Stephanie groggily sat up as she rubbed her eyes. Looking around her, she found herself tucked into a bed with Hunter laying on top of the sheets beside her. [T-this immortal pervert! He took advantage of me last night?!... But doesn't that mean he has to take responsibility for me now? Plus he isn't that bad and he helped me get stronger so I guess this is okay... What the hell am I thinking?!] Stephanie blushed and began furiously shaking her head, trying to dispel the thoughts in her head.
Calming herself down just enough, Stephanie looked over and studied Hunter as he slept. [I didn't realize immortals needed to sleep as well. Wait, what if he doesn't need to sleep and is actually pretending! I should check...just to make sure.] She blushed again as she raised her hand and brushed some of his hair out of his face. Seeing his eyes closed and hearing that his breathing was still even she began to study him more intently, getting closer and touching more of his face as she felt his soft yet firm skin, and the sturdy jaw that drew much of her attention.
[I wonder what it would feel like to be held in his arms.] Stephanie looked towards his chest and arms, contemplating on if she should look or not. [I'll only have a feel.] Her face became scarlet as she slowly reached forward, hoping that she could get his arms wrapped around her without waking him up.
In a flash she felt Hunter's arms around her, pulling her in close and wrapping her in his warmth. Her eyes widened as she heard him chuckle. "I didn't expect you to get so handsy, especially this early in the morning."
She blushed and began pushing against his chest trying to get out of his grasp. "Let go of me you pervert. What did you do to me last night, and why where you sleeping in the same bed as me?!" She began shouting, causing a ruckus that could be heard throughout the building.
She glared at Hunter, her face red in both embarrassment and anger as she continued to shout and struggle. As she watched, she saw Hunter smirk before leaning in closely, using one of his hands to grab her chin and keep her head still. The next instant she felt his lips touching hers, she felt the softness of his skin and the wetness of his saliva on them. She froze, shock spreading across her mind as her lips molded to match his.
She pulled away, severely blushing as she looked at him. She quickly got out of his grasp and jumped off the bed, running for the closet and hiding in it. Hunter blankly touched his lips, realizing that he had just kissed Stephanie. [Well shit, and here I thought it was nice to tease her but not actually do anything with it since our paths are most likely going in different directions.]
In the closet Stephanie held her face as her blush continued, trying to make sense of what happened between each other. [Does he like me or is this him just teasing me more?! Wait do I like him? Why do I feel so confused?!]
Hunter rolled off the bed and began walking towards the hallway. As he passed the closet he rapped the door lightly. "I'm going to head downstairs. Come down after you've changed so you can get some breakfast. Also.... can you consider not taking part in this fight?"
Stephanie looked up, hearing Hunter's request and then listening to him leave the room. [He's worried about my safety even though yesterday he was helping me get stronger. So I guess he really does like me.] She smiled to herself before getting up and getting ready for the day.
Hunter walked down the steps and into the dining room where most of the adventurers where gathered, eating a hardy breakfast as if it were their last meal. Alexi looked over and began laughing, causing the other adventurers to look over and either smile or chuckle as well.
Hunter nodded to them before he walked over and grabbed himself some food, dishing up quickly and scarfing it down even faster. After he finished he patted Spartacus on the shoulder, who nodded back at him, and then walked out of the building.
Hunter looked at the tower that stood beside the tavern, seeing Orion perched at the top with his bow drawn while he scanned the horizon, looking for signs of the Feniri. Hunter took off running past Ian at the edge of the village and began exploring the forest, leaving scent traces to try and confuse the Feniri once they arrived. He returned to the village where he spent the time talking with the other adventurers, and teasing Stephanie of course.
Now that the sun reached it's zenith, everyone had become tensed, waiting for the Feniri to finally arrive. Hunter, finishing his harassment on Stephanie, puller her into his arms and asked her, "So will you sit out on this fight like I asked?"
She glared at him before responding. "No, first of all you guys all need my help with the hail storm, secondly you promised that I would get to kill the filth that killed my Master, and thirdly I can't stand the idea of being safe while you are in harms way." She blushed an apple red as she glared at Hunter, her eyes making contact with his and egging him to argue.
With a sigh and a shake of his head, Hunter finally smiled at her before quickly leaning in and pecking her lips. He jumped away with a laugh, and as Stephanie finally reacted, he picked her up and leaped upwards. In this leap he scaled the watch tower, causing the other adventurers to be shocked by this ability, and set Stephanie at the top of the tower next to Orion. "Cast your spells from here than, out of harms way. Please." He whispered before leaping back down to the ground.
Hunter looked at Spartacus and Ian, "They're close." The two nodded and went to the Northern side of the village while Alexi lead the other adventurers to hide amongst the buildings. Hunter put his blindfold back on, covering both his eyes and the top of his nose. Ian rotated his arms and stretched as he picked up his sword. Spartacus tightened his shield straps, making sure it was secured while he also focused in his mind's eye the new storm spells he had learned.
As the three watched, dozens of Feniri came rushing out of the forest. In droves, they ran in a frenzied state towards the village and the adventurers. Finally coming out of the woods, at the back of the pack, the alpha Feniri, with its pitch black fur and glowing red eyes, sat down to watch it's subordinates kill the humans.
"There's so many of them." Ian looked at the rushing hoard, wariness apparent on his face.
Spartacus chuckled as he rested his hand on his shoulder. "We are immortal beings, already we have the natural advantage against these mortal beasts." Ian nodded as he donned his helmet and picked up his shield.
"Forward!" Spartacus raised his shield and charged, leveling his spear on the shield's rim at opportune height to kill a Feniri. Ian ran forward as well raising his sword as he let loose a battle cry.
Hunter looked at the two and shook his head with a smirk. As he drew his bow and notched an arrow, the temperature began to fall while the sky darkened as dark clouds gathered. *Whizz* Three arrows flew over Hunter's head, all three penetrating a separate Feniri in the eye, killing them instantly. He looked back to the tower and saw Orion notching another two arrows as he aimed at a group of Feniri that were clumped together. Hunter looked back to the Feniri, finding that Ian and Spartacus had both felled one each, but still more rushed forward.
About twenty of the Feniri surrounded Ian and Spartacus, forcing them back to back. A couple chased Hunter while the rest ran for the village, aiming towards the tower where Orion was releasing his next volley. Finally, with a loud clap of thunder, hail began to fall from the sky. They started off small, but grew to the size of a baseball in a matter of minutes.
Hunter flitted between the Feniri, releasing his arrows into an eye on each wolf he passed, killing them instantly. As he turned his sights on the alpha Feniri and it's five most trusted subordinates, the wind began to pick up causing an extreme chill to permeate through the air, sending shivers up the spine. He looked back seeing Orion felling a few more Feniri with well placed shots while others began getting trapped in the freeze arrays or the pit fall traps.
The melee adventures rushed out, many of them focusing on the Feniri that had their feet frozen to the ground in the arrays while a couple went to release rubble onto the ones trapped in the pits. The Feniri that encircled Ian and Spartacus were also being slain, especially since Spartacus had activated a thread of his Divinity which allowed him to shoot lightning from his spear. The lightning created by his Divinity was so strong that it penetrated the Feniri's fur and turned their bodies into ash, leaving only the Feral Cores behind.
As for Ian, he had dropped his shield and switched to boxing the beasts. Thanks to his increased body resistance none of his bones could be broken by the Feniri's brute strength, and his sentinel armor, made from the best common mortal metals, couldn't be dented. With his divine strength he was able to punch left and right, breaking jaws, skulls, ribs, and forelegs, leaving the Feniri in crippled states and defenseless.
Hunter recalled an international boxer that was also named Ian and from Britain. This professional had won the championship belt for five years straight and Hunter had watched many of his fights in excitement. Looking back at Ian's pose and the way he struck, Hunter realized that both Ian's were the same person. He smirked as he shook his head.
Rushing forward he notched two arrows, raised his bow and released them, killing two of the subordinate Feniri on the spot. The other three rushed forward, and as they did the temperature in the storm dropped drastically, so fast that it caused an instant freeze on everything. The adventures had all been equipped with a heat stone, allowing them to remain immune to the spell, but all the regular Feniri froze on the spot.
Seeing it's entire pack slaughtered like it was nothing, the alpha Feniri flew into a fit of rage, rushing forward and past Hunter. [Since these three humans are out here holding off my brethren, than that means there are weaker ones behind them!] The alpha ran past Spartacus and Ian who were both taking a second to catch their breath now that all the Feniri were dead.
The three boys looked in shock as the alpha ran straight into the village, attacking the adventurers left and right. The adventurers scattered running in separate directions, trying to escape the ravaging beast. Orion leaped down from the tower, putting his bow away and drawing his sword.
The three boys took off, catching up to the alpha and began fighting it. As teeth grated armor, fists and swords got tangled in fur, the alpha began toppling buildings to try and slow the four boys down as they decimated it's body. Hunter had put his bow away and was fighting just like Ian, with his fists. Bloody, and with many broken bones, the Feniri finally gave his dying breath, lunging forward and crashing into the tower in hopes of crushing the boys with it.
The boys looked up in shock as they heard a high shriek and the clouds in the sky cleared away. As the tower collapsed they saw Stephanie flip over the railing and begin falling as the tower collapsed. Worry and anxiety gripped Hunter's heart as he watched Stephanie fall. Time seemed to slow down as he quickly tried to think of a way on saving her.
[If I catch her at the bottom, the velocity of her fall may still cause her extreme injuries or even death. If I try and scale the side of the tower, that will only set it to either fall even more or in the opposite direction where many of the people have probably gathered. I can't lose her though, what do I do?!] He closed his eyes as he squeezed his fists in anger, unable to accept how weak he was. [Damn it! I wasn't strong enough to protect her!]
With a loud clap and a high shriek, all became silent.