86 The Hunt Part 2

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(Aden's P.O.V)

I get it. People are dumb sometimes. People are more often than not impulsive when caught in a sticky situation. That all makes sense. What doesn't make sense is when you insist on being stubborn despite knowing you're in the wrong. I flew down and touched down on a tree branch, looking down at Masali and close to 30 teens, the exact number being 28.

The group had arrived very close to the cave. They were hiding in a thicket while looking up at the rocky path leading up to the cave which was only a few hundred meters away. Not too close and not too far out of earshot. Despite it being at nighttime, bones belonging to animals and...humans were scattered about. Along with patches of dried blood going up the path. I closed my eyes and said a little prayer to the ones who had lost their lives here. Then I refocused on the stupid entitled fool about to risk the lives of his friends for petty revenge. Revenge is not…bad but you only take vengeance when you know you have the power to see it through.

Now back to my earlier point. Masali was staring down at one of the older teens, who seemed to be his second in command. I didn't  understand what they were saying but from the Older boy's body language and expressions, it was clear he was hesitant about confronting Mnemoth in his lair. Smart. Unfortunately, Masali was too blinded by rage and revenge that he couldn't see how bad his idea was.

For now, I decided to stay hidden while keeping a lookout on the cave. If Masali chose to listen to common sense and turn back, all the better. I could then go inside the cave, murder the shit out of Mnemoth and then be outta here. 

(General P.O.V)

They were elites. Sons of The Garden. In their veins flowed the blood of their brave ancestors who had never given up or failed in their sacred duty. It didn't matter that they were young. It didn't matter that they were inexperienced. All that mattered was survival and…revenge. Most of them gathered had lost family to this demon. All the premier warriors. The strongest the village had to offer…dead. They might have been lacking in strength but their hearts burned true. The flames of their spirits was inextinguishable. A raging inferno.

At least that had been the case before they had arrived. The instant the group had made it within vicinity of the cave…all their courage had disappeared. The bones littered around and splotches of blood were just the tip of the iceberg. Nothing to the feeling the ground gave off. An air of despair, pain and blood thirst. Their eyes had widened and many had taken a step back, shivering in absolute terror. 

One of the warriors standing next to Masali, a tall stalwart young man tightened his hand on his weapon. He turned and addressed their leader.

"Tunapaswa kugeuka turudi. Hii ilikuwa wazo mbaya." (We should turn and go back. This was a bad idea.)

Masali turned and glared at the person who had made the suggestion. His second in command. 

He also looked behind him and noticed that almost everyone was of the same stance. Masali could feel it too. The knowledge that they were standing so close to death. Of course he knew the idea was bad. They should have waited for his uncle to finish communing with the Ancestors before moving out. Yet something had forced him to throw caution to the wind. Something he couldn't explain. All he knew was that he couldn't turn back. Turning back meant giving up after everything! Giving up on his father! Shaming his memory by not avenging him. 'Ancestors be with me.'

Masali turned to the others with cold eyes.

"We are not retreating! That is an order."

He informed them in their native language. The faces of some of the boys became ashen.

"I…I…don't want to die."

One of the younger boys whimpered, letting his weapon fall down. He took a step back, fear coating his visage. 

Masali's face contorted in a rictus of anger. 

"You coward! What do you think you're doing?!! You shame our forefathers by letting go of your weapon!"

He matched towards the kid and slapped him. The young boy fell down in a heap and curled on himself. Ntongai, Masali's second in command became angry and pulled back their leader from further hurting the boy. The son of the Chieftain rounded up on the second in command in disbelief.

"Insubordination?! You too!"

Ntongai heedless of Masali's anger came between him and the boy, the other warriors also walked behind him. Looking around, Masali was shocked to find himself all alone. 

"With all due respect, that's not how you treat a comrade, Masali! We have always followed your lead. Hunting, training and carrying our duties. And you have never been this cruel. All of us lost our loved ones, just like you…so why? Instead of compassion and understanding you treat us as mere subordinates. Are you that eager to lead us to our deaths?"

With each word that fell, Masali felt as if explosions were going off inside his brain. All this time…they were right. Why was he doing this? He loved his father but that did not justify leading his compatriots to the battle with a half baked plan. Doubts started appearing on his face.

"I… don't…I…"

His voice seized up as a voice sounded in his brain.

"Now now, my young puppet. It's not time for you to start rebelling yet. I still need the distraction. Plus…my pet needs a meal. Hahahahaha."

A dark and sinister voice told him telepathically, laughing in glee at what was about to happen. 

A haze appeared on Masali's face. He looked up and stared at the faces of his men impassively. He raised his hand slowly and pointed the palm towards them. Ntongai, seeing the look on Masali's face had a bad feeling. 'Oh Ancestors!'

"Everybody get back!"

He shouted as the ground started rumbling. 

"Traitors."

Masali said and clenched a fist. Blackened vines exploded out of the ground, aimed to skewer everybody present. 

Ntongai couldn't believe it…his friend, brother all but in blood…

'Masali…' was his last thought, knowing he couldn't hope to escape this. 

'slink!!'

The sharp whistle of a blade cutting through the air was heard. A few seconds later all the vines aimed to constrict or skewer through the others were promptly cut apart. A breeze blew out.

A red and yellow blur moved through the ground carrying away the warriors out of Masali's range. The son of the Chieftain looked on in anger as someone interrupted him.

"Who dares!?!"

He shouted to the forest. A familiar figure stepped out from the edge of the forest and stood before him, tall and imposing. Masali's eyes widened and he stepped back. 

"You?"

"Yes. Me. And if you know what's good for you, you will surrender or better yet don't. I have a lot of rage piling up and I need a way to unleash it."

The figure said.

(Aden's P.O.V)

My mind was buzzing with anger. That red and yellow blur…Kid Flash. The Teen Team were here. I felt it out with my air sense and located them hiding in the jungle. Waiting and watching as I approached Masali. Some of them shivering in nervous energy. Only one of them a true threat. Connor was registering as strong in my nascent energy sense. Strange.

I could feel the fluctuations of telepathic communications going on among the three of them. Going by what I knew of Aqualad's strategy, the three were probably, him, Superboy and Kid Flash. Robin was inching towards the cave on my left side, trying to move while undetected. Miss Martian and Artemis were most likely on the Bio-ship, providing air support. Par the course with Aqualad's uninspired and cliche' tactics. Well if it ain't broken…

"Superboy wait…" I heard the order through the vibrations in the air. Of course, Connor wanted to jump in, like he always does. Did they follow me here? The nerve and not to mention the stupidity…I inhaled a shuddering breath, calming myself down. I had a mission I needed to carry out first. Once I was down beating the stupidity out of Masali, I would confront them. And this time…they better hope to God they don't attack me first. I am out of mercies to give.

I spread out my telepathic awareness, making myself a beacon of psionic energy in a way that any 2 bit telepath like me or a prodigy like Miss Martian could locate the transmission. After a few seconds, I felt a link establish between us. No one said anything for a few seconds then…

"Stay the fuck out of my way Aqualad. This time I'll make sure the least injury you and your team gets will land you in the infirmary for a month."

After giving the warning, I cut off the transmission and turned my attention back to the Chief's son.

Masali looked angry at my words. I narrowed my eyes when he started huffing. Sweat dripped down his forehead and his eyes looked unfocused. His hands shook as well. I spared a look at the blackened vines I had cut through with my long Knives and air bending. The vines were seeping with corruption and taint. Something was up. 

"You foreigners bring nothing but trouble! My father couldn't see you outsiders for what you actually are…a threat that needs to be dealt with with extreme prejudice!"

I raised my eyebrow. He could now talk in English? Communicating with him earlier had been a problem. That's… unexpected. Then again. He could have learnt it from his uncle. Yet, all these inconsistencies added up to paint a worrisome picture. Mnemoth was a demon and demons possess people. Could that be the case? I needed to get up close to find out.

I hid the hand holding the long knife behind my back and sighed.

"I get it. You're angry, frustrated and you want to revenge on whatever killed your father. But this is not the way to go…"

I stalled, walking closer. I could have easily used a number of techniques to take him down but I wanted to know if my suspicions were correct. Getting close to him, an overpowering stench of sulphur pervaded the air. I scrunched up my nose. Dark colored veins covered his hands and glowing yellow light flashed in his eyes. Fuck.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!!!!"

Masali shouted.

"I have heard enough! From you. From my uncle! From everybody. No one tells me what to do!"

And with that final shout…the ground started trembling. I looked at the mouth of the cave. Stones started falling apart and rolling down the hill. Something was coming. My attention was briefly removed from the self entitled arrogant young master before me, to see what this new threat was. 

My eyes widened. 

"Whoa…this just went from comic book world to full on white walker and whits bullshit. I call foul."

My blades ignited with fire. From the mouth of the cave, dead animals and…humans dressed the same as Masali and his warrior group came out…and trust me, they were very much dead. Their eyes were unfocused and even from there the smell of rot was overpowering. The misshapen forms of zombies stumbled aimlessly around.

An animalistic roar sounded from behind them. The zombies instantly went on focus. Their heads turned towards us. Then with a rush/stampede that reminded me of World War Z they ran down the hill en masse. 

"Hooooly shit!"

Kid Flash commented. Him, Aqualad and Superboy had come out of hiding. They kept a respectable distance between us. Smart, despite the circumstances I didn't know if I could keep myself from punching Kid Flash's lights out.

Well, now I understand why the mission was rated as Hard.