Yuura’s feet barely touched the ground, and the wild grass brushed the back of his legs as he dashed through the forest.
He was in the forest about seven hundred ters west of the redwood basin and was heading towards the camp of the group leader, Rhaek.
As he ran, his eyes scanned the carvings on the trees that were guiding him.
Yuura’s feet continued.
Soon the thick redwood trees disappeared, leaving only their stumps and the greybeard trees, and before long, they disappeared as well.
Finally, after a few minutes of traversing the wild forest, Yuura’s eyes landed on the scene before him.
Various huts stood lining a bigger one from all sides, and a thick redwood fence encased everything like a defensive wall.
He walked forward, scanned the settlent with curious eyes and mumbled under his breath, "This is way better than I had expected..."
Suddenly, a soft voice reached him.
"Yuura? What are you doing here?"
He stopped, turned towards the voice, and his gaze landed on one of Rhaek’s squad leaders and soone he knew very well — Kharai.
Kharai had a lean yet curvy build reminiscent of a snow leopard covered in light scars.
At the mont, she held a pot full of water at her side as she studied him with her blue eyes, her other hand was on her slender pale forest waist, her snow white hair was tightly bound in a single braid and looked no different than a whip as it fell down her shoulder.
She wore the usual tunic and warrior kilt made of various beast hides and fur with a blue gemstone necklace resting neatly around her neck.
Yuura’s lips stayed sealed as his eyes stared directly at her necklace.
Feeling his burning gaze on her chest, she chuckled and called out, "Yuura."
Her voice pulled him out of his reverie. An embarrassed expression appeared on his face as he scratched the back of his head and mumbled, "Kharai... I didn’t think that I’d et you here."
Kharai rolled her eyes and muttered, "Heh. What do you an you didn’t think? Of course, you’d et if you ca to our settlent."
He smiled foolishly, and seeing that, a chuckle escaped her.
She shook her head and asked again, "So? Why are you here?"
Yuura’s leisurely attitude vanished instantly, a serious expression appeared on his face, and he answered, "I’ve co to et group leader Rhaek."
She raised a brow at the sudden change and said, "Follow ," before she turned around and stepped inside the settlent.
Yuura followed behind her and scanned the surroundings.
Many squad mbers sat in groups, chatting, and their laughter rang throughout the area.
When Kharai passed by them, they placed a fist on their hearts to respect the group leader, as Rhaek and Kharai were siblings, which was quite rare within the Dhaevrak tribe.
She responded to their greetings with a beautiful smile, and seeing that smile, the mory of her saving young Yuura from a beast resurfaced in his head.
His eyes stayed on her, and she inwardly shook her head and asked, "Why do you want to et Rhaek?"
"My liege is going to hold a feast two days from now, and I’ve co to invite him," he answered truthfully, and that caused Kharai to slow down and look back at him.
"Who is your liege?" She mumbled in confusion and curiosity.
He smiled and answered, "The youngest group leader ever, Rion Del Haden."
She blinked and murmured in shock," Rion? You an the Sovereign’s son? He is already a group leader?"
Yuura’s smile turned prideful. He nodded and said, "Indeed."
Kharai’s eyebrows rose in surprise, a thoughtful expression appeared on her face, and she mumbled under her breath, "How old was he...? Ah, yes. Sixteen... a sixteen-year-old group leader... that doesn’t even make sense."
’Tell about it,’ he comnted inwardly and stated, "He is not done yet."
She turned her head towards him and remarked with a smile, "You trust him a lot, don’t you?"
Yuura furrowed his brows and muttered, "Of course I do. He is my liege."
She nodded, a smile appeared on her face, and she mumbled, "This should be enough, brother."
"Indeed," a sharp voice answered from beside him.
Goosebumps ran across Yuura’s body, and he froze in his spot. His back turned cold, his eyes moved and looked at the person beside him. ’W-When?’
Beside him stood a lean man with a sharply defined build reminiscent of a winter wolf, scars covered his pale body that was honed for both speed and lethality, his steel grey eyes watched Yuura as his snow-white hair fell in loose, untad strands around his face, and two azrath daggers were sheathed around his waist.
That man was none other than group leader — Rhaek. Though weaker than Zoka, his strength truly lay in stealth, which made him nearly impossible to notice.
Rhaek studied Yuura and asked, "What does your liege want from ?"
Just as those left him, his white aura flared and began to slice at Yuura.
Yuura felt like needles were poking every inch of his body; his figure trembled, but he still pushed out the words, "My liege... only wants you to join the feast..."
Rhaek narrowed his eyes and mumbled, "So? Which one died?"
Kharai’s expression darkened, and she asked, "What do you an, brother?"
Rhaek’s aura vanished, and he explained with a faint smile, "The vice lord only allows there to be ten groups, so for his liege to beco one..."
Understanding dawned on her; she looked at Yuura and asked darkly, "Who was it?"
Yuura looked at their faces and answered solemnly, "Group leader Tarek..."
The settlent fell silent, and the air seed to freeze as Rhaek mumbled under his breath, "That fox died...?"
Disbelief covered his face, and he asked further, "How did soone as cautious as him die?"
Yuura bit his lips and stated, "The ruler of purple killed him."
Disbelief, anger and finally confusion flickered across Rhaek’s face, and he growled, "Why were we not inford of this?"
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