Light of Chaos

Krastinaff watches the battle pushing his wheelbarrow unharmed, the creatures attack the other troop members and ignore him, the troop shows no sign of being aware of those figures accompanying the creatures.

Krastinaff numbly observes the brutality of the creatures, when a second-class warrior falls and is trampled to death by 3 elephant-sized creatures, these are not sporadic attacks, it's calculated, it was intentional, the creatures deliberately attacked to maximize suffering of the one who fell, crushing one limb at a time as if it were a dance, a ritual.

Krastinaff doesn't fear even in the face of this cruelty, he wished to die just yesterday and this was denied to him, now he just keeps waiting for one more opportunity, he knows that his life is guaranteed as long as they need him to push that wheelbarrow.

The purple shadows vibrate and sparkle, everyone finds this novelty strange, including the most veterans, but everyone remains focused on advancing, the troops are attacked from all sides, the mission on the front lines is the most difficult, repel the creatures that come by flanks and rear is comparatively easy.

Ramon is accompanied by the dwarf on the front line, and the dwarf likes to see Ramon's reckless and violent attacks, Ramon is not able to incapacitate these creatures as effectively as the night before, he hasn't rested yet, he's just been well fed and he got Rikka's care.

The leader and his squire spend most of their time commanding the troops and protecting the carts, when they have time they help killing some of the creatures, the leader's flaming attacks are quite efficient, but not always lethal, his squire remains focused on protecting the leader.

Rikka and her new group are very consistent, after they manage to advance they no longer lose their position to the monsters, they compete with the other two groups that have a guide stone as well.

It is clear to Susano who is watching what he can do from combat that only groups with guide pears have a solid background, others help each other as they can, he is particularly interested in the teamwork of Ramon and the dwarf, it's hard for him to see with details of their position, but they seem to fight very well together, Susano is not impressed with the leader like the veterans.

From his position Susano can see with some effort the entire troop's combat, he sees that the leader observes more easily, perhaps the experience is weighing in his favor, Susano thinks.

The minutes seem like an eternity for the average fighters, they don't fight so much for the troop, but struggle to survive, although they manage to be useful, the archers are also more positioned in the center along the carts, the aerial creatures focus their attacks in the center, and many lie down for a time, studded with arrows.

Some creatures have an almost metallic leather or carapace, which makes the clangor sound echo vividly in battle, in just over two hours more than 10 fighters have already been left behind, this worries the leader, he is experienced and knows he needs to contain for the real battle.

Krastinaff feels his stomach growl and that's all he cares about, he stares at a small rock on top of the carriage, it's about to come loose through the net, he stops and rips it off, a badly wounded combatant sees the scene and go to the dwarf to communicate this.

The dwarf comes furious accompanied by Ramon completely transformed, they couldn't leave the front line, but that precious cargo can't be left behind even if he has to carry the load and its driver on his back.

Coming close they are amazed by that bizarre scene, Katinaff has broken teeth and his mouth is bleeding, his nails are also bleeding, Krastinaff doesn't care, what started with a curious lick on that little rock has turned into a desperate attempt to eat it, his eyes shine a little more normal again after so many cycles.

The stone tastes like sugar to Krstinaff, he gnaws it with difficulty, it's very hard, and much more appetizing, the dwarf thinks Krastinaff must have lost what little sanity he has left, Ramon takes care of tearing apart the creatures in the vicinity by ignoring the acts of Krastinaff.

The rest of the troop starts to move away when the dwarf comes to his senses, the dwarf goes to the cart and starts pushing it in Krastinaff's function, leaving him behind with his stone, the dwarf doesn't understand how that is possible, that stone is harder than the creatures' carapace, how can he eat it?

When Krastinaff looks for more stones, dwarf and Ramon are already far away, they are catching up to the convoy again, which is now moving at full speed, Krastinaff is surrounded by all sorts of creatures and has many more on his way to the wheelbarrow.

Krastinaff saws his fists and mouth dripping with his own blood as he is attacked on all sides by creatures the size of a cricket to an elephant, a myriad of fangs, claws and pincers aiming for his body, just as these creatures have done before, the goal is to inflict pain, but this time they seem to be in a hurry, Krastinaff quickly observes the creatures and recognizes some of the figures accompanying them.

Everyone on the train notices the explosion of light amid that sea of chaos, pain and darkness, the sound of shells being shattered and secondary flashes, coming from Krastinaff's direction, it's amazing.

Krastinaff is surrounded by an aura, but his friends, or former friends, clearly see that it's not his usual light and aura, it's bigger and more intense, and most worrisome is the mixed color of the shadows that pass over the dry trees.

Krastinaff breaks the creatures that cross his path or that come too close with his bare hands, but it's not just his hands that cause this destruction, the aura that surrounds his body, and the desire to taste more of those stones, the stone that he devoured it made him feel alive again, the pleasure of living, he wants to feel more of that.

The leader recognizes in Krastinaff's attacks something familiar, something that reminds himself, but it's not the same thing at all, the leader's flames manifest in a controlled and methodical way, he is aware of his actions and calculates them in advance, Krastinaff is not prepared as a warrior, he fights by instinct, if his weapon were used, it could be a tactical fight.

Krastinaff's scales and cartilage are tougher, not cut or perforated by the act of just one creature, Krastinaff begins to drip blood, both his own and what might be called the blood of the creatures, the accompanying figures keep whispering in Krastinaff ears, but he is deaf to these whispers now.

Within minutes of fighting the flashes of Krastinaff's attacks fade, he is still weak from sleep and hunger, his unhealed wounds have begun to bleed and he takes shelter inside the convoy, the troops ignore his presence and maintain their duties, Krastinaff crawls behind the wheelbarrow, not fast enough to catch the dwarf, who is determined not to let him eat any more stones, they are very valuable thinks the dwarf.

Before the shadows shrink again and the creatures depart wherever they are going in the light period, more than twenty combatants are left behind, a third of the troop is lost, the leader laments this in his mind.

Susano prepared a nice meal during the night to boost the troops' morale if they survived, he is more humble this time and distributes the food according to where the former cook who is now his only helper, the other two perished in combat.

The job of cooking now has become more difficult as he has to alternate pulling the cart with his assistant, in the midst of which he is positively surprised.

"Snake fart, you look like me now, only I was alone when I took over the cart, I was the helper for only a week when the cook died" the ex-cook opens slightly his mind, it's the first time he talks to Susano minimally in a civilized way with someone around.

Susano serves Rikka's bowl who smiles at him before leaving, when everyone is served he quickly goes to Amira who spent most of the fight running from one side to the other, the best she did was transmit a few messages among the troops.

Amira is still a little disoriented by everything that happened, Susano helps her get back to Krastinaff and leaves with them a well served bowl to share.

The dwarf is so far preventing Krastinaff from getting close to the wheelbarrow, the dwarf was relieved to see that the loss was minimal, probably just that small stone he watched Krastinaff devour.

There is hardly any dialogue between the troops, in addition to the fatigue they have had serious casualties, and it must take them a week or two to get far enough away from that place and these creatures.

The next three cycles are going to be crucial, only the leader and the few veterans like the dwarf and the squire know it, this was probably the worst part, but there is still the danger they will have to face in their new home, perhaps they will eventually be assimilate.

Serving the convoy Susano goes through the enlightened period hearing many valuable informations, now they don't keep silent or provoke him anymore, a few are still aggressive and violent. Some mourn the companions left behind, others just for the lost materials, and some secretly celebrate having less to share with for a while.

Krastinaff's wounds have healed slightly from being a little better nourished, now that they can see reasonably clearly, as the shadows again haven't completely disappeared, despite it had shrunk more than last time.

Krastinaff's infection seems to have regressed, very little, but no one has ever seen such a thing happen, the most common is what they saw happen to Rikka who with treatment can control the infection and delay death indefinitely.

Ramon may had an anomalous behavior with his infection, but this was already known, despite being something that varied from person to person, but he had never even seen someone like Krastinaff, and besides having caused a bad first impression, he looked like a loser, a leader without a future.

That group in the eyes of the troop survived by sheer luck, without training, discipline or strength. They were lucky they got too far, wherever they came from.

There, in that troop, to survive was to grow strong, to live always alert, toughness is good manners for them, there is no rest in this place, there is no joy, not that it lasts more than a few minutes, maybe a day with a lot of luck.

They prepare during the light period for the next combat as they can, they tend to their wounds, they take short breaks to rest, and even they give maintaince as much of their equipment as possible.

Krastinaff is lost in his thoughts, he wanted to die two cycles ago and this was denied to him, when he tried to grasp the will to live again in the last fight, that was also denied to him, what does that hell want from him anyway? Krastinaff broods in his mind.

Amira thinks through the day and still can't come up with any plans, she doesn't have many options, it was supposed to be easier to fight with the help of the rest of the troop, but she can't fit in, she's actually rejected, she noticed that something changed.

Susano seems to be assimilated, and she even saw Susano exchange a few words with Rikka and Ramon, something very suspicious, she and Krastinaff continue to be harassed for no reason.

The dwarf came back throughout the day to complain, even though it was only a small stone, he lamented this loss in Krastinaff's mouth, he went on and replayed the litany of how difficult it was for him to get everything, for what? To lose it to a pile of starving turd!

The greatest happiness of the entire convoy is that the supply wagons remained intact.