The Huntress moved first.
Just as Myles finished crying out his wife’s name, the butt of her pistol smashed into the back of his skull. Her eyes and hands moved simultaneously, grabbing the falling hostage by his hair while observing the movements of the pack above. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as the world around her appeared to slow down. Five of the werewolves above set their sights on her, their muscles tensing as they got onto all fours. Their nostrils flared, their fangs glinted in the waning sunlight, and their growls could be heard across the hill.
She turned her gaze to her companions. Jet was readying his crossbow while shouting a curse of some kind. Sentinel had his staff out, the movement of his mouth revealing his attempt to cast a spell. Finally, Blitz was stepping forward to face the two werewolves who had turned to attack them. Her movements were fluid but the weight of her equipment made her too rigid. She wouldn’t be able to hold off her attacks, and the two men couldn’t assist her in time.
The Huntress estimated that they had five seconds before the werewolves were upon them.
Plenty of time to even the odds.
She took her pistol and sighted down the werewolf on Blitz’s right, the direction the girl wasn’t facing. She pulled the trigger and holstered the gun.
Four seconds.
She grabbed the waist of the target's trousers with her free hand and yanked him backward. The werewolf she shot flew back, blood flying from the wound in her head, while the five focused on her started rushing down the incline towards her.
Three seconds.
She waited until they were five feet away before making her move. With as much strength as she could muster she tossed the man towards her fellows. She watched the armored body fly towards Sentinel, his eyes slowly registering the projectile human heading straight for him.
Two seconds.
Her assailants were almost upon her, but the sight of their male flying past them made them pause. The Huntress grabbed the handle of the Rakuyo with both hands. With a twist the weapon came apart in her hands, splitting into a long sword and dagger. She bent her knees, took her stance with both weapons and aimed at the closest werewolf.
One second.
The Huntress leaped forward, dust following her arc as she descended upon the closest werewolf. Her opponent’s ears flicked towards her as she raised her weapons upon her head. The werewolf hopped backward just before the Huntress landed, grinning until the Huntress’ sword cleaved through her shoulder.
A spray of blood accompanied the werewolf’s scream as the Huntress quickly withdrew her blade from the monster’s flesh. She crouched and turned on her heal while stabbing out with her weapons. She felt resistance give as her blades pierced through the two werewolves on her left and right. The Mamono coughed up blood as the Huntress started pulling her sword from their stomachs. Four furred claws quickly grasped her arms, holding her in place as the remaining two werewolves charged her from the front. They pounced at the same time, their faces barely constraining the glee they felt at being able to avenge their fallen family.
The Huntress felt something heavy fall against her back as she tried to stand. Warm liquid fell down the back of her cloak proving her suspicions of the Mamono behind her surviving her strike. The Huntress cursed as the shadows of the two unharmed werewolves fell over her. She had thought the wound she inflicted on her first target was deep enough to put her out of the fight long enough to deal with the others. But...
A chill went down her spine as the scenery changed. Her vision became blurry as the lost its luscious green, replaced with a dark, sickly gray. The orange hue of the sun’s light was replaced by a soothing, white that bathes everything around her.
She looked up and felt her eyes go wide. Her original opponents were gone, replaced with the creatures that she had fought against for a night that she thought would never end.
Beasts.
They were still werewolves, but their human shapes had been replaced with long, crooked, black fur-covered bodies. Their round faces had turned into elongated muzzles filled with rows of sharp teeth. White, bloody bandages fell around them in clumps, their claws now as large as a human’s body.
The Huntress felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. No, why were they here? They shouldn’t be here. They couldn’t be here! She left Yharnam! Her Nightmare is over! The Beasts...they can’t....they can’t be...
The two pouncing werewolves landed. Their muzzles clamped down on her shoulders.
The Huntress felt something inside her snap.
Then she roared.
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“Come on Blitz! We need to go!” Jet stumbled a bit as he ran down the hill, the torso of their target held in his arms. The edge of the forest was coming up in front of him. Only a few more feet and they’d be in the clear. He looked back towards Sentinel, the old man carrying the target by his legs. His forehead was covered in sweat but his eyes never left their approaching destination. He saw Jet looking at him and nodded.
Jet returned it, and turned his gaze to the top of the hill, “Blitz!”
Blitz flinched as she barely blocked another attack from the werewolf, “Shut and go! I’ll catch, fuck!” She felt her feet leave the ground as the foe hit her shield, hard. Her teeth grit as she regained her footing and swung her lance in a horizontal sweep. The werewolf ducked under the first pass, only to gasp as the steel weapon came to a stop right above her. She barely dodged to the side as Blitz slammed her weapon down.
Blitz cursed as she repositioned to keep her opponent in her sight. She needed to keep the monster at bay until Jet and Sen had cleared the treeline. Only then will she try to make a break for it. Any earlier would leave all three of them open to being run down when the rest of the pack was done with Hunt. Blitz felt bad about leaving her, but what’s done was done. That rookie knew the risk and accepted them. If they tried to rescue her, they’d be overrun and the entire operation would’ve been for naught.
Blitz shook her head while blocking a kick from her left. At least they’d be able to-
A blood-curdling roar split the air.
Blitz felt the blood in her veins run cold. She felt the raw emotion behind the cry chill her to the bone. Her legs started to shake involuntarily, as her eyes darted from one end of the hill to the other in search of its source. It took her a moment to realize her opponent had ceased her assault. The werewolf’s wide, blue eyes were glued to the crest of the hill, her body rigid not in preparedness, but fear.
Blitz followed that gaze up to the top of the hill.
She almost retched at what she saw.
Hunt stood there looking down upon them like a specter of death. She slowly moved her gaze from Blitz to the werewolf, her body and weapons coated in blood. How much of it was Hunt’s, Blitz didn’t know. Her mind was too busy trying to comprehend how a lone human managed to fight off five werewolves without being turned. Unless...
Blitz swallowed hard before cautiously saying, “Hunt? You ok?”
The look she shot Blitz made her flinch and step back. Hunt stared at her for a few moments, before turning to the remaining werewolf. The monster began to step back, her tail between her legs at the sight of the black-clothed woman.
The werewolf made it three steps before Hunt was upon her.
Blitz felt whiplash as she jerked her head to follow the blur that was Hunt. Hunt had managed to move fast enough to get behind the werewolf to block her escape, then kick her in the back. The monster fell to the ground with a whimper. She tried to get up but Hunt stepped on her back, hard. Blitz could hear bones breaking and knew the monster wouldn’t survive. She wheezed and coughed, blood running down her mouth.
Blitz took a step forward, “Ok, Hunt. That’s enough. She won’t follow us now.”
Hunt didn’t listen. She lifted her dual blades and held them over her captive’s arms with their tips pointed downwards.
“Hunt? What are you doing?”
She brought her weapons down, stabbing through the werewolf’s flesh with a single motion. Hunt’s boot came down on the wolf girl’s neck to cut off her scream, but not hard enough to finish her off.
“Hunt!” Blitz stepped forward, her hands shaking in fear, “That’s enough!”
The blood covered woman ignored the almost pleading cries of her comrade. Her hands twisted her blades, widening the wounds in the werewolf’s arms.
Blitz moved until she was right next to Hunt. She stabbed her lance into the ground and placed the freehand on Hunt’s shoulder, “Hunt. It’s over. This is just cruel. Let’s just-“
If Blitz hadn’t kept her shield up, she would’ve lost an arm.
Her feet left the ground as she was sent flying backward. She hit the grass hard, her clothes getting scuffed up and torn. She tried to stand up but failed when she tried to put weight on her left arm. The limb was numb, forcing her to use her right arm. She tried to stand up on shaky legs, barely getting to her knees.
She felt her pulse quicken and her mind began to race as her head shot up to look at Hunt.
For a split-second, she thought she was looking at a monster.
But not the kind that she was used to. Not one that would hold her down and rape her until her mind broke. Not one who’s only objective was to find a husband to be with.
This monster had only one purpose in life:
Kill everything and everyone that stepped into its sight.
Her heart skipped a beat.
She thought that she was going to die.
Then Hunt spoke to her in a small, childlike, frightened voice, “Blitz?”
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“Blitz?” the Huntress increased her pace as she spoke to Blitz’s back, “Please let me explain.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The girl’s silence was like a knife stabbing into the Huntress’ heart. Blitz increased her pace, her steps crunching fallen leaves underfoot in the darkness of the forest. The sun had finally set and the two of them were walking to the rendezvous point they had set up in case anything went wrong.
The Huntress bit her lip as what happened on the hill came back to her. Being held down and surrounded brought back memories of Yharnam and...her mind made them real. Made her think she was in real danger and would feel the pain of dying again. The bloodlust she had worked so hard to keep at bay took control. She became a Beast in all but appearance. The blood that clung to her clothes was proof of that fact. This was distressing, but it wasn’t something new to the Huntress. It had happened before despite her best efforts.
However, unlike before when it happened while she was alone, this time she hurt someone else while in her blood filled fugue. Worse, it was one of her new companions.
“Blitz, please. Give me a chance to explain,” the Huntress increased her pace until she could touch Blitz on the shoulder. She reached out only to jerk her hand back as her instincts warned her of danger.
“I thought you’d see that coming,” Blitz’s voice was the same as when the Huntress first met her, cold and pragmatic. But beneath it, the Huntress could sense a hint of fear, “Par for the course for you, right?”
Blitz turned around and pointed her lance at the Huntress’ chest.
A moment of silence passed between them.
Then the Huntress sighed, “Alright, what do you wish to know?” She had seen this coming. Blitz had questions and wanted answers. She just thought this would wait until they got back to Jet and Sentinel.
Oh well.
The sooner this was over with the better.
“Let’s start with that blood. How much of it is yours?”
“Very little,” the Huntress rubbed her shoulder, “two of the werewolves bit my shoulders. Why do you ask?”
“I’m asking the questions here,” Blitz became warier with the Huntress’ answer, “now strip.”
“Pardon?”
“You heard me. I need to see your arms and legs.”
“Why would....oh,” the Huntress nodded while grasping a sleeve, “Is that how they transform humans? That is good to know.” The Huntress pulled up her sleeves then her trouser legs, and took her black gloves off, revealing the supple white skin underneath. Blitz looked her body up and down, before nodding her head. The Huntress smiled while putting her gloves back on, “Anything else?”
“Yeah, what in God’s name are you?” Blitz slid her legs, “The things you’ve told us and the things you did back there don’t add up.”
“What do you mean?” The Huntress asked more to keep the conversation moving than out of genuine curiosity. She knew exactly what Blitz meant.
Blitz started to pace to the left, circling the Huntress as she spoke, “You knew nothing about monsters, the Order, Mana, or the war before yesterday, and don’t have a single hint of Mana in you. Yet you managed to bring down five werewolves, on your own, without breaking a sweat, and come out of it injured but not turning into one of them! Normally, I’d chalk that up to you being a Hero and not telling us so you could turn us into the Order.”
The Huntress narrowed her eyes. Sentinel had explained what Heroes were to her. They were similar to Hunters. Individuals that, by choice or chance, became extremely powerful and are sent to defend people from the things that go bump in the night. However, where the Hunters were hated and feared, Heroes are celebrated and loved. The Huntress could only imagine what that felt like.
“And what makes you believe otherwise?” the Huntress did her best to appear as nonchalant as possible, her eyes following the smaller girl as she circled to her left.
Blitz's face turned into a disgusted sneer as she spoke, “You killed the monsters.”
“Yes. And?” the Huntress questioned.
“That! Right there!” Blitz jabbed her lance forward but did not go far enough to hit the Huntress, “Heroes don’t act like that! You killed an entire pack of werewolves and don’t feel even a tinge of remorse. Heroes never kill anyone, because they’re supposed to be pure, good, and kind. They defend the weak and fight with Honor!
Blitz stopped moving when she was in front of the Huntress again. She spoke the next sentence with as much bile as she could muster, “You are no Hero. And anyone who treats other lives the way you do isn’t someone I can trust. I’ll let you stay until we get the job done, but after that, you’re out. Got it?”
The Huntress did not respond. She simply stood there, her face covered by the shadow of her tricorn hat. She shook her head before looking down at Blitz, “I understand your concern. I will take what you have said under consideration. Now, might I ask some questions of my own?” At Blitz's nod, she continued, “The man we rescued, Myles I believe he said his name was. He’s a Hero, correct?”
Blitz nodded again, her eyes narrowing in surprise, “He is. How’d you know?”
“His fighting style. It was clear he had some training in the use of a spear, and he started to ‘glow’, for lack of a better word, at one point. I believe that was him using Mana. I also suspect the stripped werewolf I killed was also a Hero at one point.”
“Ok, that’s a stretch,” Blitz folded her arms while rolling her eyes at the Huntress.
The Huntress continued unperturbed, “She managed to hide her presence well enough to sneak up on me until I realized she was gone. On top of this, Myles knew her name and was visibly shaken when she died. More so than when I killed the three werewolves before her.”
“Where are you going with this?”
“If we are to use those two as an example of Heroes, and everything you just said about them was true, then the humans are in even more dire straits than I thought.”
“What?” Blitz’s head tilted incredulously, “What does any of that have to do with this?”
The Huntress took a step forward, “Tell me, have you made any significant gains in this war? Have you heard stories of Heroes going out and taking ground now occupied by the monsters?
Blitz suddenly went quiet. Her lance began to shake in her hand, and the Huntress took full advantage, “Have you seen any Order excursions that return with news of the monsters’ defeat? Do you see a multitude of places being repopulated by the ailing human population?
“Or,” the Huntress took two steps forward, the tip of the lance now almost touching her nose, “do you constantly hear the opposite? Tales of Heroes falling to the embrace of the monsters? Great role models being brought low as the monsters overtake yet another village? Stories of young men and women being taken in the night and everyone just goes about their day as if it’s a normal occurrence?”
By this point, the Huntress had completely bypassed the lance and stood right in front of Blitz. The smaller girl’s body was visibly shaking as multiple emotions warred inside of her. The girl looked up at the Huntress, frustration, and anger blaring in her eyes, “And what do you know, huh? You didn’t know there was a war until yesterday!”
“True,” The Huntress stepped to Blitz’s left side and placed a hand on her shoulder, “I do not know the exact circumstances of your situation. Nor do I understand the nuances and movements of your leaders. However, I do know war. Or at least, something very similar. And if there is one thing I know about war it is this.”
The Huntress stepped past Blitz with an ominous warning, “In war, you either kill your enemy or you are killed in return. There is no middle ground. If your leaders and Heroes do not soon realize this, then the monsters have already won.”
She walked away, leaving Blitz standing there with her lance pointed at the air. The Huntress stopped for a few moments and waited. When she heard footsteps behind her she continued towards the rendezvous point.
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“What did you say to Blitz?”
The Huntress looked up from the wooden figure in her hand. Sentinel stood next to her as she leaned against a tree trunk. They had turned a clearing into their temporary campsite. The plan was to wait until morning to move on to the village. Their client would be in town tomorrow to complete the transaction. There were worries over how the gold would be shared until the Huntress agreed to take merely ten percent of the earnings. She surprised Jet with that decision, but he did not attempt to dissuade her from it.
Sentinel crossed his arms as the Huntress stared at him. She didn’t hear any anger in his previous statement, meaning he was asking more out of genuine curiosity than malice. Which was good, because it meant he was willing to listen.
She spoke to the large man in a matter of fact voice, “That humanity is on the brink of destruction, and how their supposed protectors will fail them because they will not kill their enemy.”
Sentinel was silent for a few moments. The sound of groaning brought their gaze to the Huntress’ feet. There is a pile of dead leaves lays their target, Myles Deltora. He only had his cloth jerkin and trousers now, his armor and weapon divested and hidden away from him. Though the Huntress wondered if there was a need to do that. Myles had been completely quiet since they rescued him. He made no attempts to escape, shouted no protest, and had no reaction to the fact that the one who killed his “family” was standing right next to him. The Huntress had seen this before, and it made her skeptical that their client would be happy with their job.
There was a thump, and the Huntress turned her attention back to Sentinel. The old man was sitting on the ground, his legs crossed, while his tired eyes gazed at the Huntress, “Yeah, I thought so. The war is a...touchy subject with her. She’s always idolized Heroes. Ever since she was a little girl, she'd thought they were the incorruptible bastions that the monsters would break upon. It’s what made her start training. She wanted to be strong enough to defend the innocent. I remember the spark in she had in her eyes then.Even now she tries to be like them. I just hope it doesn't get her captured and turned one day.”
The Huntress nodded, understanding dawning on her. The way Sentinel said "always" got her attention, “You knew her before she became a bounty hunter then?” Though this was likely a personal question, Sentinel speaking to her like this made her feel slightly giddy. He was comfortable enough with her to talk about his past and relationships with his two friends. It made her feel trusted again for the first time in a long time. And she wouldn’t betray that trust. Not again. Not ever again.
The old man nodded, “Aye. I knew both them since they were kids. Jet and Blitz. A poor orphan off the side of the streets with nothing to his name, and a bright-eyed town girl searching for a dream. I remember kicking their asses into shape as if it were yesterday.”
“And what are they to each other?” The moment the Huntress asked a loud, feminine moan came from the other side of their campsite. Myles shifted a bit at the sound then went still again.
Sentinel smiled knowingly, “That answer your question?”
“Indeed,” the Huntress nodded before shaking her head, “I feel a strange sense of deja vu. Blitz and I get into an argument, I anger her, Jet comforts her, while you try to give me an explanation.”
“Strange how things work out, huh?” the old man looks up at the night sky wistfully.
There was silence between the two of them for a moment until the Huntress asked, “What do you think, Sentinel?”
“Just Sen will do,” the Huntress resisted the urge to pump her fist at being allowed to use his nickname, “and about what?”
“This war. Do you think humans have a chance?”
He was silent for a long time, a deeper and deeper frown etching into his face every passing second. Finally, he replied, “No. Not really. They don’t look like it, but the Order’s on the back foot. The monsters keep kidnapping folks and turning them, more of them are born every day, and them seizing Lescatie was one of their biggest moves yet. If God doesn’t get up and do something soon...then I don’t know if the humans she's trying to protect will still be here.”
“I see,” was all the Huntress could say. A few minutes of contemplative silence went by as they digested what Sen had said. The Huntress had already come to these conclusions, but hearing it from a veteran like Sen turned mere guesswork into a logical deduction. She was starting to understand the bigger picture behind this war. But there were still some pieces missing, and she wasn’t sure how to collect them.
Sen stood up from with a grunt holding his hand out to the Huntress, “Ok then, let me see your hand.”
“Why?” the Huntress asked as she put the statue into a chest pocket.
“Blitz said you got bit,” Sen’s face was soft but serious, “I’m gonna check to see if you’re fine. I know you told her you were, but people tend not to realize when the transformation has begun until it’s too late. You may not have any Mana, but no one’s managed to resist being turned once they get some Spirit Energy from a monster in ‘em. So, come on. I’m just gonna check.”
"And you will do this, how?"
"A Mana transfer," he pointed to himself then to the Huntress, "I'll send a bit of my Mana into you, and draw any Mana from you into me. If you're still human, then nothing should happen. If you're not...well, we'll deal with that when we come to it."
The Huntress looked at the burly man’s calloused right hand. She shrugged and place her left hand into his, “If it’ll set your mind at ease then alright.”
Sen smiled before closing his eyes. The two of them stood there with their hand clasped for five minutes with nothing unusual happening.
Then he cried out in immense pain.
The Huntress panicked, quickly letting her companion’s hand go, “What’s wrong?!”
He doubled over while holding up his right arm up with his left. His eyes were wide with panic and fear as he beheld his now numb arm. He couldn’t move a single finger. His breathing was heavy as he slowly looked at the Huntress with shock in his eyes, “My....my Mana.....you....you took it.”
“What?” the Huntress stood her ground, ‘What do you mean?”
“You took my Mana,” Sen spoke with equal parts awe and distress, “and not like a monster does. You didn’t take it and use it to feed yourself. You...you destroyed it. It’s like any Mana that gets into your body is...obliterated. When I looked inside you I saw...a ravenous, hungry maw that just devoured all the Mana that came to it. Anything it absorbed it destroyed. How is that possible? What...what the fuck are you?!”
The Huntress felt her heart sink.
She stumbled over her words as her brain worked overtime to find an explanation.
She found one.
And it made her slip deeper into despair.
Her expression darkened as she turned her back on Sen. She spoke with a cold, unfeeling voice, “I’m sorry, Sen. I never thought...I never thought that would happen. I’ll leave you to recover.”
“W-wait,” Sentinel reached out towards the Huntress with his left hand, but she was already walking deeper into the forest.
The last thing she said before she was swallowed by the trees was, “Thank you for telling about your past. And tell Blitz, I’m sorry.”
Then she disappeared into the darkness of the night.