Capítulo 26: Saved
Back at the camp, the warriors' sombre expressions spoke volumes about their plight.
The camp lay in ruins, and the winter hunt had proven disastrous. Now, they faced the harsh reality of having neither sufficient food for the season nor peace of mind.
The chief had relayed Deva's information to the warriors. Despite initial scepticism, their encounters with the creatures known as demons had erased any doubts. There was indeed something dangerous lurking in the wild.
"Chief, may I see the list of missing persons? I can't locate Aru anywhere," Kora limped towards the chief and inquired.
His eyes betrayed a mix of concern and desperation as he requested it.
"..." However, the chief stayed silent.
Kora immediatley understood what it meant.
"Aru, he's missing?" Kora uttered, his voice heavy with worry.
"Have you dispatched anyone to search for them?" he inquired urgently.
"It's already been arranged. Das is leading the search and rescue efforts. Unfortunately, his son is also among the missing," the chief replied solemnly.
"Is that so..." Kora fell silent for a long moment, the weight of the situation settling heavily upon him.
The realisation that his disciple had vanished on the very day he had taken him under his wing sent a chill through Kora's heart. As the master, he bore the responsibility of protecting his disciple, yet he had failed miserably. How could he still consider himself Aru's master? Kora's thoughts turned inward, consumed by self-doubt.
"...May I join the search party to assist?" he finally asked the chief, his voice tinged with determination.
This prompted the chief to cast a glance at Kora's left leg.
The entire limb was tightly wrapped in bandages. While not life-threatening, his injury was not that small.
In the battle ensuing the incursion of migratory spirit beasts, he had sustained injuries. He was not in any shape to help the rescue team.
"I can understand your worries, Kora. But, you are not fit for that yet."
"Oh! This injury, it's nothing. I can,"
"No, it's not nothing. If you strain yourself in this condition, it could lead to permanent damage to your leg," the chief cautioned. "So, believe in us and leave the task of rescuing the children to us."
It took a while for the chief to convince Kora to not act alone.
—
Meanwhile, Aru placed the corpse of the parasite in ice and put it in his supply bag. The useful stuff from the supply bag was moved to Dal bag to make space.
"Dal, do you know how to whistle?" Aru asked.
"Ah?"
"Whistle? Do you know how to do it?"
"I don't," Dal gave a simple answer.
He didn't understand why Aru was suddenly asking about whistling.
"Then, let me teach you."
"Oh!" He nodded agreeing to learn.
However, he was acting as if Aru had placed a knife on his neck while he asked to learn whistling.
"Good." Aru nodded back.
"First, you take your two fingers like this. Then place them below your tongue and exhale quickly. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to make sounds like this."
Saying this, Aru released the air through his mouth.
"PWEEEEEE…"
A loud whistling noise emanated from his tiny body. It was so loud that it was impossible for anyone not to notice, especially at night.
Aru wasn't whistling without reason.
He aimed to attract the attention of the tribesmen. Despite their fall from the cliff, they hadn't strayed too far from the camp. If someone was nearby, he hoped they would hear and come to their rescue.
'When you are weak, you have to use the right methods to survive. Whistling was one of them.'
He taught how to whistle to Dal hoping that the chubby guy would be useful.
Like that, they continued whistling without resting.
Approximately, an hour later, they finally saw something.
From above the cliff, they could see people carrying fiery torches come down.
—
Dal with teary eyes ran forward and hugged the person that came down first.
"Dad…" His eyes overflowed with tears as he called out.
The warrior that climbed down to ledge was huge with a muscular body. His eyes were sharp but Aru could see a hint of tiredness in them.
However, once he saw Dal, all the tiredness dissipated. Only joy reflected in the face of the middle-aged man's face.
'Is that person that fatty father?' Aru mused.
"Are you injured?" The warrior, Das asked, immediately noticing the bloody corpse of the mud pig nearby.
"*Hicups* No." Dal answered.
"And you, my little friend," he addressed Aru this time.
"A little bit," Aru replied nonchalantly.
He didn't consider his injuries serious. But that was typical of him. Usually, he cared about himself the least; it had always been his nature.
However, Das could see the bruises, abrasions, and blood on Aru. He was concerned.
"But you're covered in blood," Das pointed out.
"Not mine. It's from this thing," Aru lifted the corpse of the parasite from his bag and showed it to the people around him with a smile.
More warriors had come down from the cliff, but the first thing they saw after coming down was a kid holding a bloody black object. Upon closer look, it looked awfully similar to the demon they had seen.
It was not exactly a pleasant sight.
"This thing came out of that thing," Aru explained, pointing at the carcass of the mud pig.
"Is that a demon? The kind that attached itself to a host," one of the men spoke up.
Hearing the word "demon" immediately piqued Aru's interest.
'They know about?'
The original Aru had no memory of creatures called demons. But how come they suddenly have a name for this thing?
"Demon?" Aru inquired.
"We can explain about that later. A lot happened since you went missing," Das quickly interjected, cutting off the conversation.
"But, what if he is a demon?" Suddenly one of the warriors spoke. His eyes were scanning Aru to confirm his suspicion. "You remember what they said, right? Demons can take over the host."
"Yes, it's suspicious that two kids survived against a rank 1 mud pig and demon." Another warrior chimed in.
This time, they were also looking at Dal suspiciously.
Das felt rage bubble inside him when they looked at his son like that.
"They are not demons." He stated.
"Even if you are the leader, you can't just take them back camp without a test."
"Yeah."
"What if they are demons? Wouldn't that be like putting everyone in danger?"
Many warriors expressed their opposition.
Aru had his ears perked up, listening closely to every word they spoke. He was slowly piecing together the information to understand the situation.
"Then, test us. Wouldn't that solve the problem?" Suddenly, Aru interjected. He defused the tense atmosphere with his words.
However, he didn't do it out of concern for Das or anyone else. More than proving their identity, he wanted to see what the test they were talking about entailed.
His words immediately captured everyone's attention.
"So, what is this test?" Finally, Das relented and explained the test, despite his reservations about injuring his son. Nevertheless, he decided to proceed with it.
In the end, two cuts were made on Dal and Aru's forearms. The wounds bled normally and didn't show any abnormality.
If they were demons, the wounds would have closed up fast due to their abnormally fast regeneration.
This confirmed their identity.
But Aru had a gloomy expression on his face. He felt like the curious cat that got burned.
'Me and my stupid mouth,' he scolded himself, looking at the slit made on his forearm by the warriors.
Regalos
-- Regalo
recibido Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder