In the center of the clearing, in a sandy, moist, sun-exposed recess, a clump of stoloniferous plants with long leaves over a foot long and with three bright green serrated leaflets basked in the sun. The plant itself was nothing special, unless one was an agricultural expert or a botanical enthusiast, no one would have paid the slightest attention to it. However, the red, heart-shaped fruits hanging from its stems were recognizable to all.
Strawberries.
Or at the very least, a fruit that greatly resembled one. For there was one big difference with ordinary strawberries: their size.
These strawberries had the dimensions of a melon and they were so heavy that the flexible stems that birthed them could not support their weight. Their red exterior was also brighter, more vivid, more tantalizing, like the blood red of a ruby. When Ikaris caught sight of them, he immediately began to salivate.
'From the looks of it, there are several hundred fruits. It should be okay if I pick one or two.' The boy began to plan his picking, momentarily forgetting the danger posed by Malia and the Carnivorous Bisons.
Still, he did not leave his hiding place immediately. Another detail worried him.
'There were also the footprints of a creature that might be a cat or dog. These mutant bisons explain the hoofprints, but the thing that was hunting them is nowhere in sight.'
Inwardly, Ikaris couldn't imagine what kind of predator could hunt these multi-ton bloodthirsty bovids with impunity. But if that was all it was, it wouldn't deter him. The tracks were fresh and this creature had clearly chased these bison to here.
Yet when he arrived there was only this herd of carnivorous cows and Malia.
"Malia?"
He shot a sharp look at the young woman fighting like a fury against the beast that was several times her size and dozens of times her weight and at that very moment he got an inkling.
'It shouldn't be possible, but who am I to say what is possible in a world with unlimited magic potential... Anyway, fight as much as you want, I'll help myself to some fruit in the meantime.'
Ikaris pushed his suspicions out of his mind and started to discreetly skirt around the side of the clearing where Malia and the herd's Alpha were battling. With his keen sense of observation, he spotted several nervous bisons refusing to eat with the others and concluded that these were the animals that had been hunted by this unknown predator.
After joining the rest of their herd here, the Alpha, who had all the privileges but also the only duty to protect his fellow creatures, had taken over. It was currently facing Malia, but given its many scars it must have faced hundreds of enemies in its long life.
"Fucking bison!" Malia yelled as she rolled on the ground to avoid being gored by the infuriated Alpha. "Let me pick some Heart Strawberries and I promise not to hunt your herd again."
Far from convincing him, upon hearing her admit that she had already hunted his herd in the past, the huge bison bellowed with indignant fury and charged her again, its speed tripling in a blink. The young woman barely managed to protect herself with her sword before she was slammed into the air.
Ikaris, who had almost circled the clearing heard only the loud BAM of the impact and as he turned around he saw the young woman's disjointed body fly into the jungle, smashing through dozens of branches as wide as her arm before collapsing to the ground, her condition unknown.
The teenager froze, staring at the enraged horned monster with fright, his heart pumping at a frantic pace.
'Holy shit! Is she dead?' He freaked out as he gripped his spear. Not for a second had he considered the possibility that Malia could be defeated.
Since the first night she had saved him from the Crawlers, the absolute authority she had in the village, and the game she regularly brought in, Ikaris had come to believe that she could not be defeated, that she was different from them.
As it turned out, he had it all wrong. He had never seen her fight with his own eyes and the only show of strength she had ever displayed in front of him was carrying that Demonic Boar weighing as much as a bear.
As Ikaris wondered if he should abandon his gathering mission or check on Malia, the Alpha bison snorted and scraped the ground with his hooves, as if preparing to charge again.
'Fuck me, this beast is really ruthless. Even after defeating it, it won't let go of her corpse.'
He may have been indignant and worried about the young woman, but his eyes twinkled with a glint of an entirely different nature.
'Without that steroid-fueled behemoth, I can sneak up on those strawberry plants easier.' He reasoned stiffly.
It wasn't that Ikaris was ungrateful or heartless. Even if he came to Malia's rescue what could he do? His Black Veil could only hold out for a few seconds and if it turned out that the young woman had fainted or was seriously injured he was not in good enough physical condition to carry her back to the village, let alone if he also had to flee and dodge the charges of that maned bull.
"Sorry Malia, if you're alive I'll owe you one." The boy whispered apologetically, praying she would make it.
As soon as the Alpha entered the jungle, Ikaris' eyes narrowed sharply and he dashed straight for the Heart Strawberries Malia had mentioned a few seconds earlier. The other carnivorous bisons were surprised to see another human bursting into their clearing like that, but close to Ikaris' side were the cows that had just been hunted by the mysterious predator.
As they spotted him running towards them at full speed, the cattle bellowed in panic and started to stampede in the opposite direction. Their frenzied motions and bellowing alerted the other bison grazing peacefully on the goblin-blooded grass and they too began to stampede, believing they were being attacked by a predator in the absence of their Alpha.
Dumbfounded that his plan, or lack thereof, had worked, Ikaris reached the Heart Strawberry Plants in a daze, and just like that, started picking as many as he could carry.
ROAAARR!
MOOO!
At the ear-splitting roar, the hair on his back stood on end and he gave up his ambition to pick at least ten. The unknown predator was back. And obviously, he had crossed paths with the Alpha bison.
Regaining his sanity, the teenager stalked out of the clearing as loaded as a mule, with plenty of strawberries in his arms. Because of their weight and his limited strength, he had only been able to grab seven or eight, but for him it was like hitting the jackpot.
Without relaxing his vigilance, he made his way back to the safe jungle area, watching for noises and buzzes around him for fear of being ambushed with his hands stuffed. If he got stung by another giant mosquito after collecting his strawberries, he would blame himself to the grave.
Fortunately, the clash of titans between the Alpha bison and the predator seemed to have alarmed the other creatures of the jungle and he did not encounter any other abnormal insects or animals.
Ikaris, panting and sweating like a pig from the exertion, eventually found his way back to the village of Karragin. However, he did not rush back to his tent like a moron. The afternoon was far from over, and although most of the villagers were out scavenging the jungle for food or prisoners, he could still run into a few slackers.
What would happen if a bunch of starving, anemic aborigines came across a puny boy loaded down with fruit? He didn't want to know...
So a replay of the scene in the clearing took place. Ikaris went around the village, carefully lurking behind the bushes and the reassuring foliage of the jungle until he was as close as possible to his tent. He looked left and right for intruders, then once he was sure the coast was clear he tiptoed to his tent.
Once inside, he dumped his recent gains in a corner and a tired, but overjoyed and relieved expression lit up the teen's face.
'Now I have enough to eat to last a good week if I eat these fruits sparingly.'
Now that he was safe, his appetite took over and he grabbed one of the huge red fruits, enthusiastically bringing it to his wide open mouth.
As Ikaris licked his lips at the thought of tasting one of those juicy Heart Strawberries, he froze when an angelic face sporting an icy smile broke into his tent without permission. Her orange eyes locked with his and a cold shiver ran down his spine.
"Hello Ikaris, we need to talk." Malia said, the serious injuries she should have sustained nowhere in sight.