章節 63: Special Presentation: The last of the real ones. Part 1.
Hello all! I hope that this finds you all well, as always.
I know this is random, but I wanted to get this part out before the next part of "Blade and Fang." drops because I want to make sure that the next pair of characters had their own storyline.
I hope it finds you all well, and that you enjoy it!
I will see you all back here at the gates soon enough!
And off we go!
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Northern Zentram/Naeri border.
- A minute prior to the attack on Genrik's dorpie by The Beast.-
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Kals ran at full-tilt through the shrubby forest in the dead of night. Nearly every muscle in her lean body ached from the exertion.
The trees blew past to either side in a blur of greens, browns, and all other manner of earth-tones.
Her feet pounded the ground rhythmically.
Her canin-like nose catching the faint yet lingering scent...
A heady, musky, desperate, hungry sort of scent...
A scent that she had not experienced in just over two years...
It was the scent of that twisted, raging werewolf...
The one that had torn both her dorpie and her life apart.
The scent of a monster.
The scent of a dead man.
She lowered her head and whipped away the tears that had began to accumulate at the edges of her vision. She pushed herself forward that much harder.
Kals was a Jakarl.
A Jackal/Human Hybrid.
A Shifter.
She was one of the rare and reclusive Werejackal's that roamed and lived among the dunes of Suidelain.
Her people had lived and thrived in the desert region for centuries.
Since a time before humanity was so well established.
Since a time when the Lesser Dragons still held grip on the land.
She was the last of her tribe. The only survivor...
She was the last of the Kadja Tribe in all of Enverdolmal.
Hot tears once again began to burn her cheeks as her emotions started to boil inside of her chest...
She had tracked the Beast relentlessly from Southern Suidelain all the way North to the boarder's of Zentram and Naeri, had always been so close...had always gotten just within range before he would be gone just as soon as Kals could zero in on where exactly he was.
It had become a game of cat and mouse.
Of Wolf and Hunter.
No longer.
No more.
From slightly off to her left a rolling howl pierced the night.
Goosebumps spread over every inch of her body from head to toe.
She slightly altered her corse and pushed herself a bit harder.
This was it.
The night that she would have her revenge.
The night that she would finally find a sense of closure...
This was the night that the Beast would die.
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Flashback: Nanakah Village, North Eastern Suidelain.
-Just over two years prior.-
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Kals and Kadja sat at the edge of the watering hole. Their sandaled-feet hung over the lip of the embankment.
Kals were bone-dry, as she was a handful of inches shorter than her younger brother. The heels of her feet thudded softly against the packed earth as she swung her legs casually, causing tiny clumps of dirt and pebbles to rain down into the little pond. Ever so often there was a soft splash as Kadja's feet left and reentered the water in turn.
The night was yet relatively young.
Stars dotted the sky, bright and twinkling high above the heads of those who called the desert dorpie their home.
And many of the children and elders had already retreated to their tents and makeshift shelters. As the clouds hid the crescent moon from view, Kals leaned back, throwing her hands behind her head as she did so to further cusion her head on the cool, slightly damp grass that now tickled her neck.
It had been a long, hard day.
But not a bad one.
She had spent the better part of it out on the sandy dunes with Kadja, hunting and patrolling about the perimeter of their home.
It was a favorite pastime of hers as well as one of her weekly obligations to the dorpie. It worked in her favor that she enjoyed both of these things very much, not to mention, the time spent with her twin brother.
The pair would often patrol in their humanoid forms and hunt while shifted and quadrupedal. Their canin-like senses were nearly tripled while in their jackal form which allowed them to be that much more efficient at the task at hand. Alongside this, their strength, agility, and resilience were just as boosted.
That form also tended to drain quite the amount of Aether as well, which was why Kals needed the current reprieve all the more. While she tended to leave her Jakal form primarily for hunting, Kadja was more often than not to be found in his, as he not only had a deeper Aether reserve, but was simply more comfortable within his canin skin. He had been that way since they were born, as he had been birthed in his Jackal form for some strange and exceedingly rare reason.
Tonight, Kadja was a bit more physically spent than his little sister. The day had consisted of a morning of hunting in order to secure food for the village for the day, before the pair had set out on their patrol.
The days hunt had gone very well. They had managed to separate an Oilish Whale calf from its pod and slay it before it could escape their snares. A good hunt indeed.
The whales seemed to be on the move and migrating much more often those days, and reports of small roaming bands of Sand Orcis had begun to become more and more the common word around the Suidelain desert region.
The Chieftain of their tribe had placed them on high alert, resulting in more and longer patrols.
This would ultimately come to be their undoing as when the time to fight did finally come, many of their best would be far from their top fighting condition.
This, they would learn and lament that night...
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The Beast stood in the course, still-warm sand.
The sun had fallen below the horizon but moments ago, and its eyes were beginning to adjust to the dark of the nearly moonless night.
The off-white sand seemed to almost shimmer as it caught and reflected the brilliant start light that dotted the sky between the drifting cloud bodies above.
If The Beast had its normal human senses about it, it would have probably paused to admire the beauty of it all.
But it didn't have them.
And it could not see beauty.
It could not fathom the concept.
All it knew was
Pain,
Rage,
And hunger.
It crouched low and sniffed softly at the wind-swept sand.
A faint earthly aroma touched his nostrils followed by hints of desert flowers and potent herbs.
Above all this, the distinct heavy smell of burning wood, and repulsing smell of cooking meat...
A campfire?
The Beast had found something.
Something living.
Something human or humanoid...
Something edible.
It threw back its massive head and let slip a mighty howl from its saliva-dripping maul.
It broke off into a dead run in the direction of the smoke.
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No more than an hour after she had lay down, Kals felt a soft nudging on her left shoulder. She quickly forced herself to consciousness as the soft nudging seemed to grow harder in sudden urgency.
She sat up, hastily shaking her head and wiping the sleep from her eyes.
Before she could turn to Kadja and inquire as to what was the matter, his left hand slapped over her mouth just as his right grabbed hold of and squeezed her left shoulder.
"Shsssssssssss!"
He hissed as sounds finally began to reach and register in Kals ears.
Sounds of screams and roars.
Pottery breaking.
Bones snapping.
Flames roaring as they consumed fallen tents and barrels of goods,
Combat?
A raid?
What the hell was happening?
Kals eyes snapped fully open and she snatched her rapier from the grass to her right moving as silently as she could in order to heed her brothers urging to stay silent.
She flashed several hand signs at him with her free left hand as his hands left her body and found his own weapon.
"Who is attacking us!?"
She signed as quickly and as steadily as her now surging adrenaline would allow her to.
Kadja flashed back just two words before sighing her to follow him off and into the nearby shadows:
"A Werewolf."
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Thank you all for returning to the gates for this new instalment! You all have been so amazing and loyal, and I can't thank you enough.
I will see you all back here soon enough yeah?
Until then, safe travels folks.
And as always,
Stay safe.
Stay healthy.
Stay vigilant.
-Redd.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票