Demon Wolf

The skinny-ass granny Wolf dragged over bled like a pig. And yet, she stopped hemorrhaging in the few moments he took to reclaim Kira. Initially, he believed this world’s denizens primitives. Then, he witnessed all Hare Tribe’s soldiers infusing arrows with Qi, an art he never learned, and now this random woman he nailed with a knife regenerated on her own power.

No, she isn’t regenerating. Wolf frowned, yearning to pick his teeth to get rid of that annoying chunk of crab. She’s drowning in blood. If she used proper regeneration, the spell would dissolve spilled blood into nutrients to regrow flesh. She likely clogged her arteries with miniature Qi screens, temporarily staunching her bleeding…

“She’s useless. We won’t get any information from her. Did you kill the others?” Fiona’s words snapped Wolf out of his contemplation.

He lifted his gaze and nodded.

Wait! I can profit from this. I have ninety-three healing potions I brewed in fusingcube, and a bunch of lesser ones I bought ages ago.

He clicked his tongue, feigning mild disinterest. “I can heal her if you compensate me with their holdingrings.”

Wolf paused as he came up with an extra argument. “I killed them anyway.”

“Do it.” Fiona motioned her chin towards Mia.

She did not hesitate to make her call. In her book, the fact that Wolf did not demand compensation or outright robbed the hares was already a grand display of his upright character. She would not dare stop him from claiming his rightful spoils.

Wolf smirked, then took out a glass vial. Fiona watched him feed Mia half its content, pouring the rest into her lung through the convenient gaping hole.

Smoke rose from the wound, and the bubbling liquid sizzled as the ruptured skin and flesh squirmed and mended, shocking Fiona. In mere breaths, Mia’s wounds disappeared. Her eyes regained focus, but her complexion remained deathly pale.

“Thank you, young hero,” she said, mustering strength for a fawning look.

Fiona glared at her. ‘You’re sucking up in vain.’ She wanted to say those words, but did not dare. Wolf was a wildcard, a random factor she should not rely on; someone she realized she should refrain from offending. And if she offended him, she would have to kill him immediately, lest she wound up dead.

“I have some questions for you.” Instead of gloating and crushing Mia’s spirit, Fiona went straight to the point. Her serious tone sent an obvious message, ‘you’re my prisoner; you live because I allow it; you will die when I want you dead.’

Mia understood, and did not contradict Fiona. Rancor would only earn her a savage beating. Intelligent people who fostered defiance followed their captor’s script, then planted a dagger in their oppressor’s back at an opportune moment.

So, Mia endured. She lowered her gaze in defeat and nodded, barely moving her dispirited head. Behind that routed face, she racked her brain, contemplating how to win Wolf over.

“What’s happening with Hare’s Burrow?” Fiona asked, trying to remain calm while Ronit clenched her fists.

“I don’t know. I was herding the beasties, following Matriarch’s orders.” While Mia spoke, Hare Tribe’s warriors raised a ruckus, searching the tents, finding nothing but dead bodies.

“You must know something?” Fiona tried to suppress it, but worry wormed its way into her voice.

“I…” Mia lowered her head in a suitably pathetic display. “According to Matriarch’s words, your stronghold should’ve already fallen. Monster Beasts were to attack before any survivors came to warn you.” Conveniently wiping out anyone who neared your outpost.

Ronit grit her teeth, and Fiona held her breath, but they kept a spark of hope. A spark Mia cultivated by speaking the appropriately molded truth full of omissions.

“Tell us about your plan,” Fiona demanded.

“I’ll tell you, if he guarantees my safety. I promise to reward you if you bring me back to Fox’s Den,” she said the last part gazing at Wolf, who seemed absentminded.

“How do I reach the Unholy Empire from here?” he asked out of the blue, stunning everyone.

“Huh?” Fiona blinked, yet another unpredictable statement scrambling her thoughts.

She had been considering killing the sprawled bitch before Mia further enticed Wolf, but he apparently did not give a shit either way.

“Two weeks’ walk east.” Ronit answered, surprising Fiona with this act of mental agility.

“We won’t harm you,” Fiona said to Mia, tapping her lip as her mind raced.

He’s leaving. That’s not bad. He’s strong, but doesn’t obey orders. He’s an outsider and we can’t trust him. Most importantly, he’s batshit crazy. He’s eating and drinking at all times. Yesterday, he ate enough food to feed fifty people. And that’s just what I saw. Is it an obsession related to body refining?

Fiona wondered while rationalizing the benefits of Wolf’s departure, but she had to drive those thoughts away. She steadied her mind, focusing on the true issues they faced. She was the strategist; she had to tune out Wolf’s outbursts. She had to tune out the wails and screams of warriors finding their friends and cousins dead.

What about Hare’s Burrow? Maybe things are still salvageable, but what do we do about Mona? Peaceful reconciliation is impossible, and she knows it, meaning the tribe will split. They have more elders, but we have more warriors overall. Will the neutral clans’ people abandon us?

Don’t think about future problems; solve the immediate issues first. Mona can fight or talk. Plan for the worst, which is fight. If they attack me and Ronit, we’d die to six elders, meaning we need this fellow. She glanced at Wolf, vaguely hearing Ronit interrogate Mia about other attackers.

Fiona caught a hint of glee in her friend’s eyes and focused, realizing Fox Tribe had lost five elders during this plot. They were weakened too.

If foxes have taken over, Mona is dead, as are the elders. Problems of infighting and rebellion are gone. That leaves Hare Tribe down to two elder-level figures, making us a strong small tribe. We can kiss our workers goodbye. Hare Tribe no longer has the manpower nor the intimidation factor to watch seventy thousand slaves, unless both Ronit and I are in the village all the time, along with most of our warriors. We can manage ten thousand, while the rest we trade for benefits with the foxes.

Foxes already lost four elders. Returning this bitch is a great bargaining chip, but what’s stopping them from attacking us once we show up, or after we trade? Fiona’s gaze once more drifted towards Wolf. Do we really need to rely on him whatever choice we make? No. We don’t. We can flee from here, give up our friends and family back home and… nobody will agree to that. Ronny certainly won’t.

“We must return to Hare’s Burrow at once,” Fiona said, interrupting Ronit’s interrogation. “Gag and bind her. We need to discuss some things in private.”

Fiona noticed Ronit’s odd look, and caught the ever louder sobs and curses, which spread through the camp like a wildfire as her warriors followed the foxes’ path of slaughter. Even without a report, she guessed at least a hundred tribe members had died.

Ronny’s blaming me for not letting her raise the alarm. Fiona saw Ronit gnash her teeth, her gaze seething with fury, ready to explode. Still, the matriarch nodded.

“Strip her, bind her, gag her and have five warriors at the peak of Qi Gathering stand watch with ten sentries around the tent.” Hare Tribe’s matriarch ordered. “If you see a glimmer of Qi anywhere on her body, four will attack her, the fifth one will run away screaming for help.”

After issuing the standard orders for handling higher realm prisoners, Ronit stormed off.

Yeah. She’s pissed. Fiona sighed and followed her friend.

“Why didn’t you let me warn the guards? You killed—” Ronit started, but Fiona had no mental capacity for her blame throwing.

“Shut up,” she hissed. “There would’ve been more dead if we remained vigilant. They would’ve figured out we know; then they would’ve acted openly. Instead of stealthily looking for us, they would’ve launched a slaughter to draw our attention. Five Blood Saturating realm combatants and ten peak Qi Gathering ones would’ve killed a lot more people if they fought openly.”

Fiona’s eye twitched. She knew she left the lives of her brave comrades up to chance, but it was the best way to minimize damage. And that was her job, maximizing tribes’ opportunities while minimizing their losses. And those brave souls butchered in their sleep were the price of damage control.

“If Fox Tribe has already taken Hare's Burrow, that means our tribe is no more. We must be prepared.” Fiona massaged her temples, fatigue gaining on her. “We need to return home, pick up whatever and whoever we can, antagonizing the foxes as least as possible. We should allow them to enslave the conspirators behind the coup. It’s better than us enslaving them. It would lower morale, make people pity them and those that have grudges might slaughter perfectly fine laborers. As for idle spectators who allowed the ruin of our tribe, I’m not sure…”