The Emerald Hunt Arc : The 5 tailed leopard

The orange flames dance and crackle as they illuminate a small portion of the dark forest.  Max feeds glowing embers into the centre of the flame with a stick, causing it to crackle in delight and burn even more brightly. Alex gazes into the flames observing its volatile dance, lost in the vices of his own thoughts. Can we really hunt the Zheng? Was I too hard on father? Do I even want to be a knight? These questions fill his mind while blankly staring into the campfire.  Max's chuckle breaks the silence, as he brushes back his straight black hair and speaks.

"I am thinking this is the first chapter of the legend of thunderstorm Maximus" Alex shifts his gaze to his brother. "I will be a fucking legend on par with the high knight, and father hundreds of bastard children all over the continent!" Max shouts in amusement.

"Sounds romantic," responds Alex coldly, his voice embodied with sarcasm. His gaze drops back to the campfire. It's not that Alex didn't have his own ambitions, he just feels Max has unrealistic expectations of what they can achieve. Which he thinks is ironic since they're going to hunt the Zheng today. The light from the fire begins to fade, causing darkness to slowly creep in on them. Alex reaches to his side and pulls out his swords. He gently pushes the burning branches further into the inferno revamping the flames. The silence is interrupted yet again by Max.

"What about you, brother?" he asks with a smile.

"I'll join a guild, become stronger then kill Behemoth." As Alex says this he realises his words sounded even more unrealistic then what Maximus had said.

"That sounds more romantic than my ambitions," mocks Max. "Father is a living legend and even he couldn't kill the Forest King."

"I don't care if I'm seen as a legend or not. As long as I can do the one thing that old bastard wasn't able to do, then I will die in peace," he undoes the band tying back his dreadlocks. Max gazes into the fire for a bit, and after a period of silence, he speaks up.

"Are knights not supposed to take an oath to put the safety of the Realm first?" mutters Max.

"Isn't killing Behemoth putting it first?"

"Well yes, but at the end of it, you want to out-do father. I now wonder if you actually care about humanity."

Alex does not respond but carries on gazing into the inferno. Silence engulfs the forest once again, that is until a deep monstrous bellowing startles them into action. Alex instinctively picks up a burning branch and throws it towards the bellowing sound, revealing a massive black furry creature with crimson red eyes and long yellow fangs. It proceeds to stand upright and lets out a horrific and intimidating roar which struck fear into Maximus. Max's black eyes turn blue as lightning sparks begins to coarse throughout his body. He pulls out his sword without hesitation ready to fight the monster. Alex, however, calmly stands between him and the bear with his arms outstretched.

"Relax," his face and body composed, "There's no need for that. It's fake". This confuses his older brother who obviously sees a giant demon bear only a few footsteps away from him.

"What in the fucking hell, brother?" asks Max aggressively as his eyes revert to their original dark black colour.

"Max, what demon bear isn't afraid of fire? It didn't even flinch after I threw a burning branch at it. Plus, I can't sense its life force. I would've known it would be around the area while scouting for a camping site." Alex turns and walks towards the bear, much to his brother's visible horror.

"Bitch, at least carry your damned sword with you!" Alex ignores his cries and continues to walk towards it. It looks sounds and smells real but there are too many inconsistencies, thought the teenager as he stopped a few centimetres away from the demon, he proceeds to slowly reach for the monster. Just as his hand is about to touch the black fur, it passed through it. Max gasps and slightly lets his guard down

"It's the legendary Ghost Bear of Redwood, we are so fucked" Max gasped with a stupid blank expression.

"No, Max. Why the hell would…you know what, forget it." Alex eyes dart around scanning the forest. "You can come out. I saw through the illusion." A figure dressed in iron blade mail and wielding a thin sword emerges from the woods behind Maximus. Concealing his face is a grey helm that only reveals stone cold grey eyes. The bear turns into black smoke which guided itself towards the mysterious knight only to be sucked in by the blade in his hand.

"I'm impressed," he says with a raspy voice, "You caught on to my illusion that quickly. But I must insist you turn back. This area is prohibited this season."

 Max sheaths his blade while Alex walks towards the campfire to pick up a small bag. He tosses the bag to the grey knight, who in turn, catches it. He shakes the bag to verify the metallic rattling he heard upon catching it. "Is this bronze?" he asked

"Silver, my good man." Alex replies, "In exchange for your ignorance, you will let us proceed," The knight takes a slight pause, nods, then turns his back while fastening the bag into his pouch. Before he could take another step, Alex calls out.

"Your illusions affect sight, sound and even smell. What essence is it?"

"Forest fairy. Not the kind you find in books. They scare off predators and attract prey using pixie dust."

"We'll pay you more if you help us hunt the Zheng." He knows Max is looking at him with visible disapproval, but does divert his gaze.

"My job is keeping the Zheng out of Redwood and the villagers safe. My illusions won't help you kill it"

"I don't expect you to," Alex responds, "my brother will be in charge of that. We only want your knowledge of the forest and your abilities." The knight cautiously approaches the campfire. In the dim light of the flames the young knights can see the condition of the grey warrior's armour. It is decorated in dents, scars and transparent stains of fermented blood.

"We have a deal; I have a family to feed." Maximus pulls back his partner to offer his insight.

"This was not part of the bloody plan, Alexander" he whispers angrily, "We agreed to bribe whichever knight is patrolling the area, not form fucking hunting parties" Alex knocks his brother's hand off and sits by the fire.

"The sword, doesn't question the commands of the brain." Under the dim light of a dying campfire, the resolve on his face was unquestionable. "You will only get your pay after the hunt." Alex added.

"I want half now, half after." The veteran knight said.

"Fuck off!"  Yells Maximus,

"Max," Alex intervenes, "It's my plan. Trust me," The grey knight lets out a grunt of mockery as he silently turns away. "I have to go patrol the boundary. I'm not waiting for you indecisive brats to come to a conclusion." He makes his way back into the forest depths.

"Come on, Max. Let's catch up, I have a few possible strategies I want to run by you" 

Maximus, reeking of frustration, kicks dirt into the fire to extinguish it.  

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Grey clouds creep across the sky as the trio cut their way through the woods. The forest would have been completely silent if it wasn't for the sounds of their metallic footsteps and swings of their blades cutting a path from the overgrown vines. After a while they hear a serene sound of trickling water. The grey knight has guided them to a steep valley dividing the forestry into two with a gentle stream running through the divide.

"This is the Redwood boundary" said the grey knight. They took a moment to absorb the calm scenery and all its surroundings.

"Right," Alex says, breaking the silence, "let me scan the forest."

"That will take time," says the knight.

"For most people." Alex interrupts

"What does that mean?"

"My bitch of brother has a talent for magic" Max boasts. "I for one believe he is sitting on his potential. Father thinks he would make a better mage than a knight."

"What does he know," Alex scoffs as he shuts his eyes. He takes a deep breath, and isolates his senses from the outside world. Perception; a sort of sixth sense mages use to scan for creatures and the strength of their essence. Although he does not like to admit it, Alex takes pride in the fact that he is self-taught in the magic concepts he knows. With Perception he experiences a nigh ethereal sensation where he sees himself alone in darkness, while at the same time seeing other things that can only be described through colour.

Within these colours, he sees a persistent red and black colour pulse from a distance. A pulse so malicious that no other emotion could express it, not even sadistic joy. It was a primal pulse coming from an intelligent creature, it was hungry. The young man slowly opens his eyes and nods, "Seems like the Zheng is also hunting us. We'll follow the river upstream. Predators like to hunt near water sources." Max and the knight nod in agreement and begin to descend the valley walls, leaving Alex behind. Alex feels an unsettling shiver run down his spine while he stares down at the gorge. Something isn't right.

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Glimpses of orange rays escape the horizon; the hunting party arrive at the end of the stream, before them is a cascade of water falling into a deep pool of clear crystal riverine.

"We'll set the trap here", says Alex. "Do we need to go over the plan once again?"

"I'm good" Max responds. The grey knight simply shook his head.

"Alright then, looks like we're all in agreement. Let's lure the beast in."  The grey knight draws his blade and conjures a thick black smoke that disperses into the sky. "That's the scent of human blood. The Zheng should follow it here" the grey knight said.

"Then let us enjoy this great fucking hunt!" exclaims Maximus. They make their way to separate parts of the area.

Lightning races across the night sky and the forest is consumed by rainfall. Alex runs across the forest, his breath heavy, grasping his wounded side tightly. He slips and lands into a mud puddle while desperately making his escape. "Please leave me alone!" he cries out while stumbling back on his feet. A distant sinister snarl answers back. "Leave me alone!" he cries repeatedly while he struggles to get back onto his feet. He tries his hardest to lose the creature trailing him but the sound of its incoming animalistic strides grow louder and louder; It is only a matter of time until it catches up to him. Alex limps through the forest but stumbles once again over an outgrown root and rolls downhill into a roaring river. He sluggishly makes his way up stream in a futile attempt to escape the monster. As he does so he looks back and sees in the distance a primal sized silhouette of a feline stalking him up the current with glowing amber eyes fixed on him.

With a flash of lightning and a snarl, the blue leopard catches up to him. It leaps and sinks its fangs into back of Alex's neck but instead of drawing blood the boy dispersed into a thick black smoke.

The leopard monster makes a confused whimpering sound as it looks around trying to make sense of the situation. A high-pitch whistle immediately grabs its attention. It hisses at a different adolescent who stood before it in the centre of pool, his sword glowing with sparks of lightning. With a smirk he plunges his sword into the lagoon sending a wave of electric current racing across the water, electrocuting the monster. The Zheng's cry was the signal Alex and the grey knight needed to reveal themselves.

"Everything happened just like you said it would!" yells Maximus over the sound of the rushing water.

"You're brothers with a fucking genius, of course it would!" yells back Alex.

"I'll be taking my pay now, per our agreement," the grey knight interrupts

"Let me just check to see if we caught the right monster," answers Alex. The knight shakes his head and follows Alex into the lagoon water. The lad waddles across the water and touches the lifeless carcass. He closes his eyes and concentrates, but he feels no life essence flow into him.

"Max when you got the thekwane essence how long did it take?"

"I cannot seem to remember," Alex opens his eyes wider and smacks his forehead with his palm. "It was a complicated process, okay!" Max responds with redness covering his face with embarrassment.

"I don't feel anything here," Alex continues. This causes their guide to approach and examine the carcass "The Zheng is a leopard with five tails, but it has one. Where are the other four?" Thunder echoes softly, as though it is trying to warn the trio of the impending danger they are in. Alex feels a familiar spine chilling dread as multiple snarls become audible. "Fuck," realises Alex, "we killed a duplicate!" The trio looks up to the blue and black yellow eyed leopard monster gazing down at them from on top of the waterfall. Suddenly two more duplicates emerge from behind the first one snarling menacingly at them.

"Run!" the grey knight yells "I'll hold them off!"

"No!" snaps Max, "we will see this through to the end, no one is getting left behind!" he declares mightily as sparks of lighting begin to engulf him. Alex abruptly clubs his brother from the back with the hilt of his sword knocking him unconscious, dragging his body over his shoulder and looks back at the grey knight.

"I'm sorry," he whispers before waddling out of the water as fast as his legs could take him.