Xed

Chapter 8

The unpaved road to the entrance of the Dragon Valley was dimly lit by the crescent moonlight. Kiro walked alone on the gravel path, the sound of his feet making a crunching sound underneath him with every step he took. He was wearing the exact same attire he had been wearing during his meeting with Mr Smith, the only difference was that he was now equipped with a Katana. It was strapped to his back, resting in its sheath, ready for deployment and decapitation at a moment's notice. His shades rested on top of his forehead, revealing his steel grey eyes.

The entrance to the forest was now only a few feet away from him. The tall trees loomed over Kiro, their shade obscuring the already dimly lit path ahead. Kiro entered the forest and continued forward. He made sure to simply look at the Cave Rock hill and walk in its general direction to avoid getting lost in this gargantuan forest with this labyrinthine mish-mash of single tracks. The remarkable feature of the Dragon Valley was that while it was possible to get lost by trying to remember the path you took, it was seldom possible to get lost while walking in the general direction of any hill to reach a particular place. For instance, to go to the Wise Tree, all that one had to do was to walk in the general direction of the Nallakonda hill.

The Cave Rock hill was now in sight. Kiro had reached the base of the hill. The gravel had become coarser here, small granite pebbles were now a part of the mix. Some of them were larger and also loose which made walking a bit difficult especially since Kiro couldn't see very clearly in the dark and was walking through a territory he wasn't familiar with.

Unaware of the runes engraved inside the tree trunks he walked past at the entrance, he began to make his way around the hill and towards Aemon's house. The runes at the entrance of the Cave Rock forest began to glow red dimly. The walls surrounding the premises of Aemon's house glowed dimly as well and then stopped.

Kiro could now see Aemon's multi-storey thatched house. He got closer when he heard something rustling in the forest surrounding him. He drew his sword instantly and turned back. A humoungous wolf was charging at him.
The wolf ran at Kiro at an incredible speed and lunged at him, baring his teeth. Kiro dived to the side and rolled over. He quickly recovered and took a stance with his katana yet again.

A fucking wolf...nobody told me anything about no fucking wolf.

Cerberus turned back and growled furiously. His eyes portrayed intense blood-lust. It was so different from the unconditional affection he had for Aemon that it almost seemed like he wasn't the same wolf Xed and Aemon knew. The wolf ran towards Kiro yet again. Even faster than before.

Kiro brought his sword over his head and jumped up in the air, ready to swing downwards. Cerberus grabbed hold of Kiro in his jaws and before he could react, Cerberus threw him at a nearby tree. Kiro crashed hard into the tree. The trunk was damaged, a few splinters from the trunk had lodged themselves into Kiro's back. However, the splinters were the least of his concern. Kiro's back hurt from the impact. His torso was also bleeding from places where Cerberus' canines had broken his flesh.

Alright, stay calm, that wolf is faster than I am. However, its movements are linear. I may not be able to kill those two right now, i just need to get out of this situation alive.

Kiro got back up on his feet and charged at Cerberus. The wolf charged right back at him.

He fell for it...

Kiro abruptly stopped dead in his tracks and placed his palm on the ground, "Common Ability: Mud Wall"

His hand glowed faintly green momentarily and then the ground beneath his palm began to rise upwards, forming a 10 feet tall tall mud wall. Cerberus crashed head first into the wall and was taken aback. He let out small whine. Kiro noticed that the imapact from Cerberus had cracked his mud wall, it wouldn't survive another attack from cerberus.