Chronicles of Akhani - 11 - The Hunt
The wolves had remained in the camp all night. They set guards upon on the surrounding dunes anticipating more Doiketians who never arrived. Shifts were taken among them, with two on duty at any given time. Something strange was happening in Achinos. The wolves did not know why, but they were excited.
–
On the outskirts of the desert, others were not so excited. A number of children from the Doiketian outpost of Akraessi had gone missing. Rumors circulated wildly throughout the village.
“It was that damn Xotokian, Akhani, I tell you. He had eluded us for a long time, and now that we tracked down his camp, our men have not returned,” said Agystos. “I am telling you, our men have not returned because he has killed them. I had witnessed his unusual development while I was assigned to his village. I warned you all that letting him disappear into the desert would haunt us.”
“What would that have to do with the missing children?” asked Councilman Gophylis. “They went missing last night. Are you saying that he was able to kill our warriors, make the trek here unseen, kill our children, then disappear back into the desert? Do you realize how unlikely that sounds?”
“I have seen him speaking to wolves, and those were bites and claw marks on those children. Even if he didn’t kill them with his own hands, it was because of him that they died. Mark my words: as long as he lives, more evil will befall us,” answered Agystos in a stern and ominous voice.
Several other nobles chuckled as they passed by Agystos as he uttered his warning. Agystos’s face burned red from anger before he finally let loose.
“Look, I know fully well that I was wrong about the impending Xotokian Insurrection. I know that we destroyed that village without just cause. There were no fully stocked armories within their tunnels. That does not, however, mean that I am wrong about everything past, present, and future. It was one mistake,” Agystos fumed.
“That one mistake cost us several hundred gold coins’ worth of fine Xotokian weaponry. You know fully well that our existence here relies upon that trade. If we do not obtain enough wares from our Xotokian subjects, we cannot justify further occupation of these desert lands to the Achinos Council, let alone the Imperial Council. We can’t just go around slaughtering our workforce willy-nilly. Now, stop spreading these rumors, and get back to your duties,” Gophylios chastened.
Agystos would not it lie, though. He went to the one person who he could trust. The one person whose respect he had not lost. The one person in the world he could still rely on, and no, it wasn’t his wife. He turned to his young half brother.
Kysophos was the illegitimate son of Agystos’s father, born of a serf woman. As such, he was a serf. The shame of having a child with a serf meant that their father never acknowledged his patronage. Kysophos’s mother, however, approached Agystos herself and informed him of Kysophos’s heritage. Confronted by Agystos, their father relented and admitted to being the father, and ever since that day, Agystos took Kysophos under his wing. Though he was a serf, Kysophos always enjoyed the protection of a noble. He knew he owed a debt of gratitude to his brother, and as such, always attended to every beck and call. He kept doing so even after Agystos’s fall from grace.
“Kysophos, I have a favor to ask,” implored Agystos pulling his half brother aside.
“Of course. What do you need?”
“I need you to go set surveillance on Akhani for me. I suspect that he is up to something. I believe that he is behind the missing children.”
“I will see what can be done. I still have some other serfs who owe me favors in exchange for the goods we have shared. Tell me, when do we need to begin? I will need to know so that we can make arrangements to cover for one another,” replied Kysophos. His intellect and cunning far surpassed any other serf, which had always validated his heritage within Agystos’s mind.
“As soon as you are able. We cannot afford more losses. Now, do not let any other nobles find out about this. They will have my head on a pike if they found out that I was conspiring with serfs,” said Agystos as he scanned their surroundings. “Now go. And only report back in secret. If there is a loose tongue among your friends, it would be better to cut it out of their mouths before they get involved.”
–
Late that evening, the wolves began to get restless. They had expected an army of Doiketians to begin their march upon the camp any hour, but no signs were detected. The alpha, Yassir, strode up to Akhani.
In a language common only to desert wolves and Xotokians, their conversation began.
“Akhani, you know that we will always be faithful to you, but we have grown restless. Either release us until we are needed, or come with us on a hunt.”
Akhani paused in deep thought and smiled. “Then we shall hunt Doiketians. Their trade route is not far from here, but we must be careful of the Akraessi outpost. They have many soldiers, and they are always on the lookout.”
Yassir growled in approval. His confident strut told the members of his pack that a hunt was to begin before he ever spoke a word. Yips filled the air. Those same yips filled Zhorovna’s heart with dread.
“What was that? You are able to speak to wolves?” Zhorovna frantically inquried.
“Xotokians and wolves have lived together for as long as we have existed. We have created our own language to communicate so that peace could be maintained,” Akhani stated in a matter of fact manner. “We are going on a hunt as soon as preparations have been made.”
–
Kysophos had amassed co-conspirators among the serfs, but he decided that he would only take two with him for the initial reconnaissance mission. He had gathered where Akhani was suspected to reside from talking to some of the more loose-tongued guards. His cunning allowed him to gather that information without raising suspicion on his own motives. Gossip was, after all, the favorite pass time for all who resided in Akraessi.
Though Kysophos was a political genius among the serfs, he lacked all understanding of basic military protocols.
–
A message was received on the breeze. The wolves’ nostrils received this message loud and clear. Three Doiketians were less than an hour’s journey away. Without words, Akhani understood the relay of this information.
“Stick with me,” Akhani ordered Zhorovna. “When it comes to a hunt, nothing beats the packs’ strategy. We will be following their orders until the battle is won.”
“Battle?” Zhorovna asked utterly confused.
“We are hunting Doiketians. They don’t go down without a fight.”
What little color Zhorovna had in her face melted away. Her heart melted along with it, and she felt the pangs of her soul once more. How do I stop this? Gods, tell me what I should do! Do not stay silent! Send me a word! She prayed in silence, but no answer came. No Words were revealed.
“Don’t worry, your holy hands don’t need to get stained,” Akhani quipped.
Zhorovna’s mouth opened, but she found no words. No arguments could be made, so she nodded and obediently followed her master.
The wolves split into 3 packs. Four wolves split to the north, one (joined with Akhani and Zhorovna) split to the south, while Yassir made straight for their quarry alone. Their communication through yips fell silent as they approached their targets. All parties, but Yassir, stopped short of revealing themselves to the Doiketians.
Yassir appeared on the road bold, powerful, and bristling with anger in front of Kysophos and his companions. His slow walk and menacing snarl struck fear into the heart of the Doiketians with the exception of Kysophos himself.
“Hail! Mighty wolf! We have no issue with you! We are just on an evening walk! We will return to the outpost in peace!” cried Kysophos knowing that wolves could understand the Doiketian tongue. He knew, too, though, that he would get no response.
“We should run,” whispered Myros as he grabbed Kysophos’s arm.
“If we run, they will know that we are cowards. They will hunt us down and kill us from behind,” Kysophos replied in a calm voice.
Terror struck at the heart of Kysophos’s companions. The word they filled them with dread. Only one wolf had been seen, but now they understood that wolves never traveled alone.
A growl emanated from behind the northern dune. Kysophos’s companions turned in horror in its direction. Kysophos, however, kept his gaze upon Yassir. He knew that Yassir was the alpha, and thus the biggest threat.
Another growl came from the south. Only Myros turned this time to see the lone wolf accompanied by a Xotokian male and Syverenian female. Myros became utterly befuddled by the sight of a Syverenian. No Syverenians were known to dwell in the desert. Panic struck him thinking of his head being turned into a stew. Nothing was more frightening to a Doiketian serf than a Syverenian. Myros broke from his friends and began to dash back towards Akraessi and doomed their party.
Seeing the coward fleeing, Yassir gave the command bark triggering the attack. Akhani cut Myros off at the pass and impaled him on one of the Doiketian spears that was newly acquired. The pack of four rushed the main party and quickly pinned Kysophos and dismembered his remaining companion. The battle was too quick for any sound to escape the small valley, and Kysophos awaited his fate from Yassir.
Yassir stood over Kysophos, who had easily been identified as the leader. Akhani strolled up anticipating the role of interpreter.
“Yassir wants to know what brought you out to the desert?” Akhani asked interpreting for his friend.
“We were exploring to find the cause of the missing children,” Kysophos answered.
“We had not heard of missing children. Are you lying to us?” Akhani prodded.
“I swear upon my life that we were only searching for that answer,” Kysophos replied, not thinking of how little his life meant to those questioning him.
Yassir barked, and in a flash Akhani slit Kysophos’s throat. Before Akhani could wipe his blade clean, the wolves began to feast upon the fresh flesh of the Doiketian serfs. Akhani vomited at the sight.
–
On the way back to their camp, Zhorovna finally got the courage to ask Akhani about what troubled her. “Why did you vomit back there, but seemed unfazed at dinner last night?”
“Because at least at dinner, I could no longer recognize the flesh, nor see their eyes stare into my soul,” Akhani replied still visibly disturbed by what had just occurred.
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