Outlaws

by David Aries

  Half-Breed Hunter

  Outlaws

  David Aries

  Copyright © 2019 by David Aries

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This book contains graphic sex, plenty of violence, fantasy harems, and even some obscenities. You've been warned.

  Cover art by Lim Chuan Shin

  Make sure you don’t miss out on the first part of this series:

  Half-Breed Hunter: Arrival

  If you enjoy this, or any of my other stories, please consider signing up to my newsletter. I’ll send you updates about my new releases so you don’t need to worry about missing out.

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  Or, if none of this interests you, flip the page and get stuck in.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Epilogue

  Author Notes

  Chapter 1

  Bolts of electricity crashed into the wagon.

  Our crystal-powered shield held steady, absorbing the impact. It took more than a few lightning strikes to penetrate a demon-hunting machine.

  Esther put the pedal to the metal. The wheels turned, the engine roared, but we didn’t go anywhere. There were too many demons, all as sturdy as they come. They had to be to withstand the propulsion of an off-road juggernaut. The wagon had conquered treacherous mountain roads, rock-strewn wildernesses, and boggy marshlands. Other demons who had dared face it had been reduced to paste. This pack was the first to withstand its mobile fury.

  “It’s no good,” Esther said, taking her foot off the throttle. “We’re stuck.”

  “Great,” I sighed, checking out the damage through our periscope. “Why now?”

  More bolts struck, booming like rounds from a rifle. We’d traveled undisturbed for a week thanks to the power of our armored wagon. When I first arrived on Terix, it was a burden. It’d done its damnedest to prove its merits since and had passed with flying colors. Then a herd of electric-shooting demon rhinos showed up.

  “Better here than in the middle of nowhere.”

  “True, but we were so close,” I groaned, staring longingly into the distance. “Stupid rhishockomons.”

  “Thunderhorns, sweetie.”

  Made sense. Didn’t sound quite as much like a rip-off Japanese video game monster.

  The demons’ frontal force closed the wagon in, using their raw bulk to stop us from moving. Attacks came courtesy of the rearguard. They shot lightning from their glowing, yellow horns, blasting our shield.

  It was only a matter of time until our defense crumbled, and the bolts ran rampant.

  “Such a racket,” Dessa said. She lounged on the couch, painting her nails. “Someone be a dear and take care of it.”

  “Do it yourself,” Titania snapped.

  “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

  “You call that busy?”

  “Of course. I wouldn’t want to arrive looking anything but my best. No-no, that wouldn’t do at all.” She blew on her freshly colored fingers.

  Titania growled. “Why you…”

  “Ignore her,” Esther ordered, loading her pistols. “We’ve got a job to do. Jake, you ready?”

  I grinned and summoned the part of me fit for the job. Searing strength flowed through my veins and erupted out. It manifested as an unnatural blue flame that leaked from my pupils and surrounded my fists. “Ready!”

  Finally, my inner demon growled. It’s been too long.

  That it had. I was a demon hunter and I hadn’t killed anything for a full week. I wasn’t a bloodthirsty person, but I made an exception for the tainted forces that plagued Terix.

  No harm in a final hunt before we arrived.

  I was the first to take my leave. Before the wagon door finished opening, I leaped out and over the mob of nastiness boxing us in.

  The thunderhorns had a strong resemblance to the rhinoceroses back home, with the added charm of a demonic tainting. They were of a similar size and just as tough to crack. What should have been gray had morphed black; their eyes burned with a familiar, ferocious blue.

  It looked so much cooler donning my fists.

  A long yellow horn was the most obvious separator between the Earth equivalent and this demon cousin. Menacing stubs had become serrated blades that crackled with static electricity. Somehow, they channeled that charge through those built-in lightning rods and fired it like a Tesla cannon. Seemed an unfair party piece for a monster built like a brick shithouse.

  Not that I lacked a few tricks of my own.

  As I glided over the herd, I did my best dragon impression and doused them with my flame breath.

  The fire distressed but didn’t slay. One thunderhorn got himself a burned ass. That was it for the casualties of war.

  Tough as I expected. My demon eyes marked them as yellow threats, bordering toward orange. A tad stronger than I was.

  They’re mobs. Pound for pound the protag’s always stronger.

  “This ain’t a game,” I reminded my inner demon as I landed.

  Game or not, I stole some aggro from the wagon. The burn victim and his two nearest confidants came my way. They charged, shaking the plain under the weight of their pounding feet. Their heads lowered, presenting their horns. A direct hit and they’d skewer me alive.

  For their size, they were fast. I couldn’t outrun them. Sidestepping was also off the table. Their collective unit was too wide. It was like a row of demon trucks running through a red.

  I grinned. My options were limited but I still had one. Moments before they arrived, I jumped. In unison, I released the demon energy I’d channeled into my feet. It acted like a concentrated explosion, throwing me into the air. I was propelled high above the charging trio.

  Forget dunking high, this was a jump fit for hurdling the backboard. It was more than enough to clear some dumb demons.

  The thunderhorns skidded to a stop and almost toppled over due to their own weight.

  I landed cleanly behind them. “Hey, you missed me!”

  It’s hard to tell if a demon rhino is pissed, but I chose to believe they were. They snorted, turned, and tried running through me again.

  Definition of insanity and all that.

  I jumped higher than a human had any business leaping. My half-breed power carried me into the sky and made those big bad thunderhorns look like ants.

  Okay, maybe I didn’t jump that high. Still, it was far enough to give me the illusion of flying. My red cloak fluttered, spreading like wings. The brisk wind blasted my exposed chest and ruffled my shaggy, brown hair. It whistled past my ears as I hovered above the plain below.

  Remaining airborne would have been a treat. Gravity had other ideas. It grabbed hold and dragged me back to Terix.

  No biggie. It was part of the plan. I landed as the trio passed under, stomping my feet into charred thunderhorn ass.

  The demon crumpled, unable to withstand my velocity and half-breed excellence. The gro
und splintered under its backside, burying itself in a crater it couldn’t escape.

  Before it made too much fuss, I put the thunderhorn out of its misery.

  One down.

  At last, my inner demon moaned. A ripe, juicy soul. It’s been too long.

  “Keep your pants on,” I said. “Still think I’ve been slacking?”

  I admit it. You weren’t just playing house.

  Damn right. I hadn’t been absorbing souls, but I’d kept up my training. There was more to reality than leveling up. I’d sparred with Esther every day. It was a daily ass whupping that taught me a lot. Then there was the demon jump. It hadn’t come outta nowhere. I’d put in the hours to learn it. My head had struck the wagon’s ceiling more times than I cared to remember. Why I decided to create such a technique in a confined space, I’ll never truly understand.

  The results justified my stupidity.

  Two thunderhorns remained. They changed tactics, holding their ground and charging up. Electricity surged through their horns, producing balls of lightning.

  Now’s a good time to run.

  “Agreed,” I said, sprinting off.

  The thunderhorns fired, sending their air-burning electric beams my way.

  Blistering heat breathed down my neck. I gritted my teeth and kept moving without looking back. Being struck by lightning wasn’t on my bucket list.

  I managed to keep a step ahead. The thunderhorns couldn’t move and shoot at the same time. Turning was their limit and that was sluggish at best. The disadvantage of having such a chunky neck.

  Once their charge was spent, their attack fizzled out. The light drained from their horns.

  I made a sharp turn and headed for the duo. It was my chance.

  Yellow coloring crept back into the picture faster than I expected. It was the seeds of their next attack.

  My heart skipped, but I was in luck. Their horns were energy-savers. I struck before they did, driving my flame-infused fist into the closest thunderhorn. It took a few hits to break through its thick skin, but the victor was never in doubt.

  Two down.

  The ex-nuisance plummeted to the ground, revealing the status of its partner. Their horn was bright yellow, topped by an energy ball the size of a grapefruit.

  “Crap,” I said, flinching back. There wasn’t time to run.

  The thunderhorn fired from point-blank.

  I dropped. The beam sailed harmlessly overhead, with the exception of the clump of hair it fried off. An inch lower and that would have been my brain.

  It tilted down, bringing the Tesla strike closer. The beam’s destructive power fried the floor to a black char. It’d do the same to me once it reached me.

  I cooked the demon with my dragon breath before that happened.

  Fire engulfed its rhino head, sending the huge beast rearing back. The electric ball shattered, plunging the horn into darkness.

  I leaped up and smashed a flaming right hook into the thunderhorn’s jaw.

  The impact toppled the demon. It fell head over heels, lodging its blade horn into the dirt. That was game over. It swung its fat legs but didn’t have the strength to drag itself free. Nor could it protect its soft, exposed underbelly.

  Three down. Round over.

  I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled my bloodstained arm from its chest. Yellow threats were no joke. One bad move and I’d have been toast.

  Hmm, delicious. Thanks for the grub.

  “Don’t mention it,” I said, wiping the sweat from my brow. Regular training was important, yet it wasn’t enough. I could invent all the fancy tricks I wanted, but I still needed raw power in order to topple the demons ruling Terix. This was the only way to gain that strength.

  That’s right. Now, how about seconds?

  It came in a flash. How could I forget? I rushed back to the wagon. It was still under siege from the remaining thunderhorns.

  My allies were taking the fight to the demons. Titania was in the middle, fending the thunderhorns off with her shield. When she saw the chance, she speared them with her trusty polearm. Esther played hot lava with the battlefield, using the wagon and demons as stepping stones. She blasted the latter with her dual pistols, somehow finding a way through their thick padding.

  And I’d been celebrating victory like an idiot.

  Another three would hit the spot. Think you can manage that?

  “Damn right,” I said, rushing in to help. Like I was gonna let the girls have all the glory.

  ***

  Handling our thunderhorn problem was easier as a team. Working together, we managed to clear the rest of the herd without much difficulty.

  Once we’d finished looting their horns, we got back on the road. Not that there was a lot of road left to travel. We’d been sidetracked mere miles from our destination. Our goal arrived on the horizon after a minute’s drive.

  “This is it,” I said, trembling. I’d been subjected to countless examples of Terix’s ugliness during my week on the road, all for this moment. Goodbye demon-tainted wilderness. Hello bastion of civilization.

  We’d arrived at the city of Grabadon. One of the four eternal safe zones on Terix.

  Fifty feet of white stone stood as an imposing barrier against any who dared threaten the city within. The span vanished into the distance without a single dip in sight. It was the same on all sides, or so I’d been told. An enormous magic dome served as the lid on top, confirmation that this spectacular structure did indeed reside on Terix. The shield was an outrageous beast that put New Hoffen’s to shame. It had to be to protect a city of this colossal magnitude.

  Flat grassland surrounded Grabadon for miles around, with the exception of a defensive moat. Rock bridges traversed the sludge-soiled water, leading to gigantic metal gates that made battering rams quake in their boots. There were four in total, one on each side of the round city.

  I gawked in awe at the towering fortification. No wonder the city had stood for two centuries without falling. It was a testament to the resilience of the races who populated Terix.

  “It’s even bigger than I thought,” I said, hogging the periscope.

  “You’re too damn excited,” Titania complained.

  “Why wouldn’t I be? This place is awesome.”

  “Ha!” Titania scoffed. “In your dreams.”

  I rolled my eyes. Titania wasn’t exactly a regular bundle of positivity but she’d been especially ratty since Esther announced our destination. Doubly so when it came to the subject itself.

  As our wagon cruised toward the city’s formidable entrance, the metal gate inched open.

  “They’re just letting us in?” I asked. “Don’t they do checks or something?”

  “Not at all. Everyone’s welcome here,” Dessa said, touching up her makeup.

  “What about… you know. That?” My first encounter with representatives of Grabadon hadn’t been a pleasant one. If we hadn’t foiled that masked witch’s plan, New Hoffen would have been wiped out.

  “Don’t worry, darling. They’ve got a major blind spot for things that happen outside their walls. We’ll be fine.”

  If she said so. It all seemed like a stupid security oversight for a city which had stood the test of time. However, any doubts were washed away by the wonders that spilled into the periscope.

  The road ahead was submerged under a sea of people. Not just humans, but a mix and match of different heights, races, and colors. It was the variety of New Hoffen mixed with the raw numbers of back home. Buildings flanked us on both sides, all in immaculate shape. The architecture had a Mediterranean vibe, a huge leap from huts cobbled together with whatever was lying around. Every building appeared to be some sort of shop. They showcased wide varieties of colorful clothes, food, and miscellaneous goods. Nowhere sold toys or games in New Hoffen. The residents were too busy struggling to survive. No such concerns here. There was no sign of demonic influence anywhere. Grabadon was a normal, bustling city. People were free to enjoy themselves.


  “It’s perfect,” I laughed. Life was still going strong, despite the demons’ best efforts.

  People parted to let our wagon trundle down the road. The path stretched all the way to another wall and dome. Like a city inside a city. A silhouette loomed in the background, highlighted by the sun’s position. It towered over everything else with a shape difficult to misinterpret.

  “Is that a castle?” I cheered, swapping inner demon for inner child. “We’ve so gotta visit there. Can we?”

  “You’re really pissing me off,” Titania growled.

  “What have I done?”

  “What haven’t you done?! Singing this city’s fucking praises like you know a thing. You don’t know shit. I lived here for seventeen years. I know what Grabadon’s really like.”

  “Now, now. Calm down,” Dessa said.

  “Why should I?! He’s the one calling this corrupt piece of shit paradise.” Titania glared at me. “Did you forget what they tried to do to New Hoffen?”

  “Of course I haven’t.” I never wanted to meet the woman with the whip again. “But look. This place&emdash;”

  “Shut it,” Titania snapped, covering her ears. “I can’t listen to any more of this shit. When you’re done sucking off that goblin prick, call me. Until then, leave me alone.” She stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her.

  I glanced at Dessa. “Seriously, what’s her problem? She’s been like this all day.”

  “Come, come, darling. Even you’re not that dense.”

  “Fine, but still. Look.” I peered back through the periscope. “It’s incredible.”

  “Even beautiful things can be ugly, darling. Not including myself.” She finished her makeup and turned my way. Her lips were painted a bright shade of glossy red and her lashes were enhanced for fluttering. She squeezed her chest together, flaunting her enticing milk chocolate cleavage. “How do I look?”

  My little Jake throbbed. She looked amazing but that was normal. Even when she had the worst case of bedhead you’ve ever seen, Dessa was a perfect ten.

  “Perfect,” she giggled. “And right on time. Come, come, darling. Let’s go see how your paradise stacks up.”