Chapter 105 - 104: The First Hunt
The morning in Velaris began more quietly than Iris expected.
After the small trading activity of the previous day, she had expected the settlement to feel different. Not dramatically different, but perhaps a little more settled. People had started finding things they could do. Resources were being gathered, food was being exchanged, and Copper had begun moving from one person’s hands to another.
It was still nothing close to a proper economy.
Velaris was far too young for that.
Still, there was movement.
That was what mattered.
Iris walked along one of the main paths, watching people go about their morning. A few residents carried bundles of wood toward the Warehouse. Others returned from gathering trips with plants and stones. Some people stood around talking while deciding what they should do next.
She noticed something else too.
Restlessness.
It was in the way some people kept looking toward the gates.
They had a safe place now.
They had food.
They had somewhere to sleep.
But none of that changed the fact that the world outside was still there.
And sooner or later, they would have to face it.
"I can’t keep sitting around all day."
The voice came from nearby.
Iris turned.
A small group of survivors had gathered beside the road. She recognized some of them, though she had not spoken to all of them personally.
One of the men was rubbing his hands together as he spoke.
"Other people are already finding things to do. They’re gathering resources, trading, helping around here. What are we supposed to do? Sit inside the walls and wait?"
Nobody immediately answered him.
Another survivor looked toward the wall.
"Wait for what?"
"Exactly."
The first man sighed.
"We need to get stronger."
That caught Iris’s attention.
She stopped walking.
The man continued before anyone could interrupt him.
"We’ve seen what those things outside can do. If we stay weak, eventually something is going to happen that these walls can’t solve for us."
Iris frowned slightly.
The walls were strong.
Very strong.
But she understood what he meant.
The wall could protect them while they were inside Velaris.
It could not make them stronger.
It could not gather food for them.
It could not fight every battle outside.
"We can hunt the weaker monsters," someone suggested.
A few people exchanged looks.
"Together."
"We don’t have to go far."
"Just enough to get some experience."
Iris remained silent.
She had expected this eventually.
People could only remain frightened for so long before survival instinct started turning into determination.
The question was whether determination would be enough.
"You really want to go?" one woman asked.
The man nodded.
"I do."
He looked around at the others.
"And I’m not saying everyone has to come. But some of us should at least try."
There was another pause.
Then someone stepped forward.
"I’ll go."
Another person nodded.
"Me too."
The group slowly grew.
Iris watched them make their decision.
She could have stopped them.
Maybe.
But she wasn’t sure that was the right thing to do.
If she told everyone to remain inside Velaris forever, what would happen when the settlement eventually needed people who could defend it?
What would happen when the resources inside the territory were no longer enough?
What would happen when they needed people who were willing to step beyond the walls?
They needed strength.
They needed experience.
And they needed to learn what the outside world was actually like.
The problem was that learning could come with a price.
"Iris."
She looked over.
One of the survivors had noticed her.
"We’re going out for a while."
Iris glanced toward the wall before looking back at him.
"Don’t go too far."
The man gave a small smile.
"We won’t."
"And stay together."
"We will."
Iris studied them for another moment.
"Then be careful."
They nodded.
The group began preparing.
Some carried weapons they had managed to obtain since arriving in Velaris. Others carried whatever they had available to defend themselves.
They weren’t soldiers.
They weren’t experienced hunters.
They were survivors who had decided they could no longer spend every day waiting for someone else to make the world safer for them.
Iris watched them leave through the gate.
For a moment, she felt uneasy.
Then she forced herself to turn away.
They had to learn.
So did everyone else.
The morning continued.
At first, nothing happened.
People gathered resources.
Others worked around the settlement.
A few survivors continued trading food.
The ordinary rhythm of Velaris slowly returned.
Then, sometime later, Iris heard shouting.
She turned toward the gate.
Several people were running back.
Her expression changed immediately.
Something was wrong.
"Open the way!"
"Move!"
"Get out of the way!"
The shouting grew louder.
People nearby began rushing toward them.
Iris moved quickly.
The first survivor stumbled through the gate.
His clothes were torn.
Another person was supporting him from one side.
There was blood on his arm.
Iris’s heart tightened.
More people appeared behind them.
One person was being carried.
Another was limping badly.
Someone else had blood running down the side of their face.
"What happened?"
Several voices overlapped.
"Monster."
"There were more than we expected."
"We thought they were weaker."
"They came from behind us."
Iris’s gaze moved across the group.
There were fewer people returning than had left.
Her stomach dropped.
"Where are the others?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Then one of them spoke.
"They’re coming."
A few seconds later, another group appeared.
And among them was one of the bodyguards.
Iris recognized him immediately.
He was injured.
Blood covered part of his clothing and ran down one side of his body.
He was still standing, but only because another person had an arm around him.
Iris moved toward him.
"What happened?"
"We found a group of monsters."
His breathing was heavier than usual.
"The others engaged them."
Iris looked at the wounded survivors.
"They were doing fine at first," he continued. "Then more appeared."
One of the survivors lowered his head.
"We thought we could handle them."
Nobody mocked him.
Nobody laughed.
There was nothing funny about the blood covering the group.
"We tried to retreat," the bodyguard said. "One of them got cornered."
He glanced toward the survivor beside him.
"I went back."
"And you got injured?"
He nodded.
"Yeah."
Iris looked at the wound.
It wasn’t superficial.
The bodyguard had clearly taken a hit while trying to get someone else out.
"Did you kill it?"
The bodyguard shook his head.
"No."
One of the survivors answered instead.
"I did."
Iris looked at him.
The young man looked exhausted.
His hands were still trembling.
"But he weakened it," the survivor added quickly. "He was the one who gave us the chance to finish it."
Iris understood.
The bodyguard hadn’t taken the final blow.
The survivor had.
The distinction mattered.
But right now, Iris was more concerned about the people bleeding in front of her.
"Get them inside."
The group moved.
"Claire!"
Someone called her name.
Claire Whitlock came quickly from farther inside the settlement.
She took one look at the wounded survivors and immediately began giving instructions.
"Put him there."
"Careful with that arm."
"Don’t crowd around them."
People moved aside.
Another survivor came forward to help.
Iris recognized the girl from the earlier incident with Victor. She had been the one who stayed close and helped when things had become chaotic before.
Now she was helping again.
She knelt beside one of the injured survivors while Claire examined another.
"He’s bleeding badly," someone said.
"I know," Claire replied.
She pressed a cloth against the wound.
"Hold this here."
The survivor obeyed.
Iris stood nearby, watching.
There was blood everywhere.
Red.
Human blood.
Her eyes settled on the bodyguard.
The blood staining his clothes was unmistakably red.
Monster blood should not be red.
She knew that much.
The sight made the whole situation feel even more real.
These weren’t scratches from a harmless training exercise.
These people had gone outside believing they could handle low-level monsters.
They had returned injured.
Some of them had nearly died.
And they had been lucky.
Iris looked toward the gate.
Beyond it was the world they had been trying to survive.
The walls of Velaris suddenly felt different.
Not weaker.
Just insufficient.
They were strong enough to keep danger out.
But people would still have to leave them.
They would still need to gather resources.
They would still need to hunt.
They would still need to become stronger.
And if every attempt to do that ended with injured survivors being carried through the gates, they had a problem.
A serious one.
The survivor who had landed the final blow sat down heavily nearby.
His face was pale.
"I thought it would be easier."
Nobody answered.
"I thought if we found a weak one, we could just kill it."
He stared at his hands.
"But when they came at us..."
His voice faded.
Iris understood.
Knowing that something was weak was not the same as being prepared to fight it.
The bodyguard leaned against the wall while Claire examined his injury.
"You should have stayed behind," Iris said quietly.
He looked at her.
"If I had, they might not have made it back."
Iris didn’t have an answer to that.
He was right.
That was exactly the problem.
They couldn’t simply tell people not to go outside.
People needed to become stronger.
They needed to learn.
They needed to gather resources.
And some of them were willing to take the risk.
But Velaris had to give them a better chance of surviving it.
Iris looked around.
At Claire treating the wounded.
At the survivors who had gone out because they refused to remain helpless.
At the people standing nearby, watching with frightened expressions.
Nobody wanted to be carried back like this.
Nobody wanted to watch someone else bleed because they had no other choice.
The first hunting trip had taught them something.
Strength mattered.
Preparation mattered.
Experience mattered.
And most importantly, the outside world was far more dangerous than simply looking at a monster from behind a wall could make it seem.
Iris slowly clenched her hand.
She had spent so much time thinking about what Velaris needed inside its walls.
Food.
Resources.
Work.
Housing.
People.
She hadn’t spent enough time thinking about what happened when those people walked beyond them.
That would have to change.
For now, though, there was nothing more she could do except make sure the injured were treated.
She looked once more at the red blood covering the bodyguard’s clothes.
Then she looked toward the gate.
The world outside Velaris was waiting.
And the people inside were going to keep stepping into it.
Whether Iris liked it or not, they needed to be ready.