The Rise Of A Tribal Deadbeat - Chapter 55

The crackling sound of fire snapped Zok back into reality. He sat back up hastily and realised he was in some kind of a cave with fire lit right next to him. Cero was peacefully sleeping next to him as well. That wasn’t all, he had a thick, furry blanket over him that kept him warm.

“Where am I?” He mumbled and a moment later, flashbacks of what happened entered his mind.

He remembered entering the dungeon thing and how he passed out from feeling too cold. That was the last thing he could remember and there he was now, inside a cave as stormy winds blew outside.

“You don’t know where you are? That’s funny.” A hoarse voice echoed from deeper inside the cave, “I thought the banished folks knew where they were being sent to.”

Zok immediately got up and withdrew his spear from the inventory. The sudden movement caused Cero to wake up to and he stood there in front of Zok.

“Pointing a weapon… That’s a nice way to say thank you to the one who saved your life.” The man said once again as he walked into the light of the fire.

The enigmatic man stood at 5’10” and looked much older than his voice hinted at. He had a round face, a turned-up nose, and large lips which looked dried up due to the cold. He had small brown eyes with a thin eyebrow. His pale skin looked even paler thanks to the light the fire was providing for Zok to have a look at him.

He had wavy hair and a beard that looked like it hasn’t been washed in ages. But despite his old appearance, the man’s body was jacked up which put even Zok to shame. However, there was something even stranger that caught Zok’s eye. The man’s tattoo… it was the same one as the shamans had but it was crossed out.

‘Cero get back.’ Zok commanded his familiar, however, Cero refused to move, ‘Don’t be stubborn and get back now! That man is not good news.’

However, Cero still refused to budge. How could he let his master attack the one who saved his life? Thus he stood there defiantly not letting Zok attack the man.

“Relax kid. If I wanted to kill you, I could have left you alone and let the cold do its job.” The man shook his head and sat down in front of him, “Let’s just sit and talk before you poked one of your eyes out with that mystic spear of yours.”

However, Zok didn’t oblige to the man’s request and stood there, with his spear in hand. He couldn’t trust anyone related to the shamans, no matter what they said or do. They were his sworn enemies after all.

“You’re not going to listen to me, are you?” The man sighed, “At least, wrap the blanket around you or else the cold will get you again.”

“Who are you?” Zok ignored the man’s concerns and asked him the most important question.

“Considering that we both can understand each other’s language, my guess is we are both Occunians.” The man replied in a matter-of-factly tone, “And judging by your clothes and the enchanted spear of yours, I’d say you’re a Zukira Tribesmen. The question is, what a tribesman like you is doing in a place like this? Were you also exiled like me?”

“Exiled? No… I left the tribe on my own after someone tried to kill me. And are you someone also from the tribe?” Zok replied and finally put the spear down, “But what do you mean you were exiled? I have never heard of someone being exiled from the tribe before…”

“First get inside the blanket and then we can talk.” The man smiled at him and even Cero finally relaxed and took his place next to Zok, “How old are you boy?”

“15…”

“No wonder you don’t know about me then. I was the leader of the tribe before that bastard Skah turned everyone against me and my family.” The man cursed under his breath, “I guess now you know who I am?”

Zok tried to think about it. He was aware that there was someone who ruled the tribe before his father, but he never was interested enough in it to remember the names of the concerned party. All he knew was that the Chieftain of the tribe before his father’s ascension lost everything the tribe had and as a result was ousted from the tribe along with his family.

“I’m afraid I still don’t know you. I mean I know someone was ousted for the tribe but I don’t remember their identity.”

The man sighed before smiling. He thought everyone would know about what he did to the tribe, but he was wrong.

“My name is Zus. Former Chieftain of the Zukiras and close aide of the shamans… that was until both of them betrayed me and I ended up here… in this barren cold place.”

“Wait… the shamans betrayed you as well?”

“Everyone did… I guess you already know the story of why I was exiled from the tribe. Then I shall tell you the story of what happened after me and my family left the tribe.”

***

“It was a sunny day, but the winds were a bit chilly. We were thrown out of the tribe with no food and water and we had nowhere to go. That’s when I remembered my friends, the shamans. They would help me in my time of need… my foolish self thought as we made our way towards them.”

Zus continued his story, “However, when we reached there, I saw something weird. The shamanka, my trusted friend was talking with Skah, the bastard who threw me out of the tribe. Not only that, they were talking about how they made me lose everything in betting so that they could take over the tribe and help them establish some kind of base of operations in the wilderness.”

“I went ahead to confront them… but as I did, I didn’t realise they had already planned to dispose of me and my family and were looking for us in the forest. And I stupidly gave them exactly what they wanted. They captured us and Skah forced himself on my wife right in front of my eyes and I couldn’t do a thing because the shamans were holding me back.”

“After he was done… they brutally killed my family right in front of my eyes and then the shamanka used some kind of magic to send me to this place… and I have been here since then. Waiting to find a way back home to take my revenge on them.”

As Zus finished his story, Zok sat there stunned. He didn’t know what to say. He had always thought his father was a piece of trash but now… even trash looked like treasure compared to him. Despite all the hate he had for his father, this was something even he couldn’t imagine him doing.

However, Zus had no reason to lie to someone he just met. Zok didn’t know what to do but he still tried to console the man.

“There is a way to get out of here and together we might be able to get out of here. So will you help me?” Zok mumbled as Zus wiped a stray tear.

“I will…. Just tell me what I have to do.”