Chapter 5


"Rise! Mai! We got contact!"

The Barioth lets out another growl; a split second later its tail smashes through the roof, narrowly missing Kammy. She reacts in time to unsheathe her swords and slashes at the tail; the blades make contact, but only leave shallow cuts in the outer scales; not being enough to even draw blood.

"Bad news, that tail's seriously tough; it felt like trying to chop through a tree trunk."

"Looks like we're just going to have to find some softer areas to go for then."

The tail smashes through the roof again, leaving another hole.

"Staying here isn't going to help us; we aren't going to get good shot at any of its vulnerable areas with the roof in the way."

The Barioth lets out an annoyed sounding roar, and the structure groans as it leaps away. Kammy and Lena rush out of the building to see what's going on. They're greeted with the sight of a now paint splattered Barioth skidding to a halt in the yard, its claws digging into the ground. A moment later Rise pops out of a patch of snow just off to the side of where it first made contact with the ground; she hits it in the face with another paintball. The Barioth starts rubbing its face in the snow; trying to get the paint off.

"Mai! I'll keep it distracted; you try to strike at its back when you see an opening!"

Rise charges head on towards the Barioth as it raises its head out of snow. Her lance connects perfectly between its eyes, but for all the force of the strike it's not very effective; only causing a shallow wound before sliding across the top of its head. The beast makes a counter attack; Rise managed to block the attempted bite with her shield, but she's tossed backwards from the power of the attack. As she steadies herself the Barioth lets out a roar, blasting her with chilled air and coating her with snow.

"Oh great, it can turn us into instant snowmen. Just marvellous."

Rise quickly breaks out of the snow in a small show of brute strength.

"Sorry to bust your bubble kitty; but it'll take more than that to put us on ice!"

The Barioth tries to pounce on her; she responds by quickly dashing under it, followed by trying to stab it in its hindquarters. Once again the wound is extremely shallow, leaving only a small red patch on its fur. This does seem to hurt the creature though, as it flinches before quickly shuffling forward.

"Heh, seems a sharp object up the jacksie's universally nasty. Looks like we might've found a weak point; aim for the arse!"

The Barioth spins around to confront Rise, now clearly considerably angrier than before. Kammy and Lena attempt to flank it, but it knocks them back with its tail. It then lets out a deafening roar and its eyes turn red. Such a loud noise at close range is enough to cause Rise to have to clutch her ears; and the Barioth takes full advantage, slamming a paw down on top of her and pinning her to the ground. She jabs at its face with her lance to keep if from biting her.

"Let; her; go!"

All the other warriors feel a strong pulse as Mai releases a considerable surge of yoki before charging the Barioth from the side. She hacks down on the foreleg pinning Rise; her axe tears through the chitin layer of the limb, shattering some of the thorny protrusions and leaving a deep wound. The Barioth rears up in pain and attempts to bring its other foreleg down on her, but she manages to dodge; Rise takes the opportunity to get back to her feet.

"Good work Mai!"

"Not all good. That sort of a blow would've normally shattered a stone block, but I didn't manage to cause a break. That thing has flesh and bones much stronger than a regular yoma."

The Barioth leaps to the side to avoid being surrounded; it glares at the four warriors, fury in its eyes.

"So; how do we win?"

"I've faced a couple of super tough yoma in the past Kammy; and I'm pretty sure between us we've got the means. As for exactly what it'll take; if we get the chance we hit it in its vitals."

"And if we don't Lena?"

"Then it's going to be slow and nasty; we'll have to bleed the fucker out before we run out of steam."

"That suits me just fine; I might not have some of the killer moves of my peers, but when it comes to the long haul I'm hard to beat."

"Don't forget that you and Mai can't regenerate the way I and Rise can; so make damn sure you back off if you start flagging."

Kammy releases a substantial surge of yoki, lighting up the surroundings and turning her eyes golden. She then tenses her limbs; the muscle definition on all of them noticeably increasing. She then starts to run at a considerable pace, circling the Barioth; the creature tries to keep up with her, but can't quite turn fast enough, and the motion seems to be agitating its wounded foreleg.

"Now!"

As the Barioth turns to face away from the rest of the warriors; Kammy makes a charge directly at its head, getting its full attention. She slashes at its face, narrowly missing its eyes; before vaulting over its head and landing on its back. At the same Lena rushes it from the side, bringing her greatsword down on the already damaged foreleg; shattering the remains of the chitin layer and knocking the Barioth to the ground.

"Mai! The tail! Give it everything you've got!"

"If I go all out Rise, you know the axe isn't going to survive the impact unless I cut right through."

"You've got your claymore as backup; and Mickel did say he wanted a thorough test."

"Okay then; here goes nothing!"

Mai drops down into a crouch; her eyes turn golden and here teeth elongate into fangs as she releases her yoki. A moment later she seems to develop a glowing aura, casting bright light on the surroundings. The aura then intensifies to a dazzling brightness and a shockwave blasts away the snow around her. She then stamps on the ground, breaking the stone beneath her feet and giving her leverage. Kammy and Lena can't help but be shocked at the sheer magnitude of her Yoki.

"Kammy! Get clear! I'm not going to have much control!"

"You don't have to tell me twice Mai!"

Kammy leaps off the back of the Barioth and presses herself flat on the snow. Lena does the same; while Rise braces herself with her shield up.

"Eat this!"

The first thing all the rest of the warriors are aware of it their ears popping due to a sudden change in air pressure. The next thing they see is the Barioth being hurled a clear twenty feet into the air by some kind of enormous impact. The creature smashes into the side of the already unstable tower, causing it to collapse. A moment later the severed tail of the beast crashes through the damaged roof of the holding facility.

"Yes! Result! Nice work Mai!...Mai?"

The three remaining warriors glace at the now ruined tower and can't see any movement from it; they then turn their eyes to other effects of Mai's attack. There's a long trench in the snow running in a straight line, ending at the perimeter wall. There's now a new breach in the wall, and the trench in the snow changes to a series of small craters.

"Oh shit…please tell me you're okay Mai…"

Rise hurries over to the break in the wall and inspects the site beyond.

"Mai! Where are you? Mai!"

A moment later a hand pops out of the most distant crater; although on closer inspection some of the fingers on said hand seem to be pointing in the wrong direction, indicating they're badly dislocated. Rise hurries over.

"Mai; are you okay?"

"Sorry; I overcooked it. My body couldn't quite handle the strain."

Rise glances down at Mai's legs; her uniform seems to have burst apart under the strain; both are now heavily discoloured with extensive bruising, and one of her knees is dislocated.

"Rise, I'm not going to be able to heal from this until the joints have been put right."

"In that case you'd best chug this."

Rise hands Mai a bottle; she quickly gulps down the contents. A moment later her body starts to feel numb. Rise then twists her leg back into position, and does the same for her fingers. Mai tries to get back up, but quickly falls flat on her backside.

"Easy; your muscles and tendons are still a mess. Just concentrate your yoki into healing the affected areas."

"Oh, did that attack do the trick?"

"It took the tail off, and smashed the thing through the tower. With any luck that might've been enough to finish the job."

"I hope so; I don't think I'll be able to pull that looney stunt again for at least a few days; my whole body's tingling all over."

Kammy and Lena join them.

"Well Mai, even amongst the single digit warriors; I've never seen an attack quite like that before."

"It still needs a hell of a lot of work though. The raw power might be there, but everything else about it is sorely lacking."

"Particularly in the self-preservation department; that looked…painful."

"Rise's potion took the edge off it; but I'm still going to be out of the fight for the next few minutes, so you'd better make sure that Barioth's staying down."

"You got it Mai."

Kammy, Lena and Rise make their way towards the now ruined tower.

"Huh? Where'd it go?"

"It hit the tower about halfway up Kammy. It's probably buried under the rubble."

"Figures; but why'd you tell Mai to go for the tail? If she'd landed a hit with that attack on the head or body it'd be dead for sure."

"Mai would've have survived the impact; hitting that thing in its centre of mass would've meant she'd take the recoil in full, and it would've pulped her internal organs."

Lena suddenly stops.

"Wait; do you feel that?"

"Feel what Lena? Oh…what the hell is that?"

"Yoki…but it doesn't feel like a yoma or another warrior Kammy…where's it coming from?"

"…Under the rubble Lena."

"That's not good."

"It had been eating yoma flesh; it might just be a passive reaction."

"Even so Rise; we're in unknown territory here. I want the two of you to spread out; form a triangle formation with me around the tower."

The three of them spread out their positions and surround the wreckage of the tower. As they do some of the rubble starts to shift.

"So it's not finished after all. Get ready."

More of the rubble tumbles away as the Barioth rises back to its feet. It's clearly suffered a number of further injuries from having the tower collapse on it; one of its tusks has broken away, and one of its wing membranes has been torn to shreds. Its formerly white fur is now covered with patches of red, and a small trickle of blood seems to leaving its mouth.

"It's not gonna be flying out of here; so I think we're gonna have to be prepared for a fight to the death."

"Aren't we always Kammy?"

"Fair point Lena; fair point. Still, how're we gonna handle this? Do we go in for the kill; or do we hang back and wait for it to bleed out?"

The Barioth collapses and its eyes close. A moment later they snap open again, but they're now golden. The creature rises back to its feet, now apparently unfazed by its injuries, although the bleeding from its wounds becomes noticeable more profuse."

"Oh fuck; it's about to go into a death frenzy. It'll bleed out soon, but it'll fight like a demon until its heart stops; so get ready for one hell of a ride."

"You've seen this before Rise?"

"Yeah, it happened with some of the early experimental warriors."

The Barioth lets out roar, accompanied by small shockwave as it releases a surge of yoki.

"If past experience is anything to go by its unlikely it'll be able to feel pain now; so unless you can open up a major artery, sever a major nerve, take out its eyes, or inflict some serious head trauma; our attacks are going to be pretty ineffective."

"So, basically we just concentrate on staying alive."

"That's about the size of it. We need to keep it away from Mai though."

"No sweat; if it wants to make its last dance a furious one, then I'll be happy to indulge it."

Kammy charges the Barioth and brings both of her swords down on its good foreleg; they cause a shallow wound, but the Barioth just glares at her before slamming said foreleg into her, knocking her into the air. She manages to right herself in flight and lands on her feet.

"Urgh, it still packs a punch-"

The Barioth lunges towards her before she can react; aiming to bite her head off. Rise intercepts it, slamming her shield into its face; she's pushed backward by the force of the charge though, her feet leaving furrows in the snow and earth. A moment later Lena lands on it and tries to drive her greatsword through its back with the intent of severing its spinal cord; unfortunately the sheer toughness of its bones proves sufficient to stop the blade from piercing deep enough to do the job.

"I've got an idea; try and hack at the wound where its tail was; I reckon it should increase the rate of blood loss."

"Got you Rise."

Kammy quickly dashes around behind the Barioth while it's distracted trying to get Lena off its back. It successfully bucks her off; but it can't capitalise as Rise smashes it in the face with her shield, breaking its remaining tusk and momentarily stunning it. Kammy rapidly hacks at the stump of its tail, tearing it open and leaving a severely bleeding wound.

"Yes! I think we're gonna make it."

"Don't celebrate too early Kammy; one good chomp from those jaws could still be enough to take your head off."

The Barioth sways for a moment, feeling the effects of its blood loss. It then rights itself and glares in the direction of Mai."

"No! We can't let it get to her!"

Rise tries to block its path; her lance connects between its shoulder and neck, and thanks to force behind its own charge it pierces the flesh, sinking in about half a meter. Unfortunately the Barioth doesn't even seem to notice, and Rise has the lance torn from her grasp before being unceremoniously trampled by the creature. Despite this she still manages strike the knee of one of its hind legs with her shield, forcing it to stumble and momentarily stopping its progress.

Kammy exploits this window of opportunity to quickly jump onto its back and stab at it repeatedly. Unfortunately it doesn't even seem to notice her attacks, and keeps accelerating towards Mai. Lena attempts to outrun the creature to give Mai some defence.

"Shit! I'm not going to make it! Mai! You need to get away!"

At that moment a loud crack cuts through the air; the Barioth's head jerks backwards and it stops its charge. The creature lets out a gurgling noise, and staggers slightly to the side; a moment later something inside its head explodes, blowing out the back of its skull and sending a burst of flame out of its mouth. The beast then crashes to the ground, stone dead.

"Kammy…how'd you make its head explode? I though you said you didn't have any killer moves?"

"That wasn't me Lena."

They notice something sticking out of a nearby snowdrift; it appears to be some kind of long metal tube, with smoke curling out of it. A moment later the snowdrift shifts, revealing it to in fact be someone dressed in white camouflage.

"Bloody hell; you ladies picked one hell of a nasty piece of work to go after. I know it's rude to interfere with someone else's hunt, but personally I reckon making sure everyone gets home alive takes precedence over etiquette."

"…Is that you Saul?"

"It is indeed Lena. Nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you as well."

Lena glances at Saul's weapon.

"So; just what exactly is that?"

"This? A heavy bowgun; luckily I'm still a crack shot, and I managed to send a round of crag shot straight into its mouth."

"I take it crag shot has some kind of explosive effect."

"Yep; it's loaded with gunpowder, and set to go off a second or two after it impacts."

Kammy joins the conversation.

"Well it certainly worked; that thing's now missing the back of its head."

"If in doubt; take out the head. I've yet to find anything that tactic doesn't work on."

"So, what brought you out to these parts Saul?"

"Probably something similar to you. I don't doubt you picked up that something strange is afoot, and since it doesn't sound like it's the yoma this time around I figured it'd be prudent to investigate."

"Well so far our investigation's turned up this monstrous kitty; and to complicate matters further this particular one seemed to have developed a taste for yoma flesh."

"Yeah, I noticed something was up; Barioth normally have blues eyes, and they turn red when you piss 'em off; but that's the first time I seen one with golden eyes."

"Hang on a second; you've seen one of these things before?"

"I ain't originally from this land; where I come from the snowy wilds are pretty much an established Barioth habitat."

"…Okay…that's…a bit of bombshell you just dropped Saul; I've spent pretty much my whole life believing there weren't any major land masses beyond this continent."

"Ah, that's a load of bollocks cooked up by the church; and as far as I can gather the organisation pretty much runs with it for the sake of convenience."

"Makes sense Lena; you know as well as I do they never tell us more than they think we need to know."

"I think we need to keep quiet about this all the same though Kammy; and likewise Saul; be careful who you say that to; there's more than few people about who won't take kindly to someone messing with the established order of things."

"If the information we've gathered so far is anything to go by the established order's days are numbered. Barioth aren't the only non-native species that's shown up in this land recently; me and the lads were out on a hunt of our own, and we bagged ourselves a bulldrome."

"What's a bulldrome?"

"Looks a bit like a wild boar with oversized tusks; but it probably weighs in at about half the weight of a Barioth."

"Well that's certainly no little piggy."

"Damn good eating though if you know how to cook them."

Rise and Mai join the conversation; Rise appears to be pretty much unharmed despite having been run over by the Barioth, with some blemishes to her outfit being the only obvious signs. Mai on the other hand is being carried on Rise's back, and it's pretty clear her legs are some way from recovering, being covered in extensive bruising.

"Heya Saul; nice to see you again, and thanks for the save."

"No sweat, you ladies already did the hard work; it would've probably bled out in another minute."

"That would've been more than enough time for it turn me into a chew toy."

"Uh, are you okay? Your legs look a bit…"

"I overdid a bit earlier and put my knee out; Rise's already put it right though, so now it's a case of letting it heal."

"So then, I take it you two know each other?"

"Yeah Lena, I first met Saul a few years back."

"Perhaps we'd best save that particular tale for later; we've got a mess to clear up here, and doubtless our handlers are gonna give us the third degree."

"Ah, of course; and Dea'll be wanting to get his hands on the remains."

"Aw bugger; we could've repurposed that Barioth's body parts into some pretty nifty gear, but since it was your hunt you get dibs on what you do with it."

"Maybe next time Saul."

"No worries; the bulldrome'll do for our purposes, and we had another stroke of luck while we were out. We found the Barioth nesting grounds, and they're well away from any settlements, so it looks like we won't need to take any further action; well, aside from putting down the odd rogue beast like the one you girls just dealt with."

"I suspect that one was probably driven away from the main habitat by the others anyway; feeding on yoma flesh would doubtless give rise to some abnormal behaviour that its fellow creatures would find troublesome."

"Are there any accounts of anything like this happening in the past Rise?"

"Yeah Lena, but it's pretty rare. Sometimes scavengers will feed on yoma remains; but small quantities won't have any discernible effect. If something manages to consume enough over a short enough space of time though, then it will undergo certain changes; namely increased aggression, slightly enhanced physical capabilities and cannibalistic tendencies. Thankfully such creatures also tend to have a greatly reduced lifespan though, as the uncoordinated fusing of yoma tissues with their bodies generally has significant complications; which eventually prove fatal."

"Uh, I think we might have a rather large problem coming our way then; and one that's unfortunately gonna require a coordinated effort."

"What are you getting at Saul?"

"Think about it Rise; scavengers occasionally get to feed on the leftovers of your yoma exterminations, and that still provides enough yoma meat for them turn nasty occasionally. Now consider something like a Barioth; a creature capable of actively preying on yoma. They don't need you to provide the opportunity; they can make their own kills, so what do you reckon the chances are of them being able to wolf down enough yoma meat to turn into a golden eyed horror show?"

"…I'd have to say high enough to demand some kind of intervention to prevent it from happening."

"Then we've got another problem Lena; the organisation isn't exactly in the habit of cooperating with external agencies; and has always insisted on a policy of absolute secrecy when it comes to information."

"Not gonna be a problem; it'll be far from the first time The Flag's had to work with an uncooperative party. At the end of day it'd not like they can stop us from gathering info on the ground either."

"I think I see what you're getting at Saul; you cover your side of problem, and we'll cover ours. I might as well act as kind of go between if that ends up being the case."

"Do you think the management will be okay with that Rise?"

"As far as I'm concerned Lena, if the management have a problem they can kiss my arse. They made me a warrior to protect the people of this land from yoma predation, and that's what I'm going to do; and if something out there ends up taking on yoma characteristics by feeding on them, then I've got a duty to deal with that as well."

"Well, I guess as long as they don't know you aren't gonna have a problem."

"Even then, if you're providing them with good enough information I'd wager they'd view you as too valuable to take punitive action against."

"It'll still be worth having an escape plan of some kind though, and the same goes for the rest of us; the situation we're facing now is unprecedented in the history of the organisation, so I can't really predict how they'll handle it."

"Figuring those details out will have to wait though; we're gonna have to get ourselves back home, and drag as much of that Barioth as we can with us."

At that point a light snoring noise starts to emanate from Mai.

"Aw crap, she's gone and passed out on us."

"Hey Saul, could we ask a favour?"

"Sure, I still owe you a few Rise."

"Great; could you take Mai back to The Flag for us? We're going to have to haul that carcass back to town; and to be blunt Mai's currently in no fit state to exert herself at the moment. I think the rest of us should be able to manage, but we won't be able to carry Mai as well."

"No problems; Mickle was looking forward to showing her around the forge properly anyway."

"Cheers."

Rise gives Mai a brief jostle to wake her up.

"…huh…oh, sorry; I didn't mean to fall asleep…"

"Don't worry about it Mai; listen, we're going to have to get the remains of that Barioth back to town, but since you've already pushed yourself too far you're going to go back to The Flag with Saul and rest up."

"…Um…is that okay with everyone?"

"Yeah, it's fine; you just concentrate on getting your strength back."

Rise passes Mai over to Saul.

"Right, the rest of the lads aren't far from here; we've got a proper sled set up so it won't be problem to just pop you on it and give you ride back to town."

"Thanks; catch you all later!"

Saul heads away from the rest of the group with Mai on his back.

"A proper sled he says? Maybe we should bring something like that with us if we find ourselves having to do something like this again."

"I'm with you there Kammy; it's not that far to town, but that Barioth still looks pretty heavy."

"It's probably not quite as bad as it looks; don't forget that it was able to fly."

"Fair point Rise; now, how're we going to do this?"

"I'll disarm those net traps I set up and we can repurpose them in order to tow it. If we use some of the wood from the smashed roof we can probably make some kind of sled with it as well."

The girls get to work; it doesn't take them long to cobble together a makeshift sled and harness around the Barioth.

"Right, looks like we're sorted then…and…heave!"

"We have movement Lena!"

"Good, looks like it works; and it's pretty much downhill all the way back to town as well."

"…We; might have another problem. Half the town's gonna get a good look at this thing when we get back."

"I wouldn't worry about that Kammy; most people are too afraid of us to ask questions. They'll probably just assume it's some kind of large yoma corpse."

"Speaking of which; are we gonna have room at the lodgings to stash this guy?"

"There's a part that was originally used to store carts; I reckon it should fit in there."

"…."

"You okay Rise?"

"Yeah, just thinking about what to do next. How much info do you have regarding recent yoma activity in the area Lena?"

"The bare bones Rise; even as a single digit they still don't tell me much beyond my own personal remit."

"My last few jobs have been around these parts, so I can tell you roughly where to expect trouble if that's what you want to know."

"Thanks Kammy; with any luck I won't need anything specific for the time being. If I can put together a rough picture of the general areas of yoma activity; I should be able to compare those with the areas of odd occurrences that The Flag have been studying."

"I take it you're gonna use that info to make sure The Flag's research parties don't blunder into any areas of yoma territory then?"

"Not just that Kammy; the overlapping areas will indicate places where there's the possibility that an extremely powerful creature akin to a barioth could have the opportunity to prey on yoma."

"I see, those would be the places where we'd need to provide some kind of intervention to prevent altered creatures from arising."

"Then I guess we should figure out a way of convincing the management those particular locations are hotspots for yoma trouble. That way they should make exterminations in those areas a priority."

"Easier said than done mind; although I reckon Dea'll be wanting more samples after he gets his hands on this one, so with any luck he'll push for assignments in the right places."

"I guess we'll just have to wait for their initial reaction before we can lay down any firm plans."

"Um, is Mai gonna be okay? The amount of yoki she used during that attack of hers; that'd have been more than enough to take most warriors far past the point of no return."

"As long as she rests up for next few days she'll be fine Kammy."

"…You know, I can't help but wonder why she's been placed on active service Rise. Realistically speaking she's too young to have completed her basic training. Given her potential it simply doesn't make sense to send her into action."

"I'm not completely sure Lena, but I think it's down to Alicia and Beth."

"Huh? Why would those two have anything to with her?"

"You know what I said about experimental warriors? Alicia and Beth also fall into that category; but while Mai's still largely unknown potential, those two have already proven to be a clear success; so I suspect that the resources that would originally have been committed to Mai have been transferred to improving them as much as possible."

"The number one and two of this generation; they're almost total enigmas as well. The management seem to keep them isolated from the rest of us."

"I've managed to find out a couple of things about them though; they're identical twins to start with."

"…Hang on. I remember hearing something about some kind of experiment involving warriors that were sisters in the past; and didn't it go horribly wrong or something?"

"That it did Kammy. I had the misfortune of being there when it happened as well. I suspect that experiment has been repeated with Alicia and Beth, but was successful in their case."

"Just what exactly was this experiment Rise?"

"I've never been able to find out the exact details, but it seemed to be some kind of yoki synchronisation procedure. I think the idea was to allow a warrior to go past their normal limits, but either not awaken, or return from an awakened state by being pulled back by their partner."

"So what happened?"

"It failed. Catastrophically. The end result was the death of about half of that entire generation of warriors, and the birth of the third abyssal one. I only survived because I realised everything was about to go pear shaped a few seconds before it did; and I had the great idea of hiding in a nearby hole, followed by head butting the rocky ground and playing dead."

"So you did nothing to help then?"

"There was nothing I could have done. The Yoki spike when she awakened exceeded that of every warrior we had present put together. Those that tried to intervene died; those that ran were branded as deserters by the organisation and hunted down. The few of us fortunate enough to either be merely incapacitated by the initial shockwave, or smart enough to pretend to be out of action were the only survivors."

"Now I think I understand how you've managed to survive so long Rise."

"Yeah; it's nothing to be proud of, but it works. I wouldn't call cowardice a virtue, but you if you keep survival a higher priority than success, you'll live longer; and achieve a good deal more in the long run. Don't think I haven't got your backs though; when I say survival, I don't just mean my own; and I certainly won't sacrifice a team mate for the sake of the mission."


Meanwhile back with Saul…

"Hey boss; where did you run off to?"

"Had a bit of a situation to deal with; it was mostly in hand mind you, but I figured it was better safe than sorry."

"Well give us a little warning next time ya pillock!"

"Come on, it's not like he was gone for long…huh? What's that you've got on your back?"

"Looks like a snow pixie."

"Oi; show some bloody respect! This here lassie's a Claymore."

"Then why're you giving her a piggy back?"

"Cos' the poor girl just went all out on a beastie way stronger than we just had to deal with; and she's all tuckered out."

"Then why-"

"Save the rest of your questions for later. We still need to get back to The Flag; and the sled isn't gonna pull itself."

"Fair enough; you're the boss."

Saul makes his way over to the sled. It's currently occupied by the body of a bulldrome, but the sled appears to have been designed with larger things in mind, so it still has plenty of room on it. Saul gently places a sleeping Mai on the sled."

"Heh, she didn't even stir. She must've really gone for it."

"Hey, wait a second; wasn't she about last night?"

"Yeah, she ended up giving Mickel a hand at the forge. Caused quite a stir as well; nobody was expecting someone as small as her to haul around a piece of machinery that by all rights should've taken several grown men to handle."

"I guess it's true what they say about them then."

"Not much of it I'll have you know. There's an awful lot of bullshit rumours that go around regarding the Claymores, so if I were you I wouldn't believe anything you hear unless it comes from one of them. That's especially true if it comes from one of those ecclesiastical bastards."

"Oh aye, I get you; I've had a run in with them already. They're running the show down in Rabona; and don't like even the slightest suggestion of anyone other than them having a say in anything. I don't envy Hodges' position right now, cos' I'd be willing to bet they're gonna stick their oar in at the first chance they get."

"Hodges'll manage; he's always had a talent for negotiations. Besides which, knowing how much the priesthood like their tipple, the prospect of a new drinking den might go down rather well with them."

The group get the sled moving.

"Nice to find she hasn't made the thing noticeably heavier."

"Have you taken a proper look at her? She certainly looks like a snow pixie; and an underfed one at that. We should get Gaston to rustle her up something hearty as soon as we get back."

"Well we've certainly been on the right hunt for that; you can't get much heartier than bully bacon."

"Huff…this thing's still pretty heavy mind; and why didn't we bring some sled dogs with us?"

"The same reason we didn't bring a dog to help with the tracking; dogs ain't that stupid. They'd realise pretty soon something a heck of a lot bigger and fiercer than them was about, and wouldn't be keen on sticking around to find out the finer details."

"This isn't how it works back on the mainland."

"That's because the guild's fully established there. They basically manage most of the hunting that goes on; they do the recon and provide us with some basic supplies; we handle the actual hunt itself; and then they send out a retrieval team to collect the beast. After all that we get a handful of choice carves and some hard cash for our work."

"Whilst over here the guild hasn't been established; so The Flag has to handle everything, and it's not like we've got the resources for a dedicated retrieval team yet. Besides, for the last few years The Flag's main operation has been fact finding and research; this is probably one of the first real hunts we've had to handle."

"So what do we get for our hard work then?"

"Better pay; and while we'll be having to put most of the best material cuts off this fellah on the next ship back to the guild, once they've had a good look at them they'll doubtless be able to send us a grant, some of which ought to find its way into your pockets."

"We'd better get a move on; the cold's gonna help preserve that bulldrome, but once the scent of a fresh kill carries on the wind it'll attract unwelcome company."

"At least there aren't any Melynxs about; I've lost count of the number of times I've had to plant my boot up their furry arses for trying to nick my stuff."

"Speaking of which, how'd you reckon the locals are gonna react to seeing a Feylne for the first time?"

"We'll have to handle that carefully when it comes down to it. Years of troubles with yoma have made the people round these parts pretty wary of anything unusual; although given that feylnes are generally quite a bit smaller than humans, and don't exactly look all that threatening, I doubt they'd mistake them for yoma."