The Protectors

The Protectors 2

I awoke from my dreamless sleep just as the first rays of light shone through my hut window. I hurriedly put on my clothes and ran outside because today was important to me. The sun momentarily blinded me, but I soon recovered from its relentless glare. Memory of what was to happen struck my mind again as I sprinted to the gathering that had already formed. The spokesman, and leader of the village, was standing on a podium as people surrounded him. I pushed in closer to better hear what he was saying. It was easy getting up to the front, taking into consideration my size and strength. The crowd hushed, leaning upon every word coming out of Sam's mouth.

"Today we travel, for this place is too small for our ever-growing population. We will head toward the Mountain Zone. Protection there is astounding, and food will be plentiful. We will head out at this time tomorrow, so prepare your belongings."

The crowd erupted, glad that they were finally moving from such a desolate spot. The people hurriedly scattered, already packing what belongings they had. I walked up to the podium, waiting patiently for Sam to finish speaking with a group of people. He turned to me, and for the umpteenth time, I was caught off guard. He was tall, about 6 foot, but his face is what always threw me off. His gray hair contrasted with his piercing light-blue eyes. Upon his right cheekbone there was a large scar. His arms were practically scars themselves from all the werewolves he had fought.

"What is it you want my boy?"

"You left out one small part in your speech." I let him raise one of his eyebrows before I went on. "What is to be done about the wolves?"

A look of worry had crossed his face, as if he had never even thought of that part.

"I have been thinking of the same thing for many a day. We have around 200 commoners, but only 74 others that have been trained as you have. I know the numbers sound large, but Lord knows how many packs we will encounter along the way." He told me sadly.

"How far is the journey?"

"twelve miles on foot. Taking into account that we have women, children, and supplies, we shall arrive there in five days."

"Well figure out what we will do, and notify me when you have the answer." I almost snapped at him.

My mind had been too full of things to think clearly, so I walked up to the ramparts and sat with the guards for a short while. My friend Dakota was on watch, so I strolled over to his post and sat down beside where he was standing. He looked down at me, shook his head, and then started talking to me.

"What is it this time Tyre?"

"Excluding the fact that it is impossible for 275 people to walk for five days in werewolf territory, I should say nothing is wrong."

"Calm down, there is always a faint glimmer of hope."

"Not in this situation there isn't." I told him. The bad thing about Dakota was that he was an optimist. Not that it was so wrong, but after a while it got annoying.

"Any sightings yet?" I asked him.

"Only a lone wolf, but we got him." Dakota said, holding up a bow. All of the weapons in the village were lazer infused. The daggers, swords, spears, and the arrow tips were all deadly weapons.The sword and spear were most affective weapons there were, but only specific Protectors got them. The bows were the only weapon the guards liked to use because of its range. The only problem with the bow was that the wolves had time to dodge the shots. I walked away from Dakota and spent the rest of my day pacing around. My dreams that night were hellish. I was more comfortable staying awake then trying to get any sleep. When morning came, I noticed that at some point in the night I had passed out. Yawning, I walked outside and stretched. When I was done, I saw that everyone was prepared to move out. I ran back into my hut, put on my armor, grabbed my viper daggers, and headed outside. I hurried to stand next to Sam, who was making sure everyone was accounted for.

"Got anything yet old man?" I questioned.

"Yeah, do what you were trained to do, be a protector."

He averted his attention to the crowd and with one sharp yell, we headed toward our deaths.