With a pack of 24 hunters comprised entirely of Khatif and Keel, we followed the general instructions that we'd pried from our prisoner. In a valley two days' travel south of Nievtra, we found the subtle markings he'd advised us about—scratches in the bases of trees. Funnily enough, they weren't too dissimilar from the markings that keelish left on anything they could scratch to mark their territory. Again and again I was seeing similarities between my people and the Misti Hawar, and when I thought about it consciously, Nievtala laughed in my mind.
You can see where they saw my people of old and decided that they wanted to become a more perfect form of my people. It is obvious how they failed to do so. They attempted to do so by following the teachings and the might of Illan'Klli. However, he has never been a creature well suited to civilization and groups. He is one of the greatest hunters that has ever existed, of course he is. He also is no ruler. He is but a leader of a small pack of his people as they found larger and greater prey to hunt, and he never learned to lead beyond the direction of the next hunt.
I didn't respond directly to my Goddess, but I did internally acknowledge what she had said. She was the only one of the two of us who have any familiarity with the other God or any of the Misti Hawar, except for those few I had spoken with, so I took her word as gospel. Given her station, I supposed that wasn't a bad stance to take.
"Zaaktif, I think I've found a hint of a trail from the enemy." Silf's report was deliberate as he purposefully lowered himself and pointed out the path that the Misti Hawar probably had followed. He better understood the markings that the enemy were leaving to communicate to each other, given, once again, its similarity to our own. He happily gave instruction to the rest of us to ensure that we would be able to find our prey.
"Nobody can tell exactly how far away this will be, but it is in that direction, I can guarantee it."
"That's more than enough. All of you, stay near me. I'll keep you as near to silent as we can manage until we get there. Then, as soon as you lay eye on a single one of the furred fools, you know what to do."
The pack dissolved from two loose groups of 12 to one tight clump around me as I activated my stealth skill and dampened the sound all around myself. With a thought, I also dipped into [Fanatic's Fortitude] and let that aura swell out of me. Then, with only a slight constant drain to my sonilphon's reserves, I lead the way forward. Actually, I did not lead the way, but I followed several Sik'Tal as they followed the subtle hints in the environment to bring us to our goal.
Before we arrived, Foire was the first to raise a clawed hand and stop the rest of us from continuing. "We're nearly there. Everyone, silent."
Nobody argued with the command and our near silence became total silence as we slowly stuck through the brush. Before we came into a clearing in the trees in the valley, Silf raised a claw hand in warning, and we all understood what that meant. For a moment, I couldn't pick out anything, but with their warning, I could see places where shadow flickered and danced where the leaves overhead were still. Every one of the present Saharliard eyes turned to me, and I grinned widely. I flooded my throat with magic from my sonilphon, ready to overwhelm all resistance, and I rushed forward with a shrieking cry of challenge as my people all shouted in unison, "Victory by fang and blood!"
Percral sent curtains of electricity dancing through the underbrush as my initial wave of magic weakened the enemies' magical concealment. With his lightning and Hala's fire, the dozens of Misti Hawar appeared in the clearing. To their credit, they all leapt into combat, but my people moved in one as an enraged wave that demanded to be permitted to break. Though we were outnumbered three to one, we fought as if we were the superior in number, knowing no caution or hesitation.
Shadows appeared and raked at my scales, some even managing to draw a scant few droplets of blood from me, but none were capable of doing even the slightest amount of real, permanent damage to me. I saw several of the Khatif sustain minor wounds, and those who bled were focused on by the MistI Hawar. When one of my people fell to the ground, two of the nearby enemies attempted to leap into shadows and assault them where they lay, but they were swiftly stopped by the rest of my people. With several magical Saharliard nearby, the weak who attempted to assail those who'd sustain wounds were unable to gain any such advantage.
The battle started in our favor and stayed that way as my claws ripped through one throat after the next. The gurgling, cooling bodies of my enemies were a beautiful song to my ears, and I continued the rush forward as I slaughtered more. The Misti Hawar quickly realized that they were outmatched and turned to escape. I rushed past several easy kills to instead be in the midst of those who had gotten closest to escaping. There I sent a wave of magic from my throat, so powerful that it was almost as physical as [Quaking Claw].
One voice cut through the confusion, shouting in the Misti Hawar tongue, and though I couldn't understand the command he gave, I did know what he was telling them to do. The remaining dozens of eyes turned to me as their leader made himself known. He leapt from between his people until he stood in front of me.
"You would slaughter my people like this?"
"I won't be distracted from my goal, so bear your fangs, raise your claws, and prepare yourself to die with honor."
Without further conversation, I pressed the attack, and the Misti Hawar growled something that was obviously a curse of some sort. I didn't care, and I fixed my fingers together with my scales, making my right hand into a curved, cruel sickle, and my left hand into a sharp straight blade. The Misti Hawar lunged to the side to try to sink his claws into me, and I parried the blow with my left forearm while slashing with my right hand. His own claws managed to sink into my left forearm through my armored, linked scales, and an icy cold shot up my veins as he did so.
"Even if you are Keel, you are nothing but a beast." He snarled at me as he bared his teeth in victory. I felt the venom pulsing up my arm and towards my heart, but I had every confidence in the potency of my own strength and magic over his. I kept both hands in the same position they were as I slashed my right hand claws through his torso. The ordinary strike pulled wisps of shadow from his body but no blood, and I pulled my strike through without meaningful resistance.
"Then I suppose you merit the full fury of the chosen of Nievtala." I didn't explain my words as I burst forward with a shout that forced his semi incorporeal form to coalesce. Then, with my hands shaking from the influence of [Quaking Claw], I ripped into his chest.
His snarls of victory became screams of agony as I disemboweled the creature and forced him into corporeal suffering. He fell to the ground, eyes searching my face for mercy or understanding or something else I didn't care to give him.
"You're the first. The first clan head of many to meet their end at my claws. I'll send the rest along to meet you soon."
After that, I swiftly decapitated the sole creature capable of standing before me in this family. My elite hunting squad screamed their approval to the sky as they hunted down every straggler and attempted escapee.
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