The Stage 2 pack leader could tell something wasn’t right. The pack had followed the scent of the insidious snake and it led them toward the poisonous plant. But the pack leader couldn’t hear anything. His black mane and blue eyes glimmered in between the sunlights in the forest. He looked around trying to notice every movement in the forest. Searching. A silent lull, until finally, he heard it, a yelp from one of his pack. He turned to look and saw a small boy piercing through the head of a Stage 1 wolf. At HIS pack. Then the boy ran away, disappearing into the forest. The wolves howled and immediately gave chase. The hunt had begun.
They chased the boy, running on boughs, on the ground. Following, hunting. They could smell him and something else. The scent of the snake. It had led them to that spot, it was a trap. The pack leader started getting angrier. Its face snarled. Chi flew through him to his legs. The pack leader’s speed doubled and gained on the boy. His maw opened, coming so close to his prey. And then the boy threw something in its mouth. It burned. Fire. The Stage 2 beast howled. He lost focus, he lost the boy. The alpha wolf tried to follow its scent. And he could smell him, but it was too late. Another member of its pack had gotten pierced. There were five of them now. The boy showed its teeth to the pack. And ran away. The pack leader became cautious. It howled at the other wolves. It bade them to stop. The pack had learned to survive in the forest. They weren’t going to haphazardly chase after prey. At least, not again. So they waited. And waited.
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Koh realized the wolves weren’t following him.
‘Well, I didn’t think I could keep whittling their numbers. Getting two was good. Don’t get greedy.’ He told himself.
His chi reserves were still about three quarters full and he had taken out one of Stage 1 wolves. The wolf was as big as described: almost his height but compact and a thick mane. Its fur would be valuable.
‘Covering my spare clothes with the blood of the snake and then using that to attract the wolves was a good idea. I got them to where I could ambush them. Shame I couldn’t take out the pack leader, but all in all, a good assault.’ Koh started thinking about what he should do now.
He felt that he was strong enough to defeat the pack leader and maybe two of the other wolves at the same time. But the forest was not forgiving and if he battled for too long, it could attract other beasts. At the same time, the blood of the dead wolves was definitely going to draw some other unsavory creatures and he wasn’t sure he could defeat the pack and whatever else that would come.
‘So it’s now or never.’
Koh ran back to where the wolves were. It looked like the pack was on the lookout, cautiously watching for any sign of him in the forest. From a distance, he channeled his chi throughout his whole body, clearly straining him. Then he threw his spear as hard as he could at one of the wolves and then took out his knife and jumped into the fray. The spear impaled the last Stage 1 wolf and the ones remaining leaped at him. Before they could reach him, he had gotten close to one of the wolves and tried to stab with all his might. The wolf dodged but still got its hind leg slashed. It yelped in pain. Staring at the black and silver knife in the boy’s hand. And then, the other wolves were on Koh. They tried to bite, scratch, and claw him. However, Koh was too fast and nimble. The wind moved with each of his steps. None of the wolves could touch him. But the pack managed to surround him. Circling their prey.
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The pack leader howled, his chi covering his whole body, and grew three sizes bigger. He emitted a glow of some sort and the ground gave, if only a little. And then he launched himself at the boy. His prey dodged his sharp teeth but wasn’t fast enough to escape a swipe from the alpha’s paw. The boy got flung to a tree and the tree gave but it didn’t break. The boy didn’t break either. He got up and dodged an attack from one of the other wolves. His movement was clearly slower than before. The Stage 2 beast could see this. Yet the pack leader couldn’t take his time. He had used all his chi to become this size and this powerful. He needed to end it quickly. So he rushed at the child - reaching speeds he could have never reached before. He could feel himself getting stronger. The hunter opened his mouth and bit at his prey, he never imagined the child could still dodge his attack. And he didn’t.
His teeth sunk into the child’s body. But before he could finish him, a glint of light flashed through his eyes and something cold entered his head. The hunter was dead.
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Koh had managed to stab the pack leader with his knife. He paid the price for it though as the alpha’s body laid on top of him. Teeth still in his flesh. The other remaining wolves halted. They didn’t know what to do. Before they could make a decision, they felt a large shadow come out of the forest. When the remaining pack realized what it was, two of the wolves ran immediately and the snake didn’t chase them. No, the snake was too busy swallowing the injured wolf - it wasn’t fast enough. And then it hissed.
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Koh felt fear for the first time in this hunt. He had exhausted much of his chi in the last battle and his spear was too far away - still stuck to a Stage 1 wolf. He was tired, exhausted. He grabbed into his backpack and pulled out what looked to be a small stick with a crystal attached to the top. Koh threw the item near him and it immediately covered a small area - engulfing both him and the slain pack leader. At the same time, Koh circulated his chi to his heart. He removed the wolf off him and started cutting at its canine. He didn’t have much time, and the ward wouldn’t last long.
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The Stage 2 Snake saw a translucent barrier surrounding her victim, eyeing it cautiously. She felt as though something was drawing it away from the area. Sorcery, she hissed. It wasn’t powerful enough to detract her from her prey. Realizing the boy was starting to move, she struck. And she hit the barrier and the barrier crackled but nothing changed. The snake was surprised, but she kept trying to break through the ward. She slung her tail, bit down with its teeth, and bashed into it. The ward held. The poisonous creature was starting to hesitate, not sure how long this barrier would last. She released poison from her mouth and spread it on the barrier. Then she noticed the light was starting to dim, and she knew. She knew it would fall.
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Koh realized the ward could only take a few more hits, grateful it even lasted this long at all. He was thankful his mother was an enchantress because getting a ward this powerful would have been much too expensive for a crafting family. As he was almost finished cutting off the tooth of his hunt, he used the circulating chi from his heart and moved it towards the bleeding holes in his body.
[Second Wind]
The wounds started healing, closing. He felt wind chi circulating through him. There were still marks left behind, a remnant of the hunt, but he stopped the bleeding. And the pain. He felt energized. This would have to do.
‘As soon as the ward breaks, I have to get to my spear. I won’t be able to beat the snake as I am now, I can come back for it. Later. I just have to survive.’ He would have to time it just right. As soon as Koh finished that thought, the barrier broke, and the crystal on top of the stick shattered.
‘Now!’
Koh pushed his wind-tuned chi to his legs and dashed toward his spear. The snake followed, its mouth gaping at its prey. But Koh was too fast, he grabbed the spear, pulled it from the wolf, and spun to strike at the snake. The Stage 2 reptile moved its head slightly to the right and lunged at Koh’s head, effectively dodging and counter attacking!
The boy was shocked! He tried to pull his spear closer to his body to block the dripping teeth coming towards him. Chi bursting into his arms. The spear deflected the snake but only slightly, its fang cut through Koh’s shoulder. Blood gushing out. His one shoulder had a large bite mark and now the other had a streak, a lasting reminder of the snake’s fangs. Immediately Koh pushed wind chi to his legs and ran into the forest in the direction of the village. Towards home.
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It was getting late. It was the third day since Koh left for his hunt. There were many more movements in the village than ever before. Kai knew something was wrong.
‘Is my brother okay? What’s going on? Why won’t anyone tell me?’ His thoughts spiraled as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He was standing outside of his home looking into the eastern region.
“It’s gonna be alright, son.” Kahn Rak said, trying to comfort the fidgeting boy. His younger son was much more like his wife, actually his wife’s mother. She was always nervous, fearful even. She spoke of great disasters and impending doom. And even warning of danger should they take in the little boy that came from the forest. She was wrong of course. Danger never came. Only joy. Koh gave them another light in their household. When they found him, he was -
“Dad, what’s going on with them?” Kai said, pointing to the warriors moving across the village on their steeds, distracting Kahn from his thoughts. Their mounts were the inhabitants of the forest: panthers, tigers, bears, and the like. Though they weren’t the elite units who rode Wilgars, this was still a powerful group of warriors. They were fully equipped, as if to go to war, and they were heading north.
Kahn thought about what was north of their village. They were surrounded by forests all around but civilization existed beyond. Although they were removed from others, the villagers still needed to trade. Warriors would accompany traders and craftsmen as they made their way through the forest. They would have to ask for blessings from the spirits to traverse through the trees and mountains.
The eastern region led up to an incredible mountain range and no one had been able to cross because the beasts became too numerous and too powerful. They hadn’t even explored halfway through the eastern forest. To the west was a much smaller mountain and through that was civilization. Or at least a road that could lead to civilization. To get past the forest and through the mountain to get to this road, travelers would have to face not just beasts but also spirits. Vengeful spirits. Thus, less trading was done with the western cities but not so for the south. Cities in the south were their allies, for a lack of better words. The southern forest region was less fraught with danger from beasts but the path was confusing. The flora also made it extremely difficult to pass through without falling victim to the strange plants. Spirits were especially helpful as protectors and guides through the southern forest. And as for the north...
“Danger, son, danger.” Kahn said gravely.