Baiting the Barbarian Army

• The elderly, along with the kids, sprinted like their lives depended on it. For it literally did.
  • And although they look panicked, they move with a resolute trajectory.
  • This was the path assigned to them by Kratos. They had just one command to execute; "Run without stopping."
• Munni was her name. It meant little girl. It wasn't the name assigned to her, but one that her parents used to call her given her short and petite stature as a child.
  • As she grew older, the name stuck. And even as an eighty year old, she was still called Munni.
  • The irony was evident, but not intentional.
• Munni's bones screamed. Her muscles wailed. Her breath was ragged, and her lungs were straining at their limits. But she did not stop running.
  • She had to reach the designated spot before their pursuers arrived.
  • She was certain that they would be pursued. She had left just enough evidence along the way for even a dim-witted scout to track them.
• And then she felt it in the ground. Even through her overloaded senses, she could sense the gentle cacophony of tremors that started to grow in amplitude. They were approaching. And they were approaching quickly.
• By the time she could hear the hoofbeats, strained grunts of the bulls, and excited cackle of their pursuers, the group had nearly reached their targetted destination. Unfortunately, they wouldn't be able to finish by the time the enemies would be on them.
• At that moment, Munni halted abruptly. Seeing her stop, the feeling group also halted.
  • Munni immediately started to urge them to run, "GO!" she yelled. "I will try to slow them down..."
  • "Munni Ma-" A young teen tried to argue, but was met with a firm glare by the elder woman.
  • "I will only slow us down," Munni explained while physically pushing the others to leave. "Don't worry about me. You need to save yourselves."
• The kids wanted to argue. But the other elderly amongst them understood Munni's intention. They urged the children away and continued fleeing.
• Munni already knew that this was the end of the line for her - Lord Kratos had already informed her of it.
  • "You are going to die today," he'd told her. "You will die by the enemy's hands. It is up to you to if you want it to quick. Or slow and painful."
  • The Lord had a way with words. In that, he didn't use much. But that was enough for Munni.
  • She knew that in a world where very few lived past the age of sixty, she was in a special position.
  • Age brought experience. It helped the community thrive by stopping them from making the mistakes of their ancestors.
  • But age was also a burden. Because those that were too old, and too young, could not do anything by themselves.
  • And when it came to survival, you cannot be held down by burdens. Even a trapped tiger would chew its arm off if it meant that it could escape and live another day.
• Munni bent over and picked up a rock. Her body was shivering. It wasn't because of fear. It was the sudden unburdening that she was feeling after realising that today was probably the last day of her life.
• Munni blinked. Her eyes closed for a moment longer than a fraction of a second. When her eyes reopened. The horde was standing before her.
• Many miles above, Murugan hovered alongside his Guru and the three brothers, riding atop his peacock.
  • His palms roll into a tight fist that trembles as he sees the elderly woman confronting the small warband.
  • The leading figure tilts his head before gesturing for his companions to drag the woman away.
  • Murugan moves to interject, but Kratos' palm lands on his shoulder and he feels a great deal of force holding him down.
  • "G-Guruji-" Murugan pleads.
  • "This is necessary," Kratos interjects resolutely.
• He watched as two of the bull riders dismounted and approached the woman.
  • (Expound on the fatalistic and dirty looks they are giving. He can see the mounted barbarians gesture all around, pointing at the woman, probably meaning that they want to do something to her).
  • Murugan couldn't hold it in no more.
  • Though right as he was about to leap off, he saw something that shocked him to the core.
  • The woman pulled a knife and slashed the man approaching her from the right. As he gargled and choked on blood, she stuck the weapon into the other's eye socket.
  • Then, with an energy and ability that belied her age, she ran up to the bull in front of her, leapt, and using the bull's face as leverage, she collided with the leader of the crew. And, like a rabid animal, she clenched her jaw around his neck and pulled out a chunk of flesh.
  • Blood gushed out like a fountain. The two tumbled out of the bull. And the enraged animal started to stump and jump, trampling the grappling duo into a mush of blood and gore.
• Murugan couldn't process what he'd just witnessed. Evidently, neither could the barbarians. There was a long pause as all eyes followed the bull as it rushed away. Following which they looked down at the pool of mush.
  • "She did better than expected," Kratos expressed with a snort that sounded impressed, somehow.
  • Murugan looked to Kratos to expound, but he did not get an explanation. Instead, it was Faceless who spoke, "She has agitated the enemy. It will make them callous."
  • Murugan still looked confused. Faceless explained, "There is a saying from far north that describes this situation rather aptly: the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. The elderly and kids are the cicadas, the barbarians are the mantises." He then placed a palm on his chest and said, "Oriole."
• The group followed the charging barbarians. Once again the eldest of the retreating group stayed back to distract the opponents. Though their enemies did not make the same mistake twice. They simply charged the woman and trampled over her. It was a gruesome display for Murugan, though he was once again shocked to see that the woman had managed to slice away the testicle of the bull trampling her. The creature jerked up and dislodged its rider, who was also turned to mush by the bucking bull, which later died of blood loss.
• "This is disgusting!" Murugan exclaimed with a yelp.
  • "They are fighters..." Vibhishana affirmed. "I'll give you that."
• The pattern persisted. Once an elder fell, another would halt to delay the enemy. Though it was effective at first, the attackers grew more cautious and gave the "distractions" a wider berth, opting to dispatch them with their spears over a longer distance. They didn't even desecrate the corpse by running it over. It was like they were afraid the dead bodies would come to life and take them down alongside them.
• Once the last elder fell. All that remained were the kids. The gaze of the eldest of the fleeing children solidified with resolve as he realised that it was his turn now. Unlike his elders, he wasn't without fear. His body was shivering, his hands were shaking and were sweating profusely. But he knew, that there was no other way. It was his responsibility.
  • He stopped running.
  • The other kids stopped alongside him.
  • He urged them to go but they didn't listen.
• There was no time left. Within moments, the kids were surrounded. The horde of barbarians raised a dust storm as the enraged bulls formed a circular formation, trapping the kids inside.
  • Unlike with the elderly, they did not immediately move to dispatch them.
  • Their eyes twinkled with lecherous thoughts as they leered at the little girls of the group.
  • Even the young boys that still hadn't grown enough, and carried a petite appearance, were a target of this.
• The de-facto leader of the horde leapt off his bull and approached the eldest boy. The kid tossed the rock in his hand, but was easily dodged by the large man.
  • He walked up to the boy and slapped him hard, causing a loud crack to echo in the forest.
  • The boy doubled over and spat a mouth full of blood.
  • Before he could do anything, the man clasped the kid's head between his palms and started to squeeze.
• A strained cry echoed in the forest as the boy evoked his pain.
  • The man revealed an evil grin and pressed on.
• In an instant, the cried stopped as a guresome crack echoed amidst the woods.
• A body fell to the ground.
• The lingering silence was shattered with another deep wail.
• The boy looked at his hands and was shocked to see a hand in each of his palms.
• He looked up and was shocked to see the barbarian squeezing his skull shouting, horrified, with two exposed stumps in place of arms.
• To his left, the boy saw an axe embedded into the earth.
• A loud boom shook the earth from behind him.
  • He turned around and saw a dust cloud emanating from a crater.
  • Before the dust could settle, a bull's head, detached forcefully from its body, soared out impaled the leader, killing him instantly.
  • A body followed, but arced above him and wrecked the formation infront of him.
  • From the cloud, ascended a large man - the giant of a man who followed Lord Murugan.
• The light of hope sparked in the eyes of all the kids present. Amplified with the feeling of reverence - they were saved!
• The giant charged and grabbed another bull by its horns. With an effortless twist, he cracked its neck. Then with a continuous motion, he plucked the bull's head out of its socket like a little kid picking wildflowers.
  • Once again, he tossed the head and killed another barbarian. He then picked the body and pummelled the bull's rider into a mess of gore.
• At this moment, the other barbarians broke away from their trance and charged the giant.
• At that moment, another object collapsed from the sky, crushing a bull and its rider.
  • From the dust, two spinning ethereal mandalas of complicated geometric shapes zoomed out like chakrams and sliced the heads of a dozen bulls and their riders.
  • The chakrams rebounded and returned to the dust cloud, simultaneously causing it to dissipate. And as it did so, it revealed a faceless man.
  • The ethereal chakrams whirred around his palms as he charged the enemy. He wielded the magically made weapons with grace, slicing through the barbarians and their mounts like a hot knife through butter.
• From one side, the giant laid waste to the enemy, from the other the faceless man.
• The battle lasted for less than a few minutes. After which all that remained were corpses and a pond of blood.
• The giant picked up a still living man from and clasped his head between his palms. As he started to apply pressure, the man's skull began to groan. Though the man lacked the energy to evoke his pain.
• The faceless man approached the giant and placed a hand on his shoulder, hinting at him to stop.
  • He then gestured up, and a third individual descended from the sky. Without the pomp and show, but gently as if he was walking on air.
  • This was a wiry, scholar-like man, who approached the unconscious barbarian. He then ignited his palms with a warm, yellow ethereal glow and placed it on the barbarian's chest.
  • This healed the barbarian, who woke up screaming.
• The faceless man grabbed the barbarian by his jaw and looked deep into his eyes.
  • He noted that the barbarian, although afraid, carried a hint of defiance.
  • This was good.
• He picked up the barbarian and placed him on the last bull. He then slapped the bull's behind, forcing the creature to run away.
• The giant approached and asked, "W-W-Why did you l-l-l-let him go, b-b-b-brother?"
• The faceless man bent down and picked up a rock. He tossed it lightly in the air to gauge its wait and aerial behaviour.
• Once the fleeing barbarian had regained control of the bull and adjusted his trajectory, the faceless man threw the rock with great force with an arc.
• As he turned away, the kids saw the disappearing barbarian's head suddenly explode like an over inflated leather sack.
• "The barbarians will ride to investigate the loss of one of their warparties. This will provide a greater motivation for them," the faceless man explained, though the giant simply nodded without fully understanding its meaning.

Guerrilla Tactic in the Forest

• Another off-shoot from the main army is dispatched to investigate the disappearance of the this first hunting party.
  • They set out the hunting dogs who follow the trail, with the bull-riders behind them.
  • They follow the trail of hooves and arrive first at the location with the Butcher's right hand man was killed.
  • They find what remains. But the evidence has been erased mostly by other wild animals.
• They continue following the trail and are shocked to see more and more of their brethren dead.
• At this moment, they notice one of their bulls roaming around haphazardly. They stop it and see that there is a body with an exploded head mounted atop.
  • They were immediately consumed by rage.
  • They immediately began to retrace the bull's path and arrive at the massacre site.
• there is no one here at the site except for pools of blood flesh and bones.
• while they let the dogs inspect the area, they suddenly heard the whistling sound of somethings cutting through the air.
  • immediately after there is they heard the symphony of choking sounds followed by objects falling with a thud.
• Looking back, the leading barbarian saw a dozen of his men choking on their own blood with an arrow pierced through their neck.
  • A beat passed and a second volley sprang out of the woods killing another dozen in one fell swoop.
  • From corner of his field of vision, he saw movement. He immediately mobilised his men to follow the object through the woods.
• They galloped deeper into the woods.
  • It was narrower here, and they had to orient themselves into a thinner line to round the tight turns.
  • The leader noticed a young girl trying to climb a tree, with a bow tied around his back. She looked him straight in the eyes and evoked a scared and panicked expression.
• Without a second thought, he commanded his men to charge.
  • Right as they were about to approach the panicking girl, he felt the ride beneath him buckle. The last thing he saw from his peripheral vision, was a taut rope hidden beneath vines and leaves joining two trees, before the riders behind him crashed into each other and his own ride collapsed onto him.
• A while later, he didn't know how long after, he awoke amidst all the pain assaulting him. He couldn't feel his lower body anymore and his vision was blurry.
  • When it cleared, he saw the girl looking down at him.
  • She revealed a smirk before sending her dagger into his right eye.

The Ritual

• The chieftain grows uneasy as he sees his army diminish with every passing day. For the first time since he'd set out to lay waste and conquer, he was facing a challenge that was halting his progress.
• What annoyed him the most was the fact that he wasn't losing to a well-managed and powerful army, but just a bunch of forest dwellers. It was also ironic that he and his kind were just like these forest dwellers in the past. After defeating actual armies he had grown proud, and it irked him to realise that he was losing to those he considered beneath him.
• And he knew for certain that the opposition wasn't large. There were barely a enough to fill a small village. But what annoyed him was that for every one they managed to kill, he was losing at least a few hundred.
  • His army, that was an impressive fifty-thousand strong had been reduced to half.
  • He was not a smart man, but he was knowledgeable enough to surmise that the rate at which he was being routed was not sustainable.
• This would not do.
• setting up ritual
• bringing in a large Shiva Linga
• bleeding the villagers caught as prisoners
• Murugan and crew attack the campsite
• The brothers and Kratos fight the army while Murugan rushes to the Chieftain who is in the middle of finishing his ritual.
• he drinks the blood that is dripping down the Linga
• He fight Murugan, and latter realises that the Chieftain is actually blessed with invulnerability to all weapons