by Quil Carter
“Awesome!” Ben grinned. He grabbed his sword and slipped his boots on, then jogged a few steps to where Teal was. “Maybe after a few more lessons, you can actually let me out of your sight.”
This brought on a rather sarcastic laugh. “That will not be happening for a long, long time.”
“And considering the horrors you have here, I really don’t mind,” Ben said as the river disappeared behind them. He never got over how unnerving it was, the contrast between the river oasis and the Forest of Jare. As soon as they stepped back into the black forest it was almost like the river paradise had never existed at all and they’d both been hallucinating.
“Me neither,” Teal said. “I didn’t spend months in your horror of a world to have you killed by a jare.”
Ben laughed and lightly pushed his friend. “You loved it, admit it! You loved your pizza and your hot showers.”
Teal laughed too and they both carried on towards their temporary home, both of their moods high and jovial. Ben didn’t remember when he’d felt this happy, even before he came to Alcove.
“Shek,” Ben swore a few minutes later, after they were almost at the cabin. “Tee, I forgot the ash soap by the river.”
Teal frowned and glanced behind Ben. “We’re almost at the cabin. We can go get it later, or on our way out.”
Ben turned around to where Teal was looking. “No – I’ll go get it. It’s a five minute walk; you start hanging the clothes up.”
Teal bit his lip. “Didn’t we just have a laugh about me never letting you out of my sight?”
Ben motioned to the sword strapped to his back. “I have this anyway. I know enough by now to know what end to stick the bad guy with.”
Teal didn’t look convinced, but he relented with a nervous noise and held up his hands in defeat. “Alright, you have ten minutes then I’m coming after you, so I suggest you run,” he said with a pained tone to his voice. Ben could tell Teal really didn’t want to let him go, but he didn’t care.
Before Teal could change his mind, Ben turned around and started to jog back to the river.
He had a bit of fun on his way to the beach. Every chance he could get to test his new agility he took, and it was easier to experiment without feeling self-conscious that Teal would secretly judge him.
Ben ran up a gnarled root and jumped onto a rocky cliff that was covered in moss and smaller roots. He grasped onto the ledge, then turned himself around so his back was pressed against the loose stone.
With a single glance down, Ben planned his descent. Then, without another thought, he jumped from one part of the rocky ledge to an overhang, hoisted himself up to the second ledge and then coiled himself like a cat, before springing to a large tree. He extended his claws and dug his nails in, though to his dismay he remembered he had boots on. So instead of clinging to the bark like he had originally planned, he skidded down all the way to the floor and landed on his backside.
Ben looked at his nails and cringed when he saw them full of bark to the point of hurting. He sighed, once again glad Teal couldn’t see him, and started walking towards the river as he dug out the bark from underneath his claws.
“I love this new body,” Ben whispered, looking up at the ledge to see how far he had jumped. He then started to jog back towards the river, jumping off every possible thing he could use as leverage: trees, large rocks, ravines, and stumps. Soon enough, his feet made the all-too-familiar crunching noise as they hit the rocky bed of the river.
However when Ben looked around the clearing, he realized this wasn’t the same riverside he had just come from. He was now at what looked like a small waterfall, the river rougher than it was upstream where he was supposed to be.
Must’ve veered off-course when I was running around, Ben thought to himself, then shrugged and started looking around. At least it wouldn’t be too hard to find the spot where he was supposed to be; obviously he just had to keep walking upstream.
Ben wandered over to the edge of the cliff to see how far the waterfall fell and to check out the view. The river started to become rougher after the three-storey drop and Ben could guess it probably cut through the entire forest, though about a quarter league away the river bent to the left and disappeared out of sight.
With one last look at the churning river below Ben turned to walk back, when something caught his eye.
He froze.
To Ben’s horror, he saw a large white animal coming out of the forest, its muscular legs sinking into the gravel as it walked to the water’s edge and smelled it.
Ben held a hand over his mouth to keep himself from gasping, not knowing how sharp the dark accalite’s hearing was. Slowly he started stepped back, not taking his eyes off of the creature, and watched as it started to drink from the river.
Instincts automatically armed themselves inside of Ben’s mind, but they were fighting with each other rather than telling him what to do. A part of him told himself to remain calm, but the prey animal that slept inside every elf and man, was telling him to turn around and run back to the cabin as fast as he could.
In the end, his mind made his decision for him. As soon as Ben felt himself stepping onto dirt he turned around and ran into the woods. The inner voice that told him to remain calm was muffled as the terrified human inside of him screamed that he was about to become food.
With a heart that seemed to snatch the breath from his lungs with every thump, Ben ran. He poured on the speed and made a beeline for the cabin, mentally calculating how quickly they could bar the door of the cabin and extinguish the fire that would give away their location.
What if it heard me? What if it’s behind me? Ben’s mind raced. He tried to push the thoughts away as he ran through the forest.
It’s behind me; I’m bringing an accalite back to the cabin.
No, no, no… shut up! Ben hissed to the fearful voice ringing in his head. He gave the maddening thoughts a mental push and tried to focus his eyes on the forest rushing past him. As he jumped over a familiar log he pushed back the urge to call for Teal. He didn’t want to alert the beast, for all he knew it was already in pursuit of him.
Cautious relief washed over him as he saw the cabin through the dense forest. He poured on a burst of speed and ran into the clearing.
Teal was standing beside the fire pit, their bucket of laundry beside him.
“Teal,” Ben panted. He tried to continue but found himself bracing against his knees; his lungs on fire and his energy zapped.
Ben glanced up at his friend. “Teal, I saw a dark acc-” he paused, noticing Teal’s facial expression for the first time.
Teal was looking at him with an angry yet fearful expression on his face.
Ben stared, trying to piece together why his friend looked so strange. Then he realized Teal wasn’t looking at him – he was looking past him.
A second assault of anxiety came and slayed his temporary relief. He quickly whirled around, expecting to see the dark accalite behind him, however what he saw made him jump back in surprise.
It wasn’t a dark accalite.
Several feet behind Ben stood a tall elf with olive-coloured skin that was covered in scars and intricate tribal-like tattoos. His head was shaved almost to the scalp and his face held a menace to it that told Ben he wasn’t coming in peace.
“Nice of you to finally join us,” the elf said, his voice slippery like a snake. He took a step forward and as he did a jingling sound filled Ben’s ears. The elf, wearing nothing but a gold necklace and a pair of loose fitting white pants, ones that had silver chains and small disk-like gold plates hanging off of the belt. He was also carrying something equally odd: a gold sceptre with a white orb embedded on the end
“W-who are you?” Ben asked. With every step the elf took towards Ben he took one back; only stopping when he was side by side with Teal.
The elf laughed; he crossed his arms over his bare, scar-covered chest and tapped a finger against his upper arm; gold and silver bracelets also hung off of hi
s wrists. “Who am I? You know who I am.” His eyes flickered to Teal. “He knows who I am.”
Ben glanced over at Teal, whose face was blazing with anger. “He’s the bounty hunter who has been following us.”
“Yes, boy, quite a well-known one at that, though they call me Tseer.” His voice was overflowing with caustic amusement. “Now, I believe you have something I want… if you give it to me without too much fuss, perhaps I’ll put in a good word for you when Erick decides to slaughter the rest of your kind, tree-cat.”
Teal’s eyes hardened; to Ben’s surprise he reached behind him and drew his sword from its scabbard. “I have nothing of yours, Tseer. You would do best to leave us be, unless you want me to add another scar to that body.”
Tseer laughed, even his laugh seemed slippery and serpent-like. Ben noticed that his eyes were crimson red. He was a Dashavian all right; he had the same characteristics of Erick. “You speak so boldly, little hibrid,” he hissed. A pointed tongue slipped out of his mouth and he licked his lips in a lewd manner “What makes you so bold, little tree-cat?”
“Knowing in a second we could gut you like a pig,” Teal said. He started to growl, a different one than Ben had heard him make previous, a lower and more threatening rumble. Instinctively Ben joined in and found the susurration erupting almost naturally from his throat.
The malkah smirked; he then pulled out a serrated dagger from a sheath hidden in the gold ornaments tied to his pants, then he nodded towards Ben. “Draw your weapon, hibrid. I don’t slaughter unarmed boys.”
Then, all in the span of several seconds, Teal drew his dagger from his belt, his other hand picking up the serrated knife they had been using to fillet the fish. He then drew Ben’s sword from the scabbard on his back and handed Ben the daggers.
Ben took the two knives, feeling a rip of adrenaline tear through him. He clenched the knives hard in his hand, understanding then what Teal was doing.
Ben didn’t know how to sword fight, but he did know how to stab someone. Teal was giving him the weapons he did know how to use, and taking the one he didn’t
And if there was one thing Ben knew how to use… it was a knife.
“Stay out of sight, but if you get a chance to use them, use them,” Teal hissed under his breath. “I’ll protect you, like I promised.” Before Ben had a chance to answer back, Teal was running towards Tseer.
The malkah let out a taunting laugh and started running towards Teal as well; the sceptre he had been holding erupting in a flare of silver and black sparks.
Then, in a rapid movement, he swung the sceptre towards Teal.
Teal ducked just in time for a strike of lightning to shoot over his head. The silver light hit a nearby tree making the bark explode off of it with a crackling bang. Splinters shot everywhere, several close enough to sting Ben’s skin.
Teal snarled at him. He jumped towards the malkah with his two swords swinging like they were one weapon and sliced the air in front of Tseer. The bounty hunter was barely able to get out of the way of the blades.
“Fast little cougar, are we?” Tseer taunted. He whipped the air with his sceptre, another blast of lightning shot from the staff.
Ben could feel the static energy crack around him like he was near a tesla. He shielded his eyes as the flash lit up the forest behind them like daylight, a flash that was quickly followed by another explosion of splinters.
Then Ben looked towards Teal. He felt his heart jump to his throat when he saw a burn mark and a puff of smoke erupt from Teal’s upper arm.
Teal swore, and he dropped Ben’s sword as the smoking wound started to drop blood. He quickly jumped out of the way of a second lightning strike and climbed the woodpile near the cabin.
Tseer charged towards him, but with a quick kick Teal threw a piece of firewood at the malkah, hitting him underneath the chin and making him stumble back.
This was Ben’s chance; the malkah had seemed to have forgotten he was even there.
With his weapons in hand, Ben sheathed one of his daggers and with the free one he cut a piece of twine they had been using to hang the salmon. He might not know how to use a sword, but you didn’t need a sword to kill someone.
“Give me the jewel!” Ben heard Tseer snap; he felt another static blast as the malkah shot another bolt at Teal. A few moments later Ben could hear Tseer curse and then snarl. Ben looked over, wrapping the twine around his hand, and saw Tseer holding his side, blood seeped through his fingers. Teal had got him!
“Big mistake, little cat,” the malkah said in a low, dangerous tone. He held his fingers up and made a low whistle.
Ben didn’t know what Tseer was doing and he didn’t care. He sheathed his other dagger and ran behind Tseer, making sure he was out of the malkah’s vision. As he did Tseer advanced on Teal, dagger swinging. Teal jumped from the woodpile onto an old rusted anvil, before jumping from that onto the deck of the cabin; demonstrating the same stealth and agility he had when he had killed the jares.
As the furious malkah charged at Teal, Ben seized his opportunity
With the twine held tightly between both hands, Ben ran quietly towards the malkah, just as Tseer shot another beam of electricity towards Teal. As the lightning bolt hit a large tree behind them, filling the clearing with an ear-splitting boom, Ben pulled the twine over the malkah’s head, down to his neck. Ben then wrenched his hands back, crossed them, and started strangling the malkah.
“Ben!” he heard Teal scream.
Ben tightened his crossed hands, pulling the twine as hard as he could. Tseer thrashed; a small wheezing noise expelled from his lips as his fingers grabbed the soft flesh of his neck.
Teal watched in shock as the malkah started to thrash. He tried to knock Ben away with his staff but his moves were desperate and easy to predict. Ben was able to move with the malkah’s movements, and even when the bounty hunter spun around to try and get him, Ben moved with him and strengthened his hold; the twine almost completely swallowed up by Tseer’s neck.
Suddenly Teal screamed Ben’s name. Ben looked up at him and saw his green eyes wide and his face paled.
“Accalites!” Teal shouted in a panic. Not moments later, Ben was knocked to the ground with an incredible force; his hands snapped open and the twine loosened from his grip.
A sour rotten smell filled Ben’s nose as he tried to roll away from whatever had run into him. He looked up to see white teeth gnashing and Teal’s sword flash. Then the pull of his tunic collar as Teal pulled him up.
There were two of them but they didn’t attack. They bared their teeth and snapped at Teal as Ben rose to his feet. Tseer, only a foot away, coughing blood as he struggled to raise himself. He was wheezing and gasping for breath with such desperation he kept making himself retch.
“We can’t take two – run, climb!” Teal yelled, pushing Ben towards the forest.
Ben didn’t need to be told twice. He turned around at the same time Teal did. He watched as Teal quickly put his sword back in his scabbard, and both of them sped off at full speed behind the cabin.
“GET THEM!” Ben could hear Tseer’s dry serpent voice yell. A rush of adrenaline shot through Ben as the fear of being chased once again grabbed hold of his animal instincts.
Immediately the sound of crashing brush could be heard as the accalites persued them with vigour. They were barrelling through the woods making an intense racked, mowing down any bush or branch that stood in their way. The wolf-like creatures seemed focused and intent on making their next meal Ben and Teal.
Faster than he had ever ran before, Ben shot through the forest, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough. The crashing was becoming louder; they were catching up, and quickly.
Then, in a split second decision derived from desperation, Ben jumped to a nearby tree and started to climb it.
As Ben dug his sharp claws into the thick bark he looked behind him, hoping that Teal was doing the same. But before he could even focus his eyes, he felt a sickening pressure on his side and
a savage pull. Ben screamed as he was wrenched off of the tree and tossed through the air like a ragdoll, landing hard on the ground and making a sickening hot haze descend on his vision.
Suddenly pressure that was followed by an overwhelming pain; Ben was thrown again, this time landing on his back beside a tree root.
‘Bring them back to me,’ Tseer’s raspy voice echoed faintly in Ben’s hazy mind.
He was picked up savagely by the arm and dragged back through the forest, pain shooting from his wounded side. He opened his eyes weakly, expecting to be killed any second by the horrific abomination.
He could make out the large head and shanks of the accalite. Its yellow eyes staring obediently ahead, waiting for its orders as it held Ben’s bloody arm in its mouth. Its strong jaws were clamping down so hard he was certain it was going to snap at any second.
And the arm itself looked horrific; it had blood leaking from several areas, with lacerations so deep Ben could see meat. It looked so unreal Ben found himself, in his dazed mind, contemplating the reality of what he was seeing. Surely this couldn’t be real – maybe now was when he would wake up and find that this had all been a dream.
Then the accalite let go of his arm and Ben was dropped onto the ground, the smell of rotting breath and fresh blood filling his nose. He groaned from pain, feeling like he was going to throw up, and tried to look around to see where Teal was.
All he saw was the malkah standing over him. The twine had left an angry red line over his neck and smears of blood were visible around his nose and mouth. He was looking over Ben with his staff in his hand and a terrible sneer on his face.
Ben groaned, his body convulsed and he started to tremble. He knew he was going into shock, and that soon the darkness would claim him; whether he would wake up again he didn’t know.
Then he saw something to his left. Ben looked to his side and immediately he wished he hadn’t.
Teal was lying there, out cold. The young hibrid’s arm was just as mangled as Ben’s was, and he had the same deep puncture marks all down his legs and arms. Ben tried to open his mouth to call his friend, but started to choke and cough instead; his mouth was filling up with blood.