In the best case scenario, they would find their target herd and take them out, then disappear into the woods. Unless the one that got away informed others and started a full scale war, this should be able to end with just that. Of course, I had no doubt that he was going to do just that, as he was even deliriously saying as much while he ran.
I was tempted to just have Tryval go down there and get rid of him to indirectly prevent the war from getting too far, but I saw another herd already moving towards the site of the battle. The halflings had just finished burying their dead, and were once again on the move, so there was little risk of them being discovered.
As such, I could only shake my head helplessly. Even if I were to have Tryval dispose of the bodies of the herd, and then also kill the centaur that fled the battle, there was no guarantee that the halflings wouldn’t encounter another herd and cause more problems. At this point, there was little we could do but watch, as any kind of direct interference would cause ripples that negatively affects both races in the long run.
Pulling out the piece of paper Terra had given me, and began writing. Terra, did you make another incarnation yet? Recalling how she said she could probably handle one more, I had to go ahead and ask. However, even if she did, there was no guarantee that this conflict would last long enough for the incarnation to grow up.
After a few moments, the words I wrote on the paper were replaced, showing that Terra had replied. Yes. I decided to make a halfling, since they are at the disadvantage here. I’ll try to raise myself up to be a leader eventually to stop the fighting, if it lasts that long.
I nodded my head, seeing that Terra had the same line of reasoning as I did. Even if the battle didn’t last that long, then Terra would still be able to help with the recovery. As far as the halflings go, there is no real threat of extinction no matter how big the war gets. After all, they are spread out so far that the centaurs would need several centuries of active searching just to find them.
* * *
The halfling party had searched for weeks, following the tracks that Makin had found until the rain washed it away. After that, they spread out more, relying heavily on their flying companions to assist with their tracking. Yet, over a month later, they had found the herd that they were looking for.
It was hard for them to tell just how far into the plains that they had gone, but they knew that it would take several days of traveling in a straight line to make it back to the forest. They had done their best to stick to the areas with taller grass, making use of it to hide from the passing herds. There were some among the party that wished to make their presence known, but Savir would not allow it.
Savir knew that the creatures were a bloodthirsty species. If they appeared before a herd, then the only possible outcome would be another battle. He had seen it in the ways that they hunted, so different from how the halflings did so. Although halflings did eat meat, they never actively hunted for it. If they came across a monster or a beast, they would attempt to calm it, either make it their friend or simply allow them to pass unharmed. It was only when the other party struck first that they would have meat that night.
Yet, these savage creatures he was watching would actively seek out and hunt defenseless creatures. Even when they turned to run, their arrows would find them. If they tried to fight back, they would be met with spears. Such a manner truly reflected how the race had acted during their few meetings so far. Still, even though he knew this, he did not wish to kill them. He was here for a specific task, and would see it through to the end. After they returned, he would send word through the Rests that this field was a forbidden land.
It was only after they found the herd that they were looking for did he feel his blood begin to boil again. The young creature that had aided them so long in their tracking let out a tiny growl, his hair standing on end as it faced in the direction of the enemy herd. Savir hushed him with a quiet tone, placing his hand on Makin’s back. “It is not the time.” He said, shaking his head.
He had found the herd, yet it was bigger than the information Makin had sent originally. Perhaps they were split up when they found Makin’s friends, or they had joined a larger herd later. Either way, it did not matter. Now, he counted roughly twenty of the creatures, all travelling together as one group.
Savir controlled his voice, using the skills he had learned as a Scout and a Hunter, projecting it only towards those around him. “We will attack when night falls. Remember our targets. Let them sleep, and then let them never wake again. Try not to wake the others if possible, but if it can’t be helped, then so be it.”
Savir pulled out a bone knife that he had retrieved from one of the dead halflings after their first run in with the creatures. “The final debt is about to be repaid.”
* * *
Elter Greymane laid sleeping among his hard. While his lower half sat down on all fours, his upper body was bent forward, propped atop a contraption which had been introduced in recent years. Apparently, it had been invented by the first King, and he called it a bed. It was rather difficult to put together, but once one did they could use the promise scrolls to move them around. A frame of sticks, atop which was a soft hide to lay the body against while one slept. Admittedly, it was far more comfortable to sleep like this then it had been before, with their backs straight up throughout the night.
Long after he fell asleep, he thought he heard a sound in the back of his mind, slowly rousing him from his dreams. Then, as he heard the screams of his sons, his eyes shot open. An attack! He thought to himself, shooting up to his feet. Before he even had a chance to register what was happening, his hand was already reaching for his bow.
Soon, he saw the assailants. The same little abominations his hunting party had killed weeks ago had apparently returned with greater numbers. By the time he awoke, he saw that two of his sons had already fallen, knives stuck into their throats while they slept. If not for him being awoken by the startled cry of another, he would have joined them.
Standing atop his bed was one of the little things, a bone dagger in his hand and a bloody handprint across his face. “Everyone, awake!” Elter shouted while he backed up, quickly pulling out a handful of arrows from his satchel. He had still yet to notice just how many enemies he was facing, or he would have perhaps chosen to run away.
As he nocked his arrow, there were the startled gasps of the rest of the herd awoken by his call. Some grabbed for bows, others spears, but all quickly readied themselves for battle. The thing that had been standing on his bed called out in a shrill voice, and lunged towards Elter with dagger in hand. More and more emerged from the darkness, joining him and causing the herd to pale in terror.
Yet, Elter showed his prowess with his bow. Pulling the arrow back, he quickly shot it and nocked another, firing it immediately. This was his Power of the Archer, the ability to fire multiple arrows and have them all land at the same time. For this, he fired three arrows, one directly at the lunging creature and one to either side. He had seen his share of agile beasts, and was used to firing arrows to prepare for their dodge.
What he had not prepared for, however, was one of the birds circling overhead to swoop down even faster than the arrow he had released. At first, he had thought that it was diving at himself, but soon found himself proven wrong. Instead, it intercepted the arrow which had been aimed at the thing attacking him.
With this technique, the first arrow fired was always the slowest. But to dive down and catch it in mid-flight, when there were only a few lengths between him and his target, this was truly the first creature he had ever seen with such speed. However, a shrill scream brought him back to his senses, as the thing that had been attacking him looked down to the fallen bird. Elter had thought that it merely caught the arrow with its beak or talons, yet it had actually used its own body to take the attack. Just what kind of loyalty was that?
Still, he was not about to offer his enemy time to mourn. He kept nocking more and more arrows, each one flying along a slightly different p
ath as Elter continued backing up. By the time that the thing had looked away from the dead bird, the arrows had already arrived in front of him.
The night grew silent as four arrows pierced into the body of the small creature, causing its knife to fall from its hands. The rest of its fellows momentarily paused in their attacks as they looked over and saw the red bar of its life to rapidly dwindle. Soon, it had faded away entirely, and the thing fell to the ground dead.
One cry after another emerged from the darkness, and an ominous feeling arose in Elter’s heart. He continued backing away, even though he knew that he had already killed the enemy. His hand trembled as he saw the light of the moon reflecting off of eyes that emerged from the grass. They dotted the field like the stars above, their numbers beyond measure. He had known that there were plenty of enemies when they had first been attacked, yet he had not known that most chose to stay behind, not wishing to get in the way of the more skilled fighters.
Now, however, they emerged. Each one wore a red print somewhere upon their body. Some carried weapons, smaller versions of what the centaurs themselves wielded, while others walked alongside beasts. Yet all of them had a single, murderous look in their eyes that struck fear into the greymane’s heart.
When the first one ran forward, it was as if the ground began to shake, a signal for all of them to charge at once. Elter hurriedly fired his arrows into the crowd, slaying two more of their number before they arrived at him. He cried out in pain as he felt daggers, spears, and claws tearing into his body faster than he could have imagined. His feet bucked wildly as he tried to kick them away, to earn some space to run.
Yet one of them had clung to his chest, slowly climbing up it until the two were face to tiny face. Elter trembled as he looked into the cold eyes of this creature as it said something in that same shrill voice, its hands on either side of his head. However, he could not understand its words, and would never have the chance to do so. He felt a strange energy flowing into the hands of the thing, before his vision faded. His head had been crushed between those tiny, frail looking hands.
Chapter 71
After the battle, the halflings were left to mourn their fallen brothers. First was Havir, Savir’s companion. He was a swift-wind sparrow, able to manipulate the winds to fly at extreme speeds. Havir had been with him through most of his life, and had chosen to block that fatal arrow for him. Then, while Savir was mourning the loss, he too was shot down.
When Savir fell, the halflings couldn’t help but turn their heads in shock. Savir was the eldest among the halflings, and as such he had chosen his target to be the eldest of the enemy creatures. Thankfully, they shared similar physical signs of age. However, one of the younger members of the party had not managed to cleanly kill their target, allowing them to wake up and scream for help.
Perhaps luckily, the one that had made that mistake had also fallen in the battle, crushed under hooves as he was distracted with Savir’s death. Otherwise, there is no telling if the ones remaining would truly blame him for the deaths of their kin. Yet, the majority of the deaths did not come from their momentary distraction. Rather, it came from the rage that followed.
In their anger, the entire halfling group had charged the herd. More than a dozen of them were killed by either bows, spears, or hooves. Still a dozen more of their animal and monster companions were slain in that same reckless charge. This time, there was no mercy, no escape for those that sought to flee. The halflings washed over them like a wave of death.
Savir had held them together, had held them back from their desires to simply attack. And now, he was gone. After the battle, one of the younger halflings stepped forward. He had been the first to join Savir at the Rest during the gathering. “We need to head back to the forest. Whether we want to continue fighting or not, we have to go back.”
Several of the halflings turned to look at him as he spoke. “They roam this field in greater numbers. Right now, we don’t have enough people with us to fight back if more herds joined.”
“Why would we continue fighting?” Another halfling asked curiously. “We have settled the blood debt. We can leave the plains forever, let them wander alone, without Her blessing.”
The first halfling shook his head with a bitter smile. “Why would they stay in the plains? This herd was small when they first attack near the forest, and then they met with a larger group. We may be known by many of them by now. If they wanted to seek us out, could they not simply enter the forest?”
This caused the confused halfling to fall silent. He had seen many creatures with similar lower bodies as these wandering the forests in his lifetime. Yet, before he could offer up another reason, the man continued to speak. “We have already chosen exile from the Rests when we followed Savir. If that is to be so, then let it not go to waste.”
Now, another halfling stepped forward, a younger girl. On her shoulder rested a white bird, similar to the one that had saved Savir. On her dirty face was a trail of tears, her eyes red. This was Savir’s own daughter, who had chosen to accompany her father in his exile. “You mean…?” She asked in a quiet voice, unsure of what this man truly wanted.
“We will create our own Rest, at the border of the forest. Since we can no longer take shelter with the rest of our kin, then let us do this for them. Shara, I am sorry about your father, but he would not want to leave our people open for their attacks. You knew him better than us, what would he have done now?”
At his words, the halfling girl lowered her head, thinking back on all the times she shared with her father. She was one of the reasons that he had chosen to remain in the Rest, and ended his journey. Her mother had been killed by a wild beast, and Savir did not want to travel again until she had grown up. “He… He would want to keep everyone safe. My dad wouldn’t want to see anyone else hurt.”
The halfling man nodded his head. “Then it is decided. We will form a permanent home, one where we can defend our kin.” He turned to look at the fallen bodies, slapping his chest with his open palm. “No more blood debts.” He spoke, barely a whisper.
* * *
That battle was… intense. Short, but intense. I thought I had seen how vicious the halflings could get when they met the first herd, yet they still surprised me again. However, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when I heard the words of the halfling that stepped forward. If it was just at the level of creating a city to serve as a first line of defense, that would not be bad for them at all. In fact, it may even give rise to the first halfling territory recognized by the system as a kingdom.
I resumed my plan of fast forwarding a bit at a time to watch their encounters, and quickly began to notice a pattern. Something had changed with the halfling party since they killed that herd. They seemed to be moving less stealthily, yet none of them seemed to notice. It was not about their movements or their tactics. Rather, they did not avoid crossing paths with a herd anymore.
Their first encounter was only the day after the battle. After Danar, the new ‘leader’ of the group, received word from one of the scouting animals about an approaching herd, he actually had the group adjust slightly so that they would encounter each other. Naturally, this led to the centaurs starting another ‘blood debt’ by attacking the halflings, though thankfully this time they only injured them. However, that was enough to make Danar call for the attack, causing another herd to be slain.
This pattern repeated itself again and again, with them encountering herds only to have to fight. When I focused on the group, I noticed that some seemed to question to themselves if Danar was doing this on purpose. However, most were more angry with the centaurs for always starting the fights. Even if Danar himself was leading them into the conflicts, never once had they attacked first. At least, not at first.
As I watched the battles progress more and more, the number of halflings slowly dropping after each fight, I saw that the halflings started to take the initiative. Near the end of their journey back to the woods, when they found a h
erd, it was the halflings that struck first.
* * *
Danar smiled inwardly as he watched the herd approaching. His plan so far had been going better than he had hoped. With Savir dead, the halflings wanted vengeance, but he was a bit different. Even before Savir had died, he was among the people that believed the world would be a better place without these creatures. So, he came up with a plan.
First, after taking control of the group, he started to lead them into confrontations with the various herds that they passed. While they hid nearby as the herd passed, he would simply wait. He wanted to show his kin how bloodthirsty these creatures were. Sure enough, any time they were noticed, a fight began.
Unlike most halflings, Danar had led a harsher journey. He did not travel with his family, having always been alone. And because he was by himself, beasts and monsters were more willing to attack him. Aside from the smaller creatures, which now served as useful scouts, none had wanted to befriend him. This caused him to see a darker side of nature that most halflings didn’t see.
But now, things were changing. This group he was leading was starting to see those darker sides. They were being made to understand that not every creature could be reasoned with. And after every confrontation, they became stronger. Danar was saddened by the losses that were suffered in this lesson, but he knew that it was for the best. If they didn’t understand the brutality of these creatures, they would only be endangering their entire race.
Now, they were less than a day’s walk from the forest, but the change in the demeanor of the group was obvious. The moment that Danar announced he had seen another herd, he could practically feel the anger and bloodthirst. Over the last two weeks of slow movement, they had lost almost a third of their number, yet the ones remaining were all far stronger than they had been before. It was to the degree that not a single halfling had died in their last exchange.
World Keeper: Birth of a World Page 53
