Ogre Attack
'CAW CAW CAW'
As the morning sun beamed over the mountains, a murder of crows gathered around Chronos, who was sleeping in the ruined farmhouse. One crow flew down from the wooden beams and landed on his head. With a hungry glare, it peaked at his left eye. Within an instant, Chronos swiftly decapitated the crow with one of his daggers. The other crows nearby screeched at him bitterly before flying off.
"Damn crows…" Chronos rubbed his eyes and picked up the crow he had just killed. "Looks like I have an easy breakfast, though." He turned the crow upside down, draining the blood.
After creating a small campfire to roost the unfortunate bird, Pupagenti climbed towards the ruined house and called out to Chronos.
"Chronos!" She shouted with a peppy tone. "We are ready to move out!"
"Right, she did say that she would have everyone ready by sunrise. I guess I overslept." He then shrugged. "Oh, well."
Chronos quickly roosted the bird and walked over to the gray-bricked fireplace within the house. He grabbed one of his daggers and stabbed the charcoal until it broke apart. He then reached his hand into the charcoal pile and pulled out a small box made of gold.
"If I can control time, this should suit me." He opened the box, revealing a small silver pendant in the shape of an hourglass. Around the base of the pedant were twelve amber-colored gems. The base of the hourglass was made from one large amber crystal. He wore the pendant around his neck and made his way towards Pupagenti, leaving the box behind.
~~~~~
Hours passed, and the scorching summer sun beamed down on the traveling nomads crossing a mountainous passage. Nothing but dry vegetation grew along the mountain trail. The dreaded stench of rotting corpses littered the trail alongside the lacking scenery. Bodies of men, women, and children were seen rotting alongside the carcasses of donkeys and horses. Flies claimed the bodies as their breeding grounds, preventing the group from looting their bodies in fear of diseases. The group traveled past the bodies in silence. Perhaps to mourn the loss of their fellow kind or to ensure they wouldn't be the next.
With a rudimentary plan in place, the group followed the directions given by Pupagenti. Their destination was in the caverns of a dragon's den. Since Chronos killed the dragon that inhibited the den, Pupagenti thought of having their new kingdom be based there. While the area itself was barren and not very appealing to the eyes, it was a strategic location rich in metals, and the caverns would serve as a natural defense for the group.
The head of the caravan was Loki riding a lightly armored horse with his spear at his side. Chronos and the main group gather in the center, planning for an ambush by ogres as they are trespassing on their turf. Giving out subtle hints about the impending fate that lies before them, Chronos barked orders to the others about how they would tackle the large, unintelligent creature. After he was finished, Pupagenti, riding the back of a heavily armored horse, sped up from the back line to meet with Chronos. Behind her back was a sliver-reinforced long bow with a quiver holding two dozen arrows. She had tied her hair back and kept a sharp look while she spoke to Chronos.
"You seem to be very certain that an ogre is gonna attack us. Why is that?" She commanded her horse to keep pace with Chronos' horse. "Even a God-born beast isn't foolish to attack a group of armed travelers alone."
"Say what you will, but I call it a hunch of mine."
"From experience?"
Chronos nodded.
{But she has a point.} Chronos thought. {Ogres are like humans. They are social creatures, so why was that one alone? Not to mention that someone heavily wounded it when charging at us.} Chronos then glared at Loki. {Just what-}
"Chronos!" Loki turned back and shouted to Chronos, shaking him from his inner thoughts. "I'm gonna split from the primary group. There is something suspicious up ahead." Upon hearing this from Loki, everyone turned to Chronos, awaiting his orders.
Tension filled the air, as Loki's proposal wasn't something he thought of. In the previous loop, Loki randomly disappeared from the group and never returned. This time around, he turned to ask Chronos for his opinion. Despite the anomaly in events, Chronos swallowed his pride. His goal was nothing less than success. One person's life would not dampen the plans for a better future, or so he had believed.
"Round up in a diamond shape and face the northeastern path. All rangers move to the front, behind the rocks, and await an ambush. All cargo carriages move to the open, then dismount and take the rear with your shields out. If things go south, use the cargo as a distraction." Chronos then turned to Loki with a forced look of worry. "Loki, if you get injured, head back here. We cannot risk anyone dying."
{If you survived, that would be great. But I'm not holding my breath.}
Everyone in the caravan nodded and moved their horses to encase any enemy who dared to appear before them. Loki disappeared over the rocks, leaving the anxious, worn warriors behind, ready to clean up. Chronos stared at the path ahead with an unwavering stare as he wanted to see every moment unfold. In case he fails and is given another chance at life, he wants to ensure he can get everything right.
After a few anxious moments of silence, a deep roar echoed off the walls of the mountain, causing the horses to be distressed. Heavy steps shook the land below as a giant ogre, covered in open wounds, emerged from the opening of the caravan's formation. In a blind rage, the ogre ran past Pupagenti and the others, straight toward Chronos and his little squad.
"DAMN HUMAN!!!!" The ogre roared as he raised his club over his head and slammed down at the ground with tremendous force, crushing the land before him.
Chronos rolled to the side and whistled. Within an instant, a volley of arrows flew into the beast's back, causing it to scream in pain. Though the pain was all that the ogre felt as the arrows failed to penetrate the beast's thick skin. The ogre then shrugged off the pain and threw his club at Pupagenti.
"I'm not letting you kill them again!!!!" Chronos shouted, causing time to freeze. "Good." Happy with the outcome, Chronos smiled as he dashed to Pupagenti and picked her up. The moment his hands brushed against her, time unfroze. Without hesitation, Chronos leaped to the right, narrowly avoiding the club. Once she was safe, he let her down, and she nodded before running away with her bow in hand.
"SINNER MUST DIE!!!!" The ogre smashed the ground repeatedly.
"HUH!?" The tremor made Chronos lose his balance. While knocked down, an enormous shadow appeared over him. He looked up and saw the large ogre airborne, getting close to smashing him into a human paste. Just before the beast landed, Chronos rolled away. He then ran up to the beast's arm, jumped onto it, took his dagger, and ran it around its upper forearm. The beast roared in pain as it tossed Chronos into the air. Its arm was dripping a thick crimson oos with part of its bone showing. While Chronos was in the air, a marble doll jumped from the mountain, grabbed him, and threw him towards the cargo carriages. A bundle of dragon meat broke his fall.
After landing, he quickly recovered and grabbed another dagger from his cloak, and ran towards the wailing ogre, who was holding its arm in pain. Using all of his strength, he jumped into the air and let out a warrior's cry as he thrust the dagger into the bone. The ogre's arm fell to the ground with a mighty thump, covering Chronos in its thick crimson blood, and immobilizing him. In a fit of rage, the ogre tried to punch Chronos with its remaining arm. Just before its attack reached him, another volley of arrows was shot at its face, simultaneously taking out both of its eyes. Unable to see, the ogre threw its fist into the ground, getting stuck in the rocky terrain.
"Sit back, Chronos!" Pupagenti shouted as an arrow whistled by with a marble doll on the tail end. The arrow landed in the creature's mouth, and the doll crawled inside.
"Humans bullied us!" the ogre cried out. "Human killed family. Why does human stop us from doing job?" The ogre stomped around in a tantrum. "I don't wanna die-!" As the creature said that, its stomach busted open, spewing blood and many partly digested human remains.
A marble doll waltzed out among the mess and ran towards Pupagenti like a small child to their mother. However, unlike a mother, Pupagenti commander another doll to stop said doll before it came close to her. With a disgusted look. She backed away and smiled at the doll.
"Damn, that thing was strong, even while wounded." Chronos walked over to the ogre's corpse and spoke to himself. He then looked in the direction that the ogre came from. "Now where is-"
"SIR!!!" A member of the caravan grabbed Chronos' attention. "Loki didn't make it, sir."