Karla approached the smiling Surgit. Her face was struck with disbelief. Her eyes darted from one dead hunter to the other. Surgit swayed then fell on one knee. Karla hurried toward him and the latter raised a hand.
"I'm alright," he said. "Just dizzy, is all."
"How did you do that?" she asked, still amazed and confused.
"The echoes," Surgit said, panting. "I told you. You can get much stronger."
Karla turned away. She looked at the result of Surgit's carnage and sighed. "Can you move?" she asked.
Surgit frowned at how she quickly changed the subject, but he didn't pursue the matter. He nodded and got to his feet. "I shouldn't overdo it," he said. "I'm still new to these Arcane powers."
"I've seen someone use it before, although what he used was different," she said.
They walked through the area. Tombstones of all sizes littered the place. The soft ringing of a bell in the distance caught Surgit and Karla's attention.
��That must be the bell lady," Surgit said in a venomous tone. "We have to find her, or more hunters will keep showing up."
"Like those?" Karla pointed at the way forward.
Two hunters appeared from below the ground. A red aura enveloped them as they emerged. They spotted their foes, drew their weapons and immediately ran their way. The first one to reach them was holding a strange hammer. He ran over a boulder then propelled himself high in the air.
Surgit and Karla jumped aside on time to avoid the hunter's plunge attack. As soon as he landed, the hammer exploded, and fire shot out in a wide radius. If Karla and Surgit hadn't jumped far enough, the explosion would have roasted them alive.
Surgit felt something pierce his left leg. His knee gave way and he fell. Pain soared through him. He turned to look at the second hunter. He was holding a rifle with a long barrel. He was aiming at him once more. He summoned all his strength and rolled backwards just in time to avoid a second bullet.
He injected himself with a vial, whilst keeping an eye on the sniper. "I fucking hate snipers!" he screamed as he watched his wound close and reject the bullet.
Karla was engaged in a fierce exchange with the other hunter. She dodged and danced around his attacks, but the hammer had a longer reach than her Saif. She tried to get closer, only to be blocked by one of the sniper's bullets.
"Do something about that fucker!" Karla screamed at Surgit as she dodged another hammer swing. Fire whooshed above her head, and she smelled her hair burning.
She jumped back and frantically put the fire out. The other hunter approached her with a wide grin on his face. He struck a match against the hammer's head and fire ignited once more. Karla cursed as she heard another shot. She jumped aside, dodging the bullet by the skin of her teeth.
She looked up, and the other hunter had already jumped toward her. He was holding his hammer upwards, grinning as he quickly descended on her. Karla saw a gray flash, then the hunter was no more. She heard a loud crash beyond the bridge. When she looked back, she saw the hunter sliding down the giant marble obelisk.
Surgit had thrown his Kirkhammer at the hunter using his Arcane. He looked exhausted when Karla turned his way. He smiled, however, then screamed. "Let's make that fucker pay!"
The sniper immediately discarded his rifle and drew a dented club. "If that thing transforms..." she warned Surgit. "Beware its reach."
Sure enough, the hunter transformed his club. Surgit was in awe as he witnessed the transformation. From a serrated club, the weapon transformed into a long chain. Chunks of the serrated club were attached to each other using heavy chains. They rattled as the hunter swung it toward Surgit.
He heard a loud "Whoosh!" as the weapon grazed his head. With the corner of his eyes, Surgit saw Karla jump over the extended weapon then kept running forward. The hunter brought the weapon back to him and slammed its head against the floor. Karla was two steps away from him then.
The hunter immediately changed stances and swung his club with all his might. Surgit whipped his gun and shot the hunter, staggering him right before his attack connected.
"Go on, liberate the beast inside you," Surgit urged Karla.
The woman stared at the staggered hunter. She looked troubled, but the voices inside her head only intensified. She tried to shut them off, but they wouldn't obey her anymore. Before them stood a weak hunter, begging for a visceral.
"Bless us with blood! Bless us with blood! Bless us with blood!"
Karla felt her arm twitch, and her mouth watered. Her pupils dilated, and she could no longer resist the urge. She could smell fear in the hunter. She could taste his blood already. She didn't notice when her arm had taken that grotesque shape. Nor did she notice when she plunged her claws deep within the hunter's chest.
Blood showered her, and the voices in her mind rejoiced. The hunter's blood fell into her mouth, and she felt exhilarated. She threw her head backwards and howled at the air, at the moon and at the stars. Surgit roared in laughter and started howling in turn.
When they were done, both hunters were on their backs, laughing hysterically.
"What have we become?" Karla asked after the hysteria subsided.
"We've become stronger," Surgit replied. "Isn't it why we came here? Why we braved the seas and defied all logic?"
Karla looked thoughtful. "I still get the feeling there is more to this than meets the eye," she said.
"Or the eyes," Surgit suggested. "Willem, Laurence's master, I saw him in a vision."
Karla jumped at the hunter and held him by the collar. "Where?" she asked, frantic.
"A-a skull," Surgit answered, confused. "In the Great Cathedral, what's wrong with you all of a sudden?"
Karla let go of Surgit. "It's that name," she said, crestfallen. "Laurence and Gehrman... They're bad, awful men, both of them."
"Look at this place," Surgit said. "Do you think we'd end up here if we were good people?"
Karla chuckled. She looked away and gave Surgit a warm smile. She'd never looked at him that way. She was grateful, wholeheartedly grateful.
"Maybe we're not," she said. "Let's get that bell lady, shall we?"
Surgit shrugged. "I saw something down there first," he pointed at a spot behind a large boulder. "My insight told me there's an item there."
They reached the boulder and peeked behind. The ground curved near the cliff. It was steep slope, and Surgit would have to go down if he needed to get the item.
"Look at this," Karla pointed at the slope. Coins of different sizes and colors shone against the sun light. "What do you think this means?"
Surgit shrugged. "Maybe a hunter fell down here," he said. "Some love to collect coins. They must have fell through his pocket."
He went down and Karla followed. They had to tread carefully as the ground was slippery. One misstep and they'd fall toward the stream below. Surgit didn't favor their survival odds.
As they reached the item, they heard something approaching. It sounded as though it had many legs. Surgit and Karla turned just in time to see a spider, standing on its hind legs. It had a face; the face of the man behind the door in lecture room; the face of the man who'd given Surgit the Tonsil Stone.
He laughed like a maniac as he pushed them down the cliff. As Surgit and Karla fell, the spider spoke. "Don't dally you lucky scamps! The gift of the godhead cometh!"