Chapter 32 - The Monstrous Knight
In the cold morning, he was awakened.
"Luke!" called a voice in his ear.
He got up, recognizing Anna. The red-haired girl motioned with her finger for him to be quiet.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Anna looked back towards the cave entrance. It was still early, and a few hours ago, it had been Luke's turn to rest after a night of staying awake.
"We heard a noise, and Alice went to check," the girl said.
He got up, conjuring his hammer, noticing that the girl had her bow slung over her back.
"Where is she?" he asked, and they slowly moved out of the cave.
"I don't know, it's been minutes since she went to check and disappeared," Anna replied.
Noticing the worry on her face, he realized she was genuinely concerned.
They left the cave, and strange noises were coming from the forest around them.
"What kind of sound is that?" he asked.
The noise, resembling metal clanking, echoed through the trees.
This little forest is a bit creepy…
Anna moved closer to him and nocked an arrow, ready.
"We need to find Alice," she said.
Luke agreed with her.
The sound of something metallic, like coins rattling, continued to come from somewhere.
They headed into the forest, following the strange noise. Luke had his hammer in hand.
Anna and Luke moved slowly through the forest, taking careful steps without making any other noise.
What could this be?
'Ahh!' a small cry of pain echoed.
They looked at each other and quickened their pace.
When they reached the source of the noise, there was a large creature crushing something on the ground. Blood was splattering everywhere.
"Alice!" Anna said in shock.
The large creature turned towards them.
"Shit…" Luke muttered.
A three-meter-tall knight turned. His face was covered by a helmet, but through the openings in the armor, Luke could see that what was inside wasn't human.
"ARRH!" the knight roared.
"It can't be…" Anna trembled, looking at what the knight had crushed. Whatever it was, it was no longer recognizable.
"Anna!" Luke shouted to get her attention back.
The knight began to take slow steps, raising a giant hammer.
"My hammer!" Luke exclaimed.
In the silver knight's hand was a larger version of Luke's hammer, and in the center of the silver armor was a logo in the shape of a hammer.
The monster stared at Luke's hammer and then looked at him, tilting its head.
Hunters!
Luke remembered the description of the hammer's card mentioning that there were hunters in the area.
The monster continued to walk towards them, its steps slow but making metallic sounds as it moved.
"Die!" Anna screamed, trembling and drawing her bow towards the creature.
The arrow hit the armor but did nothing.
"Anna! You need to calm down and focus your prana!" Luke shouted, pulling the girl.
They started running as the large knight came after them.
How the hell am I supposed to kill this thing? I'm fucked!
Alice! Is she dead?
Luke didn't have time to think. He was running while pulling the girl, who was turning pale.
"Alice…" Anna murmured.
"We need a plan to defeat that thing. Our camp was invaded," Luke said.
The girl looked back with her bow, but as she did, a piece of a tree trunk came flying and hit them both. They fell backward from the impact.
"Shit!" Luke shouted as he hit the ground.
'Thud-thud' the footsteps grew faster.
The knight approached him.
"ARRRH!" it screamed, raising its hammer to strike Luke.
Anna stood up, aimed her bow, and fired a few arrows.
The hammer was close to hitting Luke, but he rolled to the side.
'Bam!' The ground shook from the impact.
He got up and hit the monster with his hammer, but nothing happened.
"Damn armor…"
Luke started to run away while Anna kept firing her arrows. He went to the girl, who was pale and shooting randomly.
"You need to calm down!" he said, trying to get her attention.
"She's dead… she's dead… she's dead…" the girl murmured.
Fuck, she's in shock.
"AAgrh!" the monstrous knight roared.
Luke shook the girl.
"For God's sake! I need help!" he said.
Anna looked at him and nodded.
The two ran back towards the camp.
Fighting in the forest is going to be a nightmare! I need space!
"Alice…"
"Don't panic! We have to deal with that knight."
The girl was nervous, and Luke was trying to come up with many ways to deal with that monster.
My attack power is a hammer, but that guy is armored. I don't have an Aspect to help me use prana to reinforce myself or my weapon. I'm completely screwed!
He tried to think of something, but the scene he saw in his mind was affecting him.
What happened to Alice?
What he had seen was the knight crushing something that was no longer recognizable.
They were running towards the camp.
"AAARGH!" the monster roared as it ran towards them.
The monstrous knight began to run, breaking branches and dragging everything in front of it. The terrifying scene was of a large, bloodstained metal armor approaching.
"Anna!"
The girl turned, preparing her arrow, and Luke felt the invisible energy being stored in the arrow. Anna fired her arrow, hitting the knight's knee, and it fell to the ground.
"It didn't pierce, but it stopped him," the red-haired girl said, running again.
Luke gripped his hammer tightly and ran with her.
Shit! If I had an Aspect, I could do something!
"What do we do? I can't think of anything…" the girl's voice sounded desperate, and he saw her face streaked with tears.
"That might not have been Alice. Don't think like that. If you let those thoughts take over, you're done for—you'll be the one who gets crushed," he said.
The truth was, Luke was also worried, but he couldn't let his emotions take control.
As they ran through the trees, they realized they had taken a longer path while fleeing from the knight.
"In open space, we might be able to do something. Here, we can't do anything. We can barely dodge without hitting a tree," he said.
That monster will have the advantage in open space…
Fuck it! That guy has enough strength to ignore the branches and trees even in the forest.
I need to come up with something fast!
As they reached the camp, the two were taken aback.
"Oh my god…"
In front of them, near the cave entrance, was what looked like a large cat. It was standing on its hind legs like a human. The cat was furry and stood about 2 meters tall. Its fur was a reddish-brown color. As the animal turned, its face bore a smile, but it had no snout. Instead, its face was all teeth, forming a grin without lips or a snout.
'Grrrrrr!' the monstrous bipedal cat glared at them.
The two looked around, and more creatures emerged from the forest.
'GRRRRRR!' growled another creature coming out of the cave.
Behind them, the sound of metal footsteps drew closer as the monstrous knight approached.
"This is bad…" Luke said.
They realized they were surrounded.