The Wastelander

by Tipsy Wanderer

  Both of the young demon hunters had made a fatal mistake. They shouldn’t have left their entourage behind. They were scattered around the complicated terrain and couldn’t quickly reorganize if something happened. It gave Cloudhawk all the time and opportunity he needed.

  He saw them coming, still vigilant. They thought Cloudhawk was dead, but this sort of place was the perfect hunting grounds for other wastelands beasts. They were on high alert for any danger that might be lurking around the corner.

  Three hundred feet.

  Two hundred and fifty feet.

  Cloudhawk slowly exhaled and then held his breath. He controlled every pore, stilling his body to the point where he was practically stone. Below, the demon hunters picked their way through the ruins slowly, carefully examining everything they came across. Meanwhile, Cloudhawk’s focus was waning. Deal with one. Then, face the other. That was the plan. He had to save as much energy as possible for that fight, or for an escape if he failed.

  Closer.

  Closer.

  Demon hunters had to be more than just excellent warriors. They were relentlessly trained to be killers. Even against two relatively young and inexperienced members, Cloudhawk didn’t dare underestimate what they could do. Every ounce of concentration, every bit of power had to be used in these critical seconds.

  A hundred and fifty feet… A hundred and thirty…

  Cloudhawk remained still. He had one chance. He had to wait for the perfect moment.

  Something must have seemed off, for both demon hunters stopped suddenly. They held their weapons tightly and scanned their surroundings.

  They somehow felt the danger.

  Suddenly, a series of shrieking barks echoed off the crumbling walls as six or seven mutated rats slithered through the cracks. Their beady red eyes glared at the two intruders, ready to tear them apart with their dagger-like claws.

  That was what they sensed: the monsters!

  Claudia brandished her exorcist rod, which hummed with power, and launched at their attackers. She moved with incredible speed. Before the rats could get close, a blast of power knocked them into the air and ripped their hairy bodies apart. A rain of blood and gore showered the area.

  The moment the rats appeared, Raith felt a frigid sensation bubble up from deep inside.

  It caught him off guard for it was the first time he’d felt something like that. By sheer coincidence, he turned his head, and a hundred feet away, he could clearly see a figure rising from the ruins. Time slowed. He saw every grain of sand as it fell off the figure’s shoulders. His gun was the same color as the grit around them, except for the dark maw of the barrel. A magnificent bloom of fire reached for him from that darkness.

  No! He went cold, all over his body and deep into his soul. He could even feel the friction of the thick bullet as it ripped through the air, the sound of it leaving the barrel, the promise of death in its wake. Raith tried to get out of the way, but the sneak attack was too sudden and his murderer was too close. He couldn’t escape.

  He watched in excruciating detail as the bullet entered his chest. It slipped through his cloak before penetrating his leather armor. Although it was of the best quality, there was nothing his armor could do to stop the bullet. Skin split, muscles tore, bone shattered. A spray of blood followed as the bullet exited his back.

  “RAITH!!”

  It all happened in the blink of an eye. Pieces of mutant rat still fell around them.

  A wail, filled with inconsolable anguish, spilled from Claudia’s mouth as she watched the bullet pass through him. She reached out and grabbed him, almost immediately drenched in something hot and slick. The wound in Raith’s chest was the size of a fist and was gushing a fountain of blood.

  Cloudhawk reloaded the rifle with his left hand. His window was mere seconds as he aimed another shot at the fallen demon hunter. He was not the target, however. Cloudhawk was hoping to hit the girl behind him.

  Cloudhawk was fast, but his luck was limited. Claudia sensed the bullet coming and leapt into the air to avoid it, but so far, things were still under his control.

  He flung the rifle to the side. It was too slow for his needs. He reached back and pulled two revolvers from his waist and fired a series of shots at the surviving demon hunter. Each bullet shot forth with a spat of fire and traced a blazing line through the air. Each one was aimed at Claudia, who would find it difficult to dodge while airborne.

  At this fatal moment, Raith summoned the last of his strength to throw himself at Claudia. He shoved her out of the way, but not before two of the bullets struck her. However, neither hit was effective. Cloudhawk’s revolvers weren’t strong enough to penetrate her armor.

  Raith took the rest of the shots. One hit him in the side of his face and blew off his ear. Another hit him in the throat and tore out a huge chunk of flesh.

  Failure! Cloudhawk scowled and made to flee.

  139 Lunae's Madness

  Thanks to her danger sense, which was as keen as Cloudhawk’s own, the girl demon hunter had avoided his hail of gunfire. Emptying what was left of his clip, he slipped back into the ruins and vanished before she could recover. It was all over in five or six seconds.

  Their brief skirmish ended faster than a flash of lightning.

  The demon hunters were more capable than I’d expected. Cloudhawk wasn’t able to deal with them in one go as he’d hoped, but it didn’t matter. He got the one he wanted.

  Claudia lay on the floor, her flaxen hair splayed around her. Her pale skin was smeared with blood and dirt, and an aching pain radiated from her shoulder and lower abdomen. If it weren’t for whatever secret materials they used to make her exceptional armor, the two shots would have taken her out of the fight as well.

  Her first instinct was not to go after their assailant but instead to check on Raith. She collapsed at his side and held him closely. When she saw the state he was in, something snapped in her. “Raith… Raith, are you alright? Come on now, don’t scare me like this.”

  His handsome face no longer bore that self-assured expression he was famous for. Dim eyes stared sightlessly at the sky, empty. Blood continued to leak from his nose and the corners of his mouth. Even her screams seemed separate, somehow disjointed. All the energy drained out of her.

  The shot to the neck was the one to actually take his life, but he had been a dead man walking once the armor-piercing round hit its mark. That bullet had destroyed his lungs, shattering several ribs and his sternum along the way. No first aid or emergency medicine would save him. Now, the haughty young demon hunter lay in the dirt, and the only part of him that moved were his legs. They twitched as death loomed near.

  Raith’s mind was in chaos. He felt like he was sinking into a bottomless black hole. He dimly felt a few hot drops strike his face, nourishment for his worn-out soul. His eyes regained focus and the tear-streaked face of a young woman came into view.

  Claudia. Is she crying for me?

  A stifling sadness filled him.

  Ever since they were small, he’d tried so hard to be gallant, strong, and manly for her. Subconsciously, his brutal massacre of the wastelanders had been to show her his boldness and skill. He just wanted her to see him differently.

  But what did it accomplish? For all his pride and conceit, he now lay amid the ruins like garbage.

  He wanted so much for her to be his. He would protect her, love her – but the chance had passed. He mustered the life that was slipping from him, forcing words through his shattered lungs and lips. “Please… when you report to Lord Cloude … tell him the failure was mine. Let me shoulder the… shame and responsibility. Claudia… you’re still young… so talented. You can’t… let this failure tarnish your potential. Don’t go after him. Give up the mission. Go back! Please… go back!

  Claudia shook her head. “Don’t speak. I’m bringing you back to Skycloud!”

  But that was no longer possible. It was already too late. Raith looked up at her, filled with sadness and despair. My ve
ry first mission and it ends with my death at a traitor’s hand out in the wastes. His shame would disgrace his whole family. How could he ever face that?

  In her heart, Claudia also knew that Raith was certain to die. Had she only known their first incursion into the wastelands would end so bitterly! The boy she’d spent her whole life with, who’d grown up with her, lay in her arms struggling for his final breath. And there was nothing she could do, only watch as his labored breathing grew shallower.

  “There’s something I need to tell you… I…”

  Whatever he wanted to say, he would never have the chance to tell her. His pupils contracted, and a deluge of blood poured from his mouth, thick with bits of bone and organ. His chest quivered like a broken bellows and then went still. The last signs of life slipped away.

  His eyes went wide.

  Unbelieving.

  Reluctant.

  Claudia hugged his bloody body to her own and cried. She threw her head back and gave voice to her pain. The two young demon hunters had been too brazen. If they’d kept their guards with them, they might have caught Cloudhawk after his attack.

  Of course… when one descended into irrational thought, one continued to make mistakes.

  When the soldiers heard the gunshots, they came running towards Claudia’s direction. If she waited just three minutes for them to arrive, the eleven of them working together could easily overwhelm the traitor. But, the rage that burned in her beautiful eyes demanded blood. The tracking relic against her chest glimmered and released a resonant pulse.

  This fucking scumbag can’t be far. He is hiding in the ruins! Waiting for a chance to strike again.

  Claudia snatched up her exorcist rod and gave chase.

  Cloudhawk had reloaded his revolvers, and, as he broke out of hiding, he started firing. His wrists bucked from the recoil as he sprayed the narrow passage with bullets. The girl was just as strong as her fallen companion, but he was adept at fighting from a distance. She was most dangerous up close.

  She’s quick!

  Claudia eluded the bullets as deftly as a dancer without even slowing her approach. For those bullets she couldn’t avoid, she knocked them away with her staff without a second thought.

  Incredible! Yet another person able to knock away bullets! The last time he saw someone with that level of skill was back at Blackflag Outpost. This girl had to be about as skilled as that sweeper leader. Meanwhile, Cloudhawk’s marksmanship wasn’t spectacular, still inferior to the likes of Slyfox.

  He wasn’t going to kill her with his guns. It was like trying to face off against Hellflower!

  She was getting closer. If she got within striking distance, Cloudhawk didn’t know how he would protect himself. She was a demon hunter, the real thing. Claudia wasn’t on the same level as the Bloodsoaked Queen, but one on one, there were only a few people in the wastelands who could stand against her.

  Cloudhawk’s own exorcist rod was gone. What did he have that could protect him from hers?

  Claudia’s azure eyes were red from hatred. She glared at Cloudhawk with such burning rage that it seemed like a miracle that he wasn’t burnt to a crisp right away.

  “I find your mood curious. Is it blood-boiling anger? Soul-tearing hatred? Or, are you so anxious to share your friend’s shame?”

  Facing the furious woman, Cloudhawk was not stunned. His face was hidden behind the mask, so all she heard was his modulated, demon-like voice. Every word, every sentence, only caused her to become more incensed.

  “Now that I know you can actually feel something… where were your anger and hatred when those innocent wastelanders were murdered? You who pretend to be so noble… in my eyes, you’re nothing but selfish, despicable, laughable hypocrites. Are these the great demon hunters of the Elysian lands? The righteous warriors of the gods? You don’t even compare to the worms of the wastelands!”

  “Shut your fucking mouth!”

  Sure enough, she charged.

  Her cloak began to rustle from some inexplicable wind. Her staff began to whir and thrum with power that made the sand beneath their feet whip into the air. A tempest of agitated energy surrounded her, causing such friction that heat poured out in waves.

  Son of a bitch…! She is strong! Cloudhawk hurriedly tried to escape.

  Claudia lifted her staff, and it seemed to split the air. Her anger, as vast and vicious as a waterfall, empowered her attack. A terrifying aura swallowed Cloudhawk, turning the air to paste and making it hard to move.

  None of the pressure was life-threatening, but her skills were beyond anything he’d anticipated. Her anger and disgrace was fueling her, making her at least three times stronger than normal.

  A scorching, hate-filled air surrounded them. It made their surroundings warp from the intensity. Cloudhawk couldn’t escape and could only rely on his cloak. He disappeared from her view, using the increased speed to help him move.

  The power of Claudia’s exorcist rod came in a torrent, powerful enough to destroy two rows of ancient buildings. It didn’t matter if it was old steel or thick stone, everything was turned to dust.

  Cloudhawk barely avoided destruction, staggering out of the way just in time. He slipped into the relative safety of the ruins, and unless he let his invisibility drop, she would have no idea where he was.

  “Coward! Come out!” Claudia knew he had to be using relics and high-grade ones at that. That’s how he deceived Raith’s Lifedrinker arrow as well as my own attempts to locate him. “All you can do is hide and attack from the shadows? You call yourself a warrior?! Stand and fight like a man!”

  “Honorable demon hunter, you are in no position to pretend to know what fairness is.” Cloudhawk was moving so quickly that his voice came at her from several directions, like an echo. Gunshots rang out from all around, but none had any effect on her. She didn’t even try to avoid them this time and just knocked them away with her staff.

  “If your idea of ‘fair’ is the brutal slaughter of the true faithful… if you call ‘fair’ the wholesale slaughter of unarmed citizens… if your ‘fairness’ is the wanton slaughter of the old, of women, of children… if ‘fairness’ in your world is the slaughter of a hundred innocent people just to find me, then I am happy to be a cunning, despicable, impudent scoundrel!”

  He said too much. It served its purpose in making her angry, but it also helped her find where he was hiding. Once she knew where he was, she swung her exorcist rod in his direction.

  He was knocked back by the blast, his instability causing his invisibility to drop. He stood with both feet on the ground, but two large trenches extended from them.

  The girl had a few tricks up her sleeves. When Cloudhawk saw the absolute rage on her face, he knew that a battle was inevitable. He wasn’t particularly level-headed himself, and the situation had slipped out of his control. But, no one else was like him or had the help of his mysterious stone and the depths of power it afforded him.

  Mantis had taught him once that composure was a soldier’s greatest weapon. When one’s emotions got the better of oneself, the control over the cadence of a battle was ceded to the enemy.

  Claudia wasn’t ignorant of this fact. She was well trained as a demon hunter. Alas, humans were emotional creatures, and sometimes, human nature was difficult to suppress. Everything she learned was pushed out of her mind in the face of pure hatred. She wasn’t thinking about tactics. All she wanted was to see this masked prick pulverized!

  I’m going to kill him.

  I’M GOING TO KILL HIM!

  140 Pyrrhic Victory

  In the face of such an intense onslaught, Cloudhawk had no choice but to disengage and hide in the ancient ruins that served as their battleground. Crumbling buildings towered over them like a forest of petrified bamboo. He didn’t know why it was here or what they were used for in those old days. But, there were so many randomly scattered all around that the scope was staggering.

  The one demon hunter was trouble enough. If he’d stuck around to
get surrounded by the Skycloud soldiers, Cloudhawk would be done for. Choosing to flee into this complicated mess of buildings was for nothing more than to buy some time.

  Behind him, the sound of her exorcist rod blasting through the ruins never ceased.

  After nimbly dodging his bullets, Claudia raced after him, cleaving through whatever obstacles crossed her path. Like a crafty rat, Cloudhawk slithered between the buildings. He changed directions at random to try and throw her off.

  Her answer was to blast the stone buildings to dust with her staff.

  Enraged and spewing curses, Claudia kept on the trail of this slippery bastard. She was fast as a cheetah, but every time she caught up to him, Cloudhawk would dart to the side and pull ahead. She did not slow down to follow, though. She charged headlong into the building before her and began to run along the wall as easily as she would walk on firm ground. Agile as a monkey, she skittered up the building and then kicked off.

  Bang!

  She landed on her sturdy feet, creating cracks where she landed. Less than a second later, she jumped off again.

  From above, Cloudhawk looked like a frightened rabbit darting off in random directions. He himself didn’t know where he was going. He only knew that he had to keep moving. Where the demon hunter had once been a cheetah, now she was a swallow hovering overhead. She deftly bound from building to building even faster than he could run.

  Cloudhawk had hoped the cluster of buildings would keep her at bay. The girl ended up being more skilled than he thought.

  Jumping from building to building was certainly more tiring, but she was markedly faster than her prey. Cloudhawk could feel the noose tightening around his neck with each passing moment.

  “Die!”

  Claudia’s exorcist rod lashed out again.

  She left Cloudhawk no option but to rely on his cloak again. He vanished, dodged, and reappeared. She came at him again. He dodged again. Cloudhawk didn’t even have time to catch his breath. They danced around each other at a staggering pace.