KING OF BEASTS (Hiatus)

Ares awoke with the darkness. Yet it was not quite as silent as he expected, in fact there was loud thundering drums nearby as well as the chanting and singing of various peoples. His face scrunched together in confusion as his vision came to him. The specks above him soon turned to the familiarly foreign stars he had seen over the past few weeks.

 

Then he sat up to see the thousands of oxfolk dancing and singing. Beside him came a voice.

 

“You’re finally awake.” Torak’s voice was soothing to Ares’ ears.

 

“Seems like it.” He said as he turned to see Torak at his side, sitting down with his arms and legs crossed.

 

“I thought you had decided to go beyond without us.”

 

“Not yet.” Ares chuckled though he winced in pain. He reached up and grabbed at his chest and then looked down to see the scars that painted his skin with a vibrant red, arcing like branches. “Damn…” He whispered as he brushed his finger tips along the scars, hissing out in pain.

 

“You should get some rest.”

 

“I don’t want to hear that from you. Though if you’re offering to get me a herb to heal me, I wouldn’t say no.” He chuckled and then poked Torak with his elbow.

 

Rori had arrived soon after with a bowl in hand. “It’s good to see you have healed.” Behind him was the familiar form of Mala.

 

“Yeah, thanks. I haven’t quite managed it but…” Ares shifted his hand into flames and tried to burn the scar away, though quickly found the sharp pain that flooded through his body was a little too much, so he left it be.

 

Rori stared down at him with their typical neutral gaze. Mala had cringed at the sight of it and Torak shook their head.

 

“It’s good to see you’re all well anyhow.” Ares laughed. “So, did we win?”

 

“We won, if that’s what you can call it.” Torak sighed.

 

“Yeah? How many did we lose?”

 

“We? None. A few of the Marching Blades are injured, but nothing they won’t be able to heal from…”

 

“I meant the oxfolk here.”

 

Torak remained silent for some time. “You would have a better grasp of such numbers, we haven’t yet counted them all. We’ve lost at least half.”

 

“Half?” Ares winced and then shook his head. “Damn.” He reached up to rub his forehead, feeling the cool steel of the pair of rings on his hand. He looked down at his newly acquired accessory, but then his mind went back to the fight before. “What happened to my little pyramid?”

 

“I broke it to get to you.” Torak shrugged their shoulders.

 

“That’s alright then. Was it easy?”

 

“For me? Of course.” Torak replied with a grin on his face.

 

Ares laughed and then shook his head as Rori offered the bowl of soup to him. Ares graciously accepted it and then ate the soup as though it was his first ever. The last few days had taken quite a toll on him and his stomach, so the food was welcomed.

 

Eventually a pair of oxfolk appeared. “Ares, you are called by the Horn.”

 

Ares drank the rest of the soup and then placed down the bowl. “Well I’ll need to thank him for such fine food.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He stood up and then followed the pair with Torak at his back.

 

When Ares saw Sohka, he could barely recognise the older man. They were quite heavily injured, littered with scars that were fresh and red, as raw as his own. “You look like shit, Sohka.” Ares winced.

 

Sohka smiled in return and then welcomed Ares, offering him a seat nearby upon the cushions and the blankets. Sohka was being tended to by various shamans that were partly fanning him and then checking his wounds.

 

“Are you going to be alright?”

 

“I am not so easy to kill, like yourself.” Sohka replied with a small smile on their face.

 

“That’s good to hear.” Ares nodded and then sat down opposite the older oxfolk. “Thanks for the assist.” Ares said as he rubbed a hand along one of his own scars, wincing a little. “I heard you wanted to talk to me?”

 

“It is humorous to hear you thank me, for it was yourself that has allowed us to survive as intact as we are.” Sohka’s eyes were filled with a sorrow and his words were quite hollow.

 

“Is everyone going to be alright?”

 

Sohka remained silent for a moment and then he waved his hand, dismissing the various shamans away.

 

“I have called for the Horns, would you please remain to listen in?”

 

“Yeah, sure. I’m not really doing anything anyway.” Ares shrugged casually.

 

It hadn’t taken long for the various Horns to be called, and Ares noted that there were two new Horns in the lot. Sohka, Morak, Urtz, Ombe, and the other two he recognised to be Grita’s grandson and Orion’s son he had faced. Ares looked over to Sohka, who bowed their head. Ares nodded in return and fought away what tears were brought up to his eyes.

 

He had held a deep respect for Grita, and she had always been nice to him. She was quite motherly, and he was sure that her tribe would hurt quite a bit with her loss, whether or not they usually felt grief at the deaths of another. Ares nodded to each Horn and cleared his throat. “It’s good to see you all.”

 

They all repeated similar intentions in return, even Morak. Morak had looked up to Torak, who was nearby Ares still, but Sohka didn’t seem to mind there was someone else at the meeting. Nearby there were a handful of oxfolk anyway, so Torak was Ares’ own guard.

 

“We have managed to survive this, and much of it is due to Ares. He had warned us of such a threat not long ago, and thanks to it, we were quick to prepare. It is also his aid that has allowed for us to take as little damage as we had, it is not an exaggeration to say that perhaps some of us, and those that we love, may not be here today. In fact, I know that without his aid, I would have surely fallen.” Sohka bowed his head. “With this, I offer my many thanks.”

 

The other oxfolk bowed their heads as well and offered their thanks, and Ares could feel a blush creep onto his face. He tried to get them to stop, but Sohka quickly continued.

 

“I have spent some time thinking of what is to become of the alliance of our Horns. We had already lost one tribe, some made their own way out, and the Horn of another had taken most of her loyal oxfolk, Lana of course, and some of us assimilated her tribe into our own. We had six Horns, something which was believed to be impossible under our original agreement, and yet…” Sohka remained silent. It seemed as though he was rambling.

 

“Yet, I believe that we can no longer live in such a way. The humans, in the last fifty years, have done much wrong in our lands. We have seen today what they were willing to do to take over this land, and though we are still Easterly, the West is far more difficult to take, they are still willing to attack and invade our world. We cannot allow such a thing to occur. I shall put forth the motion of the dissolution of the six tribes, to forge their own paths ahead.”

 

Ares raised his brows in shock. He hadn’t expected Sohka to take such a rash action, but he swallowed. The other Horns remained silent, taking some time to think about Sohka’s words. Yet even now, they seemed torn. Some seemed rather enraged by the concept of such a thing, yet it was surprising to see Morak deep in thought, quite serious.

 

Morak was the first to speak. “I agree with Horn Sohka.” He remained silent for some time. The other Horns looked out to Morak, who looked to Ares. “No matter what happens, I will take my tribe and offer them to you.”

 

Ares raised his brows further, and they threatened to fly off his face. “What?” He remained silent in utter shock before Sohka bowed their head as well.

 

“I too have thought such a thing.”

 

Ares looked out to the pair of them, having not expected such a thing. “What?” He whispered again out to them. “What?” He repeated one final time. “You want to join me? Why? I mean, it’s a good idea, but…” Ares couldn’t help but feel a little awkward under their gazes.

 

“It is the best course of action, to protect our future.” Sohka replied simply as they could, and Morak bowed their head as well.

 

Ares remained stunned by such an event. “Right…” The other Horns didn’t seem so interested, except for Grita’s nephew.

 

Yet, Umbe spoke aloud. “I don’t want such a thing, but even I agree it’s the best course of action. If Horn Sohka has such faith in Ares, then I will also offer my own tribe.” With that the other two joined as well, and now Ares had the entire oxfolk at his disposal.

 

“Oh.” Ares said, crossing his arms. He tapped his fingers against his bicep and then bit his lower lip. “Okay…”