Chapter 1 - Unbound Part 3
There was a certain village, a peaceful village, located south-west of the Great Wilderness, near the edge, but still hidden inside, of one of its many ancient forests.
It was a quite suitable place for living – the climate was temperate, seasons were well-defined but not extreme, with warm, decently wet summers and mild but still snowy winters. The land was fertile and relatively flat outside the forest, thus perfectly suitable for agriculture. In truth, many different animals inhabitated the forest, their roaming area also being quite large. And of course there was plenty of timber.
However, the people, the inhabitants of the village couldn't verily venture out of the woods, not that they weren't capable, but it was for general safety, thus agriculture had been dismissed. However, that in no way caused adversity, they superbly lived off of the hunted game, the plants, mushrooms, berries and the like supplied by the forest.
As said, it was a peaceful village. Despite the different races mixed together, there weren't many clashes between them, the occasional dispute was solved, of course, without any bloodshed.
However, even though human territories were quite far off, they were still all non-humans, and not from a single race, it must be said. There was a variety of races residing in the village, all humanoids still, however, there were those with demon characteristics, demi-humans, and those with beast, or animal characteristics, half-beasts.
There was a specific, special underlying cause the assortment of different races had assembled together like that. Namely, it was a refuge for them. You see, while demons were enemies and full, pureblood beast races cooperated and assimilated into human society, halfs of those races, half-demons and half-beasts, that is, were severely discriminated against, but we'll get back to this later.
Thus some of the singled out groups came together and founded a secret settlement far away from human lands. It was one of many, in fact, as such villages, but no larger than towns, were naturally established in other parts of the world, too.
As mentioned, for safety reasons they didn't venture too far out of the forest and got their sustenance for the woods. Against wild animals, packs of dire wolves, raging bears, and some other certain reptilians, a perimeter had been set up – a low but effective wooden fence and a moat around the boundary of the village, as well as some inhabitants assigned and trained as protectors who would patrol and be on guard duty.
It was adequate enough to ward off those wild beasts and ensure the safety of the villagers. However, noone could have imagined the calamity that would befall on them one certain day. The day when they encoutered a band of crazed werewolves, leading to thorough annihilation.
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Not averting my eyes, nothing compelling me to, I had a good look at the havoc that's been wreaked upon the place.
The broken wall, split in half in various places. A guard tower broken and fallen to the ground. Buildings, houses ablaze, collapsing due to becoming unable to support their own weight. A temple in a whirling vortex of fire that grows high into the sky.
And then.
Countless bodies lying on the ground, dead. Some impaled on the spikes of the fence, others crushed under the collapsed houses, some charred and burnt to death. And, of course, many torn up, minced to pieces, those who've fallen prey to the insatiable hunger of the werewolves.
Yes, them, too, were there. Many, with a brief glimpse counting around 30, scattered around the village, overshadowing the corpses beneath them, and voraciously consuming their flesh.
It was an abhorrent sight, lamentable, for any survivors of the village were they to see this, that is, but I solely overlooked the spectacle. Not that I was dispassionate, devoid of all emotion before the sight, however, it didn't excite any stronger feelings or arouse me to action either, because for me it was merely another dissociated location.
However, naturally I wouldn't stay put if the werewolves' attention was drawn to me and they were to attack, which was exactly what happened.
My presence was quickly detected despite being in the middle of their meal, and I was deemed hostile, or perhaps a prey, immediately.
Was it due to still being in a frenzy from attacking the villagers, or is the rashness and seeming incapability of judging others' strength an inborn characteristic?
As the swarm of werewolves all focused and started coming at me like predators, I didn't stay an observer and acted. However, I could take my time, for in my eyes they were moving in slow motion.
The fight, or one-sided extermination, wasn't difficult, if I were to skip to the end.
It started as one of the werewolves got closer and leapt towards me. I could've perhaps dealt with it straight away, however, another was right behind the first and already mid-air, so I evaded that one too.
As they instantly turned 180 degress on the spot they landed, from their snarl, bloodshot foggy eyes, fur standing on its ends, I comprehended that there would be no reasoning with those berserk werewolves who had lost their sanity. From that realization my intention changed to handling them appropriately, though a bit reluctantly, by killing them, that is, as obviously nothing else could've worked.
With my heightened senses I could perceive the whole battlefield and determine the position of every enemy, so I was very well protected with basically no openings.
By instinct one of them snuck behind me, well, I was already surrounded so it didn't really matter, and tried to attack from there. However, as I felt the approaching werewolf, without turning or looking I nimbly manipulated my elongated tail so as that he couldn't avoid it and jumped right into the spiky point. One down.
Stolen story; please report.
The others didn't waste any time and pounced on me in quick succession.
One by one, werewolf after werewolf, I started slaughtering them. I couldn't help it, it was a massacre. Well, perhaps I could've knocked them unconscious and restricted them, but I had already judged that to be meaningless.
Even after 20 of their comrades -were they comrades? they didn't really cooperate with each other- had been killed in front of their eyes, not even the slightest did their morale, if they had such a thing, drop nor did they get disheartened. They just kept on charging at me and dying in futility as a result.
It was a quick battle, according to my inner clock it lasted around 15 minutes.
It could've perhaps been even shorter. They died fast, their life extinguished with a single smash or stab of my tail, with a single slash or strike of my hand. However, they were nevertheless quite fast and agile, which in their luck managed to save their life by a hair's breadth a few times.
How meaningless... I thought, as I stood amidst the heaps of werewolf corpses.
The whole village had now become bloodsoaked. The corpses of the first victims of the werewolves laying around, partially eaten with their entrails loose from their bodies, and then the assailants, casualties to a certain overpowered demon.
'So, what now...'
There wasn't much I could do, considering the state of the village. Remembering my previous mistake, I decided to investigate the houses that hadn't burned down and were still accessible. Perhaps, with the smallest of possibility, the village had a map of the nearest surrounding lands, or at least a book or two that described the world I was in, so that I could come up with some sort of a plan for my future actions.
One of the buildings still in an okay condition, amazingly, considering its significance, was what seemed to be the town hall, or village hall in this case. Made out of wood like every other structure, however, it looked much sturdier. Burnt in a few places, but hadn't gone up in flames. A roof of straw and tiles soaked with tar. Thick, insulated walls and two large windows of glass, however those were made, on the front and the backside. And the door, engraved with symbols and giving off an intense impression. It was the grandest, fanciest, if suitable to call it like that, building in the whole village. My first destination.
I pushed open the heavy doors, a stuffy, irony smell puffed into my nose. Inside this house, too, there were torn up bloody corpses of various races and gender.
At first sight there wasn't much there, aside from the bodies, only a large table at one side of the room and a podium, towards which many chairs and benches were directed, to the left. There were some shelves, but they were empty. Looking at it, the stuff on them had fallen on the ground probably during the scuffle. Well, there was nothing of interest amongst those things.
Then I noticed in the center at the back a cupboard. It was difficult to distinguish at first since it was built inside the wall.
'Hm? The way they're placed around it... Were they trying to protect something?'
One of the villagers, wearing light armor, a sword in hand, probably one of the guardsmen, was still standing, leaning its back against the cabinet. Even as he bled to death, he tried to keep it closed, or keep others away.
When I shoved him, gently, not disrespecting the dead, away, a small whimper sounded from inside it. Curious, I naturally tried to open it. There was a little resistance, so I used a bit more force and pried it open.
There was a person hiding inside, backed into the corner. A young, almost an adult woman.
Her simple yet refined dress didn't at all hide, or rather it accentuated her tall lean, suntanned body. She had a slim waist, a well-rounded but not very large bosom, beautifully formed hips, straight legs, and thin but firm arms. Her blonde wavy fluffy hair that reached to the middle of her back well showed her delicate facial features – full lips, straight nose, almond-shaped hazel eyes, and of course, an elf's characteristic elongated pointy ears.
The moment I laid my eyes on her I couldn't help but be mesmerized by her beauty. I stared at her, she back at me. A few seconds passed until I could finally regain my bearings. Then, appropriately, I did what anyone would do when meeting someone the first time.
"Hello, nice to meet you," I greeted with a well-managed gentle smile.
However, in my trance of admiring her beauty I hadn't at all noticed her expressions, the way she was wary of me, afraid. I hadn't noticed the fear, the terror, the dread in her face, the shivering of her body, the trembling of her legs. I wonder how she saw me when I opened the doors of the closet, when I stood there gazing at her with my piercing eyes, and then spoke.
Well, as if all tension that had been held together for hours was released in an instant, upon hearing my light, easygoing words, she lost her strength and simply suddenly collapsed.
'Woah! What's this?!' I worried if perhaps my voice, too, had some sort of life draining effect. However, after taking a closer look -might be bad for my heart-, I understood that she wasn't in any danger. She had simply fallen asleep, now quietly and softly breathing.
How unfortunate that I couldn't take her to some more comfortable place, as I dared not to touch her, lest I hurt her due to the detrimental effect of my curse.
So, I could only wait.
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