However, the results of this endeavour were more than just disappointing. Many of the elves faced troubles such as being unable to accurately remember the exact spot a trap was, where the triggers were, or the right timings to release the traps.
Some of the elves were even distracted by the presence of the traps and suffered injuries which they would have normally been able to avoid, causing the plan to be scrapped immediately.
However, Blain did not want the traps that were already set up to go to waste, so he marked their locations on a map and passed it to Alz. Since then, Alz had exclusively patrolled in these areas as he was the only one in the village who could effectively use these traps in live combat.
This slowly earned Alz the nickname of ‘Trap Master’ among the warriors as he and Polon took down one wolf after another while patrolling these areas with the aid of his traps.
The two elves saw Alz and Polon approaching and called out to them.
“Woah that was fast, wasn’t there a wolf sighted in your area?” one of the elves asked.
“Yeah there were two, but Alz took care of it real quick. I was just standing behind a tree the whole time.” Polon frankly replied.
“As expected of the trap duo, really can’t believe you two just came here two years ago” the other elf praised as he turned to look at the pair.
Suddenly, a rustling sound entered their ears from side. The four of them reflexively tensed their muscles while turning to gaze in the direction of the disturbance. However, they immediately relaxed when they saw two figures walk out.
The four of them immediately stood up straight and placed their right hand on their chest while looking at one of the approaching figures. The figure casually waved his hand and the four of them relaxed their positions.
“There were three on our side, we took one out and two escaped. How were your areas?” the elf they greeted immediately spoke.
“There were no sightings at our side.” the first elf who called out to Alz and Polon earlier replied first.
“We encountered two wolves and took care of them.” after the previous elf replied, Alz also reported the situation on his end.
When he heard the reports, the leader shot a quick glance at Alz and Polon before nodding in acknowledgement and saying, " Good job everyone, let's go back.” he then led the way towards the village entrance while the five of them followed behind.
They were greeted by the squad that was on guard duty by the gate and quickly let in without any trouble. After entering the village, they first stopped by the mess hall where they passed the meat they got from the hunt over to the kitchen staff.
Next, they walked over to the barracks where they placed the other parts of the wolf such as the claws and the fangs at a designated storage area. They also did some basic weapon maintenance and replenished their supplies. Alz also replaced on the arrows he used earlier as there were some cracks along it.
“Ok we’re done for today.” after everyone was done, the leader finally announced.
The leader then walked off as usual while everyone else went off to enjoy their break. The hatchlings and warriors were usually given half a day of rest after each duty which they could freely choose how they wanted to spend it.
Alz usually either spent his time with his childhood friends, Link, Polon and Caila, when their breaks coincided or at the library visiting Tia and reading up on things.
However, today was one of the rare occasions where his entire family had empty schedules and they had made plans to walk around the village together.
It had been a long time since they last gathered as a three due to the different schedules each of them had. Tia in particular had an extremely busy schedule and spent most of her time at working in the library and hardly had the chance to take any breaks.
His eyes sparkled with anticipation and he broke out into a small jog towards his family’s hut. When he was about to reach the hut, he was welcomed by a warm gaze from a couple who was standing in front of the entrance hand in hand.
As he laid his eyes upon this scene, Alz felt the fatigue which had been building up in his heart gradually ease, along with a feeling of warmth slowly spread across his entire being. It was an exceedingly gentle warmth that gave him a sense of security, the feeling of family.
The sides of his lips raised into an impish smile and he quickened his pace, diving straight into the middle of the pair. Alz usually repressed his childish side as the forests were not forgiving towards carelessness and this was one of the few occasions where he could give in to his childish impulses, so naturally he didn't hold back.
His parents were caught by surprise, but his father quickly reacted and shifted his weight, catching him into their arms with a hearty laugh.
“I’m back!” Alz exclaimed with a brilliant smile on his face after he looked up at the faces of his parents.
"“Welcome back.”" Tia and his father both responded with clear joy in their voices. Tia also used her free hand to gently pat Alz a few times on the head while Alz smiled at her in response.
After this, Alz broke apart his parent's hands and grabbed their hands with his own, one on each side as they began to ask about each other while proceeding in the direction of the lake. There was only one lake in the fourth village that laid close to the heart of the village.
Rather, it was more accurate to say that the village was built around this lake and it was used to meet all of the water needs in the village. It was known as the most beautiful area in the village and was a popular destination for the residents to spend their time in.
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However, fate had other plans for their village today. Just as they were walking along the path to the village, a series of drums rang out across the village from the gate.
*Don* *Don* *Don* *Don* *Don* *Don* *Don* *Don* *Don*. The drum rang out a total of nine times before finally stopping and a deathly silence began to spread across the entire village.
Each hit seemed as if it pounded directly onto the hearts of the villagers, causing their bodies to tense up and their actions to freeze. The complexions of the elves turned a ghastly white, far beyond the paleness of their usual complexions and some even began vomiting after hearing the drums.
The silence that followed did not last long before it was interrupted by loud howls that echoed across the village, crushing the last bit of hope the elves carried. There was no longer any doubt. The village would soon be enveloped in a storm of death as their worst nightmare had just arrived. A large-scale wolf attack had just begun.
Rattling sounds started to spread from the village perimeter, becoming increasingly frequent rapidly. Many wolves were throwing themselves on the fences, attempting to tear it apart with their claws and fangs.
The sturdy fence which had been guarding the village for several decades stubbornly resisted the attack, but it was clear that it wouldn't last long. The wooden supports started to shake more violently while creaking sounds began to be heard, as though the fence itself were crying.
After a few minutes, the creaks stopped intensifying and thuds began to spread out as the fences hit the ground, finally collapsing to the onslaught of wolves.
The power of wolves in great numbers was frightening, overwhelming even as demonstrated by this first wave of attack. This was not something the fourth village could hope to stand against, but they didn't have a choice.
Alz had always been curious about why they had a tradition of separating children from their parents. The reasons behind the tradition were never explained to them back at the central village and they were only told that it was a long-standing tradition that was upheld for their sakes.
This was not a reason everyone could accept, at least he couldn't. Before he had arrived at the fourth village, he had already decided on two things he would definitely do. One was naturally his reunion which was highest on his list of priorities, while the other was research on this subject.
During the homestay at the first two weeks, he tried asking his parents about the details, but it didn't go well. His parents revealed difficult expressions and the mood dampened as they gave him a vague reply.
Alz knew that he could have probably gotten the answers if he pressed on but decided against it when he noticed the change in mood and decided to carry out his own research.
Hence, this became the first topic he researched in the library. This was when he had first come into contact with the history of their tribe and large-scale wolf attacks, and about the incident that split the village, the 'Great Wolf Disaster' that most elves were still reluctant to talk about to this day.
Alz was shocked when he first read it and began to delve deeper into the subject of large scale wolf attacks, learning more about the large footprints they left in the tribe's history. Every record of these attacks was filled with entire villages being devastated, leaving few to no survivors each time.
The most recent of these attacks dated back to 20 years ago in the sixth village. The village, like all the other victims, fell quickly to the wolves. Only four lucky elves managed to survive and rebuilding efforts were still continuing to this day.
Now, his village was on the receiving end of such an attack. This thought alone caused his him to fall to despair, as did many other elves in the village. He felt something rise from the pits of his stomach and was about to throw up, but he suddenly felt a large warm hard on his head. The hand was rough, but it felt somehow felt exceedingly gentle as it gently went over his head.
“It will be fine Alz, don’t worry.” his father said in a strong tone while his eyes burned with resolve.
"This is it, the time to make up for everything." Alz's father was repeatedly chanted in his heart as his heart pumped furiously, giving strength to his body.
Tia broke down into tears and hugged Alz tightly, before softly whispering in his ears, “Live on, Alz.”
She turned Alz in the direction of the fence and slowly released him, turning to hold onto the hand of her spouse with burning eyes. Alz's father looked at her with words in his mouth, but his eyes met with her gaze and he swallowed his words with a helpless expression on his face.
Screams began to fill the air, mixed in with occasional howls that were getting increasingly louder. Soon, wolves began to enter their sight. They were not far from the fence, so the wolves did not take too long to arrive, but this was still only the first wave and the wolves weren't too densely packed yet.
Alz mind couldn't process understand what was going on. He turned his head back wanting to ask, but his mouth felt dry and he was unable voice his words. Suddenly, he felt a hand pushing on his back accompanied by a low voice.
“Run! Run away Alz! Get as far from the village as you can!” Alz's father said to Alz as he pushed on his back.
He then turned to face the wolves directly and roared out at the top of his lungs, “COME GET ME YOU BASTARDS!”
He saw that Alz was still frozen on the spot and immediately roared at Alz, “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? GO! RUN! LIVE FOR US TOO!”
Alz watched as his father roared repeatedly at the wolves. Alz's eyes were watering but each time his tears formed, he forcefully rubbed away the tears while ignoring the pain he felt from his eyes.
He was burning this scene into his memory, a memory that will always stay by him, forever. The time they spent together began to flash in his mind as more tears threatened to spill from his eyes, but he forcefully held them back, unwilling to let tears blur the image before his eyes.
His father repeatedly shouted out at the top of his lungs while Tia held him tightly on his waist, supporting him from the side. However, he could see that there were still wolves had their focus on Alz. He began to panic as Alz might not make it out at this rate.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him and he quickly drew his dagger. He gritted his teeth together and begun to stab himself repeatedly on the thighs while Tia supported him, causing the scent of blood to float in the air. This time, the wolves that were looking at Alz turned to him, licking their lips at the scent.
The wolves had an extremely strong sense of smell and hearing which they used for hunting. This was common knowledge among the warriors. He had suddenly thought of using this to distract more wolves and create a bigger diversion for Alz to escape.
“GO! HURRY!” he saw that Alz was still looking behind while moving and impatiently shouted at him once more, hoping that he would quickly escape.
Alz desperately tried to hold back his tears. He steeled his heart and began to run. He wanted to stay with his parents until the very end, but he couldn't bear to waste the efforts of his parents, not after watching everything. He dashed through an opening in the wolves, fading off into the distance.
When Alz finally left, his father felt a load leaving his chest. He stopped shouting at the wolves and turned to look at Tia. Tears were dripping off her cheeks, but she was smiling as looked in the direction Alz had escaped from.
Blood repeatedly dripped from his thighs and the wolves were rapidly approaching. He thought about many things as he stared at the face of his beloved companion who was supporting him.
“Tia, I’m sorry for being so useless, thanks for always being with me.” he gathered his courage and gave her a heartfelt apology, releasing the emotions he always bottled up.
“You know I'd never thought that way.” Tia said gently as she turned her head back to look at him with a brilliant smile.
After this short exchange of words, he removed her arms from his side held her while she placed her arms around his neck. They stared deeply into each other as their faces gradually approached, finally locking their lips in a soft kiss which marked their final moments.
Several moments later, their figures were devoured in the sea of wolves that pounced at them from all directions. The scent of blood began to fill the area but subsided soon after. The wolves then started scattering, leaving only a few pieces of bone which testified to the scene of carnage earlier.