Fer. The girl looked to Fer, did she really not notice her before? Her eyes grew wide in surprise and she bowed.

  “I’m…”

  “Introdus ter.” Fer growled. “Hole, here. Down.” The taller girl took a step forward, whisked her wand through the air and part of the floor tumbled into the throne room. It made a perfect circle for them. Fer stood up and jumped down into the throne room.

  There was blood all over the pce, but the attackers had been pushed back. Corpses, both friend and foe y over the rubble, although darkfur and minotaur and satyr and wolfman still prowled around the ns. The three children floated down the hole. Some of the darkfurs looked on curiously at them, the rger beasts merely turheir heads. Only one of the young satyrs pyed a fool. He unched himself at them with the iion to kill.

  Fer jumped, caught him in one arm and flung him into the wall. “NO! OURS!” She sat down oeps leading to the throo take a breath. A wolfman came up to her with a towel. “Logar, how is it going?”

  “The Huntsmaster is inside.”

  Atis felled another beastman with a single spear thrust. This was like the old days.

  Lyca walked into a room where two men in robes, one blue, one yellow, were duelling with a wolfman. The beastman was barely holding his own. He snarled and tore at the air with his jaw but had to take aep back. This was the third time in the passed ten minutes Lyca had e across humans.

  Lyca leapt forwards, his hands bzing with fmes. One ma alight instantly. He dropped in a scream as the acidic odour of burning flesh filled the room. He turned and writhed on the ground until Lyca crushed his neck with his heel. The other man, he punched. His hand burst through the man’s chest, his fa disbelief and life quickly left those brown eyes. Lyca smelled the blood on his hand again. So sweet…

  He licked his finger. It tasted like ambrosia. It tasted like nothing he had ever tasted before. It rejuvenated him. It powered him. It made him want more. Lyced at the wolf man, the fellow had fallen backwards and was scampering away, his eyes ierror as they looked at Lyca. He quickly rolled over and ran away on all fours, like a dog.

  Lyca didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t about to hurt a member of the pack. He felt the Pack Master two floors below him. Injured. He should go to her.

  Fire trailed behind Lyd he bumped his head on the way out of the room.

  Atis stood in front of the doors behind which Fer y. He could feel her. She was his prey today. A hunt that had been spanning since before the Great War was going to end today. The Guguoans thought they had a Great Hunt? He had the Greatest Hunt.

  Fer looked up as the doors opened. Robed men and flying bdes spilled into the room as her beastmen took up rank. Tiny dull explosions were ing from outside, they were probably pnning to colpse the fort ohe intruders filtered in and formed their own battle line oher side of the great hall. In the middle of them strode a giant.

  Not a giant.

  A God.