The chariot was surrounded by young men and panic. Elder Irah sat upright in his seat, hearing the commotion outside. A young boy had just fled their grasp. He wetted his fingertips and slicked his thick patch of white hair behind his ears.
"My goodness. Whatsoever are we highly alarmed about here?" The Elder said, stepping out of the chariot.
Immediately, the men around the chariot with their daggers out bowed down to him, their eyes directly gazing at the ground below them. Only the sounds of his footsteps were audible now.
"Elder Irah, it is not safe for you out here in the wilderness. Please get inside the escort." One of the men with 2 cross emblems on his temple said.
Irah walked out a few steps more, pushing the men behind as they extended their circle. Their sudden movements caused the shape to disorganize a little, but they held on. However, kneeling and bowing.
Sipp watched from beside the creatures in the hoods. One of whom was down on the ground, rolling around and screeching, holding its eyeball. The blinding was too sensitive for even a human, let alone that. The other covered itself completely in its black robe and sat stationary.
"Young man, lift your gaze upon me." Irah commanded.
The soldier looked up from the ground to see the Elder, standing in his upright posture, his eyes looking down on him.
"I hope you can see me clearly now? I wish to know the name your birth mother bestowed upon you." Irah said.
"Yes Elder. I was named Wonphel by the mother who gave birth to me." The soldier muttered under his breath as he saw the old man with the background of a thick canopy of multiple trees, with barely any sunlight.
"Wonphel, Wonphel. I suggest you describe to me how I appear to you." Irah said.
The soldier swallowed. "Yes Elder."
"Elder Irah is a figure of reverence and authority. Elder Irah stands before us in this battle and our allegiance to Kahrud. Elder Irah is the one with the most wisdom among us, and the closest to Kahrud, our Mother." Wonphel said and clenched his fists, shaking.
"Very well said. But," Irah ruffled his hair back again and licked his lips.
"I'm afraid you might have misunderstood the question, young Wonphel. I merely asked of you to describe my physical appearance."
Wonphel nodded.
"As you wish, Elder Irah." He cleared his throat.
"Elder Irah is taller than most. He has a dense field of aging hair on his scalp, which is slicked back up to his shoulder length. He is adorned with a bright and thick silver Nixsteel necklace onto his neck, and is wearing a long white robe, and burgundy bottomwear. His face has a long white beard with a knot at the end, and.." Wonphel cleared his throat again.
Irah rubbed his chin along with the beard.
"His eyes are a deep cyan, with a huge scar from the top of his left eyebrow to the bottom right of his lip, though mostly healed."
"And?" Irah asked.
"His face is rough with the responsibility of carrying forward the promise of Kahrud. He carries no weapon, for we are here to protect him. His figure is dense and strong like his stature. Elder Irah looks as young as today."
"Does Elder Irah look like a bitch to you?" Irah said with contempt in his voice, frowning.
"What?" Wonphel said.
Irah walked closer and got near Wonphel, bending down to his face.
"Does Elder Irah look like a bitch to you?!" Irah's voice raised as his entire body shook.
"Pardon me if I had said anything that upset you Elder, I.." Wonphel spoke, but couldn't get his words out.
"Goodness, protection for me? If this was two decades ago, what you suggested would have been a slip of the tongue, boy. Only that. This," Irah said, gripping his own chest. "Is the same body that rebelled against the Fleshwalker's Massacre of the North. It seems almost laughable that you would suggest I need your permission to step out."
Wonphel dropped his head and looked at the feet of Irah, barefoot and old. The oldness to it suggested wisdom and experience.
'But also brutality.' Wonphel thought.
"Whatsoever are we so rattled about?" Irah spat, looking at Sipp directly in the eye. "A young boy just fled us. He fled the Cross of Kahrud. It is an utter culmination of embarrassing events to watch a helpless boy and his stupid little reptile flee us, yes."
Silence followed. Irah once again turned to the soldiers.
"You, boy with the two crosses. Wonphel, yes. You were supposed to act as a perimeter guard for when situations like this occur, yes? And you let him slip through us. With such haste! In the name of Kahrud, I swear, these guys are working against us."
"Elder Irah, I too, was blinded by the Mosalli, so were our men. We weren't to know and respond to anything that was unexpected." Wonphel said and grunted.
"Your words exceed your position, Wonphel. You have been of merely no use." Irah spat, and looked at Urech, who was now watching all of it go down. "Where's the Butcher?"
"What? Elder Irah, I.. I uh.. This is my first blessing so.." Urech stumbled down while attempting to walk forward.
"My goodness. However did we succeed in looting such precious goods with such idiots?" Irah massaged his own scalp and took a deep breath. "Where is Krosch?"
Sipp stepped forward, standing beside the kneeling Wonphel.
"Elder Irah, Krosch has followed the boy's trails, in hope of bringing him back." Sipp said and nodded twice. "Please express faith in our abilities, Elder. We will not let Kahrud down."
"The boy is being tailed by Krosch? " Irah asked. "The same butcher who let the boy slip through the grasp of his palm. I believe that he'll return with nothing to talk about."
Sipp shot eyes at the Elder.
"Elder Irah, we have lost comrades, friends, and family for this raid. Krosch too, has."
She took a step forward. "For Kahrud."
"For Kahrud." Irah nodded thrice.
"The boy?"
"He's the remnant of his tribe. One of the last surviving Tullwacht. Probably fled from the massacre of the North." Sipp said and swallowed. "It is possible that his blood is of higher quality."
"And, We let him make his escape hastily. Is it presumptuous to think that we might have let go the only chance to secure his fellowship? It is presumptuous that you and your Butcher decided to murder such a valuable gift without giving a word to me. What do you think, you are, Miss?"
Irah stepped forward beside Wonphel and gripped his hand on Sipp's neck.
"No, not at all Elder. But," Sipp picked up the pills from her pocket.
"Look at these. These are moonlit corals disguised as pills. For such a trained eye like you, it might be visible easily. He has been violating the Sea God. He has been violating what Kahrud stands for."
Irah coughed and let go, stepping back inside the circle. "Baffling."
"Baffling to see that the last Tullwacht would taint his blood by injecting himself with the very sea that gives to him. Remind me why Krosch decided to murder the boy again."
He took the moonlit coral pills and gripped them firmly in one of his hands.
"His blood in the hands of another would be a dangerous commodity, Elder." Sipp said. "Hence, why Krosch wanted to deal with him using our Ghouls."
"Stupid, very Stupid, that all this time wasted fleeing led to nothing notable to us. We shall begin our journey back once Krosch returns." Irah said and caressed his beard, closing his eyes.
He turned back and began walking towards the chariot, the circle around him shrinking as he got closer and closer.
"Except, for all we know, Elder, there could be untainted blood. Let's say, how do you think the boy survived alone?" Wonphel said.
Elder Irah stopped on his tracks.
"As I had suggested before, your ideas exceed your rank, young man." Irah said and walked back quickly, up to the face of Wonphel.
"What do you claim we do? Go back into the wretched country and get vaporized?!" He kicked Wonphel on the face, stumbling him at least 5 feet back, his spine hitting a tree. Very little sound eluded from the man now, and movement.
"Look how useless you are."
"Use..less… I am not." Wonphel trembled, holding his bleeding nose and broken teeth.
Sipp watched, with her lower lip trembling. 'They don't call him Irah the Ox for nothing.'
"Does anybody not have the slightest urge to get away from this wretched border?!" Irah said and took multiple bated breaths. Then a deep breath.
"Look at this mess you've made me do, what I've had to do due to your sluggish and impudent actions. My, my." Irah said panting, then adjusted his robe. He slicked his hair back again and stood up straight.
The man was moving around on the ground, speechless, hurt.
"It is time we move. The Butcher can catch up to us with one of his ghouls." Irah looked at the ghoul which was now sitting upright, hand on its face, one leg supporting it to get up.
Sipp's heartbeat fastened. "The ghouls do not have such a good sense of direction. I'll stay and bring Krosch with me, Elder."
Irah stopped. "I do not think you need to take the burden of staying back, Miss Sipp. If that is correct. You may join us."
"No, Elder, I…" Sipp paused. "I need to make sure that the Butcher reaches us safely."
Irah snapped. "Is your fealty to protect the messengers of Kahrud, or to protect your Butcher?"
He spat.
"The stench of his tobacco trails are probably enough for him to find his way back. He already has made himself an unhealthy host for our lords. There are other butcher candidates if Kahrud forbid something happens to him."
"My Oath is to Kahrud." Sipp said, and then undid her gloves, showing a tattoo of the cross symbol embedded into her flesh. "It is just that it will be difficult facing any more obstacles without the weapon, our Butcher. Granted, we have to pass through breeding Mammoth grounds."
Irah licked his lips and sour-eyed Sipp.
"What is it with you? Do you fancy him?"
"What?" Sipp said, biting her teeth.
"First, you defend whatever actions he has and try to wrong me. Then suggest we waste our precious time getting out of Chaktri trail by staying here. And, you want to make yourself a waiting maiden, for the Butcher. You seem to have none of the loyalty to Kahrud as your predecessors, Sipp Jolreichenne." Irah said with a scowl on his face.
"Instead you wander around and let the only boy, only chance for us in this resistance to get away, and then you wrong me. You wrong me!" He spat on the ground.
Sipp looked down on the ground, standing her ground.
"It is not out of personal commitment. But," She looked up at the Elder.
"I will be staying back."
The Elder bit his lip. "Such Audacity!"
"That won't be necessary." A voice came from behind Sipp, along with the stench of rotten flesh, yet beautiful and fragrant perfume seeping through
Sipp turned back to see Krosch.
"The boy is most likely dead." He said, and dropped a limb onto the floor before Sipp.
She saw a leg, cut through and bleeding fresh at various parts. Broken toenails, torn skin. And beautiful roses with sharp thorns protruding out from multiple holes. It was a view so exotic and fragrant that, for a moment, time seemed to pause for Sipp.
"You let the boy die?" Irah asked.
"I apologize, I did not expect for there to be such an unexpected development in his defense. All thanks to our fauna expert." Krosch eyed Urech. The boy turned away and looked down.
"We have lost pursuit. Also wasted our precious time in this venture. I hope we can all not get too rattled from all that has gone down after the battle. Times are changing too fast and not in a good way." Krosch said, as he watched his men look at him with hope in their eyes.
"I don't concur. To say that a Tullwacht's disappearance was such a great misfortune. We survived without them, and we propelled forward without them. We shall be back on track. That is all." Irah said.
"What could have caused the leg to turn into that?" Sipp asked.
"I have no idea. But it is a sense of looming danger. To not stay over here any longer." Krosch said and gestured to 2 men to begin pulling the carts which held the very precious gold that they had looted.
One chariot, 4 carts, 2 Ghouls, men, women and weapons. Krosch scanned to see if everything was ready to move. Krosch closed his eyes. He could still remember the screams of his people. The wretched, final pleas at the temple with his parents, which were stomped down into silence by the Gatekeepers. Blood all around the backyard, the taste of impending doom onto his head.
"I suppose that is true, young Krosch. We shall make our way out of this wretched land." Irah said.
Krosch bent down at his feet and inhaled. He could still smell the cigarettes on him. The stench of Nixsteel filled his nostrils too. He opened his eyes finally and looked up.
"An Abyssal one has made its move." Krosch said, and swallowed, looking at Elder Irah.
Gasps and murmurs went through the crowd. Silence followed.
"...Are you sure?" Irah looked at Krosch with a stupendous amount of doubt, blinking.
"Elder Irah, you must not have gotten down from your chariot at all since the sun rose. It is as real as the screams of our people who fought to death for Kahrud. I saw it with my own two eyes." Krosch said as he looked at the man wincing in pain on the ground. "The first thing you do after getting out is harming our people."
Irah scowled but calmed himself down. "What have you witnessed that commits you to spout this, young Krosch?"
"Our moons." Krosch said. "Both of the Red Luna and Blue Luna have visibly big craters formed on them, fresh."
Irah stood there, and clenched his fists. "Not since the last 150 years."
"If that isn't a sign we should leave now, I don't know what is. Spare us some faith Elder Irah, we'll reach home, and do it now." Krosch said, and looked at Sipp. She nodded.
Sipp sighed and put her arm on Krosch's shoulder. "Let us get going now."
The crew began pulling their carts, and Elder Irah began walking towards his chariot, step by step, hobbling along as if he had forgotten something.
There was a sudden pause.
"Wait." Irah said.
"How can we say with certainty that he was the only surviving member of the Tullwacht? Or that he has no companions? We didn't even witness the boy's body."
There was pin drop silence, as everybody including Krosch looked at Elder Irah.
"What do you suggest we do, Elder Irah? We can't go back into the city again." Krosch said.
"Oh, we are not." Elder Irah said.
He walked up to the man who was trembling with pain, holding his bloodied nose and counting his fallen teeth, wincing in pain. He knelt down and looked him directly in the face. He cupped his chin in his hand.
"Hey, now. Easy, soldier." Irah said and ruffled the hair of Wonphel, patting his head. He looked him in the eye.
"Find me the origins of the boy and his companions. Any remaining survivors of the Tullwacht. Report back to me 2 months later." Irah said and wiped off a bit of blood from Wonphel's nose.
"You won't rat us out will you? Oh wait, you can't. The cross mark will vaporize you. How pitiful."
Wonphel held his jaw in place and tried to form words, but they couldn't escape his jaw.
"Make yourself useful…" Irah said, walking away from him into the chariot, dropping behind the bunch of moonlit coral pills on his lap. "..You bastard."