“You there, with the boy, come here.”
“Numar straightened up and inhaled having been called upon by the general and bravely stepped forward till he was about face with the elkin.
“Aye?”
“Where have you two been?”
“We were out scouting… sir….”
The general looked into Numar for a moment longer, his steely hues burrowing into the volkin hunter for answers. With his experience he was keen to lies, especially when right infront of him. The general then looks down at the boy who avoids eye contact with him and sniffed. He then knelt down to level with the youngkin and turned his head askew.
It took everything within Rubis’s power not to shiver before the general. He did not fear many things, but the way the superior elkai official looked into him made him believe in a fear he thought he’d never experience and he fought hard against his instincts to flee or fight. Did he know about the cave and the painting? Were they here because of what he did to Liek? Rubi’s balled his fist and sniffled once.
“You’ve been a good boy with your papa, son?” General Aldarius asked, his tone surprising soft despite their reasoning for being there. The boy said nothing, his eyes trained on the sandy terrain. The general didn’t take offense to this and merely huffed through his nose, a small hidden smile on his face. As he rose, he looked to Numar again, his hard stare had returned.
“Search them.”
Without warning, two officials were on both Rubis and his father. They roughly handled the boy with little care to his age, patting him down with their searching hands and digging into his tethered tunic. They would do the same to Numar but with greater force, jostling him between the two as they shoved and rangled him about. One of them looked to hit Numar when he came up empty over whatever it was they were looking for but was stopped by the other.
“There’s nothing on them, sir.”
“Check again. They’re hiding something, I know,” ordered Aldarius, his eyes on the father. Again, Rubis as his father were roughly searched, having come out clean through the ordeal.
“Nothing, sir.”
Displeased with this answer the general walked straight up to Numar and leaned into his face. He was a head taller than Numar, but his large antlers heightened him in visual display, making him seem far more opposing. If the height did not throw one off, surely the green hues of the elkai general would as they seemed to behold clairvoyance.
“What aren’t you telling me… ?”
“It’s not his fault,” chimed in the chief suddenly. The general whipped his head to Fheng who quietly closed his mouth again. Narrowing his eyes, General Aldarius stepped directly over to the chief and leaned his head to the side.
“Come again?”
“Grandfather, no!” cried out a volkin young, running to the lap of the chief. Chief Fheng held Liek close to him and assured him that everything would be alright.
“No, everything is not fine,” corrected the general as he glanced about the surrounding volkin who all stood in awe at witnessing the dramatic scene before them. Some held faces of terror while others scornfully glared at the general. “Something is going on here, and I will get to the bottom of it, even if I have to…” Suddenly his attention clicked to the worried boy that was Liek and reached out to him. Liek reeled away fro the large hand approaching his face, but would be ceased anyhow with just on swift snatch.
The general looked over the boy’s face, noticing the fresh burn mark on the boy’s cheek. “Where did you get this kind of wound, boy?”
“That’s enough!” demanded Fheng.
“I’ll say when it’s enough!” snapped back Aldarius who then drew out his sword and aimed it at the throat of the chief. “We can finish this the easy way or the hard way, Chief Fheng. Don’t force me to choose….”
Chief Fheng rattled with rage but said nothing even as the general continued with his questioning of his grandson.
“Who did this to you…?”
“....”
“Answer me boy…”
Liek’s yellow eyes moved from the ground and over to where Rubis stood with his father then back toward the ground. “I-I can’t…”
General Aldarius halted his inspection of the boy momentarily to glance over his shoulder to the son and father then back to Liek.
“That’s all I need to know,” Aldarius calmly stated as he straightened up. “Cease the father and son.”
Before anyone could move, a loud snarl broke through the air and Chief Fheng was ontop of the general. He had transformed into his bestial state, muzzle blaring with stained fangs and wild yellow eyes.
“You son of a bitch!” He shouted, lurching for the general but before he could reach the general, he quickly and suddenly paused. He had a look of pained shock on his grizzled furred face and his volkin ears stood up in alarm. There at been a shining silver angle pointed straight through his abdomen, the rest of the length having been pierced clean through his chest. General Aldarius withdrew his sword now tainted in red and took a step back, watching the chief fumble to his knees, holding his midsection in pain and shock. The blow to his chest rendered the chief motionless and speechless, even when his grandson called out to him. Liek fell to his knees with his grandfather, holding him where his fresh wounds were, as if he were trying to somehow mend them closed again.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Grandfather, please, no!”
The chief struggled for words, grasping his chest and heaving heavily. All he could do was utter out gutteral noises as his lungs filled with blood. He then toppled over, lain on the ground to bleed out his last breath. An uproar of outrage broke out amongst the other volkin of the village, having just watched their chief slain by their mortal enemies. It was too much to bare and a bout broke out. Elkai officials battled against the war hardened volkin who used their feral instincts to gain an edge in the fight. Teeth, claws, and weapons clashed with swords imbued with magica and might as the two sides waged war on each other for the second time. One of Numar’s eldest sons was the first to initiate. With a warcry he howled and was on the nearest elkai official, tearing into his throat and drawing an immense amount of blood that splattered his face and painted him in red. With the scent of blood in the air, the entire village was sent into a frenzy, attacking the Elkai Domion with the Dominion retaliating with forces of their own. The skirmish was brutal, with blood everywhere and both sides having lost warriors.However, the sheer number and force of the elkai would see that the battle was won.
Sensing the impending doom of their clan, Hallah rushes over to where her brother had been standing over a fallen elkai official. She confides in him a favor.
“Save my children. I fear that we won’t make it out of this alive”
“And just leave you lot behind to deal with the elkai? Are you mad??”
“Just do as I say, Jaron!”
Jaron takes a long look at his sister before nodding. “Alright. Where do you want me to take them?”
“To the black forest.”
“You mean the Kreptic Forest?? Why there?”
“It’s the only place they’ll be safe from the elkai force. There isn’t much time to argue, now go!”
Heeding his older sister’s words, Jaron would collect the three youngest siblings that being Sol, Kanida, and Rubis and snuck out of the battle and across the desert. Whatever fate of his clan he left behind would be, it would be on his shoulders. But he had to protect the last lineage of their tribe, even if it meant he’d have to settle with the nauseating sensation in his stomach, each time wanting to turn back and defend his family alongside them. But he had a duty to do on beheeshed of his sister and he would carry out his mission even if it killed him. Jaron gathered the children and threw the on his bestial back. With one last glance at his sister he rode off with Kanida, Sol, and Rubis in stow.
“We can’t just leave them! No, Uncle Jaron put us down!” Rubis fought with his uncle but was unable to get himself down due to the gallop of Jaron’s beast form.
“Hush, boy! It’s for your own good, and mine…” There was a hint of pain and guilt in Jaron’s voice, his eyes casting to the ground. “Your mother and father gave up their lives so that we may live. Remember that, boy…”
Rubis fell quiet and hugged at his uncles back. He could hear the pending pain of tears of sorrow emitting from his siblings. They bawled into the back of their uncle, already feeling the absence of their parents.
Jaron took them all across the desert headed towards the swampy area known as Isles of Ikuda. When it was time for rest, he would make an attempt explain the situation to the youngkin the best he could.
“Your mother and father, they…. The whole clan, they…”
“They’re dead, aren’t they?” Asked Rubis, his eyes sullen as he looked into his uncle from where he sat against a rock, legs furled to his chest. Jaron said nothing but looked long and mournful at his nephew. He bowed his head and sighed, shaking his head slowly. “I… don’t know…”
“Why did we have to leave them behind?” Kanida asked, her voice trembled as she was on the verge of tears again. All Jaron could do was look at her and bit back tears of his own. He wanted to crack down and cry. To admit he didn’t know why he did what he did. It was for Hallah and Numar yet still, he wanted to be there. He could have been there, somehow. Jaron couldn’t look either one of them in the eyes as they sniffled and hiccuped, fighting for their lives from the eyes of the lost.
“I don’t know…”
When nightfall blanketed the sandy horizon, it would have been time for the clan to sleep, however sleep would not come to them. It would never come to them easily again.