My whole body hurt all over, with every step I took I could feel the echoing of pain soaring through every muscle and every inch of skin. I guess that was the only thing keeping me awake.. well... no, probably there was another. I was still not done.. one of the toads was missing. I clearly remembered that one of them had it's leg broken.. it was gone, crawled away while I was unconscious.

"I most likely looked dead enough.. so it felt like trying to get out was the best... " - I slowly came closer to the source of sound, and as I did.. it became a lot clearer.. silent cries, muffled as if someone was trying his best to not let any sound fly out of its mouth. Obviously - it failed at that.. I brushed the occasional branches of low trees away, paying attention to every sound. As I circled around a set of paper-leaf bushes I came upon an unexpected discovery, it really made me rise my eyebrow.

".. a leg?" - I stared at the curved lump of bloody meat. It was the whole broken leg, down from the kneecap - just lying on the moss. Suspecting that it could be a trap, I avoided stepping too close to the body part, at the same time trying to figure out the reasoning behind such an action. Doubting that the pain from the broken foot could justify removing your foot, I eyed the surroundings - looking for any signs of an ambush. None, though I found the blood trail on the moss - no way to fake that is there?

"You aren't a lizard.. and I'm most certainly not eating that foot.." - At least if the foot was moving and twitching.. no - that's a stupid reason to throw a leg away - thinking that the thing chasing you would be satisfied with just that.

...

The toad was crawling forward, dragging its slowly bleeding stump behind it. It produced quiet screams of pain with every pull, each time it moved. The creature tried to get as far away as possible, survive at any cost. It was barely conscious, blind and deaf to the surroundings, desperately clawing its way forward. The beast was still there, he was certain that the tribe killed him, even at the cost of their lives.. but it didn't die.. It slept leisurely, surrounded by the corpses of his family, covered in their insides.. Toadling had to get away, further away..

My eyes were fixated on the slowly crawling figure, as its shaking fingers pulled on the green moss.. I was watching it struggle, narrating the whole thing in my mind, trying to understand it.. I poked it with the spear, but the toad was oblivious to the sensation, it seemed like trying to move forward was the only thing it could do.

"Can this be even considered alive?" - I lifted my foot from the back of the creature, letting it slowly inch forward once again. The only thing I could remember - was the experiment with the frog in a pot of boiling water.. If you heat the water slowly, the animal won't suspect anything until it's whole body simply cooks.. Oblivious to its own death..

"Can't watch this anymore.." - the blunt end of my spear landed on the head of the toad, I reached down and started dragging it towards my own camp. There was a whole bunch of cleaning up to do..

"I guess I'll patch you up a bit.. "

....

I sat in the ice-cold water of the stream, slowly pouring it on my skin. The stream turned black from the blood and paint covering my body. Walking around with the gore all over the fresh wounds, wasn't the best plan..

"The cuts are definitely there.. My fingers slid over the exposed flesh. It felt spongy, even a bit dry.. It was like taking a piece of bread, mushing it in your hand and leaving for a while to dry. When water washed the closed wounds, they felt a bit slimy - still, I was grateful that the bleeding didn't continue.

"It doesn't seem to be regenerating.." - A slight smile appeared on my face. I couldn't stop myself from chuckling lightly, considering how much numb-berries I've been taking, pur-map, and even the wound closing paper-leaf.. the fact that I didn't know what was going on with my body, wasn't all that unexpected. Mix a whole bunch of drugs and then think you're something special because your blood clots really fast, ye.. wasn't going to happen. Being cocky due to a lucky coincidence - not the way I roll.. I was never that happy to receive good news, as there certainly was something fishy going on, and the bad news would always trample everything to the ground..

"It's not something I'd be so happy about.. if the blood clots easily, there's a possibility of a clot traveling through the body until it clogs something up and I die.." - Somehow the lucky healing didn't seem like such a godsend anymore. Pessimistic? No.. just accepting the thing for what they are - shitty.

"AArgh!"

"Shut up!" - I barked as the one-legged frog wailed again. I looked at the creature angrily as it looked at me with eyes full of fear. I wondered.. I knocked it out unconscious, tied it up to a tree and wrapped the stump with paper-leaf. Merciful to be honest, the toad should be more grateful. Maybe it wasn't all delighted to wake up to a sight of me dragging the bodies of its tribe mates into a pile, like timber, but more likely it didn't enjoy the sound of an ax landing on the necks of the corpses. It tried to free itself as I was busy beheading the bodies, putting the heads into a woven basket, leaving the bodies to bleed out near the pond.

".. you know what?" - I stood up and went closer to the toad, sitting on the ground before it. - "I couldn't help but notice.. you guys, don't seem to have any tattoos on you. The guy you killed had this."

I raised my arm with the back of my palm facing the toad, it stared at it blankly. - " From the whole body, you've left the arm with the fucking mark.. Why?"

I pushed my palm into its face until it hurt, squeezing the head between the mark and the tree. It tried to move away from it, not afraid - just avoiding it. I exhaled, this was useless... the frog couldn't explain shit..

"I'll figure this sometime later.." - I was annoyed, but still, there was time for everything, and right now - I had to do a bit more dragging. But before that, it was important to make myself presentable, looks were important!

"Can't walk around with my wounds being visible.." - My fingers slid across my face, smearing black paint over the skin. Covering my own scent seemed a bit important, but hiding the fact that I was wounded- seemed to be a higher priority.

...

It took a while to drag the noisy critter to the place, but the stage had been set, it was time to call the audience. Besides, it really seemed like my hostage had lost patience, it was flailing around and yelling, despite the gag that was wedged into its large mouth.

"..let me help you with that." - I untied the rope. As the gag fell to the ground, the blood-chilling screams of the creature pierced the heavens themselves.

"Shit.. Why are you screaming so loud all of the sudden? You were almost timid for the past few hours.." - My face curled in slight disgust and pity. The toad was wailing as if it was in great pain, and I didn't even do anything, well..

"Maybe it does look a bit terrifying" - I looked at the area in front of us. The moss was pierced with stakes all over the place, and not just empty ones at that, most had toad heads impaled on them. Really... call me Vlad. There was enough empty spikes to have at least twice as many toad heads be impaled on top of them, sometimes the most graphic display of power is the one and only option.

"I really hope that this time they will get the message" - I stood there, a black motionless figure with a dozen of spears stuck in the ground behind me, with a toad tied to a tree by my side, overlooking a grim scenery of disfigured faces looking forward to meeting the toad-goblins once more. The deafening scream was the bell, calling the tribe to see the results of their decisions.

...

"You sure are persistent" - I eyed the tied up frog, it's screams had become hoarse after a while, until apparently its vocal cords couldn't go on any more. Right now it was still trying to yell, but nothing came out. Its veins bulged out, and as the mouth opened wide, there was nothing but silent attempts to cry. All the effort in vain, the pained face made me shiver a bit, a horrible sight to behold..

From the same spot, hidden behind the bushes in the distance, my audience finally arrived. Seems like this time, there was only the chief-toad and a few spear-toads escorting him. I straightened my back, trying to look harmonious to the gruesome and disgusting scene that I've laid out on the field.

Toads had terror reflect in the folds of their warped faces, even from this distance - I could sense it. The forest was nearly completely silent, except for the hoarse breaths which came from the flailing hostage.

Chieftain moved forward, the soldiers followed him - gripping their weapons, but I didn't have to react, as a sudden whip with the back-side of the palm to the face of the closest warrior showed that the elder was pissed off.

"Crawk!" - He croaked with a somewhat tired voice, it seemed strange to me. There was too much anguish, sadness and crushing defeat in this voice. What's more - all of that wasn't directed at me, but at his own tribe. I carefully studied the face of the approaching toad, it had more wrinkles than a pug, but such facial feats showed the age and experience.. the toad lived for long enough apparently, but what could I possibly know about the aging process of a completely different species. Much like before - the toad had no visible weapons, but I wasn't going to let my guard up - if the creature gives me even a slight reason to worry - its head will be pierced by a spear..

"... crekkkk"- A disappointed murmur resonated from the throat of the chief-toad as he passed the spikes and walked close to one of the impaled heads. Even though I couldn't get the "words", the expression of its face and the eyes made me realize.

"It's not disappointed of them as of warriors that failed a mission.. wait.. don't tell me that they disobeyed their Chieftain.." - I looked down at the tied up toad, the ropes had scratched off patches of skin as it violently thrashed, trying to scream.

...

Five large strides separated me from the elder toad as it stopped. It has looked at the suffering hostage for just a brief moment, but then - completely ignored the creature, that seemed cold .. and that would be an understatement. As if the desperate creature that ripped its vocal cords screaming, was already dead..

"None of my business.." - I looked directly in the eyes of the chieftain, he did the same.. but then.. it lowered its head, then its whole body to the ground and showed me his arms, palms up.. Complete submission.. For the elder - the trip wasn't for the sake of saving the hostage, but for the sake of showing that the tribe begs for forgiveness.. in the stead of the warriors that didn't, that were too hot blooded to listen to the warning and obey the commands of the chief. This wasn't at all what I've expected.. but.. it was what it was..

....

After a few minutes remaining on the ground, the elder backed away - facing me until it was "far away", then turned around and slowly went back to the spear-men. It's then was that I realized - they weren't going to take the hostage with them, but were leaving him here.

"Hey!" - My voice echoed through the forest, making the toads jump in alert and the elder quickly turn its head in fear. I pointed at the flailing creature.

"You are going to leave him to me?" - My thoughts were rather direct, I've left the hostage for them to take away.. why the hell were they just throwing one of their own like that? The elder toad made a gesture that I didn't understand, pal going from the heart up the throat, and as it opened its mouth - the finger unfolded, reaching for the sky. It then finally walked away, reaching the spear-men. Their group didn't say a word, leaving the scene in complete silence. I was surprised, and to be honest I still didn't understand their reasons, as the gesture was far too ... well obscure..

"That can mean anything!!.. the soul leaving the body? Reuniting with your ancestors in the tree of life.. What??" - I looked away from the flailing creature.. I did what I wanted, and now.. I had to cope with the decision of the toads - which meant leaving the creature as it was.. to suffer and probably eaten by the tree-dwellers eventually.

...

It was long past the afternoon when I reached my camp. I had this feeling of disgust towards myself after what I've done. Not so much due to killing the whole lot of creatures, not even for impaling their heads on the stakes - turning them into decorations, but for leaving that one creature to suffer.. the toad lost its mind, foaming from the mouth and rapidly breathing, I was sure that the blood-loss and injuries had pushed it to the point where it would have no chance of survival.. Still - it was something I'd rather forget, though - there was a slight reminder for me to look at.

"There was no time before.. but damn.." - I looked at the headless, gutless pile of bodies lying a few meters away from the stream, being cooled down by the flowing water. With all the other things I had to do before setting off towards the toad village, I really had not that much time on my hands.. so the only thing I did was gut the toads and feed the pond..

"That's a lot of bodies.." - fourteen toad carcasses.. I moved towards the hut. - "I'll need more than one knife"