Chapter 107: A Plot
The clan leader sat down on his rocky seat while the hunter stood before him, ready to spill everything.
"So, speak up. What is it that you want to tell me about the cursed husbands?" he demanded.
The hunter began speaking. He spoke about how he had gone to the evil forest to hunt and saw them—the infamous jinxed rabbit and one of her husbands... and then their child.
The clan leader raised an eyebrow. "They’re still alive? I thought they’d be dead a few days after being cast into the evil forest. Isn’t that place famous for leading people to death? How are they still alive? And..." He hesitated before he said, "How is it possible that they even have a child now?"
"That was my shock," the hunter said. "And the worst part is that I was attacked when I saw them. The mer man came for me and attacked me... I was lucky to have escaped. So I came to tell you all this."
The leader was quiet as he stared at him.
The hunter continued, "I just came to express my worries. The fact that they’re still alive means they’re even more dangerous than everyone thought."
"And they’re even stronger now. This is a risk for everyone, especially us who are closer. Because I think soon they’ll be coming for us. And since the evil forest is not so far from us, don’t you think we’ll be at risk? They can come and eliminate us fast!"
The leader frowned, thinking about it. He also found this logical.
"They’re even multiplying now!" the hunter added. "This means that soon they’ll be able to attack us."
He had successfully instilled fear into the clan leader. His aim was to get him on his side so as to get back at them for what they had done.
The clan leader nodded. "You do have a point. And I think we should begin doing something before they have enough power to ruin us."
The leader smiled as he said, "And even without that... it’s wrong that they’re still alive."
He continued, "Those monsters don’t deserve to live at all. They should have died when they were cast there. How are they still alive? They’re probably the reason why terrible omens are still happening around us. Because they’re alive."
The hunter nodded. "Exactly. So we should do something to eliminate them fast enough. Maybe we’ll be rewarded if everyone knows what we did for them."
The clan leader thought about it with a smile and then said, "Yes. We’ll do just that."
He turned and stared at the hunter as he said, "We should begin making preparations for taking them down as soon as possible."
The hunter smiled happily.
Then the clan leader said, "But I think we should take another tactic. Because it seems physically attacking them won’t really help much at all."
"And why so?" The hunter was ready to beat that mer man up.
But the clan leader explained, "They’re really powerful. Abnormally powerful—that’s why they’re monsters. We can’t underestimate them." He sighed as he said, "Instead, we should take a smarter move."
The hunter slowly nodded and then asked, "And what do you suggest?"
The leader ran his hands through his beard and then said, "I think I’ve got it. Food is their source of life, so we should destroy every source of meal they have."
The hunter nodded. "Yes... that makes sense. So what do you think?"
"We should send some spies. Let these spies move around and detect where they get their meals—their gardens or something. Then we’ll destroy it all." He smiled. "When the plants and all are gone, I’d like to see how they can feed. And if they don’t feed, I’d like to see how they can get the strength to even survive."
He laughed as he added, "They’ll simply grow weak and end up dead soon. Or when they’re weak, we can strike."
The hunter smiled. He was satisfied with this plan. "That’s more than perfect! I agree with this."
The two of them burst into happy laughter over the plan. It was perfect for them, and they couldn’t wait to proceed with its execution.
The clan leader said, "We’ll start immediately. I’ll send some men out right away to begin the spying. We have to get rid of them immediately to cleanse the land and stop them from gaining power."
He said as they laughed again, their voices filling the room and drifting out into the atmosphere.
---
Sunnie and Azure arrived back that day with the little one in Sunnie’s arms. Maren still had her tail, asleep in Sunnie’s arms. She had had all the fun for the day and had fallen asleep without much trouble.
As soon as they arrived, everyone immediately gathered.
They had been waiting for ages now—sitting around and waiting for Azure to return. They had grown worried when he didn’t come back since he had said he was just going out to check on Sunnie because he had a feeling that something was going to happen.
But nothing. He didn’t return early. The men had once gone to the water to check but didn’t see anyone. That was when Azure was with Sunnie in the woods. And they went back.
"We’ll wait for him some more. He’ll be back," Eris said confidently.
"Yes, he’s not a kid. He’ll be back. They probably went out for some honeymoon or something?" Karl casually said.
And they waited. But when their patience was running out, they wanted to go and begin searching for them. But just then, they saw them coming back.
"Sister Sunnie!" Little Black quickly got up and rushed as soon as he saw them coming. Zukka and Zuna joined him as they arrived at where Sunnie was.
The others stood at a distance, relieved to see them.
Little Black looked and saw the little one in Sunnie’s arms. He blinked in shock at the baby. "This is..."