Now that the Chrutins warriors were out of the dark forest, and with the extra light, Emery could finally see the Chrutin warriors clearly.
Behind all the animal ornaments on their backs and heads, they also had weird dark tattoos all over their bodies. Emery realized the dark tattoos were similar with the one that appeared on his body after transforming. And with the arrival of the fey creature in the form of a giant wolf, Emery confirmed these people were related to him one way or another.
The expedition group's gazes were transfixed on the giant wolf. Emery, however, had seen worse looking creatures back in the Magus Academy, but for the rest of the group, each time the creature moved a step forward it seemed their heart beat stopped. Fortunately, the wolf-like creature remained standing in place while a huge man moved next to it moving forward to the water.
This mighty man shouted loudly and then several other fighters followed him and ran through the river. Each and every Chrutin warrior took a step inside the river, Emery threw them back with his whip slash but apparently the bald man was able to withstand the water whip as if he had stones tied to his legs while he kept going.
"That seems to be their strongest warrior. If we take him down, I'm sure their morale will crumble," said Kastan as he rushed forward with sword in hand.
Kastan was able to fight with the bald man. The battle between a skilled swordsman and an axe wielder erupted. Unfortunately, after a few exchanges it appeared Kastan was being pushed back.
As much as Emery wanted to help Kastan, he was busy keeping the other from crossing the river.
At times , Emery wished he had much stronger offensive spells. Although whip splash was a useful spell, only now he had found out that it wasn't as powerful as he had thought because the Chrutin warriors kept coming back up. Still, it was better than nothing because some of them had been knocked unconscious.
Emery was starting to catch his breath as well his vision was blurring. He knew he was about to run out of magic inside of him, similar to how he had once experienced back in the spatial space, so he yelled at Luna, "You should go! I don't think I can hold them for much longer!"
Luna looked hesitant for a while but then made her decision and said, "We should use this opportunity to leave, Kastan and Merlin can follow later."
Silas, however, shouted in pain. "Aghh! Sister, I don't think i can run.. my leg.. I can't feel my leg!!"
Luna was speechless, not sure what to do with her brother. "We can't run away carrying you, Silas."
The next thing Luna did shocked everyone, especially her brother. She snatched the bag behind Silas and ran to the river close to Emery.
"People of the forest, please hear me. My name is Luna Quintins, I am the daughter of the richest merchant of the Vinta city, your neighbour. I know what you want." Luna put her hand in the bag and withdrew its content. She was holding a little animal by the ears. It was a silver-furred rabbit. The act put a stop to everyone involved, the Chrutin warriors trying to cross the river and the fight between Kastan and the bald huge man included.
"I only came here for my brother who had come here because of his love for our father who is sick. We have known about this rabbit's existence and how it could rejuvenate a person's body. We also know that this animal is sacred to you, hence, we are sorry that we have angered you all. But please, I beg you. We will give back the rabbit if you let me and my people go. If you kill us here, my father and the whole kingdom will come to bring fire upon the forest, but if you let us go and we, hereby, swear not to trespass your lands again."
Within just a couple of sentences, she was able to figure out what the other side wanted to happen and threatened them at the same time. This was Luna's speciality, since she was leading her father's businesses, her main skill was negotiation, In fact, this was the only way she could think of that could save herself and the people who had come with her. "So, what's your answer?"
Apparently though, none of the people in front of them answered as they looked at each other with confused faces. That was until an old man appeared behind the treeline they had exited from.
As the old man moved forward, the black and red furred wolf also moved with him. It appeared the wolf had been following his order from the start.
"Stone-dweller, most of the people here can't speak your language, but I can. I will accept the offer you have proposed that you'll release the poor creature and promise not to return. However, I have one more condition. You must give up that man who is responsible for the theft," said the old man.
Luna glanced at her brother, although he was an idiotic and a troublemaker, he was still her only sibling. She couldn't let him be taken.
"There must be something else we can do."
"You have no more say in the matter, stone-dweller. I need to uphold the way of our people. And that is to punish those who have done us wrong," said the old man.
Seeing the terrified face of her brother Luna answered "No! I can't accept that"
The old man gave a nod to the creature next to him and suddenly the huge wolf ran on its four heels with eyes set on Silas. However, it wasn't able to close the gap when a one handed young man blocked its way.