Mackie Matt runs from the slaughter. He is a coward, unfit to be a Kapa soldier. He runs and runs as his friends die. Tears start to well up as their screams grow more distant, and the swamp grows deeper. He’ll get lost in the deepness where the vines are thick and the creatures unfriendly to Kapa have domain. But at least he won’t die.

Or that is what the Kapa thought. As he runs and runs, he doesn’t notice the surprisingly quiet footsteps of his Kapa Boss. He strides into the swamp, his feet careful not to disturb the placid waters, and senses the presence of one of his own.

Slowly and deliberately, he gets down on all fours and lets himself sink into the muck and grime, and from Mackie Matt’s perspective, it is like the ceiling drops, and he is face to face with a Kapa God.

“BOSS!” Matt screams. He throws himself and his spear as he lays prostrate for the giant Kapa. His head is filled with the swamp water as he bows.

“I smell fear in you, soldier! Have you seen the skeletons nearby?”

The voice of the boss this close is deafening, and the smell of his breath is a combination of dirt and the unpleasant taste of mushrooms, but the Kapa bows deeper as he speaks—

“Oh yes, BOSS! Oh yes! This Kapa saw them. Two of them, dat way, very dangerous, we tried to fight, and they kill us. No mercy!”

The Boss nods and stares at Mackie Matt, “Mackie Matt? Yes, I remember. Not the brightest one. You know your brother was on guard duty? I need to talk to him. Letting them past. But you…”

The Boss can smell the blood of his fellow Kapa flowing down the swamp their bodies will soon join. The thought makes the Boss mad. Not enraged, no, but a little hungry.

“You seem very far away from the fighting.”

“Oh Boss, I just…”

“Just?”

“Hmm..I-I-I.” Mackie Matt’s mind shifts through the rumors regarding the Boss, how no Kapa gets that big without a little bit of…cannibalism.

Mackie Matt looks up and sees the inside of the Boss’ mouth. And doesn’t have time to scream when he closes it.

*********

Doug feels a little bit of joy each time he kills one of the green turtle creatures. He isn’t sure why he feels this joy, but he is sure there is nothing wrong with feeling it. Especially when they scream before going limp—that feels the best, though he can’t always replicate it because the battle is too hectic for the skelly to focus on anything but casting Shield Bash and Forward Thrust over and over again. And keeping up with the Boss.

Greg chucks another spear at an incoming Kapa, remembering the form of a javelin toss. The Kapa is impaled in the chest and flies backward before sinking into the murky depths. At first, the Kapa charge was constant, but now they start to run as the swamp floor is covered in floating yellow turtle shells, and the water turns red with their blood. As Greg stomps toward Doug, more Kapa run, and the constant ding of EXP starts to subside.

He isn’t good at math, but a few dozen dead Kapa have to be good for something, Greg thinks. He considers their options and knows they still aren’t good; they are lost in a swamp with only the fleeing Kapa as guides. So Greg trudges after them with Doug in tow. Pushing past the corpses and cutting the vines just short enough to impede them, the pair isn’t gaining on the fleeing Kapa but they aren’t losing them either.

Eventually, they follow the turtles to what could only be their village. It seems huge, rising from the swamp with giant wooden stakes for walls, each stake green with lichen and jutting out at an angle. Tall towers overlook the walls, and torches light the interior, revealing walkways for manned defenses. But no gate blocks the entrance. Only more Kapa scurrying inside like rats while others try to organize a proper defense.

Even from this distance, the skellies can hear the Kapa soldiers yelling instructions, some ordering the soldiers to the walls while others bellow for more men at the gate. Greg and Doug look at each other and shrug.

This village has to be worth a lot of EXP.