My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 289: Night Raid (4)

The following nights saw a spike in tension for the allied force, the natives and heroes as they continued their retreat. The first night after the initial ambush saw only those who strayed away to relieve themselves go missing. The night after that saw loud howls and animalistic grunts coming from every direction of their camp.

This was, of course, Shadow and his men moving around and making noise to confuse the army and deal a psychological blow. The noises made them feel like they had been utterly surrounded by a huge pack that was intent on scoffing every one of them down!

Erik became frustrated with the low morale and ordered Sarah and Kaitlyn to investigate the pack's numbers and species. However, whenever they headed in the direction of the various noises, they would find no traces of the supposed creatures' passage. The Tu'Thrag would always conceal themselves in the shadow realm when they sensed the approach of either of the women. 

Only to continue their operation the moment they returned to the camp. The natives even tried using their ability to move through the sands of the desert to catch the pack encircling them by surprise. The Tu'Thrag were almost seen several times because of this tactic. However, their innate stealth in the darkness caused the natives to completely overlook their existence as if they were not even there!

All it would have taken to discover the ploy was for one of the Tu'Thrag to make a sudden movement that would have momentarily broken this ability's effects. Erik's cursing only became more profound as the nights carried on in this manner. It was at that point that Shadow decided to up the ante of their gamble.

Since their target had still not appeared, he was forced to consider the idea that they might be travelling separately from the main force. Which made sense the more that Shadow thought about it. It would protect their prize from being seized from them. Since any rescue attempt would focus on this main force, as proven by the Tu'Thrag's own actions. 

Shadow split the tribe in two and had Lorget lead half to search the nearby areas for any signs of a second force pr individual. In the meantime, Shadow would lead his group on night raids of the actual encampments! The plan was to drag as many enemies as they could into the shadow realm before they could set up their traps each night. 

The only problem with this approach was that they always began to set up for the night before the sunset. Making the Tu'Thrag's natural abilities weaker to a small extent. The only power that would be significantly affected was their stealth. However, that was not really necessary with this plan at all. 

As the allied force began to set up their camp for the night, a few surprised expressions began to appear on the faces of their ranks as close friends would randomly disappear. A new wave of terror began to affect their mindsets that night as the howls continued in the darkness. Fear of the unknown was a powerful tool when used in this situation, and the Tu'Thrag were exploiting it to its fullest potential.

Cracks began to appear between the two forces that made up the allied force as they began to separate themselves to protect only their own. When this division began to take root Shadow's sinister smile became even broader.' Seems like we've finally worn them down. Now to drive the wedge between them in even deeper!'

The following two nights saw the Tu'Thrag only concentrating their effort on the natives half of the camp. As their numbers dwindled, a lot of angry voices began to rise. The natives had become paranoid that the heroes had done something to make the imaginary beasts target only them to allow the heroes forces to go unscathed.

The fragile alliance began to break down at that point as the heads of the Chamber of Merchants began to demand recompense from Erik. As far as they saw it, he was responsible for them abandoning their home. Which then led to their forces getting culled by unknown beasts. What did they gain for all of their hassle in supporting the heroes? Nothing but a hostage that would only lead a prize that the heroes coveted to their doorstep!

After all, what was the point of removing Lady Rysa if they had lost control of the city that they wanted to rule! All their plots had entirely backfired on them. Which caused a chain reaction of hate for their allies to appear. The following night after the breakdown in communications, saw the two sides creating their own camps instead of a united one. 

The distance between them was not very large, but it was enough to keep a wary eye on their ally. The natives thought this method would prevent the heroes from doing whatever it was, causing the beasts to focus only on them. While Erik only partially welcomed this development, if only to stop a rebellion from breaking out in the middle of his camp. 

On the other hand, Erik was worried about the repercussions of their split. It left them both with fewer people to watch their perimeters, which in turn created gaps in their defences. That night saw the highest number of losses for both sides. Most of their mages were the first to go since the assaults had begun, which left them with minimal means to defend the two separate camps' interiors.

Shadow exploited this opening to take people from each side from within their own tents as they slept. Making sure to only remove the guards that faced away from the other camp. This only worked because the two sides were too focused on paying attention to the other group. Shadow snickered as he eyed one of the Chamber of Merchant's head honchos that he had finally got his hands on.

The poor native frantically looked around at the dark-skinned goblins who eyed him like he was going to be their next meal. He could silently curse as he realised what had actually been going on for the past few nights since they left the city. It made him realise that they should have never poked the hornets' nest if they wanted to live a long life