Capítulo 124: - The Battle of Seven, the Death of One [pt. 1]
The garden was sectioned off by a large and roughly built stone wall, moss and grass growing and crawling up the sides of the broken stone. The wall would have held for at least another few decades if it had not been for the monster that tore through it.
Rian didn't like the idea of being ordered around by the knight, but because Lia had been the one to ask this of him, he had done what he was told. Nonetheless, it did nothing to quell his frustration and cold attitude towards the women kneeling on the ground in front of him.
Becka surveyed the ground, pulling up small handfuls of dirt and rocks, tracing her fingers over the large and unnatural looking mark in the ground. With a frown painted on her face, she turned to look over her shoulder, pointing towards the broken wall and trampled tomato beds.
"These prints are of no monster I've seen before. I think it's best we tell Lance what we found, in case the destroyed chicken coop produces the same results."
Rian didn't move, his face still cold and unchanging as he watched her stand and move off towards the broken wall, tracing her hands over the cracked and crumbling stone.
"Lance would know what creature did this, but what I don't understand is why it destroyed so many crops. The coop I would understand, but the garden? It doesn't make sense."
Lance was the knight, as she had failed to point out, leaving Rian to guess the only man who he did not yet know the name of.
Becka however was keen on keeping her mouth running with more and more information, doing little of what she was actually saying, as not once did she move towards Lance's position on the opposite side of the farm.
"What do you think?"
Becka turned to him only to find Rian looking off towards a separate part of the farm where he could see Lia, slowly walking towards the woods, down her own trail.
"Are you two-"
"No. We're friends, nothing more."
Rian looked away, returning his frowning gaze towards Becka, who rubbed the side of her arms feeling embarrassed for asking and a bit awkward.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to assume."
"You didn't. If you want to tell Lance about this, I suggest you do so now. The faster we get this done, the faster we can be done with one another."
With that Rian turned his back to Becka, heading off towards the chicken coop where he could faintly see the broken remains of what must have been a large and wide building that must have held chickens within.
"Wait!"
Becka caught his arm, pulling it back towards her. The action was so quick and surprising that Rian didn't bother to struggle, only turning his cold gaze to meet her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Um - I…I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier - last night I mean. It wasn't right of me."
Rian pulled his arm out of her grasp, his tone edged with an unforgiving steel.
"It doesn't matter. Let's just get this done and be rid of one another."
"You still hate me don't you?"
Though Rian wanted to move, begging his legs to walk through the mangled remains of the garden, towards the chicken coop and finally be rid of this woman, he couldn't. The muscles in his legs spasmed and he was forced to remain, hearing the things he didn't want to hear, giving patience to the woman he could care less about.
In some ways he knew his silence was hurting her, making her feel guilty and full of grief over what she had said, but he wanted that. He felt the need to hurt her, to make her understand what he had been through in those mines - the lives he had lost. Friends, family.
Brothers.
So, despite his mind wishing to be done with all this, his heart spoke louder in his ears.
"Hate you? Why would I hate you? You're just a dumb and fooling woman who's full of herself."
Rian could physically feel the pain that had set in Becak, like a stabbing - sharpening pain that pierced into her heart, fueling her grief.
"Foolish…? Yeah, that makes sense. I guess I really am just a dumb girl."
Rian's frown deepened as he looked over his shoulder, finding Becka standing alone, hugging her chest while her eyes stabbed into the ground.
"...?"
"Look, I know you hate me for what I've said. But I can't take back the past, I can only feel grief for it. And if you want to keep hating me, if you want me to feel guilty for what I've said, then that's fine."
Her voice sounded meek though Rian cared little for it. To him this all looked just like a front for him to keep his conscience clean, make him feel guilty for what he said and forgive her.
"But I want you to know, I do feel guilty for what I said. I don't know anything about what you've been though, but the stories have told me enough. Bodies, blood, a war unseen by the human eyes that slept within the streets of Neverdark."
Now Rian was looking at her, his eyes meeting her's as Becka's confidence returned, her voice speaking more clearly now than ever before.
"Word travels fast around these lands. Merchants carry rumors, Bards spin tales and stories of great adventures, some often exaggerated. But the tale I heard was different. It wasn't about any adventure, there were no heroes and no villains. No winners or losers. All I know is that you went through hell and back only to hear me gloat about it brimming with my self inflated confidence."
Her voice got quiet again as she turned to look away from his face, not wanting to see the pain or anger that would riddle him inside.
"I know nothing-"
"No, you don't know anything about what happened then. Bards can spin tales, merchants - rumors. But in the end, you will know nothing about what it was like to be holed up in that mine for months, leading men I had the honor of calling brothers to their deaths. You know nothing of what that weight was like on my shoulders."
"...I'm sorry."
"Enough of this. I have little patience for people who don't know how to hold their tongue. If you had simply apologized and been done with it, perhaps things would be different. Stop pinning some tale like your some woe filled woman, filled with the same grief a man would have over his friends deaths."
Rian walked away, leaving Becka to relish in his anger, feeling the pain he wanted to inflict her with. The same pain he felt at her words last night, his mind having flash back to those horrid hours of long and fruitless battles.
Too much death, too little success.
Suddenly, there was a call on the wind, and the conversation ended there.
***
"It looks like the house was untouched."
"Untouched? But the beast destroyed everything else on this farm, minus the barn."
Shawl panned his eyes over the farm, catching his gaze on two figures investigating the ruined chicken coop, and another two looking over a destroyed and unearthed garden.
"Why would it leave this place untouched."
His gaze eventually fell back on the hooded man before him who knelt down on the muddy ground, peering deeper within the crawl space underneath the house.
"The house is still intact from as far as I can see. The support beams aren't cracked."
The hooded man stood up, brushing himself off with his hands.
"It's almost like the beast was afraid of something. It didn't even come close to the house."
"Why say that?"
Shawl pointed towards a set of deeply unearthed and odd sets of tracks that led close to the house, but never toughen the dirt ring around it.
"The monster had to have come close. Maybe it got scared off by something?"
The hood man gave him an odd stare from behind his hood, his mask still covering his face and most of his facial expressions.
"What do you know that could scare off a monster like this?"
Shawl gulped down a mouth full of his own spit, worry stricken across his face.
"A bigger monster?"
"Maybe. But considering there aren't any other tracks around here, I suppose we can rule that out."
The hooded man set off towards another section of the house, a small bit that fell a short distance from the broad side, like a small shed that led into the cellar behind the house.
Shawl immediately took notice of how well the hooded man could read the land, as well as how he must have been a Ranger seeing as he wore a large bow and quiver on his back.
"You're a pretty good tracker. Not many can read the land like you do."
"I appreciate the compliment. My dad taught me most of this stuff. He would always tell me that either I learn to survive or I learn the best way to die."
Shawl chuckled, finding the hooded man somewhat strange but great company.
"Your dad sounds like a good man."
"Not really…he was a bit tough at times, but all fathers are like that."
Immediately Shawl regretted his words, seeing that the hooded man didn't much like the man who raised him, some unknown and unspoken hatred between the two.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to -"
"Your fine, your fine."
However, much to Shawl's thanks and relief the hooded man brushed it off, acting as though it was nothing to him anymore.
"My dad was somewhat of a troubled man. Torn between my survival and his own grief, it doesn't make him the best of dads. But I still have him to thank for the skills I have now, even if they were beaten into me."
"Now your dad just sounds like a d*ck."
The hooded man chuckled, finding Shawl great company as well, continuing to look over the ground and walls before him for any signs of footprints of animal markings.
"You have no idea…"
"I might. My commander is pretty tough on us trainees, so we have to keep on our feet most of the time. But even so, he does care about us inside. At least I hope."
"Your trainees?"
"Yep. We all were born in the hills and the towns brimming with peace. We all created adventure, some for other reasons, some not. But in the end our commander gave us the chance we needed."
Shawl rubbed the back of his head, finding it awkward to say what he needed to say next, giving a glance over toward the chicken coop where Lance, the knight, was busy chatting with Abigail.
"That's mostly why he's so on guard. Even though he sounds like a d*ck on the outside, on the inside all he really wants to do is prove to our commander that he can do this."
The hooded man was quiet for a moment, careful to look between Shawl and Lance, wondering when the two of them must have joined his fathers company.
'Not long after I left, I would guess.'
"I'm going to assume something here, so pardon my next words."
"Speak away."
"...this mission wasn't really assigned to you was it. You were just told to hold the Master off and do as he said until your commander got here, right?"
Shawl's eyes widened a bit in surprise, but he kept his friendly smile on his face, keeping as calm as he could even though the hidden man could tell he was right on the spot, detail for detail.
"Your friend, Lance. He just wants to finish this mission as a way of proving that he can handle it all, am I right?"
"...ha…hahaha. Yeah, you're right. Lance really just wants to prove he doesn't have to be a trannie anymore, which is why he's so arrogant in getting everything done. He truly believes that he can handle it all, even after years of training."
"Which is why he doesn't like us?"
"I mean, can you blame him? He comes here expecting to be handed a mission as easy as pie, yet here is a group of Hunters who just started on their own, not even bothering to take on the same challenges he did, and yet, the Master still trusts you more."
Shawl kicked at the ground, a bit angered himself that he had spent years raining only to find a group of Hunters who could do everything he could do but better. And yet, they had done nothing of the training he had gone through.
"I guess you could say we're all a bit angry. But please, don't pay attention to me! I'm just a little disappointed is all."
"Disappointed that we're here or…something else?"
Shawl gave a sad smile, careful to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
"It's not like we're going to graduate any time soon, despite what Lance may think. Even if we succeed in this mission, our commander is likely to contribute most of the success to you guys."
The hooded man noose, understanding what Shawl was talking about inside, because he too had felt the same disappointment once at his fathers empty glare.
Silently he mumbled to himself as he turned away.
"I doubt that…"
Suddenly there was a voice in the air, calling out to them and the conversation form before was forgotten.
***
Lance gathered the four of them quickly, the two - Rian and Lukali - huddled together, whispering to one another. Shawl and Becka, though fully focused and listened, both held some hindrance in their eyes.
Becka looked sad and weary, while Shawl looked full of disappointment as if his expectations were crushed before him. This was something that he didn't need right now, especially with how focused he was on completing this mission as quickly and as thoroughly as he could.
'Curse those two, they must have done something to sabotage us. They're just like their leader, unresponsive, self kept, and irrational. If they won't follow orders then I'll deal with them later.'
Abigail could see how upset Lance looked so, before he could speak a word of his anger out, spoke first in a calming tone that attacked the groups attention.
"We found nothing in the ruins of the coop. Mostly just a few tracks and blood. Nothing more. Did you find anything of interest?"
Shawl shook his head, mentioning quickly a few bits of detail he had picked up.
"Me and my partner found mostly the same thing. Strangely enough the monster did not touch the house or the barn."
"Why?"
Shawl glanced at the hooded man who shook his head, his voice deep and somewhat unnatural.
"For what reason we don't know. The most we could tell was that the monster was either afraid of something, or lost interest."
"And if it was afraid then we're dealing with something bigger than?"
The hooded man stayed silent, his silence telling Lance all he needed to know as he brooded over his thoughts.
'Perhaps the woman was right to search the woods. It doesn't appear as though the monster left any clues or leads. Damn her!'
"Alright. Since the monster isn't here, I won't bother the couple with searching their house. I doubt a monster of that size could hide in there. We'll search the barn."
Lance's voice was deep and full of authority as he pointed towards the barn, his followers immediately setting off words to the wooden building while the two 'trouble makers' - in his eyes - stayed behind, lingering a few steps after them.
As they neared the barn, Lance's senses sharpened and he felt an odd sort of silence come over him. He could see the same effect was taking hold of his friends, but why he didn't know, nor was he understand what it was.
Slowly, carefully, he drew his sword as his allies surrounded the barn, the same fear setting in all of them.
Suddenly, a voice broke the air, when all hell began breaking loose from the ground beneath them.
"Don't go near the barn!"
A female voice that tore through the air, causing Lance to turn his attention to the woods where a woman ran at a speed of the devils were chasing her.
Suddenly, the ground beneath me gave out, and he felt his body being flung back, as two pairs of yellow eyes appeared before him, ready and watching, filled with hunger.
The monster.
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