Chapter 22: Between Wolves and Blades
The blood-soaked battlefield lay in eerie silence. A foul stench of rot and damp earth hung heavy in the air. Bodies of white apes littered the broken terrain, their corpses twitching faintly in death. Everyone bore wounds—some shallow, others painful—but they had survived, albeit with pale faces and aching limbs.
The tarps over both carriages were torn to shreds, stained with ape blood and dirt. Kiran was sitting on the ground with wide eyes, his lips moving as he tried to spell out the words from memory. "Eerie screeches ... red eyes ... nine waves of monsters."
His mother, Mirelle, moved gently between the wounded, a faint golden hue radiating from her palms while whispering du'as under her breath. Her healing essence washed over cuts and bruises with the hum of tranquillity.
Waker lay down flat on the ground, staring at the shifting clouds. He rubbed the bruises on his ribs and groaned. "I swear one of those apes punched like a boulder ... "
Sira sat cross-legged nearby Waker, cleaning the purple ooze blood from her daggers. Her calm demeanour hadn't changed, but the tension in her shoulders betrayed her exhaustion.
Waker said without glancing at her. "Thank you for covering my back."
She didn't look as well and replied calmly, "You fought better than expected." Then a pause - "Next time, stay on your feet."
He chuckled weakly , wincing from the pain. "I'll try not to fall for dramatic effect."
Ravi sat by the edge. His sword resting on his lap, its silver gleam dulled by the dried blood. His eyes weren't on the weapon, but somewhere distant - on the forest's edge, or perhaps lost in memory.
Velka approached him with a cloth and water flask. "You didn't bleed much, do you? Or are you just that good?" She joked, offering the flask.
Ravi took the flask with a faint smile.. "Maybe both."
She tilted her head, observing him for a moment longer. She asked after a beat of silence. "Have you fought cursed beasts before?"
Ravi looked at the ground, black flames flickering in his eyes. " ... Many."
Before she could press further, Tarin called out from the other side, "We've to move quickly; otherwise, the scent of blood and flash would draw other monstrosities! I don't think that we can afford another fight without resting!
Garn nodded from where he sat and rose with a grunt. "Let's take some Essence Crystals out from these cursed apes. It'll be unwise to leave such a fortune and hard work behind."
Tarin nodded, and then everyone sat up for further work. They had just fought a deadly battle against hordes of cursed creatures and exhausted themselves to a great degree. But time was of essence, and they can't afford to lose time.
Ravi, Waker, Garn, and Tarin moved between corpses, removing the milky crystals buried in the ape skulls. Meanwhile, Velka, Mirelle, and Elyra repaired the carriages, and Dorn scouted the perimeter in grim silence along with Kiran.
After collecting three pouches full of essence crystals of white apes, they started their journey.
One of the spike-backed Scattered Horses had died. So, they had to abandon the second carriage while the injuries of other Scattered Horse were healed by Mirelle while murmuring a quiet prayer for the fallen beast.
Their next step was to ascend up the mountain of Astal. Fortunately, their journey up the mountain was rather uneventful.
After a while, many grey wolves slink from the forest. Their backs were riddled with twitching black tentacles. Their crimson eyes scanned the bloodied field as their nostrils twitched. Nevertheless, they started feasting on the corpses of white apes as they easily torn their bones into pieces through their blood red claws and fangs.
A figure in a black robe and ferocious white demonic mask was looking down at the grey wolves on a high crag, and then he shifted his attention towards the nearby mountain. A ferocious smile was plastered on the mask, its eyehole a swirling abyss. He tilted his head, "Good. Climb. Climb higher. The higher you climb ... " A soft chuckle. " ... the harder you'll fall." The next moment, he vanished into the shadows.
The group was ascending the mountain at normal pace through the path that circled round the mountain, eventually leading to the Alucone City at the top where the teleportation gate to Fontarin City was available. Then, there was three days travel to the City of Xrylus as they crossed through the City of Aqua Hospice along the way.
Suddenly, Sira shouted, "BANDITS! PREPARE TO ENGAGE!" Rumbling footsteps surged from both the right flank and rear.
Velka quickly created a wind barrier around them as the gust bent into a sphere. She was concentrating on keeping the barrier active while arrows constantly bombarded the barrier, only to get redirected to a different direction. Mirelle pulled Kiran close, trying to shield him using her body from whatever might get through. Thankfully, her efforts didn't seem to be necessary as the barrier held strong.
But they were completely surrounded.
Ravi stood motionless near the front carriage. He hadn't drawn his sword yet. He didn't turn as Sira said from behind. "You knew they were coming," she said. Ravi didn't deny it. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
He finally replied, voice quiet but firm.
"Because there was no other way. Besides, there was an even bigger threat behind us."
Sira narrowed her eyes. "You're hiding something. Those cursed beasts were too organized. That was no coincidence."
Ravi looked to the distant eastern slope.
"Some things chase me, Sira. And if I speak too soon, they chase others too."
She was quiet for a short while before taking a few steps away, but her silence was not acceptance—it was calculation.
Ravi thought as there was really no option left. The cursed beasts, devourers, and phantoms were strongly attracted to him due to the dark sigil. He sensed it that there were devourers behind him and bandits in front of him. Although, he could guarantee his survival but couldn't say anything about the others. So, there was nothing but choosing the lesser of the two evils.
Ravi said inwardly, "Guild me and forgive my sins."