Predators and Warriors

Chapter 3

Morning arose over the village. Despite the new day arriving, its was silent, all except for the wind that howled through the village. The people were keeping to themselves, all in a state of worry.. They were all worried for Trousk. Despite completing his mission, he was wounded severely, his arm chopped clean off by the things he was sent to capture. They didn't want him to die, not now. He has served Zlarca for many years, and they don't want him to give up just yet.

Trousk's house was just as quiet as the village outside. Speaking of the general, he was inside his room, lying still on his bed. His arm has been patched up with silk, given to him by Ubtia, who stayed up all night trying to keep his wound from bleeding anymore. The bed was covered in blood, same with his body. His eyepatch was removed, revealing his scar and his missing eye.

As the sun's rays entered his room, Trousk began to stir. His good eye slowly opened. His mind was racing all through the night. Was he dead? He had no idea. He sat up, gasping in pain as he reached over to his arm, only to find it missing.

"Oh...right." His mind had gone blank after Vokun had apparently froze him in his crystals. He didn't lose his memories, mind you, but he can't remember anything past the battle. After a few, pained pushes, he managed to drag himself to his feet. He stumbled down the stairs, almost falling down them but managing to keep his balance until the last step, when he tripped and face-planted onto the tiled floor.

His sudden collapse alerted someone in the room.

"Trousk!" He looked up to see Ubtia, who knelled down to help sit him up. "What are you doing!? You were supposed to stay in bed!"

"You never told me anything," Trousk told her.

"Oh yeah...you were knocked out when you got here, silly me," she said, blushing in embarrassment. "But still, you should really be in bed."

"Why? Didn't we win?" Trousk questioned her, raising an eyebrow.

"Erm...yeah. Well, Vokun did the best. He managed to knock them all out," Ubtia told him. She picked him up with relative ease and began carrying him up the stairs. She laid him down on his bed, getting an annoyed look from Trousk.

"You didn't have to do that. I could've easily clambered up the stairs myself," he told her.

"I'm sure you could've but I'm not taking any chances." Trousk grumbled a bit before realizing something.

"Where is Vokun? Where are the Redredda that he apparently beat?"

"He took them back to the Dragon Kingdom, for whatever reason. I was going to head there myself, but decided to stay behind and help get you cleaned up and stuff," she explained.

"...uh. Thanks, but no thanks. I'll do it myself," Trousk responded.

"Didn't I just tell you that I wasn't taking any chances with you getting yourself in more pain than you already are?" she told him.

"You did." He looked down at his missing arm and back at the goddess that stood beside him. "But I believe I can take care of myself for a while. Go ahead and leave for the Dragon Kingdom."

Ubtia responded with a sigh before a ball of light formed in her hands and shot towards his face, knocking him out.


Trousk's eyes shot open as he fell to the floor. He quickly stood, finding that Ubtia was gone.

"What the..." he looked down to see that he was cleaned, and a fresh ityt was strapped around his waist. His eyepatch was also cleaned and was over his missing eyes, and his silk bandages were replaced. Trousk pondered for a moment. "What did Ubtia do to me while I was under!?"

Shaking the thought out of his head, he headed downstairs, ready to continue his day.


Meanwhile, at the Dragon Kingdom:

The three Redredda were hanging by crystal chains, seemingly unconsscious. We can't tell because they still possess their mask. They suddenly jolted awake after a loud roar echoed through the dungeon. Vokun and Obsidorah walked into the room, a mean look in their eyes. Vokun's armor was still present on his body, the scratches caused by the humanoids' weapons slightly visible.

"Finally, after all these years, we can finally figure out their motive!" Obsidorah growled. Vokun snorted before he waved his foot, causing the chains hooks to slide quickly to the floor. The three humanoids fell, landing on the crystal floor with a thud. Obsidorah's glare only sharpened as he approached the one in the middle. "Speak, or I will melt your bones into broth to which I will gladly drink."

"That's...an interesting threat...I like it," Vokun joked, his neck on the floor as he was tired. Obsidorah rolled his dragon-like eyes before his claws began to glow red with heat. He grabbed the one in the middle by the neck, his whole hand beginning to glow. However, nothing escaped its mouth. Obsidorah growled in annoyance before he prepared to melt the humanoid's neck clean off. Just then, footsteps and panting could be heard outside the room. Barging in was Ubtia. She put her hands on her knees, out of breath.

"You're late," Obsidorah told her, dropping the humanoid and cooling his hand off.

"Sorry...had to...take care of Trousk a bit," she responded, putting a hand close to her chest. Vokun grunted a bit before deactivating his armor to get at a scratch that has been bugging him.

"I see. Vokun did tell me that his arm was cut off by these things," Obsidorah said, glaring down at the three humanoids. Ubtia was soon by his side. She crouched down to the same level the humanoids were on.

"You didn't take off their armor yet, maybe that's why they can't talk to you," she told him.

"Well lets take it off then!" Obsidorah growled.

"Relax, Obsidorah. You get heated over the most minuscule of things," she said. Vokun looked up as Ubtia slowly moved her hands towards middle humanoid's mask. It shook a bit, startling her, but she quickly calmed herself and grasped the mask. Steam shot out of the mask as she slowly lifted it off of the humanoid's head. Her eyes now meet the humanoid's reptilian face, mandibles sticking out from the mouth. Her eyes widened. She has never seen something like this before.

"Oh...that is...not what I expected," Obsidorah spoke after a long bout of silence. He approached the humanoid once again, crossing his arms as his glare returned. "Now, what on Earth are you?"

"Ell-osde' pauk!" Obsidorah and Ubtia looked at the humanoid, flabbergasted at the way he spoke. It certainly didn't speak any human language that the two spoke.

"...what did it say?" Obsidorah asked Ubtia.

"I...I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know!? You can translate practically any noise and make sense of it!" he roared.

"I know I can! I have to be ready first, you know!?" Ubtia responded. Obsidorah growled in annoyance as Vokun came up to them.

"Never heard THAT language. Seems foreign," he said.

"Kinda obvious, general," Obsidorah chimed. Vokun snorted as Ubtia soon got to work. She placed her hand on the humanoid's cheek, a dim light flowing between them before she pulled away. Vokun and Obsidorah looked at each other as Ubtia cleared her throat.

"Gkaun-yte." The three humanoids all looked at her with what the three thought was confusion.

"Was that...its name or something?" Vokun asked.

"No, that's their version of "hello,"" Ubita quickly responded.

"Oh." Vokun sat down on his hind legs as she asked it who the humanoid was and its name. To Obsidorah and Vokun, the language these humanoids spoke as complete gibberish. But if Ubtia can understand them, then they are sure to get some answers.

"This one is named "Bhon'dchaadh," and he-"

"That name is too hard to pronounce my guy. He is to be named Sivad from now on," Obsidorah interjected. Ubtia looked disappointed that he wasn't taking this as seriously as he hoped. She turned back towards "Sivad" and continued talking with him, trying to extract as much information as she could.

Apparently, they aren't Redredda. In fact, they aren't even from around here or the Great Sea that surrounds the island. They come from...a whole other place outside of the range they could figure out. They were not gods, but a group of beings that exist in many worlds, and on each one, they are known as "Yautja." An interesting name, for sure. The reason they come here is to complete a "rite-of-passage," which intrigued Vokun. Young Bloods, as their rank is called, come to this island to complete their ultimate hunt, the killing of serpents, as they called them.

"So...I guess those crazy people me and the general met at Mount Pyidis weren't as crazy as I thought," Vokun contemplated. Ubtia looked like she was about to vomit after Sivad told her about how their "worshippers" summoned the serpents. Obsidorah was impressed. That was really hardcore for a species to be born. But what interested him the most was the blood of the serpents. They were yellow and acidic, able to melt through rock with ease.

But something was off. Vokun, as he overheard Ubtia explain the process, remembered that the first stage in their life cycle occurred already, and had already latched onto people, including whoever Trousk's friend was.

"...how long does it usually take for these bursters to emerge?" Ubtia asked Sivad, and after a brief discussion, she turns back to Vokun.

"At least a day," she tells him. That was the nail in the coffin. Trousk's thoughts of "it was going to be a bad time" was true.

"I got to go, now." He rushes towards the door, but was stopped by Obsidorah's booming voice.

"Where are you going!?" he asked.

"Stopping the death of the island, that's what," Vokun said, leaving the room. Realizing what Vokun was talking about, Ubtia rushed out the door as well. Sighing in annoyance, he looks over at the three humanoids with disgust.

"If you know so much about these things, go with them. You all may prove useful." With that, a portal opened below the three, sending them towards the reru and goddess as they made their way out of the crystal cavern.


Evening, Trousk's Village:

The village was not used to seeing Trousk without his arm. Even one-armed, Trousk tried to make the most of it. After getting Onau back from Mount Pyidis, he figured it would be a good time to visit Tesa. He hasn't seen her since they saved her from the ritual, and he wanted to make sure that she was alright. He approached her home and knocked on her door. After knocking, he suddenly had a pain in his eye. Shrugging it off since the bad days were over, he waited until Tesa opened the door. Her eyes widened to see him.

"Trousk!?"

"Salwa, my dear friend," he said, putting his hand behind his head. Her eyes gravitated towards his missing arm. He noticed this, and told her, "best fight I ever had that did not involve my family, that is for sure."

"But...how are you still walking!? I figured you'd lose a lot of blood from that," she yelled, putting a hand over her mouth when realizing that people could overhear her.

"I thought that as well, but I guess Vokun and Ubtia helped me a bit," he told her with a smirk. She smiled before letting him inside. He rubbed his head a bit before sitting down in a chair. "How about you? That's what I've been worrying about."

"I've been better, but I have this weird feeling in my chest. I don't know what it is, but it feels like its...moving," she told him. He raised an eyebrow at that. A feeling that can move from place to place? He thought that was just a myth. His fingers twitched a bit as she sat down on the other side of the table.

"I see...well, its good that you aren't...you know," he told her.

"I know. I'm thankful my prayers were answered before that happened," she responded. She put her hand on her chest, a slightly pained expression forming on her face. Trousk grew concerned, and got up from his chair and moved to her side. He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"That definitely doesn't look like an okay face," he told her. The pain suddenly got worse, and she leaned back in her chair and screamed in pain. Trousk's eyes widened in fear as he tried to figure out where the pain was coming from. He reached down and lightly touched her chest, only to feel something...hard.

"What the-" In just a few, short bursts, blood and what seemed to be pieces of heart splattered all over the table and on Trousk's face. He yelped in surprise as the head of a snake-like creature peered out from her chest. His widened, fearful eyes soon turned into enraged ones as he went to grab the snake-thing. However, the creature was fast, slithering out of her chest cavity and onto the floor before he could grab it. "GET BACK HERE YOU INSOLENT INSECT!"

He chased the creature all about the house, leaving a trail of blood with every step of his clawed feet and the creature's bloodied body. He jumped for it, his claws ready to slice the thing to pieces, but it escaped through a small hole in the wall. He looked out the window to see it escape into the nearby forest, causing a flock of birds to fly away. He quickly turned towards Tesa and rushed to her lifeless body. He picked her up and rushed out of the house, mindful not to trip.

As he did so, he heard screams all across town, followed by the shriek of a similar volume to the creature that burst from Tesa's chest.

"Oh gods...what is happening!?" A loud roar, definitely from a reru and not from those creatures, echoed from above. Vokun and Ubtia landed, carrying those humanoids Trousk had to fight earlier. Ubtia's eyes widened when she saw Tesa's condition. She rushed to him and checked for a pulse. She slowly shook her head, causing Trousk's heart to shatter. "No...not again..."

"Dareilud. The serpents have already began their take-over," Vokun growled. Trousk glared at the reru.

"What happened!?"

"That...is why were here." Trousk got on his knees and let Tesa's body slide to the ground.

"Why...why did this happen? What were those things," he demanded an answer, his hand shaking from rage. Vokun's snorted, a visible puff of air escaping from his nostrils. He looked down at Ubtia, who was shaking in fear. He has never seen her this scared. He has faced someone that could've destroyed the island when he wanted, but she was afraid of these? He was very confused. He turned back towards Trousk, an annoyed look on his face.

"Come with me. I will tell you everything."


Uh oh...UH OH...

Well...don't know how well this chapter will do, but its done. I hope you enjoyed.

This is Sporedude135, signing off...