A nightmare tale is born

The four of us started walking to the place where Little Racer, Theresa, her dire-wolves and I faught the three hunters a few hours ago.

On our way we introduced ourselves. The two scouts used their scouts' titles ‚fang' and ‚claw' at first but after overthinking it they told me they were named Max and Moritz. I really had to suppress the building laughter inside my stomach after hearing this because in my old world there was a children's story about two boys with these exact names. I think it was an ancient German story and like many others of these German fairytales the protagonists die in the end after doing some bad things. Obviously it was censored for the kids back in the day.

We decided not to use their titles among scouts as long as we don't run into enemies.

After walking back to the fight scene Gabriel and I were surprised by the scene which we saw now. The bodies were gone and only blood and destroyed pieces of clothing indicated that there was a fight here not even a day ago.

"The hunters..." said Max

"The brought their comrades back to their hideout" Moritz finished the sentence.

Luckily we had many qualified noses to locate the bodies. There were ten dogs and little racer to keep track of the smell but sometimes strength comes in numbers. The dogs worked together not to lose the track and little racer could only fall back with a kind of disappointed expression on his face.

He trotted alongside Gabriel now who was guarding the rear of our group while I was sitting on my deer in the middle to keep an eye on our surroundings.

Night had fallen by now but Gabriel's and my eyesight didn't falter in the slightest. I was once more impressed by the variety of Prime's bloodline abilities.

The scouts and their four-legged familiars on the other hand weren't as suited to the darkness as the two of us were. We decided to rest for a while. The scouts set up a camp consisting of two tents for me and the two of them near a cave which was for Gabe and my familiars. They let their birds patrol the skies to have at least a little bit of warning capabilities in case the hunters would notice us. They had their dogs catch many small creatures. For humans this amount would definitively suffice and even little racer could fill its stomach but for a descendent of a Naga like Gabriel this was only an appetizer. Luckily he had eaten not too long ago and for a snake it was fine to only eat once in a week. Fortunately my mount wasn't a carnivore and only plucked leaves from the trees and herbs from the ground or else there would have been a food shortage even with the dogs' relentless hunting for a few hours.

To prepare the meat the scouts used one of their tricks. When they started a fire they quickly added a variety of herbs to it which caused the flame to become dark and the smell of burning was suppressed. Every aspect of the fire was concealed.

"Impressssssive" Gabriel exclaimed before we started talking about our mission and other things.

I was quite interested in every piece of information I could get my hands, ears and eyes upon. It was nice to hear something about the world from a human's point of view.

Although there were many magical species such as Demi humans and descendants of magic creatures the human population was governing most of these lands. There were even some countries were there wasn't much of a fight between the species. Unfortunately for Gabe and Natalie this mystic forest wasn't located in one of them. Otherwise kidnapping a being, even a Naga, would count as kidnapping of an intelligent creature and would be treated like any crimes against humans.

Since the scouts were often in the forest they did not know much about the world but this was already valuable information for me right now.

We didn't encounter any strong creatures while we were tracking the hunters down and on the way we familiarized each other with our strategies and abilities.

The 'scout' was plain and simple just an ‚assassin' who excelled in reconnaissance. They wouldn't have an easy fight when they were confronted with a battlefield but if they were provided with a decent cover or a diversion they would become the deadliest of enemies. I myself could somehow be included in that class. I was a little stronger than these scouts in direct combat but on a battlefield I could still meet difficulties. Furthermore I relied on my little racer to catch the attention of my enemies to strike them down in a single attack. With the snakes to dampen my sounds I could be lurking around even easier than many professional assassins.

We devised a plan that we deemed to be failsafe as long as there wasn't a magician or very high ranking warrior hiding among the hunters.

We travelled halfway to a mountain where a few buildings were located. It was almost guaranteed that this was the hunters main hideout.

Suddenly little racer ran off. I knew that there were instincts every wild beast had and therefore we took a detour to follow my familiar.

When we caught up to him all our mouths were left agape.

A racer lizard was one of the rarest species in the entire forest. And yet there little racer was, procreating at a speed that left his running speed in the dust.

When the female racer Lizard looked at me I felt somehow uncomfortable.

But it just bowed its head and I could feel that I had gained a new familiar.

The scouts and I walked around a corner but Gabe seemed not to know the concept of private sphere because he just stood there looking at the two racer lizards until they were done.

After fifteen minutes I heard „It sssseemssss like they are done now"

This was quite an interesting way to get a new familiar. Especially a racer Lizard.

Later that day Gabriel told me that racer Lizards take a while to mature and that they very rarely like to reproduce. That was the reason that he was so fascinated by the previous spectacle.

It took us over a day to reach the mountain.

The hunters used this mountain because it had a good position in the terrain and there was a small river sprouting from the top. This and the inhabitants gave this place the name hunters creek.

From the moment we set foot on our enemies' territory we tried neither to make any noises nor leave any traces and we were especially aware of any possible traps set up by the hunters.

When the sun set on this day everything was ready.

We knew that there were two dozen hunters who were more or less on the same level as the ones I had killed on my previous encounter with the three hunters and Theresa.

We even knew that there were many other prisoners besides Natalie and they were mostly human.

It seemed like these so called hunters who thought so highly of themselves were nothing more than slavetraders.

Gabriel and my mount were positioned down the mountain because they were not to miss if one looked on their direction.

When the last sun ray had faded away there was a calm. A calm like this only exists before a tremendous storm.

Fang and Claw had their ten dogs positioned at the entrance to the hunters creek village.

They unsheathed their knives and I wielded my Sabre teeth.

The first move was initiated by each one of us.

There were two guards around the entrance. Claw and Fang gutted the one on the left while I plunged my twin Sabre teeth into his chest to hinder him from shouting anything. I pierced through his lungs and the intended scream only dissipated through the holes in his chest as he became one of the first victims of the night. After the entrance was cleared Little Racer and Liz, as I had named the female Racer Lizard charged in.

The moment of surprise was still intact after my attack but the other guard's spear hit the floor which was an alarming sound for the hunters.

I inwardly cursed the two cowards who weren't able to take down their target without making a noise. I hid between a few bushes and commanded Little Racer and Liz to follow suit while I whispered „plan B"

Claw and Fang understood and immediately retreated at a fast pace.

Our reserve plan was for those who were discovered to immediately regroup with Gabe and fight against their persecutors. With a fully armed Naga who had decades of training they would be able to take on many of them while I freed Natalie.

Half a dozen charged after them while 18 remained.

I could barely control my bloodlust when I heard the voice in my head ‚this is a predators's instinct. Come on Val. Let's show them that you don't mess around with a dragon's son. Let's slaughter them all.'

„Yessssssss" I hissed while jumping out from the bushes slicing off the two hunters' heads who were standing besides them.

16 left.

The soul link between myself and the racer lizards kicked in and they let an extremely loud and perilous hissing sound be heard in the vicinity before both of them accelerated to an abnormally fast speed. This caused two hunters to trip. They pounced on the third one together and Liz bit off his arms while Little Racer launched himself right onto his throat. Not even a second had passed. In the meantime my Sabre teeth had split open the two tripped hunters' heads.

13 left. *HISS*

A hissing sounded once again from myself and the two Racer Lizards.

The hunters had no clue were the hissing came from and they tripped one after another right before having their head sliced off or the throats cut or bitten.

9 left. *Hiss*

Four hunters charged at my familiars. I didn't hesitate to to pick up to stones from the floor and launched them towards the two that were about to hit my familiars *thud* *thud*

7 left

Liz and Little Racer pounced on the third one while my Sabre teeth were plunged into the fourth attacker.

5 left *hiss*

My bloodline was boiling with an enormous killing intent and only blood could cool it.

One was still standing besides the cage with the prisoners including Natalie. The remaining four assumed a formation. They were standing in a circle of three with the fourth one guarded in a middle.

He looked different somehow I thought while my berserk mode slowly dissipated. The three hunters who were standing in a circle did their utmost to locate me in the darkness, surrounding them.

The one in the middle looked extremely focused. His look was void of any emotion and his eyes were completely white.

‚Wizard...'

„What?"

‚Val, run! This is a wizard!'

When Drake screamed these words inside my head as a switch was flipped.

How could I run? How could I ever run away from a being that killed a part of me in my previous life and furthermore a being that took part in the kidnapping of various creatures.

The berserk instinct from before resurfaced once more. My body was brimming with intent to kill.

My bloodline activated and this time even Liz and Little Racer were affected by my berserk mode. Their speed increase another notch while my own speed was rivaling theirs for a few moments. In this moment the wizard had finished his spell. He yelled with an inhuman voice „light the darkness, reveal the truth. All shadows shall falter."

At this moment the night above hunters creek turned into the brightest of days. Liz, Little Racer and I were revealed from the shadows. The assassin was met with a light.

It was too late....

....too late for the hunters.

When this light activated there was barely a tenth of a second left until my Sabre teeth daggers launched themselves from my hands and entered each an eye of one of the hunters while the third one was devoured by my familiars at the next instant.

My daggers were stuck in the two hunters heads but that didn't stop me from killing my first nemesis in this world.

A wizard! A creature who killed a part of me in a previous life.

*hiss* *splat*

With one punch the wizards head split open like a water melon before he could even think of starting another spell.

1 left

No more hissing. The storm of death had ended. What was left was an absolute calm.

I took up my daggers from the two hunters' corpses while looking at the remaining hunter and commanding my familiars to stay ready to pounce on him if he moved the slightest.

What I didn't expect was what Natalie said: „pleasssse don't kill him! He took care of all of usssss. He wasss the only one who treated usss like fellow beings and not like trasssssh"

I answered with a question: „where are the keys?"

„H-h-Here" he stuttered and unlocked the cage.

I proclaimed to the free people: return to your homes you are free and you little hunter..."

He shivered „yes?"

„I shall spare your life. Redeem yourself. Stop being a hunter and fight against them wherever you can. Before you go... tell me... what is your name?"

„My name? It was that of a hunter. I shall choose a new one for the grace I have received. The world shall know that there is mercy and Mercy shall be my name."

—————————————————

One year later I officially joined the tamer's clan accompanied by Gabriel and Natalie who visited and trained with me and brought me the nutritious plants from the depths of the lake while I tried to learn everything about the nature and the teachings of the tamers.

It was then that the clan consisting of tamers heard about a nightmare; The nightmare of hunters creek.

It was about a snake in human form. It's hissing came with the corpse of a hunter every single time it sounded in the darkness. Even an apprentice magician was slain by the snake man who governed the night together with his creatures.

The night serpent's tale was being told throughout the country and fear was written on many hunters' faces when they heard it but in the tamers' village the night serpent was an idol.

It was on the first anniversary of the joyful killings at hunters creek that the tamers' clan was granted a new name by the village chief:

The night serpent clan