Six Warriors

The Great Hunt - (Arthur)

Arthur was still thinking about what Amy had told him when he heard the clatter of horses' hooves approaching. A small party was approaching and a man announced.

 "Make way for the lord burgomaster, Groto Mus of Burgeville!"

On a gray horse, a man in the clothes of a nobleman approached. He was short and fat, his head was huge and he had no neck, his face was dotted with lumps, his eyes were droopy and heavy-lidded, he had a cynical smile on his face with a thick-lipped mouth.

"Here is the traveling criminal who attacked my guards." Said the man on the gray horse, who Arthur guessed that it must be that Groto.

"What you want?" Arthur asked without sympathy.

"You look just like a boy to me… but from what I hear, a very strong boy."

"You heard right, I'm really strong." Arthur punched his own hand.

"That's fine. I forgive you of your crimes, traveler, and I say even more. I have a proposal for you. I think there is no other reason to help this scoundrel at Glastro than merely a fat sack of gold he must have promised you, but if you knew Glastro as I do, you would know that all he talks about is lip service. Can you imagine, lad, that Glastro owes me a sum of nothing more than three hundred golden dogs?"

"Dogs of gold?" Arthur asked Amy.

"Bodd's Confederation coin, golden dogs, silver cats, and bronze rats."

"That's right, that scoundrel owes this all to me alone, but if you ask any landlord in this town you'll know that Glastro owes them good money too. Don't want to be one more of those cheated by that deadbeat boy, be smart."

"What do you offer me then? Do you want me to be one of your warriors?"

"One of my warriors?" Groto laughed almost obscenely, which made Arthur frown. "No, no, I already have good fighters. What I offer you is even more advantageous. I offer you the sum of seventy golden dogs and thirty silver cats so that you just don't fight. I imagine that's more than that. enough so that I can live for a while in Lightland as a lord."

"Not." Arthur replied and Groto looked confused.

"Sorry, what did you say? I don't think I heard you right.

"I refuse your proposal, lord."

"What? Is this too little for you? A hundred dogs of gold! Not? One hundred and twenty! One hundred and thirty! One hundred and fifty golden dogs and no more talking about it!"

"I don't want your gold as he is paying for my cowardice. I will not stop fighting in this hunt, no matter how much you offer me."

"Now I get it, you're a fool! That's why you joined Glastro team." Groto snorted and turned his horse around. "You'll regret this boy, you'll die in those hunt and I'll feed my pigs your guts. Go!" Saying this, the lord rode away.

Glastro came back and brought some people with him, one of them with a thick brown beard, another with a auburn hair and beard, and an old man with a big white beard, the old man's eyes were a blue-grey and he was wearing a green tunic and he was leaning on a staff of wood and moss.

"Hello Arthur, I want to introduce you to some people," said Glastro and then he pointed to the red-haired guy, "this is Halfdan Bjornson the current leader of Clan Bjorn the warrior clan of our village whose origins go back to the far north lands." Bjorn nodded to Arthur, "the other warrior is Brown Beard, a very brave warrior too and a lumberjack in his spare time."

"Actually, I am a lumberjack and valiant warrior in my spare time." Brown Beard corrected with a smile.

"The last is Roven the druid, it was the druids who started the Great Hunt tradition many centuries ago, Roven is our current druid and serves as a sort of mediator between the four villages."

"The Great Hunt is more than just a competition, it's much more than a game for the power of this piece of land" said Roven, the druid "it was inspired by generations of druids before me, it's a millenary tradition in honor to the spirit of the forest, Iacomostem. The winners of the Great Hunt receive the highest honor from the warriors, they converse with the Iacomostem spirit and through their valiant effort along the hunt they are sent to the Hall of Warriors, the place where only the most worthy can be, the hall where they feast with the gods!"

"Many of my ancestors are there." Said Bjornson, "I want to join them. Join the valiant warriors!"

"The Roven here said he received information from the villagers of the four villages from other travelers, Arthur," Glastro said.

"Yes, a girl, a boy with black hair and one with light hair." Roven said.

"They are my colleagues!" Arthur said.

"I didn't allow them to participate in the Great Hunt as they had no connection to our land" said Roven, "however, Arthur, I see in you, in your blood, in your soul and in your heart, you already belonged to our land, whether are an ancestor of your or in a past lives, you were part of the Grafsvin tribe and if they really are your friends, they can fight alongside you and the badger tribe."

"That's great!" Glastro celebrated, "If they are as strong as you, Arthur, they will be of great help."

"Strong like me? No, not that," Arthur smiled, "but they will help."

"I'll send them to meet you at the tavern known as The Song and the Mug," Roven said, "we'll see each other again, young and mighty warrior, before the Great Hunt."

...

"From the information I was able to gather in this huge pigsty called Rottur Village, I learned that something that befits the scroll is found in a hidden place in the forest." Seraph said, when Arthur was already with him, Marcus and Hana in the tavern.

"In the information I gathered, the creature known as Iacomostem is the one who guards the scroll." Said Hana, "he's a kind of ancestral spirit of the forest and he must be very powerful, all the mystique of this place and all the tradition around hunting revolves around him."

"Barbarians, that's what I think of them," Seraph said with a shrug and a mocking voice.

"Don't mock them!" Arthur growled slamming his fist on the wooden table, "they are honoring bravery, that's respectable."

"Anyway, we've gathered the information," Marcus said, trying to defuse the situation, "let's just report the mission now and then head to Lightland."

"We will fight!" Arthur growled and the others looked at him as if he were talking nonsense. "What?"

"We just needed to gather information, Arthur, our mission is done." Hana said gently, but Arthur didn't want to hear it.

"We can have this scroll that you so many talk about and a good adventure! Isn't that what we became warriors for? For a good adventure?"

"Hmmm...no?" Seraph said with a mockery in his voice, "We just do what's necessary you empty-headed, we're done here."

"Sorry, but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation." said Glastro, approaching the table of four, "then I'll have to ask..." he then dropped to his knees and lowered his head, as if imploring, "please reconsider! Help us in what we're going to face! This place no longer need Groto's tyranny!"

Arthur, Seraph, Hana and Marcus looked at each other. Arthur got up, serious.

"I don't know about you guys, but if I can call myself a guardian or anything like that, I'll never leave the needy without my help!" He said impetuously and then growled at his colleagues, as if daring them to give an answer.

...

The Bodd Confederation was a kingdom where each state was sovereign over itself and its inhabitants, in that place there was the county of Gris, ruled by Count Baeth Aroturth, in the county there were smaller manors among these was Bugerville, the ancient place known as Eighthall Manor, In Bugerville there were four villages, in the places where there were the four ancient tribes, they were Refar Village, represented by a fox, Grafsvín Hamlet, represented by a badger, Kettir Borough, represented by a cat, and and the last of the tribes to appear, but now the most evolved due to Groto's rule, Rottur Town, represented by a rat. The Great Hunt was a great festival with music, food and drink, many villagers and peasants amused these days as the warriors prepared for the fight, each under the totem of his own tribe, fox, badger, cat and rat.

"I'll still regret this" Seraph complained. He wore leather armor and had two daggers at his waist.

"Now we're at a point of no return" Hana said, wearing studded leather armor and carrying an waraxe.

"But you know what? I'm excited about it, and then we have a chance to get the parchment ourselves." said Marcus, wearing a ring mail and a sword on his back.

"Of course, we'll make it!" Arthur exclaimed, he was wearing hide armor and holding a battle hammer, which was square and quite large.

"Arthur, be careful," said Glastro, "the men who participate in this hunt are not like those orcs you faced in our village. These men are very dangerous, mercenaries from distant lands, marauders, barbarians, wandering knights… not to mention the monsters that you have to kill in this endeavor, it's good to be very careful."

"Sounds very interesting." Arthur smiled.

"Don't get too confident, kid." Amy warned.

"Why shouldn't I? I have to trust myself, but I won't be foolish enough to underestimate my opponents."

"Spoken very well" praised Brown Beard and Bjornson.

Glastro smiled at Amy, as if to say he had chosen the right man. Many people were there to see the event, bettors, spectators, nobles, among others. Among the nobles, there was one who stood out. On a makeshift but no less sumptuous throne stood a serious-faced man, apparently sixty years old, with angular features and a crown of pointed bones on his head, wearing a red robe.

"That is Count Baeth Aroturth, the lord overlord of the county of Gris." Said Amy to Arthur. "He is feared and respected by all, feared even by other overlords."

Arthur looked at Baeth and for a moment the mighty lord seemed to be looking directly at him, his face serious and analytical. For some reason, Arthur felt chills.

"Glast of Bugerville?" Someone approached. He was a young man of apparently eighteen years old, carrying a long sword and wearing steel armor. He had hair that hung down to his ears and a tanned complexion.

"I prefer the name Eighthall Manor, if you don't mind, but how can I help?" Glastro asked and the young man frowned.

"I am Sir Avash of Casteland!" He said and pointed his sword at Glastro, "my father died for your father's foolishness! Now I'm here to get revenge!" He then pointed the sword at Arthur. "And your men will pay!"

"That's a mistake" Glastro said "our parents were very good friends, it doesn't make sense for you to throw me such a challenge."

"I just came here to let you know. Be alert!" Saying this, the young knight turned on his heel and walked away, returning to where the cat's totem was, which belonged to the Kettir Borough.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah!" Laughed a familiar voice nearby. This time it was Groto and his champion, a man at least six feet and half of pure muscle standing beside him. "Don't worry, that imbecile made the same threat to us. But Agrokk here" and pointed to his champion "has already killed this young imbecile's father and will do the same to his son. Now you, boy" he pointed to Arthur, "You are ours alone. Ah, ah, ah!" He came out laughing and Arthur growled.

Trumpets blew. They announced that the lord overlord would speak.

"Sirs, lords and champions." Baeth's voice thundered. "Today the bravest warriors will fight each other, many will die and only one tribe will be honored for the next ten years! May the best win!"

The warriors nodded and praised in agreement.

"Good luck, my warriors," wished Glastro before retiring with Amy.

"Let's protect each other!" Bjornson spoke and Brown Beard nodded.

All together the Grafsvín tribe had about forty men on their side, it was the smallest of the numbers, Kettir had fifty, Refar seventy and Rottur one hundred and twenty men. There was no need to say who were the favorites to be champions again.

Roven the druid appeared to each of the teams to give instructions.

"There are many evil creatures that displease the great spirit of our forest, Iacomostem, trolls, goblins, bugbears and ogres, they all count towards The Great Hunt, but there are two main prey, the first is Drohorot, the Cyclops, the second is the basilisk that usually appears near Nunnui Cave or the Kanínur River, they are worth fifty of any other enemy or monster you kill. A big threat is also Zrevij the troll, he's worth twenty-five of any other creature or enemy they kill and can be recognized by the goblin head necklace he usually wears.You shall burn those you have killed with the holy oil of Iacomostem, so he will know that you have done his will and hunt in his name."

"What is this Iacomostem anyway?" Arthur asked.

"A forest spirit, an ancient creature that has protected and welcomed generations of our people, a semi-deity to whom we owe our devotion." The druid made a gesture with his hand, as if it were something from some religion or cult connected with the Iacomostem. "The Badger Tribe, are you ready?"

"Yes, great druid, we are ready to honor our ancestors and the great Iacomostem." Bjornson replied.

"You can count on my ax!" Brown Beard said confidently, he looked at another warrior over there who was about the same age as them, "what about you, Gradslaw?"

"My bow or my sword has been waiting for years to regain the prestige of our village." Said the Gradslaw. Apparently Bjornson, Brown Beard, and Gradslaw were descendants of generations of warriors who had participated in the Great Hunt and were childhood friends having grown up together. He was athletic and had blond hair with a goatee in the same color.

"Very well then, may Iacomostem and the badger totem give you strength" said the druid before brandishing his oak staff and a thick mist engulfed the place, when Arthur realized the mist had passed and they were now in the forest.

"Started." Brown Beard said seriously.

Arthur and the others walked with the warriors they had allied with, Seraph complaining about the fact that they had soon joined the tribe with the fewest numbers and the one that had the least chance of winning and the greatest chance of being wiped out. 

"I am here," said Gradslaw with a smug smile, "there is nothing to fear." he walked with his bow already drawn and the case of arrows on his back, at his waist he carried a long sword sheathed.

It wasn't long after this sentence that Arthur and his allies were attacked, they were little green creatures with the most varied types of weapons, some of them, from the top of the trees, shooting arrows with their small bows. Goblins, Arthur thought angrily. A fight started there, Gradslaw started shooting his arrows with some other archers who were there, some of them were also hit by the arrows of the goblins. Brown Beard and Bjornson were formidable fighters and fought several goblins at the same time. Seraph, who was known as Seraph of the Shadows, showed his abilities there, he threw his daggers in points where there were leftovers and they came out of there, it was as if he controlled small shadow portals with his magic of the dark element, Hana was fighting with the ax and still not showing her magic, as well as Arthur who was advancing with the hammer, crushing those goblins who were advancing with a thirst for murder, Marcus started fighting the sword and he was quite good at it, but apparently he didn't really like the use of the long sword so he just dropped it, stripped off his armor and started fighting only with his bare hands.

"PAW OF THE FLAMING TIGER!!" He yelled, ripping a goblin's head off with a kung fu jab or something with his fire-covered hands. Arthur was pretty sure it was really some kind of kung fu, tiger style, or something kung fu he didn't quite understand.

"SHADOW DAGGERS!!" Shouted Seraph, hitting many little monsters with his magic of daggers coming out of the shadows. When the fight was over, Arthur was a bit upset, as he hadn't been the one who had shot down the most enemies, that rank was between Brown Beard, Bjornson and Gradslaw. There were also three casualties among them, a man who looked about fifty, a young man who was in his twenties, and a woman in her thirties. Some were also injured.

"These were Wilmorn Agosto, Sigurd Erikson and Luisa Amblecrown, they died bravely and will be remembered, join our ancestors' feast." Brown Beard said with respect.

They killed about thirty goblins and gathered the bodies of the tiny monsters to burn them with the holy oil. The smell of that oil's flames didn't feel like a corpse fire, it didn't even smell like smoke, it smelled of tree and forest to Arthur, it was a wild and pleasant smell.

The young man also noticed that there was other smoke coming from above the treetops, which indicated that the other teams had also started to kill.

"Starting to regret it, Arthur?" Seraph asked in a mocking tone.

Arthur looked at him seriously and then gave him a confident smile.

"i***t, I'm more excited now!"

Hana and Marcus exchanged glances with a smile of kindness and a bit of embarrassment, as if telling each other that this guy Arthur Coast was an incorrigible battle junkie.'

Some of the wounded asked to leave and made their way back to the village, Brown Beard said that in these cases the spirit of Iacomostem protected them and they could recover safe and sound at home. In all there were then thirty men left in the badger's tribe. Bjornson told them not to get discouraged, as this was the year they would win and just a few goblins wasn't enough, that they should go look for more monsters. Brown Beard came up with the idea of splitting up the team to find other creatures more easily, which was accepted by everyone, as long as there was a signal if they found some creature too powerful or a team with numbers much larger than theirs. Team one was led by Bjornson and had Hana and Seraph on their side, Brown Beard led the second and Arthur, Marcus and Gradslaw were in that one. The sign would be given through a magic stone shared between the three friends since childhood and that was passed from generation to generation by their families.

That day, they walked and walked, but they didn't find any more creatures, Gradslaw was complaining about how boring things were and Arthur had to agree with him. In the afternoon they stopped for a while to get something to eat quickly, Arthur was starving indeed, he, Marcus, Brown Beard and Gradslaw talked a lot. Brown Beard asked where they came from and what they were doing, Marcus replied simply that they were adventurers and had only recently been together. Arthur looked at Marcus like he was asking why to hide being a Guardian, but Marcus didn't even pay attention to that. To tell the truth, Arthur was even liking those guys, they were nice and spent their whole lives being brave warriors, having participated in countless battles and even some editions of the Great Hunt, they came from an ancient lineage of warriors, which they did Arthur felt like they were some kind of distant relative. After the quick stop to eat they walked and didn't find much action until the late afternoon began to arrive and the night had already passed to shed its cloak of darkness on the day's sunbeams. Gradslaw saw smoke coming from a certain point in the forest, they decided to investigate, but they were careful because it could be something too dangerous for the contingent they had there, which Arthur thought was bullshit, he didn't fear anything he could find there .

"Yummy, yummy! I love these hunts! I love these hunts and their delicious little humans!" They heard a deep, slow voice speak as they approached.

"Yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy, Bakerstink, yummy, yummy, these little humans are going to be really tasty!" Said another voice, which was also deep, but a little less deep, only rougher and more torn.

"What the hell is this?" Arthur asked seeing two very large creatures around a large fire and two dead people roasting there. There were some other dead things around there too.

"I've heard of them, they annoy a lot of Bugerville villages," Brown Beard said in a low but serious tone, "luckily they never attacked anything in our village, but they're well known, they're the ogre couple Bakerstink and Gomeziona."

The creature that was supposed to be a female must have been 275cm or more, somewhere around eight feet tall, her face was horrible and wrinkled with a wide mouth and huge, irregular teeth, its nose was huge, her hair it was disheveled and dry and in the middle of the head that creature was even bald, she was quite fat and the only thing that defined her as a female was the presence of a pair of big t**s covered in a very poorly made leather garment. Assuming that thing was a female, this must be Gomeziona. The other one then, must be Bakerstink, he was a little bigger than his wife, he was 300cm tall, a little more than nine feet, he had a huge belly, but his arms were very muscular, he wore a fur thong poorly made too and had several trinkets around her "belt" and thong.

"Hungry Bakerstink, yummy, yummy, Bakerstink eat tasty little humans now?"

"The stinking greenish will bring us more yummy yummy humans, we'll wait for it."

"Bakerstink go wait!" then the great ogre slapped his belly and licked his lips.

"Those poor bastards over there were from Kettir Borough," said Brown Beard, "so, Arthur, you think you can handle these big ugly ones?"

"Absolutely yes! Let's get rid of these ugly ones!" Arthur said excitedly.

"What about the others?" Marcus asked.

"The others? Come on, we can finish them alone." said Gradslaw smugly.

"What is this?" Bakerstink sniffed the air, "Bakerstink smells little humans, Bakerstink hears little humans."

"More little humans for our little dinner? Yummy, yummy!" Gomeziona licked her lips.

"Now there's no way out, it's fighting!" Gradslaw smiled putting an arrow to the bow and then shooting it at the ogre. The shot hit Gomeziona in the eye, who cursed loudly in a language Arthur didn't quite understand, an ogre's dialect or maybe something like that.

AAAAH! Little humans hit honey Gomeziona! Bakerstink will grind little humans! Grind, grind little humans!"

Bakerstink caught something on the ground, it looked like a javelin and threw it with great force, hitting one of the warriors nearby, the weapon went through his body and left him stuck in the tree, killing him instantly. Arthur advanced into battle, Bakerstink picked up a large club from the ground, Gomeziona also advanced. A warrior who threw throwing axes hit Bakerstink's legs, who moved his club and hit the ax thrower, that blow killed the man instantly. Arthur knew he couldn't be hit by such a dangerous blow, so he held the hammer in his left hand, while in his right he concentrated magic, while Bakerstink fought other warriors.

"Stand back!" Arthur yelled to the warriors standing near Bakerstink and then, in the next moment they all tried to get away from the ogre, Arthur hit a punch in the ground "EARTHQUAKE PUNCH!!" A tremor that made pieces of stone jump like popcorn popping started and continued until it reached the ground where Bakerstink was, not expecting it that, the ogre staggered, tried to remain standing and even leaned on the mace, but the weapon It shattered under the force of Arthur's blow and Bakerstink fell to the ground. Arthur then advanced on the big fallen monster and attacked with his heavy hammer the monster's head, after a few blows, Bakerstink was no longer breathing. Arthur had killed him. Nearby Marcus, Bjornson and Gradslaw had also finished off Gomeziona. After that battle they burned the bodies of the two ogres and mourned their dead, some men from the Kettir tribe were still alive and they rescued him, which generated many thanks from them. Brown Beard decided they could spend the night here, in that camp of ogres, some resting and others keeping watch.