Chương 54: Chapter 53 Beyond the Ogre’s Domain

The moment Karath saw the creature, a memory from five years earlier returned to him. Roberto had told him that the Bloodclaw Tribe did not live in an ordinary forest. They lived within a mountain range. Worse, the entire range was a forbidden land inhabited by countless monsters. Five years had passed since Karath heard that explanation, and the memory had gradually faded. Perhaps he had never taken it seriously enough in the first place. When had he begun underestimating the monster-infested forest?

Had it been several days ago, when the tribe successfully hunted an ogre? Had it begun during his coming-of-age ceremony, when he killed a troll alone? Perhaps it started even earlier, during the winter when he was eight and trapped the Horn Boars that attacked the settlement. When he thought about it, his confidence seemed ridiculous. An ogre might be called the tyrant of the forest, but that only meant it ruled one forest.

In American terms, it was the king of a single neighborhood, or perhaps one borough at most. Karath had acted like someone who ruled the Bronx and immediately declared that he had conquered New York City, perhaps even the entire United States. While reflecting upon his arrogance, Karath had already concealed his presence and hidden within the undergrowth. Krog, Kaden, and Buddy were crouched beside him.

"What kind of monster is that?" Krog whispered.

"Kaden has never seen anything like it. What about Karath?"

"Karath has never seen one either." After a brief discussion, they reached the same conclusion. None of them had ever seen or even heard of such a creature.

"It looks like a lizard," Kaden murmured. He was not wrong. The monster resembled an enormous lizard.

"What kind of lizard grows that large?" Its size shattered all common sense. Even from a distance, Karath could tell that it was far larger than the ogre they had killed several days earlier. It looked less like a lizard and more like a dinosaur. Karath remembered watching Jurassic Park on television as a child. The creature was large enough to remind him of the Tyrannosaurus from that film.

"A dinosaur..." he muttered.

"A what?"

"What is that?" Krog and Kaden had never heard the word. Karath pretended not to hear their questions because explaining extinct animals would be unnecessarily complicated. On closer inspection, however, it did not truly resemble a Tyrannosaurus. Its body size was comparable, but its shape remained distinctly reptilian and moved upon four legs. It looked exactly like the kind of monster fantasy novels and games called a drake.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Karath silently decided to use that name.

"What is wrong with this one?" While Karath studied the drake, Kaden spoke again.

"What do you mean?"

"Buddy. He is acting strangely." Karath looked down at the wolf beside his feet. Buddy had bared his fangs and was glaring at the drake as if he wanted to charge forward and tear into it. A possibility entered Karath's mind. Perhaps the ogre had not destroyed the Giant Wolf pack. Perhaps this drake had done it. That question did not matter at the moment. The important fact was that an impossibly powerful monster had appeared near the Bloodclaw settlement.

This damned mountain range truly deserved to be called a forbidden land. Karath had always known that creatures far more dangerous than the lions and tigers of Earth lived here. However, orcs also possessed physical abilities far beyond those of ordinary humans. He had believed those advantages would allow him to create a safe and prosperous settlement. Then this irrational creature appeared. The traps damaged during the ogre battle had not even been fully repaired.

Even if every trap remained intact, could they kill this monster? Perhaps because of his orc instincts, Karath immediately began considering ways to hunt it. Every conclusion inside his mind was negative. A larger creature was not always stronger. However, there was a reason combat sports divided competitors by weight. Nature followed the same principle. A large herbivore could kill a lion, rhinoceros, or hippopotamus with a single careless strike. As a creature's size increased, its weight rose dramatically.

Moving that mass required greater muscles and exponentially more force. To withstand its own weight and power, the creature also needed absurdly durable bones, hide, or scales. The drake was essentially a biological tank. Fighting a tank without firearms would already be madness. The Bloodclaw Tribe did not even possess proper metal weapons. They would be challenging it with stone axes, stone spears, and sharpened bones. There were limits to how unfair reality should be.

Avoiding the creature was the only sensible choice. A miraculous victory might still be possible. Karath did not want to imagine how many tribespeople would die to purchase it. He wanted to remain hidden and allow the drake to pass. Then he noticed its direction. The drake was moving toward the Bloodclaw settlement. Each slow, heavy step sent a vibration through the ground.

"Krog, Kaden. Listen carefully." Karath's mouth opened before he had time to organize every thought.

"Karath will lure that creature away. Both of you must return to the settlement immediately."

"W-what are you saying?"

"We should fight together, Karath." Krog responded in alarm, while Kaden boldly insisted upon remaining.

"Fighting that creature with the tribe would simply get everyone killed. It is also moving directly toward the settlement. You understand what that means."

"That is exactly why we should fight together!"

"Krog is right! We can use traps like we did against the ogre. If we cooperate, we might win. It may be larger, but perhaps it is weaker than an ogre."

"Most of the traps from that battle are still damaged."

"Then we fight from behind the stone wall!" Kaden forced his rarely used mind to produce another argument. Karath could already imagine the drake casually swinging its tail and reducing the wall to rubble.

"The wall will not matter. If that creature reaches the village, the entire tribe could be slaughtered. Karath will lure it in the opposite direction. You will return, warn everyone, and prepare until Karath comes back."

"Prepare for what?"

"Dig a pit large enough to trap it. Tell every warrior what appeared and prepare them for battle." Karath did not truly believe preparations would allow the tribe to defeat the drake without losses. Successfully killing it at all would be a miracle. They might simply be wiped out together. His instructions were an excuse to force Krog and Kaden back toward safety.

"You are coming back, right?" Krog asked. Both warriors stared at him uneasily.

"Of course. Do you honestly think something like that can kill Karath?" Karath covered his face with the shameless confidence Arnold had developed through years of adult life. Then he picked up a stone from the ground. Thud! He hurled it at the impossibly large reptile.

"Go!" The rock was nearly the size of a human head, but it failed to leave even a scratch upon the drake's scales. The creature slowly turned its head toward Karath.

"Go now!" Before Krog or Kaden could stop him, Karath sprinted away from the settlement. The drake's eyes appeared cold and indifferent. Yet the moment Karath met that lifeless reptilian gaze, he became absolutely certain of one thing. They must never fight this creature. Its eyes seemed to squeeze his heart. Without the orc blood surging violently through him, his entire body might have frozen in place. Then the drake began crawling toward him. It was moving on four legs.

Even so, every step shattered common sense. Thud. Thud. The speed produced by its enormous body was terrifying.

"Follow Karath, you oversized lizard!" Karath continued shouting provocations the creature could not understand while throwing more stones. Hiss. A horrifying sound came from its snake-like tongue. Perhaps the drake was finally becoming irritated. Its speed gradually increased. Crack! Crash! Crack! Until then, it had avoided the largest trees, perhaps to reduce noise or conserve energy. Now it simply smashed through everything in its path. Every tree that collided with its body shattered regardless of size.

Karath had no choice but to sprint through the wild forest with all his strength. Running across untamed terrain was exhausting, but he had no time to complain.

"Damn it!" He cursed in the language of his previous life and ran desperately. The creature's body looked far too enormous to move properly. Yet it followed him at nearly the same speed despite demolishing every tree that blocked its path.