It had been a while since the last time Elder Wolf felt that something could threaten him specially at this distance from the village. Immediately, he cast a ward to protect Bhirl from whatever was coming and got into a fighting a stance.
The Elder's choice turn out to be the right one, as an arrow hit the ward out of nowhere and tried to penetrate Bhirl's skull right between his eyebrows.
When talking about Healers, there was a clear distinction about their strengths and weaknesses. The strength of the shaman was their ability to stop damage from happening as oppose to healing the damage already done. It was a really bad match up for the ranger.
Right before the first magic ward dissipate a second stronger shield came up ready to stop more incoming damage. Having lost the initiative thanks to the amazing judgment of the elder, the ranger opted to withdraw at a quick pace.
While maintaining his vigilance the elder pick up the arrow and very quickly stash it away before grabbing Bhirl and quickly heading back. With spirit of the wolf on, the Elder managed to cross the 50 miles to the village in about 60 minutes.
The tension in the village could be felt by the elder as soon as he arrived. He made a Bee line towards the First elder's hut not delaying any longer.
Inside the Elders hut it was a pack house, the chief had already arrived and after inspecting the bear, he was complementing Rhaen for having such a brave son. Barbarians were straight forward people, they respected the strong and what Rahz had accomplished was nothing else but amazing. If it wasn't for the fact that Etta was watching him closely, Rhaen would probably had a drink or two to celebrate.
The moment the Elder walk through the door the whole room quite down. Bhirl was pass out at the moment but anybody could see that the wounds on his body were nothing to sneeze at.
Looking at her husbands pleading look, Etta put aside her discomfort and proceeded to check Bhirl's condition. Unlike Rahz, Bhirl was a follower of Yuna and the blessing was already working over time in order to close the wounds on his chest.
Etta began her Healing aria illuminating the whole hut. Very soon the light vanished just as quick as it came. The wounds on Bhirl's body disappear as emotes of holy light went into the air.
Bhirl opened his eyes and looked all around. He was desperate to find out exactly what was going on but he knew that if it was not for the Elder that help him at the last moment he would not be able to see his dad again.
"Thank you Elder wolf for saving my life".
Elder wolf never expected that thanking him was the first thing that the young lord would do but he was pretty please. His impression of Bhirl went up another notch.
"Aren't you going to thank Lady Etta for healing you?" Said the chief.
Bhirl quickly turn to look at Rahz's mother and did the barbarian salute thanking her for her kindness.
" It was nothing Bhirl. Even though your wounds healed by a large margin, you still need to get some rest to recuperated. I am sure that your Mother might be worry and would love to see that her son made it back OK"
Bhirl was very quick witted for a Barbarian, he realized that there were matters to discuss and it was too early for him to be involved.
"How is Rahz? Will he be OK?"
With a kind smile on her face, she grabbed the hands of her son and said " Yes he will, the wounds he suffered were pretty severe but nothing that can't be fix. Please visit him when you have the time".
Bhirl nodded before walking out of the room.
As soon as Bhirl left the temperature of the room dropped down a few degrees. Everyone turned to look at the elder in charge of the test with serious gazes. The Elder organized his thought for a second then proceeded to show the arrow that had almost claimed Bhirl's life.
"I stopped this arrow from claiming the young lords life right after he was attacked by a Level 8 Frostsaber at the 50 mile mark on the Northeast side of the village. This attack happened about an hour after young Rahz defeated this Level 7 Artic Bear on the Southeast side of the Village".
After receiving the arrow from the elder, Bhirl's Father and chief of the Village frowned as ther seemed to understand what Elder wolf was trying to get at.
"Where were you when my son was attacked?" Said Rahz's Mom menacingly.
" Lady Etta, When I checked on young Rahz he was still sleeping on top of a tree. I proceeded to check on the other 2 young warriors that were closer to the village when I heard the Roar of the Bear. It all happened extremely fast by the time a made it to young Rahz side he had activated the Bloodlust".
BLOODLUST!!!
Four different voices interrupted the elder upon hearing the words.
"Yes, That is the reason why his cells were so damaged. Bloodlust is a skill for a high level Berzerker the fact that young Rahz was able to unlock it is already incredible, the damage to his cells is due to the stress cause by the skill to his body".
Elder wolf stopped his explanation for a second to let the information sink in before continuing.
"Using this skill young Rahz managed to take down the bear, I was just in time to stop the bear's final blow using a ward. After I cast a healing spell on young Rahz, I called for help and sent the bear and young Rahz to the village. Immediately after, I went to check on the other children finishing up at the location of young lord Bhirl".
.....
"It all seem to be an isolated incident until the second attack. I was lucky enough to be close the young lord at the moment of the attack and stepped in. I was able to defeat the creature right before a ranger used his Hidden Shot skill before running away. I decided then that it was better for me to return with the young lord instead of chasing the aggressor into an ambush".
The Elder finished speaking and waited quietly for the rest to digest the situation. Looking at the arrow provided by the elder it was very easy to recognize. The arrow belong to the Orc Clan situated at the Northeast beyond the mountains, The Frostwolf Clan.
The village of Helgahvall had gone to war with them in the past but it was mostly about their hunting grounds. The Frostwolf were never a clan to scheme. They were descendants of the god of war and as such they love the Battlefield. This incident was just too devious for them.
The barbarians had a very simple mind, the fact that somebody try to assassinate the son of the chief and future leader of the village of Hellgahvall was a provocation that they could not tolerate. The Chief was furious and claimed " I the great Chief Cerdic has never back down from a fight, If those filthy Orcs want war then we will slaughter everyone of them".
Etta and Rhaen looked at each other upon hearing Cerdic's declaration and decided to intervene. The whole incident was very suspicious. looking at the bigger picture it was clear that the Bear that attack Rhaz was a distraction in order to delay the elder. Unfortunately for them Rahz manage to kill it allowing the elder to move to Bhirls position and foil their plans.
"Chief Cedric, I Think that the best course of action at the moment is to take a step back and not rush into things" said Rhaen
"What is there to think about, The Frostwolf dare to challenge us and you want me to back down!!"
"Chief Cedric, I believe that what my husband is trying to say is that there is too much darkness around it, this is not the Frostwolf Style".
Having said their piece all of them turned to look at the first elder direction and waited for his input.
" Great Chief, I also believed that we should discussed this matter a bit more extensively when we have a more clear a mind. Lets have a meeting in a couple of days, in the mean time lets have Aya investigate the situation on the Frostwolf side".
Seeing that he was in the minority, Cedric nodded and walked away.