Zaron was advancing on a nearby camp of Baros. Drunken with anger and ale, he was going to enact his revenge. Without consulting his nephew who was his superior officer.
"Kael will understand. We must kill them all." Zaron said to the other Zuli rookies who too had been drinking too much. Possibly good friends of Zayen.
Kael once again was too far away to stop the inevitable from happening, but this time he was okay with it. The Baros will get what they deserve. He watched from the distance as Zaron enacted their revenge, grinning to himself. He hated himself for grinning, because now he was going to have to answer to Zubotu. After this thought he ran to the lines where most of the Zuli were now advancing. Calling for a full retreat, but he had to reach the front to notify all the men. That is when Kael's anger built up once again. Baros hunters came from all different angles at him. They must have been the outlanders first defense, weak, inexperienced. He cut them down easily. Kael felt powerful, his blade cutting through them with ease, each strike an extension of the vengeance still hot in his veins. But it wasn't enough. The blood didn't quench his thirst for retribution. It only made the emptiness grow wider. Before he could continue, a shout rang out, cutting through his dark thoughts.
"Zaron's asking for you at the main camp!" Kael then remembered why he was there.
"Tell all the men to retreat, we were not meant to hit them head on. We do not know their numbers." Kael said to the man. "I will talk to Zaron and let him know, please retreat back to the Outpost." Kael wiped the blood from his sword, his gaze lingering on the fallen hunters before he advanced to whatever threat needed his blade next. But when he arrived at the main camp, his heart sank. The air around him was thick with the crackle of blue-black flames. They surged, tearing through his fellow Zuli soldiers, their screams mingling with the roar of the flames. Kael's eyes narrowed.
There, amidst the chaos, he saw Zaron finally getting the upper hand on the Baros who had been causing the trouble. His sword flashed with brutal precision, a testament to the fury that burned inside him. But just as Zaron prepared to land the final blow, a woman, a Baros, intervened. In a flash, she sliced through Zaron. Kael's breath caught in his throat, but the woman's strike had been clean. She had ensured Zaron would live, though the wound was deep, and he would not fight again anytime soon.
Kael's eyes flickered with the storm inside him, lightning crackling in his veins. His grip on his sword tightened. The Baros had killed his father, his cousin. These were the people responsible for his pain, for the loss that still haunted him. He was ready to strike, to finally end them, but as he approached the Baros boy, something stopped him cold. Something behind the boy. A shadow, a massive presence that loomed in the sky. A nightmare. The creature was towering over the boy, its wings darkening the already lowered sun in the sky. Kael froze, the words dying in his throat. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, its monstrous form pulsating with an ancient and terrifying power.
For a moment, Kael couldn't move. His heart raced, the fury he'd felt moments ago turning to dread. He had faced death many times before, but this thing,this nightmare,was something beyond even his understanding. He stepped back, his instincts screaming at him to retreat. Whatever that creature was, it wasn't something he could fight, not now, not with the storm of flames and shadow raging around him. As he pulled away, the nightmare's eyes locked with his for a brief moment, and Kael knew then that this was no mere beast. It was a force, ancient and terrible. And it was watching them all. The voice of the other elites rang out as the Infernals emerged from the ground. "Retreat! Infernals!" Kael turned and retreated back to the Ninji Outpost, the weight of what he had just seen heavy on his shoulders. There was more to this war than he had realized, and whatever that nightmare was, it was just beginning.
Kael's footsteps were heavy as he made his way toward the camp's edge, his mind still reeling from the sight of the nightmare that loomed over the Baros boy. His thoughts were disjointed, the image of the creature haunting him. His hand clenched around the hilt of his sword, still tingling with the remnants of his stormy anger, but there was a gnawing uncertainty now,a recognition that something far darker was at play. He found Zaron in a quiet corner of the camp, slumped against a tree, his face pale as a Ninji healer worked over him. The healer, a woman with silver-tipped braids, moved with practiced precision, her hands covered in the Ninji water. She patted his wounds with the water, and used some casting to help guide the water. Zaron's wound was deep, but it was clear from the healer's focused efforts that he would survive. Kael stood for a moment, watching, before stepping closer. Zaron's head tilted back slightly, his eyes fluttering open as Kael approached. His jaw tightened at the sight of the healing magic, but Zaron only spared him a quick glance before nodding slightly, acknowledging his presence.
"You should rest, Zaron," the healer said quietly, applying a fresh poultice to his wound. "You've lost too much blood."
Zaron grimaced but didn't argue. Instead, his gaze locked onto Kael, sharp and unblinking. "You saw it, didn't you?" His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.
"Why, why did you decide to disobey me, and the King and attack?" Kael said, almost spitting the words at him. Though in his mind he was happy to have Baros blood on his sword.
"I…I needed to," Zaron said, trying to catch his breath. "For Zayen. Until..that thing appeared…with that boy…"
Kael didn't need to ask what he meant. His thoughts were still swirling around that creature,the nightmare. "The Baros woman, she…" Kael trailed off, his words faltering. He didn't know how to explain what had happened, what he had seen. "She struck you down, but you're alive."
Zaron's eyes flickered with a strange light, a mix of pain and begrudging respect. "She made sure I would live," he said, his voice low but steady. "She could have finished me off. She didn't. She told me to go and tell our king what we saw."
Kael nodded, digesting this. "And the boy... the one you were fighting?"
Zaron's expression darkened. "The boy's not what you think. He's not just another Baros. He's something else." He paused as if weighing his words, before adding, "I don't know what exactly, but he isn't Baros. Or at least from what I have fought through my years. Death rode with that boy, it did not take him."
Kael's heart skipped a beat. "I saw it. That shadow, it was like a nightmare. A thing with wings. It was... towering over him." He swallowed, trying to shake the unsettling memory. "I couldn't even approach. It was too powerful."
Zaron gave him a knowing look, his face drawn with the weight of his own battle. "You did the right thing," he said softly. "That creature wasn't just a beast. It's part of something larger. And if that boy is tied to it, if he's the key to whatever this is, then we're all in danger."
Kael glanced around the camp, his thoughts racing. He couldn't shake the feeling that everything was about to change, that the balance they had relied on for so long was crumbling.
"Then those Infernals showed up. You think it's connected to the Infernals?" Kael asked, his voice low.
"Maybe, It has been years since I have ever seen one. I know we are closer to Volflary, but they usually do not venture out this far. From the reaction of the Baros, they were surprised too. Hell, maybe the Infernals are going to finish our revenge for us." Zaron said, chuckling but wincing at the pain.
"You have prevented us from having any talks on good terms with Zubotu, Zaron." Kael said. "Zubotu will feel betrayed; he will not handle any of this lightly."
"Aye, blame it on me then nephew. They hate my guts already." Zaron said, adjusting to a more comfortable position. "I won't live much longer anyways. If I am no good at fighting, then I am no good for the Zuli."
"Get rest uncle. We will be traveling back in the morning." Kael said, "You are lucky the Ninji sent us help, I assume they are a part of the scouting party the King had sent after me." Nothing came from Zaron. He was asleep, snoring now. The smell of Ale was still radiating from him.