The Bloodforged Kin

Chapter 226 - 220: Mason’s Hellbound

Mason had always loved the name he'd come up with for his gang. Well, he hadn't come up with it - but who cared about that? What mattered is that he made it stick. He just kept calling them that until everyone else started calling them that too. Well, no one else had started calling them that - they'd all died during the apocalypse, but if they'd lived Mason was pretty damned sure they'd call his gang that now. They'd do it or he'd send them to hell first. The important thing is that they were, first and foremost, a motorcycle gang, and they needed to start acting like it.

"Listen up, assholes!" The quiet talking of his Lieutenants and their Enchantresses came to an abrupt stop. He scanned them all, watching for any signs of defiance. His control over them had grown as his skills did, and he'd be damned if they started thinking for themselves. Or… his eyes skipped over to that Slim Jim with a nose, Gabriel. Mason had long suspected that Gabriel had been lying to him about how he got his levels. Mason wasn't college educated like some liberal pussy, but he was street smart. If you asked him, he was the smartest street-smart person in this damned state, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let a walking skinless hotdog pull one over on him. He'd call him a dildo, but dildos got pussy.

Mason laughed to himself, satisfied that no one asked him what he was laughing about. He had let Gabriel do his thing with the army - General Tom had firm control over the army and Mason didn't have anything to worry about there. Instead, when The System gave him a choice to have greater dominion over his army or his Lieutenants, he'd chosen the Lieutenants. Why? Soldiers came and went, died and got 'recruited.' There would always be more to replace them, and they'd never get strong enough to challenge him. His Lieutenants, though - if they teamed up on him they might just have a chance. He wasn't about to let that happen. He could take over the world anyway, he didn't need to be able to mentally control his armies to do it. And he sure as hell didn't want that human-sized naked mole rat stealing his control over his Hellbound with whatever mental powers he had. It was time to put his house in order.

"Tomorrow morning our analyst nerds are saying that we're going to get some fuck-off big monsters coming our way, and we're going to do what we do best - fuck shit up. You're not going with the army, General Tom will take care of them. You dipshits are going to be doing what you should have been doing this whole time - acting like a motorcycle gang. The Hellbound are the biggest badasses this world has ever seen and it's time to prove it!" He got only blank stares in return. No pride, no smiles, not even a little cockiness that should have come from being his elite. He sighed. Mental control was great and all, but would it kill them to show a little gratitude?

"So here's what we're going to do. You all are going to take out whatever comes this way. If there's a lot of them you'll kill the first ones, then let the army take care of the rest. The nerds think that either there will be a really big thing coming in the beginning that will take all of us, or it'll be a bunch of boss monsters. Either way, I want you in the front. Do what you gotta do, but…" He shook his head in frustration. He was trying to remember everything that General Tom had said, but he'd gotten bored halfway through the explanation and had started flicking beer bottle caps into the house servants. He'd laughed as they hit hard enough to puncture skin and knock them on their asses. All of them had been too scared to flee so they'd stood there and taken it, like the pussies they were. "General! Get up here and tell them my plan."

Tom stepped up next to Mason and performed a crisp turn, back straight and arms behind his back. "Your power sets are complimentary and work best as a group, so we're going to take advantage of that. Work together as a team, but conserve your big skills until they're needed. There may be more than one boss monster so we want to make sure you don't waste all your skills on something you could kill without your skills."

"Don't blow your loads up front like a bunch of virgins!" Everyone waited for Mason to stop laughing at his own joke. When the room was silent again Tom continued as if there hadn't been a pause.

"Kill each monster with the minimum of skills needed. You will be on your own to decide best how to synergize your skills, but I will give the orders on when to use your high-level ones, if necessary. If the monsters get stronger you will start using them more often, and if something shows up that's too hard to kill you will retreat and let the army take care of it. Does everyone understand?"

His question was greeted by silence and dead eyes.

"Do you fucking understand?" Mason's shout got nods all around, which mollified him. Tom wasn't as confident. Mindless drones didn't perform as well as thinking soldiers, and Mason had exerted even more control than usual in these last few days. If there was any shred of independent thought left in the Lieutenants it wasn't visible while they were this close to him. At least the Enchantresses seemed to be unaffected, apparently not worth Mason's attentions.

General Tom continued. "We don't know where they'll be coming from - it could be the Lake or the surrounding areas. We're going to keep you off of the lake, we don't want to risk something breaking through the ice and dropping you and your bikes into the water. If it comes from there we'll fight it on the shore. If it comes from the neighborhoods around here we'll make a stand just beyond the mansion."

"So help me god," Mason said, "if any of you let one of these creatures slip through and fuck up my mansion there will be hell to pay!"

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"With that in mind," Tom continued calmly, "the platoons will be arrayed in defensive formations around the mansion. They'll engage any enemies that aren't being addressed by your team."

"Do we know what's coming?" Lilith's seductive voice coated the air between them and Mason smiled with lustful hunger. She may have been riding with the Lieutenants lately, but she would always be his bitch.

"Unfortunately we don't. We'll have to adjust the plan to adapt to the changing situation. I will give orders to that effect, but listen closely to the platoon leaders. They've been instructed not to interfere with what you need to do, but they will be ready to step in as required."

Mason was bored. "Okay, enough of this shit. Get out there and make me proud!"

Everyone filed out of the room, the Hellbound moving to sit on their bikes, content to wait in the freezing weather throughout the night until an order was given. Mason watched Gabriel out of the corner of his eye. He'd need to keep that little bastard close to him so he couldn't do any damage.

Dawn arrived to find the platoons neatly organized around the mansion. Runners had been sent to monitor the four cardinal directions. They were fast - really fast - and could get back here within seconds to inform them of anything they saw. Mason was eating a hunk of meat that Tom hoped was an animal when the four runners appeared almost in tandem.

"Figures approaching from the north."

"From the south."

"From the west."

"Something is forming in the water."

Mason slammed his hand on the much-abused table and jumped up. "Time to get the show on the road! Let's do it!"

General Tom sprinted out of the front door to address his platoon sergeants. They carried the orders to their squad leaders, but with everyone already in position there wasn't much for them to do other than wait. The minutes stretched on and Mason began pacing along the front porch. "They need to just get here! What's taking them so long?"

Tom didn't answer - he knew better than to interrupt Mason's rants and draw his ire.

Far in the distance the sounds of melee fighting and spells being launched could be heard. Rapid-fire communication traveled back through the organized communication system Tom had set up, delivering the information to him. His squads knew to cast Identify and send any information they could get back. The members with advanced Communication Specialists classes could gather a lot of information that way and they were able to deliver packets of System information from person to person, ensuring that the results of the identifications were communicated as if the person at the other end had cast it himself.

Mason and General Tom both read the System descriptions:

Wendigo

Description: A terrifying, emaciated humanoid figure, often associated with the harsh, cold wilderness of the North. The Wendigo is a spirit of insatiable hunger and is often depicted as a monstrous creature with glowing eyes and sharp claws, driven to consume anything in its path. It is often linked to cannibalism and isolation.

Magical Skills/Abilities:

Hunger Frenzy

:

The Wendigo can induce a ravenous hunger in its enemies, causing them to turn on each other in a fit of madness..

Frostbite Touch:

Its touch causes frostbite, freezing victims from the inside out, sapping their strength and causing them to freeze solid.

Ethereal Stealth:

It can blend into its surroundings, becoming nearly invisible in snowstorms or icy environments.

Ice Golems

Description: A massive creature composed of snow and ice. the Ice Golem is a slow-moving but incredibly durable foe. It is an elemental being created by powerful magic or natural forces to protect sacred areas or act as a guardian of ancient places.

Magical Skills/Abilities:

Blizzard Form:

It can generate an area of intense cold around itself, freezing enemies and weakening them over time.

Icy Slam:

The Ice Golem can raise its arms and slam the ground, sending shockwaves of ice that freeze everything they touch.

Shard Storm:

It can break off pieces of its body to launch as deadly ice shards, piercing through armor and flesh.

"This worries me."

Mason turned to look at General Tom, his comment unsettling. "You're never worried, General. What's up?"

"The Ice Golems are pretty straightforward and pretty much perfect for your Hellbound, but the wendigos are the bigger threat. If they can make the army fight itself we're in for some trouble. The Hellbound aren't as effective against a big group of them, but since you have a strong control over their minds they might not be at as much of a risk of being mind controlled as the army would be. I think we should let the army deal with the golems and have the Hellbound round up all the wendigo."

"Fuck that," Mason said. "Send them after the golems."

The two stared each other down, both knowing the real reason Mason didn't want his elite facing the wendigos - he wouldn't risk losing mental control over them, even if it cost the lives of his army.

Tom averted his gaze first, nodding sharply. "Understood, sir." He stepped off the porch, sliding onto an open seat on the back of one of the bikes. He hated riding on the back like this, but Generals had to do unpleasant things to lead an army. He issued the order to ride to the lake shore, resisting the urge to grab Jonas's waist as the bike took off at a leap.