The Gruu Glutton rose to its full imposing height, and the ground beneath Redmane’s feet trembled with the sheer mass of the creature as it stood. Two more arms grew out of its torso, and it raised all four with claws glinting in the sun.

  It then began to fill its lungs with air, drawing in a huge breath.

  Redmane’s eyes widened when he realized what the Gruu was about to do.

  It was going to roar. And the roar would call the rest of the burrow.

  If that were to happen, a horde of Gruu would come boiling out of the cave, and a tide of crimson skin and jagged teeth would sweep him under.

  It would be prudent to avoid this situation.

  Flame Breath

  Gnosis: 1326

  Redmane’s jet of fire hit the Gruu right in the mouth, making it splutter and stumble back, smoke pouring from its burnt face. It tried to extinguish the flames by slapping itself with all four of its hands in a frantic, broken rhythm.

  He swept in while it was busy doing that, clawed off a chunk of its lower calf with a spray of glittering red blood.

  Bleeding (4)

  Blinded and hamstrung, the Gruu wobbled on its feet and then fell to the side, making Redmane leap back to avoid being crushed beneath it. A cloud of dust briefly obscured it from view. Within the cloud it was changing form, though Redmane couldn’t see the specifics.

  Not until the Gruu charged out of the dust cloud as a giant six armed parody of an insect.

  Flame Breath

  Gnosis: 1301

  Another gout of flames thwarted its charge, made it rear up onto its hind legs and swing with the front four. It had speed for its size. Redmane had to concentrate to duck and weave between its blows, watchful for a moment he could capitalize on. Such opportunities came, occasionally, even after the Gruu had settled down onto four legs to attack him with its front two. Redmane spotted them and countered while evading, his claws rending red flesh and painting the rocky ground crimson.

  Bleeding (8)

  Bleeding (12)

  Redmane ducked under one such swing and carved the Gruu’s head open from bottom to top. It screamed in frustration and charged at him like a bull, ignoring the potential for more damage, and he almost realized too late its intent to trample him.

  He leapt out to the left, and the Gruu collided with the hillside hard enough to make it shake.

  Ominously.

  The monster was too witless with disorientation to notice, but Redmane saw a boulder slip from its position. The other rocks moved along with it, haltingly at first. A shower of fine sand preceded the rockslide by moments. Long enough for Redmane to realize what was about to happen and take wing.

  Carnivorous Metamorph

  Gnosis: 1291

  Redmane jumped straight up, beat the wings of the Manticore once, twice, and on the third stroke he made it high enough to clear the tumble of giant rocks. The Gruu was not so fortunate. One boulder took it full in the chest, knocking it off its feet and forcing it to join the rocks tumbling down the hillside.

  The rockslide left a lingering miasma of dust and debris behind it. At the moment, Redmane remained airborne, observing the burrow entrance for any approaching Gruu. He had been cautious because of the noise from his altercation with the door guard, certain backup would come.

  And in a moment, it did.

  A pack of smaller Gruu appeared, closer in appearance to the ones he’d first encountered, the kind that resembled ripe tomatoes with skinny limbs and sharp teeth. The group looked down the mountainside at the receding rocks, stood there watching the spectacle for a moment, no doubt noticing a bright red shape amongst the rocks.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Then, they turned and began devouring each other.

  Blood and scraps of viscera flew everywhere. The Gruu became a blur of teeth and gore momentarily.

  The biggest one won the eating contest, and grew to the size of the previous door guard. It walked over to the spot where the original sat, and plopped itself down.

  Back to the start then.

  This time Redmane decided he’d handle it more expediently.

  Flame Breath

  Flame Breath

  Flame Breath

  Gnosis: 1216

  It didn’t have a chance to call for help, nor did it have a chance to shapeshift.

  Redmane smothered its face and limbs with flame. Choking off its screams, keeping it occupied with a vain attempt to put out the fires all over its body, of which there were an ever growing number.

  In retrospect, it occurred to Redmane that he should have taken this approach from the start. He’d already seen how fire was the bane of the Gruu. Under the present circumstances he could bring generous helpings of it.

  As the second door guard ran away burning, giving him an opportunity to land and enter the burrow, he kept that in mind.

  Stalk

  Gnosis: 1206

  It wasn’t his first instinct to approach with stealth. But as before, he’d rather not be swarmed over without warning. Better to observe before acting.

  Redmane immediately knew this burrow was larger than the one he and Valtr and Vengarl dealt with in Midva Forest. The length of the tunnels where he stood revealed their extent into the dark. Taking the left fork from the entrance, he descended and glimpsed through a window-like hole in the cavern’s side what lay beyond.

  It was an immense hollow, honeycombed from ceiling to floor with circular tunnels bored into the rock by the merciless teeth of the Gruu. The Great Grandmother was far below, he barely saw the top of her head. Even from afar, Redmane noticed the creature was noticeably larger than the previous one.

  Fledgeling Gruu spawned from its immense red body in clumps, which resembled fish eggs until they split from the Grandmother’s belly and extruded their teeth and limbs. The horde of fresh spawn surrounding it resembled a moat, all the little bodies crowding and surging around each other in a state of constant agitation.

  Redmane heard heavy footsteps approaching, ducked into an alcove nearby.

  With Stalk on, the Gruu Glutton lumbered by him without noticing.

  Part of him wanted to attack it, Stock up on even more Corpus. But again, he held himself back.

  Backup would have been better, as before. To reach the Grandmother, Valtr and Vengarl diverted the horde from the burrow.

  He didn’t have the Hunters, but he could create Spawn…

  He recalled the way he’d dispatched Samo, Keeper of the Well. A most effective termination. And the Gruu were especially susceptible to fire. Perhaps it was time for another team of fire breathing lizard Spawn. He had higher supplies of both Corpus and Gnosis this time. Flames could strike the Great Grandmother from all directions at once.

  Peering down at the immense body of the Great Grandmother, and its protective sea of Gruu, he realized he would need to do it that way.

  But first he would have to navigate through the maze of tunnels to their base, evading patrols of Gruu on his way down. A simple enough task, albeit one he considered creating Spawn to help with. To do that, he’d have to fuel Stalk for each, but he had a different idea brewing.

  His plans took a turn, however, when he heard sounds of a struggle up ahead.

  Redmane was deep underground now, far from sunlight, the caverns lit only by the luminescent red moss Gruu left behind. He thought he heard yelling, and the clash of weapons, mixed with the babbling and growling of angered Gruu.

  He crept toward the commotion, its echoes growing louder and louder as he drew near.

  Around the corner he could make out the shapes of a mass of furious Gruu, surging against something solid. He leaned around the corner to get a better look, saw that it was a wall of wooden shields.

  They fought a band of Demi-Humans, some gray skinned, some brown, all wearing crudely cut pelts and carrying wooden shields with iron short spears. The first two ranks of Demi-Humans were stabbing into the mass of Gruu with their spears, to little apparent effect. But they were holding their line.

  In the back ranks, Redmane spotted something even more interesting.

  Demi-Human Chief Vang

  Monster Type: Demi-Human

  Level 99

  Vang stood head and shoulders taller than his subordinates. His mangy hair matched the color of his long fur cloak, which he wore over a patchwork suit of armor, its pieces taken from bodies looted at different times and places. He waved his iron warclub around like a willow switch as he barked orders at his warband. Impressive strength for limbs that wiry.

  Redmane considered what to do.

  Vang was marked for elimination.

  But soon this whole tunnel would swarm with Gruu. Perhaps this was a territorial dispute, Demi-Humans lived in caverns as well. If so, he could benefit by assisting them against a common foe.

  He didn’t have to kill all of them. He only had to kill one of them.

  A moment’s thought revealed the solution.

  Redmane crept closer until he stood behind the pack of Gruu.

  Flame Breath

  Gnosis: 1181

  The rumble of Gruu growling changed tenor suddenly, to become high-pitched shrieking. Black smoke filled the tunnel as their torched bodies blistered and bubbled, fusing with each other, falling to a twitching pile between Redmane and the pack of Demi-Humans.

  Vang waved smoke from his face, stepped past his own shield line as it parted to make way for him.

  Demi-Humans were short, but this one stood eye to eye with Redmane. He grimaced, looked him up and down.

  “Whatcha down here for...” said Vang.

  Redmane smiled. “To slay the Great Grandmother. You can join me if you wish.”

  Vang raised an eyebrow.

  “I like to fight. When I’m done with the Gruu, I’ll fight you next.”

  The Demi-Humans behind him broke out into guffaws. Vang chuckled as well, glanced first at his men, then at Redmane.

  “You and me?” said Vang.

  Redmane nodded.

  Vang grinned from ear to ear, revealing jagged yellow teeth, and nodded.

  “Challenge accepted.”

  PATREON