Chapter 84: A Secret Message
Eira watched the warchief storm off and only shook her head before taking a sip of her wine.
"You are correct. It is very likely that they’ll attack on the full moon, that’s in five days. We’ll have to be ready by then. If everyone is determined to fight, then there is nothing else I can do," she sighed and then turned her attention to me. "Is there anything more you can tell us?"
She stared at me as if she wanted to coerce the truth out of me.
"No, sadly I don’t have that much information to give."
She sighed again and shook her head.
"Then you may go."
Just like that, she dismissed us, and we left the lodge at the same time. My mother stayed behind as she seemed to have something she wanted to discuss with Eira.
"So what now, do you want to go home?" Derrick asked.
"No, I think I should go look for Isabella. Selthia, I think you should stay with Derrick and the others."
She frowned and folded her arms.
"Okay, but remember you still have to take me hunting."
"Don’t worry, I will," I smiled and patted her head before I left to go search for Isabella.
The truth is I had no clue as to where she might be. I couldn’t pick up a scent. I wandered through the forest as I searched for her, but all I saw were dead. Every animal that I had come across was lying dead on the forest floor.
Compared to the city, there weren’t a lot of monsters or zombies here to worry about. But the few zombies I did see were all dead. Their heads bashed in. They created an ominous trail, one which I decided to follow since I had no other clue.
I followed the trail of dead until I came upon a scene. It was a group of boys about my age gathered together.
What could they be doing all the way out here?
What more, is that I recognized these boys. These were the same boys I worked with at the hunting lodge. Whiffer was with them, and it looked like they were being led by Garrick.
Were they the ones responsible for the trail of animal corpses? No, I doubt it.
Just like me, they were all trained to hunt by Nyra. They wouldn’t dare be so sloppy. The dead animals I saw were all mutilated to the point where it would’ve been unsalvageable.
"What are you guys doing?" I called out as I finally decided to let my presence be known.
They all looked surprised when they saw me.
"Liam, you came back. I thought you were—"
"Liam! Man, you’re finally back, glad to see you."
Garrick tried to speak, but he was instantly cut off by Whiffer who ran towards me.
"Where have you been? There were some rumors going around that you have died."
"What are you guys doing out here?" I asked again, rephrasing my earlier question.
"Oh, um, we’re just hunting."
"Hunting? Were you the ones responsible for the mess of animal corpses I saw on my way here?" I asked.
"That’s actually what we’re here to hunt," Garrick spoke up. "The monster that’s responsible for the dead animal corpses."
"A monster?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, it showed up just a few days ago, killing all the wild animals in the area. We’ve been hunting it for days now, but we haven’t turned up anything. We don’t even know what kind of monster it is," Garrick explained.
"I’ve been telling them it’s a chupacabra, but they won’t believe me."
A chupacabra is a vampiric creature that looks almost like a hyena, except it has scaly skin, spikes on its back, and large red eyes. They are creatures that love drinking the blood of livestock, mainly goats.
When it comes to power, they don’t pose much of a threat, but I’ve heard it’s sort of a norm for noble vampires to carry them as pets. Especially for the women. It’s said that the creatures acts as some sort of stress reliever which is effective for overly emotional female vampires.
When I think back to the savagery I saw before, I found it highly unlikely that it could’ve been the work of a chupacabra.
"How do you know it’s a chupacabra?" I asked, and just as I did, a proud smile appeared on Whiffer’s face.
"Because it left us a message."
"The chupacabra left you a message?" I asked in a sarcastic tone, raising an eyebrow at his ridiculous answer.
"Yes, it left a message saying it wants lamb meat," Whiffer said confidently, causing Garrick and the others to slap themselves on the forehead in disappointment.
"The truth is we don’t know what the message means," Garrick explained.
"I find it hard to believe that a monster would leave you a message."
"It’s the truth. It makes these strange drawings using the blood of the animals it kills. I actually think it’s trying to tell us something, but unlike Whiffer, I don’t think it’s telling us it wants lamb meat."
"Okay, show me to where the marking is," I said.
"Alright, but it’s a bit hard to decipher."
Garrick and the others brought me over to a spot in the dirt where the markings were. Indeed, there was a strange writing made in blood. I stared at the writing for just a few seconds, but then it hit me like a bolt of lightning as I figured out what the markings actually meant.
"You see, I told you, it says Lam. The monster wants us to give it lamb blood. The only creature that is said to have a strange obsession with lamb blood is a chupacabra."
Whiffer and the others had it all wrong. The markings on the ground didn’t say Lam. What it actually said was ’Liam’. Seeing a writing of my name in blood didn’t take me long to figure out that it must’ve been Isabella’s doing.
"We found the same markings all over the forest," Whiffer explained. "So what do you think? I’m right, aren’t I?"
"I think you guys should go back home. Let me handle this."
"What? You can’t be serious?" Whiffer was the first to respond.
"We can’t go back home," Garrick said, "a lot has happened since you’ve been gone. Nyra has fallen ill, so it’s now up to us. We can’t possibly leave with everything resting on our shoulders."
Garrick and the others looked adamant about not leaving. They have really matured and were determined to protect their pack, but for some reason, the more they spoke, the angrier I got. So much so that I could feel the rage boiling inside of me. It was because I told them to do something and they refused. It infuriated me.
"Leave," I commanded again, but this time my voice took on a slightly demonic tone.
When I spoke, all of their faces turned pale as they bowed their heads and left without another word.
It was as if they were possessed.
What is happening?
[DING!]
Just as I thought that, a loud alarm went off inside my head.
[User has met the requirement. User will now undergo a rank evolution!
Estimated duration until completion: 127 hours]