Brutal Journey Of An Unfortunate Female Heroine

"Lieutenant, it"s been confirmed that the sixty wolves have all been killed."

"Thanks for the report. You may go rest."

"Yes sir." Behind Zai was a bloodied Blair, her face in a wild grin.

"Ahh. Haven"t exercised like that in a while." She cracked her neck side to side, oblivious to the blood splattered on her clothes. Zai looked at her for a second and then quickly looked away. "Hmm? What"s wrong?" Zai sighed and flicked his hand towards Blair.

"You smell worse than a rotting carca.s.s that"s been regurgitated twice." He fanned the front of his face. Blair raised her arms and sniffed.

"Nah, more like once instead of twice." Zai pulled back from Blair.

"Go go, shoo. Wash yourself and don"t be late for the recap meeting later!" Blair was already walking away. She raised a thumbs up at Zai. He sighed again and pulled out his man bun, his long hair covering his eyes again.

*yawn* "I work too hard. Hopefully the Captain holds true to her promise and let"s me go on a vacation next week!" Zai happily walked out of the bloodied clearing.

The cold dew-covered morning felt refreshing to him. The birds were chirping and trilling together while the sound of his m.u.f.fled footsteps mixed in with the bird songs. After leaving the b.l.o.o.d.y air he realized how clean the morning air is. Things were going great until he received a call from his right communicator. Reaching up he answered the call.

"Lieutenant Zai?"

"Yeah."

"There"s a slight problem…" Zai cursed internally. He had just finished one job and now another one was going to land in his lap. Knowing his Captain, if he went and complained he can kiss his vacation goodbye. Might as well as get it over now.

"What"s the update scouting leader?"

"The female wolves dispersed and so have the remaining male wolves."

"Yeah, you told me that already."

"Well, the pack leader seems to have disappeared."

"What?!"

"We were too far away to see all the details but it looks like the pack leader and the unknown monster fought at the cliff some distance away from the clearing. Then around dawn we spotted a ball of fire falling down the cliff."

"Hmm. Could that mean the pack leader died?"

"We think so. Right now one of my scouts near the area checked it and didn"t find a body but, they also didn"t find any blood. Just signs of a big battle with lots of holes."

"So, you can"t find the pack leader or the unknown ent.i.ty?"

"Yes…"

"Alright! We"ll consider this case closed. The unknown ent.i.ty appeared and killed the pack leader, taking it"s body along with it using unknown means."

"But, will that really suffice?"

"Bah, it works enough. Get your men back to camp and rest up."

"Yes sir!" Zai released the communicator and slumped his shoulders. The idea of the ma.s.sive pack leader disappearing without a trace made him wary of the unknown ent.i.ty but, it wasn"t his problem! Zai put his hands behind his head and walked towards the camp.

Valeri was dozing off in a tree, her stomach rumbling and face scrunched up. Suddenly she sprang up, shocking the nearby conduits.

"W-what"s the matter captain?"

"I"m hungry." Valeri grumbled angrily. It was already dawn and Zai still hadn"t completed the task of killing the Blood Wolves. Valeri had appointed Zai as the commander in this situation because he had the tendency to drag things out for too long. She didn"t mind it but there should be times when he could finish things quickly.

"P-pardon me? Should I get you something to eat captain?" The conduit to her right pushed off from the tree they were leaning on.

"No, it"s fine. I"ll just wait here for Lieutenant Zai to bring me back."

"Yes ma"am." The conduit leaned back against the tree. Valeri calmed down and sat on the branch, squinting against the sun to look into the forest. Slowly a dark figure walked out of the shadows. His long wavy hair covering his eyes, back slouched, and clothes bloodied, Valeri knew that it was Zai. She got up and threw a twig at him, reinforcing it with slyphir.

"Hey!" Zai flinched at Valeri"s voice and barely dodged the twig aimed at his face. He looked at the ground behind him and saw a small hole from the twig.

"What are you doing! Trying to kill me?!" Zai had both of his hands cupped around his mouth, making his voice seem louder.

"You took too long! No vacation!" Zai"s hands fell to his sides. How could she? After he actually worked for a few hours, now his vacation was gone. Valeri jumped down and walked towards Zai, her stride seemed slow but she was in front of him in a second. "C"mon, lets go back." Zai made pouted but agreed, his long awaited vacation no longer a possibility. He reached up to his left communicator.

"Blair?" On the other side it clicked and Blair"s cheerful voice came through.

"Yeah?"

"We"re leaving. Round up the remaining soldiers to help you gather the resources. I"ll send a transport car to carry them when I get back to camp."

"Yes sir." The comms clicked and went silent. He turned to face Valeri but she was already disappearing into the forest.

At the camp Valeri headed to the canteen first. The smell of cooking meat made her mouth water. Sweet and a bit spicy, the smell tickled her nose and caused her stomach to grumble. Nearing the canteen Valeri knocked on the wooden post holding the sign up.

"Got any food ready yet?" Working in the canteen were five people. The head chef and four a.s.sistants. A girl with short black hair walked over to Valeri, the white ap.r.o.n on her labeled "head chef" hung loosely.

"We do but the rice isn"t ready yet."

"Can"t I have some meat then?" The girl shook her head.

"I can"t let you do that. If you do your nutrition would be off for the day and then I"ll have to adjust your proportions during lunch. Eating too early changes things." Zai happened to stumble in at the same time, his stomach letting out a loud growl. He had one arm covering his belly, his face pale.

"Just a bit, please Clara?" Clara looked at Zai and sighed. Both the lieutenant and captain were here asking for food, how could she ignore them both?

*sigh* "Fine, but, you"re only getting a snack." Valeri and Zai nodded eagerly. Clara went behind the canteen and brought out a sandwich. She cut it in half and gave one side to Valeri and Zai. They eagerly gobbled it down and thanked Clara. "And don"t be late for breakfast. Most of the soldiers didn"t come last night for dinner so I prepared a large feast."

"Alright, I"ll let them know when I send over the transport car." Zai waved and walked away.

"I have some other matters to attend to so I might be a little late but, I"ll be there." Valeri turned around and walked away as well. Clara sighed and went back to preparing the food, the busy noises of the canteen resuming.

At the clinic Valeri opened the flaps, expecting to see Lydis sound asleep on the cot. When she poked her head inside Lydis wasn"t there! The jackets had been moved and her cot was messy. Valeri touched the bed and found it cold. Lydis has been gone for a while. Worried, Valeri quickly went to the other cots, checking for Lydis or anything that might show where she went. As Valeri was frantically Ami happened to walk in at that time.

"Captain? What"s wrong?" Ami walked closer to see what Valeri was doing.

"When did Lydis leave?"

"Isn"t she supposed to be right there?" Ami was feeling a bit worried and pressured. The moment she entered the clinic tent a heavy pressure fell on her. It felt like three grown men had stepped onto her shoulder and were tussling with each other. The pressure shifting and moving like it was alive.

"Ami, any ideas?" Though she was a medic Ami still had a bit of strength so she wasn"t completely helpless under Valeri"s pressure.

"Maybe she"s in your tent? You were gone all of last night, she could"ve decided that it was best to wait for you in your tent." Although she tried to keep her voice calm and steady Ami was beginning to shake, The turbulent pressure steadying.

"I"m sorry. I didn"t mean to put pressure on you…" Valeri was at a loss for words. She never used to be so easily agitated before. She never used her slyphir on Ami before either.

"It"s alright captain. No matter what, I"m sure you treasure your daughter greatly. There"s no hiding that fact." Ami was next to Valeri now, one arm on her shoulders.

"Thanks Ami. I"ll go check my tent next."

"See you captain." Valeri left the tent but not before waving goodbye. Ami smiled and waved back. The moment the flaps settled Ami fell onto one of the cots. Valeri"s pressure was too much for her who had the bare minimum amount of slyphir strengthening. "I guess even the captain can be scary in different ways too…" She placed one arm over her head, sweat coming of it.

Valeri rushed to her tent, not even caring about Blair who tried to stop her.

"C" Blair tried calling out to Valeri but she was ignored. Curious to see where Valeri was going Blair followed her. They arrived in front of the tent. A bit unsteady Valeri paused in front of the tent flaps. What if Lydis disappeared forever this time? Maybe Lydis being there was all in her head, she was old after all. Blair saw Valeri pause and without a word, pushed her in.

"Ah!" Valeri stumbled through the flaps. Inside the slightly dark room, Lydis laid on top of her crate. Nect to the side of the crate was something that looked like a makeshift staircase. Made up of random things it looked weird but seeing Lydis made it all better. Her small body curled into a ball with her scarlet hair fanning out behind her. Seeing Lydis, Valeri sighed in relief.

"You"re here…" She walked over and put one hand on Lydis"s sleeping face. Hidden emotions flooding to the surface. Although she had told herself that Lydis was here to stay, seeing her hurt and lying in the cot looking half dead had scared her. Negative thoughts had a habit of sticking around. She continued to brush Lydis"s hair out of her face when she saw the small bundle of fur by Lydis"s feet. It was a lighter shade of red than Lydis"s hair but not pink. With soft breaths, it moved up and down.

"Captain." Blair stood by the door, hands behind her back and hair still dripping with water.

"Yeah?" Valeri tried to make her voice sound composed but she could only manage a few words without choking up.

"I just wanted to let you know about the Blood Wolf meeting. It"ll be held before breakfast." Valeri paused and got up, reluctant to lose this chance to enjoy Lydis"s sleeping face.

"Alright. Brief me in the meeting tent."

"Yes ma"am!" Blair and Valeri left the tent and relocated to another tent further down. On the way Valeri managed to calm herself down enough to seem normal. Inside the tent waiting were the two Lieutenants, Zai and Amber, the other vice lieutenant Kyle along with the scouting leader Nova.

"You"re all here?"

"Yes ma"am. I already made preparations for what to do with the Blood Wolf remains. We should have about an hour before Clara calls everyone for breakfast." Amber"s "matter of fact" report was short and concise as always.

"So, Lieutenant Zai. For this operation I left you in charge as the commander out there. How did it go?"

Zai proceeded to tell Valeri about his plan and the wonderful suggestion from one of his soldiers, earning him a questioning look from Amber. Then he went on to explaining what happened with the first big wave of young Blood Wolves and his plan for the second one. Nova chipped in what he and his scouts saw and Zai"s alternative ending to the unknown ent.i.ty and the pack leader. Zai finished with the second Blood Wolf wave.

"And that"s where we are now." Zai sat down, giving Nova a small thumbs up on his alternative explanation.

"Hmm. And Nova? What of the females and males who fled?" Kyle had listened but that kept bugging him. Valeri was in deep thought, trying to identify the description with a monster.

"I had a few men track them and it looks like the males have all killed each other, probably in a fight for the new pack leader. The females fled in a small pack. We spotted some pups in the middle of their formation as well."

"Did you let them live?"

"Yes, my men were tired from running everywhere gathering information and avoiding the second wolf wave. Besides, I though it best to not completely wipe out the top predators of the area, least something stronger show up."

"Something stronger already has." All eyes turned to Valeri.

"What do you mean?" Amber"s voice couldn"t hide her surprise at how Valeri could already identify the unknown ent.i.ty.

"It"s probably from, beyond the mist." Hearing this the room went silent.