The Last Dainv-Chapter 37

The Last Dainv-Chapter 37

"This is your fault!" Lennard shouted, pointing a finger at Gale. "If you hadn't left your post, if you had been here where you were supposed to be, this wouldn't have happened!"
What?
But the survivors did well apart from just one of them getting hurt. He didn't do anything wrong. Ollie and Annett already said before that everyone was prepared to die. He was actually proud they held their spears up strong. Was he wrong for feeling proud?
"I made a call," Gale said. "Give back up. Then get back."
"Give back up?" Lennard said. "Look around you! The back up you gave caused one of these
women
to get injured. Now the others got more weight that needs to carrying."
Gale stood slowly, his eyes never leaving Lennard's. The old man was still taller than him even as he stood up fully. Yet he seemed so small. His hands twitched, suppressing it by balling them into fists.
"All of us are still alive," Gale said.
"Barely. That woman almost died," Lennard said. "Look around you. Everyone's doing their own jobs. And ran away from yours."
Gale looked around the group. All eyes were on him. Survivors. The rear of the convoy. Maybe Lennard was right. Running away was what he was best at. Deep down, he panicked when he saw Rachel get taken by the scout. Seeing her get hurt again was painful.
"Annett could've also provided support. She was in the middle, you were in the back," Lennard took a step towards him. "This is all on you, kid."
Gale stepped back. He didn't do anything wrong. Saved Rachel and Ollie. Killed the beast in the back. No one died. He did everything correctly. He did nothing wrong.
Was it a crime to do things on his own? Even the staff at the orphanage always blamed him when he tried to do something. Maybe he didn't do it well enough. If he just did things better next time, they'd see his point, right?
"Say something, you fool!" Lennard shouted.
"Enough!" Rachel shoved Lennard back from Gale. "We knew this journey would be dangerous. We knew there would be risks. But we also knew that staying wasn't an option. Escape is the only way out of this."
"That escape is going to kill all of us, and you know it yourself," Lennard said.
"If you have a better plan, I'm all ears. But right now, the longer we stay here, the longer we stay in this world, the more people die. You understand that?" Rachel turned her back to Lennard.
That's right. Rachel understands him. She knows why he went over to help and provide backup.
"Gale… I know I hesitated to deal with them. But please, trust me next time," Rachel pretended to smile. "Trust goes both ways, right?"
Something caught in Gale's throat. Even Rachel wasn't on his side. And that word, trust. The man who held her was mundane. Of course she could've handled him. He shouldn't have ever done anything in the first place. It wasn't his call. He wasn't the one leading this whole convoy. No, that was Rachel's role. She would've called for help-
"Gale. Look at me. You're going to be fine." Rachel's eyes stared into his. "You didn't do anything wrong. Ok? Next time, I'll call for help. I promise."
Gale nodded. It was the only thing he could do. Saying anything else would've revealed how much of a mess he was right now. That's right. I didn't do anything wrong. Let's just keep doing what we've been doing. Forget the old man's words.
"Can you walk?" Rachel walked back to the survivor on the ground and crouched, meeting her face to face.
"I... I think so. With help," she said.
Rachel turned to the group. "We need volunteers to help carry the wounded. We move in five minutes. Get ready."
The group began to move and pick up their stuff slung over the trees. Gale took deep breaths, allowing himself to ease the tension, hands still shaking. He watched as the older man turned away, muttering to himself.
"Young people... give them leadership roles, and it all goes to their heads like they know everything," Lennard grumbled as he got back in place in the middle of the convoy. He reached down and picked up an older woman with graying hair. "Come on, Brenda. Up you go. We're almost out of this place. Have some water."
Lennard gave his waterskin to the older lady. She drank a couple of gulps before giving it back. "Thanks as always, Lennard. Sorry for asking for so much."
"No worries. Just make sure to keep walking with the group and don't get lost," Lennard said.
Gale shook his head. There was no time for self-doubt now. Just do his role as rear guard, and it'll be ok. The front will call for help if they need it.
"Alright, everyone," Rachel called out at the front. "Let's move."
The convoy continued its journey. Gale once again walked with the survivors in the rear. He spread out the tendrils of his senses once more, looking for any signs of hostile life in the surroundings. Anything that could take his mind off from the echoing words of Lennard.
A twig snapped in the distance. Tendrils snapped to the location, but it was just a small critter. The leaves rustled above, too loudly, but again, it was just the wind. One of the survivor women coughed, and Gale snapped his eyes onto her immediately.
"I'm ok," she said as her shoulders hunched forward, her eyes looking somewhere else, avoiding eye contact.
Hours went by, and the ragged breathing throughout the convoy all funnelled into his hearing. It was too quiet. Eerily quiet. No forest beasts lunged from the shadows for too long. Scouts were basically right up the doorsteps of the encampment. They should've already sent more. But the loudest thing he heard since the convoy moved was the cough from one of the survivors.
As the convoy settled into a pace, the forest changed. The trees grew taller, trunks much wider than the already wide trunks back at the encampment. This was familiar territory. They were nearing the giant tree. And finally, they came into a clearing with one tree that dominated the centre. A single, massive, giant tree where they had fought that twisted monster. And that's when Gale noticed the surroundings.
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Bones.
Hundreds of bones littered the ground around the tree. They ranged in size from small to massive, the latter of which could only have come from the largest of forest beasts. All of them had been picked clean.
"Everyone, stay alert," Rachel called out clearly to the whole convoy from the front. "We don't know what might still be lurking around."
Gale nodded as he put a hand on the hilt of his bone sabre at his hip. He scanned the area, searching for any sign of hostile entities. All he could detect was an eerie stillness in the air, sterile even. It should've smelled more rotten with rotting pieces of meat at the edges of the bones, but the bones themselves were picked completely clean.
These bones… they weren't random remains. It nagged at him as the pattern where they lay were human made. Then it hit him.
He was the one who did this. These bones were the remnants of the battle. He didn't realize he'd killed that many, left behind after the evolution of Distort, allowing him to tear through the lines of the forest beasts. Now, they had probably been eaten by scavengers that were most likely the other beasts.
Yet it wasn't a relief. On one hand, it meant there was no danger. On the other hand, it meant the danger was himself.
However, Rachel and the others accepted him. It should be fine. It's best not to be a downer. Best not to spiral down that negative train of thought.
Rachel looked back from the front of the convoy, making eye contact with him. She waved at him with a smile.
Why a smile, though? Then again, she also wielded fire that could blast normal humans into bits and pieces. Gale sighed, walking up to the front.
"Looks safe. Let the convoy take a rest," Gale said.
"You sure?" Rachel asked. "We could probably keep going for a while longer, just in case anything is following us."
"There's nothing around that I can sense. Everyone is already breathing hard. It's best to rest," Gale said simply.
"Sure," Rachel said. "What do you think, Ollie?"
Ollie took a step beside her. "Yep, probably should. The older ones are getting sloppy with their footing."
"Alright. Annett?" Rachel looked to the middle of the convoy.
"Go for it. Area seems safe. Just a nice goth inspired picnic," Annett said.
"That settles it then," Rachel looked to Gale. "Wanna do the honours?"
What did she want him to do? Gale looked back at the convoy. Oh, that. He nodded, then cleared his throat.
"Everyone. On the ground. We rest," Gale projected his voice to the whole convoy.
"The captain said on the ground. Come on, everyone, rest up." Annett said.
Rachel put a shoulder on his arm. "Thanks."
She went with the cluster of children at the front, kneeling down to match the height of Hailey.
Ollie softly nudged him by the arm. "You rest up too, cap'n."
Why are they calling him captain all of a sudden? They know his name. It's Gale. Not captain. He shook his head, then headed back to the back of the convoy.
He saw the weary and tired faces of the convoy. The elderly massaged their own backs while the children drank from the waterskins of their elders.
—Something caught his eye. It leaped between the trees, too quick and dark for him to get a clear look. Breath of the Void spread out, focused on that area, but there was nothing. Not even broken twigs or footprints.
He still needed to warn them, raise an alarm just so the others were aware. His senses and abilities worked together. Both needed to be trusted.
"Ollie," Gale sidestepped to where the boy was, not looking away from where he saw the thing. "We need to talk."
Ollie made his way over. "What's up, cap'n?"
Gale grimaced. That wasn't his name, but he ignored it. "Something's out there. I saw movement earlier, but it's... different. Not like the beasts we've encountered before."
Ollie raised an eyebrow. "Different how?"
"Smaller," Gale said, his brow furrowing. "Too small to be one of the forest beasts. And it's not attacking. Just... watching."
"Could be a new type of monster," Ollie said, reaching for the pistol at his hips. "Or maybe one of those Blue Haven scouts we didn't take care of earlier."
"A beast that doesn't attack is even more dangerous than an aggressive one. Remember that," Gale said. "Whatever it is, my senses can't track it."
He continued, "I need you to keep watch. If you see anything, even a flicker of movement, let me know immediately."
Ollie nodded. "You got it. I'll keep my peepers peeled."
Gale called the rest over, Rachel and Annett. The four of them huddled together, speaking low enough so that the convoy didn't hear.
"We need to discuss strategy," Gale said. "If we encounter any more human enemies, we can't afford to hesitate. They need to be taken out quickly and efficiently."
Rachel's fist tightened. "I-I got it…"
"Annett," Gale continued, "I need you to support the front immediately. No more giving mercy. Even if they're human, the fight needs to end. Slow down those bastards so they can be taken out swiftly."
Annett nodded, "I'll do my best."
Gale looked at Rachel and Ollie, "If you need help, you call for me. Immediately. In a jungle, formation is not rigid. Every second counts. No heroics. Got it?"
"Alright, let's get everyone ready to move," he said, straightening up. "Everyone, listen up. We continue moving to the Stone Tower. Pack up. We move in 10."
The group began to gather their belongings and help the elderly to their feet. Gale couldn't shake the feeling of constantly being watched. He stretched Breath of the Void to the limit, finding out where this nagging feeling came from. Any sign of movement, any rustle.
The convoy moved, pressed on through the dense forest that became denser as they got closer to the stone tower. Rachel and Ollie were back up front, Annett in the middle, and Gale in the back with the survivors again.
Gale's ears pricked up, catching snippets of conversation.
"Did you see that?" one survivor whispered to another. "There, in the shadows!"
"I swear something's following us," another voice added.
Gale squinted his eyes, seeing through the dark as much as he could. Breath of the Void clearly wasn't working against this new threat.
Lennard's voice rose above the growing murmurs.
"People are scared!" he called out, not bothering to lower his voice. "There's something out there, moving in the shadows. Can't you see it?"
Gale turned to face the older man, keeping his best poker face. This idiot's volume could attract more than just that one shadow following them.
"I'm aware," he said. "Can't see it right now. I'm high on alert."
"It's not just that," Lennard continued. "People are exhausted. We haven't had a proper rest since we left. That rest you called earlier was barely even 15 minutes. How long do you expect us to keep going like this?"
Lennard's remarks struck a chord with the other survivors as heads all nodded to his words. Gale saw each one. Eyes fret with fear, and legs trembled with fatigue.
Rachel glanced back from her position at the front of the convoy. She caught Gale's eye, but he shook his head. He could handle this on his own.
"I'm tired too," Gale said. "But we're not stopping. Every minute we stop puts us in more danger."
"And what about this... thing that's following us?" another survivor said with a quavering voice. "How can we walk with ease if we know we're being followed?"
What if it was someone like Ollie or Rachel, or even worse, Annett? His abilities didn't pick up the pursuer, which would mean that the pursuer had abilities that could hide their presence and bypass obstacles without leaving a trace. Goosebumps pricked Gale's skin. And it could mean that this pursuer's purpose was to destabilize the whole convoy by not showing itself to him and only showing shadows to the convoy itself.
It was only a theory. A theory that made too much sense. Right now, the convoy couldn't and shouldn't be stopped. It was a marathon to the exit. But pushing the group much further in their current state risked fracturing their already fragile morale.
He caught Ollie's eye, giving a subtle nod towards the surrounding forest. The boy understood immediately, his hand moving to rest on his pistol while watching the surroundings.
"Listen," Gale said. "Everyone's scared. But we can't stop now. The moment we stop, we'll get surrounded by whatever is in the forest."

Chapter 37