Hunters & Dragons, Nick Venom [free novels to read .TXT] 📗

the party out of the cave, leaving the Vrikar children behind. 

“We give them mercy and they soon return the favor… we could only hope they continue the cycle of mercy,” Thatcher muttered. The party reached the outside, exiting into fresh daylight. Noah then quickly led the party across the flat land and returned to Titoria’s boundaries before nightfall. They made their way to the High Council building, entering it without hesitation. They were immediately faced with the High Council sitting in chairs around a circle-shaped table. Katelyn, Fox, and other people from different races sat at the round table, all now staring at the disrupters.

“You survived!” Fox shouted, his voice booming off the walls. “Have you defeated the Vrikar demon tribe?”

Noah nodded. “Some of the Vrikar remain alive, but it is only a small handful. The rest of the Vrikar were slaughtered in their den. You can send some of your scouts to confirm it.”

Fox smiled. “I see. I applaud your bravery and fortune.” He turned to the person next to him. “Send some scouts to confirm their words.” He ordered before turning back to face Noah. “Once my scouts confirm your word, your party will receive its reward.”  Noah nodded and began to turn around before Katelyn stopped him.

“We will begin our trip back to the capital tomorrow. Ensure that you rest tonight.” She said with a soft and gentle tone.

“Yeah,” Noah muttered before turning his back on her. He walked past his party and out of the building.

Russ bowed his head. “I apologize for our leader’s action. He had some… unkind contact with the royal family in the past. He bears no ill will towards you… specifically.” He explained. Thatcher and Jean both bowed their heads alongside him.

“Raise your heads. I understand that my family isn’t made of the purest people in the kingdom, so his actions are understandable. You are dismissed. Rest up for tomorrow’s trip.” Katelyn announced. 

“Thank you,” the three said simultaneously. Katelyn nodded as they turned around and headed outside. The elf next to Fox stood up and gathered two of the guards to scout out the Vrikar’s den. 

Meanwhile, Fox and the others remained in the room. With everyone unnecessary to the discussion gone, Fox continued where he left off. “To continue the discussion, I will give my thoughts. Titoria will soon be invaded…” Fox stated. “Titoria will soon fall.”

 

TBC…

Episode Eight "Juggernaut (1)"

The next day Katelyn rounded up the White Rose party and headed to the main entrance of Titoria where Fox and the other members of the High Council waited for them. Fox handed the White Rose party an elven coin each as their reward for defeating the Vrikars. Noah took his coin and thanked Fox with the others following his lead. 

“Before you leave, I would like to introduce you to three of the members of the High Council.” He said, motioning towards three High Council members standing behind him. The first was a younger elf with the same features that Fox has, resembling a younger version of him. The elf wore a red trenchcoat with black jeans and a pair of black military boots. 

“This is my son, Hybrid.” He said before motioning towards another individual. “And this is one of the elders, Prescott.” He said. Prescott was a wolf beastkin who wore shining iron armor that covered his entire body, including his head, and wielded a bronze spear. 

  The last individual wore a cloak that covered his body from head to toe, with his eyes being the only visible thing. Two white piercing eyes stared at them. 

“This is our assassin, Zero. He is somebody we hired to help protect the town. He may seem evil, but he has a good heart.” Fox stated.

“Thank you chief,” Katelyn said before bowing her head. Russ followed suit along with Thatcher and Jean. Noah was the only one who didn’t bow his head.

“Hey! Be respectful to my father!” Hybrid shouted.

“Leave it,” Fox said.

“But-”

“That’s enough Hybrid. Return home.” Fox ordered. Hybrid opened his mouth to argue against his father, but the words couldn’t come to him in time. He nodded and lowered his head, turning around and heading home.

“It’s time for us to go,” Katelyn said, raising her head and turning around. She headed off with the others following after her. “Noah, how long will it take us to return home?” She asked him. Noah let out a small sigh before responding.

“Two weeks if we’re lucky. If we encounter trouble, then three or four.” He responded, walking past her and leading the pack. Russ walked up to Katelyn’s side and apologized to her. 

“There are no harsh feelings here,” she said. Russ nodded and smiled before picking up his pace to meet with Noah’s strides. Katelyn lowered her pace, falling behind until she made it to the back of the pack with Jean. Thatcher stood in front of them, some distance away. 

“Why are you in the back?” Katelyn asked Jean.

“I-I-I’m a little slower than the others ma’am,” Jean whispered.

“Shouldn’t your leader slow the pace of the group for you or something?” Katelyn asked, her eyes raised.

Jean shook her head violently. “He usually does, but today he’s… a little off. He monitors me from time to time to make sure I keep up, though.” She whispered.

“I’m guessing that his behavior today is my fault,” Katelyn whispered. 

Jean waved her hands from side to side in front of her. “No! No! No! It’s not your fault, princess!” She exclaimed. Katelyn looked at her, her eyebrows raised and her mouth slightly open, before chuckling. 

“Well anyway, I believe that this trip will be a difficult one. Let’s hope that I’m wrong about that.” She joked. Jean nervously chuckled. “And I do hope that everybody is still alive…” She whispered. Jean looked up at her glossy eyes that seemed to be in an entirely different dimension. She was imagining the worst.

***

A week passed with minor trouble from goblins and other low-level monsters. Nothing serious occurred as they were a week or two away from the capital until they encountered people washing up on a nearby pond. Noah, who intended to observe the people before interacting with them, hid in a nearby bush with the others following suit. Unlike them, Katelyn had little care of security as she walked past Noah and the others and ventured down to the pond. The people turned around to face Katelyn, recognizing her instantly. “Miss!” Shouted one of the people. It turned out to be the female knight from earlier. 

“Ashley! You survived!” Katelyn shouted. “Who else made it!” 

Ashley’s body tensed up before looking down at the ground. “Rejects, Apocalyptic, Order Den, and Holy Land were all slaughtered. Night Devils and Blue Knights suffered heavy casualties. The same can be said about your security detail.” Ashley said. Katelyn jerked her head back.

“How many people in total?” 

“Twelve,” Ashley said.

“I see,” Katelyn muttered. She then turned towards the survivors. “What happened to the racekillers? Did you kill any of them?” She asked. All of the survivors looked down at the ground; none of them were able to speak.

“We took down one, but there are still four left. We couldn’t take care of more than that.” She whispered.

“Oh,” Katelyn muttered.

“And if you don’t mind me asking, where's your security?” Ashley asked, scanning the area. She couldn’t find Noah or any of the others.

Katelyn turned around and whistled to them. “It’s the survivors! They’re not strangers!” She shouted, waiting for a response from them, but they failed to do so, causing her to frown. “That’s weird. They were in the bushes.” Katelyn said.

“They allowed you to venture on your own without protection? What if we were strangers who harbored ill intentions towards you?” She shouted, puffing her cheeks. 

“Don’t worry, they didn’t-” She was interrupted by a loud smack sound. Katelyn watched as Thatcher flew from the treeline into the pond. Blood dripped off his body during his flight. 

Immediately after his flight and crash, the sounds of fire began to spark up. Jean was the first one to exit the treeline, running from something in the treeline. 

“It’s a racekiller! A racekiller has appeared!” She shouted a few seconds before Noah’s body flew from the treeline and hit the water hard, cracking bones on impact with the water. Russ then appeared from the treeline with a racekiller trailing behind him.

“Everybody! Arm yourself! It’s a racekiller!” Ashley shouted. The male guard that Noah talked to before, stood up from his seat on the sand. 

“Eric! Evacuate the miss! Take Tristian with you!” She ordered Eric, who nodded and grabbed Katelyn’s arm, dragging her away. Tristian, another guard, followed Eric and headed in the opposite direction of the racekiller.

“Adventurers! We stand here for the future of Atraciral!” Ashley started, gathering everybody’s attention. “Night Devils, help White Rose! Blue Knights, you’re with me!” She shouted as the adventurers geared themselves  

The racekiller stopped chasing Russ and stared at the adventurers. Four adventurers made up the Blue Knights and four made up the Night Devils. The security detail only had four guards.

The racekiller then looked over at the bodies floating in the ocean, being Noah and Thatcher’s, and at the Night Devils fishing them out of the water. Russ and Jean, meanwhile, stayed in the back of the pack to regain their stamina and strength.

As the racekiller looked around like a curious animal, Ashley took her longsword out of its sheath. She plunged the sword into the sand. “We will kill this racekiller! Code name Juggernaut will not destroy us! We are the protectors of Atraciral!” 

 

TBC…

Episode Nine "Juggernaut (2)"

Juggernaut is a being who has the physique of a silverback gorilla and wears heavy solid military gear. This racekiller carries an enormous battle-ax, three times the size of a normal human, decorated black with red on the outline of the blade. The handle was black as night. 

Juggernaut’s helmet, a black semi-circle that sat on top of his body, had a rectangle vizor that revealed his beady dark red eyes. Along the edge of the helmet were small and large cracks that match with the worn-out feeling that the helmet had. A small skinny pole extended from the left side of the helmet and went up a foot in height, resembling an antenna. 

The racekiller slowly trudged closer to them, threatening them with every step he took. Ashley brandished her longsword in response to his threats and pointed it at him. “We will protect Atraciral.” She shouted. The adventurers behind her held their weapons out and prepared their first attack. 

The Night Devil adventurers, meanwhile, dragged