SECRETS OF EXOCLYUS

17: HUNTER AND HUNTED

"What the fuck is that?" Pheruss shouted.

"A mutation." Usgard answered. "King yetis are one of the rarest monsters to ever exist, and unfortunately their twice as aggressive and twice as strong as regular yetis. They don't stop until their target is dead."

"Great." Stella hissed as she pulled out her swords. "I guess we're improvising."

Koma drifted to a halt when he reached them and Usgard quickly launched himself over to the yeti with his axes risen high and his tattoos glowing. As he slammed into the monster's wide chest it stumbled back but Usgard also discovered that his axes barely grazed its skin.

The monster knocked Usgard off its chest and focused directly on Koma, it seemed fixated on him because it didn't even bother with Usgard when he quickly recovered and came running back.

"Melt the clubs!" Koma shouted to Stella before grabbing his spear and charging at their opponent.

"Pheruss, give me some knives." Stella ordered and she tossed some over. Once in her arms she ignited them and threw them at the frozen stalactites it was swinging down at Koma and Usgard, who were trying their best to pierce through its skin with their blades.

The knives sliced through the clubs and they proceeded to melt a few seconds later, unfortunately that focused the yeti's attention on her rather than the two men stabbing at its feet.

"Shit." Stella cursed right as the four armed beast ran at her. Koma managed to grab its foot and stop it for a moment, while Usgard hopped up and delivered a heavy punch to the back of it's head causing it to stumble forward again and groan in pain.

"Hit it!" Koma ordered.

Pheruss went first by throwing her hammer right into its large jaw, then Stella followed by casting a spell that shot a column of fire at its face. She continued pouring magic into the flames but soon realised that the yeti was reaching out and conjuring a spell of its own.

"Move!" She yelled at Pheruss and jumped out of the way before a blast of frost shot out from its palm. Due to it being distracted by Usgard and Koma the yeti's aim was terrible, it swung its hand about wildly until it managed to hit Usgard causing the knight to fall to the ground completely encased in ice.

"Fuck." Koma cursed then backed away. This monster was tougher than he expected, he might need to rely on methods he truly despised, but considering they were seemingly losing it might be the only thing he could use to save them.

Stella took on the yeti now, she slashed about at its legs while dodging whatever attack it tried to hit her with. She was aiming for any weak spot that might be hidden beneath its thick fur, but no matter how hard she brought down her klopesh the blade only bounced back. "Why isn't it cutting through? Yeti's aren't this tough!"

"King yetis have perks that are unfortunate for us." Koma explained. "Pheruss, I don't want you getting into this fight, drag Usgard away, Stella and I will deal with it."

"But I can help!" She argued.

"Please, arm-buddy." Koma begged. "Just get the oaf out of the way."

Pheruss pushed aside her own feelings and did as he asked, while the yeti was distracted she quickly shoved Usgard's frozen body out of the way and when Koma was certain they were clear he focused on the towering monster.

He flexed his wooden arm and magic began to flow through it, the floral pattern across its oak surface glowed green with power as he prepared to command the forest. He hadn't done this kind of magic ever since he left Nevcram, he hadn't had a reason to, but the problem wasn't the chance of him being rusty, it was the whispers getting louder in his head or worse, gaining control.