Chapter 31
The warriors who were sent to search for Veronica finally arrived in the forest after walking a very long journey due to the distance. They soon got to the exact spot where they found Scott and stopped there.
“This was the exact point where we found the kid, right?” The
leader asked them.
“Yes, Leader.” They chorused in response.
“He was coming from that direction,” one of the warriors, who
was the first one to sight Scott from afar before he fell, pointed
towards the direction where he was running from.
“Are you sure about this?” The leader asked him.
“Yes, Leader. I’m very sure. I’m positive.” He replied, confidently.
“Okay, in that case, we’ll head in that direction too.” He told
them and they waited for more information.
They had left the pack immediately without complete
information on who or what they were searching for. It was
only their leader, who they sometimes called ‘Cap‘ or ‘Captain
Jake‘, who had the main details. He only summoned a few of
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them and they followed.
“Get ready, we’re going back into the forest where we found
Scott now.” He had announced to them and they didn’t question him. They only strapped up and assembled and shortly after, they left the pack for the forest.
So, they still didn’t know what they were searching for.
“We’re searching for a female, a little older than Scott, but first,
we must find a deep pit. So, you all need to be careful so that you
don’t unknowingly fall into it.” The leader said to them.
“A pit?” They asked with a puzzled look on their faces.
“Yes, from information gathered, I was told that the moment we
find the pit, we’ll find her because she fell into the pit.” He
replied and they nodded in understanding.
“Our search starts now. Check for clues that can lead us to
where she is as well.” He announced and they all were about to
be on the move when he stopped them.
“One more thing,” he said, stopping them in their tracks. “Her
name is Vee.” He said and they nodded and said ‘okay‘.
They then began their search, and as they searched, they kept
shouting Veronica’s name as loud as they could, hoping that she
would be able to answer if she heard her namé, which would
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help narrow down their search.
“Be careful, there are traps here.” The lieutenant, who was the
assistant and second in command to the leader, suddenly
shouted, alerting the others of the danger ahead.
“Yes, take extra caution.” Leader warned, in agreement. “Move
with wide eyes and your senses. I’m sure you know that as
warriors, your eyes and senses should be sharper than any other
person. One wrong move and you might end up in more trouble
than you can ever imagine. Remember, this part of the forest is
the most dangerous.” He warned and reminded them.
“I still wonder how they got here though.” He said to himself.
“Double up warriors, we don’t have all day. We need to give
Alpha Marcus an update as soon as possible.” He shouted at
them and they intensified their search.
“I think I found something.” One of the warriors shouted and
they all rushed to where he was.
“What is it?” Lieutenant asked him.
“There,” the warrior said, pointing towards a bunch of fruits
scattered around the same area.
They hurriedly looked closely but didn’t find anything that
could pass as a clue. So, they kept searching.
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They had only been searching for a few minutes when they
heard a rustling sound in the bushes nearby.
They all heard it, and so they immediately paused their search to
listen carefully so as to know their next line of action. The whole
place became silent again except for the sound of the wind
brushing against the trees.
“Get back to work, I don’t think it is anything to be worried about.” Leader told them and they did as they were told.
But as they got back to work, they heard a low snarling sound
from somewhere close to them and they immediately came
together in a circular formation, with their knives in their
hands, with each one of them facing outward, while their backs
were inward in the circle, that way, their eyes are on the target
and they are still able to look out for their partners too.
This was one of their many trainings and they did this
whenever they sensed danger or felt threatened by an unseen
presence. They would remain in that position until the danger is
passed and they feel safe again.
“Stay alert warriors, anything can happen from here on.” Their
leader said to them in a low tone and they all nodded in
understanding.
“We are not sure of what it is yet, but my guess is that it’s a
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wolf.” Lieutenant whispered to the leader.
“Yes, and from its growling, I can guess that it might be a big one.
We need to be alert, it can come from any angle.” Leader said to
them all.
While he was still speaking, with a fierce growl, the grey wolf
launched itself at the warriors, its blue eyes gleaming with
predatory intent.
“Watch out!” one of the warriors shouted and they jumped out
of the way, scattering their formation.
“Warriors! Resume formation!” the leader immediately roared as
he noticed that their formation had been dismantled.
The wolf growled at them, its eyes shining as the rays of
sunlight shone to it. He charged at them one more time and this
time, the leader shouted, “Change formation!”
As the wolf moved close, they moved backwards as it bared its
teeth at them.
“It won’t be easy to kill this wolf because we are just five, so we
have to bait it.” Leader whispered to his lieutenant.
“How do we do that? We have nothing to bait it with.” He
replied, frustration creeping into his voice.
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“Don’t worry, I’ll be the bait.” Leader said, his words shocking the
other warriors.
“What? No way! You can’t do that! Sir, it’s too dangerous.” his
assistant protested.
“Don’t let your emotions get the best of you. Listen to me and be
alert. As soon as I step forward, rearrange the formation and do
not let your guards down.” He ordered.
“Yes sir!” They yelled in unison.
He then asked, “Anyone with a knife to spare? I need one more.”
He was immediately provided with another knife and he
signalled to his assistant, who nodded as he got the message.
He stepped out of their formation and the others rearranged. He charged at the wolf who took the bait. Seeing that it was one person coming at it, the wolf jumped at him too and the pair
ended up rolling on the forest ground.
For a minute, there was total silence. The warriors had their
hearts in their mouths as they watched their leader lying on the
ground, motionless, with the large wolf on top of him and blood
trickling on the ground.
They weren’t sure which was hurt, the wolf or their leader or
both, because both the wolf and their leader weren’t moving.
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Suddenly, the leader growled as he pulled out the knives from
the wolf and pushed it off him, while blood began to gush out
from two different parts. He had perfectly aimed and stabbed
the wolf in the neck and chest, two of the most fatal parts of its
body. He had aimed perfectly and so it died instantly.
The warriors sighed in relief and hailed him.
“That was amazing, Cap. It was like an action scene in a movie.
Truly, you’re our leader and captain.” One of the warriors
commended his efforts and he smiled as he got up.
Exactly! it was so perfect.” Another warrior said, beaming with
smiles.
“Great work, Cap.” His assistant said too.
“Now that the distraction is gone, we need to pick up from
where we left off.” He announced to them and they continued
their search once again.
They had not searched for too long when one of the warriors
shouted from a distance, “Here, I found it!”
They all rushed to where he was and finally, they found the pit.
“Phew! So here it is finally.” They all rejoiced but the joy didn’t last too long.
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One of the warriors peeped into the pit but strangely, no one
was in it.
“Cap, there is no one in this pit except a dead animal.” He said
“What?!” They all exclaimed. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” The warrior replied, while the others rushed to the pit to
see for themselves.
With disappointment in their faces, they turned to their leader,
“it’s true, cap. There’s no one here except for the dead animal.”
“Damn! Did she escape?” Captain Jake asked, his voice filled with
disappointment.
“I don’t think she would have been able to escape on her own
though. There’s just one rope that goes down to the pit from that
tree over there,” He said, pointing at the tree. “and it is cut in half
inside the pit, the other half is lying in the ground deep down
inside.” His assistant said to him as he observed the scene.
“So, it means, she got help from someone?” He asked.
“Or she was kidnapped by someone.” One of them said, leaving
them all in shock at the possibility that she could have been
kidnapped.
“Hmmmmm! So we don’t know if she’s alive, Cap?” Another
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warrior asked him.
“Yes, we’re not sure. She might have been kidnapped, attacked
or killed by rogue wolves. Those rogue wolves are so ruthless
and they’ve been up to no good lately. They’ve caused a lot of
havoc recently in the past few months.” Captain Jake replied.
“Damn! Honestly, this is just getting complicated!” Captain Jake
complained, getting more frustrated.
“Maybe we should call her name and see if she’ll respond if she’s
around here.” One of them suggested.
“But we’ve been doing that all the way here, yet, we’ve not heard
anything.” Another warrior replied, stressed.
“We’ll search around one more time and if we are unable to find
her, we have to head back to the pack because it won’t be a good
scenario if those rogue wolves find us around here. They have
been reported to be moving in large groups now. No matter how
we fight, we won’t be able to win because we are clearly
outnumbered.” He explained and they began to search again.
After about an hour of intense searching and not finding
anything, they decided to head back to the pack.
“We couldn’t find her. She wasn’t in the pit and she wasn’t
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around the area either. We searched everywhere.” Captain Jake
reported to the Alpha as soon as they got back.
Alpha Marcus and Beta Richard were together when the
warriors got back and so when the message was passed, they
were disappointed.
“We think she might have been taken away by someone but we
don’t know who took her, where she was taken to, or what has
been done to her.” Captain Jake added.
“Now, this is serious.”
