Presently...
Kamyla darted out through the bamboo door of the hut, clutching onto her kuiza blade before returning it to the sheath strapped to her back.
"Kamy!" Aunt Negu and Biwa chased out after her, causing Kamyla to halt in her tracks.
"Are you leaving already?!" Negu asked in a strained voice, panting with both fear and anxiety.
"I have to go support Dan and Ajefe! If those things came out the first time for Bimo to see, it means they'll come in an even larger herd!"
It was common knowledge to the warriors and even the villagers, due to folklore, that Ahwomozi were herd hunters that had the habit of regrouping and attacking in a larger number.
Kamyla then turned to beckon one of the village men to rush forward before ordering, "Gather all the teenage girls and put them in the chief compound! Under no circumstances should any of them step out. As well as the mothers."
Kamyla's fists clutched tighter to the swelling sense of subtle panic in her heart. If the Ahwomozi reached their village at any moment, they would first go after young girls before feasting on the men and stealing from the farms.
"But how did Bimo survive, then?" Aunt Negu's question pulled Kamyla from her thoughts as a crease formed above her brows.
That was actually a good question...
If Bimo saw the Ahwomozi, how was she then completely uninjured? And what was Prince Leviathan doing there? Her expression scrunched harder to the lingering thought...
Could he maybe have... Protected her?
Kamyla immediately shook her head from the unnecessary fathom, turning back to the trembling mother. "That is not important now, Aunty! Just take care of Bimo while she's still unconscious and I and the others will handle them... In the meantime, all adults should grind country onion and garlic and smear them on themselves. Ahwomozi hates the smell and taste of those."
Aunt Negu only nodded.
"Wait, so you'll just leave us and go?!" Biwa stepped forward with teary red eyes. "What if the Ahwomozi sneaks past you three?"
"Don't worry," Kamyla smiled, snapping her fingers, "I'm leaving Rhou with you all."
The brute feline strode up to Kamyla's side before lowering its head to feel the touch of her palm on his muzzle. Kamyla's expression darkened. "Kill anything that isn't human."
It chuffled.
In mutual understanding, one of the men then brought Kamyla a horse to use instead, having her mount it before turning in the direction of the South Forest.
"Make sure everyone is gathered in the chief compound!"
The villagers nodded, watching fearfully as Kamyla raced off on the equine's back.
Her grip dug deeper into the leather bridle to the boiling worry in her hurt.
First, it was werehyenas, now Ahwomozi?... Just how far has the bounds of the evil forest been broken?
And how much more danger were the people of the Sah' Jangi Empire in?...
She whipped faster, hoping to catch up in time.
Within minutes, she finally reached where they had found Bimo's body, but the men were nowhere to be seen — not until the distant sounds of grunts and struggling tuts echoed meters away.
She rode further into the forest before calling out. "Danji!!! Ajefe!!!"
She finally approached the radius of their location, illuminated by their lanterns hung on trees, her eyes widening the moment she sighted them.
Amidst the vicious stout herd of goblin-like beasts, Danji and Ajefe stood wounded and staggered with their weapons in their clutches as they relentlessly swung and pierced the bodies of the dwarf demons pouncing at them in various directions.
Despite the clear disadvantage in number and inflicted pain, they stood firm and charged readily, causing them to not pay notice to Kamyla's presence for moments longer.
Danji's eyes then wandered up briefly — his eyes widened.
"Kamyla?!... No! RUN!"
And to his blatant mistake, their furious foes all snapped their eyes on her.
Danji immediately swiped his twin blade across, decapitating the heads of the nearest counters. "You shouldn't have come here!"
"I had to!" She pulled out her sword.
"Where's Rhou!!?" Ajefe shouted as he lept on a tree branch to reload his bow, darting two pairs of arrows at the Ahwomozi.
"I had to leave him to guard to village!"
"Shit!" Ajefe fired fast despite the strain in his muscles. "We could really need him right now!!!"
Maintaining herself on the equine, the long steel ends of her blades swung at the heads of the creatures that started to round her as well.
She harshly maneuvered her horse, stepping and kicking on the closests as her blades played their parts.
In the tensed moments of vigorous combat, Kamyla failed to notice the Ahwomozi that snuck to her side before dragging her down by the foot — she lost balance and fell to the side, letting loose of her weapon for an instant.
"UGH-!"
"Kamy!!!" Danji charged forward without thinking — the Ahwomozi clasped Kamyla's limbs and held them apart as if trying to rip her in the heat of the moment — Danji shot his blades across, meeting the necks of two.
Kamyla's foot swung in instinct, sending a few bodies flying before launching her fist at those still clutching on her flesh.
Danji finally reached her with her blade. "Be careful!" He thrusted it into her palms.
Kamyla nodded, splitting the staff to now hold her weapon as twin blades as Danji picked up his.
They posed in offense, watching the Ahwomozi regroup around them, their numbers seeming not to change despite their slaughter.
"Damnit!" Kamyla clenched. "We're outnumbered!"
"Thanks for stating the obvious, genius!" Ajefe shouted from the other side, already leaping for a higher branch with his arrow count greatly dropped.
Kamyla and Danji sliced off the few still leaping at them.
"Where are they even coming from!?" Danji grunted.
"If they reach the village..." Kamyla stabbed into another pair, splattering their black blood over her body before pulling out. "... Even Rhou wouldn't be able to keep up with them!"
With the three still struggling to maintain their stand in the pool of the increasing population, Kamyla started to notice an Ahwomozi having different eye colors from the normal red eye they sort to have.
One had a gleaming eye color of yellow.
"What the—" Her attention diverted back to the distracting slaughter she was trying to keep up the pace around.
She then looked up, searching for that particular Ahwomozi with yellow eyes — it was nowhere in sight.
Before she could voice out her observation to the others struggling for their lives as well, a blunt force dived into the side of her abdomen, sending a wave of shock through her body as the force threw her off her feet and flew across the forest — her body slammed into a tree trunk, grunting to the hard impact.
She fell flat on the floor, paralyzed by the pain for a moment.
"KAMYLA!!!" Danji and Ajefe turned with their eyes wide in surprise.
Clenching her fists as she coiled into a ball, Kamyla slowly raised her head in the direction she was hit.
"What the fuck..." She narrowed her eyes in confusion about what happened.
Standing where she was knocked away from, the yellow-eyed Ahwomozi stood with a wide, horrific smile; its one arm elongated beyond twice its normal length — hinting it must have been the same arm it used to punch her away like that.
Giggling in a distorted manner the odd one suddenly began to grow in height as its body beefened. His body disjointing and crackling as it morphed.
Their eyes peeled wide.
From its dwarf figure to the tall, bulky statue of a height surpassing Danji's by inches.
They froze on the spot.
"Ahwomozi are not supposed to do that..." Ajefe uttered with gapped lips.
The giant Ahwomozi then let out an ear-screeching roar as all other dwarf Ahwomozi stepped back immediately. Danji staggered back.
Kamyla remained on the ground by the tree, still strained by her aching body, forgetting to blink at the sight before her.
Another modified Tawongi!?!
"Seems like they're almost at the village..." A sudden voice echoed from above.
Kamyla's eyes instantly darted up at the tree. She gasped. "Leviathan!?"
Standing firmly on one of the branches above her was the tall figure of the prestige prince of hell, leaning against the trunk as he looked at the far north.
His lax raven hair was left to shroud half of his face as his gaze slowly dragged down to fall on Kamyla's injured body.
He blinked boredly.
For the first time in those two days of Kamyla's life, she had never felt so relieved and triggered at the same time, letting out a huff she didn't know she was holding in.
"L- Leviathan..." She pushed herself to sit on the ground, looking up at him. "The villagers... W- We can't make it in time to protect them, you'll have to help save them—"
"Even Satan can't make me move from this spot if it were to save my brother, woman."