Chapter 49: The truth of the situation

Breeding took place bright and early in the morning, the time when there was still crust in your eyes, not a lot of sustenance in the body, and an arm or leg might still feel limp due to sleeping on it all night.

So, when Kanan stepped out of the shrine, the sunlight blasted his eyes so intensely that it felt like they were frying in real time.

"Gahhh! My eyessss! Arghh! It burns! Whose idea was it to have that shrine so dimly lit? And why didn’t the windows provide this much sunlight inside?!"

"Ahh, Kanan, you’re out, perfect."

"Hmm?" Rubbing his eyes back to 20-20 vision, Kanan blinked them open and saw Elder Nala.

She was the youngest of the Elders, in her thirties compared to the others who were in the 40s or older. Apparently, she didn’t have a mate or a child. Instead, she fully dedicated herself to her role as a warrior.

She was so great at her role that she was offered a seat on the village council of elders after the previous one retired.

"Oh, Elder Nala, what brings you here today?" He stared at her beautiful white hair that flowed with the morning wind and her glistening brown skin that shone in the sunlight. A beauty, she was.

"Chief Solan tasked me with helping you adjust to your new role. We’ll be working together for a bit." Glancing inside the shrine, she saw Hala covered in semen, with even more gushing out of her.

Nala couldn’t help but pat Kanan on the back for his stellar performance. "Great job, kid."

"I’m having free ceremonies soon, not too late to sign up."

"Hahaha! So you’re charging me for a ceremony? Is it because I’m an elder? Maybe you’re only interested in young women."

"If that were the case," Kanan smirked. "I wouldn’t have gotten Aunt Glena pregnant."

Nala raised her hands in defeat. "You got me."

The two of them were walking through the village while holding a conversation, the topics ranging from Kanan’s childhood and upbringing to how he felt about his current situation.

Nala also told Kanan a bit about herself and how she did have a mate, but he had died, so she never mated again and dedicated herself to her role. She even informed him of Elder Warren’s transgressions, something Chief Solan had told him about not too long ago.

"So what kind of adjusting do I have to do? I assume you were referring to my role in the village, right?"

Nala nodded. "That’s right. Your other role, not the breeding role. You already have that handled. Listen, Kanan. The chief and elders are just here to rule or guide the tribe; we also ensure that threats stay far away, and we deal with them if they get too close."

"Like the Typhon Tribe?"

"No, not like the Typhon Tribe. There are more threats out there than just a rival tribe. Are you familiar with the geography beyond the village?"

Kanan nodded. "Yeah. But I usually stick to the forest and river to the east and west. And even then, I stick to the part of the river that flows close to the forest."

"Good, good. And you’re aware that the mountains also loop around the village, locking us in on all sides except the north to the plains, right"

"Yes."

Nala smiled, then her expression hardened. A sigh escaped her lips, and she placed her hand on Kanan’s shoulders.

"Listen, what I’m about to show you is only known to the Elders, Chief, and certain individuals from the village. Since you are the Village Shaman, we can’t keep this from you, especially since it’s your duty to protect and strengthen our tribe."

"Now you’re scaring me."

"Trust me, kid. I was scared when I learned of this for the first time." Grabbing Kanan by the arm, Nala folded the space around them.

---

"W-What the... What happened?!" Kanan’s mind spiraled as he was warped through space, his stomach churning as nausea spread throughout his body.

He couldn’t see at first, his vision being warped and light not hitting his eyes the right way, but after a minute or two, Kanan’s eyes finally adjusted.

Nala had her hand on his back, rubbing it as Kanan tried his best to understand what had just happened to them. "Breathe, Kanan, breathe."

"Y-Yeah....Yeah, I got it. Phew, I got it. I’m okay. What just happened?"

"My blessing. I can control space. It allows me to move to and from certain locations."

"Like teleportation?"

"Similar, but not exact. Come."

Kanan knew where they were: south, at the largest mountain range. The mountains around the village to the east and west were significantly shorter than the mountains to the south. The eastern and western mountain ranges formed from the southern mountains after some geological event thousands of years ago.

The river separated the southern mountain range from the village, needing to cross it to reach that part.

"I don’t really come back here, you know. I heard it’s dangerous. Even kids listen to their parents and don’t sneak off to these parts."

Nala laughed. "Yeah, they usually go and fight monsters to prove themselves instead."

Kanan felt a punch to his gut, but he let it slide. ’Terin, you bastard!’

"Speaking of monsters, you’re about to see a lot of them."

Kanan shrugged. "Wouldn’t be the first time."

"No. What you’ve seen before should be classified as beasts, not monsters; animals that evolved due to spirit energy. But this...what I’m about to show you—those are monsters, the creatures you have nightmares about. Look."

Kanan looked forward, and what he saw made him take a few steps back.

"No," Nala stopped him. "Look at it, take it all in. This is what it means to protect the tribe."

It was the mountain, part of it at least. But there was a hole, a large, massive hole that was carved straight through the mountain, creating a clear path to the other side, the dangerous side.

Kanan had never seen creatures like these. They poured from the hole through the mountain, crawling over one another as they mauled their way past warriors. They looked like creatures that did not belong in this world.

One creature dragged itself forward on six crooked limbs, each ending in a cluster of black talons. Its head had no eyes, only a horizontal mouth stretching from one side of its skull to the other. Rows of thin, needle-like teeth snapped together as it charged.

A warrior drove a stone-tipped spear through its chest. The creature barely stopped. It seized him with two of its limbs and tore him from the ground.

Another monster rushed past, its elongated body covered in jagged spines. Long appendages extended from its back, bending in impossible directions as they lashed at anyone who came close. A warrior hacked one apart with his axe, only for the severed limb to writhe across the dirt like a living snake.

Then it screamed. The sound wasn’t like an animal. It was a shriek so deep and unnatural that several warriors froze. That was all the creatures needed as they descended upon them.

Spears snapped. Stone and Bronze blades struck bone. Blood splattered across the dirt as warriors fought desperately to keep the monsters away from the tribe. Some creatures moved on all fours, while others crawled sideways like insects, their limbs bending backward at joints that shouldn’t have existed.

For each monster that fell, warriors were injured, some even dying. It was a horrific sight, a place of only blood and death.

"This, Kanan, is why the Typhon Tribe is the least of our troubles."