Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Eren’s Sacrifice (1)
Chapter 65: Eren’s Sacrifice (1)
There was a huge and wide spread banyan tree somewhere in the forest that was closer to the edge than the middle.
Huge roots hung that cast shadows which blocked even the moonlight.
Eren sat there in silence.
His body was quite close to the ground and he almost slept in complete relaxing position. But there was an aura around him that made the surrounding heavier than it should have.
He was slowly licking his paws and cleaning off the dried blood and Dirt.
Not far from him, the pack had gathered.
They had come a long way from their old habitat. They had pushed deeper into unfamiliar land in search of something better, or at least something that would let them settle without constantly being driven away.
Many of their people took shade under the gigantic banyan tree but the raised and elevated platform of hard dirt and soil right under it was where Eren remained.
"You got them killed!"
The shout broke through the silence like a crack.
Eren didn’t look up.
Shaka stood a few steps away. Her body was tensed and her eyes locked onto Erst with a fury that had been building for a while now.
"Everyone died because of you!"
Her voice was shaking from anger that had gone too far to be held back.
"Do you even understand what you did!? Do you even realize your mistake!?"
Erst lay close by. His breathing was uneven and heavy.
His body was still recovering. One could see faint steam rising from the wounds that hadn’t fully closed yet.
His chest moved unevenly, and there were moments where his balance seemed slightly off when he tried to stand, but his gaze remained steady.
"Mistake? There was no mistake."
Shaka’s expression twisted instantly the moment she heard him say that.
"No mistake?" she repeated as she stepped forward.
Her claws pressed into the ground as her body leaned toward him.
"You led them there. You pushed them into that fight!"
Erst didn’t care about what she was saying. He too licked blood off his body.
"And because of that, they all die-"
Erst scoffed as he spit on the ground.
"They followed me out of their free will," he replied.
His tone was cold.
"That was their choice. It was their fate. And if it was written in their fate that they would die, then my simple action couldn’t have saved them."
For a second, it looked like Shaka would jump him right there.
Her body lowered slightly. Her muscles tightened and she was almost ready to spring when...
"You speak too lightly."
The voice that interrupted carried weight.
Elder Liik stepped forward.
The moment he did, the noise around them faded without needing to be told.
He was old, older than most of them, and it showed not in weakness but in presence. His fur carried faint grey lines, his posture steady, his gaze sharp in a way that came from years of watching things unfold.
"Boy," Liik said, his voice controlled, "you have killed those who followed you. Do you understand that?"
Erst’s eyes narrowed.
"They died because they were weak."
"They chose to follow me. I didn’t force them to do that."
Something in Liik’s expression changed. He now glared directly at Erst.
"You-"
His voice rose a bit.
"Do you even hear yourself!?"
The forest was quiet again.
"Did you already forget? The goal that you had described before the trial?"
Erst didn’t say anything.
"Leader right? You want to lead this pack, did you not?"
Elder Liik then pointed at Eren with one of his paws.
"You wanted to stand where he stands, didn’t you? You wanted tk be like your father, no?"
His gaze shifted briefly toward Eren, who still hadn’t moved, before returning to Erst.
"The Night Wolf clan does priase strength. But that’s not all. There is judgement, calmness, decision making skills..."
"There are many things!!!"
Erst’s jaw tightened.
"And yet you chose him," he shot back.
His voice rose now. "You could have chosen me. You had that power."
Liik didn’t answer immediately.
In fact, he didn’t answer at all.
But he thought about it in his mind.
’...I did. Among the thirteen votes cast for both of you, mine belonged to you...’
But he couldn’t and didn’t say it out loud.
There was silence for few seconds before Erst said, "Why? Cat got your tongue?"
"Psst." The elder laughed.
"You were never meant to lead. Be like your father? Blah. You couldn’t even be like your younger brother! So much for a stray."
Liik forced his mouth shut when he looked at Eren giving him a Death stare.
Perhaps, he overspoke.
He wanted to cough and divert the conversation entirely, but it was too late.
A drop fell.
Then fell another...
Tears ran down Erst’s face, but he didn’t wipe them away.
"...Fine," he said with a low voice as a taste of salt flooded his mouth.
"If that’s how it is... then I’ll leave."
He turned and began to walk.
"It’s not as if I wanted you all in the first place..."
His body resisted slightly and even his steps were uneven, but he kept going anyway.
He had barely taken two steps when darkness erupted from the ground beneath him.
It rose fast, forming chains that wrapped tightly around his limbs and torso before dragging him back down and pinning him in place.
He hit the ground with a dull sound.
"Yeah... brother, you-"
Eren’s voice came, calm as ever but Erst interrupted right away.
"DO NOT CALL ME BROTHER!!! I AM NOT YOUR BROTHER!!!"
"..."
Eren didn’t say anything. He only heard.
"As the elder said... I am just a... STRAY!"
Erst then tried to look at Eren but the chain collar that tied to his neck with chains linked to the ground made it hard for him to turn.
"Must feel good to look down on me, right?"
Erst struggled against the chains as his breath became rough.
"Not looking down! I’m not! I’m just... worried about you..."
"Oh...?"
"If you leave now," Eren continued, finally standing, "you’ll die in this forest before sunrise."
Erst let out a dry laugh.
"Ha... haha..."
"So now even my fate belongs to you?"
Erst paused and then calmed himself down, almost as if he had stopped crying.
"You... hypocrite."
Eren’s lips curved slightly.
"...Fine."
The chains loosened and then vanished entirely.
"From today you are the pack leader."
As soon as these words escaped his mouth, silence followed.
"You will lead the Night Wolf clan."
Shock spread instantly.
Everyone present there were simply dumbfounded.
Voices rose one by one and then questions followed. Confusion turned into unrest.
What was with this sudden decision? And why hadn’t Eren discussed about this with anyone?
Shaka stepped forward immediately. "Your majesty, what are you doing? This isn’t something you can just decide like that-"
"I don’t need hate," Eren said simply.
"You don’t need hate? What do you mean by that your majesty? No one hates you!!!"
Following Shaka, others added, "Yes your majesty, we love you!"
"Your majesty, you are our protector. If anything, we have gratitude!"
"We respect you my lord!"
But Shaka noticed that Eren’s gaze remained on Erst.
Instead of listening to everyone, and even after listening to quite a lot, he made a decision.
And the decision was to not change his previous decision.
"...All of you."
He paused for a few seconds, and then raised his gaze.
"Return."
That only made things worse.
"Return? Where your majesty? What are you..."
"Return to our hometown. Say the journey wasn’t fruitful and try to look for another place at a later time."
"You’re not coming?" Shaka asked, dismissing everything else that he said.
Hearing her, Eren looked towards the vast black sky.
He looked at the starry night and how the stars were arranged.
And he almost saw a pattern... it was almost as if there was a path and the path was made of stars that led to a particular direction.
"I will. My home... my birthplace, I will surely return. Eventually..."
"Yeah... eventually..."
