Chapter 221

Clang! Clang! Thud!

Daryl finished cutting down a werewolf knight that had stumbled upon their location. The body fell to the ground with a thud as blood soaked into the ground. Night was getting late and he was lacking in rest himself. It was difficult to keep his eyes open as he kept watch. This was not the first werewolf knight that Daryl had cut down during the night.

"Mm. Meow," A quiet sound from Chase could be heard as the tiger stretched its body out with a yawn. His form slowly shifting into that of a human child. Gripping onto the shadow-like fur of the wolf beside him the boy leaned against the wolf's sleeping body. "Rest."

"Yes, you should continue to rest." Daryl spoke back to the child. Seeing a blank expression on the boy's face as he began to shake his head. The boy raised his finger and pointed at Daryl. Realizing the meaning behind the tiger boy's words he spoke up again, "I can't rest. Someone has to keep watch."

Chase got up and dusted himself off. Walking over to Daryl the boy tapped on his arm to get his attention. "I will keep watch." Those four words left the boy's mouth as if natural.

Daryl hesitated to respond because of how natural the boy's words sounded. His body also felt fatigued. Knowing well that the boy could fight well as a beast it would not be impossible for the child to keep watch in his place. He could not deny the fact that Chase was indeed talented because he grew up inside a dungeon. Chase had learned from a young age how to kill monsters inside that dungeon in order to survive under the care of the dungeon's master.

"Alright, if anything happens just wake me up immediately." Daryl gave in to the child's offer for him to get some rest.

"Mm!" Chase nodded in agreement to Daryl's words.

Chase could feel Daryl's hand kindly pat him on the shoulder as he passed by him. His eyes following the man's movements as he went over to where Vorbuk slept. Daryl sat down on the ground beside the wolf and leaned against the tree. His arm resting on top of the wolf as he slept in order to share the warmth the beast gave off. Every action he took he felt the tiger's eyes observing him closely. It was difficult for him to get comfortable knowing the tiger was staring so intently.

"It will be difficult for you to keep watch for the enemy if you watch me instead?" Daryl closed his eyes to rest as he spoke.

"It wont." Chase's response was short and simple. He was not use to talking to others so he lacked interest in speaking in long winds to other people.

What a strange kid.. Daryl thought as he listened to the boy's short answers.

As Daryl's consciousness faded away into light slumber Chase's eyes turned in direction of the temple. The only person left awake it was his turn to keep watch over them. All his senses focused on the surroundings as he listened intently. Daryl was a light sleeper due to his experience in traveling. If something were to happen it would be easy for him to wake up and react to the situation given to him. Though that did not mean the tiger's guard would weaken.

When morning came the sunlight caused the wolf's throat to growl faintly. It made his eyes ache. Sitting up to open his eyes to the surroundings he flinched. His aching eyes no longer seemed to bother him as much as the sight in front of him. Feeling speechless he took on his human form without a word. Reaching out his hand in order to slap at Daryl's shoulder in order to wake him up.

"Hey!" Vorbuk called out to the man as he opened his eyes with a startle. "What on earth happened last night?"

"What do you-?!" Daryl flinched as he looked around and realized what Vorbuk was asking him about. "I had nothing to do with it. You're the one that adopted him."

Vorbuk's expression stilled as they both looked at Chase. The boy was sitting on top of a pile of werewolf knights that he had taken care of during the night. The boy's green eyes sparkling as he noticed that Vorbuk had awoken. They watched as he carefully hopped down from the stack of corpses. Although Chase was young there was something about the way he landed that exerted a powerful aura. It was the pressure of tiger, a fierce yet elegant aura that came natural to Chase.

"Father." Chase spoke one word as he made his way for Vorbuk. That word was enough to jolt Vorbuk back to reality as he climbed to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye Vorbuk could see Daryl getting up as well.

"If you had problems you could have called for Daryl." Vorbuk said to the boy while understanding that Daryl had left Chase to guard them last night.

"No problems arose." Chase replied to him as if trying to correct a strange misunderstanding. He could not understand what problem they were thinking happened.

"..." Vorbuk felt like he was at a loss for words. "Why did you stack them then?"

"Fear." Chase replied with one word. After taking in the expression on Vorbuk's face he added on a few more. "Intimidate the enemy. Too scared to approach."

Who taught you that?! Vorbuk flinched at the boy's words and pondered. What the hell happened to this kid in the dungeon during all those years?!

"I think that would be anyone's normal reaction when they see a child on a pile of corpses he'd slain." Vorbuk couldn't help but retort the idea of what he'd just seen. It felt like he might have nightmares himself.

"Chase," Vorbuk placed his hand on top of the boy's head and stared down into his green eyes. "you're no longer inside that dungeon. You don't need to do unnecessary things."

"Hm?" Chase tilted his head to the side, his face slightly flushing in embarrassment.

"You're not a beast even if you choose to use that form more then your human one. There is no longer a need for you to take things so far." Vorbuk tried to make the boy understand.

Acting like a normal person was not something Chase was capable of doing. That was something that Vorbuk understood about him well. After all that time it was impossible for Chase to come out completely unharmed.

He trusts me because I took him out of that dark place, but he has wounds that are too deep to be seen. Vorbuk was not certain how he could get through to the child. It would take Chase years to heal the kind of damage that was done to him. That is only hoping that he could eventually overcome those memories.

Purrrr..

A low tiger's purring could be heard echoing from Chase's chest. His hand knocking away Vorbuk's in order to stop the sound from continuing.

"I will wake that man." Chase spoke as he rushed over to where King Luke was tied up.

"He's not going to be an easy one to handle in the future." Daryl said when Chase was away from them.

"Who? Chase?" Vorbuk asked.

"Yes," Daryl replied. "he's going to have a hard time adapting to life at the palace."

"We'll figure it out when we get to that point." Vorbuk didn't care if it was going to be difficult; it was impossible to abandon the child. He had already promised to take care of Chase and wouldn't go back on his word. The boy had become his responsibility.

"We will," Daryl would surely agree with him. "I just worry what kind of problems we might run into specifically."

They both flinched and felt a cold chill down their spine as they considered that question.