Hunter Academy

Chapter 40: The Hunt

Lilith casted the portal, this one being gold tinged with a evergreen color. Prettier than any other portal I've seen before.

"All set?" Lilith asked as she checked her pockets and supplies.

I bit my lip and nodded. I was worried about her, she only had a couple silver daggers and the silver chains. What could she do with those if it got through me?

Lilith saw me eyeing her weapons and smiled "I have a deep magic reserve, you know."

"Still." I looked towards the sky, still the light color of the morning.

"Wanna warm-up?" I ask slyly.

I see a light blush spread across her cheeks and ears but when she sees me drop Lucifer she shakes her head.

"What'd you think I meant, Lilith?" I tease.

She chuckles "Well, in my experience, you are quite needy. I just assumed you needed those needs met."

"Shut up and fight me Lilith." My laugh was cut short when Lilith punched me into a tree. Ouch. I quickly got on my feet and dodged Lilith's kick. Her agility and speed would never cease to amaze me. She smiled and we began to exchange blows.

It was times like this that confirmed we were made for each other.

"I'll be careful to not draw blood." She chuckled and executed a high kick aimed at my head.

I ducked.

Again my agility was far too slow.  As Lilith hit my shoulder, my right hand shot out and made Lilith's head snap back. Lilith leapt on my back. Dropping abruptly, I executed a somersault, shook myself free and rose only to butt my head into Lilith's forehead.

"Ouch." I rubbed my head.

I looked back at Lilith and saw her face look animated. Nothing brought her to life more than a fight. That went for me as well. I could feel my blood moving through my veins. I took a deep breath, letting as much oxygen in my system at one time and exhaled. I picked up Lucifer.

Lilith tosses me a bottle "drink it. It'll protect your memories and lessen the effects of the draining."

I nodded and gulped it down. It had no taste and I could feel the blood red liquid run down my throat and hit my stomach.

"Let's go!" I said a bit shakily. The adrenaline was still pumping through my veins and I'd rather get a head start on the fight.

I didn't wait for her response when she took too long to answer. I walked right through and landed on a tree. Lilith popped up beside me, looking around with frantic eyes. Her expression was a bit feral, but she relaxed once her eyes found mine.

I whistled at the height at which we were at. At least 50 feet until the icy bottom. The area wasn't as beautiful as the last. The icicles were too jagged, the snow too much like ice. There were rocks everywhere and many tree branches were broken.

"Where is-?" I scrunched my nose and covered my mouth and stopped mid sentence.

It smelled like blood.

It wasn't as appealing as Lilith's was, this one was like a punch to the face with salt and iron, even if I was losing my sense of smell, I could taste it. It was everywhere below us. Even though we were almost 50 feet above the ground, it reeked of the smell. I didn't see any blood anywhere though.

"The cave is over there." Lilith pointed directly in front of me and I saw branches covering the entrance. The Wendigo was trying to camouflage. I strapped Lucifer to my back and jumped straight down.