"A week just to get off the top of this mountain. This'll be a challenge, but you liked challenges, didn't you dad." The boy looked at the second pouch, it was teal and dark blue while his mother's was a blazing red.
"Alright Eric, mission one is to get a bloodline. Mission two, train. With ole' reliable and sir sharps a lot. Mission three is to join the army in a year's time. Mission 4…"When speaking of his last mission the boy grew silent.
"I'll wait on that." The mountain was pretty but hard to get down, paths weren't so easy to get to. The roads hadn't been maintained in God only knows when.
Eric giggled seeing the vegetation, his hope was like that of the purest child. Apart of him ecstatic at finally leaving the courtyard.
"Dad was so strict and mom wouldn't budge either. They said it gets dangerous at night, I just gotta find some place safe, no biggie."
Looking at the vegetation, the flowers, and the clear blue sky the boy grinned. His curly hair bouncing as he felt a peace and joy he never did before.
"This is what mom and dad talked about, they said traveling is wonderful for the heart."
Drinking from his water pouch and looking at his food rations, the boy had enough for a couple of weeks if he stretched it.
"I should hunt first before I leave the top of the mountain, that'll get me some experience. Dad said it was safer up here compared to the lower mountain areas."
Eric walked until it was nighttime. The boy having found a spacious area, he looked intently at the tree which would become his 'station' for a week.
Smiling, the boy did as his father and mother trained him to do. Slowly, the boy found branches and other materials in the forest like vegetation. Feeling the strain, the boy looked at his little hut and laughed.
Feeling satisfied, Eric slept like a baby in his hut. The boy slept for hours until he heard strange noises coming from the more vegetative areas. Curious, the boy got up and decided to take a look.
Unwinding his whip and making sure his short sword was tight on his waist, the boy walked quickly to the area of noise.
Eric's expression became serious, his whip ready for the immediate danger as he looked before him. A strange looking chimp was before him, the chimp itself looked odd. Around the chimp were hyenalike creatures, big, yet having no tail, yet having bull like horns.
Eric watched in wonder as he kept his breathing even.
'Those a Scour Hyenas, and that... I don't know what type of chimp that is. A tail that's snake like, serpentine pupils, scales on the chest and joint areas.'
Eric scratched his head as he saw a creature he couldn't identify. His mind already registering his mother crisp voice as she lightly admonished him for forgetting. 'Not like I know everything mom....haaa.'
Looking at the ape fighting off the scour hyenas that easily measured five feet tall on all fours he was surprised.
The chimp was valiant, using it's four limbs and tail as weapons. The chimp punched like a battering ram, hopped around on trees, and strangled it's opponents using it's tail. It's movements fluid and carefree.
Yet, Eric could see something wrong. The ape was starting to move slower while the hyenas kept coming. It had killed and crippled more than a dozen, but the numbers didn't decrease.
'I-I-I need to do something.' Eric gripped his whip hard as his knees shook, he was but a boy before monsters. Yet as he saw the small chimp taking more and more attacks, blood spilling he clenched his teeth and moved. Doing his best to stay silent, Eric grit his teeth and finally attacked.
The chimp at this point was breathing heavy and bloody, it's blood a deep purple hue. The chimp blocked a frontal claw swipe yet another clawed from behind. Feeling death near, the ape grew frantic only to see a whip yank the hyena's paw away from it's back. A boy rushed in, stabbed the hyena and grabbed the ape. Holstering both weapons the boy ran.
The hyenas were dull for only a few seconds before waves of them ran at Eric. Looking around, Eric couldn't help but smile at his successful move only to start falling. He had ran past the edge of a slope. The two tumbled down over and over. They rolled and banged on tree after rock after tree, over and over again.
The two were sprawled on the floor breathing heavily as they lay there in pain. Eric's vision blurry while the chimp was out right knocked out. The hyenas paced at the edge of the slope, unwilling to fall down it. A bigger Hyena with reddish brown skin went to the front. It barred it's fangs at any member of the family that didn't make way.