Currently I am sitting in front of many people that constitute themselves as the Council of Cillata. Contrary to our Council, The Council of Cillata consists of 20 Councilors. The Council Meeting Hall was lavishly decorated with many arts and paintings. It had a very good atmosphere to it. The table on which we are seated was made out of a large chunks of wood which were of good quality. The Councilors themselves were very neat looking beastmen.

I was sitting with Adi’Je and Naj’Rak. We had come here to meet with the Council just after final rights and cremation were done on the victims along with Councilor Ekela Cyn’s son. Councilor Ekela was also not present at the meeting.

A man started the conversation.

???: “I welcome your Highnesses King Le’On, Queen Adi’Je and Queen Naj’Rak to the city of Cillata. It is a pleasure meeting all of you. I must confess, the Zoit continent has so few royalty ruled clan that they can be counted with fingers.”

Me (smiling): “Thank You, I sure they are… Councilor…umm??”

He smiles and spoke.

???: “Allow me first to say a few words about our clan before we give our introductions to your Highnesses. It will give you a better idea.”

Me: “It’s al…”

Adi’Je squeezes my hand hard. I look towards her, I noticed her… Her face, her posture and even the aura she lets out had changed. She was now looking like someone whom most of the people cannot touch or dare not look. I turn my gaze towards the people who are our hosts. They too feel it and their expression tells me that by being present in the same room as Adi’Je, they are all privileged. It feels exactly how it should feel… when you are in the presence of a Queen.

Yes… a Queen who acts like a shield ready to save people from the wrath of the King and the King from any difficulties he may have. A Queen who acts as a sword; cutting down enemies who want to do harm to her people and more importantly, her King. And the room has two Queens in attendance. Even Naj’Rak’s appearance changed. She also gave an aura of royalty.

Adi’Je: “I would like to hear that, Councilor.”

???: “Cer… Certainly Queen Adi’Je. (clears his throats)

We Cillata Clan are divided into 21 variants. Each of us in the Council of Cillata represents each variant.

Our history is filled with conflicts with each other. But, it is written in our history that a beast man of unknown origin visited us at one time. He helped unite the variants under one Clan. Thus, Cillata Clan was born and since then, we have prospered greatly as one.

We are mainly a trading Clan. We mainly trade in drinks. We produce and trade four kinds of drink, which are registered as Clan secret. The drinks are made and traded in different seasons. Each kind of drink is made in a specific season.

As you must have heard or drank some of them. But still, I would like to inform your Highnesses. Our products names are YellowCyn, RedLogale, GreenErpes and OrangeGos.

Each of the drinks is extracted from fruits of the colour mention of its name. Not to complicate it, we also named the fruits on its colour, basically yellow, green, red and orange. Now, you must think as the name suggests the YellowCyn is made by the Cyn clan and that is partly true. They were the first to invent it, but when we unified, it became Cillata clan’s production. Similarly; the other drinks were first made by the Logale, Erpes and Gos variants, but now are part of a line of drinks which the Cillata clan now makes.

But as a tradition, each clan makes a field trip to collect a few stocks of the fruits which are needed to make the drinks.

Your Highnesses, this is our history. Now; on the matters of introductions.

My name is Ranrt Logale. To my right is Miss Isuli Erpes and to my right is Mr Veann Gos. Along with Councilor Ekela Cyn, we make the governing body of the Council of Cillata.”

Me: “It is nice to meet all of you Councilors.”

Adi’Je: “Yes, it is a pleasure.”

Councilor Ranrt Logale: “We have an existing seat in the Council of Zoit’s Economy department and we received the news of another member being added in the Department. The seat has been registered to the Blood Zuma clan, formerly known as Zuma for the trade of Vitalis. That is one way; we identified Your Highnesses and are excited to have you as our guest.”

Me: “Ohh… so you already knew about us? How interesting… Although to be fair, I didn’t hear about your clan at all but only recently came to know through the tragic moments of Councilor Ekela Cyn.”

Councilor Isuli Erpes: “Yes, a tragic loss indeed. It came as a big shock to us. Normally, we battled those hideous Bokoo’s up in the north of the forest, but never thought they would go as far as our harvest zone. It really complicates the matter.”

Me: “I understand… we too had a similar problem not so long ago.”

Councilor Veann Gos: “If we may, Your Highness; we have a proposal for you.”

Councilor Ranrt Logale: “Yes, normally we wouldn’t engage other clan’s in this matter, but upon hearing accounts of you and your people deeds, be it in the field of battle or looking after the injured and the scared, we decided to cross that bridge.”

Councilor Isuli Erpes: “Before we begin our main topic of discussion I would like to make a statement on behalf of the whole Cillata Clan.

We never wanted the Zuma Clan to be stepped over by the Council of Zoit. We sent several letters along with Councilors to make them stop passing harsh judgement against your clan but we failed. Now, with the knowledge provided by Asa Cyn, daughter of Councilor Ekela Cyn; we are very happy with the development of your Clan. Being a Clan depending upon the trading of patent goods we know how it is like and we wish to enter a Trading Clan Alliance with the Blood Zumas.

We would also like to inform Your Highness that upon contacting with various other trading clans, they have shown positive signs towards this Alliance.”

Me: “I am happy to hear this. But what exactly would a Trading Clan Alliance's function be?”

Councilor Ranrt Logale: “We would form a group of only trading clans and we would create a chain of trading routes which would benefit all us and we also had a proposition for you.

Normally, we need Guards from Council of Zoit or would have to hire adventurers to safeguard our merchandise when traveling. The system is fine, but gets little tricky when the merchandise is of great value. We would like the Blood Zumas also provide protection to our highly confidential goods and as you would be in the alliance, trust will not be an issue.

We or the rest of the trading clans are not built for fighting, but the Blood Zumas are, as we have heard and you are very good at it.So, this is our one of the proposals, You Highness.”

Me: “And the other?”

Councilor Veann Gos: “After getting the news of the attack on our people, we sent scouts to find the Bokoo’s den. What we found was two dens on different side of the forest, but not connected to each other.

Two days from now, we would launch a mission to clear the Bokoo’s den. We will have the Zoit Army Unit stationed here to clear one of the dens. And herein lies the problem. There is only one Unit of the Zoit Army and we know from previous experience that after tackling with the Bokoo den, the Unit would be hard pressed to take on the other den. When they would reach their full power status the Bokoo’s would have created another den.

We would like for the Blood Zumas to take on the other den simultaneously with the Zoit Army Unit. Then and only then the threat from Bokoo would cease to affect us. We really need help from the Blood Zumas. We are of course ready to pay the exact amount of gold the general Body does on each Bokoo head presented. Along with the commencing of the Trading Clan Alliance, ours would be a one of a kind relationship.

What are your opinions, Your Highnesses?”

I looked towards both Adi’Je and Naj’Rak to see their opinions. Naj’Rak was happy to hear the proposal but, Adi’Je was annoyed. At this point I had only one decision to make.

I looked towards Councilor Ranrt Logale and replied.

Me: “I will need time to think about both of your proposal. We are currently on our way towards a quest destination and there are other things to consider for me.”

Councilor Ranrt Logale: “Yes, we have been informed about your Quest and your destination. We certainly don’t want to interfere with your matters. It is fine with us that you want to discuss it amongst yourselves. We will be eagerly waiting for your decision, King Le’On.”

Me: “Good… you will receive our reply after two days. Yes, on the day of your mission to eradicate the Bokoo monster. Is it alright?”

Councilor Isuli Erpes: “Yes, it is perfectly alright with us, Your Highness.”

With that our meeting ended and three of us came back to our room.

Me: “Well… it is a great deal isn’t it?”

Naj’Rak: “Yes My King… the trade options we would get alongside the extra work, it is a good deal.”

I turn towards Adi’Je and asked about her opinion.

Me: “And what do you think Adi?”

Adi’Je: “My Lord… if I may… I never thought in my life I would see my Clan fallen into such hard times. I never thought we had to act as bodyguards for some trading weasels. How could this happen?? After coming out I have seen many things, but hearing what they had to say… I never though that the Blood Zumas would be considered so low.”

Naj’Rak: “But Queen Adi’Je, it was not as bad. In times like this we need allies and a trading ally always proves beneficial.”

Adi’Je: “I know what it could mean for us Queen Naj’Rak. I am well aware of that, but I can never bring myself to accept the fact that we have to become hired bodyguards for weak animals. Those that were once considered food by us, now want us to act as their hired help. I can feel only my anger on this matter. This is not the future Hui’Mi wanted and neither did I !!”

Me: “But the fact the of the matter remains that we have to accept the offer… both of them. Adi, you know that the Bloods aren’t ready yet… they are not experienced at all. They need to get out more and face life threatening situations to enhance their abilities. We will accept the offer. Queen Naj’Rak please send a report to Councilor Je’Lec about the offer and the events that transpired here at a later date.

Queen Adi’Je, please calm down.”

Adi’Je: “I am calm, My Lord.”

Me: “I don’t think so… say… lets go out… all three of us. We will eat, will do some sightseeing, buy pretty dresses and maybe try some of those drinks I heard this beast clan makes. What do you say?”

Naj’Rak: “Yes My King… it is a great idea, what do you think Queen Adi’Je?”

Adi’Je looks at me with eyes filled with sadness. I can feel it… the fire within her burning. After thinking for a few moments she nods to indicate her approval.

Do not worry Adi’Je; I will see to it that we will once again place ourselves at the very top of the cycle. The Blood Zumas will regain their glory.

The very next day, we met again. This time Councilor Ekela also joined us and I was without the counsel of both of my wives. It was a planned effort from me. I had asked them to gather all the bloods together because I wanted them to hear our plan. I had also instructed Naj’Rak to send a report to Councilor Je’Lec.

Me: “We accept the offer of the Trading Clan Alliance as well as to be part of the Quest for eliminating the Bokoo monsters. But there are few things I would have it included.

One, the Clan needing our protection as per the Alliance would have to pay for our protection.

Two, the Cillata clan would issue a proper Quest to us regarding Bokoo monsters and upon completion; they would openly credit the Blood Zumas. I will not let anyone take advantage of us.”

Councilor Veann Gos: “We have no problems with either of those stipulations, Your Highness. Those who would be members would all profit from this alliance. We will immediately contact other interested trading clans and set up a meeting. There we would discuss on all matters regarding the alliance and sign it. It is an honour working with you, Your Highness.”

Me: “Very well… let’s meet again after we have completed our Quest.”

With that, we ended our meeting. I headed towards the big room which was allotted to us. There I would address the Bloods about the situation we are in.

In the room, I faced a lot of expectant faces.

Me: “Tomorrow, we will not start our journey towards Amoith Mountain as planned. We will take a small detour. Tomorrow, we are going to help the Cillata Clan in eliminating a lair of Bokoo monsters. The Zoit Army Unit would assault one while we will assault the other one. Yes… there are two lairs. Which one and where they are, we will know tomorrow once the Quest commences. This is a Quest which would profit us in two ways… experience and money.

The Council of Cillata would pay us for every head of the monsters while fighting them; we can get a good amount of fighting experience. I want each one of you excel… because once you return back to Blood Zuma then all of you would be promoted and in turn given a team of your own to command. Yes… you have to lead other Bloods so I suggest you do whatever Queen Adi’Je orders you to do.

Prepare for tomorrow.”

They all had resolved faces telling me that everything is fine with them. They just bowed and nodded in unison. I can see Adi’Je smiling from the corner of my eyes. We need to raise our strength and for that we need experienced people. I have to do well if I want each of them to return home safely. Casualties are not in my book and by the looks of it, neither is in Adi’Je’s.

The day of the quest came. We are now standing in the Zoit Army Unit Office. Along with few Cillata Councilors, Councilor Ekela and Adi’Je are also present. The Zoit Captain was going on about his plan to attack his designated mark. It was a little boring as he wanted to prolong the fight on his end and was trying to get me to do the same. But Adi’Je promptly shut him up.

The Zoit Army Captain acted same as the others. First; surprise of seeing a Blood Zuma then confusion. Confusion on the matter of how could a weak Zuma become like this?

Followed by ignorance and looking down on us… on our input in the matter. Really… generations of ignorance had led to this situation. He himself looks like cloth wrapped around a pole and yet he thinks he was better than me. Thankfully, my anger subsided because I had to control Adi’Je. It looked like she was about to end the Zoit Army’s life. Although I didn’t exactly wanted to stop her, but… we are now living in a different world. But that Adi’Je found a new way to release her anger. She started to pick out flaws in the Zoit Captain’s plan of attack at regular interval. After a point, it got worse when the Councilors wanted Adi’Je to plan the attack, completely ignoring the Captain.

But, there was one problem. The scouting reports stated the location of the monsters lair, but nothing about their numbers present in the locations, not even an approximate count. The location itself was a general description. The scouts didn’t even pinpoint it, which raises another set of questions.

Did the Council of Cillata have knowledge about it earlier or were their scouts that incompetent?

If they had prior knowledge about the location, then they would have a general idea of those monsters. Then why didn’t they warn Councilor Ekela Cyn and his Clan members before they went inside the forest for their tradition?

And if that’s not the case then, why did they hire incompetent scouts in the first place? Were they getting duped? It may happen, seeing they are not at all familiar with anything other than trading merchandise.

The Zoit Army Captain, who had black or dark brownish complexion; its mouth was full of whiskers. It had black small eyes and was definitely old enough to cough to death. It looked like a beast that was only capable of living underground. I just wanted to punch him and end his suffering and it would have been a quick death… no pain involved. It was better than getting a prolonged death from Adi’Je… thinking about it gives me shivers.

Anyway, he was looking happy enough to act on that mediocre information at best. It looked suspicious to me, but I could be wrong. I turned to see Adi’Je who was glaring at the Zoit Army Captain. I went close to her ears and whispered.

Me: “Adi, does that scrawny bastard look suspicious to you?”

Adi’Je: “Yes, My Lord. Anyone would be either annoyed or tensed to act on this shoddy information, but this lowly beast is happy as a clam. And speaking of clams… can I break him and squish him, My Lord?”

Me: “Believe me, I want you to do that but… we can’t.”

She pouted, but understood my reasons. But her conformation made another set of questions to manifest within me.

I have to find out about it. This quest may turn fatal for us. How much stronger we have got, but I can never commit my people to go through the act of battle with only brute force and no proper knowledge of what we are fighting. I decided to ask them head on.

Me: “Councilor Ranrt Logale, did the Council of Cillata hire the scouts personally? If so, then I would like to meet them.”

Councilor Ranrt Logale: “I am afraid we are not knowledgeable enough to hire scouts by ourselves, King Le’On. We run the risk of getting cheated so we decided to let the Zoit Army Unit stationed here take over the matters of defence. The scouts also belong to them. You have to ask the Captain over there if you want to meet the scouts.”

Ohh… so the problem lies on this skinny bastard. I raised my voice a little and said to the Captain of the Zoit Army Unit. I didn’t even bother to know his name and nor I want it.

Me: “Oh… so the Zoit Army Unit here hires or maintains incompetent fools who like to call themselves as scouts?”

Zoit Captain: “What?”

Me: “I said I never would have thought that the Zoit Army Unit stationed here hired incompetent fools as scouts. I mean this information is not worth anything, it’s like saying the moon star appears in the sky… absolutely worthless beast men.”

I turn towards Councilor Ranrt Logale and said to him.

Me: “Councilor, I suggest you start hiring experienced beast men or else your clan will continue to face danger if your defence is left upon these fools.”

The Zoit Captain was angry and I thought he would die of overdose of anger… I hoped for it.

Zoit Captain: “You Zuma… how dare you insult us? What do you know about strategy, you weak…”

I didn’t even let him finish his sentence and nor I wanted to. I was already in front of him when he was in the middle of his sentence. At the end of the sentence, one of my swords was now resting on his throat. The Councilors didn’t understand what was going on but after some moment they came to understand. The Zoit Captain was shaking and sweating. I raise my voice.

Me: “You lowly beast!!! How dare you talk back to me?? Did you forget you are addressing a King?? I will have your head for my lunch… No… I will cut and give it to the monsters for their meal. Not that they will enjoy eating rotten piece of meat.

Now, tell me… why should I spare your life?”

He began sweating heavily, his eyes were darting here and there, searching for anyone to save him but there were none.

Zoit Captain: “Umm… Ki- King Le’On… ummm… I- I… am sorry!! I…”

Me: “Shut your filthy mouth… tell me why shouldn’t I just behead you… not just for gross misbehaviour towards a King, but also for duping the Council of Cillata by providing incompetent reports and also not sharing the info of the monsters being present in the forest with them before which resulted in the deaths of many beast men.”

And that produced some interesting looks on some people. Councilor Ekela Cyn had rage like expression while the other Councilors had anger. The Captain looked like he was just seconds away from peeing. And after interrogating some more, we finally learned that there was only one lair of Bokko monsters. The one; where we got the job of clearing them. That produced another set of interesting looks. When we finally ended our ‘meeting’ the Captain was jailed and we had to move out towards our target.

The place where we were going to assault was filled with over 50 Bokoo monsters, probably more according to the actual report. Turns out the actual report was quite accurately given… the Zoit Army does have some good scouts. The Captain not wanting to do his job fabricated news for a long time. That’s why he never told the Council about the Bokoos in the first place. But when he heard that Councilor Cyn and his clan members had been attacked and lost many lives, including his son, the Captain again fabricated a cover up mission to save his hide. But his plan failed due to our intervention.

The report said that north-east from here, about 20 km from here, the Bokoo monsters have gathered. They do not have access to any cave or any natural defences, but only depend upon themselves. Calculating the distance, if we walked 10 km per hour, then it would take us maximum of two hours. And I think we can cover that distance. In the mean time, I received a proper Quest notification.

NOTICE:-

YOU HAVE BEEN ALLOTTED AN OFFICIAL QUEST.

QUEST ALLOTTED BY-COUNCIL OF CILLATA.

QUEST ID NUMBER:- 9796CCL01.

QUEST LEVEL- A+

QUEST MEMBER SPECIFICATIONS- NONE.

REGISTERED MEMBERS:-

1. KING LE’ON OF BLOOD ZUMA CLAN.

2. QUEEN ADI’JE OF BLOOD ZUMA CLAN.

3. QUEEN NAJ’RAK OF BLOOD ZUMA CLAN.

REWARD- ON THE TOTAL HEADS BROUGHT BY THE MEMBERS.

QUEST:-

CLEAR THE FOREST LAND TO THE NORTH-EAST OF CITY OF CILLATA INFESTED BY THE BOKOO MONSTERS.

TIME LIMIT- NONE.

I shared the quest with everyone else, including Deiti. We also received complementary rations for the quest as well as four bottles of their trademark drink, one of every brand. I decided to keep that for our celebration after completion of this quest. All the Bloods were battle ready as well as all three of us, The Blood King and Queens. After another checkup of all the items we had, we set out for the attack when it was nearing afternoon.

The journey itself was boring and someone kept pestering me to open up a bottle received from the Council of Cillata. Yes, it was Deiti. I was at fault for telling her about the drinks and I was paying for it. She didn’t have the heart to pester Adi’Je. I think the last encounter with Adi’Je made some deep impact within Deiti. It also looked like she was quite friendly with Naj’Rak which was good news. Before leaving, Adi’Je told me to just fight as I would naturally during the battle and let her think about everything else. But how can I leave everything else to you or anyone. It is my responsibility to look after the safety of my wives as well as my people. I am their Blood King.

We reached the spot where it was reported to be the lair of the Bokoo monsters. The light star still was burning brightly. We were standing in a little clearing surrounded by medium sized trees. Although, everything could be seen from here of our surroundings and we found no signs of them. Adi’Je ordered to two Bloods to go and scout north and east of us; in the meanwhile, we set up our base camp here. During this period I looked towards each of the Bloods trying to ascertain their mental condition. I noticed a difference in attitude. When the first time they met with those monsters they were a little sluggish though they maintained perfect formation. Now, they were… I should say… excited. I guess, the more you fight the more confident you get just what happened to me. I am also learning along with them, about how to be a good fighter, a good friend, a good husband and above all… how to be a good King.

30 mins had passed when both of the scouts returned one after the other. The scout found nothing but tree and small monsters in the north, while the scout assigned to the east found many footprints which may belong to our target. We decided to break camp and check the area with the footprints.

We reached the place and saw many overlapping footprints. The nearby trees had large marks on them as if something strong punched in them. A small distance away, we found many small carcasses scattered. I think, all this carcasses belonged to the local small monsters. The Bokoo monsters must have feasted upon them. The carcasses were still relatively fresh.

Adi’Je: “My Lord, it seems they are moving.”

Me: “Why do you think that?”

Adi’Je: “Look at these carcasses, they are all fresh kills… and look at those footsteps too.”

She pointed towards a direction. I looked towards the direction. There were some bloody footsteps on the grass as well as some were sprayed on few trees. We followed the trail left by the Bokoo monsters. The trail led to a small river that flowed through the forest. There, we found the Bokoo monsters trying to cross the river. Their group looked like a large herd, consisting more than 50… it seemed they were about close to 100, more than the reported number.

Deiti: “How many the initial scouting report indicated?”

Me: “About 50.”

Deiti: “Does this look like 50 to you? Did those scouts know how to count?”

Me: “Apparently not.

Queen Adi’Je, how should we approach from here?”

Adi’Je: “My Lord, please stay in the third line along with Queen Naj’Rak and Miss Deiti.”

Me: “Wha…”

Adi’Je: “Bloods!!! Charge!!!!”

She gave the order at that moment without letting me finish my sentence. All the Bloods unsheathed their weapons and started their dash towards the monsters maintaining a line.

Adi’Je: “Archers… start shooting.”

The archers took their places and shot the first volley. The arrows reached the herd of Bokoo’s trying to cross the river. The arrows struck some monsters in the back line. Few fell but it did grab their attention. Upon discovering us charging, they started their own charge.

We four were still standing, Adi’Je intently waiting for something.

I asked her.

Me: “Aren’t we going to take part in the charge?”

Adi’Je: “No, My Lord.”

Me: “Then…”

Adi’Je: “Please wait…”

The Bloods were in full charge, the front liners had placed their shield in front of them while their swords drawn out. Behind them were the trident users. The archers stationed at a distance were shooting volleys after volleys. Although they were small in number, but their vollies were chipping out 2-3 Bokoo’s with every volley while they were also charging us.

Adi’Je: “My Lord, when we reach the battle line, please jump over the line and wreak havoc in the middle of their herd.

While Queen Naj’Rak will take charge of the right extremities of our line and Miss Deiti will be fighting on the left extremities, trying to stop the monsters from flanking us. I will be just behind the line to maintain them and I will be looking over everyone… best of luck.”

With that, we dashed forward towards the fight, each of us ready with our weapons. I was running with my swords held up high and saw the scene unfold some distance away. The front liners clashed with the first line of the Bokoo monsters. What amazed me was that when they clashed, many of the Bokoo’s in the front line was pushed back while some of them rolled over the Blood front liners and landed face first on the ground. It brought the trident users in the back line into action… striking the fallen Bokoo’s and killing them.

The full force of the Blood front liners were upon the Bokoo monsters, pushing them back and defending with their shield while when given opportunity, thrusted their swords inside the Bokoo’s instantly killing them. A big line had been created where the two sides had collided… blood was spraying all over the area… all of them belonged to the Bokoo’s. The more blood was spilled and sprayed upon the Blood front liners the more viciously they fought.

I had already passed Adi’Je and the others and was the first one to reach the battle line. As per instructions, I used the momentum of my run and the high altitude jumping skill. I jumped with full force and easily cleared the line. When I was about to land I saw no free space, but Bokoo’s waiting to catch me. In mid air when I was about to land I produced two downward slashes with both of my hands and cut the monster who was trying to catch me midair. I landed on his chest, which propelled him to fall upon some of his brethren. Right then, I stabbed the monster in its head, killing him instantly.

I stood up, surrounded by monsters; all ready to pounce on me. But, a simple piece of information they didn’t comprehend that I was the actual monster among them.

I pounced upon one, lodging my sword in my right into its throat, then thrusted my other sword into another one’s eyes. Upon pulling back both of my swords, a fountain of blood jets out of their wounds onto me. Without pausing for any moment, I jumped up on another one cutting off its left hand with my right and with my left, I thrusted it into another one’s chest. I drew both the swords out, I turned and with my right I cut off the armless one’s head.

I continued on cutting arms, legs or heads and on some occasions, I thrusted my weapons into their eyes, heads, chest or any other place I could find. Bokoo monster's blood spraying everywhere while painting the Blood Warriors in the process. They became more ruthless and destructive. Speaking of ruthless, I could hear Adi’Je screaming out commands to everyone, marshaling her troops. She was also killing like a mad beast, leaving no Bokoo alive. After certain intervals I could hear chants coming from all the Blood Warriors in unison… “BLOODS!!! BLOODS!!! BLOODS!!! BLOODS!!! BLOODS!!!”

Although pretty defenceless against metal weapons they had the advantage of numbers on us. I was getting swarmed by them. I cut some and many more took their place. I had to inflict more damage. It was time I used one of my acquired skills.

I made some room for me too work with. I was between enemy territory and my people were some distance away. This was the perfect opportunity to use the Air Blast skill. I readied myself and took a deep breath, but with a big difference. The breath I inhaled was of a large quantity. I could feel my lungs expanding to abnormal proportions. It stung a little bit and I could feel the muscle surrounding the lungs were tearing. I also used cell regeneration skill to mend myself. After inhaling, I felt I had no more capacity to inhale more air. Out of nowhere, a small counter appeared in the corner of my right eye. It said ‘100% FULL’. I ignored it and set my sight on a group of Bokoo monsters near me. I remembered the monster from whom I took this skill… mostly the part where after inhaling, how he shot it.

I followed its example and tried to put pressure on my lungs to vacate it. In doing that, all the air which was previously filled in my lungs rushed to my mouth and unable to hold it in, my mouth opened and what followed was a large sound ‘BOOM’. I was propelled backwards with great force onto some Bokoo monsters whom also upon impact blew away for a certain distance. They did stop my fall and I was glad. I felt severe pain originating from my lungs, then to my throat and finally my lungs. I used my cell regeneration skill to mend any internal damage. I looked forward and found about 3 Bokoo monsters had flown backwards at the same time and collided with some of its brethren and got mangled up… such was the power in the shot. That was awesome. I looked at the counter which read ‘0%’ now.

A few monsters tried to grab me. I ducked their charge and turned to attack them. They also noticed that they missed, but I didn’t give them enough time to react as I drove my swords through both of their throats and pulled them back. I paused to inhale and again I felt the same reaction happening to my lungs. Then the counter read ‘100% FULL’. I aimed and gave a controlled pressure to my lungs. The result was not quite satisfactory. All of the air blasted out again, blew two monsters from the ground and they fell some distance away upon some of their own, killing some of them. As for me, I was pushed back by the recoil and I collided with few of them. I got up and killed them while they were still dazed by the collision.

I charged deep inside their herd. A few Bokoo monsters tried to stop me, but an arrow struck each of them and they died. Our archers are very good and it seems their range was also increasing. I saw a part where they were more concentrated. I jumped on them and landed one of them, upon landing I drove a sword through its chest where the heart was supposed to be. I pulled the sword out and glared towards the monsters. Their faces told me that they didn’t know what was going on. I charged towards the closest one and with a vertical slash cut its stomach and its innards fell out. Then I leapt onto another one, this time with one I blocked its hand and with the other, I drove the sword into its head.

I inhaled some air and pointed towards them. I ran towards them and when I was close to them, released a shot. But this time, I managed to control the pressure and released a much less powerful blast than the last two times. The monsters were knocked out from their legs and fell on the ground. The counter indicated ‘50%’. I shot another blast towards some more and knocked them down. But they weren’t dead from the blast. I had to kill them after the blasts, but it did work and I was excited.

While the bank of the river had turned into a battlefield, I noticed some Bokoo monsters were turning back and were trying to cross the river. I decided to give chase, I was closer to them, but my way was blocked by many Bokoo monsters. I charged towards them. I ducked the attacks on me while I cut off their legs so that they cannot move. That was my plan… while dodging their attacks; I would cut off one of their legs or at least heavily injure them.

I followed my plan and any monster tried to stop me either got a leg cut off or sometimes I slashed horizontally, which resulted in deep cuts on their body or throats and loss of arms. After clearing my way I ran towards the 3 Bokoo monsters who were trying to flee. I jumped and in mid air inhaled air. When the counter pointed ‘100 % FULL’ I shot an Air Blast towards them. By now, I had the hang of it. Although every time I used this skill I would incur some internal damage. Every time I have to use Air Blast, Bone regeneration skill has to be mixed with it.

Upon getting hit by a shot of Air Blast, all three of them stumbled and scattered in different directions. By the looks of it, the river was shallow so I went in. The water level was just around my waist and underneath I could feel stones. I quickly went towards one of them, who was upside down and was trying desperately to get up. I pushed my sword on my right, it went through the back of his head, killing it. Then I moved onto another one who was lying on the water, dazed. I stood up on on his chest and drove my left hand sword right through its open mouth. I jumped and kicked the last one, who had gotten up. It landed back on the river floor, followed by me. I got up and saw the monster trying to get up. I walked towards it and thrusted my right hand sword in its stomach. It gave a loud cry and I drove my other sword into its mouth, killing it.

I set my gaze upon the battlefield or I should say slaughter feat in front of me. I only saw few standing Bokoo monsters that were facing a barrage of attacks from my Blood Warriors. Many of the Bokoo monsters lay on the ground injured. Some were shrieking in pain while others was trying to get up and or run towards the river. But I stopped their path. There was no way out. Now, the main part of the battle was over and was now time to finish it.

I saw a bloody Adi’Je instructing the Blood Warriors for the final assault. By bloody I mean drenched with Bokoo monster blood. I also searched for Naj’Rak and found her leaping towards a monster and upon nearing the monster who was trying to catch her; she drove her trident right through its chest. She was also drenched with blood… monster blood. Her demeanor had changed. She now looked like a blood thirsty warrior. I felt lust growing within for my wives who looked beautiful.

I also found Deiti and she was doing well, although her body language told a different story. She avoided places were Bloods were fighting like a plague. It looked that the Bloods or we were monsters to her. Well… if any non Blood saw us at this moment, they too might label us as monsters. I didn’t mind though… we are who we are and we are a blood thirsty clan.

Very soon the battle was over. I was confident that none of my Blood Warriors died… I could feel it. I stood on the bank of the river and saw everything. Adi’Je had given orders to finish and cut off their heads and gather them for transportation. She walked towards me with a smile. She looked like a warrior showered by blood… blood of her enemies. I have never seen her more beautiful than this moment. I too walked towards her after sheathing my weapons.

We were close and she was about to say something when I grabbed her waist and pulled her into a deep kiss. I could taste the blood on her lips and that made me hold her more tightly. She also kissed me back with the same intensity and lust if not greater. I lost myself into her… licking and sucking her juicy lips. We broke from our kiss which lasted for a long time. I looked at her eyes.

Me: “I love you, Adi.”

She smiled and touched my right cheeks with her right hand and replied.

Adi’Je: “Me too, My Lord… I love you too…”

“My King, what about me??”

I changed my gaze towards the person who spoke. I knew her all too well. It was Naj’Rak… smiling and looking beautiful too. Adi’Je loosened her grip let me walk towards Naj’Rak.

Me: “I love you too…”

She smiled and blushed. I touched her face and cupped it. I pulled her towards me and we kissed. This time, I felt like she was waiting for me… eagerly. I licked and sucked her lips and tongue. Her breathing got heavy along with me. I almost melted.

“WHAT KIND OF A MONSTER ARE YOU?? ALL OF YOU !!”

I broke from the kiss and looked towards the person who said those words. It was Deiti. Her expression was similar to the one she had when she saw me drenched in blood, saving her. Somewhere deep in my mind, I had expected this reaction from her. I replied.

Me: “The kind of monsters whom nobody should mess with.”

************************************************************

(AUTHOR'S NOTE:- IF ANYBODY WANTS TO KNOW HOW LONG THIS CHAPTER WAS... IT CONTAINS OVER 7k WORDS. THIS IS MY LONGEST WRITTEN CHAPTER.)

Back to Main PageCHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS