亚洲综合中美

The leader, tired and wounded from the prior battle, threw passing glances at Staxius. The latter, sweaty but unbothered, casually puffed and looked over at the landscape, ‘-shielded by mountains and steep slopes,’ he observed, ‘-a valley known to a few locals. I doubt anyone would brave the unknown path, especially since,’ the foul stench of death whispered, he looked over at a decomposing body of a man impaled against a tree.

“Mark of the Spine Wolf,” one of the scavengers added, “-guardians of the forest and apex predator.”

The others threw suspicious gaze at the comment, Staxius felt it, ‘-there’s more to him,’ and so, without a moment wasted, he looked at the man and nodded, “-tell me more.”

Meanwhile, the leader was trapped in his own fantasies. ‘-Their deathly screams, the howls, why do they make me happy, why am I pleased to have witnessed the fall…’ in there was the truth; Revenge. The more he thought, the more Staxius’ image was embedded with the idea of total power, and the more grew an infatuation with power, ‘-he has the authority to change the tide of war. I need him to join us,’ alas for the Leader, another keen-eyed companion, a demi-human girl of bunny characteristic, threw a pensive gaze at him, her fluffy complexion ending at her neck, where more human-like trait followed, was like a tan for tourists. Instead of darker shade against lighter shade – it’d a separation between skin and hairs, “-don’t get any ideas,” she whispered, holding the carriage’s reins.

“What now?” he coughed, “-you caught me offguard.”

“You’re interested in him, aren’t you,” they murmured, “-you’re infatuated with how powerful he is.”

“So what?”

“You can’t risk the Scavengers on a pipe dream. I told you, you’re not strong, nor are we. We don’t have the manpower to survive, let alone fight. Will you repeat the mistakes of your uncle, will you jeopardize our fate on a single man?”

.....

“I know, you don’t have to tell me twice,” unpleasant memories trickled back in, ‘-we lost everything. My uncle and father were both confident leaders, competent in their own ways. Honestly, uncle was most popular with our people, they loved his charisma, and was the light of the show. Father was more of the intellectual type; he didn’t really stand out and only offered his council when needed. One sought strength, the other, survivability. After the death of my grandfather, the village split, each choosing a leader to follow. Evidently, uncle’s popularity saw him take ? of the villagers, and they traveled northeast, towards Inux, to settle. Father kept us close to the sea, seeing we were dependent on the ocean. Later, we heard the news of the coming war – and from what reports were said, Uncle lost his family in the first attack. Armed by revenge, he rallied the men under a single banner and rode to meet the enemy, answering the call of a noble he befriended. Like many tragedies, this turned out to be a ploy. Father sent words of warning, alas, uncle didn’t much care to listen to a coward’s word.’

‘The noble betrayed him, the villagers were abducted, the men slaughtered and the women sold. Just like that, ? of our village was gone. Those who remained behind, the elderly and the fearful, well, we survived and were mostly orphans. Father rallied us and began settling at a small abandoned village, there, we established ourselves as the guardians of Gesborrow, becoming one with the forest and learning how to use the monsters to our advantage Those who survived the ambush formed a resistance party and are now trying to face the opposition. We keep to the shadows while they fight for the continent’s sake. I brought it up countless times with my father, but he never accepts my request nor does he care. Father’s not a man – he doesn’t have the fighting spirit passed from household to household, like my uncle put it, he’s a coward. What would survive if the whole continent goes to ruin? Nothing, he never answers, instead, returned my regard with a long private frown.’

“Don’t doze off,” she tapped his elbow, “-we have quite the trip, carrying all this loot will greatly beneficiate our cause.”

“Loot who we undeservingly took from the man who won the battle. By all mean this belongs to him, I don’t know why he refuses to take the credit or the items.”

“Great men have a way of their own. They live by their ideals, we can’t interfere with a person’s mind, even if it’s in their best interest. They have to find the answer for themselves, is that not what the master taught us?”

“I don’t know how you can stand up for a father like mine. The caution will certainly bring the downfall of the village one way or the other. Don’t forget, we were nearly forced to yield information about our base. If Gesborrow is found, there will be no survival.”

“Shut up, how dare you speak about him like that. We may be powerful, but we’re no fools. He taught the importance of wit over childish displays of strength. How could you, I’m so disappointed.”

Staxius’ conversation a few feet away was also quite informative. Regardless of the crossed expression the man received, he was happy to give intel, “-tell me more about the Spine Wolves.”

“Are you sure?”

“Go for it, and while at it, sprinkle things you might find interesting.”

“To be clear, I find most of everything interesting. Spine wolves, for example, are an evolution brought by the crossing of animals and demons by the Harbinger of Anarchy. This particular Demi-God is feared the continent over, though the man’s activity isn’t known as of yet, I’m sure he’s out there doing experiments on other living things. He brought chaos to the land. Like the Spine Wolf, many other creatures roam the forest. Some are doing, others vindictive. If you must know, there’s a high probability of death during nightfall, the shadows are layered with taint. I’m not lying when I say, the shade kills. One of much Gesborrow strangeness.” Like so, the conversations were filled with information. A few days later, a pillar of smoke rose in between the frosted tips of large pine trees. It felt like a painting, a canvas drawn with blue and white. Snow led to a thicker greener outline of trees that continued to a frozen lake over which grew a massive collection of snowy peaks, the alps. The hamlet, Gesborrow lay near the frozen lake, the latter of which as one headed southeast, turned river and merged with the sea further down.

“Here we are,” said the leader.

“Right,” Staxius exited the carriage to be hit by a sudden pressure, “-we might have a problem,” he pointed at the smoke, “-the smell of death.”

Their heart collectively sank. Everyone sprinted into the forest, disappearing into the darkness of the foliage. Staxius calmly tended to his gear and only when a few minutes had passed, threw a knapsack over his shoulder and continued, ‘-they were attacked. I can feel it coming, the hamlet’s no more. Seeing the frozen lake, I don’t think they have the means for me to continue the trip on a boat. I didn’t want to waste energy flying days, it’s looking more and more like a necessity.’

Gesborrow, the scavengers’ headquarters lay in ruin. Nothing was left. Wood smothered, the log cabins, ones home to elders and children, were charred and in pieces. Effigies made of bones and wristed lined the snowy banks of the lake. No one remained, everyone had disappeared into the wrecked village. The demi-human girl waited at the lake, “-not joining them?”

“Don’t have anyone to cry over,” she threw pebbles at the solid surface, “-they must be devasted.”

“You knew this day would have come, didn’t you?”

She rose her ears, “-how?”

“Intuition,” he answered, “-pardon me for eavesdropping. You’re quite the manipulator, using that boy’s poor uncertainty against himself. What are you trying to do, kill the bravado?”

She shook her head and sighed, “-my job from the start was to protect him. I will do what’s needed, such as the responsibility given by my master.”

“Hold that thought for a bit,” he spun and faced the lake, ‘-I feel a heavy aura,’ he let go of the knapsack, “-take my stuff and go inside.”

“Why?”

“Just go,” he hovered over Orenmir, ‘-this presence isn’t normal. A titan?’

A slow rumble cracked the ice, he instantly clapped, *-I am he who slays without fear, I am he who shall be the last of what thy see. Heed mine call, thou whomst dared to fight the natural order, tis the day thou ought to be destroyed, Ancient Magic – Astral Binding.*

A giant arm pushed through the ice, shattering the lake’s surface and throwing ice into the skies, ‘-my spell, he shrugged it,’ he twirled his palms, *Pathway to the end, barrier to the truth, arise for thy master beckons thee. Disrupt the flow of reality, shatter the laws of causality, such is the way of the Anarchist, for where there is tension there is weakness, and where weakness resides, so grows the seed of fear, Death Element: Magical Barrier, Pentagram Variant, Hell’s Gate!* ice shattered at the translucent gate. A powerful force rose from the lake – water bubbled; steam rose.

“Destroy,” echoed a deep cry, “-Destroy,” a monster rose and growled – shaking the snow from nearby trees.

“Guardian of the Lake,” gasped the man from earlier, “-it’s the protector of the forest. Please don’t kill it, look at its eyes, the guardians under a curse. It never attacks humans, it never does,” and just before he finished – an instant cry, fire spewed and lit the man ablaze.

‘And he’s dead,’ Staxius hovered above the attack, ‘-a long tentacle that’s able to shape mana into various body parts. If I’m looking at this correctly, someone’s trying to evaluate my power. And for that, I need to search the area to find the culprit…’ orbs flung and exploded, ‘-this beast’ formidable,’ without hesitation, ‘-one simple solution,’ he extended his arms, “-come forth, Vengeance.”

“Orders, master?”

“Finish off that big ugly thing,” Vengeance shot forward, ‘-and if I’m correct, the attacker’s probably hiding in between the planes. Otherwise, there’s no way getting close to such a monster.’ *Shatter the norms of reality, bring forth the wave of tempest, blow as the wind of turbulence erodes one’s fragile stability, Ancient Magic, Spatial-Arts: Disruption,* ‘-there,’ he sensed the mana for a split-second, not even a blink sufficed to measure the speed, Orenmir was through an unknowing viewer’s stomach.

“Too bad, seeing Watchers be slain. You overstepped your boundaries, fellow comrade, and thus, thou must die.”