The Dreamer's Epilogue-Chapter 29: Punishment
Chapter 29 – Punishment
"You don’t dare." Amadi said, angry veins flooding his forehead like a nest of squirming worms, "You know we are not allowed to touch, let alone kill, the tribesmen."
Alou, until now, only watched, his black eyes as dark as the shadows bleeding through the sky.
Behind the two brothers were the Troll tribesmen. They were wounded — their bodies tall, skin as black as a starless night, with eyes red like pools of blood — and they were angry.
The only thing stopping them from tearing apart Anara was the fact she held the shaman’s life inside her hand.
For the Troll of Kakaru, or even for any tribes in The Tower and Premier, the shaman was someone no one should touch or threaten. Her life was sacred, for she was the closest link to the protecting spirit of the Tribe.
Yet Anara was holding a knife on their wounded, bleeding shaman.
Rage boiled inside them like scalding water. Growls, rumbling through the air like defective electrical machines, erupted all over. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
The world seemed to shake on all sides, and that even inside Anara’s body.
She was terrified.
Amadi began to be restless, fearing what these beasts would do to them because of Anara. Instantly, he began to regret going easy on her.
’I should have broken this bitch!’ He murderously thought, muscles coiling under his torn clothes.
"Let me go." Anara said again, the tip of the sharp knife grazing the Shaman’s skin. The Troll sucked a painful breath, her eyes pleading for her tribesmen.
"All I want is to go," she continued, "and I will not touch the shaman if you make a way."
"And where might you go?" Alou finally said, cutting the angry words of his brother short, "We are in a tutorial supposed to protect the one you are threatening. Will you take the risk to fail?"
"I want to go." Anara repeated slowly and resolutely, trying to stop her shaking body, "5 seconds. In 5 seconds if—!"
Her words were not complete before Alou’s bow appeared inside his hand in a frightening instant, an arrow already snapping towards Anara with cursing accuracy.
And as if it was the signal, the troll tribesmen billowed through their lungs, bolting towards Anara like wolves spotting a sheep.
However, the abused woman acted in a way that defied all their logic. She let go of her captive at the last minute, then turned and ran towards the chamber of the shaman.
The shaman didn’t run away.
Instead, she willingly stepped in front of the arrow of Alou, making it pierce her shoulder.
She grunted, her head suddenly dizzy from the pain.
It was like time had stopped.
Alou watched with wide eyes, his blood pounding inside his ears. A surge of dread rose inside his heart like a snapping snake.
The Troll tribesmen halted abruptly, shock dripping from their monstrous faces at the current sight.
Then something flashed in front of Alou.
[You have been played, but we honestly don’t care. We have warned you, stupid dumb idiot.]
The next panel was dripping red.
[You have hurt a member of the tribe you were supposed to protect. A punishment shall be immediately imposed.]
"No! No! This is—!"
Alou’s words were cut short as the sky parted away like a curtain, and a bolt of crimson thunder struck down on him like the wrath of the heavens.
The world erupted in a brief, but blinding crimson light, followed by an explosive sound.
Alou’s body pulsed, jerked, then foam rolled out of his mouth as he toppled on his back, twitching.
He was bleeding all over.
Amadi, meanwhile, watched the scene with pure dismay, then dread before transforming into searing anger seeing the state of his brother.
He was the only one allowed to hurt his brother. No one else.
He furiously whirled on Anara, only to see a flask of red potion swirling towards him.
Instinctively, he slapped the potion away from him, making it land on a troll standing there in pure confusion.
Crimson flame erupted on the Troll. The beast shrieked like a mad-touched creature, crashing on the floor and rolling continuously, trying to douse the fire.
It was all useless.
Amadi watched the scene, dazed. He only got the time to see Anara running away with the shaman; cuddling in her bosom was a young troll.
Then thunder fell down on him.
He let out a loud, monstrous scream,
"ANARA!!!!!!!!!!!"
Outside of the Troll Kakaru tribe, Anara was running with all her strength, heart pounding.
The shaman was following with her grandchild, tears swelling inside her eyes.
"Where?" Anara asked, voice still trembling, "where to go, Shaman?"
The Shaman watched Anara in solemn silence, looking at the beautiful face of this woman who didn’t hesitate to threaten her with the life of her only grandchild.
Catching her breath, her wounds still bleeding and her GeumGeum low, she finally answered,
"I don’t know," she managed to say, "I don’t know."
Anara’s face twisted in both anger and impatience. But time was scarce, so she just chose a random direction.
"Let’s just run!" Anara said in haste.
Rapidly, the three ran away from the tribe.
...
"Oh my, oh my, oh my," Princess Naja whispered as she crouched down.
Behind, Mat and Océane stood at either of her sides, staring at the same spot.
"Where, lovely boy, did you come from?" Princess asked the rat in front of her, who was cursing Max and Emmie for sending him scouting.
His wide flank was bleeding, courtesy of Océane staring at him as if he was something she had vomited herself.
"I...I was just looking around." Rataru stammered.
Princess Naja stared at him for a while, her smile not wearing off, before finally,
"The whiteblooded bats attacked you. And you were lurking around, watching us from afar as if scouting us, trying to gauge us."
The wounded beast trembled under the piercing white eyes of Princess,
"All of this points to one thing. Can anyone tell me?"
"He is—!"
"Golden, my sweet darling." Princess interrupted Mat’s words.
Océane shrugged indifferently, "Another climber. In other words, another group is not far from us."
Mat looked at her with cold, murderous eyes. She spared him a mocking grin.
"As expected of my sweetheart." Princess praised Océane. She flung back her attention towards the overgrown rat and parted her smiling face,
"Tell me your name, love?"
"R-Rataru!"
Princess’s smile widened,
"Rataru, cutie, tell me something..."
The rat gulped audibly.
"You prefer the carrot or the stick?"
—End of Chapter 29—
