The Evolution Chronicles

One by one, the tribesmen of the Bolvar Tribe began waking up from the sudden slumber that had befallen them.

"What... is happening?" One of the many Beastkin that laid on the floor, sat up warily, while holding his head. A dull throb pulsed at the back of his head, and a wave of dizziness forced him to remain on the floor, instead of getting to his feet. This Beastkin was the same on who had tried to attack Dion, and his name was Ezra. He had a head full of brown hair, with streaks of black hair intertwined with it.

(A/N: Who noticed that those who were affected by the Herder Drug this time included Beastkin? Doesn't that ring some bells?)

Ezra had only recently become the Patriarch of his tribe after the sudden, unexpected, and mysterious passing of his father some weeks back. It had been a sudden shift, one that was supposed to be too great for him to handle at a time, but surprisingly, the matter had mysteriously settled itself.

The tribe had readily welcomed him as their new Patriarch, and life had carried on as normally as it should have. Or at least, that was what the tribesmen were made to believe. Unknown to them, they were already under the control of a powerful variant of the Herder Drug that not even Adam was aware of. This variant of the drug was able to affect even Beastkin, as it was made specifically for them.

Ezra tried to recall why he, along with other members of his pack were laying on the ground, around a bonfire, but the throbbing at the back of his head turned into a painful spike of pain that jabbed into his brain whenever he tried to force the thought process.

Slowly, he got to his feet, examining his surroundings. The first thing he noted was the dozens of demi-humans that stood around his unconscious tribesmen. He was not able to recognize any of them.

"Intruders! What have you done to my people?!" Ezra took a fighting stance. The sound of his voice drew the attention of the other Beastkin and demi-humans of his tribe that had woken up.

"Calm down! We did not harm your people in any way!" Han immediately stepped forward. Ezra's eyes narrowed the moment Han stepped forward. From the way the older demi-human held himself, along with how no one objected to him taking the lead, it was quite obvious that he was in charge of the demi-humans who remained standing around his tribesmen.

"Then what is going on? Are you trying to take over my tribe?!" Ezra didn't back down at all. The continuity of his tribe was at stake, and he knew that letting possible enemies have such a huge advantage over him was not good at all.

"Let me explain what is going on." Han tried to appease the young leader of the Bolvar tribe, and quickly explained what was going on. Mian had already informed him that they were no longer under the effects of the Herder Drug, so he could be liberal with his words without holding anything back.

A few minutes later, a deep frown was etched onto Ezra's face after listening to Han's words.

"How can I believe you? If what you say is true, then that means you might also be in cahoots with the humans." Ezra looked upon the members of the taskforce with distrust.

"I assure you that we are here to help." Han stressed their stance.

"I still don't believe you. For all I know, you might just be the pets of another human faction that just wants to get rid of the ones who were in charge here." Ezra was playing hard. He was tempted to trust them, but he had to think not just for himself, but for the rest of his tribe. Even now, there were still quite a few members who had yet to regain consciousness.

"And what should we do to make you believe us?" Han asked. He preferred to settle this without trying to force the Bolvar Tribe into a tight spot. Gaining the help of the tribe willingly would be a lot better than forcing them to help.

"How are you able to cure the effects of this drug? If it was that easy, then my people would not have fallen prey to it." Ezra pinned Han with a steady gaze. Han returned his gaze without fail until the voice of a familiar demi-human spoke up.

"That would be because of me." Mian, along with his two companions walked up to Han's side.

.

.

"I see... So, you are a Gift bearer." Ezra muttered as he stared closely at Mian. They were currently seated close to the raging bonfire. The bodies of the humans had been disposed of in the forest, and the blood on the floor had been buried up.

"I was thinking that the humans would have claimed the latest Skyfall. Who would have guessed that our kind would be able to one-up those prideful bastards." The young Patriarch chuckled.

When Mian had stepped forward to introduce himself, he had subtly commanded Hana to influence the surrounding air. She had released a gaseous substance that instantly calmed the members of the Bolvar Tribe.

Yes. It was this same substance that Hana had initially used in order to calm Mian down when he first came into possession of the Evolution System.

The introduction of that calming agent had instantly made things easier for Mian and Han. The leader of the taskforce had urged Ezra to allow them to speak away from others while the remaining members of the taskforce focused on making sure that the tribesmen of the Bolvar Tribe were okay.

Mian had then explained that he was a Gift bearer, and that he had the ability to dispel the effects of the drug. He had not explained the specifics of his Gift, but through a few superfluous shows of his abilities, he was able to convince Ezra.

"Ezra, if you don't mind us asking, what is the last thing you remember?" Daniel asked. One of the common symptoms of those who had just been freed of the effects of the drug was that their memories would be fuzzy for a time. That was why Daniel had been as polite as possible when asking if Ezra could share his memories.

"My last memories..." Ezra places a hand against his forehead. "...My father... My father's death." After some thought, Ezra finally arrived at a memory that he could recall before everything got blurred.

Ezra began his story...

"A couple of weeks back, my father suddenly passed away. It was sudden and unexpected, but everyone seemed to take it in stride. Our local physicians were not able to find anything off in my father's body, so they chalked it up to the will of the heavens."

(A/N: Yes, of course, there will be some mentions of some vague beliefs of the inhabitants of Topor every once in a while. They need something to look up to after all, but these beliefs will firmly remain in the background.)

"And so, power was thrust into my unready arms." Ezra breathed a deep sigh. One that was filled with tiredness as resignation. He knew that he had to step up and lead his people, but ultimately, he was not ready at that point in time.

"From what you have told me, I am inclined to believe that my father's death was caused by these despicable humans, yes?" A fire surged in his dark eyes, increasing the intimidation factor that he already possessed ample amounts of.

Ezra was a powerful dominant in his own right, aside from he fact that he had the Alpha genes, which were very rare. If given enough time to grow, then his strength might even rival Daven's!

This was a great feat, as demi-humans of such strength were extremely rare. Daven was able to trade blows with the former Greater Strength Gift bearer, if only for a short amount of time. For someone else to be able to replicate this feat was incredible!

"It is quite possible." Han nodded. He agreed with what Ezra had said. Perhaps the Herder Drug was having minimal effects on the former Patriarch of the Bolvar Tribe, and so they had simply decided to remove him from the picture.

The chances of them finding out the truth were quite slim, as both the former Patriarch of the tribe, as well as the humans behind this scheme, were now dead.