Chapter 54
The Beast Tamer (Part 1)
Erin and her group were having their break at the same place they had stopped at. Everyone was doing their best to pass the time with the redheaded assassin was practicing her swordsmanship, Arkay reading his books and Lexton napping. Ryle was also trying to relax, but was apparently unable to do so. The blonde brawler was simply laying in the middle of their camp site while holding her nose. This was due to Lexton’s repellents having quite the stench to them.
“This sucks… Why the hell does this have to happen to me?” Ryle whined. “Why am I forced to stay in the middle of this stinky circle?”
“Ryle, I know it isn’t exactly ideal, but aren’t you complaining a bit too much? I mean, you saw how well those repellents work,” Erin said. “Besides, I know the smell isn’t exactly nice, but aren’t you being a bit too melodramatic? It’s not that bad.”
“Easy for you to say! Your nose is completely normal!” the blonde complained. “Remember how much stronger my nose is!? What I’m smelling is at least a hundred times worse than you!”
“Oh… right,” the redhead said, having forgotten about her friend’s special attribute. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, how do you do that? How is your nose better than a human’s? It’s almost like you have the nose of a bloodhound or something.”
“You’re kind of close with that,” Ryle replied. “Years ago, I paid for a gene-splicing that gave me a stronger sense of smell. I needed it in order to be better at tracking down bounties. Taking down a bounty isn’t often the big issue, but locating them is.”
“I see… What animals genes did you get spliced with?” Erin asked. “A wolf? A bloodhound?”
“Well, it was kind of a wolf, to be honest,” the blonde answered. “I actually got a special deal that got me the genes of a werewolf in me.”
“...Seriously? A werewolf?” the redhead asked with a wide eye, only to receive a nod in response. “Have there been any… you know… side effects?”
“If you’re asking about me getting transformed during a full moon, then no. I even tried to activate it by staring at the damn thing for a couple of hours and nothing happened,” Ryle said. “Honestly, I’m pretty sure I got screwed over.”
“For once, you’re saying something intelligent,” Lexton suddenly called out from the RV’s driver’s seat, where he was still doing his best to relax. “Considering how rare and dangerous werewolves are, the idea of you being able to buy the essence of one of them just like that sounds completely moronic. Something that isn’t all that new when it comes to you, unfortunately…”
“Hey, the hell do you mean by that!?” Ryle asked angrily. “I don’t know about how rare a werewolf is or anything like that, but I do know that they’re badass as all hell! When I was give the opportunity to have that kind of ass-kicking power, do you think I would pass on that!?”
“And there goes any sign of intelligence you were showing just now…” the kobold said with a sigh. “Ryle, do you know just how rare it is to see a werewolf? There are numerous people who dedicate their lives to them yet never even see them. The fact is that werewolves are among some of the top predators of the world. Not because of their strength, but because of how intelligent they are. They know how to keep hidden, which is why you only ever hear about them from the very few that have managed to survive an encounter with them.”
“So what you’re saying is that Ryle didn’t actually get werewolf genes?” Erin asked. “What do you think she got instead?”
“Most likely a regular wolf’s. Whatever the case, it doesn’t really matter all that much. In all honesty, I’d say it’s for the best,” Lexton replied. “One of the things that make werewolves really dangerous is their insatiable thirst for blood. I’ve heard of a couple of cases where gene-splicing ended up turning people insane due to the fact that they couldn’t handle the natural instincts that came along with it. If Ryle had something like that put in her… Well, you can probably imagine what would happen.”
“Up yours, scaly! I’m not some bozo who would lose to some dumb genes!” Ryle argued. “Just you wait! If I ever get a chance to take in real werewolf genes, I’ll take them and become the most badass person you’ve ever seen!”
“Sure you will… Just so you know, that full moon stuff in regards to werewolves is bullshit,” the kobold said. “If werewolves only appeared during a full moon, then people would be able to avoid them more easily. If there was something that would wake up the powers of a werewolf in you, it would be the innate bloodlust.”
image [https://i.ibb.co/V9QKZbf/Ch-54-Pic-1.jpg]
Ryle was about to say something back, only to stop upon hearing something approach their camp site. She turned around to see a pack of Badlands Wolves approach them. The beasts were growling in a mixture of anger and hunger, staring down at the people before them as their next meal.
“Huh? Are those the same wolves we saw not too long ago?” Erin asked. “Why are they back here?”
“Who knows?” Lexton said with a shrug. “They probably weren’t able to find food, so they came back to see of they could get to us. Too bad for them, they’re not gonna walk past my little barrier.”
“If by barrier you mean stink field, I guess that’s about right! No one with a working nose would ever want to come close to the damn thing!” Ryle complained before glaring at the wolves. “And what the hell are you mutts looking at!? If you’re not gonna come here, then piss off! We’ve got better things to do than to stare at your slobber-filled jaws!”
“Ryle, maybe you shouldn’t try to agitate the hungry beasts looking to tear us apart?” Erin said with a sigh. “Just a suggestion.”
“Oh come on! You saw how they acted earlier! They’re not coming anywhere near us, as long as Lex’s stuff is still in place!” the blonde said. “We’re completely safe just standing here!”
Much to the shock of everyone present, the wolves kept advancing past the repellents.
“...Or maybe not,” Ryle managed to say as she stared at the wolves with wide eyes.
“EVERYONE IN THE CAR! NOW!” Erin quickly yelled, as she, Ryle and Arkay quickly got inside. “START THE ENGINE, LEX!”
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“You don’t need to tell me twice!” the kobold yelled back as he turned on ignition and pressed on the gas pedal.
The RV was soon speeding away from the pack of wolves, who in turn chased after the escaping vehicle. While left at a distance at first, the beasts began to slowly but surely gain on their prey.
“What the hell, Lex!? Wasn’t your stinky crap supposed to keep those things away from us!?” Ryle asked angrily. “That was pretty much the only reason we tolerated that goddamn smell in the first place! Now you’re telling me it doesn’t actually work!?”
“Hey! It worked before, didn’t it!? You saw how those wolves backed away the first time they came to our camp!” Lexton argued as he kept driving. “I don’t understand this myself! I’ve seen that being used all my life and never once has a single wolf come close! This doesn’t make any sense!”
“Whatever the case is, we need to figure out a way to get away from those things!” Erin quickly said. “Do you think we can outrun them with your car, Lex!?”
“Hell no! This thing wasn’t exactly made for speed, you know!?” the kobold answered. “Not only that, but this thing is carrying quite the load on it! There’s no way we’re going to beat those things in terms of speed!”
“Oh, so we just have to throw some of this smelly crap off and we’ll be faster!?” Ryle said. “Why didn’t you say so before!? I’ll happily do that!”
“Don’t you dare! Do you have any idea how expensive and hard to find most of this stuff is!?” Lexton shouted angrily. “You throw so much as one bottle out, I’ll throw your ass out myself!”
“I’d like to see you try, scaly-ass!” the blonde yelled back. “But I think throwing this crap out is a better alternative than having our asses chewed on by those things!”
“Oh, you better not even-!”
“Lex, Ryle is right! We have to look at the bigger picture here!” Erin yelled, putting a stop to the argument. “I understand that you don’t want to lose the stuff you’ve worked hard to get, but it’s our only option right now! It’s better to live to gather your riches again than to die a wealthy man!”
“...God-freaking-DAMMIT!” Lexton screamed out of sheer frustration. “FINE! YOU CAN THROW MY STUFF AT THOSE DAMN WOLVES! JUST THROW AWAY ALL THE HARD WORK I’VE DONE FOR YEARS!”
“Happily!” Ryle said as she rushed to grab something to throw at the wolves.
“Thank you, Lex. We will pay you back for this, okay?” Erin said with a smile as she placed a comforting hand on the kobold’s shoulder. “You won’t have to suffer your sacrifice on your own.”
“Sure… whatever…” Lexton said in a saddened tone. “Just… try to hold back on throwing away the most expensive stuff, okay? I’d like to have at least something left for myself as I start building back my fortunes.”
“I’ll make sure to do that!” the redhead replied before joining her other friends in fighting back against the wolves. As she walked away from the kobold, she mumbled to herself, “Not that I’d know which is the most expensive here…”
Meanwhile, Ryle and Arkay were at the door on the side of the RV, already in the middle of fighting back against the Badlands Wolves. Both were grabbing whatever they could get their hands on and throwing it at the wolves in the hopes of them being at least slowed down. So far, the success of this had been minimal to say the least.
“GO TO HELL, YOU MANGY MUTTS!” Ryle yelled, as she threw a glass jar filled with a yellow liquid at the wolves. It smashed against the face of one of the canine beasts, but didn’t seem to do much except anger it further. “Dammit! This crap is useless! How are we supposed to get rid of these damn wolves!?”
“You just gotta use it the right way!” Arkay said as he threw a jar with a dark brown liquid inside and shot a small fireball out of his hand at it. Once the flame connected with the glass container, it caused an explosion that took out a couple of the wolves. “Sometimes you gotta do more than just throw something at them!”
“...Okay, I’m starting to have a better opinion on all this junk Lex has,” the blonde said.
While Ryle and Arkay were trying their best to push back the wolves from the door, Erin climbed to the ceiling where a hatch was located. She managed to climb through it and take a place on top of the vehicle, where she could start dropping stuff she had taken with her beforehand.
“Here goes nothing!” the redhead said to herself, as she grabbed a shiny rock that was most likely some sort of an expensive mineral and threw it at the wolves. The rock connected with the head of one of the beasts, but did little to slow it down. “Not the best result… Let’s try something else then!”
The battle between the people in the RV and the pack of wolves continued like this for some time with Erin’s group getting a few good hits at their pursuers. However, these successes were very minimal in terms of effectiveness, so the situation wasn’t looking good for the group.
Suddenly, Erin managed to hear the sound of some sort of a musical instrument being played. Once this happened, the wolves seemed to change their behavior right away. Instead of simply running behind the vehicle, the wolves began to organize with some of them staying behind and some of them moving to the side of the RV.
“What the hell?” Erin wondered out loud. “What’s going on?”
“Ha! Stupid wolves! You’re just making this easier for us!” Ryle yelled with a grin. “Now you’ve just made it easier for us to hit you!”
“Ryle, I don’t think this is a good thing,” Arkay said nervously, as he watched the wolves in confusion. “I think they’re planning something.”
“Come on, Arnie! Don’t you think you’re giving them too much credit!?” the blonde said. “They’re just a bunch of dumb animals! I doubt they have an actual plan!”
Just as soon as Ryle said that, some of the wolves that had run up to the side started to overtake the vehicle. When they got on front, Lexton was forced to do a fast turn to the side, as the wolves tried to get right in front of them. With so many wolves, the RV would have been brought down by running into them.
The turn was so fast that it caused Erin to almost fall off the roof, only barely managing to grab hold of the side of the hatch she had used to get there. Ryle had to grab a nearby cupboard in order to not fall out. Arkay almost fell out and was about to be snatched by one of the wolves, but luckily Ryle was able to pull him back in before the beast’s jaws caught on him.
“Lex, what the hell!? What’s with the reckless driving!?” the blonde yelled angrily while holding the cat boy close, not wanting to risk him falling out again. “We nearly died over here!”
“Hey! This isn’t exactly easy for me here either!” Lexton yelled back. “These damn wolves are trying to put a stop to us even if it kills them! Had I not made that turn, we would have become glorified dog food!”
“Lex, there’s something weird going on with these wolves!” Erin said as she climbed back inside and walked up to the kobold. “I think I heard an instrument being played nearby!”
“An instrument!? Are you sure!?” Lexton asked, receiving a nod from the redhead. “In that case… It could be that we are dealing with a beast tamer!”
Erin knew what this meant. Beast tamers were people within the game that could use magic abilities to take control over wild animals. If such a person was behind all this, it would explain how the wolves were behaving in such a strange manner. They were being forced into it.
“So it’s some guy behind this that we gotta beat!? Perfect!” Ryle yelled. “Once I find that asshole, I’m going to feed him to those wolves of his!”
The blonde’s boasting was cut off by another sharp turn that caused her, Erin and Arkay to fall over. The wolves were still trying to get in front of the vehicle, forcing it to keep turning.
“GODDAMMIT, LEX! COULD YOU AT LEAST WARN US FIRST!?” Ryle shouted angrily.
However, the blonde’s angry shouts fell on deaf ears, as Lexton was too busy focusing on driving, while also trying to figure out what their pursuers were trying to do.
“What are they trying to do? If they simply wanted to stop us by jumping in front of us, then why aren’t they coming from both sides?” the kobold muttered to himself. “It’s almost like they’re trying to force us to go in a specific direction…”
Just then, Lexton realized where they were heading. The wolves had forced the vehicle to drive down a path that was next to a large cliff. It was then that he knew what the plan of the one controlling the wolves was.
“Oh shit…”
Upon saying this, the wolves running by the side of the vehicle suddenly rammed their bodies into the RV, causing it to shake violently. They repeated this a few more times, until the vehicle fell down the cliff. The people inside could only scream as they tumbled and crashed down at the bottom.
For a moment, the only sound that came out of the crashed RV was the sound of something burning, as smoke was slowly rising from it. The silence was suddenly broken as the side door was kicked off its hinges, allowing the people inside to climb out. The first one to come out was Ryle, who was carrying Arkay over her shoulder, followed by Erin and Lexton. All four of them were bruised and hurt due to the crash.
“What the hell kind of wolves are these!?” Ryle asked as she gently put Arkay on the ground. The cat boy was starting to regain his bearings from hurting his head during the fall. “When did wolves start using tactics like this to take down cars!?”
“...I don’t think it’s the wolves that were behind it. It’s the guy controlling them,” Erin said as she stared up at the top of the cliff. “And I think that’s him.”
Upon hearing the redhead point out their enemy, the rest of the group turned their eyes towards where she was looking. On top of the cliff with the wolves, there was a male elf sitting on top of the biggest wolf in the pack. The elf had tanned skin, white short hair and red eyes. He was dressed in light armor, like a bandit, giving him protection while not restricting his movements. He was also wearing a fur cloak and a large straw hat on his head.
“Hello there,” the elf said with a grin. “Hope my little pets didn’t hurt you too much.”
image [https://i.ibb.co/WH979RK/Ch-54-Pic-2.jpg]