The Red Lands

Lifestone?

Ishara gazed with defiant eyes at the children surrounding her in a half-circle.

Experience informed her that she would find it difficult to win a battle in her present state. One of these children would prove a handful, much less for four. And this was excluding the hulking wolves and the nearby goblins.

The last few days left no doubts as to which side the green-skinned fellows would take.

The raven-haired boy, however, tilted his head while diffusing the situation. Raising an eyebrow, he asked again.

"What relation Hakkim and Kurat have?"

***

The air in the cavern remained so stale that the flame from the torch dimmed. Lucy led the way with those familiar yet eerie eyes, followed by Chu and Ming. Peering into the haze, a sprawled figure emerged lifeless on the rocky ground.

"Chu, I can't close my nose. How do I breathe again?"

The smaller teen answered him with a slap to the head.

Signaling him to shut his mouth, Chu fished out a wedge clip made of tree bark and clipped it over the nose of the boy. The accessory generated the desired effect as Ming removed his thumb from the hollow reed and sucked in a mouthful of air.

Never did Chu imagine his waterproof sleeping bags would double as breathing apparatuses.

Tapping the shoulder of the girl, Chu pointed to the defenseless chest of the massive creature. Following the agreed operation, Lucy dashed before the Kurat and plunged her dagger into its wide abdomen.

In a blink, she reappeared at his side. Her actions confirmed two things: First, the Kurat was dead. The second was related to the corpse of the wolf demon.

Pushing the torch forward, he walked over and inspected the body. Lucy and Ming crouched over the muscular chest and wasted no time. The sheer size of the beast actually made their operation run smoother than expected.

The small hands worked between the arm-thick ribs to access the desired organ. The splurting blood dyed their faces as the fingers sought their prize.

Chu remained standing while captivated by the remains of this unstoppable tank. His lips moved in silence as he counted.

Around five minutes later, the children emerged from the tunnel. Sucking in lungfuls of crisp air, they handed over the bags to the goblins for airing out and refilling.

Without a compressor to provide pressure, all the goblins could do was to hold the mouth of the converted sleeping bags open. Dashing away in a short sprint, they then lock in the gathered air.

"I didn't feel any lifestone, Chu. The heart is big, so we will have to make a few more trips."

Lucy remarked while wiping her brow. In the cold air on the snow-covered hill, they emerged from the tunnel as if having mined for an entire day. Chu coughed before replying.

"We have no choice then. If Dyna clears the entrance, we might be able to drag it out. Until then, this remains our only option. Come on, let us spend some time by the fire before heading down again. Ming, gather the heart-blood this time so Lucy can dig freely into the heart."

***

Chu dangled his legs while sitting on the edge of the cliff.

Not too far away on the hill, the campfire blazed into the night sky.

His head bobbed from time to time as he shifted his eyes between the stars and the cave entrance below. The scrunched eyebrows and twisting lips vanished on hearing the crunching footfalls.

Swiveling around on the rock, he scratched his cheek.

"Sometimes I think we just have a string of bad luck hanging over our heads. Imagine a powerhouse like this without an ounce of a lifestone. That last idea would have saved us all the trouble of having to make all those trips inside the smoke-filled cave."

"I think Lucy is the cause Chu, ever since she got that wolf demon talisman, her hand has become heavy. Come to think of it, I did hear once in the tavern that you can scrub with certain shrubs to wash away bad luck...ow!, my head feels as if a hammer is pounding it from the inside."

Ming surmised on replying.

They had struggled in the smoke-filled cave for the entire day but returned empty-handed. Lucy ended up slicing away at the entire heart and removed it by cutting an exit in the belly.

Like the wolf demon, the previous impenetrable skin and sinewy muscles had begun to lose its durability. The idea and subsequent action of the girl indicated her familiarity with animal anatomy.

Instead of trying to hack the thick bones of the rib to properly access the heart, or having to make more of these laborious trips, Lucy sought a simple solution.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Remove the entire heart by disconnecting and shifting it through the unprotected abdomen.

Under the light from the setting sun, they finally confirmed the Kurat possessed no lifestone. Chu turned to Dyna.

"Did they want it?"

"Yes, they practically begged me for it. I shared it equally and kept the third portion for Lykos. It's packed in ice, so it will keep. The wolves are resting near the fire. Give them until tomorrow and they will be ready to travel."

Chu nodded at the disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes of the little girl. Dyna had worked with the goblins all day in removing the debris from the cave entrance. Halfway through their dig, however, the rocks above cascaded again, nearly burying the digging crew.

Only by using her newfound skills did she manage to escape while saving two goblin helpers.

Her four-legged companions followed behind with the last remaining goblin pair dangling from their mouths.

The incident raised the status of the redhead in the awed eyes of the witnesses. Chu called off the project since the nearly fatal accident raised his awareness of shifting loose stones after a cave-in.

"I warned you what Elder Pick said about entering caves. Before you do anything, you first need to turn five times in a circle and touch your toes. If you don't do it, a rock will fall on your back. See? Now, do you believe me?"

Ming advised the audience while in sage mode.

Chu glanced at him with a look of pity. He now understood why he had problems educating this idiot. With information like this, packed into that little brain, no wonder basic education proved difficult to stick.

He refused to enlighten this individual that they themselves had been entering and exiting the cave for the entire evening. Chu turned to Ishara.

"Understand now?"

"Ancient elders speak of magic paper made for humans to become stronger. Said to be lost during the last days. Kurat still warrior, require proper burial."

Ishara replied while pouting.

She spent the entire morning explaining that the Kurat was a demon beast that shed its feral nature to gain enlightenment. Her Sky tribe followed a strict warrior code, one which provided fallen adversaries a proper death.

Chu shook his head.

He had corrected this stubborn person while wasting valuable time this morning.

The information exchange, however, had proven valuable. Chu learned about the tiers of demon beasts while Ishara found out that humans did not possess these natural abilities but gained them using the talismans.

He also gained a little insight as to the relation between the Hakkim and the Kurat.

The revelation caused the Hakkim to back down on using the courageous heart, but she remained firm on the stance of burial. Chu could only compromise since the language barrier blocked proper negotiations.

"You need to realize weaker races will do anything to survive. Did you really think the Kurat would leave you an honorable death by sucking on your bones?"

He said, using his hands to convey the gist of his statement. Ishara might think their ways cowardly and unhonorable, but Chu couldn't care less.

As long as he and his companions survived, reputation was worthless. Intelligence meant fighting smarter and not participating in one-on-one brawls.

Especially against an adversary that could wipe the floor with you. This adventure highlighted the need to harness and unlock his Sersen abilities to the maximum level. Winning or escaping both led to living a longer life.

The next morning, they left the cave but not before sealing the tunnel. With a bleeding heart on burying this carcass loaded with riches if sold to the Tower, Chu glared at Ishara.

"Happy?"

***

The return journey to the ruins proved uneventful. With the party traveling together with the wolves, no predator dared to attack.

"Something doesn't add up or is lost in translation. Who made the Hakkim teachers for all the races? Why did the Kurat listen to the Hakkim anyway?"

"Ishara spoke to the Kurat in a fashion similar to people talking with one another. Maybe that's why she felt so strongly about providing a proper burial?"

"No, no, Lucy. There is more to this than meets the eye. When we return to the ruins, I will have her translate that wall and then send her off. After she leaves, we can call this adventure over. If I had no qualms about grave-robbing, I would have excavated that Kurat and sold it to the Tower. What a wasted trip!"

Chu replied to Lucy as the two of them muttered.

Previously, his acquired knowledge accepted the fact of hungry demon beasts roaming and trying to force their way south. Now, he understood that beyond the north mountains lay an entirely different ecosystem.

Complete with intelligent beings and unknown cultures. It also piqued his interest as to where, how, and why demon beasts originated. He had a feeling Ishara knew much more relevant information than what he could find in the Academy.

Along the way, Chu felt the golden eyes of the Hakkim constantly boring into the back of his head.

It didn't take long for them to sight the tall tower of the ruins.

Chu reoccupied the library with his companions as Ishara retreated to her old room. Below, in the underground halls, the goblin warriors and scouts had already begun to spread the word of their adventure. Breathing a sigh of relief at the end of this adventure, Chu spent an entire day resting.

Loaded with stacks of paper, Chu entered the room to find the Hakkim sitting on a chair beside the child-like Goblin Shaman. Donning a thick face of shamelessness, he delved to the point.

"Chu greets the Shaman and the Hakkim. While Hakkim rests after her ordeal, this one wants to continue learning and understanding the ancient language..."

***

A massive snowstorm nearly buried the entrance to the ruins. Across the barren trees, only loads of snow occupied the straining branches.

Most of the fearsome denizens huddled within caves and deep holes to ward off the final assault of winter.

Inside the tower, Chu draped a cloak over his shoulders while blowing on a cup. Swirls of steam curled upwards from the surface of the water.

On the desk before him lay the profits from a week of tiring conversation. Words from the human language and their equivalent meaning. Sketches of body parts, trees, and even cups, all with arrows pointing to the ancient words.

Chu even had a copy of the writing on the wall, with more than two-thirds of the words translated. The footfalls of a boot on the silent stone notified him of Lucy's arrival.

"This is the last of the picture documents under the section dealing with mountains and rivers. I have no idea why you would want to know what the word for iron is. The goblins are already supplying you loads of it. We have run out of paper, Chu, so I have Dyna rummaging the library for bits of blank parchment paper."

Lucy said while searching for an empty spot on the large table.

Glancing down at him as he hovered over the hot water with bloodshot eyes, she produced a wry smile. Whenever Chu decided to milk someone, he operated even worse than Ming. Day and night, he practically had them working shifts in grilling Ishara.

"Wake Dyna up, I don't have much information or drawings on the demon beast, so this topic will take some time."

"Are you sure you don't want to browse over this information? We still need to sift through half of this table."

"Don't worry about it, Lucy. All that can be done when we return home. Winter is nearly over, so we have loads of work to do on the farm."

Chu replied. By tomorrow, he planned to take his leave from the ruins. He had left instructions with both Miki and Sakura and hoped to see some form of progress.

Unfortunately, some plans don't pan out according to one's desires...