Guards Vestige

by Alexander Adams

  It wasn’t nearly as steep as the one he had fallen down but all the same it made his side hurt simply thinking about climbing it. He chose to sit for a moment and mentally prepare himself for the task. He took his pack off and dug through it until he found his meager supply of dried meats and bread. He pulled apart the small loaf and was disappointed to find it was stale. He devoured it all the same. As Daniel ate, his mind wandered to Mila and the others. He hoped they’d made it out all right.

  The trio had surely encountered worse out in the wilds before, and Aaron was capable enough, more than Daniel at the very least. He still worried about Mila. The last thing he remembered was her pushing him aside and the satlis tackling her to the ground. If anything happened to her on his account, he wasn’t sure if he could forgive himself for not being more aware of what was happening around him, for not being able to help.

  Determined to make it out of the cavern and see what had become of his friends, Daniel placed his remaining food back into the pack and threw it across his shoulders before turning to the rock wall in his path. He began the slow and painful climb, taking extra time to ensure his hand and footholds were sturdy before putting his full weight on them. The last thing he wanted was to fall down another rocky slope. It was a miracle he hadn’t been killed the first time. Twice he nearly did fall, once when his handhold gave way and again when his foot slipped on a damp stone. The climb itself strained his side, causing him to wince with every movement. Finally, after what seemed like hours but was probably closer to thirty minutes, he made it to the top and rolled onto his back.

  Daniel took a short respite to regain his breath before he got to his feet and started down the path again. After only a few steps, he stopped short. Behind him, he heard several light scratches, followed by what he guessed were pebbles falling down the slope. He whirled around and looked down the drop, extending the torch over the edge. The firelight illuminated far enough for him to see about halfway down, but no further. He saw nothing save for the skid marks where he’d nearly fallen near the top. He stayed a moment longer to listen but all was quiet.

  Now more cautious than before, he turned and continued down the tunnel, glancing back after every few steps. He focused on listening for a break in the otherwise rhythmic sounds he made as he went. After another several minutes he heard something again, not scratching but the sound of a stone rolling across the ground. He held the torch out behind him and scanned the darkness. His breath caught in his throat.

  Daniel’s gaze locked onto a set of sickly green eyes staring back at him from the shadows, just beyond the light of the torch. The satlis never moved and never blinked as he slowly backed away. With his free arm, in agonizing slowness, he drew his sword while trying to keep his fear in check. The eyes were at the very edge of the torchlight, reflecting the flickering flames. It gave them an eerie yellow glow that flickered back to their natural green. The satlis continued to stare at him. When he had backed far enough away that the torch no longer illuminated its eyes, it remained in the shadows.

  Then everything happened at once. Daniel lost his footing and stumbled backwards. He didn’t fall, but for a moment he had to take his eyes off where the satlis had been. When he looked back, it was charging at him with incredible speed. It was one of the smaller ones, about five feet long which meant it was a male. Though no less deadly. He regained his footing quickly and readied himself just as Kenneth had shown him—sword held out in front of him, the tip pointed skyward and slightly forward, his feet shoulder-width apart. He held the torch behind him and tried to keep his muscles loose and “springy,” as Kenneth had said many times during their short training session.

  The satlis was on him quickly. It lunged with its mouth spread wide. Dull yellow saliva dripped from its fangs. Daniel thrust his sword forward, jabbing at the exposed belly as it soared through the air toward him. But both it and he were off balance. The tip of the blade went wide. Instead, he cut along its lower side and wounded it. It collided with him and they both were thrown to the ground.

  The wind was knocked out of Daniel. The satlis lifted its head and was about to bite down on his neck. He barely reacted in time, striking out with the torch and hitting it in the side of the head, causing it to reel back.

  The satlis clawed at its freshly burned eye as Daniel rose and sprinted down the tunnel as fast as he could. His side screamed in protest and he struggled to breathe. Each step jostled his ribs and sent fresh flares of pain through his body, but he kept running. The cave began to slowly grow brighter. In the distance, Daniel saw daylight. He was almost out. He suddenly felt lighter. The pain began to dull. He quickened his pace.

  To his left, Daniel saw a blur of motion. He skidded to a stop as the satlis darted past him.

  It took him a moment to register what the pain in his legs was. As it had passed, the satlis had whipped out its tail. Quills had dug into his left calf, ripping his trousers and tearing gashes in his flesh. Thankfully, the tail had only grazed him, but it was enough to make him stumble and drop to one knee.

  The satlis whirled around and blocked the way forward. The side of its face was charred. It snarled viciously as it took a cautious step forward. Daniel noticed it seemed to favor its left side and limped with every step. Its breathing was also heavy and ragged. It was injured. Then Daniel remembered the satlis Kenneth had thrown down the slope.

  Daniel saw the creature’s muscles tense. He readied himself to parry another lunge. Instead, however, it abruptly turned and struck out with its tail. Daniel dropped low as the tail went high over his head. He backpedaled as quickly as he could, trying to get out of its reach. But he was too close to move far enough in time. The tail swept out again, lower this time, causing the quills to rip into his right hand as he lifted it instinctively to try to stop the strike. The blow left gashes across the back of his hand and ripped the sword from his grip, sending it skipping across the ground.

  Daniel managed to keep himself from screaming by biting his tongue. He clutched his hand to his chest in an attempt to slow the flow of gushing blood. Now that he was disarmed, the limping satlis advanced toward him. It seemed to understand that Daniel was vulnerable without the sword, so now was the time to charge in for the kill. Yet it took slow and cautious steps as it eyed Daniel’s left hand. Then Daniel realized—fire—he still held the torch! A rough idea formed in his head. He held the torch in front of him like a sword. At the same time, he slid his pack off his right arm and set it on the ground. He dug through the contents until he felt the glass vial.

  Daniel never took his eyes off the creature. It stared at him with a new sense of caution now that fire directly blocked the path to its prey. Daniel pulled out the vial, held it as best he could in his injured hand, and waited for the creature to come closer. He knew he would only have one chance at his idea. He wasn’t even sure that it would work. He was likely to hurt himself more than the satlis, but at this point he had no other ideas or options. It was this or death.

  The stalemate lasted only a moment longer before the satlis leaped at him.

  Daniel raised the torch in front of him. He was again knocked to the ground, with the satlis on top of him. Holding the torch above him against the animal’s neck, he pushed as hard he could to keep its snapping jaw and claws at bay. At the same time, he pushed against the beast’s chest with his legs. In spite of his efforts and the animal’s injuries, its strength and longer reach allowed it to run its claws along his shoulders and chest, tearing his tunic and skin.

  With his injured right hand, Daniel raised the vial and smashed it with all his strength against the side of the satlis’s head. The moment he connected, glass shattered and oil drenched its face, along with Daniel’s hand and forearm. The glass cut into both of them. The satlis reeled back and screeched as it clawed at its own face in an attempt to dig the shards out. The satlis managed only to push the glass fragments deeper in its blind confusion and pain. During its f
rantic reaction, Daniel scrambled to his feet, his screaming ribs protesting. With pulses of pain and blackness at the edges of his vision, he watched the animal for a moment, waiting for the chance he needed.

  When he saw it, he swung the torch wide, striking the satlis in the face and setting the oil that coated its face aflame in a quick and brilliant flash that engulfed its entire head. The creature panicked and reared back onto its hind legs as it furiously attacked an unseen foe. Daniel backpedaled to avoid its wild flailing and frantically searched the ground until he found and retrieved his sword. Turning back to the animal, he watched as it continued to panic and inhale flames, each outcry of pain leading only to more. It lashed out with its claws at the empty air. When it pulled them back in, readying to lash out again, Daniel lunged forward. He sank his sword into its chest halfway up the length of the blade.

  The satlis bellowed again and struck out a final time with the last of its strength. It fell, catching Daniel across the chest with a claw swipe before hitting the ground. It writhed for several moments before finally going still. The smell of burning flesh hung thick in the air. Daniel sank to his knees and pressed his injured hand to his chest. As his adrenaline receded, the pain began to fully register. If every breath and movement had been pain before, it was pure agony now.

  He rose and tried to remove his sword from the satlis’s chest. With what little strength he had left, it took him nearly a minute to pull it free from the animal. When he finally did, it came quickly and made him stumble and nearly fall to the ground again. The sudden jolt of motion caused pain so intense in his injured leg and ribs that he nearly passed out. He took a moment to gather himself before he slowly turned and picked up his pack. He was so weak that he simply dragged it along behind him as he hobbled to the mouth of the cave.

  The danger was gone, but Daniel found himself still gripping his sword firmly in his hands. He finally stepped into the light, not bothering to sheathe or drop it. The sun was setting. Though the sudden brightness was blinding, he welcomed not being able to see because of the light instead of its absence. He was higher on the mountainside than he hoped he would be. He began a slow and painful climb down the rough hillside. He stumbled and slid, barely registering what he was doing. Before he realized it, he had reached the bottom and was leaning against a tree to catch his breath. He put a hand to his chest through his shredded and wet tunic. It came away red. In his haze he had one thought: Stop the bleeding.

  He walked through the forest in a stupor and fell to his knees. He got up. Stumbled. Got up again. Each time he fell, it became more of a struggle to rise. The fourth time he fell he couldn’t bring himself to rise again. He simply knelt upon the ground. Daniel felt like he was floating. Everything was spinning and he struggled to breathe. He tried once more to rise, placing a hand on the ground to steady himself, but his hand buckled under his weight and he fell on his side. Even with blurred vision and only half a right mind, he spotted one thing that seemed out of place in the forest. It was a golden crown, sitting in the grass beneath a tree.

  In a moment of clarity he realized that couldn’t be right. He had to be hallucinating. His mind and vision cleared slightly, allowing him to see a dozen other splashes of gold around the first. Suddenly he knew what they were. A distant and seemingly useless memory crept to the forefront of his mind. Mila and an old woman. They were speaking about flower extracts and salves made from their cores. “A salve to stop the bleeding.”

  Daniel had a surge of strength and managed to crawl to the patch of king’s bloom. He ripped several of the plants from the ground and stripped away the petals, leaving only the white pollen core. He looked around. When he spotted a flat stone, he set the petals on top in a pile and lay the flat of his sword across them to crush and mash them down as best he could. He cut his hand across the blade and mixed in his blood, taking no notice of the pain. When the combination had become a thick lumpy paste, he caked his wounds with the crude salve. The moment his wounds were covered, the bleeding stopped. Daniel managed to breathe a sigh of relief as a comforting, cool tingling spread outward from the wounds. He closed his eyes and collapsed onto the damp grass under the darkening sky.

  Chapter Fourteen

  26th of Horace, 26th year of the Fourth Age.

  Aaron tapped his foot anxiously as he leaned against the wall of The Barge. Kenneth and Claudia had left to try to find the second entrance to the satlis den and, hopefully, Daniel along with it. That had been late the previous afternoon. Now it was approaching a second nightfall. Aaron didn’t like the idea of his friends being out there for another night. Rather than sit inside, he chose to wait outside with his eyes on the manway of the north gate. He crossed his arms to ward off the autumn breeze and sighed. He’d been here for several hours and didn’t plan on moving until Claudia and Kenneth walked through that gate with Daniel in tow.

  “You’re still here, huh?”

  Aaron turned to see Griffon step out of the inn holding two mugs with slight wisps of steam rising from each. She handed him one. He smiled and asked, “What is it?”

  She leaned against the wall next to him and sipped her drink: “Cider.”

  He looked at the drink and shrugged. He took a swig, felt the warmth radiate throughout his body, and was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. He’d never had cider before. Now he saw why his mother favored the drink so much.

  Griffon was quiet and watched the manway with him for a moment. “So,” she said, “are you going to stand here all night?”

  He answered without turning to look at her: “If that’s how long it takes.”

  “You could still come with me, you know. Captain Andrews is kind of a pushover. I’m sure he’d let you aboard for the last leg of the journey. You could certainly help more than I do.”

  “I’m not going to just leave them behind.”

  “What if they don’t find him?”

  “They will.”

  She sighed. “Okay, what if they do find him?”

  It took him a moment to realize the meaning of her words. “He’ll be fine.”

  “I hope so,” she said. “I really do.” She downed the rest of her cider and moved away from the wall. “Well, for what it’s worth, I guess I’ll be seeing you at Vigil pretty soon.”

  He smiled. “I look forward to it.”

  She smiled back before turning to walk into the city and toward the harbor. He really did look forward to their next meeting. She seemed rough at first glance, but she seemed far more caring than she wanted to let on. He really was thankful she had stuck around until the very last moment for him. When she was out of sight, he turned back to the manway and sighed.

  He couldn’t stand this. He hated not knowing. Even if it turned out badly, it would still be better than the waiting. In addition to that, Mila’s condition was worsening by the hour. He had gone to see her briefly that morning. Her skin had been nearly devoid of color. The local medics were using the salve that Claudia had provided before her departure, but even it seemed to have no lasting effect. He shook his head and tried to shake the fear off. He couldn’t think about that now. He sighed again before drinking the rest of his cider and placing the mug on the ground.

  Another hour passed before the guards atop the wall signaled for the manway to be opened. Aaron moved away from the wall and made his way to the door at a full sprint. It swung open and the guards stepped aside to allow Claudia through. She grabbed the closest guard by the shoulders and spoke to him in hurried words. When she finished, he nodded and ran down the street.

  Aaron skidded to a stop next to her. “Claudia!” he said. “What happened? Did you find him? Is he okay?”

  She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. “He’s fine. A little banged up, but okay for the most part.”

  Then Kenneth entered through the manway, cradling an unconscious Daniel in his arms. Aaron hadn’t expected his friend to be unscathed
, but he didn’t think he would be this bad. Daniel’s tunic was shredded and bloody, exposing his chest and shoulders, which were coated with a dull, yellow paste. His hands and calf were crudely bandaged with cloth torn from Kenneth’s sleeve, with more of the paste seeping through. Daniel’s skin was pale and dotted with dark purple bruises. His right ribs looked almost black.

  Aaron’s voice was a whisper: “What happened?”

  The three of them hurried toward the apothecary’s shop as Kenneth recounted what they’d discovered. They’d found Daniel in the forest near the base of the mountains just as night fell. He had managed to prepare some king’s bloom to treat his injuries and stop the bleeding before he’d collapsed next to the flowers. While Claudia treated his wounds properly, Kenneth had followed Daniel’s rather obvious trail up the mountain a short ways and into the cave. Had there not been a trail leading to it, he doubted they’d have ever found it. It was above the tree line, the opening small and hidden behind an outcropping of rock. Unless someone was right on top of it, one would never know it was there.

  Not far inside the cave, Kenneth had found the corpse of a satlis. Its face was burned beyond recognition. It had been stabbed through the heart and had a large gash across its ribs. Not far away, Daniel’s still-burning torch lay on the ground, indicating the encounter had been recent. Once his wounds had been properly treated, they’d started back for Navia. But with night upon them, they’d chosen to set camp in a clearing where they could properly guard Daniel and keep watch in the satlis hunting grounds during the long night.

  When they arrived at the apothecary’s shop, one of the medics that had been treating Mila was waiting for them. He moved to take Daniel, but Kenneth scowled at him, making the man shrink away. Instead, the medic led them to a room on the far side of the building with a single bed and a water basin with several towels and various medical supplies set at its side atop a table. Kenneth laid Daniel on the bed and Claudia immediately began inspecting his body, looking for visible wounds and any that she might have missed in the woods. Kenneth excused himself to check on Mila.