《Uprising of the half-beasts》


 Chapter 1

    "Unfair I''m tellin ya, how''d you think I''m gonn catch ya if you runnin like that. Ain''t anybody as fast as you Eve" screamed Teo barely understandable, while being out of breath after trying to keep up to the half-beast girl for the last 10 minutes as he kept trying to catch her.


    After easily outrunning him and jumping on top of a half meter tall wall, which separated the road from the wheat fields, Evelyn found herself looking for Teo far back on the road while she yelled provocatively "Look, Teo, if you can''t keep up with me I suggest you give up and surrender!"


    "Aw yeah he gonna buy me a real sword if this keeps up, and he gives up," she thought to herself. The young white-haired girl then kept going back and forth, wiggling and scratching her tail and cat ears, while she waited for Teo to catch up.


    Although one might expect some mercy from such a pure child with that cute innocent look on her face, none would have guessed that the half-cat and half-human girl admires and aspires the path of a heroic and respectable warrior such as the village leader was, which also happens to be the half-beasts girl father. With that being the fact her father which is a full fleshed cat-man - a sub-race of the beasts - forbid her to have any contact or connection to the villages military equipment or even the military itself in the matter.


    Getting a real sword was something she had wished for since she was a kid and something she would put her life on the line just to get her hands on one.


    "Tell me what kind of sword fits best for me? A long sword? Or a shorter one like a dagger, for example, awh man I can''t wait till I''ll hold one in my own hands" hypothesized the grinning and overjoyed Evelyn after jumping down from the wall to greet her older brother who was currently having his last sprint and a desperate one in truth.


    Reaching out his hand trying to touch the girl''s white-blueish dress what she simply avoided by spinning around a few times always having one leg in the air to balance. -


    ¡°I got you now-¡±


    He fell, his face fell straight on the ground, almost starting to cry he mumbled under his breath ¡°why do you have to be the one to derive dad¡¯s beast genes while I got the human genes from mom.¡±


    ¡°There, there you don¡¯t need to be ashamed of yourself just admit your defeat brother,¡± she whispered quietly in his ears while stroking his head. She knew very well how much Teo hated being completely human with no beast genes in him even though he was born first and even being the son in the family he couldn¡¯t even compare to his sibling''s physical strength and agility.


    Knowing that she let her guard down. When Teo felt how the soft hand on his head began to loosen up he reassembled all his power once again for this one strike, with an eager and yet such focused look in his face he grabbed the girls arm leaving her no way to dodge.


    Having the cat instincts turned off she still had her reflexes which she could depend on since she¡¯d train them every day and were probably more developed than most soldiers the village had considering the fact that the village''s military concluded 5 men led by her father. In fact, the more reliable force when the village ever needed protection was probably the men or women living in the small village who were able and willing to fight, actually. With that in mind, she could easily catch an arrow mid-air, but this time was different, she completely let down her guard simply because knowing that her brother is suffering from mental distress and mostly the fact that he is lying front faced in the dirt.


    With all being said even Teo had the chance to win a game of tag against a half-blooded beast. After finally winning the game he rolled to the left now lying on his back arms and legs spread out tired of all the running and too exhausted to move.


    ¡°Move aside kid!¡± yelled an old man, who was just passing. He was a real beast just like their father. The old man¡¯s tail was a thick fluff one - not like the straight and smooth cat tail Evelyn had - so were his ears and overall his body was covered in a black and very thick fur which one might not be able to resist touching. Nevertheless, he still wore leather jeans, shoes and even had a jacket covering his upper body. Looking at the wagon, he pulled behind him it seemed that the wolf-man was just coming back from collecting firewood in the forest.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t play outside of the village you know? Hop on the wagon, I¡¯ll carry you guys home,¡± in truth this old fellow was one of the men who was working with Evelyn and Teo''s father and they¡¯d even see him visiting their father at home sometimes.


    ¡°Yes sir, thank you very much,¡± responded the young woman in an utmost respectful tone. She helped Teo get up his feet and literally carried him onto the wagon where they then sat down on the back plank on their way back into the village. Despite her childish and playful characteristics, she was respecting her elders a lot given what they have been through just to live their harmonious and pleasant lifestyle.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.She was now sitting there on the wagon headed back to the village with arms crossed and pouting, still upset about her loss to Teo, who smartly outplayed the young lady in a game of tag.


    Not knowing what awaited them in the village.


    On their way to the village, they saw a man dressed for combat who was walking towards the forest probably sent by their father, looking for signs of either the human or the beast military passing by. Unfortunately, their village was located at the human side of the border between the human nation ¡°Morlan¡± and the beast''s nation ¡°Ergnorin¡± which just declared war a few weeks ago, meaning that now they would eventually find out about this particular village where the beast and human live in peace together.


    Ever since the ancient war a few hundred years ago, the human and beast-race held a grudge against each other, which was quite understandable given the fact that none of them actually won and both countries were destroyed by one another. With that being said the reason both nations lost was that none have expected a surprise attack at both sides by the elven nation ¡°Uthal¡± which is now the most powerful and populated country on the continent. The elves live south-east to the human and south-west to the beasts land, their economics are exceptional having superior quality jewelry and weaponry.


    Evelyn and her brother have then arrived in the village while getting greeted by some of the villagers on the way in, however in all the greeting and being told not go off too far from the village they heard something very interesting for the first time indeed.


    ¡°They are attacking soon aren¡¯t they,¡± said one man.


    ¡°Don¡¯t we need evacuate as soon as possible?¡±


    A woman was mumbling ¡°we should protect our children and runaway, right?¡±


    When the village''s leader heard the news of her children¡¯s return and that an uproar began in the center of the village she rushed out the main building to see what had happened what she saw were her daughter Evelyn and her son Teo running desperately into her arms, while they were followed by a furious crowd.


    ¡°How will your mother work out this situation?¡±


    ¡°Will your father really be enough to protect us?¡±


    And several other thoughts were aggressively shared while the children were brought in and were ordered by her mother to go wait in her office, their mother¡¯s assistant - a rabbit-woman - was to escort them. In that small glance the mother and daughter shared when they crossed ways, one already knew that Evelyn was in for a hell of trouble after giving her mother more work to do.


    The human woman was stepping outside wearing a white shirt and a black skirt which went from her belly to lower knees, the skirt was supported by a scarf which went around once and finished with a knot.


    ¡°My friends and fellow outcasts, I know we are all worried about the conflict between our nations but we shall not abandon our so-called home. With that being said I hope you all know what measures are to be taking if we would ever be in danger.¡±


    The escape plan she was just now talking about includes a secret tunnel below every house, which was built inspired by moles. Every tunnel would be somehow connected by each other and led to an old ruin in the forest where they would meet if the village would ever get attacked, which wasn¡¯t inevitable since both human and beast nation had a law where one was forbidden to live with another race, the elven-race was hereby an exception.


    Having calmed down the folks was exhausting and nerve-wracking you could say the least. That is why Myla hated it wasting her time on that, this was also the reason why she is now sitting with her children around a table lecturing them why it would be so wrong to come back home with half of the village¡¯s population complaining about her abilities.


    ¡°Well then, do any of you know where your cat of a father is hiding,¡± she asked while letting out a sigh of exhaustion.


    ¡°No ma¡¯am,¡± came the immediate answer from Evelyn who was still quite shaken by her mother¡¯s performance.


    ¡°You really take this respect to your elder''s thing serious, huh?¡±


    ¡°Of course, ma¡¯am.¡±


    The quite proud and amused mother smiled and asked if they¡¯d have some tea.


    After their little talk, Evelyn walked around the village searching for her father who was asked by his wife to come home since there was a matter she wanted to discuss with him. Teo, on the other hand, wanted to stay at home and help their mother with something, which seemed like they didn¡¯t want her to know about, not like she really cared anyway.


    She had other things of importance to worry about, especially now that the chance of her finally getting a sword slipped through her very hands. However, that particular dilemma had to wait for another day-

 Chapter 2

    ¡°Are you sure they were that close?¡±


    ¡°Old man, I saw it with my own eyes, two scouts from the east just on their way here. About 10 minutes from here. Only two though I¡¯m not sure if they had any reinforcements,¡± reported Alfred¡¯s fellow warrior back.


    The cat-man, and also his superior in that matter replied cautiously, ¡°We should still evacuate just to be safe. Let¡¯s head to my wife¡¯s office. We should be able to coordinate everything from there.¡±


    The troubled father walked a while till he noticed a girl sitting on the bench of someone¡¯s house, who was, in fact, his daughter. He sat down next to her and asked what¡¯d bother her at this time of the day.


    She glanced at the kind man, sprang up and apologized to the one who was, in fact, her father.


    He smiled and asked once again what she was doing sitting on someone¡¯s bench like this.


    Evelyn¡¯s ears laid back down flat on her head, looking at the corner of her eye: ¡°Nothing sir was actually looking for you. Mom said she wanted to discuss something with you.¡± Although she still dreamed about becoming a warrior like her father she couldn¡¯t let him be bothered with it. She remembers how many times her dad had lectured her on how dangerous it would be and how he didn¡¯t want to see his daughter getting caught up in something like military affairs.


    The mighty warrior dismissed the reliable soldier who was still standing guard for the old cat-man and his daughter.


    ¡°Well, shall we get going then?¡± he looked at his daughter and asked modestly.


    She nodded and asked timidly, ¡°how is everything going along? at work I mean.¡±


    After he saluted the soldier, he and his cat-eared daughter walked towards the office where Evelyn¡¯s mother and her brother Teo awaited them.


    As they walked back towards the office, Alfred scratched his head and leaned towards Evelyn and continued rather passively: ¡°Eve, I think something dangerous is coming. Let¡¯s hurry up and get home.¡±


    On their way home, they once again encountered several people with various complaints and rumors about her parents and the newly declared war.


    ¡°What you mean? The sun is high up and I haven¡¯t seen one cloud all day. Teo and I even played on the road to the forest just now.¡±


    He put his hand on her head and looked up thoughtfully: ¡°You¡¯ll see, mom will tell you, Eve.¡±


    Her dad would always give away the complicated and problematic problems to his wife. Her mother Myla would then complain about it at night before sleep and Alfred would just lay down before her and let her stroke his cat ears, tail, and even his fur, which was supposedly one of a beast most precious and intimate traits. After the humiliation of one proud and honored cat warrior, they would go to sleep peacefully. Even though her mother would act mad and tough, her father knew exactly how her mother felt and would still hug her. With that being said, Evelyn wasn¡¯t gonna question her father and would just go along with it.


    At the time they arrived at the office, which was more like a home in truth, they heard Teo screaming in shock and fear: ¡°What do you mean! What about everything you fought for?¡± As expected, Alfred abruptly opened the door and drew his sword so fast that none could ever hear or see it getting drawn. It¡¯d always feel like the sword just appeared in his hand.


    The worried father rushed into the house standing in the entryway ready to kill only to find no one home: ¡°Stop right there!¡±.


    ¡°They are probably in the living room,¡± said Evelyn.


    ¡°Ah, right.¡±


    He deliberately wanted to show Evelyn how thrilling it was to be a warrior since she displayed a none interest in becoming one recently. The father indeed wanted his daughter to become a warrior too since she had the most beast-blood in her. The speech about him not wanting her to get involved in all that warrior military business stuff was just something Myla had him do, considering the fact that she was against the idea of violence from the beginning. He, on the other hand, had high hopes for Evelyn and hoped that she would one day rebel against him and that he¡¯d have no choice but to give in and teach her the ways of a fighter. However, the very idea of that might never be fulfilled.


    As the father and daughter get closer to the living-room it became quieter, actually, no sound could be heard except the paws of the cat-warrior and the small foot-steps from his daughter following him. One could even hear their cat-tails following on the ground.


    When they opened the door, the tense father stepped in holding his sword up in front of him. As the sword peeked through the door, meanwhile Myla was passing by the door nearly cutting herself.


    ¡°Lower your sword, Alfred!¡± she yelled at him furiously.


    In an instant, the sword disappeared and the beast who was just full of pride and might a moment ago bowed down in apologies.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, darling. I thought I heard something serious.¡±


    ¡°You should know your fight, dear,¡± was added to her small lecture.


    He was still.


    The mother who just put aside some folders passed the 1,80 m tall cat and sat down on the couch. Alfred was leaning on the wall next to the door.


    ¡°Oh well, I was looking for you anyway.¡± sighed the tempered mother of half-beasts children as she continued.


    ¡°I need to tell you something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Eve already told me, you wanted to discuss something-¡°


    ¡°W-What do you mean? Tell me something?! Don¡¯t tell me!¡±


    She nodded.


    The silence came in. It became tense. Both of them had a fierce look in their eyes. Teo and Evelyn were watching closely and especially quietly. One would say that it seemed like they have been forgotten in all that intensity- as the discussion continued.


    They saw the fear in their father¡¯s eyes when he looked their way.


    After quite a short while, the room calmed down from all the intensity.


    The father let out a long sigh and asked with a quite irritated voice: ¡°So how will you name him? Or her? How long have you been pregnant, dear?¡±


    ¡°Huh?!¡±, she stood up and looked at Alfred with a rather disturbing face.


    ¡°I¡¯m not pregnant, you old fool! I was talking about the war and the future of our village damn it!¡± she yelled at him embarrassed by such an assumption.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The pretty amused children tried to hold back their laughter as it seems that their parents have talked past each other the whole time.


    Tears were starting to form in Alfred¡¯s eyes when he realized that he failed to understand the situation.


    Myla walked towards him and slapped her whole hand through his soft cat-face.


    ¡°Thanks, Myla.¡±


    Evelyn looked understandably surprised when she saw her father taking pleasure in getting hit by his wife.


    However, he understood the importance of the situation, following with a straight statement: ¡°Alright kids, get your stuff you leave this place immediately, we don¡¯t know how much time we have left so hurry up and get your stuff. Myla go tell the folks to send some of the people with their children to the rendezvous, have some folks, who can fight, stay here!¡±


    Myla was once again pretty enraged for having to do the work involving the villagers, but she knew very well, that now was not the time to argue. Evelyn and Teo went to their rooms. Teo had already prepared his things and was ready to go. He had a bag packed with some food and his clothes. A sword was hanging on the back of his body. He wore shoulder and knee protectors and had a chest plate protecting his upper body.


    Evelyn, on the other hand still needed to pack her things, which included her wear things some books and a small watch her mother gave her as a small kid. She also had a small collection of worthy coins, which she quickly deposited in her black ash-like bag, not matching her dress.


    The reason that both of the children were so calm about literally leaving their home behind to escape, is that they had practiced and executed the escape plan several times already. They even used the tunnels underground connecting to the rendezvous point as hiding places when they played hide and seek, so they were certainly confident in their escape.


    As for their parents. They were greatly aware of the dangers that came when they had fled from their homes to live a peaceful life in isolation. Everyday life became a struggle for both of them. They then finally settled down in a small village with fellow refugees.


    Alfred had already sent out one of his scouts to confirm the location of the newly found threats. In a short amount of time, Myla had warned the villagers. The village had gone silent.


    Evelyn¡¯s father quickly returned to their house and searched for her as she was just getting ready to gown down the tunnel with Teo.


    ¡°Evelyn!¡±


    ¡°Yes, Father?¡± Evelyn answered from afar in the kitchen as she just had wrapped around some bread.


    He sprinted into the kitchen and pressed a book into her hand.


    ¡°Please keep it. It¡¯s important to me, like a diary you know? I¡¯ll be busy protecting the village, so if anything gets burned or destroyed in the process, at least this will be safe.¡±


    She gulped and nodded, putting the book deep inside somewhere in her bag.


    A loud scream could be heard as she was climbing down the ladder, which made her tail stand ou of shock. Her brother holding the trapdoor. She looked up and asked what could have happened. Her parents were long gone into the village informing the villagers. Her father was probably preparing for battle. So much had Evelyn wished to be helping her father but she couldn¡¯t despite everything. In such combat, she would just be another person to worry about.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go look give me a second,¡± said Teo. He was gone for about two minutes. Evelyn still waiting for her brother to come back.


    The door shut opened, Teo standing completely out of breath.


    ¡°We need to go, now!¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± asked the worried daughter of a beast and human.


    He stuttered and answered: ¡°They are here, we need to go. Father and the others are fighting them. He told me to leave with you as fast as possible!¡±


    ¡°Where is Mother?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know but she¡¯ll be safe. We need to stick with the plan and meet up with the others as soon as possible.¡±


    They closed the trapdoor and ran through the about one and a half meter tall and one-meter wide tunnel. The tunnel itself wasn¡¯t that far below the ground so sounds could still be heard as for the sword clashing against each other, buildings were falling and war screams were practically shaking the ground above their heads.


    ¡°..-shake the ground!¡± the spell was yelled out with such hatred.


    And indeed the ground was shaking. A crack opened a hole where the soldier fighting with Alfred stood. Falling down and realizing that there was some kind of secret tunnel below them he rushed to the half-beast siblings. ¡°Freeze!¡± The threatening soldier stood still not moving a muscle, ice began to grow around his feed slowly growing up his leg. Teo wasn¡¯t especially physically well built but he would compensate that with his studies about magic.


    Evelyn, as expected, was a bit ahead of Teo. She looked back and ran to him.


    ¡°Go!¡± he yelled with a peek of desperation and anxiety.


    She protested: ¡°No, I¡¯m not gonna leave you behind!¡±


    ¡°Run Eve and don¡¯t look back. I¡¯m gonna catch up with you in no time.¡±


    He had a smile on his face as he looked back. A fake smile desperately trying to get her away from here as soon as possible, trying to get her to safety, his own little sister.


    She stood still. Thinking of what she should do, what she could say to convince her brother to run with her, but it was too late. The ice around the soldier¡¯s leg broke, shards splattering everywhere as Teo¡¯s spell seemed to have expired.


    She left no choice for him. If this would continue the soldier would first kill Teo and then go after Evelyn, not to mention that he would then be on the way to the rendezvous place and might even kill the other villagers and children.


    With that in mind, he then fired a stream of fire sparkles towards the soldier with one hand and spoke out another spell simultaneously reaching out his hand towards Evelyn and finished his next spell. ¡°..of the air!¡±


    The invisible ball of concentrated pressure hit his sister, pushing her back about 3 meters until she finally hit the ground.


    In that split second where she was blown away, she could hear her brother saying: ¡°I¡¯m sorry Eve.¡±


    The impact had brought the tunnel to shook as it collapsed in itself where the spell hit her.