Even though most of Lanek’s instincts screamed at him to move away from the voice in his ear as fast as possible, he knew that it would be a mistake to go forward. That is probably what it expected and it was most likely even now preparing to stab or swing straight ahead. So, ignoring the sick feeling in his gut, he pivoted his upper body and swung his elbow up and back. He was rewarded with a satisfying crack even as he felt something stab into his armor and slide off.
Apparently, the creature had not expected the speed that Lanek enjoyed in the darkness as it stumbled backward, snarling in anger. As he turned to face the thing, he couldn’t help but imagine just how bad it would have been if his armor had been any less effective or if he hadn’t pivoted to his torso. Images of a long knife jutting from back filled his head alongside the condition of shifter in the cellar. Fuck, it almost had me. I’m lucky that it gave me a bit of warning before it struck. Did it just not think I was fast enough to do anything about it?
It took him a moment to pick the thing out and he suddenly understood what had happened here as a tall figure clothed in rags stepped closer, swinging a pair of rusty knives at his face. The thing was maybe a head taller than he was, but had oddly disproportionate arms. Its reach was greater unarmed than Lanek’s would be with his sword in hand. However, its face is what gave its origins away, as it had the characteristic wide mouth, needle-like teeth, and nose slits of a gaunt. It seemed that the gaunts had decided that they were done being hunted by the shifters and had sent something much stronger to deal with Void infestation.
Lanek didn’t bother with [Identify], having come to the conclusion that it was useless against anything gaunt-related. Hell, it didn’t seem to be all that helpful with most of the creatures he had dealt with. Despite its shortcomings, it was still incredibly useful when it came to items or plants, so he wouldn’t give it up.
Taking in the gaunt’s incredibly long reach, Lanek switched to his yari. He didn’t want to give the thing any opportunity to get close to him. With a shout, he advanced on the gaunt, his spear stabbing toward its face, leg, and torso in quick succession. He needed to keep the pressure on, knowing that if it disappeared from view his odds of victory would go down dramatically. Anything that could mask itself from the senses of his companions wouldn’t find it too hard to sneak up on him.
Unfortunately, despite keeping the gaunt from off balance, it wasn’t enough to secure a quick kill. True, the creature didn’t have time to get away and go back into stealth, but that didn’t mean that it was incapable of fighting in a direct confrontation. The thing moved in ways that a human body simply couldn’t match, spine bending at obscene angles to save it from strikes that Lanek would have put money on landing.
As he thrust his spear forward, he was exceedingly grateful for the extra long blade as he was able to leave minor wounds when withdrawing the spear or when the point missed the creature. If nothing else, he was beginning to hope that he could just wear the monster down. However, this was not to be as the gaunt somehow rotated its body mid-dodge and thrust its arms forward, knives seemingly aiming for his eyes.
Suddenly, Lanek found himself on the defensive, having barely enough time to redirect his spear to slap the knives off course. Surprisingly, he discovered that the gaunt wasn’t as strong as he was physically when he felt one of its feet connect with his abdomen in a follow up attack. While he did feel the impact through his armor, it wasn’t enough to even push him back, much less hurt or knock him to the ground.
Lanek didn’t let his guard down, mostly because he still needed to actually hit the gaunt, which was proving to be extremely difficult. After the kick failed to affect Lanek, the gaunt seemed surprised and attempted to disengage. The human followed, wanting desperately to simply charge in and overpower the creature, but he was wary of the gaunt’s accuracy. He had no doubt that rushing in recklessly would allow the gaunt to put one of this knives into something vital, like his unprotected eyes or neck.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Normally, he would just let the thing go if it was trying to withdraw, but with its stealth capabilities he doubted that it would go away and leave him in peace. Changing up his strategy, Lanek dismissed his spear as the gaunt raised its knives to block them, giving himself a clear shot at its torso. Not bothering to call out his sword, he attacked with a kick of his own. As his foot connected with the gaunt’s side, there was a sickening crunch and it stumbled to the side, nearly falling to the ground. Capitalizing on his momentum, Lanek kicked again and felt bone crunch as his heel connected with the gaunt’s knee.
As the gaunt staggered around pitifully on its good leg, Lanek summoned his spear and circled the monster. It snarled at him, almost as if the pain was inconsequential next to its anger. However, Lanek could now afford to take his time, the gaunt’s wild attacks not even coming close to connecting. With a quick sidestep, Lanek dodged another swing before plunging his spear into the gaunt’s other leg and giving it a savage twist before withdrawing it. The shape of the spearhead made short work of the tendons and muscles, which caused the leg to give way entirely.
The gaunt was forced to drop its knives to hold itself up. As it struggled, Lanek released Maximilian, Sanguineus, and Kazuma. All three responded eagerly despite the injuries sustained by the wolf and cat. While the gaunt glared hatefully at Lanek, the wolf darted in and clamped its jaws on one of the creature’s arms, rendering it useless. Lanek looked at Sanguineus in surprise, but understood a moment later as the wolf’s wound started to visibly heal as it drained the gaunt.
“That’s enough, buddy. You’re all healed up and this is the first one of these things we’ve met that can actually speak. Let’s not waste the opportunity. Although, I won’t object if someone wants to take care of the other arm.”
At his words, the gaunt’s eyes widened in surprise just before it screamed in agony as Maximilian’s beak severed its other arm at the shoulder. Lanek proceeded to pick the gaunt up by the rags it wore and propped it up against the building.
“So, let’s start with you telling me what you are. Both whatever the hell type of gaunt you are and then we can move on to your species as a whole. Why are you and your people invading this world?”
The gaunt just stared at him, smirking slightly. Once again, it seemed to have mastered itself and was no longer allowing the pain to show. Lanek waited a few moments before it spoke again.
“And if I don’t answer, will you torture me? Will you free me if I do answer your questions?” It asked in a rasping voice.
“Is freeing you even an option in this situation? With your injuries, I imagine that the best you could hope for would be a quick death.” Lanek answered in surprise.
“I could heal from this with the aid of my kind.”
Hearing the gaunt’s response, Lanek had to pause and seriously consider his answer. On the one hand, he did not know how to torture anyone and knew that he didn’t have the stomach for it. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill this thing, but torture was not something that he wanted to stoop to. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure that he could let it walk away and he wasn’t enough of a murder hobo to promise the gaunt its freedom only to kill it after it answered his questions.
Damn. Killing it would be a waste if it’s willing to answer my questions. Although, these things have been hunting me since I got to this world and its kind have been devastating this world for centuries, I don’t know if I can stomach letting it go. Besides, it may also decide to stalk and kill me down the line.
“Let me be completely honest with you.” Lanek said as he sat across from the gaunt. “I’m not going to torture you, that’s not something I do. But, let’s not kid each other, your kind have been trying to kill me constantly. Your kind have been killing everything. It’s taking every ounce of self-control I have to not end you right now.”
“You say that as if you haven’t killed hundreds of my kind.” Seeing Lanek’s surprised look, the gaunt made a disturbing sound that took Lanek a few moments to recognize as laughter. “Oh yes, I know of you. How could I not be aware of you after your damnable explosions cut down so many of us? What I don’t know is why you are protecting that place or why you interfered with my work.”
“It sounds like we both have some questions that need answering then. It would be ludicrous for us to trust one another, but I can agree to let you leave if you answer some questions. To sweeten the deal a bit, I will answer some of yours as well. However, if I suspect that you are lying to me or stalling until your friends get here, I will not hesitate to kill you. What do you say?”
The gaunt grimaced before nodding. “Agreed.”