'RRING'
The sound of the bell being rung reverberated throughout the entire village. Beastpeople slowly came out of their homes, their face just like Lydia's showed worry.
" Is everything alright ?", I gently nudge Lydia who seemed to be in a daze, " You look nervous."
" I'm fine.", Lydia answered back swiftly.
" Why is the Lion tribe uh- doing whatever it is that they're doing?"
" I should have told you this earlier, the lion tribe's village is just beside ours and we have an amicable relationship with them but lately....everyone's been a little on edge."
" Why ?"
"It's difficult to explain...…both the villages are facing a hard time because of a serial killer."
…..
" What ?!", I ask faking surprise.
" I know it's a lot to take in, we didn't say anything because we didn't want to frighten you...", Lydia says, guilt visible on her furry face.
'sigh'
I let out a sigh and massage my head in an effort to look conflicted.
I hope this is working well...I can't have Lydia be suspicious of me.
" This is a lot.....but I think I understand why you didn't tell me, I would have just freaked out. Look at me, I'm freaking out right now !"
ραпdα nᴏνɐ| сom " Oh...that's a relief, I was worried that you would hate me...", Lydia says smiling slightly.
I observe the beastpeople that were heading to where the sound of the bell originated from.
" Where are they going ?"
" Ah, they're going to the boundary between the two villages. We should probably head there as well."
" What about Georna ?"
Lydia shakes her head and says,
" She's too old for this sort of thing."
Just like that the two of us started to head to the boundary between the two villages where some sort of meeting was being held because of an emergency.
~~~~
On the way to the meeting, Lydia explained the problem that both the villages faced in more detail.
It all started a month ago.
The first victim was a female wolf, age: 25.
When the killings started nobody thought that they would be connected.
How would they think of that when the second victim was from the lion beastpeople's village, 'Roar'.
The second victim was a male lion, age: 17
One of the other lions witnessed this crime when it happened, they couldn't make out the exact face of the culprit but the witness saw that the killer wasn't a lion.
It was a wolf.
This led to the lions and wolfs meeting up together and after a lot of discussions, they connected the first murder to the second because the killer had a 'special' way of killing.
After killing the victim, the killer proceeded to take their hearts, in a literal sense.
Eating the heart of a beastperson was rumored to increase the consumer's strength, assuming that the murderer ate their victim's heart could only mean one thing,
Both the villages weren't just facing a run-of-the-mill serial killer.
They were facing a cannibal.
This fact made this issue even more serious since the beastpeople had a belief that if their heart was consumed then their soul would never find peace. Monumental efforts were taken by both villages to find the killer but alas.....the killer wasn't caught.
Two more murders occurred, this time both happened inside 'Roar' even though the lions had upped the security the killer still somehow managed to get past them and this time multiple witnesses were stating that the killer was a wolf, the killer also ironically wore a mask that was shaped in the form of a lion's head.
The relationship between the two villages had soured greatly because of these events, the scent of distrust and betrayal was hanging over both villages refusing to let go.
" - and that was last week, I don't know what happened this time but since they rang the bell this late....' it' must have happened again.", Lydia says concluding her narration.
" Hmmm", I mumble out thinking deeply.
In the novel, Max weeded out the killer and saved the village, he left the village after that. It was only later that he learned that soon after he left both the villages warred with each other resulting in the total decimation of both the villages.
' Why would they kill each other...?'
This was the question that plagued Max's mind after he learned about the war between the wolfs and lions. The war was dubbed the name,
The War of Grey and Gold.
Max's questions and doubts were valid since, at the time of his departure, the relationship between the two villages was returning to its normal state.
" Is that the 'wall' ?", I ask pointing at the huge ass wall in front of us.
" Yeah, that's the wall that separates the villages."
Two guards stood at the exit, the both of them glared at us but let us pass without any issue. They had to because there were a lot of people behind us waiting to exit the village as well.
Exiting the village, the first thing I saw was a huge arena.
" That's where we meet up.", Lydia says leading me inside the arena.
~~~~
The arena was huge, a lot of beastpeople from both the villages had already come inside and more were on their way and still, the arena was only barely filled.
" Why is it so huge ?", I ask admiring the intricate interior of the arena.
The arena was not just huge, from just one look at it I can say that it is well-built.
" It's not just an arena, this place also functions as a disaster camp and is also where the beastpeople from both villages gather to discuss issues."
" Which tribe built it ?"
" It was a joint effort from all the tribes present within both villages.", Lydia answered her eyes plastered on the raised platform at the center of the arena.
Soon, a massive lion with a bright gold mane and hazel brown eyes walks up to the stage.
" That's the other village's chief, Leo Tigris."
~~~~
Lydia watched with silent anticipation as Leo, the chief of 'Roar' village walked up the raised platform.
" Dear wolfs and lions, today I bring with me grave news. Another one of my kin has been....murdered in cold blood. But unlike the other cases, we have apprehended the culprit this time !" Gasps rang throughout the arena as the beastpeople received shocking news.
" Till now we have been tricked, the killer wasn't a lion or a wolf, it was a human !"
Another round of gasps.
Leo took in a deep breath before shouting in a loud voice,
" Bring him in !"
Soon, two lions brought a human.
The human looked to be in terrible condition, he was covered in blood and his hands were chained with mana restricting handcuffs.
" This human is the one who has been terrorizing our village for the past month, we didn't even know about his existence till now.....he has been hiding in the shadows plotting our demise, and his name-"
' Oh...no.', Lydia thought worried.
The human seemed like he was similar to Adam's age, Lydia wondered if Adam knew him. Lydia turned to look at Adam and is surprised to see the look on his face.
"- is Max Reynolds."
Instead of concern, Adam Creed had a huge smirk plastered over his face.
~~~~
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