Chapter 22: Dancing through the fire and fangs
As soon as Raika saw Shimi lying on the ground, his body surged forward instinctively, ready to dash into the clearing. But before he could take a step, Veythor’s hand clamped around his collar, yanking him back with brutal force. Raika spun, about to shout, but a palm covered his mouth. Veythor’s whisper slid coldly into his ear.
"You stupid bastard... how many times must I tell you? Don’t act like a dumb beast. Can you even save yourself if you jump in there? Let alone save Shimi?"
Raika’s entire frame trembled with fury. His eyes burned red, veins bulging at his temples. But after a few moments of struggle, he gave a stiff nod. Only then did Veythor’s hand fall away.
Raika leaned closer, voice low and harsh.
"Then what now?"
The dogs had formed a ring around Shimi, their snarls deafening yet their rage wasn’t for her. They barked at the two masked figures, who stood unnervingly still... silent, watchful, their weapons lowered but ready. Veythor’s gaze glinted as he began to speak slowly, as though lecturing a child.
"Let me make this simple... think of this as a game. Shimi is the treasure first, you and I... we were the team who had the treasure. But we lost it to the dogs. Now, as we chase to get it back, another team appears... those masked men. Right now, we haven’t entered the battlefield yet. No one’s expecting us Soon, the dogs and the masked men will clash over the treasure. While they’re busy tearing each other apart, what do you think our move should be?"
His lips curved into a thin, merciless smirk.
Raika’s eyes widened as realization struck.
"Snatch the treasure and escape... like rats stealing from mice."
Veythor’s smirk deepened.
"Exactly."
Raika rolled his eyes, muttering with visible annoyance.
"I don’t like the way you put it... but as much as I hate to admit it... it’s the best plan we’ve got."
He looked away, as if the words tasted bitter in his mouth. Veythor raised an eyebrow, faintly amused. He hadn’t expected a compliment from Raika.
"You should join the military someday," Raika added, voice quieter now. "If we survive this, and you grow up... you’d get money, fame, maybe even glory in wars."
Veythor only gave a small nod, though his eyes never left the battlefield. The masked men were slowly adjusting their stance, carefully widening the gap between themselves and the dogs. Veythor narrowed his eyes.
"Maintaining distance... good for using bows," he muttered under his breath. A faint smirk touched his lips... But when his gaze drifted toward Shimi, the smirk faltered.
His eyes narrowed her left ankle was swelling, the skin blooming into a deep violet shade.
"Tch... Poison? How?" His thoughts raced. "Does that mean these hounds carry venom in their fangs?"
Everything clicked into place.
"No wonder the masked men keep their distance. No wonder they rely on bows instead of blades. They must be from a tribe in this forest... and if the rumors are true..."
His expression hardened, eyes flashing with cold realization.
"...then they’re not just hunters. They’re cannibals."
The fur-clad man shifted, his masked face tilting ever so slightly toward Shimi’s unconscious body. A subtle movement, yet it carried the weight of intent. His arm rose, bowstring pulled taut, the arrow gleaming faintly in the dim light.
The second masked figure mirrored him, raising his own bow with the same eerie stillness. The pack sensed danger instantly. A guttural growl rumbled from their throats, vibrating the earth. Saliva dripped in thick strands from their twin jaws, sizzling as it struck the ground. Their eyes flared red, and then
ROOOOAR—!
With a thunderous bark, all five hounds leapt as one. Their throats ignited, spewing streams of flame. Fire licked the air, swallowing the clearing in a burning haze as the pack hurled themselves at the masked hunters.
The clash was chaos.... fire, fangs, snapping jaws, and the sudden flurry of arrows whistling into the inferno. But the beasts did not relent. They surged, tearing, clawing, overwhelming. The masked men vanished beneath a tide of snarling, flaming bodies.
Veythor’s lips curled into a cold smirk his crimson eyes gleamed with cruel clarity.
"Now..." he screamed, his voice sharp as steel. "Raika. It’s time to snatch our treasure."
Raika’s heart hammered, but he nodded without hesitation.
"Ok."
The two of them burst from the shadows, feet hammering against the soil as they sprinted toward Shimi’s fragile, unconscious form.
Raika’s heartbeat thundered in his chest louder, louder until it drowned out the forest itself.
What if we fail? What if we die here?
The thought stabbed through his mind, cold and merciless.
Veythor didn’t hesitate... not a bit. He bent low, scooped Shimi onto his back, and without sparing a glance left or right, bolted into the woods. His strides were swift, merciless, as if the very earth itself urged him forward. Raika staggered for a moment, then followed close behind, his lungs burning, legs screaming.
"Where are we going?" Raika hissed, panic tightening his throat.
"Beats me," Veythor shot back, his voice short, unshaken. He didn’t look back, didn’t falter.
But then—
A chorus of death-cries split the forest. Dogs howled, then choked into silence. Veythor’s instincts screamed, forcing him to glance back mid-stride.
His eyes widened... his breath caught in his throat. The clearing behind them had become a slaughterhouse.
The hounds... all five of them lay sprawled in pools of crimson, their black bodies broken and twitching. The grass beneath them was soaked, turned from green to a sickly red. Some still shuddered as the last embers of fire sputtered from their twin maws, their flames dying with them.
And yet... the masked men stood untouched.... Unfazed.
The bare-chested one had already raised his bow, an arrow nocked, the string drawn taut. His masked face was fixed on Veythor’s back. Murder gleamed in his stance.
But before he could release, the fur-clad man raised a hand. He lowered the bow. The furred figure then extended an arm and pointed... not at them, but to the right, deeper into the forest. His gesture was deliberate, almost casual, yet it carried the weight of unspoken authority.
Veythor’s crimson eyes narrowed. His smirk was gone, replaced by something colder. He didn’t waste any word. He faced forward again and ran, faster than before, his body taut with unease he didn’t looked back.
Shimi’s limp weight pressed against him, her poisoned leg trembling faintly with every jolt. Raika followed, silent and grim, his breath ragged as the three of them vanished into the trees. The forest swallowed them whole.