Cogman met with Stiles and Scott and told them about the Bogatyrs.
Stiles said. "Are you telling me that some hunters with supernatural powers are here in town?"
Cogman said. "Weren't you listening to what I just said, you imbecile?"
Stiles scratched the back of his head and said. "I heard. It's just hard to believe, that's all."
Cogman looked at Scott and said. "Anyway, we need to deal with them tonight. If we don't, they will kill every supernatural being—and any human connected to them—they can find in Beacon Hills."
Scott said. "And what do you want from us? I won't kill."
Cogman said. "If they find out that you are a werewolf, they will kill not just you, but your mother too."
Scott said. "Still, I will not kill."
Cogman said. "You are too naive. But don't worry, I don't want you to kill. I just want you to be the bait so we can lure them to the woods. Leave the rest to me and Sir, if he decides to have fun too."
Stiles said, "Is killing fun to you guys?"
Cogman said, "It is certainly fun to me, at least. As for Sir and my ladies, I don't know. They are not cowards like you two wimps; they will kill if necessary. And I think Sir enjoys killing too, even if he says he doesn't."
Stiles said, "Wait, did Lydia and Allison kill people too?"
Cogman said, "Ask them yourself. Now, are you two idiots in or not?"
Scott, despite his aversion to violence, nodded and said, "I'm in. What should I do?"
Cogman said, "Nothing much. Just come with me and show yourself in front of them, and they will probably follow us. Now, let's go."
The three of them drove to the hotel where the Bogatyrs were staying and waited outside until dusk, when dinner time approached. They followed the Bogatyrs as they left the hotel to dine at a nearby restaurant. Cogman, Scott, and Stiles sat at a table not far from them.
The moment the Bogatyrs laid eyes on Scott, they knew.
"Boys," Bartek said under his breath, a predatory smile touching his lips. "It looks like we have a job tonight. Although it's just a weak wilkołak." (Wilkołak is Polish for werewolf.)
Piotr nodded slowly. "It's better than nothing. But, Father, the old man with the wilkołak feels... off. Dangerous, even."
Bartek didn't look directly at Cogman's table. "I know. Even the other boy isn't normal."
He then turned to another member of the Zima family at their table and spoke in Polish. "Lukasz, go tell the others to get ready. Bring the weapons and wait outside the restaurant."
Cogman, who understood every word, didn't react. He let Scott and Stiles finish their meals. After about twenty minutes, the three of them left, deliberately not taking their car and instead walking toward the Beacon Hills Preserve. As planned, the Zima hunters followed at a distance.
Cogman sent a quick text to Jacob: [Sir, they took the bait. We are now heading to the forest.]
As they neared the edge of the preserve, Piotr grew uneasy. He whispered in Polish. "Father, this doesn't feel right. It's as if they are leading us into the woods. Let's kill them here before they enter the tree line."
Bartek shook his head, replying in Polish. "It doesn't matter if it is a trap. There are seven of us; we can kill them with ease. We cannot attack them here. This town is filled with all kinds of people right now; we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves. Besides, look at those idiots."
Piotr looked ahead. Stiles and Scott were joking and laughing loudly, while Cogman was humming a cheerful tune with a serene smile on his face.
"Do you think they have even realized we are following them?" Bartek finished.
Piotr sighed, his suspicion easing. "They look clueless, for sure. Maybe I am just overthinking it."
---
Jacob's Mansion
Jacob read Cogman's text and stood up. "Alright, let's go. Cogman says they took the bait."
"I want to fight one of them." Allison declared.
Kate smirked. "Bartek said he wanted to introduce you to his grandson, since you two are the same age."
Before Allison could retort, Jacob's eyes glowed golden. "Oh, he's eying my Allison? Then it's decided; this Bartek guy is mine." An evil smile spread across his face. "He likes to hunt monsters, right? I'll show him how much of a monster I am."
Allison mirrored his predatory grin. "Then I'll have a playdate with that grandson of his."
Lydia shook her head with a smile and said. "Poor bastards. The worst crime you can commit against Jacob is to hit on one of us. Kate, do you hate that Bartek guy that much? I thought you would like the Zima family since you are evil like them."
Kate said. "I'm not like them. As for Bartek, I hate him, his family, and all the other Bogatyrs. They call normal human hunters like us weaklings, and they despise and look down on us."
Jacob said. "Alright, time to go."
As they moved to leave the mansion, Malia trotted up behind them. Jacob looked down at her. "Do you want to come with us?"
She nodded her head firmly.
"Then stay next to Lydia." Jacob instructed.
With that, they left for the preserve.
As they were heading toward the woods, Jacob thought, 'I haven't signed in today. System, sign in.'
[Daily Sign-In Successful. Rewards Obtained:
- Bottle of Water x30
- 60-Meter Nylon Climbing Rope
- Charcoal Barrel Grill]
Jacob checked the rewards and thought. 'Well, it's better than nothing. The grill is good, though; we don't have one. I'll ask Cogman to smoke some brisket for us when I get back.'
---
Beacon Hills Preserve
As they went deeper into the woods. Cogman, with his enhanced hearing, picked up Bartek ordering his hunters in Polish to attack.
He turned to Scott and Stiles. "They are about to attack. Let's run! We haven't reached the place where we are supposed to meet Sir yet."
With that, the three of them broke into a sprint.
Behind them, Bartek said. "They've discovered us! Chase them! Don't let them escape!"
Bartek and his hunters gave chase. At first, the two groups maintained their distance, but seeing they weren't closing the gap, the Bogatyrs activated their power. A faint, white energy shimmered around their bodies, and their speed increased dramatically.
Scott glanced over his shoulder. "Shit, they're gaining on us!"
"Worry not." Cogman replied calmly. "We are almost there."
They ran for another five minutes before Cogman finally skidded to a halt. "Alright, we can stop now."
The three of them turned to face their pursuers.
Bartek and his group stopped a few meters away, their faces twisted with contempt. "Are you done running, freaks?" Bartek taunted.
Cogman smirked. "Who said we were running?"
A flicker of unease crossed Bartek's face. "They're waiting for someone. Let's kill them before whoever it is arrives. Attack!"
One of the hunters lunged forward. In response, Cogman's palm slid open, and a small cannon barrel emerged. It fired a blast of blue energy straight into the hunter's chest, sending him flying backward. However, the hunter performed a mid-air flip and landed on his feet, his own white energy having blocked the worst of the blast.
The hunters stared at Cogman in shock. "What are you?" Piotr demanded.
Cogman gave a slight bow. "Just a butler."
"Whoa, that was cool!" Stiles exclaimed. "I didn't know you could do that!"
"I had to make some modifications to my body." Cogman explained conversationally. "I realized my smaller form wasn't strong enough, and my full form, while powerful, is too slow. So, I enhanced my current form and added some new... attacking methods."
Recovering from their surprise, Bartek and his hunters unsheathed their swords. None carried guns; each wielded a blade now coated in their shimmering white energy.
Stiles eyed the glowing swords nervously. "Okay, that looks dangerous. Where is Jacob? And, Cogman, do you have a sword?"
"In fact, I do." Cogman reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a simple metal hilt. "Good thing I brought it with me. It's a perfect opportunity for a field test." He clicked a button on the base of the hilt, and a brilliant, humming blade of solid blue energy erupted from it.
Stiles screamed in excitement, shaking Scott's arm. "Did you see that?! It's a lightsaber!" He ran over to Cogman. "Can I borrow it, please? After the fight, of course!"
"That's a no." Cogman said firmly. "It is too dangerous." He then shoved Stiles back behind him. "Now stay away. They are attacking."
Just as he pushed Stiles to safety, two hunters closed in on him simultaneously. Cogman met one's energy-coated sword with his own energy blade, blocking the slash. At the same time, he aimed his other palm at the second hunter and fired an energy blast, forcing the man to divert his energy to defend and stumble back.
Cogman exerted more force through his blade, shoving the first hunter backward. Then, in a move no one expected, he opened his mouth. A red laser beam shot out, aimed directly at the hunter.
The hunter tried to block the laser with his energized sword, but his white energy couldn't dissipate the intense heat completely. The metal of the sword began to glow red-hot. The hunter was forced to threw himself into a desperate roll to evade the beam.
The second hunter seized the opening and attacked again. Cogman sidestepped the sword thrust and drove his energy blade into the man's gut, and was about to cut him in half. But a third hunter intervened, forcing Cogman to disengage and leap back.
Cogman parried the new attacker's blade with his own. Then before the hunter could react, his free hand shot out and clamped onto the man's face.
"Got you." Cogman said pleasantly.
He released a point-blank energy blast from his palm directly into the hunter's face. The man hadn't protected his head with his energy. The result was instantaneous and gruesome. His skin vaporized, revealing the scorched skull beneath. His eyes, nose, and lips were utterly gone. The hunter was still alive, but only barely, emitting a silent, agonized scream.
With cold efficiency, Cogman dropped the twitching body to the ground and cleanly severed the head from the torso with his energy sword.
The hunter who had been stabbed in the stomach earlier had backed away, his wound almost fully healed. He now stared at Cogman with a mixture of rage and fear.
Bartek's voice cut through the tension. "Lukasz, Robert, Andrzej! Attack him together!"
The three hunters moved as one, converging on Cogman. But just as they closed in, two sharp, whistling arrows of condensed wind shot from the darkness, aimed at two of the attackers.
The hunters reacted with supernatural speed, twisting to deflect the projectiles with their energy-coated blades. But the wind arrows were impossibly strong, spinning with violent force. The impact sent both men flying backward like ragdolls. They crashed through several trees and then rolled on the ground for a few meters before they stopped.
Cogman, now facing only the third hunter, parried a sword slash with his energy blade. In the same fluid motion, he raised his free hand, index finger extended, and fired several precise laser shots. Small, smoldering holes appeared in the hunter's chest and throat. The man dropped to his knees, coughing up blood.
Cogman deactivated his energy blade and returned the hilt to his pocket. He then grabbed the kneeling hunter by the hair and began driving his knee into the man's face. Once. Twice. He didn't stop. The sound of crunching bone and cartilage filled the clearing. He broke the man's nose and shattered all his teeth before letting him collapse.
He then straddled the hunter's chest and continued punching his face. The blows landed with sickening wet thuds until, finally, the man's skull could take no more and exploded.
Cogman stood up, sighing in deep satisfaction. "Now that was satisfying."
Scott and Stiles watched in horror, instinctively taking several steps backward.
Bartek, however, paid no mind to his dead man. He, his son Piotr, and his grandson Antoni were entirely focused on the tree line from where the wind arrows had originated.
Soon, Jacob and his group emerged from the darkness into the clearing. Bartek and his sons's eyes immediately scanned the newcomers, lingering on Allison, Lydia, and Malia. Then they ignored Malia, their gazes locking with predatory interest on Lydia and Allison.
Allison stepped forward to stand beside Cogman, who was now calmly straightening his suit and wiping blood from his face. Her eyes glowed with a vibrant green light, and a swirling vortex of green wind energy coiled around one of her hands.
Jacob walked over to Stiles and Scott. "You guys alright? You don't look too good."
Stiles stammered. "Well, we just saw your butler make a man's head explode."
"Then you might want to close your eyes or something." Jacob advised casually. "Because we're about to kill the rest of them."
Kate walked over to Scott. "Hey, handsome."
Scott panicked, scrambling to hide behind Jacob. "Jacob, please keep her away from me!"
Jacob laughed. Kate raised an eyebrow. "Why are you scared of me, kid? I was just being friendly."
"They told me you're a sexual predator who likes minors!" Scott blurted out.
Kate rolled her eyes in Jacob's direction. "Stop spreading nasty rumors about me. I'm not that bad." She then winked at Scott. "But I wouldn't mind having some fun with you, handsome. I wouldn't tell if you don't."
Scott looked horrified. "Damn, she really is a predator!"
Kate just smirked and turned her gaze to Stiles.
Stiles panicked. "Don't... don't look at me!" He then ran to stand behind Lydia, pleading. "Lydia, please protect me!"
Bartek ignored the side drama, his disappointed glare fixed on Chris. "Chris, I didn't expect you to help these freaks against fellow hunters. Gerard will be so disappointed in you when he hears about this. But don't worry, I will help Gerard clean his house after I deal with these monsters."
"I don't care what Gerard thinks of me." Chris stated coldly. "I've recently learned he is not the man I thought he was. And don't worry about me, old man. You should worry about yourself. After all, you are about to die."
Kate chimed in. "By the way, old man. You said you wanted your grandson to meet our little princess?" She gestured to Allison. "Well, she's right in front of you. And she's very eager to meet him, too."
Bartek looked at Allison with utter disgust. "Your little girl is a monster, and you let her live. I'm truly disappointed in you, Chris. But I'll do what you couldn't. I'll kill her, and then I'll kill you."
Jacob didn't say a word. He simply started walking toward Bartek.
Lydia smirked. "That old geezer is screwed."
Stiles nodded. "Yeah, he is. I should probably look away, but I really want to see what Jacob is going to do to him."
Bartek focused all his attention on the approaching teenager. Yet, no matter how hard he stared, Jacob appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary human. There was no shimmer of energy, no tell-tale sign of the supernatural. But a deep, primal unease settled in Bartek's gut, blooming into genuine fear as he met Jacob's cold, predatory gaze.
The two hunters sent flying by Allison's wind arrows staggered to their feet, blood trickling from their mouths. One stumbled back to stand by Bartek, but the other was enraged. He spat blood, his eyes locking onto Allison with pure hatred, and charged at her with superhuman speed.
Seeing Jacob directly in his path, the hunter dismissed him as a mere human. He swung his sword in a casual, dismissive slash, intending to cut the boy down without breaking stride and continue toward his real target.
Jacob's hand shot out, catching the man's wrist in an unbreakable grip. His eyes never left Bartek. With a sickening crunch, he shattered the hunter's arm, eliciting a scream of agony. Then, still looking at Bartek, Jacob clamped his other hand over the man's face. Fire erupted from his palm, instantly incinerating the hunter's head to ash. The headless body crumpled to the ground.
The moment Jacob used his fire, the veil was lifted. Bartek, Piotr, Antoni, and the other hunter, finally saw the truth—the immense, terrifying energy swirling within Jacob's body. It was a power that made their own feel insignificant.
Jacob grinned, a vicious, predatory expression. He unleashed his full dragon aura. A shockwave of pure, ancient power erupted from him, focused solely on the Zima family. While Allison and the others felt the shockwave, they were spared the crushing psychological weight. For Bartek and his kin, it was like staring into the eyes of an ancient beast.
Bartek bit his tongue hard, using the pain to fight the paralyzing fear. In a desperate, cowardly move, he grabbed the hunter standing beside him and shoved the man directly at Jacob. "Piotr! Antoni! Run!" He screamed. "With only four of us left, we cannot face such a monster!"
Cogman appeared in front of Jacob, catching the flung hunter by the neck. With a brutal, efficient motion, he tore out his windpipe, tossing the bloody tissue aside. Blood fountained from the grievous wound. As the hunter gurgled, still alive due to his supernatural resilience, Cogman snatched the man's fallen sword and decapitated him in one clean stroke.
Lydia teleported directly into the path of the fleeing Bartek and his sons. "And where do you think you're going, you bastards?" She asked sweetly. Then, she opened her mouth and unleashed a devastating sonic scream, blasting the three of them off their feet and sending them flying backward toward Jacob before teleporting back to Malia's side.
Jacob caught Bartek by the neck mid-air, and Cogman caught Piotr.
Allison, seeing Antoni hurtling through the air toward her, simply waved her hand. A powerful gust of wind caught him and sent him soaring high into the sky. She drew the katana Shusui from her spatial ring in a fluid motion. As Antoni began his helpless descent, she swung the blade. A massive, crescent-shaped slash of emerald wind shot toward him.
Antoni, just regaining his senses from Lydia's scream, saw the attack coming. He poured all his energy into his sword and body, forming a desperate shield. But his power was no match for Allison's elemental attack. The wind slash sliced cleanly through his energized blade, then through his torso, cutting him in two at the chest. He was dead before his remains hit the forest floor.
Piotr, held in Cogman's grip, witnessed his son's death. "ANTONI, NOOO!" He screamed, his voice cracking with agony.
Cogman punched him square in the mouth. "Shut it."
Piotr spat out fragments of teeth, glaring at Cogman with hatred. Cogman smiled pleasantly. "Let's see how long you can keep that look." Before Piotr could use his energy, Cogman delivered a savage kick to his balls, making the man howl in pain. "Your pained screams are music to my ears." Cogman said.
He dropped Piotr to the ground and proceeded to stomp on his crotch repeatedly until his pelvis shattered with an audible crack. Finally, he activated his energy sword and stabbed the broken man over and over until all movement ceased.
Chris, Scott, and Stiles winced, their hands instinctively moving to protect their crotches. "That's got to hurt." Stiles muttered, his face pale.
Scott shivered. "Cogman is vicious."
"Yeah." Chris agreed. "That butler is really a psychopath."
Bartek, held immobile by Jacob's grip on his neck, had seen his grandson killed and heard his son's tortured end. Rage gave him a final burst of strength, and he tried to flare his energy to break free.
Jacob didn't even flinch. A powerful current of electricity surged from his hand into Bartek's body, making the old hunter convulse violently and severing his connection to his power.
Jacob leaned close, his voice a low, deadly whisper. "First, I heard you wanted to set up a date between my wife and your grandson. And if that wasn't enough, you just said you were going to kill her because she's a monster. Now, I know you could never actually hurt her—she's more than capable, and I would never let anyone touch her—but still. Hearing you say that pissed me off. I was just planning to beat you to a pulp before killing you..."
Steam and smoke began to curl from Jacob's lips. A trickle of glowing, molten magma dripped from the corner of his mouth. "...but now I think I'll just burn that tongue of yours."
Jacob forced Bartek to his knees, gripping his jaw. Another jolt of electricity made the old hunter's mouth snap open in a silent scream. Jacob leaned in, opened his own mouth, and a stream of magma poured out, directly into Bartek's throat.
The magma scorched his mouth, seared his esophagus, and flooded into his chest, burning him alive from the inside. He couldn't even scream. Jacob released him, and Bartek collapsed, clawing futilely at his own melting throat and chest, only succeeding in burning his hands to the bone. He died in utter agony as the magma consumed his neck, severing his head from his body in a final, gruesome display.
To be continued... 😊