The Åströms' Chronicles: Trapped, Part 2

"Will you join, human?" Brenda's voice appeared in Varg's mind as she looked back at him, smirking.

The first Fryktelig Uhyreis howled and, ignoring his wounded arm, leapt forward, lunging with his claws for Brenda's throat.

Despite acting cool, it was obvious that Brenda managed to dodge the lunge at the very last moment.

Fryktelig Uhyreis seemed to notice it as they looked at each other and, without any further hesitation, attacked quickly and cohesively.

"Don't you think you owe me some help, human?" Brenda's voice, reeking with irritation, appeared in Varg's head but found no response.

Varg just stood there, observing the most gorgeous fight he had ever witnessed.

The Fryktelig Uhyreis moved quickly and deftly, their limbs twisting and bending at angles one couldn't imagine, allowing them to constantly shift around Brenda, attacking and dodging unpredictably.

Repulsive and horrific to watch, their movement mesmerized, making you want to just stand and wait for one of those terrible, all-way bending arms to reach your throat and show you what lies beyond the darkness...

"HUMAN, STOP FREAKING STARING AND DO SOMETHING!" Brenda's voice shouted in Varg's head, pulling him from the petrification right when the second Fryktelig Uhyreis managed to hit Brenda, leaving a long, wide wound on her back, making her hiss and back up in a long jump.

Varg shook his head, getting rid of the brain fog.

Brenda stood next to him, translucent, glowing blood dripping from the wound on her back.

The beasts stopped several steps away, assessing how dangerous Varg was as an addition to Brenda.

"Last offer, human," the first Fryktelig Uhyreis looked at Varg, carefully holding his wounded arm that gradually healed up. "Turn around and walk away. You have my word that we'll not follow you."

"Do you heal up as well?" Varg asked Brenda, who jerked her ear irritably.

"Sure I do, I just don't freaking want to," she retorted with another hiss.

“Seemed like you’re a legend here,” Varg glanced at her. “I thought you would smash them in seconds.”

Brenda scowled at Varg, showing her front teeth.

“Oh, that was the plan before a pesky, immature man messed up a perfectly set trap,” she winced in pain.

“Making excuses now?”

“Well, one case is to lure them, and freaking another to fight openly, don’t you think?”

“Still sounds like an excuse,” Varg smirked, surprised by his own calamity given the situation.

“I was hoping for the element of surprise, human.” Brenda looked at the Fryktelig Uhyreis who stood eerily frozen in the middle of the glade, obviously calculating their odds.

“Stop calling me human. I’m Varg.”

“If we make it, I promise to call you that,” Brenda shrugged.

"They never healed up before," Varg frowned, looking at the beasts who froze there, waiting for his answer, standing still like hunting spiders about to attack their prey.

Which they actually were.

"Are you sure you fought them?" Brenda scowled at Varg.

"I'm pretty sure I killed one of them."

"Well, I don't know who you killed, but yes, they heal up."

"Maybe it's because I killed that one with a single hit," Varg shrugged.

Brenda squinted at Varg. If a look could kill, Varg would be dead a hundred times now.

"Then maybe you show me how exactly you did it?"

“Sure thing. I also promise – no excuses,” Varg winked at Brenda.

“Listen, you arrogant piece of…”

Brenda didn't finish as Varg started quickly moving to the side, leaning close to the ground, preparing to roll over, his sword leaving the sheath right before the freshly healed-up Fryktelig Uhyreis leapt forward...

Splurch!

Varg's sword hit the beast's hip, right into the shell joint, and Varg rolled forward, letting all the weight of his body drive the blade as deep into the flesh as possible.

The beast howled and fell on one knee, holding his hip with both hands, looking at Varg, who jumped up...

Only to be thrown back, hit by the second Fryktelig Uhyreis, who immediately jumped toward the first one to protect him—

But there was already nobody to protect. The second after Varg's sword almost severed the beast's leg, Brenda jumped toward it.

She silently landed several lightning-fast slashes, each aiming for the most vulnerable parts of the beast's body.

The Fryktelig Uhyreis managed to block the first two, but his wound was too severe, and Brenda, a smudged blazing-fast silhouette, killed him in a matter of seconds, leaving the second one dazed in the middle of the glade.

Varg slowly stood up, wincing in pain—at least three ribs were definitely broken.

The shimmering of Brenda's fur started to gradually lose its intensity as the blood kept gushing from her wound.

The Fryktelig Uhyreis froze, slowly moving its eerie gaze from Brenda to Varg.

Varg glanced questioningly at Brenda, who caught his gaze and winced, pursing her lips.

Shit.

“No more excuses?” Varg mocked, trying to cheer his occasional ally up.

“I’m badly wounded. What’s yours?” she snapped back.

Varg just smirked.

"Your tribesmate is dead." Varg stepped toward the beast, causing her to quickly turn its head, tilting it at an unnatural angle, making Varg shudder. "You're one against two. Grab the body and leave."

Varg flicked the blood off his sword, making sure that some flew right onto the Fryktelig Uhyreis's face, and sheathed it.

For several heartbeats, feeling like an eternity, the Fryktelig Uhyreis eyed Varg without a hint of movement.

Cold and sharp as an icy wind, the rage radiated from her entire posture.

"The venn is wounded." As before, the beast's mandibles didn't move, the high-pitched voice appearing by itself. "You're no match, even with your predictive style of fighting."

Varg frowned—the beast didn't move a bit, which made it impossible to use iakkta.

"So you refuse?" Varg made another step forward, the last one needed.

"What the heck are you doing? Let's just attack at once and die a worthy death." Brenda's voice echoed in Varg's mind, causing no reaction from the beast—it seemed she was able to choose whom to mentally speak to.

"Stay there and do nothing." Varg didn't shift his gaze from the Fryktelig Uhyreis. "Trust me."

"I don't trust you."

"I do refuse." The Fryktelig Uhyreis still didn't move.

"He's waiting for the perfect moment to hit—he'll attack from the spot, without any redundant movement. You won't predict it. He nailed your style, human." Brenda's voice nagged in Varg's mind.

"Another reason to kill the thing off."

Cling!

Varg snapped his sword from the sheath and threw it at the beast, its tip aimed right at the shell joint on her neck.

Thud!

The beast deflected the sword with a fist and, without a pause, jumped forward, turning into a barely visible figure…

Varg's scream shattered the silence, making Brenda twitch her ears as he lunged forward a brief moment before the Fryktelig Uhyreis.

The beast's claws grazed Varg's neck and shoulder, missing his head as he leaned forward, lunging for...

Crack!

Brenda's eyes widened as Varg's fingers, stiff with strain, struck the shell joint, each phalanx breaking on the spot yet propelling farther, piercing through the shell and reaching the soft, moist tissue behind it.

The Fryktelig Uhyreis howled, his scream joining Varg's growl in a horrible duet.

"Now!" Varg yelled mentally.

Brenda tensed, forcing her dying body to wear skunda undir, and leapt forward—once again turning into a smudged silhouette—reaching the beast just after it had pushed Varg away, leaving a giant, undoubtedly lethal wound in Varg's chest.

Brenda hissed and deepened her claws, glowing brighter than ever, into the Fryktelig Uhyreis's throat, immediately tearing it apart and, without any pause, hit her heart, leaving her no chance to survive.

***

The eagle tilted his head, considering whether he should call for aid or if the creatures below were going to make it.

On the one hand, they just killed two Fryktelig Uhyreis and are still alive.

On the other hand, they were lying on the ground, their breathing gradually slowing.

The eagle decided to wait for a couple more minutes before intervening—after all, if this human can't figure out how to survive now, maybe he is not so much of a prodigy.

To be continued in The Åströms' Chronicles: Trapped, Part 3.