Chapter 72

Adrian only had an instant to twist his body. Choosing a spot, he rammed his shield toward the side where the monster's claws were. Its blades slashed toward his neck, but he stabbed with his spear, he didn’t need to hit the monster square in the body, just injuring it enough to slow it down was enough.

He managed to stab its side, its own momentum making the weapon bury deeper. But then Adrian felt pain in his shoulder and neck. His armor had saved him just before the monster passed.

All of that happened in a moment.

Adrian's blade pierced through and ripped the monster's flesh. He turned around and saw the creature stumble, it could no longer move properly. 

An arrow then hit its head square on. The monster hissed, but it was still alive. However, it was slow now, its body twitching. 

Its brain, if it even had one, should be damaged. Adrian quickly took a few steps forward and beheaded it in one go.

But Adrian was taken aback to see it still moving, still crawling despite its head being cut off. 

Thinking its brain or heart wasn’t in its head, or that it was like a cockroach, Adrian stabbed its body, completely killing it until it lay limp on the ground. He pulled his sword free, its black blood coating the blade, releasing a disgusting smell.

Adrian nearly gagged, and that was saying something, as he had smelled feces, blood, and urine all at the same time before. He swung his sword, ridding it of the excess blood, before using the dirt to wipe it off while turning his attention back to the situation.

“Thank you for your timely arrival, Lord Jayson, Lord Tuckstone.” The prince spoke, removing his helm to reveal his face. Even then, Adrian was confused as to which twin prince it was.

“We were nearby, Prince Beoford.” Lord Tuckstone said.

‘Ah, it's Beoford.’ Adrian thought.

The prince chuckled before hissing at the pain in his stomach. “Bastard caught us by surprise… it…”

The prince reiterated what had happened. It had caught them by surprise, hitting and killing one of them quickly before knocking out another. The prince was hit in the stomach, his armor had saved him from being disemboweled, but that was all. They had managed to blast the horn, but help takes time, and the prince was glad for their appearance.

“Why are you both together? And where is your team, Lord Tuckstone?” The prince, thinking the worst was over, slumped to the ground to rest.

Their group exchanged looks before they told the prince what had happened to Lord Tuckstone’s group. Hearing that, the prince and the other two with him were shocked. A team wiped out, and Lord Tuckstone’s team nearly wiped out too?

“Haha. And I thought our luck was bad.” The prince uttered.

It was then they heard the sound of beats thundering and heading toward them. Adrian turned and tightened his grip on his shield and sword, his heart tightening with tension. His body became taut like a bow about to release an arrow, right before the newcomers revealed themselves.

Horses with riders, about ten of them, emerged from the forest and stopped beside them. The squad sent to help by the Earl had arrived.

“Lords, and Your Grace!” The leader, a knight of the Earl, exclaimed upon seeing their status.

Adrian heaved a sigh of relief. Everyone else also released their tension at the sight of them.

“I am Sir Nark. What happened here?” The knight asked, getting off his horse.

“It was…” Lord Tuckstone was about to explain before the horses suddenly acted strange.

“Woah…” 

“Sheesh…” 

“Hey… calm down…”

The horses turned slightly erratic, shaking their heads and stomping their hooves as if spooked.

“Hey, what's wrong-?” someone started, before Adrian saw a figure flash by, diving toward the soldier at the edge of the squad. 

Adrian’s eyes widened as he saw the creature Lord Tuckstone had described bite the head off a soldier and swipe at another, knocking him off his horse.

And then chaos erupted.

The horses were the first to act, with such a monster nearby, they panicked and bolted despite their riders' control.

“Hey, stop!” 

“Help!”

Some horses surged into the forest with their riders still clinging to them, while others tried to rid themselves of their riders by bucking and kicking.

Adrian’s body moved on instinct. A riderless horse lunged toward him, and he stopped it by grabbing its reins. His gut told him to jump onto the horse and ride out of there, but then he caught sight of the other lords from the corner of his eye and inwardly cursed.

“Gather! Gather in a circle!” Lord Tuckstone bellowed, practically roaring.

The rescue squad immediately obeyed. Those who were smart immediately jumped off their panicked horses, while some still tried to keep them under control. Soon, they gathered in a circle. 

The rescue squad, Adrian, Lord Tuckstone, and one of the prince's knights formed the periphery, while the prince and the others stayed inside.

“Jon! Stew! Forget the horses and get back here!”

There were still two soldiers trying to calm their mounts and get into the circle, but they were struggling, it was as if the horses had gone mad with fear.

A rustling sound passed by, and just as they expected, the monster appeared again, lunging at the two. A spear, a dagger, and an arrow flew toward it, the men were already tense and prepared. 

But perhaps because of the monster's momentum or the lack of strength behind the throws, the projectiles merely bounced off it.

And then, two more lives were lost. The monster's claw pierced one of the soldiers' brigandine armor, and the other had his head crushed by its powerful jaw before the creature dragged his body and vanished into the forest.

“What the fuck is that?!” Sir Nark exclaimed once the monster was out of view. That was saying something, as the knight lived in this part of the land and had likely seen his share of monsters.

“…A monster…” Adrian could only mutter. They were more than ten strong now, yet he didn’t feel safe at all. They needed to get the fuck out of here. 

“We need to leave. We can't stay and fight that thing…”

“We can! There are plenty of us, and now that we are in position, we can take it.” Sir Nark said, seemingly having regained his courage. 

Adrian wanted to blurt out that if the knight wanted to fight the monster, he could leave Adrian out of it, but he held his tongue.

“Is it the smart choice, Sir Nark? With the prince with us as well…” Lord Jayson spoke up while wrapping Sir Wallis's wound.

That made Sir Nark hesitate, especially with the prince looking at him. The prince didn’t speak, seemingly undecided on the matter as well.

Sir Nark’s eyes darted around the forest before he decided. “Stand our ground first if it comes back. If we kill it, great. If not, injuring it so that it won't easily follow us back to the stronghold is good enough.”

His words were met with silent acceptance as everyone prepared for the monster's next appearance.

They waited in tension. A moment passed, which turned into a minute, and then another. After a few more minutes, the nervous energy couldn't help but seep out of their frames.

“Where is it?” One of the soldiers under Sir Nark asked, voicing what they were all thinking.

No one could answer. After another minute, everyone began to think the monster was no longer nearby.

“No… it might just be waiting for a chance…” Lord Tuckstone suddenly said. “Like a predator… an intelligent predator who knows exactly when to strike.”

His words darkened the mood of the group before Lord Jayson turned to ask Sir Nark a question.

“Sir Nark, have you encountered a similar monster before?” Lord Jayson asked.

“I've seen monsters uglier than that, but never one with this much intelligence…” Sir Nark answered with a grimace. He looked around the dark forest. “Regardless, we can't stay here and be sitting ducks. Let's move…”

Everyone agreed. There wasn’t much to prepare anyway, so they immediately set out. Sir Nark cursed under his breath.

“We should try to find the horses. It'll be faster with them…”

“The horses… they were spooked to their very core.” Adrian spoke up, having never seen anything like it before. The horse he held before escaped to the forest.

Sir Nark chuckled dryly. “I've never seen such an intelligent monster, but I've seen monsters that can spook other animals just by their presence. Some can even herd them…”

Adrian looked at him flatly. “This place is truly an 'exciting' place.”

Sir Nark laughed, and this time it was genuine. “Yeah, it’s a shit place… but it's home.”

“We blew the horn a few times before we came here. Did the Earl send other squads to those locations?” Lord Jayson chimed in.

Sir Nark nodded. “The Earl sent two squads, judging the horn blasts to be too frequent.”

“Can we meet up with them? Or find a way to gather? With this monster on the loose, all teams are in danger…”

Sir Nark nodded heavily in understanding. “We can try to intercept them if they haven’t left. The direction they went should not be far from here.”

As they walked, Adrian wondered what would happen to the Earl's reputation if important lords died during his tourney.

“Ah… fuck…” Someone a little ahead suddenly cursed. It was a soldier who had spotted something behind a tree.

They approached and saw what had made him swear. In a small clearing lay the bodies of horses, clawed apart and very much dead. Adrian counted three of them on the ground, but not far ahead, he spied another. The monster wasn't just hiding, it was killing the horses.