One Moo'r Plow

1:28 Slaughterstorm II

Dead stonemongers are good stonemongers. Lerish grunted as she picked our way through the undergrowth. Nobody will argue that.

This was the point where I would interject something clever about a but, yet I found myself muted once more.

But. She spoke, and I found myself vindicated. There are more efficient ways.

She assumed interest through my silence and continued as we dipped into another valley. Ground crumbled underfoot as I navigated the loose earth with a silent grimace. Lerish continued unimpeded and spoke crisply all the while.

Stonemongers are strange. She stated the obvious. Left to their own devices, they are cowards.

Follow me. She beckoned, and with little choice in the matter, I did. She -and by extension I- crept up another clearing, and stopped to look. As the one before, this was filled with stonemongers. Yet the differences were markedly clear.

There was not gatherings of the creatures. Instead, they kept to their own corners of the nest, sat alone and in silence. With a gesture, Lerish dropped our camouflage and stepped forward into the nest unarmed. It took several moments for the monsters to notice her, at which point they barked and fled in all directions. I watched them go and followed the huntress.

Ive hunted mongers for years now. She grunted and kicked over a small firepit. Formed conclusions. What do you notice here thats different?

Blessedly, I found myself able to speak again.

Less of the monsters overall, I observed.

And why is that?

A good, long look around the clearing brought several thoughts to mind, but one stood out before the rest.

There are no idols here. I guessed. Unlike the last clearing, there were no crudely carved and decorated statues in this nest.

Yes. Lerish answered simply. With no rocky outcrops to carve into their gods, there is no reason for them to gather. And without large gatherings to egg and spur each other on, they remain in their base state. Cowards and scavengers.

You are suggesting we destroy every rock formation around Mount Redtip? I shifted and looked around the gloomy clearing. It seemed like a rather tedious chore, yet if it was necessary..

The huntress snorted in reply and waved her arm in dismissal of the idea. She surveyed the area, then turned back to the forest that walled this place in.

No need. These are the last remnants of the packs that were on Mount Redtip. Or so I have observed. Most were wiped out or driven off the mountain by the influx of higher-leveled monsters. Although some have rapidly adapted and evolved to combat the threat. New subclasses, higher-leveled individuals and the like.

Monsters gaining classes. A new revelation to me, but I did not question it. Just nodded along and followed the woman into the brush once more. Mostly because I was already muted again.

Point is. They need these stone gods to be anything more than reclusive cowards. Destroy them, and you destroy their will and morale. Simple.

Perhaps I did not see everything too clearly, but I nodded along and followed her as we made our way through the valley. Walls of rock and occasional greenery rose above the trees as we traversed the massive gash in the mountains side. Everything smelled wet and lush in here, overly ripe and sweet. Bloom and life surrounded us as we stalked through it, on our way to deal with matters of death.

My sense of time was skewed, but I estimated it to be a nearly an hour before we reached our destination. Once again, Lerishs skill applied camouflage to us as we stalked forward to observe our target.

This was by far the largest nest, of the three we had now seen. It easily dwarfed the first in size and numbers. The carved stones here were absolutely massive, to where we had seen them over the trees even from a considerable distance. As before, we approached with sound muted and active camouflage around us.

There were several, large differences here, I could see immediately. The Stone Gods were the center of all activity, and were carved in far greater detail than before. I could make out features on the rocks now. Carefully chiseled and painted, they showed three separate individuals, which resembled more humanoid, regal stonemongers. One was in the classic image of a warrior, the other a mage or scholar, the third a cloaked form I would guess at being an assassin.

The debate podium around these towering statues was sophisticated in design, with an ascending gallery that held stone benches to either side of a classic debate floor. I saw lodges, organized campfires, ideas that seemed crudely copied from humans and other races. And all of it swarmed with monsters. Stonemongers in all shapes and sizes gathered here, and I felt my throat turn dry at their sheer numbers.

There must have been nearly a thousand gathered here in this massive nest, situated in the heart of this valley. Even though we were a considerable distance away, I could make out stark differences in the beasts.

Many of them had bulky, rocky armor that covered them like a carapace. Others were smaller, sleek and hard for the eyes to keep track of. But there were several individuals that caught my attention. There was a stonemonger nearly as large as me, covered entirely in slabs of stone that floated around its body.

Stone Collosus class. I heard Lerish whisper into my ear, even though she remained some distance away. Big. Strong. Slow.

She gestured to others around the camp. There was another, smaller than the Collusus that carried a small shield and strangely enough, a scimtar-like weapon.

Likely a Rock Guardian. She grunted and gestured to wild-eyed, bellowing figure that presided over the debate floor. And that strikes me as a Stonebinder. There should be a Shadowstalker in here, but I cannot find them from here.

She held an arrow in hand and gestured to what seemed to be a massive kennel made of rocks.

Those house their Magnethounds. Stonemongers that have regressed back even further into bestial forms in exchange for power.

I nodded solemnly, my claymore drawn and at ready. In one hand, I held a bag filled with spores and sleeping bomber-pods. Grim as it was, there was already a plan in my mind. Throw my bags into their midst and then immediately cut a swathe to the statues. Blindly rampaging around like the first nest could mean I could get swarmed and worn down through sheer numbers.

Stay here. Lerish hissed. Ill scout around the area to ensure there are no nasty surprises.

She was gone before I had a chance to protest. With a silent sigh, I crouched in place and surveyed the nest. But I did not wait long. Lerish had been gone only moments when a scout came screeching from the woods, and I tensed.

Had she been discovered?

Whatever the creature relayed to the nest, the disturbance was instant. Masses of creatures swarmed every which way, a hundred things happening at once. I could see them scrambling for weapons, and smell the fear that permeated the air now. The kennels were thrown open, and lumbering, metallic hounds nearly the size of Gol emerged.

But had little time to prepare.

Something soared above the treetops and landed in their midst as stonemongers scattered desperately around it. My eyes could see a tall, slender form that landed before the podium. Those words were a lie, however. The creature was taller than I, yet while slender in the context of its size, easily matched me in bulk. Bipedal, with feathered legs that shimmered red.

A thickly-built chest gave way to a flowing mane and draken appearance. Steel wings were folded upon its back, with long, muscled arms that ended in sharp claws.

I gazed upon it for but a second, and knew this was the Apex.

A heartbeat passed, and chaos reigned.

Eyes wide, I watched the massive for cleanly pivot, swivel and catch the rising Stone Collosus in the chest with a blurred kick. Even as the massive form was broken and ragdolled through the air, the monster landed, swept low, and spun its steel wings wide. Stonemongers were caught and shredded by the flash of steel. It moved like a dancer, with fast, graceful, yet with heavy blows.

Butchery was the only word I could describe its actions with. Long, powerful legs lashed out and simply broke anything in its path. It danced, every movement an act of slaughter that smoothly flowed into the next.

A wall of rock erupted from the ground as it surged towards the Rock Guardian, and it shattered it with a powerful axe kick. Momentum propelled it forward even as a mass of car-sized boulders appeared above it and slid through the air to crush it. One second, it occupied a space beneath the tonnes of falling rock. The next it simply didnt.

My eyes could barely follow the monster as it flash-stepped forward swatted the Stonebinder away like an insect. Stone rose from the ground the entrap its legs in that instant as the mage sacrificed their life to trap it. A futile effort. The Apex glowed, applied pressure downwards, and I watched as the ground around it shattered. Stone and dirt were thrown in every direction with enough force to hurl away the swarm of Magnethounds that raced towards it.

It flash-stepped again, and I watched it appear before the Rock Guardian. There was terror in those final moments, I was sure. I could see the creature jerk backwards as the larger monster loomed before it. Then be crushed into the ground by a flurry of blows.

There was something primal about the destruction it wrought. A storm of relentless carnage that came at blinding speeds. The Apex tore through the nest of stonemongers without so much as a pause, and death followed its wake.

And all the while I watched, silent.

I had thought an Apex to be just another higher-leveled monster, never taken the threat seriously. I had been wrong. It was the literal apex of its species, an avatar of brutality and sheer force. In truth, I did not know if I could defeat it in combat myself. I was strength and blind, directionless rage.

It was power and focused carnage. Speed and massive strength, meshed by perfect control.

Quiet, emotionless, I watched as it stood before the statues of these stonemonger gods, and it sneered at them. The nest lay in ruins around it, hundreds of monsters butchered in the span of minutes. Its bright red form stained with blood, it gazed upon these gods and spit at them.

A single leg rose and planted its spread, clawed toes on the stone surface. Then squeezed. The rock shattered beneath its strength and it cawed in mocking laughter at the last few stonemongers it had left alive. Watched their despair as it reduced their gods to rubble. With one last screech of malice, it bent, spread its wings and leaped into the air.

It was gone long before Lerish returned.

Apex. She nodded quietly. Fortunate we did not arrive sooner.

I was inclined to agree. With naught else to do, we turned and set off for home, the silence heavy in the air.

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