THE LOST GOD OF CHAOS

Chapter 6 – Deadly Hunt

THE volunteers had to adjust their eyes from the sun as they went out of the cave, careful not to awaken the napping dragon. They studied its sleeping patterns in the past few days and took advantage of it to be able to evade its wrath. Ethros and Aelec, along with the other five men, were hell-bent on finding whatever food they could get.

“I can’t believe I’ll reach the surface in my lifetime!” One man exclaimed. His name was Finn, and he was a man in his early twenties who lost both his parents during their escape. Despite the tragedy, he remained optimistic.

Everyone was in awe, gazing at the surroundings. Jie could not blame them; he could relate since it was their very first time to see the sky.

“Wow! We made it!” It was Zuri, a young boy almost the same age as Ethros. He even touched the sand to feel its texture. “It’s coarse!”

Herlan, Zuri’s cousin, did the same. “You’re right! And the sun, look! It’s the real thing!”

“Magnificent! The sky is so vast!” Finn blurted out again, unable to control his emotions. He was teary-eyed when he added, “My parents are surely proud. I carry their dreams of reaching the outside world.”

“Finn, be alert! It’s dangerous out here in the open!” Aelec reminded. Even though he wanted to savor the special moment after staying all his life in their reclusive village. He held himself up. He promised to protect everyone, especially Ethros.

The men got back to their senses and listened to Aelec. Everyone got a weapon of their choice in their hands, mostly swords and daggers, while the others were bows and arrows. Aelec specifically selects archers to accompany them on their hunt, just in case they need a long-range weapon. He couldn’t rely on Ethros alone.

Meanwhile, Jie didn’t want to show everyone that his knees were wobbling. It had been a while since he showed everyone his strong face, but the truth was, he didn’t want to die again. He was just lucky because magic saved him from those adversaries. But after that, he could not manifest that kind of magic anymore. There must be a concept of equivalent exchange when using magic, probably shortening his lifespan unknowingly.

I hope not. Jie shivered at the thought.

“Let’s proceed!” Jie sounded determined, but he silently swallowed, trying to distract himself from nasty thoughts circulating in his mind. He prayed that they somehow find food in these vast deserts.

THE hunting party spent almost four hours searching for food, following the same series of rectangular markers so that they wouldn’t get lost. But no matter how hard they tried, there were no signs of life around them.

Jie’s throat dried up because of the heat. Thankfully, they found a water source inside the cave a few days ago. It was discovered by Nyssa with the help of the fireflies.

“There are no sightings of wild animals. Now I understand why our ancestors forbade us to be on the surface. It’s uninhabitable!” Finn blurted out.

Aelec ignored Finn’s remarks. “We are already briefed about this matter. Do you think Ethros and Nyssa would lie and say that they saw an oasis here?”

Jie had mentioned the little oasis around him the first time he woke up in this world. Although it was destroyed by that giant scorpion, he still believed that its remains might provide them with food. Anything edible for a human to consume.

Finn spoke again. “But it took them a full day to reach such a distance. The heat is killing everyone!”

Everyone fell silent when there was a sudden movement on the sand around them. They stared at each other and prepared themselves.

“That might be the giant scorpion,” Aelec warned.

They wielded their weapon and waited for an attack. It was not long before something below the ground finally showed itself. It was a gigantic centipede!

My goodness! Every creature in this damn world is oversized! Jie complained in silence.

“Prepare to fight!” Aelec’s voice roared.

“If we beat it, can we eat that?” Finn adjusted the aim of his bow.

“No! I’m sure that thing is poisonous,” Jie answered.

Aelec positioned himself on guard beside Ethros, holding his twin swords. `“Archers, ready… shoot!”

The archers targeted the centipede, but to everyone’s dismay, it appeared that its shell was harder than expected.

Jie was dumbfounded when Aelec found an opening and jumped in the air to reach the centipede’s head. His twin swords hit its eyes.

Fear had made Jie’s feet glued to the ground while all his companions did all they could to bring the centipede down. All were bathing in their sweats when everything was done. He observed for the first time that these people possess extraordinary strength compared to normal humans. It was evident how they fought the monstrous centipede.

“Ethros, what do you think? You got yourself a reliable crew?” Aelec was smiling ear to ear.

Jie acknowledged him with a light nod. He couldn’t be complacent, knowing the dangers surrounding them.

“We must continue scaling this vast desert so we can draw a map. We all need to navigate this area properly to evade the dangers.” Jie continued to study the surroundings, careful not to be in contact with the centipede’s blue blood flooding the portion of the desert ground.

Aelec nodded. “Let’s waste no time.”

They spent the entire two days following the markers, but Jie saw no progress. They were all exhausted, and all they had was water.

Everyone spent a night in a burrow but could not get decent sleep because they had to be alert at all times. Being careless in this place means death.

“All the creatures we fought were poisonous,” Jie explained, concealing his disappointment.

Finn tried to lighten up the mood. “It’s all right. At least we got to experience seeing the moon and the stars for the very first time. It’s so magical.”

“I agree, magical but deadly.” It was Velo, a young archer. He kept staring at the moon. “I lost my loved ones, but I will keep on fighting to survive.”

Beside Velo was Amri, who was busy cleaning his crossbow. “The gods must hate us for letting us suffer like this.”

“Oh, Amri. I didn’t know you’re religious!” Finn joked.

Amri clicked his tongue. “We have an altar at home, praying to several deities. Considering the tragedy we’ve been through, I’m starting to believe they’re not real.”

Aelec joined the conversation. “It’s good to have something to hold on to.”

“Aelec is right. We are not born to be losers!” Finn was energetic as always.

When dawn came, they continued their journey. However, Jie had to make a hard choice about going back when an army of human-sized ants attacked them along the way.

“I know you are all disheartened because we couldn’t bring anything to our people. But let’s prioritize our safety first. We only agreed to be out four days at the most.” Jie slightly shook his head.

No one protested. The hunting team hurriedly went back without any food. Some of them were injured from fighting strange animals to defend themselves.

Jie felt useless. He had to think of the positive things they had gathered on their journey. At least they could draw a map. Maybe in the next few days, if they were still alive, they could see the bigger picture of their location.

INSIDE the cave, Nyssa and Kali tried their best not to panic. Some had already passed out because they had had no food to eat for the last five days. Aside from their worries about the safety of the hunting party, some of these survivors might meet their demise if they do not eat.

“Kali, what are we going to do? Our water source has dried up!” Nyssa ignored the rumbling of her stomach. For her, having no food to eat was not hard. Their family in Ardhi Village was poor because the budget for food would go for her medication since she was very sick. Even though her brother wouldn’t mention their horrible past, she was aware that their mother passed away because of starvation.

“Let’s pray that the hunting party will arrive soon with enough food to feed everyone.” Kali tried her best to be enthusiastic, even though she knew that their return was not even promised.

Kali walked back and forth, trying to calm herself. She could live for a few weeks without consuming food, but it would be impossible without water. Perhaps the severe heat outside made the water dry this quickly. They were so confident that the water was bottomless.

Nyssa became restless. She was afraid that the next to pass out would be her and Kali. Who would look out for these people? Most of them were just kids younger than her.

Suddenly, Nyssa’s heart jumped when she saw her brother at the cave’s entrance.

“Ethros!” she called and immediately hugged him. It was not long before she noticed the hunting party’s long faces. “W-what happened? Where are the foods?”

Everyone shook their heads. Nyssa was lost for words to say.

“It’s all right. We’re thankful for everyone’s bravery. At least no one died. We’ll try harder next time.” Kali attempted to console them.

“Oh, goddess!” Nyssa’s young mind could not comprehend what was happening. Without anyone knowing, she was secretly practicing the use of magic because she knew she possessed it. She became healthy and agile, and the little oasis—it was her who made it!

The only hindrance to Nyssa’s learning was that she had no idea how to summon the magic she had and use the orb she accidentally acquired.

“The kids are passing out one by one!” Tarian immediately tended to the severely dehydrated children.

“They've already been at the edge since the other day.” Kali helped Tarian.

Nyssa began to cry as he observed her fellow Ardhians faint. Even the adults started to collapse.

“I won't let them die!” Nyssa bowed down on the ground, asking in silence to awaken whatever ability she had obtained, even at a high price if there was one. She was desperate to survive.

Ethros came at her. “Nyssa, what are you doing? We will be fine.” He tapped her shoulder.

But everyone was flabbergasted when Nyssa’s body glowed as if it had become translucent and her veins could be seen. Two red dots appeared on her forehead.

Nyssa levitated in the air as her mouth spoke an incantation.

Everyone witnessed a miracle.