"You're a mighty confident fellow. Do you not see that you are outnumbered six to one? Two if the puny runt wants to join in."
The burly man spread his arms wide to exaggerate the numerical advantage.
Damien only chuckled.
They look ridiculous.
Four men and one woman, all lean and scarred, dressed in minimal furs that exposed far too much skin for the mountain cold. The burly leader wore only black fur wrappings, while the woman stood in what looked like scavenged undergarments.
Still, Damien noted that despite their clothes, not one shivered.
They've been running this trap for a long time. They are probably resistant to the cold or just insane.
His eyes shifted to the girl. If she'd been here for that long, then she'd have the ice element as well as wind.
"How about you guys find some clothes, then talk to me."
Although the girl was probably a grade above him, that didn't mean he was weaker. For Elementalists, mastery rank mattered more than the number of elements. If she were Beginner rank in both ice and wind, then Damien's Natural rank wind would give him the edge.
If not...
Let's not think about that.
Another bright spot was that the others were most likely mundane humans with no magical abilities, or else the druid battle would have ended quickly.
"How do you want to do this?"
Damien shrugged.
"I'd like it if you let me and my brother pass."
The burly man sniffed the air.
"Not a chance. You reek of magic, an Elementalist?" He sniffed again. "And your brother. He's something I've never smelt before...Don't tell me a true mag..."
A strong gust slammed into the burly man, pinning him to the right wall. The impact knocked the air out of him. He struggled, flexing his muscles and exerting all of his strength, but he couldn't escape as the wind coiled around his body like thick vines.
"Don't talk about my brother."
Before Damien's wind could strangle the man, three icicles cut toward him.
With a lazy swipe of his hand, wind deflected the icicles down the hill behind him.
"Watch where you're sending those things!" Jack shouted, still lying on the icy road.
"I told you to leave!"
Feeling the wind vines loosen slightly, the burly man seized the opportunity and broke free.
"Heh. Your wind is nothing to scoff at. I'd say it's even stronger than our dear Tasha's."
Tasha, the elementalist girl, punched the burly man on his shoulder.
"Fuck you, Denton. Don't lump me in with this bitch. Everyone knows I'm better with ice."
Then the crooked-nose henchman leaned in close to Denton's ear, whispering loudly.
"What do you want to do, boss?"
"I say we slaughter and eat them both!" The way too happy henchman screamed, thrusting his spear to the sky.
A long silence rolled over them like fog. With Damien's display of strength, Denton grew hesitant. He was in the poaching and ambush game, not the death game.
However, a moment later, he snorted and spat to the side.
"Yeah, let's kill them." He was, above all else, a prideful man.
Damien sighed, dropped his necessity bag, then unbuttoned and removed his fur coat, revealing his pale, lean, muscled frame. Since awakening, he'd trained like a madman: wind practice in the mornings, afternoon runs until his legs gave out, combat training until his mentor Marshall knocked him unconscious. All to kill a mythical beast or two.
Now, it seemed that these cannibals would serve as a warm-up.
Still, I haven't had any real combat experience. But if I use my wind like I was taught, I might win this.
Damien was the first to act, intent on drawing the fight away from his stubborn brother.
Positioning his palms backwards, two powerful gusts propelled him to the left-middle of the resting area, about fifty feet from Jack. Spears raised, the poachers marched toward him.
"Tasha, stay on wind duty. Mess with his control as much as you can," Denton ordered.
"Fuck that, I'll take him myself!"
A circle of icicles shimmered to life around Tasha, her first two fingers extended while the others curled against her palm. Grinning wickedly, she charged toward Damien, her rust-colored hair whipping wildly in the wind.
"Fool," Denton shouted.
After flinging her arm twice, two of the ten icicles whistled through the air.
Damien smirked.
He ducked low and clamped his right hand shut, an icicle clipping the top of his messy black hair. A wind vine sprouted from the icy road, coiling around Tasha's ankle and jerking her to a stop.
A second later, Damien appeared behind her, his speed boosted by wind currents. Grinding her teeth, she twisted and slashed at him with an ice sword manifesting in her palm.
However, Damien's first two fingers shot upward, and a tremendous gust erupted with them, shattering the sword into a thousand shards. Tasha's instincts kicked in.
She ordered the remaining icicles to cut Damien down. But they didn't listen. It was as if they were weighed down by the Great Divide itself.
Moments earlier, when Damien clamped his hand shut, he'd conjured his wind seal as well, bunching the ice shards together in a zip tie-like structure.
"What! Bastard!" she shouted, then groaned as his fist connected with her jaw. The wind vine held her upright as her body reeled.
Punch after punch, knuckles slick with blood, Damien was relentless. By the seventh blow, he was sure her cheekbones had shattered, but it wasn't enough. She needed to die so he and his brother could live.
Damn it. If only my wind was stronger, or I had money to purchase a weapon, this would be over already.
The wind element was not inherently offensive, but mostly utility. That was how Denton, a mundane human, broke free of his restraints. Lacking an offensive element and a sword, Damien was left with this brutal method of killing.
Having never killed anyone before, he'd much rather something quick and merciful. But in a life-or-death scenario, he would use any means necessary to survive.
Huh?
He leaped backward, dodging a spear thrust by inches.
"Who do you think you're wailing on?" Denton's jaw was clenched, his face red with anger.
Damien chuckled as Tasha's body fell limp, her breath ragged but there.
"Your only hope."
"Brother!!!!"
"Run!!!!"
Damien turned to see his brother sprinting at him, his expression terrified.
THUD!
THUD!
Everyone's expression turned grim.
Behind Jack, a massive Crystalline Kodiak Bear with an angry glare in its eyes tore through the ice.
This mountain sucks.