Chapter 10 - Incoming Vengeance
- Sam P.O.V. -
After a few days of nursing and coaxing, I manage to "befriend" Barabas. Of course, he is the strong, silent type. I don't know exactly what happened to him in the past to make him hate humans so much, but aside from a simmering, deep-seated rage, I don't get much feeling from him.
It's sad, really. A king reduced to a prisoner of his own anger.
I released him from the physical constraints—the ropes and improvised splints—but I stopped him from moving just yet. His bones are knit, but soft. I also channel power into him every few hours to accelerate the cell regeneration. Which, in turn, makes me ravenous.
My rations won't last the two of us for another day, and my left arm is still a mess. It will take at least a week to remove the "cast" of hardened blood and bandages, and another week to move it properly without screaming. Since I lost my spears in the fall, I have no choice but to make new ones. Normally, I only need a few minutes to hunt, but now, with one good arm and a limp, it takes a few hours of frustrating effort.
Like that, a week goes by.
Gary makes it back, fluttering down from the canopy, and I'm genuinely happy to see the little guy.
("No offense, Barabas, but you can never be as cute as this fluff-ball.")
Snort. -
The bear doesn't even open his eyes to acknowledge me.
("Hooo! You get me now. You were just ignoring me the whole week! You big tsundere.")
Not even a twitch. He's mastering the art of the cold shoulder.
("See what I mean, Gary? You're the best. At least you listen to me.")
Of course, Gary doesn't understand much of the complex stuff; he's just happy to be perched on my shoulder, chirping away. Hehehe.
With his help acting as an aerial scout, I manage to find all the herbs I need for a healing balm, keeping my guard up the whole time. Thankfully, birds have an instinct against sneak attacks. A wild cat manages to try and catch Gary after he starts flying low, jumping at him from the brush. I only needed one claw—my own hand—to hook onto the cat's skin and snap its neck. Dinner served.
This high-protein diet speeds up our recovery a bit.
Now my two arms have matching scars on them. The right one likes flames, a remnant of my past. And the left... well, it looks like a crater. The flesh is puckered and raw where the bone came through. Maybe it looks like a sun? If it was yellow, perhaps. But now it's pink, shiny new skin that itches like crazy.
Luckily, the girls gave me some power back before they left. I'm almost healed already. I feel stronger, actually. Denser. I think it must be my new connection with Barabas. We were both pretty banged up, and I used all my power on him to save his life. Even if my soul is stronger than his, I must have gained something from the exchange. Same for him, since he seems to understand my telepathy perfectly now.
(I swear to you, it was hard shielding my thoughts from Red at first. But Barabas is like a brick wall that listens.)
Since he can now walk without limping too badly, we start our journey back. I think it will take us a week to get home at this pace. This is bad. My guts are tangled up for some reason. A premonition? Indigestion? I hope it's the latter.
I open the way for us and hunt with Gary's help. At night, I channel my power inside Barabas's chest until I fall asleep right on his warm belly. I know it's stupid to sleep on a wild apex predator, but I can't help it. It's warm, and I'm too fidgety these days to sleep alone on the cold ground.
That's when the weird stuff starts.
At night, once I close my eyes, I'm not in a black void. I'm inside a volcano. And Barabas is there, sleeping too.
This happens every night. At first, I had a hard time just enduring the heat of this mental space, but I can now jog around the magma pools without collapsing. It's funny; it's supposed to be a dream. But it's more than a dream. It's like our body and soul are an extension of the other party's. Like a phantom limb that spans across consciousness.
Until one night, Barabas got mad in the "Domain." Apparently, I am too noisy! Well, excuse me, but I can train while I sleep! It's amazing efficiency.
He tried to chase me out of the volcano, roaring and swiping. But by reflex, I punched him in the snout, and he bounced off the obsidian wall. The entire Domain shook from the shockwave!
Once he admitted defeat—grumbling and rubbing his nose—my soul sent some sort of power inside him, and the same happened for me. A reciprocal flow. He says (telepathically, in images) that he feels a lot calmer thanks to me. Of course, I suspect there must be some law or familiar contract at work here. His attitude doesn't seem better—he's still a grumpy old man—but I feel absolute trust in him.
I'm glad I could observe this; it's great data on the soul. I did not feel it as vividly as I just did now with the others. With Red, I was unconscious and just got physically better. With Gary, I dreamt of being in his shoes, flying and eating bugs. Maybe they were obedient or trusting enough to begin with, or I was too insensitive yet to notice the "Domain."
This time, I feel our connection step by step, as if he was my equal. Both of us were almost dying—him worse off—but both low on power, slowly merging and healing together. I had time and was very attentive to the connection effects.
On the fourth day, in the afternoon, my nerves are tense. Snapping point tense.
This feeling I had kept growing stronger. We are so close, maybe a few hours out, but I can smell fire on the wind. It's not a campfire. It's destruction. I did not cross paths with any enemies, so they must have come from a different angle.
I'm worried.
I run.
- Tenka's P.O.V. -
It's been a week now since I started to feel like I'm sleeping in a fire pit.
Every time I go to sleep, my power seems to slip from my body's control. It starts from my extremities—fingertips and toes—and ends at my heart, exactly where Sam puts his hand when we sleep together. It burns, but it's a comforting burn. I know it has something to do with him.
(I hope you're fine, Sam. Don't do anything stupid.)
The preparations are done. We are all tense, vibrating with anxiety, but with my mood these days, nobody dares to do anything reckless. Since Red seems calm enough, I'm okay. If Sam were dead, Red would know.
We have fifteen warriors and over thirty-two people in total. Five adult wolves and Red. Not too bad for a start-up tribe. With Red's help, we can carry the weakest of them if we need to flee.
The note Sam sent said there should be around fifty to a hundred men. This is going to be tough. We have never fought humans yet—killing beasts is one thing, but people? And Sam is still away. I can only remind them to be careful every day, drilling the plan into their heads.
Today, Eldo came back.
I can understand the owl like Sam does with Red. I can't share his vision yet—something to do with adapting to the owl eyes first, according to Sam's theory—but I understand the intent. Eldo tells me there are a little over a hundred men, fifty kilometers East, coming straight toward us.
This is too much. The traps won't get all of them.
I stand in the center of the clearing and whistle with all my might.
Get Ready For the Fight! -
Everybody knows the drill. The old and young pack up what little stuff they have, preparing to run, while the warriors get to the trap field.
We divide into five teams of three. I tell Temate to make a speech. She looks at me oddly, confused by the request.
Why me? You are the leader. -
It's a matter of life and death, Temate. You have the voice of a Matriarch. Use your strengths. -
She grits her teeth, nods, and makes a beautiful speech. It's short, fiery, and full of hate for the men coming to take us. I'm not the one to make a speech—I'm too cold right now—so better to train her well.
We have two hundred throwing spears, ten crossbow bolts for our one prototype crossbow, and our metal-tipped spears—two per captain, kept for close quarters. The crossbow will be used against archers specifically. Still, there should be more of them than ten...
If we don't miss too many shots and get lucky with the traps, we can win without much close-quarters combat. But I doubt that the girls will be able to hold the pressure once the blood starts flowing. The ten newbies have not killed yet, much less in a battle against humans. At least I'm not worried about the command structure; the generals will take the decisions for them.
I will be with Red. We are the ace in the hole.
They should be here by the end of the afternoon at the pace they move. It leaves us with less than five hours.
I go to check on Berth. I don't want the giant boar to fight, in case he becomes an easy target for a hundred arrows.
The damn pig snorted at me and just lay down, closing his eyes. At least Red should be able to talk some sense into him. In the end, we convinced him to carry our heavy supplies for the escape route. He's actually very nice once you get to know him... and bribe him with extra yams.
Last check-up:
200 traps: Check.
200 throwing spears: Check.
20 metal-tipped spears: Check.
Crossbow and bolts: Check.
The wolf pack on rear guard: Check.
Berth... sleeping. Errg. Check.
- Beno's P.O.V. -
Inside a temporary wooden office set up in a forward camp, a man is leaning back on his chair, picking his teeth with a miniature sword.
My men went for a "harvest" weeks ago, but they did not come back yet. After the scout reported back, he said there were only eight skeletons found at the target village. Even some of the bones were gone, and others were mangled. Clearly the work of a powerful beast.
But where are the women? Beasts eat, they don't kidnap entire villages without leaving a trace of gore.
Not important. That beast is messing with the wrong man. Maybe it's that damn Red Bear again. I should have killed it a long time ago. Now it comes back and bites me in the ass.
Smash!
I throw my alcohol glass against the wall, shattering it.
MARCUS!!! -
A shadow bursts into the room, flipping and wheeling around like a pinball. He knocks into a shelf, almost breaking every piece of furniture in my office, but miraculously manages to put everything back in place intact before landing in a crouch.
The strange man, who clearly seems insane, is actually wearing a jester hat and red leather armor. He is not very tall, with manic red irises and wild red hair.
I grab my Claymore. I am Beno. I wear beige cotton under brown leather and half-mail armor. My hair is salt and pepper, my beard unshaven. My skin is tanned leather. A scar runs over my left blinded eye; the right one is brown and sees everything. I give off a very dangerous feeling, or so I'm told.
Get the men in the training area in an hour. Tell them we're going to war. :D -
Marcus grins, his smile too wide.
An Hour Later
I stand on a raised platform, addressing my men.
I don't know what happened to the men I sent to the "End Village," but we need to find out. From the look of things, it should be a beast that got them, but we did not find the women's remains. So I'm bringing all of you. -
A ripple of excitement goes through the one hundred and fifty men.
We can't let anything threaten our organization. That thing is strong for sure. Just be on your guard. And find me my merchandise. -
So, the next day, we set off for End Village.
It takes around a week to reach the place, examining the remains of the burnt village. We cannot tell the bodies used to have weapon wounds, since whatever beast it was ate a lot of them, and the birds and small critters around finished the job.
We pick up a trail. It's faint, but distinct. They should be around two weeks ahead of us. (I don't know that for sure, but the trail is easy—suspiciously easy—to follow. Almost like someone wanted to be followed. But who is stupid enough to lead me to them?)
(Why did the beast let the women leave? Or maybe they escaped thanks to my men dying? That would explain the burned village... I'll just ask when I catch them.)
What took two months and a half for the women to travel takes two weeks for my men. We march hard.
(Why the hell would they go so far out? There is nothing that way. No humans at all. Heck, I'm not even sure another race lives there; it's just the dangerous, huge forest!)
We reach a clearing. The trees look innocent.
The first thing that welcomes us is the death of a scout.
ARGH! -
He shouts in agony as he gets spiked in the gut by a swinging log hidden in the foliage.
By the time the men realize this, it's a bit late. What they actually hit is the second line of traps. The first was reversed, designed to be walked over safely but catch scared and disarrayed people trying to retreat.
(Smart... Just my fucking luck!)
Logs start to fall out of the sky. Branches with sharpened spikes at the tip whip them from strange, unseen angles. Ropes trip them over hidden reversed spikes.
In five minutes, my vanguard is decimated. Screams fill the air. I don't even move from my spot.
(Twenty men died in five minutes, and we didn't even fight yet. This is the work of a human coward! A beast doesn't build punji pits.)
I stomp my sword on the ground in frustration, the shockwave breaking a snare trap close to me.
(I can't even order that idiot Marcus properly; he might even make more of a mess. But he's the only one who could quickly find a way through this mess.)
Marcus... You go make a trail for us. -
Marcus giggles, dancing on his toes.
Haaa. Hahahaha! Did you see this one?! Giggle... Mmm, okay~! I just looooove the look on your face right now. Hahahaha! -
Think about the most annoying, high-pitched laughter imaginable. That is Marcus.
(These weaklings can never follow the little ol' great me!) Marcus thinks, loud enough in his expression that I can practically hear it.
You heard it! Follow the jester! - I roar at the men.
(And! I stay behind, watching this shit show.)
Screams!!! -
Hahahahaaaaa! -
The first poor guy that tries to follow immediately behind Marcus falls into a spiked pit. A stake comes out of his mouth.
Sorry... Fatso!!! Hahaha! - Marcus yells back, not sorry at all.
- Tenka's P.O.V. -
(They reached the second line.)
The generals and I walk our way into the fifth and fourth lines of the trap field to meet them halfway in. This is suicidal for inexperienced people. For us, the warriors Sam trained, we can run across it with no problems. We know every trigger, every safe step.
We carry five short spears each. Our goal is not to win here, but to bleed them. We need to not be seen until we fall back to the defense line. We will set fire to the trap field while we retreat, turning the forest into an oven.
The girls tamed some birds just for this moment. With their feedback, we can hunt the men while staying hidden in the canopy and thickets.
There is a crazy man that I spot first. He is wearing strange, bright clothes—a jester?—and is avoiding all the traps I can throw at him. He moves like liquid. He manages to see me through the thickets, and something strange happens.
His red eyes glow brighter, making strange fire chains appear out of the shadows all around me. They smell like sulfur.
I dash forward with all my power. It's the only place where I can avoid getting caught in the net of chains. I appear a few meters only from him.
I take my knife (short sword) to my right hand and a spear to my left. I'm hiding my face and hair today with a cloak and a black bandana. The only thing you can see are my golden eyelashes and glowing emerald eyes.
On my guard, I walk slowly toward him. He smiles, a twisted thing.
I throw the spear toward his left to distract him and dash to his right with a lateral slash.
Clang!
I missed. Or rather, he moved. The closest man to him paid the price and got impaled by my spear in his stead, but the strange man parried my sword slash with a chain that materialized from thin air.
RETREAT!!! -
(The speed at which he stopped my strike means he is a bit faster than me, which is insane!? His chains are trouble by themselves. I can't fight him here, or even with his men around! I need Sam.)
The men sound a horn. A deep, guttural sound.
We kill ten more of them with throwing spears before we have to retreat. With the fires that we lit going and the remaining traps, it should buy us some more time.
A personal battle is bound to happen. The strange man seemed obsessed with me now, but I managed to lose him for the moment, making him get stuck in a complex web of tripwires, even if he is strangely agile. I must observe him more...
We make it back to the village line in one piece and warn our people of the incoming force. So far, only one enemy has his power unlocked. His aura is as strong as mine, maybe stronger in raw output.
I tell two of the warriors to go with the second group—the weak and old—and leave North now, before the fire dies down and the path becomes visible.
For a few hours, we stay at the defense line, weapons ready, waiting for them to pass through the smoke.
- Beno's P.O.V. -
(We already lost forty men. In thirty minutes, forty men! This is not my first failure, but here in these backwoods, there is only the law of the strongest. Things can change fast, just like now.)
Besides, the Brothers of Chaos can't give me a lower position anymore, hahaha! I'm already at the bottom of the elite.
I don't even need to scold the idiot Marcus; he's too weird to care anyway. But he came back and said this was done by a woman. A woman with glowing eyes. This is trouble. Big trouble. That means an awakened one.
The fire is dying down. The smoke is clearing.
Wait until the fire's out, then rush all at once, in tight ranks! - I command.
Cannon fodder. Let's see who survives this.
If you make it out alive, you get your own personal bitch! -
Hoooooo!!!! -
The men roar. Lust and rage are powerful motivators.
(Too easy.)
(I keep the thirty archers in the back. I can't lose them in case we need to retreat.)
Once the fire dies down to embers, the men advance, stepping over the charred bodies of their comrades.
Marcus, you go too. Hurry up. -
Mmm-no way! Let the fodder go first. Pout. -
He crosses his arms, sitting on a stump.
I squeeze my claymore handle. The leather creaks.
(Fuck it.)
I slash at him. My claymore leaves a white stripe of compressed air, slicing into the tree behind him, cutting it cleanly in half. The slash grazed Marcus's cheek, even after he dodged at the last micro-second.
He wipes the blood, looking at it on his finger. His eyes widen, then narrow.
Okay~! Boss Man! Hahahah! -
He runs away toward the front lines, after teasing me again.
(I can already tell, this is going to be another failure. Sigh... but at least I'll get to kill something today.)