Chapter 7: 6.

The ride in the mock APC was uncomfortably silent, but it was always like this. Viviana would keep her head turned away from everyone else while the other four could only endure her cold shoulder. Kusika played with his nails, glancing them over for even the slightest imperfection and flicking whatever bits of dirt and dead skin he found at Kunal, Broderick, and Volan. At the same time, the remaining three decided to just keep their eyes closed and heads down for the time being. It was better to avoid attracting any attention from the other two, lest they wind up getting berated by either Viviana’s high expectations or Kusika’s smothering ego.

Volan’s head and body rocked every now and then while the vehicle traveled North. They were headed for a wooded area that bordered a main river that flowed down from the mountains. It was a small section of land on the border of the Black Cup House’s territory and just before the Red Hand House’s border. The APC was driving along one of the main highways that lead out towards the northern wilderness, but they’d stop well before reaching the Zekanto’s northmost border.

Opening his eyes, Volan reached out for one of the crystal-powered tablets left in a pile on the floor of the APC. Using his finger, he unlocked it with a tap on the screen and began reading their assignment. He rationalized that it would be better time spent reading up on the target than to keep feigning being asleep.

The screen revealed a length document on their target for today’s training: a dorber. It was a fae creature born of the corpses of dead animals whose bodies were left to rot without a rational purpose. They had the head of a boar, horns of a bull, and body of a bear. This thing was made with a deep hatred for those that killed only for sport, and nothing more. Dorber were rare sites in the wilderness, but have become an issue in more populated areas.

Volan assumed this was the Academy making enemies for the students to fight, but he had grown up with enough side comments from his father and reactions by Rose to know this was probably caused by the nobles. They’d been dragged into the courtly politics of the Houses in the past, and a number of times far more than anyone would ever desire to be. Whenever a story on the news had come out about some tragedy or event that seemed unusual, Volan had seen his father get a pained expression on his face or hear Rose click her tongue.

The nobility liked to play by their own rules when it suited them. Volan knew that not all nobles were the same, but it was the Old Houses in particular that liked to dance and sing around the rules as though the laws were fencing intended for everyone but them. This hadn’t always been the case, but it seems that with time the nobles became more and more divisive and complacent. Happy with maintaining their status quo of being at the top while everyone else didn’t matter. And when something did happen to them, they’d sacrifice others before themselves.

But this wasn’t the time for speculating who was at fault. For all Volan knew, this could’ve been the work of hunters who enjoyed the thrill of the hunt and nothing else. Or perhaps some madman had gone into the forest to isolate himself, but wound up drawing nature’s fury and ire. It was anyone’s guess, and he was there to both gain combat experience and remove a threat. Two birds with one stone.

Soon enough, the APCs began to change direction slightly. Volan could feel the sudden change in movement as it lurched to one side. They were leaving the highway and headed slightly North and crossed a short bridge that went over the river. Next, they headed northeast and the smooth road turned to sparse gravel and dirt. The convoy was now in the woods and they were starting to slow before finally coming to a stop at a clearing in the forest.

Volan set the tablet back in the middle and waited as the rest of his squad turned their attention to the door. The driver of the vehicle got out and then there was a short double-tap knocking on the door. With that, Kunal opened the door and they all started getting out. First out was Volan. As the squad’s Sentinel, he was to make sure the area was safe to proceed into. Then came Kunal, Kusika, and Viviana as the team’s Strikers. Last to get off was Broderick, and he shut the APC’s door behind him as all of the students for today’s training assembled in the clearing.

Once everyone was present, the three presiding instructors stood before them. Ms. Greenhaven was in front of her colleagues and would be the one in charge of today’s exercise. Clearing her throat as the sun shone down from above, she addressed the students. However, there was a light stutter in her voice as she spoke.

“Good afternoon, students! You should all be aware of your target’s for today’s training, but in case someone wasn’t paying attention I shall announce it here and now for you all. Dorber have been spotted in this area, and you are to each hunt down one. Preliminary scouting revealed that there are an equivalent number of dorber to teams present, so it is your mission to each hunt one down and bring its core back as proof. Once that’s done, your training for the day is complete. Begin!”

Ms. Greenhaven cast her arm out and to the side, signaling the start of their hunts. Immediately, every team dashed out for the trees behind her and started searching for their marks. Volan’s squad was no different and they dashed headfirst into the depths of woods. They spread out in a diamond formation. Volan stood at the front in case they ran into the target by chance. Kunal and Viviana, as melee-oriented Strikers, followed on the left and right flanks of the formation. Kusika was at the back with his chakrams drawn as the ranged-focused Striker. And Broderick stood in the center of everything as the Synergist; able to cast his spells from a defended point as well as remain in range of all of his allies.

Though, as they got deeper into the woods, they slowed down. They had sprinted into the forest to get some distance from other teams, but now they were far enough away from anyone else that it wasn’t about keeping away from other squads. Now they had to find the dorber.

Kusika asked, “So. Anyone got any ideas on how to find it? I’d suggest something, but tracking animals is beneath me.”

Volan rolled his eyes.

Viviana spoke, “Dorber are formed from the remains of dead animals, so it shouldn’t be hard to find by scent alone. As for anything more visible, they leave hoof prints behind when they walk.”

Her voice was drop dead serious. Perhaps, of Volan’s teammates, she was always the sharpest knife in the drawer. Everyone, excluding Kusika, nodded in agreement to Viviana’s suggestions. None of them knew how to hunt an animal, but they were glad at least one of them understood the target well.

Thus the five of them moved forward under a shaded canopy of leaves and branches. Their footsteps brushing against dead leaves and crunching a twig here and there. The chirping of birds and whistling of wind could be heard occasionally from any direction as four of the five students actively searched for the dorber.

Minutes pass as they wander through the forest with eyes looking every which way they can in hopes of spotting their prey, but there’s nothing yet. Then Volan spots something. He’d always had keen eyesight, so it wasn’t uncommon that he’d spot something ahead of the others. It was one of the few things Viviana didn’t despise about him, but it didn’t seem to be a skill worthy of her praise either.

Volan raised his hand to signal they stop moving. Kunal and Viviana notice his signal and throw up their hands as well. Everyone comes to a halt as Volan tries to see if what is there moves or not. A few silent moments pass and he lowers his hand before drawing his sword. The others watch and prepare themselves in case something appears while Volan investigates.

As he gets closer, he gets a better idea of what the thing is. It’s a corpse. More specifically, a human one. It was filthy and mangled, but it smelled worse than it looked. Putting his sword away, Volan inspected it; ignoring the acidic and sulfuric scent as best he could.

Let’s see what happened… A pair of large holes, one in the center of the chest and another in the gut. Guessing that was the finishing blow, but…

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Volan’s eyes looked towards the head of the body and he had to close his eyes for a moment. He choked back his gag reflex. Taking a deep breath in, he opened his eyes and looked again. What used to be a head was now broken open and being eaten by flies and ants. One eyeball looked to the sky while the other was missing, probably taken by a curious crow. The nose was completely gone and the jaw was only hanging on by a tendon.

I’m betting the dorber crushed the head in its rage. It wanted to make sure whomever this was, was dead.

With his assessment of the body finished, Volan then looked around for any signs of where the dorber could’ve gone.

This kill has to be within the last three days since I don’t see any signs of bloating yet, but I don’t know how far a dorber would go after killing.

Volan asked, “Viviana. Do you know where a dorber would go after killing someone?”

Viviana answered, “Not for sure, but they are territorial and surprisingly clever. From what I could find online, dorber make sure a human never gets a proper burial when they’re around. So it's probably lurking nearby.”

Volan understood and stood back up. He put his sword back in its sheath and looked around for any signs of the beast. Then he spots a bit of torn cloth stuck on some bushes, and more leading off a ways.

“I think I’ve got an idea of where it went,” stated Volan.

Going over to the bush, he looked around and found some more bits of cloth but it was much less than before. The others followed after Volan as he scouted for any more signs of the Dorber. They moved slowly in case it tried to ambush them. Thankfully it didn’t, but then Volan found something very off. He silently stood before the body of a large creature; or at least half of one.

A mixture of confusion and alarm ran through his mind as Volan stared at the lower half of a black bear. A blood trail and drag marks led further into the forest, but it was in a separate direction from the bits of cloth caught on branches. The bear’s body looked like it had been violently torn in half. Its spine was broken and muscles torn. One back leg was mangled as if something had picked it up with cartoonish levels of strength and used its arms to rip it apart like a sheet of paper.

Then the others came up to where Volan stood and were just as shocked. And then everyone had the same thought: Something else is in this forest.

Kunal covered his mouth as he started to feel queasy.

“I think I’m gonna be sick…”

He ran over to a bush and started puking. Whatever he at for lunch was now a mess of yellowish brown fluid and messy chunks in dirt now.

Kusika joked, “What a grizzly scene.”

Broderick asked, “What in the Flame could’ve done this?”

Viviana replied, “Nothing I know of. I don’t think there’s even a fae creature capable of this.”

Volan looked up and over at the drag marks. While they did go further into the forest, they were actually going East towards the river. And now that the shock of the scene was wearing off, Volan noticed the trees in the area had deep claw and scratch marks going that direction. It was like someone with a chainsaw had swung it around wildly.

Volan stated, “Whatever did this it’s gone off somewhere near the river. Thankfully, the Dorber has been leaving a trail of bits of cloth leading West. So as long as we avoid going East, we should be fine.”

Volan’s teammates agreed with a silent nod, though a nervous sweat broke on the back of their necks. They were going to avoid going East as much as possible in hopes that whatever else was here wouldn’t target them next. And, hopefully, none of the other students either.

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