by Reece Dinn
As the other one was pulling its head out of the snow Beroz used Hakah in his legs, pouring Raiz into them as fast he could, but it took far longer to build strength in them than he was used to. Too long.
The ludenez he'd punched recovered and dove at him again, teeth bared. With the increase of strength from Hakah he sprung at it and as they collided he slammed a shoulder into the wound on its face. It hissed, flying back. Then, before it was out of reach he swung Mutumuz in a two handed swing at its torso. The sword slashed through its stomach, blood and innards spilling out as he tore open a gaping wound. It screamed as it fell out of the sky, the sound splitting his ears.
Unfortunately he hadn't thought about his own landing and crashed down on his knees, pain tearing through his legs and back. His head swam, unable to maintain focus on his Raiz, and he didn't manage to draw back all that he'd expended. Instantly he felt his skin tighten, body become stiff, rigid, and slower to respond to his commands. His pain dominated his thoughts, he wanted right there and then to just give up and let the Enemy win.
The ludenez he'd gored fell down on its front, beating its wings on the ground, trying to rise again, but lacked the strength to do so. He hadn't the strength to finish it either.
The other ludenez however was back on its feet and flapping its huge wings, whipping up snow as it took flight once more.
Pain threatened to consume Beroz. He tried to fight through it, focus on his Raiz again, but couldn't. 'Nukuk,' he growled, then spat out a mouthful of blood.
When it had risen up above him the ludenez swooped down, bellowing so loud he felt the sound waves beat against him. Gripping Mutumuz with both hands he lifted it up over his head, ready to strike, struggling under the weight of the sword. It came at him and he screamed as he swung at its head, then grunting as the sword connected and smashed it back into the ground before it could collide with him. Its skull was cleaved in two, Mutumuz cutting right through. The lights of its eyes vanished.
He lay back, pain and exhaustion overwhelming him. No....need to get up. Need to move..More come..No time. His body was so weak now, it felt like his muscles had been drained of all strength. The vibrations of the mountains didn't help, sapping his already depleted energy further.
The ludenez still alive was attempting to get back up, but its every movement only caused it to lose more blood. Beroz watched it for a few moments, wondering how much more blood it could lose before it finally died.
Need..to move. He closed his eyes, trying to feel his Raiz while attempting to ignore the slowly dying ludenez. After moments of trying he finally felt its warm tingle, and with much concentration focused it enough to begin Brubah weakly. The pain barely eased. He lay there, looking up at the sky, allowing the weak healing energy to wash over him.
It was evening before the ludenez finally fell still, but even then he couldn't be sure it was truly dead. Feeling his body was recovered enough to move he picked himself up. He knew he should torch the two ludenez, but just creating fire suddenly seemed too great an effort.
Too weak....Lose too much. He remembered Jekoraz, the condition he'd been left in after losing a considerable amount of Raiz. It was hard to tell it he was as bad as Jekoraz'd been, but even if he wasn't he couldn't be far off. He opened and closed his scarred hand. More than ever he'd have to rely on it for strength, a thought that worried him more and more.
Brubah was, thankfully, less of an effort than other Raiz skills. His physical exhaustion eased a little through its use, but his body was still weak and it took all of his concentration to keep Brubah going, unlike before. He wandered over to an unspoiled mirac carcass. Looking at it he couldn't remember what were the best cuts to make, so he hacked off and skinned a leg, threw it in his increasingly heavier sack, then began his descent down the valley.
It was a day later when he faced his next opponents. A pair of ludenez pounced on him as he scaled a narrow, steeply rising mountain path. They scrambled across the mountain face as if it was flat ground. He fought savagely, managing to knock them both off the mountain without sustaining any more damage.
The fall didn't kill them though. He managed to walk only a few steps before he heard their cries, then spotted them rushing back up the mountainside. Managing to muster one attack, he unleashed a wave of lightning at them, hitting one and sending it back down below. The other came at him again. Frantically he fought it off, keeping it at bay by stabbing at it while defending himself from its claws and teeth. Eventually he found an opening and plunged Mutumuz into its gaping mouth, stabbing the sword deep into its body, then, as he ripped it out, he booted the ludenez back down the mountainside. Neither came to attack a second time.
That night he decided to climb up to a rocky ledge he spotted from the ground, a decent place to rest, out of the reach of anything looking to do him harm. The climb was hard for his ruined body, but he eventually reached the ledge, exhausted and pained.
He ate the last of his food, some morsels of meat and a few berries, not enough to sate him. What he would have given for a big, juicy chunk of meat. He was so hungry, he needed all the sustenance he could get if he was to make it through the next day.
The mountains were even harsher at night, the vibrations making sleep near impossible, and all the howls, bellows, screeches and other strange noises echoing through the landscape not helping either. Eventually though exhaustion won and he drifted off.
The next two days were almost exactly the same. Ludenez attacked him frequently. Sometimes they were in the middle of attacking other animals and would turn on him the moment they saw him, as if they were being commanded to do so. By the end of the second day his body was battered and throbbed from wounds. Somehow he managed to fight off the ludenez, but he hadn't the strength to kill them. He'd taken to removing limbs to disable them, relying on his scarred hand for strength. It wasn't long before even this proved too much for him and he took to running and hiding instead, to his shame.
His body was struggling to adapt to the additional loss of Raiz. The constant fighting didn't help, using Raiz difficult now, at times near impossible, his already slowed mind greatly taxed. He was amazed he hadn't lost any more. Brubah helped keep his body going but even it couldn't heal the constant toll that the constant fighting was taking.
He'd no idea where Nam-Laftoz was or what it even looked like, a realisation that troubled him. Mir-Ainez ranged far to the north, and to the south. It'd take many moons to explore the whole of the mountains, probably much longer, and even then he might not find his destination. No doubt he'd be killed before he ever did.
He reached an area of flat ground at some point after dark. His plan was to find a suitable place to hide and sleep for the night, but no sooner did his feet hit flat ground then he fell down and passed out.
Beroz awoke in the morning on a plateau covered with gola. A bitter wind blew, rustling their leaves and whipping up snow.
He pushed himself to his feet, using Mutumuz for support. He'd come to depend on the sword for walking as well as fighting, the need to stay on his feet outweighing his fears of damaging or blunting his sword. He trudged to the nearest gola, the thought of nuts suddenly irresistible to him, he could almost taste them on his tongue. He parted the leaves and poked his head inside.
Yellow eyes greeted him. The lilnac jumped out and clamped its claws into his shoulders. He punched it in the head with his scarred hand before it could bite his face, flinging it back into the gola's leafy interior. Beroz raised Mutumuz to stab it before it disappeared inside, but the little creature recovered quickly and jumped back out, fleeing across the plateau, growling as it went. Another lilnac jumped out of the same gola and chased after it.
After taking a moment to recover he peered inside the gola again, cautiously this time. The gola had been stripped of nuts by the lilnac. Beroz growled, tiredness and desperation making him irritable and frustrated. He inspected three other gola, they were all bare too.
In the next one he searched though he found
a lilnac asleep, its arms and legs wrapped around several branches. Beroz didn't hesitate and snapped its neck before it could wake. With great delight he set about skinning and butchering it, then took the effort to actually make a fire and cook every piece he could. The musty smell of the cooking meat was intoxicating, he felt invigorated just sniffing it.
He devoured the meat as soon as it was cooked, not caring that its hot flesh and juices burnt his mouth. He ate until his stomach felt like it would burst and he might vomit or kak himself. As soon as he'd finished he felt much better, a little strength returning.
The rest of the morning was spent searching the other gola for nuts. To his relief he did find a few and stripped them bare, stuffing them into his empty sack, although there were barely enough to fill the bottom of it. It was midday by the time he finished and it was only then that he realised he'd not been attacked once by ludenez up here. He thought of resting on the plateau for the remainder of his life, seeing it as a safe refuge, but the need to progress and find his destination made him press on.
In the afternoon it snowed heavily. Progress was slow, the bitter wind growing fierce, chilling him to his bones, draining his recently restored stamina. A thick layer of snow coated his body, weighing him down, freezing his skin. He regretted his decision not to rest.
Mirac grazed in the valley he trekked through, undisturbed by the wind. Several raised their heads as he passed, moaning at him. One big male feigned a charge, but when Beroz didn't even flinch it returned to its grazing. He left the valley, following a narrow path up and around a particularly tall mountain.
The Enemy suddenly burst into being, nearly making Beroz lose his grip on the mountainside as he jumped with fright. It drifted across the face of the mountain opposite him. Lightning flashed inside the red light at the centre of the Enemy's purple form. Beroz suddenly felt drawn towards it.
DIE.
Intense pain burned through his scarred hand, making him cry out, lose his grip, and plummet down the mountainside, his tired body being cut and scraped as he fell. The pain spread from his hand and burned through his entire body. An overwhelming feeling of dread filled him and he cried out, a tear running down his face.
DIE.
Every part of him was in agony. His vision blurred, the world around him darkening, save for the Enemy's eerie light.
DIE.
It felt like his mind was frying from the inside. His heart pounded, its thump loud in his head. He landed with a crunch on a flat piece of rock.
Purple light bathed him, much closer now. The Enemy was drifting across the divide, a single wispy arm weaving its way toward him.
Beroz struggled to move, the pain paralysing him. No.....No...Not...take..me. He tried to focus his Raiz, but that only caused him more torment.
The wisp edged closer, its heat brushing his face.
The desire to flee left him. He reached up with his scarred hand to touch it, the arm moving of its own accord. The Enemy's wisp reached out to his outstretched hand.
Stop...No. He regained control and tried to retract his scarred hand, but it was too late. The Enemy attatched to it, its touch burning hot. His Raiz was suddenly strained and became suffocatingly hot, sucking the air out of his lungs. The pain all over his body became maddening. His body began to convulse, then his left pectoral bulged, doubling in size, the flesh tearing as it did. Stabbing pain in his right thigh made him scream.
No...Won't...let..have. With all the strength he could muster he rolled over and swung Mutumuz at the wispy arm. To his surprise it released him, the arm recoiling back before the blade could hit it. Mutumuz fell from his fingers.
Desperation taking hold, and the pain from the Enemy's attack subsiding Beroz picked Mutumuz back up, scrambled to his feet and ran downhill as fast as he could, slipping and sliding as he went. He tripped at the bottom and landed in a deep patch of snow.
The Enemy dropped down towards him, its light bathing the whole area.
Beroz spotted a gap in the mountains up ahead that seemed to drop away. Fighting his way out of the deep snow he ran for it, his exhausted body protesting.
Die. His hand throbbed.
Lightning crackled behind him. He could feel heat bathing his back.
He was almost there.
A great pressure from above tried to press him into the ground, but he resisted, desperation giving him strength. He dived over the gap just as he felt a spark prick his back.
Beroz flew over the edge and was glad to see a slope below him running down the cliff face, descending into another valley. He thudded into deep snow, his teeth chattering together, and he tumbled down the slope. At some point he lost his grip on Mutumuz. He flailed his arms and legs, trying to stop himself falling further, but momentum kept him tumbling. He swallowed a mouthful of snow that nearly choked him. On and on he tumbled down until he crashed into a rock, pain exploding across his back from the impact.
Groaning, he picked his battered, bruised body up. His chest felt very heavy, and he found balancing himself much more difficult now, his pained back forcing him to hunch over. He fell back down, but managed to rise again. He'd no idea how far up he'd dropped Mutumuz, but he had to retrieve it. Without it he would truly be done for. He searched for a glint of metal but couldn't see any. He started back up the slope.
The Enemy floated over the top of the rise, lightning roiling furiously inside it.
Beroz scrambled up the slope on all fours. In the corner of his eye he saw a metallic glint.
The Enemy drifted down the slope, its purple light bathing the mountainside.
He dove for his sword, gasping with relief as his fingers touched metal, then grasped the sword's grip. He pulled it to him then flung himself back down the slope in a sideways roll, quickly gaining speed.
The Enemy closed in on him.
DIE. Pain pulsed in his scarred hand, the rest of his body throbbing. He stopped rolling before he hit the rock, then sprang around it, only to almost hit another.
Towards the bottom the snow thickened. One of his legs sank in deep and he flipped over onto his back, his leg twisting, pain shooting up and down his leg. He slid a little further until he ground to a halt, heart pounding.
The Enemy continued towards him, flashing furiously.
MINE.
Beroz froze in place.
The Enemy picked up speed.
No.....No...let. He broke out of the momentary reverie and ran on, limping while being hunched over, legs burning from wounds and exertion. To his relief the slope evened out at the bottom, but the snow became even deeper, coming up to his waist, slowing him further. He frantically dug his way through.
The Enemy was closing in.
He cried out as his foot touched rock and with his next stride he rose up out of the snow. It was only ankle deep now.
Sparks hit the snow around him, The Enemy's light making the snow glow bright. He ran harder, his body threatening to break down at any moment.
He ran down the valley, not daring a glance behind him. He lost his footing and tumbled down it for a while, until eventually coming to a halt and he picked himself back up.
A jolt from behind sent him running again. The valley was long but eventually ended in the distance at the foot of a mountain that had five different peaks, barely visible through the sparse cloud surrounding it. It was hard to say how long he ran for before his body eventually gave out and he collapsed.
He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable touch of the Enemy as it came for him.
For a moment he could hear nothing but the sparks crackling inside the Enemy's form. Then he felt its sweat inducing heat spread across him.
He whimpered.
The heat intensified behind his head. Moments later a jolt struck him there.
Images bombarded his mind. A horde of ludenez pouring out of holes in the ground. Ludenez rampaging through villages, slaughtering everyone they found, laying waste to everything in sight. Then the image of a gigantic ludenez man. A
monstrous figure, its muscles so big it looked like it could break mountains. In its hand it grasped Mutumuz, the sword tiny within it. All around it much smaller ludenez were devouring the remains of animals and men.
MINE.
Suddenly the scene in his mind changed. Once again he was shown the image of the boy in the mask firing lightning up to the sky. That feeling of terror attached to it.
KILL.
Then the images were gone and he was returned to the world around him. He braced himself, expecting the Enemy to claim him, his body to bulge, convulse, and burn with pain, but nothing happened.
A loud pop from behind caused him to lift his head and look behind himself, expecting to see the Enemy. To his shock and relief it'd vanished. Something dropped into the snow, sinking deep into it. Confused, but relieved, he allowed his head to drop and sink back into the snow.
Where....go?...Why..it..not...claim? He tried to raise himself up to see what had dropped out of the sky
MINE. His hand throbbed again, worse than usual. Beroz whimpered, collapsing back onto his stomach. He curled up into a ball.
A light snow began to fall, coating his body. He lay there, curled up, until long after the sun had set, tears freezing on his cheeks.
Chapter Sixty Nine
Die.
Beroz had been left shaken by his encounter with the Enemy. Why hadn't it claimed him? What where those images? With what little thought he could manage he struggled to figure out why he'd been spared, but found no answer. What confused him more was what he'd found buried in the snow. A fragment of Lialstone. He pulled it out of the pouch within his furs to examine it again. The fragment was small and jagged, sharp on the edges. It'd been warm when he'd first picked it up but it had since cooled. Did Enemy drop it when vanish?
