Ada: The Witch Huntress

Chapter 14: Rezog

    Ada’s gaze is steadied at Ni’mula’s blood-soaked body collapsed on the ground horizontally across from her. She looked at Ni’mula’s pale face and noticed that her grandmother mumbled words she didn’t get to hear. 

    ‘What are you telling me, grandma?’ she thought to herself as she couldn’t move her lips anymore, hoping her grandmother could still hear her thoughts. 

    Then, a monstrous man appeared behind Ni’mula and started laughing maniacally before he raised his knife in the air and stabbed it down repeatedly into poor Ni’mula’s body until the remaining life in her slowly withered away… 

***

    Ada struggled for air as she awoke to that same dreadful nightmare. She panted as she looked around and found herself lying in the middle of thick bushes with her wrists still bound with Nissa’s rope. She sat up and saw that she’s still wrapped in the cloak that Zeya had lent to her. 

    So, everything starting from that beast encounter is not a dream. Then, what about the dream she just woke up from? Tears began streaming down her face as she recalled that vivid moment. If that was just a dream, why is her heart aching so much? 

    “Laria… Grandma…” she whispered before she burst into deep sobs. All their whole life, they had been taking care of her, and she wasn’t even there during their last moments. 

    I can’t even grieve properly!

    And, here she was, transported to an unknown terrain, almost devoured by some strange beast, was captured by a group of weird people, and was left alone again. 

    Wait? Why am I alone? I’m supposed to be with Zeya and her team. 

    She wiped her tears with her tied hands as she tried to recall what has just happened. She remembered Zeya asking that handsome man named Jaxx to bring her to their cult’s headquarters. She then remembered her shock when Jaxx sort of exploded and poof! He transformed into a hideous werehorse! 

    And that’s all she could remember…

    She appears to be in the same jungle where she woke up before the beast encounter. Where’s Zeya and her team? Where is Jaxx? Why did he leave her all alone! What if some zombie-looking beast finds her again? She’d be devoured now for sure, especially with her hands tied, literally. She even collapsed after seeing the werehorse. She shivered at the thought of what kind of beast she’d encounter next.  

    Oh, crap! What am I going to do now? 

    She quickly forgot about her grief and went on to think of how she would save her life, once again. Fortunately, only her hands are bound. She could make a run for it, and if she would be lucky, she might be able to find her way out of this forest. She looked above and saw the moon hiding behind the clouds making the night more bone-chilling. She stood up and scanned the whole area as if she can sense everything that could sneak up on her. 

    Now, which way should I go?

    After a brief mental argument with herself, she started to run slowly to her right, stepping lightly on the ground as she’s afraid she’d attract the attention of every beast possibly lounging nearby. She ran without looking back and gasped as her heart was suddenly filled with hope when she saw lights glinting from a distance.

    Finally! A village!

    She hurried towards the village, not minding if some beasts are already in pursuit of her. She knew in her heart that the people there could help her. The village’s view is getting more transparent now, and she’s almost a few meters away from it when something that appeared from her right suddenly pounced on her, and she was instantly thrown to her left. Her body slammed into a wide oak, and she felt some of her bones cracked. Fortunately, it wasn’t her spine that broke. Unfortunately, though, she could hear treading footsteps coming towards her, and she’s certain that whoever or whatever is approaching her wasn’t there to help her. 

    ***

    Zeya didn’t expect a sudden ambush from the enemy. It was puzzling how this pack of rezogs appeared randomly as soon as Jaxx and that strange woman named Ada left. 

    Were they watching us since then? Impossible!

    Rezogs don’t have consciousness like that. Rezogs are mindless humanoid feral beasts, and their kind is first sighted in a mountain in Samaria about fifteen years ago by some mountain people. 

    Samaria, the Empire in the North, is surrounded by hundreds of mountains, so hunting and exterminating these monsters one by one would be a very exhausting job. Some hunters deliberately went to the deepest mountains to discover more about these beasts. They are proven to be carnivores as they feed on the blood, flesh, entrails, and even bones of every animal they can find, even people. 

    It was also proven that some rezogs are sneaky and like to intimidate their prey first, like a bit of stimulation before they proceed with their actual b****y feast. However, most rezogs aren’t capable of holding back their savage instincts for once they see a prey, they would instantly pounce on it and devour it immediately. A whole wolf can even fit on its flexible mouth, and its teeth can gnaw through bones. 

    Fortunately, rezogs never came to the city and its neighboring towns, so everyone assumed that they are slightly afraid of crowded places. 

    Not until a few of them were sighted a few weeks ago in the town of Bukandi, the f*******n Forest’s most nearby village. The f*******n Forest serves as a border between Samaria and the Land of Unknown, a land located in the west, set by Vetus Hekaum or the Magian Council from the Empire of Alendar. Of course, the arrogant Magians never told them what lies in the Land of Unknown. They just told them never to cross the border.  

    Luckily, there were no actual deaths reported from the rezogs' sudden emergence in the town, but their presence there is a thing you just can’t brush off. So their team was assigned to investigate this matter, and they were scouring the f*******n forest for a couple of weeks now. And, they have killed about a dozen now, including that one who almost devoured that Ada lady. 

    Somehow, Zeya can’t sense the usual feeding impulse from these rezogs surrounding them, especially when these supposed-to-be-mindless monsters stood there like actual warriors, aiming their weapons at them. 

    “Be careful. These look different from the usual ones,” Zeya warned her team. 

    “I knew it! I knew something’s strange about that Ada b*tch,” Nissa asserted. Zeya couldn’t help but grunt at the statement of this brat. Nissa’s been a headache to her since she was assigned to her team about four months ago. If only they aren’t swarmed by special rezogs right now, she’s sure that she would have already given this brat a beating. They are all in a defensive stance with all their weapons drawn.

    “Why aren’t they attacking?” Xena stressed. 

    There are about ten rezogs surrounding them, and they are either waiting for them to strike first or… they are probably waiting for someone else’s command.