“Training humans to kill us will only escalate the situation.” Warned the lupen who had yet to give them his name. “Train them up, and they will only need one reason to come swinging for us.”
“Not if we only train those who wish to protect, not destroy.”
“Yes. If what you say is true, then we’ll need all the trained hands we can get.” Everett said.
“And the first on your list is a child?” The lupen was clearly against it.
“He is no child. To begin, he is 15, and knows where his heart is.”
“Becoming more common that ain’t it? “ Everett added.
“15 is still young.”
“Yes, that we agree on. But in a country where most people only live to 30, and I have no doubt that age is going to go down greatly, 15 is the adult age. Besides, it is not as though we are forcing his hand; we are simply giving him an opportunity.”
“To throw his life away.”
“To avenge the lives that were lost, in a way that won’t destroy his soul.”
“Mind you don’t corrupt it.” They grunted. “And why train souls to protect when you already have your fortress.”
“With no one to protect, even the greatest defences will fall. We need men who can command and not fall to pressure when your kind do attack.”
“And a 15 year old will not fall to pressure?”
“Why do you think we will train him?”
“I still do not see why you are picking him over others.”
“You will.” They continued though the town centre, and made their way back home.
“Tell me lupen, I think we must have misunderstood you. You said you were leaving, yet you are here.”
“You wish for me to leave?”
“No, that isn’t what I was getting at. I was just curious as to what you meant by your words.”
The lupen took some time to respond. So much in fact, they reached the door. Audrey was about to knock, as he knew the adventures were inside, before the lupen spoke.
“I will stay if needed, that is why I am still here.”
The brothers looked at one another. “...oh, right.” They both said at once; Audrey continued. “Honestly, we thought you weren’t going to answer.”
“Good to know though.” Everett added.
“Yes…well, shall we?” Audrey knocked on their door, awaiting a response. One of the adventurers -the one with a thick beard- answered the door. They didn’t get a chance to greet the Lords, as Audrey spoke quickly.
“Where’s the boy?” It was now Audrey realised he didn’t know any of their names. “What’s his name?”
“Jacob. He’s upstairs. Shall I bring him?”
“No need. We’ll go up.”
“As you-” His tone suddenly changed, though it was still respectful due to it being voiced in front of the Pulcha’s. “May I ask why that is here?”
Audrey had the sudden urge to respond with ‘Well it is my house; I may bring who I chose’. He very well would’ve done if Everett hadn’t spoken first.
“Our friend here is here to help. No need to have any fear.”
“No fear, Lord Everett. Just distrust. They’ve shown their true colours weeks ago.”
“And you humans but mere hours ago.” The lupen growled back.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means we’re going upstairs. Come on.” Audrey said, going towards the stairs.
The lupen did not follow.
“What it means is, some refugees, such as yourself, killed one of Mum's cubs. My brother.”
“And you think we’re all like that?”
“No. Just most.”
“Well you ever think that maybe those who killed it were avenging their own dead child? It’s you lupen’s who say an eye for an eye.”
“And a tongue for a tongue.”
If the Pulcha’s words would’ve reached the air in time, perhaps it would have stopped the lupen, though it would’ve been luck if it had.
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From the lupen’s perspective, one second it was complete silence, the next, a loud blood curdling screen. From everyone else’s, the lupen was too fast to track; one minute the bearded man was standing tall on a pillar of anger, the next he was on the ground surrounded by his own blood.
“Stay back.” Audrey commanded. Everyone that had unsheathed their rusted swords held back, but still eyed the lupen with a bloodied hand.
“Will he live?” He asked his brother, who was quick to examine the groaning man.
“Yeah, it was a clean cut. I’ll get him patched up. You just deal with this.”
Audrey could tell the group and the lupen were on the verge of attacking each other. Being the main problem, Audrey addressed the lupen first.
“Now, I’m not going to say he didn’t deserve that, but I’m sure you know as well as I what will happen if you go around attacking people, just because of spoken words. This is already going to cause problems for us.”
“Problems? Worse problems than dead children?”
“With that kind of attitude, even more will die. Calm yourself or leave; I cannot have more reasons for my people to vilify you and your kind.”
“I-”
“You want to stay and help? Or are you just causing trouble?” Even amongst the lupens, Audrey was known to be blunt. “‘Cause this here, isn’t helping.”
“Was not supposed to…but that is not the sort of comment you come out with.”
“I agree with you, but you can’t lose control like that. Not over words.”
They nodded, after a moment of deliberating with themselves.
“Good, thank you.” He looked back down to his brother. “Can you patch up his tongue again?”
“Nope.”
The man gave a groan. He tried to speak, but no audible words came out.
“Well, there’s not much more I can do. Don’t worry, you still have some of your tongue left, so you’ll get used to talking again…after a few months, maybe.”
Wanting to get most of the team together by the end of the day, Audrey and Everett, along with the lupen -with some slight opposition by the team- , went up to see Jacob.
“I imagine the young one will be even more hateful, being blinded by those around him.”
“Imagining, then, is all you will be doing.”
It was to no one’s surprise that Jacob hadn’t heard anything, as he was found in one of the meeting rooms which was completely soundproofed off with a crystal that bounced back waves.
“Oh! Lord Audrey, you’re back.” His eyes bounced to Evertt next, who he greeted with as much respect. As for the lupen, he showed a bit of fear towards them. The first detail Jacob noticed was their eyes. “Oh…did something happen?”
“Yes…” Audrey wondered for a moment what to tell Jacob first. “There is- was, a pack of lupens here. One of the cubs was killed.”
“Murdered.” The lupen corrected.
“Oh, that’s terrible. Who would do such a thing?”
“Don’t worry. It’s no one you would know.”
“That wasn’t what I was afraid of. Why would someone do that?”
“Can’t say. Could be revenge, could be some mentally deranged group who’s fucked up everything for us.”
“Or fear. A lupen itself is very dangerous, but a lupen that was raised during conflict or war knows how to fight better than their brothers or sisters.”
“Kavar fears war?” The lupen asked.
“They might think war is already here. Why do you think we’re having people all over come to us in order to be trained?” Audrey said. “Which actually brings me to why we’re here.”
“You want to train me?”
“He picks up quickly.” Everett smiled. “Yes, you and a few others.”
“Erm, can I ask why?”
“Why you?” Audrey thought he’d agree immediately.
“No, erm…what will I be doing with my training?”
The brothers looked at each other, confused for a moment. “Oh, I understand. Don’t worry, we’re not going to ask you to go out and hunt any lupens. We need a group who can ensure the safety of my city-”
“Our city.” Everett said, knowing his brother didn’t mean it that way.
“Can you really say that when you came running to me?”
“As one of the leaders, yes, I needed someone to shield me in case of an attack.”
“Oh, so you’re trying to get rid of me, is that it?”
“Ever since the womb.”
“Erm-” Jacob murmured so quietly, only the lupen heard.
“Ha, if you did kill me back in the womb, you’d absorb my bravery. Something in which every leader needs; something you lack.”
“What bravery do you have? All I see is recklessness.”
The lupen would have agreed with Everett there if he had actually meant the words. If the lupen did actually voice his agreement, he would have found himself in an actual argument with the brothers.
“Do you have time for this bickering?” The lupen asked, getting bored.
“Right. We’ll leave this for later.” Audrey turned to face Jacob. “...right, protecting my city.” He ignored the daggers stared by Everett, “Protecting is what you will want to do, correct?”
“Y-yes.” His eagerness was clear. “You’ll train us?”
“You, yes. Not your party.” Audrey expected him to fight back on that.
“Okay, I understand. Can they at least stay? I won’t tell them anything.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
“Then they may stay. Just not here. We will provide accommodation and food, in return…”
“They can help out with the farm. We’ll need to stockpile food, and most of them would’ve been farmers.” Everett said.
“Yes, that’s good. Thank you.” Jacob said sincerely. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to die, especially those in his party.
“Then it’s settled. You’ll stay here, along with the others.”
“Others?”
“Ergo, Gail and Charles. You’ll meet Ergo and Gail today, but Charles…well, let me handle that.”