"Skinless Leopard?" asked Lidien, eyes squinted.
Lily tapped the wooden table with her nails and stared at Lidien with complex eyes.
"They are considered the Rulers of the Bone Orchards... even I would not be able to survive if I fought an adult one..."
Lidien's mind ran wild, trying to think of any possible scenarios where he would meet the unknown magical beast.
'If Lily would not be able to survive fighting an adult... how could I survive if we meet one? This caravan going home will be wiped out.'
Gulping, Lidien's hands trembled. He had just been reborn for quite some time, but the dangers lurking that could cost his new life were never ending.
"S-so... what's the plan? I think you will not pass here without something that will let us live going here... right?"
Lily covered her mouth coquettishly, then gently caressed Lidien's hand.
"We just need to enjoy ourselves here inside the carriage, let Mad Dog do the thinking... that's his role to begin with."
Lidien didn't try to remove Lily's hand coiling around his like a snake; though sometimes it irked him, he was slowly getting used to her antics.
Sighing, he stared at the ceiling, trying to find the details regarding the Skinless Leopard in the fragmented memories.
Though incomplete, he learned that Skinless Leopards were very few in number. As the rulers of the Bone Orchards... they tried to maintain its balance by hunting magical beasts just enough for their needs. However, these intellectual magical beasts never wanted anyone other than their race to hunt their prey in the Bone Orchards.
Crash!
"Defend the caravan!"
A magical beast horde attacked the caravan without warning. Hundreds of different beasts were left wounded in the caravan's wake, their cries drawing other predators who turned on their own wounded kin.
Lidien watched the chaos outside; swords severed limbs of the beasts, corpses of the dead were used as bait. Everything was done systematically. It was too easy.
Yet, there was something unsettling that he could not explain.
It felt like he was being watched. He tried staring at the gnarled branches of the towering trees but couldn't find anything.
Even with the help of his 'Incite of Blood', he couldn't detect anything.
'Maybe it was just my imagination...'
Seeing Lidien's troubled face, Lily tried to hold her laughter but couldn't.
"Pfft! Lidien... don't worry, I'm just teasing you... there's nothing to worry about. The common magical beasts here are much weaker than the Hungers... but the rulers are a different story."
Lidien forced a smile. He knew what he felt was unnatural, especially when there was something whispering in his ears, soft yet husky. It wasn't a sound in the air, but a vibration in his very soul.
"Be... ware... of... the... skin... less..."
Lidien gripped his hands as his hair stood on end from the cold air touching his skin.
'Whisper of Soul...' Another ability given by the Crimson Shard. It was a passive ability that let the user hear the whisper of the soul; some were mischievous, some were guidance... Interpreting it would be Lidien's discretion.
Creak... Creak... Crash!
The worn and damaged carriage wheel, finally succumbing to the burden and the recent impact, splintered with a final, sickening crack.
Lily walked out of the carriage with Lidien, covering his head and protecting it from the fragments of the ceiling.
Lidien looked around and saw the never-ending onslaught of the magical beasts. With the good command of Mad Dog, it helped maintain the defense line. Even though some could bypass it by air, they were easily shot by the archers on standby. Yet, they couldn't control where the beasts would land, and that's when one crashed into the carriage where Lidien and Lily were staying.
"You..." Lily pointed at one of the archers.
His eyes were tired, even his limbs were trembling slightly from fatigue and exhaustion, and they trembled more when Lily called his attention.
He immediately ran towards them and kneeled.
"Yes... My La--"
"Since I don't know who shot that beast, dropping it on the carriage..." Lily said, her hand blurring with motion.
"All the blame will be on the one I beheaded."
His head rolled on the muddy ground without him being able to finish his words.
"Yes! My Lady!"
The archers who were present immediately bowed. No matter how much dissatisfaction they were experiencing at the hands of Lily, they couldn't resist, since their families were left behind in their home, where Lily with her Mother and siblings rule.
Yet, even if they were alone in life, without someone waiting for them, they would not be able to escape the grasp of Lily's Clan. Leaving the clan territory was an act of suicide, since it was the only clan that could be considered somehow normal in the Savage Expanse.
Lidien stared at the head and then the headless corpse; the vision of Kanaz's headless body in the acacia-like tree overlapped with it.
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, everything went back to normal.
Awooooo!
As the howl resounded in the forest, the beasts attacking the caravan stopped.
Atop the small cliff, a large beast stood, its silver fur glowing faintly in the moonlight. It looked down at the people staring at it and trembling.
As the dark clouds broke, spreading moon rays over the hill, a Wolf stared down at Lidien with its cold blue eyes.
'The Alpha? So, it was alive...'
Lidien unconsciously transformed into his demonic form, hissing towards the Moonlit Wolf.
'I need to calm myself... It was not I who experienced the tragedy but this body... I need to control it like it was originally mine...'
Taking a deep breath, Lidien calmed his nerves. As the Verve exuding from his body subsided, he smirked.
"Long time no see... Did you miss me?"
With another howl, hundreds of Moonlit Wolves came out, making all the soldiers present grip their weapons tightly... waiting for the orders of Mad Dog.
Lily just stared at Lidien before shaking her head.
"You still can't fully control yourself, Lidien... That's why every time you fight, your sparkline is burning out..."
With a sigh, she added.
"Don't worry... I'll personally ask Mother so that I can train you myself."