by Garnet Hart
They all went through the portal and found themselves in the middle of a forest. He knew that this should be the forest of Dunvegan, and he was sure it was. He saw the same river where he had first seen Asra bathing naked.
The memory stirred a strong emotion inside him, but this was not the time to think about other things than his missing men.
Immediately, he noticed some shrubs with their branches hanging loosely, as though they had been cut by a sharp object. He ordered his officers to scatter and track the men’s scents, while he checked the damaged shrubs.
Even from the top of his horse, he caught the scent of the Lycans, a human, an Elf, and a Vampire. Nothing seemed suspicious at this point just yet, but as he went further, he saw more trees and shrubs chopped around the area. Not far away from him, he heard someone grunting.
He followed the direction of the sound and found one of his men lying underneath a fig tree, pressing a palm on his rib to stop the bleeding.
Lior jumped down from his horse and called the officers to his location. While waiting, he dropped to his haunches to attend to the wounded man.
The wound was deep, pierced by a claw, a Lycan’s claw.
“Who did this?” Lior asked.
The officer could hardly speak. “G-gr-un-t.”
Lior was paralyzed. He had not expected that Grunt was already in Midgar. That mutant could be after him, but unfortunately came too late for they had already left the ranch.
He inspected the wound again. Indeed, this should be something that only a monster could inflict.
“Where are the others?”
The man could only point a finger at a narrow path to the left.
Lior turned to his men who had just arrived. “Some of you accompany him back to Vanar. The rest who’d like to fight, you may stay.”
Ten men turned to look at the two newest officers at the back. No words were needed for them to understand the silent command. The new officers came forward to get their wounded comrade and bade their goodbyes.
Lior looked at each of his remaining men. Indeed, they were real Lycans. He could see the fear in their eyes, yet they looked firm in their decision to stay and fight.
Proud Lycans. They never turned away from battle, even if it would cost them their lives.
He hopped back on his horse and tried to track Asra’s scent. It was impossible that Grunt had not heard of the news that Asra had lost her songstress power. There could be other reasons why Grunt attacked his men.
For weeks, he’d been able to avoid a fight with Grunt, but this time, he just had to face that monster once and for all.
Surely, this would be a difficult fight. His life was on the line, but if he would have to sacrifice to protect his people and Asra from the claws of that monster, then he would.
He turned to the first man following him. “Go to the Dunvegan Castle just outside this forest and find a way to contact Lysander, the earl of Rochford. Make it quick.”
The officer bowed and turned his horse around, following the pathway out of the forest.
Lior marched his remaining forces forward. Lysander should be in his ranch by now, taking care of the animals, but it would take a while before the Vampire could make it here. If he’d die under the claws of Grunt, he would have to rely on Lysander to finish this fight.
“Run away, lassie!”
Asra obeyed Bran’s command and limped away as fast as she could, cursing Var for the wound she’d inflicted in her leg.
Ginny managed to completely heal the wounds on her back, but not on her leg. Var’s arrow had fractured a bone and her leg had to be cast for a week.
When she thought she had gone far enough, she turned her head and realized she had barely gone beyond a hundred meter stretch.
Bran was still there, swaying the MacLeod sword against the monster Lycan better than any man she had ever seen. He was even better than her father, as if the sword was an extension of his hand, he danced around the field, leading the monster away from her.
It astounded her that this blabbering Vampire was such a skilled swordsman. But the monster Grunt was so huge and ferocious she feared for Bran. But he was a Vampire, fast and strong. Maybe he would defeat Grunt. She really hoped so or she would die, as well!
She continued down the hill but the path was too steep her leg could not hold the pressure of the downward slope. But there was no other way. She crawled to counteract the pull of gravity but she lost her balance.
She rolled downward and crashed on her side on a fallen tree.
She cried out in pain as she squeezed her injured leg. Thankfully the cast was hard enough to break the impact, but it still triggered a pain that seemed to vibrate through the broken bone. “Blasted tree!”
Despite the pain, she dragged her injured leg forward. She was hoping to get out of this forest, but she found herself lost along the way.
Strange. This forest used to be her playground and she knew every corner of this land, but it had changed tremendously over the past two hundred years.
Just when she thought she had gone far enough, she heard a loud howl echoing through the forest that the birds on the trees all flew away in fright.
Oh god! That animal was coming for her! She didn’t want to think of what happened to Bran.
No wonder they called that monster Grunt. It could surely grunt louder than any other beast and could scare even the ghosts out of this forest.
She looked back. She could not see him but she knew he was following her.
She found a cave not far away. Quickly, she made her way there, crawling with her hands so she could move faster.
The den’s mouth was narrow. A monster as huge as Grunt couldn’t possibly get inside it.
A few minutes later, she managed to tuck herself inside the small crevice of rocks. She should be relieved, but as the grunts became louder, her whole body trembled she felt like fainting in fear. She could hardly breathe.
Oh lord, please don’t let him find me!
She wondered what happened to Bran. She wished he did not die in the claws of this monster.
The monster suddenly jumped right at the mouth of the cave. She screamed as Grunt’s snout sniffed inside. She moved farther back until she hit the rocky end. There was no more room to run to, but she was certain the monster couldn’t reach her this far.
But to her further horror, the beast’s form started to alter. He was shifting! Lior told her this Lycan had lost its ability to transform, but how come it was doing it now?
Her eyes were wide in shock as a giant of a man rose to his full height. Even in his human-like form, his size was terrifying. Thick, coarse hair covered his entire body. His fangs long and razor-sharp and his eyes, blazing yellow. He was the most hideous beast she’d ever seen!
He crawled halfway into the cave.
She wanted to scream but no sound came out of her mouth. She thought he’d reach for her and pull her feet out of the cave and would probably tear her in two in a blink, but he just stared at her.
She looked away and sobbed. Something clogged her throat and she could not breathe.
She was already choking. She was dying!
Then the monster grabbed her arm and yanked her forward. She fell on her face on the dirt, and then he tapped her back until she spat out the lump in her throat. She gulped air into her lungs, coughing.
She was still very, very scared, but she wondered why the monster tried to help her. It only meant he did not want to kill her.
“You’re a scared little girl, aren’t you?” Grunt asked tauntingly, his voice rough and low like it came from the bowels of the earth.
There was not much light inside the cave, but she could still see his big nose with two big holes as though he could just sniff her in.
“W-where’s Bran?” she asked.
“Oh, that useless Vampire?” he mocked, cocking his head. “He’s dead. I killed him.”
She cried. “What do you want from us?”
“I only wa
nt you, my little gal. Just you.”
She moved back, even though she could not go any further. “Stay away from me!”
“But I can’t. I need you to get back my precious Vanar. You know I’m supposed to be the king of my land, and not that half-god nitwit.”
“If you think I can help you, you’re mistaken. I’m no longer a songstress. I lost that ability now.”
Grunt smirked, the tips of his sharp teeth glinting ominously, “I know, but I have another use of you. Because you are so dear to that self-proclaimed king, I’d ransom you for the throne.”
She shook her head. “You’ll fail. He does not even care about me. He is getting married today to a goddess. You should be after that goddess and not me.”
“Oh, is that so?” he taunted. “You’re one stupid Elf, aren’t you? Do you not see? He gave up his rank in Asgard so he could keep you. What does that tell you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. But he does not love me. If he did, he would not marry another woman.”
“He has to, my gal. He has to marry that daughter of Odin so he could free the Lycans and become their king. You see, a man’s hunger for power comes above everything else, but it does not mean he does not love you. Don’t you want to find out if he could give up his throne in exchange for your life?”
Asra knew this monster was trying to tempt her, but she wouldn’t give in. “I’m not interested of him anymore, so leave me alone.”
“I’m afraid not,” he replied and reached for her. He was intentionally moving his hand slower so as to frighten her, and as much as she didn’t want to succumb to his sadistic approach, she found herself kicking and screaming at the top of her lungs.
But before Grunt could reach her ankle, another beast roared from outside the cave, its vibration rumbling the ground and the walls of the cave. Then one big claw dragged Grunt out of the cave.
Before she could recover from shock, another beast poked its head through the mouth of the cave, but this time, it was much smaller than Grunt.
She recognized those pair of glowing orange eyes right away.
Lior! He came for her!
She stopped crying but joyful tears followed. She could not believe it. After he had crushed her heart back in Vanar, he came just when she needed him.
She crawled to him and he greeted her by sniffing her hair, as though making sure that she was fine. He moved his snout sideward and she understood his gesture that he wanted her out of the cave.
She obeyed and crawled forward, just in time to see Grunt shifting back to his monster form.
Fear slammed back into her system, but Lior nudged her and he lowered his back so she could ride him.
He ran like the wind that she had to grab his fur as hard as she could or she’d fall off of his back. But even at his top speed, it was not enough to outrun the monster following them.
When Lior probably thought there was no sense running away, he carefully put her down beneath a big rock where she could hide, and then he ran back to where they came from, meeting Grunt halfway.
Asra knew Lior didn’t want to fight with Grunt near her so he had to get away from her. From behind the rock, she watched as the two beasts faced each other. Their ferocious growls were loud and blood-curdling.
Lior was probably five times smaller than Grunt, but he did not seem to hesitate to face this legendary monster. But she had witnessed the savagery of this beast when it attacked Raith in Svartalfar. If this monster had killed Bran, it could probably do the same to Lior.
Grunt attacked first by dashing towards Lior, but Lior managed to leap over and mounted the bigger monster.
Lior clawed at Grunt’s back, tearing at his skin and flesh until blood spurted and splattered on the ground.
Grunt whirled and jumped, until he finally threw Lior off his back and quickly followed it up by biting Lior’s neck.
She pressed her hand on her mouth to stop herself from screaming. Oh god, please! Save him!
Asra shut her eyes tight and buried her face on the rock. She didn’t want to see this fight. She didn’t want to see the man she loved getting torn to pieces by Grunt, yet Lior kept on fighting… for her… just to save her damn life.
She heard growls and branches breaking. When she couldn’t fight the urge to see if Lior was still alive, she mustered the guts to peek. Lior was still standing, but was bleeding at the neck and one of his forelegs looked broken.
She wanted to run to him to help him but she was paralyzed where she was, frozen by fear and grief and helplessness.
She thought Grunt would take advantage of Lior’s weak state and would finish him off, but the monster raised his head to the sky and howled out loud that she had to cover her ears. When the howling faded, she was startled to see around half a dozen smaller monsters appearing from the ground as if summoned by their master.
But the little monsters were not there to help Grunt kill Lior. Instead, they all turned in her direction.
Oh no! They were coming for her!
Determined to save herself so as not to waste Lior’s sacrifice for her, she hauled herself from the ground.
She ran away even before they could move, prompting them to chase her. Filled with horror, she had completely forgotten the pain on her leg.
She ran and ran, not knowing where she was headed. They were behind her and they will overtake her any moment now.
Oh Lior, I’m so sorry my love! If I have not been so selfish, none of this would have happened. If I just let you go just like what you wanted, you would have been king by now in Vanar, surrounded and protected by your men and not lying there, bleeding to death. Forgive me, forgive me...!
She could see the sky now, and there was an open field of grass right before her.
But she knew, they would get her.
Still she ran and ran, and then she was stepping into the air...
She screamed.
Chapter 31
Lior growled when he saw Asra fall off the cliff. Despite his wounds, he had leaped after Asra and followed her to help her get away from Grunt’s minions, but Grunt was right after him.
Just as he reached the side of the cliff, Grunt’s heavy claw pierced through his back.
He fell to the ground and gasped for air. The distraction had caught him off guard, and now he was fatally wounded. While his wounds were healing one after the other, Grunt continued to inflict more in him and his regeneration could not keep up.
He was surrounded by Grunt’s minions, little replicas of the monster. Though they were only about three feet tall, if they all attacked him at once, he may not be able to survive their combined viciousness. But he must not die yet. Not until he was certain that Asra was safe.
Although terribly weakened, he struggled to get up. He saw his men, all in their Lycan form, coming to help him. To his surprise, Ginny was among them.
He growled at them to show his gratitude.
Three jumped at Grunt while the rest fought the minions.
Limping with broken leg and fatally wounded, he struggled to get to the cliff to look for Asra, but more monsters appeared.
He realized Grunt had summoned more of his minions to keep his men occupied, so he could have the pleasure of killing him by himself.
He had no choice but to turn around and face Grunt once again. This should be his end, but he’d make sure that his death would not be in vain.
But then, he saw Ginny riding Grunt’s back, biting and clawing at the monster’s neck. He growled at her, ordering her to jump, but she did not listen.
He jumped over Grunt and helped Ginny. The monster flailed and turned around, throwing them both down the ground. Quickly, he nudged Ginny and took the blow that was coming to kill her.
Grunt grabbed his shoulder, sinking his claws on him in the process and lifted him up the air, intent on tearing him to pieces this time. Gods! He was so strong!
He fought and managed to escape. He felt dizzy with the new wound in his shoulder. He jumped up a gi
ant tree to buy a little time.
Grunt followed him up the tree, growling and drooling, too hungry to kill him. The monster lunged at him again and they both fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
He took the brunt of the fall. Growled stood up and howled in triumph. Weakened, he braced for the impact as Grunt prepared to crush him with a downward blow.
But Ginny jumped on Grunt’s back again.
Grunt plucked Ginny out of his back as if she weighed nothing, raised her high in the air and brought her down hard across his knee.
Lior heard her bones break. He howled in rage as Grunt punctured Ginny’s chest with his big claw before throwing her limp body on the ground.
Frozen, he stared in horror. When he finally got back to his senses, he crawled at Ginny to check on her.
She had started to transform back to her human form, and that only meant one thing. She was dead.
He growled out louder than he ever did before, drawing all the energies he could from around him, and with renewed vigor, he charged towards Grunt with lightning speed, taking the monster by surprise.
He managed to knock Grunt down on the ground, but it was not enough. If he had to defeat this monster, he had to be stronger.
Grunt threw him off and quickly rolled back on his feet.
Claws to claws, they tore at each other’s flesh.
Immensely smaller than Grunt, Lior suffered more of the damage. He was drawing his last strength and Grunt knew this. At anytime, Grunt would land a mortal blow and that would be it. He might not be able to get up again.
He had to use his remaining strength wisely.
Lior circled his enemy. Grunt may be five times stronger than him, but he was faster due to his smaller size and Alpha abilities.
Grunt stood still, his claws ready to grab him at the slightest opportunity. Lior ran faster around him in a speed that made Grunt distracted and then he leaped towards Grunt’s back again. With all his might, he sank his fangs onto Grunt’s neck. Blood spewed upward. He had no intention of letting go of his grip, even if it killed him.