"Sever the spine!" Mourning Crow shouted from the bell tower.
I leaped into action, slicing my claymore up along the giant feline's back and plunged it deep into the base of the minion's skull.
Mourning Crow sprang off the crumbling adobe bell tower and flung the tip of her chain sickle into one of the creature's glowing eyes.
"Slayer incoming!" I cried out from below.
Mourning Crow's ear flicked up as she whistled to get a visual of the surrounding area.
It wasn't safe. We were out long past midnight and the Graven were known to gather in this district when the moon disappeared behind the clouds.
Three more big cats commanded by a Corrupted Slayer bounded over the eastern rampart of the old craftsman's district.
"I'm on it!" Mourning Crow ripped her sickle free, leaving a wide weeping gash in the feline's face, then she charged full speed into the Slayer's path.
By the breaking light, that girl has no fear!
"Kneel cretin!" The Corrupted Slayer strut up to an adversary she was nowhere near prepared for.
This was a battle Mourning Crow and I were well versed in. It was quicker to let her face the stronger individual solo while I dispatched the minions. The girl had a way of disarming her opponents, and not just through dismemberment!
The cats hissed and circled me, but I was patient and timed my swings with their flexing tendons.
C'CHUNK
The first one's head thumped across the brown cobblestone.
At least these minions resemble animals. It was the disembodied ones oozing yellow or too many irregularly shaped eyes that made my stomach turn.
SH'LINK
I was mid-thrust on the second cat when I heard a familiar tune and I could only laugh.
The little thief stole my song!
Only Mourning Crow would dare duel and serenade a Corrupted Slayer at the same time.
This place was an endless nightmare, but I would have been long dead and bored out of my mind without her.
K'CHAOK
My last feline minion dropped into two tidy sections.
Mourning Crow's armless and headless Slayer melted by the girl's feet.
She was smiling brightly and out of breath as she twirled her sickle to spray off the monster's black blood.
It was strange how someone so small could be the most notorious uncorrupted Slayers in all of Thorngate.
Other razkurs and Corrupted Slayers tracked her on the regular, but none of it seemed to phase her.
How was it that she made the time to fight alongside me?
Mourning Crow holstered her sickle on her hip and wrapped her chain around her chiseled waist. The girl was made of steel and her sweet scent reminded me of honeytail butterflies mating springtime.
"You stole my melody," I laughed and swirled Mourning Crow around in the air. She was so light and smooth against my bare chest. The beat of her heart so near to mine made my blood race.
"You were blocked on the lyrics," she giggled and touched her nose to mine.
"Pedantic thief," I couldn't help but embrace her tighter. Her pale iridescent scales flexed like perfectly interlocking micro-pearls.
YOU ARE READING
The Hunter's Song II: Lost Blood
Science FictionIt's been 5 years since the war began, Graven vs. Zhaguai. The fight against ancient evil rages on, but the discovery of a sacred Graven monastery may shift the tide to favor the Nexus. Mourning Crow's family has expanded and through her mates, Eh'k...
