《Hunter》 Crow Victoria''s talons slowly scratched against the trigger guard of her rifle, drumming out a noiseless, rhythmless, meaningless tune. she could hear the blood pulsing in her head as her nose was filled with the scent of her prey. It was an earthy scent, although difficult to describe, do describe the scent would be to explain a colour to someone unable to see it. although she couldn¡¯t see her quarry, her senses told her that the beast was closer than it had ever been. The place that the beast had decided to call home was a temperate forest in the middle of nowhere, but it was close enough to some hick town that she had been deployed anyway on little notice or consideration for her abilities. The sun was beating down, the prey had better be satisfying otherwise she would be pissed. The beast wasn¡¯t unique; however, she derived no less joy from the prey she hunted. No, the dampener on her mood came from a different beast entirely, boredom. she had been hanging in this position for days, her eye constantly to the scope as she stared at the watering hole, surrounded by lush vegetation, even for her enhanced eyes the strain was beginning to make itself known. This waiting wasn¡¯t what she was made for and her body was beginning to revolt, her body had stopped conserving water as she salivated through bared teeth, her head was throbbing from the strain of holding the position and her legs were beginning to atrophy. While Victoria was a trapper by nature, this was ridiculous, she was suited to single day stakeouts max, there were specialists for missions that went on this long and she was not one of them. Despite this she would complete this mission, there was no way that she was going to lose to this third-rate beast. So there she hung, suspended upside down in a tree, her feathers usually midnight black now mirroring the rest of the foliage to blend in so that she looked like a bottled green cocoon with a gun barrel. If she moved even slightly the jig could be up, most monsters perceptive enough to notice even the slightest movement. Victoria would kill someone for some shelter, a fortified outpost, a tent, hell a roof would be nice. While she needed less food than a human she still needed to eat, and so, with almost imperceptible movements she would swipe up any small creature that dared come close and eat it raw, a fire could alert the beast after all. When it came to her rifle Victoria had been given an anti-tank rifle for piercing armour hide, while powerful in a normal military setting the rifle was far from one of the specialised DAVID railguns that were assigned when dealing with high priority targets, which meant she had to be accurate. She had been given 2 shots. She would only need one.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Her nostrils flared as the creature drew closer and into view, it was covered in dark grey scales, its body resembling that of a fat lizard, but with a slightly angrier looking head, with spikes and heavy-set eyes it looked almost like a dinosaur from one of those books she had read while growing up. The monster¡¯s spiny tail lashed the air, it was coated in blood and the deep red liquid sprayed everywhere, some landed on Victoria¡¯s face and it took all the self-control she would ever have just to not react to the rousing scent. Slowly the creature lowered its head, she could count the seconds in her state of absolute consciousness, 5 seconds from 1.5 meters from the ground to the water. Its throat began to undulate and even though its eye was closed, she knew that that is where she should strike. Her face contorted violently upward into what could only be called a perversion of the act of smiling as her malleable physiology lifted her limits in her moment of excitement, her finger greedily pulled the trigger. The shot rang out, birds soared through the sky in a panic and briefly, for only a moment they blotted out the sun. Victoria felt a feral surge of energy cause through her as her already colossal midnight frame swelled and grew, she could feel the beak beginning to slide down over her face as her vision turned red before, just as suddenly as it had come, the energy left her, her body contorted and shrunk as her eyes tried desperately to readjust to her the light. When she could see again she was on the ground, she hadn¡¯t felt herself fall and had no idea how long she had laid there, if she had lost consciousness at all. Gathering herself but leaving her rifle she slowly walked over to the monster on the ground. She walked carefully not because she didn¡¯t trust her aim, or her ability to kill it with her bare hands if she really had to, but because these creatures were unpredictable, and since she had skipped the briefing she had no idea what this one did. A quick examination showed that the creature was, in fact, very dead, its crimson life flowing into the pool, likely contaminating it beyond usability and eventually corrupting the surrounding wildlife, but, that wasn¡¯t part of her job description, someone else would deal with it. For now she had no job, the mission had been completed and she would be picked up in a few days. But for now she was free, free from all the pencil pushing bureaucrats and snivelling scientists that hounded her constantly, here she was the apex predator, and she would have her fun. angler The world was shaking. Why was the world shaking, tremors rocked her to her core and she knew that this was because of¡­ because of what? She was in an infinite sea of inky blackness speckled with glimmering figments of light that evaded her touch just as impossibly as the name of this place. There was no down, no up and no direction to either side, the woman wasn¡¯t even sure what she was standing on, if the pressure she felt on her feet even meant she was standing on something. She began reaching for more things, parts of her memories, locations, people, faces, names, anything! It all eluded her, even her own name, face and personality were forgotten to her. There was someone standing in front of her, had there always been someone standing in front of her? They stood there like a gaping wound in reality, existing not as a creature filling space as most things did, but in an absence of that space, a hole in reality itself, a hole in nothingness that led to more nothing. She could just barely make out its face because of its eyes, they stared out from within fracture that was its body illuminating the face of the hole. It was a normal face, the woman knew this, she had seen this person hundreds of times and yet she knew instinctively that she had never met this person, the face distorted every time she understood she had never seen it before, each as recognisable and elusive as the last. The woman spoke, desperately casting her voice into the void ¡°Hello?¡± she yelled into the infinite darkness and felt the word be swallowed up greedily as if she had thrown food into an animal den. She cautiously continued to stare at the figure, eyes never moving from it, desperately hoping for an answer while begging any deity that existed for whatever it was to not be conscious. She felt her stomach fall, as soon as the words had left her mouth the figure respondedThis story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Hello¡± it responded in a cacophonous coir of voices. The woman could feel herself shaking like the limbs of the elderly as they were lost to time ¡°where¡± she stuttered before gathering the courage to properly speak ¡°where am I¡± The vacancy¡¯s features distorted, what once was a nebulous, yet recognisable face now writhed and twisted as a noise emanated from the being that sounded like the dying breaths of an entire galaxy released in sputtering bursts. ¡°You are home, in your mind¡± The woman was confused. How could she be at home in her mind when someone. No. something was in here with her ¡°if I am in my mind¡± queried the woman, motivated by some bravery dredged up from deep within herself fused with the irritation she felt at the answer that left her with more questions ¡°then what are you doing here¡± the things laughter echoed through the pitch black space once again putting her nerves on end ¡°now you¡¯re asking the real questions!¡± it applauded as the darkness around it grew even darker until cracks started appearing in the space around it ¡°try asking quicker next time¡± As the world crumbled away the woman was left with the image of the jeering, distorted face of the invader. ant Victoria woke with a start as the truck bounced over a particularly poorly maintained dirt Road, slamming the top of her head on the ceiling. why exactly the global secret organization that existed for the sole purpose of defending humanity had a rugged and overgrown road as a path to any of its facilities let alone the primary branch of an entire continent was beyond her. she rubbed the top of her head, she also couldn''t understand why she was being transported in the back of a regular delivery van, riding in the back with a metal bench and not much else. despite being indistinguishable from an average human in her smallest state, she must have really pissed someone off to deserve this kind of treatment. ¡°How''s the ride?¡± chuckled the driver, Victoria hadn''t caught his name however the portly man seemed in good spirits despite having driven for an indeterminate amount of time, she had slept through most of the ride however she was sure that it was at least 4 hours from base ¡°home is right around the corner¡± he continued jokingly. Victoria gritted her teeth, he was too happy, she immediately disliked him. Her fingers began to creep toward her pocket, no longer the long talons they had been during the hunt, having transformed back into the normal human fingers present on most humans and a surprising amount of hunters. She wasn¡¯t able to wear clothes in her hunting shape lest it interfere with her ability to camouflage herself, so she had to wear whatever was left for her in the back of the truck, thankfully the clothes that had been left for her were sensible, a pair of camouflage pattern pants and a short sleeved black t-shirt, they had even enclosed a book, even if she had already read everything that Beowulf¡¯s library had to offer. For most people the act of reading symbolised intelligence, for Victoria it signified sheer, unimaginable boredom, a boredom that she had lived with for most of her life, or at least, what she could remember of her life from her first days at Beowulf. While ironic that she wouldn¡¯t be able to concentrate on a book after holding the same position for days just to get a single shot, the manic energy that had been pent up over those days, even after a full days freedom to hunt as well as a small sleep that energy had not left her and as her muscles woke up she could feel her right leg rapidly vibrating with speed and force that was unattainable for a normal human and it could not be making the trip any more smooth. Opening the solid black cover of the book, as was customary in Beowulf library books, god forbid they allowed some personality, Victoria read the name on the inside, ¡°dark desire¡±, it was unfamiliar to her which was both good and bad. It was good because it meant that it would be able to catch her attention despite her near photographic memory that came with being a hunter. On the other hand it meant that her mind had subconsciously filed the book as such absolute drivel that it deemed it entirely unnecessary for her to remember. She didn¡¯t as much sink into the fantasy world as she forced her head into its depths and held it down until she passed out, slowly slipping into a trance as the words poured over her mind. Victoria work for the second time that car trip, pulled from the trance she had forced upon herself. There was no window in the back of the car, instead just the back of what must have seemed like an ordinary van. She stood up after sensing the van had stopped moving, no one had informed her that they had stopped, no one had told her anything. allowing her ears to enhance themselves beyond her most human form, just a small transformation, a full body transformation was painful and more importantly it took time, not much, but she wasn''t in the mood to waste time. the enhanced sense was overwhelming in her most basic state, she could hear the heart beats of hundreds of little ants scurrying around, manning their machinery and, in the case of augmented workers, lifting crates of ammunition, and hunter grade weaponry. among all the minuscule specs of human life that she could detect around her environment, there was none in the driver¡¯s seat of the van, meaning she had to get out of here herself.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Victoria yawned examining the door, there was no way of opening it from her end, at least no way that seemed intended. Internally shrugging Victoria raised her leg and, with a dramatic flourish, kicked the door off its hinges, the sound of screaming metal quickly being replaced by yells of surprise. she left the compartment slowly, imperiously, basking in the surprise and fear the radiated from the workers, the cacophony of their beating hearts music to her predator¡¯s ears. They were probably staring they''re always said even if she was one of the more human looking hunters, it wasn''t every day you got to stare at the freaks. The door had landed several metres away, burying itself into the concrete floor. Victoria could see a labyrinth of steel shelving and walkways much of it full of cardboard and metal crates. even if she couldn''t see many of the workers, only a few being on this floor, she could still hear the heartbeat of every single being in that warehouse, there must have been hundreds, each one focused on her. She was pretty sure that she hadn¡¯t been in this warehouse before however it could just be that she had never seen this part of it, all the warehouses look to the same. She had no shoes, but as she walked over the cold concrete floor of the warehouse her feet made a constant clicking due to the hardened, callous soles of her feet that only came from hunting without shoes to conceal her sound. She liked the sound that her feet made against the floor, it made her feel dramatic, like a movie villain, even if it was unnecessary. after a moment of aimless wandering, she finally found a part of the warehouse she recognised, nothing special just another cargo Bay, but this was the cargo Bay that she usually was dropped off at. from here finding her way into the hunter¡¯s complex was child''s play, each turn through the maze of corridors ingrained into her mind, she could navigate this place blindfolded if she wanted to. When she finally found her way to the hunter¡¯s entrance, she had fully transformed into her hunter¡¯s shape, not all hunters had the ability to appear human and seeing hunters able to freely the life they had been barred from angered some of the more monstrous hunters, which coincidentally also happened to be the exact hunters you didn''t want to be angry at you. this door was made for hunters, even in her hunters form she still had almost a metre of doorway above her head, the smell of the hunters quarters was like nothing she had ever smelt before, she had grown up here and never had she found anything that could compare, a Hunter''s scent was unique, each and everyone did have one cent in common though, a scent that neither humans nor beasts gave off, a thick scent, but also sharp like ozone, there was no word for it but Victoria called it warp. The warp tickled her nose constantly, it was a scent that she never got used to no matter how many times she smelt it her feet now coated in feathers and talons clicked against the floor of the corridor, the floor was made of a material she could not name, but it made her feet click and that made her happy. The corridor was lined with doors that led into rooms that probably had a purpose, but not one that Victoria had any interest in learning about. Victoria finally found her way to the final door, a door that opened into the hunter¡¯s part of the complex, she could hear and smell them for the first time in almost a week, her heartbeat faster out of excitement to be back. These were her people; this was her domain. she held out her talent hand allowing it to be scanned by whatever strange device was inlaid into the doors surface, it was silly really if she really wanted to, she could just tear this door off its hinges, but she respected the rituals of the researchers and with a click and a depressurising hiss, the door opened. owl Inside the hunters¡¯ quarters was like nowhere Victoria had ever seen on the outside. In fact, she was pretty sure that nowhere like this existed outside of Beowulf facilities. As she entered into the enormous common area she took a deep breath, feeling the familiar scents wash over her. She was home. The walls were high and full of holes for relaxing in, platforms, bars, ropes and much more hung from the roof as winged hunters soared through the air and others climbed and fought on the equipment. Some of the heavier hunters stayed at ground level, full of gym equipment and game consoles as well as other¡­ more esoteric ways to preoccupy a hunter. She had just entered the flying common area, her personal favourite area and also the hangout of one of her few friends. Thud! Victoria had just finished a thought when a slender, tall, catlike hunter dropped down in front of her, smiling his usual arrogant smirk ¡°Greetings, o¡¯ raven of darkness, how goes your conquest! What spoils doth you bring?¡± smirked the hunter ¡°Shakespeare would be rolling in his grave Cheshire¡± Replied Victoria Cheshire frowned, cocking his head to the side ¡°c¡¯mon Vicky, throw me a bone here, how was your time away?¡± Deciding not to comment on the cat asking her to throw him a bone she relented ¡°the gig sucked, boring gun, boring prey¡± ¡°aww¡± Cheshire pouted ¡°did someone realise that saving the world isn¡¯t always a party?¡± She scoffed ¡°get lost¡± as she weaved past him ¡°I¡¯m getting out of here¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. She left Cheshire in the dust as she made a beeline toward the exit. Getting to the exit meant traversing the maze that was the hunters¡¯ quarters. She passed service elevators, the rooms for all sorts of hunters, some specialised some more vague, containing dozens of beds of varying shapes and sizes. She wouldn¡¯t be staying here. She very rarely had to and even though it was probably dark, she would rather stay in her dingy apartment. Being a hunter able to shift her form she was allowed to hold a residence outside the compound and a small living wage to subsist and entertain herself. The idea behind this was that, if they were saving humanity, they should make sure that their saviours didn¡¯t become completely detached from it, some of the more beastly hunters weren¡¯t allowed out, for both their safety and that of others. As she slid into the elevator that led to the first floor of the enormous building she began to slide back into her human shape the scientists that had already been in the elevator quivered. She hadn¡¯t noticed them. If she did maybe she would¡¯ve just waited for the next one. They were weak, and scared of her, of her friends, of her enemies. She didn¡¯t like to spend time with them because it sickened her, they wouldn¡¯t fight for humanity, just mess around with their clipboards and pens, experimenting. The elevator door opened, and she strode out, eager to get away. The pathway to the exit was primarily shining marble, with red carpets and bronze sculptures on pedestals lining the path. Sitting lazily in the chair, completely at odds with her surroundings, was the receptionist, or at least that¡¯s what the desk plaque said. She was tall, almost as tall as Victoria with dark hair that was shaved along one side of her head and hung down along the other. She wore heavy black boots and a black tank top that revealed her muscled arms. She wasn¡¯t really a receptionist; she wouldn¡¯t be allowed to dress like that if she was. The interior was a show of culture to guests, but that woman was a display of strength. Victoria smiled at the sight of her ¡°Hey Mel¡± she called, giving a small wave ¡°hey Vi¡± Mel replied coolly ¡°here to check out?¡± Victoria nodded and pulled out her wrist, allowing a small machine on desk to register her information. ¡°How much sleep are you running on¡± Mel asked ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡± replied Victoria ¡°couldn¡¯t be more than 3 hours for several days¡± Mel winced ¡°please Vivi, get some sleep¡± Victoria sighed, Mel was right, she gave her goodbyes before allowing her feathers to blossom out around her, just enough to resemble a dark coat as they shifted to her whim. And with one more look behind her, she disappeared into the nights cold embrace cat The cold night air was a wonderful feeling against her skin, it felt more refressing now that she wasn¡¯t slumming it in a tree. there was some quality to the night air in the big city she couldn¡¯t quite explain. It wasn¡¯t purer, even without enhanced senses she could smell the pollutants that clogged the air in the big city, it just felt more like home. the light from the streetlamps blanketed the road and its surroundings in a warm yellow light that gave the impression of warmth and comfort, which she enjoyed despite her affinity for the darkness. She was given a wide birth, even if she was a woman, she would be equally surprised and impressed if even the drunkest of humans decided to harass her. Through her wanderings she had learned that alcohol was a common drink among humans, something that she never had acess to in her assigned food, she swore not to touch the stuff when she saw how it degraded them. Humans, despite their claims of superiority, were still ruled in part by primal instincts, they were always scared or awed by size, a habit harkening back to the days where the biggest man with the biggest stick was the leader of the tribe, and she towered above these people. She didn¡¯t hate them for their fear of her, if they were afraid of her now, she smiled to think of their reactions to what she truly looked like. Almost every person she had taken notice of her, from brief glances to stares to even directly altering their path to avoid her, but she ignored them and kept on moving. after her quick journey she had arrived at the apartment complex, it was a bleak building, the grey, brutalist architecture torn straight out of photos of the Soviet Union. she walked through the sliding glass doors, the receptionist, a plain young man practically falling asleep on his desk didn¡¯t notice her, or maybe he was too lazy to offer a greeting. It didn¡¯t matter.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Victoria did not try to start a conversation. She rode the elevator upward, the rickety grate that covered the door a far cry from the high tech pressurised, reinforced doors from the complex she had spent most of her life in. The elevator eventually shuddered to a stop; it took the doors a solid ten seconds before screeching open to reveal the long hallway. It was lit by flickering luminescent bulbs wired to the ceiling, her boots click-clacked against the uncarpeted concrete floor as she passed plain wooden door after plain wooden door until she got to her door. It was unmarked apart from the number 43 carved into the wood. It was not special. It opened with a creak, the inside was dark, no lightbulbs were left on and even though she could see in the dark if she chose to Victoria slid her hand over the light switch and turned it on with the practiced ease of someone who had entered the same place several times. It was quaint, a 4-room apartment with a small tv in the living area and personal computer tucked away in her room, the main room contained 2 chairs and a couch of varying degrees of disrepair, they had been here for some time, far before she had begun living here. Victoria strode past everything and slumped down onto her bed, face first into the mattress despite how uncomfortable the position was. The springs of the mattress screeched in protest of her weight as if remaining undefeated despite her years of residence. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like. To be human, to be normal. Her life would probably be easier, she wouldn¡¯t have to be shipped off to whatever part of this country was infested by meter long cockroaches or a giant reptile or anything like that. Maybe so, she reasoned, however she couldn¡¯t deny that she was having fun in the life she had now. The thoughts kept clouding her mind, a maelstrom of negativity and confusion, so to counteract this she grabbed her old yet functional laptop and searched the web for some low quality podcasts. She turned the volume down low to the point where she could barely hear it and lay there, on her bed, occasionally readjusting to a more comfortable position until finally her thoughts slowed, and she fell into a restless sleep. bear Victoria wrenched upward. She had been having a dream, that much she was sure of, her arms were covered in talon wounds that had already closed and were beginning to fade. They had not been there last night. They were probably self-inflicted. Hopefully. She rose out of the bed drenched in sweat. She hated this feeling, it felt like her body was betraying her. It felt weak. She hauled her way into the shower and turned the shower on as cold as it could possibly go. Victoria had never been a fan of the heat, she had preferred night missions or missions in cold environments, hot sticky jungles made her feathers feel awful. After a thoroughly practiced morning ritual, teeth brushed, generic tasteless cereal prepared, air conditioner cranked and swaddled in a cocoon of blankets Victoria flung herself onto the couch prepared for a long day of consuming 3 separate points of mass-produced, low-quality media through her phone. She had lain there for an indeterminate amount of time when her phone rang. Beowulf HQ. damn. ¡°This is Victoria, id number 5854¡± she said pre-emptively in a tone that dripped with disinterest. The young sounding operator slowly read out the task she would be required to do using language that made it very clear to her that the boy was reading from a script. ¡°look¡± she drawled, cutting him off mid-sentence ¡°put me onto mitch or something, I don¡¯t have all day¡± She did, in fact, have all day. But she wasn¡¯t about to tell the kid that. The phone crackled for a moment before the world¡¯s most painful hold music began to slowly wind itself around the cracks in her patience until the abrupt stop as sergeant Mitchell¡¯s voice came back onto the radio. There was no true ranking in Beowulf, his title was in name alone but he had once been a soldier and Mitchell took pride in that. ¡°Victoria, I would appreciate it if you followed protocol and waited until the legal preamble had ended before I told you what was happening¡± sighed MitchellIf you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I don¡¯t have all day Mitchell, is it an emergency?¡± ¡°YES¡± affirmed Mitchell, clearly annoyed by her irreverent tone ¡°you have some prep time but we are pre-warning you, this job is taking place in the dead zone, and it is urgent¡± The dead zone. Of course it was in the dead zone. When the monsters first came, no one knew of their corrupting influence, if they stayed in an area for a long amount of time it would slowly become infused with some sort of reality warping energy. Giant ecosystems completely hostile to human life would appear as beautiful as they were deadly. So while the monsters near people had been destroyed, many far away from people, for instance in great deserts like the Sahara and Siberia, new biomes completely had appeared. The dead zone was the biggest of all of these locations. In Australia the vast majority of land is uninhabitable by humans. There may be roads through it but no settlements to save. So the monsters were left there. Eventually what was created was an enormous, corrupted area full of different ecosystems and completely ruled by monsters. Most cities had been swallowed up leaving only the very outskirts of Australia inhabited. As far as Beowulf knew, no one could survive inside there without being a hunter, although, the exception worked for them. ¡°the dead zone is growing at an alarming rate and the final strongholds are coming under fire. The monsters are encroaching on human territory. We have to evacuate the entire country. And we need all hands-on deck¡± Victoria stopped to consider this for a minute. This was an operation far beyond anything she had ever been involved in before. Usually she just murdered single monsters, but this didn¡¯t seem like the sort of thing hunters would be required for, usually monsters didn¡¯t leave the dead zone unless under the influence of an alpha or something even bigger. ¡°Mitchell?¡± ¡°Yes Victoria?¡± ¡°There wouldn¡¯t be anything *big* that you¡¯re leaving out would there?¡± Mitchell said nothing but she could almost feel him wince through the phone ¡°there¡¯s a Nephilim in the dead zone.¡± Victoria paused, aghast at the news ¡°Are you trying to kill it or are you actually evacuating?¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t going to fight it unless absolutely necessary, none of us want to repeat Greenland. You have a day to prepare¡± And with that he hung up, leaving Victoria to wallow in dread. Her phone embedded into the drywall followed by a cascade of insults. Her day was ruined, and they were totally going to make them fight the Nephilim falcon Victoria was in an enormous dropship. She had never been on one of these before and she did *not* like the feeling. In design the interior wasn¡¯t dissimilar from the hunters¡¯ quarters. Featureless metal furnishing screwed into the featureless metal floor. They had been given another briefing on their way here, they were dropping into a small coastal strip of land to evacuate the human citizens before the monsters began to invade their towns invigorated by the presence of a Nephilim, whether it was active or not. The Nephilim were a group of 7 enormous monsters that had appeared out of nowhere around a year after the first monsters appeared. Victoria wasn¡¯t sure how Beowulf knew there was 7 of them because only 3 had ever been seen. Chitina, an insectile Nephilim that lurked inside volcanoes, Zephyron, a monstrous winged beast that cruised through the sky occasionally disappearing before returning to attack again and Chyrnor, a wretched creature that seeks radiation that became the sole reason that nuclear power fell out of fashion. Chyrnor was also responsible for one of Beowulf¡¯s greatest embarrassments. They had been trying to save some nothing island in the middle of nowhere and launched a full-scale assault on Chyrnor holding nothing back. Hunters were rare and elite in the grand scheme of things, there were very few of them under Beowulf. Beowulf lost 238 hunters in that tragedy and only half of those had died in the battle. The other half were killed by the radioactive fallout, she hadn¡¯t been there, but she had seen the bodies. Victoria was not alone in the hangar; she was grouped with 3 others. Cheshire was there, he was wearing camouflage, as if that did anything to hide the fact that he was a bright orange cat creature. There was also a man with thick grey skin and tiny black eyes. He was enormous, almost touching the ceiling sitting down, he hadn¡¯t spoken for the whole trip, and she hadn¡¯t gotten his name, which immediately made her like him. The final hunter was a lean woman with wild hair and sharp teeth. Upon noticing Victoria¡¯s glance, the girl smirked and got to her feet, leaning back with a languid motion until her legs were in the air, then she pushed herself up from the hard bench she had been sitting on before landing back on her feet with a resounding clang.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°what¡¯s wrong Victoria, you look paler than usual, you wouldn¡¯t be scared of the big bad Nephilim, would you?¡± pouted the girl, a malicious glint in her eye ¡°I¡¯m not scared of it Hera¡± replied Victoria ¡°and even if I was, you would be worse off, you have scored lower than me in everything, in and outside of tests¡± Victoria had touched a nerve and the snarling Hera stormed off without another word. Hera was one of Victoria¡¯s oldest acquaintances from Beowulf, she wouldn¡¯t call her a friend by any means, more like a bitter rival. Victoria went to alleviate her boredom by staring out one of the few windows in this bleak purgatory of an aircraft, she was genuinely curious what the dead zone looked like, she had been deployed to corrupted areas before but never *the* dead zone. This part of the dead zone was a rainforest. The deep green canopy almost completely blotted out the view of the ground and creatures soared through the air. She had fought these creatures before, they resembled pterodactyls or some other prehistoric flying beast from a distance, however when you got close you could see the 4 powerful limbs that protruded from underneath, making the creatures more resemble fantasy dragons than anything, however they were small, in fact the ones below were the largest she had ever seen. but they were growing bigger? Victoria jerked back from the glass as the great beak pierced through the reinforced glass of the ship leaving everyone in the room shocked. ¡°What is that pilot doing?¡± yelled Victoria ¡°they¡¯ve pulled us way too close, and I am *not* dying here¡± First to rise Hera quickly grabbed the beak of the creature and began to claw at its throat even as its arms slammed against the wall from the other side ¡°Get to the damn pilot and get us up, *now*!¡± Just as quickly as another creature poked its head through another window the brutish man had risen and, seizing its entire head in his palm, twisted it off like one would a tick. He pointed wordlessly toward the cockpit and Victoria¡¯s liking toward the man grew. She ran through corridor after corridor, winged creatures of all different types now began appearing through holes and Victoria began to wonder what getting the pilot would do. But it was too late now, she could feel the dropship beginning to tilt downward and not dying in a burning crash was now her number 1 priority, she completely ignored the door to the cockpit, tearing it open with her bare hands and screamed ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING¡± Her screams fell on deaf ears. The seat was empty. There was a bloodstained hole in the glass. And she could see the ground coming to meet them. hermit The first thing Victoria felt was the rain showering her face. She tried to raise her right hand to cover her face but felt resistance, she looked to her right to see the obstruction and was greeted with the sight of a large black chunk of metal. Where had it come from? Victoria¡¯s mind cleared and she understood exactly what was happening, the plane had crashed, the pilot had flown too low and had been taken by a flying creature, her right arm was trapped under debris. She flexed her arm, preparing to lift the debris and get free. Pain lanced through her, clearly it was broken. She turned onto her side so that she was facing the metal and brought her left arm around to seize the bottom of the wreckage, her right arm screaming in protest the entire time. The moist foliage brushing against her fingers as she slowly began to change, slowly becoming coated in feathers until they enveloped her entire body and with an agonising effort she lifted the debris off her arm just long enough for her to slide it out before letting it crash down again almost noiselessly in the moist soil. Victoria rose, grunting with effort and holding her arm close to her chest searching around for any of her allies, the dropship had been blown apart on landing and while she could not be sure about Cheshire or hera, she was certain that the brute had survived at least mostly in one piece. after a search about as exhaustive as was possible with her current level of focus being greatly impeded by the pain Lancing through her arm she decided to take shelter for the night. She had been in hostile territory like this before, but it had never been quite this bad she wasn''t sure if the trees were safe, the sky was almost dark and she couldn''t see through the foliage, it was not unlikely that there was something up there, and she was not in the position to fight it. luckily there were many parts of the drop ship that could be used to take shelter in, the only problem was they were conspicuous, luckily, she specialised in concealment. sliding herself into what must have been some part of a kitchen she cloaked herself with her feathers, allowing them to change to suit the environment around her. there was some sort of ration bars in a small drawer that had managed to mostly survive and so her first miserable night consisted of delicately removing the wrapping paper of meagre ration bars and praying that something would not find her from the little noise she was making, although the sound of constant motion and song from insect and bird along with other things that remained nameless echoed through the forest, never leaving a quiet second.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. By the time morning had come Victoria had come up with a plan. Judging by the direction the wreckage was facing, specifically the nose, which was facing towards their destination while crashing if her memory served her correctly, she would just have to follow that direction until she got to either her teammates or a settlement with humans in it, as Beowulf would be trying to evacuate it she had no doubt that she would be able to escape. however first she needed to deal with the imminent problem, surviving. Victoria thought back on all of the stories that Mel had told her over the years, back then they were just cool stories but right now they were all the info she had about the dead zone. she concluded that once her arm was fixed, she should stick to heavy undergrowth. according to Mel that was how she had survived as larger monsters were unable to come near and the plants would avoid you if you fed them on occasion. She could already feel her arms stitching itself back together with an uncomfortable sensation, however one she was thankful for. judging by the rate of recovery along with prior experience Victoria would have to hold out for two more days until her arm was fixed. just two days feeding off nothing but ration bars and hiding from everything like a coward. after briefly stretching her limbs Victoria was about two sit back down and conserve her energy when she heard the breaking of branches and she realised the forest had gone silent. mantis Something long and serrated sliced into a tree just above her had before hooking around her leg and dragging her out of the undergrowth and into a more open area. On closer inspection, the smooth claw with a serrated tip was a mottled brown green, like the forest¡¯s surroundings. Victoria followed the arm attached to the claw until she was staring the creature in its bulging brown eyes. It was insectile, armoured in the same colour as the claw had been. It had two long scythe-claw arms like a praying mantis but only 2 legs. Its face was almost snout like, it looked more like a mammal plated in an insect¡¯s exoskeleton with the same segmented eyes. The creatures head tilted to the side, quizzically before bringing the claw down and slamming her against the ground. Her feathers puffed out, softening the impact but a lance of pain shot up her broken arm, dulled by the chemicals flooding her brain the pain felt nothing like the fractured limb it should, and she could already see blood leaking from between the feathers. One of the monster¡¯s claws swiped beneath her, aiming to remove her legs at the knee, she jumped to counter the attack, arcing until she landed on the creatures back, arm cradled in a half-formed wing to minimise the pain she felt. With her good arm she struck one of its eyes with her talons. Her fingers stabbed into the eye but only her claws penetrated the surface, leaving a superficial wound that she had no time to enlarge. The bug slammed itself against a nearby tree, the brittle snapping sound of the tree harmonising with the crunching sound of Victoria¡¯s back.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. This wasn¡¯t working Victoria collapsed to the soggy ground, panting heavily. she struggled to her feet, trying desperately not to move her right arm even as it cascaded blood onto the forest floor. The creature began to advance on her, and although she hated to admit it, she couldn¡¯t fight this thing in her state. She would have to run. As the beast raised one of its claws ready to strike downward to finish her off, Victoria slid through its legs. The creature wasn¡¯t as fast as her and by the time it had turned, she was already far away from it. However, it wasn¡¯t going to give up its prey without a fight. Springing over logs and between trees she could hear the armoured monster getting closer, trees being destroyed and crushed underfoot instead of any form of subtlety. The pain had come back, and her arm was in agonising pain and every step sent an increasingly painful spike of pain through her body. She wanted to crawl up into a ball, she wanted to go home, she wanted to tear Mitchell¡¯s balls off and make him eat them. But right now, she was running for her life. She looked bang to see the creature behind her. It was gaining fast. She looked back Infront of her to see her vision filled by gold. The sound reverberated was immense. Victoria¡¯s skull rang the great bell and she collapsed on the ground. The last thing she saw over her was the creature before it looked up suddenly and darted away. fly When Victoria''s eyes opened, she was met with a blurry, bright world in shades of green and grey. the ringing in her ears was deafening and she had a splitting headache. something moved in her vision and her head snapped to the left to try and focus on it unsuccessfully. she tried to move her arms, but she couldn''t and all she got was a sharp pain for her efforts. she inhaled sharply through her teeth at the pain. ¡°where am I¡± she demanded, knowing that if she was tied up she was up against a smart enemy that wanted something from her, meaning she was not in risk of dying if she spoke up. rapidly blinking the world gradually became more clear just as she received her answer. ¡°Australia¡± announced a gruff voice from behind her. now that she could see the world she could tell she was in some sort of abandoned city. grey buildings were covered with overgrowth and beginning to fall apart. She turned her head to try and see the source of the voice, but she couldn''t turn it far enough in her current form and she didn''t want to push the patience of her captor by trying a transformation. ¡°where in Australia¡± Victoria asked again, seeing conversation''s the only way out of this situation ¡°the middle¡± replied the voice Victoria couldn''t help but chuckle, it was absolutely useless ¡°fine¡± she said, frustrated ¡°what are you¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°More human than you¡± replied the man ¡°what are you?¡± ¡°less human than you apparently¡± replied Victoria pettily the voice gave a brief chuckle before she felt a kick to the back of whatever she was tied to¡°you want in control here, don''t play smart with me¡± they threatened ¡°fine, I am a hunter from Beowulf, it''s my job to track down and kill monsters, usually, this mission was supposed to be a mission to evacuate fringe settlements, but clearly that didn''t go as planned. I am human; however, I have monsters¡¯ organs implanted into me giving me power¡± she exposited dryly Victoria was left alone in silence, she could hear stubble being scratched as if her kidnapper was in deep though ¡°I''m taking a risk here¡± announced the voice ¡°but I''m going to let you go, on the condition that you don''t try anything, and stick with me¡± not being in the position to barter Victoria nodded her head as much as she could in the restraints. a light sawing motion could be heard before with a pop her arms for free, another few seconds and the rest of her was free as well. he raised her arms above her head, stretching, she had had an awful ache in her spine and now she could finally get rid of it. Victoria turned to see the face of her captor. he was a man, with a stubbly chin and moustache, he held a spear that had been fashioned out of some kind of animal bone and he was clearly a local. ¡°I didn''t think that there was anyone out here Victoria said ¡°you wouldn''t¡± replied the man ¡°they''re always surprised¡± ¡°how did you survive down here¡± ¡°luck and skill¡± Victoria chuckled, she had heard something similar before, from Mel, the thought of Mal brought a smile to her face, even in this place. ¡°the name is Victoria by the way¡± she said holding out a hand for him to shake ¡°garth¡± replied the man shaking her hand vigorously with unnatural strength ¡°charmed¡±