The Hammer of War, Chapter 41

Name: Amir Azad
Title: War-Summoner
War Points: 10,000

STR – 38
DEX – 30
VIT – 148

I raised a brow. Not in doubt or insult, but in surprise.

“You want me,” I said, “after I blew your warehouse to dust?”

Lukan shrugged. The motion carried weight but no heat. “Arms and armor are easily found and let go. Not cheaply, but the Order of Hunters is hardly going to bleed from that. But you…”

He folded his arms, measuring me like he was fitting a rifle to a new stock. “A recruit who’s put down a High-Class Devil? Not even with magic, but with his bare hands… now that… that’s worth more than any warehouse.”

He tipped his head at the men behind him. “I’m Lukan. Great Hunter, by oath and by deed. These three—”

The tall one with the crossbow slapped the weapon’s sling. “Garin.”

The younger man touched two fingers to his brow. “Shane.”

The last, squat and broad, lifted a hand. “Bob.”

Lukan went on. “Their blades are keen, their will keener, but numbers are thin. The Order bleeds hunters faster than we can bind them.”

He let his words hang. The trees creaked overhead. Snow slipped free, drifting between us.

“Our mission,” he said, “is freedom. No more chains hidden in scripture, no more contracts inked in blood. We break the neck of anything that feeds on the living. We hunt down every single night creature that preys on humanity, no matter how innocent they may seem.”

Garin spat in the snow. “Devils, vampires, angels if they show.”

Bob’s fingers drummed the holster at his hip. “All gods fall the same height.”

Lukan’s gaze never left mine. “You’ve stood in the dark and didn’t blink. You know what waits there.” He stepped closer, boots grinding frost. “You can help end it.”

He held out his hand again—gloved, steady. “Protection. Training. Gear. Artifacts. Camaraderie. Doors opened, doors closed. And allies when you need them.”

I kept the rifle low but ready. “Sounds tidy. What’s the price?”

“Your aim,” he said. “Your oath. Nothing else we care about.” 

A pause. “We’re not asking for your soul. Only your shot.”

I scanned the tree line. Nothing stirred. “And if I pass?”

“Then keep west and pray the road stays empty,” Garin said.

Lukan raised a palm, silencing him. “You walk free, Amir Azad. But the House of Stolas rides north, and the night rides with them.”

Shane thumbed a silver bolt. “Head start’s short.”

I exhaled fog. “Give me time.”

“You have it,” Lukan said. “But time has teeth.”

I nodded once. “Contact?”

“Phone,” he answered.

I pulled the device from my coat. Battery at half, airplane mode blinking. I tossed it.

Lukan caught it, thumbed the screen alive, tapped quick. “Encrypted channel, dead switch. If the casing cracks or the screen shatters, it bricks. No trace.”

He handed it back. A new icon pulsed red in the corner.

“Press once,” he said. “We come.”

Bob chuckled, low. “Or what’s left of us does.”

I slipped the phone away. “You’re betting on a stranger.”

“We’re betting on proof.” Lukan’s eyes cooled. “Helena’s corpse is proof.”

Garin clicked the crossbow’s safety. “You think on it. The border’s a thin line. Monsters don’t care about lines. They’ll keep chasing you.”

“I know.” I said. “That’s why I’m headed to Canada–less people, more wilderness. If they come after me, I can fight properly, without having to think of civilians.”

Bob huffed. “Good. You’re already thinking like a Hunter. Whatever happens, the lives of the innocent always come first.”  

Shane glanced skyward. “Snow’s thickening. We’ll lose daylight.”

Lukan offered his hand a final time. I didn’t take it. Not yet. “Thank you for the offer.” 

“We can give you a ride out of here.” 

“I’ll walk,” I said.

“Then walk,” Lukan answered. “North or south—it’s all the same hunt.”

He stepped back, signaled with two fingers. The hunters melted into the timber, boots leaving shallow prints that filled with fresh snow. In moments only the hush of the pines remained and they were gone.

I stood alone again.

The [Tau Rail Rifle] cooled in my grip, metal fading from blood-warm to dead steel. The phone in my coat pocket pulsed once. A red icon blinked slow and steady, a single eye in the dark.

I sent them both away. Inventory swallowed them without a sound.

The wind moved through the trees. I breathed it in. Cold and pine-bitten.

Then I walked.

North again.

Not on the road this time. I'd grown tired of it. Too clean. Too empty. It stretched flat and bare like it had been drawn by a lazy god. You could see a mile ahead, and there was nothing to see. Just gas stations that looked like they’d been copied from the same blueprint, diners with dust on the blinds and nobody behind the counter. Asphalt, cracked and gray. Yellow paint faded to nothing.

The woods were better.

Wilder. Uneven.

No stretch of path looked the same.

Branches hung low, heavy with snow. Trees leaned against each other like drunks sharing secrets. The ground shifted underfoot—sometimes soft, sometimes stone, sometimes frozen hard enough to bite back. Birds stirred overhead. Squirrels darted between roots. Old stumps stood like watchmen, hollowed and silent.

I walked through them.

No direction but forward.

The meeting with Lukan hung in my thoughts like a coat too heavy to take off. He made a strong offer. Clean. Direct. Join the Order. Fight monsters. Get protection, gear, training. Travel. Safety.

And purpose.

That last part mattered.

It sounded good. Almost too good.

A part of me wanted to say yes. Maybe a loud part. But another part—the quieter one, the one that had kept me alive this long—held me back.

I didn’t know Lukan. Not really.

He talked like a soldier and moved like one too. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t lying. Or hiding something. Maybe the Order really was what he said. Maybe it wasn’t.

I’d made enough mistakes already.

Portland had taught me that. Helena. Sebastian. That damn warehouse. All of it.

I’d rushed in. Trusted too easily. Acted too fast. Thought I could brute force my way through the dark and come out clean.

Nearly died for it.

Not this time.

I wasn’t just going to jump in because someone gave me a name and a cause.

So I walked.

And I thought.

After dozens of hours on foot, the sun rising and falling like breath, I reached the border.

There was no wall.

No fence. No gate. No watchtower with a man behind glass.

Just a line.

A strip of land cut straight through the forest where nothing grew. No grass. No tree. No stone out of place. Just a clean wound through the snow, bare and unnatural, running east to west until it vanished over the edge of sight.

I stood at the edge and stared at it.

Raised a brow.

Shrugged.

And stepped across.

The shift was faint. Not light. Not sound. Not even smell. Just a tension in the air, like passing through the frame of a doorway into someone else’s house. My boots sank the same in the snow. My breath left the same frost on the air. But something changed.

Territory.

Not metaphor. Not suggestion. Something else. My skin prickled once and then it was gone. Whatever line I crossed, it wasn’t just political.

I turned, looked back the way I came. Trees stood quiet. A hawk cried in the distance. I caught a shape slipping between the branches—a deer, maybe, or something pretending to be.

Further off, I heard the faint rumble of engines. The kind that belonged to border patrols. But they were far. Too far. Their presence little more than ghosts behind the hills.

No one waited for me. No one followed.

Only the trees. Only the wind.

I let out a breath, reached into my [Inventory], and pulled out the world map I’d stored.

Unfolded it.

Laid it flat against my palm. My finger traced the route. If I hadn’t gone too far west, I was somewhere near Quebec. That meant the coastline wasn’t far. I could follow it north. Cross through the jagged stretch of land until I reached the Torngat Mountains. From there, I’d swim to Baffin Island. Then to Cape Dyer. Then to Greenland.

I studied the line again.

Swim.

Not impossible.

Not with the body I had now. Not with the [Blank] aura keeping the worst things away and the stamina to outlast most machines. I’d make the distance. One stroke at a time. I might actually enjoy it. And, if it proved challenging enough, I might even get a stat boost. 

I folded the map. Slid it back into the [Inventory]. Kept walking forward.

Speaking of boosts, maybe it was time I took a serious look at the [Blessings] tab of the System. I had 10,000 War Points anyway and making them just sit there seemed like a waste. One of my biggest problems was my lack of personal power. As Sebastian proved, even with my [Blank] aura turned up to its maximum, a gun could kill me very easily. The [Blessings] were the cheapest path to power at the moment. 

Though, I could buy the [Astartes Augmentations], which would cost me about 8,000 War Points, but the description basically said it’d make me seven feet tall and bulked to hell. While interesting, the last thing I wanted was to stand out that much. The same was true for the [Custodes Augmentations]. Strong. Very strong. But not what I wanted or needed at the moment. Physical strength was good, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be very helpful against magical bullshit. 

No, the [Blessings] were definitely the way to go forward. And if they were anything like the [Blessing of Isha] that I got when I first received the System, these were bound to be powerful and helpful. 

So, I opened up the [Blessings]. 

[Blessing of Tzeentch] - You gain an unnatural aptitude for all things magical, including the native magic of your starting world. Lessons that would take normal mages decades to master will only take you a few days or hours. However, you become more whimsical and prone to changing your choices at the last moment. Costs 9000 War Points.

[Blessing of Nurgle] - You gain an unnatural physical resilience and endurance that far outstrips your body’s natural ability. You feel no pain and gain an increased resistance to toxins, poisons, and venoms. However, you emit a foul and powerful odor that no amount of bathing will get rid of.  Costs 9000 War Points.

[Blessing of Slaanesh] - You gain an unnatural charisma and presence that almost appears to enthrall people around you. People will want to listen to every word you say and convincing others to do what you want becomes easier. However, you are more easily led astray by temptations. Costs 9000 War Points.

[Blessing of Khorne] - You gain an unnatural aptitude for physical combat and warfare. You become physically stronger and faster, beyond your body’s natural ability. However, you are prone to anger and drawn to violence as the first choice. Costs 9000 War Points.

[Blessing of Vashtorr] - You gain an unnatural aptitude for all things technological. You are able to build and innovate wondrous devices, and understand highly advanced mechanical and technical concepts and machines that would otherwise boggle the mind. However, you lose your sense of ethics when it comes to innovation. Costs 9000 War Points.

[Blessing of Malice] - You gain the power of [Soul Siphon]. With it, you are able to steal a tiny fraction of the power of those whose souls you devour. However, this ability is considered abominable in most universes and most of those who witness you performing [Soul Siphon] will be repulsed by you. Costs 9000 War Points.

[Blessing of the God Emperor] - You gain an unnatural resilience against corruptive elements, mental attacks, soul attacks, and conceptual attacks. Your willpower becomes nigh-unbreakable and successful attempts at mind control or any form of master effect will only cause you to freeze at worst. However, you gain an unnatural and unexplainable hatred for non-human sentients and AI. Costs 9000 War Points.

Ah, very interesting options here.