Loch held Bulwark in front of him, spikes growing from the energy shield, lighting crackling around the tips. Moving back on top of the triceratops, he got as much space as he could. Activating Windstep, Loch rushed forward, leaping off the dead dinosaur.
Leading with the shield, Loch slammed into the Wendigo. Spikes penetrated the monster’s body, piercing skin and breaking bones. Loch’s weight pushed the already off balance Wendigo backwards, the raptors gnawing on its legs. Arms waving uselessly in the air, the Wendigo fell backwards, slamming into the ground. A raptor’s snarl turned into a cry of pain as it was crushed.
The Wendigo made no noise.
The raptors did, snarling and tearing at the Wendigo’s legs. Loch twisted, watching the beasts savage the monster. Flesh was ripped away, showing bone. No muscles or nerves, just skin and bone. Legs kicked, one catching a raptor under the jaw. Head snapped back, bone breaking, as the dinosaur was flung away.
Loch swung Onyx. He was laying on top of the thrashing Wendigo, left arm bent and holding Onyx against the monster’s shoulder and chest. He didn’t have a good angle to swing the axe. Not at its full size. He’d only ever used it at its normal and default size or the shrunken throwing axe size. But it could readily change between the two. Why couldn’t he make it something in between? Onyx was a Spirit Weapon, it was made from his own Spirit taken from his core. It only had the axe shape because that was the first weapon he’d used, the camping axe.
It felt like so long ago, not just a couple of months.
But if it was pure Spirit, pure energy, why couldn’t he control that shape?
Loch sent Spirit into the axe, more than normal, deepening his connection to the weapon. He could feel it, the power and the shape, how the energy gave it form. He nudged it, trying to turn it into something that would work better in the situation as the Wendigo thrashed under him, long arm trying to reach up and grab him.
He felt that he couldn’t change the weapon type. He couldn’t turn the axe into a sword. It had been created from his intent and knowledge. He’d known how to use an axe. To chop wood, not as a weapon, but instinctively he had known that there was some connection between the actions. In all the fights, he’d discovered that to fully utilize the axe as a weapon was a far cry from chopping wood, but in its most basic attack mode it was the same. Loch would chop an enemy like he chopped wood.
He’d gained in experience and knew how to use the weapon better, but was no weapons master, mostly relying on strength. At full size Onyx was truly meant to be a two-handed weapon. He could use it one-handed, but it wasn’t as efficient.
But it was stuck as an axe.
Which wasn’t a bad thing. Loch loved the weapon. It fit him.
Even though it wouldn’t change shape to a different weapon type, Loch felt that he could control the size. It already shifted between large and small, it would be easy to become the middle. It wouldn’t be as strong, Loch could get a sense for that, but otherwise would be the same.
With another burst of Spirit, still holding the weapon, Onyx. Axe and hammer head’s became smaller, the hammer coming in closer to the shaft, the ends of the axe head pulling in, giving the head a smaller profile. The shaft shrunk, staying the same thickness, just not as long.
Onyx felt lighter in Loch’s one hand.
He smiled, bringing the weapon down on the Wendigo. It cut deep into the monster’s side, breaking bone. Loch shifted his swing, cutting down into the flailing arm, not deep enough to cut through. The Wendigo’s thrashing increased, knocking the remaining raptors away. It started to roll over. The thing was thin but Loch knew how heavy it truly was.
He dismissed Bulwark, using the turning momentum to jump off. Landing on his side, Loch skidded along the ground. The Wendigo landed on its front, struggling to push itself up with only one arm and that remaining one nearly severed.
Loch jumped, increasing Onyx to its full size. Holding the axe in both hands he swung it down as he landed on the Wendigo’s back. The axe bit deep, cutting a large chunk. The monster thrashed, Loch barely keeping his feet. His left slid a little, but not enough to dislodge him. Raising Onyx, he Activated Cleave, ready for another chop.
The Wendigo twisted, throwing Loch off. He landed hard, the monster moving fast after him. It was up and turning, raising a leg to slam down. Loch Activated Bulwark, raising the shield and spikes. He couldn’t roll out of the way in time, had to hope his strength would be enough to keep the leg from crushing down.
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The shadow fell over him, the leg all he could see through the green tint of the shield. The shadow darkened and lengthened, not descending, disappearing in seconds.
A great crash came to the side, Loch turned to see a large black shape tearing at the Wendigo. A bear, twice the size of a grizzly, made of jet black ink, ripped into the monster. It reared up, both paws descended, long claws cutting deep into the monster.
Loch pushed himself up, glancing back to the fighting. Piper stood there, in front of the rest of his people. There weren’t as many monsters, but still some fighting. His youngest held out her hand, the end of her wand glowing. He couldn’t see her face but could picture the determination etched into it. He’d seen that look so many times when she had a math problem to work out, the look that said she’d push through and solve it. Cerie buzzed just over her shoulder, eyes darting around at the pockets of fighting, but Piper’s were fixed on his.
Loch turned back to the fight, not that there was much left.
Pieces of Wendigo lay everywhere, the bear still mauling the monster. The legs, what was left of them, kicked futilely. The arms from the shoulders down to the elbows moved but there was nothing beyond on either. The head couldn’t even bite at the bear.
Loch was amazed at the power of the inksummon. And scared. Cerie had said that Piper might one day end up being the strongest of the Brady family. Between the strength of this bear plus the dragon and the wall she had summoned during the gaunt siege, Loch believed the fairy.
He looked back at his little girl. Her hand was lowered, even from this far away he could tell how tired she was, her small body shaking. But she didn’t waver. He could feel the determination from her. Looking back at the bear, it looked as detailed and solid as it had when it’d first appeared.
Loch had an idea of Piper’s limitations. This bear was heavily detailed. He could see thousands of little furs in its outline and across the body. Was the fur moving in the wind? When it moved, the furs rippled, muscles given shape.
With that much detail and the strength it was showing, the bear shouldn’t have lasted as long as it was. It should have melted, disappearing, by now. But it showed no signs of stopping.
Loch walked around the bear, avoiding the pieces of Wendigo that were sent flying. He stopped at the monster’s head, looking down at the antlered skull. The black pits stared back at Loch, not with fear or hate but hunger. As hurt as the creature was, it still hungered. It wanted to feed. It would never stop wanting to feed.
Loch swung the hammer head of Onyx down. Bone shards shot across the field, disappearing in the tall grasses.
Rearing up, mouth open for one last silent roar, the bear melted. Solid looking muscles and fur lost shape, dripping into a large puddle that spread out over the corpse of the Wendigo as the corpse itself started to fade away and turn into multi-colored sparks. Black ink dripped onto colorful sparks, rolling off to hit the ground.
The body of the Wendigo was gone, nothing left behind, just a black puddle that seeped into the ground.
Loch felt the sparks flow into his Core. More coming from across the battlefield. He felt the Core filling, closing in on being full. Then it was full.
YOU HAVE GAINED ENOUGH SPIRIT TO LEVEL YOUR CLASS. WARBREAKER IS NOW LEVEL TWENTY-SIX. YOU HAVE GAINED +1 STRENGTH AND +1 ENDURANCE AND HAVE 6 FREE POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE.
He could feel that he’d gotten a lot of experience toward Level Twenty-Seven. The imagined mental bar, the feeling in his core, was not quite halfway full. The Connected System had considered the Wendigo, Hunger’s Chosen, to be a very quality kill.
Loch shifted his shoulders, working out the ache that was starting to settle in. His whole body ached. Lots of minor cuts, muscle and bone bruises, probably a couple broken bones or at least fractured. The Wendigo had given him a good battering.
There were other notifications he had to look at, and points to assign, but first there were people to talk to. Loot to gather. He looked over at the triceratops. The raptors had done a number on the hide, but it was a large monster, they’d still be able to get a good amount from it. And the amount of meat on the animal would feed the entire Clan for a week.
He wondered how triceratops would taste.
Loch walked over to Piper. She was sitting on the ground, Cerie on her lap. He looked down at his daughter, she smiled up at him.
“Good job Pipes.”
“Thanks.”
He wanted to say more but couldn’t, not yet.
The people they’d rescued huddled together around their wounded. Julia and Julian, the healer from Josh’s group, were trying to get close but the people held up weapons, eyeing the healers and the large and deadly group around them warily. They didn’t appear hostile, just cautious.
And scared.
“Brian, Kyle,” Loch shouted, drawing attention, walking toward the group with Piper alongside. “Start looting and skinning. Burn the Wendigos. This fight had to attract attention, we need to be gone.”
His people scattered, leaving just Julia, Harper and Elora. Most of the eyes shifted the elf woman. She had been in the back, hidden, but not now. They didn’t look at her in recognition, they hadn’t seen elves before. Loch thought it a good thing. They looked at her in confusion, wondering just what she was.
With her hair wild, the braids coming undone in the fighting, the points of Elora’s ears were hidden, but there was still something different about her. The way she stood, the angle of her eyes, the color of her hair. She wasn’t human and they knew it.
“You’re safe now,” Loch said, stopping a couple feet from the group, focusing on the tall woman he’d taken as the group’s leader.
“Are we?,” she asked.