บท 31: Dakkon [3]
As if Liam's words were prophetic, Dakkon's body rapidly recovered in only a few hours. He finally got to his feet and limbered his body, amazed at how he felt stronger and more flexible than before. As he was examining his body he noticed that his tail seemed a touch longer. It would be unnoticeable to anyone not of the Shanmao, but the short tail of their tribe was a point of shame due to their former subordinate relationship with the Laohu. The Laohu with their great strength could easily shatter a tree as big as a man's thigh with their tail alone. This only added insult to the Shanmao with their short tails.
Dakkon saw that the eunuch….Liam… was in the process of gathering supplies from the town. The Shu came for bloodshed and cores only, leaving the supplies for the town without even glancing at them. Considering the town had approximately two hundred citizens and was preparing for winter, Liam had been able to procure ample provisions relatively easily.
Dakkon surveyed the carnage and couldn't suppress a sigh. Surprising him from the distance, Liam seemed to have heard his lament.
............
"You fought well, I've counted roughly one hundred and ten Shanmao corpses, and a little over seven hundred Shu corpses. Your brothers should be feasting to their feat in the afterlife."
Liam added the last part to see if Dakkon would react according to Noona's suspicions. Just as Noona had predicted, a relieved look appeared on Dakkon's face. Liam then heard Dakkon take a deep breath before performing a farewell ritual to his brethren.
"Fallen Shanmao brothers, though you are no longer among those who struggle, know that you have sung the final note to send far more enemies into the dream. Rest, and prepare for the Breaking, we'll be looking to fight beside you again!"
Dakkon then did something that surprised Liam, he carved a small gash on his chest that bled. He then repeated the gash in exactly 110 total places on his chest. These looked like little tally marks that were organized in groups of 10, and Dakkon did not even wince.
<It appears a form of eulogy for the dead. The survivors of the battle mark themselves for each brother that died?> Noona supposed.
As if Dakkon knew what Liam would ask, he spoke "Normally a Shanmao would be sent off by his closest brothers when he went to Dream. In large battles, the honor of the fallen is carried evenly by those who have yet to sleep. In this case, as the one standing the Last Watch alone, I must carry all of their honor forward for them."
Liam didn't think such a ritual was good or bad, he just watched with interest. Suddenly, Noona spoke in his mind <Liam, look at him with Infrared right now.>
Liam quickly activated the spectrum and was stunned. He saw that there was a tide of red light flowing all over Dakkon's body, and it seemed to be coming from the corpses of the Shanmao. Each stream of light seemed to come from an individual corpse and settle into a singular cut on his chest.
Liam deactivated the infrared vision and looked again. To his surprise, each of the scars on Dakkon's chest healed quickly. What was more, instead of being repaired into his furry muscular chest, the skin seemed smooth and pale. It was a sharp contrast with his fur, and the lack of fur on the scars made them stand out further.
Dakkon gritted his teeth and sweat bead his brow as genetic energy flowed into him like a river. Myriad blips of emotion and thought flowed into his mind, the last vestiges of the brave warriors who had sacrificed everything to save the remaining women and children of the village.
Suddenly, a piercing but familiar voice rang out in his mind. "Coward. You do not deserve this privilege, to carry the will of our brethren. You could have prevented all of this, but your own cowardice in the moment has destroyed us."
This voice caused Dakkon to freeze. It was his own Chief's voice. Dakkon's eyes watered and he hastily spoke to the remnant of consciousness in his mind, 'I am no coward. I stand the Last Watch for one hundred and ten of you brethren, and I am alone. I live even now only because the grace of the Sun Goddess.'
Just as Dakkon expected more recrimination, The Chief's voice sounded again 'It doesn't matter. You have one purpose now, and the Last Watch demands you pay the price. Destroy the Shu. Save our people. Otherwise, you will never be embraced into the Final Dream.'
Sweat beaded on his face as Dakkon paled. This burden was his to bear, but could he possibly hope to achieve his mission?
.............
Liam had been watching with interest and noted that Dakkon seemed to be deep in his own thoughts. Suspecting that the warrior was reminiscing for his fallen brethren, he gathered Luna and the supplies and told her it was time to figure out how many were in the Swarm that passed through.
Luna was confused as she watched Liam carefully walk around the small town, walking to the different entrances and mumbling to himself. She watched him carefully, but still couldn't grasp what he was doing. Meanwhile, Noona on his wrist had changed her form into a strange looking mushroom with a pointy end sticking out of it as her head spun in circles slowly.
Luna tried to play her part and used her sense of smell as well as her own Glamour energy to search. If there was other Glamour like Sebastian had used, she would be able to detect it. Unable to make heads or tails of anything she finally returned to Liam's side and spoke.
"All I can really say for sure is that there were a lot of them."
Liam nodded, before saying with confidence in his voice " Two thousand six hundred and ninety three to be exact. They moved North initially, but it looks like they came back through to travel to the Southeast approximately four hours before we came. I think the Chief's little diversion worked wonders."
<Also, they came back while dragging something with them. It wasn't readily apparent due to the chaos in the town, but they have been dragging something big with them the whole way.>
Noona's voice added to Liam's narrative, and only succeeded to confuse Luna further. What had the Shu dragged along with them and why?
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