Chapter 100: Run for your life

“H-Help!”

They were once comrades, but they were now a burden. The fellow mercenaries with whom they enjoyed fighting and drinking together were now burdens.

“I am sorry.”

Men who were severely injured were abandoned and no one objected. Abandoned mercenaries quickly fell prey to the monsters following them. But no one cared. They were relieved that they were still alive.

“How long do we have left?” Benjamin asked Victor, who seemed to have no energy left in him.

“A week…”

“Still a week?”

Benjamin let out a sigh at the word. He glanced around. There were 300 men when they walked into the forest. There were many Galims and they had enough food and water. It was easy to travel through the mountains, which was unexpected because of its notoriety. It was like that until they were ambushed a few days from their target. They were hardened mercenaries who had survived through various battlegrounds and enemies. They faced all kinds of vicious enemies, but they survived. Yet it was all for nothing.

They did put up a fight, but it did not work. The moment they readied themselves, the Ainos retreated and came back with another form of attack. When they strengthened their defenses, they were attacked with more powerful assault. Every time they tried to do something, men died. They started running away. They tried to retreat in an organized manner, but it was not allowed.

It only took two days for 300 men to decrease to 150 men. The Ainos began to follow them slowly from then on. It was now the monsters that posed a threat. The cries of monsters were near them during the day and night, and weak, injured mercenaries were dragged off the group. Some were dragged to the monster’s nest to be used as a youngling’s hunting training and some were killed by poisonous insects. Some were killed by eating something out of hunger that was poisonous.

‘Still a week…!’ Benjamin thought. After a week of travel, they will be out of the forest. Yet he doubted the possibility.

‘I have to. I will survive…’

Benjamin licked his lips and strengthened his mindset. He glanced at the others. They were all fear-stricken and tired. It was not certain as to how long they would last.

“Hey, look at this…”

“Huh? Oh! The Agua bug!”

Everyone’s eyes gathered at Victor who mumbled something. He was holding a larva the size of a thumb, which he dug up from a rotting log. It was yellow and its squiggly shape disgusted everyone, but they followed Victor who picked it up and began chewing on it.

“Wow, this is actually good!”

“It’s tasty!”

“V-Victor! Where did you get this?”

“This is an Agua bug. They live inside those rotting trees. It’s good.”

“Thank you!”

People seemed to regain their energy as they ate something. They began searching the area for the trees and began digging through any rotting tree they found.

“There are a lot of them here!”

“Here too!”

“Gather’em and put them in the bag!”

“Nice!”

Everyone began running around, searching for food. Victor grinned at the sight and began digging the ground, pulling up a thick root.

“What is that?”

“It’s a Ronda root.”

“Is it food?”

“Yes, but we have to cook it. We can’t eat it raw.”

Everyone looked around at the word.

“Wouldn’t they know where we are if we start a fire?”

Their faces began to show their fear, but Victor smiled.

‘They still think that they hide from the Ainos.’

Maybe it was not so obvious for them, but it was to Victor who was half-Ainos himself.

‘The only way to hide from their sight in this forest is to die.’

Victor almost said that out loud, but refrained from doing so.

“They will know where we are anyway. With or without the fire. We should start using it now.”

“But isn’t it still safer without it?”

“No, Gyle. We are losing energy. We still have about a week left to go. We need to regain our energy if we are to survive.”

“Right.”

Gyle nodded. He himself was also an experienced mercenary who survived through all kinds of battlegrounds. He knew what Victor was saying.

“Start a fire! We’ll die if we have to, but we’ll die after eating well!”

They began gathering dried wood and started a fire. The smell of fire filled the area and Victor threw the Ronda roots into the fire.

*

“That will bring them back together. Good for us.”

“Right. They were too scattered.”

“I did not expect that they would lose where to go that quickly.”

Gazlow spoke and everyone agreed. The Black Talon mercenaries who separated from the group began moving in small groups. They attempted dangerous tactics as they became desperate. Some even set up an ambush that was dangerous at times. A month of following them resulted in some of the Ainos getting hurt by an unexpected ambush, but it was not much of a problem since they had potions.

Joonbum thought about how it would feel to see someone whom he injured barely come back fully healed.

“Let them enjoy their last feast. Everyone alive will gather at the place.”

“Do you think that man is a Humanos?”

Gazlow nodded as Pree-an asked. Doral also nodded.

“I think so.”

Everyone fell silent as they glanced at the Humanos.

“We should capture him alive.”

“Okay. We have to find out what happened anyway.”

*

The scattered Black Talon mercenaries began gathering at the sight of a fire as time passed. They began searching for food nearby and the food helped alleviate their mood. There were less than a hundred of them when they gathered together at night.

‘I guess about half of them will leave this place alive.’

The reason for sparing half was only one thing: to spread the terror. If they all died, there was a chance that another group would be sent to find out what happened and the Donians might hire another group of mercenaries.

Some of them needed to return alive to tell the tales of the horrors they faced. This was also why the Ainos were driving them out slowly and painfully. This was a warning to all humans who might think of attacking the Ainos in the forest.

‘It’s sad,’ Joonbum thought as he saw those men. But this land was filled with savagery. It was wrong to think of it with his earthly ways.

“Do you want it?”

Doral approached with a can of beer in his hand.

“Hah, this is nice. I wish fall comes soon.”

“Why?”

“I love Bodua jerky. We don’t have much anymore, don’t we?”

“Yeah. I think we brought out a lot during this battle.”

“Ugh, we should’ve saved some.”

Joonbum began chewing the jerky as he drank the beer. The jerky was so delicious that Joonbum could not stop eating. The mercenaries were enjoying their feast of bugs and Ronda roots also. Their hunger made the food taste more delicious than anything they ever ate. Once they were done eating, they began dozing off. Getting back together gave them a sense of security and hope. Some began to sleep outright, giving up on anything that might happen.

The night continued.