The Stonehearted Knight

"They have cleaned all the crystals, Captain."

Althea scrunched her brows at the Squire giving his report. The Squires under her command had performed a quick inspection on the killed boars.

The sight of them laying around, bathed in blood, was the sight that greeted them when they arrived at the second mountain.

'That means a team is already here. I thought with Clannad going another way, we would be the first one to reach this mountain. Is it that boy?'

The three Knights stood beside her, waiting for her decision. Despite her young age Althea was a captain and their equal. Within the Northern Hawks only military ranks mattered.

"What do you think, girl? Should we take another route?" Lady Briella asked impatiently. She had never been one to spend too much time thinking. She liked taking actions.

"No," Althea shook her head, raising her head to discuss with the other captains. "We already are behind at least one time. We will lose the first day completely if we go further."

They all turned towards the mountain. "The mountain is big enough. We will hunt here. And if the others come in our way, take them out!"

…

"Young master, we have an update on the other teams."

A Squire dressed in blue and silver brought his horse beside the silver haired boy, dressed in similar colors as the Squire.

The two young and beautiful female Knights turned were riding along the boy and also turned to hear the Squire report.

The Squire held a thin stone slab with silver borders. The surface of the slab seemed to move like a sludge and create some kind of a map. A few dots could be seen moving on it.

"Grindeston's team seemed to have allied with Viscount's twins. They have gone west of the first mountain."

He pointed at two dots moving together on the tablet. Then he pointed at the two other dots to the northern side.

"Lady Althea and the boy under the baron have both gone for the second mountain to the north. They reached it at different times, so they are most likely not in an alliance."

"Nothing strange so far. Conrad has been doing business with the Viscount for a long time. I expected them to reach an understanding," Dolaire said. She had white hair with streaks of blue in them.

"And if that stuck up bitch and nobody under the baron kill each other, we might save ourselves some time," replied Rublena. She also had white hair but with green streaks mixed in them.

"Ladies, please. We don't need them to die. The more they win, the more they will want to spend," said the silver haired boy with a smile. He was only a Squire but the Knights didn't mind his interruption.

"That is so typical of you Sterling. Is there nothing else you find interesting besides coins?" Dolaire asked with a pout on her luscious lips.

"Well, the things we do at night are also interesting," Sterling said with a wink at her. The ladies blushed slightly and giggled.

"But seriously, are you sure we can gain more going towards the canyon?" Rublena asked, her curiosity apparent in her eyes.

"The canyon was the place where the Heartless lived. I am certain we can find more precious treasures there than any other place within reach of the checkpoints."

The ladies seemed to trust Sterling very much. They looked down in the darkness-clad canyon.

…

Hex peered through the bushes he was sitting in. About thirty meters in front of him stood a stag, drinking water from a pond. The pond wasn't large so he could keep an eye out for dangers.

Not far behind him lay the corpses of a pack of wolves. Hex had discovered this pond a few hours ago. In the time he was here, he easily slayed five Demonic beasts.

'If I could keep this up, I would have easily earned a lot of points.' Hex sighed as he thought about the hassle of tracking beasts.

After his latest progress he was confident in killing Demon stage beasts and even surviving Fiend stage.

But the issue was the limited time they had to search for them. A glance at the horizon was enough to see that the day was almost over.

Although night was a good time to find more beasts, it was also easier to be surrounded by enemies. The Knights had emphasized safety above anything else.

'By now the others should have arrived and started their hunts. We don't know if they will remain cordial or hunt us to eliminate contenders.'

Even though Hex was cautious he wouldn't retreat or become lax. They were in front and they needed to retain their lead.

Suddenly, Hex turned towards the stag. It was done drinking and would soon leave. Hex prepared himself.

He didn't attack the beasts near the pond. Beasts were sharp and cautious. The smell of blood would scare them off.

The stag sauntered away from the pond. It seemed relaxed and took its time to step towards the bushes.

'Wait for it.'

Hex controlled his muscles. Stags were fast. If he misjudged his explosive jump at it, the beast might get away.

'Now.'

Thud!

He pressed his legs against the ground and took off. The stag panicked. Its eyes widened. It was about to flee. But it was late.

Slash.

Woosh.

Hex cut the head off. But as soon as he had it off, his body tensed. He had heard another sound.

'Arrow.'

The cut off head had flown away and was nailed to the bark of a tree. Cut off heads didn't do that!

Without waiting, Hex jumped forward.

Woosh.

And he did it in the nick of time. Another arrow was shot. The arrow was stuck exactly where he had been.

This time Hex had paid more attention. He had seen the arrow flying over.

'Someone is standing above me. On that cliff maybe.'

The pond was at the foot of a vertical cliff. The cliff wasn't high, but it had boulders. Someone was using them to hide and shoot.

Woosh.

The archer was good and getting faster. Hex jumped again, barely dodging.

'That person is trying to judge my position and where I might go.'

Hex grimaced but jumped off again. He tried to be unpredictable, but to no avail. The person was bent on killing him.

Hex rolled over and made a beeline for the trees. He didn't want to resort to fighting, but the archer was not leaving him a choice. He had to find a way to fight back.

'Once I am out of sight, we will see who hunts who.'