21 Guardian and Ainos the tribe of the fores (2/2)
Joonbum also drank the orange juice as they ate what was prepared for them. They watched him and started drinking that also. Joonbum cracked a smile as they talked to each other as they ate.
It seemed that serving food showed hospitality and they were also relieved. It didn't seem like they were showing any more looks of suspicion. Even their way of speaking seemed to be less tense.
'It's always the food.'
Chapter 12.
”Did you find them?”
”No. None here.”
”Hope they're not all dead.”
”No!”
”I don't see any Guardians. No cubs. I don't see Arowen, the son of Howen, anywhere.”
”What? That can't be!”
The area was full of newly-created potholes, debris, ripped flesh, and pools of blood. There was a bunch of dead gigantic wolves mixed with two-legged monster corpses.
The monsters' corpses were all in terrible shape. Some of their heads had exploded, while some had their intestines ripped apart, spilling out and rotting.
The men could not believe what had happened around the big cave. There were more than ten people searching the area looking for any sign of survival, but the area was full of blood and death. It was real as it could be. The dead bodies of the gigantic wolves were proof.
Kawiqunin, the two-legged monster as they called it, was known as tyrant of the forest. Their corpses were laying around with a much larger number than that of the wolves.
”Six ancient wolves, the Guardians of the Khalodanian Forest, were all killed. They were exterminated.”
”I can't believe this…”
Pree-an, Hunter of Ainos, reported as the people around him moaned in shock. It was shocking to know that all of the wolves had been killed. Pree-an kept on reporting what he found.
”I believe there were fifteen Kawiqunin that attacked this place and ten were killed. Five probably left here alive. Also, I cannot find any signs of the cubs or Arowen here.”
Howen, the Chieftain of the Ainos tribe and the head of the hunters, looked concerned. But he soon shook away any uncertainty and spoke up.
”Did you check inside all the Kawiqunin's stomachs?”
”Yes, I cut them all open. There was nothing.”
Pree-an replied to Howen's question. Another set of moaning ensued, but Howen only raised his eyebrows at the report. If Pree-an's report was true, then five Kawiqunins were still roaming around nearby. There was also the possibility that his son was still alive.
'Could he be alive?'
Howen weighed the possibility and calmed himself.
'There's no way. If anything, he's probably inside the stomach of those five.'
Thinking of the worst possible scenario fired the rage in his heart. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, letting out a low moan.
”We'll retreat to the vil-”
”There's a sign! Chieftain! I see a sign of the Guardian!”
One Ainos raised his head suddenly. There was a bunch of others who were still searching the area, but they stopped in response to the shouting.
”Chieftain! It seems… it seems all five followed the Guardian's trail!”
People fell silent at another finding. No Ainos spoke for a while until Howen broke the silence, asking grimly, ”I thought there were only six Guardians?”
That's what everyone thought. The current number of Guardians was six. People started becoming curious about the inconsistency.
”Huh? Weren't there six?”
”I'm pretty sure it was six.”
”One… Two…”
The people were confused. There was no way of mistaking the number of Guardians. Some even doubted their way of counting.
”There were seven Guardians until just recently. One of the young female Guardians was gone. We suspected a fight broke out between them and the Kawiqunins when we found their bodies. Maybe she came back alive?”
”Maybe…”
”Is that for real?”
Pree-an carefully explained his theory and people brightened at the thought. The absence of the Guardians would mean a huge problem for the Ainos. Even Howen seemed to be hopeful at the theory.
”Gazlow, look for the trail. Bartras, lead your group with Gazlow and scout the area.”
”Yes, Chieftain!”
A sign of hope brightened everyone. Bartras answered eagerly and ran towards the forest with four more Ainos beside him.
They were quick and agile. As forest people, they ran through the forest as if it were a wide open plain. They didn't even let out a single sound and ran across the forest until Gazlow put raised his hand, pointing to his right, turning his group's direction.
They ran the entire morning across the forest, following the trail before they stopped. It was almost noon when they found what they were looking for. They spoke, full of breath.
”S-Stop! G-Guardian. Gray and Brown!”
”She was alive! Oh God, we should let Chieftain know right away.”
Bartras and Gazlow spoke out at the sudden sight that appeared in front of the scouting squad.
”She really was alive!”