Book 5, chapter 13

Going on a monster-hunting contract hadn't been as productive as she hoped. The bog lurkers were far weaker than expected, so they hadn't really gotten a good idea of what Taylor could do.

Aboard the skimmer, they shot over the treetops, returning to Lorocos in the fading light of sunset

They only had one day out of the academy, so they just had time for the one contract. Even with the skimmer to cut down travel time, the contract in the bog took most of the day.

Taylor took his skimmer, and flew off, leaving Zee and the others on the street.

"So, what did everyone think of Taylor," Zee asked, watching the skimmer disappear over the rooftops. 

Bastion rocked back on his heels, tucking his thumbs under his belt. "I like him," Bastion said.

Greg nodded in agreement. "Seems like a nice guy," Greg rumbled.

Zee turned to the others.

"How bout you Malden," Zee asked.

"He is quite skilled, for a pill popper," Malden replied.

Yukna ran a finger along the empty holsters in her leather bandolier, her expression thoughtful.

"He seems alright," Yukna shrugged. 

Allison looked a bit more introspective than everyone else. 

"His reaction time was adequate. He seems calm under pressure, but that is hard to tell for sure until we get into a proper fight against a strong enemy," Allison replied.

Zee nodded slowly.

"We could go on more contracts on our days off? It would be good practice. We could make some money, hone our teamwork, and push ourselves. Who knows, we might be able to reach peak E grade before the expedition," Zee said.

"That's a good idea," Allison said. "We can take on contracts on our day off each week. If we push it, we should be able to do at-least two contracts a week," 

Malden folded his paws across his chest.

"Some of us have things to do on our day off. I can't go traipsing off after monsters every week," Malden grumbled. 

Bastion and Yukna nodded in agreement.

Allison's expression turned serious as she looked each of them in the eyes. "I know some of you might be busy on your day off each week, but we need to get our priorities in order. The expedition into the shallows of the cosmic river is not going to be safe. If we take it lightly, some of us could die. That's why I want everyone to take part in weekly contracts," Allison said. 

There were a few grumbles, mostly from Malden, but most of them were in agreement. It sounded like a lot of work, but Zee wasn't too upset. Taking contracts to hunt down monsters would be lucrative, and it could help push her skills to the next rank.

Her schedule was about to get a lot more busy. Her courses took up six days of the week, and the seventh was now allocated toward contracts. That didn't leave her much time to relax, but who needed time off.

Over the next month, she attended classes, and at the end of each week went on contracts. They started off small, and slowly got into contracts rated for their team. Their latest contract was for a nest of spire hawks. 

Spire hawks were monsters that were surprisingly difficult to get rid of. With a thirty foot wingspan, they could snatch up a full grown lizard, and carry it away.

Zee had actually fought one once back in planar space, and had almost died. These were a different type of spire hawk, with an attunement to crystal, but she remembered her last encounter. Zee shook the thought off. 

Based on the contract, most of the nests were middle or peak E grade, while the matriarch was an early stage beast king. It should be a relatively tough fight with their numbers. Given the strength of the monsters, Zee and her team were approaching it with the appropriate amount of caution.

Namely, they were riding atop Taylor's skimmer, and flying directly into the territory of the monsters. Spire hawks were very territorial, and did not appreciate the skimmer entering their air space.

One of the giant birds let out a deafening screech. Zees' eyes snapped to the cloudy sky above. A dark form dove through the clouds, shooting towards the skimmer like a bolt shot from a ballista.

The oversized bird shot right towards the skimmer, stretching its curved crystalline claws open wide. 

"Above us," Allison said calmly.

"I got it," Malden shouted over the howling wind. 

Pulling his hammer from the bandolier on his back, Malden swung upward.

Sand exploded from his body, forming a massive hammer as it raced upward. The oversized chicken tried to dodge, but was smacked from the sky by Malden's sand hammer. 

It spiraled out of control, plummeting towards the ground, flapping its wings frantically. 

"Take us down," Allison said.

Controlled by Taylor, the skimmer pitched, and dove toward the ground, following close behind the spire hawk. Squawking angrily, the spire hawk hit the ground ungracefully, glaring up at the skimmer.

"Greg, Yukna, Bastion, watch the skies, the rest of you, let's take it down," Allison said. 

Zee ran across the planking, leaping overboard without hesitation. Malden and Allison were right behind her. It was a good twenty meters to the rocky ground but Malden was on it in seconds.

Zee felt herself slowing, and her momentum was stolen by Bastion who was still on the skimmer. Their boots thudded on the rock in unison. 

"Zee distracts it, Malden, let's dish out the pain," Allison said.

Malden hefted his hammer.

"Don't set it on fire. I want those soft feathers," Malden replied.

Zee didn't wait around to see what the reply was.

Allison was already rushing the grounded bird, and Zee didn't want her to tackle it alone. 

She appeared behind the hawk in a puff of mist, swinging her sword in a wide arc. Spirit echo enveloped her sword, and was quickly compressed to a refined edge. 

The crystal coating it's leg was tough, but not tough enough. The hawk screeched in pain as her blade bit into the back of its leg. It flailed, and tried to turn, but Allison leaped towards its face, gouging a deep furrow across the oversized bird's scalp.

Hobbled, and now thrown off balance, the disoriented monster staggered back. Just as it tried to catch its balance, Malden appeared in a strom of sand. 

His two handed war hammer crashed into the monster's remaining good leg with the loud crunch of breaking bone. With both legs crippled, the monster fell forwards onto its face frantically flapping its one good wing to right itself.

Leaping onto its back, Malden raised his hammer to turn its head to mush.. Frantic to avoid the descending hammer, the bird released a shockwave of jagged green crystal spikes in one final attempt to avoid death. 

Zee simply turned to mist to avoid the attack. At the same time, a bloody barrier snapped into existence around Malden and Allison, shedding the spikes like water.

Surrounded by the bloody barrier, Malden grinned and brought his hammer down, crushing the spire hawks skull. 

"Nice timing on that barrier," Malden said, ripping his hammer free from the monster's skull with a sickening squelch.

"No problem," Taylor replied.

Just behind the healer, Greg casually raised his bow, and fired up into the air in one smooth motion.

"There is another above us," Greg said, another arrow lancing up into the sky in a streak of darkness.

Zee looked upward, just as there was a puff of smoke and an explosion. The second spire hawk was struck in the chest by two arrows and had one of its wings shredded by shrapnel from Yukna's hand held grenade launcher.

As if to add insult to injury, a crescent of white hot fire arced upward, setting the oversized bird on fire.

Malden scowled over at Allison.

"I thought I told you not to set them on fire," Malden chastised.

Nearby, the poor bird smacked into the ground with a loud crunch, where it continued to burn.

Allison simply shrugged, pointing with her sword over the treetops..

"It looks like the remainder of the nest is coming. Malden, you need to get your priorities in order. We don't have time to worry about damaging their feathers," Allison replied. 

Zee understood the sentiment. At Least seven more spire hawks were on their way. More pressing was the oppressive aura the one at the front gave off. It reeked of death, and a palpable bloodlust that made her heart race.

Judging by its potent aura, the matriarch was at least a middle stage beast king. It was far more powerful than the rest of the flock and looked to have two affinities.

Its claws were covered in green crystal, and its wings sparked with arcs of energy as it flew towards them at breakneck speed.

"Form up, they are coming," Allison called. 

The flock of monsters were still a few hundreds yards away, but that was close enough.

Still aboard the hovering skimmer, Greg didn't hesitate. Arrows streaked from Greg's bow, glancing off a crackling field of energy that surrounded the matriarch.

"Shoot down the weaker ones, we will handle the matriarch," Allison said.

Greg immediately changed targets, turning several of the approaching flock into pincushions. Standing next to Greg, Yukna raised her large grenade launcher to her shoulder.

There was a loud bang, and it looked like Yukna was kicked by a pissed off lizard.

One of the spire hawks had its head blown to pieces by a direct hit to the face.

The matriarch let out a deafening screech as two members of its nest fell from the sky. Lightning surged around its body, arching from the tips of its wings. The air crackled as a bolt of lightning lanced down towards the skimmer.

Raising his staff, Taylor conjured a barrier of blood around the skimmer just before the attack hit. The skimmer and its four passengers disappeared in a crash of lightning and a thunderous boom.

There was a bright flash, a shockwave rippled out from the impact. Zee shielded her eyes and braced herself as a plume of smoke, fire and rock washed around her. Zee's stomach lurched. The attack was powerful, fast, and likely could have killed one of her friends.

With a gust of wind, the smoke cleared, revealing a severely damaged skimmer and the crew.

Zee let out a sigh of relief. Bastion, Greg, Yukna and Taylor looked crispy, but it looked like Taylor's barriers had blocked most of the attack.

Several hundred meters above, the matriarch screeched, seeming infuriated. Its wings sparked again, gathering power for another attack.

 She couldn't allow that. Another hit would kill her friends who were still reeling from the last attack. She had been intending on saving her finisher skill, but that would only get some of her friends killed.

The heart of fire beat like a drum in her chest, and the world river trembled around her as she raised her sword in a two handed grip.

A torrent of energy gathered in her blade, roiling as she infused it with ebb and flow. Heart racing, she compressed the energy into a razor's edge. 

The air ripped asunder as a guillotine of pure force split the air. In the blink of an eye, the blade launched upward, hitting the matriarch in the chest.

Reality warped, and a chasm in space formed, forming a scar in reality. The matriarch screeched in pain as its crystalline armor and feathers were cut apart. 

The beast king released huge bursts of energy, its wings crackling with lightning in an attempt to ward off the growing cut in reality.

Zee watched with wide eyes, as her finisher skill was forcibly destroyed. 

The matriarch released a shriek of both triumph and anger. Its hate filled green eyes locked on her, promising bitter revenge. 

Without hesitation, the matriarch descended right for her, flapping its huge wings to pick up speed. It shot downward like an arrow, lightning crackling along its wings as it drew closer. Zees' heart leaped in her chest as she sensed the building attack. Despite the growing danger, she held her ground. If she fled now, it might attack the skimmer again.

Taking a bolt of lightning that powerful head on would likely kill her, but she had no intention of getting hit. She was already mid-throw when a streak of blinding light shot from the bird's wings.

The bolt of lightning arched downward slamming into her position with a thunderous explosion. Shrouded in a storm of lightning, her form turned intangible. Time seemed to slow, as her vision turned monochrome. Her perception of time slowed as the surging energy crashed around her. 

Even while in her mist form, Zee felt the shocking power of the bird's attack. She hadn't expected the matriarch to have such a high tiered concept like lightning. Still, that wasn't enough to make her back down.

Gritting her teeth, Zee used her movement skill to shoot upward right through the monster's attack. A sense of danger clawed at her mind as the torrent of energy tore a hole into the rock beneath her. The power of the lightning threatened to rip her mist from apart. 

Wary of the looming threat, and activated the second step of her wayward walk skill. 

 Her perception changed as she appeared right above the oversized bird. Zee didn't hesitate, throwing a Dern shaped projectile at its exposed back. 

The matriarch let out a wild screech of agony as Dern slammed into its back with the force of a falling cart. The monster's thick feathers blunted some of the force, but not all.

Frantic to shake him off, the bird flapped its wings, rolling and clawing at the air. 

Waves of heat assaulted her as she fell, and she could sense the attack building. Oh, crap!

Sensing the building heat, Zee left Dern to harass the matriarch and used her mist form to fly away as fast as she could. She knew what was coming and had no desire to get caught up in it.

Her frantic escape was just in time. A pillar of blinding, white hot fire shot up into the sky, consuming Dern and the spire hawk in an inferno. 

Allison's finisher skill was even more devastating then she remembered. It turned Dern to melted slag, and flash fried the matriarch in one go.

"Shit, not again! That lizard loving pyromaniac needs to watch for friendly fire," Dern swore. 

It had already been severely wounded, but Allison's finisher was no joke. Her skill had toasted both the bird, and Dern all in one go. With the matriarch out of the way, Zee turned her attention to the remainder of the flock.

Clouds or sand, arrows, and sickly death harassed the last three remaining spire hawks. It was a one sided slaughter.

No wonder the other members of the flock couldn't come to the aid of the matriarch. The poor birds had problems of their own. Zee nodded to herself.

It looked like they had it in hand.

Still in her mist form, she descended through the air towards the skimmer on the ground.

She had been worried about Bastion, but let out a relieved sigh when she saw him standing next to Taylor and Yukna. A river of blood swirled around Taylor, seeping into the burns covering Yukna's arms.

Bastion and Greg didn't look much better off, with their clothes scorched, their hair singed, and their skin burned. Bastion stood protectively over Taylor and Yukna, while Greg took potshots at the birds above.

"Are you alright," Zee asked, appearing next to Bastion in a puff of mist.

"My combat robes are ruined. Do you know how much it's going to cost to get these repaired," Bastion asked, with a pained grimace.

Zee laughed, "You must be alright if you're complaining about your armor. Taylor, how are you and Yukna doing," Zee asked.

Taylor winced as blood funnel from his hands to the burns on Yukna's face. 

"I can heal most of the damage, but healing the burns will take a while," Taylor said. 

While they were talking, Allison had leapt up onto the skimmer. She walked over, most of her attention on the sky above..

"Good job on that barrier Taylor, that was quick thinking," Allison said.

Taylor smiled, an expression that was ruined by his singed hair and the burns on his face. 

"It wasn't good enough to avoid injury," Taylor replied. 

Allison gave the man a sidelong glance.

"Without your quick reaction, that bolt of lightning could have killed you four," Allison said.

Taylor gestured at Bastion," The only reason I had time to react was because Bastion slowed the attack, and one of Yukna's arrays blunted some of the force," Taylor said.

Bastion rolled his eyes. "Stop being so damned humble and accept a compliment when it's given," Bastion said. 

Kneeling on the decking, Yukna nodded in agreement. "Bastion right, you did a good job," Yukna said.

Taylor looked like he wanted to argue, but 

nodded in acquiescence. 

Allison hefted her sword.

"Now that we have that out of the way, let's finish up those birds in the sky," Allison said.

Zee pointed upward as the last spire hawk fell towards the ground with a pained shriek, its feathers melting off.

"It looks like they are already dealt with," Zee said.

"So it seems. Taylor see to their wounds and your own. We will harvest the monster's corpses and check their nest for spoils.

Over the next hour, they did just that.

Allison and Malden harvested the corpses of the spire hawks, while Zee used her movement skill to scale a steep cliff.

It was on the edge of a mountain, and had a long drop to the ground, but that was little trouble. 

In her mist form she could defy gravity, and go straight up, making the sheer cliff no obstacle.

She reached the mouth of the cave, and rephased back into reality.

In a crouch, she listened for unwanted guests. After sensing none, she cautiously walked into the cave. 

The cave was wide and tall, large enough for two carriages to fit in at once. It was well lit, with glowing green crystals along the cave walls. They were ether crystals, and large ones, no less.

The energy in the air grew far denser as she walked deeper inside. The energy density made her heart beat in excitement. 

It made her ignore the Ether crystals on the walls and venture deeper. The cave was only about fifty meters deep, but the walls were covered in the brightly glowing Ether crystals.

The energy was so dense near the back of the cave that it was exerting pressure on her aura; the energy trying to get in without permission. On the cave floor there were sticks, leaves and branches forming a wide circular nest. Hundreds of bones of beast and humanoids alike litter the nest, but those were not what drew her attention.

At the back of the nest, three dark green eggs sat in a pile of straw. They were positioned in a circle around the largest Ether crystal Zee had ever seen. 

The crystal was green, but its surface crackled with arcs of blue energy, and it let off a suffocating pressure.

Zee grinned. It wasn't an Ether crystal, no it was a natural treasure, and an extremely potent one at that. She had no idea what it was, but it had an extremely high attunement to lightning. 

Cautiously, she reached out, and touched it. Zee yelped and pulled her hand back.

"Shit, that hurt," Zee swore, shaking her hand.

"Just put it in your spatial storage," Dern said.

Wincing at the jolts of pain shooting up her arm, she nodded.

Coating her hands in a protective layer of spirit echo, she reached out and picked up the natural treasure.

It was heavy, but she was strong enough to pick it up long enough to put it inside her spatial storage. 

The treasure crystal vanished, and the change was immediate. The energy in the cave dropped noticeably as its primary source was taken.

Thanks to the hoard of Ether crystals, It was still much higher than outside. She glanced down at the three eggs. Zee could sense the vibrant life force of the unborn chicks inside.

She honestly had no idea what to do with them.

Did she take them, or leave them to their fate? Without their mother, and a strong source of energy, they would die. She supposed she could take them and sell them to a beast tamer. 

Spire hawks were rare monsters, and the eggs would likely sell for a lot to the right beast tamer. She nodded to herself.

The only question was, how to get them out of here? They might die if she put them in her spatial storage, but they were to big to carry them. She would have to get the skimmer and fly up to load them on.

But before that, she had a hoard of Ether crystals to collect. Zee wasn't going to leave when the walls were covered in money. 

She pulled a miner's pickaxe from her spatial storage and rolled her shoulders. She had plenty of useful tools in there, and it looked like the pickaxe finally came in handy.

It took a few hours, but she picked the walls clean.

In total, she gathered three hundred and seventy two Ether crystals. Split six ways, it was still roughly sixty five crystals each. 

That, combined with the natural treasure, the value of the eggs, and the value of selling the monster corpses, made for a good haul.

The contract had been a smashing success, aside from the injuries and the damage to Taylor's skimmer.

After everything was harvested, and their wounds were patched, they all boarded the damaged skimmer and headed back.

The trip back took three hours, but without Yukna's expertise, the skimmer wouldn't have made it back at all.

The skimmers' arrays had been seriously fried by the matriarch's lightning bolt.

Vibrating ominously, the skimmer settled down in the courtyard of Zees estate. Smoke drifted up from the skimmer, and everyone quickly leapt off.

Taylor coughed, waving the smoke from his face, 

"That doesn't look good," Taylor said.

Bastion patted him on the shoulder.

"It's a good thing you're rich, that's going to be expensive to repair," Bastion said.

Taylor gave him an affronted look.

"Who said I am the only one paying to fix it? Since we used it for the contracts, I say we all have to pitch in," Taylor said.

"But that would beggar me. I already have to replace my gear," Bastion replied, tugging at his torn and burned combat uniform. 

Malden shook a paw at Bastion,

"Taylor is right, it only seems fair to pitch in for repairs," Malden said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement, much to Bastion's chagrin. 

"You will be fine, we made plenty from this contract," Allison cut in.

"How is a guy supposed to afford anything with these outrageous expenses," Bastion muttered.