by Quil Carter
Ben wiped his nose. It was sore and cut up from picking out dead fly parts, and his ears as well but at least there had only been one in each. It had taken the entire morning manically picking his skin before he convinced himself that they were all gone.
And now he walked.
Ben was walking through the pass now, it had taken him all day to get there. His pace had been slow because he kept whirling around neurotically to make sure the human wasn’t following him. What was worse was the flies around him too; every buzz of a fly sent him into a frenzied panic. There was no sanity left in his mind to handle the buzzing noise, every insect had him running with a burn in his throat.
Ben hated them now; he could still smell the dead, stale stink the flies had on them. The same aroma the dead guards had and the collected teeth. Even when Ben was an old elf he knew he would never forget that smell.
But although the plains were covered in writhing and dead insects, there was nothing else to be seen. The grasslands were empty; the small rises of the hills and grey sheer rocks were bare, dark under the overcast sky, making the plains seem in perpetual dusk. It did nothing for Ben’s already shattered nerves; the thought of spending another night alone in the plains terrified him.
Ben gave out another barking cough. He glanced at his jerkin and passingly saw the shreds of clawed flesh that were his arms. He didn’t know when during the night he had attacked himself, but in the morning he had claw gouges all over his body. Even bite marks on his arms and hands he assumed he’d made during a fit of mania. He even had bits of his own flesh stuck into his permanently extended claws.
Ben dropped his hands and walked on, his mind in a daze. The soft sounds of the rain falling were all around him, soothing his burnt-out mind. All his body was running on now was the will to live, and the will to carry on to Birch. It was all he had now.
Ben turned around and stopped as he scanned the Lazarius Plains again. The stronghold he had left behind had disappeared into the mist many hours ago and soon more of the plains would be gone when he walked through the pass.
The pass was really a hill that looked as if it had been cut down the middle, like a giant had taken an axe to it. To climb the hill would’ve taken him all day, even more so in his state, so the road that looked carved through the middle was a gods’ send.
The downside was that it would be more popular for traffic, Ben could already see wear from carts, but that was the least of his worries. He would hopefully be a league away from it, or in Birch, before nightfall. If he did find himself out here for another night he would take shelter in one of the tree clusters, high up in the tallest tree he could find.
As Ben walked through the pass, he looked up and around at the imposing grey rock faces on either side of him. There was nothing above looking down, and the only thing in this closed off path was a statue of a warrior elf leaning on a sword.
Ben looked closer and saw that below the elf there were wild flowers and small coloured rocks. He’d seen the same thing underneath the statues in Rhastt; it was a way to pay tribute to the fallen warrior.
Ben took a moment and walked over to it; in his dazed weariness he wished he had something to leave behind, but he owned nothing now but the clothes on his back. He said a small prayer for him though, to Anea, and continued walking. The eyes of the warrior elf seemed to follow him as he disappeared through a bend in the pass.
Ben froze. He stayed still for a moment before whirling around again. He was sure he heard something.
Ben’s eyes fell from the sliver of statue he could still see, to in front of him. The bend he had just walked through made him unable to see the plains he had just come from, or anything past the warrior statue. All that was visible to him were the sheer and sharp rock cliffs and the twiggy bushes that grew beneath them.
Ben looked forward but there was still nothing. Unfortunately the anxiety had already started to do its work, suddenly the rock shelves on either side of him seemed to close in even more, and the fact that he could see nothing in both directions made the underlining fear multiply. So Ben took one last glance around before picking up his speed towards the exit of the pass.
Then Ben heard it again; it almost sounded like a high-pitched laughing but it was too far away for him to be sure. He could only catch the faint echo of it, like it had bounced off of the walls of the pass several times before finally making it to his ears.
The back of Ben’s neck started to prickle. He picked up his pace as much as he could without going into a run and walked through another bend.
A flood of guarded relief washed over him as he saw the break in the rocks. The plains’ grass and hard brush started to sprout up from the rocky dirt and, soon enough, as he quickly walked through the last bend, he could see plains again.
And there it was. It was small in the distance and shrouded in fog, but it was there.
Ben could see walls and what looked like guard towers. It was on a small rise that was surrounded by trees, though in the mist the trees looked like black bristles on a comb.
It was still far away but Ben didn’t care. The prospect that he was so close was a burst of hope that coated him like a warming potion. He was looking at the town where Teal and Malagant would be. Teal and Malagant were there, right now, waiting for him.
Almost safe… almost safe.
A faint smile appeared on Ben’s mud-caked face. He picked up his pace and started to walk towards the misty town.
It was a couple hours into walking towards the town that he heard it again. This time there was no mistaking it – it was a high-pitched laugh, shrill like a child’s.
Ben stopped and took a moment to just look, trying to hold down the terror that was bubbling to the surface. There was no echo to this sound now; it was in the hills, around him.
It sounded like it was getting closer.
The plains were a vast wasteland though; there was no one in sight.
The damn plains were empty… Ben spun around; he found his breath getting sharp. The green grasslands seemed boundless and threatening now, expansive, never-ending, and darkening by the minute.
Ben started to walk again; he looked down at the thick grass and recoiled as he saw the flies start to appear again. They had disappeared momentarily when he had been walking through the pass, but they were back now. Flies everywhere.
That human-creature seemed to attract them, or control them, Ben wasn’t sure which. They were dying now though, flies and other insects.
But Jonquil was no longer here.
Black phlegm fell from Ben’s mouth. He spat it onto the ground, hitting a pile of dung to his side.
As soon as he saw it, the smell hit his nose.
Ben looked closer at the area around him, his nose wrinkling. The grasslands were covered in animal shek.
The animal screams… Ben tucked his hands into the crooks of his arms to keep them warm. The animals were running from him.
A shiver crept up Ben’s back as Jonquil’s shrill scream echoed in his head.
No, his name isn’t Jonquil… how could it be? He’s… gods-be-damned, I don’t know what the hell he was.
A human, his ears… they were round. How could they be round? There are no humans here. Did I imagine it?
I must have imagined it.
The sun was disappearing over the rise in the west. It was sinking beneath the hills, though the whole day it had been shrouded in overcast sky, barely showing through the steel clouds.
Still though, it was sinking, nightfall was coming to the plains, and quickly.
Suddenly the laugh sounded again to his right, making Ben jump and gasp before whirling around. His eyes scanned the misty plains but there was nothing there, just the grey rocks, the emerald grass, and several birch trees.
But the damage had been done. Anxiety injected itself into Ben’s chest and shot its poison throughout his body. He could feel his already crippled and damaged mind start to fill with terror, and whatever sanity he had managed to ho
ld onto, slip through his fingers.
A small, weak whimper broke through Ben’s lips. He lowered his head and started to walk quickly, the walls of Birch fading into the oncoming darkness.
When the second child-like laugh reached Ben’s ears, he broke into a run. With a gasp and a cry of fear, he ran as fast as he could. There was nothing else for him to do, all he could do was run and hope that he made it to Birch by daybreak.
He had to, he had to.
Like a curtain closing on the grasslands, nighttime crept onto the plains. Soon the ground, covered in flies and dung, became obscured and shaded in greys with his enhanced sight, Ben had never been so relieved to be a hibrid.
Coughing and hacking the ink from his chest, Ben ran, inhaling sharp rasps of breath that burned his lungs like fire. The more he ran the more he realized his lungs wouldn’t be able to handle running all night, or even for much longer.
After running for as long as his body could handle, Ben bent over. He put his hands on his knees as his lungs screamed for relief. He banged on his chest, hacking and coughing, spitting up as much of the ink foam he could from his lungs. He took a sharp crackling inhale and tried to rest for a minute.
A small giggle sounded – it was right behind him.
Ben froze and took in a whimpering breath. He looked up at the sky and at the stars that had started to appear. He didn’t want to turn around.
It laughed again.
“It’s my job. It’s my job to tether the horses.”
Fuck no…
Ben turned around slowly, his eyes wide and his body stiff.
Maki’s eyes were black and huge, like two bits of coal embedded into a sunken-in, distorted face. His body was burned, his arm fins nothing but black twigs with bits of membrane hanging off; and his white hair had been seared away, leaving nothing but a raw, black and red scalp.
The daraphin child was staring up at Ben; his black lips split over sharp piranha-like teeth. When he saw that Ben was looking at him he put his charred little fingers up to his mouth, and let out a giggle.
Ben turned and ran.
“Sorah! Sorah!” Maki yelled behind him, he let out another laugh. “Come back!”
Ben ran faster, unsure if the child was following or not, his voice seemed to be everywhere like Jonquil’s had been. Had Jonquil found him? If he looked over his shoulder would that distorted, elongated face be inches away from his own?
There were flatlands ahead of him until Birch, only a few small rises, no more hills, just rocks, trees, and plains brush.
Ben desperately looked at the dark trees, just shadowed towers under the night sky now. All he could think of was climbing, climbing or hiding. He wanted to be high in the trees; his hibrid instincts demanded he climb.
Get off of the ground, all things horrible had been happening on the ground.
Climb. Climb.
The burning ache in his chest grew to an inferno; he felt like he was suffocating in his own lung fluid. There was no energy left inside of him but still he ran, fuelled on nothing but the terror of what would happen if he slowed.
When Ben got to a large gathering of ironwoods he started to climb without hesitation. Their limbs were long and thick at the base, entangling each other like many clasped fingers, blocking out the semi-clouded sky above.
With a choked breath, Ben got himself ten feet up before his body collapsed. He leaned against the hard bark, his breathing so laboured it just sounded like wheezing gasps now.
Ben closed his eyes and just breathed. His mind ignoring the rustling of the brush below him and the little fits of giggles he could hear below.
This is happening all over again, all over again… just like last night. I get to see it all over again.
All over again.
Ben inhaled and spat the black gunk out of his mouth and onto his jerkin. He felt dizzy as he stared forward, refusing to look down or even close his eyes. He would stay in this tree and he would stay awake, all night.
If I close my eyes… when I open them… he will be there.
I know it.
“Sorah? Sorrrahhh?” Maki’s voice echoed around him. “Where are you? Ben? Ben? Where are you, Ben?”
“Shut up,” Ben whispered, trying not to even blink. He looked at the grey-hued plains; the tree branches outstretched and tangled like spider webs. There were a lot more trees here.
Just keep looking at the horizon. Don’t close your eyes. I’m never going to close my eyes again. The human will be there again if I do, staring at me, watching me with his pale milky eyes with their black pits, like he watched me for hours last night.
With his flies, his flies… gods’ damned–
No, I’ll stay awake.
Maki laughed again, he sounded close. Ben wasn’t sure if he was just pretending not to know where Ben was, or if he had lost him. He wasn’t sure.
Ben inhaled a rattled breath; he started to smell the dead, musty smell again, like a corpse rotting in a cave, a wet damp cave.
The human’s smell.
Ben stared forward, only blinking when his eyes dried and started to hurt. He felt trepidation inside of him every time his eyes closed for even a fraction of a second. Afraid he would see him again. He couldn’t get the human’s hollow, staring face out of his mind.
Then, to Ben’s horror, the same ear-splitting scream of agony rang out throughout the plains, the same scream he had heard the previous night. When it screamed, Ben screamed too, and clamped his hands over his ears with a terrified sob.
Ben looked up and saw he could climb higher, but found he couldn’t move. All his body afforded him was a long drawn-out whimper which was lost in the ringing of his ears. He was too terrified, too scared; the threshold of terror to which your sanity could survive had been breached and breached again.
Just kill me.
I can’t take any more of this.
Birch… I have to make it to Birch. Anagin will protect me, Teal and Malagant will. I shouldn’t be out here by myself. I shouldn’t be alone with this creature following me, with this monster toying with his meal. How did I end up like this? It seems like an eternity since I saw Teal and Malagant. Since I felt safe.
The stars won their duel with the clouds and were shining now, and although the smells of damp and decay were still heavy on the air, Ben could no longer hear Maki.
And to Ben’s relief, his breathing started to calm though he still couldn’t move. He kept his back pressed up against the tree with his hands firmly on his knees.
Make it to daylight. Make it to daylight.
Thunk… thunk thunk thunk
Ben’s heart stopped as he heard the low thumping, but it wasn’t just a sound, the trunk of the tree he was sitting on had started to vibrate. It sounded like heavy steps, but it was more like clicking than footsteps.
Ben looked down below him, but there was nothing. Maki was gone, just rough brush and darkened grass.
Thunk… thunk
Ben saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He jerked his head over and saw it.
Its face was grey, it was elven though much smoother, its eyes higher up in its head and rimmed with black dots. It had a slick of shiny black hair and long pointed ears.
Ben stared harder at it, trying to figure out what he was seeing. It seemed to be behind a bramble of thick shrubs.
Then it moved, and as it did, the tree trunk vibrated again. To Ben’s horror what he thought was large shrubs moved with it.
It was a dryder.
What Ben thought was bush was its long smooth legs attached to a massive body, legs as thick as fort poles, black and shining under the moonlight.
It was huge, its head and torso twice the width as a regular elf’s, and its abdomen over five feet wide with red stripes that zigzagged down the black bulge.
And its legs… its thick legs rose up and down as it moved throughout the outskirts of the trees, making loud thunks sound around Ben as the pointed ends connected with the plains.
Ben didn’t move as the ground vibrated around him. He only watched, stunned and terrified, as the elven-faced creature glided along the treeline like a spider hugging the corner of a wall.
“He’s up the treeeeee!” Maki’s shrill voice suddenly sounded. Ben looked down and felt a new spasm of terror go through him when he saw the burnt daraphin boy staring up at him; his mouth wide-open in a terrifying grin.
His dead black eyes shone and, with a laugh, he pointed at Ben. “In the treeee – in the treeee!”
Thunkthunkthunkthunk
Ben’s body convulsed with fear as he looked up to see the dryder start to rapidly move towards him; its shiny black body reflecting in the monotone hues of his hibrid vision.
But despite his terror, when Maki let out another giggling laugh Ben’s teeth clenched. Lost in an overwhelming torrent of horror, Ben looked down at the laughing child and shot a blue fireball of runeflame at him.
It completely engulfed the boy, though Maki didn’t shriek and scream like a normal child would, he only let out a low groan like the corpse guards had. He then stumbled and fell backwards onto the ground, his body alight in a blue and yellow flame.
Taking this fleeting moment of lucidity, Ben grabbed onto the tree limb and started climbing higher. His fingerclaws strained under the weight as he tried to pull himself up to the next long branch.
Below him Ben could hear the dryder coming closer.
Then Ben felt a sharp stab on his side. His head shot to his left to see the tip of the dryder’s leg scraping against his hip.
It was trying to grab him – it was trying to hook him with its legs to fling him onto the ground.
Ben looked down to the ground and saw the dryder’s glistening eyes stare back at him, two black elven eyes surrounded by a dozen smaller ones. Its expression was that of any creature seeking prey: unemotional but radiating an intense fascination with the food that had landed in its sights.