Ape of the Wilds

The battlefield still smoldered, the last embers of the Tzalik war camp flickering against the night. The stench of burnt flesh and spilled blood hung heavy in the jungle air, seeping into the trees, soaking into the soil.

Kuro stood at the center of it all, his breath slow, controlled, but his muscles still tight with lingering tension. His Duskrunner Claws were slick with blackened blood, his fur matted with the evidence of battle. He could still feel the weight of the Revenant's body beneath his hands, the unnatural stillness that had settled over it after he had torn its cursed life away.

He had won.

But he did not feel victorious.

He glanced at the others.

Kota stood leaning against a fallen Tzalik, his twin daggers still gripped in his hands. His breathing was controlled, but his gaze was sharp, scanning the jungle for movement. He had already processed the battle and was looking ahead.

Sia had an arrow nocked, her arms tense, her eyes flicking across the shadows beyond the camp, as if expecting something else to crawl from the darkness.

Varek stood nearby, cleaning his throwing spears, though his movements were slower than usual. The veteran had fought many battles, but tonight had shaken even him.

Ruka and Boru were both catching their breath, standing near the remains of the burning effigy in the center of the camp. Ruka still held his spiked club, its edges coated in blood. Boru had taken a hit—nothing deep, but a wound glistened on his shoulder.

No one spoke.

Because they all felt it.

Something had changed tonight.

This wasn't just a war against the Tzalik anymore.

Something worse was moving in the jungle.

Kuro took a deep breath, forcing himself to refocus. The fight was over, but their work wasn't done.

He opened his Status Window, his eyes scanning the update.

+80 XP (Revenant Defeated!)

+50 XP (Battle Victory Bonus!)

Total XP Gained: +130 XP

Kuro: 170/600 XP Needed to Level Up

He was getting closer to the next level.

But not close enough.

Strength alone would not win this war.

He turned his attention back to the shaman's corpse inside the ruined tent. The sigils had finally stopped moving, their eerie glow faded. The body was still twisted, unnatural, frozen in a position that no living creature should die in.

Kuro crouched beside it, studying the markings on its skin.

"I've never seen anything like this," Kota muttered beside him.

"Neither have I," Kuro admitted. His fingers traced the symbols, careful not to touch them directly. "This isn't just blood magic. This is something else."

Sia stepped forward. "The Revenant. That wasn't… natural. It didn't move like a beast. It didn't move like a Maw'Tanu."

"It didn't fight to win," Varek said grimly. "It fought to kill. To destroy."

Kuro's fingers tightened into a fist. "It wasn't a warrior."

The realization settled heavily over them.

The Tzalik hadn't just been preparing for war—they had been doing something else, something deeper, something darker.

And they had only seen the beginning of it.

Kuro rose to his full height, his expression dark. "We need to move. We've already made enough noise here. If more of those things are lurking in the jungle, we don't want to be caught standing still."

"Back to the village?" Ruka asked, rolling his shoulders.

"No," Kuro said immediately.

They all turned to him.

"We can't go back yet," he said, his voice firm. "The Maw'Tanu aren't ready for this. If more of these things show up, they won't know how to fight them. They won't be able to fight them."

He turned his gaze toward the jungle, toward the unknown.

"We need to know what we're dealing with first."

A moment of silence.

Then Kota smirked, wiping his blades clean. "You're suggesting we go deeper, aren't you?"

Kuro nodded.

Sia let out a slow breath, adjusting her bow. "That's dangerous."

"All the more reason," Kuro said.

Varek tapped his spear against the ground. "We just wiped out a whole camp. If there are more of these things, they'll know something's wrong. The Tzalik aren't just going to ignore this."

Kuro met his gaze. "Good."

Boru chuckled, cracking his knuckles. "I like where this is going."

Ruka just sighed. "Fine. Just don't expect me to carry your corpse if this goes bad."

Kuro grinned. "Then let's not let it go bad."

They didn't rest. There was no time to rest.

They stripped the camp of anything useful—weapons, supplies, maps. Anything that could tell them more about what the Tzalik were planning.

Then, they vanished back into the jungle.

The deeper they went, the darker the jungle became.

Even though the moon still hung high in the sky, the canopy overhead grew thicker, the trees more twisted, their roots sprawling across the jungle floor like coiled serpents.

The further they traveled, the more Kuro could feel it.

A presence.

Something watching them.

His fur bristled.

The others felt it too.

No one spoke, but their postures changed. Their movements grew sharper, more controlled. Every sound in the jungle became amplified, every rustling leaf a potential threat.

They were being hunted.

But by what?

Then they saw it.

The jungle opened into a clearing, but this was no ordinary clearing.

Carved stone pillars rose from the ground, their surfaces etched with more of the unnatural symbols they had seen on the shaman's corpse. The stones were ancient, far older than anything the Maw'Tanu or the Tzalik had built.

And in the center—

A massive pit, dug deep into the earth.

The smell that rose from it was thick with decay, the scent of rotting flesh and blood filling the air.

Kuro's stomach tightened.

Something had been buried here.

Or worse—something had crawled out.

Sia moved forward, carefully, her fingers brushing against the symbols on the nearest stone. "This isn't just a place of worship."

"No," Kuro agreed, staring down into the dark pit.

"This is a birthplace."

And something had been born.

Kuro's fists tightened, his claws digging into his palms. The truth was clear now—this war was no longer just about territory, just about survival.

The Tzalik had tapped into something ancient. Something they didn't understand.

And whatever they had awakened…

It wasn't going to stop.

Not unless he stopped it first.

Kota glanced at him, reading his expression. "We're going down there, aren't we?"

Kuro didn't hesitate.

"Yes."

Boru grinned. "Now this is getting interesting."

Sia exhaled, her fingers tightening on her bow. "Then let's finish what we started."

Varek stepped forward, peering into the pit. "Whatever's down there… it's not going to let us leave once we step inside."

Kuro's claws flexed.

"Then we don't leave until it's dead."

And with that, they stepped into the darkness below.