valor and strength

Unfortunate encounter

I woke up with difficulty, but the sleep had been restorative; I no longer felt tired, although I was sore, as if I had been beaten all over. However, that was no impediment for a guardian like me, so I tried to hide it.

The two little mice hurried ahead along the path, while Coeni stayed by my side.

As I stood up, my legs trembled, and everything seemed to spin. Coeni was a bit concerned and said to me, "Friend Raoban, I wouldn't ask you to get up if it weren't important." I knew it was, so I smiled and replied, "Don't worry, friend, this is nothing to me, haha." Emerging from under the fibers they had used to cover me during convalescence, I felt the breeze rustle through my fur and the sun melt on my face, like a hug from life after nearly losing it. These sensations gave me strength, and I felt much better, as if all my energy had returned.

Coeni hopped by my side as I kept pace without much difficulty, following the pair of mice that seemed to be leading us to the area where blue stones replaced the old mountains.

"Tell me, great Raoban, did you make it here alone?" Coeni asked very seriously. I didn't quite understand his doubt, as I clearly arrived alone, but I understood his concern. After all, we were just strangers. I told him how we had been cornered to the cliff's edge and how the commander had been dragged away by the current in another direction. As far as I knew, there were no other survivors besides the commander. If I managed to save myself, I was sure he did too, although he wouldn't emerge unscathed from such a situation. I was certain he would find a way to emerge victorious; after all, he was the best guardian I could have known, and my admiration for him was immense.

Until then, I hadn't had time or opportunity to worry. But now that I had enough time to think, what would become of my commander? I must say, the thought scared me.

For a long time, I believed, as I learned in my youth, that it was not worthy of a Dawn Elk, let alone a legitimate guardian, to involve feelings in such serious and important matters as war. Therefore, I hesitated a lot to explain to Coeni that the commander was my father, Raobeon, the one who had taught me everything I knew, the most experienced and skilled guardian that the Sícarion mountains had ever seen. But in the end, after all that Coeni and his family had done for me undeservedly, it was the least I could do.

Just before I could say anything, as we passed in front of one of those huge blue rocks that adorned the landscape, as if pieces of the sky had detached, I saw among the grass a pair of motionless silhouettes that seemed to be lurking, ready to attack at any moment.

I stopped, and Coeni, realizing this, commented, "This is what I wanted you to see. These little mice found the bodies of three Cardobians by chance while walking around the area, but there's more you need to see."

As we approached, I distinguished a couple of punas on the ground, two lifeless bodies that seemed to no longer breathe. Apparently, they had been defeated in battle, as the ground where we stood screamed it out loud. But where was the one who defeated them?

There were other tracks, tracks that didn't belong to pumas, much smaller. They weren't from an elk or a rabbit either; rather, they seemed to be from a pig or something similar.

As I continued to investigate the tracks and marks they left behind, Coeni shouted, "And the other one, where's the other one?!" It took me a moment to realize until Coeni looked at me and said again, "The other one's missing!" I asked on my own, "The other what?" Coeni replied, "There were three Cardobians, two pumas, and a wolf! Where's the wolf?"

Behind a large turquoise rock, a snout full of teeth jumped out, followed by a robust and strong body, with rough and unkempt fur, with intentions more than obvious. I barely managed to throw it off with one of my antlers, but it spun in the air and landed as if nothing happened, growling and salivating like a beast ready to attack.

I looked around for the little mice accompanying us, but they had disappeared as if the earth had swallowed them. Coeni, by my side, seemed to be petrified, as if time had stopped for him. The only movement he showed was a trembling that completely invaded him, revealing a small twitching nose.

I was not in a condition for a battle, but it was obvious that the earth-colored wolf had no intention of letting us go. I waved my antlers and moved my head to intimidate it, but I definitely failed to persuade the Cardobian, who seemed to exude an aura of death in its eyes. That single intimidation move had been so painful for me that it made me realize I didn't have the strength to fight that monster.

As it walked around me, looking for the right moment to strike with its jaws with the least risk possible, I managed to drag it along the ground using my antlers with what little strength remained in me. But when it broke free, my neck was exposed, and my posture made me lose balance, leaving me completely vulnerable. I prepared for the fatal outcome.

Involuntarily and without knowing why, I closed my eyes, but the fangs didn't come. When I opened them again, I saw a scene that remained etched in my mind to this day: a small gray common rabbit, who just a moment ago was trembling in fear, hanging from behind the ear of that creature who far surpassed my dear friend in strength and size.

It leaped to the opposite side, clinging to the right ear to knock down the canine from the left side. The beast's body crushed my friend completely, to the point of losing sight of him. But when the creature tried to rise again, not only was Coeni still there, but he had a firm grip on both ears. The canine shook its head and rolled on the ground trying to get rid of such a nuisance rider.

Coeni, visibly injured, with wounds here and there, let go for a moment. This caused, after a violent shake from the creature, the rabbit to fall onto its nose, which it instinctively bit. The Cardobian let out a scream before throwing the rabbit against one of the turquoise rocks, which reacted with a blinding glow upon impact. The wolf ran away terrified, while I immediately ran to assist Coeni.

When I reached my dear friend, I noticed shadows on the ground. I looked up and saw a couple of ravens that began to caw: "Here it is, Tenami, here it is," over and over again.