Chapter 88 - True Strength (1)

As night took over Occuna, Zok and Shira were watching the Nutikas do whatever they were doing. In the meantime, both of them were laying on their backs watching the night sky. With nothing else to do, stargazing had become an essential part of their routine also the only time of the day where they had somewhat personal time. 

Why stargazing you ask? Well, it wasn't because they were bored or anything, but simply as... watching the night sky gave them some weird peace of mind. As if the sky was a blanket comforting them. The moons revolving around the sky only made the scenery more beautiful and majestic while the stars danced around them in a peculiar rhythm. 

All in all, it was the perfect time to rest. But despite all that, true peace was something Zok could never attain again. The tribe might be treating him with respect, but having those many eyes on him, made him feel uncomfortable. 

So far he had been living under one of the two scenarios. One where he was surrounded by people but no one gave a crap about him and the second one, where he was alone in every sense of the word. In both of the cases, he did not have attention to him.

But now, things were different. Every fcking pair of eyes were on him, no matter what he did. Did he want to take bath? Sure, there will be at least half a dozen people there. Did he want to have dinner? Sure, he could have dinner with 69 others. 

'i just hope I find a way out of here soon-'

However, before he could even complete his thoughts, he felt something. Someone was running towards them from a distance. Both he and Shira quickly got on their feet, ready to fight. But to their surprise, it was just Bongo along with his family. 

'You scared the shit out of us!' Zok mumbled using the Hivemind. 

Bongo was a recently tamed Abelion, since he was completely black from the head to the toe, the Nutikas did not have any use for him. As a result, he was cast aside and was only used for entertainment purposes. In short, he was gifted to Zok and Shira. 

Zok did not have any use for Bongo either. Despite his physique, he was quite weak in comparison to Cero and Kaira, which was to be expected. While they were aberrated beings, Bongo was at the bottom even among his peers. 

That's why Zok let Bongo go free. But even after being set free, the Abelion visited him every day, along with his mate whom Shira had named Misho. It was a weird name but it was what it was. 

Zok got up and patted the Bongo's trunk while Shira did the same with Misho. However, something was wrong. Usually, the two of them were calm and sat down the moment Zok told them to. But this time around, they were restless.

Something was clearly bothering them, but Zok could not think of a single thing that could have bothered them. However, Zok got his answer soon as the trees in front of him were set ablaze. However, the same thing was happening all around them. Within moments, the cool breeze of the night was consumed by smoke. The tribe was under attack!

"Fck!" Ashton cursed under his breath and ran back to where the rest of the tribe was having their dinner... only to see that most of them had been captured... or killed.

'What the hell happened here!?'

Zok was shocked. Mere moments ago everything was fine and now... 

'What happened to the guards?'

The guards were the Nutikas first line of defence. Their job was to locate any danger and inform the tribe about it as soon as they could. So that the tribesmen could back them up. But as Zok's gaze fell upon the ones who had been captured or dead, none of them had the headband which the guards wore. 

Which was peculiar, considering any invading force would have had to take them out first before they were even able to get to the tribe. Unless... some if not all of the guards were in on the plan to betray the rest of the tribe. 

"Those fcking bastards... they don't want to take over the tribe, but destroy them entirely," Zok mumbled when he saw some masked people starting fires everywhere, "Shira, take Bongo and set the other beasts free. Make them rampage and guide them here using your vines. Can you do that for me?"

Shira nodded and rushed towards the enclosure. Since those bastards had captured and killed most of the tribe, they had no reason to think someone would head to the enclosures. At least, that was what Zok was hoping for. 

As Shira and the Abelion's disappeared from his sight. Zok decided it was time to make a move of his own. A moment later, Kaira and Cero had been summoned by his side. Cero grunted loudly as he stretched his muscles, it was the same with Kaira.

"I know it has been a while since I called you out. But we kinda have a situation here?" Zok pointed his thumb towards the intruders, "Think you can help me with this?"

Kaira and Cero looked at each other as if they were discussing something. After a minute or so, they shook their head, stating they will not help the Nutikas.

"What? Why?"

Cero grunted before shaking his head once again.

"I know they hurt me, but they fed me too?" Zok tried reasoning with them, "Also, this is an excellent opportunity to prove to them why we are superior to them! Turn them into our personal battle slaves or take over the tribe! Look at the bigger picture for once!"

Well, Zok wasn't wrong. He did want to save them so he could challenge the chieftain of the tribe to make the tribe his own. After all, if he managed to save them, then not only he would become their 'messenger of god', but also their saviour.. It was a win-win situation for him.