As he kicked away the bunny, he would look around a bit better, seeing a group of bunny arrive, slowly surrounding him. He quickly looked back behind him, looking at the skeletons. For some reason no skeletons seemed to come closer, focusing back on the bunnies. “What is this? What’s going on!?” The general seemed to be a bit scared, never seen a bunny bite out meat out of a man.

Right as he was about to run down the road to try and get away, the bunny’s started to move. It looked like a wave of water of different colors all going to one point. Without thinking about it, he swung his big sword at them, not hitting anything as his sword was too slow for little creatures like this. The started to crawl onto him, biting into his skin, jumping higher than he had ever seen before. He didn’t yell in pain, didn’t say anything, grabbing whatever bunny’s he could and squishing them into his hands. But too much was too much. Even if he barely felt pain and was stronger than anyone else, his power was limited. He collapsed onto the ground, shaking and shivering as the blood loss was too much.

From where Lucas, Lilly and Emma were looking, it was difficult to see everything. They saw these creatures coming and attacking the general, seeing him collapse after not that long. Not that Lilly and Emma cared much, waiting to see their father again. When that didn’t happen and the skeletons got onto the road.

The skeletons had divided into two groups, one gathering all the horses and bodies, bringing them to the side of the road where the king was lying as the other group collected bones and weapons, also bringing them away. It took a while but eventually the smell of burning flesh started to fill the air.

It took a while but Lucas asked Lilly and Emma what was up with that. “Why… Why do they do it? Why burn the corpses? Are they trying to cover up?” His words were forgotten for a bit when they started to hear screaming. The screaming sounded like someone getting tortured, perhaps even being burned alive.

Emma was sobbing too hard to say anything, leaving Lilly to explain as she tried to not listen to it. “They… hah… they’re… They burn the corpses in an attempt to perhaps skip the zombie phase.” As she talked, it was obvious that she too wasn’t feeling so well and was mad.

Lucas didn’t bother to ask what was wrong or how they felt, not really having bonds with people. Not really ever having had family. Never really had people he stayed around for long enough to start caring about. Never lost anyone important to him. He lie his head down, listening to the screams as he was hoping that they wouldn’t be seen lying here.

They continued to lie there next to the road, waiting for everyone to leave. It took a while before they were all gone, hours having passed before Lucas decided to stand up. Everything was silent, the smell of burned flesh still lingering in the air.

Emma helped up Lilly, following Lucas as they went to where the battle had taken place. The ground was still full of blood and bone splinter as not everything was removed. All the weapons from the knights were still there and so was the armor. Burn marks could be seen in the grass as the armor was also left behind without anyone in them. There weren’t many of them but there were some bunnies as well.

Lucas knelt down, looking around battlefield. “Why are they leaving only the kings stuff? Why try to remove all the proof of them being here. What’s up with the bunnies…”

As they looked, Emma knelt down, grabbing the crown their dad had been wearing before putting on his helmet to fight. Emma showed it to her sister as she started to shake, seeing her sister sit down onto the ground to relieve her leg from any weight. Lucas looked at the crown for a quick second before shaking his. “We can’t use gold… leave it…”

He turned around, looking for any path for them to go further. “We should continue to the other side of the road. I’m pretty su…”

As sudden pain hit him in the head, causing him to drop down on his knees. He held his head, groaning in pain. “Ah! Shit!” He got onto his stomach before rolling over, looking up in the sky. “What happened…”

Emma was standing over him, looking down at Lucas as she held the bow that she had picked up from the elf. She didn’t answer him as she got onto his chest, legs on either side as she threw down the bow, her hands closing around his throat.

His eyes got big, grabbing her wrists as she pressed down. He tried to pull her hands away, kicking the air with his legs. Emma pushed down hard, obviously angry. “We could’ve saved him! You…! You let him suffer!”

Lucas looked to his left, trying to get Lilly’s help. Lilly was aware of what was happening, looking at him as her eyes stood cold, without any mercy or care.

No sound escaped from him as he reached up, clawing at Emma’s face as he already felt his power fade. His eyes started to go dark as his arm dropped down, mouth open as he tried to gasp for air. He heard fast footsteps running towards them. He couldn’t see who it was or where it was coming from. The sense of danger seemed laughable at this point, hearing Lilly say something.

Right as his eyes rolled back, he could feel Emma’s weight being pulled of him. “Zoi!” Someone yelled his name, feeling someone grab him and lifting him up. Being released from her grasp, he started to cough, arching his back as he did so.

A big man had seen what was happening, having ran to the group. Once on the road, he saw Lucas being choked. He didn’t even hesitate, grabbing Emma by the back of her neck and throwing her to the side, grabbing Lucas and throwing him over his shoulder. He started to run back into the woods in the opposite direction that they had come from. Lilly having grabbed her bow and shooting at the man. An arrow dug deep into his back without any effect, letting him continue his run.

Lilly already had a second arrow on her bow but decided not to shoot. She was feeling weak and didn’t want to spend the energy trying to shoot down a fleeing enemy. The last sight of the man was of a guy being around two meters big, holding Lucas like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder as he had a thick animal skin or something over his shoulders, keeping him warm and protecting him from nature or arrows as it appeared to be.

While Lilly looked at him disappear, Emma would get up, looking at Lilly as she didn’t understand why she didn’t shoot again. “Why… why’d you let him go? He attacked me! He took that fucker with him!”

Even though she was right, Lilly shook her head. “I… I don’t know, what’s the point. Just let him go.”

That didn’t sit right with Emma, she grabbed her bow as if she was going to go after them. “Because of him we couldn’t help our dad! He… He held us back!”

“I don’t think we even could’ve saved him. I think that Lucas did what he had to do. No matter how much I hate him for it.” Said Lilly with a sad tone. “We also have other things to worry about now. Why does the skeleton Gruge have murder bunnies?”

Those questions made Emma stop with her rant, Lilly was right. She had a frown when she thought about it. Since when did they have murder bunnies? This wasn’t something that they were known for.

Lilly grabbed the crown of her father again, looking at it as she let her finger go over a gem. “Not only that. What do you think mother shall do when she finds out that father has been killed in the Forest gruge? What if she goes to war with them? What if she decides to burn down the forest?”

As they had been focused on the ground and the possibility of what was going to happen. They didn’t see anyone else come closer which made them surprised when the person spoke up.

“That’s indeed something that worries me.”

Lilly and Emma quickly turned around, looking down the road at who had just said something. The person that arrived was seemingly young, around as young as they were. He was a centaur having a bow and arrow. His horse body was black with a big white spot on his left shoulder going halfway to his stomach as the human part had a white shirt. He had come from the opposite side from where their father had come from.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Still having the loss from their dad to deal with, they would grab their bows and put an arrow on it, aiming at him. This seemed to work a bit as he would take a step back, not even trying to lift his own bow nor to try and take an arrow from the quiver that was hanging on his side. He started to dance from hoof to hoof as he looked at them both. He then dropped the bow, seeming as if he was disappointed in them.

“Really?” He gestured with his arms as if he wanted to ask them what the hell they were doing. “Is this necessary?”

Lilly didn’t have the strength to keep the arrow pulled back onto the bow, slowly letting the string go back to the rest position as she instead tried to talk. “Who are you!?”

“I’m Jackson! I saw everything! You’re right, if we don’t warn the others, a war will break out! I’m not the enemy!”

Letting the girls think about his words, he looked from side to side as if he was scanning for something. An answer wasn’t what he would get though as Lilly decided to lie down, trembling. Emma stopped aiming at him, relaxing the string as she knelt down. “Lilly!”

Jackson started to walk forwards, wanting to help but quickly stopped when Emma aimed her bow back at him, arrow ready to fly. “Stay back!”

He again would show he that he had no weapons as he looked down at Lilly. This can’t keep going on. I don’t know what she has but I can see that something is wrong. You can’t keep her safe and me at a distance.”

He was right and she knew it. He didn’t seem hostile and she needed to help her sister in some way. Normally Zoi would’ve done this but that boat had sailed. The arrow that she had been holding back for quite some time started to get too heavy as well, being forced to relax the string yet again. ”Then what do you suggest that I do?”

“What I suggest is that you don’t kill me and my friends so that we can help you. Although I’m not sure that you’re worth it seeing how you tried to kill that guy.” Even though the arrow wasn’t ready to fire, it was still aimed at his face.

“Your friends? Who are your friends?” There was an audible concern in her voice as she said that.

Jackson would give her a small smile, putting two fingers in his mouth to let out a high pitched whistle. Out of the bushes came another centaur. This one didn’t look like Jackson, that was if you wouldn’t count the fact that they both had horse bodies. This one had grey horse body as his hair was blond. He too had a white shirt. In his hand was a bow as on his hip was a quiver with arrows. It was horizontally bound to his horse body with a cap to keep the arrows in. He would drop the bow as well and went to stand next to Jackson.

“So… Here I am. I’m Medi.” He didn’t seem like a threat either although he did look like he was as old as the other centaur.

Lastly out of the bushes came a white haired satyr. She seemed older than the two but also seemed rather short to be a satyr. She had a bag over her shoulder with a brown shirt that was being held up by only one shoulder as it seemed to be made that way. She had a grey fur just like Medi.

“My name is Zoala, general of the Forest Gruge. I was wondering if you could so kindly drop the bow? I don’t like being held under threat.” As she said that, she seemed to be playing with a rock.

“General? If you’re a general… I don’t see a bow so are you the runemaster?” Emma was hesitant seeing as another general had been hunting them but it’s not like she had a choice regarding her sister. She put the arrow back into her quiver, looking back down to Lilly. “Can you help my sister please?”

Zoala seemed happy that the arrow was going, skipping towards her as the rock that she had been carrying was put into the bag she was holding. When next to them, she put down the bag, Lilly had started to breathe faster at this point, causing Emma to be more concerned. ”Now let’s take a look shall we?”

She took out a knife, cutting open her leg seeing as Lilly had been clutching her pants right there. It was a wild guess but she was right, seeing the infection in her leg.

As soon as Emma saw the knife, she grabbed an arrow, ready to stab her when needed. When she noticed that it was just to cut open the pants, she would relaxe slightly, putting the arrow back.

While Zoala was working, Jackson and Medi had grabbed their bows again, coming closer as well and inspecting the battlefield, being rather interested in what transpired. Even though Zoala was inspecting the wound, she started to ask questions.

“So who was the guy that you tried to kill just now?”

Emma looked away, feeling a bit guilty about that. But right after that, she would see the crown next to Lilly and her guilt disappeared. “That was Lucas… or Zoi… whatever the liar’s actual name is. He was trying to help us get back to our gruge and to also heal her.”

“So someone innocent then?” Zoala continued looking at the wound. After a bit she would open her bag, looking for something, the sound of rocks could be heard. “Now that your guide is gone, what are you planning now?”

That question was rather important, something neither of the girls had been thinking about. They were now stranded without help if they decided not to help them. “I… It hasn’t been long enough to decide that.”

“Is that so?” The question was asked quietly, not really expecting a question. After a bit, it seemed like Zoala couldn’t find what she wanted. She closed her bag as she looked up at Emma. “It doesn’t seem like I can do much here. Perhaps if we were at the main camp we could do something about it.”

“Then why don’t we go?” Asked Emma. It was obvious that she was getting more and more concerned about this.

Lilly looked up at her sister, giving her a warm smile. “I’m alright, don’t you see that?” As she started to laugh, it quickly turned into pain. “Ach! Well, not fully but a bit.”

That small joke only hurt Emma more than it helped. She looked at Zoala, still waiting for an answer, although as she looked up again, she saw that Zoala had a bird on her shoulder. The bird and Zoala seemed to be talking. “Hey! I asked you something!”

This caused Zoala to look at her a bit annoyed. “Sounds like a royal person indeed. I know that your sister is in pain but we have bigger problems.” She turned to face Jackson and Medi. “The skeleton king is negotiating with our king. If they get in an alliance and the Humans declare war… The humans will be destroyed.”

Jackson and Medi looked at each other. This information didn’t sit well with either of them, Jackson starting to play with his bow string, obviously getting more nervous the further events moved forwards.

Seeing as it was Emma’s gruge that they were talking about, she would get even more upset. “Then we’re too late. We can never get there in time. Can we?”

Zoala grabbed a rock out of her back, turning it over to look at it. Seeing that it was still empty, she would start to drag her finger over it, starting to mumble to herself as a blue light started to appear. After a bit, she had carved a rune into it, overing it to Lilly.

Lilly grabbed the rock, feeling a warm feeling go into her body, slowly spreading as the pain disappeared, feeling better than she had in a while. She sat up, looking at the rock as it dissolved in a red rune, slowly sitting up. “What…?”

“Energy stone. It easy to create due to the weak effects. It’ll buy us some time.”

Medi came closer to Emma, looking at her as he hung his bow over his back. “You can ride on our backs if you want. We can get there in time to help your sister and to stop the negotiation.”

This caused Lilly to smile, trying to motion her sister to get her up. “That sound amazing. Not many people get to ride on the back of a centaur.”

Even though Lilly seemed to be fine for now, Emma didn’t like that she was acting like nothing was wrong. Trying to put her thoughts on something else, looking at Medi and Jackson. With a little smile she would look at Lilly, brushing the hair out of her face. “Sure, as long as I get to sit on the grey one.“

For Emma, saying that didn’t really do much, but she would immediately feel uneasy as Jackson and Medi started to stamp with their feet as they moved from left or right. Medi looked very mad about that comment while Jackson shook his head, shooting daggers at Emma.

Medi looked at her as he then looked at himself. “If you want to ride on me then you should know this. Never talk about a centaur as if you’re talking about a horse. That’s extremely disrespectful. You do realize other species used to use centaurs as slaves right?”

Jackson put his hand on his shoulder to calm him down. “Easy… They’re still young and need to learn some… to learn meeting other gruges. I bet that’s why they were sent here for a diplomatic mission.”

Emma got red and looked away, waving her hand as if trying to apologize. “I... I’m sorry.” As she was apologizing, something seemed to click. “Wait… how… how do you know… that we were here on diplomatic mission?”

Her asking this made Jackson a bit scared, hoping she wouldn’t start to think that he knew that since he was there to hunt her. “Because I was part of the group supposed to await your arrival which never happened.”

Seeing where Jackson was going and that this might get out of hand, he would come closer to Emma. “Listen, we don’t have time for this. You want to save your sister, let us take you to the camp. Although if you don’t mind, after that comment I rather have your sister on my back.”

Seeing as the time was a pressing matter, he knelt down onto the ground so Lilly could get up. Jackson did the same, being next to Emma. Lilly couldn’t get up on her own, getting help from both Zoala and Emma as she got onto Medi, being followed by Emma going on Jackson. When both of them were seated, Jackson and Medi got up. As they weren’t used to this, they would take a couple of steps to test it out.

Medi looked behind himself, looking at Lilly. He gave her a warm smile as he got ready to go. “Hold on miss. This might get a bit rough.”

As they wanted to leave, Zoala saw something out of the corner of her eye. “Watch out!” She tried to push Medi out of the way but he was too big for her, getting hit in his horse side by a arrow close to his back leg, causing him to fall down with Lilly.

On the side that the skeletons originally had disappeared appeared a group, armed with both bows and swords. They charged at the group, more arrows flying towards them.

Jackson saw his chance and started to run. The sudden movement cause Emma to wrap her arms around his chest. After a couple of seconds and some near misses with the arrows, she realized what he was doing. “No! You have to go back! We need to get my sister!”

“We can’t! We have to go and stop the negotiations!” Jackson knew that they couldn’t do much with their bows. Skeletons didn’t really have much surface area to shoot at and they were in the minority. “We’ll come back for them!” With that being said, they disappeared.