It was an odd sensation - visiting a place twice in two weeks, first as a tourist who knew nothing of creatures that hunted humans.

Now, she was dressed in armor with a crossbow and knives on her way to go monster hunting.

Probably for the millionth time in the last three days, Leta wondered what she was doing here.

The approach to the ‘target’ was straightforward. Allister and Bonnie took the lead, two pairs of sharp eyes scanning everyone they met on the path up the hill. The giant strapped a leash on Bonnie, which didn’t stop the curious and sometimes fearful looks people gave the wolf, but at least no one made a fuss.

They looked like an odd group of punks in leather jackets here to see the sites.

Their speed was just short of running- their brisk pace slowed only by the angle of the path, the uneven terrain, and dodging the tourists that were meandering up and down.

Halfway up the hill, Hayato broke off from the group, giving Atreus a quiet nod as he hopped a small fence and vanished into a patch of trees and cacti.

It was more than two hundred meters from the base of the hill to the top. Leta was optimistic that they’d arrived at the theater at the top in about ten minutes.

The top was full of tourists taking pictures of the fantastic panoramic view of the city and the Acropolis that looked the size of a thumbnail in the distance.

The theater had been barricaded off as crews moved about getting ready for a show tonight, most likely a reproduction of a classic ancient play if the stage set and garments passing by on a rolling rack were any indication.

Allister and Bonnie skirted around the barricade until the group arrived at a stone outcropping that acted as a natural wall.

A few meters away, the outcropping slopped down towards the path. It was a steep climb, but the compact dirt of a desire path proved that it had been well traveled.

It also showed that their information was correct.

Bonnie stuck her nose into the dirt and immediately sat on her bum, signaling that she’d gotten a scent.

Allister and Atreus shared a stern look.

The Blessed were close.

Hand over foot, they began climbing up the ridge before reaching the top. As they reached the lip of the ridge, they followed the desire path back down the other side, the small utility building stark against the dirt and vegetation.

As they reached the inside of the shallow valley, Bonnie pawed at the ground and whined, her large head bumping into Allister’s hip.

He knelt and put his hands on either side of hers, his eyes boring into her as she stared back at him.

The pair stayed locked in each other’s gaze as small microexpressions played over their faces.

Allister’s eyes would flicker.

Bonnie’s snout would twitch.

It looked like they were silently communicating with each other somehow.

Finally, Allister sighed and stood up, his lips pulled tight behind his beard.

“A manticore and three bulgasari.”

“Fuck.” Atreus hissed angrily, spitting on the ground in disgust.

Leta looked between them with trepidation. “I’m not familiar with a bulgasari. What’s that?”

“It’s got the head and feet of a tiger with the snout of an elephant and several rows of serrated teeth like a shark in a maw that looks like an insects,” Allister answered without looking at her, his eyes fixed on the entrance to the lair.

Atreus began checking his weapons, breaking down a handgun he’d had in a hidden side holster and covering the inert gun in a cloth. “They start small, barely the size of a kitten,” He said, “but the more metal they eat, the bigger they get. That trunk will try to take your sword from you or pull the arrows from its body, eat the metal, and heal itself. Bullets won’t work either.”

“Bonnie says they smell young.” Allister added, “Their scent indicates they’re about the size of a small dog, but any metal they eat will just make it grow till it’s the size of a polar bear. Our biggest issue is the manticore. It’s about the size of that minotaur but looks like a giant scorpion with wings for gliding instead of pincers, breaths fire, and shoots poisonous barbs from its tail.”

Leta’s jaw dropped, “So how the hell are we killing these things?”

“Thankfully, the bulgasari are more of a nuisance than a threat as long you don’t make the first move against them or feed them. They’ll all go into attack mode when you do either.” Atreus removed his jacket to reveal a small, flat backpack-like satchel that was attached to his weapon holsters.

Taking the gun parts and storing them in the satchel, he pulled his jacket back on, “Our initial focus is on the manticore. It’s exceptionally territorial and will go into offense when we make contact. It’s big. It’s fast, and it hits hard.”

“Bonnie,” Atreus looked down at the wolf, “You’re the fastest one here. Once the flash bang goes off we need you to engage and draw it away from the bulgasari so we have room to fight.”

“Woof.”

“Allister, you take the left. I’ll take the right. Focus on incapacitating it and then taking the head.”

“And me?” Leta frowned, “What am I supposed to do?”

“You,” Atreus gave her a pointed look as the two men began pulling weapons from various hidden areas, “are to stay out of site so you don’t become the creature’s target. I need you alive, not the manticore’s next meal.”

Leta bit the inside of her cheek, unable to deny the sting she felt at his words. The idea of sitting doing nothing while others were literally fighting for their lives in the room next door was as grating as sandpaper.

Arbitrarily, she knew his decisions were sound.

She’d been fighting the Blessed for three days now, all of which had been by accident and on the defensive.

These people had been fighting them for centuries. They knew what they were doing and could recognize something or someone that would hinder their ability to fight.

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She didn’t like being that extra baggage - that extra weight in their pockets as they were thrown to the sharks.

‘But, come on.’ Leta chastised herself, ‘What the hell do you know about planning attacks? You’d be as likely to hit Atreus in the ass with a lightning bolt as you would a monster.’

Bonnie bumped her head into Allister, her golden eyes pleading with her partner to pay attention to something. Frowning, the giant ran his fingers over her skull and into her thick fur as they locked eyes in conversation.

A moment later, he let out a long, almost relieved sigh.

Standing tall, he looked to their leader, “Good news. Bonnie says the manticore’s scent has changed since we arrived, but it’s finally solidified. The manticore has finished transforming to its humanoid face.”

“Good.” Atreus nodded, “That gives us a few moments while its mind is fractured during the change. Relay this information to Hayato.”

“On it.” Allister had already pulled his phone out and began texting.

Atreus motioned for Leta, “The order of the attack is Bonnie, Allister, myself, and then you. You will stay out of the fight and observe. Become familiar with the chaos. Do not let your guard down because battle can be unpredictable. Be prepared to strike should the fight come to you.”

She swallowed, her mouth dry as she nodded hoarsely, “Yes, sir.”

“He’s in position and ready.” Allister put the phone away as he pulled something from his pants pockets and strapped it to his vambrace. He flicked his wrist, and a semi-transparent, blue-tinted circle half his height flickered into existence with the device at its center.

“What is-” Leta blinked at the hexagon-like pattern that was only just noticeable in the film of what obviously was a shield.

“Plasma shield,” He answered, flicking his wrist to deactivate the device, “Useful, but uses a lot of energy. It only has enough juice to handle two or three hits before it’s rendered useless.”

“Ready yourself,” Atreus told them as he pulled a short Yatagan sword from between his shoulder blades, his other hand busy with two heavy weighted balls with a chain between him that she recognized as a meteor hammer.

Allister didn’t need any elaboration and pulled from the small of his back a well-worn battleaxe that looked like it had probably overthrown more than one government in its time.

Even Bonnie got in on the action, her tail wagging slightly as her partner slipped a pair of canine goggles over her eyes for additional protection

Taking a deep breath, Leta got into line behind everyone, her fists activating the brass knuckles in her gloves.

There were a lot of conflicting emotions bouncing around in her head at that moment.

There was fear, obviously. She was about to follow a bunch of people she had only just met into an actual monster pit.

Oddly enough, there was also excitement. A strange nervous giddiness wiggled in her belly like when you were about to make what you knew was the historic discovery of a lifetime or step foot onto a football pitch for the World Cup.

She wasn’t sure why the excitement was so prominent in her brain. It wasn’t that she was keen to see the creatures - she’d had chunks bitten out of her too much to be interested.

In fact, the more she thought about it, the more strange it felt.

It didn’t seem normal, but her questions about why she felt like that were pushed to the back of her mind as Allister raised an arm and silently counted down with his fingers until he pointed forward with ‘one.’

Bonnie trotted forward dutifully, her partner close behind as they approached the utility site.

Everyone scanned the trees and cacti around the ravine, keenly focused on their surroundings as they searched for any threats.

Like a well-oiled military machine, Bonnie, Allister, and Atreus pressed against the wall, listening and waiting for any signs that they’d been spotted.

Allister checked the door handle and heard the faint sound of metal easily sliding over its internal workings.

Either the Blessed didn’t have the keys or had purposefully left the door unlocked to trap any unsuspecting fools stupid enough to enter, but it made their approach much more straightforward.

Bonnie sniffed the dirt, then the air, before pressing her head into Allister’s hip.

The two silently conversed again before the giant nodded to his commander.

The General held his sword at the ready as the two men stepped to either side of the door. With one hand on the handle, Allister counted down again before gently pulling on the handle.

The team paused at the sound of rusty door hinges creaking open, their bodies wincing as the low groan reverberated down the stair shaft.

Allister looked back to Atreus for a moment before pressing forward, his free hand up and ready to activate the shield at a moment’s notice.

The stair shaft was short and narrow, the concrete walls and floors making the room noticeably cooler than the scorching afternoon sun outside.

The only light source were small automatic safety lights every other step that glowed orange in their age, probably remnants from some economic boom decades ago that still functioned.

At the bottom of the stairs was a small room barely the size of a bathroom. Two walls were dominated by utility meters, gauges, and pipes that were measuring who knew what.

On the other side was an old wooden door, probably from the seventies, with a square cut out at the bottom covered by wooden slates for ventilation. The door had been purposely left ajar, rough stone walls illuminated by a distant light further in the cavern.

By some miracle, the wooden door did not squeak as Allister slowly pushed it open and held his position as Bonnie stepped forward. Her claws made the tiniest of taps against the stone floor, her dark fur blending into the shadowy depths of the cave.

Leta’s eyes caught onto Atreus as she watched him pull a phone-sized display monitor from his belt loop. The screen initially showed nothing but black, but soon, tiny pixelations appeared.

At first, only rough parallel lines wiggled in odd directions on the display. A few heartbeats later, textures became more apparent steadily until she realized it was a map of the cavern generated as Bonnie traversed its depths.

The images showed the cavern slowing downwards, snacking left and right for about a hundred meters until it opened up into the first of the cave rooms.

On-screen, they watched as an odd-shaped dot appeared from the unmapped void, moving forward and to the side before retreating into the void again. Its movements were slow, almost leisurely. It was a good sign that they had not been discovered just yet.

‘He’s feeding them.’ Allister’s whisper was little more than the soft ‘whosh’ of wind coming up from the bowels of the cave as it played over their ears.

Atreus put his hand on the man’s shoulder before glancing back her way. “Grab my shoulder. It will be dark, and you must be sure of your footing.”

Step by slow and steady step, they moved through the cavern with weapons ready for an attack.

Though the walls were rough and oddly shaped, the floors had been worn smooth, Leta guessed intentionally done during the Cold War to stockpile supplies.

Hidden between some rough outcroppings were old lights from the Cold War, though most of them were inoperable. The light was few and far between, reminding her to use her Dark Vision for once.

[Dark Vision skill has been activated.]

She winced as the sudden brightness burned her vision, her eyes filling with tears as she blinked away the sting to focus on the world around her.

Where once had been darkness peppered only by small pools of ominous light, she could now see the stone walls as if it were midday.

Looking up into the sparse overhead lights nearly blinded her, she quickly focused on the way in front of them.

‘Yeah, that was dumb.’ She groaned internally, blinking the spots from her vision. The sudden brightness would hurt her eyes, but the soft glow of an incandescent lightbulb at the other end of the cavern was much easier to manage.

‘Noted. Gradual light changes are fine. Too much blinds you.’ She thought as the team stopped just as Bonnie came from around a curve.

Allister patted her head before they continued forward a short distance. One more curve and Bonnie sat down on her haunches, signaling they were in position.

The men shared a look, what seemed like a lifetime’s worth of words spoken with just a glance before Allister swapped his battle axe to his left hand and pulled a metal contraption the size of her fist that looked like it had come straight out of an American military film set.

One heartbeat.

Two heartbeats.

Quick as lightning, Allister stepped into the open space and threw the flash-bang before leaping back and pressing himself to the wall.

Leta heard the metal object hitting the stone floor and bouncing before it rattled to a halt as she disengaged her night vision ability ahead of the explosion.

She could feel a giant creature’s distinct, low baritone growl as it sensed an invasion of its territory.

Then the flash-bang went off, a bright Leta could only describe as the core of a new sun burning her vision even from where they were hidden in the cavern. The loud boom of the grenade ricocheted off the cave walls with such an intensity that even from a distance and protected by a wall of solid rock, she still felt a ringing in her ears.

A pain-filled bellow of something followed by a sharp bark beastly echoed up the cave.

It was the signal they were looking for.

With a bark of excitement, Bonnie leaped into action, powerful legs and claws finding perch in the stone floors as the wolf sprang forward into the fray, Allister and Atreus close behind her.