Chapter 353: A Bounty for Two
The beastmen tightened their circle around Altair, their wooden spears aimed squarely at his chest.
Ren stood frozen against Vex, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. The sharp tip of Vex’s claw remained pressed to her throat.
"Altair, run!" Ren shrieked, struggling against Vex’s grip.
But Altair didn’t even flinch. The Golden Eagle Prince stood his ground, a monument of muscular perfection. Unbothered, he raised his fists, his silver eyes narrowing at the approaching threat.
"Take the bird!" a scarred boar beastman bellowed, charging forward with his spear leveled like a javelin.
Altair pivoted on his heel with the fluid grace of a dancer, letting the spear sail harmlessly past his ribs. In the same breath, his hand shot out, grabbing the boar by the tusks. With a CRACK, Altair delivered a knee strike straight to the boar’s snout. The three-hundred-pound beastman lifted off his feet and flew backward, crashing into a thick oak trunk and slumping into the dirt.
"Get him, you idiots!" a leopard beastman hissed.
Three mercenaries lunged at once. Altair was a masterpiece of unarmed combat. He ducked under a swinging blade, grabbed the arm of the first leopard, and used the beastman’s own momentum to flip him over his shoulder. Without missing a beat, Altair delivered a spinning back-kick to the chest of the second attacker. The beastman was launched into the brush, out cold before he hit the ground.
Ren watched in awe. Altair was beating a small army with all hands and zero clothing.
But these attackers were not fighting fair.
Seeing their comrades dropping like flies, the remaining beastmen fell back. Three leopards pulled small, hollowed-out gourds from their belts. They squeezed the gourds, sending thick clouds of sparkling green fumes billowing directly into Altair’s face.
Altair coughed, stumbling backward as the toxic smoke filled his lungs. The moment his defense wavered, the beastmen surged forward. Blades coated in shimmering, dark purple sludge slashed across his arms and torso.
Altair grunted in pain. His accelerated healing instantly tried to knit the wounds back together, the skin bubbling as it fought the cuts, but the sheer volume of the toxic cocktail was too much. The poison flooded his veins, actively suppressing his rapid recovery.
His knees buckled. With a ragged exhale, the eagle prince collapsed onto the forest floor.
"No! Altair!" Ren screamed hysterically, tears springing to her eyes. She thrashed wildly in Vex’s arms, desperate to escape his clutches and rush to her fallen mate.
Vex sighed. He dropped his hand from Ren’s throat, casually pushing her safely to the side.
"Amateurs," Vex muttered, shaking his head. "If you want a job done right, you truly have to do it yourself."
The Fox Shaman blurred into motion. He didn’t even bother shifting into his beast form. Vex danced through the startled beastmen with joyful grace. He moved less like a fighter and more like a gymnast on fast-forward.
When a boar beastman thrust a spear at him, Vex sidestepped, grabbed the wooden shaft, and yanked it forward, sending the boar face-first into the mud. Vex then spun the stolen spear like a baton, cracking it over the heads of two advancing leopards.
"Hey! Watch the tails!" Vex scolded as a beastman swung a blade near his backside.
Vex used his three fluffy orange tails like furry whips. He swept the legs out from under one attacker, blinded another by slapping a tail directly across his face, and delivered a swift, decisive chop to the back of a third one’s neck. In less than a minute, the entire squad of beastmen was snoring in the dirt, forming a neat pile of unconscious bodies.
Vex dusted off his hands, looking very pleased with himself. He strolled over to the unconscious Altair, pulling a bundle of thick vines from the bushes, and swiftly hog-tied the fallen bird.
"Sorry, pigeon," Vex chuckled, admiring his knot-work. "But you are my ticket to a very lovely future."
Ren was a sobbing, frantic mess. She scrambled to her feet, desperate to sprint toward Altair and drag him away from the smug fox.
But before Ren could even take a step, a loud THWACK echoed through the clearing.
Vex’s orange eyes crossed. His smug smirk melted into a look of profound confusion before he pitched forward like a felled timber, face-planting into the moss next to Altair.
Standing behind the now-unconscious Fox Shaman was Yurk. The shifty-eyed chameleon lizard beastman shimmered fully into view, dropping a rock from his scaly hands.
Yurk threw his head back and cackled.
"Did you honestly think I would trust you, Fox?" Yurk gloated. He quickly hog-tied the unconscious Vex right alongside Altair. "You thought you were the smartest beast in the forest! But there is a massive bounty on your head, too! I am going to be swimming in venom crystals!"
Ren’s tears morphed instantly into boiling rage. With a flick of her wrist, her trusty cast-iron skillet materialized into her hands.
"Step away from the bird!" Ren yelled, brandishing the cookware like a seasoned gladiator.
Yurk barely glanced at her. He waved a scaly, dismissive hand in her direction. "Relax, female. I have no interest in you. I know you are the mate of the Snake King. The last thing I want is to invite the wrath of Syris by harming his mate. Just stand there and be quiet."
Ren did not stand there. She let out a fierce battle cry and charged the lizard, rearing her frying pan back for a home-run swing to save Altair.
She never made it to the plate.
Two massive, furry arms wrapped around her waist from behind, hoisting her effortlessly off the ground. Ren shrieked, kicking her legs in the air as her skillet clattered uselessly to the dirt.
Two burly bear beastmen: Yurk’s hired muscle, stepped out of the foliage.
"Well, what do we have here?" the bear holding her drooled, his hot, foul breath washing over the back of her neck. "A very soft, very pretty little prize."
Yurk spun around, his swiveling eyes widening in panic. "Leave her alone, you idiots! I told you, she belongs to the Snake King! Drop her before you get us all killed!"
The bear beastman just laughed. "The snake isn’t here, boss."
Ignoring Yurk’s frantic warnings, the second bear stepped forward, a disgusting grin spreading across his face. He began pulling at the fabric of her clothes.
"Stop! Get your hands off me!" Ren cried out, thrashing with every ounce of strength she possessed.