Mason trembled back in fright as he saw the creature, his eyes bulging in terror. The sight of this monster would make you want to run no matter how strong you are.
"Don't you dare step off the road!" Mia shouted at Mason. In the blink of an eye, the girls have drew their weapons.
"This is what I was being cautious of," Amie sniffed. "I hate this creature like shit!"
"Enough of complaining," one of the girls shouted. "Lucky it isn't a pack of werewolves we come across. We'd have made a delicate dinner for them."
"Let's get rid of this shakas before I lose my mind," the second girl cautioned.
Amie unslung her bow and notched an arrow. She drew it and let it fly through the air, but the shakas smacked it aside with its claws. The two other girls charged at the creature.
The first girl swung her spear, flanking the beast, who let out a loud screech. It lurched forward and swung its hand at her. She ducked, but the creature was fast and she couldn't dodge the second blow, earning herself a slash on the shoulder.
The second girl seized the opportunity and weaved her dirks in the air. She was swift and agile, dodging the creature's charge with amazing speed. She tried to thrust her dirks into the creature's chest but she couldn't get the reach she needed. The monster grabbed her throat and raised its hand to strike her.
Mia charged with her longsword, but the shakas parried her attack with its raised hand. An arrow whistled in the air and sank into the creature's shoulder blade. It let out a bloodcurdling scream and dropped the girl she was holding. It yanked the arrow out and went offensive.
The girl wielding dirks regained her strength and plunged her weapons into the creature from behind. The beast tried to turn back to return the attack but a spear buried into its shoulder.
With a final brutal move, Mia rolled and struck vertically at the beast, cleaving the flesh-eater in half and spreading gores and entrails on the ground.
Mason opened his mouth in a silent scream, too shocked to make out a word. Mia turned to him and winked.
"This one is the leader of its horde," she said. "Its duty is to create fear in the mind of its prey. And when that happens, the entire horde would come out of hiding and pounce."
"What about the rest?" asked Mason through a trembling voice.
"When they see their leader lying dead they'd run," Amie replied. "They probably already saw what became of it. I doubt they'd come out."
"So… that's why you asked me not to step away from the road?" Mason asked. "They're lying in ambush."
Mia and Amie nodded.
"Tina's hurt, guys!" the girl holding dirks shouted. The group turned and saw the other girl who had sustained a slash from the shakas earlier, wrapping her wound with a piece of cloth.
Mia and Amie ran to the girl and helped her cover up her injury.
"Let's leave now," Mia said. "It's almost dark already."
Mason raised his head. The sun had finally disappeared from the horizon, and the sky was already giving way to the dark clouds.
The group continued on for some miles until they approached a village. It was too dark to figure out how many houses it contained, but judging by torches that stretched on for some meters, Mason assumed it was a small village.
"Welcome to Letico, located in the Southern part of Africlaux," Amie said. Her white teeth shining in the dark told Mason she was smiling.
"Bye guys," Tina said, and she led the injured girl as they descended the sloppy ground into the village, disappearing out of sight.
Mia and her sister led Mason deep into the village until they stopped in front of a house. They entered, Mason trailing after them.
The house was small, made from a combination of wattle and daub and cob. The thatched roof was pitched at a steep angle to allow snow and rain to slide off, and the door was made from solid wood with a simple iron hinge and latch.
The central hall was the main living area, with a large hearth at one end where the family cooks and heats their home. The hall was approximately 15 feet in size, with a low ceiling.
The floor is made from compacted earth, covered with a layer of straw or rushes. Two doors were located off the central hall, probably leading to the family's bedrooms.
The family's furniture is simple and functional, consisting of a wooden table and benches in the central hall, a few wooden chairs, and some wooden shelves for storing food, cooking utensils, and other household items.
A large round table dominated one corner of the hall, in which a bald man sat down in one of the chairs surrounding it. Gray beard dominated his old wrinkled face.
The man's eyes lit up when he saw the girls and a smug grin appeared briefly on his face.
"What took you so long, my ladies?" he asked. "You only agreed to watch over the village during the day, and I expected you to come back before nightfall. I can't lose you guys."
"Enough of your worries, old man," Mia said. "We're old enough to protect ourselves."
"Old enough to protect yourselves?" the man echoed. "You ladies are old enough to get married. Protect yourselves you say?"
"We ain't getting married, our duty to protect you and the villagers remains our priority," Amie chimed in. "Stop forcing us to–"
"There are men who can do that," the man interrupted. "Leave the duty of the watchers to the men. You ain't getting any younger. 18 and 20-year-old girls should be in their husbands' beds at night, not wielding weapons and roaming the nights."
Mason was surprised. Girls at this age are considered late teens and young adults in his world, who should be preparing for college. But here they're supposed to be married?
With the way the man continued to speak to his daughters, he must not have noticed Mason, who was standing behind them.
"You have your own lives to live," the girl's father said. "Don't ruin it trying to protect us. Your mother and I had lived our lives to the fullest; should we die now, we have no regrets. Come dawn, I shall find you suitors."
"And we shall gladly kill them," Mia said. "No matter how many of them you brought, they'll either flee or die."
"It's our lives, and we get to decide what to do with it," Amie added.
The man sighed, and his shoulders slumped in resignation. "Very well then, I'll stop persuading you for today." His eyes squinted at the figure standing behind his daughters and his head jerked back. "Who… might you be, young man?"
"He's Mason, from the West, the city of Detrie," Mia said, smiling, none of which reached her eyes. "He saved us from a shakas on our way back."
Saved you from a shakas? Mason thought.
"You're from Detrie?" Daniel, the girl's father, said. He rose up from his seat and ambled toward Mason. "Are you really from the city?"
"Umm… yes, sir," Mason stammered.
"You haven't been to Detrie before, Father, have you?" Mia asked.
"Of course," Daniel responded. "I fought there alongside King Morris during his time as the crown prince."
Mason turned to Mia but the girl averted her face. 'I'm in soup,' he muttered. 'She said her father has never been to the city before, was it all lies?'
Daniel stepped closer to Mason, a wide grin appearing on his face. "Come, join me at the table," he said. "We have a lot to talk about"
Reluctantly, Mason followed him to where he was sitting earlier. The man sat down and motioned for Mason to sit opposite him.
"Go call your mother for me," he said to the girls. Mia went off and disappeared into one of the doors. A few moments later she returned with her mother, an old woman probably in her late 50s. Her gray hair was plaited and she wore an old-looking blue nightgown.
"Look like we have a suitor here," the woman said. "A handsome one indeed. I hope he knows he's in danger?"
"No, he's not," Amie replied. "We brought him ourselves."
"You brought a man!?" the woman asked, surprised. "Are you finally going to get laid?"
"I don't like the term 'get laid'," Mia grumbled. "And it's not what you're thinking, Mother."
"Really?"
"That's not it, Diana," Daniel chimed in. "He's our guest, the lifesaver of our girls. Please treat him to a nice meal."
Diana turned to her daughters. "You two haven't eaten," she said. "Sit at the table, you deserve a hot meal as well."
She headed to the hearth. And instead of sitting as she told them, her daughters followed her. They helped her serve the two men sitting silently at the table. The food was a meager soup, a dark brown broth, with a hint of meat and vegetable float.
"This is what we have, I hope you–"
"It's okay ma'am," Mason cut Diana off. "Thank you for the meal." He began to eat. Hmm! This is tastier and better than I thought.
"Was it true that the city was under a siege?" Daniel asked, his eyes fixed on Mason.
"Um…" Mason stammered, dropping his wooden spoon. His instinct was always about what will happen, not what has. He glanced at Mia once again, but she seemed to be concentrating more on her food.
He has to come up with something believable. That's how he had always survived. His intelligence has been put to a test now, he must say something to alleviate any form of suspicion.
"I doubt it will last," he said, earning himself a widening stare from Mia. She was paying attention to him after all.