Chapter 189: Pork Chop Sandwiches!
Katlyn Farragher
Kat was going to kill Ann. Goddamn woman had run off into the night with a monster that she knew nothing about, that had somehow survived getting knocked off a cliff, and was back for more. What she’d done was stupid, reckless, and really heroic. If it were anyone else, she’d admire her girlfriend’s actions. For now, she had to do something else.
Throwing open the other tent, she found Bren shaking behind Lucia. Lucia looked like a mother bear, ready to kill anything that came for them in the blink of an eye. Thankfully, she didn’t pull the trigger when she saw Kat.
Kat moved in, getting a look at Bren. Depth perception was still a little weird, so she accidentally tapped his face instead of getting her hand around the side of it. He looked shaken. Terrified.
“Kat! Kat, it’s back. It’s back. Arty! We… we didn’t finish it!”
Panic. She hadn’t seen him panic since that day on the snowy field, hiding behind that sledge.
“Oi, not the time, Bren. We need tae get the camp packed and high-tail our way outta here. Lucia, ye good?”
“Worried, fine,” Lucia said. She still had her eyes trained on that tent flap.
“Thing’s gone fer now. Ann’s being feckin’ stupid an’ distracted it. Dinnae how long. Help us break camp an’ we leave.”
“Right, she said leave trail. Mark trees,” Lucia nodded, patting her knife. “Help Rosalyn. Have this.”
“Got it,” Kat nodded and left the two.
“What’s happening? Where’s Ann? Where’s the Warped?” Rosalyn blurted as she came out of the tent.
“Old Warped from before we met ye, Bren’s panicked, Ann’s leadin’ it on a chase. We need tae break camp an’ get out.”
“What about Ann?” Rosalyn asked, dismissing her staff. To her credit, the Druid immediately started gathering their things and packing bags.
“She told Lucia tae mark a trail fer her. Think she means tae get back here then catch up. If she feckin’ survives.”
“If,” Rosalyn whispered. “Was this thing that scary?”
“Aye, fast enough tae keep up wit’ elk pullin’ a sledge, tough enough we couldn’t take it wit’ me, Bren, an’… Arty. Arty was a magic rifleman. He tripped on a rock under the snow, an’ this thing was on top o’ him in an instant. Didn’t have time tae even attempt an intervention. I… I heard all o’ it, ye know, when it ate ‘im.”
“Kat,” Rosalyn said, pausing to look at her with worry. “Are you ok?”
“Honestly?” Kat asked, as she rolled up Ann’s bedroll, securing it to the woman’s pack. “Probably not, but this isn’t the time fer me tae break. That can come after we’re outta danger an’ once that mutt mangach gets back.”
“Don’t be too hard on her,” Rosalyn warned, slipping her journal and some of Ann’s drawings into her own bag. “She’s doing the best she can to make sure we get out of here safely.”
“We mighta been able tae kill it,” Kat huffed. They’d cleared the tent. She got to taking down the collapsible poles.
“With Bren like he is? We take any damage, and we might have to just deal with it until he recovers. That’s not a smart way of handling this, Kat.”
“Nae, but it doesn’t mean losin’ ‘er! She’s mine, Gods damnit. Doesn’t get tae go off an’ die without me permission.”
“Careful, dear,” Rosalyn said, her voice gentle but firm. “The Dragon is talking.”
Kat stopped, hesitated, then kept packing in silence. The Dragon was making that hissing noise it called a laugh in her head.
She’sss right, it hissed. That wasss very much like me. Well done, little protector.
Ye can shut up, Kat barked back, and tried to ignore it.
But she also missses a perssspective on what you sssaid. She isss your love. Of courssse you wish to protect her. Anyone would. Losssing a loved one is disssassstrous.
Way too familiar wit’ the consequences, worm. Either give me somethin’ tae work wit’, or be quiet.
Kat shivered as she almost felt the Dragon’s freezing breath on her neck. Her scales did nothing to help against the internal cold. Yesss, the Queen isss reeling. Lashing out at any who threaten what she hasss left. Will you be her, or will you be more?
More? Stop with the feckin’ riddles. Kat shoved the tent poles into her bag and got to folding up the invisible canvas with Rosalyn.
More. More powerful. So powerful, nothing can take your thingsss away. Not even themselvesss.
Kat cringed. Half of that sounded fine. Being strong enough to protect her loved ones from anything. The second part, well, that was what her Ma was currently tryin’ tae do.
Not gonna put me treasures in a prison, Kat sighed. Ye can stop wit’ that angle. Ma’s been plenty example o’ why that doesn’t work.
This is truth, the Dragon snorted. More phantasmal cold air on the back of Kat’s neck. Then we will focusss on ssstrength. The might to sssave all you wish. All you desssire. You desssire much. Enough to rival a true dragon.
Ye say that, then me heart twists me in feckin’ knots whenever I try tae think about goin’ fer more. The tent, now folded, was neatly slid into its spot in Kat’s pack. Kat went to help Lucia break down, while Rosalyn started to clear the site of any evidence they’d been there.
Yesss. The Bitch Goddess has meddled with your desssires.
Meddled? She helped. Gave me the time tae make me own choice in the matter without forcin’ me. If that’s meddlin’, I’m glad she did it.
It would have forced you to confront yourself! The Dragon roared. Kat flinched, and Lucia gave her a look, but she got back to packing Bren’s things. Confront what you want, reconcile that against your heart. Push you to grow! To change! She only gave you ssstagnation. All need to grow, become more. I ssseek to help you with thisss.
Yeah, and what’s your version o’ growth look like? Kat asked as she disassembled Bren and Lucia’s tent.
Sssomeone who treasuresss what her heart desiresss. Someone who doess not have limitsss to her collectionsss. She will have all she wantsss in thisss world with the ssstrength to keep it.
Kat considered the words as she put things into Lucia’s bag. They weren’t too bad, honestly. They aligned with what she wanted in her heart. She wanted to be strong, to protect anyone she cared about. Hells, even the thing about limits was enticing. Being able to freely love, even if it didn’t get too serious, was something she deeply craved even before Ann had been introduced into her life. Still, that little voice in her head telling her that she couldn’t handle it, that she’d mess it up by holding on too tightly, persisted. Tiny though it was, it was relentless.
Time isss sssomething we have plenty of, hatchling, the Dragon hissed. Change will not come overnight, and requiresss effort, failuresss to progresss.
About the sanest thing ye’ve said so far. So, ye done makin’ me feel like absolute shite?
A sharp laughter rang out in her soul. Hardly. If it isss what you need to push passst your limitsss, I will play the monssster you sssee me asss.
Doesn’t help that ye look like a twice dead lizard.
For now. Until I sssup on your ssstrength enough to regain my magessstic form once more.
Well, if ye’re already doin’ tha’, then what’s tae stop ye from just keepin’ on without torturin’ me?
There are limitsss to how much I can grow. The Elder One hasss ssstymied me, like the Wind hasss with the goat, and the Bitch with the Wolf. I need you to grow. Your desssires match my own. I would sssee us mighty over all, a flock of women to worship usss.
And ye lost me there, Kat grunted, shoving the rest of the camp supplies into her pack. Don’t need worship, just want more. Simple. I agree wit’ some o’ what ye said, but the motivation behind it is twisted. Ye’ll stay right in yer cage until I see change in ye. Let’s see if ye can take yer own advice.
The Dragon roared in fury, then slunk off into the recesses of Kat’s soul.
“Dragon?” Lucia asked, making Kat jump.
“Aye. It’s tryin’ tae tempt me intae a few things. It’s gettin’ better at it, too. Usin’ stuff I actually do want, then wormin’ in its own desires. Thing’s complicated.”
“What you want?”
“Tae be free in me love, I guess?” Kat shrugged. “Ye heard o’ what happened in the woods. Been botherin’ me since. Somethin’ that’s just on me mind. Then me mind says I’m holdin’ those two back.”
“Torn,” Lucia nodded. “Do not envy.”
“Like ye’re one tae talk wit’ yer fawnin’ o’er Bren,” Kat laughed. “Think o’ how ye wanna keep that goin’?”
“Thinking,” Lucia shrugged. “Slow. Bren is skittish. Like deer.”
“Well, if that’s what works for you, then the best o’ luck. I’ve seen how he looks at ye. Think he’s waitin’ fer ye tae take more moves. His head’s all twisted up in the Bond, an’ he can't trust it if he asks ye first.”
Lucia pondered that as she checked Fillianore. “Same to you. Try. Do something. Never learn if don’t. Packed. Let’s run.”
“Rosalyn, ye good?” Kat called.
“Yup! Windswept and everything! Got a little cairn set up so Ann knows this is the spot, and a twig pointing where we’re going out of it. She should be able to follow that to the first mark.”
As she spoke, Lucia approached a tree in the opposite direction the Warped had chased Ann, and cut a gash. Simple, but effective. Headed east this time. They might have to detour from Orenous’ directions a bit. Such was travel.
“Bren, ye good?”
“No,” Bren said, his voice still trembling. “I am far from well, but I can move. Let us be gone.”
Nodding, Kat led them into the woods.
The sun was starting to peek over the treetops when she heard Ann’s paws and the swishing of that bushy tail. They were music to her pointy ears. Kat set her stuff down and ran through the woods in that direction. She needed to make sure Ann was alright right now. No waiting. She’d done too much of that.
Ann came out from behind a tree. She was beaten and bruised but very much alive. Kat crashed into her with a titanic hug, nuzzling her head just under Ann’s chin. It was so nice to be shorter than someone else. Getting to feel safe in their arms. Those safe arms wrapped around Kat as Ann hugged her back. She was safe. Ann was safe. Everything would be alright.
The treasure is back in the hoard, the Dragon chuckled. The loss has been corrected.
“I’m so glad ye’re ok,” Kat sighed. Listening to the Dragon was at the bottom of her priorities right now.
“Told you I’d be fine,” Ann whispered, rubbing her chin on Kat’s head in that way she liked. “Gotta talk about that thing, though.”
“Later?” Kat pleaded.
“Ann!” Suddenly, Rosalyn hit them full force, almost toppling the pair. Didn’t help that her horns dug in hard as she shoved her face between them. “Thank Eas, you’re ok! I didn’t even see you run off and that was so risky, you didn’t even know what that thing could do don’t die please.”
“I promise I’m alright,” Ann laughed. “Sorry to worry both of you. I knew I had the best chance of outrunning and losing it, so I took that chance. I’m glad you all are safe, too.”
Kat heard the crunching of snow behind her as Bren and Lucia joined them. She didn’t want to, but she let go and wiped tears from her eyes.
“Survived. Good,” Lucia said, giving Ann an affirmative nod. “Was bad?”
“Yeah, pretty bad,” Ann said, letting Rosalyn hang on to her padded kilt. Poor little thing. “Bren, Kat, could that thing use magic before?”
“Nae. Just charged us an’… an’ ate Arty.”
“It was tough, but it didn’t regenerate. Black blood, like most other Warped, and a collection of skulls.”
“Well, that’s changed. Thing was throwing magic around like a fireworks show. It had ice, lightning, water, acid, some black shit I didn’t breathe in, and each skull did something different. Also, it had wings?”
“I… I did note that,” Bren nodded. He’d been damn quiet the past few hours. Kat really couldn’t blame him. After losing Artyom, she didn’t really want to talk about it either. “It had extra legs as well.”
“Aye. Freak didn’t have tentacles.”
“Well, it had a scar on its shoulder, and a few bullet wounds from the look I got.”
“A warped that doesn’t regenerate,” Rosalyn piped up. “That’s rare. Really, really rare. Usually, only something so powerful that it doesn’t need the extra durability loses that trait.” The Druid took out her new codex notebook thing. “Describe it for me?”
Ann ran through a detailed description of the beast. Taller than what Kat remembered, longer, with far more things added to it. Rosalyn dutifully took down her notes as they sat down. It was better to get this done before Ann’s memory got fuzzy.
Once it was all taken down, Rosalyn ran the bookmark down the page and snapped it shut. “Give it a minute, then we’ll check. If the creature is a known Warped, then the page should be filled in with information.”
“That’s really useful. Zidane just let you have that?” Ann asked.
“Yup! Said it was just sitting and gathering dust…”
Kat zoned out as Rosalyn re-told the story. She had been there. Her thoughts drifted back to the day they’d found Ann in that mance, lying on a pile of snow. The day her life had changed.
If Illdall had ever failed her, it was the day Artyom had died. It was so stupid. So random. He’d just tripped! The Warped was even focused on her, but no. No, it had to turn and kill their helpless rifleman. Then she’d beaten it, tricked it over the cliff and into a fall which should have ended things. Yeah, they’d never seen the body, but that was a good fifty-foot fall. A thing that big would be going far too fast to land safely. How in the Hells had it not only made it out, but healed enough to come back for them? How did it find them again? That was the real mystery. Running into it once was terrible enough, but again, and many miles away, was concerning and not just concerning, terrifying. Kat felt it in her bones. They’d see that monster again.
“Time!” Rosalyn called, making Kat jump. The druid opened the book to the bookmark, and… it was blank. Even her notes had been absorbed into the paper. “Um… that’s weird. Zidane didn’t say anything about this happening. I even made up a Warped to test it earlier, and the notes stayed. Whaaa?”
“Write it down again in the normal journal,” Bren said. His brown eyes were wide. Spooked. He was thinking something, but needed more proof.
Rosalyn did as instructed, jotting down the notes from Ann.
“Close it, then re-open,” Bren instructed.
Rosalyn did so and gasped. “How? How? What is going on?”
Kat leaned over. Her heart sank. Some of the words, random letters, and entire sections were missing. It was like they’d interrupted someone going through and erasing something on a chalkboard.
“I have never heard of something like this. A creature that resists being documented at all? Can everyone still remember the creature in detail?”
A circle of nods met Bren’s question.
“Then it affects written documents only. Our recollections are left unaffected. That is good. If it could alter memories, then that would be a truly terrible enemy.”
“Aye, but if we can’t write shite down about it, then how the feck are we gonna report it?” Kat asked. “No one will believe us. No records at all, no other sightin’s.”
“Like the horse thing in the Seed?” Ann asked.
Well, shite. That made sense. “Maybe. Ye were out in the world when that thing started chasin’ us, right?”
“I can’t say for sure. I was still with Orenous in my coma, so time was weird. I would think so, considering Orenous’ seed is in the Belt.”
“Feck, might be related. We can’t really confirm. Not unless the divine want tae get down ‘ere an’ fill us in. Even then…”
“The Warped are a blind spot,” Ann finished. “Orenous herself said she hadn’t seen that thing coming for you.”
“So we’re on our own wit’ this thing,” Kat said. Admitting it made the whole thing feel way too real. Something that could erase itself from history had decided they were the ones who needed to die, all because they’d had the bad luck of running into it and living.
“Maybe it was there fer ye?” Kat suggested. “I mean, we were right next tae the mance. Racin’ by it, aye, but what if it got distracted by our patrol, an’ came after us?”
It was Ann’s turn to look scared. “If that’s what happened, then something’s been trying to stop me since I showed up. Waheela said it was hungry for blood. Not sure how reliable her read on it was, but still, if it was after me? What in the everloving fuck sent it?”