Russel yawned and stood up from below the tree he had fallen asleep under. He started to walk back towards the command carriage, but was interrupted by the sight of a group huddling around a large pot.
"Would you like some breakfast mister?" A young girl asked.
"That would be nice." He smiled.
The girl ran off and returned with a bowl and spoon.
"Thank you very much." Russel smiled, accepting the food.
He looked down to see it was a basic bowl of porridge.
'I hate this stuff…' He sighed.
His internal protest was interrupted by the rumble of his stomach. He grunted before quickly eating the food, causing him to gag and cough after he was done. He put the bowl down near the group and continued on his way.
He was almost to his destination when he felt someone jump onto his back. He saw as blond hair poked over his shoulder and sighed.
"So you're awake." Russel observed.
"Yep, and I feel better then ever." She grinned.
"I'm glad." Russel sighed.
"Now horsey! To the command station!" She ordered.
"You're pushing your luck kid." Russel grunted, continuing towards the carriage.
"You're no fun…" She pouted.
"Oh well. That's for you to deal with." Russel grunted.
A moment later the pair arrived at the carriage where Rachel, Navvare and Frederick were conversing.
"Good morning you two." Rachel greeted.
"Morning!" Elizabeth said enthusiastically.
"Can you get off my back now?" Russel asked.
"I prefer it up here, it means I don't have to walk." Elizabeth complained.
"Get on your feet and walk! You got another thirty years before you can be making excuses about not walking. I swear, youth is wasted on the young. Aren't I right Navvare?" Frederick asked.
"I can't say. Elves can live for up to five hundred years and our bodies barely deteriorate in that time." Navvare smirked.
"If only we could live that long." Russel laughed.
"I have a feeling you could last a lot longer than even an elf Russel." Navvare smirked smugly at him.
'Does he know I'm a demon? What even is the life expectancy for a demon?' Russel wondered.
"I don't know what would make you say that. But that would be nice." Russel laughed nervously.
"Russel, your hunting partners should be here any moment now. Make sure to take care of them." Rachel asked.
"I'll keep them safe." Russel promised.
A moment later three ginger haired boys walked towards the group and stopped in front of Rachel.
"We are ready to hunt!" One of the boys smiled.
"Now where are our cool weapons and stoic bodyguard we were promised?" Another boy asked.
"This is your guard." Rachel told them, pointing to Russel.
"He doesn't look that tough." The last boy observed.
"Is that a challenge kid?" Russel asked menacingly.
"Think nothing of it sir! Our brother just has no filter." One of the boys bowed.
"Very well then. What are your names?" Russel asked.
"I'm Joey." One boy said.
"I'm Jack." Another said.
"And I'm James!" The last boy chimed in.
"And together we're the Jaxon brothers!" They all said in unison.
"What were your parents thinking…" Russel sighed.
"Not sure mister. All I know is that we are all JJ. Probably makes it easier." Joey said.
"Well then… For the sake of specifics I'll be referring to each of you by name. You all look pretty similar, but I'll do my best. Any orders I give you'll follow. Understood?" Russel questioned.
"Yes sir." They all answered.
"Good. Now then, their weaponry?" Russel inquired, looking over to Frederick.
"A long bow each. These boys showed yesterday that they are good marksmen." Frederick smiled.
He disappeared for a moment and came back bearing the three bows and quivers with carrying straps.
"Each of you grab one bow and some arrows. We are chasing some big game today, I'd imagine." Russel sighed.
The kids all started to cheer and dry fire the bows at each other.
'How did I get stuck with three kids?' Russel wondered.
"Let's go." He ordered.
He waved goodbye to the group and led the boys into the forest.
"Have you kids ever hunted before?" Russel asked.
"Yep. Our Dad ran a butcher shop so he taught us how to hunt so we could help out." Jack told him.
"Three kids like you?" Russel asked.
"We're all fourteen. That's not a kid anymore!" James complained.
"You're not an adult human until you're seventeen. That's the rule." Russel sighed.
"I never said we were adults." James pouted.
"Whatever." Russel dismissed the argument.
They walked into the forest a bit more until Jack stopped them.
"I found some tracks!" He said happily.
The other three ran over to take a look at his findings.
"Those are some weird tracks… What could they be from?" Joey wondered.
"Too small for a bear, wrong shape for a deer… Maybe a moose?��� James suggested.
"No. It looks like a hybrid between a bear and deer…" Jack observed.
Russel bent down and took a closer look. He sighed and hit each of the boys on the head.
"Hey! What was that for!?" Jack yelled.
"That footprint is from one of you you fucking idiots." Russel sighed.
"Oh yeah? How can you tell?" Joey taunted.
"I may not have much experience tracking animals, but people on the other hand… I have experience tracking them." Russel said sternly.
"What makes you so sure?" James asked.
"Put your foot in it." Russel ordered.
James put his foot in the track and found it was the perfect fit. The brothers all looked at each other and sighed.
"Let's go find some real tracks…" James sighed.
The three continued further into the forest with Russel close behind.
An hour or so later the group arrived at a stream that flowed through the forest.
"Go get a drink from the stream. It's important to stay hydrated." Russel told them.
"Yes sir." The boys said, running over to the stream.
Russel sighed, he couldn't believe how playful and enthusiastic the boys were.
'I haven't been like that in years… Ever since that one time Kathleen got hurt on a little adventure when we were ten or so, it's always just been me fighting bad people.' Russel reminisced.
He walked over to the stream himself and bent over to take a drink. The water was nice and cold, and left a chill on his lips.
"Are you ready to go?" Jack asked.
"Yes." Russel answered, standing up. "Let's find an animal."
The group went back to walking through the forest for a few more minutes, until Russel stopped them.
"Look over there." Russel said, pointing to a small clearing.
The boys looked closely and spotted three deers standing together.
"Awesome! We can take down all three at once!" Joey said happily.
"Be careful with your shots and determine your target. Fire on my signal." Russel ordered.
The boys nodded and each notched an arrow and selected their target. Russel looked at their aim carefully to make sure that they wouldn't overlap.
"Fire." Russel ordered.
The boys let their arrows fly and each hit their mark, scoring perfect headshots killing each instantly. Russel started to laugh and patted the boys on the back before leading them to the deer.
"That was some great shooting." Russel complimented. "I think this is all we can take for now."
"Yeah… Even with two to each it'll be hard to carry this much." Joey said.
"I can carry two. You guys can carry the last and have someone carry the equipment." Russel suggested.
"Good idea." Jack smiled.
Russel slung two deer over his shoulder and James and Jack grabbed the remaining one, leaving Joey to carry all the gear.
"It would really suck if we got jumped by monsters right now." Joey joked.
Russel turned and stared at him intensely.
"If you just jinxed us I am going to rip your head off.�� Russel growled.
"Sorry sir!" Joey panicked.
Russel grunted and continued to lead the group back the way they came.
"Are we almost back?" Jack asked.
"I think so. We should see the camp in a moment." Rusel told him.
All of a sudden he heard a high pitch scream from the direction of the camp. It was quickly followed by more yelling and the sounds of horses in a panic. Russel dropped both of the deers and drew his sword.
"Stay close to me. Keep your bows, leave the deer." Russel ordered.
He sprinted towards the camp with the three boys close behind.
When he emerged into the clearing the camp was set up in, he saw the chaos. Tents were set ablaze, blood soaked the dirt and bodies lay strewn across the area.
'Not again… Anything but a repeat of Eastcliff.' Russel begged.
He looked to see a large group of people all running towards him.
"Help!" One cried.
"Monsters!" Another yelled.
Russel dashed into the crowd and made his way to the end of it, where the monsters were. Before he could get a good look at it one of them jumped at him. He quickly cursed before slicing through it with Nocte. He looked down at the blade and saw it glisten with the blood.
'Nocte's first taste of blood… It looks almost pretty against the blue paint.' Russel thought.
He turned his attention back to the monsters. They appeared to be small, greenish looking men with long, boney arms and legs. They had solid black eyes and had a crazed expression.
"What in oblivion are these things?" Russel wondered.
He quickly rushed at them and cut them down easily, except for one. The last remaining monster stood his ground and screamed.
"Calling for backup?" Russel taunted.
He heard rustling behind him and turned to see the corpses of the other monsters rise from the dirt, with parts of them regenerating.
'Impossible! How are they regenerating? Does it have something to do with the monster screaming?' Russel wondered.
He cut down the risen monsters, only for the other one to scream again, restarting the cycle.
'So if I leave one alive, it can resurrect the other ones with a scream.' Russel concluded.
He turned and quickly killed the one who hadn't died yet, then wiped out the ones that kept rising. Sure enough, none came back that time.
"Troublesome creatures… What are they anyway?" Russel growled.
"Don't leave us behind mister!" James complained, running up to him.
"Sorry guys… I just jumped in. Have you seen any more of these things?" Russel asked.
"There are other groups that keep popping up next to people… But we didn't do anything." Jack told him.
"We need to make sure to kill all of them, don't leave one or they'll revive the others." Russel explained. "You guys still have some arrows so you should be able to handle them if you keep a distance. They don't appear to be very tough, just determined."
"Yes sir! Leave it to us!" Joey smiled.
Russel nodded and ran off to go help the other survivors. He ran across a few small groups of monsters and quickly got rid of them, avoiding making them resurrect each other. After a time he was satisfied that no more monsters would be showing up, with that he decided to return to the brothers who had gathered in a large group along with the other survivors.
"Where is Rachel and the others?" Russel asked the group.
"She is in the carriage." A woman spoke.
Russel sprinted back to the area the carriage used to be and found it collapsed on itself, the once white canvas covering covered in blood. He rushed inside and saw Rachel kneeling over a dead body, with Oliver, Elizabeth and Frederick looking on. Russel walked over and kneeled down taking a look at the body. It was Navvare, with lacerations across his body, too clean to have been done with a monster's claw.
"It's because he was an elf… They… Kill him." Rachel said without emotion.
Russel looked over at her in concern and saw Oliver wrap his arm around her shoulder.
"It's just like the night your parents were killed Oliver… I couldn't do anything." Rachel said.
"That's not true… It's just how fate determined things." Oliver sighed.
"Not at all. The prejudice against elves drove someone to kill Navvare, and the scent of blood attracted the Kobolds. If not for Navvare's death no one else would have died." Elizabeth sighed.
Russel looked over at her menacingly before turning his attention back to the situation at hand.
"How many do we think are dead?" Russel asked.
"It's not a matter of how many are dead, it's how many are left. By the looks of it only about a hundred." Frederick told him. "We can only pray that this forest's curse is fake. If it's real, tonight should be the first night."
"We can worry about that later. For now we need to find out who killed Navvare. A specific name." Russel stated.
"He was killed in his tent and we brought him here. It's a bit deeper into the forest." Oliver told him.
Russel nodded and started off towards Navvare's tent, hoping to find out what happened to him, and maybe something that he could use to study basic magic.