'Who was that boy?' The question filled the Duke's mind occupying his thoughts. 'Is he really a beast in human skin? But a beast who saves humans is unheard of. He can't be a beast then. Perhaps a member of one of the savage tribes? It's possible but they never travel alone so I do not believe it is so. Then what about-'
"MY LORD!"
"What? What is it? What's wrong?" The Duke glanced around, grabbing at his sword as pain shot through his wound from the sudden movement. He winced but stayed on guard.
"Nothing is wrong my lord, you weren't responding so I needed to shout." The champion stated, as they sat around a camp fire at the base of the rocky outcrop, slain bugs from their earlier fight still scattered across the ground.
"Oh, I was deep in thought. What is it?"
"My Lord, I strongly advise that we retreat. We have already lost thirteen men to the battle and now only seven of us remain. We won't stand a chance if we are attacked again and we should not hope for another miracle."
The Duke became infuriated, his face growing red at the suggestion. "NO! We will continue on. My daughter surpassed me becoming an S ranked warrior, she would not fall so easily. Once we find them, our chances of survival will increase even further."
The champion, shocked by his Lord's reaction at first, didn't wish to relent. "Look at your men my lord. They are exhausted, terrified, and some are injured. You have also lost a lot of blood from fighting with an open wound. If what you say is true, and your daughter truly is alright, then she will be able to return on her own. Perhaps the hunt has just taken longer then they expected."
Hearing his champion's words, the Duke glanced around. It was true, every man had an expression as if they were on the brink of leaving this world. Realizing that the exhaustion had affected his own mood making him explode in anger, he took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
In a way, Anton was right. If his daughter was alright, then they wouldn't be needed. Afterall, while he had been an S rank warrior in the past, the highest ranking there is, his old age and time running the dukedom had deteriorated his abilities bringing him down to A rank. The Savage Land was not a place for those below B rank meaning that he could only be considered average or even below average. His group stood very little chance with their reduced numbers and injured members, but he couldn't stand the thought of his daughter dying and in need of help. She was the only child of his first wife and his first love. While she didn't have the right as a women to inherit the dukedom, he still felt proud of her.
'If only my other children were more like her.' He thought with sorrow but immediately pushed the thought from his mind. They were his children too, it was his own fault if they did not turn out well.
Calming down, the Duke responded to Anton. "I can agree that retreating is the most sensible thing to do however coming here in the first place was not sensible either. We will continue after everyone has rested enough." Turning to the group, he scanned the remaining soldiers. "Velton! You have an understanding of earth magic correct?"
The man turned to face the Duke, fatigue and confusion on his face. "Yes my lord."
"Once you have recovered enough mana, I need you to create a small shelter for us to rest. Having our backs against a wall will prevent us from being surrounded but it won't stop us from being spotted. Take the time to meditate to increase your recovery rate. We will protect you.'
Nodding, the soldier crossed his legs and closed his eyes, absorbing the ambient mana in the dense atmosphere.
"Good, once we have shelter, we will wait for some time before carefully progressing further. I will not give up on this search."
___
"Your eyes can see what?" Katarina placed her hand over her mouth, shocked from what Hayan had just told her.
Hayan stared at her, confused. 'Why is she asking me again? Did she not hear the first time?'
"I can see a person's soul."
Now that she had heard it a second time, Katarina felt more reassured that it wasn't just her hearing going bad, rather the boy before her had simply stated something preposterous.
Still, she had to believe him. After remembering that feeling from their first encounter, his words started to seem slightly less impossible.
"So how does it work?" Katarina asked, glancing at his eyes but not wanting to make eye contact for too long.
"When I focus on someone's eyes, their soul appears above them in the shape of something that represents that person. And the colour of it allows me too determine the... mmm, balance of good actions to bad actions. A lighter colour means more good actions and dark is more bad."
Katarina finally found the confidence to hold his gaze, scared as to what he would see. "Can you tell me what mine is?"
Hayan focused as a similar feeling to before spread across lady Katarina's body. The sensation felt as though something was probing parts of her body that didn't exist. Then, shortly after, the feeling faded as Hayan spoke.
"Your soul is quite... unique. It's something I've never seen before so I'm not confident on how to interpret it but it appears to show a lone figure surrounded by smaller objects on a board of some sort. As for the colour, it's almost pure white." Hayan's eyes lowered again to meet his new sister's dark blue eyes as she smiled with relief.
"That's a relief, I was worried I might have had a dark or murky soul. As for the shape of it, I have an idea but that will have to be put on hold until we get back." Katarina back to the path, ready to start moving again but Hayan tapped her arm, indicating that there was more to say.
"I wanted to tell you one more thing. When I focus, my eyes can also see living creatures over great distances and through certain objects. They appear as a sort of glowing dot, roughly the colour of their soul."
As Katarina heard this, her eyes slowly widened as the realization of his implication came to her. "Those people you saved earlier. Who were they?"
"I am not certain but I believe it was your father and his men."
Katarina grabbed his shoulders, her strong hands gripping him tightly and her face plastered with worry. "Tell me father is alright Hayan, please say he's alright."
Hayan watched her expression with interest. There was something else there, something more than simply worry for her father's well being, something more primal.
Seeing his hesitation, Katarina thought it meant the worst, tears started rolling down her cheeks as she brought the boy into a hug, her arms brushing against his cold white hair. "I can't go back to that woman alone."
"Your father is alive and resting, however he lost many of his men." Pulling back from the embrace, Katarina searched Hayan's expression for any signs of humour, but only that icy emotionless stare met her.
"He's alive? Where is he?" She questioned, quickly glancing to and fro.
Hayan pointed in the direction the trail led them. "We will find them if we keep following this path."
Katarina took a brief second to gaze down the trail, considering her options. She turned back taking Hayan's hands into her own and clasping them tightly. "Thank you for telling me this, Hayan. It was brave of you to tell me such a big secret." She moved one hand to his head, gently rubbing it before standing up straight and signalling her soldiers. "Let's move with haste! The Reinehre house will reward you appropriately for your effort here today!"
___
"How many did you recover?" The Duke's voice sounded out in the dark stone shelter when a thin strip of light from the makeshift door disappeared as quickly as it came.
"Only 37 my lord. The other beasts were already fighting over the free food and mana sources. Sir Morgan has built a small shelter beside this one to hide our portion of bodies."
The shelters were formed in a semi-spherical shape a couple of meters from the rock bluff with the door on the same side. Sir Morgan, the soldier with an understanding of earth magic, had been busy setting up their
"Hmm very good. 37 is enough. We'll use the profits to compensate the families of the fallen." The Duke patted the smaller soldier on the back. "You'll all be rewarded well for your efforts here today."
Standing up, he turned to the rest of his men. "We'll move again once the feast outside is over."
___
"It is complete chaos down there. I can't see my father or his men anywhere." Looking down from atop the rocky cliff, Katarina took in the sight of the feast below. hundreds to thousands of mangled insect corpses were strewn about the place while wild beasts tore and fought over limbs and cores.
The more powerful beasts were easily discernable from the common throng of deadly creatures as they ate their free meals in peace due to the menacing aura they produced.
The aura, a magically induced invisible bubble that can be perceived by any creature, no matter how young or strong. It represents one's power level and plays on the primal instincts of any creature, similar to shoving a sign saying how strong you are and your location into your targets face.
"Hmm, I would strongly advise against engaging with them. We could manage to defeat one or two of the stronger creatures alone but we can not risk more joining in. Hayan can you see where they are?"
Hayan pointed straight down the cliff face at two rock domes protruding from the earth below, a short distance away. At first glance, they appeared to be natural with their jagged edges but on closer inspection, Katarina could spot the more human aspects to it. Specifically, the makeshift door on the cliff side of the dome.
"I see them now. We'll have to wait out this-"
"My lady! Forgive me for interrupting but our target for the commission is approaching!" One of Katarina's men was pointing towards the South side of the cluster of munching monsters, the opposite side to them and the direction which the insects had retreated to.
Hayan spotted the beast that had brought them so deep into the Savage Lands. It was monstrous beetle type monster standing at roughly three meters tall with six bulky legs supporting its massive frame. But the beetle's most defining trait was it's crystalline shell that sparkled in the reddish haze of the atmosphere. Every inch of its body, from those hulking pincers that could snap a man like a twig to its back end, radiated that brilliant crystal shine.
"What a lucky chance!" Stepping away from the edge, she motioned for five of her fastest and most nimble warriors forward. They wore lighter armour, using more hides instead of plating. "I need you five to tail our target while we help my father and his men. Send two a little further ahead to scout the land for a suitable place to engage. while the other three will tail him and report back to us. Whatever you do, do not engage on your own. That's an order. Do you understand?"
"Yes my lady!" They responded in tandem.
"Good, it will likely feast for some time so prepare to leave and wait for it to set off." Nodding they spun around, dashing towards the outskirts of the beasts below.
A thought struck Katarina as she pulled Hayan to the side, once again out of earshot of the rest of her crew.
"Hayan, I think now would be a good time to tell me how you survived out here."