Chapter Four: The Rage of Yian Garuga

"Oh hey, it's Hunter! Isn't that a surprise, Wingtip?"

Wingtip didn't answer Gunner. She just sighted down the length of her arrow, then loosed. It flew, and I saw that it wasn't just one arrow, but a bundle of them. They split apart, striking the yian garuga. One glanced off the beak, one skittered over its back without penetrating, but the third lodged in the hollow of its throat.

If it hurt the monster much, I couldn't tell, but it certainly made it angrier. It charged at the two newcomers, wings spread and head low, ignoring the hail of arrows and bullets sent at it. Gunner reacted at the last moment, taking one hand off her gun and raising it. There was a flash, and a grappling hook shot up. It caught on a tree branch, and at the same time Wingtip leaned in to grab her. The two of them shot upward, fast enough that anyone without a brute power would have had their arm pulled from its socket.

Of course, I knew these two. I knew they'd be fine.

The monster continued its rush, too clumsy and front-heavy to stop. It plowed into the ground where they'd been, splaying forward, its beak digging a furrow in the earth.

I should have taken the time to back off, gain some distance, especially with Rune still on my shoulder. The way she was breathing, in short gasps, she was badly off. Leaving would have been the smart thing to do.

I didn't. Instead I stood there, nearly frozen, my eyes darting over the monster, taking in all the details I could.

The position it was in, slowly climbing to its feet, I got a better look at it than I had before. It was maybe a bit shorter than I'd guessed at first, closer to eight feet at the shoulder than ten, but if anything it was even longer. Thirty feet at least, though it was all wings, legs, and neck. Thin and gangly, with a fairly small body. It had a tail, too, and for all that its beak and feet were bird-like, the tail was anything but. Long, flexible, and scaled, it flared out at the end, with a cluster of nasty spikes. Its back wasn't particularly birdlike either, covered in a segmented shell to make a lobster jealous, with more spikes protruding from it, thicker than those on the tail.

What stood out most, and what had probably skewed my initial impression – made it seem taller and more impressive – was the beak. It dominated the thing's head, and while the upper jaw was pretty standard – the sort of thing a real bird might sport – the bottom was different. Huge and jagged, it gave the monster a massive underbite. Seen small on a computer screen it would have looked silly, even a bit dumb, and the beady little eyes – eye, now, singular – didn't help. But I'd seen it up close, felt the stunning force it could deliver. To me, that beak wasn't anything other than intimidating.

It reached its feet without using its wings for assistance, and glanced up, making a sort of squawking chatter, opening its beak and clicking its tongue.

"Come on," Rifle whispered, coming up beside me. "While it's distracted."

Up in the tree, Wingtip leaned toward Gunner, whispered in her ear.

"You won't get away that easy!" Gunner shouted, pointing her free hand toward Rifle. "Not without our help, anyway!"

"She's right," I admitted. The words weren't easy to get out, but we weren't in a position where I could deny the obvious just because I didn't like it. "Look around. There's a reason they chose to jump in now."

Rifle did, taking in what I'd seen almost as soon as we'd emerged from under the tree. The forest floor around us was distressingly open. There were still plants and bushes, still tree roots to clamber over and around – or trip on – but not enough to use as cover. The reason was obvious, too. We'd reached the edge of the forest, where it joined the hills. We weren't quite out of the woods yet, in a very literal sense, but we were close. Going back wasn't an option, and going any further would just lead us up an increasingly rugged slope, with less and less cover.

Considering we were trying to escape a flying monster than could also outrun us in a footrace, it wasn't a good situation.

"Why now, then?" he asked, his eyes still fixed on the monster. "Do they think they can kill it?"

"Probably not," I said. "I'm guessing this is extortion."

"Got it in one, Hunter!" Gunner shouted down at us. "We know what you're after here, and we want it! You give it to us, and we'll get you out of this little jam! Say no, and we're off, on our own, and you can do whatever with this guy!"

She punctuated her words with more shots, firing into the yian garuga's open beak just before it could spit a ball of fire at them. The shots hissed as they descended, then lodged in its mouth like sparklers for a moment before exploding, one after another. The light and sound of the explosions wasn't much, but I could feel the concussion in the air, even more than fifty feet away.

It said something, then, that afterward the monster just hopped in anger, clawing at the ground even as smoke drifted out of its beak.

"C'mon c'mon, make a choice!" Gunner shouted, yanking back a handle on the side of her gun and slamming more cartridges in. "This thing won't be off balance for long!"

"We accept!" Rifle shouted.

"What!?" I burst out. "Fuck-"

Rifle planted his palm on my face, pushing chain mesh into my mouth. I sputtered. "No time, and Rune's hurt," he said. "When shit hits the fan, take any out you can. Any out."

"Goddammit," I growled, even as Gunner's face lit up in a grin.

"Alright!" she crowed. "Wingtip! Let's do this!"

Before, they'd clearly meant to distract the monster. They'd probably held back, doing their best to make the situation seem as dire as possible. Incentive to take their offer.

This was different. Now that Rifle had accepted their terms – vague as they were – they had no reason to do anything but go all out. Gunner braced herself, shuffling sideways until her back was against the trunk of the tree, then opened up. Dozens of shells rained down, flashing like tracers and smashing into the monster's back. Wingtip, for her part, pulled a cloth bundle out of a pouch and fastened it to the tip of an arrow before shooting it. When it hit, it exploded even harder than Gunner's sparkler shots had.

The yian garuga stumbled away under the combined barrage, then staggered, off-balance and dizzy. It broke into a run, moving to get away from the attacks, and quickly disappeared around the trunk of a huge tree.

"Easy peasy," Gunner said, hoisting her gun up and balancing it on her hip. "So, you losers ready to pay up?"

I got a sudden feeling. Not quite a premonition, but more than a guess. I opened my mouth, then snapped it closed.

"Was that it?" Rifle asked. "I was expecting some help getting away. Our teammate's hurt, and it's a long walk back to the station."

"Nah, we can get you back as quick as you want," Gunner said, waving aside his concern. "Deal's a deal, and we'll follow through. We just expect to be paid first."

"Fine," Rifle said. "Deal."

"Great!" Gunner said. "So-"

The sound of snapping branches was the only warning they got. The yian garuga came back into sight in a flurry of beating wings, crashing through the canopy to descend on Gunner and Wingtip, beak gaping, flaming spit dribbling from the corners.

Wingtip reacted first, pushing Gunner out of the way an instant before the monster hit. The force of its impact snapped the thick branch like a twig, and Wingtip went flying. They fell together, the wyvern pecking at her with its beak and clawing with its feet, but for all its speed and anger, it was still clumsy, and Wingtip was anything but. She lashed out with an arrow even as they fell, scraping it across its shell and stabbing into gaps between plates.

"Knew that would happen," I said, suppressing a grin. The way it had followed us, even going so far as to smash its way through the trees to keep the chase going... It was never going to be deterred by a simple barrage, no matter how much damage it did.

"You-" Rifle started, but he snapped his mouth shut as I lifted Rune off my shoulder, pushing her toward him. He fumbled a bit with his gun, then caught her with a grunt, his knees buckling slightly at the weight. Rune, for her part, groaned in pain, but didn't complain.

Then, before he could say anything more, I was off and running.

Wingtip and the monster landed together. The monster hit the ground hard, on its side, but it didn't seem any worse for it and sprung up quickly, spinning and flailing. Wingtip landed lightly, then rolled away, quickly vaulting over the barbed tail as it slashed down at her, gaining distance.

I came in low, sword and shield held ready, and chopped at its legs. Heavy strikes, angled downward, trying to catch on the scales, bite in. I managed, a bit. Drew some blood. It struck back, stomping down at me, head held high, aiming. I dodged one strike, whiffed the return blow, then caught another on my shield. The impact was brutal, but I held on.

Unfortunately, so did the monster. Its claw closed around my shield, digging into and then through the leather of my glove. Rings of metal screeched, but held, at least for a moment.

It was enough. With its focus on me, Wingtip was free to attack, and she did. Another one of those explosive bundles smashed into its beak, followed by two more triple-volleys, drawing out a shriek of pain.

I heaved – not up, it was too heavy – but sideways. Unsteady as it was from our attacks, and clumsy as it was by nature, it lost its balance. Not enough to send it to the ground, but enough that it let go of me, taking quick, flapping steps, trying to stay upright.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Gunner, swinging from her grappling hook. She didn't join the fight, but instead landed beside Rifle, who'd been steadily backing away. She pulled something from a pouch, her mouth moving rapidly, probably explaining, but I didn't have time to see any more. I was too busy with the fight.

Wingtip and I worked well together. I'd known that for a long time. This was the first time we'd fought a monster together, but we did it as if we'd planned it out for hours beforehand. She was fast, light on her feet, and deadly accurate with her bow. I was just as fast, tireless, strong enough to take hits on my shield, and my sword was sharp enough that I could at least do some damage. We traded off, each of us playing distraction for the other, getting our hits in, and it wasn't long before the creature was bleeding in a dozen places.

But it was still a monster. A wyvern. The injuries we inflicted didn't slow it down any more than losing an eye had. It didn't lose strength as it bled. It just got madder, tried even harder to hit us.

Eventually it did.

It swiped at me with its tail, and I blocked, but it followed up with its bursting scream. I just crouched down behind my shield and took it, even though it made it feel like I had my head in a vice, but Wingtip stumbled back, dropping her bow and clutching at her head.

She'd always had sharper senses than Gunner or I, hearing included. It was usually an advantage, but this time she paid for it.

Seeing its enemy disabled, the yian garuga's head raised slightly, then shot forward, beak opening. A fireball rushed out, propelled by its own explosive power, and hit Wingtip high on the chest. It sent her flying and doused her arm, her side, and her leg in burning chemicals. She screamed, the first sound I'd heard out of her, rolling around and beating at her armor, trying to put it out.

The monster charged at her, head low to the ground, ready to bite. I followed, raising my shield and sweeping aside an incidental swipe of its tail, then I gathered myself and jumped. Rifle had said the tail was a weak-point, like its neck, and I aimed there now. The bundle of spikes was obviously a bad target, but just ahead of them the tail was thinner, the scales smaller. I brought my sword down as hard as I could, and it bit deep, through scales and into flesh.

It wasn't enough. The yian garuga hit Wingtip while she was still sprawled on the ground, and only a quick roll prevented the beak from closing on her and crushing her. Instead she was hit by the bulky lower jaw, and it sent her tumbling like a ragdoll. She rolled across the ground even as the monster fell once again, its own clumsy momentum too much to deal with.

I slashed at the tail while it was down, aiming to increase the damage I'd done, or at least draw its attention to me, but something stung me from behind, like a hive of angry bees attacking all at once. I swore and dived to the side, doing my best to put my shield between me and the assault.

It was Gunner, of course. She stood braced about fifteen feet away, her gun spitting out a flurry of tiny darts in a wide cone. Like birdshot from a shotgun, but the pellets were sharp, and there was a hell of a lot more of them. For all of that, they'd drawn more blood from me than they did from the monster.

"The fuck was that!?" I screamed at her.

"You were in the way, douche-canoe!" she shouted back, grinning. She turned her attention to Wingtip. "Hey, sis! We're done here! Get gone!"

Wingtip paused in the middle of climbing to her feet. She took a few quick steps forward and retrieved her bow, then pulled a round object from her pouch and tossed it at her feet. I recognized it just before it hit the ground. A standard issue bomb casing, meant to crumple with impact and spray out its contents. Green smoke puffed up out of this one, and when it cleared Wingtip was gone.

"The fuck?" I muttered.

"We're fucking ninjas!" Gunner crowed, stopping her assault on the monster just long enough to reload. It tried to climb to its feet, but this time she released a burst of shots that scattered on impact, detonating in a series of smaller explosions. It squawked in outrage, spewing a fireball her way, but she braced her gun, and for the first time I saw that it had a blast-shield attached, like old-timey artillery. She took the fireball on the shield, the impact sending her sliding back several feet, then continued to return fire.

I really wished it was less impressive. Really, really wished.

"So what now?" I asked, circling around the monster, going for its flank as it rounded on her.

"Well I could leave you behind!" she shouted over the sound of gunfire. "But I'm gonna be nice and show you a trick! Here!"

She lowered her gun, reached into her pouch, and tossed a handful of stuff at me. I caught it, then flicked my eyes down to look at it without taking my attention from the monster. It wasn't paying attention to me, though. It rushed at Gunner, and she raised her gun again, crouching down behind the shield and weathering the charge before spinning around. A jet of flame came from the barrel of her gun, hissing as it rose from red, to yellow, to blue, then exploding at point-blank range, intense enough that it sent the monster head-over-heels.

God, I really wished I was less impressed.

"You've got the shit!" she said. "You should know what to do!"

Extra-annoyingly, I did. She'd tossed me a bomb casing – empty, by the weight – a little glass cylinder with some metal bits in it, a mushroom, and some vials of chemicals, one red and one clear. I'd never thought about anything like it before, but their purpose couldn't have been more obvious.

I sheathed my sword, already shaking up the red vial. I poured it into the cylinder, then crushed the mushroom in my hand and dropped it in as well. I flipped the top closed and pressed down on a metal plunger. The grating inside the lid squeezed down, almost like a french press, pushing the pulp to the bottom and leaving a bubbling red liquid inside. I quickly poured the clear vial on top of that, then shook the thing again. The liquid turned from red to green, and I opened the cylinder, used my thumb to flip open the bomb casing, and poured the liquid inside.

Then I flipped the bomb casing closed, pushed down a tab, and tossed it at my feet. It did what it was supposed to, vaporizing the liquid and sending up a burst of green vapor. It engulfed me, and I held my breath. There was a moment of disorientation, almost enough to send me stumbling, and suddenly I was somewhere else.

"Hunter!"

I turned toward the voice to see Rifle crouching over a cot. Rune was there, with her arm already bound to her chest and wrapped in bandages. What I could see of her face was pale, but she was already breathing more easily.

"The fuck?" I muttered again. It was obvious what had happened. I just couldn't figure out how some acid, a catalyst, and a fucking mushroom equaled teleportation, tinker power or not.

"It's our base."

The voice was soft, and right beside me. I did my best not to jump, then turned with all the dignity I could muster.

"Thanks, Wings," I said, almost as softly. "You alright?"

Wingtip shrugged, the motion quick and minimal, easy to miss. "I'm cool," she said.

I looked her over anyway, and she glanced away, her face turning a bit pink. She was shorter than me, but not by much, and slender. Unlike me, she didn't wear a mask. Never had. Just goggles, currently pushed up onto her forehead. The rest of her equipment was light, too, or at least lighter than mine. Leather instead of metal, dyed in greens and browns, with a blue-and-white mantle covering her neck and shoulders. Her knee pads were similar, blue and white leather that went from her thighs to midway down her shins, as well as gloves of the same material. Straps held everything in place and served as points to anchor half a dozen pouches of various sizes.

What struck me most, though, was the bow. When she'd been using it, it had been taller than her, but now it was folded in half and stowed on a hook on her back. More than that, it was made of bones. Two large ones for the arms, held together with plates of metal, and several others that would face forward when in use. Guide rails for the arrows, maybe?

A bit surprisingly, there didn't seem to be much damage from the fireball, though from the way she held an arm against her side, the same clearly wasn't true of the way the yian garuga had bulldozed her with its beak.

"You sure you're okay?" I asked her.

She shrugged again. "I heal," she said, pointedly, a bit of rebuke in her voice for all that it was still barely loud enough to hear. "Same as you."

"Yeah," I said. "Guess so."

"What about you?" she asked, reaching out to tap at my breastplate.

I winced, pain lancing through my shoulder, and glanced down. The metal plate was caved in at the corner, right where it met my shoulderpad. From when I'd taken the first hit, I had to assume. The one I hadn't been able to block.

"Shit," I said. "Didn't even notice."

"You should take better care of yourself," she said. "I can't always save you."

"I've got a team to do that now," I snapped, sharper than I'd intended.

Wingtip's face went blank. "They didn't help you this time," she said without any inflection, then turned and walked over to a tent that blended into the surroundings. She brushed aside the flap and ducked in.

I stared at the tent. It was probably for the best. The less contact, the better.

"You done?" Rifle asked, his eyes shifting between me and the tent. "From what I can tell we should be just an hour or two from the station, so we should get ready to go. Rune needs to see a medic."

"We should-" I started, then stopped as a puff of green smoke billowed up, and Gunner tumbled into sight. She rolled head over heels, then planted the butt of her gun to halt herself, slamming it down harder than she needed to.

She stayed like that for a moment, smoke – black, rather than green – rising from charred patches on both her armor and the shield of her gun, then sprung upright.

"Hell yeah!" she crowed, pumping her fist up and down. "Rescue sorted! Mission successful!" She held out her hand to me, palm up. "Payment, if you please."

I crossed my arms, then nodded toward Rifle. She blinked at him. "That dweeb?" she asked. "Really?"

"Yes, me," he said, standing up and walking over to her. He shouldered his gun as he came, and Gunner did the same, pursing her lips and squinting at him.

"Mine's bigger," she declared once he reached her.

He ignored her and reached into a pouch, coming out with the mushroom we'd found earlier. She stared down at it, her features slowly morphing through confusion and into anger.

"I didn't ask for part of your haul," she said. "I know the mission called for ten samples. I want all of them. Now, if you please."

I chuckled, and she rounded on me. "That is all," I told her before she could say anything. "We didn't have time to find more before getting attacked. You really should be more careful when making a deal, you know?"

She glared at me for a moment, then deliberately smoothed her face. "Whatever," she said, then turned, swiped the mushroom out of Rifle's hand, and jammed it into a belt pouch. "It's still a net profit, and even if I can't make serious bank, at least I get to know you fags are going home empty-handed. That's gotta sting, huh? One teammate injured, and nothing to show for it?"

"So, tell me, who was it that thought up this idea?" I asked. "You or W-"

She turned and slapped me, hard. My head snapped to the side.

I raised a hand to rub at my face, giving her a grin. Even with my mask in the way, her scowl deepened. "Thought so," I said with as much smugness as I could manage.

"Are we done?" Rifle asked, and I blinked. I'd almost forgotten about him.

"Yeah, we're done," I said. "Let's go."

He stepped back to Rune's cot, and I hurried to join him, patting Gunner's shoulder on the way. She slapped at my hand, and I chuckled. We reached down and hoisted the cot, and Gunner didn't object. We left without another word.

From outside, the camp was nearly invisible, built into a little hollow of ground between two hills, with thick grass and some especially nasty thorned plants hiding it at ground-level, and some overhanging trees making it difficult to see from above.

We moved in silence for a while, both of us staying alert for signs of the yian garuga or other monsters, but nothing appeared. After we were well away from the camp, Rifle spoke.

"You know those two?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"They part of your cluster?"

"Yeah."

He grunted. "Any more that I should know about?"

"Nah, just us three."

"Lucky they were there."

"Wasn't it just?"

He turned to look at me over his shoulder. "That all you have to say about it?"

"Yup," I told him.

He grunted again. "This is going to cause problems, you know."

"Chances are," I agreed.

"First thing you learn in the heist business is never to bring anything from your outside life to the job. You do and you're asking for a hell of a lot of trouble."

"Good advice," I said. "I'd follow it if I could."

He fell silent after that, and we kept moving. As he'd predicted, we were close to the station, and it wasn't long before we spotted its squat gray form from the top of a rise. We hurried down the hill, making our way toward the cart bay.

There, waiting for us, was Shadow Stalker. She perked up as we came into sight, then perked up even further when she saw Rune on the stretcher.

"Figured she'd be here," Rifle said, his voice low, as if he was talking to himself.

"Hey losers, check it out!" she called as we approached, holding up a lumpy, bulging bag. "I got fourteen 'shooms. What about you guys?"

"Hah!" I burst out, causing her to tilt her head for a moment.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh man," I said, setting Rune's cot down carefully and shaking my head. "Have I got a story for you."

She strode toward us and hooked the bag to her belt, then brushed her cloak over it, hiding it from sight.

"Well don't just stand there, asshole," she said. "Dish."