Before a month ago Astra had never even seen a horse never mind rode one. But, after many gruelling hours of endless travelling, she finally felt like she was getting good at it. Her lower body no longer ached, nor did it feel raw from the constant days of riding and her dark-chocolate horse, Coco, had finally began listening to her. In fact Astra even believed the stallion was beginning to like her, she hadn't been kicked or bit in over a week. Coco had even began letting Astra pet him.
From the change in the sun's position, Astra estimated they had been travelling for a couple of hours. The three hunters still rode up front in a triangular formation. They kept an eye out for any potential threats as well as leading the quest party through the easiest pathway, sometimes dismounting to clear away any overgrown vegetation that the horses wouldn't be able to traverse through.
They continued through the Great forest Mori and Astra tried keep her focus on the path ahead, doing her best to not react to any strange noises or moving shadows she saw in the dark abyss around them. She would constantly glance at Amara and if she didn't react Astra wouldn't either. However, it wasn't all doom and gloom, Amara had told Astra they should be coming to the end of their journey across the Great forest very soon, possibly by the end of the day.
They entered a narrow pathway, not too unsimilar from a small valley, where tall, steep rocky walls arose to the sides of them. After around an hour of twisting rock walls, the three hunters in front slowly came to a stop and dismounted and Amara quickly done the same. She handed Astra her reins and commanded her to stay there before joining the hunters up ahead. Gris, Amara's powerful, dark grey stallion was reluctant to be left alone with Astra, but he would never disobey his master. Which Astra was thankful for because the massive horse could easily overpower both her and Coco if he desired.
Amara spoke with the hunters for a brief moment before nodding and then heading back over to her.
"Dismount and follow me," Amara said. Astra handed her Gris's reins and hopped off Coco. She followed Amara over to the hunters and could instantly see the problem. The titan of a tree she'd been seeing for the last hour had grown deep into the stone crevice they travelled through. Forged from black wood and emerald leaves it was thicker than the Silva guild hall and was so tall it vanished into the sky. Its base and roots covered the entire trail and spread up the rocky hills. There was no easy way round. However, near the base of the tree between thick tendrils of roots was a gap. It could easily fit her, Amara, and the hunters but Astra didn't know if the horses would get through, especially Gris.
"Will we fit?" she asked Amara.
"It'll be a squeeze, but the hunters say it should be fine," Amara responded. "But we'll definitely have to transport our supplies and lead the horses ourselves."
They all lined up their horses and carefully unpacked their supplies from their horse's backs to their own.
"Here take this," Amara said as she passed Astra two bags before taking the rest herself. The bags rested heavily over Astra's shoulders, but she could manage. Just about.
In a single file line the hunters led the way, slowly and carefully guiding the horses into the tree's undergrowth. As the third hunter disappeared into the darkness it was Astra's turn. Holding both the supplies and Coco's reins tightly she followed the others under the tree.
Pebbles shifted and slid from underneath her as she tread forward. Light struggled to reach down here, and Astra could just about make out their surroundings. She walked through a twisting, ever-changing passage of wooden walls and huge roots and slippery moss. From spacious and tight gaps to high and low ceilings. However, luckily with all their supplies on Astra's and Amara's backs and Coco keeping his head low they comfortably made it through. Light crept from around corner, and she soon emerged back into open forest.
Astra led Coco further from tree to give Amara plenty of space. After a few minutes she emerged unscathed, carefully guiding Gris around the final corner, even crouching the big stallion's sides scraped against the passage's walls.
'How did she get him through the entire passage?' Astra wondered. She thought back to Silva, remembering that absolutely enormous horse she'd seen back at the Silva stables, it would've had no chance.
Astra wandered over to them and Amara removed the baggage from her back and placed it back onto Gris.
"Is there anymore passages like that?" Amara asked the hunters as she secured their supplies to Gris.
"No. It should be an easy trail from now on. As we're getting closer to the forest edge to grows less dense and turns to grassland," the blue armour hunter told them.
They all once again saddled up and rode off into the abyss. However, Astra noticed the forest's darkness was beginning to lighten and she could see further and further away.
'We're getting close,' she realised happily.
Their environment continued to change as they travelled further and further. Trees grew shorter and sparser and the overgrown vegetation became scarce with even new species of smaller, kinder plants emerging. They travelled easily and uninterrupted for miles, and Astra finally began to relax when the hunters abruptly stopped. Astra went to ask what was happening but suddenly an ear-piercing roar tore through the forest and shook Astra to the core.
"Get down!" Amara bellowed before taking hold of her reins and dragging them both off to the side. Astra done as commanded and kept her body low. Glancing back she could see the hunters had leapt from the horses, weapons ready. With a quick whistle, all their horses galloped off to the sides.
Suddenly there was a rapid flash of red and something monstrous pounced from the darkness forcing the hunters to dodge to the side.
The monster came into view in the light. Before them already preparing to strike again was a gigantic, dark navy, panther-like wyvern, with terrifying bladed wings on its front arms and a thick pointed tail.
"Nargacuga," Amara snarled before drawing her longsword. "Stay hidden with the horses," Amara ordered before sprinting off.
All four hunters charged at the Nargacuga, and it let out another ear-shattering roar. Astra's hands reflexively covered her ears. She saw that two of the hunters staggered under the roar's intensity while Amara and the blue armour, greatsword wielder advanced with full momentum. Amara took the monster head on while the greatsword wielder sprinted around its side. The Nargacuga growled and its eyes shone red as Amara readied her longsword. Suddenly the bottom of the tail's smooth surface transformed into rows of pointed, razor-sharp blades. The Nargacuga leapt into the air and spun, slamming it spiked tail down onto Amara. The tail came crashing down but just as it was about to crush Amara, a bright glow shone across her body and a sharp mystical sound radiated through the air. At a speed Astra could barely register, Amara dashed back. The spiked tail struck the ground and without losing momentum Amara leapt forward and shaved off the tail's top layer of spikes. Not a moment later the greatsword wielder was upon the monster, his humongous blade coming down upon its left arm. The Nargacuga snarled as its paw became a broken mess. It leapt back away from the two hunters however, landed straight in front of the hunters in red and green armour. Wielding a red and black scale shield and a sword that which looked as if it was forged from magma, the red armour hunter charged. His shield bashed into the monsters face dazing it while his sword then slashed across its fanged, beak-like mouth. The Nargacuga yelped and swung its bladed arm as the hunter. However, the huge blade only struck a massive golden shield. Wielding a golden lance the green armoured hunter shielded his ally. He then thrust his lance forward slashing the monster's left eye. The Nargacuga cried out and recoiled back. It then prepared to retreat but it was too late. Amara appeared in the air high above the monster, her longsword held overhead. She plummeted down and her blade ripped into her monster's head. With a cry of pain the Nargacuga collapsed and did not get back up.
Relief washed over Astra as she watched all the hunters sheath their weapons. Astra then stood from her hiding place and led the two horses towards the others. At the same time the horses of the three hunters returned to them.
"I know we can't call the guild to come collect the body, but we might as well gather what we can. Under the circumstances I imagine this hunt won't be declared as illegal," the blue armoured hunter stated drawing his sharp, silver carving knife. Completely unbothered that a large apex monster had just tried to end them, but that was just hunters for you Astra guessed. The other two hunters then also unsheathed their carving knives and approached the corpse. Amara never bothered and began making her way over to Astra and their horses when she suddenly stopped.
She spun on her feet simultaneously drawing her weapon. She sprinted towards the blue armoured hunter and with a strong push launched him to the side. Suddenly something burst from out of the tree line.
'A second monster!?' They hadn't seen a single one all journey and now two back-to-back.
A massive, carriage sized red wyvern slammed down, shattering the ground where the blue armoured hunter had just been. Astra knew this monster, the 'King of the Skies', Rathalos.
Panicked, Astra retreated, ragging the startled horses back. The hunters began once again drawing their weapons. From their battle before Astra knew they were strong but hunting two apex monsters with no rest was no easy feat.
However, before any hunter could even act Amara was already moving. Flames built inside the monsters maw and launched out at rapid speeds. As the fireball advanced towards Amara a rapid glow was again shone across her body and she performed another perfect counter, her blade slashing against its leg. The Rathalos staggered struggling to hold up its own weight with only one healthy leg. Without a moments rest, Amara switched stance, pulling her weapon and body close. She then charged forward stabbing her Longsword into its injured leg. Using the monster's huge body she launched herself high into the air and Astra quickly realised what she was doing.
'Helm breaker.' Amara had once told Astra it was one of the longsword's greatest techniques.
A ruby glow coated her body and blade, and she swung her Longsword across the monsters head as she fell. The monster recoiled back in pain from the initial strike and then a moment later, like it had been attacked by a group of phantoms, the Rathalos's head was ripped apart by a dozen more slashes.
Like the Nargacuga the monster was dead before its body hit the ground. And just like that Amara had killed an apex monster in mere moments, proving to everyone why she was a first-rate hunter and the Guild had entrusted her with Astra.
The forest was silent, all that could be heard was Astra's and the hunter's heavy breathing and the sound of a Longsword being sheathed. Amara rushed over to Astra and the hunters slowly began to sheathe their own weapons still clearly stunned on what had just occurred.
"Are you okay?" Amara asked her as she comforted Gris.
Astra nodded. "Just caught me off guard. Is that normal? For two apex's to act like that?" she asked.
"No. Not like that," Amara admitted with a conflicted expression. She then turned and moved towards the other hunters.
"What just happened?" the red armoured hunter questioned.
"Saddle up! We need to get moving!" she called out to them.
"Behind!" The green armoured hunter suddenly bellowed.
With rapid movements, Amara's hand went to her blade, and she turned. But she was too late. A sharp gasp escaped Amara's helm. Astra watched in horror and the hunters once again drew their weapons as a sword stabbed all the way through Amara's back, just above the right side of her pelvis.
*****
Ryo stood up from the monster's corpse. He cleaned and sheathed his carving knife. Majority of the Great forest Mori wasn't a hunting ground, only nearby villages such as Silva are. As a result the hunter guild had no jurisdiction here and couldn't come collect any of the many corpses Ryo had left behind. Due to this, Ryo limited himself to three carves per monster. At least that way he could hopefully make a decent bit of money when he next reached civilisation without overwhelming his storage. He wasn't concerned with the laws of hunting, his reputation was highly held within the Guild and no one would question his claims of self-defence. He was no poacher and the Mori was already considered a place in need of a culling for the sake of the ecosystem.
Ryo packed away the parts he'd carved on a patiently waiting Cali, saddled up and rode off leaving the huge, purple, scaley body of a Yian Garuga behind.
'Just how many monsters was that now?' Ryo wondered. He had expected to run into quiet a few monsters travelling through untouched land, and away from the recommended travel routes, but still what he'd experienced was absurd. He'd killed over nine monsters in the last two days ranging from Rathians and a Yian Kut-Ku to even apex predators like Zinogres, Tigrexs, Nargacugas, Rathalos and now a Yian Garuga. It was strange, there shouldn't be this many apex monsters this close together, even in a Great forest like this. It was almost like they were running from something or maybe all trying to hunt something. Like there was something here that threatened every creature's existence. Ryo didn't know what exactly was happening, but it kept him on constant guard.
Ryo was forced to travel away from any of the routes the people in Silva village had recommended to him. He had travelled through this Great forest before and knew all the 'travel routes' if you could call them that in a place like this, were purposefully kept small and discrete to reduce the chances of running into any monsters. However, his humongous stallion was unable to follow any of them. As a result they travelled straight across the forest however they needed to. It was more dangerous, but Ryo didn't mind, a monster fight wasn't anything new to him and it was also a lot faster travelling this way.
With a firm squeeze of his legs and quick lash of thick reins, Cali galloped off forward. If they could keep this pace up, Ryo estimated they'd be out the forest by the end of the day, at most tomorrow.
*****
Astra's heart stopped as she watched that silver sword tear through Amara's armour and body alike. However, unlike Astra, Amara quickly recovered from her shock and pulled away from her attacker, instantly putting pressure on the wound.
As Amara pulled the young girl away, Astra attempted to calm herself. Hunters were beyond resilient, Amara would be just fine. Right?
Now standing on the battlefield was a man covered in a tattered black cloak and sturdy, metal plated armour. He wielded weapons clearly more designed for killing people than monsters. Suddenly, more of these cloaked armoured figures emerged from the tree line.
"Rouge hunters!" the blue armoured hunter spat as he charged forward.
Astra had heard of them before. Exiled hunters and criminals that would rather make a living by hunting and robbing other hunters and people than monsters. Without a hunting license they couldn't obtain any monster crafted weaponry or armour and as a result usually utilised more generic equipment and usually those weapons were more adapted to human warfare anyway. Well … unless they plundered the corpses of any hunters they killed.
The blue armoured, greatsword wielder swung his huge blade at Amara's attacker. It tried to raise its small steel shield, but it was futile. Under the immense force of the enormous sword the rouge hunter crumpled into the ground with a gruesome crunch.
"Two o clock!" the green armoured hunter called out.
The blue armoured hunter quickly dived to the right avoiding a sword strike aimed at his head. To Astra's horror these rouges also fought with the inhuman strength and speed of hunters. The hunters quicky gathered up together and prepared to battle the eight rouge hunters that had ambushed them.
Astra quickly helped Amara who was slowly backing away. Amara pulled out her reinforced, glass flask filled with a thick green liquid. She took a sip of her potion to try and tend to her wounds, but Astra didn't know how much that would help with the stab wound. It didn't look natural. Astra had heard that rouge hunters cover their weapons in ointment to hinder or subdue a hunters traditional healing factor and recovery items. From the grimace on Amara's face she clearly thought the same however, also knew she had to do something. Astra supported Amara's body as she rubbed some sort of substance on her wounds and slowly led them back to the horses.
Suddenly Amara pushed Astra to the ground and drew her longsword with one hand. She spun and with one clean slash severed a rouge hunter, who'd tried to secretly kidnap Astra, at the waist.
'How many of them are there?' Astra questioned. She looked away as two body halves dropped to the ground.
"They're here for you," Amara growled in pain clutching her side. Those abrupt, rapid movements couldn't be good for her. "That means they're tracking us. It explains everything at least. Fuck! I should've seen this coming. They somehow sent those monsters to attack us and wear us down before they attacked. Shit! We'll have to kill them all, escaping isn't an option." Amara's head snapped towards Astra. "Saddle up and get far away from here. If we go down run as far as possible-"
With a loud grunt of pain and the sharp clash of weapons. The blue armoured hunter came crashing down beside them. As he stumbled up, Astra followed his gaze. Three rouge hunters lay dead across the battlefield however that wasn't what drawn Astra's attention. Two new people had entered the arena.
They were clad in armour and equipped with weapons forged from monsters, A greatsword and a gigantic hammer. They were either hunters who hadn't been exposed and convicted as rogues yet or they'd stolen the equipment off previous victims Astra guessed. Either way it was obvious there were a lot more skilled than the black cloaked assailants. And that probably meant they were without a doubt master rank quality. As if their situation wasn't already awful two more monster armoured rouge hunters appeared.
The red and green armoured hunters finished killing the rouge hunter they were fighting and retreated to the blue armoured hunter's side.
Suddenly there was a pained yelp and a gruesome crunch behind. Astra spun and her heart dropped. A fifth monster cladded rouge hunter had appeared. To her dread it'd tore open Coco's neck. Blood drenched his dark fur and the stallion crumpled to the ground, convulsing. Gris reared back into the air pushing the rouge hunter back before he then sprinted off into the forest.
"Coco!" Astra screamed. She wanted to sprint to her horse but was instantly ragged back by Amara who pulled her towards the other hunters. The four of them surrounded in her in a protective circle.
"Change of plan. Astra you stay right behind me," Amara ordered. She grimaced and with a grunt of pain stood up straight and gripped her Longsword properly with both hands.
*****
Ryo quickly noticed the changes in the environment as the Great forest began converting into mountainous grasslands. He was reaching the outskirts.
"Nya!" Nix suddenly called out. Ryo turned to where the palico had gestured to.
Smoke. Subtle grey clouds twisted and drifted up just above the treeline.
"What of it?" Ryo asked his palico. "It's probably just a monster turf war." His palico grumbled at him. "It's not going to be people needing aid. And so what if it is, that's not our problem. You shouldn't come here if you can't handle it." Without words, Nix stared directly into his soul. He gave in and grumbled. "Fine. We'll check it out."
Tugging on Cali's reins they sprinted off to the left.
After a few minutes he arrived at the edges of a camp. Instantly his mood turned foul, and a feeling tugged on his stomach. He'd seen the scene before.
He dismounted Cali, drew his charge blade and silently gestured for Nix to remain with their horse. He calmly crept through the camp but discovered it was seemingly empty. It was covered in old, worn, tattered guild designated hunter tents. Or more appropriately worded stolen. It was obvious from the moment he saw it what this was. A rouge hunter camp. They were always a possible threat in areas that weren't Guild hunting grounds and sometimes even in Guild territories.
The campground and tents were covered in stolen equipment and resources from their previous pillages. Most of it didn't seem too valuable and was most likely from travellers which was a relief. Travellers wouldn't put up a fight and therefore would usually survive the encounter. From a quick glance it seemed like they hadn't attacked any hunters. At least not yet.
'Good job I listened to Nix,' Ryo considered. Vermin couldn't be left to fester.
Ryo walked further through the camp. At the camp's centre was a campfire and a man sat in front of it with his back to Ryo. He had short black hair and pale scarred skin. But what grabbed onto Ryo's attention was the armour. Forged from the corpse of Zinorge, Ryo didn't know if it had been stolen or he'd forged it before being exiled. It didn't matter either way, he'd long lost all rights to it.
Ryo scowled.
He approached and purposefully slashed a tent's rope alerting the rouge hunter. The man quickly stood and turned, dropping the chicken leg he was eating. A steel sword sat at his feet but without warning, Ryo dashed forward at unreal speeds. His large blade ripped into the disgraced hunters throat. Without a second thought Ryo tore his blade free and let the man drop and bleed out. A rouge hunter deserved nothing less. Ryo scanned the area for anyone the commotion might've drawn out. Nothing.
'They're on a hunt,' Ryo realised bitterly, this camp was big enough to support almost thirty rouges. He quickly analysed the entire scene, looking for anything that could help him find them. He wasn't just going to leave here and let scum hunt the innocent while he could do something about it.
'The fire,' he quickly concluded. A group of rouge hunters this size wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal their position to their prey. That meant their prey was somewhere the treeline hid the smoke. Ryo's mind raced. 'The trail.' It wasn't far from here at all and despite passing the huge tree was still quite shaded.
As he sheathed his weapon and turned he glanced at the sword the rouge hunter had tried to grab. He scowled, the steel it was crafted from was only available to master rank hunters. Without delay he sprinted back to Cali and Nix. He practically flew onto Cali's back as they sprinted off to towards the closest route he knew.
*****
Astra fell to ground again, adding another bloody scrape and bruise to her body, as she leapt out the way of another falling tree. Never did she think a battle between humans could cause so much destruction. It looked as if part of the forest had been excavated, as destroyed trees covered the unearthed ground and the monster corpses from before were now a gruesome mess.
To her despair the fight also wasn't going well. At all. There had been casualties on both sides, but the rouge hunters still dominated them with numbers. The red and green armoured hunters had fallen. Overwhelmed by the rouge hunters dressed in black cloaks and monster armour. Amara had thankfully killed the rouge hunter that murdered Coco but due to her injury and Astra's presence she clearly couldn't do much more and it showed on her scowling face.
"Get down!" she called to Astra. Exhausted and aching Astra dived to the grass. Amara's Longsword decapitated a rouge hunter, adding the final black cloaked rouge to the death tally. Astra quickly scampered away from the rolling head and grabbed onto Amara before she keeled over. Through her helm, Astra could see she looked like death. All the fighting was only making her injury worse, and it didn't help that any healing item she used had almost no effect. Astra turned to their only ally left. The four monster clad rouge hunters were upon the blue armoured hunter. They charged. He spun swinging his Greatsword with all his might and ripped apart the slower greatsword wielding attacker. However, due to his weapon's size he couldn't pull it back to him in time as the other hunters attacked. Like the red and green armoured hunters he went down. A hammer slammed against his helm and blades tore through his body with murderous intent. As their final ally's body hit the ground all three remaining rouge hunters turned to the thirteen-year-old girl and crippled hunter, with not a single care for their own fallen ally.
They charged forward. Amara pushed Astra behind her and raised flat of her Longsword. She blocked the attacks of the three rouge hunters but, with her handicap, couldn't endure the force of their attack for long.
Amara was sent flying back straight into Astra. Together they crashed into the collapsed tree behind them completely shattering its outer bark layer.
Astra gasped from the pain. It felt as if her back had just split open. Maybe it had, she considered as she felt something warm and sticky trickle down her spine.
"Are you okay?" Amara asked desperately, somehow pushing through her own pain and stumbling up the tree to face their attackers. Astra couldn't respond, she could only breathe deeply in and out and try not to vomit from the pain.
"Final chance child!" The leading rouge called out. "Come with us and we'll leave the hunter to try and survive her injuries. Deny us again and we'll make sure she doesn't have the chance."
"Rot in hell scum!" Amara roared.
"You have no chance of coming out of this alive," the rouge hunter stated. "There are more of us hidden in the surrounding area ready to attack and we've been leading a dozen apex monsters towards you now for days. Those two you faced are only just the beginning. Give up now and we'll give you a quick death," he said, and despite his masked helmet Astra felt like he was grinning. She grimaced disgusted through her pain about their entire existence. The hunters they killed were good people who helped others, these rouge hunters are complete filth, who cowardly kill and ruin others for their own self gain.
Despite her exhaustion and wound, Amara continued to stand her ground and guard Astra. The three hunters laughed and advanced. Dread filled Astra. It was over. Everything was for nothing.
In a last desperate attempt, she dragged herself off the ground using the fallen tree. Maybe if she gave herself to the rouge hunters they'd let Amara live. It probably wouldn't work but Astra had no choice. She couldn't lose Amara, she was all she had.
She went to stumble forward when something moved in the shadows behind their attackers. An abrupt, gruesome noise emerged behind them. The battle stopped.
"Keep guarding the perimeter!" the rouge hunter growled. Just another rouge.
Astra's heart fell.
Suddenly something was thrown from out the shadows. It rolled across the ground and came to a stop between the two groups.
Astra's heart leapt and her eyes bulged.
'A head!'
A bloody decapitated Tigrex helm rested on the ground. Instantly the three rouge hunters spun, completely losing interest in Amara and Astra, their full attention on the shadows. Someone emerged, powerfully marching across the grass and muddy ground.
"Who are you!" the rouge snarled.
The newcomer didn't respond didn't even acknowledge their question. As the armoured figure approached Astra could see it was a man, a hunter. She couldn't explain it, but he was somehow majestic, dominating, powerful and terrifying all at same time. He wore a set of armour she'd never seen before. He looked like a knight from the old legends. His armour was forged from gold-white scales, plates and claws. A large, beautiful prismatic cape draped down from his shoulders, that looked to be made from wing webbing. His weapons were just as mesmerizing, a huge shield and blade forged from a gold-white material and black bone and at the centre of the shield was a red gem that almost seemed to be glaring at her.
Amara dropped her longsword and collapsed against the fallen tree with a long exhale. "Looks like luck is on our side," she stated. "We've won."
He continued forward. The rouge hunters clearly felt as scared as Astra and wanted nothing to do with the man "Reinforcements!" They screamed. Astra scanned the surrounding areas, but no one came.
"They're dead," The hunter stated coldly. "All of them."
'That voice.' Even muffled inside his helm Astra recognised it. The hunter back in Silva village, Ryo.
The three rouge hunters stood motionless, then they began to tremble.
"The heavenly hunter," she heard one of them whimper.
Ryo moved faster than Astra could register. He leapt across the battlefield and in a single moment ripped apart the three rouge hunters. Limbs and body halves flew through the air, and they all dropped dead.
Ryo looked to the sky and an exhale of air escaped his helm "Scum," he muttered.