Fifty-Five

"What's a pseudo C-Grade?" Kon asked as they slowly gathered up to leave the sight of the fierce fight. Diur was pale, a slick of sweat on her face as she looked around with wide eyes, her nostrils flared as she took everything in.

"A failed ascension. It straddles the realm between C and D, but it will likely begin a regression into D-Grade if not dying outright in a few days. But, for those few days it will have the strength of a lower C-Grade," Diur hurriedly whispered as they started to run, Bosch setting a much more brutal pace than before. Kon cursed under his breath, forced to break into a fast jog to keep up.

The squires began to fall behind them, Willis following behind the squires to keep them so they didn't spread too far apart. Bosch didn't look behind her as she surged ahead, not slowing at all as the squires struggled to keep up. Kon ran harder, trying to keep Bosch in his line of sight. The Knight was accelerating constantly, hitting speeds that Kon and Diur had no hope of keeping up with.

"Slow down, stay with the squires," Diur urged. She matched her words with action, slowing her long strides to allow the squire squad to catch back up. Bosch disappeared in the distance, lost in the trees as she pushed forward without thought of them.

"How are you so fast?" Mathis asked as he caught up. He was huffing heavily, the sound of his heavy breathing sounding odd coming through the voice modulator in his helmet.

"Classified," Kon huffed back. The adrenaline rush of the brief fight was starting to fade. The action had come so quickly, ending nearly as fast, and it left his head spinning. Was every high end cultivation level fight like that?

"When Alice fought, she was just a blur. Everything happens in only a few seconds." He'd always imagined these types of epic battles to take place over long hours, not ending nearly as fast as they began.

"Why aren't the coms working?" Kon asked, risking a glance to look at Mathis as the man ran next to him.

"Could be lots of things. Good thing is that none of ours are working so its likely that McGuire and his team are alive," Mathis said. Kon suddenly realized that Mathis likely knew the torn apart squire squad that Willis had been leading.

"I'm sorry. About your friends," Kon said. Mathis just grunted. They fell into an awkward silence as they continued to move West.

Every time that Kon thought they'd lost the trail, Mathis would silently point out a mark on a tree. Knight Bosch would scrape the bark as she ran, purposely leaving them a trail a blind man could follow.

Willis came up to their small knot of front runners now that the mad dash had begun to stabilize. Closer up Kon could see that the armor was covered in dents and scratches. Unlike Bosch's armor, Kon could sense the power of this suit, flickering and weak as they brushed against his developing sixth sense.

"I'm sorry, I just…" Willis started. Kon could hear the youth in the man's voice. He hardly sounded older than Mathis, in fact, he sounded younger. There was an audible gulp, a stifled sob, and then he continued on.

"It was a giant cocoon and I just thought we could kill it while it was in the middle of its metamorphosis. Be an easy kill and we would end the threat. I started the attack, ordered my squires to form around it to fire in case I failed," Willis spoke in a low, hurried pace, his voice filled with confusion and pain.

"The moment I brought my rune to bear, the cocoon started to split open and it came out. We attacked, I landed a solid hit, I'm sure of it. I hit it. I know I hit it." Willis went silent while Kon, Mathis, and Diur all shared a quick look with each other. They had started to slow as Willis talked, the Knight controlling the pace the moment he had arrived.

"Then I was flying," Willis continued after that long pause. Kon looked around for Bosch's next marker and didn't see it. Instead he saw the Knight arriving with McGuire and his team following right behind her. Bosch waved a hand, summoning them. Kon blinked, struggling to understand how seven foot plus tall power armor wielding giants could just appear like that.

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"Willis, report!" Bosch barked. She didn't lift a finger and point in front of her, but it was close. Willis somehow shrunk down before slinking forward to stand before the other Knights. He quickly recounted what he had told them, managing to keep his voice steady, not stumbling over his words.

"We need to get back to Alpha as fast as possible. Diur. Kon. Here," Bosch barked, now pointing to the ground near the three Knights. Kon moved quickly, not wanting any of them to be upset with him as the tension had slowly grown.

"This creature. You said it chased you off the plateau? It hunted you?" Bosch asked.

"Yes, ma'am. It seemed to like following behind us, keeping a distance as we ran. If we started to lag it would speed up until we were running again," Kon said. Diur's lips slowly compressed into a razor thin line as her eyebrows raised up. They had spent enough time together that Kon could tell she was thinking about something.

"Shit. It's a hunter," Bosch cursed. Willis wilted further while McGuire stood stock still. Kon was even more confused, but kept his tongue.

"We retreat back to Alpha, try to get the radios back online and then contact the other bases. If there's a pseudo C-Grade, we'll need the ship's cannons to kill it," McGuire finally said.

"Agreed. Willis, you have rearguard. McGuire, I want you to stay in the front. I will scout. Any sign of the beast, Knights shall engage while Squires retreat to Alpha. We need to send this warning out at all costs," Bosch said. The other two Knights nodded, thought Willis was slow to do so.

"I do not know if he is a coward or just broken. But I don't trust him to watch our backs." The thought was cruel to a man who had just lost his entire command, but Kon couldn't help it. Even encased in armor, the man projected an air of squirrelishness. As if he was just waiting for the chance to run for it.

Kon and Diur walked back towards Mathis as the three Knights quickly barked out their order. Bosch disappeared into the trees, backtracking quickly while the rest of them stood there.

"What's a hunter?" Kon asked Mathis, his curiosity overcoming him as he leaned in to ask the squire.

"It's slang for monsters that have hunting tendencies. As they get stronger they get smarted and they start exhibiting…tendencies. Hunters are those who like to stalk, chase, or drive their foe before them. If the bug is a hunter, it is just regrouping before it begins its chase of us," Mathis said quietly.

"Bosch said the cannons at the base could kill it," Kon said. Mathis just shrugged. A sense of despair was gathering around the squires that had leaned in to listen to him.

"Maybe. They're just the shuttle's close defense weapons. They have few shots in their batteries and limited range. The beast will have to be on top of us for them to be effective enough. They should pop it easily enough. Not till the peak of C-Grade should monsters be able to shrug off weapons that powerful," Mathis said, settling the squires around him.

"This beast is smart and cruel," Diur said. She stood relaxed amongst the armed and armored humans like it was a simple picnic, but her eyes constantly roamed around looking for anything that stood out.

"Yeah. I got that. As it chased us the first time," Kon said. The pack began to run, not quite following their last path.

"It is not as smart as we are. It will wish to drink in our fear and bathe in bloodshed. It will follow us back to our nest," Diur said. Kon slowed and looked at her closely.

"Can you feel it right now?" Diur's senses were keener than his own, but Kon doubted they surpassed the Knight's sensors.

"No. But this is how these monsters react. My clan is sworn to maintaining the rifts on our planet. It is our sacred duty. We know the beasts that emerge from the other side. This is one of the deadlier ones. It will let it's desire to make us suffer stupid though. We can make a trap for it."

"A trap that's good enough to kill a C-Grade?" Kon asked dubiously.

"Pseudo C-Grade. That does matter. The longer we delay the confrontation the greater the chance it begins to naturally weaken. It was injured in our attack, your Knight hurt it. It will be torn between resting and healing, or pushing quickly to kill us and satisfy its urges."

"So, just hope it licks its wounds then," Mathis suddenly cut in. Kon tried not to jump as the big man had managed to sneak up on him. The heavy, constant beat of feet on the ground had helped mask his approach. Diur looked over her shoulder toward the Squire and nodded once.

"And if it doesn't?" Mathis asked after a second.

"If it pushes hard and takes us before we can prepare. Then we shall meet our ancestors," Diur said.

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