Chapter 237: Back to the village
The last kobold twitched once, then went still, smoke curling from its charred scales. The clearing fell quiet except for the heavy breathing of the strike team and the low crackle of dying lightning. Rhuvia lowered her hands, fingers still tingling from the raw power she'd poured out. She didn't feel tired exactly, just annoyed. This whole mess had eaten up time they didn't have.
After the full horde of the newly arrived kobolds was wiped out by Rhuvia alone, the three Fiora hunters rode back toward the main group, horses lathered and breathing hard. Their weapons dripped dark blood, and their faces carried a hard, satisfied look like they'd just won something. The scarred woman sat tallest in her saddle, chin up, scanning the others like she expected backslaps or nods of respect for leading them to this unnecessary battle.
Maya trailed a few paces behind them, shoulder wound throbbing. Blood still seeped through her makeshift bandage, made from an uncleaned cloth, warm and sticky against her skin. Shame was burning in her gut worse than the pain. These were her people. Her responsibility. From her tribe. And she failed to keep them in control.
She urged her horse forward until she pulled level with them. Her voice came out low, tight, like she was forcing the words through clenched teeth. "What the hell was that? Kaela!"
The scarred hunter, Kaela, glanced over, sweat cutting lines through the dirt on her face. "What? What did I do wrong here? We saw the pack moving toward the village. Couldn't just let them go."
"Didn't you hear the mission?" Maya kept her tone even, but her knuckles whitened on the reins, hearing the woman still making excuses. "We push forward. Find the dungeon gate before nightfall. Only engage if they threaten the village directly. That was the plan, and what part of it didn’t you understand?"
One of the other two, Shilla, wiped her blade on her thigh and shrugged. "Those walls might hold against normal shit, but a swarm like that? We weren't taking chances. So, we charged at them first."
Vessa rode up beside them, sword still out, blood flecked across her leather armor. She didn't bother lowering her voice. It carried sharply across the group.
"You say you did it because you were worried kobolds might reach the village and attack the villagers inside. But maybe you forgot, the walls got reinforced last night for exactly this reason, so we wouldn't have to stop and fight every damn thing in the forest. Rhuvia and I spent the whole night on those barriers while the rest of you slept. And now you’ve made us burn energy and time on a fight that didn't need to happen. Direct defiance of the mission leader."
The three hunters didn't drop their heads or mutter sorries. They sat there on their horses, jaws set, eyes hard with that same fire that had driven them to charge in the first place. Kaela met Vessa's stare straight on. There was no apology in her look. Just defiance.
Rhuvia watched all of this drama from her mount a short distance away. The team, other than those people, had gone dead silent the moment she finished the kobolds. Even the wind seemed to hold back. She could feel the shift in how they looked at her now, wide eyes, quick glances, the kind of respect that came from seeing someone turn a brutal battle into child's play with a few gestures.
She didn't raise her voice. Didn't need to.
"The three of you will return to the village immediately. Take up guard duty on the walls with the rest of your tribe. No exceptions."
For a second, nobody moved, as if Rhuvia’s words were absolute. There was no denying it, not after seeing the hell she was capable of causing, even though she didn’t look like it.
But that silence wasn’t for long. The three Fioran hunters finally erupted.
"We didn't come out here to get sent back like kids!" Kaela snapped, voice cracking with frustration. "Our people died in this forest this morning. We have more right to be here than you…."
"Enough." Maya's word sliced through like a whip before Kaela could say the next word. She didn't yell, but the weight behind it shut them down cold. Her face stayed stone-hard, eyes locked on them. Anger simmered there, mixed with exhaustion and that deep disappointment only a leader could carry. Whatever anger they had toward Rhuvia for abandoning their people earlier, Maya was still their Niruha, leader. That bond ran deeper than blood or grief. They shouldn’t at least listen to her, or at least make a fool out of her like this.
She didn't soften her voice. "You can't endanger the whole mission because you refuse to follow orders.”
“If you really want to honor the ones we lost today, you do it by making sure we succeed. Not by turning this into a mess. Go back. Guard the walls. That's my order."
Two of the women among the three held steady for a long beat, breathing roughly. Then they grabbed the scarred woman's reins before she could spit out whatever hot words were building on her tongue. They bowed their heads together, low and stiff. "Your wish is our command, Niruha," they said in rough unison.
The woman struggled for half a second, mouth opening, but her companions squeezed her arm hard enough to shut her up. They turned their horses without another word and kicked them into a trot back the way they'd come. Hooves faded into the trees.
Maya watched them disappear around a bend, jaw clenched so tight it ached. The wound on her shoulder pulsed in time with her heartbeat.
Drosha rode up close, voice low and bitter. "I told you, Sister Maya. That woman was no good when you took her in. She's the one who stirred Maen and Shilla up like this, I tell you this!"
Maya didn't answer. She just stared at the empty path, the taste of blood and smoke still thick in her mouth. Accepting that woman into the tribe had been a mistake. She knew it.
And letting her join the strike team was another. But crying over it now wouldn't fix shit. The forest didn't care about regrets.
She turned her horse toward Rhuvia and dipped her head, briefly and formally. "I'm sorry for that, Miss Rhuvia. I promise you that it won't happen again."
Rhuvia met her eyes for a moment, expression unreadable. "Leave it. What's done is done." She adjusted her grip on the reins. "Plus, we still haven't found any trace of the dungeon gate. Let's move. We can't waste another second here. More monsters might pick up the scent."
She nudged her horse forward without waiting. The reduced group fell in behind her, the formation tighter now, quieter. Maya rode near the front, shoulder burning, mind already turning ahead. Drosha stayed close, silent for once.
The trees closed back around them, thicker and darker the deeper they pushed. Branches scraped overhead like claws. The dungeon gate waited somewhere in there, hidden in the gloom.
No one spoke much. The weight of what came next pressed down on every rider, the forest swallowing their trail as they pressed on.