Alexandros, budding hero of Epirus and spiritual successor of Achilles himself, thrust his spear through a bundle of leaves with a mock war-cry. He lifted the weapon high, crinkled brown detritus falling from the head and scattering across the shoulders of his bronze armour. Holding the long weapon firmly in his right hand he thrust the butt into the earth and used the shaft as a hiking stick as he climbed up a small rocky hillside. With his other hand encumbered by his Aspis Shield climbing could be somewhat difficult, and even in the relatively cool hours leading towards dusk the heat under his helmet made it tough going. Still, Alexandros was a hero, and heroes had to suffer hardship every once in a while. With a youthful enthusiasm that seemed undaunted by the task at hand, the young warrior trudged on. He’d found perhaps the highest point in the Gorge to climb, a short hill a half mile from the river which meandered through the area. From there he hoped to spot any signs of smoke or fire, which would reveal to him the location of a bandit camp stowed away in the forested Gorge.

The hill was only sparsely populated with mostly bare trees, but great piles of leaves had accumulated, hence his choice of playful target for a bit of spear practice. The strong young hero bounced up the last few feet with a sudden burst of energy and reached the top, letting out a brief sigh of relief. Climbing up hills in armour was never pleasant, not even for a hero. He span on his heel and plonked himself down, arranging the short-sword at his side and stabbing his spear into the ground with its butt-spike. Before him a fair view had developed, as he could see over the tops of the trees spread before him and spot the river beyond, glistening in the fading sunlight. With a casual disregard for a sight he had seen many times before, Alexandros allowed himself to sink into the soft grass and closed his eyes a moment.

“Well. It would be best if I were to get to work.” He decided finally, sitting up with a start and looking all around, he stood with an exhale of breath and picked up his spear, looking out over the tree-line for signs of cooking fires.

“Now where might you be?”

-

Alexandros was gifted with perfect eye-sight, perhaps a by-product of his duel heritage, perhaps simply luck, it was none-the-less an important tool for any warrior or hunter. He utilized his sight then, at the top of the small hill, staring down onto a mostly bare forested region. If it had not been for the seasons change Alexandros would have had a poor chance of spotting anything save the smoke he was expecting, which considering the circumstances would have ultimately left him disappointed. However, when he abandoned the search for smoke he could in fact make out a goodly distance through the trees by his elevation and their lack of leafiness. The fruit of his labour was his eventual making out of some indistinct but evidently large square shapes roughly lined up a good mile north of his position.

“Carts?” he muttered quietly to himself. Then his young mind recounted the short filling in it had acquired from the Village Chief who hired him. At first the Chief was sceptical of the single mercenary, but a brief tourney on the streets had swiftly proven Alexandros’ skill. From there he was hired alongside two others who worked as a duo to hunt down what was expected to be bandits killing merchantmen. That was the relevance of the carts then, he had likely just discovered an ambush sight. With a boyish yelp of excitement he started down the hill in a short jog, before speeding along through the forest in the direction of the carts.

He arrived four minutes later, slightly out of breath. The enthusiasm in his eyes dimmed briefly as he took stock of the devastation that had been left behind whoever or whatever ambushed the poor merchants. Their remains were horribly mutilated, so much so that Alexandros immediately began to suspect that a Monster was responsible, rather than common bandits. Monsters were incredibly rare in Epirus, with perhaps a single sighting a month, so to find one here was an unexpected predicament for the young warrior. He took stock of the scene, noting scratch marks on the trees where bark had been ripped away from the trunks by a passing creature. From these signs he could quickly gain some idea of how big the monster he was facing stood, almost man-height and from footprints, four legged. The stride was massive, he guessed it could easily be as long as eight feet, and the devastation was evidence to its tastes. A man-eater then, Alexandros was in for a challenge.

The creature was not a difficult one to track, for indeed it seemed to have little need nor capability of stealth. He set off after it, it could easily have been up to half an hour since it left the area, so he had to pick up the pace. There was a Monster to slay.

-

With his quarry slowed by pain and hunger and taking frequent pauses to alleviate those debilitating symptoms Alexandros caught it in short order. Coming to the edge of the forest and into the plains, which was unexpected as he believed the gorge to be mostly forested, he spotted the great form of his prey. He settled in concealment and pondered for a moment what it was he had laid eyes upon. It was like no monster he had yet seen, and he’d seen more than his fair share. Curiosity drew him on as much as heroic duty as he meandered after it, crouching low in the tall grass. It was simplicity in itself to ensure he approached from down-wind, for though he was young and cocky he was also growing into an exceptional hunter. Of course the situation was far from ideal, when hunting large beasts like bears or monsters forested terrain was almost always preferable to open fields. Alexandros knew he was a particularly impressive runner, but running on two legs always sets humans at a disadvantage against their animal brothers. One look at the monster told him that while it was unlikely to be agile, it was likely capable of maintaining a terrifying speed on open ground such as this, and without obstructions he could be ran down and killed with ease.

Still, such was the hand that fate had dealt him. He had his weapons, his abilities and the strength of his arm. Such should be enough to face any man or monster, particularly one such as the brute before him. He could smell fresh blood as he followed its path through the plains, the creature itself was a goodly way off but the mutilated remains of a boar told its own story. Apparently the monster wasn’t a fussy eater, but it was a ravenous one. A plan immediately sprang to the young hero’s mind. He could more or less predict that the monster would eat again very soon, and now it was within sight he could make a move on it while it fed. It was a rudimentary plan, and if the creature came across a human he’d have to attack pre-emptively, but so long as they were wandering the wilds it should be relatively safe. With a goal in mind Alexandros stalked the creature from the distance, fairly confident it wouldn’t detect him.

-

The young hunter approached cautiously, ever aware of the danger of tackling a large monster in the open. It did not seem like luck was to favour him in the coming confrontation, as knowledge served that the beast was heading towards town. Obviously it was retracing the steps of the merchants, perhaps seeking out larger sources of food as it seemed insatiable from what Alexandros had seen thus far. Though the town it approached was not the one he had been hired by, he still owed the people better than to allow a ravenous monster to happen upon them. He doubted he could forgive himself if anyone died due to his inaction. Resolute, he hastened his step, edging towards speed over stealth as he ran in a crouch towards his prey. Circling it slightly, coming round to its left flank, though it was still a goodly distance off, his stance shifted as he raised out of his crouch, spear firmly in hand half-way down the shaft, shield poised to protect him from projectile or fang.

The creature was certainly an odd one, now he was in a better position to observe it. It had very dark hide-like skin and was about a foot shorter than him, though far longer. It sort of resembled pictures he’d seen of large beasts from Afrika, though it was clearly a monster rather than an animal, its excessive feeding was proof of that. Alexandros approached it with a purposeful walk, uncaring if it noticed him now as he committed to the fight, he thought about how he would kill the beast. Each step was made with immense care, as he mentally pictured his surroundings with precise detail, it would have been impossible for him to stumble on some concealed pot-hole. However, it was not just to avoid ordinary mishap that he utilized his gift, but so that he could be aware of whatever threat may come from the great beast before him, and to perhaps gain some advantage from the terrain for himself.

Alexandros would approach the beast as quickly as he could without outright running after it, keenly alert for any sign that it had noticed him. After reaching a distance of around one hundred feet from the beast, he could make his move.

-

He had suspected it might have picked up on his scent, by the time it finally turned around he was sure. Despite the precautions he had taken monsters simply did not work under the same rules as animals, so he expected nothing less. Sighing, he steeled himself for a frightful conflict with the great horned beast. His steps carried him within one hundred feet of the monster and as of yet it had not charged him, but had instead faced him in a stand-offish manner. Had he just encountered the monster he may have let it free at that point, not realising it was a ferocious and insatiable man-eater. However, he had seen the ruin it left behind it, there was no going back now, the beast had to be put down.

He slammed the spiked butt of his spear down into the soft earth at his feet, leaving it standing erect as he concentrated on his open right hand. Slowly, with exaggerated coolness the earth cracked and rock rose beside the spear, taking on its form beside it. Meanwhile, in his hand a large spherical object that seemed to be made of stone had materialised. It hovered slightly above his open palm and then dropped back into his hand. It repeated this strange behaviour, seemingly bouncing up and down as another tower of rock appeared next to the now mostly formed earthen spear. The whole process of creating two duplicate spears of rock took about four seconds, in which he could react at any point.

With a sigh, he stopped using the orb in his hand, the Celestial Orb of Moon, and returned it to wherever it lay when not in use (slightly diminished by his toil.) Then, provided the beast had remained still, or was at least a reasonable distance away, he reached in front of his original spear to grab the furthest away duplicate, uprooting it with a grunt and turning to face the beast. With a precision and strength of almost unnatural quality, a single step would see him launch the spear, javelin like, at the monster’s front right side, aiming for the neck.

-

Adrenaline flooded the boy’s body as he began to visibly shake… with excitement.

“Now we will fight you and I, beast, know that it will be Aegis who slays you!” He yelled, as much to satisfy his own sense of heroic endeavour as to communicate any idea with a creature that probably couldn’t understand him. His spear had drawn blood, but not enough, this was not to be an easy fight, and now it bore down on him with hunger and madness in its metaphorical eyes (it didn't seem to have any). Its roar was strange, fearsome for it though. The sound of a monster was often overlooked but Aegis had fought plenty, and it was the noises they made that distinguished them to him over any ordinary animal. Something from another world, something out of myth and legend, and now he would face it and slay it and make it part of his own story!

Or so he hoped, seizing another rocky spear in hand and twizzling it experimentally as the beast not only reached him but seemed to circle him like a hound. It was not the approach he expected, it did not leap at him blindly but seemed to be looking for a weak-spot. He wouldn’t present one easily. His eyes tracked it as he circled with it, shield out, though its use against such a great beast was yet to be seen. They were both waiting for a mistake, perhaps Aegis was the one to make it.

“So be it then, to battle!” He yelled, announcing his purpose as he swapped grips on his spear by first throwing it up and then catching it over-arm. In the same breath, he pulled back and let loose, tracking the beast’s movement, striving to aim where it will be rather than where it was. The rocky projectile cut through the air, unerringly aimed for the beast’s flank. By the time it had left his hand he was already moving for his real weapon, where it stood plunged into the earth.

-

Aegis made a beeline for his last weapon as his javelin soared into empty air, the dory spear impaled in the earth. The creature bore down on him, its heavy footfalls and loping stride encouraging the young hero to even greater speed of his own, despite his armour. It was only two steps to the weapon, but the creature gained on him all the while, and as he yanked the weapon from the ground and span it clawed for him. Naturally, his spear shot out in a powerful thrust at the monster’s flank as his shield settled forward at such an angle to allow the weapon’s passage while protecting him. The collision of claw with his aspis was titanic, the momentum and bulk of the beast driving his entire body clockwise as he was threatened with being launched off his feet. Indeed, he did fall, the spear leaving his hand as he sought to plunge it into the creature’s flank for his trouble. Likely, it made purchase before it flew out of his grip, but it might have just been knocked clear by the rampaging beast.

He rolled twice, his armour cushioning him from more than minor bruising, and naturally twisted up onto one knee, as the creature roared past him, getting his bearings as he shook himself. He was without spear, but he still had shield, and the creature seemed to lack the ability to quickly adjust in its stride beyond its frontal charge, so the likelihood of it cancelling out its momentum and turning to him immediately was not great. Instead, it would probably turn wide and then plough towards him again, presuming his spear was not lodged in its heart.

After gaining his bearings, and accounting for the beast and what it chose to do, the hero of Epirus would make his decision. Go for the spear, wherever it may be, or draw his sword. Now he was grinning for real, but there was fear in that youthful face as well.

-

Two quick breaths, in and out, in and out, get back on your feet you’ve still got work to do.

Aegis stood, muscles in his legs straining to lift his lithe body, mostly because of all the additional metal strapped to it. The grass was slick with blood, and his wrist ached, two pieces of evidence that suggested that despite everything he had made good with his spear thrust. All those years of training must have paid off, to pull off a strike like that in such poor circumstance, that was no small feat. The wannabe hero gave himself a metaphorical pat on the back as his eyes glanced over the stricken beast, writhing on the ground less than ten feet from him. Perhaps it would be wise to focus again, things weren’t quite over yet.

The monster was in pain, it was wounded, but it could still move. His spear might have damaged some internals, it might not have, but something of the size of the creature would not go down too easily. And if his experience had taught Aegis anything, it was that monsters always surprise you.

So, he was going to surprise it. Rather than advancing straight on the stricken creature and risking being cut in half by a swinging tail or having half his bones broken by a stray leg, he was going to give it something else to cry about. In his free hand, an orb of solid rock suddenly materialised, the celestial orb of moon to be exact. It bobbed up and down as he concentrated upon it, staring down the beast, waiting for it to regain its footing, he took one step backwards while he waited to see if it got up, but in truth, he was concentrating on the orb for a different reason. He was going to turn it into a net.

-

The hero of Epirus watched the beast flail to its feet, its swinging tail cutting through the air as it spun to meet him. His intuition had been proven correct, as it often was, the beast still had some fight in it and advancing on it immediately would have spelled his doom. He almost allowed himself a smirk of triumph behind his helm, but that would be counting the eggs before they hatch, as they say.

Aegis winced as his spear cracked under the bulk of the creature, but he did not let it deter him from his work. The Celestial Orb of Moon was an artefact he was only beginning to understand, if artefact could even be considered the right word for it. It seemed to be the source of his earth manipulating powers, but even when he used it up the thing would slowly recoup its losses. He had discovered this the hard way in a tough battle a few years back, when all else had seemed lost. The Hero had thrown the Orb itself in a final effort and watched transfixed as it spread wide, something he was unable to do with normal earth, it seemed to change shape well out of the normal range he could affect things. He was going to use the Orb now, but it was an all or nothing strike, because if he missed the Orb would be lost and he would have no more access to the powers of his bloodline for the day.

Still, the hero of Epirus was not one to let something like critical failure get in the way of a good plan. The beast advanced upon him, low, smart, it meant he couldn’t get its legs. What he could do though was launch his Orb right at the thing’s face, and it wouldn’t be expecting what happened next. The beast let out its terrible cry and Aegis stepped back and launched the Orb, the two would meet along the path as his artefact spread wide like a rocky net, clamping down over whatever it could. In this case, it would likely be the beast’s toothy maw, as that was what Aegis aimed for. When it made purchase, it would wrap and tighten, before solidifying like a cocoon around the unfortunate beast. If the man-eater was unfortunate, it could very well be muzzled by a rocky net. If Aegis was unfortunate, he had just thrown away one of his best weapons and had little choice but to draw his sword, a desperate cry on his lips.

-

Monster hunting 101, be good at getting the fuck out the way. Aegis may have been young, but he’d passed this class with flying colours, and with strength far beyond his years his legs could propel him like a rocket when necessary. So, with a bound-up creature hurtling towards him, he employed his prestigious skillset and jumped to his left. He knew he’d been a little too slow as a roaring beast’s shoulder-blade cracked into his lower body, slamming his sideways in mid-air. He bent, painfully, his armour buckling and groaning as he was thrown backwards and to the side, carried still by his own momentum even with the impact from the man-eating rhino-crocodile.

The boy slammed into the dirt, cleaving up a neat little pile of grass that stuck to the chest-plate of his armour. His breathing was ragged, pained now, as he felt the stinging and familiar pain of a broken rib. Wearing armour like he did, such injuries were common as blunt force carried through to his vulnerable bones. The creature was somewhere behind him, having likely fell flat on its face with its front legs stuck together. Something wet began to run down Aegis’ stomach as he struggled to his feet, and the effort almost dropped him then and there. Blood rushed through his body, and apparently it was also leaking out of his torso as some sort of spiked object on the man-eater’s horrifying body had made its way through a slit in his armour.

Aegis gasped, staggered, and then rallied, all in that order. He still had his shield, most of his strength, and his blade. He’d see that a monster met its end here today, if nothing else. He drew his blade with a leathery rasp, and circled the stricken beast, mindful of its flailing tail and claws.

-