Jade: The Hybrid Mage

Chapter 18: The Duwlamarey

The next morning, I’d just finished washing up in the bamboo bathroom when the village erupted into chaos.

“There’s a wild boar heading toward the Shelter!” someone shouted, their voice tinged with panic.

I rushed outside, my hair still damp, and found the settlement in uproar.

“That’s free food! A few of our finest hunters can surely kill a wild boar!” an Oldling roared, his grin wide.

“The Duwlamarey has it, Elder,” another voice countered, silencing the crowd.

The air grew heavy with fear. People scrambled toward underground rooms as the Chief, his staff adorned with its human skull, barked orders.

“Hurry! Everyone underground! Hunters, to your positions!”

“What are you doing?” Gib hissed, grabbing my arm.

“I want to see it,” I replied, breaking free and crawling beneath one of the huts.

“That’s crazy! Let’s go!”

But I ignored him, too curious to turn back.

The boar shattered the bamboo gate with a single strike, its roar echoing through the village. The sound pierced my heightened hearing, and I winced, gripping my ears.

But I crawled forward anyway, desperate to see the creature that caused so much fear among these hardened people.

“What in the skies kind of wild boar is that?” I whispered, my voice trembling.

The beast stood there—a monstrosity. Its body was a grotesque fusion of a bear’s bulk, an alligator’s ridged hide, and the tusks of an elephant. Muscles rippled beneath its hairy skin, and its eyes glowed with a sickly green hue.

“Are you insane? Get back here!” Gib hissed, dragging at my leg from behind.

“No beast should look like that, Gib! Is that the kind of monster you people have to deal with to survive?” I muttered, ignoring him as I crawled forward again for a better look.

“Oh, my blood, weird woman! Shut up and get back here before you expose us!”

Hunters surrounded the creature, forming a circle with spears and shields at the ready; their shields and spears coated in some yellowish liquid. Above them, archers perched in the gate towers, arrows trained on the beast.

The boar stood eerily still, its tusks gleaming as it surveyed the scene.

“A single touch and you’re to swallow!” the Chief hollered, stepping forward with a yellow leaf pressed between his lips. I then noticed all the hunters held the same kind of leaf in their mouths.

“What’s that they’re chewing?” I whispered to Gib, glancing at the strange leaves.

“Get back here and I’ll tell you,” he grumbled.

“Talk now, or I won’t move!”

“It’s from the cucasu flower,” he said, his tone clipped. “It’s deadly to humans but weakens the Duwlamarey. The hunters have soaked their weapons in its juice. That’s the only way to force the beast back into the forbidden veil.”

The hunters wore long gloves, clearly to avoid accidental exposure to the poison.

“Why not just kill it?” I asked.

“It’s impossible to kill a beast taken over by a Duwlamarey. It heals itself. That’s why we have to drive it back to the veil where the cucasu flowers grow—it keeps the Duwlamarey contained.”

“But how did it escape the veil in the first place?”

“That’s the question that keeps us up at night,” he said, his voice shaking. “Now get back here!”

But I stayed rooted in place, unable to tear my eyes away from the scene.

The hunters moved with a grace that defied explanation. Their Ifùfe techniques were breathtaking to watch, each movement fluid and precise as they dodged and countered the boar’s attacks.

“They’ve mastered Ifùfe,” I murmured, captivated by their skill.

One hunter managed to pierce the boar’s tail with her spear. The beast howled, thrashing wildly as its form began to shift.

“It’s melting!” I gasped, my stomach churning at the sight.

The boar’s body turned into a rippling green liquid, spreading across the ground like a living puddle.

“That’s the Duwlamarey,” Gib whispered, his voice thick with fear.

The liquid moved with terrifying speed, sending out spear-like tendrils in every direction. The hunters dodged and blocked with incredible precision, their movements like a deadly dance.

But two hunters weren’t fast enough. One was stabbed in the eye, and the other in the thigh.

The one struck in the thigh swallowed the cucasu leaf, her body convulsing violently before collapsing in a lifeless heap.

The other was too slow to react. Arrows flew from the towers, and a nearby hunter drove a spear through his heart before the infection could spread.

I gasped as one of the hunters suddenly turned toward me and Gib’s hiding spot. An arrow flew straight at us.

Pain exploded in my shoulder as the arrow struck.

“No!” Gib screamed, scrambling toward me as I tried to crawl out from under the hut.

I reached for the arrow, desperate to pull it out, but a hunter grabbed my wrist. “Don’t! You’ll spread the poison!”

The Duwlamarey let out an ear-splitting shriek, its fluid form rippling violently as if reacting to the chaos around it. The ground beneath us trembled like an earthquake was brewing.

And then, a clay pot fell from the roof of the hut. It struck Gib on the head with a sickening thud, sending him crumpling to the ground.

“Gib!” I screamed, my heart lurching as I crawled toward him.

His small body lay motionless, his face pale against the dirt.

“What have I done?” I whispered, tears streaming down my face as guilt consumed me.