Shouts and cries echoed through the mist-covered marshland . There were countless terrors that hid in this deadly place . What concerned Cloudhawk the most, though, were the sounds of footsteps getting closer . He had to move faster, but his wounded leg made that difficult .

If it’d been Mantis in this situation, things would be different .

He was out of his depth . Still, in the three months since he left the ruins as a scavenger he’d become a hardened wastelander . A warrior . It was a quick transformation to be proud of, but still limited . He wasn’t an expert like Mantis, nor a mighty fighter like Hydra .

What could he do now?

Cloudhawk had bandaged his wounded leg, but while it stopped most of the bleeding it still continued to leak fresh blood . Droplets of bright crimson were left behind, leading right to him . To skilled hunters they were as clear as signposts but he had no time to try and hide them .

To summarize his failure, Cloudhawk had underestimated his foes .

He had refused to give in when his lizard proved useless, but his condition had been quickly deteriorating . When he found the spot where the tentacles haunted it was a good plan . Where he failed was in understanding just how good his enemies were at survival . The tentacles hadn’t stopped them, instead it was Cloudhawk that had been hurt .

There were still several dozen mercenaries left .

What could he do?

Getting out of the marsh didn’t seem possible . So what was he supposed to do? Die nursing his grudges? No! That was acceptable!

Reeds that lined the path in front of him sudden parted, and a dark figure darted out from within . The stranger had a machete aimed for his heart and Cloudhawk responded by lifting his staff in defense . The force of the impact knocked his staff away .

“You think you can make a clean escape after killing so many of our brothers?”

The mercenary idly slapped the flat of his machete against the palm of his hand . He looked at Cloudhawk with cruel eyes, like a hunter watching his prey struggle . But he never dropped his guard, for he could smell the danger coming off his target .

He was like a wild animal, and an animal was most dangerous when wounded and cornered .

Cloudhawk threw himself toward the reeds and rolled into cover . He was gone .

A disdainful grin split the mercenary’s face . A flash of his blade and a large swath of foliage was cut away . But even though his chop cut away the kid’s hiding place, the hunter was surprised to find that he was gone . He leaned over, looking for any trace .

Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+

Two streaks of cold light flit by . Two throwing daggers. .h.i.t the mercenary; one in the chest and the other in his neck .

He stared in shock and horror as Cloudhawk reappeared, unable to understand what had happened . Indeed the young man had managed to recover a little of his mental energy but used it up again by employing the invisibility cloak . He s.n.a.t.c.hed the dead mercenary’s canteen of water and poured its contents down his dry throat . It was clean and refres.h.i.+ng, and he drank down half of it before he finished .

He continued to fish around in the corpse’s pockets, look for anything he could use like bandages or astringents .  

Before he could, though, things got noisy . Guns started to peek out of the reeds and aim his way .

The mercenaries stepped into the open, their faces twisted and angry . The kid had killed many of their companions, good men, but now he was surrounded . He’d run out of chances . One of the mercenaries called out to him . “He’s got special powers . We should start by cutting off his arms and legs!”

“Yeah!”

None of them had met a demonhunter . None of them knew what unique abilities they possessed! If they cut off his limbs, though, it didn’t matter what skills he had . He wouldn’t be able to do s.h.i.+t .

Cloudhawk’s hands curled into fists, a murderous glint swept across his eyes . If this was it he was gonna take a few of them with him . The mercenaries could feel it too, they sensed how dangerous he was . The kid looked scrawny, but the threatening sense that wafted from him was akin to a feral wasteland beast .

But so what? If they filled his limbs full of bullets they’d be useless, and it didn’t matter how much willpower he had . Guns moved to aim at his arms and legs while Cloudhawk’s tightly gripped hands shook . Death was staring him in the face .

“Hold your fire!”

A voice shouted at them from the mist .

The voice was gruff and unpleasant, like the growl of some beast whose vocal cords had been wounded . A group of shadows split from the mist, armed to the teeth – something rarely seen in the spa.r.s.e wastelands . Most belongings, whether defensive or offensive, were cobbled together on one’s own through their adventures . As such equipment differed in a thousand ways from person to person .

But these men, their equipment all looked of the same type . Each of them wore breathing masks that covered their faces and waterproof clothing . As opposed to many in the wastelands they looked slick . Each of them had the same weapon, too – a strange gun without a magazine . They were connected by tubes to an apparatus on their backs .

The one in front wore a large grey cloak . From the shadows of the hood was revealed half a man’s face . It looked as though he’d been burned, something had left him covered in heinous scars . His slightly raised lips made him look feral .

The leader of the mercenary company was a large bald man . He fixed the newcomers with a cold glare . “Who the f.u.c.k do you think you are?”

“Who we are doesn’t concern you . This one belongs to us . ” The mysterious stranger swept his eyes toward Cloudhawk . “Now you all f.u.c.k off!”

The mercenaries had suffered and labored for this, going through significant danger to capture Cloudhawk alive . Now this guy just shows up, and with a word expects them to leave? b.a.l.l.sy! A company half their size wouldn’t put up with bulls.h.i.+t like this, much less wasteland veterans like themselves . Did these scrubs think they were pushovers?

Those were fighting words!

But the mercenary leader’s face was calm .

The others in his company slowly lifted their weapons but didn’t fire . The mysterious group of men reacted first . Their guns come alive, but they didn’t fire bullets . Instead they exploded with bolts of what looked like lightning – lethal streams of electricity that could fry a bull!

A dozen mercenaries. .h.i.t the ground, wracked by convulsions . The others fell back, for though electric weapons were deadly they had limited range .

After a brief moment of surprise the bald mercenary leader regained his composure . “You’re –“

The mysterious stranger cut him off by removing his hooded cloak and dropping it to the side, revealing his burned features . His strong and robust frame stood out against the mist . He remained at the head of his cryptic contingent, unmoving, only every pore on his body started to writhe . Coa.r.s.e black hair slithered out from every inch of him, even his face underwent the astonis.h.i.+ng change . Where half a moment before he’d been a normal man, now his canines extended into sharp fangs .

In the s.p.a.ce of a horrified gasp the man became some sort of human-wolf hybrid . It wasn’t only the mercenaries who gaped in surprised alarm, Cloudhawk also looked on wide-eyed and uncomprehending .

What the h.e.l.l was this guy?!

 Some sort of mutant? Impossible! They couldn’t control their mutations, unlike this guy who seemed able to switch at will . This was completely outside of the realm of anything they thought possible .

But there was no time to think!

The wolfman leapt forward faster than anyone could have expected . The mercenaries had their weapons raised but the creature was on them before they could pull the trigger . In a single swipe of his sharp talons the first mercenary’s weapon and armor were shredded . His chest was split apart by a series of deep gouges .

The second victim was set upon before he could blink . With an inhuman fury the beast man burst his head like an overripe watermelon .

He was too fast . Everywhere he went fountains of blood followed, and though he looked like a beast he clearly retained the intelligence of a man .

The bald man charged at the beast with ax in hand . He was no weakling, probably comparable in level to Panther or White Snake . However he only managed three or four quick exchanges with the beast man before his weapon was knocked away .

The creature grabbed the mercenary leader by the throat and lifted him off the ground . Inch by inch his sharp claws dug into the man’s soft flesh as he taunted him through his half man, half beast face . “This is all you’ve got, and you think you can best me?”

The bald man was consumed by fear, having never encountered anyone – or anything – as strong as this creature . He fought to speak through his quickly closing windpipe . “Let me… go . I’ll… leave!”

“I gave you a chance . You chose to ignore it . ”

With as much effort as though he were flicking away an insect he threw the mercenary aside . He flailed through the air for thirty feet then landed on his head . The sound was sickening, like every bone in his body broke at once . His head was a b.l.o.o.d.y, soggy mess as he lay in a heap on the floor, unconscious or dead .

Gradually the thick black hairs on the wolfman withered and disappeared . Once again his burned face became human, and he covered himself in that grey cloak . Glimmering eyes slowly slid sideways to where Cloudhawk watched, still as a board and eyes wide . “Will you come, or do I have to bring you myself?”

Cloudhawk veritably shook in terror . “I-I can walk . ”

If this guy wasn’t stronger than Hydra they were at least close . Beyond that his mutation was incredibly strange and unique . Cloudhawk knew what he was capable of, and the only one he knew who was capable of defeating this monster was the Bloodsoaked Queen . He couldn’t oppose the wolfman, so rather than inciting him Cloudhawk figured he’d behave .

“Who are you?”

“This valley belongs to us . We knew the moment you and the others crossed into our territory . Relax, we aren’t interested in the bounty on your head . We’re only interested in you . ” He spoke as they began to make their way through the marsh . “You can call me Hyena . As for who we are? The people of the wasteland like to call us Seekers . ”

They were Seekers?

Cloudhawk was dumbfounded . The first time he’d heard of them was from Cooke, back when he was with the Tartarus mercenaries . He’d learned that the Seekers were one of the most mysterious powers in the wastelands . They controlled technology and knowledge typical people didn’t even know existed .

The panacea from Greenland Fort were treasures purchased from Seekers . What kind of lives did these mysterious people lead?

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