He Who Hunts Demons Chapter 8: 8-You Have Grown Stronger

Read chapter 8 of He Who Hunts Demons by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

8-You Have Grown Stronger Four, red predatory eyes each, and thick furs as black as soot. There was no mistaking it. The monsters before me were of the same species as Wyg. They growled at the sight of me, and I instantly knew they wouldn’t be as receiving to my presence as Wyg had been to Bel—or to me even. So I straightened on my feet despite the exhaustion draped over me like a cloak, and brandished the bones I held. I had two options here. One was to turn my heels and retreat back to the underground cave immediately. Which in hindsight was the better option. But considering that there was a blizzard outside, and there was the possibility that the monsters would not lose any momentum chasing me down in the snow, that seemed like a stupid choice to make. Then there was my second option. Fight. But even that had its risks. I was frail and weak, and exhausted from my journey to this mountain. From the very first time I’d seen Wyg, I’d known that he was a dog who could snap me in half if he so desired. And these monsters before me were a lot bigger than Wyg. This was bad, but I had to make a choice. Run and possibly die while being hunted down? Or fight and take my chances? There was only one choice for a hunter. I tightened my grips on my bone-weapons, took a split second to settle my raging heart down as best as I could, and lunged forward. Spit flew out of the monsters’ mouths as they roared and came at me from different angles, their paws slamming into the floor of the cave and rattling the insides of my brain like a stampede would. But they were no Bloodgurglers, and I was not paralyzed in fright by their advances. When I was only a step away from them, I lowered my height and bolted past them as they swiped their claws at me. Before they could turn around, I already had, and I noted that their large bodies were a disadvantage to the way they attacked. However, so was mine. My throat felt like a pebble had been dropped into it, and my chest like a child was seated upon it. I was unable to close the distance before the monsters turned around completely to face me, leaving me unable to deal any blow that might have turned the battle in my favor. Hell if I gave up though. They growled and separated. One ran all the way to the east, and the other to the west, giving themselves a good distance from each other. It was obvious what they were planning. Too close and they would hurt one another, but with a considerable distance between themselves, they could attack in intervals. Well, they weren’t the only ones who had brains. I rushed towards the one to my east, and the other sprung at me from my blind spot. Good. I held the bones in my hands tight, and taking advantage of the terrain, I stopped and kicked a stone on the ground towards the monster I was approaching. My toes stung, but it paid off as the stone flew through the air and struck the monster in one of its four eyes, generating a pained howl from it. I immediately turned around and shifted out of the way as quickly as I could. Which wasn’t quick enough. The claws of the second monster grazed my shoulder, and a searing pain shot through my body, worse than anything I’d ever felt, even from a ghoul’s claws. However, I couldn’t let myself freeze. The monster was before me, despite flying through the air. I stuck out one of the bones; it pierced through the monster’s skin—just a few inches in. That was enough. I twirled my wrist and kept my stance. The monster did the rest on its own. Its body dragged across the point of the bone, until a slash had carved itself into its skin. A howl of pain poured through the cave as it landed beside its mate; and just like that, I’d made them both very angry. With a gulp, and my injured arm soaked in blood, I took a few steps back and ran across the cave. Thanks to my sacrifice, only one of the monsters hurried after me this time. My eyes scanned the cave furiously. If I wanted to defeat them, then I had to give myself some sort of advanta