My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 5: Band Of Brothers

The wind whistled in his ears as he became more accustomed to moving in the forest. He had gotten so engrossed with the thrill of the hunt that he had not even realised that his [Night Eye] ability had activated. It was a surreal feeling to be able to see clearly in the darkness. Running wildly through the woods as the scent trails from passing animals gave away their hiding spots. 'If only I had mana I could have trapped a few for a feast when we get back.' he thought, realising it was his stomach talking. Was it just him or had it been doing that more often since he earned that title?

If someone had been watching they would have seen nothing but several shadows darting past silently. Though there was a faint tinge of gold from the eyes of one of them. Clearly marking it out as a predator on the prowl.

Kace kept hot on his party members heels as they began to race up the trees. Darting through the forest canopy.

"From here out we have to keep the high ground. These bastards like to get the jump on you." Grezl yelled at Kace who silently nodded back in agreement.

"Quit yer yapping less yer plannin' oan announcing us to the hail nest!" Shagrat shouted back. Clearly annoyed. This caused him to miss spotting the oncoming branch that whacked him over the side of his head, "Ah yeh fecker yeh!"

Carrying on in silence, unless they attract the wrath of Shagrat, the group wound their way deeper into the forest. Kace halted as soon as he realised Durz had no intention of moving on. The rest of the goblins came to rest on their laurels, also having noticed the change in atmosphere.

Durz broke his invisibility. With a finger over his mouth he motioned for them to be silent as he pointed out several large, bloated figures on the trees around them. Luckily the spiders appeared to be resting. Kace was horrified to notice that the hairs on their bodies were so large he could each one clearly. Nearly all of them looked as though they would be about two metres in height if they stood on the ground. That was not the worst of it though. On the tree smack dab in the middle of the gathering hung one that appeared to be at least double the size!

He noticed that the hairs on this one stood out from the rest. Where the others had just black hair this variant had dark red spots here and there amongst its black hair.

"That's a Royal Guard, Tsk!" Durz whispered.

"Aye, could be a bit eh luck. Means the Queen wouldnae be far aff. We may hav tae make some sacrifices here lads. This bugger has acidic venom. Melt yer bones fae the inside it will. Thankfully the rest o' um are common grunts." Shagrat replied in a similar manner. His face obtaining a dark look about it. "Darg, Grezl you boys get intae position over yonder. Yeh just need to focus oan the little ones. Durz, many yeh reckon you can take out o' the fight afore big 'n' ugly gets wise?"

"Hmm," Durz pondered for a moment, "At most I can promise two. Ain't no way I'll manage more than that."

"Hmm, that'll do just fine. Lad yer wi me. We get tae gut the biggest piggy."

Kace could not help but laugh at this. It seems he was not the only one who thought with his stomach in this group.

They spread out, taking up their designated positions. The next moment all hell broke loose. Durz began the frenzy by way of a well placed arrow that instantly killed his first target. Its heavy body collapsing, free falling to the ground. The noise from the collision with tge forest floor stirred up the others. Unfortunately Durz's second arrow missed the mark.

As that was happening Grezl pounced at his opponent. Intent on popping a few of its eyes. He was so focused that he failed to spot another spider that was hanging on the blind side of a tree he was passing. The sharp jaws of the creature lunged out immediately upon sensing his presence. They were as sharp as steel and had no problems as they created two huge holes straight through Grezl's body.

Kace had not known the goblin for long he still felt saddened by the loss. These feelings washed over him as he raced from cover. His golden eyes shining in the dark. He drew his blade and lunged for the boss.

He missed! It was far more nimble than it looked capable of. He landed heavily on an adjacent branch. The boss turned ever so slightly to keep all it's eyes on him. It had become a stand off!

In the meantime Durz was dancing from branch to branch. Narrowly avoiding the enraged blows of the spider chasing him. Every now and then he gifted it with an arrow. Though he was unable to land a lethal blow.

Evaluating the situation quickly Shagrat knew that the longer this went on the greater the casualties would be. As he was thinking this another spider fell to a goblin blade. Darg had conquered his target and was now engaged with the one that had killed Grezl.

Kace leapt once again looking for an opening to strike. No matter how fast or hard he swung he could not land a blow as the boss jumped from tree to tree. As he gave chase once more the boss launched its [Spider Thread]. He had been caught completely off guard as it wrapped around him. Sending him tumbling to the ground.

Before he could crash into the floor Shagrat made his move. Like an agile cat he flew through the air. With a clean cut he slashed at the thread that bound Kace as he passed by. Freeing him from his captivity.

He continued on his path, the boss not realising the fast approaching danger. It let out a horrific shriek as Shagrat parted two legs from its body. As he landed on a branch right next to it he prepared to deal another blow. At this moment Darg let out a wail of agony distracting Shagrat. Glancing over he was consumed with rage as another of his brothers fell. Although he managed to drag the offending spider to the afterlife beside himself.

In his moment of hesitation the boss lashed out. Landing a clean blow on Shagrat. Sending him sprawling from the tree with a limp, broken arm trailing behind him.

Before the boss could follow up on its successful attack a nicely timed arrow penetrated one of its large eyes causing it to recoil in pain.

Kace was shell shocked at how fast everything was happening. He watched on as Shagrat slammed into the ground. Passing out from damage that followed.

A deadly calm came over him as murderous intent sprang forth. Everything had happened in mere moments since of Kace being set free. He flipped over in the air and the ground rushed to meet him it happened.

[Kinetic Vision Activated]

Everything slowed to a crawl. So perfect was his sight that he was able to prepare to absorb the landing perfectly. As he stood he shot a look at the boss spider and he was certain it had noticed. There was no doubting that if the spider could sweat there would be a mini waterfall raining down about now. So feral was the look in his eyes it left no room for doubt anymore as to which of them was the prey.

Kace took off like a rocket. Blade in hand. The boss desperately tried to gain distance by rapidly moving between the surrounding trees. However it was too little too late now. Kace never missed a single miniscule movement that it made. Making him able to predict each shift in trajectory allowing him to close the gap.

The boss rapidly let loose with its [Spider Thread] but this was now no longer a threat. Whether it launched it as a solid thread or an interwoven wide scale net he could see it. He could see exactly where it would go before it had even launched. Allowing him to easily avoid all attacks that came his way.

When he came within striking distance the boss lashed out once again with it jaws, hoping to skewer him and be done with this threat once and for all. Kace would not be so accommodating as to quietly go to his death. He slashed out with his brutal blade aiming to split the creatures head in two. On their current trajectories it would end up as a mutual self sacrifice and Kace was ok with this.

Before they could connect his eyes tracked a new movement. A goblin appeared from thin air beside him. Durz had joined the fray! Using his bow as if it were a sword he deflected the jaws that were about to take the life of his new brother, this in turn created the safe opening Kace needed to finish the job. Green blood rushed forth as the two halves of the monsters head slid apart.

The strange pair covered in the pathetic creatures blood stared on in silence. They had survived! Looking at the aftermath neither of them were in the mood to celebrate. 'Shagrat!' he thought as his [Kinetic Vision] deactivated. He dashed for where his friend had fallen 'Please be alive!'

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