章 35: Death Trap (6)
The flames scorched Talon once more, searing his skin and melting it with intense heat. The pain was overwhelming, numbing his mind to the point where he could barely muster a weak yelp of agony. Exhaustion weighed heavily on him, draining his strength to the point of near collapse.
As his ring began to activate once more, the cracks widened even further, threatening to shatter the ring into pieces at any moment. Its energy was rapidly depleting, nearing exhaustion with each passing second.
"The others probably need this too. We have to hurry up and help them," Talon murmured weakly, his voice barely audible over the constant pain coursing through his body. With determination etched on his face, he deactivated the ring, refusing to let his own suffering deter him. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over him, causing his vision to blur and his body to sway. Just as he began to collapse, Quinn thankfully caught him, preventing him from hitting the ground.
"We can't lose you here, get up!" said Quinn, his voice filled with genuine concern. The previous arguments between them had long lost their meaning. Now, both of them needed to trust each other if they wanted to survive the hunters' ambush—a true death trap.
"I'm alright," Talon insisted weakly as he was helped up by Quinn. His face had turned ashen white, and small burn marks still covered him, not healed by the ring to save its energy for the others. His newly crafted coat from the Stone Ridge wolves was mostly torn and burned, revealing his bare chest underneath, just like his shirt beneath it.
Quinn and Rokara both stared at Talon with shocked expressions, their silence stretching on for a while.
What the two stared at so intensely was Talon's body, marked not only by the scar from the bear that couldn't heal properly but also by numerous other scars covering his form. His body was almost entirely adorned with these marks. Eventually, it was Quinn who broke the silence.
"What happened to you?" Asked Quinn, his otherwise aggressive and mocking tone towards Talon was nowhere to be found.
"I... not now. We have to hurry to the others!" said Talon, his exhausted voice infused with a newfound urgency. He began to retrieve his spear from the neck of the fallen bear, wincing in pain as he touched the scalding hot handle.
Quinn approached a nearby tree where a hunter lay, bleeding profusely but still alive. In his hands, he tightly grasped his two hatchets, both of them lightly glowing. It was clear that this was the same hunter who had attacked Talon earlier.
"This bastard!" Talon growled, his expression darkening as he strode purposefully toward the hunter. Recognizing the intensity in Talon's demeanor, Quinn wisely stepped away, leaving the hunter to face Talon alone.
Talon delivered a powerful kick to the hunter's stomach, causing him to cough up blood and collapse into a fit of hacking coughs.
"Why did you attack us?!" roared Talon, his voice echoing with anger as he demanded answers from the injured hunter. The hunter simply looked back at him, meeting Talon's gaze with defiance, before spitting a mouthful of blood onto the ground. "That's my answer! Monster…" growled the hunter weakly.
"All of you call me a monster, that's all I hear. Be it in the canteen, the training grounds, or even the hallways. But tell me, what did I ever do to any of you?" Talon asked, his voice filled with frustration. However, his question was met with silence from the hunter, who continued to stare at him without offering any answers.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I thought…" Said Talon before he looked back at Quinn and Rokara. "Does any of you have a knife or something of that sort with you?"
"I have a knife." Said, Quinn, handing his dagger to Talon without a second thought, but before Talon could have take it out of his hand, Quinn suddenly pulled his hand back. "Why do you need this?"
"We need answers if we want to survive. Maybe he can even tell us about the remaining hunters that are attacking the others, and we need to know why Paul's foresight was unable to foresee this, nor look through our eyes," explained Talon, his hands still reaching out for the knife.
Understanding the urgency of the situation, Quinn handed the knife to Talon. Without hesitation, Talon pointed its sharp point toward the hunter's right eye. With a small shake of Talon's hand, the knife threatened to poke the hunter's eye out.
"And most importantly, we need to know who sent you bastards!" Growled Talon deeply.
The hunter stared deeply into Talon's eyes, and as he gazed into them, he was left shaken. He saw the seriousness in Talon's expression, realizing the gravity of the situation.
"Who sent you?" Talon repeated his question, the knife's blade inching closer to the hunter's eyes. Despite the threat looming before him, the hunter remained silent, hoping that the boy before him wouldn't follow through with his brutal intentions, believing him too young to commit such acts.
With one swift and decisive movement, Talon stabbed the dagger deep into the hunter's eye, eliciting a torrent of blood and screams of agony. From the sidelines, Rokara and Quinn watched in shock as Talon carried out the brutal act. Neither of them had believed that Talon would follow through with his threat, even though he had made it clear he would.
Not waiting for the hunter to calm down, Talon placed the knife before the hunter's left eye, "I won't repeat it, who sent all of you?"
The hunter still screamed in pain, but through his pain, he managed to blurt out, "It was… the huntsman."
"Were… huntsman lance amongst the huntsman?" Asked Talon, his voice was hopeful. "No… he wasn't." Said the hunter, still panting from the pain.
"It's good then," Talon sighed in relief, his expression still hardened with determination as he resumed his questioning. "How were you all able to bypass the gift of a seer?"
"The cloaks, we got them from the huntsman." Said the hunter, his expression became weaker as the loss of blood made him almost pass out.
"Last question, what can you tell us about the others remaining? Strengths, weaknesses?" Asked Talon, the blade in his hand still pointed directly at the remaining eye of the hunter.
"Weaknesses?" The hunter repeated Talon's words, his tired face suddenly regaining its vigor as he began to laugh hysterically. "There is no such thing as a weakness for that man. If the captain ever decides to join the battle, all of you are dead. Because that man is a true hunter."
Laughed the hunter again, creating a disturbing sight as he laughed even while coughing up blood, it almost seemed like he was choking on his own blood. With one final laugh, he picked up his hatchet and struck at Talon with it, driven by a desperate and savage resolve.
"Watch out!" Shouted Rokara, her gift activating in a hurry. With swift and unseen force, she crushed the hunter before he could inflict any harm upon Talon.
"Thanks," Thanked Talon genuinely, his mind was still racing from the things he heard from the hunter in his final moments as he crouched down to retrieve the two hatchets from the fallen hunter. Handing them to Rokara, he added, "You broke yours, and these are crafted from beasts, so they're probably better."
"We should hurry," said Quinn, quickly picking up a couple of stray arrows from the battlefield and placing them in his quiver. With a shared sense of urgency, the three of them began to rush toward the other side of the battlefield, where the sounds of battle still echoed, marked by the clanging of metal and occasional shouts from the hunters. 'Thorn, please be fine!'
クリエイターの想い 
Velstad
Velstad I wanted to take a moment to share some updates regarding the story. As of now, I've begun making small adjustments to previous parts of the narrative. Most of these changes will involve fixing typos or sentences that may not have made much sense.
I'll be changing the names of some previous chapters. The content and structure of these chapters will remain the same, only minor fixes will be made.
And I wanted to thank to everyone that has been reading this book, the fact that anyone even reads this mean the world to me, thank you all.
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