Thulla, grant me the strength to see this through.
As he moved downslope, Tovak stopped every few steps, scanning the area around him. Where was it? It was almost impossible to tell which tracks in the dirt and pine needles around the boulders were fresh and which were old. Still, he kept on, getting ever closer to the tree line and safety.
As he pulled himself up and crested a particularly large boulder at the edge of the field, he heard a faint screech and then a scuffling sound in the trees, perhaps ten yards off. Glancing in that direction, he saw a flash of pale yellow on the other side of a teska-sized slab of granite nestled in between two large trees.
Tovak froze, studying the trees and brush. For a moment, he thought he had imagined it. Then decided he hadn’t. He was sure it had been the murinok. Tovak took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was terrified, so much so his hands holding the spear shook slightly. He swallowed and steeled himself.
He slid down the boulder, making as little noise as possible, and then moved to the left of where he’d seen the flash of yellow, hoping to circle wide of the creature. He held his spear in a two-handed grip, drawing closer to the tree line, one slow and careful step at a time, until he reached the first tree and the edge of the boulder field. He paused and looked around. There was no sign of Jodin.
“Bastard,” Tovak said under his breath.
His feet made almost no sound as he traversed to his left, around the far side of a tree, stepping from sunlight into shade. Tovak was sweating profusely from the heat and felt relief at finally reaching the cover of the forest. His mouth was dry as sand. As he moved around the trunk, he could just make out a faint crunching and squishing sound, over and over again, from somewhere in the brush.
Tovak circled the tree, as silently as he could, his knuckles white around the shaft of the spear. He did his best to make no sound as he took the final steps past the tree. All he needed to do was sneak off and away from the creature. Only he did not know where it was. Slowly, he made his way deeper into the trees. The brush was thick, but he knew that a few yards in it would thin considerably. He pushed aside a leaf-covered branch from a bush and stepped past it, then froze.
He found himself gazing on the tail end of a yard-long heratta. It was shifting around on the ground, and its rear legs twitched slightly. However, it was not moving of its own volition.
An icy sensation slithered down Tovak’s spine.
An eight-foot-long murinok was busily chewing its way down the heratta’s body; the head and part of the thorax had already been swallowed. The murinok’s segmented carapace was a pale yellow-white, each hardened plate glinting under the sunlight that filtered down through the trees.
Its long, flat body was almost two feet wide but only ten inches thick. Multiple armored and segmented legs stuck out on both sides, each eighteen inches long and ending in a crimson tip that looked as sharp and deadly as any spearpoint. The legs undulated along its body in a flowing pattern as it chewed. Its wide, flattened head, with four shining black eyes, gleamed like obsidian.
A cluster of small, leg-like appendages stuck out above and below its mouth, and a pair of long antennae, looking like sweeping filaments of gossamer, swayed back and forth as if tasting the air. The wide, primary fangs, each the size of spear tip, stuck out to the sides of its head.
Tovak was so close he could not only hear the creature chew, but also breathe. Tovak was horrified as he looked on as the monster consumed the heratta. He had the sudden realization that murinok looked harmless enough when rotating on a spit, but the thing before Tovak was a horror of the worst nightmares imaginable. Without a doubt, he understood he was in trouble.
The creature suddenly stopped eating and brought its head up, sniffing at the air.
Damn Jodin.
A heartbeat later, it spotted him, and its response was immediate and terrifying. It reared up into the air, lifting the front half of its body off the ground. With its head bent forward and black eyes fixed on him, it flexed its deadly fangs, from which black liquid dripped down to the ground.
“Oh shit,” Tovak breathed.
Only ten feet separated them. The creature thrust its head forward in a half-striking motion that did not come close. Tovak took an involuntary step backward. The bush he’d just stepped through was at his back. The murinok screeched, the sound hurting his ears. Tovak wondered why it did not attack. Then he realized the creature must be intending to frighten him away from its kill.
It screeched and then eased back into a guttural chattering sound that pulsed from deep inside the creature’s maw. For a moment, Tovak considered turning and running for his life. He took another half-step back, to gain room, wondering if he could even kill the thing if it attacked. Murinok this size were usually taken down by a team of skilled hunters.
“I am just gonna leave you with your kill,” Tovak said calmly in what he hoped was a soothing tone. He took another step back, moving through the bush. “Don’t mind me. Go back to feasting.”
The murinok had other ideas. It moved forward over its kill and followed him through the brush to the other side. Tovak realized, with a sinking feeling, it would not let him go.
He now wished he’d turned back when he’d had the chance and climbed back up the boulder field to the cliff.
“This is Legend,” he said, staring at the creature. He took a deep breath, lowered into a wide crouch, and moved to his left, towards a tree, to see if he could put it between them. The creature moved too, advancing and coiling around the tree. Tovak took several steps backward and away, giving himself room to maneuver the spear. The creature followed, letting loose another screech that was almost deafening.
Tovak took yet another step back, his fear almost getting the better of him. He wanted nothing more than to run. And yet, he knew he couldn’t give in to the fear, for fear was defeat and possibly death. If he ran, the murinok would surely chase after him and Tovak had no illusion about who was faster. He had no choice but to face it and fight.
He shifted to the left and looked for the best place to stab the thing. At that moment, the murinok reared up again, showing him its armor-plated belly. The top and sides of the creature were protected by overlapping armored plates. However, the underside was less protected. He eyed the seams between plates that ran along its chest. He would need to strike there to injure it.
The murinok suddenly shrieked and dashed forward a couple of feet, its legs flailing madly as the raised portion of its body swayed back and forth. It snapped its fangs at him, still well out of range, but they clicked together like two stones. The guttural chattering increased in volume. The creature was clearly working itself up to strike.
Tovak was certain any other creature in the forest would have the good sense to let terror drive its legs into a dash for safety, but he stood his ground. To run was to die. He kept that fixed firmly in his mind. To survive he had to stand and fight. He sidestepped once again, putting the murinok between him and a tree, and waited for the opening he hoped would come.
It shrieked again, and as it did, the murinok came around the tree. Tovak made his move before it could react. He stepped forward and thrust with the spear, aiming for a gap in the segments. He put as much strength as possible into the blow. He felt the impact of the spear hammer into the armored underside, but the spearpoint slipped sideways along the armor plates. Surprised, the murinok reared back and away from the spear. Tovak stepped forward again to strike and was beginning his motion when the creature suddenly attacked, lunging down at him with lightning quickness. Abandoning his attack, he dodged to the side. Its fangs clapped together on dead air, only a hairsbreadth from his arm.
He leapt back as the murinok struck almost immediately, lunging for him again. In desperation, Tovak swung the spear as a club and whacked the creature in the head. It wasn’t a hard blow, but the murinok drew back, its legs waggling as it hissed at him.
“Focus,” he shouted, berating himself, for he knew he might not get anot
her chance.
The murinok screeched again in reply.
Tovak yelled incoherently back at it, finishing with, “Come on, you bastard!”
He took a deep breath and prepared himself as it undulated before him. He tried to get a sense of the rhythm . . . keeping pace with the motion and anticipating where his target would strike. Its motions were almost hypnotizing, and he realized that his own body was shifting side to side slightly in pace with the swaying body of the creature. It was like the two of them were dancing, only this was the dance of death. One of them would be leaving this boulder field alive and Tovak intended that to be him.
He flowed with the murinok as it moved, shifting left and right. The creature seemed confused by his will to stand his ground.
“Not used to someone staying to fight, are you, now?” Tovak asked it. The murinok hissed in reply.
He made a few furtive thrusts with the spear, trying to provoke it into hasty action. On his fourth thrust, the murinok shrieked again. Tovak was already moving forward as it charged him. He thrust with the spear, aiming for a seam between plates. The tip struck the creature dead center and right along the seam he had been aiming for. His arms shuddered with the impact as the two of them came together in a crash. He felt the spear tip sink into its body, but the creature was practically on top of him and its fangs clamped shut on his shoulder armor with incredible force. Tovak screamed in pain from the powerful impact, and for a single instant he feared the murinok had bitten clean through the armor.
The monster let out a shriek and danced backward and away from him, almost ripping the spear shaft from his hands as it flailed violently to get free. Unwilling to part with the weapon, Tovak pulled back hard on the spear. It popped free, and with it, a stream of white fluid spurted from the wound.
The murinok dropped to the ground and flopped about for several moments, then in a flash, spun its body around. It began moving away, and Tovak realized it was trying to flee. He had hurt it, and bad, for some of the creature’s legs had stopped working. His instincts took over. In desperation, he darted forward, and then jumped onto its back, trying to pin it to the ground. The creature stumbled under his weight. Tovak raised the spear over his head and then, putting all his strength into it, drove the spear down into the neck joint, just behind the head, where there was a small gap in the armored plates.
There was a mere moment of resistance, then the spear went deep, the point exploding out the other side to the ground below. Thick, milky liquid sprayed from the wound over his arms and face. The murinok let out a horrendous, pain-wracked screech. It began to buck, and a heartbeat later, Tovak was thrown and sent flying through the air. He hit a tree, hard, and everything went white.
Coming to, he blinked and found himself lying on the ground. He tried to sit up, but dizziness washed over him. Where was he? What had happened? He shook his head, trying to clear the fog from his mind. After a moment, it passed, and with a rush he remembered the monster.
Tovak rolled onto all fours and almost retched as the dizziness came again. Taking a deep breath, he rose unsteadily to his feet. His head hurt something fierce where it had connected with the tree trunk.
It took a moment for him to gain his balance and steady himself. He looked around, searching for the creature. He spotted the murinok a few feet away. It was alive and thrashing about, which meant it was still dangerous. His spear was nowhere to be seen, so he drew his sword.
The murinok spotted him and gave a screech that seemed filled with pain, suffering, and sudden panic. He cautiously approached the wounded monster. It was clearly thrashing about in its death throes, which were becoming weaker by the moment. He spotted the remnants of his spear. The creature’s flailing had shattered the shaft, leaving only the tip embedded in the neck joint.
For some reason, Tovak felt suddenly sad for the murinok. Gazing upon it, he realized what a truly a magnificent creature it was. It had been the master of this area for some time, at least until Tovak had trespassed into its domain. The sadness came from the suffering. Tovak advanced, intending to end it. Eyeing him, the creature gave a half-hearted shriek, attempted to draw away, then spasmed, collapsing to the ground. A gust of air was exhaled from its breathing slits and the murinok fell still. It was clearly dead.
Tovak puffed out his cheeks and stood there, staring at the murinok. Completely worn out, he allowed the sword point to fall and rest on the ground. His heart pounded in his chest. He was still dizzy from the blow he had taken. The fear that was only now fading from his thoughts, left his nerves tingling.
“Thulla’s bones,” a familiar voice called out from behind him.
Tovak turned to see Jodin standing there, a few yards away. His spear was held at the ready. He was breathing heavily, as if he’d been sprinting.
“I—” Tovak started and then stopped, his head still ringing. “You weren’t in the boulder field. I killed it,” he said, disbelief filling his voice.
“I don’t believe it,” Jodin breathed, stepping up to him and staring down at the creature. “You killed a damn near fully grown murinok.”
“It was either that or . . . .”
“You should be dead,” Jodin said, going pale, his eyes moving from Tovak to the dead murinok. “I thought it was only a—”
“Jodin,” a voice called out. “Tovak.”
“Shit,” Jodin said, looking around. “Shit, shit, shit.” Then, he raised his voice. “Over here.”
Thegdol and Gorabor emerged from the trees. They both had their swords drawn. They were sweaty and red-faced. It was clear they had run.
Jodin shot Tovak a nervous glance, and he looked like he was about to say something, but he clamped his mouth shut and waited for the other two to join them.
Thegdol and Gorabor ran up and came to a sudden stop when they saw the murinok.
“Great gods,” Thegdol said, looking from the murinok to Tovak. “Are you all right, son?”
“I killed it,” Tovak said, still feeling dazed at what had occurred and more than a little woozy. His head ached something fierce. This day had gone nothing like he had imagined it would when the company had set out before first light. He felt like sitting down. His legs trembled with fatigue.
“Are you injured?” Thegdol asked.
“I . . . .” Tovak paused and looked down at himself. He was covered over in the murinok’s white blood. There was some red there too, his own. A quick examination showed that he had a shallow cut on his arm and he felt hotness on his cheek. He reached up and came away with blood. The cut seemed minor.
“It doesn’t look that bad, no more than a scrape,” Thegdol said, looking him over carefully and probing the wound on his cheek with a finger. Tovak winced at the touch.
“I killed it,” Tovak said again. His voice seemed to come from a long way away.
The corporal paused and looked into Tovak’s eyes. “What do you mean, you killed it? That’s a good sized-adult there.”
“I killed it,” Tovak said woodenly. He felt incredibly tired. All he wanted was to sit down and have a drink of water and then fall asleep. Gods, he was terribly thirsty. He pulled his skin out, unstopped it, and began drinking. The warm water felt like mana from the heavens.
Thegdol’s gaze shifted over to Jodin.
“Where were you?” Thegdol asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Care to explain what happened here?”
“Ah,” Jodin said. “I, ah . . . it was supposed to be a joke.”
Thegdol’s expression hardened. He turned to look at the monster for a long moment. He sheathed his sword and then rounded on Jodin.
“This wouldn’t be the murinok hunting ground you reported finding, would it?” Thegdol asked. “I believe you said it was a juvenile? I heard you telling the lieutenant.”
“I, ah . . . .” Jodin stammered, clearly at a loss for words. “It was only a prank, Thegdol, honest.”
“Thulla’s bones, Tovak,” Gorabor said. He sheathed his sword and moved closer to the murinok
, nudging it with a boot. “Killing that thing must have been something to see.”
“Shut up, you,” Thegdol barked at Gorabor. He turned a genuinely angry glare on Tovak before swinging back around to face Jodin. “I told you to show him the ropes and see how he was on the sling. Perhaps I was mistaken? I don’t recall asking you to take him murinok hunting.”
“Thegdol,” Jodin said. “I . . . .”
“Shut up, you great bloody idiot,” Thegdol shouted, then looked up toward the heavens. “I am truly saddled with idiots. The gods must hate me.” He turned to look at Tovak. “You took on an adult murinok by yourself. That was a damn fool thing to do. All three of you are idiots, idiots.”
“What did I do?” Gorabor asked. “I was with you.”
Thegdol let out a long breath that hissed through his teeth.
Tovak’s legs went weak. He sat down on the ground and began undoing the straps to his helmet. His hands shook and it took a moment, but he gratefully lifted the heavy helmet off his head and set it on the ground. It felt wonderful to have it off. His hair was drenched in sweat.
Staggen and Lok appeared and made their way over. They too had clearly heard the creature and come running to help.
“Wow,” Lok said, gazing down at the carcass. “That is one big critter.”
“We’re gonna eat good tonight,” Staggen said.
Thegdol closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Corporal,” Tovak said. “I—”
Thegdol held up a hand, stopping Tovak. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“But—” Tovak said.
“No buts. You can explain later,” Thegdol said, and shot an angry look at Jodin. “I am sure the lieutenant will love to hear both of your excuses. For now, let’s get this monster gutted and cleaned.”
Tovak made to stand, but Thegdol pushed him back down with a firm hand.
“Not you. Take a moment and rest. That’s an order.”
“Yes, Corporal,” Tovak said and then laid down on the ground. He looked up at the blue sky above through the pine canopy. The two suns were working their way towards the horizon as evening was fast approaching. The sky was incredibly blue, with a slight tinge of red. He thought he’d never seen such a wonderful color. A moment later, he closed his eyes and sleep took him.
Reclaiming Honor Page 15
