Chapter 28. Staring Down the Beast.
“The elder sent you. How did you find us?” Talixs asked with confusion.
“We went to the village first to check it out, but this scuffle wasn’t exactly a quiet one. Are there any friendlies still out there?” Silas asked, noting that more and more of the corrupted were converging on the jungle lord.
Several gnomes had climbed its back and were clawing and biting at the powerful beast. Bucking like a wild bronco, the boar knocked the riders off and then used its sword-like tusks to cleave through several of its attackers even as it stomped the former riders into the ground with its hooves.
“I’m ashamed to say that I’m the last of our patrol. I can explain more later, but for now, we must help the jungle lord. The corrupted cannot be allowed to slay it,” Talixs said, his voice filled with concern.
“And when we kill the corrupted, what’s to stop that beast from doing to us what it’s doing to them,” Silas asked.
“It is not the ignorant beast we thought it to be. The lords of the jungle have changed and now the apex predators have become the hunted. For the sake of all our people, you must not let the corrupted take the life of Cavanik,” Talixs urged.
“Fine, I’ll get to work. You guys watch my back,” Silas ordered, picking off one of a group of corrupted naga that were trying to attack the flank of the jungle lord. Shots slammed into the attackers, knocking them down one after the other. Silas was careful to avoid hitting the jungle lord, the last thing he needed was to enrage the boar by shooting it in the ass and having it do that crazy charge thing that slowed him down.
Cavanik wasn’t just sitting there letting the corrupted tear him apart and was killing even more of the foe that Silas was. Still, without Silas’ contribution, the boar would have probably been swarmed over by the sheer number of attackers. Silas was a bit surprised that the corrupted seemed completely focused on the jungle lord, and pretty much ignored the guy shooting them down.
Changing mags as the previous one ran dry, Silas noticed the horde of attackers had thinned. No more were emerging from the jungle and only about a dozen were left assaulting Cavanik. Even more careful now that the fight was almost over, Silas finally stopped firing when it was apparent that the jungle lord could handle what was left. Just in case, he pulled out the mana-infused magazine and loaded it into the rifle, replacing the partially spent one.
With the last corrupted gnome impaled on its tusks, Cavanik turned toward Silas. Slowly, Silas pulled his last grenade from his vest, ready to throw if it looked like the monstrous boar was going to attack. Sides heaving with each laborious breath, the jungle lord stared into Silas’ eyes.
He could see it, this wasn’t some simple beast, there was an intelligence there, like Talixs had suggested. It was studying him, trying to determine if he was predator or prey. Silas thought that he had been careful with his aim and hoped none of the many wounds the beast sported were due to a 5.56mm accident.
The damage to the monstrous boar was extensive. Gnome and naga teeth had torn through the thick hide in scores of places, leaving small, bleeding wounds over every surface. One eye had also been lost in the battle, and Silas wondered if it would be repaired by the strange System magic that healed his own wounds far faster than normal.
Sensing its scrutiny, Silas slowly hooked his grenade back on his LBV and made sure to keep the muzzle of his rifle pointed at the ground. The jungle lord broke eye contact and walked away, its pace slow and hesitant as the pain of its wounds burned after the adrenaline rush was gone.
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That was a feeling that Silas had experienced many times before, and he wondered if it was the growing pain of its wounds that turned the monster away from a fight with Silas. He liked to think it was because the beast realized that Silas didn’t wish to hurt it. Maybe he was giving it too much credit, and he supposed that he would find out if and when they came across each other again.
“I think this is over, but we should fall back to the village now that we’ve found a survivor,” Silas said.
“Agreed, we should return,” Talixs said. He seemed distraught by the loss of his allies, and by the glares the naga gave him, Silas figured he was none to happy to have been rescued by a human.
“Talixs, in the village, is there anything we can salvage?” Nebram asked.
“Some, many of the things inside our homes have been torn apart by the corrupted. They seem to hate any reminder of their past lives before they served Bhalkur. The storage cellar hasn’t been touched so the supplies there can be salvaged,” Talixs offered.
They stopped by the abandoned village on their way back, confirming there were goods that they could retrieve. The trip back was uneventful, though Talixs said little, and Silas caught Talixs staring when he thought Silas wasn’t looking. As they moved, Nebram continued to train him on the various plants that were dangerous or helpful.
From what Silas had seen, the naga could eat about the same things as a human. He definitely wasn’t going to get onboard with their penchant for eating other intelligent beings. Silas understood their reasoning, but it still just hit him as wrong.
When they arrived back in the clearing, it looked like all was well with the naga and his portal hadn’t been overrun by corrupted. His team working on the fence was making slow progress, but the fact that they were making progress with the primitive tools they had was impressive. His group that was out laying traps wasn’t in sight, so he figured they were working on more of the swinging mace traps just inside the jungle.
“It is good to see you safely returned,” Elder Lhass said as their party approached the shores of the lake were many of the naga were gathered.
“I’m sorry to report that the two warriors with me were lost, but we did confirm that our village is free of the corrupted ones for the moment. Will we try to return to our home now?” Talixs asked.
“No, we will remain here for a time. This area is safer and further from the corrupted,” the elder replied.
“We did confirm that some of your supplies are intact if you want to retrieve them,” Silas offered.
“Excellent, thank you for your efforts, and yes, I shall organize a work team immediately. I’m sorry, Silas Ward, I may have to borrow those working on this place to help us salvage what we can,” the elder said.
“No problem, I understand you can’t leave everything out there to rot,” Silas agreed. It was going to delay the work on his critical location, but the naga needed everything they could salvage. He was warming to the idea of them staying permanently, it would give him a force to guard the portal when he was gone, and at the same time, provide a safer home for the naga.
“There is also Cavanik, elder, we witnessed it fighting off the corrupted. Silas helped to fend them off, and the jungle lord didn’t attack after the fight with the corrupted was over,” Nebram mentioned.
“If the corrupted are so bold to attack a jungle lord, they need to be stopped before their power can grow further,” the elder replied.
“Nebram and Talixs seemed to think that if the corrupted killed the jungle lord, it might make them more powerful. How does that work?” Silas asked.
“The System would offer generous rewards for besting such a challenging foe. We must do what we can to prevent the three lords from falling,” the elder replied.
“But why would the System reward the corrupted? They serve Bhalkur, and the System wants me to destroy him. If it’s so powerful, why doesn’t it destroy all the corrupted ones? Bhalkur doesn’t seem able to do much without his minions,” Silas asked.
“The System is bound by the same rules it oversees. It is unknown how the System came about, but it is believed that beings even more ancient and powerful than the System were the ones to establish how the multiverse works. The System administers all things, and grants us a portion of its power, but it cannot just wipe away Bhalkur or his minions directly,” the elder explained.
“So that’s why it’s trying to get folks like me and the other champions to do its dirty work?” Silas asked.
“In a way, yes, but the threat of Bhalkur is one that reaches to your world as well. Should he be completely freed, the creature would devastate all the lands he touches,” the elder said.
“And just what kind of creature is Bhalkur?” Silas asked.
“His physical form in unknown, but I expect that his appearance is the least of our problems. It’s his hideous mind, and his ability to twist others to his will that make Bhalkur dangerous,” the elder said.
“Whatever he looks like, I just need to know where he is and how to kill him,” Silas announced.