The Mantis Variant - Book One - 15. Chapter 15 - Hunters

Talin stepped up in front of his superiors, lowered down to one knee, and bowed his head. The huge desk behind which they all sat loomed over him.

"Did you get the gland?" one of them asked.

Talin held up a small jar, and other leaders began speaking.

"Call the grand hierophant!"

"Bring the next group of unborn!"

"Gather the ingredients for the spell!"

"What do you suppose the next generation will be granted?"

One of the attendants took the jar from Talin. He rose and stepped to the side of the chamber with the other members of his crew. None of them said a word.

Their base of operations was in a huge old warehouse at the edge of the industrial district. Its interior was cordoned off into several separate sections. Within the leadership area, the desk was the primary focus, and a faded Oselian rug stretched out on the ground before it. At the opposite end of the warehouse, the chapel of Demifae stood empty, but soon it would be full.

One of the women leaders stood and leaned forward with her palms on the desk. "Our hunts have become more successful of late, and we propose ordering out several groups, at once. What say you?" she asked those gathered, and she received resounding Ayes!

"Talin," she continued, turning to the man, "are you and your crew in need of a rest, or can we expect you to move on to your next target." Her words were not a question.

"No, milady," he replied, "my squad don't need a rest, and we can push the timetable up to whenever you command."

"Very good," his leader responded. She then added with a scowl, "I still hate your team's fucking name." She gave orders to a few other crew leaders, and then the meeting was adjourned.

Talin and his team headed to their quarters in the rundown Oselian barracks. He slammed their door closed.

"That old toad!" he raged. "She's never satisfied, and she'll never be. We are down a crewmember, and not a word of mention was given for him, only if we are too tired for another hunt. A hunt, might I add, which is not properly planned! All of us lost one of our own, a Demifae, and they didn't acknowledge him."

"Fuck her," Claw Two added.

"And furthermore," Talin spat, "we should be at the spell-casting with the gland we procured!"

"Let's just fucking get this over with," Claw Four stated. "Our next Shift's routine isn't hammered down yet," he continued, "and Claw Three did some of the surveillance, so any insights were taken by him to the grave."

"What do we know?" Talin asked him.

"This particular Shift can manifest or summon some sort of entities," Claw Four told the others. "We have not determined the full extent of their powers, but Claw Three informed me that he was confident there would be nothing out of the ordinary when it was time for the next hunt."

"Fine!" snapped Talin. "Gear up, and let's find this Shift. We don't know where it will be or how soon we'll be able to corner it and take it out." He growled to himself, "So fucking unprepared."

Talin's own elevation to Demifae was a mere four years prior, but he soon ascended the ranks of hunters and was given command of his own pack. The spell that was cast over the group in which Talin was a member gained him the gift of further-vision. He hoped for something more active or aggressive; super-sight was not high on his list of desired powers.

Claw Two could generate venom like a snake. Claw Four was a regenerator. Even Claws One and Three possessed different versions of an ability that allowed them to suck the lifeforce from their enemies. Similar to their leader, Claws Five and Six both were gifted with a heightened sense, but they each gained ultra-hearing from the spells that elevated them above humans. Claw Seven's enhancement was the most like Talin's, but instead of seeing far, it was the ability to see at night.

The loss of Claw Three was a major blow to Talin's Talons.

"Before we head back out, we remember our fallen soldier," Talon declared to the others

He poured seven shots of whistlewhiskey, and they each knocked them back. The group shared a quiet moment before anyone spoke again, and it was their leader's voice that broke the silence.

"There was a book," Talon began to say, and he was interrupted.

"Here we go again," commented Claw Six with a smirk.

"Every time," added Claw One.

"He can't help himself," said Claw Seven.

"Has he even read it?" asked Claw Two to the others with a chuckle.

Claws Four and Five remained silent.

"There was a book," Talon repeated over his crew's sarcasm, "that described the act of hunting those such as us, or us, as we used to be. But now we, fellow hunters, we hunt something far more deadly, far more elusive and vicious than mere humans. We are hunting demons, devils in a world where they don't belong."

"Death to all monsters!" declared Claw Five.

"We hunt to stop the spread," Talin continued. "We hunt to raise humanity. We hunt the enemies of life."

"Death to all monsters!" all the Claws proclaimed in unison.

Talin concluded, "We are monster hunters!"★