Tales of the Wastelander Ch. 29 - Teaser (Patreon)

“You really believe the old nonsense legends?!” the sheriff’s boy scoffed, thinking the boy had lost his nerve.

“It’s not a matter of believing them! It’s a matter of proper sense! Something that you currently lack! I’m getting out of here and if anyone wants to come with me, then follow me now!” the boy called out as he wheeled his Thunderer around, spurring his beast to get moving.

“You’re not leaving until I say you can!” the sheriff’s boy yelled, trying to use his anger and presence to cow the others into staying. Many looked a bit fearful of him, but they started moving away from him, seeing that he’d clearly lost his mind.

“You try leaving and I’ll gut you right here!!” the sheriff’s boy threatened, drawing his machete and waved it about menacingly. The others finally shrank back, as he was the only one who was armed with such a weapon. They’d seen him with it and the fact that he knew how to use it put enough fear into them to where they stopped moving. He then smiled as he saw the rest of the boys were starting to obey him once again.

“Glad to see that you idiots are finally listening to me right! What about you, huh? You going to fall in line, or are you going to try to walk away, after I rip your guts out?” the sheriff’s boy growled. The other boy who tried to lead the group away from pursuit of the Futa women just sat in his saddle, still as a statue.

“Hey, I’m talking to you!” the sheriff’s boy snapped, riding up to where the boy was and turning him in his saddle. The boy’s head turned, staring at the sheriff’s boy for all of two seconds, before his eyes glazed over, dead. It was then that the sheriff’s boy noted the shot spear stuck in the boy’s chest, right where his heart ought to have been.

The sheriff’s boy would have cried out an alarm, but he too was hit with a spear in the chest, knocking him from his animal. More spears shot out of the murk, striking the remaining boys in the group. Three of them were startled to action the moment they saw the sheriff’s boy went down. They went back the way they came, hoping they’d outrun the deadly projectiles that flew at them.

One of the boys was hit before they cleared the rest of the group, falling from his animal, dead before he even hit the dirt. Another was ambushed by some sort of wooden creature that leaped out of a nearby tree, tackling him to the ground. He screamed and shouted in horror as he was brought down, crying out for mercy, but none was given.

The last of the group had broken away from the group and was galloping down the road, hoping to get to the forest’s edge. He rode hard, spurring his Thunderer to keep going as he tried to evade his pursuers. The boy smiled slightly as he saw the forest get less thick and the trees lightened in color. He laughed as he continued to ride, knowing that he had evaded and cheated death that day.

Just before he was able to reach the edge of the forest, he felt a sudden and insistent pressure in the middle of his back. It was a strange thing to feel, but then he felt some sort of discomfort in his belly. He looked down and was horrified to see that a metal spike protruded from his middle, wet with his blood.

Shock was written all across his face as he registered the fact that he’d been hit with a spear through the back. The boy tried to keep himself upright, but was having a difficult time staying in the saddle. The spear sticking through his gut threw off his equilibrium, and not long after, he tumbled from the saddle, going face first into the ground.

The boy stared at the Thunderer he had just ridden and saw that it stopped for a moment. He tried reaching out, hoping and praying that it would come back to him, but this would not be. Seconds later, one of the tree people stepped into his field of view, striding up to the animal. It whickered a little at the being’s approach, but it did not dance away in fear, which the boy thought as odd.

The tree person made soothing noises at the animal, and it seemed to like them. Then the person stepped away from the animal and gave it a smack on its rump. The Thunderer then snorted and took off, leaving the both of them behind. The boy stared at the retreating animal, seeing his last chance and hope to go home run away. He then turned up to the creature that now stood over him and gulped, certain that he was a dead man.