The group soared over the ruins, looking at all the rubble and finding many spots of dried blood, but no bodies. Landing at what used to be the center of the village, Hunter gently swung Stephanie's legs down, setting her on the ground while he wrapped his arm around her waist to support her should she collapse in grief. Stephanie smiled as she leaned her head on Hunter's, thankful for both the emotional and physical strength he was giving her. [I will definitely commit myself to this man. No one else will ever take my heart!]
They walked through the ruins, finding a few intact skeletons of people who had been crushed by the debris, but still no sign of Abelard's body. Hunter let go of Stephanie's hand as he closed his eyes and took in a deep long breath through his nose, using the remaining scents to create a mental image of what happened in his mind.
With a frown he opened them and looked at the other two. "It appears there were more Feniri than the one's we dealt with."
Worry appeared on Stephanie's face while Spartacus also scowled as he looked around the ruins. "How many?"
"This pack had thirty of 'em, Abelard killed two and most of the others were injured. The alpha of this pack is the one that killed Abelard. If I'm not wrong, they were passing through to meet up with the pack we slaughtered earlier, but since they were seriously injured they were forced to find a place to lay low and heal. This delayed them from meeting with the bigger pack. I should be able to pick up their trail from here, and you and I should be good to deal with them, eldest brother."
Spartacus nodded as he cast an ENHANCED CINDER on to the corpses. He glanced at Stephanie and said with some dejection, "We don't have time to give them all proper burials, so I'll let their ashes go where they wish." She nodded in response before looking at Hunter, with eyes full of determination.
"You're taking me with you. You promised that I would get to kill the one that killed my master." She glared between the two, lightning dancing in her eyes. Hunter and Spartacus both turned and looked at each other with a surprised smile. Hunter looked back at her and said, "You can come with us, but you have to do as I tell you. I promised that you would get to kill the alpha and I intend to keep my promise, but I can't set aside my attention on watching you while also fighting myself." Stephanie nodded with a glare, hinting that if he didn't keep his word that he would be the one suffering and that he shouldn't treat her as a weak village girl. She was a level four storm mage for crying out loud, trained by a member of the Stormbreaker family themselves.
Spartacus chuckled as he glanced between the two. "Didn't think you were into feisty girls, brother." He softly said as he chuckled more, causing Stephanie to blush but angrily glare at him in turn.
"Of course, why wouldn't I? You know how boring it would get if she was complacent and had no will of her own? Since she's got spunk, that means an eternity with her will never be boring." Hunter smiled merrily as he scooped Stephanie up into a bridal carry as his wings spread outwards getting ready to fly. Stephanie blushed and glared at him, but her eyes showed a happy gleam in them as she lightly punched Hunter in the chest; unwilling to actually try and hurt him while at the same time not wanting to look too complacent as he said.
He chuckled as he lowered his head next to her ear and whispered, "You know you don't have to be stubborn all the time. There are definitely times, like now, that you can be complacent if you truly enjoy it." His whisper tickled her ear, causing her to blush and laugh as she tried to get him to stop. In her attempt to escape his breath she flung her head up, forgetting that he was right there. *Smack*
Everyone's eyes widened as Stephanie's attempt to escape had lead her to planting a full kiss on Hunter's lips. Spartacus began laughing like crazy while shock and embarrassment circulated in both Stephanie and Hunter's minds. She quickly tried to pull away, but Hunter was quicker; grabbing the back of her head, he gently held her there for a short while before letting her lean away to breathe.
By now Stephanie's face was tomato red and she was unwilling to look either Hunter or Spartacus in the eye. Looking at Hunter out of the corner of her eye, she saw his expression as that of heavenly bliss. She blushed even more as she looked away, using her hands to cover her face.
Hunter used his pointer finger to caress her leg as he held her, causing her to angrily glare at him again. Before she could say anything he smiled, stopped, and then spoke. "That was my first kiss too, my lady. You better be willing to take responsibility for it." He winked with a large smile as he looked at her blush even more. "In all seriousness though, kissing you made feel entirely complete. I felt like I could take on the world, so what's it going to be my lady? Are you willing to become my girlfriend?"
Stephanie was blushing so much that even her ears had turned red. Upon hearing Hunter's words slight confusion spanned across her face. "What do you mean by girlfriend?"
Hunter chuckled as he looked at her before answering. "In the world I come from, girlfriend is a title to show that a women is in a relationship with a man. Usually the couple would go on dates like shopping, enjoying the scenery, watching plays, and just being in each other's company. It's a more sophisticated way of a man courting a women, because the entire reason for the relationship is for the couple to see if they not only like each other, but if they are compatible and willing to commit the rest of their lives together."
Stephanie blushed as she looked at Hunter before she nodded her head. Hunter smiled as he squeezed her closer to his chest as he looked up at Spartacus. With a sarcastic eye roll and a grin, he said, "We ready to fly now, or are you two gonna continue getting all sappy?" Before either of them could respond he leaped off the ground, soaring into the sky and then began circling, waiting for Hunter to take off as well.
He looked at Stephanie with a smile plastered on his face. "Ready?"
She nodded as she squeezed her arms, pulling his head closer to hers as she kissed the tip of his chin. "Thank you for helping me get my revenge."
Hunter blushed before he leaped from the ground, flapping his wings as he began going towards the northeast, into the forest.
The party didn't fly long before they reached a rocky landscape that was sparse of trees. Hunter landing softly, gently set Stephanie down as he began looking around them.
"We near their den?" Spartacus landed quietly beside them, his glowing rainbow wings folding together like a bird's as they tucked into his back and disappeared. Hunter folded his wings as well as he leaped from rock to rock, not making a sound.
After a short while they ended up coming to a cluster of boulders over looking a shallow ravine, and in the ravine was a cave that had two healthy looking Feniri sitting guard. Spartacus looked over and nodded before he backed away a couple of yards, waiting for Stephanie and Hunter to come back as well.
"They're all down there. About forty of them, nearly thirty are adults and the rest are pups. However the pups can still cause a problem and if we rush in there, we'll have a confined fighting space, but if we let too many out too quickly they'll out number us." Hunter stated as he kept his senses trained on the pack, making sure they weren't found out.
Stephanie looked between the two, slightly confused. "But aren't you two super strong, to the point that regular Feniri aren't a problem for you?"
Spartacus chuckled as he looked at her. "No matter how powerful you are, there is always three things that can defeat you. Numbers, luck, and experience. If they outnumber you, they have a higher chance of dealing a crippling blow. If your unlucky you could end up dominating in a fight and then have that one little, insignificant, instant or mistake that entirely turns the tables. Finally, you may end up coming across someone who is entirely stronger than you. These are the three most common scenarios where cocky people end up getting killed."
Stephanie raised an eyebrow in confusion before she looked at Hunter. "This sounds like the normal stuff that can get anyone killed."
Shaking his head, Hunter stated, "You're right, however for powerful people it's even rarer for these incidents to occur. So if you aren't cautious and aware, but instead cocky and arrogant, it increases the chances of these occurrence happening."
Stephanie was still unable to grasp how any of these things had a correlation together; however since they were unwilling to rush in, she returned her focus to the main point of how to deal with them.
"Okay, we can kill the guards easy peasy, but the rest will be difficult. We could try collapsing the entire rock face on them if we bait them out." Spartacus spoke as he contemplated on what the three of them could do. "If Hunter and I keep a distraction in the ravine, Stephanie can use a combination of FALLING RAIN, HAIL STORM, and TWISTER WINDS to create a rainstorm strong enough to cause the cliff face to turn into a mud slide. Then Hunter and I will dodge and we can finish off any of the Feniri that survive."
Hunter nodded as he looked at Stephanie. Seeing the hesitation in her eyes, he smiled reassuringly at her. "We trust you.... I trust you." Hunter spoke softly as he caressed her cheek, encouraging her while calming down her nerves. She slowly nodded after taking a couple deep breaths.
Hunter and Spartacus quickly moved to position themselves on the other side of the ravine, taking a post above each of the two guards. The two leaped down silently, quickly taking the two Feniri by surprise and killing them before they could alert the others. They then dragged the bodies towards the slope that lead out of the ravine, making sure to preserve it for after the battle. Hunter gave a signal to Stephanie so she could begin casting her magic, leading the clear sunny sky to change to a dreary and cold day.
Spartacus looked at Hunter as they waited. "You felt it too right?"
Hunter nodded as he responded. "Ya, I felt her Divinity fluctuate when she was talking about revenge. Maybe she can become like us through gaining revenge, though if that takes over her entire personality it could make her an evil entity."
Spartacus closed his eyes as he thought of how to change the outcome should that situation occur. As the weather began to worsen and hail began to fall from the sky, Hunter quickly looked at Spartacus. "I'm going in, after I kill a pup or two, they should come rushing out."
"Be quick."
Hunter dashed into the cave, quickly leaping over resting Feniri and bouncing off the walls as he rushed down the tunnel. Coming into the main den and spinning in feisty circles he threw punches shattering all ten of the pups' skulls before he stopped and made a face while sticking out his tongue towards the alpha. As the Feniri began to register his presence, Hunter dashed back down the tunnel and escaped back to the outside.
Stopping next to Spartacus, he smiled as he turned around to look at the cave, crossing his arms as he waited. A minute later the two could hear the Feniri howling in rage as the slaughter of the pups registered, after a short pause Feniri began streaming out from the dark hole into the drenching rain as the storm continued to worsen.
Up on the cliff face, Stephanie saw Hunter and Spartacus begin punching the first of the Feniri, breaking their ribs and their legs as they rushed out of the cave. After a short while a very viscous Feniri rushed out of the cave, however instead of directly attacking the brothers, it circled them, watching as they fought. Deep down, she knew this was the one that had killed her master. Rage boiled in her bloods and as anger flew through her veins the storm intensified, becoming so severe that she feared the winds would lift her from the ground.
As Hunter and Spartacus kept the monsters at bay in the ravine, they both sensed a Divinity fluctuation on the cliff that Stephanie was standing. Next thing they knew, the storm had picked up, going from danger level one to danger level four.
"Damn! Why are storm mages so temperamental?!" Spartacus shouted over the wind, and as his voice faded a bright light and a loud crack of thunder occurred as a lightning bolt struck down from the sky. The lightning hit the cliff face above the cave, causing it to collapse as it turned into a mud slide and came roaring down to swallow the life at the bottom of the ravine.
Seeing this, Hunter and Spartacus sprouted both their wings as they leaped into the air and soared up to where Stephanie was watching. The Feniri tried to run, but they were soon cover in the fast liquid mud; even the alpha disappeared beneath the earth.
Watching the beasts disappear under the mud, Stephanie gave a sigh as her anger abated and the storm calmed down before entirely vanishing in the sky. With a smile, she spun around as she asked, "We won right? I finally avenged you master, you can rest in peace now."
Hunter nodded with a smile as he pulled her into a hug. "Ya we won, and now your master has been properly buried. We'll leave all the Feniri corpses here as a burial gift for him, what do you think?"
A few tears trickled down her face as Stephanie finally set down the burden of avenging her master. "Ya, I think he would like that." She turned around in Hunter's arms and looked at the collapsed ravine. "Today I can truly pick up the mantel you asked me to take. Grandfather I won't let you down."
Hunter squeezed her as she spoke, he then looked over the ravine as well before saying, "Grandfather, I promise to take care of lady Stephanie. I will cherish her all my life, and I will fight alongside her against the cruelty of this world. I wish to say I could protect her, but to do so would mean me locking her up in a city safe from any danger. Since she isn't the type to live like that then I vow that I will fight alongside her so that I can take the harm that comes her way."
Stephanie looked at Hunter. "That doesn't sound really romantic," she grumbled.
"It's not, I'm being serious. If I admit that I want to protect you then I'll only want to lock you up in a comfortable house, but knowing you, you want to see the world and stop this from happening to other people. And so, I will always give you my blades for you to use, and my body will be not only the stone you can lean on, but a shield you can trust to withstand any assualt." He leaned in, kissing her on the lips gently before pulling away. Stephanie blushed, but smiled as she leaned on him.
"Mhmm. You two know I'm still here right?"