Vol.1/Chapter 9: Blame

TW: Violence and kind of gore.

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Luca's POV:

I noticed that we are on the halfway mark on the woods as per the sign left by previous hunting groups. The sign says: if you are reading this, you are literally in the middle of the Redwoods. the other half will be quite treacherous, be careful.

Alder was still on his cuffs, quiet and waiting for an opportunity to escape. Me and Theo are now the leaders of this group since we are the one with most skills even though we lack experience. Iresh, my Shadowmane, is on the side guarding the group from incoming attacks. We managed to resupply our food, water, medicine and quivers when we are on the waterfall so there is nothing to worry about.

But I can sense something. Just like Alder, it's patiently waiting to strike.

I notified the group to be careful, something large is stalking us. The group was confused when I said it since the ground is not shaking, not heavy footsteps can be felt and not a large roar to be heard.

"This something large is quiet, almost invisible. Ready your weapons and notify the group when you see something suspicious.", I ordered.

"And when someone is in danger, we will not leave them. Understood?", Theo added.

The group was in high hopes and is ready to battle. We tread lightly in our path, not wanting the attention. With the sun slowly setting again, our surroundings became dimmer and dimmer. Fallen leaves scattered throughout the forest floor as we carefully passed by. Everyone was quiet and focused. I must say, the leadership capability of Theo is as of his father.

I broke the silence by saying:

"Even if Alder is on his cuffs and made a grave mistake, he is still one of us.", I told. "If necessary and in an emergency, uncuff him to let him protect himself."

Many were hesitant but I explained how they treated me as a family even though we are not the same race.

"If me, a human, is protected by all your might, what about the comrades you grew up with? Everyone makes mistakes and it is our duty to correct them." I explained.

Theo was smiling in the side as the wolves understood what I said. Iresh, on the other hand, is acting weird. I was surprised when the Bells of Death, yes I named my newfound skill to further be comfortable with it, rang three times.

Ring, Ring, Ring!

I instantly switched to alert mode as I notified the group, something is incoming. It might have sensed we got lax and tried to attack us in an opportunity. Iresh is roaring to fend the foe but to no avail. It keeps on coming. The dried leaves on the floor fly off in different direction with an astounding speed. Fortunately, everyone was focused, with their weapons ready.

Pair of gigantic, glowing, yellow eyed is swiftly approaching the group. Its body is elongated yet so large. It's now on our front but it stopped.

"Everyone! We're in for a real fight. Uncuff Alder.", I ordered.

Swiftly, they uncuffed the latter as he grabs his own weapon. The enormous opponent finally showed its face. A black Titanoboa, towering over 40 feet long, shrieks to intimidate us. Its massive jaws contain hundreds, or maybe thousand, of razor sharp teeth. Even though non-venomous, this bitch wraps around its victims and crush them into a juicy pulp. Even a Shadowmane looks little compared to the giant snake.

Bow wielders position themselves in the back as the spear holders scatter around to possibly confuse the foe. I rode Iresh as she lets out a fearsome roar. The snake replied with a chilling hiss, breaking the Shadowmane's roar. We waited for an opportunity to attack as we maintain our distance from its strikes.

"Easy brothers, we may be little to its eyes but we outnumber this shit. Focus, breathe and relax.", Theo calmly direct.

The snake, with its body, side-winded slowly as it repositions itself. The group then follows it leads as this became almost a battle dance. My Bells of Death still continuously rings as the Titanoboa decided to finally attack.

With a swift movement, he focused on Alder, opening its jaws to possibly swallow its prey whole. But like a madman, Alder jumped on its head and slashed its back in a straight line as the giant snake tries to shake him off. He then jumped from the snake's back and then lands on the ground as he smugly looks at me, quietly saying "I'm the best". This made the Titanoboa angry and swiftly tail whipped Alder, making the latter flew, hit a gigantic tree and become unconscious.

I then ordered the bow wielders to fire at will as arrows continuously fly to the body of the reptile. Most are deflected by the snake's hardened scales but some managed to hit in the flesh between the gaps of each scales. The snake screeched in pain as Theo and the spear holders stab it whilst not looking.

Me and Iresh then ran in a circle around it and shoot it from afar, every shot I made connected and I feel proud when suddenly it grabbed one of my comrades, Aldrich, one of the wolves.

Aldrich was screaming in pain as the group try to attack the snake. Wrapped around his body, the tail of the foe slowly crushes his inside as I hear bone per bone, beaten up to a pulp. Even Iresh tried to bite the giant snake but to little success. With Aldrich in its tail and Alder unconscious, we felt hopeless. We tried attacking from left and right, emptying our quivers, but to little effect. I even used my poisonous arrows to it.

With everyone's stamina drained, we just hopelessly watch as Aldrich was crushed to a pulp. His last scream is blocked by the squeezed organs and bones belching outside his mouth, nose and eyes. The Titanoboa then decided to bite the other half of Aldrich's body then threw the rest.

The lower half of Aldrich's body was thrown near Alder as he finally wakes up. Everyone thought they are gonna die here except for one, Theo. He grabbed his spear and while the snake is busy cleaning itself up from the last meal, I used my last poisonous arrow and decided to hit the snake right dead in the eye. It connected as Theo, enraged and full of strength, runs up its body as he finally dealt a lethal stab in the snake's head. The snake tried to shake him off but he just decided to hold on and sink his spear more into the snake's skull. I never seen Theo get strong like this. With its final hiss, the giant foe fell down while Theo jumped from it, covered in blood.

He was panting with anger, catching his breath as Iresh and I approached him. He then cried as he walks toward Aldrich's lower half, grabbing it firmly. Even tired, Theo grabbed his tool and started to dig in the ground. The other wolves, while mourning the death of their comrade, helped Theo bury the remaining corpse of our friend. Even Iresh looked sad as she tried to comfort me.

The wolves then quickly made a gravestone out of a giant boulder and carved in it.

Here lies Aldrich, not just a friend or a comrade but a family. He died protecting us and he will never be forgotten.

The group then buries Aldrich's body as they finally lifted the boulder with all their strength, diminished from the last fight, and placed it in his grave. The wolves knew that this is futile and they knew their comrade wants us to continue. They heed their final mourns and messages as we regrouped for a moment.

The party then replenished back themselves with water and food. Looking at the carcass of the giant snake, I ordered our flayers to cut off the scales of the latter foe as it can be viable to be an armor for everyone. It was almost dusk when they finished as I also previously ordered another group to make ropes. We then made armor from the scales of the snake, granting us more protection.

"See? Do you still wanna entrust your lives with someone who got no experience with this?", Alder blames me out of nowhere. "If I was the leader of this group, no one could've died but you listened to this morons!"

"Do you think no one would die if you are our leader?!", Theo angrily grabbed Alder by the neck. "If you were the leader, probably all of us are dead. You are utterly arrogant, blame shifter and a fucking idiot. So do you think we want us for you to lead us, fuck no, never!

"Ha! No one should be left alone my ass! You just looked like morons attacking that snake and both of you so called leaders, managed to kill one of our tribemate!", Alder continues to push my buttons but...

"And you? What did you do, Alder? Even though Theo ordered as to be calm, you ran to the snake like a madman and managed to anger it!", Bakura screamed.

"And you even managed to get unconscious and sleep like no one is in danger! The only one who left someone is you!", Aman and the other wolves cuffed Alder again.

"I know I'm a failure of a leader and I will take any consequences befallen for me. But our families our waiting for that food.", I sadly spoke. "We need to leave this woods immediately as we are near ending our second day."

The party understood me and comforted me saying everything can happen and I'm still a good leader. I rode Iresh and with our energies replenished, we said our goodbyes to our fallen buddy, Aldrich. As a punishment again, Alder's hand is tied to a rope pulled by Iresh. If he was slow enough, he's gonna be dragged away.

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It was almost night when we finally and fortunately managed to get out of the Redwoods with no more encounters. The stars on the clear sky is slowly coming up as the upcoming moon shimmers upon us. Breathing the fresh air of the fields, I saw the goal of our hunt. A group of Longhorned Angus can be seen from afar the field. We are now really on the Sharpturn Hunting Ground.

I quickly ordered everyone to set camp as tomorrow we are gonna kill at least two adult cows, flay it and bring it back home for our families to feast. I will not let everyone's sacrifice be in vain. Tents were flourished and campfire set, we tried to rest for the upcoming hunt. Within only an open field, I got no choice but to stay on guard. Theo also joined me as we look upon the starry sky.

"I wanna make everyone proud." I cried. "I wanna make everyone proud of me because I want them to accept me."

Theo holds my hand and looks at me in the eyes. His red eyes glimmer as he reassures me everything is alright.

"You know? When we were child, I am actually afraid of you because of what I heard from the history of the races.", Theo told me. "But you broke that stereotype and became a necessary foundation between harmony and I'm so thankful to be your friend."

Theo smiled as his warm, ragged hand gently placed in mine. I also explained about my Bells of Death skill. He was astounded and fascinated and managed to talk throughout the night. Finally done explaining, he then smiled while looking at me as I bid him goodnight as I'm so tired and needs rest. He decided to stay watch for the whole night. I then walked towards Iresh, my Shadowmane, and sleep on her. Woken up, he put his paws on me as it is lighter than I thought. I enjoyed her warm embrace as I managed to fall asleep

Tomorrow's gonna be a new day and I will make everyone proud, I promise...