Mason and his team charged through the lush undergrowth of the vast forest, sunlight filtering down on them through the dense canopy overhead. The enchanted actuators in his raven-colored suit hissed as they augmented his every move, granting him speed and strength far beyond what he could achieve on his own. This allowed him and his team to keep pace with their elusive target despite their heavy equipment and sizable firearms.
They moved with a silence that betrayed their size—the thump and slight tremors in the earth from each step, the rustle of the vegetation against their suits, and the ominous glow from their red eye visors were the only indicators that gave their presence away.
Mason reviewed the mission brief in his head while navigating through the obstacles in his path. Their target is a wolf-like monster, thrice the size of the average grown man. No known abilities aside from high strength, speed, and resilience. The only outlier was the change in its threat classification. Formerly a Tier 1, it is now evaluated as a potential Tier 2 or 3. The change came after it killed over a dozen people in a town on the outskirts of the city. Among the casualties, five of them were Practitioners, arcanists powerful enough to eliminate any Tier 1 with minimal effort. Or so they thought.
Headquarters dispatched two seven-man Strike teams to hunt it down; each of their members was an elite of the army and formidable in their own right. Coupled with enough firepower to level an entire town, the outcome seemed like a foregone conclusion. However, the monster defied their expectations yet again by leaving a trail of blood and guts in its wake. Because of its proximity to the city, putting it down was top priority. The very reason Mason and his team were called to action.
He ducked under a massive branch and picked up the pace. All this running grated on his nerves. That today marked the third day of their chase didn’t help to ease his irritation, either. The monster could sense them over a distance somehow, always keeping out of sight and range. If it weren’t for the tracker his trusty lieutenant sniped it with, they would have lost track of it before the first day ended.
He shook his head to clear out any unnecessary thoughts. A careless mistake was the last thing he or his team could afford right now.
Their chase continued unabated. It wasn’t until a few kilometers later that Mason realized something was off. They were gaining on it. He cast a spell that granted him an eagle-eye view of their target. Its movements were sluggish even to the untrained eye, and its breathing was haggard. It seems this multi-day pursuit was coming to a close at long last.
“150 meters to target. There’s a small clearing 500 meters up ahead. We’ll finish it there. Reaper 3, Reaper 4, keep it on course.”
Two of his men took to the air with their rear-mounted jetpacks to flank the monster from above. Meanwhile, he and the other two soldiers in his team brought up the rear.
Almost as if it understood their intent, the monster tried to divert their path by swerving to either side, but the Reapers retaliated with an onslaught of plasma blasts to its face and rear end. It roared at them in indignation but didn’t stop to fight them.
Mason frowned at the monster’s action. This all but confirmed one of his suspicions. It could sense them from a distance and their level of power through their suits. It refused to engage any of them in combat despite getting pelted by their detuned weapons on all sides. Any other monster would have thought they couldn’t hurt it and go into a frenzy at this point.
Once they left the dense foliage, the two men flanking the monster waved their hands in its direction. A series of ethereal chains materialized out of thin air and coiled around it, causing its speed to plummet.
Mason skidded to a halt, and they broke off to either side, leaving him a clear line of fire. He locked onto it, and the plasma cannon mounted on his right shoulder moved into position. The monster’s head swiveled to look at him. Panic was now visible in its eyes as it struggled to move.
The cannon’s barrel flared as it hummed to life. A split second later, a luminous purple projectile left its confines, leaving an iridescent trail of light in its wake. The ball of volatile, arcane energy caught up to the monster in the blink of an eye.
It responded by leaping to the side but couldn’t move fast enough to evade it.
A thunderous explosion ripped through the forest. The resulting shockwave rocked the trees and the ground beneath, sending plumes of dust and debris into the air. An agonized roar followed in its wake as the monster slammed into the ground with enough force to draw a furrow in the earth.
Mason signaled his team to fan out in a semicircle as they approached the devastation. They held their retuned guns at the ready, prepared to let loose a barrage of death at the slightest movement. The two men who flanked the monster conjured a barrier around the area to prevent it from escaping.
His scanners picked up no signs of life, but he remained on guard. He learned never to underestimate the cunning of these monstrous adversaries. Far too many of his comrades lost their lives because of complacency, and he would have no more of that. Not on his watch.
The dust settled to reveal the prone monster with a ghastly wound on the right side of its chest.
The servos on his suit’s right shoulder whirled to return the cannon to its locked and upright position. He holstered his rifle and drew a large blade strapped to his back. It glowed with an ominous but mesmerizing blue after he imbued it with his energy. He took measured steps toward the monster under his team’s watchful gaze. Once he was in range, he decapitated it with a single swift stroke—the empowered blade parted its sinewy flesh and robust cervical spine with ease.
One of his men threw his arms up in a huff and exclaimed, “Finally!”
Mason’s brows furrowed at their lack of discipline. “Focus, Jeff! That explosion would have been heard from a mile away. Lest you forget, we aren’t far from that thing’s territory. You aren’t a greenhorn, so stay vigilant,” he berated.
Mason watched as the young man stiffened and turned to focus on the area around them. The lad was in for an earful and a thorough reeducation on proper field behavior once they got back. Mason couldn’t help but associate the lad’s deteriorating discipline with the spoiled brats he keeps hanging out with. He shook his head. He hoped the young man understood what was at stake here.
The Soulstealer.
There is no soldier alive who hasn’t heard about the horrors it wrought in its wake, and none were keen on making its acquaintance. After all, no living being who caught a glimpse of that humanoid atrocity remained intact—neither in mind nor body. Let alone their former Supreme General, who came face to face with it.
The mere thought of its name sent a tingle down Mason’s spine and cold sweat to form on his forehead. His suit’s internal cooling kicked in after detecting his perspiration. He took a deep breath and savored the pleasant chill. Whoever designed and enchanted these suits deserves a much-needed raise, but his appreciation would have to wait. They needed to move fast.
He surveyed the area one last time. Confident that there was no danger in their immediate vicinity, he directed his gaze at the repulsive remains of their target, and the eye visors of his helmet flashed.
He tapped a button behind his helmet’s right jaw. “HQ One, Captain Mason.”
A second passed, and a short beep echoed, signifying a successful connection.
“HQ One. Go ahead, Captain.”
“Target down. Sending visuals now.”
After a moment of silence, the speaker replied, “Target confirmed. Excellent work, Captain. Retrieve a part of it for the lab and dispose of its remains. You will receive the coordinates for your extraction point in ten seconds.”
Mason frowned. “…Understood.”
Right after the call ended, the coordinates appeared on screen. Five kilometers to the South from their current location, he noted.
He kneeled next to the head, ripped one of the large teeth out, and secured it to his waist.
He took a few steps back and withdrew a green canister from the grenade carrier strapped to his belt. He channeled his energy into the pattern engraved on its surface and tossed it on the corpse. “We’re done here. Move out.”
They turned and took off in a sprint to vacate the area. Green gas spewed from the container, engulfing the corpse and dissolving it within a matter of minutes.
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All that remained was an empty field. It would have formed a picturesque scenery of Mother Nature were it not for the scars of battle that marred its landscape.
They sprinted for a few kilometers before Mason signaled them to slow down and resume their march. They put enough of a distance from their previous location, and they needed to conserve their strength for any unexpected dangers. This forest had them in spades.
He checked the time and their location on his wrist display. Four hours to dawn with a little more than a kilometer to their destination. At their current pace, they would make it with time to spare if the creatures that call this place home left them unmolested.
Minutes passed as they marched in silence. Mason glanced at the soldier to his right as they clenched and unclenched their gun’s handguard for the umpteenth time and asked, “What’s on your mind, Lieutenant?”
“…It’s nothing of importance, Captain.”
“That old habit of yours is showing, Mal. I’ve known you long enough to know when something is bothering you. Speak.”
She let out an exasperated sigh and replied, “Something about this mission doesn’t feel right to me, Captain…” She shook her head. “My thoughts are in a mess. Pardon me for a moment, please.”
She stared at the ground in silence. Under normal circumstances, Mason would have chided her for such reckless behavior, but he would overlook it this time. Whatever occupied her thoughts must be important enough for her to act this way. He kept his eyes peeled on their surroundings while they marched and waited for her to get her thoughts in order.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed the oddities, Captain. That monster evaded us for days with no signs of weakness or fatigue, but it just tires out shortly after we lost its signal in that valley? Not to mention, HQ even ordered you to collect a sample of it. I understand that this creature is unique, but they didn’t bother with samples when we wounded the black drake. I dare say a sample from that big lizard would have been far more valuable.”
She took a deep breath and continued, “Maybe I’m just overthinking things due to a lack of sleep. The higher-ups have their reasons, I’m sure. And anything can happen out here after all. That ugly mutt we killed probably ate something its stomach didn’t agree with.”
“Those skunks are up to something, no doubt.” He chuckled. “And that thing getting a stomachache? That’s not what you believe, now is it?”
“Not at all… I hope I am wrong about this, but I suspect it might have been a female. Pregnant with an offspring, perhaps. The bulge in its belly looked noticeably smaller compared to when I shot it with the tracker. It’s also the most viable reason I could think of for its sudden weakness. But don’t take my word for it, Captain. It could have been my imagination.”
Her words gave him a pause.
He hadn’t noticed a bulge in that monster’s belly.
His hunch was that the creature exhausted an ability to persevere for as long as it did. It wasn’t uncommon for most monsters to possess such an ability, but if what Mal noticed and suspected is true...
Anyone unfamiliar with her behavior might have brushed it off and agreed that it was her imagination at play, but not him. They have been working together for years, and she is one of the most astute people he knows. If she noticed an incongruity that no other person has, it is almost a given that it is true.
It would be ideal if they could double back to verify her suspicion, but that would bring them right back to the edge of the Soulstealer’s territory. Even if she had voiced her speculations when they disposed of their target, Mason wouldn’t have wanted to push their luck. If it wasn’t because headquarters were adamant that they have visual confirmation of their success, they wouldn’t have ventured as close as they did. There was no predicting how it would react if it spotted them.
In all likelihood, the Soulstealer noticed them, but the only reason they are still alive is because it wasn’t in the mood to act. Proposing a drone search of the area was an option, but he was confident headquarters would denounce that suggestion in a heartbeat. They had already accomplished their objective. Any further action in the area risked attracting its ire, and it wouldn’t be worth the price they would have to pay.
Mason sighed. This was a headache he didn’t need. He would leave it up to the generals to decide their next course of action after he provided his report. Their problem now, not his. He was looking forward to seeing his two little angels and a nice hot cup of coffee once he got back.
⁂
Its eyes cracked open as it stirred from its slumber. It shook its head to fight off the last of its drowsiness and scrutinized its surroundings with a piercing intensity. There was a lack of illumination, but it could still discern the shapes and objects around its being.
It lay in the embrace of soft soil, surrounded by roots that cascaded down from above, arranged around it like a protective shell. A gentle upward incline led to what seemed like a dead end, where faint rays of light streamed down from above, casting a delicate, ethereal glow on the walls.
As it breathed, a putrid stench assaulted its nostrils, causing it to wrinkle its nose in disgust. However, there was the scent of something intoxicating mixed in with that stench. Its heart rate sped up, and its senses heightened. Whatever that scent was made it ravenous—and it was close. The silence broke as the creature’s stomach rumbled. Hunger gnawed at it from within. It needed sustenance.
The creature swayed as it rose to its feet for the first time. The muscles in its limbs were numb from inactivity, but it fought to stand on its four paws. It needed to move to sate its hunger, and lying down wouldn’t help it achieve that goal.
It stumbled out of its resting spot, one unsteady step at a time. It pushed past the roots that shielded it from the outside world. And there, it noticed them: Two mounds of decaying flesh lay a few meters away, ready for the taking. It knew not what they comprised, only that the scent they emitted made it nauseous and feverish.
It trudged towards them, ignoring the acrid stench, and sank its razor-sharp teeth into its prize. The creature winced. The foul taste and soft, slimy texture made it difficult to consume. It abandoned chewing altogether and gobbled it up, one strenuous mouthful after the other. There were some chunks of bitter, solid material mixed within, which it spat out. In a matter of minutes, both piles were no more.
A surge of power coursed through its body, and its limbs extended by a fraction of its length. Faint images and thoughts flashed through its mind—landscapes, faces, words, and things it didn’t know the name of. It couldn’t quite grasp what those things meant, but they filled it with a sense of wonder.
It looked down at its claws that dug into the soft ground, and a peculiar word wormed its way to the forefront of its thoughts.
Sharp.
The creature flinched right as the word crossed its mind, and a hairless, wolf-like monstrosity appeared before it. Its amber, narrow-slitted eyes seemed to stare right into the recesses of its soul, freezing it in place. The beast bared its razor-sharp fangs. With a menacing snarl, it extended its ghastly claws and lunged at it from the shadows.
Death.
The creature remained frozen in place. The sight of such an entity pouncing at it made the fine hairs on its being stand on end. It shook itself from its stupor when it realized it wasn’t real. It was the memory of prey. The flesh it devoured showed it the memory of the prey’s last moments.
No, not just prey… They called themselves… Human.
There wasn’t just one human, either. It could now discern that there was more than one human’s flesh in those mounds it devoured. There was a subtle difference, but it couldn’t understand what it was. The feeling eluded it.
It scrutinized itself. There were similarities between them. The shape of that monster’s claws and its own, for one. Then, it spotted a half-eaten insectile leg from the corner of its eye, and another vision flitted through its mind.
The monstrous figure appeared before it once again. But this time, the beast towered over it by no small margin. The prey it viewed the world from had eight limbs, and it was much smaller. It attempted to flee from the demon above, but the next thing it knew was darkness. It blinked, and it was back in the dark cave it awoke in.
Its eyes widened in wonder. Yes, cave. That was the word used to describe this dark place. It is a gradual process, but it is learning new things.
The creature paused to organize its thoughts. That monstrosity... it provided it with food. Was it its parent, perhaps? Or a guardian? It didn’t know. Yet, from those fragmented memories, it gleaned a snippet of understanding. It was a predator.
It bore an uncanny resemblance to that monster. Its claws, razor-sharp teeth, quadrupedal physique, and musculature convinced it they were related.
A gentle breeze pulled it out of its trance. It shifted its gaze to the far end of the tunnel, where it had noticed the glimmers of light.
An image flickered across its mind’s eye—a brilliant ball of light suspended in the expanse above, higher than the clouds.
It did not know the word used to describe that glowing orb just yet, but it must be the source of those rays, it thought. It crept closer and inspected the gaps in the low-hanging ceiling before it shuddered. A shiver ran down its spine, and its instincts screamed at it not to move.
It sensed vibrations in the soil beneath its paws. It was faint, but there was no mistaking what it felt.
And then, it heard it.
Thud.
The ground shook, and dirt rained down from the ceiling. Whatever could have caused that must have been enormous.
Thud.
More dirt fell upon it. The tremors from the earth were now strong enough to rattle its bones. Its heart rate spiked as the source of its unease drew closer.
It gritted its teeth and stomped down on its rising panic. It couldn’t stay here. The ceiling was coming down, and it had to move. It sprinted to the spot it awoke from. Back in the safety of the small space shrouded by roots, it dug its claws into the soil, crouched low, and waited with bated breath.
THUD.
The force of the impact threw the creature a foot into the air as its claws were ripped right out of the ground, and it fell onto its side with a thump. Rocks of all sizes rained down from above but not on the creature. The roots shielded it and reinforced the ground above to prevent a complete cave-in.
Half the cavern collapsed, sending plumes of dust into the air. The sun’s rays flooded in through the new opening, illuminating the rest of the underground chamber. The sudden onslaught of light seared its eyes, and it let out an unintentional growl of pain. It reacted a second too late to shield its eyes from the glare.
The creature squeezed its eyelids shut in agony and flattened its ears against its head to protect its sensitive eardrums from the dust and deafening noise. It burrowed deeper into the earth while it strained to detect its surroundings for any signs of danger, dreading it would get hurled into the air again like a rag doll and out of the safety of the roots.
The cavern shook with each thunderous thump, causing more sections of the ceiling to come crashing down. The sound and vibrations faded with each step as the behemoth left the area. Despite the calamitous tremors, the only section of the cave that remained intact was the area protected by the roots of the plant above.
Half buried in dirt, it cracked its eyes open to examine its vicinity for any signs of danger. After a few minutes of observation, it rose and shook off the dust it was caked in.
It crept its way out of the now-destroyed cave into the open, where a cascade of sensations enveloped it. Rich greenery and towering trees greeted its sight. The cool, gentle breeze against its skin felt invigorating. And a cacophony of sounds resounded all around it—howls, chirps, roars, and clicks.
It looked up and drew a deep breath. There was a world teeming with life for it to explore. It peered into the vibrant wilderness before it. It didn’t know what other beasts lurked in the area, but it would find out soon enough.
And it was hungry.