NOVEL NEXT 7. The Predator
My arrow of ice parted my barrier and cut through thick fog. A spirit beast, the size of a large bear, raced into my prepared field. It had a fuzzy head of a bear that looked like the mane of a lion. Its jaw was massive and open as it pushed out a rumbling growl. The body was covered in short fur and shaped like a dog with an exaggerated curved back that seemed to result from longer legs in the front than its back. The wolfbear tripped on the ice and slid head-first into my arrow. Its growls gurgled, whimpered, and then went silent as its frozen body slid away.
Two more wolfbears ran onto my grounds. I fired at the closest one. It slipped, causing my shot to miss its head and pierce its shoulder. The injured beast lost all footing and slid down the incline, its body turning to ice. I fired two ice arrows at the agile wolfbear dancing on the ice. The first was dodged. The second impaled its side. The bear cried angrily as ice froze over it.
The four remaining spirit beasts stepped into my zone simultaneously—each placed in my cardinal direction. Their laughter reached a new pitch. It was high, loud, and constant. I wanted to run. I needed to run. I was going to die here. I didn't want to die. I couldn't die. There had to be a way to escape. My shell wasn't safe. It was collapsing. Run. Run. Run. I needed to just curl up and protect myself. The laughter grew louder.
Kainoa! The sharp shout of my name pulled me from despair. This wasn't good. The cries were pulling me back under, the wolfbears were getting closer, and now there were a dozen. I directed mana to my head and covered my ears in water. The laughter was muffled, but it wasn't enough. I froze the water, further quieting the despairing cries. A band of ice connects my ear muffs atop my head, and another band circles my head. The muffs were secure, and I could get back to the fight.
The four wolfbears were nearly at my dome. Their pace was slow and careful. They weren't aware that I was no longer under their influence. Even as I raised my bow, they still slowly stalked forward. I didn't need a full draw at this distance. I picked the furthest of the four away from me and released—another headshot. I turned to my next target. My nerves caused me to draw back further than needed, and the arrow fired with a humming fury. It slammed into the belly of the beast mid-cry. The power of the shot launched the wolf back into the air. Its frozen body crashed to the ground and shattered.
My next two shots are more controlled but no less devastating to the spirit beast. I took a deep breath and quickly assessed my mana. I still had plenty to fight, and I had a feeling I was going to need it. The new beasts had thrown caution out the window and attempted to race up my hill to various degrees of success.
A frozen bear slid down the icy terrain, then another, and another. It didn't matter. I slew wolfbear after wolfbear. They kept coming. There were dozens of them dead now, and more than double were alive—trying to eat me. The intensity of their wails permeated my headband. Fortunately, the mana-enhanced headgear protects me from the terror effect. My head still ached from the endless noise, and it was getting harder to maintain focus.
As the wolfbears piled toward me, I added more mana to the fog and the ice field. The predators could no longer maintain their footing and had to reduce their speed. On top of that, the thick fog was actively slowing them to a crawl. Their lethargy helped reduce the constant noise and gave me a small respite.
I pressed my advantage and released a barrage of arrows. My increased tempo strained my aim and focus. I had to keep my breathing in check to avoid falling out of rhythm and waste the opportunity. For thirty seconds, I systematically located my targets, drew my arrow, aimed, and fired. At the peak of my barrage, I was shooting faster than an arrow a second. My whistling arrows became the song of battle—a cold-frosty dirge of death.
The largest beasts were my primary targets and also the easiest to hit. When they were killed, I focused on the fallen. Their fates were sealed to the earth. Then, I worked through the more menacing beasts. Death mana began to fill the air. I could feel it urging me to claim more lives, pushing me—hungering for more. My hill was cleared, so I shot through my fog. I wasn't as sure about my aim. It was hard to track on the other side. That didn't stop me from shooting. The wolfbears wanted to eat me. I didn't want to be eaten. So I kept shooting. It was that simple.
After a few minutes of shooting through the abyss, I could no longer sense the pack. Though they had retreated, my gut was telling me they would return, and it would be a lot worse when they did. I considered my options. I could probably run now. I had enough time to recover my frozen body and pack it wherever I went. I could just leave my body under my mound of ice. That would probably buy me a week or two before my ice thawed and my body would be exposed. If whatever found my body wasn't a powerful cultivator or spirit beast, I might have another week before the other layer of ice thawed. When that happened, I would die.
Where would I go? I couldn't go back home. Whoever sent us on this mission must've known what was happening. Their story was too contrived, and the location too precise for it to be a coincidence. That meant someone wanted us dead… I didn't know who. Lana was our contact with the quest giver. The quest giver that asked for us specifically knew too much about us. Home wasn't safe. Even if it was, I had no heart to return there. Not without my family.
I could run to another town, but for what purpose? I needed to get stronger, and there was only one direct way to power. Death and I were going to get a lot more acquainted—maybe even friendly.
My mind was set. The Bloodwoods were my new training ground. The wolfbears and any other foul beast near me would be my feast. My decision made the following planning easier: I needed more protection, more mana, and food. The dead would provide two needs, and I'd provide the other.