Cloudhawk’s dramatic entrance had stunned everyone . This heedless, crazy action in a critical moment dealt with two of the enemy leaders . This kid was as crazy as he was lucky .

The man in black was pinned and couldn’t move . The mask that concealed his face had broken away, revealing a hideously ugly visage beneath . He had all the humanoid features; eyes, a nose, a mouth . But all along his jaw and the ridge of his cheekbone there grew spindly threads of flesh . They were like miniature tentacles that spread from his face . They slithered across his countenance like they had a mind of their own .

The last leader standing, the winged youth, screamed and launched into the air . He dove for them, sword first .

Cloudhawk felt the danger, but he knew his foe was too fast for him to defend against . With singular focus he poured his will into the exorcist staff . Its tri-bladed head began to spin, gaining momentum with each step until it was kicking up sand!

Everyone – the man in black, the winged man, and the Bloodsoaked Queen – they all stared in wonderment .

“He’s a demonhunter?!”

The two mutants were stunned . He was a kid, but he was a kid with an exorcist staff and that made everything different . Could Blackflag Outpost have another demonhunter?

The winged mutant’s blade hung in the air for half a breath as he hesitated . In that moment a dark figure leapt from the ruins nearby, and almost unseen threw something toward him . Two scalpels, dripping with poison, whistled through the air . One was angled toward the jugular notch, and the other for his chest .

Mantis!

The a.s.sa.s.sin was a master at taking advantage of opportunities . The winged attacker was forced to break off his a.s.sault on Cloudhawk and turn his sword toward protecting himself . He succeeded in knocking the deadly scalpels away .

The power of the exorcist staff continued to gather to its peak . Tempestuous winds were kicked up all around Cloudhawk and his demon slaying weapon!

A ferocious and hateful look was smeared across the tentacle horror’s face . He whipped his left hand and cast his bone-tipped feelers toward Cloudhawk . However, he’d been gravely injured, causing both his power and speed to suffer . Mantis reacted with another pair of flying knives that connected with two of the tentacles, knocking them away and helping Cloudhawk evade the danger .

Cloudhawk lifted his staff high . With eyes red as the pits of h.e.l.l he brought the spinning blades down as hard as he could upon the man in black .

The mutant tried to protect himself with his right arm but the spinning blade would not be deterred . It ground against the limb, tearing through flesh and bone with the sound of half a dozen saws . The freak’s arm was making a serviceable yet painful stand, stopping the exorcist staff from hitting anything vital .  

“Are you angry?” The monster hissed in his gravelly tone . “Do you feel the hatred?” By now the man in black’s other wounds had healed . Two slithering bone-tipped tentacles reeled back and struck at Cloudhawk like a pair of cobras . “You don’t have what it takes to kill me! Die!”

Scenes flashed through Cloudhawk’s mind .

The satisfied look in Woola’s dull, dead eyes . Cooke’s unreconciled sadness and anger . Mad Dog’s silhouette as he welcomed death, and Slyfox’s earnest look moments before his demise . Those eyes, that hatred, that figure, all of these things crystalized in a single moment in his mind .

Cloudhawk felt something surge within him, like a dam had burst . The sound of his exorcist staff drilling through his foe’s arm increased, and the black man watched in agonizing terror as it tore his limb to ground flesh .  

“Let’s see who dies first!”

His exorcist staff became an all-conquering Excalibur . He thrust his staff through the arm, into the freak’s throat and deeper still into the earth beneath . The whirling blade made quick work of the mutant’s neck and its hideous head rolled into the distance . A rapidly expanding pool of black blood soaked the ground .

Suddenly Cloudhawk was stabbed by a pain that radiated from his back . Two of the man in black’s bone spurs dug themselves in . Thankfully they were weak, and the quality of his wolf pelt was good . The wounds were not too bad .

The winged man’s eyes went wide with rage . “Big brother!”

Sweepers who’d witnessed the scene were struck dumb with amazement . In fact, so was the Bloodsoaked Queen! She felt like the notions she’d built herself on for the last decade were wrong . How could a heretic from the wastes be capable of wielding a demonhunter’s weapon, and so capably at that?

His attack had been vicious and destructive . Not only did he summon the power of the relic, but his will surpa.s.sed any novice demonhunter she’d ever known . He was almost as good as a full-fledged member of the order .

Training a demonhunter in the elysian lands required significant time, resources and energy . No one had ever heard of a recruit mastering the craft in a matter of days – much less someone with his power and psychic strength . This was absolutely impossible!

The winged man’s roars brought her and the sweepers back to the present . “Kill them!”

Mantis swept in and grabbed Cloudhawk, who was almost too weak to walk . Like a specter, he glided to her side . “I know a way . Follow or die . ”

There was no time to be stunned . Several elite soldiers, the badly wounded Grizzly, and the Queen where all who remained . They stumbled after Mantis, looking for escape .

The winged mutant gave up the chase . His first concern was his mangled brother . As he knelt down beside him, the winged man could see the tentacles on his neck and face twitching erratically . His mangled collarbones had sprouted many new tentacles as well .

The winged mutant let out a sigh of relief .  The black-robed freak had almost perfect healing powers and was a metahuman with an extremely complex internal structure .  As a result, even though he had suffered a mortal wound that he wouldn't be able to recover from quickly, his cells and his organs would still remain active and lively for a period of time .

The winged man scooped up his head and brought it to its body . He held it close to the hacked remnants of his neck . The tentacles reaching from it were like worms with a scent for a feast . They slithered over each other and tugged the head tight while sickly flesh began to re-st.i.tch itself . Tendons, vessels, and muscle regenerated before their very eyes .

Cloudhawk had almost killed him . Almost .

The crumbling protests of rock thundered around them as a boulder was thrust aside . The horned brother came stomping out from the ruins, looking worse than his wounds truly felt . His fuming gaze swept the area . “Where’d they go?”

“This is unbelievable!” The winged man had to keep helping his elder brother recover . He shouted over his shoulder at the horned man . “They couldn’t have fled far, get after them!”

The bull-like mutant gathered a group of thirty of forty sweepers and gave chase .

Blackflag Outpost was lost to the enemy . Everywhere one turned there were citizens fighting for their lives . There were more defenders than sweepers, but one on one they were no match . This was before considering the sweeper’s airs.h.i.+p and its heavy guns . No one knew how many were mowed down, but the trickles of blood had become rivers .

“Enemies are everywhere, inside the walls and all around them,” said the crestfallen Grizzly . “How do we get out?”

Mantis acted like he heard nothing and continued to pick his way ahead without hesitation . As they continued suddenly they found the sand beneath them get kicked up by a buffeting wind . The sweeper airs.h.i.+p was above them .

Grizzly looked up with dispirited surprise . “Not good!”

A spitfire crackle filled the air as its minigun burst to life . The area around them exploded into debris as bullets went flying . A few of the slower fighters fell to the ground screaming, shooting geysers of blood from their wounds .

The airs.h.i.+p had them pinned down!

Cloudhawk was so drained he was having trouble putting one foot in front of the other . Grizzly and the Bloodsoaked Queen were seriously injured . It made them slow and vulnerable . The enemy vessel descended to ten meters overhead and continued to spray the area with bullet fire . Escape was impossible .

Mantis continued at a full run, suddenly changing directions toward an excavation pit . These pits were where diggers did their name sake, searching for relics and other treasures . Most of the outpost’s goods – be they vehicles, weapons or tools – came from pits like this . Many of them were dotted around the territory . This was shut down years ago when nothing of value was discovered .

That’s where Mantis was going .

Some of these dig sites were honeycombs of secret pa.s.sages that ran deep and far underground . They seemed to stretch on everywhere and pop up at various places through the outpost . Even Grizzly, after years of leading the elite squad, had no idea these were here .

The dwindling group filed into the tunnels, Sweepers nipping at their heels . Outside the horned mutant ripped off a corroded iron plate from some junk nearby and hurled it like a frisbee into the tunnel after them .

“Agh!”

The sheet of metal buried itself into one of the soldiers . It’d cut halfway through his waist before getting lodged .

“s.h.i.+t! They’re still after us!”

The survivors scowled . None of them wanted to accept that their enemies had caught up to them so fast . They fired a salvo of gunfire through the tunnel and several more defenders were killed . Mantis and the Queen immediately took over .

Grizzly was a fraction too slow and a bullet tore through his ankle . His towering body crashed into the ground with a thud .  

“Grizzly!” Cloudhawk cried .

The Bloodsoaked Queen grabbed the big man and dragged him into cover .

Grizzly, soaked with sweat, gaped at her in astonishment . He was here, right next to her . In the year he’d served with her he’d never been this close .

The sweepers were closing in .

“I can walk on my own!” Cloudhawk pushed at Mantis as he felt his strength returning . “Go help Grizzly!”

“No, it’s not needed . ” Grizzly swung his eyes to Cloudhawk and fixed him with a solemn gaze . “I’ll keep ‘em off you . Protect the Queen, and get the f.u.c.k outta here . ”

Grizzly’s right arm was in splinters, as was his ankle . He knew that he’d only slow them down .

Mantis knew it too . He didn’t hesitate . The last Tartarus captain pulled Cloudhawk up and they fled down the tunnel . And although the Queen felt her chest tighten, she knew the truth when she saw it .  

What she never knew was how he felt .

For a year Grizzly served as her loyal attendant . He was giving his life so they could run – trading it for the briefest chance she and the others could live . It weighed heavy on her .

The Queen couldn’t remember when she started pitying these barbarians . She’d grown up in the blessed country where they warned her constantly that the wastelands were full of evil . The people of G.o.d and the wretches of the wastelands were split by an impa.s.sable line . She was taught never to show the faithless mercy or sympathy .

Her experience in these blighted lands taught her that these unfortunate souls weren’t much different from the people where she came from .

Everyone was made from the same flesh and blood . Everyone loved, everyone loathed .

The cold fingers of dread closed around her heart: Was she questioning her faith? No… no the word of the G.o.ds surpa.s.sed all else!

She looked back over her shoulder .

Grizzly had himself half-propped up, leaning on his good leg and looking back at her . For the briefest instant their eyes met and he felt like he was bathed in holy light . The look in her eyes set his soul ablaze .

This is enough, he thought . He was content to die for what he believed in . Could many in these cursed lands say the same?

Click!

A spout of fire danced from his lighter as Grizzly lit a cigarette . He seemed unperturbed as the shadow of an enormous horned monstrosity crept over him .  

Grizzly sucked in a breath, making the tobacco crackle . He looked at the mutant with a calm and determined gaze, like a man standing vigil before the dawn . “I’m not lettin’ you through . ”

The horned man curled his fist making his knuckles pop ominously . His dark eyes were thick with disdain . “Just you?”

“Yeah . Just me . ” He plucked the cigarette from his lips and flicked it away . Keeping his eyes locked on the mutant he tore open his s.h.i.+rt to reveal a vest of homemade explosives . Half an inch of fuse sizzled as he grinned victoriously at his killer . “You’re goin’ down with me!”

The horned man’s pupils contracted to tiny dots . He screamed at those behind him .

“Retreat!”

The sweepers scrambled over one another to try and flee .

Grizzly erupted into peels of crazy laughter, full of pride and rage and madness . Tears had gathered at the corner of his eyes . He’d always been a man who kept his emotions tightly bound . He never wished for much, and kept his head out of fantasies . The Queen never knew because he didn’t want his filth to tarnish such a heavenly beauty .

I wish I could stay with you, doing your bidding . I wish I could protect you and be your servant . An unworthy man was able to find salvation by dying for his faith . What is there to regret? Thank you, my Queen!

“Wulf, I’ll see ya in a minute!” Grizzly let loose with his final roar of defiance before the vest detonated . The explosion tore through the tunnel’s supports and collapsed a huge section . Sweepers that were too slow to escape were crushed beneath a mountain of rubble .

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