by L M Feldt
An ominous roll of thunder in the distance draws me out of my musings. The sky is black to the south of us. Churning clouds of dark ink fight each other and lightning flashes like knives of fire. I groan, the stinky plant sap has prevented me from smelling the ozone. I would have had us going faster if I’d been paying better attention.
“Not good.” Comments Naoaki dryly.
I turn, intending to yell to the others to hurry… but the shout dies in my throat. To the north of our trail is another, a wide swath of flattening grasses heading right at us…. and I can see nothing causing the path.
“Run!” I scream.
The trees are much closer now but the speed of the oncoming path makes me fear we won’t make it in time. Naoaki shouts to Micha and together they they take Aito from Khane, looping his arms around their shoulders, running toward the tree line. They are trying to keep all exposed parts away from the sharp grass but it’s no use. We’ve been lulled by Jax’s path and hadn’t realized that the grass is taller now. In moments they are bleeding from a million shallow lacerations.
Khane and I run side by side, following their bloody trail, darting looks to the north to keep track of the oncoming something. Ash is no where to be seen but I don’t worry so much about him, he’s proven he can take care of himself or melt into the scenery.
Thunder roars and streaks of brilliant white light blind me momentarily, followed by a deafening crack. The fast moving storm is nearly upon us and the open plains offer no shelter. Behind us, the advancing path has dipped down and merged with ours. It is only a matter of time now before the mystery catches up to us and judging by it’s speed through the sharp grass it will be soon. There is no way we will make the trees in time.
As one, Khane and I spin to make our stand. I toss the pack to the ground, knives in my hands, heart pounding. We don’t have to wait long before a tusked head appears.
Fear thrills through me, a strange combination of utter terror and the bloodlust of pre-battle. Adrenaline surges down my spine, sparking my wings and my other less definable aspect, the strange shimmering aura. Khane’s shield pushes against me as he lowers his great ax with a growl. The monster, now fully visible, is a horrific mix of DNA stewed over generations of natural selection. Long thin legs, like the creatures from the desert, make for easy and fast travel through the sharp blades of grass. Plated armor covers it’s chest and sides, curved and opaque like dirty glass, making it impervious to sharp objects in those areas. The wide, flat head has gray tusks curving up and away and blade-like pincers in front. I can’t see any eyes so I assume it must use some form of sonar to sense motion. Not good for us. I usually see fine in the dark but the lightning plays havoc with my lenses. I’ll be able to see better than Khane once the storm hits, but not by much.
“Fall back, I’ll engage. Circle round and see if you can find a soft spot along the spine.” Khane steps forward, muscles bunching as he readies himself.
I dart to the side and into the tall grass, watching as the creature charges Khane, its long body undulating as it bunches and pushed forward like a worm. Khane swings and his ax connects with the beast’s head, the crash amplified by the thunderous roar of the storm. The air turns static, ozone charged, and darkness closes in. Before long, Khane won’t be able to see at all except by the flicker of lightning. He’ll be dead as soon as that happens.
I charge toward the creature’s side, determined to kill this monster before we run out of time. I am about to leap when I am struck by a tremendous force and thrown backward into the sharp grasses.
Eighteen
I land hard on my back, my breath exploding from my lungs in a rush. I roll, pushing off with my wings and gasp in shock. The landscape has become a charged battleground between heaven and earth. Streaks of fiery energy lance the grassy plains all around us, lighting up the churning sky of bruised black and green. The lightning strikes are fast and furious and the earth trembles from the assault.
I slide my inner lids closed and charge through the tall grasses to where I had last seen the creature. I’d been thrown far by something I hadn’t even seen and now I fear it has Khane clasped in a death’s embrace. I break from the grass and find them. The too close lightning strike that had thrown me had also flipped the thing onto it’s back. Long thin legs wave wildly as it wiggles and tries to right itself. Khane is on his knees, using his ax to support himself.
Raw energy zips down my spine and I leap, wind whipping my hair as I fly, deftly dodging the waving legs. I land, crouching on the thing’s abdomen, a partially armored spot. I will never reach the spine from here and I am not about to wait for it to get it’s footing. I give everything I have, ripping and shredding with my wings and the knives in my hands. There is a tempo to it, a rhythm, as I tear at the leathery space between the plates of armor. Powered by fear and blood lust, I dig into the thing’s innards. Where I had expected the white or green of worm blood, I am surprised to to discover it bleeds red.
I slash down the belly wherever I can find a space between the plates of hard exoskeleton, constantly shifting my weight as the creature squirms below me. I almost have a large chunk of flesh cut away when one of the legs catches me. The hard, sharp point spears me in the thigh, piercing the muscle. I scream and hack at the leg joint in a blind fury. I have never felt such an all consuming rage before and the agony of my wound escalates the ferocity of my attack. The storm’s violence mirrors my mood. I want to pulverize this creature but I am locked in place by the leg, pinned to it’s underbelly.
Then it give a tremendous heave and finally rights itself. I am spun and thrown clear as the nearly sawed off leg finally breaks away. The creature bellows in pain, though it can barely be heard above the raging storm….and I….I am still screaming.
I rise up from the grass, flick my wings and stalk forward. I pull the leg from my thigh and hold the severed limb like a weapon, anticipating the sense of justice when I kill it with it’s own leg. It is upright now but thrashing in pain. Khane has just hit it hard with his ax and then immediately blocked the thing’s counterattack with his shield, it’s pincers clacking angrily at him. I run and leap for its back, driving the leg down with all my might as I land. It pierces the leathery hide but I’ve missed the spine. Still, the leg has gone in deep.
It bellows again and tosses me off, bucking and skittering sideways. It backs away, into the tall grass, clacking it’s mandibles…. then it is gone. I watch in the flickering light of the storm as a new path cuts through the grass, moving slowly but steadily away from us.
I turn to find Khane staring at me, his eyes lit with fire. I am so pumped up on bloodlust and adrenaline, excited by the fury of the storm…. He moves toward me, powerful and sensual. My eyes are on his as he advances, my breath catches. He stops just shy of touching me and reaches out, one arm wrapping low around my waist and the other cupping the back of my head. He kisses me then, hard, and a new kind of fire races down my spine. I grab his curly hair and kiss him back. I feel soft and strong and so charged I can’t imagine why we haven’t caught fire.
Then the pain ignites, ruining the moment. The wound in my thigh pulses and burns. I wrench free of Khane’s embrace and scream in agony. I can barely walk but with Khane supporting me we slowly follow our group’s trail of purple grass painted red with blood. Then the rain comes and the pounding has us drenched in moments.
I am miserable, in pain and the bloodlust has faded leaving me drained, but at least I will be clean. My wings droop and settle themselves, finally. I limp next to Khane as the power fades and every bone in my body aches from the jarring punishment of the fight.
We can’t see well in the rain but the crushed grasses lead us to a solid wall of greenery. Khane looks in vain for any sign of our group and then turns his attention to the wall. It is a living wall made up of plants and reeds and trees and shrubs, all woven together to form a thick and impenetrable barrier. I am in too much pain to be much help as I balance on one leg. Where has everyone gone? Th
e trail ends here. Where are our friends?
Khane wraps his arm around my waist again, worry clear in his expression. We can’t stay here and wait for the thing to come back. We move a little way down the barrier, searching for a way through, looking for some sign of our friends. We almost miss it, though how that could even be possible is hard to say. A blue head is starring at us from the curtain of woven greenery.
“Anna! Anna yan!” It yells at us over the rain. A blue hand waves furiously.
Khane looks at me, eyebrow raised, and I shrug. The blue head doesn’t look dangerous. We walk forward and notice as we approach that there is a finely crafted door hidden neatly in the wall of trees and grasses. It is currently propped open and the blue head ducks back as we arrive. The door is a mix of painted wood and woven reeds with a few branches attached for good measure. We would never have picked it out ourselves even if the weather had been clear. On the other side we find ourselves on a covered dock that stretches as far as we can see, which isn’t very far at the moment due to the downpour. I get some sense of a lake or pond, some reeds nearby, though thankfully not the purple cutting sort.
The door snicks closed and we are alone with a blue man sporting six arms that are excitedly waving at us to follow him. A small boat, partially hidden by swirling fog, bobs against a narrow dock. The crazy storm is quickly moving on and we are left in a strange yellow half-light. It’s as though we have entered another world.
“Anna, anna yan. Janu itka.”
There is still no sign of our friends and we have no other options. Stay or go. The pain in my leg has grown worse and I will soon need to remove my pants, before the legs swells. The warrior code: when in doubt, move forward. Always move forward. So, we follow the blue man to his shallow boat and climb in, me with a lot of help from Khane.
The bottom of the boat is filled with water from the rain and I wonder what sort of boatman doesn’t worry when his craft is half submerged. The blue man smiles and points at the wide plank seat with one hand while another two take a long pole and push off. The flat bottomed boat immediately starts to self bail as tiny holes in the bottom use the movement of the boat to pump the water out. Quite ingenious. I probably would have been more interested if the pain in my leg wasn’t so bad. I practice some breathing techniques to try and keep the pain at bay.
“Bahia ban. Janu itka.” He smiles back at us and turns back to his poling, unconcerned that we don’t respond.
The water gently slaps the sides of the boat, rippling out in a v-shape. The fog is thinning a little and it has taken on a golden hue. There is a serene beauty to what I now realize is a vast marshland. We pass small clumps of thick grasses where tiny emerald birds hop from reed to reed eating small bugs. They make soft peeping sounds as they eat.
“He doesn’t seem to care that we are a bedraggled pair that look nothing like him and don’t speak his language.” I comment, wincing as the boat rocks.
“At least the hard rain washed most of the blood off you.” Khane smiles at me.
“Was it bad?” The look he gives me makes me feel warm and oddly protected. Odd because I have never needed protecting in my life.
“You were a goddess, bathed in the blood of your foe.”
At first I assume he is poking fun at me. Then I see the expression in his eyes, the desire stirring, like a great beast wanting to pounce. It makes my heart race.
“Really?” Part of me is fishing for more compliments and part of me is genuinely curious. I’d started every day in the compound staring at my reflection, trying to make the young woman I saw there appear more fierce, adding ink to my existing tats. A ritual that apparently I no longer need.
“Your wings were fully extended, spread up and out and red with blood. They glinted silver and steel and crimson…..and there was your aura.” He shakes his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Cupping my chin in his palm he gently kisses my temple. “A goddess.” He whispers.
Our moment is interrupted by the blue man.
“Janu itka.” He points ahead.
The fog has mostly cleared now and I can see that we have arrived at a town of sorts. Large and small islands make up the village, connected haphazardly by narrow wooden bridges. Boats are everywhere, some docked, some skimming smartly out into wider parts of the marsh. The narrow waterway we have been following had mislead me into thinking this was just a very large marsh. I am starting to see it might be a huge environment, much larger than the crater shaped desert had been.
We are headed for the largest island. This one has many docks pointing out into the water like fingers and a wide boardwalk that trims the edge. The sun is setting behind the stilted huts, a deep vibrant orange ball. It shines through the mist rising off the cooling water, making it look as though the marsh is on fire. I see our group waiting on the docks and raise my arm to wave in spite of my growing lethargy. I am about to wave when I noticed that most of the blue men surrounding our friends hold long pointy spears.
Nineteen
There is a lot of chatter when we get off the small skiff, everyone wanting to know what happened. Khane helps me out but I am loosing the battle with the wound in my leg. Then things get a little blurry. I remember Khane picking me up and that there were a lot of people around talking. The men with spears aren’t actually pointing them at anyone, which is reassuring. At some point I am settled in a fluffy, soft bed and I fall asleep instantly.
I wake next to a night breeze chilling me. I am shivering and my leg throbs painfully. Someone hears me shifting and soon gentle hands cover me with another blanket. I am fed lukewarm tea, then I am out again. I am like this they say for three days. Awake, sort of, for brief moments, then out again. When I finally wake for real I find Khane sitting nearby speaking softly with Aito. It is strange to see them together like this, though I’m not sure why exactly. Aito and I never had a romantic relationship. Ours had been the brilliant small boy with his monster friend, just like in the book. But it went deeper than that too, a sort of mutual acceptance for our respective oddities. Khane is another story entirely. When they notice me watching, their conversation stops abruptly.
“How are you feeling?” Asks Khane, his brows scrunched in worry.
I look into his eyes, suddenly feeling warm all over. He snorts, sensing my attraction to him. I am just about to say something smart but my face grows warm, betraying me. Dating an empath has it’s drawbacks it seems.
“Your leg should be mostly healed.” Aito says, ignoring my embarrassment or more likely, just not noticing. “The Kali are learned healers and grow herbs that can draw out nearly any poison.”
“I was poisoned? It was that thing’s leg wasn’t it!” I knew it! I wonder if it’s immune to its own poison. Probably.
“Not exactly. The sharp points of the creature’s legs, they call it a crasa, crushed the grasses and were most likely coated in the slime.” Aito answers.
“The slime we coated Jax with?” I ask.
“Yes, everyone has been given smaller doses of the antidote just to be sure.”
My head is swimming. It’s as though I’ve been asleep for ages, so much has happened. At least I’m not in pain anymore.
“Wait, when we pulled up the blue guys…”
“The Kali.” Aito interrupts.
“Fine, the Kali, had you guys under arrest.” Aito appears to be all better now, back to his old lecturing self.
“That was just a group of fisherman that happened to be leaving as you two came in. Some of the more skilled hunt at night when the big fish rise up to eat.” Aito replies.
“But,” I stare at him in confusion. I glance at Khane but he is too busy looking amused. “How do you know all this? The blue guy (I’m feeling stubborn) spoke to us and we couldn’t understand a word.”
“Oh.” Aito looks mildly surprised. “I forget you were out of it. I was pretty sick when we got here but they gave me some drug their shaman uses and it got rid of my headache. I had some funny dreams for a whi
le, slept for a day, and now I can understand their language.” His face turns serious for a moment. “You guys did bring my pack right? I want to set up a small lab and analyze…”
He doesn’t have time to finish. Khane senses the rage shooting out of my eyes and quickly encourages Aito to leave the hut before I have a chance to yell at him.
“What the hell! Does he have no thought for our well being?” I am so angry I want to jump out of bed and throttle my insensitive little friend.
“Now, don’t get fired up. You know he didn’t mean it like that.” Khane gently presses me back into the soft bed.
“Do I really? Do you?” I’m still angry but I am tired and weak. I’m always cranky when I wake up in an infirmary.
Khane sighs. He brings a stool closer to the bed and sits down.
“Just forget about it for now. I’ll go back and get the pack tomorrow. There are more important things to think about, like you getting well.” He brushes a stray hair from my eyes and hands me a cup of warm tea.
