The Evolution Chronicles

Simon Bolvar crossed the rushing river that marked the border between the Bolvar Tribe and Kraetor City with a deep intake of air. He had missed being in his own territory over the past few month, and he was glad to be back.

Behind him, an entourage of half a dozen escorts that were sent by the Kraetor City to ensure he got to his pack in safety stepped up.

"Sir, shall we continue moving forward? We should be able to get there in a day and half's time if we move quickly." The demi-human asked him with a leveled tone.

"Yes, sorry. Let us keep moving, I was just feeling a bit sentimental for a moment. It has been a while since I came home after all, especially under these circumstances." Simon replied to the man, "Follow me."

The Beastkin then proceeded to lead the group through the thick forest. They did not need to rest until night, as it became much colder than the day. When they settled down for the night, and lit a fire in the center of the small camp, a figure suddenly approached them from within the darkness.

"Who are you? Identify yourselves immediately." The female scout from the Bolvar Tribe asked, eyeing the group warily.

Simon had heard her voice from inside his tent, and immediately rushed outside to meet the scout that had found them.

"Hannah! Is that you?" The aged Beastkin asked as he pushed aside the flap of his tent. He stepped out of the low tent and approached the scout who had finally stepped into the light that the fire gave off after hearing a familiar voice.

"Impossible..." The woman whispered as she set her eyes upon the man that she had thought to be dead. She reached out her hand, but immediately pulled back and unsheathed the shortsword that was strapped to her waist. "Who are you?" She asked with firmness.

"Hannah, it's me, your former Patriarch. I was never dead, the humans simply took me captive and faked my death." Simon gave a short explanation as he tried to make the scout before him understand that he was not an impostor.

"And why should I believe that?" Hannah asked with a firm voice. She almost wanted to drop her weapon, but she felt that the sight before her might have just been a hallucination that was induced by something nearby.

"Ezra has a birthmark under his armpit." Simon sighed as he revealed something that no one simple would know.

"How-? Is that really you, Simon?" Hannah faltered as tears gathered in her eyes. She couldn't believe that the man that the whole pack thought had died was standing here before her, alive and well.

"As I said before, my death was faked." Simon replied with a smile and opened his arms wide.

Hesitantly, Hanna sheathed her weapon and approached the former patriarch of her tribe, before embracing him in a soft, tentative hug.

"How is Ezra? I hope he has been taking good care of the tribe in my absence." Simon asked.

"Ezra is... Fine. He hasn't been doing too well emotionally, but he knows how to put his personal matter aside and focus on matters that concern the pack at large." Hannah told him as she stepped back, before waving behind her to let the other scouts approach. Each of them took turns welcoming Simon back, albeit with shocked expressions on their faces.

"Let us stay the night here, and then we will continue to the tribe's lands tomorrow. My escorts and I are currently tired and worn out after out long journey." Simon eventually told the scouts from the Bolvar Tribe as he turned to return to his tent. The scouts nodded their heads and retreated into the shadows, where they would continue to watch over the camp as night passed.

.

.

The next morning, Simon and his escorts from Kraetor City quickly packed up their things and continued their journey. Hannah, and the scouts under her lead would remain out of sight, but would be hanging around while the journey continued.

A few hours later, Simon and his group finally reached a small clearing that held one of the entrances to the tribe's underground city. He quickly uncovered the entrance, before waving behind him to signal one of the scouts from the tribe to cover up the entrance when they had entered.

"Who would have thought the Bolvar Tribe would be this elusive?" Michael, a lizardman, who was an envoy from Kraetor City, whispered as he admired the smoothly carved out tunnel that they were walking through.

The tunnel held torches on either sides, but those tunnels were unlit. However, that did not pose any hindrance for them, as they could easily see in the dark.

The trek through the dark tunnel continued for half an hour before the group finally spotted a dim light in the distance.

"Prepare yourselves, we are approaching the end." Simon warned the envoys. They nodded and prepared their minds for whatever it was they were about to see.

Their eyes were momentarily overwhelmed by a burst of light the moment they reached the end of the tunnel. That burst of light was accompanied by the sounds of weapons being drawn.

When their visions cleared up, they were met with over twenty dominant Beastkin wielding weapons of different kinds, and kitted out in decent armor.

"-What?" Michael quickly drew his weapon, a spear, from his back. He bent the shaft of the spear, disconnecting it from the rest, and making it shorter so that he could fight properly without being hindered by its length in the narrow space that they were standing in.

"Calm down." Simon raised his hand with a smile, trying to calm down both the envoys from Kraetor, as well as the warriors of the Bolvar Tribe. He turned to the warriors of his tribe with a smile, as a red headed Beastkin stepped forward.

Ezra stared at his father with disbelieving eyes. He was finding it hard to believe that Simon was truly standing before him here, but the evidence remained.

Last night, one of the scouts on Hana's team had rushed back to the tribe to tell Ezra of what had transpired, and the man had hurriedly rushed to dig up his father's grave.

While this act could be seen as an incredibly disrespectful one, as long as one had the right justifications, the act could be overlooked.

Ezra's actions could be brushed aside, because he needed the proof f his father's life, and he had sworn that he would make whoever it was that posed as his father suffer, if it had all been a lie.

"Father... Is that really you?" Ezra asked with disbelief in his eyes.

When he had dug up his father's grave, he had found an empty casket. That could only mean one thing. His father's death had been faked by the humans that had temporarily taken over the tribe. An unquenchable rage filled Ezra's entire being upon finding this out, and he thought back to the threatening letter that had been sent by the Henshaw Dynasty some time before.

'I will make sure to crush them to bits.' Ezra swore in his mind. The Henshaw Dynasty had threatened to squash the Bolvar Tribe if they did not bend to their terms, but Ezra had held firm, refusing to budge in his stance. He would rather be the last patriarch of the tribe than make his father's hard work go to waste, and turn the Bolvar Tribe into a vassal of the Henshaw Dynasty.

"It really is me, Ezra." Simon replied his first child with a smile and opened his arms wide. Before Ezra could even take a step forward, a small figure blurred across the space between the older man and his son.

Caesar had been standing on the sidelines ever since he overheard the discussion between his older brother and one of the scouts. He had been sneaking around, remaining well out of range of his older brother's hearing, sense of smell, and sight. He had followed his brother around all through the night, and had also managed to sneak his way to the entrance where his brother and an entourage of guards had gone to meet someone.

That was when he caught sight of his father who he thought to be dead. He could easily identify his father, even aside from the fact that his grave was empty, thanks to his unique sense of smell that was easily able to identify people.

"Dad!" The little boy clung to his father as he tried to hold back the tears that threatened to burst the dams that kept them at bay.

Simon lowered himself to a knee as he held onto his younger son. His heart pained him as he thought of the amount of pain that his children had gone through over the past few months.

"I'm so sorry, Caesar. I promise I won't be leaving you again any time soon.." Simon whispered as he tightened his hold on Caesar.