4-28 The Wulver II

“Did it just speak?” Lyra asked in a whisper. She did not let the Wulver out of her sight. With her level higher than ever, she could see the Wulver clearly through the mist with Eagle Eye.

“Not very surprising,” Lilian responded dryly. Though she couldn’t see the Wulver, she could feel its presence through the Spirits by pinpointing the spot where the Spirits were trying to avoid.

“Focus, you two!” Nivia shouted at them as quietly as she could. Like Lilian, she was also tracking the Wulver through the Spirits.

“The ability to speak doesn’t amount to much,” Siv remarked. She was able to perceive the Wulver by scent. The winds were blowing the Wulver’s scent to her but not the other way around. “That said, its speech capability isn’t the glaring issue here. The Wulver’s hide is tough and so is its flesh. Our weapons and magic won’t be able to pierce into its core easily.”

“Its flesh and hide are strengthened by the demonic power within,” Lilian said. “We’ll need to burn away that demonic energy from within. To do that, I will imbue an arrow with Spirits and Lyra will shoot it in its eye. Siv, Nivia, you two will be responsible for giving Lyra that window. Do we have an understanding?”

They all gave their affirmation with nods and a quiet “yes”.

Vines sprouted rampantly from the ground below the Wulver. It tried to leap away but the vines already tangled themselves up around its limbs, pulling the Wulver to the ground. With the Wulver temporarily incapacitated, Siv moved in and slashed at the Wulver’s head but it ducked, tearing its left arm free at that moment. The Wulver proceeded to cut itself free as Siv spun into a flurry of slashes.

With the binds torn, the Wulver thrust forward with its claws bared. Siv’s flurry of slashes was stopped by the Wulver’s arms, unable to cut through its nigh-impervious hide. Siv clicked her tongue and flipped backwards, kicking the Wulver in the lower jaw in the process. The Wulver went staggering but no real injury came to it. It recovered fast and was onto Siv before she could find her bearings properly.

Siv pivoted her stave and battered a swipe away from the Wulver. She twisted her body to avoid another swipe. She raised her stave when the Wulver threw its jaws at her. The teeth clamped down on the grip but sparing Siv’s throat.

A vine snuck behind the Wulver and coiled itself around its throat. Before the vine could tighten, the Wulver tore the vine off its neck. Siv used this chance to distance herself from the Wulver to recover her breaths. The Wulver was about to follow but a wall of rock rose in its way. The Wulver roared and pulverised the wall with a single punch.

Through the smoke and debris, a sharp glint streaked towards the Wulver’s eyes. The arrowhead was only an inch away from the Wulver’s eye when it swiped the arrow out of the air and snapped in its grip. The Wulver howled at the sky, the red veins glowed and began pulsating. “So be it,” the Wulver said.

“Echolocation?” Lilian muttered. “That’s not good. Nivia, clear the mist. There’s no use for it now.”

Nivia tutted but did as Lilian said.

Lyra was the first to be tracked by the Wulver. It turned her way and rushed towards her on fours. Walls of earth were raised in his path but it rammed through each and every one of the walls. At the end of the walls were large bushes of thorned vines but they were nothing against a Wulver strengthened by Demonic power. It easily pulled the vines out of the ground and tossed them aside.

Lyra was there to greet the Wulver with only a few of distance between them. Her bow was raised and drawn. “Idiot,” she muttered and released the string. With that little distance between them, the Wulver could not dodge the arrow unless it was twenty levels higher or it possessed Spatial Magic. The arrow did not pierce deep but it did pierce through its flesh, into its bloodstream.

The Wulver wobbled away from Lyra before throwing its head back and howling painfully to the night sky. The arrowhead was laced with Fairy Dust that was further imbued with Spirits. The Demonic energy within was instantly dispelled and dispersed by the Spirits that went into its body. The glowing red veins began fading but its eyes were still bloodshot.

The Wulver plucked the arrow out from its eye just as Lyra was nocking another arrow. The Wulver lunged without a moment’s hesitation at her. Nivia dropped in between them from above with the winds whirling strongly around her. The Wulver snarled and swung its claws at the Elf without the slightest reluctance.

Nivia spun to the side, avoiding the claws. She countered with a round slash of her twin daggers, drawing deep cuts across the Wulver’s shoulder and arm. The Wulver pierce Nivia with a glare but it wasn’t able to glare for long before the next volley of assault came.

Siv, in her Beast Form, lunged at the Wulver with a barrage of strikes and blows. The Wulver had more than ten levels of advantage against Siv but she wasn’t alone and coupled with her experience, the Wulver was overwhelmed by her attacks. Even without demonic power, the Wulver itself was a formidable foe but much more vulnerable now without demonic intervention.

The Wulver could do nothing but be on the defence while Siv threw attacks after attacks upon it. If there was not much level difference between them, the Wulver would have already perished under their coordinated offence. Level wasn’t everything but it was a significant element in a conflict or combat.

Nivia joined in on the unfair onslaught, further outnumbering the Wulver. It was doing its best to dodge or block Siv’s blows but now with Nivia in the fray, it could do neither with its defence. Nivia was using Wind Magic spells to destroy its defence while Siv concentrated on the offence. If Lilian hadn’t exhausted her Mana from the quick and successive spell-casts, this fight would have been over.

“Don’t forget about me, the one who got your eye,” Lyra taunted with the most scornful smug she could manage. She shot her arrows with impeccable precision and timing, striking only the Wulver. The arrows didn’t strike the head as she had wanted but they did pierce into its flesh. Now devoid of demonic power, the Wulver could not easily heal its wounds.

Eventually, the Wulver drained itself of its vigour and health. It dropped to its knees. Wounds covered its body with blood pouring incessantly from its injuries.

“It didn’t even try to flee until the end,” Lyra remarked as she approached the weakened Wulver cautiously.

“It probably couldn’t,” Nivia said. “It’s enthralled. It won’t be able to even if it wanted to.”

“Poor thing,” Siv muttered.

“Siv, darling, please don’t tell me you want to spare the creature,” Lilian questioned in between her heavy breaths. It had taken a lot out of her to use magic in quick succession.

“No such thing, Lady Lilian. Sympathy isn’t synonymous with mercy.”

“Wise words.” Lilian tittered. “But the words are familiar.”

“They are Lady Iris’ words.”

“Ah, of course.”

“Who wants to lay the final strike?” Nivia asked.

“I shall,” Siv answered and placed her blades against the Wulver’s neck. It did not budge or flinch in face of its imminent death. There was no hint of light in its eyes anymore. “May you find peace in death,” Siv said and beheaded the Wulver by crossing her blades. The Wulver’s head went rolling and its body dropped lifelessly to the ground.

“It’s not over yet,” Lilian said. “This is just the thrall. The master must be nearby. We should regroup with Erin before there’s any further trouble.”

“Good thinking,” Lyra responded with a long sigh.

“And what trouble would that be?” asked a female voice from behind them.

They all immediately turned around with panic striking their faces. They did not notice the girl’s presence until she spoke.

A girl in silver-steel armour that lightly covered her body emerged from the shadows. Her hair was pale blonde and her eyes were like a pair of turquoise. She had a slightly above-average stature for a woman but the oppressive aura she exuded was far from normal. She had an amicable smile on her lips but there was nothing amicable about her aura.

Nivia’s gaze widened at the insignia adorned on the female knight’s shoulder plates. “Ruvan Paladins… A Venerer?”

“Hmm, our reputation certainly does precede us. Well, I don’t dislike it. Save us the trouble of constantly introducing ourselves from the ground up. By the way, you can call me Saril.”

“How can we help you, Miss Saril?” Siv asked as she stepped forward.

“Well, you can start by answering my questions. What’s a band of misfits like you four doing in this god-forsaken borough?” Saril asked, her smile widening.

“Adventurer’s business,” Lilian answered.

“What kind of adventurer’s business would bring the lot of you here?”

“A bounty mark and here is the proof.” Lilian took out the bounty poster from her valley and unfolded it for the paladin to see.

“Edmund… wanted dead or alive… I see. However, that doesn’t seem to explain how you got involved with a Wulver that possessed a faint trace of demonic essence. And where is this mark of yours?”

“The mark is currently being transported back to the Guild as we speak by our companions,” Siv explained. “We stayed behind because the mark has some very meddlesome friends.”

“Your mark is someone who’s involved in heretical affairs. Don’t you think it would be more appropriate to deliver your mark to the temple instead of the guild?”

“Will you have our money then?” Lyra countered.

“Doing good is supposed to be a charity, not a paid work.”

“Easy for privileged people like you to say.”

Saril raised an eyebrow. “Privileged, heh?”

Nivia scowled at Lyra.

“Please understand, Miss Saril,” Siv said. “Gratitude and honour alone would not bring food to the table.”

“Only if you do not accept Ruva into your heart,” Saril retorted.

“We have our own gods that we pray to.”

“But Ruva is the greatest of the Divines. To deny her grace is tomfoolery and a notion of evil.”

“Dear me,” Lilian sighed. “Everyone who isn’t a Ruvan is evil? And here I thought, us Fae were pompous pricks as the humans tend to say about us.”

“You mock the name and grace of Ruva…”

“I didn’t mock your god, Miss Saril.” Lilian tittered. “I mock you. For a devout servant of a Divine, you’re unfavoured by the Spirits.”

Saril furrowed her brows. “An insult towards a Divine’s servant is an insult to the Divine themself.”

“Nonsense. There’s a pathetic and petty logic used by the aristocrats as an excuse to commit foul deeds. Are you saying you’re no different than them, Miss Saril?”

The paladin’s trembling hand fell on the hilt of her sword by her waist. Her smile disappeared and a scowl took its place. “Take that back…”

Nivia tapped Lilian’s shoulder. “Lilian, maybe we should—”

“Oh, hush now, Nivia. I still have plenty of things to say. I’m sick of these imperious fanatics. We even took down a foe of Demonic elements, which is supposed to be the responsibility of the godly warriors. Yet, we are being questioned and disparaged for helping in doing their job. As a Dryad, a Fae, I refused to be belittled. Anything to retort, Miss Saril?”

“You’re quite impertinent and rowdy for a Fae…” Saril muttered with a darkening expression. “I should smite you in the name of Ruva right here and now.”

Lyra and Siv held their breaths with pale faces. Nivia frowned as she bounced her worried gaze between her friend and the Paladin. As for Lilian, she was still looking at Saril disparagingly.

“You can try,” Lilian taunted.

Saril snorted and raised her splayed hand. “As you wish, I shall—”

“You will do no such thing,” said a deep feminine voice.

They all turned towards that voice and saw a female Augur strutting towards them.

“Smite them and I’ll fucking smite you too, little Ruvan,” Amyra declared with a bold smirk.