Chapter 5 Khyree goes to Jail

Over the last few months of working closely with Daquan Mourntree, and his random attacks on Varnan and company, Khyree had learned first hand that fighting Immortals was not an easy proposition. Immortals as a whole were better than regular humans in every way. They were stronger, faster, with quicker reflexes, heightened senses, and they healed at accelerated rates. What made it even more daunting was that Khyree knew that so far he had only been exposed to early stage Immortals. So he could only imagine how much more difficult it would be to fight the higher leveled ones.

Khyree had found out through his blitz attacks that while he couldn't go toe to toe against Immortals in a stand up fight, that if he were able to catch them off guard that he could hurt them. Now while they would recover quickly, it still brought him great joy to know that he could in fact hurt them.

The moment he had come to that realization, he had a whole new goal in life. He would hurt Varnan Covenmoon and his crew every single time he got a chance. Every time he came across Varnan in a public setting, he would attack him. Without mercy and without warning. At every possible opportunity. On sight.

The only consideration Khyree ever made in his attacks was that he never actually tried to kill Varnan. With the village chief being a mid-stage Immortal, Khyree did not want the trouble that would come with earning his attention.

Oh no, he just wanted the insufferable spoiled Immortal to suffer a lifetime of pain unending. In his eyes, Varnan was a villain that deserved to die. Failing that, Khyree decided that he would suffer.

Khyree freely admitted that while he was pretty great in almost every way conceivable, that he did have a tendency to hold grudges. “Oh well no one is perfect,” he often thought to himself.

Khyree ran through the crowded streets of Idlewild like he was being chased by the jackals of the underworld. He leaped over small children, dodged behind random vendors and used the crowds to his advantage. He chose random neighboring streets seemingly at random.

He knew that Varnan Covenmoon and his crew would easily catch him on a less crowded straight away, but by using the crowd Khyree was able to always stay ahead of his pursuit. Khyree had rightly figured that even though Varnan and his followers would not be willing to risk the ire of the entire village while chasing him.

Whenever he got some real distance ahead of his pursuers he would double back on a parallel road and ambush one of them as the opportunity presented itself.

Khyree snatched up a meter long iron bar from a hidden niche that he had placed earlier in the day. He spotted Rion moving at the rear of the pack and targeted him next. Khyree moved at an oblique angle as he caught up with the lagging compatriot.

Rion was wholly focused on moving through the crowds as quickly as he could without hurting too many of the humans in front of him. "Get out of the way!!!" he shouted at some peasants as he pushed and shoved random passersby aside in his pursuit. "Thrice damned peons," he muttered to himself.

Some of the more perceptive people on the street made way for Khyree as they saw him stalking the arrogant Immortal. There were many commoners among the crowd that wished they had the skill and courage to confront heavy handed Immortals that regularly made their lives overly challenging.

Snatches of supportive conversations could be heard as Khyree moved through the crowds.

".. There he goes again."

"That boy doesn't ever learn."

"Hey at least he is doing something."

Khyree smiled and nodded at the helpful citizens as he neared his prey. When he was in striking range he swung his iron bar viciously at Rion's ankle. There was a loud snap as the bar shattered Rion's ankle.

"Argh!!!" Rion involuntarily screamed out in pain as he tumbled to the ground.

Khyree unwilling to give Rion any time to recover and regain his senses, quickly laid into him with the iron bar. In the space of a few breaths, Khyree managed to hit Rion Lowsinger over a dozen times. He targeted the limbs. Over and over again. He figured that compound injuries was the name of the game.

After having been raised in the Northern Wilds, Khyree had a very well developed sense of danger. As soon as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise, he scanned his surroundings and immediately saw Varnan and the rest of his followers heading in his direction.

Without any hesitation at all, Khyree fled with all haste. In moments he was once again swiftly moving through congested streets with the speed of a cutter fish swimming upriver. Shouts of rage, and frustration followed in his wake.

"Abyss! How is he moving so much faster than us, he’s only a human?"

"Stand still and fight like a man!"

"Clear the road!!"

"Just stop running and give up. I swear on my honor that we'll go easy on you."

Khyree snorted as he heard that last comment. He knew exactly what would happen if he stopped and let them catch him. A repeat of the first time they had attacked him. Khyree sped up.

"Tsch," Khyree sucked his teeth in disgust as he examined his iron pipe while he ran. The length of pipe was bent and twisted in a number of different places. “Blasted Immortals,” he thought to himself. He had paid good money for that pipe. Khyree growled as he was forced to discard the now defunct weapon.

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As the chase continued, Khyree knew that he only had to stay in the lead for another hour. That's when the majority of the vendors from the surrounding villages would start heading back home.

"This abyss damned human! Varnan cursed as he led the pursuit. He was getting tired of constantly being ambushed by the peasant. Khyree was an unrepentant menace. Varnan sincerely wished that he had never come across him. If he knew then what he knew now he would have just let Khyree go about his way and left him alone. That man was simply a menace.

Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that one casual interaction on his part would have led to a series of unending assaults by the foreign peasant. It didn't matter how many times they caught the rascal and beat him to as close to death as possible, Khyree would just keep coming back. He was worse than a cockroach.

There were so many people in town for market day that it took the village guards a while to notice the chase. They were on their way to intervene when they noticed who was being chased and by whom. Many of the guards refused to get involved and instead notified their captain about the situation.

"How can one human be so much trouble?" asked Reed Ashfall, the captain of the guard. He was the highest ranking Immortal in town next to the village chief. Seated at his desk he took in the reports with a worn out expression. Reed rubbed his temples in frustration.

"What are you all standing around for?" he said addressing his lieutenants standing before his desk. "Find Khyree and arrest him for public disturbance. Lock the gates, and stop everyone from leaving the village until we have the situation contained."

"But captain, many of the people leaving the village are vendors from the neighboring farms and villages. If we stop them from leaving even for an hour, that could incur them expenses that they might not be prepared to pay. Because it would be an official order, we might be obligated to cover their fees for food, lodging and any paid escorts for those still willing to travel the road at night. The village chief would not be happy."

Reed looked at the lieutenant that had spoken with an intense glare for a few seconds before speaking. "Did I stutter, lieutenant? I gave you an order, and I expect it to be followed through. Now go do your jobs, and if any of the merchants complain about the delays, tell them that they can take it up with the noble families involved if they wish for any financial compensation for their hardships."

"Right away sir," the lieutenants said in unison and departed the captain's office with great speed.

Reed knew that there would be complaints. He had no illusions about that. But he also knew that nobles would cough up the coin necessary to assuage many of the problems that would result from this lockdown. Anything to keep rumors down.There was simply too much pride on the line. They would never be able to live it down if word was to spread that their Immortal sons as a group were unable to stop the menace from a lowly human with no backing whatsoever.

It had been over twenty years since Reed had started cultivating, but even back when had first started he had never been inconvenienced by any regular human. The difference was simply too great. So he just couldn’t wrap his head around how one lone human managed to consistently assault and aggravate an entire group of Immortals. Nor could he imagine a human that would even try. What would be the point?

Over the course of the next hour, Khyree had managed to double back and attack Varnan Covenmoon and his followers a dozen different times. Each time he inflicted temporarily crippling injuries in a mad blitzkrieg fashion. Varnan of course was his main target throughout this village wide chase. He had gotten Varnan on four separate encounters.

Khyree was a little perturbed that Varnan had actually started to become more wary as the chase and the ambushes continued. Khyree observed as Varnan started falling back and allowed one or two of his followers to take the lead. Now, he ran dead in the middle of the pack. Forcing Khyree to instead focus on more opportune targets. Khyree was not pleased at this development. In his mind, Varnan’s followers were just following his lead. That relegated them to secondary targets at best or just collateral damage. No, it was Varnan Covenmoon himself that was the prize, and Khyree was determined to make him suffer.

As he moved closer to the village exit, Khyree slowed down as he noticed that village gates were closed. Glancing at the sky he was confused. Why are the gates closed, Khyree wondered to himself. It’s not even night time yet.

Khyree could see the crowd of merchants and visitors causing a loud commotion as they milled around in confusion and anger. He saw the village guards trying to keep the peace as they attempted to calm the crowd.

Loud voices could be heard as shouted arguments and questions filled the area. There were so many voices raised, that Khyree was only able to pick a few out at a time.

“...Hey what’s the hold up?”

“...Yeah, open the gates. We need to get back to our homes and our families.”

“How long are you guys going to keep us here?”

A village guard dressed in a dark heavy tunic, and studded armor stepped up onto a nearby stone block and raised his hands. “People, my good people! Give me your attention for just a few moments please, and I will explain everything.” He had to repeat himself a number of times before the crowd started giving him some attention.

“My people, now some of you gathered here today know who I am. For those of you who don’t, my name is Terek Stone. I am a lieutenant guard here at Idlewild. The reason why we have barred the village gate early today is because of an order from my supervisor, the captain of the guards. As of this moment there is a menace terrorizing the village. Armed guards are deploying to apprehend this menace even as I am speaking. Now are there any questions?”

Khyree had a bad feeling, about where that talk was going. He slowed to almost a stand still as started to look around him. He mostly just saw a large angry crowd of people all around him.

“How long are they going to be closed for?” shouted someone in the crowd. Other questions were shouted out as well.

Terek decided to answer the questions in order of relevance. “The gates will be barred for the night. They will reopen first thing in the morning. We anticipate apprehending the public menace in short order. As for any inconvenience you might experience during this lock down, I have been assured that you all may directly petition the Lowsinger, Swangrove, Solidthorn, Downgleam and the Covenmoon families for remuneration for your expenses.”

Upon hearing the names, many in the huge crowd of people immediately quieted down and slowly but surely started to disburse. Others could be seen shaking their heads in disgust. The names of the local noble families were widely known by all.

It was at the point when most of the people in the crowd had started to move off, that Khyree noticed a handful of village guards approaching him from several different angles. He recognized the uniforms of the guards. There were over a dozen of them coming at him. Khyree glanced behind him and saw that Varnan Covenmoon and the others would be on him in a matter of minutes. Khyree realized that he had a choice to make.

With no hesitation at all Khyree quickly picked a direction and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Within seconds he had cut through the remaining people in the crowd and hurled himself to his knees in front of Lieutenant Terek Stone.

“I give up!” Khyree shouted in a loud voice.