"Not bad. He is very powerful despite being this young. He will rank at least fifth in the village," complimented Elder Ravi.
"Sure! he will," Malik said proudly.
"That is so cool," Danish was happy for Turan.
As the group was busy watching the two beasts fight a battle of pure strength, a small disturbance attracted Kaito's attention.
"What are you up to?" Malik asked finding Kaito climbing higher.
"Something is coming this way, or I should say their location," as Kaito pointed towards the ongoing battle.
"What is it? Do you see anything?"
"Nope. Nothing yet." Kaito flinched even more as he responded to Danish.
"Something is off here Turan," shouted Leila from behind Turan.
Turan skidded a meter before stabilizing, "What do you mean, dangerous?"
"I don't know, I feel it."
"Not a problem." Turan grinned as he went for another onslaught.
The mother bear panted heavily, she was exhausted completely, finding herself at a disadvantage she began to preserve as much of her strength as she could.
Another onslaught came from Turan, pushing the bear back one step at a time until she was a few meters away from the cub, fumes raged from her nose as she pushed herself to her limits and attacked Turan, throwing paws and striking with horns, and began to make a space for herself.
Gritting his teeth, Turan utilized his entire strength and struck the mother sideways, finding an opening, he thrust the axe into her shoulder.
The mother cried out loudly from the excruciating pain. She shrieked as Turan pulled out the Axe from her shoulder. She felt dizzy as darkness overcame the bear.
Finding the right opportunity to claim the head of the beast, Turan swung the Axe, but the timely interference of the cub saved the life of the mother. Turan got hit in the back as his aim missed the target. He fell a distance away from the beast. Blood flowed from the scratched knees, as he stood up using the Axe as a support.
The cub looked ferocious, anger reeked out of its eyes as it observed its fallen mother. It roared.
"Escape!" Turan heard someone shouting at him. As he looked back Malik and the others were waving at him from afar as they headed his way. 'What in the world,' he blurted in his mind.
Soon a few Sylvan bears appeared out of the woods as they made their way toward the mother bear and the cub.
'This!' Turan began to walk backward.
Leila, seeing so many bears, ran towards her friends.
"Why are we escaping?" Asked Danish, "We can take them on, why not join Turan."
"No. It is not safe. We should escape, there might be more on the way," said Elder. "These beasts are stubborn, they won't leave us until we successfully evade their pursuit."
The group escaped into the forest, pursued by the large number of Sylvan bears.
....
The Sylvan bears were very stubborn as they did not give up their chase, and their number grew as they pursued the party.
It was after moving out of the bears' territory that the party got rid of the hunt.
"It was a good idea to move to this location," Turan laughed as he sat under a tree, watching his friends preparing the camp.
"Thanks to the elder, he has lots of info on the forest and the beasts living in here," Leila responded as she was busy preparing woods for the fire.
Elder Ravi was busy skinning a game when he added, "This place is the territory of the Two-Tails fox, they are more dangerous considering how cunning and slay they are."
As the day came closer to its conclusion, sun rays cast an orange glower in the haze, as the forest returned to a slow stillness that spread from the far corner, where the light had faded, moving along the edges that retracted to the east as the sun sat, behind the mountains, in the west.
Smoke drifted in the dark starry night along with the scent of tantalizing aroma of freshly cooked meat steaks and vegetable broth.
"The last three days were quite tiring, weren't they?" Leila spoke as she sipped from her wooden bowl. Smoke rose from the soup as Leila blew on it.
"Those beasts were very stubborn, it was not easy shaking them off," Malik added.
Their conversation faded gradually as the night deepened. The campfire dimmed as the sleep overtook the friends. Elder Ravi sat vigilant close to the small fire; he was the watch for the night.
'These kids have grown so much.' Elder whispered as he was lost in his thoughts.
//////////
Brookside town was sixty miles North-East of the Saltmarsh village. The town was beside a river and spread over a large region. It was home to 18000 inhabitants, a few small guilds, mercenaries, and other organizations.
The deputy governor, Aisha Khan sat in her chair as Abdul and his staff delivered a presentation on expanding their activity to the Brookside. "Besides Saltmarsh, we will also make sure to open the markets of Bayshore, Silvercrest, and Sunset Hills. So What are your thoughts, Matriarch."
Go ahead, Chanda, speak your thoughts," Aisha Khan signaled to her fellow.
"Sure, deputy governor," Chanda began to speak her mind. "We are aware of the potential that Saltmarsh can provide. To be honest, the governor had asked me to consider expanding in your region. Thankfully, here you are on your own. We would love to trade with you people," She concluded.
"We would love Saltmarsh to trade with us, especially at times like this." The deputy governor concluded the deal.
//////////
"Desert Scorpian's activities have become bolder, father," Capt. Azhar spoke, reporting to his father. "They have begun to target some very influential individuals in the towns."
"That is not all, general. We have found out that the organization has colluded with other small parties, expanding its activities in the whole region." Another officer added from the side.
"Besides that, we are facing revolts in the northern region that are expanding at an alarming rate. His Majesty's brothers have a hand in it, it seems so at least by the looks of it."
General Arif quietly listened to the reports reported before him. Until he heard his son call him.
"What's the matter, father."
The general woke up from the daze, 'Huh!' It is nothing."
"Father, you look disturbed. Is there something more alarming?"
"No. I was just thinking of some trivial matters, no need to worry about that," General Arif signaled to conclude the meeting. Everyone quietly left the room, leaving the two behind.
"Azhar, the Majesty is sick. It looks like he is poisoned. He has very little time left, at most a few months."
"This...," all the words stuck in Azhar's throat as he stood beside his father in despair. "Who could have done this?"
"That is not important at the moment. What will happen to the region is what concerns me the most. They will pounce at us like hungry wolves, once the prince is no more."
After a long while, Azhar took his leave. He was now certain that the region was going to become a mess. It was important to find who was behind the action, the terrifying thing was that it could be anyone, his brother or a third party.
Only the top-notch knew about the impending doom that was on its way to befall Zahoor Shah's region. As the power game progressed, the future became even more bleak and uncertain.