DreadWolf

◈ Chapter 103:

The Harpy Queen was a beautiful creature, that was undeniable.

Even in this dark shadowy version of herself the clean swooping curves of her body showed through, her form as though designed by some salacious sculpture, hair spilling down her naked back, her overly large chest pushed up by her crossed wings, broad powerful legs spread wide as she stared Rain down.

It wasn't until her eyes met his that the unnatural nature of the shadowy thing really hit home. A constellation of malignant red stars shone from within those eyes, a terrible Queenly will, an Imperial authority.

The Orcs shifted uncomfortably as they stood around the naked Harpy Queen, fists white-knuckled around weapons, unsure exactly what it was they were dealing with.

"It's an actual Harpy, obviously," said one.

"A Harpy made of that evil dark shit? No way, it's a fake, has to be."

The Queen narrowed her eyes at the Orc that had spoken, clearly wondering what he was talking about.

"You are supposed to do as I say, you understand that right?" said Rain.

The Queen turned back to him practically spitting acid. "I will never do as some murderous brute such as you wishes, ripping out your eyes and laying eggs in the sockets would be less than you deserve."

Rain raised an eyebrow and shifted tact.

"You realise where we are? We are two monsters alone surrounded by levelers who want to kill us."

"Hah! Not I, I can fly, and I shall fly away the moment I have dealt with you!"

She flapped her wings a few times as though to demonstrate that she did in fact have wings and that she could in fact fly.

"You think they won't shoot you down with bows? Look."

Rain pointed at the surrounding stands where the now mostly recovered Orcs were starting to step down onto the sand. Amongst them were the hunters who had originally found Rain in the forest, quivers slung across backs bows held in hand.

The Harpy glanced in their direction and sneered.

"Bows and arrows... Bows and arrows won't stop me from ending you wolf."

She took a step, massive scalpel-sharp talons raking the sands, clear killing intent in every motion. she advanced on Rain, one step, two.

But then Rain raised a paw. She stopped, struggling immensely, unable to come any closer, her legs trembling as she tried to force them forward.

"What is... this? My body won't...move."

Rain tried to push his will further into the dark that made up her body but he could already sense his limits, it seemed like stopping her from moving was the best he could hope for. At least he didn't need to worry about her flying away into the sky with his dark material and leaving him without now.

He considered telling her what was really happening for a moment, but then decided against it, best to keep her in the dark so to speak.

"You're afraid of me. That's why you cannot approach." he gravelled, deathly serious in his lie.

"BIRDSHIT! I am not- how dare you even suggest such a thing!" she took a step back and Rain allowed it. She eyed him more carefully now, despite her words she clearly seemed to be unsure of herself.

"Hey hey hey, how are we supposed to get anything out of this if all those other fuckers are attacking too? This is the same problem from before the brawl, everyone fighting over one monster benefits no one," said one of the Orcs.

"So we just kill it first, easy."

"And the Harpy?

"It's the same as the teeth and freaky centipedes, just hit it hard enough and it'll puff away."

"You will all stop talking this utter nonsense about me at once you insidious little cave worms!" snapped the Harpy, losing her temper once again.

The Orc to her side took the opportunity as she turned and darted in, lashing out in a quick chop. The sword slammed down on the Queen's shoulder, the THUNK of metal cutting into dark dramatically loud, the edge sinking down a good half inch.

The Queen froze up, her head very slowly turning to see the blade embedded in her shoulder, eyes slowly widening in outrage like ice creeping across a winter pond.

Rain had to wonder if she didn't see the dark that she was made out of then just what was she seeing? Did she see real flesh and blood being cut? Whatever the case this dark Harpy Queen was clearly significantly hardier than anything that he had summoned so far barring his dark paws.

The Queen glared back at the Orc and then in a flash of motion she twisted, the blade ripping free. The Orc panicked and raised his heavy wooden shield in a desperate defence.

Her leg whipped out in a vicious kick, a pair of huge razor talons collided with the wooden shield, the curved needle like points sinking into the wood with a shuuunk, the tips poking out the other side. A horrified Orc looked at the inches and inches of dark protruding free from his side of the wood.

"You tried to attack me?ME?!"she screamed.

The talons began to close and with a groan the thick oak started to break and then in a rush it shattered, the wood becoming so much splinters as it tumbled to the sand. A very surprised looking Orc awkwardly holding a metal shield handle and no shield was left behind.

Rain was vividly reminded that the Queen was a shockingly strong monster, he had very nearly been physically overpowered by her when she was alive, and that was when she was injured.

The Orc barely had time to open his mouth in a surprised O shape before the Queen spun in a savage roundhouse kick, her talons ripping through the air, razor blades that slashed across the Orc's front in an instant.

He cried out and his stomach flopped open, his insides pouring out like a waterfall. Organs, blood, flesh, all, his intestines slithered across the ground like someone had upended a basket of snakes.

The Queen paused as she noticed that the Orc's guts were wiggling away, trying to flee her.

Puzzled she poked at one with a talon. It flinched and jerked away from her touch.

"...What is wrong with this leveler's body?"

There wasn't time to ponder however, the Orcs from the stands were sprinting toward them now, weapons raised high, roaring their frenzied desire to kill kill kill, a desperate mindless race to slaughter Rain before too many attacked him.

Rain stepped out of the way of an oncoming arrow and then cried out as a blade flashed across the back of his neck, a line of pain dipping into his mane, paw clapping to the wound. He turned to find the nose ringed Orc, his blades dipped in red.

He spat to the side.

"Dam thing, why won't you just die."

"I won't roll over for your levels leveler, you're going to have to earn your death." he snarled back.

The Orc gave him a look of scorn but then touched his sword to his copper nose ring and the metal of the blade changed in front of Rain's eyes, the point where the ring touched transmuting from steel to copper. After a moment the transition was complete and the Orc held a copper sword.

"A skill?"

"Oh, the monster wants to know?" sneered the Orc stepping forward.

Rain looked at the sword, then glanced down at the Orc's foot, an expression of eager anticipation on his face. the Orc immediately noticed and leapt back, the copper blade morphing and extending as he stabbed the point into the sand.

Nothing happened and the Orc narrowed his eyes at the spot he had stabbed.

"Thought you almost got me with one of those damned centi-

The centipede that had been waiting for the Orc to position himself perfectly leapt from the sand, only a few inches needed for its enormous pincers to close around the tendon at the back of his foot. With a snip and a scream the Orc stumbled forward, directly into Rain's claws. Long black scythes dipped into his torso from his shoulders and with a grunt the Orc was ripped into a dozen different pieces, his arms and divided pieces of torso sent flopping on the ground, already trying to crawl away.

Rain had no time to catch his breath however as the first of the Orcs who had been tearing across the sand crashed bodily into him in a flying tackle. He bellowed and slashed his claws across. Two Orcs died instantly, clearly just over confident low levellers, but they were replaced by more and these wore armour like Kel's and carried spears. His claws were far from as effective against these ones.

A screech of fury that stung the ears sounded nearby and he turned expecting to find the Harpy trying to attack him again, instead half of an Orc rolled across the sands as the Harpy Queen crashed into the two spear Orcs and went tumbling, hissing and clawing and spitting, a terrifying tangle of flapping wings and ripping talons.

Rain stumbled forward as he was clubbed over the head from behind and swung round in surprise, two dozen Orcs swarmed him before he had time to speak, bloody murder in their eyes. Daggers and swords slipped into his flesh as he fell under the crashing weight of enraged Orcish muscle and violence.

The little darkness he had remaining surged from his fur and slid amongst the Orcs like carnivorous death along with his claws, their screams filled the air and Rain had scant moments to heave piles of wounded or dead Orcs aside before an executioner's axe fell where his head had been, the sizeable blade slamming deep into the sand.

The muscular Orc who wielded it had gold capped teeth and gave him an evil grin before a fraction of a second later he was instantly decapitated by a screaming berserking Harpy Queen, her talons flashing as she rushed by. The Orcs head landed in the sand beside Rain, an expression of surprise frozen on its face as the headless body landed with a thump next to it.

Angry screeching came from the direction of the Queen as the Orcs tried and failed to take her down even as parts of her dark body started to mist under the onslaught. Rain was glad he hadn't undone her, her berserk rage was keeping half of the Orcs away from him all on her own.

He couldn't pause to observe however as half a hundred Orcs were running at him full tilt from every direction, and he barely had time to scramble to his feet before they crashed together, blades and spears stabbing into him, bodies on every side.

He lifted back his head drawing in a deep breath and let loose a terrible air shuddering roar, the very nearest Orc's eardrums instantly burst and they wept blood as veins erupted and organs ruptured, a dozen Orc's collapsing in moments. But before he was even halfway done a spear lanced from the crowd and punctured his lung. His roar ended in a wet gurgle and a struggle to simply breathe.

There was just so many Orcs and they were just so relentless, an ocean of ravenous greed, all desperate to level from killing him. Everywhere he looked there was more, hundreds of Orcs, a wall of moving heaving green muscle, the sand now crimson red as slash after slash of his claws ripped the Orcs apart in a maelstrom of gore, his feet slipping across the unsteady slippery ground.

Orcs poured onto his back and he went down again, stabbed and cut, feet and fists pummeling him where weapons had been dropped, a mindless mob, a lynching. Rain curled up under the onslaught, then with a snarl kicked free, a half dozen Orcs sent flipping through the air. Everything was blood now and he had the dark paws separate from his own paws, using both in tandem, even as he ripped the head off one Orc the dark paws disembowelled another, he didn't have a choice, he needed the efficiency.

He was so lost in the fog of killing that when he tore out the throat of an Orc and shoved her aside he nearly killed the tiny Orc behind her on instinct.

Not an Orc.

Opal.

"You're alive!" said the Goblin happily stabbing an Orc in the kidney, almost getting squished to death between two more Orcs as she was shoved around in the crush of bodies.

"What are you doing?! Get out of here!" roared Rain in dismay, desperately killing the Orcs around her as quickly as he could.

"I came back for you! They didn't want you, but I do want you, I-"

The mace fell in an instant, an angular chunk of steel cracking against the back of the Goblin girl's head. Rain froze, unable to comprehend even as Opal's blood splashed across his muzzle.

Opal disappeared amongst the crush, buried in the endless heaving mountain of Orc flesh.

No, that didn't just hap- It couldn't have- No! No!No!