บท 402: A far away struggle
Fresh snow was covering the forest as Khagril slowly approached a hollow tree that had fallen several seasons ago. For a long time, that was the home of a few horned rabbits, rabbits that he would come to talk to when the troubles of his tribe became too much for a single soul to bear. During the past two years, he came here almost every day to talk with small critters. Not that they would ever reply, but talking to them made him feel better, or at least feel like he wasn't losing his mind while talking to himself. Almost no one should know about this place. Yes, it was close to their village, but the path to reach this area wasn't easy. Before finding the hidden grove, one would have to cross the frozen waterfall, the black lake, and even the deadwood. After that, you had to follow a specific path, or the woods would send you back to where you first entered their domain. Khagril himself only stumbled here by accident, and if it wasn't for his [Explorer's Map], he wouldn't be able to reach this area again.
He raised his hand and the five warriors that came along all stopped. Each of them was among the best of their tribe, not that it meant much now that there were so few of them remaining. How things went wrong so quickly, no one could tell. Ever since the fire, ever since those… things appeared, his tribe found nothing but misery and misfortune. His father died in his prime while defending his people, leaving the role of leader to the council of elders. A bunch of old men and women who could barely remember what it was like to run through the snow. Now, they spent every minute of their days sitting in the warmth and safety of the tent that belonged to his father, the tent that was supposed to be his. Those old codgers could barely stand up, and yet, they were the ones ordering the warriors. People who never hunted a single day in their lives were now in charge of telling the protectors of the tribe how to fight. So many were lost, so many were killed and devoured, all because the so-called leaders refused to hear anyone else's advice.
Unlike them, Khagril had been in the front lines since the first day. He was part of the group that tried to stop the fire and save the forest and part of the first group of people attacked by those monsters. He was there when his father fell to the blood-red fangs of those beasts, and he was there when his mother was devoured by that being whiter than snow. Even after all those fights, all that struggle, and all the lives he saved during this fight, the so-called elders refused to take him seriously. Just because he was the youngest member of the hunters. Forget the fact that he was well into his thirties, and he trained his entire life to become the next chief. Now, they refused to accept his suggestions and even went as far as asking for the help of that waste of a centaur.
Said elder took the younglings on an excursion to show them the place where they lived. However, while they walked through the black lake, the Beast from Below woke up and broke through the frozen lake, sending all the young children to the depths, leaving the elder as the lone survivor. When he returned, he went under trial and was quickly found guilty of negligence. After all, everyone knew that you should avoid the black lake in the summer. If it happened to anyone else, they would have been banished to the wilds, but that would be a death sentence because of his age. Instead, his tent was moved to the outskirts of the city, where he would live out his days with no contact with the rest of the tribe. All that happened less than six months before the day of fire and monsters, and now simply because he was old, the child murderer had become an elder. The man who killed his little brother was now giving orders to Khagril. And now, after two years of war against the white beasts, now that their victory was in sight and it seemed like there was only a single beast alive, the cowardly elders ordered them to stop their chase.
Khagril wasn't going to let this slide. Not just because letting the monster rest and recover was a stupid idea, but because this was the same one that killed his father. Each tribe leader would inherit a tattoo from their predecessor. With each leader adding a small piece to the design as they pass the torch, so to speak. When his father was killed by the monster, the creature absorbed the tattoo. Something like that already happened in the past. One of the tribe leaders was killed by a beast during a hunt, and the wild boar had its body instantly covered by the tattoo. At the time, the creature was killed right away, and the tattoo passed to someone else who was already in line to become the next chief. However, this time, no one defeated the monster that killed the tribe leader. Even after the initial fight and during the years of war against these creatures, no one could find the beast. There wasn't a doubt in Khagril's mind that the reason the elders weren't pushing the chase of this monster was so that they could keep their power as the leaders of the tribe. But that didn't matter. They could all keep their asses in the chief's tent for all he cared. All he wanted was to rid his home of those beasts, and then, maybe he could see what was beyond the wall of fire and what those strange doorways were.
"Brother, are you sure this is the right place?" Melva, one of the bravest warriors in the tribe and someone Khagril considered his own kin, approached him from the side. Moving carefully, trying not to let her moose-like horns ruffle the low-hanging branches of the trees and give away their position, she approached the leader of this group.
Khagril glanced at her, Melva was just a couple of years older than him, and she trained with the hunters every day since she was but a foal. Her hooves were swift like the wind, and her arms strong enough to rip a tree from the ground. During their spars, Khagril had lost countless weapons just by hitting her bare skin. Among all the remaining warriors of the tribe, Melva was, without a doubt, the most powerful of them all. Yet, even she was at the mercy of the elders. Her desire for vengeance burned just as bright as Khagril's, but when ordered to stay put, she couldn't do anything. Unless someone else decided to take a stand.
"I am," Khagril nodded and raised a hand, telling the rest of the group to stop. He then reached for a small pouch around his human waist and placed two fingers inside it. Following that, he gestured to his neck and ear and drew a spiral symbol connecting both using the charcoal from the satchel. All the other five centaurs hiding in the groove did the same, with Malva waiting patiently so Khagril could draw the sigil on her. She could be a fantastic warrior, but her magical abilities were not as refined for something like this.
"Can you all hear me?" Khagril spoke in his mind, reaching out to the others in the area.
"I can," Jaithe, a small and slim scout, answered in an excited tone. He was Khagril's childhood friend, and he was happy for finally having figured out the communication spell.
"I can hear you loud and clear. What about you, Vond?" Halros, the archer who wore the heaviest set of clothes in the group. The centaurs were trained to strengthen their own skin, but she was the only member of the tribe who preferred to use leather armor than participate in that type of training.
"I think I made a mistake. Your voices are weird. They echo," Vond, a burly man with bulging muscles and a spotted moose torso, replied.
"He made the spiral on the wrong side again. You make the center then go to the front of the neck, not to the back," Calgera, the last member of the group, replied. He had a spear in his hand and several others strapped to his horseback.
"I appreciate you helping me with this, Khagril. Now back to the question at hand. How can you know for sure if this is the place where the last monster resides?" Malva replied in a somber voice.
"Look there," Khagril pointed towards one of the trees beyond the fallen one. At the same time, he sent out an image of the spot he was looking at to everyone connected by the spell. Very few centaurs could do this, and it was a surprise even for his team.
In his line of sight, there was a large pine tree with black wood covered in snow, but his real focus was what was directly under it. Sitting in the snow, almost blending in all the white, there was a single tiny rabbit's foot. It would be impossible to see that from this distance if it wasn't for the dried-up blood in the snow.
"How can you be sure that it is one of those monsters? Any animal could've done that," Halros asked.
"This area was protected by a strong horned rabbit. He was able to fight off against any animal in this room. I've seen it myself. The only things that could kill it were the Beast from Below or one of those creatures," Khagril's 'voice' was followed by the feeling of loss. During the effect of this spell, their thoughts weren't the only things that were shared.
"OK, how do you want to go about this?" Malva asked, feeling the sadness coming from her brother. Even if he was wrong, he needed this.
"Halros, move the side, try to get in sight of the opening in the trunk but stay hidden. Malva, Vond, you are with me. We need to get closer. Calgera, can you cover the other side? I don't want it to run away," Khagril gave everyone his orders.
"What about me?" Jaithe asked.
For the first time since they activated the spell, Khagril looked away from the trunk and directly to the scout, "Jaithe, my old friend. I… Must ask you something."
Jaithe just smiled, "You want me to be the bait, right?"
Khagril's eyes were filled with sadness, "Yes."
"Don't worry. I figured that was the case when you called me here. I mean, you are all amazing at fighting, and I'm… well I'm just good at staying alive," Jaithe nodded.
"Khagril, let me be the bait. If that thing hits me, I can survive," Malva stepped in, not wanting to lose anyone else.
"We don't know that besides one of them already wounded you," Khagril looked at a scar on the left side of her back leg.
"Exactly, and so far, not a single one of them managed to hit me, and they tried," Jaithe nodded again and walked over to Khagril, being sure not to make any noise. He clasped hands with his old friend, as they did before every fight where they didn't know if it was going to be their last.
Understanding the gravity of the situation, everyone quietly moved to their positions, careful not to make any noise that could warn the monster. Calgera and Jaithe moved faster than everyone, a hunter and an assassin could move better without being found. Halros found a spot where she could see the entire clearing, notching an arrow in place before taking a deep breath. This wasn't practice. Here, all of her shots had to be true. Malva and Vond moved to flank the trunk on the floor with Khagril in the middle in a V formation. If anything went south, the group needed their leader to change their strategy.
After confirming that everyone was in position, Khagril looked at his childhood friend, "Jaithe, whenever you are ready."
"I don't think I'll ever be ready for this. But it's the last one. We lost too many people to those things. Let's end this."
Jaithe started moving closer. All of his senses kept telling him that this was a bad idea. Before he even reached the clearing, he could tell that whatever was inside that tree trunk was aware of his approach. Even so, he continued, reaching the clearing and getting closer to where the monster should be. He was just 2 meters away from the empty trunk when suddenly the entire tree shook, and something came from inside it, pieces of wood flew everywhere. Malva, Vond, and Khagril had to cover their eyes to protect them from splinters. As they lowered their arms, they saw a white creature with its back towards them. It had six horse-like legs, the body of a centaur, including the humanoid torso, but the head was more like that of a hyena with the mouth of a crocodile. Aside from its legs, it also had two human arms, but their hands turned into large five-finger claws. However, he could only see one of its hands. The other one was currently inside Jaithe, pinning him to the tree. An arrow flew towards the creature and pierced its chest, followed by a spear that made the monster drop Jaithe and tumble to the side, now noticing the three centaurs behind it.
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Wegoron the Wendigo - Level 91
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The Wendigo opened its mouth while staring at Khagril, "S…S…So…n…n?"
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