- ...A Hunter Returns

Randolph had fought strong, his ax bloodied and stained with the guts and flesh of dozens of goblins, who he had crushed with his strength.

But even with this high advantage he had over them, both in strength and durability, he still felt the consequences of the poison working fast through his system, doing the work it was made to do.

If it hadn't been for that one goblin who took his chance to dig their blade into his thigh as he was helping another Hunter, he would have been fine.

Yet here he was, crawling on the ground, weakened by the poisons effects that were now coursing through his veins. Though it was on the weaker side, even this much was hard for Randolph to handle, especially when going up against a goblin titan.

"Roaaar!"

From behind the titan, the sounds of the large goblin's road caused him to shutter. It made sense the feeling of fear he was feeling came from the sounds of its roar that shook the very ground itself. In fact, Randolph would have been worried if the sound did not frightened him.

But as he stared up at the yellow piercing eyes of the goblin titan, Randolph felt an even greater sense of fear in his heart.

'Ah, I'm going to die now.'

In his mind he had already known, but in his heart, he was screaming for the world to give him a second chance. But that feeling was quelled like all the rest.

'Carlena. I'm sorry I have to leave you like Dean did. I'm sorry I couldn't have been the father to Max like you always hoped I would be.'

Before he could even think otherwise, he began saying his goodbyes to Carlena and her son in his mind, his regrets and sorrows piling up like the corpses of the monsters he killed throughout the years.

'I'm sorry I have to leave you. And I'm sorry I could fess up and tell you how I feel.'

He closed his eyes, as the goblin titan raised his fists up high, ready to bring it down on his face, crushing his head.

However, in the seconds that turned to minutes, that eventually felt like an eternity, Randolph felt nothing, as something warm splattered his face.

He instantly recognized the iron smell of blood as it sprayed his face.

Struggling to open his eyes, he became shocked to see the goblin titan still in the same position it had been in before. However, this time it had a sizable sword pierced through its face. Behind its head, Lia crouched down, clutching her sword, balancing herself on the creature's shoulders.

But, eventually after several moments of death, the goblin slowly fell to the ground, just long enough for Lia to remove her sword and jump down.

As she offered him a hand, Lia looked Randolph dead in the eyes, and there he could see some form of sorrow, as well as regret that filled her mind and heart.

"Lia…?"

He drifted off as the sounds of battle returned to him, snapping him from his thoughts and sending him back into the moment.

Grabbing his ax from the ground, he suddenly found it difficult to lift as the strength in his arms left him, and went limp from his shoulder down.

"Gah..ugh."

Lia didn't hesitate in lifting Randolph up by his good arm, holding the ax in her free hand.

"Get everyone out of here quickly. Cain he…"

She drifted off as she took a quick glance over the sea of flames and smoke, making it difficult to see anything, other than the slowly descending outline of Cain, as his eyes glimmered from behind the smoke.

"...he's got a plan."

Turning back to Randolph, she handed his ax off to another Hunter, who had come over to join them and assist Randolph in standing.

"We need everyone out of here for it to work."

Narrowing his eyes, Randolph looked between Lia and the smoke-covered Cain, as his outline continued to descend the steps slowly, no longer covered by the black and gray colored cloak.

He was wary of what Lia was offering, but in his mind he knew it was the best option they had, as the group didn't look like it could last much longer.

Lukali and the other archers had already used up all their arrows, now focusing more on using their knives to slash away at the half dead goblins left behind by the others.

But before he could say anything to Lia, she spoke before him, halting his thoughts.

"I know I don't deserve to ask this, but please. Trust me."

At first Randolph was surprised but also confused by her words. After all, what did they have against her?

And suddenly it clicked for Randolph, who remembered the looks the other Hunters had given her out of suspicion, and how the rest of them had been partially thrown into this battle because of her rash actions.

Looking down at the ground, he suddenly found her words to be true, as even he held a little resentment towards her. After all, he had nearly died to a goblin just now, and in that moment, he knew he would never see Calena or Max again. A thought he did not want to relive.

It took several minutes for him to respond, the silence somewhat suffocating to Lia, who could only breath a shaky breath every now and then.

"Alright."

Snapping her from her thoughts and worries, Randolph agreed with her before turning back to the ground of Hunters.

"Full retreat! Full retreat! We're getting out of here boys!"

Heeding his words, the other Hunters didn't need any persuading as they all began moving back towards the gate door.

-Clang!

From behind the smoke however, many of the Hunters were startled to hear a loud clunking noise coming from deeper within the chamber.

It took a moment, but as the smoke cleared, leaving a hole through its unstable wall, many of the Hunters suddenly found their eyes landing on a lone man, in the midst of battle, holding the sword of the goblin king, who must have thrown it at full force, as the ground beneath him cracked from the stress.

Fear overcame them like a wave of nausea when they saw both the strength of this goblin and the power this unknown man had.

But above it all they heard the voice of Randolph crying above the chaos.

"Move - lets go, lets go!"

Soon, the group of Hunters were making their way to the door, a few remaining behind it held off the goblins long enough for the first half to get out.

Lia was amongst them, fighting with Evegallien, dying the blade in blood. One goblin - two goblins - three goblins, and more just kept coming.

The fire was beginning to dwindle down, and with it, their protective ring that kept many of the unburnt goblins at bay, leaving the Hunters only the weak and fearful goblins to deal with.

As Lia cut down another three goblins, bringing her count somewhere up to twenty just in this small fight alone, she began to notice the rings of fire that spread throughout the chamber dwindling. Changing from raging flocks of flames, to cold and glowing embers.

"Hurry up!"

She called back to the group, as they helped out the injured who were still getting their bearings in the situation. However, as soon as her words reached their ears, many of the group turned back to the other half behind them, only to see a swarm of a dozen goblins heading their way.

Small tanks and spearmen proved incredibly useful in holding them off, however, unlike their group, the goblins themselves had archers, situated in the back of the pack, sniping from afar.

One of the Hunters next to Lia was hit in the shoulder, miraculously surviving by nearly a hair, as she struggled to lift up the heavy body of the Tank, who used his shield to defend the both of them.

"Hurry!"

Already Lia could feel Cain's power rising within her, a feeling she knew well when Cain was about to attack. And from the sound of his words before, he wasn't planning on leaving anything in this fortress alive.

As she began leading the injured Tank to the door, another spearman protected her side, while the Tank's shield provided a well made defense material.

However, it all proved fruitless once they reached the door, as a large goblin titan and shaman rushed their group. The titan at the forefront, while the shaman provided a well nurturing buff to the titan, which seemed to reduce the amount of stamina and exhaustion he would take.

All of this spelled bad things for Lia, who was currently still helping the Tank when she saw this. However, this did not discourage her, as she handed the Tank off to the nearest, well able bodied person she could find, and turned facing the oncoming titan.

Behind her the sounds of rushing bodies leaving the fortress filled her ears, along with the sounding footsteps of the titan, as it crushed many of its brethren to get to her.

The power that was fooding her was like a wave of pure cold water that splashes against her body, cooling her already overheating blood and muscles. From inside her, deep in her soul and mind, she felt the spell she needed to use appear.

A spell that Cain had handed to her, though she didn't know when.

A spell was different from a skill. Though they acted the same, a skill could only be learned once, unless it was given to another person to learn, in which the original owner would lose that skill. However, spells could be learned by anyone who wanted to learn them, only, they had to have a summons, magic, as well as a way to harness that power.

A skill was a one time use per person, while a spell could be given out at random and spread through dozens and dozens of people at a time.

Though, one law stood true with both of these powers.

You had to be a summoner, or magic induced.

And Lia was both.

As the titan goblin roared its mighty voice, raising its head and arms up high, preparing to strike, Lia could see the runic spell within her heart and soul.

A rune etched into her spirit by Cain and his power.

Unbeknownst to her, the rune circle on her right hand changed, glowing red, its own runes and designs changing red like an ember, glowing in the fire.

And like the glow, her hand suddenly sparked, smoke and steam traveling through the air as Lia focused all the magic and mana in her body towards her right hand, and into the rune circle.

While she didn't have much strength, nor did she have the best stamina or agility - even she doubted how long she would last against that giant goblin Cain had been fighting. However, one thing she had above everyone else, and she knew it well, was her mana.

While Cain's was like a vast ocean that had no end, her's was like a large lake, to which it would take a few hours to walk all around the sides of the lake. Mostlikley she knew this was because of Cain, and that the stronger she became, the more her mana pool would look and feel like his.

But she didn't have time to think about this, as she was too busy flooding everything she had into this rune, hoping and praying that it would succeed in the way she hoped it would.

And just as the goblin titan reached her, its smell piercing her nose - the sounds of other Hunters warning her as she stood on the threshold of the door and the inner chamber - Cain's power rearing its ugly and most powerful side…

…she felt the fire burn her fingers.

And like that, a storm of flame burst from her hands like a flower, bright and golden with tips of red and orange.

She held out her hand, and let the fire burn her skin, burn the tips of her fingers, as the heat seared at her flesh. But she didn't dare stop as she continued pushing everything she had into this one chance.

And with this determination, the flaming flower rose and grew, covering the entire door frame, and lighting the dark forest up with glimmers of the fire light.

The cries of the goblins remaining in the chamber she knew were because of her. The shocked gasps of fear and surprise from behind her reassured her that they were safe. And it was because of this, that she didn't stop.

"Get the door closed!"

She yelled, turning her head to face them, eyes glowing in crimson hue.

No one moved, all of them were too shocked by what was happening before their eyes, like a small sun born into the form of a flower, was burning the night away with its very touch.

"The door!"

She cried out again, only this time, a flurry of hands reached for the door, all Hunters of incredible strength and by far the best of those that remained standing, as they pushed the door closed with all their might.

With their combined strength, she heard the metal and wooden doors shut with a slam, the wood grinding against each other, while the metal scraped and scratched.

The flower of flames died out, as the door was closing, but Lia could see the damage she caused to the door, as the entire inner part was either charred, or glowing in embers. Similarly the ground itself was ashen and black, a symbol of her spells power.

Labored breathing was heard all around her, both by people who were laying on the ground, injured from the fight, or people who had just given all their strength to push the door closed.

But she knew better than to think this was the end.

She felt Lukali's hands on her shoulders, brushing against her red and burned hands, careful not to harm her.

"Lia, we should get that -"

Lia dind't let him finish. Grabbing his arm, she turned to the rest of the group and spoke with worry and authority in her voice.

"We need to get out of here quickly."

"Lia?"

"Quickly!"

No one moved, too shocked at the idea that this wasn't over.

"Listen to me, we need to leave now, or else we will be caught in the crossfire."

Now it was Randolph's turn to speak, loud enough for the rest of the group to hear, and drawing the attention of the others who were too exhausted to pay attention.

"Why?"

Lia didn't bother to hesitate, knowing it would do nothing for her in the long run. So, she quickly laid everything out for them all to hear.

"Cain, he said - he's going to - I…"

"Calm down, calm down."

Randolph held her shoulder with his good arm, slowing her down with his soft words.

"Now tell me, what's the matter?"

"We have to leave now. A spell - he's going to cast a big spell."

"How big."

Lia couldn't find the right words to describe what Cain had mentioned, but it took her only seconds before she had an answer.

"Big enough that we won't survive this close."

Randolph needed nothing more, as he quickly turned to the rest, his voice filled with seriousness.

"I know everyone is tired, but we aren't done yet. If Lia says we need to move, then we need to move."

One of the Hunters, exhaustion and pain in his voice called out from the back of the group.

"Why should we listen to her?"

And another.

"Yeah, she led us here!"

"Let her deal with this!"

Randolph raised a hand, clearly not ready to hear anything more on the topic.

"The fault lies with me for leading us here. I said we should push on, Lia was just the one to point the fortress out. The blame lies with me, not her."

Already several protests from Randolph's loyal brothers called out in disgust from the back, some in the front even showing signs of frowning.

Again, however, Randolph raised his hand.

"So far Lia hasn't lied to us yet. She told us what we would find on the roads - even she was surprised by the sight. She pointed out the fortress, and she claimed her summons was here. So far, nothing she's said is wrong."

He gestured to her behind him.

"That being said…"

He drifted off as he glanced at the charred door, sounds of pounding and sheiks heard on the other side.

"...I now know that the monster we are facing was greater than we expected. But it's being dealt with. If you doubt this, trust your own eyes - think about what you saw in there."

He pointed to the door, reminding the other Hunters of the scene they all witnessed. How Cain caught the goblin King's sword like it was nothing in his hands.

The very thought caused many of those protesting to stop, looks of fear overcoming that of frustration and anger.

Again, Randolph spoke.

"I don't know about you all, but I'd be afraid to know that there are 'two' monsters in that fortress. Just be glad one of them happens to be on our side."

His words struck a chord with the other Hunters, who silently nodded their heads, also not wishing to come face to face with the lone man.

"Now, if you don't want to wait here and be caught in the crossfire of that man's magic, I suggest we get out of here now. All able bodied people help those who need it, and those who can't walk, look to your brothers and sisters for help."

Taking a moment to let his words sink in, he clapped his hands together, signaling their departure.

"Alright let's move!"

And with that signal, many of the Hunters moved to help others stand, walk and run, moving as one together through the forest.

Lia herself was helped by Lukali, while Rian balanced the weight of two archers at either side of him.

They set off.

***

It took them only minutes working together to reach a nearby overlook of the forest - the stone fortress not far off from them in the distance.

Though they had made good ground and progress, Lia knew they wouldn't last much longer, as many of the injured needed treatment, and those who were assisting them were already as tired as they could be.

She knew they would have to stop eventually, but with each and every step she took, she prayed to the gods that they could take one step further.

It was then they all felt it.

The heat.

Though the night was cool and humid, the temperature around them rose to that of an oven. The drastic change in heat even scared off many ground animals that scurried underfoot.

As one, they all turned behind them, the overlook just a glance away.

From the depth of their shadows and the rising red and orange light of a fire, they didn't have to guess what happened.

From over the look, they all saw what used to be a mighty stone fortress - though rumbling from wears of age and time - disappear in a spire of flames that lit the night sky, the dark forest, and painted fire over the trees and their leaves.

The entire fortress, and large rock formation that sat in the center of the open woods, disappeared in a blazing light that encompassed the entire valley.

The spire reached towards the sky like a never ending fountain of water, unaffected by the pull of their land.

The flame seemed to last forever, but like everything in this world it soon came to an end, and with it, Lia could hear only one thing.

Silence.