Exiled

by Blake Arthur Peel

  “And?”

  “And... I’d be a sorry excuse for a ranger if I couldn’t light my own fires. Come on.” He walks out of the cave, going back into the hot, dry air. I let out a huff of exasperation, reluctantly leaving the cool cave to go after him.

  Next, we set to work gathering the thorny branches of brambles nearby, carrying the dead twigs to the back of the ravine and piling them inside of our little shelter. Fortunately, it isn’t long until we have a large pile. Owyn then sets out immediately trying to light a fire, digging a small pit and placing within it a pile of the smallest twigs. He removes a small, polished stone from a hidden pocket in his breeches then pulls off his belt, which causes me to blush and glance away. He seems completely oblivious to the awkwardness of the situation, which makes me feel foolish. Using the metal of his belt buckle, he strikes the stone repeatedly, producing a small shower of sparks until the kindling begins to smoke.

  “Well done!” I exclaim, scooting closer as he bends down and begins blowing gently on the embers.

  After a few tries the embers ignite, crackling and popping as a small fire comes to life.

  Together, we feed the small fire until it grows into a decent blaze, warming the air and casting a flickering light onto the cave walls. The sight of the flames is comforting, reminding me of civilization, and comforting me with the promise of night that wouldn’t be spent entirely in darkness.

  “I told you I could do it,” he mutters, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye and smirking.

  “Forgive me for doubting you, oh great pyrotechnic one,” I reply sarcastically, giving him a small smile. “Your wisdom and magnitude shall not be questioned again.”

  “Good,” he replies, his smirk becoming a self-satisfied grin. “See that it isn’t.”

  We share a laugh, then set off to work once more, fortifying the entrance to our cave so that the light of the fire will be obscured at night. Together, we move a large rock and pull up bushes, creating a kind of barrier to cover the front. When we finally finish, the sun begins its final descent to the horizon.

  Standing outside of the cave, I watch as the sky gradually darkens from orange to violet, then finally to a dusky blue. The light of the stars begins to shine, tentatively coming out to brighten the night.

  Just as I am about to head inside, I hear something rustling down at the mouth of the canyon, a sound like stones crumbling. Then, my blood chills as a howl rips through the air.

  One of the demons has apparently returned... and now, we are trapped in the dead end of a ravine.

  "Owyn," I hiss, rushing back to the mouth of the cave. "I think we are in trouble!"

  Chapter Eight

  Owyn

  I leap to my feet, slipping past Zara to step outside of the cave.

  There, at the entrance to our ravine is the same quill demon that had been searching for us the night before. “Hells,” I curse, ducking down to avoid being seen. The enormous creature is standing still, swinging its head in the same side-to-side manner as it had last night.

  “Do you think it saw me?” Zara whispers behind me.

  “Not sure,” I reply, keeping a wary eye on the thing from behind a rock.

  What I wouldn’t give for some of Zara’s magefyre right about now, I think to myself, silently cursing the men who had disarmed us. My hatchet and a good bow would be helpful as well.

  A few tense minutes pass, neither of us talking as the demon stands there. Then, like a lumbering lizard, it begins making its way to the back of the ravine.

  “Damn it,” I swear, tone hushed. “It’s coming right for us.”

  “What do we do?” Zara sounds frightened, her eyes growing wide.

  “The only thing we can do,” I reply. “We need to find a way to kill it.”

  “Kill it?” She asks, incredulous. “With what? Sticks and stones?”

  “If necessary, yes,” I mutter, searching about the cave for anything we can use. Not finding anything particularly useful, I turn to Zara. “Try to make some kind of a torch,” I whisper. “We have fire... we might as well use it. Maybe it will frighten that thing away.”

  “Alright,” she replies, bending down to gather up our pile of kindling sticks. “What are you going to do?”

  “Distract it,” I reply, making my way back to the mouth of the cave.

  The demon is getting closer, its large, spiny body climbing over rocks at a steady pace. It’s going to smell the fire, I think to myself, searching for a path to run. If it makes it up here, we are going to be trapped like rats in this cave. I am uncertain about whether or not the beast will be able to fit inside of cave’s entrance, but I do not intend to find out.

  Before Zara can object, I pick up a rock and leap from my hiding spot, winding up and throwing it as hard as I can. The small stone soars through the air and hits the thing right on the back with a dull thud.

  “Hey!” I shout, waving my arms wildly. “Look over here, you big ugly brute!”

  The demon looks up at me and lets out an otherworldly howl, red eyes blazing.

  I immediately take off running, picking out a path on the hill leading away from Zara and the cave. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the creature begin to move, twisting its body and scrambling toward my position. The sun has almost completely set, presenting another danger of tripping and falling, but time spent training as a ranger in the forests of Tarsynium has fortunately given me nimble feet.

  Running up the hill and clambering up a large boulder, I look behind me to see that the quill demon has quickly closed the distance between us, moving extremely fast for a beast of that size. I curse, quickly taking another path as the demon leaps, wedge-shaped mouth snapping.

  It misses, eating a mouthful of dirt as I run the other way. My heart begins to pound in my chest, and I start to berate myself for not finding a makeshift weapon earlier in the day.

  Sharp spine-like quills begin to fall around me, thudding like arrows onto the rocks as the creature launches them from its body. I curse as one narrowly misses the side of my head, ducking down behind a small cluster of bushes. When I hear the creature on the move once again, I jump back into action, sprinting in a twisting path to confuse it.

  Zara emerges from the cave carrying an improvised torch made from kindling, waving the flaming thing above her head like a beacon. “Hey, you big ugly brute!” She shouts, getting its attention. “Why don’t you come try me instead?”

  The beast stops and turns its hideous head, letting out another roar as it considers which prey to pursue. Taking this pause as an opportunity, I search about frantically for something – anything – I can use as a weapon.

  As jagged fist-sized stone catches my eye, and I quickly snatch it up, turning to face the quill demon. Only when I turn it is no longer there. It is scrambling down the hill in a straight line for Zara.

  “Crazy girl,” I mutter, jumping back into an all-out run. “Zara!” I call out a second later, voice echoing in the ravine. “Run! It shoots its quills like arrows!”

  Fortunately, she heeds my warning and begins to run away, diving for cover as it begins to shoot quills at her. Then, when the shooting stops, she continues weaving her way across the uneven terrain.

  Got to bring that thing down, I think, trying to come up with a way to kill it.

  I spot a boulder on a nearby ledge and get an idea, running toward it before I can have a chance to second-guess myself. “Bring it this way, Zara! I have an idea!”

  She actually manages to move fairly quickly despite the fact she is wearing those long mage robes, nimbly dashing over the stony ground. When the demon gets close she hurls the torch, which flares to life as it ignites some nearby bushes. This buys her time, as the creature rears up, shrieking angrily at the flames.

  As I climb up the ledge she races to my position, and I reach down, pulling her up beside me. As we do so the demon reorients itself, breaking away from the fire and focusing its attention on both of us.

  It then scra
mbles forward, making its way up the hill and howling as it reaches the bottom of the ledge.

  Using its tail like a spear, it lashes out, stabbing at us with its wicked barb from below like a scorpion. Zara screams and two of us dodge, narrowly avoiding being pierced to death.

  There is a brief pause as the demon retracts its tail, getting ready for another attack, and this is when I decide to spring my trap. Rushing forward, I use my shoulder to shove against the boulder with all of my might, once, twice, three times. My shoulder flares with pain but my efforts pay off as the great stone budges. It groans, grinding against the stone ledge as it slips and tumbles, falling down onto the demon’s unsuspecting head with a crunch.

  Then everything becomes still.

  Tentatively, the two of us lean out over the ledge to see for sure if we had managed to kill it. To our relief, only its lower half is visible protruding from beneath the boulder, its legs twitching oddly.

  “Light almighty above,” Zara breathes, letting out a small laugh and smiling. “I can’t believe that actually worked!”

  “Me neither,” I reply tiredly, sinking down to sit on the ledge.

  Gazing out at the narrow ravine, I watch as the fire smolders down to a few glowing embers. Luckily, the spindly bushes do not take long to burn out, otherwise the whole hill might have caught fire.

  “That was good work with the torch,” I say after a moment, glancing at her as she settles down next to me. “It almost had me before you intervened.”

  “I thought both of us were dead,” she admits shakily.

  We make our way down from the ledge, approaching the demon's corpse slowly in case it isn't actually dead. After a few seconds we relax, though, when the thing does not stir.

  The trap had done its job well, killing it almost instantly by crushing its skull.

  Reaching down, I pull out one of the demon's quill-like spines, cutting a small gash in my palm in the process. It isn't a deep cut, but it stings fiercely. I'll have to take care to keep it from getting infected.

  The spine itself is almost like a dagger, made from a chitinous material that is hard as steel. Using a bit of cloth for a handle, I should be able to turn the thing into a fairly useful tool.

  Upon closer inspection, the head and chest of the creature seem to have been completely crushed by the boulder, leaving the lower half in relatively decent shape. Blood has begun to pool beneath it on the stones, black, oily stuff similar to what comes out of gorgons. On sudden impulse I crouch back down, using the improvised quill-knife to cut into the creature's flank.

  "What are you doing?" Zara asks, crinkling up her nose.

  "The last thing we need to survive is food," I reply, slicing off a chunk of its flesh. "This thing has plenty of meat on it... I say that we cook it."

  Zara makes a gagging sound and shakes her head emphatically. "That's disgusting, Owyn! Under no circumstances will I actually eat a demon!"

  "Don't be such a baby," I reply, standing up. In one hand I hold the spine and in the other I hold a bloody hunk of meat. "It's either this or risk starving to death."

  "I'll take my chances," she says stubbornly, pointedly looking away from my blood-dripping prize.

  We make our way back to the cave, settling down beside the fire pit and nursing it back to life. Once the blaze is fully renewed, I find a flat rock and place it in the coals, cutting the meat into strips and laying them down to cook. Soon, the rock is sizzling as juices run off of it and into the fire, sending up tendrils of smoke.

  It actually smells quite good.

  Pinching one of the strips of meat between my forefinger and thumb, I pick it up and blow on it before shoving it into my mouth. Zara shakes her head in disgust but I ignore her, chewing thoughtfully on the cooked flesh. It is tough without being foul or rubbery. In fact, it tastes surprisingly good, especially after going so long without any food.

  I swallow, then glance over at Zara.

  "Well," she asks, looking like she is about to be sick. "How is it?"

  "It's still early," I reply with a small smile, "but I don't feel like I've been poisoned."

  "How does it taste?"

  My smile widens into a full-fledged grin. "It tastes like pork."

  She bites her lip, looking from me to the other strips of meat sizzling on the rock. I can tell she is conflicted by the way the corners of her eyes pinch together, her stomach no doubt protesting from lack of food. Finally, she lets out a long sigh, leaning forward and picking up a piece for herself. "If it does end up being poisonous, at least we will die together." Then, hesitantly, she puts it in her mouth.

  I watch as she chews, noting how her entire body seems to relax. "Oh, Light," she murmurs while she chews. "That's actually really good."

  Chuckling, I reach down and grab another strip of meat, popping it into my mouth and relishing the taste.

  Within minutes, the grease-covered stone is completely empty.

  "I'll have to go out and cut away as much of the meat as I can," I say after a moment, leaning against the cold, rough wall of the cave. "That way we can cure it in the sun to keep it from spoiling. Maybe I can even build an oven out of stones so I can smoke it."

  "What I wouldn't give for some freshly baked bread," Zara says wistfully, settling down against the wall opposite me. "Maybe a glass of red wine to wash it all down."

  "Demon meat will have to do for now," I reply dryly.

  We chat amiably for a time, watching the fire slowly die down. Eventually though, we decide to go to sleep. The events of the last few days have left us both drained and exhausted.

  Laying side by side in the sand near the back of the cave, we drift off to sleep. The last thing I remember is her snuggling up next to me and me wrapping her up in my arms.

  Chapter Nine

  Zara

  The hot sun rises on yet another day outside the Arc of Radiance.

  I blink, pushing myself up from the sand as rays of light filter in from the entrance of the cave. Ash-covered embers smolder in our fire pit, sending up wisps of smoke to be carried outside, and already I can feel the temperature starting to rise.

  Another day living in desolation.

  Yawning, I brush the sand off of my face and out of my hair, standing up and walking stiffly over to the exit. Owyn is gone, but that is not too out of the ordinary – the bloody ranger is always up at the crack of dawn and busying himself with some odd task or another.

  As I step outside, I can already feel beads of sweat start to prickle on my forehead. The landscape ahead is as dry and desolate as ever.

  Down below, near the bottom of the ravine, Owyn crouches down with his back to me, working away at something in the bushes. His clothing, like mine, is dusty and torn, and his posture indicates soreness, like he had slept wrong on his back.

  Sighing, I head back into the cave, settling down next to the fire and attempting to nurse the embers back to life with a stick. The coals stir easy enough and I feed them some broken twigs, the kindling bringing the fire back. Within minutes I have a crackling blaze, and I then begin picking through our meager stockpile, searching for something to eat.

  In addition to the strips of dried meat Owyn had cured, we managed to find edible roots and tough little berries from the thorny bushes of this region. These we collected on a large, flat stone near the back of the cave. It’s been days since our fight with the quill demon, and even its considerable size has not been enough to sustain us. The meat he was able to salvage has almost all been eaten, and the roots and berries, though no doubt nourishing, are hard to come by in this harsh desert environment.

  Unfortunately, not much remains of our stores.

  I pick up a few berries and let out another sigh, popping them into my mouth and leaning against the cool stone of the cave wall.

  At least we’re still alive, I remind myself silently. It could be much, much worse.

  No more demons have come to our little ravine since that first night. There have been a few close calls,
their howls echoing most nights through the hills and keeping us awake, but so far we have been safe. They don’t seem to be as active during the heat of the day.

  I lose myself in thought for a time, resting in the shade of the cave and waiting for Owyn to finish his self-imposed chores. After what feels like an hour, the ranger’s apprentice makes his way inside, drenched in sweat and carrying a length of rope woven from the fibers of a thorn bush.

  He glances at me and gives me a small smile, then squats down and busies himself tying the rope into a knot. “Good, you’re up. I need your help setting some of these traps.”

  I return the smile, though in truth, it feels forced.

  Owyn has grown increasingly distant of late, focusing more on ranger survivalism than on exchanging pleasantries with me. The romance that we had felt between us before we were captured seems to have been snuffed out, stifled by being exiled to this harsh environment.

  “Actually,” I say after a moment, choosing my words carefully, “I was hoping that we could head back to the Arc. I’d like to try another way to open up a hole.”

  He grunts but does not look up from his work. “It’s dangerous, Zara. Besides, we need to get these traps set if we want any more food. There are desert mice out there, but they’re bloody hard to snare.”

  I feel a stab of annoyance at his tone, though I try not to let it show on my face.

  One of the quirks about the Arc failing is the randomness at which holes appear. They show up in all shapes and sizes, manifesting in odd places and times. Many demons, gorgons and darkhounds included, wait daily along its perimeter hoping for a way to get inside. This makes it extremely dangerous to get near the thing. The last time we went, we were almost discovered by a roving band of gorgons – only Owyn’s quick thinking managed to save us from being captured or killed.

  “I still think it’s worthwhile for us to try,” I reply at length. “What’s the point of surviving out here if we can’t get back inside?”

  “What’s the point of dying from starvation while we’re trying to figure out a way inside?” Owyn fires back, annoyance creeping into his voice. “I want to get out of here just as much as you do, Zara. But we need to take time to prepare. Besides, aren’t you the one always talking about how the Arc is going to completely fail anyway?”