71 New city

Keret city-state. It was still dark, the first embers of sunlight had yet to grace the continent. Many of the inhabitants were still asleep. It was just another typical morning to a typical day.

Faran was at the altar, as he always was at this time of the morning. He had several offering sets in place, and he was responsible for the morning prayer of the entire city. As the high priest, he took his duties seriously.

With every piece of offering set, he took his torch and began to light up the altar, allowing the offerings to burn. This was indicative that their God had accepted their offerings and blessed their day. This was the final part of the ritual.

While Faran believed in the religion, there were some things he took for granted. For instance, he knew that according to legend, if the offerings don't light up, it would mean that his God had refused to bless them. Even then, it had never failed to light up even once. He, therefore, did not expect that it would refuse to light up.

No matter how much and where Faran placed his torch and flames, he still couldn't light up the offering. It was then that a thought occurred to him. Could it be that their god was refusing their offering?

Panic-stricken, he started te entire process again, the entire ritual. Every prayer was made as it should have, still, the offerings wouldn't light up. His next course of action was to wake up every priest in the temple. He tasked them to collect proper animals and other materials needed for the offering.

After an entire hour of preparation, with all the priests gathered, Faran went about the mission, saying all the right words and doing all the right deeds. This time, he meant it from the heart. He couldn't believe that a day would come when his offerings would be rejected.

When the torch came in contact with the offering, it should have burst into flames, igniting the entire altar. This was what happened every day, except that day. It just didn't light up. Suddenly, one of the priestesses fell and began convulsing.

Seeing this, everyone was in full panic mode. It seemed even then that they too would fall and begin convulsing. Looks of fear were plastered in all the wolfkin priests present there, both male and female. To their relief, she finally stopped. The priests breathed a sigh of relief, but they didn't know what that even meant.

"I am the herald of the Wolf God!

I am the one who wields the weapons of our God.

I am the sword that kills all his enemies,

The end of all that threatens our people."

Hearing the woman speak still lying prone, the priests fell on their knees in prayer. They humbled themselves before this being.

"You who sit here in paradise,

A paradise created by our supreme Lord,

You sit here and think you all deserve all this.

Do you not know that this was a gift from God,

A gift that can just as easily be taken away?"

"We are sorry for our ..."

"SILENCE!

You sit idly by while your brothers are attacked,

You do nothing while an enemy rises all around you.

Will you wait until they are knocking on your doorstep

For you to act?"

No reply.

"SPEAK!"

"But Madam, you said silence."

"I KNOW WHAT I SAID!"

The priests were vividly confused. Was this how it felt like to be dealing with a pissed off powerful woman.

"Move now, Assemble a team of warriors, I shall personally lead them into battle!"

The priests didn't even wait for a second invitation. They swung into action, running around. It was all they could do to keep away from this madwoman. Astrid watched all this with a crooked smile, it felt good to invoke so much fear, especially among the faithful.

She had an entire city-state to play with, how could she not get excited. Too bad for Kedan, he was about to face some serious competition, could he handle it? She wondered as she lifted her sword. Time to join the fray!

***

Ogola was seething with rage. How could they allow such a thing to happen? To be so easily defeated and sent running off like a bunch of cowards. His elite force, his wonderful campsite captured so easily.

As he led his army that day, he could almost see the things he would do to those idiots. There was nothing that could stand in his way as he crushed the idiots with his bare hands. He was determined to end them all without his powerful arms. Under his might, they would have no option but to kneel.

After matching for a whole 2 days, he finally got to his destination, the campsite.

What he saw, there were words to describe it, but a campsite was not one of them. Ruins maybe, or ash country. The entire campsite had been razed to the ground. There were no structures that had been left standing, no one left alive. It was a sight of death and destruction that was on a scale hitherto undreamt of.

News had got to him that his team of warriors had been attacked by just 2 people, an old lavel and a boy. No one saw anyone else.

Seeing the sight, even Kagatha was shocked. She couldn't believe that someone could do such damage, and she wondered about the whereabouts of those that were present. Had they too been around when this kind of destruction happened? If they had, then there was a good reason why the campsite was deserted.

Yes, Ogola had brought her along with him. A healer was of no use being far from his injured, and he planned to use her talents where it truly mattered, at the front. Though she hadn't been tamed, nor could they for she was much too old, they still could make good use of her by threatening her. There were lavelian slave guards around her at all times.

"Spread out and search for any signs of them, we need to know where they came from."

Ogola didn't need to say it, his elite team was already working on it. They too were aggravated that someone had the nerve to attack. Ogola's name was their security, their assurance, and if someone was willing to challenge it so loudly, was that not spitting in their faces?

As they went about their work, a haggard-looking vasil flew directly to the boss.

"Sir, the campsite by the Bayu has been attacked. The invaders were just 2, a ..."

"A small boy and an elderly lavel?" Ogola asked.

"Y-yes, that's the description." The messenger stuttered.

"Where are they now?"

"Sir, I-I do-don't know, we just ran when they ..." The messenger's words were interrupted by a sharp dagger that was penetrating his skull. All those present shuddered when they saw how the messenger had died, but just before they could move, another vasil flew in.

"Have you lost a campsite?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"To 2 lavels, one young, one elderly?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Did you fight them?"

"To the last one sir..."

"Then how come you are here?"

"They were too powerful, we ended up running, but even then, they chased us down and killed us. Only I still live."

"Not for long," Ogola said this as he struck the vasil down, killing him instantly.

"Either you stand and fight, or make sure I don't catch you. I am not associated with cowards!" This was said for the benefit of those around him, for the one he was addressing was already dead. The message was loud and clear.

"You, mobilize all the bandits in the area. We need to protect the campsites that are still standing! Send out all the messenger vasils with one message. They think they can intimidate me, they don't know who they are messing with!"

***

"So, how many does this one make?" Kendar asked as he eyed the seemingly quiet campsite.

"Five," came the reply.

"Quite the harvest, don't you think?" The old lavel said as he eyed the young boy, who was now the leader of this group.

It had been 5 days of mad hunting, a kind of hunting that they had never done before. One where they did not hunt for food, but for power. They didn't hunt for prey, but fellow predators. It wasn't a game of survivor, but of power. This was the fundamental difference between a hunter and a warrior. One killed for food, part of the great circle of life. The other killed to wield power over others.

The lavels in his troupe had made that transition without knowing. Now as they stalked other warriors, the bandits, it was no longer scary and intimidating. Before they knew it, they were no longer afraid of the night, for they had become the night. Part of the nefarious that they shunned.

However, warriors came in all shapes and sizes. They wore different uniforms and paid homage to different flags, but their creed remained. Warriors fought for a course, a reason. For them, it wasn't just enough to mindlessly slaughter, they needed a purpose, something to give their life for. The classic mentality of soldiers, police, firemen, guards, and yes, even faction protectors.

As Kendar looked at the warriors that were being forged from this, he understood what they were thinking. Their leader, powerful as he was, seemed to be driven by a vendetta. All he seemed to want to do was kill and kill and kill some more, mostly the campsites. In a deep level, they understood his reasons, but as a child, they felt he was still too young to make such decisions.

Many looked up to Kendar as the guide, one who had the ear of their ruler. While none dared approach him, they hoped that he too must be thinking along the same lines, and hearing his question, it confirmed it.

A mad vendetta meant nothing, they had a goal to achieve. Many had come for their missing leader, and if they could play a part in her rescue, they would do all they could. The two were the best option for the job. If anyone could take on the monsters that attacked them, these two could. They just needed to get their act together.

"I know what I'm doing," Alie said with a lazy smile, without even turning his head.

"Care to share the plan with the rest of us?" Kendar pressed.

"I'll do you one better," Alie answered, signaling the rest to come closer, "I'll show you."

Looking over, they saw them. Dazzling and intimidating, a combined group consisting of both vasilian and lavelian bandits were moving towards the campsite. All told, there were 150 vasils and more than 234 lavels.

This force was more formidable than any that had ever gathered in this part. Every loss of a campsite had infuriated Ogola to no end, and this time he was seething. He felt like he needed to squash that useless lavels moving around, especially the 2, the old lavel and the boy.

This led to him mobilizing everyone under him. He held nothing back. He summoned all his vasilian guards and bandits. Furthermore, he had them bring all lavelian slave guards under them to take part in this fight.

Secondly, he also summoned all the lavelian bandits that worked under and for him. He was the main dealer in lavelian slaves, so in a way, most lavelian bandits and slavers dealt with him. All these answered his call and showed up.

Furthermore, since Ogola had determined that he couldn't predetermine which campsite they would hit next, he closed all other campsites except for this one. This way, he could concentrate his forces and keep from encountering any other losses.

For someone that powerful to resort to such drastic measures, his temper was beyond tipping point, it was boiling. He dreaded what he would do to them when he got a hold of them. If only he knew just who was prey and predator, he would be freaking out.