Scout

I looked out from around the tree I was hiding behind. I looked down the slope of the hill and saw the Bone tribe guard sleeping. I couldn’t blame him. The sun was sweltering down upon the forest making my back sore. I crouched, slowly moving forward. The ground was littered with cracking leaves. I took care not to step on anything. I moved past the guard and into the village. My village. That had been taken over and might never return to the state of happiness it used to be in. I sneaked past the ruins of the huts, gripping my spear in my right hand tightly.

It had almost been a fortnight since I had saved my brother’s life. Since then I had been scouting the movements of the Bone tribe. They were searching for the remains of the villagers. It seemed they were searching for me and my brother, to get revenge for the killing of their shaman. I had also heard the news of a beast without legs that had killed many soldiers of the Bone tribe. It seemed to make a slithering sound before attacking. There had been only one survivor. Minus one leg. I guessed that this was Lorin’s beast. I wondered why he was attacking the Bone tribe after helping them destroy our village.

I had reached the clearing where the attack had started. Where everything had started. There were people from the Bone tribe lazing around drinking mead and eating wild boar while talking to each other. I stopped myself from running into the clearing and killing them all. This was a reconnaissance mission, not a fighting one. I climbed a tree a bit behind the edge of the clearing. I got as comfortable as I could and prepared to wait for a long time to observe the daily routine of the Bone tribe.