Chương 36: Carnage

Exploring the jungle did not get easier over the next few weeks. Blick nearly died from a plant that had replaced the ground with itself. Some large fruit hung above what he soon discovered was a trap door into the belly of the thing. His fur was seared and he had tender spots on his feet before he managed to claw open the top and climb out. That was the most panicked he had been since the giant bird took him. He hadn't even considered that a plant could eat him.

After surviving the situation he sat nearby and watched the thing for a while determined to understand how to spot another in the future. Several hours in he noticed a small furred critter with a long hairless tail sneaking up to the hanging fruit. It attempted to climb a limb behind the pit but the were thorns on the back side and it couldn't find a safe way past so the little thing circled around to climb what Blick would consider the front.

Then the thing fell inside the still broken trap door and squeaked for a few minutes before slowly getting quiet. Blick shivered thinking about dying slowly trapped inside that thing. He avoided the black doglike animals territory aside from his quick trips for water and to bathe in the small waterfall. Working in the other direction he hadn't yet discovered what predators held this territory.

Blick had intentionally slowed down exploring new areas after the plant situation which meant he found new things less often but was safer. He hadn't yet found a good balance between his excitement around finding his kin and staying slow and steady so he survived long enough to find them. His searching led him farther and farther from the comfortable home tree. He started returning closer to sunset each night as the distance he traveled grew.

He had his immediate area mapped out and didn't struggle to find his way around anymore. The issue he ran into most often was finding time to push his meridians open. He had previously spent an hour or two most nights during the trip with the Crater army, but it hadn't hurt as much and he had free time. Currently it hurt so much he needed constant breaks. He would get maybe ten minutes of circulation before he couldn't take the pain anymore and layed back with trembling arms and legs.

He couldnt really do this during his searching as it left him vulnerable if danger presented itself. So he had been trying to do a bit every evening before going to sleep. And that had turned into almost no time each night. Blick decided to solve this by establishing a sturdier base camp, and spending every third day at camp circulating instead of exploring. Balancing his desire to find his kin with his desire to get stronger and defend himself. It was during one of these off days that he was surprised.

He had gotten use to the rhythm of his new life and all but forgot there was an army on the other side of the gate. The gate just a few hundred feet from his tree home. Blick had been focused with his eyes closed up in his swinging bed that morning when he heard the voices. His eyes shot opened and he turned quickly to look down at the ground near the gate. From this high up he could hear them. The soldiers had exited the gate and made a large circle before attempting to figure out how they wanted to set up.

Blick threw himself down the tree and rushed over waving his arms to get their attention. Several swing around and aimed bows and swords his way before he stopped and nearly whispered "please be quiet, stop talking." They held him there and sent for their sergeant who approached cautiously. It was while they were trying to gather themselves that Blick realized they had on different uniforms. Some were in the Crater kingdom grey while others had the red patch on the shoulder of their tan and brown armor.

The two camps had joined before coming to this world. Blick did not understand why, but he had known these groups were literally killing each other before he came through the gate. Shaking his head to snap himself from drifting off topic he reiterated "quiet, too loud."

"What do you mean? And we had assumed you moved on after entering the gate." The sergeant replied in a normal tone not realizing the seriousness of Blicks message. Before responding Blick looked around and froze looking at a specific spot in the distance. He pointed and responded "noise attracts predators. Fights make more noise." Following his finger the sergeant and his men spun to face the two black dog creatures that were coming to investigate the noise.

When they turned back to Blick he was moving away from the group and he began climbing a random tree in the distance. The sergeant shrugged with a confidence born of years of safety.

"Alright men someone scare off those dogs. Let me get three men on the chopping trees to set up a fence line. We have two days before the rest of the company joins us and we will be ready for them! Am I clear?" The two groups of soldiers responded at different times with two different affirmations "Yes sir!"

"Will do!" A squad broke off to go scare off the dogs. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Blick was up in his tree home about to choose a better location to move to when he heard the first scream. Flinching at the loud response the soldiers made and then again at the screams of pain from a bit farther out, Blick scanned the tree tops for another tall tree.

Finding one in a direction he had already scouting, he began rolling up his hanging bed and strapped a pack of meat to his thigh. With a bed roll over his shoulder he climbed back down and left the chaos behind. He had told them to be quiet. He was not responsible for their safety. And he would not let their pride get him killed. So he left.

"What the hell is the problem with two damn dogs?" The sergeant yelled. Pushing through to see the men helping two others on the ground, he froze at the sight of their ripped open legs. The two dog things lay dead nearby but there were two soldiers dead and two with severe leg wounds.

"How the fuck did two dogs do this? Someone better give me answers!" One of the soldiers on the ground responded through grit teeth, "Sir those things were fast as hell. Before we reached them they sprinted and took those two right in the throat. Before we had our swords drawn they sprinted in different directions into the wood and came from our rear. We got our swords into them but they got us too."

Looking at the mess he shook his head and assumed incompetence from the mixed force of men who hadn't worked together. Yeah this place was said to be dangerous but they were just skinny tall looking dogs. And he had lost four soldiers in the fight. Sure the two wounded would be healed in a couple of days but it was still a casualty report.

"Not even a whole day in." Things got worse. Within a few hours while the men were cutting trees down they noticed an axe lying in the path with a blood splatter nearby. Rounding up help they searched for their missing man only to find him being eaten in the lower branches of a tree nearby. Some lanky snake like creature with fur instead of scales had itself coiled around his neck and its head was buried inside his upper thigh taking chunks out of him.

They had to get archers to stick the thing with arrows before it let the man go and disappeared into the canopy moving with a speed none of them were prepared for.

"The advanced team has returned five dead and eight wounded in the last two days" Captain Fitz was furious.

"I told you we should have sent scouts alone before sending in a combined effort to make base camp! We should pull them back and reassess." Not to be bested, the captain of the Versale force raised his chin and responded.

"I imagine your men are not prepared for whatever conflict they are facing on that side. You should have trained them better. No matter, my instruction is to ensure our two kingdoms hold equitable territory in the new world. I will not cede the decision making to you sir." Fitz hated politics. Clearly this Captain Carl from Versale was an appointment based on political power and not military experience.

This merger of forces had never happened before so the top of the armies were quite literally making it up as they went. This left Captain Fitz in the horrible position of starting a conflict or letting incompetence lead. The decision was made for him on the fourth day when men started pouring out of the gate. The first several were unharmed just running screaming.

By the time Fitz and the other Captain made it to the gate barricades the last two men had hobbled through, one missing a leg that was still shedding a stream of blood. After securing the men and organizing the wounded to get them treated Fitz received the numbers. Of the 100 men they sent forward only 64 returned. And almost every one of them was injured in some way.

"Sir the final report is tallied, it seems the leadership went down with the first rank, clearly underestimating the beast. After being hounded by random beasts nearly all day and every night they had been overconfident when a single bear sized lizard approached. The report from about fifteen men claims the creature used its tail to cut down a tree then threw the tree into their line. The sergeant and his first rank were crushed in the opening move.

As the tree was midair the lizard sped into the clearing they had made and started snapping anyone who didn't flee with its mouth and tail. The tail was described as bone spikes and longer than the beast. The fence they were building became flying debris as it thrashed the front line."

"Thank you, you may return to your duties." Fitz replied while holding his head in his hands at his desk. He pulled out a scroll to send the report of failure higher. The capital would have to assess the tactics of sending in an army or bringing down their elite units. Clearly this expedition force is not prepared for the violence on the other side.