Chương 8: The shepherds(1)
Chege was giddy! That was the most fun he'd had in a long time! However, knowing just how close he had come death, he was not going to stick around much. As soon as he had fired his arrow, he splinted off into the direction of the forest.
After running for almost half a day, Chege finally took some time to relax. By now he was sure there was no one pursuing him. It made sense. By the time he had left, all his enemies had either been crushed or too busy to pay attention to him.
Finding a brook, he drank some water and then bathed, washing away all the dirt from the past. There were more questions in his mind than answers, and every day these questions seemed to be increasing.
For instance, since Chege woke up from that crater, he realized he was faster and stronger than usual. His understanding of magic had become more deepened as he fought his way. Every arrow he had fired had some infusion of magic, but this he couldn't attribute to himself. The bow he had picked up also seemed to have magical enchantments.
Chege was ecstatic. Since he was a boy, he had always desired to own an enchanted weapon. Sadly, he had always been too poor to even see one, let alone hold one. That did not mean he didn't know a great deal about enchanted weapons.
In his city, enchanted weapons and equipment were like motor vehicles. Every boy would know about them, and Chege was no exception. For his most beloved weapon, the bow, he had done great research within his means, and while his means were limited, Chege was surprised how much he had managed to pick up.
Now, in addition to being a good shot, he had a good bow. Things could only look up from here onwards.
Chege didn't have much need for overbearing strength. As a ranged hunter, he rarely got to trade blows with anyone or anything. Like modern snipers, the bowman's distance was his security. Since they could hit you from a mile away, chances were that the target couldn't see them from that far.
As such, even with his newfound strength, it wasn't as appreciated as the increase in speed. He had been extremely quick on the draw, nocking an arrow in place before the other even hit the target. This was how he managed to slay so many.
Looking at his bow, Chege realized, with more confusion building up, that he could understand the magical runes inscribed on it. Each of the runes seemed to emit mysterious powers, which coursed through the bow and influenced the movement of the arrow.
Similarly, the arrows also seemed to have runes on them, indicating that they were also magical. Chege wondered what sort of power could be unleashed when the magical bow and arrows were put to good use. Given that he was in a hurry, he barely exploited the surface of what his new weapons had to offer.
Looking at the runes, Chege read the first. It had something to do with wind. This made sense, as wind greatly influenced the movement and trajectory of the arrow mid-flight. If one could somehow control the wind properties, they could make use of wind powers to maximize on their shot, even increasing the range.
All this was theoretical though. Even though Chege could read the runes, he didn't find a way to make use of them. After analyzing his weapons over and over again, he still had no way to activate a magical spell to run through the bow or arrow being fired.
The runes on the bow could control wind, thunder and fire elements. The runes on the arrow could control wind, thunder and space element. One particular spell rune found on all arrows he had was a return function. It was as though the wielder could get the arrow to return to them after firing.
This was extremely valuable since it translated to limitless ammo. For ranged attackers, their worst fear was running out of ammo. Be it bullets, arrows or Mana, for mages, once the tank was empty, the person became a sitting duck. With this spell, Chege couldn't activate it yet, so all he could do for now was manually retrieve the arrows. Those that had been destroyed or beyond his reach had to be forfeited.
One such arrow was in the hands of Sir Anyang. This was the arrow that killed the pilot in the hovercraft. By the time the soldiers had returned, Doctor Mark was still raving mad. He was shouting at everyone, even Sir Anyang. At some point, it was hard to believe who was in charge.
Nevertheless, Sir Anyang stood by his decision. This made the prideful Dr. Mark even more infuriated. As a man who was used to having even the most powerful people show him some face, to be so blatantly ignored irked him to no end. The only consolation was that the Research team would get the body if it was retrieved. If. Everyone around knew how destructive the plasma cannons were.
Civilians weren't allowed in official military actions, even leaders. This had been an explicit law issued due to the protection of the troops on the ground. A spy pretending to be a civilian could put the soldiers in jeopardy by reporting their movements, and even though such a thing happening was extremely unlikely, soldiers obey orders.
Therefore, no civilian, in fact, no soldier except for those in the Situation Room, knew what had transpired. A very melancholic colonel had had to brief Anyang about what happened.
"He survived, How?" That was the reaction.
'Beats me!' The colonel thought, but he didn't dare say it out loud. After everything was said and done, he was still his senior.
By evening that day, word had gotten around. Everyone was perplexed. Not only had Chege managed to survive the ordeal of a cannon blast, but he was strong enough to flee, hide and counter-attack, leading to grievous losses. This was by far the highest death toll that had befallen the base since its establishment more than 60 years ago, well before Anyang and his family bought it.
Everyone present understood one thing, they were dealing with a new kind of creature. This was especially true to the research department. The reason why they had gone ahead with the experiment was that they had assumed Chege was like other creatures. Now they knew how wrong they were.
For starters, other creatures were no match to the mech suits. As powerful as the creatures were as individuals, they still operated far inferior weapons. One couldn't compare the damage and effectiveness of a bow as compared to a gun, and a laser gun at that.
There was very rarely a reported situation where the base incurred more losses compared to the creatures they attacked. There had been attempts by the creatures to capture the base, but all had been stopped short by plasma cannons. Now, it seemed that that was no longer a proper defense.
The only consolation was that the Golden Barrier seemed to have shattered after the strike. Could be it was destroyed, but believing that would be wishful thinking. The hope was that it had sustained heavy damages, which meant that the Plasma cannon was potent enough to do damage.
Many wondered why the giant had come to the base. Given that it hadn't tried storming in, and even after being captured, it still hadn't unleashed damage. Many even started believing that its mission was diplomatic, seeking to form ties. It was a well-known fact that it hadn't once attacked, only defended itself. Even during the escape.
Of course, the mindless nature during the daring escape brewed more questions, and the Research Team was under pressure to offer any meaningful explanation. Even Sir Anyang wondered if his approach had been the right one.
Though this theory was not widely believed, many knew that these creatures had a knack for being vengeful. If the giant came seeking retribution, they had to make proper preparations.
One good thing had come out of this entire ordeal though. They had finally discovered the location of something they had been searching for.
There were several creatures that they had come into contact with. However, out of all these, there was only one species they had encountered since they had settled on the planet that would give them a headache, the shepherds.
This was also one of the things that befuddled the Research Team. Unlike other creatures, the shepherds had attacked the giant. This was out of the norm, as the only other creature they attacked without hesitation were humans. Could it be that they were faking, endearing the giant to them by making him look like an enemy?
This name was given due to the behavior of these creatures. Even while they were not under threat, they acted as guardians in the forest, protecting nature itself. Unfortunately, this set them against the invaders who left nothing but destruction in their wake.
The shepherds were extremely difficult to fight, and many even had command of mystic powers, making them mages. Even though their weapons were inferior, they were skilled in the art of concealment and sneak attacks. Their skills in guerrilla warfare were off the charts, making them extremely dangerous fiends in the jungle.
As was the norm with the human race, they thoroughly investigated their nemesis in a bid to find any sort of weakness they could exploit. In so doing, they uncovered a nest. This was an amazing discovery since it helped them rule out many of the misconceptions they had about the shepherds.
The first was that they were few. After the nest was discovered, it was found out the actual numbers were much higher than what was initially estimated since the initial estimate was based on the numbers detected in the field. The numbers in the nest were much much higher than those in the field.
Secondly, was the amazing coordination displayed during the attack on the nest. There were the elites, those that ventured out into the forest, and there were the others that remained.
Due to the inability of those that remained to fight and defend themselves, the humans watched with shock as the elite creatures gave their all and even their lives to protect the others, the true meaning of heroism.
This also exposed a weakness in the creatures, their nest. If they could find the nest, then they could sufficiently weaken the creatures, especially by taking down the numbers in the elite rank.
Over the past decade, a very powerful nest had been formed near the base's territory. This was indicated by the number of elites that were produced by the nest, the same ones that attacked Chege. They were not weak in any way, and it was a testament to their strength that they had lasted that long against such a powerful foe.
Too bad their luck had turned. Now with their nest's location being known, the humans wouldn't spare any time before they attacked. They also needed to retaliate and avenge the fallen and retrieve their bodies. If they could recover data from the mech suits, then all the better.
This was how Sir Anyang ended up holding that arrow in his hands, as he watched his soldiers load up supplies in the hovercraft late that fateful night. An attack would come just before dawn.
The arrow should have been in the hands of the Research Team, but due to disagreements, Sir Anyang held on to it, as a prize. He wasn't being petty, the arrow seemed extremely precious and he wasn't feeling very trustful. Whatever it was, once he got back home he would have it valued and sold. Moreover, if it was of any value, then the family could make use of it, or just keep it as a trophy.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, he jerked with sudden pain coming from his arms. Looking down, he realized that his hands were soaked with his blood. He was also missing several fingertips, which led to his bleeding. The greatest loss however was the fact that he no longer had his arrow, it had disappeared in thin air.
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