Monster Hunter Bloodlines - eARC by Larry Correia (read a book .txt) 📕

“I’m not at liberty to discuss what we need it for. My assignment is to retrieve this one, and time is of the essence . . . So please, step aside.”

Neither one of us was pointing our guns at the other, but we were both still holding them. I didn’t like the idea of harming a fellow Hunter, but I had no doubt this particular holy warrior was dedicated enough to his order and mission that he’d shoot me in the head and sleep like a baby tonight. Only I couldn’t back down because this was bigger than either of us, so if he lifted that pistol I’d fucking end him . . . though unlike Gutterres I’d probably feel remorse afterwards. A very tense few seconds passed.

Only I never got to find out which one of us was more committed because our standoff was interrupted.

The lights flickered. The buzzing insects scattered. It was suddenly very cold.

“Not this guy again.”

“We should continue our debate later,” Gutterres suggested.

“Truce,” I quickly agreed, because he didn’t strike me as the sort to shoot me in the back as soon as I turned around. The Vatican guys couldn’t possibly earn an alright on the Harbinger scale if they were dishonorable back shooters. I started looking for targets. “Let’s blast this jackass.”

“That’s a bad idea. I’m guessing you’ve not fought one of these before.”

“This is my first time on the Drekavac express. Would not recommend.”

“How many times has he been destroyed so far tonight?”

“Uh . . . ” That was a good question. I’d kind of lost track during all the excitement. “Does his petting zoo count?”

“They’re all facets of the same being, but only the humanoid form ultimately matters.”

“Five or six probably?”

“Then you’ve only seen him at less than half his might. Shooting him is a waste. He can be reborn thirteen times before the cock crows, and each time he’ll simply come back stronger. The last few forms are incredibly deadly. The only way to keep him from re-forming is to take his head as a trophy.”

“Decapitation. Got it.” I could work with that.

“It has to be clean. That’s got to be the killing blow. If he’s killed before his head comes off, he’ll just come back. Got it?” Gutterres was staring at the fog bank that was curling along the edge of the road. It was skulking along like a living creature, low and hungry. “How are you with a blade?”

“I can Lizzie Borden the shit out of stuff, but it isn’t exactly graceful. I’m way better with a gun.” I wished Edward was here. He loved decapitating things. “You?”

“Superb.” And the way Gutterres said that obviously wasn’t boasting, it was simply an honest assessment of capabilities in the brief moments before battle. “Only I lost my main blade when I got hit by lightning. All I’ve got left is this little fellow.” He spun a hooked karambit around in his left hand that he’d kept hidden from me before. There were two kinds of men who carried karambits. Morons who liked to spin them around and show off who were more likely to cut themselves than their opponents, or psycho knife fighters who were really good at hooking limbs and severing tendons. Gutterres didn’t strike me as a moron. He’d probably been intending to surprise me with that nasty thing if we had thrown down.

I drew the massive kukri from the sheath on my vest, flipped it around, and extended it to him, handle first. The blade was twenty-one inches of wickedly curved steel, specifically designed for happy little Gurkhas to lop off limbs.

Gutterres hefted my kukri. “This will do.”

“I want that back. Okay, I’ll be the distraction. When he’s concentrating on murdering me, circle around and take his head.”

“Will do.” And then he turned and ran toward the woods. Even injured the dude was so quick that he vanished within seconds, like some kind of Catholic ninja.

Since I needed to draw the monster out, I walked away from the building and out into the open. It didn’t make sense to hide behind a bunch of gas pumps to fight something armed with a blunderbuss that shot lightning bolts.

There was movement inside the country store. Sonya was banging on the glass, shouting something that looked like “What are you doing?” and “Are you insane?” I waved my hand downward, trying to tell her to stay low.

The fog was hanging like a solid wall a hundred yards ahead. I was going to feel really stupid if Gutterres doubled back and grabbed Sonya while I was busy getting hacked to pieces, but sometimes you just have to go with your gut. I started walking toward the fog. “Here goes nothing.”

Just in case my stupid plan didn’t work, I picked out some things I could take cover in or behind quickly. Then all I could do was hope that Gutterres was as good as he thought he was.

There was a growing glow ahead. The eerie light made the trees on both sides of the road look like towering monsters. The Drekavac appeared. The wide-brimmed hat bobbing up and down as it strode toward me. I think he’d been trying to duel me once before, so drawing him out seemed like the thing to do.

“I’m challenging you, Drekavac!” I shouted. “Come over here and fight me.”

I had a feeling the strange being might have been willing to go mano y mano earlier, but that was before I’d hit him with a grenade, because this time he simply pulled his cannon out from under his coat and started blasting.

I ran for the tree line.

Lightning struck. It blew a hole in the road behind me. Flaming chunks of the asphalt rained down as I dove into a drainage ditch and landed face-first in a pile of weeds. Some asshole had thrown some beer bottles in here, and a couple had broken, so I got cut again. Gutterres hadn’t been lying about the Drekavac coming back stronger, because it