The huge woman rushed towards Ian, raising her fist. Ian didn't even flinch as he saw her coming; even though she was taller than Ian's nearly 1.9 meters. At that instant, the shaman shouted. "Kalha!". To everyone's astonishment, the huge woman abruptly stopped and turned to the shaman in surprise. Some intuited that that simple shaman must have a very high status. The shaman motioned for her to come closer. When Kalha was close enough, the shaman gestured for her to leaned down, as the height difference was ridiculous. Kalha finally leaned and heard what the shaman had to whisper to her. No one heard anything but whispers.
Kalha stood up blushing, looked at Ian and added satisfied. "I long for that moment to come."
The guide, annoyed but comical, asked them. “Hey! What am I missing?”
Kalha saw the shaman motioned for her to be quiet. The huge woman laughed. "As you wish, mother Fae."
The chaman, who was surely called Fae, retreated into the hut saying. "See you tomorrow Ian. Don't let me down."
The huge woman looked at the guide and pointed at the gates of the settlement. "We've wasted too much time already, tell them whatever you want but make it quick.
The guide looked at Ian and greeted him showing off a disturbing smile. "Welcome Ian! With such big eggs, I think we'll be good friends."
Emily couldn't take her eyes off Ian. She didn't believe his terribly dire prediction could be true, but she shuddered to think that being as smart as she knew he was, he would give such a low number with such certainty. If he had said two, it meant he intended to save someone else. "I'm sure that someone isn't me. I wish I was wrong." She thought as Ian dodged her gaze. Emily felt her heart shrink as she walked. "I deserve it. For idiot."
The guide said goodbye to the shaman who was already inside the hut and continued. "If you hunt anything that can be eaten, bring it! If it can't be eaten or you don't think it can be eaten, like those fucking apes, you'd better cut off its left ear. Here, they recognize warriors for their worthiness. If you prove yourselves worthy, you will have a great future as mercenary adventurers." He turned around with a sadistic smile.
At that moment Emily was trembling, lost in thought. "Kill!? Oh shit! Why did I always find it such an appealing idea in video games?! Killing another being must be a horrible experience! It's going to resist! It's going to scream! And... It's going to...!" Fear gave her a big hug, ending up overwhelming her completely. "I'm not going to be able to do it!" She felt like she was about to cry, but she made a tremendous effort to hold back the tears.
Little by little, they reached the end of the road. A large door opened wide. There, a warrior was waiting to hand out to all the students a rather rudimentary spear. As soon as a student received his spear, he was invited to leave the settlement, nicely. Everything was going on in an orderly and calm way, but with a certain degree of tension. Perhaps it was Kalha's presence or perhaps the realization that they would have to survive out there, but no one wanted to be the first to find out what creatures were out there or how terrible those apes were. Nor did anyone want to be the lunch of the dogs that no one saw or heard.
As Emily's turn to pick up the spear approached, she felt more and more desperate. Her whole body was trembling, even her jaw. She felt shivers and a slight urge to urinate. She looked around, trying to find someone who wanted to group with her.
Her eyes searched for Ian again. But Ian still wasn’t looking at her, so she understood that the answer to the obvious question would be. "No. I'm not going to group with you, Emily." So, she didn't even go over to ask, even though Beth was no longer around. She couldn't help but wonder. "Who would be the lucky man or woman to have Ian's help?"
The more students had a spear, the more of them were outside the settlement, and therefore, the louder the murmur. Kalha hadn't interrupted them for a few minutes, so before long, they was almost shouting. "Shall we make a group?! Let's go together! Come with us! We can make bigger groups! Why don't we all go together?! What are you saying?! I'm not going with those!"
Emily couldn't believe that she was going to be alone in a situation like that. No one was watching her or inviting her. The only one who watching her was George, with his fake shy look. Before, behind some glasses that he didn't have here. Probably, for the same reason no one had their own clothes. However, he didn't seem to need them as much. He seemed changed, and it was strange to see him like that, without adjusting those glasses that, since always, were a bit big for him. Emily caught him leering at her. George had that nasty habit. That made Emily even more nervous and desperate. "I'm not teaming up with that bastard!"
Richard, who already had a spear and along with two friends, detected this and raised a hand shouting. "Emily! Come with us! Those words, which sounded almost like an order, seemed to her the most beautiful words she had ever heard. No one ever invited her to join a group in gym class or when it was mandatory to join a group for school work. She always had to be forcibly matched by the teacher with someone like her. A pariah. Oddly enough, it was almost always George. It wasn't because she had been in a group with him several times that they had a better relationship. Emily wouldn't even talk to him if she had the choice.
She looked at Richard as a smile appeared on her face, more and more noticeable. A smile she could hardly contain. She didn't notice that she almost began to cry of joy. In her head, echoed the old woman's words. "Several boys really like you, but only one is the source of your problems and only one is, and will be your soul mate forever." Emily wondered if it would be him. But it was a question to which she was forcibly adding an affirmative answer.
When the warrior handed her the spear, Emily felt something different than she had expected. Whenever she played video games where violence was a premise, she always looked forward to facing her first enemy. But this was real. She had never killed anything bigger than a spider. Anxiety made her tremble again as she approached Richard. Surprised, she discovered that Richard was trembling too. Emily noticed out of the corner of her eye that they weren't the only ones. That didn't relieve her. Quite the opposite. She felt it was obvious that this was too big for all of them.
When she was just steps away from Richard and had reduced his smile to the category of shyness, she received a strong push from behind. It wasn't the first time she had felt that and apparently it wouldn't be the last time. It was obvious that, wherever she went, she could not get rid of Beth and her henchmen.
With the spear in her hands, she barely had time to break her fall with one hand. Emily ended up with her face on the ground. There weren't many stones, but they were too noticeable under her bare feet. One of them was right where she landed with her hand, and another where she hit her face. She touched her sore skin, looking for blood. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't find it, though it hurt like hell, so she winced in pain.
An awkward silence allowed the author's pathetic apology to be heard by all. "Excuse me! I didn't see you, Red Cow. Ha ha ha!". That was not Beth's voice! It was her best friend, Rebecca. Whenever someone laid a hand on Emily, it was Rebecca's doing.
Rebecca was a brunette girl with long hair and brown eyes. She wasn't particularly pretty, but she wasn't average either. She was almost as tall as Emily was, but stronger. Her body was well trained. She enjoyed exercising and taking care of herself with healthy food. She was the captain of the local volleyball team that had finished as regional runner-up. She was disciplined, selfish, bossy and feared by most of the girls.
At that moment, Emily wondered if her real enemy was her; and Richard, the boy she liked who no longer spoke to her. Emily, hunched against the ground, clenched her fist and gripped the spear tightly. She felt rage rushing through and fueling her young body. Hardening her. It had been too long since she had experienced that. But Fear, quelled that attempt of rebellion in mere seconds. She was likely to lose against four, so she tried to calm down and do what she always did. Let it go.
Rebecca bent over while Emily put her rage aside and covered her wounds. Silently enduring the pain now beginning to grow. Rebecca got close enough to whisper in her ear, displaying so much hatred she sounded like a demon. "If you ever come near him again, I swear I'll kill you "Red Cow." I can do it here. There are no cops or anything like that, and these savages won't lift a finger for you, now that you're out of their filthy settlement."
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