Realm of Monsters

Chapter 763: Sand Tribe

The sand tribesmen stayed a respectable distance away from the caravan, enough to be acceptable, yet still close enough to attack should they choose. Though they let their camels drink from one of the water holes where the river flowed through, the rulus never unmounted.

Lena eyed them from a distance, wondering to herself if she should make the first move. It wasn’t uncommon to leave strangers be on the road, but she and her people were a caravan. It was obvious they were a merchant caravan. And what sort of merchants didn’t speak to strangers on the road?

One of the older merchants rushed over to Lena. “Lena, what do we do?” he whispered urgently.

“Calm yourself, Markus,” Lena patted his forearm. The last thing they needed was to appear nervous.

“But what if they find out about him?” Markus glanced at the last wagon leading up the rear, where Noct and Titania hid.

“Don’t look that way.” Lena pulled him gently away and led him back towards the watering hole where the other merchants were huddled. “We don’t want to draw undue attention to our guests.”

“I knew it was a bad idea to let those two stay in the caravan,” Markus muttered.

“What if we tell them about the Tribe Slayer?” another merchant voiced.

“And you think they’ll be grateful?” Markus scoffed. “They’ll kill us all.”

“What do we do?” a third merchant whispered anxiously.

“Enough. What’s done is done. We protect our own. Always. Remember that,” Lena said loud enough for the other merchants to hear.

“But what if the rulus attack?” One of the sune merchants said, her voice shaking.

The sune had lived in the Aurous realm far longer than any humans. Their people had fought the rulus of the desert across millennia and the fear of the rulus’ ferocity had been scarred into the sune people even to this day.

“Everything is going to be okay,” Lena assured them in a soothing voice.

“But what if—”

“Even if those rulus over there attack, we have guards for a reason, remember?” Lena said. Not that a dozen guards would ever stand a chance against a group of rulus warriors, but she wasn’t about to point that out.

“R-Right,” the sune merchant nodded hesitantly.

“Alright. You’re all going to stay here and I’m going to go talk to our rulus friends,” Lena said.

“Friends?” Markus said incredulously.

“We’re merchants. Every potential customer is a friend,” Lena gave a confident wink. She turned on her heel and made a beeline towards the rulus.

As she drew near, the warriors bristled and their hands wandered to their weapons. A woman with tattoos that stretched even across her face hopped off her camel and strode to meet Lena. Her stance was relaxed and she carried no weapons. On closer inspection, Lena realized she was missing her left eye. A set of tattoos that seemed almost like arcane runes had been inked across her left cheek and forehead.

“Well met, traveler,” Lena inclined her head and placed a hand over her heart in what she knew was considered respectful among the sand tribes.

The woman acknowledged her with a simple nod. “And you are?”

  Not the greatest of starts. Not that she expected any different. The rulus and sune people had never much gotten along. But Lena wouldn’t let that deter her. “I am Lena of the Iron Lena merchant caravan.”

“Lena, hm?” She looked over at the assortment of wagons and people. “Is this your caravan?”

“It is.”

“Then you are the leader of these people?”

“I am.”

“Good. I am Adina, leader of the war party behind me,” she pointed her thumb back towards the other warriors. “Well met, Iron Lena.”

Iron Lena was the name of her caravan, but she thought best not to correct the sand warrior. “I rarely see your people so far from the deeper regions of the desert. If I may ask, what brings you all the way out here?”

Adina regarded her for a long moment before she spoke. “My tribe sent out our usual party to trade goods with the towns in the outer ring of the desert. That was when the Owl’s light struck.”

“Owl’s light?”

“Have you not heard? It banished the darkness of the night and swallowed a piece of the desert. The storms it left in its wake destroyed several towns.”

“Oh, you mean the midnight sun. That’s what the townsfolks have been calling it.”

“Your townsfolk are wrong. It is no sun. It is the divine light of the Owls.”

“The Owls of Death,” Lena muttered. “You’re saying it was an act of the gods?”

“Our tribes have dwelled in the desert since the first age of the Aurous Realm. We have seen and recorded much during that time. My ancestors witnessed the Owl’s light before.”

“What does it mean? Why would the gods unleash such destruction upon us? Are they angry at us? Have we done something wrong?”

“I do not pretend to know the will of the gods. No mortal can. I will tell you this; the light destroys the rot and purifies the land. So, whatever reason brought the Owl’s light to us, it was needed.”

Why such destructive power could ever be needed, Lena did not know, but it was as Adina had claimed. A mortal could not comprehend the will of the gods.

“We ventured further out to trade with the human villages on the outskirts of the desert,” Adina went on. “Yesterday, we came upon another ruined town. Except, this one was not the work of the Owl’s light.”

Lena frowned. “What are you saying?”

“It was a massacre. The town’s inn had been destroyed, everyone inside butchered. It did not stop there. Most of the homes had been burned to the ground. Charred bodies lay everywhere. Everdyn is nothing more than a graveyard now.”

“Dear gods,” Lena put a hand over her head. They had just been in Everdyn a day ago. “Was it bandits?”

“No. This was done by a single individual. None of the survivors got a good look at the monster, for they hid when the screams began. But one of them did mention seeing something strange the day prior.” Adina looked her straight in the eye, “A rulus without any tattoos.”

Lena swallowed and forced herself to appear calm. “That is strange. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Yes,” Adina replied slowly. “That is because there is only one living rulus bearing such marks of shame. Noct, the Tribe Slayer. He escaped our people’s punishment years ago and has been hiding ever since, until yesterday. When we realized who was behind the massacre, I took my best warriors and split off from the main group to hunt down this exile.”

“I do hope you find him,” Lena said. If what Adina said was true, then Noct was a danger Lena could not allow to stay in her caravan. But something didn’t add up. Noct had been with them ever since yesterday morning. They had left town without trouble. Everyone had been alive. No building had burned to rubble.

“Make no mistake. This man is more dangerous than anyone you’ve ever come across. He is a murderer with no empathy. If he has threatened you or people, tell me now, and I will make certain that your caravan escapes this ordeal safely.”

“I don’t understand what you mean,” Lena furrowed her brow and chuckled. “We have not seen this Tribe Slayer.”

Adina gave her a dry look. “Really? Odd. Since it appears your caravan has come from the same direction as the ruined town.”

“That is odd, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that if I had seen a rulus without tattoos, I would have remembered him.”

“What of a stranger? Have you picked up anyone new into your caravan in the last few days?”

“Nope. None.”

“Perhaps one of your merchants hired a hand to help.”

“No, all new potential members of the caravan must come through me.”

“Is that right…?” Adina narrowed her eyes. “Well, in that case, do be safe on the road.”

“Thank you, I wish you the same.” Lena inclined her head and turned to leave.

“Oh and one more thing.”

Lena buried her grimace before turning back around. “Yes?”

“You said you’re a merchant caravan. I’m sure my warriors and I would love to peruse your wares and stock up on supplies for the road. We are far from home, you see.”

“Yes, of course,” Lena forced a pleasant smile. “We’d be delighted.”

“After you,” Adina gestured. She raised her hand and her warriors followed.

“Thank you.” Lena walked back to the caravan, the rulus warriors close behind. “Everyone,” she announced in a loud, clear voice. “We have customers excited to peruse our wares. Feel free to show them all our wares, including our best white wine from the Ivory Realm.”

The merchants all perked up at her final words. The white wine from the Ivory Realm was a signal phrase indicating to hide what was most valuable. The merchants all glanced at each other in understanding.

“Of course,” Markus nodded. “I’ll make sure to bring out our best.”

~~~

The next few hours were the most anxious minutes of Lena’s life. The rulus warriors walked around each wagon under the guise of looking at the merchant’s stalls. Lena knew the truth. They were inspecting the wagons and their people for anyone who was Noct. But Noct and Titania had hidden themselves well.

Finally, as the sun had begun to dip down, the rulus warriors relented their search. They bought some food and other supplies before leaving. Lena waited until they were well and out of sight before giving the newest members of their caravan the good news.

“They’re gone. You can come out now,” Lena said.

“Finally!” Titania jumped out of the wagon and groaned. “It’s so cramped in there.”

“Sorry about that,” Lena said wryly.

“Was there any trouble?” Noct asked.

“No. But they are definitely after the Tribe Slayer. They think you murdered an entire town,” Lena said.

Noct frowned, but it was Titania who spoke up, “What are you talking about?”

“It seems the town we just visited was massacred,” Lena explained.

“No,” Titania whispered. “Then Sam is…?”

“I’m sorry,” Lena said. “I don’t know who murdered all those people. But whatever did it is still out there. We should move before we find any more trouble.”

“Agreed,” Noct said.

“I’ll let the others know,” Lena said.

“Lena,” Noct called out.

She paused and glanced back. “Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She nodded.

~~~

As the caravan resumed its travel, Titania sat next to Noct in the box seat of the wagon, her feet dangling in the air, as she hummed a simple melody. Nibbles was trudging along with ease, the wagon hardly offering her a challenge.

“I’m gonna miss this place.” Titania eyed the unique river water holes that dappled the landscape.

“We’ve stopped.” Noct cocked his head to the side. “Something’s wrong.”

Sure enough, the wagons at the front of the caravan had stopped moving.

“What is it?” Titania craned her neck to try and get a better look from her rear vantage point, but it was hopeless. “I’m going to take a look.”

“No, stay here. I’ll go,” Noct said.

“I don’t think you will,” came a voice from behind the wagon.

Twenty rulus warriors emerged from their hiding place among the boulders and sandstone crevasses of the land. Their weapons were drawn, half of them with blades, the other half with bows aimed at the supply wagon.

Noct pulled Nibbles to a halt, though it seemed she wanted to trample the rulus more than anything.

Adina stepped forward from among her warriors and channeled magic into her hands, swirls of fire spinning to life. “Come down from the wagon, or I will burn it to the ground.”

Titania glanced back and forth at Noct and the scary woman. “Noct, what do we do?” she asked anxiously.

“Stay here.”

“But—!”

“Stay.” Noct leapt off the box seat and landed on the ground with a heavy thump. He made his way to Adina and the others, and stopped a few paces short of them. Noct eyed each and every one of them, finally settling on Adina. “What do you want?”

Adina pulled her teeth back in a low growl. “What I want…? Do you know who I am?”