The door was rolled away as Lilian moved it aside.

“Okay, go and sit in one of the chairs to rest while I go back to collect everything I can. It shouldn’t be but a few minutes.” Lilian told her.

Her gack’tug nodded her head stiffly. She walked past her, which allowed Lilian to notice that she was still trembling slightly, her gack’tug slowly made her way over to the chair.

She plopped down into it. Heedless of her injury. Almost as if she wasn’t the one moving her own body.

She saw her gack’tug wince and hiss as her shoulder touched the backrest.

This made Lilian wince as well.

Ooof… I remember my first injury when I had gone with father.

She recalled back to when she was given her first two axes at the age of ten.

“Kill something and bring it home. If you can’t, you don’t eat tonight.”

Sadly, she didn’t eat for three days. Then she, out of desperation attacked, not a wolf, but a gawanta instead. That beast clawed at her back, before she killed it. It wasn’t fully mature, but it still left her with a deep set of laceration on her back.

Her father at the time, had been watching her from the trees, to see what she could manage to do, or if Lilian would survive. She wasn’t aware of that at the time. But she was told about this, years later.

Stubborn old jackass…

Once had once again realized, that she had made another mistake. She charged after wolfs to see if she couldn’t get their pelts. Once she had beset them, the wolves scattered like the fearful dogs they were.

She didn’t even bother to spare the trailing wolves behind the main pack a single glance. They ran just at the sight of her. What she didn’t realize until after she killed a few, was that they had gone they way she had come.

She barely made it in time.

I can’t decided if I am worse than my father because of this… at least he stay near by me while I hunt, albeit unaware, but at least he was there. Me on the other hand. Left a defenseless human woman behind to fend for herself.

I  made it thankfully… but just barely. Even though I hate him. I am still only have the hunter and warrior my patari was…

She looked at her almost catatonic gack’tug, realizing that she shouldn’t really leave her alone at the moment.

But the hunt? This will drag off with our kills…

She looked at her almost dead eyes and knew at that moment what she should do.

My kills be damned.

“You know what gack’tug? Never mind that. Let me just get cleaned up and changed, then I will help with your shoulder.

The blood from the ogre had mostly cooled or congealed onto Lilian about an hour ago. So she really didn’t need to do much more than change and wash her faced hair and arms.

Once that was done, she make back wearing only a thin tunic made from hemp, matching trousers.

“Alright gack’tug, let us get your shoulder patch-“

Her gack’tug pulled away from her hands.

“-up…” Lilian looked at her face, only to still see the distance frightened look on her face.

*SIGH*

She sighed before reaching over to pull up a chair over to sit in front of her gack’tug.

She just stared at her as she looked at her blank distant eyes.

“Talk to me gack’tug. I wish to help you if, I can?”

“…………..”

“I-… I cannot help you gack’tug if you do not speak with me. Do not be scared. Tell me. I will help with what I can.”

“…….I’m………” She whispered.

“What was that?” Lilian asked her as she leaned forward to be closer to her.

“….I’m scared…”

“………” Lilian blinked at what she was saying.

Scared? This is more than just being scared. Lilian concluded.

When Lilian didn’t responded to her right away. A fire came alive within her gack’tug’s eyes. For which, Lilian was happy for; but just for a moment.

“I’m scared damnit! Scared out of my mind!” She yelled as she clutched at her head. Pulling at her hair with her fingers. “How can something like that exist?! How is that even possible?! We don’t have giant monster men on my world! How can a giant beast of a man creature like that even exist in real life?! What would have happened if it was me out there, instead of the wolf corpse?! He ate it whole! HE FUCKING AT IT WHOLE GOD DAMN IT!”

She yelled at the top of her lungs while. Breathing heavily.

Lilian was thrown by her explosion of emotion. Terror obviously being the foremost. But she was also confused, injured, and panicked.

Lilian wasn’t sure what she should do at this moment.

But a minute passed with Lilian looking unsure at her, while her gack’tug stared fire at her before either one of them did anything.

Her gack’tug face shifted from a fiery expression, to a distraught one. Her eyes leaked tears down the side of here face.

“You want to help me?” Her gack’tug ask Lilian; to which she nodded her head. “Then just… hold me damnit!” She asked her in a strained voice. “Let me cry! For… for being in such a scary place… for not being in my world anymore… for- *HIC* -for just being all alone here without anyone… and… you know what? just- *HIC* -just let me cry.”

The her gack’tug leaned up out of her chair to fall forward into Lilian’s chest. She clenched with her good arm onto Lilian’s left shoulder, while laying her head on her clavicle.

Her tears flowing freely.

“*eeeeuuuuhhWWWWWAAAAAAAaaaaa!*”

Lilian was so confused on what to do at that moment.

She decided to just the gack’tug cry her eyes out to her heart’s content. After a couple minutes of that. She got the idea to hold her like her mother did when she was little and cried because she wasn’t allowed outside with the other children.

————————————————-

After an hour, her gack’tug had finally cried herself to unconscious. She took her and laid her onto her bedding. Letting her sleep by the fire.

Lilian then set to work to make a simple healing and cool poultice for her wounded shoulder.

After undressing her pajama top, she dressed her shoulder before slipping her top back on her.

I hope she will be able to rest well…

She hated to leave her right now, but there was lots of work to be done.

She grabbed her now dry cleaned fur garb, along with her blade and a few axes.

“Okay. Time to get all those glittering prizes!” Lilian says aloud as she skips back towards the forest.

She first reaches the corpse of the ogre first, which already has some scavengers at it.

Three grown gawanta are picking at the corpse eating its flesh.

But she ignores them in favor of collecting the things she has sought to collet.

She wished to go deeper into the forest to collect the four other wolves she killed.

But I can almost bet they’re gone already; other gawanta taking off with them.

So she chooses to ignore the gawanta feasting on the main body of the corpses. She moves towards the ogre’s head. But once she was close enough to the body. The smaller of the gawanta trio jumps up and swipes the air in-front of itself at her direction.

“Look little one… take a page from your friends behind you.” She warns the feline.

The other two gawanta, while also crouched low with their ears pinned back, did not show hostility towards her; but rather reverence.

But the little one took no heed of her words, but instead thought them as some sort of challenge towards its might. It growls and makes a fake attempt at a double swipe with its front paws.

“Don’t.”

It does not listen nor understands what this creature is. But the fact it challenges its right for its food makes it hate it.

It lunges for the two legged beast.

“*SIGH* To little to late.”

The next thing the beast knew, it was flying upside down as it was staring at a headless creature that looked like itself.

Lilian had sliced its front limbs and head off it one clean swoop, with out a drop of blood hitting her.

She eyed the other two. Who were now even more weary of her.

“To be expected. If you are smart, you will either run, or stay where you are.” Lilian warned them.

They continued to growl at her, but otherwise made no moves against her.

“Smart.”

She then walked towards the head of the ogre. She eyed the gawanta she had just killed.

This will make a good substitute for the wolves I have lost today. Plus,

She looked back at the ogre’s head.

I can say with some certainty that this, definitely makes up for it. Will be nice to add to my collection.

Well? Not my collection. Well! It is, but they are displaying it…

She thought back on how she had already traded in five skulls of four other ogres.

This will be number six! Woo-hoo!

She takes a bundle of rope, starts to tie it around the head of the ogre.

Wonder what I can get for this?

————————————————-

She had pulled the the head of the ogre back home along with the wolf, gawanta and a few bundles of wood tied to the head for conceives.

With this, I would be able to make her the rest of her winter furs. She left the head outside and around the corner from her cave entrance. The started the process of disconnecting the wood and wolf from the head.

I will come back for the gawanta later.

She then rolled the door away, letting herself inside. But much to her surprise and shock, there was her gack’tug, working on setting the table, with more food on it.

“Gack’tug! What are you doing?” Lilian asked concerned.

She finishes what she was doing by laying down the pan at the center of the table.

“Making dinner?” She asked her in a confused tone. “Why? Was I suppose to be doing something else?”

“Ugh… you are injured. You should be resting not-“

But her gack’tug held up a hand; her good arm’s hand.

“I can do at least this much. I barely used the shoulder.” She informed Lilian.

“But!-“

“Look… I don’t want to just sit around doing nothing alright!” She spoke loudly, but not quite shouting. She then closed her eyes to calm down before speaking again. “The more time I have to sit there and think about what-… *GULP* …what almost happened today… the more time it will take me to get over it… I just… need to not think about it…” Her gack’tug looked up at her with pleading eyes. “Okay?!” She begged her desperately.

Lilian took a deep breath through her nose.

She wanted to give into her gack’tug, she really did. But she knew it was not healthy to not talk about it.

“Okay then.” Her mouth said what her mind had not agreed upon. “But after dinner… we will be talking. If only just a little bit.”

When she looked like she was about to protest. Lilian held up a hand.

“Until you ask to stop. Just enough to let you talk though it. It is not good to not talk about things.”

You are such a hypocrite Lilian. Her conscience scolded her.

Her gack’tug took a shuddering breath.

“Okay…” She relented.

To which Lilian breathed a sigh of relief.

“Okay…”

————————————————-

About a sixty-five kilometers away from Mount Maraiya, a group large group of Mokra’Torc people were gathered and circled a large of field as two figures did battle in the center.

“RRRRAAAAAHHHHGGGG!”

“HAH! Aaaaghhh!” The large battle axe of the much larger Mokra’Torc swung down with ease with his one hand.

Causing the other to hesitate and have to stop his swing. He side stepped out of the way, just in time to dodge the larger Mokra’Torc’s axe.

I won’t be able to beat him. He knew this when he challenged me. The smaller combatant realized. He stepped back and dropped his weapon.

“Alright… ALRIGHT! I, Sagrinim, of the Wayward Forest clan, yield.  This battle is yours Krak’Nathal.

There was equally cheers, jeers, and moans of despair coming from the gathered crowd around Sagrinim.

“Ha ha ha…” Laughed the large muscular, but rotund figure. “I think you have misunderstood something, Sagrinim…” Krak’Nathal laughed as he pulled his embedded axe from the dirt of the Rayala. “This wasn’t just a match to decide leadership of your pathetic clan.” He said with a heavy stomp of his foot at he approached Sagrinim. “This was also a match to decide whether I keep your clansmen alive, or feed them to my war-dogs.” He growled with a sadistic smile.

“W-WHAT?! But that is not what we agreed upon!” Sagrinim argued.

“*HAH* Do I look like a man who has time to be dealing with the weak? It was already a decided thing that I was to win this match. But it was your job, to entertain me. And so far, you have done a piss poor job of that.”

“Y-You bastard!”

“Ha! That is like the twelfth time I heard that this week alone… say? Ha ha ha, that sounds like fun!” He leaned down to sneer at Sagrinim. “I should start keeping track of the predictable things people call me after I tell them what is truly at stake here… ha, ha ha, hahahahahaHaHaHAHAHHAHA!”

“Y-You… You crazy shit for brains! Ancestors damn you to hell!” Sagrinim yelled as he picked up his blade to charge at Krak’Nathal.

“Ha!” Krak’Nathal laughed as he hefted his axe. “Eight.”

*RRRRAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH*

*SPLAT*

 

————————————————-

Krak’Nathal walked back into his current home within the Wayward Forest Clans chieftain house. He was followed by his Shaman close behind him.

“…Good work today Krak’Nathal… A little showy, but, it got the job done.” Said the eerily breathy voice of his Shaman: that Krak’Nathal would describe as sounding like one who both smoked his pipe for to many years, and spunds as cold as one about to meet at death’s gate for greetings.

“*HMPH* Spare me your platatudes “SHAMAN”, and just give me your assessment of what you think of the people here…”

“Ha… sadly, very little…” His Shaman informs him. “At best. Good hardy workers for us to further our cause…”

“*HMPH* Whatever…” Krak’Nathal waved a hand towards him as he laid down on his side on a bed of mountain elk furs. “Assign those you find useful for work, them which can’t, send to our men for… entertainment hahaha.” He laughed sadistically at the thought. The rest are yours to do with as you see fit.”

“Most gracious of you, “Warchief.” His Shaman over emphasizes his title.

Krak’Nathal just waves a hand towards his Shaman.

“That will be all Nad’lug. Now leave me, I have some… business,” He looks over to leer at a the mate and daughter of the late chieftain. “To take care of, ha ha ha…”

“As you wish, Warchief.” Nad’lug bows before exiting the hut.