CHAPTER 4 - WINNING SQUAD

THE team battle began. This time, the entire forest was their battlefield. They gave each team a specific flag with a number. The mechanics were simple. They must protect their flag because they would lose if another group got a hold of it. And to win, their squad should get another two flags from a different team. Winners must have three flags in total.

Malaika’s team owned an orange flag with a number seven. It would have been easier if there were no time limit, but they only had to finish the task until sundown.

“Princess, keep our flag.” Yulli insisted.

“Are you certain about his?” she asked her teammates.

“Never doubt yourself,” Yulli reassured her.

Malaika nodded. “All right.”

“We will attack head-on. We can’t make this easy; the clock is ticking.” Yulli tightened his black armband, where a warrior’s emblem was carefully crafted.

“Understood.” They said in unison.

Pierre was an excellent tracker. He immediately spotted another team near the river, bickering with one another. It appeared that they were unprepared for an ambush. Kane and Seti immediately attacked them. Pierre backed them up while Yulli stayed beside Malaika to protect their flag.

The opposition team tried their best to fight back. Three of them transformed into their respective animal form—squirrel, beaver, and hamster. But they were significantly smaller than Pierre and Seti’s animal form, and the two would not let them escape.

Kane took charge with the other opponent, and he would not stop until the remaining two men were nearly on the verge of death.

They overpowered the opponent, freely giving them their flag, and hurriedly transformed back into their human form. They provided an impression of being afraid of them. Well, it was evident since they were indeed tenacious in the battle to prove their immense power as one squad.

“Sorry guys, but we badly needed to win.” Seti tried to ease their disappointment.

“One down.” Kane handed the yellow flag with number sixteen to Malaika.

Malaika stayed focused and ready to strike anytime if the situation asked for it. She heightened her senses to feel if another team lurked around them. She knew that somebody was watching them at a safe distance; she told Yulli about the danger they might face later.

“On your guard! Another team is planning for an onslaught!” Malaika shouted as her vision caught a running bull and flying vulture going in their direction.

Their assailants shapeshifted back to human form before they could reach them. Two young men smirked as they stared at each one of them.

“What a lucky day! We just have to defeat them, and we’ll instantly have two flags,” said the one with the bull form.

“You’re right! Now let’s call them here,” said the other. He whistled so loud that another three persons came—two males and one female.

“Whoa, what a surprise! Princess Malaika Thronsden.” The female glanced at her from head to toe.

“You guys won’t stand a chance, I swear. You will never get our flags.” Malaika said confidently.

“Oh, scary,” said the male with vulture form, “Isn’t it nice to see royalties fighting, yeah?” he chuckled.

“You mean, a royalty without ability?” said the female mockingly.

Malaika held herself. She would not let them destroy her concentration, and she would die first before they could lay their filthy hands on their flags.

“How about you surrender your flag to us? You look incapable of winning, anyway.” She stared back as if challenging them.

“How dare this weakling to insult us! We are from the clan of Crassus and Amberflow!” The female has gone mad. Another well-known clan in their tribe. No wonder these brats think highly of themselves.

“Let’s just fight one on one and finish this early. The losing team will surrender their flag,” Yulli said, looking bored.

“Deal,” said the bull guy.

The female brat transformed into bison, and Malaika cackled out loud when she saw her animal form.

So ugly. Just like her attitude. She muttered to herself. Everyone from the female bison’s team shapeshifted.

Malaika made sure they fought on the ground. The running water nearby gave a chill to her spine. She suffered thalassophobia, intense fear of bodies of water, especially deep and dangerous. For a long time, she pretended that she had already moved on from her past trauma.

The one-on-one battle between each member of the fighting squad began, and everyone was determined. Yulli faced the bull shifter, and surprisingly, it only took a mere second, and Yulli singlehandedly defeated him using his brute strength. He was unbothered to shift in his wolf form. Maybe he thought it was not necessary.

Perhaps he already assessed the power of his opponent because he quickly dodged the bull’s attack as he somersaulted in the air, and in an instant, his sword sliced its neck. Blood spurted on the ground.

Yulli looked dangerous without any remorse for what he did. The remaining members of the opponent’s team were shocked. They hurriedly tended to their wounded teammate and hastily shifted back to their human form.

“That’s cheating! Are you trying to kill him?” the female shrieked. She checked the bull’s wound as it slowly went back to its original form. It seemed that Yulli hit the throat muscle. If it was deep, the man could have died. But Yulli was never careless. Maybe he was just threatening their opponents.

“You can’t win in a battle like that. You’ll end up losing if you guys are going to stop fighting just because one of you is wounded.” Yulli only shrugged, “Each one of you should take full responsibility for being unskilled.”

The female was fuming. She shifted again to her animal form, and she targeted Malaika. Her deadly horn, which was longer than usual, went out of control. She tried to get even to what happened to their teammate. However, Malaika was never an easy target. She ran toward the huge stone near the river embankment and waited for the bison’s attack.

 She waited on the right timing, then the animal’s horn hit the stone while Malaika backflipped on-air and smoothly landed on the bison’s back.

“Oops, got ‘ya!” She balanced herself. Even the bison went berserk. She jumped when it finally loosened up from the stone where it was momentarily stuck.

The squad was amazed by her, and they knew she did not need any help. The remaining member of their opponent team acted and tried to help the female bison, but Seti and Pierre covered the path before reaching her.

“The rule is a one-on-one fight, remember?” Seti said.

 Their opponents were forced to fight off with the couple, which they could not stand a chance, even though Pierre and Seti only showcased their combat skills. They were remarkable warriors of Hala and clearly showed how they moved at a lethal pace.

Meanwhile, Malaika finally cornered the bison, and when she faced it head-on, she gracefully glided down. Using her sword, she struck the animal to its neck, and it was out of balance. And she stood beside the bleeding bison, pointing her sword to its body. She just made what Yulli did to the bull.

“You have been warned, surrender your flag, and I’ll let her go.” Malaika looked at the man tending to his wounded comrade a few meters away from her.

There was hesitation in his eyes.

 “N-No!” the bull shifter said adamantly. He was gradually healing himself.

“Sure?” Malaika smirked. And without warning, she plunged her sword to the body of the bleeding bison.

“Stop!” The man gaped at her. He hurriedly rose beside the bull shifter and ran towards her.

“Here’s our flag. Let us go.” The man handed them a black flag with number one.

“Good choice,” she grabbed the flag. The man assisted the wounded bison, which slowly transformed into her human form. The female was unconscious, and her teammate carefully carried her.

Malaika was not worried because she only hit the spot where it was not fatal. The female would heal herself in time. But if this were a real battle, she would have ended her life without mercy.

“Nice one, Princess. Now we’re done!” Yulli tapped her back.

Malaika looked down to hide her blushing face. Meanwhile, Kane, Seti, and Pierre happily carried her and tossed her in the air. They just finished the team battle earlier than expected.