Grand Adventures of the Witch King

The herd

It was strange when he thought about it now, but he had been using trees as a form of transportation almost all the time now.

This was the thought of Ezekiel as he looked at the beast in the distance that he ordered his second spirit guard to find for him as he sat in a tree with a spear in hand while covered by the hood of his robe, and said spirit guard sitting on his shoulder.

It took him an hour to reach the spot Pied settled to spy on the crazy stag through the link and to his surprise turns out the beast was not that solitary after all.

It had a herd of 5 females and 3 young, the does were smaller, leaner, and seemed to be more adept in speed and stealth than in power and defense like the male, while the young had almost no armor or even a single horn, making it hard to tell which one was male or female without getting closer.

The does have armor too, but as beasts leaning towards speed, it was thinner and less compact like the stag. That and their horns were smaller and less jagged-looking, just a single pair of sharp curved horns.

And from the looks of it, they were all early-level Fierce beast, while the young could probably match a mid-level Wild rank and together with their leader they seemed to be a group that could handle against a lot of predators in this place.

‘This little herd must be pretty strong to survive this place and even have offspring. Perhaps this could work well to my advantage. Besides, am not that cruel to separate family.’ A dark smirk was all that was seen due to his hood.

He waited for them to settle as the sunset was about to hit the forest, he knew that this herd would soon find a proper place for shelter as sleeping out in the wide-open would leave them susceptible to attacks from directions.

And as expected the stag began to lead his heard, with him being in front, the does behind him forming a circle that kept the fawns in the center.

Then directly at this moment, there was a strange phenomenon that suddenly occurred, the herd was glowing!

The stag in front was the first to light up, a faded yellow glow shone of it first before it traveled down to the rest of the herd akin to some sort of chain that linked them all together after that it made a force field that first shone brightly and then it dimmed.

This raised eyes brows from Ezekiel that couldn’t be seen and made him tilt his head to the side at his development but didn’t say a thing as he continued to observe.

Just then a large fox beast came into view of the glowing herd, it was 5ft tall, with sharp teeth and claws, a ferocious yet strangely elegant look beast. It was prowling, perhaps looking for a last meal before heading home as nighttime was not the best time to be in this forest.

But the moment it saw this herd, it booked it without hesitation.

It was unknown if it was because it saw the herd, the stag or the knew what the glow meant. Whatever it was the fox was not going to stay near anyone of the three things mentioned above.

‘Yep, there had to be some strange ability to keep them safe all this time.’

Ezekiel didn’t move as he continued to gaze at the herd that kept its pace at a steady level no matter what came in their way and every beast ran away too, making Ezekiel stare in amazement at this.

Perhaps it was this reason too why that fella was so arrogant during its strolls in the forest.

Shaking his head at this thought, Ezekiel took off. Trailing the herd from a pretty far distance as not to be discovered. He didn’t know the abilities of that force field as every beast in the path to wherever the herd was heading stayed clear of the herd.

So he kept a good 500m distance from them at first, but he noticed that it had started to get darker. Which in turn started to affect his vision.

He got close enough to see them stop at a small waterfall, they started visibly relax in this place and the little fawns could be seen running around happily near the stream for a couple of minutes before doing something else the next, while their mothers drank and grazed a little, the stag stood a little further away from them as he vigilantly gazed about as his herd that started to look tired and slowly began to sit down.

The fawns were an energetic bunch that frolicked about as fireflies started to show up along with the stars. This painted a breathtaking scene that would make many poets write a hundred works and yet still fall short as to describe what was in Ezekiel’s sight.

The majestic stag, he strolled about vigilantly even if he was tired, patrolling the little territory that he had claimed in the years passed before deciding to create a family even in this harsh place. To his enemies, he is insane and wild beyond compare, but to his family he is everything.

The does be they young or older, they sat on the patch of grass as they calmly rested and looked at their young after a harsh day full of vigil and constant peril from all sides with relief. Today they didn’t lose any one of their young and this was good, perhaps if only such a thing occurred until their little ones grew up then they would be very glad. But of course, that was wishful thinking, for even now they had to remain ready even if their stag was with them, just in case he needed them as much as they needed him.

The little ones, full of energy and curiosity tried to chase a few fireflies, their energy almost unending as everything was new, strange, and interesting. Too bad their mothers kept them close when they were out grazing and only let them free reign here at this place they had called home, but they had to obey. Not to mention their father was so cool, nothing stood in his path, they too wished for the day they would be as big as that.

But not today it seems as they started to get tired, dragging their tiny bodies to the sides of their mothers who sat grouped in a circle, the little ones squeezed themselves into this circle, yawing cutely the infants began to slowly drift into peaceful sleep within their mothers’ warmth.

Perhaps for the last as unbeknownst to them hidden within the dark something was watching them all slowly get ready for sleep.

The stag kept a vigil eye for a few hours, before also moving a little closer to the herd but still close enough to sit down at a position that enable him to respond swiftly should there be an attack.

And slowly but sure at the minutes ticked by, it slept, however, should there be anything amiss he would spring into action and end it with the fury that he was known for!

Ezekiel was calm as he looked at this, he had gotten into a comfortable position when the herd started to get comfortable in this little field next to the waterfall.

As the hours ticked on, he saw them all get settled, this was supposed to be good news but that dang glow just won’t die own!

‘Perhaps it is a passive-active ability, once activated it can remain on until intentionally removed. Now am not sure if it is a defense, alarm, a buff, or the worst, unknown. I need to tread very carefully.’ He reasoned mentally.

If it was the buff then he was going to be hard-pressed that he might just back off, not to mention the unknown one that would lead him in a catastrophe especially in this place.

 ‘I need help to test this.’ He added, he wanted to use his spirit guards as he had managed to collect about 4 early and 3 mid-level beasts, all 7 being Fierce rank.

He also had 3 normal ranked guards, with Pied being one of them, one was large a squirrel and the other being a large butterfly as big as 5-year-old.

But his spirit guard was precious to him at this moment, that and they can get destroyed in battle too, not to mention if he sends a few weak ones that had no strength against the stag while they were living would just end up wasting them as the stag could deal with them easily, nor can they do much harm to it, let alone test what that force field was all about.

‘Maybe the help I need doesn’t have to come directly from me.’ A smile come to him once more as an idea flowed in his mind when he heard faint roars in the distance from various beasts that had begun to crawl out from the shadows within these dark hours.

This forest was large, very large even here within the outer rim. Other beasts could take on this deer herd, oftentimes they just ignored them perhaps finding it troublesome or perhaps there was a strange hierarchy within the outer rim too.

‘Mmm, I could just ask for some help from many beasts out there. The question is, which one would be fit this task in lending me a paw, claw, wing, or tooth? So many choices.’ He placed a hand on his forehead for a moment before it hit him!

 ‘Wait! I have spirit guards! I don’t need help from a single beast.’ Ezekiel mused as he mentally summoned his 3 mid-level Fierce ranked spirit guards but had them remain hidden.

‘I want each of you to draw a strong spirit beast here. Agitate them, steal their food, mess with them to make them want to do nothing but grind your bones to ashes! Make sure to get them there to that herd before you become invisible and then return to my side. Now go!’ Ordered Ezekiel at once as he felt them move further away in different directions as he kept his eyes on the herd.

The stag suddenly lifted its head as it gazed vigilantly in the dark at that moment the spirit guards took off, as there was no moon out tonight and the air made it seem even more grim and frightening.

It settled down after a while as it felt nothing amiss, drifting back into a light sleep state.

But even with its instincts, it couldn’t feel the danger that was looming over it and its little herd.

Ezekiel didn’t bother it and just calmly closed his eyes and meditated while inspecting the bridge, which was something that he hadn’t done back in the day he first started his practice in his previous life. At that time, he barely had the experience and ability to gaze within himself, now that he had a rare moment of peace he thought it best to check it out.

It was a very tiny golden ball of light, that was all he could see and that was with both his spirit abilities that enabled his spirit vision he had been using all this while.

Now that he thought about it, this was a fourth spirit ability that he had unknowingly created.

The tiny golden light felt strange as if there was an invisible force making it seem as natural as the world around it, this was what made it blend within a world. Hiding the practitioner from all manner of sights, leaving it only visible to the practitioner.

If one wanted to know the location of the breach within his body, it could be said to be in his heart in the physical realm, but in fact, it was not there at all. If he was stabbed in his heart, they wouldn’t be able to destroy it, well not in the later stages as it had been completely established by then.

The current him was vulnerable as s**t that it frustrated him to no ends, but all he could do now was wait, gather tools and arsenal, and train.

And that is why this herd was so important to him, after that with luck he might even go after the three beasts being drawn here.

Soon enough he felt one of his guards rushing back to his position, this made him open his eyes and look once more at the peacefully sleeping herd, the distance between this place and the spectral guard made it so that it would arrive here in 30 minutes.

Just then he felt the second one return as well, it was about 40 minutes away, but the third one seemed to be going a little further away still. An indication that it had not found anything yet.

But these two were enough for now, as they might prove to be a challenge for the herd. He didn’t want them to kill the herd, just enough to test and weaken it so that he might deal the final blow and take them all.

After all, isn’t it better for a lovely family like this herd to be together… even in death?