Outside the city walls, a dark-furred creature tears through the bronze armor and into the flesh of its prey, freshly hunted in Salvation Forest. This wasn't a natural forest, but one cultivated by the city to maintain its lumber supply. It is constantly guarded by teams of heroes. But with them becoming the next meal of the amarok, there is no one to guard over the forest. Other, smaller monsters take advantage of this, and make their way inside the forest as well. Some hide inside the fruits and wood of the trees, others under the ground. All of them, waiting for prey. Some predate the others, some prefer special prey…
Elsewhere, Marcel is given his assignment for the day by Ziba, to join team three on a patrol outside the walls. They will be guarding a group of loggers who are collecting trees for use in the next few months.
"It has been a couple of weeks since I've been on patrol with King. This will be fun." Marcel says.
"King won't be joining the group. It'll just be the primary members of team three." Melodie says. She and Marcel are both in Ziba's office, looking over the day's paperwork. She'd been made aware of the arrangement a few days in advance.
"Wait, he isn't coming?"
"King and I see this as a good opportunity for your personal growth, and he wants to see you become more independent." Ziba says.
Marcel thanks him, and he and team three load up team one's transport. Normally, team three would take their team's personal transport, a refurbished and armored minivan. However, since they will be carrying civilian logging groups, they need the space, and are taking team one's bus. HotJack hops in the driver's seat, and everyone else buckles in. Marcel wears his new suit, given to him by Johnny. Well, actually it was originally Johnny's suit, but he recently purchased a new one, and after learning Marcel didn't have one, he gave it to him. The suit was a medium blue, with golden accents on the arms and legs. Over it, Marcel wears his bronze armor, and keeps his new weapon slung over his shoulder. It isn't a aura rifle, but a bronze staff, about a meter long, with a lead core for weight. At his side is the sling he'd come to know well over the last six months. In a small pouch attached to his armor are more than three dozen small ball bearings; now made with copper rather than bronze to reduce the price. Marcel found little difference in their damage potential when used, and was satisfied.
"There's five of us for this mission, and sixty workers total." Melodie says, getting everyone up to speed on the plan. "You'll each take a group of ten, and I'll take the remaining twenty." She hands out some papers with lists of names on each to the team. "These are the workers you are responsible for. Do not let them die. The paperwork is a nightmare." She hands a page to Marcel.
"Wait? Me too?" He asks, taking the page.
"Of course you, kid. You're a hero, aren't you?" Crasher says with a smirk. It's his way of reassuring Marcel, if a bit bluntly. While training with team three of the last few months, they'd each come to trust Marcel. They know what he is capable of, and that he could handle a simple mission like this.
"We won't be alone out there. Other heroes will be patrolling the boarders of the forest, and will act as a first line of defense. We're expecting this to be a safe patrol, but keep your eyes and ears open, just in case. Outside the walls, anything can go wrong at any time." Melodie says.
"So, this is less of a patrol, and more of a security detail?" Marcel asks.
"Patrol's just shorthand for any assignment given by the head office." Johnny says.
"Oh."
"Pulling in." HotJack says, turning into the logging company's loading bay. Immediately, the work crews attach a trailer filled with logging equipment to the back of the transport, and a second longer trailer onto the back of that one for hauling the felled trees.
"Why so many trailers?" Marcel asks.
"It's easier protecting one transport than multiple. For safety, the police will clear the road ahead of us though." Johnny says.
"HotJack saves the day again." HotJack says.
"He's got a trucking license." Johnny jokes. "It's why we keep him around."
"Hardy har har. I'll have you know I drove rigs bigger than this for ninety years before becoming a hero. I've been IO-CDLA certified for longer than you've been alive." HotJack says.
"How old are you HotJack?" Marcel asks. He knows he has the gift of longevity, but never asked how old he actually is, afraid that it's a sensitive topic. But since he brought it up first…
"One-hundred-thirty-eight years young." HotJack says.
"And you don't look a day over two-hundred." Crasher says.
"Thank… wait." HotJack says, but is cut off by Melodie just as he realizes the joke.
"Make room. Everyone, load up." She says, taking a seat by Crasher as the fifty workers load onto the transport. With twenty-six rows of seats and two people per seat, there's plenty of room. With that, they drive for the gate.
One worker on the seat behind Marcel and Johnny leans around the seat. "You lads, nice to meet ya." He says, and holds out a hand to shake. Johnny, who is sitting closest to him, shakes it.
"Nice to meet you too, sir." Johnny says.
"I'm Steed."
"I'm Oasis Prince."
"I'm Marcel."
"What? No fancy hero name for you lad?"
"I'm still in training. Haven't decided on it yet."
"Ah, well… I just wanted to thank ya all fer protecting us while we work. Sure brings us some peace of mind."
"It's our pleasure, sir." Johnny says.
The drive itself is uneventful, and they arrive without any encounters or worries. They pull alongside the portion of the forest that will be logged today, and everyone gets to work. Since she is the most experienced, Melodie's group is assigned to the edge of the forest, where encounters with monsters are more common. Her group is different, Marcel notices. Each of the twenty members of her group wear armor under their clothes, and have aura pistols on their hips. Whereas all the other groups have just their tools and orange workmen's vests. Under their vests, they all wear dark colored clothes, just in case they need to hide in the forest.
Once Marcel gathers his group, they begin their trek to the logging site.
"Hey kid." A worker draws his attention.
"Yeah?" Marcel asks.
"How long you been a hero?"
"Um, six months."
"And they sent you to protect this many people?" The man asks, surprised.
"Leave the lad alone." Steed says. "He's just here to baby sit us in case any wee beasties get past the heroes at the boarder. He can handle that, can't ya lad?"
"What's the biggest thing you ever killed?" Another worker asks.
"Um… a lindwrym." Marcel answers.
"See! There ya go. The lad can handle a lindwrym, he can handle anything else in this forest. Or are ya afraid a wee squirrel will mistake yer nuts fer its?"
"I'm just askin. Yeesh." The man says. Once they arrive, the men pull out their axes. These are no metal axes, but ones made from polished stone to save resources for the city. The head of each axe is stored in leather sheathes until used and the men all carry sharpening stones on their belts.
An hour passes, and Marcel watches over the man, walking around and occasionally using aura to help lift trees onto wagons for transport.
"Timber!" A worker shouts, and the tree falls to the ground with a loud and echoey series of cracks. Just as it hit the ground, there is a sharp and ear piecing scream. The workers all check under the tree to see if it fell on someone, but Marcel knows the scream well. It is Melodie. He looks in the direction of the scream, and hears sounds of fighting.
"Sounds like Melodie's team encountered monsters at the edge of the forest." Marcel explains. Some of the workers look tense. "No need to worry. Just get back to work. I'm sure she has the situation under control." A massive explosion rattles the ground from another direction, from where Crasher's group went. Followed by the sounds of multiple trees falling.
"The frick was that?" Someone shouts.
"Sounds like Crasher. He must have used his gift and hit some trees. Nothing to worry about in all likelyhoo-" Marcel hears shouting coming from HotJack's group. "Never mind. Everyone! Gather together in a tight circle, and keep an eye on the ground, tree line, and canopy! Now!" Marcel draws his sling, and loads a charged shot; watching the surroundings.
Nobody break away from the group. Stay together!" He orders, his heart thumping in his ears. No one is sure what is happening, but they have all prepared for this many times. Marcel, in training, and the workers, on the job. In Marcel's left hand is his staff, and in his right, the sling. His body is also charged with aura, increasing his strength, speed, reflexes, and senses. His staff isn't charged, however, because it is too large.
"On this side!" A worker shouts. Marcel looks and sees a flash of dark fur dart around in the distance. "It's fricking huge!" Marcel moves to that side, staff and sling ready.
"What is it?"
"I don't know!"
"Anybody see it?"
"Where'd it go?"
"There!"
"Where?"
"I saw something move!"
Things become chaotic quickly, and Marcel's attention is divided. But out of the corner of his eye, he sees movement. He swings with all his might with his staff, catching the man-sized jaw of the monster just as it was about to snap down on a worker, knocking it aside and causing it to stumble. The group backs up, and several break away and run, causing others to do the same.
"No! Stay together!" Marcel shouts as the beast shakes its head, recovering from Marcel's strike. It was a heavy blow, enough to bend the staff slightly in the middle. Getting a good look at the monster, he first sees the matted main around its neck and belly. Then the boar tusks, one of which is broken and laying on the ground, protruding from its muzzle. Its body, however, is neither that of a lion or a boar, but of a gargantuan wolf; an amarok.
The monster lunges after a worker, and Marcel's staff is too short to reach. The massive jaws of the creature latch down on the man's arm, severing it. Marcel shouts and fires his sling. The beast jumps to the side, and the ball bearing slams into a nearby tree, felling it, and the ones behind it. The worker screams and holds his stump where his arm used to be. It is now missing below the elbow, and streams of blood squirt from the stump.
Marcel leaps in, chasing after the amarok, unknowing of what it really is. To him, it is simply a wolf-like monster that is attacking. The amarok is fast however, faster than Marcel. It avoids his strikes, and shots with his sling. But as fast as it is, it is not fast enough to attack the workers and evade Marcel. So instead, it focuses on Marcel.
The amarok leaps at Marcel with its tusks, trying to gore him, but Marcel's armor deflects it, barely. A massive chunk of the armor is torn away, exposing the suit below. Marcel uses the new crook in his staff to strike at the monster's eye, puncturing it, and blinding it on one side. It slashes at Marcel with its paw, slamming him to the ground. Then it tries to bite his leg. Marcel rolls to the side but is caught by the beast's tusk. Not enough to puncture his armor, but Marcel is dragged into the air as the creature rears back, and is flung ten meters away, crashing into a tree, knocking the wind out of him. Marcel looks up just in time to see the amarok in midair, jumping at him, maw wide open. He sticks his staff out and turns it vertical to block. But instead of blocking, the staff jams into the soft tissue of the beast's muzzle, pinning it open. The monster shakes its head, and uses its paw to break the staff. But Marcel uses the opportunity to load another shot, get to his knees, and fire. The ball bearing buries itself into the beast, then blasts out the other side, taking one of its legs off the body. The amarok yelps and whines in pain, falling to the ground.
Marcel reaches into the pouch with the ball bearings, and pulls out a whole handful of them. He stuffs them all into the pouch, then charges up the pouch as well. Then Marcel takes one of the strings attached to the pouch, and wraps it around the others to form a thicker and stronger rope. He does not plan to use the pouch to fire the ball bearings. He knows there's no need. The amarok can't move, is bleeding to death, and is in shock. He pulls himself off the ground and slowly limps towards the amarok. Once over it, he sees it lose consciousness from shock. Marcel raises the fully charged pouch over his head, and brings it down on the belly of the monster, splattering its inside all over the place, and splitting it into two messy halves.
Holding his back with one hand, Marcel limps over to the man who lost his arm. One of the other workers was already helping him. His stump was in a tourniquet; hastily made from a belt and an axe handle. He was moaning in pain, and lost a lot of blood, but alive. From the forest, the sounds of fighting dies down as well.
"We're evacuating." Marcel says.
"Are ya okay, kid?" Steed asks, coming out from behind some trees.
"I'm fine." Marcel answers. "This guy needs a doctor."
"You're bleeding."
"Yeah, he lost a lot of blood." Marcel acknowledges.
"No, kid. You. You're bleeding." Steed points at Marcel's side. When he looks, he sees two puncture marks on his back and front; where the amarok's fangs pierced his armor when he got thrown. "I used to be an EMT. Sit down. Lemme check ya out." Steed checks out Marcel's wounds, and decides it's a flesh-wound, and missed his arteries and veins. He cleans it off with some whiskey and a rag from his workman's bag, then wraps it with the strap to keep pressure on it while they walk. Marcel groans, and is helped to his feet by Steed.
"Dadgum kid. You killed that thing?" One of the workers who's helping carry the injured man asks.
"That thing could have killed us all." Another adds.
"Could've killed a thousand of us."
"Ten-thousand even."
A man wearing a set of bronze armor who Marcel didn't recognize runs out of the tree-line from the direction of the transport. "Is everyone okay? Do you need help?" He asks.
"This man needs medical attention!" One of the workers called out, pointing at the man who lost his arm.
"How many?"
"Just him."
"Where are the monsters? Did you drive them off?" The hero asks.
"Just one." Marcel says. "Killed it."
"It was huge." A worker says.
"Good job. Let's get everyone back to the transport. Can you still fight, if need be?" The hero asks.
"Don't know. My weapons were destroyed." Marcel looks over at his shattered staff and down at his sling, which was just four clusters of knotted strings now. He hadn't expected that final attack to destroy the pouch, but there was nothing left of it. The staff could still be used, but not as a staff. Just two long sticks.
"Lad's got stabbed in the belly. I patched him up, but he shouldn't go moving too much." Steed says.
"Alright then. Follow me." The hero says. Together, they all walk out of the forest, guided by the hero. Once out past the wood-line, he sees the other members of his team.
"Marcel! Melodie shouts. She's covered in blood, but has no visible wounds. Both of her weapons are in her hands, a thin, one-handed sword, and an aura pistol. The others all have their weapons out too, all of which are covered in blood. HotJack holds his club, Crasher's spiked gauntlets are dented and broken in places, and Johnny's longsword is chipped along the edges. "You're alive!" Melodie says, hugging him. Marcel yelps in pain, and she lets go. "Oh, I'm sorry!"
"How many did you kill, kid?" Crasher asks.
"Just one." Marcel answers, as Steed lets him go to walk on his own, and hands the broken remains of his staff to Melodie, who places them against the bus's tire for now. Steed steps away, off to help load up so they can evacuate.
"What was it that beat you up like that?" HotJack asks.
"Don't know. Big though. What happened?"
"That's what we are trying to figure out." Melodie says. "There must be a gap in the border somewhere. We need to find it, and call in a clean-house squad."
"It's a shame. Means the whole trip was wasted." Crasher adds.
"Was anyone hurt?" Marcel asks.
"Yeah. Lotta people." Johnny says, grimly.
"I lost six." HotJack says.
"Three." Crasher says.
"Half." Johnny says.
"Four." Melodie says. "How many of yours made it?"
"Everyone, I think. But one guy lost an arm."
"Everyone made it?" HotJack asks. "That's great! Good work, kid."
"He did say he was only attacked by one of those red things. He's more than capable of handling that." Melodie says. Marcel looks around, and sees people piling up monster corpses, but not like the ones he was attacked by. There are different kinds, but the bulk of the bodies are small red creatures with round bodies and sharp tentacles.
"What are those?" Marcel asks.
"Slasher Fruits." Melodie says.
"Nasty little-" Crasher starts to say, but is cut off.
"They swarmed us. Them and tree-huggers." Johhny says.
"The brown ones. Bet you thought they were felled trees? Nope." HotJack says. "They pretend to be trees, then eat whatever falls for it. Snapped up one of my guys right at the start." He shakes his head.
"That's not what attacked me." Marcel says.
"Oh?" Melodie asks. "What did yours look like?"
"Like a wolf, with a lion's main, and big upside-down fangs." Marcel says.
"An amarok? No…" HotJack denies.
"Sounds like an amarok." Crasher adds.
"Must be something else. Amaroks don't come this close to the wall. Never have. You have to drive for days to see one." Melodie says. She waves down a hero, and calls him over. "Scout where group five was. We need to know what attacked them. It was different form the rest." She ordered.
"Yes ma'am." He says, turns invisible, and heads into the forest.
"Hey, Crasher." Marcel says. "Why did you say the trip was wasted?"
"Oh, because the forest is tainted. Nothing we get today can be used. It will all have to be checked. Never know what may have slasher eggs or secretly be a hugger. Can't take the risk of anything getting into the city."
"What will happen to the forest?"
"They'll probably burn it." Johnny says. "Then spend a few weeks growing a new one."
"A month of resources and time wasted." Melodie says.
Some time passes, and the scouts all return. They learn what happened, and were the gaps in the border are, and why. The bodies were eaten, leaving only the blood covered armor of the guards behind. The armor will be collected later, once it's safe, and the names of the dead will be listed and their families notified.
"What could have killed the guards? Where they swarmed too?" Melodie asks, mostly thinking aloud.
"Ma'am. I believe I have the answer to that." The scout she sent to investigate Marcel's area says. "I found the body of an amarok in area five."
"What?" Melodie asks.
"Are you sure?" One of the other heroes asks.
"Positive. But what it's doing this close to this city, I don't know." He answers.
"Who beat it?" One of the heroes asks.
"Whoever it was, they're pretty skilled. I heard there were no deaths in group five." Another hero says.
"It was a member of team three, Marcel David. He's new. This was his first outing without Oasis King. All sidekicks on our squad today." Melodie says.
"He's a newbie?" One hero asks.
"Got a good one there." Another adds.
"We need to find out what an amarok is doing so close to the walls." Melodie says, refocusing the conversation.