Surprised in The Forest

We tracked a deer for two hours. It was harder than I had expected. I could maintain my new skill active for quite some time, but apparently others could see it, and I wanted to keep it a secret.

"Will you tell this to anyone?" I asked Yula.

I didn't notice before, but when I activated my skill, my eyes would have a mysterious glow to them. Yula had seen it while we tracked the animals.

"Don't worry, I won't. But I don't think it's a good idea to use it while hunting with someone else if you truly want to keep it a secret. The villagers love a gossip," she said.

Lady luck was on my side. Yula was not only teaching me how to hunt, but she was someone I could trust. At least I hoped so. How could I have known that my eyes would change like that?

Anyway, the reason for me wanting to keep it a secret was my weakness. I wanted to grow stronger before showing my skills.

"Your ability is really useful for hunting," Yula praised me. "With it, I am certain we can get a lot of food for the winter."

We stopped behind a tree, staring at a deer who was drinking water from the river. I grabbed my bow, placed an arrow on the string, and hold my breath, aiming at a vital point.

With the increase in my attributes, using the bow was easier, and the enhanced vision made it easier for me to hit the right vital spot. The arrow flew fast toward the deer's head, killing it instantly.

"Nice shot!" Yula said.

I was happy with myself. We walked over to the deer. I grabbed it and placed it on my shoulder. It was heavy, but with my current strength, I could lift it and bring back to the village.

When we arrived back, everyone praised us. It was a big deer that would certainly feed a lot of us. But we didn't stop there. After giving the deer to Steward, Yula and I returned to the forest to hunt again.

The hunters were working hard to get enough food for the winter. I was happy to be part of a community and do something useful. It was nice.

But things weren't exactly like we wanted, were they? Life was hard, and bad things happened to everyone.

I was inside the forest with Yula. We were tracking another deer to hunt. That's when we saw someone else inside the forest.

We hid behind the bushes and the trees, looking at the mysterious person from afar.

"Who's that?" I whispered to her.

It didn't look like anyone from the village. Even the clothes differed from the ones I was used to.

Yula frowned. "I don't know, but this is not good. Judging by his clothes, he's from one of the savage tribes."

"Savage tribes?"

That was the first time I was hearing about that. Yula explained it to me.

"We are a civilized kingdom, but there are some tribes scattered throughout the land. The kingdom tried to conquer them, but it's hard. They are reckless and know the land with the palm of their hand. But it's been a while since we saw them around here. This is not good."

The tribes were not friendly. Yula made sure I understood that part well. It was known throughout the kingdom that those tribes raided villages and killed everyone.

So, seeing a tribe member there, well, that was terrible.

"We need to warn the others," Yula said.

I nodded in agreement to her. But when we turned around to go back to the village, three men were right behind us. One of them hit Yula's head with a club, and she passed out. I was next in line. They knocked me out, too.

*

The surroundings looked like a cave. I was inside a wooden cage. When I looked to the side, Yula was right there with me, still on the ground, unconscious.

I shook her body, trying to wake her up. It worked.

"W-What happened?" she said.

Her expression was that of confusion at first, but it didn't take long for her to realize what had happened.

"Fuck. They got us!" she cursed.

"Where are we?" I asked.

Yula checked the surrounding area. "This cave is probably next to their tribe. We'll be held captive here. You can expect them to torture us for answers, or worse."

It was dark in the cave. The only sounds we could hear belonged to the bats, or to the unknown voices coming from the outside. I didn't know what would happen to us, and that made everything worse.

Would they really torture us? If the tribes were as savage as Yula described, then I should expect worse things to happen to us.

After what it looked like an eternity, someone showed up. It was a man dressed up in fur clothes, and he wore a wolf hat. He spoke in a language I could understand.

"Look what we have here," the man said, "two people from the village we plan on conquering. This is too good to be true. It's rare for you to come so close to our tribe."

The man was the tribe's shaman, and he didn't have good intentions.

"We are sorry to enter your territory," Yula said. "Can you let us leave? This won't happen again."

The shaman laughed. "Shut up. We will keep you here, for now. But don't worry, I'll make you watch as your friends and family die in front of you."

After saying that, the shaman left, leaving us in the dark again. I didn't know what to do.

"They want to conquer the village. With the winter coming, they want our houses and our food. This will make it much easier for them to survive," Yula explained it to me.

But what was more intriguing was the fact she didn't know what tribe it was! As far as she knew, there shouldn't be a tribe so close to where the village was!

We had to find a way to get out of that cage.