The Stonehearted Knight

Hex pulled his sword from his last kill.

After a long and arduous battle they managed to kill all the wolves. The floor and walls were covered in gore.

He was the only Squire still on his feet. As the end neared and the youngsters realized that they would survive, they started to fall on the floor. They lay there groaning in pain.

It wasn't that Hex didn't feel tired. His arms were worn out and it even stung to hold on to the hilt of the sword. Hex remained on his feet because he was the last one to drink a potion.

"It's hard to imagine that you became a Blessed just last week," Allie said suddenly. She was leaning against the corpse of a wolf.

Hex shrugged and pulled his dagger. Looting corpses had been a part of his life even before he became a Squire. He could do it quickly and with minimal effort.

Allie sighed at his ability to continue after having experienced such an arduous battle. She couldn't help feeling dejected at the thought that she was being overtaken by the guy they all thought would die in the slums.

Immediately after pulling the crystal out, he placed it in his pouch. The Knights were still arguing about the division of the loot. All the Squires were unable to move.

'I can't pocket too many, but every crystal counts. I am loving the bearhanded sword knight more and more. Without his technique I would be on the floor with the others.'

Only after he had finished looting the second wolf did the Knights reach a consensus.

"It's almost dusk. None of us want to remain in the mountains at night. You guys have half an hour to loot as much as you can. But remember, no fights."

Old white - Hex learned the old man's name from Allie - stood in front of his team and announced.

His sour expression betrayed his unwillingness to lose any loot but he understood the risk they would be in if they remained in the mountains during the night.

The majority of the beasts were nocturnal, so if he stayed, even he would be in danger. Not to mention they were already tired and wounded. They needed a rest.

Hex resumed his work. He already had a head start. Once again his six years of experience helped him out.

The anatomy of demonic beasts didn't differ much from their regular stage species.

'I never thought that working as a crevice hunter would teach me skills that make me better than these experienced Squires.'

What Hex didn't know was that Squires spend most of their time on training and doing missions. And not all the missions were related to hunting demonic beasts.

Only people like Hex who were desperate for coins and looted anything worth even a coin, would spend hours on these menial tasks.

Hex noticed Vin and Greg harvesting the loot of beasts at the edges of the battleground.

'All members of the other team are working in the middle. At the edge they can work undisturbed.'

Hex smiled at their approach. He was at the other end, so beside Allie, who was very slow, there was no one disturbing him.

'This will take less than half an hour.'

…

"Sloan, you seem to have recovered completely."

A group of Squires stood beside the corpses of mountain lizards. One of them had a smug look as the others praised him.

"It seems it was worth breaking your arm during training," another young man laughed loudly. His words almost wiped Sloan's smugness away.

"Y-yeah," he stammered.

The memories of a week ago surfaced in his mind. A rat from the slums had dared to not only hit him, but also to break his arm.

His father had nearly killed him when the city guards brought him to him. Only when his arm was healed did his father allow him to leave his room. He had been forced to do everything, even taking a shit, inside the dark room.

He hated Hex. He wished to take revenge. But when he learned that Hex became the baron's Squire, he let that thought go.

"You lazy bums," a deep voice made them jump in worry. A man with many tattoos appeared.

"It's almost dusk. It's not safe to remain in the mountains. We will return in the morning."

"But if you guys don't try harder, we will lose to the others," he sneered at them. "You guys seem too happy for a group who only gather five crystals in a whole day."

The group of five gathered their loot and turned to leave. It was then they heard something.

Creak.

"What the hell is that?" The tattooed man said annoyed.

The sound quickly turned louder and louder. It seemed to be coming their way. The Squires pulled their weapons out.

"Wait," the tattooed man cried out in shock. His eyes stood wide open. He knew the sound. Fear and panic filled him.

"M-master?" Sloan noticed the Knight's expression. But he didn't get any response. The man was trembling.

They turned to look at the dark path where the sound came from. The eerie darkness seemed to grow.

Time seemed to have frozen.

Sloan gulped. He couldn't help but be afraid. He didn't know what was coming. But the look on the Knight's face didn't bode well.

Suddenly, the darkness parted. A dark humanoid figure walked out, dragging a bone club on the floor.

The creature was big. It stood with its back hunched, yet it towered above the team. Its arms were long and pointy. They looked as talons.

It was not alone.

Soon more and more figures emerged. They looked at the humans.

Sloan gasped. The creatures' eyes were completely black.

The group started to retreat slowly.

Screech!

Suddenly the first creature shrieked. The noise was loud and high.

The humans held their ears in pain. They couldn't move.

Crack!

The creature jumped towards the tattooed man and swung its club.

The Squires watched in horror as the club shattered their Knight's head.

The creature's attack spurred the other creatures to jump to the Squires.

"No. Help." Sloan struggled.

But it didn't matter. One of the creature's talon-like fingers pierced through him.

Other creatures bit into his flesh.

They feasted on them.

The first creature tore the Knight's heart and munched on it. It enjoyed the energy filled delicacy.

Screech!

It shrieked louder.

Echos of it traveled.

…

Hex was pulling crystals out with great haste. Time was almost up.

'I have gathered more than twenty. I can easily pay my debt to that man,' he thought gleefully.

Clap. Clap.

"Okay, finish and gather. We leave in five," Hestia shouted.

Screech.

It was then they heard a noise.

The noise seemed horrible.

Hex saw the color drain from the Knights' faces.

"Hurry!"

Old White shouted. The panic in his voice was evident.

The Squires ran towards their mounts.

Hex and his team gathered around Hestia.

"Pack up. We need to leave at once."

They all mounted their goats.

"Hex, make sure we don't stay on flat ground," Duter said suddenly. He remained calm.

Screech!

They heard the noise again. Still far. But closer.

"What is that?" Greg asked in panic.

Hestia took a sharp breath.

"Heartless."