Chapter 42: The Bloody Lu'ka
Luca just stares blankly at the toad massive body, its blood still slowly dripping down his face... Then, it finally hits him. "We did it... We did it! Hahahaha!" he shouts.
The others come rushing in, at first giving him worried looks due to him being covered in blood, but eventually relaxing and beginning to cheer too.
"Hahahah! It is dead!" Gil'ga exclaims.
Luca is about to give Sarr'ina a hug when she arrives, but stops as he realises the blood might still be poisonous, even if its unlikely at this point. She just gives him a funnily look before enveloping him into a hug, ignoring the blood now staining her front. "Lu we did it! The creature is dead!"
Zul'meshii walks up and places a hand on Das'ju's shoulder, nodding with a grunt at him. Das'ju just shrugs with and steps towards Luca. "That was... Smart, Lu'ka." he says reluctantly, unsure of their relationship at this moment.
Luca turns to Das'ju with Sarr'ina still on his arm and shows a sheepish smile, "Das'ju... You er, saved me... Thanks?"
"We belong under the same traditions... You-... I should not squabble over such things while we are at war, I do not know your purpose for defeating this monster, but I am glad I was here to witness it." he takes a sour glance at Sarr'ina who's on Luca's arm and shakes his head, "You deserve something for this feat. A name... Bloody Lu'ka?"
Gil'ga laughs at hearing this, "Bloody Lu'ka! A suitable name!" he says, gesturing at the boy covered head to toe in the toads slowly coagulating blood, the smell of which was slowly getting worse by the minute.
"Hang on, I don't want whatever name you guys are giving me!" he quickly says, not wishing for something so morbid.
"Would you prefer Toad-Slayer?" Gil'ga asks with a huge grin plastered across his face.
...
"No..." Luca admits, Toad-Slayer sounded morel like an insult than anything...
"Then Bloody Lu'ka it is! Now, lets cut this one's head off and bring it to Sarr'vuln, I wonder what he'll do when he sees it." Gil'ga says as he retrieves his knife and hands it to Luca.
Apparently, they wanted him to behead it... He didn't really know where to start though, where di a toads neck end and its head begin? "Where do I even cut here?" he asks in exasperation after a futile moment of examining it.
Gil'ga shrugs and gestures towards the general area of its head, he had no idea as well...
Deciding to just get this over with, Luca plunged the flint knife in a general area where he'd assume the neck to be, slowly carving through its thick hide and avoiding the pustules on its back. Of course, the knife he'd been given had broken, but Sarr'ina, Zul'meshii, and Das'ju chipped in their own.
Luca wondered why they didn't just help him instead of lending him their knives, shaking his head and continuing regardless.
He'd made a couple mistakes while beheading it, first, it seemed he'd misjudged where the neck was... He'd underestimated how far he'd have to go, he made some more cuts just above where he reckoned the shoulder blades would be, eventually finding where its spine connected to its skull.
After severing that, it was a tiring effort to cut the flesh and muscle around it... It took an hour or two, but he eventually managed it and was standing there struggling to hold the huge bloody head of the monster in his hands. It's mouth hung limply open with the remnants of its huge tongue lolling out of it.
Arrows littered its face and were piercing its eyelids and eyes themselves, giving a clear indicator of how brutal and drawn out the battle had actually been.
He actually needed the help of Gil'ga and Zul'meshii to carry it, luckily they didn't seem to be squeamish about holding a severed head. The group slowly made their way back to the tribe in relative silence, nothing needed to be said as they were all were relieved but exhausted.
A few hunters noticed them and began following behind like a precession, shouts of wonder and awe of the tribesman once they entered the village could immediately be heard. People gave way as the group carried the huge bloody head, eventually it seemed Sarr'vuln had learned of the commotion and come out to see what it was.
His eyes bulged as his mouth gaped as he saw them, his elite hunters, daughter, and young warriors standing there victoriously with their trophy.
The area quietened as they awaited his response...
"Daughter... What have you done..." he says in a low tone.
"What do you mean father? We killed the monster if the Cursed Waters!" Sarr'ina exclaims triumphantly.
Sarr'vuln scowls, "Yes, and you went against my orders to do so... Gil'ga! Zul'meshii! What is the meaning of this!" he loudly asks, wondering why they'd disobeyed him and followed his daughter into a life-threatening situation without stopping her.
Gil'ga sends him a relaxed smile, "I believed Sarr'ina was ready to make her own decisions, she'll be our leader one day, I believe she's proved herself worthy of it now." he gestures towards the head.
Sarr'vuln grits his teeth and glares at Luca, "And you? It was your plan I am guessing, only an outsider would do something so reckless."
Das'ju snorts at this, "Bloody Lu'ka dealt the finishing blow to the creature using a broken tree to pierce its heart. It was a hard-fought battle." he says, immediately causing tribesman to begin whispering amongst themselves.
Luca himself could only hold his tongue and try to ignore the sudden attention he was garnering, in the past he didn't dislike it, but now that there was no guarantee to his wellbeing, it was more an indication of potential danger.
"It was Lu's plan, and it is because of Lu that we were successful father." she states proudly...
...
Sarr'vuln puffs some air out from his nose and turns, "Come, Luca, Sarr'ina, I need to speak with you... The rest of you hang the head somewhere the Karaskir scouts will see." he says as he enters his hut.
Luca sends a sheepish glance to Sarr'ina before following the man, hopefully whatever he had to say wouldn't be as painful as he suspected...
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Niggross
Niggross Hope you guys enjoyed the chap, if I missed anything please let me know...
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone