Looking to his other side, Cain is playing and toying with the radio. "Maybe I should read the manual." Holding the sword a bit closer, K.J opens up the manual, quickly reading it.
"It doesn't appear complicated on the paper." When the trial by fire comes, things may change for better or worse. PersonallHean on the latter. "If things go south, I can just hack and slash through problems."
With a sudden halt, the truck stops. "We are as close as we can get to the problem. Now, boys, it is time to go hunting." Being the first to get up, Major "Tom" gives the green light for everyone else.
"It was fast." Getting up from the seat, K.J puts the radio on the uniform, like how soldiers do in the movies. "It does work." With that out of the way, he takes the blade out of the bag. Looking at the blade, the vein-like lines of fire glow faintly.
As if it had just woken up from a nap— "Can it feel when there is danger near?" Or when he is willing to use violence or animosity? The soldiers check their gear, armed with rifles, drones, and one or two with laptops, no doubt to guide and see through the drones.
"We will help you guys with suppression and keep the monsters busy. We will keep them busy, you guys kill them." Without further ado, "Tom" explains the summarized plan to them, no doubt only saying the important stuff.
Soldiers carrying the drones and the equipment exit the truck, setting them up, while others follow suit. "Let's go, boys. You are the star of this operation. Show us what you can do." The major exits the truck, with Konrad following after him.
Then Cain exits. "Time to shine, then." Shaking his head, the young man follows after his friend and the soldiers, clenching the sword's handle. Jumping out of the truck, the soldiers are giving the finishing touches to their equipment and the drones.
The drones start to fly, going up in the air. "We will wait for the drones to get images of what the monsters are doing before attacking. We get confirmation of their position, we move to destroy them." Fair and sound reasoning.
His fellow canid friend just shakes his head, crossing his arms and looking at the sky. "This place smells like forest. Don't you think, K.J?" His friend asks a strange question, Forest? Looking around them, there are no forests there, just a few plants here and there, but overall, it has only roads.
Taking a deep breath, a faint and dry smell of wood fills his nostrils. It wasn't strong, but the smell of woods was there… "There isn't a forest anywhere near here. What the fuck?" The soldier looked slightly concerned.
"How can you guys smell "forest" here?" One of the soldiers asked— the one who was there beside him, back in the truck.
"My friend here is a barghest, type of hellhound. I have the power of Skoll, a type of wolf. We… have a strong sense of smell, to say the least." The soldier just nods, while "Tom" looks interested in the answer he gave them.
However, it does not explain why the smell of a forest is there to begin with. "It isn't right…" The drones are flying around. "They did watch me and James back in the city…" They haven't even noticed them in the sky.
Those things are handy. "We found them, Major!" A soldier speaks, with the laptop. "They are just a few hundred meters away from us, five red monsters riding wolves, and three big green ones on wolves."
"The small red freaks are a pain in the ass, but not that bad." The soldiers look at each other, checking their equipment. No doubt about thinking about how to bring down the bigger ones. James was a mountain of man, so it wouldn't be a problem for him to deal with big goblins on wolves.
But Cain and Konrad weren't as tall as him, and his sword would have problems cutting through two bigger targets… "Maybe I can tell their wolves to run? It did work with the wolves back in the city…"
"They are three, I can hold down a bigger one on my own if it doesn't hinder your plans, Major." With the support of the soldiers, it would be easy to bring down a bigger one. It wouldn't be easy, but still in the realm of possibility.
Holding his chin, "Tom" seems to think about the possibility. "While sound, I don't think it is the wisest choice. Say, what about you helping Konrad take their "frontline" down, while your friend hit them from behind? This way, you guys share the load and make it easier for us to help."
Since Konrad has the powers of the nemean lion, it makes sense for him to be their "tank", with himself picking up the enemies while he blocks, but does Cain have the power kit to deal with the backline in time? "Have no problems with it, chief."
Cain answers for him. "If he trusts himself to do it, then I can trust him with the load. Now only Konrad is the crux of the question." The teenage boy closed his eyes to think about it.
"Okay, I can work with that." The boy agrees with the plan of the Major. Then there are no more problems with it. K.J simply nods, silently agreeing with it as well. Nodding back, "Tom" prepares to back his words.
"You guys advance first, following the drones, we will follow right behind you and help deal with the monsters." The drones start to move. The group follows suit, with himself, Cain, and Konrad taking the front, since they will be needed for the first contact against the enemy party.
(...)
Despite their "short" run towards the monster, his heartbeats feel heavy, as sweat starts to drop. "Is this anticipation? Anxiety?" The sword shaking, pulsating as if it was alive… maybe it is all in his head. Looking ahead, the targets presented themselves.
Like the soldiers said, the monster party is right ahead, a few meters apart from each other, scouting the area, and testing grounds. "Those freaks are wiser than I thought." At their initial appearance, one would think they are just bloodthirsty savages, but these types appear to have a mind and strategic thoughts too.
Cain bares his teeth, bone claws growing on his hands again. Bloodlust spreads like wildfire in him as red flames grow out of his body. Lightning starts to crack around Konrad, an excited smile on his lips.
Seeing the wolves, something rang inside his mind, like a gut instinct about the canid beasts. Bringing back a memory of yesterday. "They are both full of bloodlust. Time to test something." Back in the city, wolves ran from him periodically or when he spoke to scare them as if they obeyed him or understood him… Mustering his strength to swallow the shame, K.J screams: "YOU WOLVES, RUN THE FUCK AWAY OR I WILL KILL YOU!"
The wolves carrying the small goblins stop, three wolves turning their tails and running away with despair, with no care for their inhuman riders who desperately hold onto them. Smelling their fear, Cain rushes to them like a bloodhound.
The bigger wolves carrying the big goblins halt, with one of them shaking and throwing the goblin on the ground and running away. The wolves who didn't run stood paralyzed, not doing anything.
Cain jumps on a small wolf, his hand piercing through both the rider and the wolf, its flames burning and withering the corpses of the monsters, who he throws upon the fleeing ones.
Flames spread and burn their corpses, not giving them even time to think or scream. "Dumb wolf, move!" The bigger greens try to make their wolves move but to no avail. A soldier from behind him, probably, shoots at a wolf's eyes, piercing through it.
The wolf falls to the ground with their rider, who just grunts and gets up. Konrad advances on the one still on a wolf. "Alright, this one is mine". Holding the blade with his free hand, K.J advances on the big goblin getting up from his dead wolf.
"You human will pa—" Before it could finish, the young man swung his sword horizontally, aiming at the monster's thick neck. His movements feel slightly slower than before, making him need to hold the blade to help with its alignment and swing.
Despite the crude movements, it proves effective as it cuts through flesh and bone, making the monster's head fall on the ground wordlessly. It raises its massive arm for a last hit, despite having no head.
Taking the sword back, K.J thrusts it upon the monster's chest, piercing through its heart and spine. Its arm falls, losing whatever strength remained in it. The wolf yelps, trying to get up even after a bullet hit its eye. "Why are those things so hard to kill?"
Taking his hand off the sword blade, he swipes it against the wolf's head, carving its skull in and finally killing it. "You humans will pay! WILL PAY!" The monster on the ground screams, getting up.
Moving the sword to the side, he throws the monster's body in the direction of its living comrade, the blade cleaving through the side of its chest. Looking to the side, Konrad had crushed the other wolf's skull, now wrestling down against the other bigger goblin.
"YOOOOU!" Screams the goblin, trying the body of its comrade to the side. Holding the blade again, the young man advances towards it. It wouldn't be easy to cut its head like the other one, and Konrad needs help to take out the other one.
Unceremoniously, he swings the heavy sword. The sword tip hit the monster's belly, splitting it open and dropping its guts on the ground. The creature roars in pain, but he is not done. Swinging the sword back, he hits the creature's knees with full strength, cutting through the first and breaking the second with the impact.
Jumping back, K.J turns back and runs towards Konrad, who is locked in a contest of strength with the monster. "Hey, drop the big freak!" Noticing his voice, Konrad looks straight into his eyes, before dropping the monster's hand and rolling to the side.
"What!?" The creature exclaims, but is too late. Holding the sword like a spear, he throws it at the monster's neck. The blade hits the monster's neck, piercing its neck, lower face, and everything in between, destroying the side of its head with extreme prejudice.
Konrad jumps at the blade, holding it with both hands. "I will shock—" Out of nowhere, he throws himself back, trying to get away from the blade. "Just what is this shit?!"
The monster roars. Readying itself to throw itself against Konrad, to impale him with the blade struck on its neck and lower face. "As if!" Since Konrad's plan failed, it falls on him to finish it—
"This sword wasn't made to be used by cats or the weak, boy." A familiar voice mocks Konrad, Cain's voice. His friend holds the blade's handle, pushing the monster through the sword. "Crash and burn, asshole!"
An inferno of withering flames explodes from the blade, engulfing his friend and the monster. For a single moment, K.J felt his heart beat like crazy, beating with such heaviness one would confuse it for a car engine, heating his blood and making it feel as if it was on fire, forcing him to kneel, the air being blown out of his lungs.
Flames surge from the blade like a hungry beast, the rotting inferno of black flames eats away at the flesh of the goblin, melting it until it becomes a sickly purple slime, while burning Cain's hands with ruthless abandon.
Taking a deep breath, the redhead screams to his friends: "Cain, drop the blade!" Listening to his advice, Cain drops the blade as the fire continues to wither and devour the goblin, feasting on its life.
The creature tries to struggle but with each passing second its strength decays. In a few seconds, the creature no longer moves, its body reduced to melting purple goo, falling on the ground.
"It was quite intense," Cain says, showing his damaged hand, nasty burns on the palms of it. The sword falls to the ground in a loud "thud"… Shaking, K.J rises to his feet, sweat dripping from his forehead.
"Just what was that?" With deep confusion, Konrad asks, getting up. "What is wrong with this sword? It burned my hands! And even guns don't hurt me!" The teenage boy shows his left palm while having a nasty burn, it is not to the same extent as Cain's.
"I said, it doesn't accept weaklings. I am included in that deal too." His fellow canid says in a dry tone. How could his friend know more about this blade than he? How is this even possible?
"Just what freakshow happened here?" From the back line, Major Tom appears, his tone filled with suspicion and cautiousness. He points at the purple goo on the ground and then to Cain. His friend just waves his hands.
"Just a little accident." K.J raises his eyebrows in disbelief, he calls his hands being burned just as a "small accident"? Looking back, the goblins and wolves that tried to run were maimed and torn apart.
"Just what is wrong with the sword?" It was never normal, but to be able to do that… There is something more to it, and Cain has to be aware of the truth, by the way he spoke about it. Looking at "Tom", the major just stays there, dumbfounded.
"That explosion of fire was just a little accident?" They saw— it would be impossible for them to not have seen it. "Does it have something to do with this sword? Why didn't it react when the other soldiers picked it up yesterday?"
Kyrie holds his breath, his tongue knotting itself as words fade. The Major speaks in an accusatory tone, but not directed to him, directed at Cain. They had seen it and probably saw that Cain activated the sword.
This wasn't surprising, surprising is to see the Major's voice filled with actual animosity directed at someone, animosity, and fear. The "barghest" just laughs. "You are no "hound" nor "wolf". I thought I had a shot at it by being a barghest, but I was wrong."
"What does being a hound or a wolf have to do with this sword? Just what are you hiding, Cain?" The changes were more than behavior and personality. Major Anthony stares, not content with the vague answer.
"Explain now, or we will leave you here. We can't afford this level of destruction coming out of nowhere, especially in a base full of civilians." Cain sighs, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants.
"That sword has the power of the Wolf Prince, Skoll. Better saying, the Prince of all Caniformia. Think of this sword as a catalyst to powers. I tried to bite more than I can chew and paid the price."
"The Prince of all Caniformia. So you're saying that this sword has the same power as your friend here and can act to amplify it?" His friend nods, while the Major looks away from the sword and the goo.
"UUmans!" A familiar guttural voice roars from behind them. The big goblin he forgot to kill and just crippled, slowly crawled towards them, its guts spilling over the ground. Time to finish the business before it becomes a problem
Walking towards the sword, he takes it off the ground as disgust creeps over his face due to the purple goo on it. "Just hope I get a weird disease because of it." K.J walks towards the monster, shaking the sword a little to get the goo out.
However, the Major stops him by holding his shoulder. "We will capture that one, for experiments." He says, releasing his shoulder and taking a pistol out of the holster of his uniform.
He shoots the goblin's head multiple times until it stops moving entirely. Despite piercing its skull, there is a chance that it isn't fully dead. "It isn't dead, but will never hurt someone else again."
A vegetable, then. "This day truly has been… eventful to say the least." Or outright fucked. How can, so many things happen in a single day? Some soldiers come with black plastic bags. "Sorry to be a bother, but can you use this sword of yours to chop off its limbs?"
Now he would serve as a butcher… What a day.