Harry and Imka made some distance from the tribe. Harry was jogging ahead of Imka, and was leading them towards the area where he caught those primates, thinking that maybe those beings would be able to satiate the hunger of the chief and his father. Imka didnt say a word during this, he just followed him, with his eyes staring at him like a hawk.
Unfortunately, the tree where they encountered primates a few days ago was empty. Which made Harry decide to go beyond the safety line.
There was a perimeter around the Vulcan Tribe stone, which was considered a sort of safe zone. This was because of some totem poles on the perimeter that warned beasts and animals alike to stay away from the area. Only the small and foolish animals wander inside, and they end up as prey for the tribe people. But that doesn't necessarily mean the totems work.
From what Harry had gathered, these totems, which resembled the face of a person with big fangs and horns, were just normal sculptures carved from wood. During his training with Karina, he came across one and could not see any glowing runes or anything peculiar about those poles. They were just normal poles. The Vulcan tribe, at some level, recognized that fact. Which was why children were not allowed to wander off in the safe zone as well.
From his training, Harry knew that Hunter's Party, which brings food for the tribe every day, ventures beyond the poles. So he figured that there was a better chance of getting some out there….
With Harry's eyes scanning for any small moment, it didnt take him long to come across his first beast. From a distance, he observed the beast, and it didnt look lovely at all. It had sharp talons on its forelegs, while its hind legs looked awfully like a normal hand. Its body was covered with small brown hair, and the creature had a small snout for a face.
The creature looked to be living in a small burrow and was living with its family. There were adults whose size was roughly bigger than the primates that they caught. While the children of the creature looked appetizing as well.
"What are you looking at?" he heard his father's voice, for the first time that day.
He glanced back and pointed towards the home of the creature. "There.. It is the home of a creature. I dont know its name, but it has a huge family. Could be worth a lot of meat,"
Imka stared in the direction for a second, trying to see any moment there, but could not, "Your eyes could see that far?" Harry nodded, "Do you have a Creature's Essence? Is that is why you could see that far? Because if you do, then you are going to be a lot of trouble…" Imka said with a certain anger in his voice.
Harry was confused. "What is Creature essence?"
Imka then quickly shook his head, muttering something. Harry was able to get some words from his muttering, like cannot be it, his cleansing was just a few days ago.. He could see things like this from way before, etc. But his words did raise a lot of questions, which Harry decided to ask around on a later date.
"Let's do this," Harry said as he started making his way towards the creatures. But then his father spoke again, "Dont waste your time. Those creatures are Bumikin, and they were infamous for being one of the most difficult prey."
Harry turned around and asked, "Can you see that far as well?"
Imka shook his head, "I know that they have a colony there," then further added, "Those creatures have such an advanced sense of smell that they will smell you from miles away. And then they would go into the hole. If you tried to stick your head inside the hole, they will make sure that you would lose your eyes and face."
"Ok.." Harry said, feeling weird as Imka was not supposed to give him any help.
"Not to mention, those creatures have many entrances to their hole. They might run away, while you man one of the entrances," Imka added further
Harry nodded, "Thanks for the heads up," And he still started heading towards the Bumikin's nest.
True to Imka's words, when Harry was around 300 meters away, those creatures hurriedly ran into the burrow. Which was according to Harry's plan, also not like he was trying to hide himself in the first place. When they reached the burrow, he started inspecting the hole and found all the entrances of the underground network that the creature had built.
Then he got to work.
Harry blocked all the entrances of the underground network with heavy stones, except for two entrances. He then went and brought a lot of dried twigs and grass to one of the entrances, while he made Imka stand before the big entrance, making sure that the creatures wouldn't run away from there. Then he lit fire to the twigs and shoved them onto the entrance.
His plan was simple. He would create an oxygen-deficient environment in the underground kingdom of Bumikin so that they would have no choice but to come out. And as every entrance is either closed or has fire, it would leave only one entrance that is still open and could be used to escape. And there Harry was standing with a battle axe in his hands.
The weapon itself was very large, but it was strong and sharp enough to cut anything that came its way.
They had to wait for a while at the entrance, but soon the smoke made it unbearable for the creatures to stay inside. And quickly, they started making their way outside. There, they met an axe that rained down on them, killing them in an instant.
In the end, they were left with 6 big Bumikins and seven small ones. More creatures managed to run away because Harry was not fast enough. But this much was enough for them, for now.
Imka tied the creatures onto the two spears that they had brought with them. With the spears being shared between both of their shoulders, they started making their way back to the tribe. With Harry in the front, Imka in the back, they were making headway when Imka said, "Gremla thinks that a Kukarachan has taken over your body."
Kukarachan huh? Harry thought, smiling internally. He could not tell how right Imka was.
According to the legends and folklore of the tribe, Kukarachan was supposed to these big demonic dog-like creatures that Lord Leh defeated many years ago, finally bringing peace to this place. According to the legends, these creatures were responsible for turning these green, lush lands into icy lands which was devoid of any life and beauty.
Harry could feel how he could be a Kukarachan. He was a demon, hiding in the body of a boy that he might or might not have killed. He didn't pretend to be a saint, but he could understand what Imka was going through.
"Don't have anything to say?" Imka asked.
Harry thought for a second and then glanced back, "Something changed when we visited Agora." He said rather calmly. He figured he at least owed the man this much: "This change in me, I don't know how it happened or why it happened. Just know this, the old Adui that Gremla is looking for, the one that you are looking for.. is no more. I have changed. And I like this way,"
Harry knew that accepting something like this could get him into a lot of trouble. But for some reason, he felt compelled to accept the truth. Not for his sake, but so that at least the late Adui's parents could accept the reality…