Chapter 4 -On the edge of death

Each dragon wasp was a rank c monster but a swarm like this one could rival even rank b

savagebeasts. Zeke quickly closed the distance with the lawless and pulled out his flask. He

immediately began to douse the members of lawless with the water inside the flask making

surehe wet as many people as possible. Then without any further hesitation he dropped the

flask,turned to the side, and continued to run to his next location. All he heard was “ahhhhh”

“ahhh”sounds as he made his way into the distance.”

Bryant immediately began using his combat skills. He held his sword as he activated the combat

skill “razors edge” his sword began to glow with a light blue light then he cast a “wind rush”

skill which boosted his speed. He rushed towards one of the dragon wasps and slashed his sword

diagonally. “buzz” the dragon wasp quickly dodged to the side and then attacked with its stinger.

Its stinger began to shine with a black light as it activated its own combat skills. Its stinger shot

several black lights towards Bryant in succession. Bryant leaped backwards and pointed his left

hand behind the dragon wasp. “Helios flame” he yelled as he activated a spell. Runes began to

gather around his hand as a blazing flame erupted from his palm and shot towards the rest of the

dragon wasps.

As a veteran pathfinder and member of Lawless he knew better than to let himself be surrounded

by dragon wasps in a fight. He was about to continue engaging the dragon wasp he was fighting

when he heard screams behind him. He turned around just in time to see a dragon wasp shove its

stinger into the chest of one of his comrades. The dragon wasp then began to bite and eat his

flesh. “ ahhhh”  he yelled but his voice soon faded and his body stopped moving.

He wasn’t the only in such dire straits, everyone else was also fighting with their life’s hanging

in the balance. Bryant turned his head and focused on his fight, this wasn’t the time to worry

about someone else. He made use of the remaining time he had left with his “wind rush” and

leaped at the dragon wasp. 

The dragon wasp met his sword with its stinger and they went back and forth as they madly

fought. “blade tempest” Bryant yelled, he brought up his sword and slashed it downwards at the

dragon wasp. Strong winds erupted from his sword and flew towards the dragon wasp. Before it

could dodge the dragon wasp was dissected into several pieces and its body fell to the ground in

many different parts. Bryant was breathing heavily after the fight. Using so many combat skills

and magic spells had drained his energy severely.

He turned to go help his comrades but what he saw made his heart drop. Five of his friend, his

comrades who he had survived many life and death battles with were now lying motionless on

the ground as several dragon wasps feasted on their corpses. Two dragon wasps lay dead besides

his friends bodies. “at least they managed to kill some of them “he sighed heavily” just as he was

about to run away the “Helios flame” spell he had cast began to wear off exposing the vicious

and angry swarm of dragon wasps on the other side.

Bryant knew he had missed his chance to escape. He raised his sword in defeat and let out a

bitter laugh “hahaha, it seems this is where I shall die. Fine, but if I’m going to die then I’ll at

least take a few of you damned monsters with me” he tapped into the last reserve of energy he

had and began to activate the greatest spell he knew. It was an area of effect spell known as

“thunder clap” that would cause damage to even he himself at this close of a distance.

Zeke had been running for several minutes now and still hadn’t ran into any of the Lawless yet.

He stopped to survey his surroundings and check his location when there was a bright and

intense light followed by a deafening “krakoom” which resembled a clap of thunder. He almost

went deaf due to the sound. He turned towards the direction of the sound and saw a blazing light

that nearly blinded him.

Zeke immediately averted his eyes and continued towards his location. After thirty minutes of

running he came to a large clearing. His body was exhausted and soaked with his own sweat. His

mind was constantly on edge as he had to avoid running into savage beast or members of

Lawless.

He rested for a few minutes and caught his breath. After resting he looked towards the clearing

and saw about twenty figures laying down next to each other. This was the final and most

dangerous part of his plan. He planned to lure this pack of nether wolves to attack the camp

belonging to Lawless.

Zeke steadied his breath and pulled out his dagger. He searched around until he finally found the

tracks of a rabbit. He baited it then killed it. then he began to cut the rabbit in to several pieces.

He repeated this process several times and caught a few different animals. After cutting them all

into pieces he tied the cut-up body parts to several vines on many different trees that led towards

the lawless camp.

He made sure they were not too low or too high. He then found a large number of stones and

carried as many as he could in his pockets.  Afterwards he took the angel root he had remaining

broke it in half and covered himself with its juice masking his scent. With his preparations

complete Zeke returned to the large clearing where the nether wolves were still sleeping.

The nether wolves were vicious creatures that specialized in speed. That being the case their

attack power was still rather impressive. They were similar to the dragon wasps in that they were

rank c monsters on their own but as a pack they could even threaten upper lever rank b creatures.

They were five meters long and two meters tall with a sleek body. They had razor sharp teeth

that could tear through steel. Silver eyes, long blade like claws and fur that was incredibly hard

to penetrate possessing a dark silver luster.

He retrieved a few pieces of meat he had left over then tied them to pieces of rocks which he

then launched at the sleeping nether wolves. He missed his first two throws but the rest nailed his

targets as he wanted. Needlessly to say being pelted with rocks repeatedly during their sleep

quickly aroused the fury of this pack of nether wolves. They looked around for the cause of the

attacks only to be attracted by the scent of the pieces of meat around them. A few of them went

to eat the meat only to find that as they chewed the meat there were rocks included. This greatly

dissatisfied them.

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Even though the rocks would not harm their teeth it still greatly irritated them to be misled into

eating stones. They looked around for a target to vent their anger on. “over here” Zeke yelled

“come on, I’m right here” he began to throw more stones at the nether wolves. They quickly

locked onto his location and darted towards him.

Without waiting for their arrival Zeke turned and made his way towards one of his prearranged

vines. He then latched onto it and began to climb up the vine. Seconds after he climbed the vine

the pack of nether wolves had arrived at the bottom of the vine. Being unable to climb after Zeke

they began to eat the meat that was tied to the vine. Seeing that his plan was working Zeke

continued to taunt the nether wolves and lead them towards the location of the lawless as he used

the vines to swing from tree to tree. After a while the nether wolves began to lose interest in

Zeke.

When he noticed this he promptly jumped down and began to hurl rocks at the nether wolves in

an attempt to regain their interest. This lead to them angrily chasing after Zeke and him making

his way up another tree. This continued for over twenty minutes with no problems arousing. That

is until Zeke’s most recent attempt to lure the nether wolves went awry.

Zeke had jumped down to throw more stones at the nether wolves but this time they seemed to

be prepared for his antics. As soon as his feet touched the ground he was rushed by several of the

nether wolves that had been hiding nearby seemingly waiting for this opportunity.

They lunged at Zeke with their mouth wide open exposing those razor-edged teeth that could rip

apart steel. With little time to react Zeke decided his actions without any hesitation. He focused

on one of the nether wolves and jumped at it.

As he collided into the nether wolf he felt the air forced out of his lungs. The impact sent his

head spinning for a moment. When he came to he was hanging onto the neck of the nether wolf.

He swung his body over it and latched onto it’s back. He pulled out his dagger and thrust it at its

eye. Zeke was well aware that his dagger was not sharp enough to pierce its body so he aimed for

it’s more vulnerable body parts. As if it knew what he was planning the nether wolf twisted its

neck to the side and shook its body in an attempt to throw Zeke off.

This only made Zeke tighten his grip on its neck. Before he could take anymore actions another

nether wolf rushed at him with its fangs bared. Zeke grew desperate as he was beginning to get

surrounded.  “growl” loud growls came from the surrounding nether wolves that were feasting

on the meat Zeke had used to lure them. With the loud commotion, they lost interest in their food

and began to focus on the quarrel with Zeke.

Soon even more nether wolves were heading towards him. Zeke had very little options left. He

reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the last remaining plants he had left. It was blood

red and had thorns all over it. This was a blood cactus. It was highly toxic to a large number of

creatures, including humans.

He removed his other hand from the neck of the nether wolf and grabbed the blood cactus with

both hands. He mustered all his strength and tore the blood cactus in half. This brief moment

allowed the nether wolf to throw Zeke of its back. With little time to spare Zeke threw the

powder of the blood cactus into the air. Then he turned and ran towards the nearest vine.

He quickly reached the vine and began climbing. He failed reach a safe height in time. The

nether wolf that was rushing at him continued its chase with its sharp teeth exposed. “roar” it

jumped towards Zeke and latched onto his left leg piercing its teeth into the back of his leg.

“ahhhhhhh” Zeke released a bloodcurdling scream.

He grabbed his dagger and thrust it into the eye of the nether wolf. It released a whimper and

released its grip on Zeke’s leg. He hurriedly continued to climb up the vine. He made his way to

a large branch and sat down.

Zeke tore of some cloth from his pants and wrapped it around the wound on his leg wincing in

pain the whole time. Afterwards we looked at his palms and found some thorns from the blood

cactus imbedded into his skin. He removed them as fast as he could but he was aware that he was

too late because some of the toxins on the thorns had entered into his body.

Zeke chewed on the little amount of angel root he had left and drank its juice. The angel root was

not just great at masking a person’s smell but was also good for detoxification. It would not

completely remove the toxin of the blood cactus from his system but it would at least slow it

down a bit.

After everything was done he looked down and saw the nether wolves still pacing around the

tree. There were three nether wolves lying motionlessly on the ground. This was undoubtedly

due to the effects of the of the blood cactus.

Zeke attempted to bait the nether wolves several times but to his surprise they ignored all the

pieces of meat he threw at them. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the fact that he killed a few

nether wolves belonging to their pack or if it was because they had enough of him toying with

them but from how they kept pacing around the tree he was on it was obvious that their sights

were set on him and him alone.

After careful consideration Zeke decided to make use of their focus on him. He grabbed onto a

vine steadied himself and swung to the next tree. He looked down and saw the nether wolves

following after him and growling angrily the whole way. He continued to swing from tree to tree

for almost fifteen minutes as he led the nether wolves towards the camp of the Lawless.

At the camp of the Lawless, Karry was still tied to the wooden post. The only difference from

before was that she had several new bruises on her face and a piece of cloth tied to her mouth.

The members of lawless seemed to be getting restless as they paced back and forth impatiently.

There were thirty members left including the captain and they all felt something strange was

going on.

It had been over two hours since ten of their friends left to look for the rest of the demon boar

along with Zeke yet no one had returned or even made contact yet. Captain Lanis came out of the

only tent there and walked towards Karry with his face as expressionless as usual. He grabbed

her neck and began to squeeze.

“your friend has been gone for a while now. It’s obvious that he’s planning something so here’s

what’s going to happen next. I’m going to kill you then I’m going to go look for him and kill

him.” His grip tightened around Karry’s neck and he squeezed with all his strength.

It was at this moment that a disheveled man ran towards Lanis. “captain! captain! We have a big

problem.” He was one of the men who was sent to follow Zeke. Lanis released his grip on Karry

and turned towards the man who had just come back. “what is it?” Lanis coldly responded “why

are you alone? Where’s the rest of the men I sent with you?”

“captain, it’s all because of that little bastard. He lured us into a trap and we were attacked by a

blood serpent. One of us was immediately killed and two more died during the fight with it but

the blood serpent was heavily injured as well.” He paused for a moment to catch his breath then

continued.

“I finally managed to kill it but by then the little shithead was long gone. Bryant led the rest of

the group to catch him. I’m not sure what happened afterwards. I was hoping they were able to

catch him and bring him back.” With that he began to look around in search for Bryant and his

friends but he was unable to find them. This confirmed his suspicions that something bad had

happened to them.

Rage bean to build up in Lanis’s chest as he threw a slap at the man who had just returned.

“lured into a trap? You let a little kid do this much damage to our reputation? Who in the

Leyman empire will fear us when they learn that the Lawless were outsmarted by a child?” he

managed to calm himself down and spoke “I should kill you where you stand for bringing such

shame unto us”

Lanis pulled out his sword and was about to attack the man when all over sudden loud howls

began to reverberate throughout the endless forest. “awoooo” the sounds came from all around

the camp. “damnit” Lanis spoke “everyone get ready to fight we’re under attack”

Not long after he spoke a figure dropped out of the trees and rolled a few times before coming to

a stop. He looked ragged and exhausted. His left leg was wrapped in a bloodied piece of cloth.

Who else could this be if not Zeke? Lanis revealed a crazy look for the first time as he realized

who it was. “you!!” he yelled, he brought up his sword in preparation to attack Zeke but before

he could Zeke spoke. “haha you might want to deal with them before you deal with me.”

As soon as he finished speaking several figures darted out of the surrounding bushes and began

indiscriminately attacking the members of Lawless. Sounds of terror and pain began to come

from all around. Various spells and combat skills were being used but the nether wolves

possessed attack spells of their own. A dark silver light began to gather unto their bodies and

with a “whoosh” their speed skyrocketed.

Lanis took a look around before focusing his gaze unto Zeke. “I, don’t, care” he said word for

word “you have to pay for this!” He thrust his sword at Zeke. Zeke rolled to the side to avoid the

strike but he was unable to completely escape from it. The sword pierced the side of his abdomen

and left a bloody wound. Zeke released a sharp cry of pain. Lanis pulled out his sword and was

about to follow up on his attack when a nether wolf launched itself at him at breakneck speeds.

Lanis was forced to back off and defend against this sudden attack leaving Zeke alone.

Zeke clutched his side in pain, got up and limped towards the still tied up Karry. He used his

dagger to cut her free and release her from her bondage. She immediately supported Zeke and

they turned to escape into the distance when a nether wolf with a bloodied eye appeared in their

path.

It released a loud growl then it’s body began to shine with a metallic light. The nether wolf

rushed at the duo with its top speed. The two split apart and jumped to the opposite sides. The

nether wolf came to an abrupt stop and turned towards Zeke’s direction. Before it could continue

its attack Karry grabbed a sword from a dead member of lawless and attacked the Nether wolf.

The nether wolf ignored Karry and rushed towards Zeke. Zeke was exhausted from the constant

running, climbing, and swinging from vine to vine. With the injuries to his leg and abdomen he

barely had enough strength to stand stand yet alone engage in a life and death battle with a nether

wolf.

With few options available to him he held onto his dagger and waited for the arrival of the nether

wolf. It lunged at Zeke with its maws wide open. At this crucial moment Zeke unhesitantly thrust

his dagger into its open mouth and shoved it upwards. The nether wolf released loud whimpers

and its body shuddered briefly before it collapsed to the ground.

 Before it could get back up Karry hurried over and jammed her sword into its other eye socket.

The nether wolf howled in agony but it was pointless. Karry then helped Zeke up and they began

to escape this chaotic scene full of blood and carnage.

They didn’t get very far before Zeke collapsed to the ground in extreme fatigue. “come on Zeke

you have to get up. We’re still too close to their encampment, they could catch up at any

minute.”

Zeke shook his head and showed a bitter smile “I can’t, I don’t have any more strength in my

body. Besides the toxins from the blood cactus is beginning to take effect on my body. I’m done

for, you run away as far as you can.”

“like hell I’m going to do that” Karry yelled back at Zeke “you just risked your life to save me

like hell I’m going to just leave you to die.” Tears began to well up in her eyes as she spoke “do

you remember when we first met as kids? I was just an orphan living in the slums stealing from

whoever I could and you were a slave to that despicable merchant.”

Zeke released a dry laugh “I’ve told you over and over I wasn’t a slave I sold myself into his care

so I could work of my father’s debts.”

Karry harshly responded “you were a slave! The way he treated you and worked you…. How

was that any different from a slave?”

“ok ok” Zeke sighed in frustration “I was a slave happy? now enough jabbering hurry up and run

before you’re caught. Don’t let all my hard work be in vain”

Karry stared deep into Zeke’s eyes as she spoke “after you helped me escape capture I told you I

owed you my life, do you remember what you said?”

Zeke shook his head in amusement. “you idiot! Don’t lie!” Karry yelled with tears dripping from

her eyes. “you said we who have been abandoned by the world have to look after each other.

You said we were all one family, a family of misfits.” She then kneeled in front of him and put

him on her back.

Karry began to run speaking the whole way. “you’re my family Zeke, you’re the only one I have.

I’m, not going to abandon you. If you die I’ll die with you and if you live I’ll live with you.” She

began sobbing like a child “I’m so sorry Zeke, I’m so sorry I convinced you to come with me.

Please don’t die…please don’t die.”

Karry ran for so long that she began to forget where she was and what she was doing. She forgot

all about the lawless and about the nether wolves. The only thought in her mind was ‘must get

back to the village’ and ‘I have to save Zeke’. She even forgot about the storage sack containing

the corpse of the storage sack that she hid.

After running for so long she finally realized that there was no response coming from the body

on her back. She set him down and checked his pulse. Zeke’s breathing was very shallow nearly

nonexistent. She gritted her teeth and put him on her back once again then continued running

towards the exit of the endless forest in her memories closest to the village.

After several hours, she came to a stop. She looked ahead of her and saw several people walking

around. There were merchants and carriages all around. This was a small village with over a

hundred people inhabiting it. “we made it Zeke, we made it” she had been talking to Zeke the

entire way but it had been hours since he last responded. Nevertheless, she refused to believe he

was dead and kept telling herself that he was just unconscious.

Joy welled up in her heart as she exited the endless forest. She ran towards the nearest person she

could find screaming “help! help!” the entire time. She had been running nonstop at full speed

for several hours. When she finally came to a stop immense fatigue attacked her body.

Her eyelids grew increasingly heavy and she was barely able to remain standing. She swayed

back and forth like a willow in the breeze before finally collapsing on the ground. As her eyelids

got heavier and heavier and she was losing consciousness the last thing she saw was Zeke’s

motionless body slumped next to hers and several people running towards them. ‘we made it

Zeke’ she thought ‘we finally mad it’, then her vision blurred and she lost consciousness.

The End.