When we left the haven again, we left behind all of the variants. They were our strongest fighters, so it only made sense to do so. Aside from them, we also left behind those that did not have a strong combat Power, leaving us with only the four that we had planned on bringing.
At least with this arrangement, the normal herds should be willing to hear us out before they start attacking. Though, Jayce was told to stay at the back of the group, as his hand was wrapped in long leaves. Apparently, Hyumahn created an ointment and applied it to his hand to help mend his internal wounds. How exactly that worked, I do not know. All I did know was that it was related to his Power of the Alchemist.
After leaving, we chose a random direction to run in, as there was no set path for the herds to follow. Without a destination in mind, we could only wander aimlessly, keeping an eye on the horizon as we moved. Granted, finding a herd was not especially difficult, with the wide range we could see. It only took us two days before we found the first herd.
The herd that we found was a relatively small one, composed of only three men and one woman. Much the same as our own group, which made them seem more open to us as we approached.
As we got nearer, the leader of herd separated to approach us. “What do you need of us?” He asked, glancing behind me to see those that followed. This leader was by no means a greymane, looking to be just past the prime of his life. If anything, his appearance suggested that he and his group broke away from a larger herd.
“My herd was given a task by Tryval.” I spoke honestly, causing the man to be taken aback. While it was not only priests that were able to converse with Tryval, it certainly was more rare for him to answer the prayers of the common centaur.
“What was this task?” The man asked, skeptically. He had likely never before heard of anyone receiving a task directly from Tryval, so I could understand his reaction.
“First, we are to build a city. One in which anyone can live, so long as they live peacefully.” I again spoke truthfully, though my next words caused him to stiffen up. “Including those that live in Try’s Hold.”
“You mean the cursed.” He practically spat out the word, clear disgust evident in his tone. “Now I know you’re lying. He would never ask for us to cooperate with them. That is why they are marked from birth, to show their shame.”
I spoke my words slowly, clenching my fists as I did. I could feel my ki boiling, eager to be released, but I remained calm. “They are not cursed. They are simply variants. They are every bit Tryval’s children as we are.”
For my words, all I got was a low scoff from the other party. “Say what you will and begone. And be thankful that we do not wish to take care of your blasphemy ourselves.” As he said that, he once again glanced behind me, likely wondering whether or not he would be able to eliminate my group with his.
“That’s all. The second task we had was simply to spread the word. Once we have spoken to enough herds, Tryval himself will descend to the plains as proof of this quest.” After saying that, I abruptly turned away, walking back to my herd. Though, I kept my ears focused, taking advantage of my Power of the Scout to listen in case he retrieves a weapon.
Thankfully, for both of us, he did not make any hostile actions against us. Aside from spitting in my general direction, but that was hardly enough to warrant me fighting him. Signalling to the rest of my herd, we once again galloped away, this time in the opposite direction of where this herd was going.
Over the course of the next couple days, we came across two more herds of similar size, spreading the same message to them as well. Out of them, one herd actually decided to attack us when I told him about the variants living in the haven. His herd… wasn’t so willing to do so. Thankfully, they were more than happy to go spread the message for us after their leader was killed!
The first bit of serious trouble we had was roughly a week after we had left the haven. After encountering nothing but small herds, we had finally managed to find a big one. Either that, or it was two large herds that happened to be traveling together for a little while.
Among them were over twenty men and women, with three greymanes. They waved amicably to us as we approached, and two of the greymanes advanced to meet us. Before I went to join them, I sent a quick word of warning to the others. “This one is likely not going to go well. Be prepared to fight our way out if need be.”
Hearing my warning, the three of them all nodded their heads. I considered taking Dhalia with me, but ultimately decided against it. Although I was going to a meeting against two people, those two represented far greater numbers than my little herd.
“Greetings, greymanes.” I spoke as I approached them, nodding my head respectively. It was rather nice not having bows pointed at me the moment I got close to people, though I would still prefer to have the entire Round Stable here with me. Huh, that name is kind of silly, now that I think about it. Still, I do like it.
“Greetings.” The two greymanes returned the nod, glancing back towards my herd. One of them took the opportunity to speak up first. “Is there something that you need, friend?” The greymane asking that smiled slightly, seeming to do his best to not look threatening. Likely, he was thinking about convincing the four of us to join his herd.
Seeing his attitude towards us, I felt a bit reluctant. I could tell with a glance that there were no variants among this herd, so more than likely they would not like the news we were going to tell them. Nonetheless, I had to tell them. Quietly, I began to push ki into my arms as I spoke.
“We received a mission from Tryval, to pass a message along to the herds.” I spoke solemnly, keeping my eyes on the two greymanes, as well as the one that did not advance with them. When they heard that, the two representatives looked at me skeptically, but I continued. “A new city is being constructed, like Try’s Hold. In this city, all of His children may live together.”
The one that had spoken first before furrowed his brows, while the other stepped forward. “You say you speak for Tryval, do you?” He asked in a decidedly more hostile tone than the other had previously displayed. “And what gives you that authority?”
I narrowed my eyes as I looked at him. “He did.” As I spoke, I allowed the ki to press just past my skin, giving birth to the yellow flames wrapping around my arms. Seeing this, not only the hostile greymane, but the entire opposing herd backed up a step.
“You’re… a--” Before the greymane could finish his sentence, I had driven the ki into my hooves to appear in front of him. My hand lashed out like the claw of a beast at his neck. Although I could feel a stronger resistance than normal, the ki fueling my attack still ripped his head off of his body.
The other herd could simply watch as he collapsed, his head falling to the ground wrapped in yellow flames. “They are not cursed.” I said, surprised by how cold my voice sounded as I looked at the herd. “Anyone can gain these Powers. To hate them for what they are is against everything that Tryval stands for. We are all His children, and anyone who wishes to act like it is free to join the city we are building.”
As I spoke, I noticed three presences walk up behind me, the rest of my own group coming forward. Around Karlin was an earthen glow, the ground shaking and cracking beneath his feet. Likewise, Dhalia was surrounded by a wind that seemed to blow out from her body, causing her hair to rise around her head. It was almost depressing that Jayce had not been able to develop the Power of the Monk, or else this scene might be complete.
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“There is no need for this!” The formerly friendly greymane shouted out, standing between myself and his herd. His face showed his anger more than words ever could, and he glanced at the fallen greymane. “You have delivered your message. Now go.” He spoke in a harsh tone, but we did not miss the glowing light of promise scrolls being torn and weapons drawn.
Before we had a chance to respond, an arrow flew at us, just missing the greymane’s head. Given its speed, it obviously was not from someone who had mastered that Power. And indeed, it was easy to deal with. Dhalia threw out her hand, looking as if she were slapping the air. However, that empty slap contained her wind ki, causing a strong gust that knocked the arrow off course.
Karlin simply grinned, clenching his fists as he looked to the greymane. “If you call your men off, we can. Like the man said, we are just here to deliver a message.”
The greymane sent a glare back towards his herd, shouting out at them. “Put away your weapons!” At his words, a few of the other herd hesitantly withdrew their weapons, while others simply knocked an arrow onto their bows. “We’re leaving!” He called out, turning to the side and trotting away. “Anyone who doesn’t come now can forget doing so later.”
I have to admit, the fact that he did not attempt to lash out at us surprised me. The fact that less than half of the other herd followed him as he left… not so much. Of those remaining, there were a total of twelve, including the third greymane. Likely, these were the ones that belonged to the herd of the other greymane, as well as a couple of deserters from the leaving herd.
Jayce looked to the dozen remaining enemies, a wicked grin forming on his face as he doubled his fists up. “Alright. Guess this is all that’s left, then.” He said, taking a step forward. Among the enemy herd, all twelve of them were armed. Eight were holding bows, arrows nocked and pointed at us, while the other four held wood spears.
Surprisingly, the greymane was among the ones using a spear. It was somewhat rare to see someone of his age not using a bow as his main weapon, but it was entirely possible that he simply didn’t have a very strong Power, or something may have been wrong with his bow. “Let’s get rid of this group of liars.” The greymane said, though he took no actions to fight.
The eight archers, on the other hand, were more than happy to launch their arrows. Among them, there were two that seemed faster than the rest, likely indicating either a higher quality bow or a stronger Power. And, both of these arrows were naturally aimed at my chest… because why wouldn’t people want to shoot me?
Before the arrows could arrive, Dhalia let out a loud shout as she clapped her hands together, sending out a small burst of wind in the immediate area to cause most of the arrows to go off course. This thankfully included the two stronger arrows, though to a far lesser degree. Instead of aiming at my heart, they had shifted a bit to the side of my chest.
Without much time to properly react, I could only turn my upper body, allowing the arrows to graze my side and dig into my lower back. I let out a hiss of pain as the two arrows tore two long bloody trails along my lower back, dying a large patch of my fur red. Seeing that, the other three around me burst into action.
Naturally, Dhalia was the fastest, as her wind ki allowed her to traverse the distance between the two herds as fast as any arrow. In an instant, she arrived in front of one of the two archers that had struck me, and thrust her palm out at the archer. I winced in anticipation, knowing what was about to happen.
Wind ki was at both times the fiercest and gentlest out of all the world ki types that I knew of. That was because it did no direct damage to the target of attacks, but instead used all of the force of the attack to throw the enemy. So when Dhalia struck the archer, she did so at a slightly upwards angle, causing his body to lift off the ground and fly over a full length backwards.
The reason that I considered wind ki the most vicious ki was evident by the sound that came next. When the archer landed from the unexpected lunge backwards in the air, he had no chance to brace himself, and we could hear a sickening crunch followed by his scream of pain. As usual, when Dhalia struck like this, it ended up causing at least one of the legs of her opponent to snap.
By this point, Karlin had arrived in front of the other archer. Although the archer had plenty of time to fire another shot, he was unable to aim properly due to Karlin’s earth ki shaking the ground around him, causing the archer’s footing to be unstable. When Karlin’s fist came forward and struck the other man in his chest, a small roar rang out from the collision. Unlike other elements, earth ki was the most similar to normal ki, only showing an increased effectiveness in most areas.
The archer struck by that fist coughed up a mouthful of thick blood, staggering back several steps. Judging by the expression on his face, Karlin had definitely broken something in the man. The fact that the archer collapsed to the side was also a good indicator, though.
Jayce was considerably more bold, having charged directly towards the greymane. The Power of the Berserker allowed him to bolster his strength with either his rage, or with damage he had received. Clearly, he was using the former choice right now as he charged blindly at the enemy elder.
After having traveled together for so long, Jayce naturally wasn’t as affected by the shaking ground as the enemies were, and he managed to arrive safely in front of the greymane. While the spear in the other man’s hands struck out to stab at him, Jayce simply ignored it and reached out. The spear dug deep into his flesh, yet he did not seem to care.
What Jayce grabbed was the man’s wrists, bringing him face to face with the greymane. With a savage grin, he put as much strength as he could into his grip, causing the man’s face to distort in pain. I had no doubt that he had taken his chance to break both of the greymane’s wrists.
After taking a moment to adjust to the injuries, I also began to move. By now, the three main threats had already been dealt with, so the remaining nine were not too much of a problem to us. Reaching into my satchel, I retrieved the promise scroll for a pair of bone daggers. With my fire ki, these were the best weapons to use as they did not burn away when I used them.
Pushing ki into my legs, I dashed forward. My targets were the three other spear wielding men and women. Among them, I did not expect any to have powerful abilities that could stop me. After all, there was a limit to what they could do with wooden spears.
As I approached, they formed up close together, using their cooperation to cover the gaps in their defense. While the tactic did make it so that I could not approach without getting hit, I approached nonetheless. Unlike with the arrows from before, I had plenty of time to prepare my ki to defend myself this time.
When I arrived near the woman that stood at the center of their formation, the men on either side of her swept their spears towards me. Seeing that I had no intention of withdrawing, the woman in front of me thrusted her spear straight at my chest. In response, I simply channeled the ki into my arms and chests, creating a fiery yellow defensive shield.
The three spears struck my body, but did not have quite the effect their users intended. Although it did hurt a bit, and the bar of my life depleted slightly, the spears were only able to barely dig into my skin before my fire ki ate away at them. By the time that they pulled their spears back, the tips had all been broken off.
Naturally, I had no intention of giving up this opening. With a swing of my arms, I used my bone daggers to cut the throats of the two men, before turning them around and stabbing them both into the side of the woman’s neck. With this, the three of them collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap.
While I was taking care of these three, the others had not simply been watching. By the time I turned to observe the field, I found that they were just finishing up. Out of the four of us, Jayce was, once again, the most heavily injured. He had two arrows sticking out of his arm, and the bar of his life had dropped by almost half. Yet he still had a smile on his face and blood on his hands.
Dhalia was practically unscathed, though I could tell which kills were hers fairly easily. Out of the four of us, she is the only one that really uses a bow. After throwing an enemy back and breaking their legs, her standard tactic is to shoot them with an arrow while they are in agony. Her arrows benefit greatly from being infused with wind ki, so it is only a natural combination.
As for Karlin, he was only slightly better off than I was. Small scratches lined his arms, likely from using them to deflect arrows with his ki. The blood on his hands and the caved in chests of various fallen made it easy to tell which enemies he had taken, and he was also the last to finish up, delivering one last punch to defeat the final member of the enemy herd after I was done with my trio.
Dhalia approached, glancing around the various corpses, before turning to look in the direction of the herd that had left before. “Think that they will spread the word?” She asked, a hint of concern in her voice. However, I could only shake my head.
“I don’t know. He seemed like a good guy, better than I was expecting. Either way, we need to head back to the Haven.” I declared, turning and looking in the direction of the city that Hyumahn and the others were building. “Let’s see what progress they’ve made, and prepare for Try’s Hold to attack. I doubt that they’ll wait much longer, if they haven’t already made their move.”