Chapter 35 — The Battle for Levish’s Orchard (Part II)

Toren was impressed with the boys’ effort to save Big Berta. After stitching the cuts in the hound’s intestines, Horthal had sparingly dripped an expensive-looking potion onto the worst places and pushed the cleaned bowels back where they belonged before stitching up the main wound. The dog was lifted onto Horthal’s sled to sleep off the sleeping draught that had been administered.

From what Toren witnessed, the hounds Warnel had purchased for the stead had acquitted themselves well enough during the battle, staying close to Falma and guarding her. The two pups had yapped and postured, mostly cowering behind the female, but that was for the better. Pups grew quickly, and having them watch the older dogs fight would undoubtedly prove useful in the future.

The older hounds chased the puppies off the dead zoots a few times during the post-battle clean up. Toren was impressed with how the hounds had been trained not to eat the kills. From what he understood about dogs, they were alway hungry.

By the time the brothers were ready to continue on, the younger saber birds had worked up enough courage to dive down and abscond with parts of carrion he and Warnel had chucked a distance away as Korta had recommended. A few were bold enough to land on the road and feast.

An uncomfortable number of the older birds still eyed the bloody bundles tied to trail behind the sleds.

Yet-to-be-culled zoots had resumed gathering among the trees to either side of the road—maybe, like the saber birds, drawn by the smell—but not as close to the road as before. A chirpy clicking among them that could be heard echoing off the trees seemed to warn the newcomers of the danger. When Horthal got the dog and sled procession progressing toward their destination again, a few stayed behind to hunt the feasting saber birds.

“The road to Levish’s Orchard?” Toren asked as a raised road made of packed dirt like that of the other steads they had passed came into view.

“It is,” Horthal confirmed from beside the lead sled.

“Thank the gods!” Warnel loudly praised, then maybe thought better of it as his helmet turned to the jungle around them.

Toren looked to the horizon. Still two candlemarks before Horevi’s light passed below the treeline, if he was any judge. The dogs would be fine fighting the zoots in the twilight, but it was not something he wanted to risk if they could help it, and if they had to withdraw, camping anywhere near this severe a zoot infestation would be tempting fate. That didn’t leave them much time to secure the orchard—or at least the farmhouse—sufficiently to create a defensible camp.

The zoots decided on a new strategy as the group progressed along the partially overgrown path toward a shallow hill’s summit and had begun to collectively hiss. The unnerving sound washed against Toren’s group like whispers of promised death and put the horror hounds on edge enough that a few of the more high-strung dogs were baited away from the others, having to be individually called back. The strategy was smart and a better fit for the zoots’ natural methods of harrying and ambushes than the earlier all-out rush Toren had managed to provoke during the initial battle.

“Mom, are we really going to be okay?”

Emina gave her youngest daughter a reassuring side hug but the woman still flinched with each new lizard hiss and snarling engagement.

The [Alchemist] had been spot on with the advice about horror hounds. The dogs were natural zoot killers. Without two hunting-packs of hounds, Toren had no doubt the situation would have been terrifying. If they didn’t manage to adequately clear the nests and thin the numbers, this is what his group would be facing with only two hounds and two pups—what Levish’s family faced.

“Thin ‘em out again?” Toren asked Horthal.

“The nest might be nearby if they are acting this territorial.”

Would a nest with this many zoots be able to stay in one place? Or after stripping an area, would the bipedal lizards be forced to roam from place to place like the giant locusts? Toren wasn’t sure which was better. Roaming zoots could probably be driven off with enough kills but might remain a recurrent problem. A fixed nest could be wiped out but would likely face a more desperate resistance.

In the fights that followed, the zoots adopted strategies that were much less suicidal. Feinting attacks to try and draw off a few of the dogs at a time. Each time, Toren felt out the alpha organizing the skirmish with [Mana Sensing] and sniped it.

Of course, the reality didn’t have to be one of either extreme, all fleeing or all defending to the death. The zoots wouldn’t have survived to become the ubiquitous pests they were if they always fought to the death, and with each defeat, several lost their nerve and slunk away deeper into the jungle.

After the third culling and another level up for Toren, the jungle receded to reveal the stone farmhouse and adjacent orchard sprawled atop the hill. A stacked timber fence marked the property’s extents. It would be a welcome sight if not for the numbers of zoots causing the ground, building, and tree trunks to writhe with shifting camouflage.

“Are my eyes failing, or…,” Warnel groaned.

“No, it’s worse than it looks. The farmhouse and orchard are thoroughly infested,” Toren confirmed, [Mana Sensing] making clear the true count of zoots. Whether to call it a nest or not, was less clear.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

One of the zoots stood out as far stronger than the others, just short of tier 2 if he had to guess. That one would be a priority target. If it had evasion, damage reduction, or hide-toughening Abilities, killing it might require enchanted weapons.

Toren reached down to grasp the handle of the enchanted sword he had taken in the Conclave raid, making sure he could repeat the motion quickly. The brothers had enchanted arrows if needed. Hopefully, the situation wouldn’t become dangerous enough to require fighting the primary alpha at blade distances.

“Can we really clear such numbers before nightfall?” Emina worried.

“Whether we win or lose, the actual fight won’t last long,” Horthal offered with confidence. “Things could get troublesome if a large enough number of the vermin scatter back into the jungle to raid throughout the night, hoping to tire us or catch us off guard. And sending our hounds to surround the farm would put them at risk of being overwhelmed if large numbers attacked one location or fled.”

“Baiting them and killing as many as we can before clearing the house and trees might be best,” Korta suggested to his brother and received a slow nod in return.

“As profitable as a share of a hunt this size might be, losing too many of the dogs could turn the job into a loss for us,” Harthol hedged and looked Toren’s direction almost sheepishly. “So, I’d rather risk a portion escaping into the forest and doing a patrol around the property afterward to hunt stragglers, if that’s fine with you, Toren.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Toren readily agreed. “They’re your dogs. You’re already helping out more than we could reasonably ask just by being here and keeping us safe.”

“It’s the neighborly thing to do,” Horthal countered, eyes glancing to Laiya and Falma, but he seemed relieved.

The numbers were in-line with—if not worse than—the most dire of Marton’s estimations, but there was one positive about the situation, the massive haul of credits and XP aside. The tavi trees’ branches hung heavy with mana-rich tavi fruit.

~~~

Toren's character sheet:

『Name: Toren of Theravos

Race: Human

Age: 20

Profession 1: Level 4 Burningblood Berserker (500/8000)

Mana: 40/58

Strength: 16

Constitution: 12

Dexterity: 14

Agility: 12

Wisdom: 12

Intellect: 8

Will Power: 17

Perception 14

Appearance: 8

Charisma: 8

Luck: 10

Attribute Upgrade Points: 3

Traits:

Sacrificial Guardian

Abilities:

Burning Blood (Rank 1) Proficiency: Low

Slow Bleeding (Rank 1) Proficiency: Low

Ability Upgrade Points: 3

Profession Skills:

Pain Tolerance 4

Severe Wound Recovery 3

Berserker Knife Arts 1

Spear 9

Club 8

Focus Rage 1

Combat Awareness 3

Intimidate 2

Skills:

Theravos Language (Speaking) 15

Theravos Language (Reading/Writing) 10

Religion 10

Meditation 5

Bone Strengthening 3

Hunting 20

Butchering 13

Archery 19

Stealth 17

Arithmetic 4

Foraging 16

Tree Felling 6

Running 12

Mana Sensing 14

Danger Sensing 1

Wound Binding 8』