V2 C151
“See them there? Michal?”
We both led from the front of the pack, Beryl maintaining her spacing with Vaughn to protect her. It was approaching nighttime, the vague silhouettes of two separate herds moving in time with each other occupying our attention against the dimly lit backdrop of the natural valley we sat at the edge of. The larger herd, one of Brachiosaurus, was the largest within a days walk of Brenton, keeping its stomping ground within relative range of the city thanks to the learned behavior of adventurers using them for this exact purpose, ‘protection’. The other was a genuine surprise, a herd of monsters not native to the region, having migrated either from deep frontier territory, or south from Morus and Va’ren. I could remember as much from Kiyomi’s memory that they were seen just on the edge of established territory in even those countries. A monster looked at with scrutiny over the usability of its meat and natural armor, that resembled an over grown pangolin mixed with a North American possum.
“What are those things? Never heard of anything like them, some kind of dinosaur? Or dragon?”
“Drake.”
“Excuse me?”
Michal rolled to his side as we talked, but I had to do my best to keep them in sight so we’d know where they were going to bed. Michal was confused with my correction, looking back at the herd in ignorance for a moment.
“Drake’s, dragons are winged—“
What was the name again? Brony’ox?
“Brony’ox, they’d be closer to Drake’s, but they’re closer to giant sloths than anything.”
“How come you know so much? I know Hatsumi was an ecologist part from being a court mage and stuff, but those things? Never seen them before.”
“Back home, Va’ren. Elex— Mother had to make a call if the guilds would be sanctioned to hunt them. Can’t give coin to the guild if you can’t guarantee the scales will sell for sure.”
I rolled to my side, kicking a leg out to get my balance underneath me.
“I’m sorry that our talks always seem to lead back to that.”
“To what?”
I looked to Michal as I stood, then back to the herd as I kept track of them. They were bedding down in a small thicket of trees.
“To Va’ren.”
I was able to go without the usual flood of thoughts on the subject, the subject of the hunt enough on its lonesome to keep me chipper.
I wonder if that’s why I couldn’t even read the nations name when I first looked into it, my subconscious shielding me? Bah, forget it.
“It’s passable, here, while on the hunt. Having something to do? To take up my attention? It’s my therapy.”
Michal stood, collecting the spear Vaughn had bought him for protection.
“I think that itself is more passable as a troubling coping mechanism than the former.”
I rolled my eyes, unsheathing Wyrmstooth and channeling just enough mana to give it a faint glow as a signal for Vaughn and Beryl to join us.
“Michal, I don’t recall giving a damn what you think of it.
I’m trying to be friendlier with you, but understand your boundary when prodding my mind.”
I found myself kicking at the dirt with my left foot, Beryl and Vaughn catching up as the silence set in.
“They’ve bedded down?”
Vaughn asked, his sword and shield clattering against one another.
“They’ve bedded down, now all we need to do is nest ourselves just in that thicket.”
I pointed Wyrmstooth before resheathing it and beginning the walk into the valley.
“Let’s hoof it, the earlier we settle, the earlier we can return.”
————————————————————————————————————
Why, why did I bring it?
The diary, sitting at the mouth of my pack, as I stared at it from the tree I posted against. I was first watch, munching on a smoked beef stick to keep myself awake. Vaughn and Michal were asleep next to each other, while Beryl was almost wrapped around the fire thanks to the chill of the night getting worse.
We’ll have to figure out something to keep her insulated come winter.
The thought passed as I broke my lock on the book, and took in my surroundings again as I chewed. The echo of nearly fifty mega-fauna, breathing, deep in sleep, creating a strange chorus of whistling, a flow of air, and the rustling of the trees’. I took it all in, savoring the sounds, claiming them for myself, as I basked in what warmth from the fire that Beryl didn’t hog all to herself. And amidst it all, my eyes trailed back, to the diary, to the red binding.
“Tch.”
I took another bite at the beef stick, tearing at it as if the foodstuff had slighted me.
Go on, read it.
I nearly jumped out of my skin, the voice piercing into my mind as it did before.
In your words, ‘Did I stutter?’
I looked up from the pack, as the strangely unheard, but heard voice spoke. Solah, standing over the bag, her legs spaced apart and her arms crossed as she looked down at me.
What the fuck are you doing here? Can’t you give me some peace– wait, they’ll see you!
Part of me wanted to stand, but within all reason, it wouldn't have done much as I just felt myself moving to do so but failing to commit. Why stand? Why move when there was no reason? Solah looked down, to Beryl, Vaughn, and Michal, looking about like she was assessing something before nodding to herself in some sense of self-satisfaction.
Only you can see me, unless I deem it necessary.
I’d hated her by this point, but the simple gesture alone made me skim over the explanation and move straight to a defensive posture.
Stop looking at them like they’re some cattle for you to take stock of! Seeing you look at them all like that, stuck up bit–
She looked upward, pondering for a second, before looking back to me.
Possibly, have you seen a strange tentacled woman?
What the fuck kind of question is that out of nowhere? Don’t fucking ignore me!
I was sneering, talking back with whatever venom I could work in with each sentence, knowing I couldn't even make her disappear even if I willed it.
You waited a good week and a half, why show yourself so soon?
This is soon? You seem mistaken in the idea that I would just drop my watch of you as soon as I made myself known.
There’s no mistake when I’d gone my whole existence in this world, without seeing you once in the five or six years it took. Same to her, she only saw you at the end.
Solah clicked her tongue.
You may have the mind of Catan, but you are sure are a mark more stubborn in this life.
Piss off with the cryptic bullshit, either make my life worse like you’ve seen fit to do, or fuckin leave.
Solah furrowed her brow, tilting her head to the side.
Ah, did dat do teh trick? Ice bitch finally wet ‘whittle‘ol dead spiwit get undew hew skin?
The thoughts actually felt satisfying to lay out, like I was somehow succeeding at spiting her. With that said, she never even seemed insulted, only annoyed, before turning back to her emotionless norm.
Maybe you could deal for more, then?
Once more with the self-satisfied smirk, but this time it felt different, as if it was falsely pushed forth. I sighed, placing an elbow over my knee.
I already hate you, it’s not like you can improve that stance into abhorrence when the word is just the same but packed in a way that you might say it. No, you did that when you all but killed her.
A train of thought crossed my mind, on what she’d said in Krakow. Once more, ‘It is your life, no one else's.’
And stranding me here…
She remained where she stood.
One would struggle to understand just what turmoil your mind still holds in place. Would you say you are stranded here with them, in that sentiment?
I watched as she gestured to Beryl just below her, before crossing her arms once more. It was a pointless thought, but still, I felt myself actually irritated by it.
It’s not like I don't appreciate the good things that occur, I–
I dropped the hand I ate with, looking away into the darkness.
For fuck sake, would you shut up? I’m not keen on letting them get eaten in their sleep.
Your mind really is a scattered web, and here I thought I could tell of its place.
Yeah, sure, whatever you mean by that. What do you expect? You had your pick of souls’, billions, in fact.
I continued my eating, nearly finishing the stick of meat as I tried to listen. Fed up, but doing my best to atleast hear the wilderness around us over the pointless conversation. A strange, low rumble could be heard, some sort of whirbble in its pattern. For all I could tell, however, it was probably one of the Brony’ox with some kind of respiratory issue.
You speak as if I had a choice of souls to begin with.
I had to stifle a chuckle for a moment, not wanting to wake the others and most definitely not wanting to waste my dinner.
Is that supposed to mean anything?
Silence. Silence and a change in the shadows cast by the fire as Solah pointed to something. My eyes back to her, then to where her hand pointed, at the diary.
Read it.
Tch, fuck you.
I told you it was all that remained, or will you be stubborn of it? I am giving you the simplest answer you can imagine, one that you begged for.
Will it bring her back?
There is no ‘bringing her back’. Surely you’ve come to understand that half of your predicament. The rest remains to be seen.
Then read my lips.
I mouthed the words, silent against the backdrop, as I morphed every drop of spite I could into my voice.
Fuck. You.
Solah smirked.
Just like your mother.
What? Don’t tell me you watched me there, on earth?
You wouldn't care if I bothered to clarify, would you?
I stood, grass and pine straw shuffling about as I did. The words, for some odd reason, felt more lighting than anything up until this point.
The fuck does that mean?
Read the book.
Answer me!
I was gritting my teeth, the ache in my few molars slowly edging into my senses.
Read it, and you’ll know.
“That is not mine to read!”
I stood my ground and, against my better judgment, riled by her off-handed comment, screamed the words.
Ah, there we are, the tinder box seems to be set well.
Once more, a smirk of self-satisfaction, or was it closer to mirth?
Fuck!
Beryl and Vaughn both roused immediately, sitting upright as my words echoed. Michal was close behind, but he was nowhere near conscious enough to register reality just yet.
“Kiyomi? What did you see? What was it?”
Beryl asked, looking about as I continued to stare at Solah. The herd of Brony’ox and Brachiosaur both were also rousing. The sound of their massive bodies heaving from the ground, the snapping of branches, and the bleats and bugles of alerted animals flooding the woods around us. The same low-toned warbble appeared, faint, but nearly shaking to our bones with its base.
What did you mean ‘Just like your mother?’ If not earth?
Her smirk grew to the point her teeth were showing.
I’ve set a sufficient fire with that, haven't I?
What did you mean?!
Every ounce of my being wanted to move on her, to draw Wyrmstooth as if I ever had a chance of actually doing anything. For the first time in my life, I had the urge to actually kill another person, and I was fighting it, hard.
Remember when you said you wanted to kill a stalker on your own? Well, it seems you will get the opportunity, that and some other things will finally come to pass.
The realization hit me, as I tried to take in the cacophony of noise around us.
Shit! I can’t single out anything!
I tore my eyes away from Solah, frantically looking about the dark and reaching out with predatory instinct. It was blurred in every direction, as the two herds of animals roused and began to flee their haven thanks to my uproar.
Beryl will still expect you to wear the dress, and you’re welcome. Consider this a favor.
In a glimpse, Solah was gone, smug aura and all, with Michal sitting in place, still confused. And at that moment, the noise hit, close, overpowering, and unmistakable. The low-toned warble echoed off of the trees through the chorus of snapping branches, bugles, and chuffing. Then, immediately after, the ground shaking pound of a monster, thousands of pounds in weight, propelling itself forward like a truck.
Roaaaa!!
“Fuck! Stay dow– uhnf!”
A Stalker, in all its sheer power, charged out of the darkness, bounding over Michal and nearly stepping on Beryl as it propelled its weight into my body and through the tree I was posted on. Wood shattered, and the loud creaking of fibers was the last thing I could hear as the impact left my ears ringing.
“Fucker!”
I kept pushing, the Stalker’s jaws opening just as I grabbed one of its horns. It tried to gore me, shoving my body into the ground as the therapod swept me about in the dirt.
“Unf– giant–”
A sweep to the left, into a stray stone that nearly knocked the breath out of me.
“Fuck it!”
I still had my buckler, Wyrmstooth dropped as I was struck into the tree some thirty feet of so away next to the campfire.
Fuck it! This is what I wanted! To hell with a proper hunt!
“Overgrown–”
Fuck you!
I released the horn, reaching back as I dug my elbow into the ground. The progress of its sweeping stopped, and it relented, opening its jaws and bringing them down on me just as quickly. Escape was not the plan though, I didn’t want to play prey, I didn’t want to take this slow and calculated. I reached out my hands, catching each jaw with my thumbs safely in between the Stalkers serrated teeth.
“I’ve got you now.”
I smirked, the Stalker instinctually raising its head in an attempt to take a fresh approach. I jumped as it did so, letting my body rise into the air with its momentum. Bringing a leg up, I forced the heel of my right boot into its maw and hooked it on the monster's teeth. I released the rip with my left hand, the same arm as the bucker, and smiled as the thought came and went.
This is my win.
I brought down the shielded arm, plummeting my fist just above the horned brow of the beast using violent impact. My effort was answered by just a hint of resistance, before the Stalkers skull shattered like glass under a hammer. Blood, bone, and mucus splattered outward, and the hulking frame of the stalker collapsed, nearly sending me tumbling back if not for the hooked boot. It all glistened faintly from the fire in the distance, and the glow of adrenaline was welcomed as my personal escape.
Fuck, that– Always a rush, but its better when I don’t feel like I’m at risk of hurting someone.
“Beryl!”
Vaughn's yelling tore me from my moment; Michal’s own yelling accompanied it, and when I looked over, the two were actively working together to pry a second Stalker was pinning Beryl as she held a hand outward, crackling with electricity while mere inches from its maw.