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VI.Leo Rex Monstrum
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The night seemed to stretched on and on as Quintin and Selena rode, the distant cries of nocturnal creatures were the only sounds beyond the rhythmic thudding of their horses' hooves. The adrenaline from their escape from the ravangers was still burning in their veins, and the reality of what had just happened lingered between them until Selena finally broke the silence.
"What the hell was that?" she asked, her voice sharp, "I don't know what that was. But you. You're more than a bounty hunter."
Quintin exhaled slowly, his grip tightening on the reins. He had known this question was coming. She had seen too much. After a long pause, he gave in, just a little.
"No sense trying to hold to the story every night anymore I suppose. This one doesn't seem to want to end. I had a… different upbringing than most," he admitted, "I was trained to fight since I was about nine cycles old."
Selena's eyes widened slightly, glancing over at him through the dim light, "Since nine?"
Quintin nodded, "Shortly after my mother died."
She studied him, waiting for him to elaborate, and finally threw a hand up at the sky to gesture, "Keep going you idiot!"
Quintin continued, recalling his journey over the previous cycle to now, "Well, I wasn't lying before. About how I became a bounty hunter. That part actually did fall into my lap."
Selena raised an eyebrow, intrigued, "Well, go on then."
Quintin sighed deep, realizing he hadn't talked this much in, forever, but continued on recounting the story.
"I was just passing through a town," Quintin started, his voice carrying a hint of amusement thinking back, "Didn't plan on staying long. But the local law? They were getting beaten senseless by a bandit leader. Big guy, heavier than most, swinging a sword like he was chopping wood."
Selena smirked, "Sounds like a real charmer."
Quintin chuckled. "Yeah. He was making his great escape on horseback, rounding a corner at full speed. Only to slam straight into me on my horse. We both went tumbling."
Selena laughed, shaking her head, "So what, you just accidentally stopped a bandit?"
"Not quite," Quintin smirked, "After he got up, he went to attack me, and well, I knocked him out before he could land a hit."
Selena gave him a knowing look, "That's starting to sound a little less accidental."
Quintin shrugged, "The sentry in charge of the garrison caught up, arrested him, and then told me the guy was wanted for a lot of things. While my horse was recovering from a sprain, he got me the parchment I needed to become an official bounty hunter and handed me my first payment."
Selena listened, nodding, "And after that?"
"After that… I started doing more jobs. Took whatever came my way that led me in the direction of Mount Scion."
Selena absorbed the information, letting the silence stretch for a moment. Then she honed in on the one detail that still jumped out at her.
"You've been trained since nine cycles to fight?" she repeated, shaking her head slightly in confusion.
Quintin nodded as Selena stared at him, "You think it's ridiculous and you're just hearing it. I had to live it. Imagine a little boy fighting with a grown man every day for almost ten cycles while doing farm chores on the side."
She shook her head baffled, "I wonder how you're alive at all."
Quintin laughed, though there was something hollow in it. "Some days, I wonder too."
Selena frowned slightly, studying him. "You ever ask yourself why? Why that kind of training?"
Quintin hesitated. He still had suspicions. His father Johanus was a man of many secrets and too few words regarding the past. He had been paranoid, always looking over his shoulder. Even so, he educated and thoroughly trained Quintin on geography, history, and of course, the revenants. Yet, despite everything, he had pushed Quintin hard, knowing the day would come for him to go out into the world.
Quintin liked to think that they were lessons intended for his survival, like any hunter would pass on skills to their son, or a smithy to theirs. He was just a product of being a revenant's son. But Quintin also realized some answers were not meant for this moment.
Instead, he smirked, "Maybe he just wanted me to be the best damn farmhand in the land."
Selena scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Right. Because every farmhand needs to know how to disarm three armed men in three seconds flat."
Quintin said nothing, but she could tell he wasn't going to give up anything more. So for now, she let it go. She adjusted her reins and looked ahead, "Well, as long as we're back on the road, our timetable's moved up."
Quintin looked over, "You want to ride through?"
She nodded, "Stopping again could give the ravangers time to catch up. If the horses can take it, we should keep going with only very short breaks."
Quintin glanced at his horse, then at the dark road ahead, "Losing them should get easier the closer we get to Scion, right?"
Selena smirked while her head sideways, "Did you even need me? Seems you know all about the place you've never been," she stared a Quintin before resuming, "Yes. The forest base is incredibly thick. Even the ravangers wouldn't be able to track us properly once we're inside it."
Quintin exhaled, nodding, "Then we can't take it easy until then. Oh, finally."
Quintin looked to the horizon as a sun beam pierced the veil of the night sky and began to rise. Even though they were weary and their muscles ached, neither suggested stopping despite saying so. The urgency still lingered, the need to stay ahead of the ravangers pressing them forward.
Quintin stole a glance at Selena. Despite everything, the exhaustion, the long ride, and the tension, she still had that fire in her eyes. She caught him looking.
"What?" she smirked as she looked over to him.
Quintin shook his head slightly, "Nothing."
Selena chuckled, "You're still a terrible liar."
Quintin exhaled through his nose, a faint smirk across his face. Maybe he was.
⋆༺𓆩⚔𓆪༻⋆
The tree lined dirt road they were on began to thin as Selena guided them forward, her keen eyes locked ahead as they rode at a steady pace. The air was cooler, tinged with the crisp scent of mountain earth. Mount Scion loomed ahead.
"We're coming up on the fork soon," she announced, "Almost there."
Quintin straightened in his saddle, adjusting his grip on the reins, "And the road?"
Selena frowned, "Unfortunately, it connects to the main road. The one we've been avoiding. But we can't avoid crossing it. The back road ends in a steep drop, straight down to the base of the mountain."
Quintin took note as the road thinned inward on one side, already showing a sizeable drop downward where the base of the mountain was. He peered over, examining the land.
"It's like the mountain sank at some point," Quintin reported, not knowing this fact, "How do we actually get onto the mountain?"
She tilted her head toward the mountain side in front of her, "That bridge."
Quintin's gaze followed hers, and he finally saw it, a colossal stone bridge extended across the chasm, connecting the mainland to a rocky platform about a quarter of the way up Mount Scion. It looked ancient and weathered, centuries old, held together by thick stone pillars that jutted from the mountain face. Even from this distance, it was impressive.
But something else caught his attention.
As they rounded a sharp curve on the back road, they both pulled hard on the reins, bringing their horses to a halt. Ahead, at the fork in the road, stood a garrison of soldiers, but it wasn't just a few guards, it was a small army.
A barricade of stone had been set up, fortified with mounted bolt crossbows lined along it. Sentries patrolled the bridge entrance, mounted cavalry stood ready, and among them, a contingent of ravangers.
Quintin's jaw tightened, "They're what? Monitoring the roads? Watching who passes through and their business. Why go through all this effort?"
Selena exhaled sharply, eyes darting around, " I… don't know. This is too much for a routine road block. I mean, they usually do those for thieves. But to line it in stone with mounted weapons... This is…"
"A war camp," Quintin finished, his voice low.
Selena was confused, but nodded in agreement, "I can't believe that sides are forming enough to start a war. I… we need to rethink our approach. Backtrack."
Quintin agreed. They turned their horses around slowly, trying not to draw attention, but a voice cut through the quiet.
"And here I was, just taking my afternoon piss," a deep voice rumbled from the wooded edge of the back road.
Quintin and Selena froze. From the treeline, a hulking figure emerged, flanked by two ravanger escorts. He stepped forward, towering over the other men, his body covered in a long red cloak with the hood up. Debri from the forest was scattered along it.
"Who would've thought I'd run into some shady folks so afraid of our post?" he mused.
Quintin immediately assessed him, the broad shoulders, thick arms, and a commanding presence that spoke of experience. He was in charge of it all here.
"You wouldn't be turning back unless you had something to hide," the man continued, stepping closer, "Or something you've done wrong."
Selena stiffened. Quintin barely had time to process her reaction as the man lifted his hands, pushing back the red hood and the cloak to the side, wiping off some of the debri, revealing spotless, shining golden armor beneath it. Not just any armor, or a skull like the others. No, it was embossed with the emblem of a lion across his chest. Not a ravanger.
Quintin's gaze flickered to the sword on the man's hip. It was a blade like his own, but with a golden hilt and a lion's head pommel. The man reached up, pushing his hair back to make it proper. As his gauntlet came back down, Quintin looked to him revealing a burly, blonde-bearded face, his hair cropped short, but it was his right eye that caught Selena's attention. A white and gold eyepatch covered it. Selena clutched at her chest.
"I am Olan Ficar, The…," the man announced.
Quintin immediately knew the name,
"The Lion," he grimaced, "The revenant."
Olan smirked, amused, "Ah, so you know of me."
Olan stepped forward towards the two, and for the first time, he got a good look at Selena. His expression shifted instantly. He stopped in his tracks. His one good eye locked onto her with hatred and a killing intent. Selena's face drained of color. She was shaking.
"You." Olan said in bewilderment.
Quintin's head snapped toward Selena, watching her fear grip her like a vice. It finally hit him. All the revenants disappeared into the world for a time after the kingslayer fell. Her story. The city guard captain she had stabbed through the eye. It was The Lion.
Quintin dismounted and stepped forward, moving to put himself between Olan and Selena. Olan's attention went back to him.
And then, understanding dawned in his expression. Olan studied Quintin just briefly, then a slow, unsettling grin crept across his lips.
"Elyas was right after all," he laughed.
Quintin was taken aback by the name. He hadn't thought about Elyas at all since he drove a sword through him, but what did Olan mean?
Olan tilted his head, "He told the Council of Seven, but no one ever regarded the lone wolf very highly." Then with a dangerous certainty, he met Quintin's gaze, "Those eyes are unique."
Quintin's eyes widened.
"The eyes of your father fox, no doubt."
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End Part 6
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⋆༺𓆩The.Fellow𓆪༻⋆