Gate: War of Two Worlds Shorts

Tales of the Clanless - Aligned Interests

Written by: Pariah

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--- Sadera ---

Date: July 26th, 2025

"Raise! Another mug!" A blonde elf exclaims as he brings his mug onto his lips and begins to take a big swig of his ale.

The mood in this small tavern was both warm and uplifting as everybody celebrated the triumph of the young long-haired blonde elf, Aldon. He had recently returned from his hunt and brought back his prize; the fangs of the poison night trappers that had moved in to terrorize this small village.

Other adventures had taken up this request only to never be heard from again. With the war going on, even the Empire had no available troops to spare to clear the creatures out, dooming the village to its fate. The village folk even banded together to drive out these pests but to no avail. As the weeks turned to months, the population began to dwindle as many began to move away while some were dragged away by these monsters. Eventually even travelers stayed clear, knowing how dangerous it had become.

The village folk, losing all hope, began to ponder on their next moves when all of a sudden a lone hooded fellow arrived into town. They were surprised at first that someone would come here but that quickly turned into hopefulness once it was known that the traveler was another adventurer, and a silver rank no less. Normally any bronze rank or higher wouldn't have bothered with this quest because of how little night trappers paid. But that hope quickly faded once they found out only he had arrived; they were sure he would die once he set out.

Aldon chuckled at the thought. 'If he would perish at the claws of these creatures, then all of his efforts would have been pointless.' He ignored their comments, not really caring about the fate of this place, he was just here for his prey. He was only here after hearing the tails of how so many warriors were bested by these animals. The exhilaration of hearing how dangerous these beasts were made his blood boil with excitement.

Not wanting to waste much time he quickly set out into the forest housing these foul beasts. Blades of all sorts littered throughout his body, ready to be thrown. The sun still shone brightly so the creatures would still be lurking in their lair. He hoped to get them all at once and avoid any one of them from running away. He moved quickly and cautiously, following the tracks they'd left behind. His sharp eyes easily picking up their trail, examining the disturbed brush and broken branches. Knowing that these monsters hunted in packs; he carefully moved further towards their direction, keeping his ears up to avoid being ambushed. Though they were primarily nocturnal, it wasn't unheard of for some of them to venture out during the day to attack any intruders.

He hears a high-pitched shriek coming nearby as a grin begins to form on his face. 'I'm getting closer,' he thinks to himself as he faces the direction of this screech, slowly reaching for one of his knives in anticipation.

As his attention was focused elsewhere, a creature merely watched as it bared its fangs. A primate-shaped beast with a long protruding snout sat up in the trees. The hairless armored creature licked its snout, slowly opening up its jaws as it began to quietly move down from the tree. It let out a soft quiet hiss as its hind legs pressed up against the tree, ready to pounce. The trapper began to position its sharpened appendages that protruded from its back, ready to strike at its prey if he somehow managed to dodge. It holds, waiting for its opportunity until it lunges forward directly at Aldon.

Aldon merely smiled as his hand grabs the blade he was already reaching for and launches it at the beast while he rolls towards it; barely escaping its claws as the beast flys over him tumbling on the ground and lays there, lifeless.