Reborn

Chapter Fifteen

It took over 24 hours, but finally, they had succeeded. Marcus looked at the unblocked path with satisfaction. His eyes flashed in the darkness reflecting the glow of their new campfire. It was again the middle of the night, and his men were resting to get ready to leave in the morning.

Everyone in the Red Fox Tribe had received a boost of power and energy from the God of Death during the Tribute ceremony and that had sustained them in their search for the kids. However, they had worked all that first afternoon, through the night, and then all through the day again only taking breaks to eat and drink. It was not until well past sunset this second night that they finally cleared enough of the rubble to pass through the pathway. Once it was cleared, his men finally had the chance to lay down and rest.

Marcus now sat watching the night around him as his men regained their strength. While he had helped clear the rubble as well this past twenty-four hours, he had already noticed that the strength he had received from the God of Death seemed to be much larger than the rest of his men. Absent-mindedly, he reached down and picked up the rock he had first discovered that held the traces of chipping on it.

His fingers lightly ran across the chipped surface, rubbing it almost possessively. The God of Death had indeed blessed their whole tribe. Otherwise, they would not have been able to persist through the night like that. Perhaps that annoying Shaman did know a thing or two. Perhaps he'd even know another way to gain more power other than just killing another. Killing would bring some power, he knew... but would it bring the same amount?

If he killed someone and then ate their flesh, would that give him more power than just killing them? It was worth a try at least. If it didn't work, well that wasn't such a big deal. He wondered if it would work against everyone, or only those who already held power? Those who were like the witch... and if so, where could he find another?

Slowly Marcus clenched the rock tightly in his hand. He brought his hand up to his face and concentrated for a moment as his hand tightened around the rock. Tighter, and tighter. Suddenly the rock, unable to withstand the pressure anymore, broke and fragmented into tiny pieces. It crumbled into dust in the palm of his hand.

Marcus smiled slowly as he tilted his hand and let the dust fall to the ground. He marveled at the strength that had been blessed to him, wondering why he had spent years with that stupid woman. He should have killed her ages ago. Then this whole wild chase to find his missing kids would never have happened. Well, it was too late to regret the past. For now, he had to focus on the future.

Marcus stood up slowly, dusting his hands off, and stared down the empty pathway that led to the south. While they were removing the rockslide, they found a few more rocks with chips in them. It was more than enough evidence to support the idea that the kids had caused the rockslide. Marcus had already decided it in his mind, though he was slightly curious as to how they had managed. If he remembered right, the girl was a useless and weak fool, and the boy was too young to manage such a feat of strength. But that no longer mattered in his mind. It had to be them, after all, who else could it have been?

Well, the rockslide did buy the kids some time, he had to admit, it was clever move on their part. However, in the end, it wouldn't matter. Soon they would be able to catch them. The kids were not used to traveling through the woods. They had never been too far from the tribal grounds before as Marcus simply wouldn't let that woman take them too far away. They should already be out of their depth and unsure about the forest around them. Marcus and his men, however, were very familiar with hunting and moving through the woods. Even though they normally hunted in the upper part of the forest, it wouldn't be too different in the lower part. They should be able to easily catch up to them.

Marcus slowly sneered at the empty pathway in front of him. "Run while you can, brats. Soon, you won't be able to run anymore."

He was debating the whole time he had cleared the pathway. Should he test his theory that eating the flesh of others would gain them power on that worthless girl? He could cut off the girl's legs so she couldn't run away again. If she was lucky and lived through it, that would leave her to be useful to him a bit longer. Those who would pay to lie with her probably wouldn't be too picky about what condition she was in, so it was a good option.

That thought had pleased him. Even now, he couldn't stop the small, dark smile that raised the corner of his mouth. The light from the fire played across the grotesque smile. If any of his men were still awake at this moment such a look would make even them shiver in fear.

As for the boy... well a good beating should scare him into obeying. He was still young, after all. It should be possible to still mold him into something useful with a few beatings.

Marcus stood watch for most of that night, switching with one of his more trusted men so he could also get a few hours of rest when it was almost dawn. After noticing that the power gained from the Dark God was different for everyone, he had watched his men closely to see who had received the most blessing from the tribute ceremony. He was obviously first, followed by two of his more trusted men. The rest seemed to have received some power but were simply not as strong as the three of them.

If Marcus was honest, he was very satisfied with such an outcome. It fed his ego to be more powerful than the rest. He had always been the strongest warrior in the tribe ever since he had gained his adulthood and refused to allow another to take his title.

Still, even with all his power and strength, he also needed a few hours of sleep after such strenuous work. Switching out with Callen so he could rest for a few hours wasn't something he minded. After all, he had stood watch for most of the night already.

After they were all rested the next morning, they left and headed south following the path down the cliff face. They moved through the woods swiftly and combed around both the river shoreline and the woods trying to locate signs of activity. After some time, they were able to locate evidence of a campsite close to the tree line but still within sight of the river. There were no signs of a fire, which supported the theory that this was the kids' campsite. They wouldn't want to be seen if possible. However, there was something odd about their discovery. There seemed to be more activity than they had originally anticipated around the campsite.

Marcus stared at the broken leaves and twigs on the ground as confusion filled him. Why did it appear that there was a large group instead of just the two kids?

Could it be that they had made a mistake? Or did the kids get discovered and taken by others? There had been no signs of a struggle, however, and who could it have even been? The witch had obviously been planning this for a while... had she waited until a time she knew someone would be nearby to pick up the kids? What tribes were in the forest around this time of the year?

For the rest of the day, they continued to follow the traces that ran in the woods. They ran parallel to the river but never really intersected with it and continued their way south. Slowly a thought was beginning to form in Marcus's mind. There was one tribe that would come around this time of year... But if it was them whose traces they were following... where were his kids?

Well, the only thing they could do for now was to continue to follow the traces they had found and see what they discovered. Maybe the kids were with that tribe, and he could get them back easily. If not... they would have to retrace their steps and keep looking.

Marcus was scowling at the signs, his mood growing darker and darker by the day. Still, he persistently pushed his men forward. He'd find those damned kids. He'd get them, one way or another.

Authors Note: 3/3 Annnd the last chapter is the crazy guy.