Chapter 17: Only Option

{2 months ago}

Southwestern region, Misk.

Misk's Southwest had a village which had been struck by a terrible famine.

The village, Adski, had no way of contacting other villages for help due to a great distance between them.

With the distance being so great before anyone could reach another town or village, they would have died of starvation.

Any help that they could have had was thwarted by the fact that were not in speaking terms with neighbours.

Making their situation all the worse.

And their chief not knowing what to do, declared that they would have to meet their fate.

Death.

Death from starvation. Death from scarce resources.

Of course, this was not taken lightly.

People started to kidnap and drink people's blood. Or they began stealing food.

Or they tried to flee and entering another village, they were met with hostility and were slaughtered due to their place of origin.

Things became so bad, suicide was slowly becoming normal.

As if by coincidence, there showed up to the chief a man that offered them a solution.

He was a businessman from Kiltar.

And he told the chief that there was a type of fruit that grows quickly, with little water.

And yields hundreds of berries that could help the entire village.

In desperation, the chief took the man's words without a thought.

The Kiltarn man then left for Kiltar and days later brought carriage loads worth of fruit.

The chief then decided to make it cheap so that the poor and middle class destroying the village would be appeased.

For a time, it worked!

The fruit lasted longer than usual and there wasn't as much hunger anymore.

With the famine slowly leaving, people began to be filled with gratitude as things were good again.

And all this, in return, made the Kiltarn business man rich.

And when things started to be perfectly fine, the Kiltarn man vanished and the chief being bothered at first, let the man go cause everything was now fine.

And days after the business man left, people began to undergo abnormal changes.

They at first were more energetic and could travel miles from their home with little fatigue.

Then days later, everyone had eyes as red as blood.

Even though the fruit started to go down due to no more supply—and the tree couldn't be grown in Misk—the people went on with their other diets.

And before they knew it, few days later, people began to have their teeth enlarging and tearing through their gums.

It became so painful it drove them crazy.

The chief, before he could take action, died of a stroke from the pains of his gums.

Then people began to run mad by fighting eachother for the fruit.

Anarchy became synonymous with the land.

The strange thing laid in the fact that one day, everyone was fighting.

The next, there was total peace. 

People conversed normally as if they didn't try to rip open eachother's necks the night before.

But why this happens, no one knows.

{Present day}

Tye was rubbing his chin and had difficulty in breathing due to his heartbeat racing as a man before him narrated this.

The man's friends began to talk over one another

"He's right! That's what happened!" One said.

"True!" Replied another.

Tye was now perturbed at the narration.

He didn't know what to do or say.

Hearing the narration, he had been staring at the floor the whole time.

Flipping the events over his head for some logic.

But the more he thought, the less he knew.

Who was this man from Kiltar?

Why are Miskans' developments in eating the fruit much slower than Kiltarns?

And his heart began to beat even faster as he finally looked up at the men, whose figures were made terrifying from a light of the lamp.

Why then, should these men look like monsters but have some intelligence?

"What?! Don't believe us?!" The one seated asked impatiently.

His words alarmed Tye and Tye stammered replying

"M-maybe. Why do you people?—"

Before Tye finished his words, the men began to act strange—which ashened Tye.

All the men began looking at another direction as if waiting for someone.

And they looked like barbarians that could eat their fellow humans.

But no one was there.

Then the one seated said

"That idiot that thinks he can hide, let's use him for the fire of tonight's meal."

Tye became even more alarmed.

*Cause for some reason, that was the same words he was told earlier.

Tye began to back off.

Then as if being forced out of a trance.

One of the men began to clench hard onto his head due to a headache and groaned as he said

"W-where are you going?!"

Tye didn't know what to do but freeze and stare at the man.

Then all the men began feeling a headache.

Tye took the opportunity and ran away.

"This is more dangerous than I thought!" He said while running.

Tye was running in the cave and there were torch lights at the sides of the cave walls.

Looking back, no one was behind him.

He gasped in gratitude.

Until his heart sank hearing quick footsteps.

Looking back, there was no one there.

And when he looked back again, there was still no one.

Until he turned to the side and saw a man next to him at knife-point running at incredible speed with wide open, blood thirsty eyes.

"So, where to?" The man said to Tye.

Leaving Tye horrified.

***

Before dozens of men and women part of the Rogues in Blood Forest, Yama was putting on a cloak on Lina and Yiss.

This was their induction into the Rogues.

When Yama finished putting the cloaks on them, Yama raised her voice to her fellow members

"Fearless people of Kiltar! Behold your new members!"

Everyone began to clap and cheer them on as they were filled with joy.

While Lina and Yiss on the other hand, were filled with agony.

Lina convinced herself to joining an opposition seeking the death of the king out of desperation.

And with even seeing the Rogues at all, they will be tortured then hanged if caught.

Meaning she could never return to her siblings.

But how could she? 

This is Blood Forest where they located at currently.

Attempting to leave on your own could mean death due to wild animals that made everyday predators look like jokes.

And this was due to an effect from the tree of the forest that gave strength and madness to the consumer.

Ever since these facts landed heavily on Lina's mind, she knew that joining was the only hope.

Or death.

And her parents have been missing for weeks.

Their country was being torn apart, so she saw herself useless to take care of her siblings Aina and Dart.

And since war could break out and her and her colleague, Yiss, could help the Rogues, this was—to her—the only option.

While Yiss on the other hand, joined due to emotional blackmail. Which made her heart saddened at the fact.

Yama did not spare her in making her look foolish and the murderer of many if she did not use her special scientific knowledge to help the Rogues.

And with an on going and merciless epidemic still ravaging Kiltar, coupled with a self-centered king that had more important things than to help his people, the Rogues could help where the government's system failed.

After an afternoon of members drinking and chatting together, most of them dispersed to outer lands.

Yama was passing Lina and Yiss and saw they hadn't eaten, said enraged

"Hey idiots! Don't like the food?!"

No one replied.

Yama became impatient

"What?!" she asked them.

They turned to her in grave sadness

"Not used to the hard life? Don't you know, if we weren't here, there'd be war by now!

Meaning you dummies have been sleeping on the freedom we provide—"

Yiss interrupted saying

"Wrong! You guys caused this!"

While they were arguing, Kti, close friend of Yama and Rogue member walked up to them and heard their conversation.

Yama replied Yiss saying

"We caused this? Ha ha! Too bad" she said laughing, then turned grave and said

"You're one of us now."

Kti grimaced

"Enough! Now, let's get to wo

rk, are you people—"

Lina replied without waiting for him to finish

"Yes! We're ready to kill that darn governor! His darn wife! And burn that useless system this government gave us!"

Kti and Yama put on a malevolent grin at her words.