Soul of a Human

While the young hunters had the easier fight and the support of Cutter, the three left veterans fought with all they had against the fresh target. Drop's plan to change to opportunistic attacks wasn't feasible anymore, so he used his superior reach and attacked from behind Fortress' shield. The big guardian had his hands full, keeping the raging monstrosity from getting by him, and therefore concentrated on defense. However, Drop's attacks were doing shallow cuts at most, only making the raptor more angry and, in turn, imbuing more fear into the hunters.

This fear loosed their bowels but also kept them alive because it stopped them from risking too much and focusing on protecting themselves. The big swing in the fight came when Silence added his combat prowess to his comrades, using Fortress' big frame as cover. The striker bolted out from cover, raking both his daggers over the thigh of the monstrosity, drawing thick blood and a pained cry. Though this would cost him dearly, as Silence stumbled over his hurt foot and got a tail slam into his stomach, throwing him back behind Fortress, crumpled into a coughing heap on the ground.

The striker, cursed in his mind, thought it stupid to go against such a foe, hurt and only armed with daggers. Still, he wasn't one to give up, and he tried to get up, only to break down again and again. His body just wouldn't listen to him. However, neither Drop nor Fortress had time to take care of their fallen hunter.

Fortress' shield thundered under the attacks of the beast, but it held. It held long enough for the second monstrosity to die. However, after a short, eery silence, as every combatant recognized the changed situation, the giant black and red-eyed monster attacked with complete disregard for its own defenses, only wanting to inflict as much pain and death as possible. The aura of dread it emitted reached a whole new level of despair, stunning Drop into inaction, and made Fortress cower behind his shield.

It even stopped the people rushing to help in their tracks, all except one. Mor, with the added mental fortitude of the human, rushed by everyone, and, using the cowering Fortress as protection, swung his rod with all his might, creating a hammerhead of ice before striking out with enhanced force. The heavy clump of ice crashed against the head of the monstrosity, making it shake its head to remove the confusion and blunt force trauma. This strong hit had the additional effect of interrupting the magic ability to inflict fear, giving the rest of the hunters a moment of relief to gather themselves and get ready for a new onslaught of mind-numbing fear.

Though everyone was sure of one thing, they wouldn't give the monstrosity the time to invoke again, and while Mor quickly retreated to treat and stabilize Silence, the Ice-kin went on the offensive. With Cutter and Jorgen working tandem as strikers, like only a father-son-duo was able to, and Drop able to use his favored fighting technique of surprise attacks. They quickly cornered the raging beast, making it fight harder. Elly's opportunistic arrows helped keep everyone alive, as they often interrupted brutal attacks by making the monstrosity miss with pain and the force of the arrows.

Jorgen used quick and sharp slashes, while his father used Silence's ax to great effect and power. While the reinforced hunter team steadily whittled the monstrosity down, it didn't go completely their way. After three consecutive heavy hits, Fortress' shield snapped in half, leaving the guardian without his most effective protection and forcing him to go on the offensive with everyone else. Still, because their biggest cover was gone, the hunters had no good spot to retreat to, helping the monstrosity to inflict damage.

The coming disaster was only averted when Mor was finished rudimentarily fixing Silence. The Soul-kin used the last of his power to produce a ring of rock thorns around the monstrosity, providing new temporary cover and locking the beast in place. With its ability to evade the attacks stunted, the fight finally turned in complete favor of the kin.

The final strike was performed by the father-son combination. Jorgen again slashed at the monstrosity's neck from behind, while Cutter forced his loaned weapon into the same space from the front. Both let out a simultaneous cry of effort and completely decapitated the beast. However, this time, Jorgen instantly went to get distance so he wouldn't be almost skewered again.

With the fighting done, there was a strange silence until Jorgen dropped to the ground in exhaustion, breathing heavily from all the stress, while Elly charged her father with a big tackle. The girl threw herself in her father's arms, holding on tightly, while the big man silently petted her head. Cutter went over to the still-prone Silence and helped his friend to his feet with a big smile.

"Seems you won your bet." The leader stated, leading the mute hunter to garble something.

"You're right. Can you stand on your own?" Cutter asked in reply.

Silence nodded, then grabbed his ax and used it as an improvised crutch. Then, with a wave of his hand, he sent his leader away, who then went over to his son and sat next to him.

"I'm proud of you," Cutter stated. "However, what you did was very reckless. You weren't ready yet. Your mother would never forgive me if something happened to you because of me."

"I know, but we trained hard and needed the experience. It was important to test ourselves." Jorgen replied.

"Who told you that?" Cutter asked.

"Klang, after giving us our weapons." His son answered truthfully.

"The old meddler always has to stick his nose into things that don't concern him. Still, no one has a better grasp on what future hunters need than him." Cutter said with a sigh.

"Also, Elly had asked Mor to help after the chief denied sending another hunting team, and he was the only one able to circumvent those rules. But it felt wrong for me to let him go alone with Drop. We are a team, after all." The boy explained, and Cutter nodded in understanding.

"Let's go home, " the hunting team leader said, and no one protested. Still, the hunters wouldn't let their loot go, and with everyone helping together, another sleigh was built, and both monster corpses were loaded upon it.

It took the beat-up group almost three hours until the village came back in sight just as the sun set behind the treetops. Elly had clung to her father the whole way, while every adult hunter gave Mor an appreciative clap on his shoulders. There was only one surprise. The stoic Silence embraced Mor in a sign of trust just as they had finished loading the monstrosities.

The first to notice the arriving group was Lize, who had switched her position with another hunter guarding the gate. With an excited shout, she jumped down from the barrier, the gate opening up behind her, and threw herself at her husband while also embracing her daughter at the same time. The hunting party and the Ice-kin gathered by the gate watched this display of familiar love, and everyone had to smile. Most of all, Gorn who counted himself the luckiest man alive while embracing his two girls.

However, it also didn't take long for Cutters' wife to show up and embrace both her boys in a similar display, while Drop, Silence, and Mor stood aside. The mute hunter accepted the Soul-kin's shoulder to steady himself while Drop sighed.

"Look at them." The scout said. "In times like these, I would like a wife of my own. How about you, Mor? Any girl on your mind?"

"Yes," Mor answered, but even with Drop's questioning, he didn't reveal anything further.

°You're missing all of them, your parents and friends alike.° The human needlessly stated, and Mor acknowledged it with a silent nod.

In this atmosphere of pleasant arrival, the chief appeared behind the scout, the silent striker, and the Soul-kin, putting his arm around the two hunters' shoulders, causing Silence to wince in pain.

"Nice catch, and good to have you back. Good job, Drop. I hope there are no hard feelings?" He asked.

"Yes, I understand that you need to follow the rules to keep the village safe. Thank you for letting the young ones go, however." Drop said, and Silence agreed, while Mor kept silent.

"When Klang says somebody needs it and is ready, I couldn't disagree. He's never been wrong in such things, just as his insight, in what weapon is best for each hunter." The chief stated with a half sigh.

With this the crisis was averted, the whole village spent the night celebrating the return of the hunter team.