Chapter 5: 4: Retired Hunter
๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐๐ 4: ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐๐
Leading them onto a vast field was Vindacurve, escorted by several guards.
They marched methodically, being obliged to queue in four lines due to the abundance of recriuts.
Anthony surveys the feild, it was round, short grazed red grass and extremely large. It was in a large area without any residences in the distance. For what reason? Anthony wonders himself if this is what Tyler meant when he said he was "stained by the red."
Anthony feels a wave of worry surge through him; he wanted answers, or perhaps more precisely, he needed to be ready for whatever was ahead.
Hey! Anthony stumbles back a little before regaining his balance as he feels an elbow pull on his chest.
As Anthony tries to figure out why the youngster assaulted him, he notices that everyone has stopped.
The boy in front says, "Blind, can you not see we are ordered to stop?" He chastises.
The youngster had the same colors as everyone else, had a white skin, and was bald.
The youngster apologizes in a much more composed voice, "Sorry." "Just got a little agitated by you, I am colsted".
"I am Anthony," Anthony says with a smile of acceptance.
Shhhhhh!
The assembly remained quiet.
Anthony waits in the lengthy line as Vindacurve speaks to them.
Vindacurve says, "I have seventy-four candidates and only need ten." "Many of you here are about to go through the worst paths of your life; those that emerge from it will be stronger, those that do not, die."
Anthony gathers inside himself and holds his breath, tenaciously determined to be a member of the group no matter what.
Vindacurve provides an unambiguous indication.
A little after dozens of guards in red armour holding halberds marched in with two coaches, who rode a wagon with an enigmatic cage covered by a black veil.
With their halberds extended, the guards sprinted around the field while maintaining a line.
There was complete stillness as Anthony and the rest of the group gazed. They were being cornered by western guards.
With a gentle chuckle, Vindacurve retrieves a bottle of ale from his coat. He slowly sipses from the bottle.
When he was finally finished, he threw the bottle aside. He turns and leaves the field, walking past the soldiers positioned in his path before taking a seat on the verdant area of grass. He starts a cigarette.
"Begin!"
Clang all attention fell to the cage which was now on the side of the feild. A guard took off the black veil.
Roar!
Anthony feels a chill up his spine, alarmed to see the impossible. Most of the recriuts gasped in agitation.
There was a beast in the cage, with a body twice the size of a buffalo and four enormous horns on its head. Its eyes were completely black and glowed red, and it exhaled dark wisps of smoke.
The beast growls and paces about its cage, its eyes fixed on the new recruits, as if they were a source of discomfort for it.
It strikes the cage horn first, shattering and marring the metal with loud shocks.
"A Bloodbane buffalo, wild and fresh from it's habitat..."
Vindacurve had everyone's attention and could feel them trembling within. He inserts his cigarette in his lips and sniffs smoke.
"The bull demon only runs on red fields as it is trained, especially the one you stand on now; it hates the color green," he says, taking out his cigarette.
Vindacurve stops and looks at their expressions; most of them were starting to get it.
"You will stay in the circle until I am satisfied or that bull dies. If you choose to disobey and try to escape, my guards will not hesitate to strike you down." Vindacurve looks to the coaches next to the cage and says, "release the bull."
After taking a few deep breaths, Anthony stepped back slightly, thinking that there was no way to defeat this beast.
"Shit, I have heard about this savage beast", Anthony turns to Colsted panicking in fear.
"It is said that this beasts can wipe out an entire civilization. History has it, Bloodbanes are a more regressed form of demons, their like... Demon animals... They have less sanity than even demons themselves."
Anthony held himself in fear and gazes into the eyes of the bull.
The bull's bloodlust seared him, sending a sensation up his legs and up to his chest. It was almost as if he heard it speak, muttering something that he perceived as wanting "Death."
//Part B\\
Releasing! One of the coaches yelled as he eased the door latch.
Boom! Almost immediately the Bloodbane rammed through the cage door shattering it into hundreds of shards.
The Bloodbane gruffs out Puffs of air from it's nose. It paced slowly through the feild before pausing as it feasted it's eyes upon them.
At this point the Bloodbane realizes the same thing as everyone else. There was nothing standing between them and it.
The Bloodbane suddenly climbs up, to stand on two hoofs. "Rooaaar!" It shrieks.
"Ruuuuunnnn!" Someone yells out from the crowd.
They all race away trying to get as far away from the Bloodbane as they could.
The Bloodbane gives another ear piercing shriek before jumping on all fours and charging for them.
Anthony casts his attention back as he sprints with all his strength; it was dozens of feet distant and closing in quite quickly.
He could feel his intestines exploding as he ran out of oxygen, and his legs began to feel heavy.
Was this a sport or a training session? Or the way Vindacurve decided to thin the numbers, no matter what it was he just needed to survive.
"Ahhhh!" The Bloodbane ripped apart the first victim with its horns before leaping for the next, stomping him and his screaming in a second.
Anthony looks away in disgust, the image of kids being ripped to pieces instilling even more anxiety.
"Ahhhh!" A scream escaped his mouth.
The Bloodbane bit down on two ladies, separating their heads from their bodies.
It then jumps into the air and slams its body down, crushing scores of recruits and knocking many more off their feet and plummeting to the ground.
Anthony slams to the ground face first, moans in anguish, and swiftly gets up to his feet.
"Ahhhh!".
The screams startle him, and he swiftly turns back, feeling the approaching Bloodbane stampede.
Anthony's body began to freeze reflexively as it rushed him with its horns first.
The bull swung its horn at Anthony, striking him in the waist. The blow lifted Anthony off the ground and landed him in a pool of blood and sliced flesh on the field. "Arggh!" He let out a cry.
Anthony clutched his waist, sobbing with agony.
He was leaking blood near his pelvis. Instinctively, he raises his head to make sure he is secure.
From a distance, the Bloodbane was stomping and killing a great number of recruits.
Anthony felt a bit restless; he wanted to lie there in agony and pretend to be dead till it was all over, but there was another side to him.
His teeth chattered as he felt compelled to help everyone.
But wait! To himself, he mused, everyone would perish if he acted dead and waited for Vindacurve's pleasure; if he left, he would take his own life and never obtain his retribution.
I apologize; my family comes first, he tells himself. At last, his eyes become dim with acquiescence.
...
Three recruits were rammed by the Bloodbane, while three others had their heads severed by it. It felt unstoppable.
"Pests," it murmurs, sending forth a cloud of black smoke that killed several of the other recruits by melting their flesh and skin.
"Pests?"
Everyone on the fields, including the guards, falls to their knees as a darker aura rushes over; only Vindacurve and the Bloodbane remain unaffected.
In the distance, a crimson light glimmered, attracting everyone's attention. Vindacurve scowled and remarked, "the crazy ones."
Anthony was surrounded by red flames that were scorching the surrounding fields as he stood there. His eyes and skin became black, giving off a resentful red glow.
The Bloodbane rage falters for a second before it regroups charging to Anthony horns first.
Anthony clenches his fist tightly, he launches for the demon beast.
His fist dug into the skull of the Bloodbane sending it's face into the dirt of the field.
A smile plays on Anthony's face. He delivers a kick at the Bloodbane's neck, knocking it back several steps.
Anthony charged the demon beast, which stood still, and flung another balled fist at its face.
This time, the demon beast dashes through his fist unexpectedly. It flings Anthony to the ground with it's horns.
Before Anthony could rise again, he meets the hoofs of the demon beast stomping him into the dirt.
"Enough," a large beam of red sun burning flame shot the Bloodbane into the air sending it crashing dozens of feet away on it's back.
The demon beast shrieks rolling on it's sides to put out the hot ash that charred it's flesh.
Anthony rose up again looking barely hurt or marred by the Bloodbane attack.
"You think you can kill everyone while I am here?... Pathetic." Anthony opens his palm a dark red flame igniting in it. "No one hurts my friends."
The demon beast charges again more furiously. Anthony stretches out his palm for the demon beast blasting out a hot red beam.
The Bloodbane rams through the beam, shrieking in pain. It charges out of the beam to evade.
Before Anthony reacts the Bloodbane rams it horns into him again...
The horns impale through his chest, sending out a rain of blood.
The Bloodbane raises him off the ground shaking it's head violently to tear Anthony apart.
Anthony aimed his hand at the demon beast and shot down dark flames at it in attempt to break free.
The demon beast shook more violently, shrieking in pain as it caught on fire again, but this time it was even more determined not to let go, it's resentment for Anthony burned deeply.
Anthony clamps unto the two horns imbedded in his chest, he dislodges both horns out of the Bloodbane's skull with ease.
He plants a kick on the beast sending it flying off the ground.
Before reaching the ground it is caught by Anthony who digs both hands into the gut of the Bloodbane.
"You wanted blood... I will make you blood," Anthony's flames rose even more as he uses both hands to rip the demon beast into two turning it's remains to ash.
Hehehehehehe!
Anthony turns his gaze to see everyone staring in disbelief.
The energy starts to suffice, and his head starts to feel light, he fell to his back and started to drift out of consciousness.
The last thing he could remember, Tyler bending over him and saying, " Anthony... "
...
Anthony!
His eyes sprang open, he was on a sack bed, why? In haste he rushed to get up but meets a hand that pushes him back down.
He turns to see a figure, the room dimly lit by a candlelight making it difficult to recognize who it was.
Anthony narrows his eyes to finally picture Tyler sitting beside him.
Something strange played on his face that bothered Anthony, the first he had seen Tyler's expression broadly concerned.
"Tyler," Anthony sighs, he takes a glimpse of the room, a small wooden cottage with two open windows, recruits in their sack beds some asleep and others awake. "How did I get here?"
Tyler pats him on the chest before lying in his own sack bed. "I carried you."
Anthony glares at the ceiling of the cottage as countless thoughts raged through his mind. "How many did i save?" He asked.
Tyler takes his time to reply and says, "enough".
Anthony curves up, he felt chills run up his spine. "That power I used..."
"Has done its purpose", Tyler cuts him off, "get sleep you will need it for tomorrow".
Anthony yearned to Tyler. He yawns stretching his whole body.
Today he made many friends as Rendo commanded, and doing good unlocked a new stream of power he never expected to.
"Anthony," someone whispers from behind.
Anthony turns around, just five recriuts away, colsted waving at him happily.
"Thank you Anthony," he chants.
Anthony only smiles and ducks his head back to his bed.
For the first time since he lost his family he felt the warmth of friendship, actually having people that cared for him.
The warm thoughts ushers him to sleep knowing someone cared, and maybe for the first time in a long while.... Those nightmares won't come...
...
Vindacurve sat on the bench in the open streets of the capital city of the Western kingdom named, The pilgrim. The city obeyed their usual curfew as always, so the street were empty.
He takes out his cigarette and huffs from both openings smoke.
He sticks his cigarette back into his mouth again, the thoughts kept on coming back, the red haired boy from training.
He puffs out smoke from his nose again. Red haired, he thought staring up at the moon,' you remind me of your father.'
<Chapter 4> Fin
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AuthorEriElegbede
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