Chapter 109: Returning to Centaur Camp
I put the new campaign menu aside, and though I wanted to try it out, I decided it was better to leave it for when I finished some stuff. As long as I'm in another campaign, the time in the main world won't elapse and even though I know my body won't be affected in a bad way, I still can't be sure when I'll be back.
If I were to enter a campaign that lasted decades, once I returned I might not remember the things I would have to do and it would bring me more problems than benefits. Let's finish the unfinished business first.
I continued on my way, getting closer and closer to the centaur camp as I researched about the new features of the configuration, but, being some distance from reaching it, I heard how certain buzzes became more and more clear and before I knew it, a rain of arrows fell on me.
I couldn't help but scream when I saw and felt how my arm was pierced from side to side by an arrow. Immediately backed away as I took cover against the trees, bracing myself for combat, releasing a great deal of blood from my reserves under my feet.
Listening to the hooves and poking my head slightly, I noticed that it was a group of centaurs armed with their bows, not far from their camp.
"Stop! It's me, the boy with red hair!" I yelled at them.
"You are not welcome here!"(Centaur 1)
"You never should have come!" (Centaur 2)
The arrows did not stop, and the tree I was hiding in trembled with every hit it received. I didn't understand what was happening but I knew that my situation would not be good if I stayed here, the centaurs that were now hostile to me were very mobile and knew this forest, I would easily be surrounded in a few seconds.
"Am I! I just came to see how the unicorn is" I shouted again, but that didn't change anything, the arrows kept appearing and I kept moving from tree to tree "Can we talk about what is happening instead of killing each other? I haven't done anything wrong or attacked them so far. We can talk in case of any problem, let's give each other a chance to dialogue."
"We will not deal with creatures as repulsive as you" (Centaur 1)
"We should have killed you last time" (Centaur 3)
Diplomacy didn't seem to work and now the group of centaurs around me grew, forcing me to use my invisibility to get out of the fence they made.
The best thing at the moment was to escape, but I didn't want to leave. In this situation maybe I could ask Hagrid to mediate between us to solve this problem, it would be somewhat more peaceful this way, but I wanted to see if I could keep trying a little longer before resorting to those means.
"I have no malice with you"(Red)
"Attack!" Said one of the centaurs, pointing to where I was heard.
"Can you stop shooting at me for a moment?!" I grunted rather heavily as I used spells and a wall of blood to shield myself from as many arrows as possible. "Aren't you guys not supposed to attack foals?!" I exclaimed very angrily at the injuries they caused me.
"There is no consideration for such spawns of evil"
The fight continued and I was truly about to undo the clone, giving up my intention to come to the camp on my own, but before that happened a loud voice was heard.
"STOP!!!"
Both the centaurs and I in my state of invisibility turned our heads to see how Marril, accompanied by two young centaurides and Firenze, approached. The centaurs stopped attacking for a moment but did not lower their weapons or weaken their vigilance.
"Stay out of this Marril. Firenze brought the seed of disaster and you supported him even when many of us disagreed, it was a mistake and now we will correct it" Said a large centaur with some gray hair and scars on his body.
"Will you kill the caterpillar for the butterfly? Will you blame the egg for the bird?"
"If the caterpillar will bring devastation or the egg will transform into a murderous snake, then yes!" He said with a lot of impetus, trying to impose sovereignty or something similar, I don't know how things worked between centaurs.
"Even if you tried, it would be impossible. You can't even see he, and what you're trying to catch is just a reflection of who you say you want to destroy. Stop acting like a child, you're the same as you were decades ago, blind and stubborn"
"SILENCE!" He yelled with clear anger "This is not a Healer's business. This is about the safety of our pack!"
"And since when is the safety of the pack not the business of a 'mere healer'?" She remark emphatically, which made some centaurs frown, "Evil can pass through this land but not necessarily to do evil. When its arrival was predicted, we noticed death and war, but also great love. The seed of evil came wanting to save a life, and now the flower wants to finish the work, it is not in our hands to prevent it"
"I will not let a vile being like him set foot in our home!"
"Well, I invite him to my home, and if someone does not agree, you can come to talk to me. This old mare hopes you can agree" Marril had spoken with a certain subtlety as if her words were simple but at the same time mocking.
Several centaurs had already lowered their weapons after a few words, especially the younger ones and the older ones. Everyone else was hesitating, Marril didn't seem to be just any healer. In fact, almost all the centaurs present here knew and respected her very much.
She was one of the oldest members of the place, as well as the head healer, no one in the camp could tell that didn't have received treatment from her. She was also one of the main mentors of the place and except for the oldest, all were under her tutelage at some point. Among the centaurs here, she was one of the three most important people in the camp, and her vote was one of the most significant.
"You'll endanger us all! AGAIN!" Exclaimed the great centaur, but with some reluctance. He could see how many of his people were already accepting Marril's request and he didn't think could get too much support. Even he, as the current leader of the pack, was tutored by Marril in his youth and knew well how much respect and reputation she had.
"Then I'll carry that weight... but now let our old guest solve the unfinished business he has here so can he leave, I think that's what everyone wants" Marril said in the same tone as during the entire talk, calm but imposing "Come on, child..."
I hesitated for a second, but after seeing how the group of centaurs seemed to have calmed down, I bet Marril's words carried enough weight among his people.
I decided to dispel the invisibility and could feel how all gazes fell on me like piercing daggers... or arrows in this case. Not wanting to push my luck, I quickly followed the one centaur who didn't seem to want to kill me.
"Thank you" I said to Marril with sincerity, without her this would have been very difficult or almost impossible.
"You don't have to. I've learned that even creatures like the one you are now can have the heart to do something good, even to be able to live in harmony with those who are completely opposite... but it still doesn't mean you'll be able to get what you want here. I wish you luck" She said, stopping when there was only a little left to reach the tent where the unicorn resided.
Her words seemed particularly discouraging, as if you said 'I wish it didn't rain' and it ended up in a downpour. I advanced until I reached the door of the shop, using my hands to slide the leather door open so I could enter, but before I could see inside, a fierce light erupted in front of me and threw me backward with incredible power, sending me flying several meters.
The sudden attack left me very dizzy and dazed, I felt everything vibrate and my vision was distorted. The other clones also had some problems due to the sudden stimulus. I looked towards the tent and saw how the unicorn left there with great speed and charged towards me with a strong white light coming out from her horn.
"DIE, VILE CREATURE!!!" I listened as she vociferated with great hatred and resentment.
"Wait!" Try to tell her to stop but it was too late and I saw how the beam of light was approaching me at great speed.
I had to roll on the ground to the side to avoid being hit, the previous attack had taught me how painful it can be. Maybe it's because of my alignment, but that ray of light had caused me more pain than it should have, and, even though I tried to heal the wound with my blood magic, it didn't heal as fast as I expected. It is not that it was difficult to heal, but that the wound was deeper than it appeared.
I was able to stand up but I didn't have much time to react as I saw her charging at me and I had to move quickly. I couldn't use magic to attack her, I knew that although she had recovered a lot she must still be very hurt, and if I counterattack then everything I had done until now would be pointless.
"Stop! It's me!" I exclaimed...again. The fact that the centaurs attacked me and now the unicorn was absolute bullshit. I couldn't say a word that I was greeted by arrows or beams of annihilating lights.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" (Unicorn)
I jumped from one place to another while using my blood magic to make small bloody waves to push her back enough to deflect her attack while I was dodging. It didn't always work out, his power was strong and I could feel my alignment causing me to suffer more than normal.
"Look at me! I'm 'the one who wears roses'" I exclaimed trying to make her see reason, since she seemed to have gone into a kind of frenzy "'The one who smells of blood'"
"HOW DARE YOU IMPOSE YOURSELF AS MY FRIENDS?!" She cried out, increasing the force of her thrusts even more.
"IT'S ME!" I yelled as did my best to avoid the impact of her body.
"DEAD!!!"
Things weren't going well, she wouldn't stop no matter what I said, and little by little I had to move out of the camp, so her outburst wouldn't cause problems for the centaurs I already had a strained relationship with.
I had to end this, but every time I tried to reason or get close, she attacked me without giving me a chance. I noticed how her situation worsened as silver blood began to drain from her mouth and nose, letting me know that she can't go on like this any longer.
She came to charge me once more, but instead of dodging like the previous times, I decided to meet her head-on. The result of this reckless action was that she rammed her horn into my body. If I had internal organs in this clone, they would possibly have been severely damaged.
She hadn't stopped when she pierced my stomach and kept running dragging me with her, in her deplorable condition that, although strong, was only a breath before she fainted.
It was unbearable, her movement made me suffer a lot, especially considering the pure power that flowed from her body that caused me extra damage due to my malignancy. Even in pain, I held on to her with my hands and released my blood magic at its full power, both to use [Calm] and to heal her. I had seen that it could not last long, what she did was a suicide attack with which she hoped that we would both die.
Sensing my power, she stopped suddenly in amazement, then squirmed and tried to pull me off of her. She no longer had any strength, and her sudden movement caused us both to fall to the ground. I got closer as fast as I could to heal her, she was in critical condition.
"S-Stay away...!" She complained, with difficulty, her actions were taking their toll on her.
"SHUT UP! Look what you did to yourself!" I yelled at her very furious, sensing the condition she was in. I tried to use as much power as possible on her, even dispelling some clones of her to have more blood in my reserves.
"L-Let go of me, monster!"
"I tried so hard to save you, I'm not going to let you die!"
"Stop talking like him! Monster!" She made an effort to attack me again, angry.
"I talk like me. Who am I but me? I've been telling you for a long time"
"YOU'RE NOT HIM! STOP ACTING LIKE HIM! HE COULD NEVER BE SUCH A NASTY CREATURE!"
"AND IF IT'S NOT ME, HOW AM I USING MY POWERS? ... nobody else has them, and yes, I can become the way I am now, so stop resisting you and let me heal you"
"..." She seemed to freeze for a moment, looking at me as if she couldn't believe my words "That can't be possible...!"
"Well it is"
"No, it can't be. He would never become what you are, he is a good friend"
"But still, if it's me. You can try to feel my power, it's identical and no one but me could do it"
"But... but not that... Who did this to you?!" She seemed to give in, accepting that maybe it could be me, but that didn't make her anger lessen, it just changed the target.
"No one, it was my own choice"
"WHAT?! WHY?!"
"It was... what was best for me... I had to decide and that's what I did, but nothing changes"
"What?! How can you say that?!"
"Don't worry, everything is fine, it's just a minor change, everything remains the same..."
GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" She put up resistance again "LET ME GO... WE ARE NO LONGER FRIENDS, GET AWAY" She said producing that light once again to attack me, but not like before, it was more to make me go back than to hurt me.
"Calm down! I have to heal you!" I tried to calm her down once more, I didn't expect her to react so badly.
"GO AWAY!!!" She screamed with fury and sadness, letting bright tears fall from her eyes.
Her movement was sudden and powerful, managing with her hoof to hit my injured stomach, pushing me back. This action was not without consequences, for as much as I suffered from her blow, she suffered from the lack of my healing and the over-exploitation of her strength.
I was startled to see that she seemed to go into a state of madness again, constantly kicking, still lying on the ground while she screamed understandable things between moans. I was about to pounce on her one more time to stop her, now with more force, when I felt a hand stop me. I looked back to notice how Marril and her assistants stopped me.
"You'll only make things worse if you keep this up. Go away, we'll take care of it from here"(Marril)
"..." I exchanged my gaze between the centauride and the unicorn. She was right, although I could use my powers to calm her down, I wasn't powerful enough to do so while healing her at this point... and I didn't like seeing her in this state either. Maybe leaving isn't a bad idea, I'd come back later when she calmed down. At least she already recognized that it was me, although she didn't help much "Okay, I leave her in your care. I'll come back later"
Before I left, I left them many things that I had in my inventory, improved potions, and the like that I had bought from the merchant, hoping that they would help. The unicorn's condition was not good and although my healing could be more effective and less damaging, I would wait for her to calm down, praying that things would go well.
And so, my clone fell apart.
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I need a name for the unicorn and as you know my sense for the name is quite particular, so I hope you help me choose. Otherwise, maybe I ended up being called 'White', 'Star' or 'Break-Anuses'.
Unicorn Name: