A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 153: The Signs of Calamity - Part 1

It sniffed the air at one point, appearing to catch his scent on the wind, but the fear seemed to be stronger in this one, and since Beam was such a distance away, it opted to continue running away instead, disappearing deep into the pine trees before Beam could get much closer.

With the running of that second Bear, an ominous feeling began to set in for Beam, as he tried to work out what was happening. Wolves? It might have made sense in a single isolated instance – the wolves attempted to prey on a weakened bear, sending it running. But two separate instances twenty minutes apart and with no wolves in sight?

It seemed rather odd to Beam, and now that he thought about it, there was nothing weak about the first bear. He doubted even a hungry wolf pack would risk attempting to attack it.

He stood still, in the cold pre-winter air, pondering, as his breath misted up in front of him and he looked through the trees with searching eyes, his mind working all the while, searching for answers.

Several deep breaths, in a world that was still. A scream pierced the silence.

Beam's hand was on his sword in an instant and he shot off his backfoot, darting towards the source of the noise.

The wind rushed against his face as he ran and the thick roots of the undergrowth threatened to snag him. The noise came from further along the hunting trail, a path that Beam walked regularly on his patrols and yet rarely did he see anyone.

Today, along that normally barren path, he saw a party of soldiers engaged in an intense battle with creatures that he had not seen before.

A pack of vicious wolves… Or so he assumed, until he saw that they each only had three legs – and that their front leg was far thicker than it ought to be, with the foot being more like a hand than it was a paw, with dexterous looking toes that grabbed hold of the ground as it ran, effortlessly redirecting it.

It was not only the hand that set it away from canines. It was the way the jaw moved. Even as Beam watched he saw one of the creatures dart in at an outrageous speed, opening its jaw far wider than a dog was meant to be able to, more like a snake than it was a hound.

It clamped those jaws shut around a soldier's arm. Another scream rang out, but then a spear followed a moment later, punching a hole through the side of the gorebeast, leaving it in a pool of blood on the floor.

"Reform the line! Don't let them take our backs!" Came a commanding shout. There were only ten soldiers and two – as far as Beam could see – were injured, with one enduring that bite on his arm and another hobbling along on a bitten leg. With only six gorebeast left alive, Beam assumed that they would manage.

When they regained the line a moment later and another of the soldiers managed to skewer a leaping gorebeast through its stomach, Beam was quickly proved right. Cautiously, he began to withdraw, before the soldiers noticed him. He left the trail and entered the trees, unable to calm his pounding heart.

Dominus had mentioned gorebeasts to him before, so at least he was forewarned. But for creatures of such might to exist within the forest so close to the village. It sent a shiver down his spine. Individually, they were far stronger than a goblin, and as a pack, that might even have been able to take down a hobgoblin.

There was no question about it. They were well and truly part of the stronger stock that Dominus had said would be coming the village's way.

"What the hell is going on?" Beam mumbled to himself, as he stuck to the trees, whilst still doing his best to follow his normal patrol route. The soldiers were dealing with that pack of gorebeasts – and that was good. But who was to say when the next lot would appear? They would not stay in the upper forest for long.

It was a very short distance between them and where the villagers went to gather and hunt.

If even a single one made it that far… Beam shuddered to think about it. The soldiers were strong – Beam had seen that. They easily dealt with goblins. Yet even they struggled against the gorebeasts. The villagers wouldn't stand a chance. They'd be torn to pieces.

Even running wouldn't be an option.

Yet gorebeasts weren't the only thing that Beam had to worry about. The whole forest was going berserk at once. He felt the familiar chill in the air that came with the presence of goblins – that little inclination of unnaturalness that warned him creatures made of darkness were nearby.

He slowed his run to a jog, glancing through the trees once more. He still hadn't sheathed his sword after the earlier attack, for he didn't feel safe enough to. There was such danger in the air, it made the hairs on the back of his head stand up.

An arrow flitted towards him, seemingly borne of nothing but fog. Beam spotted it and dodged it by the smallest of margins. It thudded into the tree behind him.

"An arrow?" Beam murmured, his eyes wide open as he scanned the surroundings. He knew of no monsters that used arrows.

But from the fog, he heard the familiar hissing and howling of goblins, that terrible orchestra of madness that played wherever they walked. He dashed forward, using the trees as cover, intent on covering the distance between him and the enemy before they could unleash another surprise attack.

Another arrow rushed past him as he ran, this one very nearly clipping the tip of his ear. He ducked out of the way. He took more note of the trajectory of the arrow this time – it was coming from above. Whoever was firing it was amongst the trees.