The Hunt Part 2 (Edited)
“Tempest…I…” I wanted to say something, but nothing came out in a complete sentence. I was too overwhelmed by the fact that I struck her.
Tempest wiped her cheek, her eyes glaring daggers into mine.
I definitely made a huge mistake.
“Alright…The hunt isn’t over just yet. I’ll give you one minute to head in that direction, and you better give me a good chase,” she said, gritting her teeth while at the same time drawing her shield out.
I backed away slowly, unsure of what she had in mind, but the way she was preparing herself made me all the more worried for my well being.
“Tempest, that was a mistake…I didn’t mean-”
“I’d start running, Spencer. If you know what’s good for you.” she said, looking at the edge of her sword, and taking a moment to admire its sheen.
I took another step back, not wanting to say something to provoke her.
“Tempest, please. I didn’t mean to do that. I never once would have…”
“You’ve got thirty seconds,” she interjected, and watching me like a hawk. “If you want to waste your precious time trying to convince me why I shouldn’t throttle you instead, then you should start running this instant,” she seethed, her legs parting on the ground and taking a running stance to begin her chase.
“Run, little rabbit, run.” she said, as the seconds ticked away.
Reluctantly, I had a mind to agree with her on this. I hastily nodded my head and gave her a friendly wave to the predator that was going to hunt me down.
“Avec plaisir,” I said.
I took off running, my exhausted frame already trying to run into overdrive to get away. I was firing on all cylinders to keep my legs moving and to avoid her. My left arm dragged behind me, whipping about in a ragdoll effect as I continued to run. It would have been laughable any other time, but right now I just didn’t care. I just had to escape her before she could do me harm. The sounds of twigs breaking and the pounding of feet was close behind me and I dared look back to see her in the line of trees.
She was gunning for me hard, running at full sprint to catch me, kicking up dirt and grass in the process.
I was a dead man running.
I looked forward, nearly crying out in panic as I attempted to keep the distance between us, but my endurance was not enough to keep myself apace and I was slowly losing steam. I tried my hardest, but I could hear her gaining ground with each passing second. I cast a glance back once more and saw she was closing with me, ready to tackle me at any given moment.
I looked ahead, searching for anything that could help trip her or make her stall her advance. I saw a thick branch up ahead. It looked sturdy enough to buy me a few seconds. Reaching out with my good hand, I grabbed the edge and began to pull it back. I whipped around, seeing her approaching me. She was nearly on me. With the last of my strength, I pulled the branch as far as it would go and I released it, the branch whiplashing back to its original position.
I saw Tempest see this and she raised a hand, but the branch hit dead center, halting her entirely
“I can’t believe that worked!” I shouted in my mind as I took a few steps back.
But my heart fell flat when she pushed the branch away, her hand holding the wood firmly. There was no injury whatsoever on her face. Said face also sneered at me and her brows knitted together as she broke the branch in two. I made an eep like noise and kept going, despite failing to stop her.
“This is getting ridiculous!” I practically shouted out to the world around me, not caring if Tempest had heard me. I doubt she would care.
“Are you done running and laughing like a buffon?!” Tempest called out, and I heard her right behind me.
I looked behind me to catch a glimpse of her, only to see something I did not expect.
Tempest leapt off a fallen log, and using the momentum, flipped over my head. In mid motion, I could see that she was moving with elegant, terrifying beauty that it made me stare in awe for a brief moment before I saw that she landed ten feet in front of me. My first reaction in the space between us was being mighty impressed, and thinking ‘How did she do that?’ within the moment. Although, I panicked when I saw her readying a stance, and I raised my one good arm up to block her.
However, my arm was dangerously low and threatening to make contact right on her bosom.
Not again! NOT AGAIN! I mentally shouted, knowing how our first encounter didn’t end all that well. I winced up, and I just couldn’t slow down. I knew that if my hand touched her breast again I would be in a world of hurt.
Seeing this coming, however, Tempest merely sidestepped my oncoming approach, and I went flying past her. But not before receiving a swift smack on my back, tumbling forward into the ground. I rolled a few feet before my back slammed into a tree, my body hanging upside down. I groaned outwardly from the pain and could only stare at Tempest who merely brushed off her hand.
“You were close there. Expecting a swift beatdown like last time?” she asked.
“Nah, just glad it didn’t repeat itself,” I replied, rolling onto my side as I tried to get back up.
I coughed a little as I sluggishly got back on my feet.
After what felt like an agonizing hour, I got myself to stand once more and was able to focus my attention on Tempest. Yet she remained there, staring at me with those eyes that seemed to bore straight into my skull.
“Aren’t you going to bring me down?” I asked, unsure as to why she was simply standing there.
“I like to play with my prey before I bring them down. Now get back to it,” she said, motioning with her sword to have me run.
Ah that makes much more sense. I thought, knowing how a tigress readies to take down the weakened monkey.
I moved forward, thinking she would let me go past her. But, she started to mirror move me everywhere I moved. Every step to the side or even the slightest of movements, she would get in my way, taunting me in every subtle gesture.
“Really? Still messing with me?” I said, flapping my good arm up in defeat.
“If you went the other way, it might’ve helped,”
“Well fine, didn’t notice I had time to turn around. But I don’t want to make this a hobby of fleeing women,” I explained.
I turned around and took off, but I instantly heard her reply “Mind making it a hobby to duck?”
“What?” I managed to get out.
I looked to what was ahead, but only too late did I notice a low hanging branch coming right at me. My face instantly made contact, and my body was thrown back from the blow. I hit the ground, and my body began to tumble on its left side, rolling down the hill that was at a steep angle. My body ragdolled, sliding and bouncing off of the grass and brush that got in my path, and narrowly avoiding hitting trees down my fall.
The only thing that was missing from this situation was me shouting out ‘As You Wish!’ while tumbling down the hill.
I eventually found myself rolled onto my back, and I was able to catch a glance at the top of the hill where Tempest was waiting up above. At first she remained there, watching me continue my fall.
But like a predator to its prey, she followed, her feet surfing the grass and slowly gaining speed.
Before I could admire the feat, however, my back hit a rock and I spun again, shouting curses and grunting from the pain. Eventually, my body rolled to an even surface and I rolled onto my back, groaning in pain as I remained still. My whole body was sore and I had no feeling in my left arm or back. My hearing was good at least, because I heard Tempest sliding to a halt several feet away.
I took a gulp of air, which I found was surprisingly fresh compared to the closed air I had moments before. I breathed slowly, taking in what was around me. My mind was becoming clear. My arms stayed at my side, and I remained still while I heard Tempest approaching me. I didn’t care if I got caught, I was just glad to breathe air that was better than before. Everything seemed to be lessened. I wasn’t feeling as closed in as I was before.
I could even see the sky through the tree line.
“I’d give you points for style on that landing, if I wasn't chasing you,” Tempest said, her body coming into view. I took notice that her breathing was heavy but controlled, clearly not showing that she broke a sweat from our chase.
Well, more of a hunt than a chase.
“That’s too bad…” I paused for a breath as I turned to look at her. “I thought I would get an A plus for effort on the fall,” I replied, thinking of the posible bones I might have broken from the descent.
Tempest lowered herself until she was on one of her knees, her body hovering over mine while she kept her gaze on me.
“Well, you did land on your flank, so that counts,” she explained as she grabbed the hem of my shirt and slowly lifted me up off the ground.
I was nearly face to face with her, my head slightly sluggish from the manticore poison and the immersion I had in my freefall. She breathed through her nose in annoyance, and she once again had that same stoic look on her countenance.
Despite how menacing she looked, I was still captivated by her opal eyes. However, the fact that she caught me was something that my emotions got ahold of.
“But still,” she continued, “it doesn't excuse the fact tha-”
“Go ahead.” I responded with saddened submission.
My response seemed to cause her expression to change from menacing to puzzled.
“What?” She said.
“I said ‘go ahead’,” I repeated, “Do whatever you want with me. Punch me in the face. Throw me to the ground. I don’t care anymore. It’s all you ever seem to do with me anyway, treat me as a punching bag instead of a living being. Just...make it quick.”
And with the last word said, I closed my eyes, ready for whatever punishment Tempest was going to give me. A tear dripped down my eyes, and I clenched my fists while being ready. It seemed as if minutes were going by already, but I didn’t care how long this was going to take.
Imagine my surprise when I felt my feet touch the ground.
I opened my eyes and found that Tempest had put me down, before letting go of my shirt. I saw her rubbing her arm, as well as looking from me to the side for a bit with a look of surprising guilt.
“Spencer…” she suddenly said, “I’m sorry. I should’ve remem-”
*Snap*
A twig snapped loudly nearby. I noticed Tempest’s eyes scan to the right. Unexpectedly, she quickly moved forward to me, before using her arm to pull me closer to her.
“Stay close to me,” she ordered.
I did as she said, also not having a choice in the matter, because she wrapped one of her arms across the front of my shoulder area. The palm of her hand seemed to really hold to the shoulder it touched and I could feel her arm press onto me in a protective sort of way. The back of my head had even touched her chest to where I felt really pressed against it. The protectiveness she was displaying and her touch felt so...comforting.
She slowly turned around, lowering into a defensive stance while holding me, and ready to take on whatever was out there. I managed to turn my head and see into the brush nearby. I spotted something large move and I feared the manticore had returned. However, the creature, or whatever it was, was moving through the brush at a slow, lumbering pace. Tempest took several paces forward, her sword at the ready for anything, and still holding me close to her. Her shield was nearby on the ground, as she had apparently disregarded it in favor of unexpectedly trying to keep me safe.
“Come out, beast. I know you're there,” she said, but it sounded more like a hushed whisper.
A deep growl came from within the forest, and a sudden chill crawled up my spine, making me want to lean into Tempest more for comfort as I gave off a meek chuckle, although I feared she would just pulverize me if I did. That is, until she protectively pressed me further into her, where it felt like the back of my head was practically digging into her chest.. A deep huffing noise came after and repeated several times, the figure turning its attention on her and her alone. A pair of unfriendly, beady eyes appeared, and the creature came into view.
It was a large grizzly bear.
Of all the things I was expecting to encounter in this magical land, a plain old bear was not on that list.
I imagined that Tempest would have an easy time dealing with a simple bear. In fact, she would more than likely beat the bear, skin it, and use it for a giant rug. And also to have me clean it every now and then. I turned to Tempest, expecting to go full out on the bear without any mercy. The manticore was easily dealt with ease, a grizzly should be no problem for Tempest.
However, she did not move from her spot in the slightest.
In fact, I noticed her body was trembling, and I could feel vibrations from her against my body and from her hold on me.
“Tempest?” I called her name, hoping she would hear me.
Yet, despite my call, she refused to answer. The only reply I got was her hand and arm slowly dropping from me, and I could swear I felt her hand unwittingly brush against my right hand. She gripped her sword tightly and I noticed that her knuckles were turning white from the grip.
“No…no. Not again…not again,” she said in a hushed whisper, her eyes were wide with shock and her once steady breathing coming out in shudders.
The grizzly bear huffed and gruffed, swiping a claw onto the ground and sniffing the air around him. I remained deathly still, unsure of what the bear would do. I watched its beady eyes turn tous, a deep growl coming out of its maw. The bear then lifted itself onto its haunches, standing what I guessed to be almost ten feet in staggering height. The bear let out a roar that was long and loud, and my body shook from its bellow. Tempest’s sword then dropped out of her hands, and her body remained still as ever.
“He’s going to kill me! He’s going to kill me!” Tempest said, her body quivering.
“Tempest! Snap out of it!” I called out, but once again I was ignored. She looked to be in a state of shock. I managed to sit upright but my left arm was still dead. I looked to Tempest once more, hoping for some small sign that she was responsive, but her focus was solely on the bear itself. I looked down to the sword and shield that was by her feet and wondered if the bear could be scared off.
I didn’t pay much attention to those nature documentaries, but it was worth a shot if we wanted to get out of this alive.
I slowly crouched my way to Tempest’s feet, the sword my prize. The plan was to grab the sword and smack it against the shield, with the hope that there would be enough noise to spook the bear. My movement did not go unnoticed. The grizzly bear eyed my snail-like pace and huffed out in clear vexation. It roared once more, its massive body looming over us before landing on the ground with a mighty thud. The bear charged, its rumbling body quickly shortening the distance between us. My focus on the sword was imperative, and I quickly went and grabbed it with my right hand. My eyes focused on the shield, seeing it on its back. I cursed as I fumbled getting the shield off the ground. The bear was seconds away, its body coming like a giant wrecking ball. I managed to flip the shield over and onto its front side, and I looked to see the bear was almost upon us. I let out a scream of defiance and smacked the blade’s edge onto the shield, creating a loud clang from the impact.
The bear halted its charge and staggered back from the noise.
“Hey! HEY! Go away!” I shouted out, repeating myself while smacking the sword against the shield.
The noise reverberated around me as I continued to strike the sword against the shield, making it as loud as possible for the bear to get the message. The tiny ears on its head folded back and it shook its head from the noise. I kept at it as long as I could, clanging and banging the shield as loudly as possible. My heart was like a drum pounding in my chest. I was too scared to do anything but create such a racket that the bear would be forced to leave. I continued to shout, curse, and bellow the best war cry I could, in an effort to get the bear to go away.
I’m not sure what god was watching over us, but after another few tense moments, the bear reared up and took off into the woods.
Even after it was gone I still continued to smash the sword into the shield, hoping that my continued racket would not only keep the bear away, but deter any other animal from getting close to us.
After about a minute of pounding the shield, and my arm becoming sore from the workout, I stopped all together and breathed out in exhaustion. I shuddered and felt the need to collapse then and have sleep overtake me. I looked down to the shield, seeing noticeable dents in its frame, while the sword looked like it had a few chips here and there. I was probably going to be berated for using the sword in such a way, but it was the least of my worries at the moment.
I cast a glance up to Tempest, wondering if she had snapped out of her stupor. When I looked upon her, she was as still as a rock, her eyes, the size of pinpricks, were the only things quivering in place. I shakily stood up and tried to see if Tempest was responsive in any way. Even while standing in front of her, she was still shell shocked, not even regarding me in the slightest.
“Tempest?” I asked, my hand reaching for hers in an attempt to get her to snap out of it. I held her right hand with my left, her fingers curling into my own.
“Tempest?” I spoke again, my face right in front of her own.
Once again, I stared into those opal eyes of hers and wondered what was going through her mind. I felt a small reaction out of her right hand, and its grip tightened somewhat in mine. Tempest blinked and her eyes slowly returned to normal, almost as if she came out of a dream. She then stared at me as if for the first time, and her breathing seemed to return to normal the longer she looked at me.
“Spencer?” she almost whispered, her voice was shuddering slightly from the experience.
Strangely enough, she didn't say anything else. I thought this little moment was peaceful.
I saw her eyes become directed towards our hands holding each other, obviously finding that she was feeling something warm. Her look became one of shock upon finding my hand holding hers, especially with how tightly held they were.
“Oh! Um…” I said with realization, slowly and gently unfurling my hand from hers in nervousness while blushing.
She let go of my hand in return, clearing her throat and blushing slightly as if she felt nervous like I was.
Even after that, though, and despite how nervous each of us felt, we stared at one another. I just couldn’t stop looking at her and her eyes for some reason. I wasn’t sure why Tempest was staring at me, that’s for sure. But, it seemed like there was something about me that caught her attention in return.
“Lieutenant!”
“Are you here?!”
The moment was ruined when two familiar voices came out of the trees, and I turned my head to see who could be coming.
Before I could turn my head back to Tempest, I was shoved back, the initial pushback forcing me violently to the ground. I groaned outwardly, and while on my back, I could see both Flint and Tinder rushing out of the trees. Both were carrying what appeared to be miniature cannons.
Those two have so much free time it's insane.
“Lieutenant! Are you alright?!” Flint was the first to speak.
“We did exactly as you ordered and came to find you after thirty minutes time.” Tinder spoke next, hefting the large cannon in his hand, which looked quite an awful lot like a larger version of a blunderbuss the more I looked at it.
“I’m fine. We ran into some trouble with the wildlife, but they were scared off,” Tempest said in the calmest voice possible, but there was a hint of apprehension that still remained.
“Awww…I wanted to try out our little boom booms,” Flint said, as Tinder lifted a hand onto his friend's shoulder.
“It’s okay, boom booms can get a chance to go Boom another time,” he explained.
I couldn’t help but repress a chuckle at the names, reminding me all too much of one of my young nieces accidently going in her diaper and calling out ‘I went boom boom.’
Probably one of the funniest moments I had ever seen in my life.
“I need one of you to take Spencer back to camp. He is injured and his wounds need to be attended to.”
“On it!” the two said in unison, and Flint, though it may have been Tinder because of how out of it I was, came toward me and lifted me up onto his shoulder.
I hung over his shoulder like a prized buck and the two began heading back to camp. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tempest gather her gear and start walking alongside us. She was silent during our short journey and I couldn’t help but wonder what she was going through.
Wanting to get my mind off things, I asked a question to Flint and Tinder.
“How did you two find us so quickly and not get lost out here?” I asked and I heard Flint perk up.
“Well that is simple, the collar around your neck has a tracker in it.” he explained.
“Indeed, the tracker keeps close contact with the camp, so any user wearing it will be guided back to the camp, no matter how far they try to escape.”
I groaned internally over that remark. Knowing that I was not going in circles, rather, the collar was keeping in check and had me go out a certain range like an electric dog fence.
I’d been going in circles for nothing.
“It’s a good thing we found you when we did,” Tinder continued.
“Yeah...if you didn’t have the collar, we would have been lost and got up into each others faces over where to go.” Flint explained.
“Why would you two get lost?” I yawned, trying to continue before my body gave into exhaustion.
“Well, you see, we went into these woods to hunt some game. And yet the further we went, the more the air started to close in on us.”
“It was not natural,” Tinder added to his partner, “We got irritable, started arguing, and even fought with each other over where the game is.”
“When we eventually returned to camp, our minds were clear and we both were perplexed about the whole deal.” Flint finished.
I pondered over his words. My mind had been rather unfocused and I had thought of things I shouldn’t have. I even went so far as to try and put the blame on Tempest when she was close by. It looked like she was also experiencing some of it the longer she stayed in the woods. I shuddered to imagine if we had stayed any longer than necessary imagined what else would have happened to us.
There was a great mystery in these woods, and not even magic could solve or comprehend it.
After another ten minutes or so, the four of us were out of the woods and heading towards the camp. The light of the sun seemed to be low in the sky. I yawned again, my worn body already wanting to go to sleep. I cast a sideways glance to Tempest, who continued to hold the sword and shield in her hands. However, she looked rather downcast, and her mood remained the same ever since we got out of the Everfree. I wanted to say something to gauge her attention but couldn’t find the right words to speak to her.
Before I could say anything, I heard a low humming sound coming from up above. Both Flint and Tinder stopped in their tracks to look up, the movement causing my head to hang upside down uncomfortably, and causing my depraved mind to feel loopy. It was possible that my flight from Tempest had taken more out of me than I realized, or the numbing paralysis of the manticore stinger acted as a sedative.
Either way, I was probably moments away from just wanting to sleep the rest of the night away.
“Ah, it’s her!” Tinder spoke in enthusiasm.
“I hope we can get more materials for our new models.” Flint added.
“You can treat with her later, right now our prisoner is our top priority,” Tempest spoke in a rather annoyed tone.
I managed to tilt my head to the side. I was able to see a large ship that was coming port side, and spotted that it had a giant blimp at the top that kept the ship afloat while the bottom half resembled an actual ship at sea. The top of the blimp had a headpiece that resembled a bird of some sort, but instead of that, it resembled something I couldn’t quite put a finger on. From what I could tell, there were a few figures moving about on the ship, and from the looks of things, they were wearing very different attire than all the black that the Storm King’s armies would normally wear.
Some were even wearing hats.
On the edge of the ramparts of the ship, I caught sight of a strange looking figure with a large hat and a single earring over a wing. She had a sword in one hand and a pegleg that resembled a crystal. Before I could pass out from the amount of toxins and exhaustion ravaging my body, I got a glimpse of her face and couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Heh…that's funny. A parrot looking like a pirate. Now I’ve... seen… everything,” was all I could mutter and slur out of my mouth before everything turned to black and the dream world took me.
As sleep took me, I felt something soft and warm touch my cheek. I couldn’t tell what it was, but it felt like someone was caressing me. Slumber took me before I had the strength to peek at who it was.
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.... Isn't this actually in first-person perspective?
9508253
Your right. I never even noticed. Made the change.
Great Job Broman On Part Two Of The Hunt.
Keep Up The Great Work My Brother.
Yep, he's dead.
I never really figured out what sort of creatures Flint and Tinder are. What are they?
9508263
Awesome!!!
Well that went better than expected. 😐😂😅
ok, great chapter.
Did she just spread his ass with those spaces?
I regret nothing...
9508270
The story is amazing so far hope for alot more.
Still just as fun to read and still a great story to read, i'd totally recommend this to others!
9508342
They are the Storm creatures from the Storm Kings army. Hope that helps.
9508361
9511900
9508367
Thank you so much. I'm glad your liking how this is going. More interesting things will be coming out in future chapters.