Devourer

Chapter 7: The Ambush

Angelina sat on a nearby stump as she let out a sigh. She looked around at the rest of her party as she nervously tapped her feet on the grass below. She didn’t like this contract, it was a contract given especially to them. The price was honestly insane, the reward for completion was 4 platinum coins. Normally tough extermination jobs gave at most 200 gold coins. This sky high price was honestly also a point of concern for Angelina.

Ever since she investigated the attacked wagon a few days ago she had this bad feeling in her gut about this whole thing. The attack site made her skin scrawl, as if her body knew whatever did this is dangerous beyond compare. What's worse is that they just got news that silver ranked adventurer teams have gone missing after searching a mere 500 metres into the forest. Now here she was with her party a good 5 kilometers deep into the forest. 

The reports from the other returning teams were right, this forest was dead. She sensed nothing throughout the entire trip except for the odd bird or two. Usually this forest would have signs of life, wolves howling, bushes rustling as creatures rushed to get out of the way, the roars of distant monsters, but now? Nothing… nothing but the rustling of leaves in the wind...

If they got back safe and sound like this it would be the easiest job of her life. Basically take a 8 kilometer hike and get paid a fortune. Problem is… if something went wrong… this will be the last hike she and friends will ever take…

“I don’t like this.” Angelina muttered.

“Yeah I know what you mean.” Jerri the team’s rogues said as he fidgeted with one of his daggers.

“Whatever that thing is, it's wiped out an entire silver rank team…” Fili, the team’s priest, said shakily.

“Yeah…” Angelina replied with a grimace. 

The ranks of the adventurers signaled a significant increase in power. Gold ranks were nothing like silver ranks. The differing ranks were there to allocate what classes of monsters the adventurers may hunt. Iron ranks can deal with things like wolves and goblins, a gold rank team like the one Angelina was in are allowed to take contracts to deal with some of the most dangerous common monsters. Basilisks, Undead Lichs, Gorgons, Mountain Trolls, Elder Spriggans and many more. 

The higher ranks of Mithril and Hero are extremely rare. The members of those teams are a cut above the rest by a wide margin. Mithril ranked adventurers are also called Dragon Slayers by other adventurers, because only Mithirl ranked adventurers and above are permitted to hunt the powerful draconic creatures.

A silver rank adventurer is small fry as compared to Angelina, but in nature the different ranks are like a pecking order. Angelina may be above a silver rank but what rank is this new monster? If the monster is a mithril or hero class monster then Angelina and her team will get slaughtered…

The worst thing about this current situation is that even if the monster is a gold rank, they don’t know what it can do. A surprise attack is worth ten expected ones, humanoids are squishy weak creatures. One wrong move and you lose a limb… or your head…

The lack of information perhaps was the most pressing problem. It’s difficult to fight a monster you know nothing about, every page in the Adventurer Beastiary is written in blood. Information brought back after dead adventurers gave their lives to recover that information. Humans fight monsters by preparing or knowing what the monster can do. If the adventurers have no idea what the monster can do then the chances of victory drop drastically...

“How long do you think that guy is gonna take?” Gregor grumbled as he continued to scan to the edges of the clearing they were sitting in.

“Duno he’s been gone almost an hour, he said he'll be back by nightfall. Unless that thing gets him first...” Jerri replied.

“That’s not funny…” Fili replied shakily.

“Sorry…” Jerri muttered apologetically.

“We’re a little on edge but let’s try to keep cool.” Gregor said.

This contract was an escort contract, Angelina’s team was supposed to escort this strange man to this clearing. Then wait for him to go somewhere and escort him back. Honestly, this whole thing smelled shady, they had no idea who he is, why he’s here and why it’s so important that the pay is 4 fucking platinum coins…

Then Angelina heard the rustling of bushes…

She shot to her feet and drew her bow, pointing it in the direction of the sound.

“What?” Gregor said as the party all got into battle formation.

“I heard something…” Angelina muttered in reply as she scanned the tree line.

Then she saw the branches shift slightly and again the rustling sound, this time slightly to the left…

“There’s something here…” Angelina said.

“Oh shit…” Jerri said as he raised his daggers.

Then again the sound of the trees rustling this time behind them… Angelina whirled and pointed her bow in the direction of the sound. Then again the bushes rustled again from the front…

“Shit they’re all around us…” Angelina said shakily.

“That Beastarian said there was likely more than one…” Fili replied.

“Yeah a mother and kid.” Gregor said through gritted teeth.

Now the party was back to back each scanning a sector of the tree line. Then Angelina spotted an entire tree shake…

“Shit it’s big… I just saw something bump into a tree…” Angelina said.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” Jerri said, his voice going up a pitch.

“Calm down… it might not even be that new monster…” Gregor said, trying to keep anyone calm.

Angelina then suddenly spotted something big and white in the trees. The monster stilled for a moment then charged out of the trees. 

“IT'S CHARGING!” Gregor said as the party all turned to face the charging beast. 

Angelina drew her bow and took in the sight of this terrifying beast. It was completely white, with a domed head, no eyes or nostrils, just a smooth surface. It’s mouth was a gnashing maw of serrated teeth. From it’s shoulder protruded spines which Angelina recognised as the same spines that were found at the attack site. It’s lower half was that of a serpent and it’s torso was vaguely humanoid, with four arms, the upper two which happened to be the larger arms were tipped with blades. The worst part is perhaps the fact that it’s almost three and a half metres tall, with jaws that look like they can swallow a man whole.

[Seeking Shot] Angelina intoned and a glowing blue arrow shot out that began homing in on the beast.

The beast slithered to the side and ducked downwards at an angle, the arrow flying over its body. [Seeking Shot] always prioritizes the centre of mass which means the arrow came down on the beast at an angle giving it an easy way to dodge.

[Rune Cage] Morgs the mage said and two blue magic circles appeared above and below the beast binding it with magic.

The beast roared and with a twist of its body it tore free from the spell.

[Conflagration] Morgs cried as a rune appeared below the beast, unfortunately the beast dodged to the side and the pillar of flame that appeared hit air.

The beast roared as it continued to rapidly close the distance…

[Barrier of the Faithful] Fili shouted and white shield appeared in front of the party.

[Pinning Shot] Angelina said as she fired a pair of arrows at the beast's snake-like bottom half.

[Banner of Valour] [Stalwart Aegis] Gregor roared as he stepped forward to meet the charge.

The beast smashed through the Fili’s barrier but lost most of its power and the strike was stopped by Gregor’s enhanced shield. Angelina’s arrows struck home and the chains appeared between the arrows and binded the beast's lower half. The beast roared as it tried to break free…

[Assassinate] Jerri said as he vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared behind the beast high up in the air. His daggers glowing and delivered a devastating slash on the beast’s back. Then… the beast’s form shattered in motes of light…

“What?” Jerri asked as he looked around at the scattering motes of light.

“It looks like a Spriggan’s decoy…” Morgs began, then Angelina heard Morgs and Fili gasp. The party turned around to see a pair of black taloned hands materialise around Fili and Morgs. Angelina’s eyes widened in horror as the form of the monster appeared before her eyes. She could see it was maw open and it looked like it was smiling…

Then with a scream each Fili and Morgs were dragged into the forest. Angelina fired an arrow into the forest in panic but she doubts she hit anything. 

“FUCK, FILI!” Jerri screamed as he dashed towards the trees only for Gregor to grab him by the arm. All the while Angelina could hear Fili and Morgs screaming in the forest.

“STOP, IF YOU GO IN YOU’RE DEAD TOO!” Gregor roared before Jerri could reply, the screams from Fili and Morgs reached a bloodcurdling peak then… silence…

“Fuck…” Jerri said in horror.

“We need to get out of here.” Angelina said her voice shaking as the deaths of the companions she had known for years began to sink in. 

“We can’t, we need to kill this thing. If we run into the trees this thing will pick us off one by one.” Gregor said as through gritted teeth. 

Then from the forest Angelina saw a long object being thrown out from the forest. The three remaining people in the party all tensed as they expected an attack. But nothing happened when Angelina took a closer look at the object she felt her blood turn to ice. Lying in the grass was Fili’s arm, it looks like the arm was just pulled right off her body…

Jerri’s eyes widened as he looked at the arm and Angelina sensed something snap in him. Angelina knew the two of them were always close, they made for an odd pair: the pure priest and the dashing rogue. Definitely the kind of couple you would find a novel. But sadly reality had other plans. She always suspected there was something going on between them but she never thought she would get the confirmation in the way she was about to witness…

Jerri howled like a wounded animal and charged straight into the forest before Angelina and Gregor could stop him. Angelina heard him shout and there was a slight rustling in the trees… then silence…

This time something else flew out from the forest, Angelina looked down expecting the worst and felt a lump in her throat as she looked down at Jerri’s decapitated head…

Then all was quiet except for the slight rustling of trees around them. She could hear them moving… so far they’ve only seen the mother, who knows where the child is hiding…

“It’s fucking with us…” Gregor said through gritted teeth as Angelina stood with her back to his scanning the treeline.

“We aren’t going home are we?” Angelina said shakily.

“We will, we just need to stay focused.” Gregor said his will was still strong and undefeated.

Again she heard movement from the same two places as the first attack. Each at opposite ends of the clearing. 

“Is it going to try the same thing again?” Angelina asked.

“Probably, I’ll block the front and keep an eye on the rear. Don’t get carried off.” Gregor replied.

Sure enough Angelina saw the beast emerge from the old location. It behaved almost exactly like the first decoy. Well that ability looks like a Spriggan Decoy, decoy abilities like this create illusions that mimic the original creature to a certain degree. These illusions are usually extremely aggressive, designed to tie down the enemy buying time for the real body to attack or escape. 

Seeing this Angelina turned her gaze to the rear and kept an eye out on the treeline. Then she saw the grass get crushed at the tree line. The beast was moving in and it was invisible just like before. Angelina kept track of it in the corner of her eye trying not to let it know she knows where it is. Then when she was sure she could get a good shot…

[Pinning Shot] Angelina cried and her arrows latched onto the beast's serpent like lower half. The beast materialised from invisibility and roared. [Wyvern Strike] Angelina roared and fired off her strongest attack. A red searing arrow that deals fire damage, the problem was the projectile was slow but with the beast immobalised Angelina’s aim was true. The red arrow smashed right into the beast's chest, the beast staggered back… and exploded into motes of light…

“What?” Angelina sputtered.

Then she felt a thud in the earth along with a gurgle. Angelina spun around in panic and saw Gregor impaled on the ground, the beast's blade went clean through his shield and into his chest.

“You really thought that I would use the same trick twice?” the beast said with a small laugh.

Angelina raised her bow intending to fire another arrow but she saw a white blur then a searing pain in the hand that was holding the bow. She looked at her hand and saw that the beast had cut her bow in half and took off a few of her fingers with the slash. 

She grit her teeth and felt panic start to rise in her chest.

“Good try, but not good enough…” the beast said with a laugh as it ripped the blade from Gregor’s chest.

“You can talk?” Angelina replied shakily as she kept an eye on Gregor. 

He was fumbling with his belt looking for a healing potion. Angelina knew Gregor keeps an emergency full heal potion on his person. It could heal almost any wound, it cost him a fortune but he felt it was a good investment at the time. If he can drink that potion he might be able to land a good hit on the monster potentially wounding it enough that it had to retreat…

“Yes I can.” the beast said with a smile in his voice as he raised a blade and slammed it right into Gregor’s face killing him instantly.

“Trying to heal?” the beast said sarcastically as it laughed and pulled the blade free.

This was the last straw for Angelina, she let out a sob and screamed. She turned and tried to run, she got two steps forward when she felt a hand close around her.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Angelina heard the beast say as she was brought up to its face.

Angelina could now see every horrifying detail of the beast. It’s maw filled with rows upon rows of serrated teeth. It’s face is smooth and white with no eyes or nostrils. Angelina, now petrified with fear, felt a moist warmth between her legs as she wet herself. She could smell it’s breath and it reeked of blood…

Then she saw something that reminded her of her fate. She saw a fragment of the sky blue cloth that Fili wore stuck in its teeth…

It’s over… her dreams of starting her own little bakery once she’s earned enough money are now moot… they never should have accepted his job… the only small comfort to her was that the bastard that sent them here would not get what he wanted…

That pawn of his that walked off would soon be next… he will soon join her in the next life…

“Why haven’t you killed me…” Angelina wept as she lowered her head.

Then she heard the beast laugh and she raised her head slightly to see the beast’s maw widen slightly as if to smile.

Because I have some questions for you first

If you want a quick painless death I suggest you answer...