The flames hissed and hissed until they began to sound like breathing.
Hunnt knelt beside Alder, the heat from the scorched ground burning through his knees.
The older hunter's chestplate was warped inward, the metal still glowing dull red at the edges.
Each exhale rattled in his lungs, wet and uneven.
Hunnt tore a strip of cloth from his sleeve and pressed it to the bleeding gash on Alder's side, but the older man brushed him away with trembling fingers.
"Don't… bother," Alder rasped, voice barely louder than the fire's crackle. "Can't fix… that."
"You're still breathing," Hunnt murmured. "That's enough."
Alder's eyes flickered open, dazed but alive. He forced a crooked grin.
"Then we go again."
Hunnt blinked. "You can barely stand."
Alder jammed the point of his Great Sword into the ground and dragged himself upright, using it like a cane.
His legs trembled, blood spattering the cracked earth with each step.
"Round two," he said—and somehow managed a breath of laughter. "Can't let the kid finish the hunt alone."
Hunnt hesitated, then nodded once. "Then let's finish it together."
A roar split the air.
Flame sprayed from the Glisarin's throat, bursts so bright they turned the smoke white.
Her steps sent ripples through the molten ground as she stalked toward them.
Wings shimmered with heat, cracks webbed her chest where Alder's last strike had cut into her core.
Every breath shimmered, distorted by pain.
She was wounded—but not beaten.
Hunnt stepped forward, fists rising.
The air around him vibrated with the sound of cracking heat.
"Stay close," he said. "Don't rush in."
Alder chuckled, voice fraying. "That's my line."
The monster lunged.
She came low, claws carving trenches.
Hunnt shifted aside, feeling the rush of displaced air as talons ripped past.
He rolled his shoulder, catching the motion of her swipe, guiding it past his body with a single turn—Redirect.
The redirected strike tore through the ground behind him instead of through his chest.
The tail came next.
He crossed his arms just in time.
The blow hit like a battering ram; the sound boomed inside his ribs.
His body locked, muscles iron-hard—Tekkai.
He slid half a step, boots hissing in molten dust, but didn't fall.
Another strike followed—he twisted, deflecting it off a gauntlet.
Sparks showered into the smoke.
Alder moved from the flank, sword trailing an orange wake.
He swung at the wounded shoulder; the blade bit deep, spilling molten blood.
The Glisarin shrieked, wings thrashing. A wave of fire and wind slammed outward.
The blast knocked both hunters back.
Hunnt caught footing first; Alder dropped to one knee, coughing.
The monster pressed again, claws hammering the earth, fragments of melted stone bursting upward like shrapnel.
Hunnt grabbed Alder's arm and yanked him clear of another tail sweep.
"She's faster now."
Alder grinned through his blood. "Or we're slower."
Hunnt didn't answer.
Her eyes burned like twin suns as she closed in.
Her movements were erratic now—rage over reason, every strike a scream of pain.
Each roar cracked the sky.
Hunnt's gauntlets glowed faintly from the heat.
His breathing slowed, even as his pulse raced.
Every sense stretched outward; Observation Awareness filled the haze, reading the monster's intent through pressure and heat.
She swung—Hunnt ducked. Another blow came—he pivoted, rolling his shoulder so the claw slid across the air where he'd been.
Each movement flowed: redirect, deflect, strike, breathe.
He drove a short punch into her leg just below the joint.
The impact cracked scale and muscle, the shock echoing like a drumbeat through his bones.
"Now!" he shouted.
Alder was already moving.
He lifted his sword high, veins standing in his forearms, and brought it down with everything left in him.
Steel met flame; the blade sank deep into the side of her chest.
The wound glowed brighter, a molten red halo.
Glisarin screamed, thrashing.
The shockwave hurled them both away again.
Hunnt tumbled through ash, caught himself on a knee, and rose.
Her fury redoubled.
Claws raked, tail snapped, wings beat with hurricane force.
Hunnt's Tekkai soaked the worst of it, but every impact bruised flesh and rattled bone.
His arms burned, ribs ached—but he didn't back away.
Alder was fading.
Hunnt saw a downward swipe coming straight for the older man.
He stepped in front, arms crossing.
The hit slammed home, sparks exploding around him.
He twisted with the force—Redirect—sending the claw skidding aside instead of crushing them both.
Alder staggered upright behind him, bleeding from the temple.
Through blurred vision, he managed a crooked smile.
"You're covering me now, huh?"
Hunnt's voice came steady. "Looks that way."
Alder laughed weakly. "Then let's make it count."
He raised the sword again—slow, heavy—but the metal itself began to hum.
He was emptying the last of his strength into that single swing.
"Hunnt!" he shouted. "When I move—dodge left!"
Hunnt's Observation flared.
He felt the rhythm in the monster's movements—the tightening of muscle, the flare of heat.
The next attack would come down the center.
He inhaled once, counted the heartbeat between breaths.
The claw fell.
Hunnt slid left, the strike missing by inches.
"Now!"
Alder's roar cut through the fire.
His Great Sword cleaved downward in an arc of blinding light, splitting through the already broken scales of her chest.
The sound tore through the valley.
The ground cracked beneath them; fire burst outward.
The Glisarin's scream rose higher, the molten wound pouring like a broken forge.
Alder collapsed to one knee, sword slipping free of his hands.
He looked up at Hunnt, eyes unfocused but still fierce.
"Told you… round two," he said, grin flickering, and then he fell forward.
Hunnt caught him, lowering him gently to the ground.
The older man's chest still moved—faint, steady.
Hunnt's jaw tightened. "You did enough," he whispered.
The monster screamed again.
Light flared inside her chest, wild and unstable.
She stumbled, blood spraying from the fracture but refusing to fall.
Hunnt turned to face her.
His gauntlets were blackened and cracked, smoke rising from the seams.
He planted his feet, lowering his stance.
"Then I'll end it."
Flames reflected off his armor as he stepped forward, leaving Alder behind.
The ground shuddered as the wounded Glisarin lumbered closer, fire spilling from her wound with each breath.
The fight wasn't over—but this time, Hunnt stood alone.
---
Behind him, Alder's breath fluttered once, then steadied into silence.
Ahead, the air began to pulse—slow, rhythmic, like a dying heart trying to beat again.
Beneath the cracked earth, a faint glow returned, flickering through the ash.
Hunnt felt it before he saw it—the tremor, the faint rise of pressure.
He lifted his head. The crater brightened, a single spark forming at its core.
The fire wasn't gone yet.
He clenched his fists, heat whispering against the steel.
"Then let's finish this… once and for all."