“So you’re saying they’re growing their strength off of us for the potential of killing the other adults too?” Vilka chimed in, “It would make sense. They’ve had ample opportunity to kill us off, but they very rarely kill those who are strong enough to grant them more power.”
Amaro felt a pit in his stomach. Did they kill Raktus because he was weak? Or because it knew doing so would make him and his brothers stronger? He grit his teeth. It’s not as if it couldn’t be both.
The Nephilim girl pulled forward atop her bat drake, “Kaara, there is a chance we will need- er- You know! If we lead these Malaki to a nearby cave, I know there will be people who can help! All we need to do is find Tadios and the others.”
“But how do we find the others?” Kaara asked, “Can your drake sniff them out?”
Luna shook her head, “Not with this blizzard. I don’t even think Ezo can hear a whistle over the wind either. If you hop on, we can move faster to search for them, though.”
“Why only me?”
“Because- You know! You already know!”
“I’m not luring them, though!”
Amaro was confused. The way Kaara spoke it sounded as if she was disappointed. As if luring them was something she expected to do, but could not, instead of something she did not want to do. Since when did these two know one another? And what were they referencing?
“You mean they’re drawn by something else?” The nephilim said.
Kaara nodded, “It’s like everyone is drawing them. Not just me.”
“What are the two of you talking about? Explain, Nephilim,” Deka said.
“My name is Lillith,” she said sternly, pulling ahead of the pack and stretching her hand out to Kaara, “Just get on. Ezo can run faster than everyone else.”
Kaara smacked it away, “If you want to carry someone, help Gaor. Like I said, they’re after everyone, not just me.”
“Whatever the two of you are arguing about, it can wait.” Anitus said, “We need a plan before they run us into exhaustion!”
“Like I said, if we find Tadios and the rest we can retreat to a cave deep in the woods and-”
“Have you forgotten who defeated Tadios?” Deka said, “Sure, he is strong, but he is not our only hope. Not to mention, Kaara ranks among our only healers aside from yourself. If the both of you break off ahead and get captured we will be stranded with little way of recovering our strength.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Ezo won’t get caught!”
“I’m not leaving people behind. Look, I get what you’re after, but Deka’s right. If we leave together the Malaki will corner them and we might not make it back in time!”
“Will the both of you shut up? We’re going to die if we can’t think of something!” Anitus said.
Amaro racked his brain. If he considered their situation, it was rather hopeless. If they were lucky enough to reunite with Tadios, Sancta, and Arik, they could put up a better fight, but ultimately those monsters would still just be toying with their prey. Even now, they only kept pace with them. As if they knew they were leading them to more victims.
But then why did they separate them in the first place? Was it only to sow chaos, or was there something more to their tactic? They did not need to divide to conquer, so what was their true goal? Were they stalling for some reason?
Perhaps dividing them up had allowed them the leisure of absorbing magic from terrified victims without their victims realizing how ineffective it was. Or maybe they sought to push those with potential to greater heights in order to kill them when they peaked. He remembered something Lorshiir had taught him about souls. They could expand and grow in a short period of time if the right conditions were met. Much like how the body would grow stronger in a life or death scenario, the soul did the same in an effort to survive.
But what could they do? Right now they were playing the Malaki’s game. Whether or not they were separated made no true difference. These monsters could slaughter them in an instant if they wanted to. But they could not defeat the adults. The Oskuutor were just as aware of the rules as they were. They could not fight back because that would only make them more powerful. The Oskuutor were biding their time just as much as they were. Separating them was never a tactic to kill them easier. It was a tactic to distract them from something. To buy time, and prevent them from learning how to starve them of magic.
Amaro knew they could not outrun the monsters and their seemingly boundless stamina. Hiding underground had not worked for very long. Even if they could kill them, these monsters would just stop holding back and toying with them. The moment any of them presented a reasonable threat they would die and be consumed. Amaro felt it in his bones.
Lillith and Kaara’s conversation didn’t sit right with him either. They knew something about this and they were keeping it hidden. What were they talking about when they said everyone was luring them? How were they all luring them? Why was Kaara meant to be the only one who could? How had previous generations ever survived this ceremony with more than a third of their numbers?
Surely the could not have expected them to figure out how to use the bell to fight back. Not every year would have had a metal magic user to make one on the spot. There had to be another solution for their survival. There had to be another way they could last until morning.
A light from the corner of his vision caught his attention. He honed in on it. A few hundred meters west, hanging above the tree branches was the burning silhouette of one of the effigies. An SOS?
“Over there!” Amaro called out, pointing “Someone is burning the puppets!”
“A signal?” Lilith muttered.
One by one, the effigies lit up in a line heading south.
“It’s forming a path. The others are over there!” Rixam shouted.
“Is someone interfering with the ritual?” Rorik said, “Why would they burn the effigies?”
Something clicked together in Amaro’s head, That’s it!
“Burning the effigies is the solution!” Amaro said, “That’s why we’re luring the Malaki right? That’s why we can’t hide anywhere. We’ve known it since the beginning! If we burn the effigies, then we break the curse!”