Reborn As The Beggar Lord

010 Stay Behind Me

Halbert looked at Kingsley and Gina, slowly and painfully shaking his head.

"Are you thrill-seekers from the capital? Have you never faced a real threat to your lives before?"

Kingsley didn't answer. He stepped forward and stood beside the giant young man. Gina followed suit.

"If you're really going to be stupid, then stay behind me," Halbert said with a sigh. "If even one of those mist monsters gets past me, you will die screaming."

Without any further words, he turned and strode toward the wide gap in the treeline.

Kingsley could tell that every movement cost Halbert. He could hear the wet, ragged strain in his breathing and see the pain locking up his stiff legs. Yet the young man kept his back straight, refusing to give up.

The ground trembled beneath Kingsley's boots. A heavy thudding echoed from inside the fog. Something fast and massive was charging toward them.

"Prepare for the worst," Halbert muttered, planting his feet deep into the soil.

The first beast burst through the grey wall of the Mist.

It was shaped like a bull but loomed much larger, its massive shoulders standing taller than a grown man. Two long horns pointed forward from its skull, and its eyes glowed red.

A second beast emerged soundlessly beside it. This one had the appearance of a panther but was longer than a horse, with a black hide and flat horns swept back against its ears. It made no sound at all.

"Please don't go any further, my lord," Gina whispered, her voice wavering. "We should listen to the Shields boy."

Kingsley's blood ran cold. The bull and panther were not the same creatures that had wrecked the goat shed. They were monsters that could knock down houses.

Both beasts lowered their heads and charged.

Halbert swung his ax around and braced the blunt side across his chest with both arms.

The bull slammed into the ax. The crash rolled through the trees.

Halbert's boots carved two furrows into the dirt as the beast drove him backward. He stopped it at fifteen feet.

Kingsley watched Halbert's boots slide. The soil here was soft from the Mist's damp, and the bull's hooves were sinking deep. That was why the young man could stop it. The ground was working against the beast.

"Do you still think this is a show, capital boy?" Halbert shouted through his clenched teeth.

Kingsley made a gesture to Gina. She raised her hand and six knives lifted from her belt. They shot at the panther.

The blades struck its neck and shoulder and skidded off the black hide. Thin scratches were left behind.

The panther spun toward Gina and stopped, staring at the knives floating in the air.

Magic surprised it, Kingsley thought. This side of the border has never fought back with spells before.

Halbert roared, turned the ax, and buried the sharp edge into the bull's ribs. The blade bit three inches deep but could not go further. It was as if he had chopped into old oak.

The young man wrenched his weapon free and jumped back from the horns.

"Die already!" he bellowed, and swung again.

Gina kept her knives working. They dived at the panther's eyes and face, and the beast swatted them out of the air with its claws. When the blades rose again, half of them were bent.

"Don't waste your weapons, mage girl!" Halbert shouted at her. "Their hide is hardened by the Mist's poison. Ordinary steel can't cut deep."

Kingsley realized that the giant young man's ax must have some magical enhancement. He had brute strength, but it was impossible to survive against monsters like these without magic.

The bull charged again, making Halbert retreat from the horns. The panther circled wide, while Gina's knives kept it distracted.

Now that the beasts were close enough, Kingsley saw letters appear over them.

[Mistborn Bull] [D-Grade]

[Mistborn Panther] [D-Grade]

He read them twice, and his stomach dropped. D-grade animals were usually weak or tame. Born in the Mist, those presently trying to kill them were much bigger, faster, and bloodthirsty.

Kingsley's gaze shifted to Halbert and noticed that the young man was slowing down. His swings were shallower and lower each time. His veins had blackened and blood ran down his nose.

The bull took advantage of this slip, hooked its horns under his weapon and threw him.

Halbert flew backward, hit the ground, and skidded to a stop at Kingsley's feet.

"My lord, we have to run!" Gina shouted. "I can't deal with both beasts at the same time!"

Her knives snapped back to her and floated around her shoulders. Half were bent, and two had broken.

Kingsley shook his head. He had not blinked since the fight began.

Right now, the mistborn bull didn't follow Halbert to finish what it started. It stood grunting as blood dripped from the wound he had cut across its leg.

The mistborn panther circled wide of Gina's knives and growled. She hadn't inflicted damage as deep as Halbert's, but the beast was clearly exhausted.

"They're hurt and afraid," Kingsley said. "It's working. Keep them on the backfoot."

Halbert spat blood and rose to his feet. "It seems there is a narrow chance you two nobles can escape from this nightmare alive."

Then a howl rose from beyond the Mist Wall. Another answered it, and then dozens more joined in all along the border.

More mutated beasts walked out of the fog. Kingsley counted more than twelve.

Wolves the size of horses. A horde of rats as large as hounds. Another mutated bull followed. A wave of smaller but louder creatures emerged behind them.

Cold sweat ran down Kingsley's back.

Halbert was at his limit. Gina's knives were almost scrap.

Any one of those beasts could kill them without slowing down, and a whole pack of them had just stepped out of the Mist.