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Story Update:
“How much further? I cannot stand to walk,” complained .
“But it's right next door!” answered a little upset. “We are just leaving the mansion. Hurry up; we have a long journey to get home.
“Come on, Leave him alone, you know he will complain about anything,” joked .
The Pack ran along a steep path overlooking the vast plain where the Zil Warriors had built an amusement park with the sweat of their brow, where they had lived and where they performed on stage. Wild and her friends were eager to return to their homes especially after the confrontation against the Equinoxiens and the capture of one of them. () Twist of fate or destiny hands, nothing would happen as the young leader of the Zil had wished. In single file they moved cautiously, Wild at the front. After a moment, she was surprised to see , which had been sent on ahead to the guild to tell them of their arrival back. The young woman with dark skin was not wearing her leather hood and the expression on her face told Wild that something serious had happened.
“I went to Zircus... and...” she stumbled
“And what?” Wild asked, frowning.
“There remains very little.”
“How does is there very little remaining?”
“Part of the Zircus was burned, there are bodies everywhere.”
“Ours?”
“No, old corpses. No trace of other Zil.”
“But what happened?”
“I wish I knew, can you imagine,” Dark said wryly.
“Come on, I want to see it with my own eyes.”
The words exchanged between the two young ladies went around the Pack and all resented leaving the Zircus with a heavy heart and had apprehension to discover the horror that awaited them.
And it was horrible! The scene of desolation, the Zircus was in ruins, between the burned and broken boards and the corpses that rotted in the sun. It was a true infection, a feast of choice for thousands of maggots and ravenous flies. This sad spectacle caused a stir among members of the Pack even for their most hardcore fighters.
“There are Xziarites ... Tantadiens... of Draconian, they have it all,” said.
“But none of ours. Looks like there was a riot, look there, blood, injury here with knives,” Dark said examining some more corpses. “There was a confrontation.”
“Over here! Come and see!” Called Nard.
The others rushed towards the woman; there was residues magic as ground ash forming a large symbol.
“Nehantic?” Grumpy moaned.
“Or rather necromancy, evil that Zil had hunted for several years,” explained Wild. “The Nehantist also use enslaved for attacks, but then see the look of the dead, I doubt whether it is enslaved but rather of a zombie, although the difference in the end is not so clear. Well, that's fine, well, no, it's ugly stuff, but where are the others Warriors?”
“No more big top,” said lifting the wide wooden door of the shed where the big tent the guild traveled with was retained.
“So they left on the roads,” said Dark looking outward. “Let's see if there isn’t a trail for us to follow.”
“Good idea, let us leave this mass grave,” said Wild disgusted.
The Pack went away from the Zircus. Tracks were several on the road between the Xzia Empire and Tantad and some just forked beside the Zircus. But the track that attracted more attention from the Pack shared the distinction of being a succession of corpses. The Pack followed the track which ended with a pile of rotting bodies on which and threw other corpses. Wild was relieved to see them and both creatures greeted the new arrivals.
“We are located in the Valley of the Iris,” said the Abomination. “They will explain there.”
The big top stood deep in the Valley of the Iris, which at this time of the year deserved its name. Irises by the thousands followed the banks of the meandering water that lounged between two small green mountains. Meanwhile, the big top was clearly visible with its purple and black colors. The Pack together with the Abomination and Aberration traversed the path down to the tent before the two creatures would respond to their comrades’ questions.
Now, the guild of Zil Warriors was nearly complete. Wild quickly found Telendar who explained to her the whole story. ()
“It was shortly after your departure that a horde of zombies swept the Zircus while we had a lot of visitors. This quickly turned the massacre and not in our favor. The zombies that had invaded us and our visitors, it was a butchery...” ()
Telendar had stopped, but Wild saw that something was wrong. The former head of the guild, however, decided to reveal what he had learned about Zil.
"We found the Nehantist, the one I had stabbed once and the one we had pursued. It was he who had orchestrated everything. We found him in the middle of the Zircus and Zil became like a madman. But this was a better plan to reveal to us a secret about Zil." (, , I think and )
“What is it?”
"When we spent time searching for the Nehantist, we were ambushed in a small village. There Zil had killed a girl who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. At first this act would have traumatized Zil, however, when he saw the little girl revived by Nehantist he was paralyzed. I had to intervene to stop this. But the Nehantist got away and his attack was successful, the Zircus was destroyed." ()
Wild, was not known for her calmness and the story that Telendar had told her began to piss her off and what she was going to do would cause an earthquake in the guild. No sooner had Telendar finished his story, she charged Zil head on and vented her anger.
“Zil! How could you let this happen?” She screamed with tears.
Zil was also not the type to keep his composure long and diplomacy had many limitations when he felt attacked, which was the case right now.
“How could I let what?” He said trying to remember.
“You let the Zircus be invaded. We left for a little while and on our return what do we find? Corpses and the fruit of our labor DESTROYED! You were incapable of defending!”
“You were not precisely there, you do not know how it happened, and we were unable to cope! So stand still and calm down!”
“We take responsibility for the death of those people who have come with the confidence to have a good time with us. Have you at least attempted to make them covered?”
The answer was no, but Zil thought he did not have to justify himself to anyone.
“And this little girl, tell me what is wrong you and that you did not kill her? Artrezil was not a child killer, but I see that you do not have the same feelings as he did, you’re an imperfect copy.”
That was the straw that broke the camel on both sides.
“Shut up, I owe you nothing! I'm not an imperfect copy!”
Zil could not restrain himself and slapped Wild, who did not see it coming. This threw a chill in the ranks of Zil Warriors who attended the argument. Wild put her hand on her cheek looking firmly at Zil.
“You got lost along the way,” she said quietly, while on her cheeks fell heavy tears. “The first thing I learned from Abyssien is that a guild leader must think of others before his own desires. And he himself had learned that from you...” ()
Wild dried her tears and looked sadly at her companions in the Pack then put her gaze back on Zil.
“You are responsible for the death of those people, you have killed a girl... You were more pleasant in , who was a strange companion but was thinking of others. You have broken my confidence and I cannot stay with you. I'm a Zil Warrior at heart and will never cease to be.”
She left Zil, Telendar, and the others Warriors and started off on the way. Nard and Grumpy were the first to follow her then it was the rest of the Pack, which followed suit. The remaining Zil looked at each other, wondering what to do. Zil himself not moving, lost in his thoughts. This is when Telendar spoke up.
“Let them go, they need to think. It happened that it happened and we cannot go back. Stay focused and do not worry, the Pack will return, they must lick their egos.”
Will the pack get a character named Doc, Dopey, Bashful, Sneezy, Sleepy, and Happy, now since they have Grumpy?
Will Telendar be Snow White?
And what are the chances of getting a Mercenary Pack member?
Stay tuned to find out.
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Ty Boadicea for the awesome farewell gift. Now just to think up an avatar to go with it. Anyway, I'm still a Sap/Nomad/Pirates fan and user.
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