CH 145: Punisher’s Axe

The goblins formed up around their leader’s fight, most flinching with each hit Firewater took. Claire could see them bare their fangs at Astrid, fighting their urge to join. The moment one stepped forward, all of their weapons turned on it. Discipline won out over bloodlust, and they held the line.

Claire and the twins lined up beside the admiral goblin as they watched the fight devolve. Claire was puzzled about how she had won against Firewater, given his strength against Astrid. Did her maneuver take him off guard that much? Or did he let her win?

Astrid was slowly losing her ground, her wolf qualities slowly fading. The fatigue was quickly taking over her and Claire could see the fear in her eyes. Fear of Firewater and the axe he wielded. The crazed animal that threw him out of the stronghold gave way to a desperate woman clinging to survival.

She turned to focus on Ursa, who was chasing the archer down. The brown wolf ran towards the hole in the wall, towards salvation, but Ursa was faster. She viciously bit into the Ravian’s hind leg, causing her to stumble.

‘She was running?’ Claire thought to herself.

She assumed all Ravians were prideful warriors, yet here one was attempting to flee. It amazed her how fast the two could shift between their hybrid and wolf forms. In less than a second, they could transition to standing bipedally. She watched Ursa pounce and land in her hybrid form, grappling with the archer.

Ursa was fighting for blood as she clawed at the archer’s hide. It was like watching a predator catching its prey. The brown wolf was fighting to survive, to escape. It was going even smoother than Claire had hoped.

She looked at the state of the stronghold, dead traffickers littering the grounds. Several were taken prisoner and rounded up, bound together by chains. It was a far easier endeavor than they expected. Fighting the goblins she stood beside was harder than this.

A mix of disappointment and frustration crept up again. She had all this anger built up from the traffickers’ deeds and the state of the boys, but no good outlet. Also, the fact that this could have been handled months ago by the knights. Much like with the village of Amora’s troubles.

Her frustration overwhelmed her feelings of regret and remorse for killing at that moment. Part of her hoped Firewater would falter so she could step in. She grimaced as she thought about it, a pain growing in her chest.

Maybe she enjoyed fighting more than she thought.

Firewater breathed heavily, his fatigue making it harder and harder to keep going. His left arm was slowly getting mobility back as he circled Astrid. She was in a similar state, her body a mix of human and wolf physiology. Patches of fur and partial transformation all over.

It made Firewater smile. Last time, she used Silkie against him. Capturing her and using her as leverage against Firewater. Their previous duel was far more one-sided, with each blow Firewater delivered being inflicted upon his wife. The coward of a woman cheated.

Now he could fight her with his full strength, something her lycanthropy could barely hold out against. It felt exhilarating to use his full strength and not crumple his opponent in seconds. Something he hadn’t done in ages.

He steadied his breath as he looked at the axe Jasmine had delivered. Its magic seared his hand, rejecting his touch. It was a monster killer after all. But he fought through the pain, readjusting his grip on it.

Astrid was catching her breath slowly, her healing slowed to a crawl. She was out of energy and her wolf form was fading. She had taken too many lethal blows from the goblin man for her lycanthropy to take. She’d never seen a partial transformation like this occur.

Why? Why did they strike now? She was supposed to have replacement warriors coming after her crew was ambushed. They couldn’t have waited another week?

“Fuck.” She growled as she wiped the blood and sweat from her eyes. Their stronghold would have been better defended. How the hell did they even make it past this monstrosity before her? Did someone in their party actually best him?

Her mind was racing as Firewater finally moved. She barely caught the axe’s hilt, her hands sizzling against the enchanted grip. She forced herself close to avoid the blade, pressed chest to chest with the goblin.

Her quick thinking was met with Firewater’s head. The madman smashed his head square on her nose, as if he expected it. Astrid recoiled back, stumbling away as Firewater pressed the advantage. Another swing of the axe, a downward cleave, caused her to jump to the right, toward his weaker side, but his left hook still crashed into her jaw, knocking a fang from her mouth.

Astrid’s claws raked across his chest in return, blood spattering green across them both. They were collapsing together, burning the last of their strength. The two were struggling to continue, their health getting lower and lower. Firewater had entered the single digits and was incrementing down. He had maybe 60 seconds before his life would fade. He had to finish this.

Astrid’s lycanthropy was stemming the bleeding, but she was in a similar position. Her life was rapidly dwindling, and her chance to escape had already passed. She had no hope for surrender, and her blaze of glory wouldn’t last long. Even if she defeated this thing, she’d be swarmed by its kind. Still, she could snuff this fucker out.

She pushed her body to the limits, forcing her transformation one last time. It caused her vision to blacken, but she was able to turn one final time. She let out a gargled snarl as she pounced towards Firewater, putting her remaining strength and life into the desperate attack.

Firewater roared back, swinging Ursa’s axe with every ounce of fury and love for the woman she had tormented. The axe collided with Astrid’s shoulder, crushing bone and shattering her attack. Astrid’s body crumbled as her trajectory was thrown off, her claws not even making it to the man. Her body slammed into the ground, the axe crushing her ribcage.

She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t even see anymore. All she could feel was the pain and the blood trickling down her body. It wasn’t long before those faded too.

Firewater collapsed with her, lying on her now human body. His body gave out completely. His vision dimmed as his panicked army swarmed him. The goblins cried out in panic as their leader lay dying, none of them knew how to save him.

But Ana did. The admiral goblin led the younger twin to Firewater, parting the panicked crowd. The goblins stirred anxiously as Firewater’s body glowed brightly. It would save the man from dying, but she couldn’t fully heal him. Ana kept her focus, feeding her magic into the warrior as Claire turned away.

One last opponent remained. The cornered archer, who had transformed back into a human. Claire felt nothing seeing her nude body, a first for her. Ursa had done the same, wanting to fight fairly. Claire kept her composure, not wanting their secret out or to react to her lover’s body.

Terra didn’t have time or the energy to question what was between Ursa’s legs. She needed to survive. She didn’t want to die here. Her bow was broken, and her arrows proved ineffective, even with wolf’s bane. This crazed berserker kept going, despite the poison. Then all of her effort was washed away by the party’s healer, cleansing the slow-acting poison.

Terra wanted to scream. None of this had gone to plan. That fucking goblin should have easily taken care of these fucking people.

Her thought was interrupted by Ursa’s fist hurtling towards her. She moved just in time, but the wall behind her crumbled. She rolled away, wanting desperately to make it out of this stronghold. She desperately scrambled to her feet, only for Ursa to already be on her. Arms like iron wrapped her throat, legs pinning her to the ground. Distance had been her advantage, she lost the moment it was gone.

Terra’s eyes widened. She struggled and clawed at Ursa, but she only tightened her grip. The warrior she was up against was far stronger than her. Her fate was sealed the moment Ursa got in close. Now she had lost her escape.

Ursa was unrelenting, squeezing the resisting Ravian tightly. A battle of strength was quickly won as Ursa forced Terra’s head to move. Terra’s eyes widened, and she tried to scream, but her air was cut off.

With one last growl, Ursa twisted. An audible crack echoed through the field, along with a shockwave. The berserker broke her opponent's neck with her bare hands. What would have killed most people, only crippled the Ravian. Her blessing spared her from an instant death.

Ursa rose to her feet. She held her hand out, ready for her axe. It was returned to her by Jasmine, who appeared with it the moment she stood up. Ursa’s consciousness was quickly returning as she gripped her axe.

“Th... thank you.” She growled, struggling to form words. Ursa held her axe just above the struggling archer’s bent neck. She reveled in the traitor’s panic as she tried to move away from her punishment. Ursa’s smile widened as she wound her axe back.

The traitor croaked out one last scream as she brought her axe down. The traitor’s head was severed from its body in a spray of blood. Her traitorous Ravian blood feeding the axe.

Ursa spat on the bleeding corpse. There would be no burial, no honor. Traitors belonged to the wilds, meat for scavengers. Her duty was done here.

Jasmine draped a cloak over Ursa’s shoulders and steadied the seething berserker. “So this is your holy mission? Executing traitors?”

Ursa nodded, her voice still returning. “Yes. Axe needs to feed on traitors.”