Yulian sat waiting, in no hurry to dismount and become distracted from his goal. His eyes remained trained on the direction of the Icchorian’s location, hands clasped firmly about Alois’s waist. The young charge shifted, feeling the weight of the Yulian’s focus rest on him heavier than his hands were. He was always intimidated by the other boy, and knew that if the older men and women of the council bowed to him and allowed him to command them then he was one who would be respected and feared for all his life. Yulian was unlike anyone Alois had ever known, and he was scared to allow himself to become a meek follower as everyone else was inclined to be. His senses screeched whenever the king-to-be was around, and Alois always found himself restless in his presence.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by the arrival of the scout, an older woman who was known to be quick on her feet. She moved silently to stand before Yulian, bowing and waiting for him to address her.

“Speak.”

“About 4 miles out. It’s in a cave that seems to be large with one entrance. Unable to identify type of beast, but large horns are present on the creature, as pieces of it were lying about the opening. Four more of our dead lay in the entrance, two burnt out bodies of other Icchorians are in the clearing.”

“Age?”

“Identified as one they call an Elder, Sir.”

The clearing fell deathly silent. Not many of the normal soldiers knew about the ranks of the Icchorians, but Yulian made sure his did. An Elder was the highest rank, ancient and beyond powerful.

Fear began to creep through those remaining in the small clearing, and even Christofer and Itri looked nervously to their leader.

Alois was surprised to find that Yulian’s hands trembled slightly about him, and he was shocked to think that the other could feel fear. Yet when he craned his head backwards, plopping it against the older boy’s chest to peek at his face he saw that it wasn’t fear the other felt. The grin on his face chilled Alois’s blood, and suddenly the threat of an Elder Icchorians paled in comparison to the look of unbridled cruel excitement on the King-to-be’s face.

“That’s valuable news then. Finally something to put up a challenge. Christofer. Itri. You two will come with me. And you there, council dogs. Follow behind us. Let us go and meet this beast head on, and show him the power of Humanity.” He took off, with the four he ordered following close behind.

The two council representatives did not take offense, use to his short demeanor with them. In the face of the coming confrontation, they were in no hurry to get between the boy and his challenge either. Christofer and Itri fell to either side of Yulian, and the King Candidate pressed his horse faster, leaning down to growl out his excitement to his young charge.

“Soon you will see the beast, Alois...you will see what depraved and mindless creatures they are. You will see why you and I are above them, why we will rule this world.”

Alois did not respond, too scared of his tone to say anything that may draw his attention onto the small boy. He would rather Yulian’s excitement be on something else, anything else besides himself. His already white knuckles tightened once more, closing his eyes against the stinging wind that whipped about them as they entered the entrance to the hills that the Icchorian had hidden away in. They were in a long and narrow passage now, leaving them quite exposed to any threat in the fading sunlight. Soon it would be completely dark, and the Icchorians would be able to move freely in the fresh night air. This thought only widened Yulian’s smile and darkened his gaze with purpose.

The horses hooves pounded into the packed earth, echoing about the steep hillsides on either side of them. Alois felt enclosed, surrounded and not at all safe. His heart nearly stopped when they burst forth from the canyon like passage and into the area described by the scout. It was a barren clearing made up of only rocks and dirt. On the far side was the gaping entrance bathed in darkness that had served as the resting place of the monster. The monster that now stood tall, enormous in the moonlight.

The Humans drew their horses short, coming to a halt on their side of the clearing. Silence descended immediately, and nothing stirred while the two parties took in one another’s appearance.

The Icchorian towered over them, one of it’s hooves would easily be able to crush three full grown men with ease. The powerful legs led up to a muscle siwen body, covered in a dark fur that shone in the moonlight an almost obsidian color. It had a surprisingly slender neck that held up an impressive display of horns that dripped with the blood of their fallen comrades.

Yulian stared, transfixed by the beast, a smile curling his lips. “Christofer...take Alois.”

The younger boy moved forward to lift Alois off the horse, allowing Yulian to dismount, eyes never leaving the beast’s, which stared back at him just as steadily. The two representatives nervously shifted to place themselves behind the young man, even as they chided him. “You shouldn’t goad it milord… we can not win facing them head on, even with the six of us here…”

Yulian paused, his back straight as he tilted his head in question. “Six? You are mistaken, only I will be facing this one. No on will lay a hand on the beast besides myself, understood?”

His tone allowed for no argument, and the two representatives fell back with murmured agreements. Christofer pushed Alois towards Itri, stepping forward to take Yulian’s horse and secure it. Once done he stepped a bit behind Yulian, eyeing the one he called his king. “What will you have us do?” He asked in a quiet whisper, not wishing to draw the attention of either the beast or Yulian to him directly.

“Keep Alois safe. And watch.” He reached down to draw out his sword, eyes shining almost as brightly as the beast’s golden gaze. Yulian stepped forward carefully to close the distance between himself and the waiting creature, the energy in the clearing suffocating to those watching. Despite how massive the Icchorian was compared to Yulian, the teen did not seem any less dangerous.

With a swift swing of his sword he allowed the tip to drag lightly in the dirt next to him as he walked forward, finally coming to a stop to where he had to only slightly crane his neck and still managed to seem as if he was still the one looking down on the other. It was almost as if the two were communicating silently, the air seemed to almost snap at the onlookers as the intensity of the situation seemed to escalate.

With a slight tick in the beast’s head, the horns groaning as they shifted and causing Yulian to narrow his eyes suspiciously at the movement, the two lunged forward.

Alois clutched onto Itri’s arm, shaking in his terror as the resulting crash shook the clearing. Christofer scowled at the boy’s open display of fear, noting to scold him later to put on the indifferent front that Yulian prided in his men having. He was quickly pulled from the thought by the gust of wind that preceded to knock all five of them down, the two representatives letting out shocked cries while the boys remained stubbornly silent.

The Icchorian had dug a massive hoof that seemed harder than stone into a space opposite of them and the resulting impact had brought them to the ground. Yulian had easily moved beyond that limb, and shot up the steep cliff side to scale the beast’s leg. He swung his blade expertly about him as he moved, the sharp steel slicing into the thick hide, blood leaking from the thin cuts. He knew that it wouldn’t do much now, but in the long run it would weaken the beast.

Yulian felt the power radiating off the Icchorian, threatening to suffocate him now that he was in contact with the beast itself, and he loved it. His heart raced and he felt as alive as he was the night that Alois had come to him. He ducked down, dodging the rush of wind that whipped by him from the horns that slashed down, and suddenly the limb he was on moved. It made him grasp onto the thick fur, searching for a higher place on the body in which to move more freely. His chance came when the beast swung about near the cliff face and the Human used the opportunity to jump forward and bound off a flat rock that jutted from the rest. Using the momentum from the jump he swung with both hands gripping the hilt, driving his sword into the base of the creature’s slender neck. There was no time to listen to the deep bellow, as the now embedded sword was essentially only useful as a means to push himself further up and around to the back of the Icchorian. The boiling blood that spewed out was enough to cause him to move higher to avoid it.

The teen quickly assessed his situation, and his body coiled in anticipation as the beast thrashed and he sprang up when the Icchorian’s head moved back and it’s entire body lifted up as it reared back from the ground. The momentum was enough that he was almost flung as if nothing, but his anticipation of the action allowed him to direct his landing, and soon he was on the back of the creature with a well timed twist of his body to grasp the fur. He grinned, feeling the beast quiver beneath him.

“Come now, surely that didn’t hurt you.” He pat the warm fur in an affectionate manner before standing carefully to maintain his balance as he felt the Icchorian shift. He reached into his cloak, removing the two blades that had been strapped to his back while he eyed the back of the slender neck presented before him. Rolling his head on his shoulders he waited another moment before lunging forward, the blades whipping forward to sink into the hide from a slightly tilted angle. This allowed him to remove the blades and use them to climb the neck, and soon he was to the point he could pull himself up onto the Icchorian’s head, using the horns to stabilize himself as he looked out over the high vantage point. He could see the small bodies of his boys below as they kept a careful distance to watch him work and it brought another smile to his lips.

“You see those three down there? They are mine. And they would love nothing more than to see you die. How can I refuse such a request from them?” He glanced up at the blood that had started to congeal from the soldiers that the Icchorian had killed earlier. “My men you killed before also need justice bought with your blood. Disgusting creature.”

He sheathed his two blades and pulled out a short sword from about his waist, his final preferred weapon. One day soon he would take up the crossbow, and finish these creatures without having to dirty his clothing.

The moment was almost serene, the night breeze ruffling his hair and the Icchorian deathly still beneath him. He took a deep breath, eyes closing as he felt the inevitable victory wash over him. He knew the beast understood that the fight was over, he could almost feel it sag a bit beneath him. When Yulian’s eyes opened again they were cold, and a sneer pulled at his lips ever so slightly.

“You’re giving up. Pathetic.”

Barely a breath later, Yulian had plunged the blade into the base of the beast’s skull. He used the now lodged blade to brace himself as he felt the heavy body fall to the ground. The impact was incredible, and Alois and the others were glad they had relocated out of the relatively small valley to an outcropping of stone about halfway up the cliff wall. They had seen Yulian plunge his blade in and knew what was coming. Itri pushed Alois back against the rock face of the cliff, covering him with his back turned to the incoming impact of the Icchorian’s body.

Christofer hissed out a warning to the two other men before doing the same as Itri, and covering his head under his cloak.

The dust and shattered rock flung out from beneath the colossal beast collapsing into the ground, it was almost like a wave of debris washed over them, covering them in a thick layer of dirt. Christofer was the first to move several long moments later, when everything was still quiet. He shook the dirt from his cloak, pushing himself up from the wall he had been braced against and peering through the settling dust, gaze searching for any sign of Yulian.

Through the haze of debris he was able to make out the large horns first, then a figure that stood up, blade that was stained in blood swing out with a flourish. Christofer was relieved to see that Yulian was unharmed, but could tell the other was disappointed. It was an amazing feat to bring down an Icchorian in beast form - and an Elder at that. Yet the King-to-be had made it look so easy, to the point he almost seemed bored. That was a testament to his strength, to his power.