Path of the Unmentioned: The Missing Piece-Chapter 82: Feathers and Fury [1]

The moment the Vorthal’s clawed foot crunched down on a brittle branch.

The forest seemed to hold its breath.

The sound echoed like a gunshot in the unnatural silence.

Kyle’s fingers twitched against the leather-wrapped hilt of his tachi.

The rough texture digging into his palm.

His mouth had gone dry.

Tongue sticking to the roof as he watched the monster’s grotesque head swivel toward them.

Each feather on its crow-like skull stood slightly raised. Quivering with tension.

The beak...

Longer than a hunting knife and twice as sharp.

It parted with an audible click.

A string of thick.

Yellowish drool stretched between its jaws before snapping and splattering on the leaf litter below.

The stench hit Kyle like a physical blow.

Rotting meat and something metallic. Like old blood left to bake in the sun.

Then it moved.

One second it stood twenty paces away.

The next—

WHOOSH.

Air screamed as the Vorthal crossed the distance in three bounding steps.

Its digitigrade legs propelling it forward with terrifying speed.

The ice mage from Kaelith’s team barely had time to blink before those hooked talons punched through her stomach with a sickening...

Schlick.

Blood sprayed in an arc. Droplets hanging in the air like rubies catching light.

The girl’s mouth fell open in a silent "O" her fingers spasming around her unused wand.

The Vorthal lifted her effortlessly. Its muscles rippling beneath its stretched skin.

Her dangling feet kicked weakly. Boots scraping against its bony knees.

Then—

Poof.

Her body dissolved into motes of white light just as the creature’s beak snapped shut where her head had been.

The Vorthal’s jaws clacked together with enough force to shatter bone.

Its black eyes narrowing in frustration.

"FALL BACK!" Samuel’s voice cracked like a whip.

The broad-shouldered swordsman already had Kaelith by the collar.

Dragging him toward the tree line.

Their remaining teammate. A lanky boy with darkness magic didn’t need telling twice.

He melted into the darkness between two oaks. Vanishing without a sound.

Kaelith’s face twisted.

Spittle flew from his lips as he screamed at Kyle, "This isn’t over. You commoner shi—"

The Vorthal’s head snapped toward the sound.

Samuel reacted instantly.

He clamped a hand over Kaelith’s mouth and bodily hurled them both into the undergrowth.

Branches cracked as they disappeared.

Leaving Team 7 alone with the creature.

The creature’s chest rose and fell in quick. Rasping breaths.

Its talons flexed, shredding damp leaves beneath them.

When it turned its gaze on Isolde. The red-haired swordswoman went stiff as a statue.

Kyle saw it happen in horrifying slow motion.

The Vorthal’s thigh muscles bunching like coiled springs.

Isolde’s golden eyes dilating. Her knuckles whitening around her montante.

A single bead of sweat tracing down her temple.

"MOVE!" Kyle’s shout tore from his throat raw and desperate.

His left hand shot forward even as his right yanked Zalrielle from its sheath.

Frost erupted from his fingertips in a jagged wall.

The air temperature plummeting so fast his breath fogged.

At the same instant. Orion’s warhammer struck the earth with a thunderous BOOM.

The ground heaved.

Dirt and roots exploded upward. Forming a barrier of stone spikes just as the Vorthal’s talons lashed out.

The creature’s claws met Kyle’s ice first. Sending crystalline shards flying.

Then Orion’s earthen spikes impaled its forearm with a wet...

Thunk.

Black blood oozed from the wounds. Dripping onto the disturbed soil.

Kyle didn’t wait to see if it was enough.

[Lightning Steps]

Blue-white electricity spiderwebbed across his skin as he blurred forward.

The world narrowed to streaks of color.

Green foliage.

Brown earth.

The crimson flash of Isolde’s hair.

He grabbed her wrist just as the Vorthal tore through the last of the ice barrier.

The moment his fingers closed around her arm.

He pulled.

Lightning crackled.

The world lurched sideways.

They reappeared ten paces back.

Kyle’s boots skidding through loose soil.

Isolde stumbled. Her montante nearly slipping from her grip.

A line of shallow cuts marred her forearm where the Vorthal’s claws had grazed her.

Just half a second slower and she’d have been gutted like the ice mage.

"Don’t freeze up, idiot," Kyle snapped, releasing her.

His own hands trembled slightly. Adrenaline making his pulse roar in his ears.

Isolde’s chest heaved.

She swiped the back of her hand across her mouth smearing dirt and sweat.

"S-Sorry," she panted.

The apology came out ragged. But her grip on the montante steadied.

Fire rippled along the blade’s edge.

The heat distorting the air. "Won’t happen again."

Across the clearing.

The Vorthal wrenched its arm free from Orion’s earth spikes with a sickening tear.

Black ichor splattered the grass as it shook its injured limb.

Feathers ruffling in agitation.

Its beady eyes locked onto Kyle and something in that gaze made his stomach clench.

’It’s studying us.’

The realization hit like a bucket of ice water.

This wasn’t some mindless beast—it was learning.

Sylvie broke the stalemate.

[Aqua Bindings]

Her wand traced a complex pattern through the air.

Droplets coalescing into shimmering ropes of pressurized water.

They lashed around the Vorthal’s legs with a sound like whips cracking.

For a heartbeat.

The creature staggered. Its talons digging furrows in the dirt as it fought for balance. frёewebnoѵēl.com

Then—

SNAP.

The water bonds shattered like glass.

The backlash sent Sylvie stumbling back. Her boots slipping on damp leaves.

Her usually pristine uniform was smudged with dirt.

Her blue hair coming loose from its ponytail.

"Shit" she breathed.

The Vorthal lunged.

Roland’s light arrow was already nocked.

TWANG.

The projectile streaked through the clearing.

Fletching humming.

It flew true—aimed straight for the creature’s left eye.

At the last possible instant. The Vorthal’s head jerked aside.

The arrowhead grazed its cheek. Parting feathers and drawing a thin line of black blood.

It didn’t even flinch.

Isolde met its charge head-on.

Her montante blazing.

Fire wreathed the slender blade.

Flames licking hungrily at the air.

She pivoted on her lead foot. Putting her entire body weight behind a horizontal slash aimed at the Vorthal’s midsection.

CLANG-SHIIING!

Talons met tempered steel in a shower of sparks.

The impact sent vibrations racing up Isolde’s arms.

Her teeth rattling in her skull.

For one suspended moment.

They strained against each other.

The Vorthal’s rancid breath hot on her face. Isolde’s muscles trembling with effort.

Isolde’s boots screeched backward. Carving twin trenches in the soil.

Her arms shook violently. The montante’s tip dipping dangerously low.

The Vorthal pressed its advantage. Its beak gaping wide—

"HAH!"

Orion’s warhammer came down like a meteor.

[Earthshaker]

The ground exploded.

Jagged stone spikes erupted in a deadly spiral.

One catching the Vorthal’s leg with a gruesome crunch.

Black blood fountained as the creature reeled. Its balance faltering.

Kyle seized the opening.

[Glacial Lance]

Mana surged through his veins like liquid nitrogen.

Frost crackled across his fingertips as a spear of condensed ice shot forth.

Aimed unerringly for the Vorthal’s throat.

The creature twisted at the last second.

The lance struck its shoulder instead.

Punching through sinewy muscle with a wet thunk.

The Vorthal’s shriek pierced the air.

A sound like nails on slate.

It staggered back, talons clutching at the icy projectile.

With a sickening pop.

It ripped the lance free. Black blood oozing from the wound.

Then it did something worse than roar.

It smiled.

The Vorthal’s beak split open in a grotesque mockery of a grin.

Revealing rows of needle-like teeth.

Its tongue, unnaturally long and forked, flicked out to taste the air.

Kyle’s blood turned to ice.

"Spread out!" he barked, already moving.

"It’s—"

The Vorthal vanished.

Not literally.

But close.

One moment it stood wounded and sluggish.

The next it was a blur of feathers and claws.

Crossing the distance to Roland in less time than it took to blink.

The archer barely got his bow up in time.

SCHRKK!

Talons raked across the laminated wood. Sending splinters flying.

One caught Roland across the cheek, opening a shallow cut.

Another tore through his leather chest guard like parchment.

Leaving four parallel gashes across his ribs.

Blood welled instantly, staining his shirt crimson.

Roland gasped, knees buckling.

The Vorthal’s beak darted toward his face—

[Tidal Surge]

A wall of water the size of a carriage slammed into the creature from the side.

The force lifted it clean off its feet. Sending it crashing through a sapling.

Wood splintered as the young tree snapped in half.

Sylvie stood with wand extended.

Chest heaving.

Strands of blue hair stuck to her sweat-slicked forehead.

Roland collapsed to one knee.

Pressing a hand to his bleeding torso.

His breath came in ragged pants.

"T-Thanks," he wheezed.

No time for replies.

The Vorthal surged upright with unnatural speed.

Shaking water from its feathers like an angry bird.

Its gaze locked onto Sylvie, and Kyle saw the exact moment it marked her as prey.

"Not happening," Kyle snarled.

He poured mana into Zalrielle until the blade hummed with pent-up energy.

Lightning spiderwebbed across the steel.

Casting flickering blue shadows on the surrounding trees.

The air smelled of ozone and blood.

The Vorthal crouched. Its muscles coiling.

Across the clearing. Orion hefted his warhammer, dirt-caked knuckles cracking.

Isolde wiped blood from her lip.

Her montante’s fire flaring brighter.

Sylvie adjusted her grip on the wand, and Roland.

Though pale from blood loss. Nocked another arrow.

The creature’s beak clicked.

Kyle tightened his stance.

The real fight was just beginning.

———