by Bill Mays
Arianna sat on a fallen tree and propped her legs up in an attempt to let her feet dry out a little. Sandals were not designed for the swamp, and neither was her long gown or cloak. It seemed to the woman that nothing about her was designed for adventuring. Rashas really was testing her. The priestess looked upon her ankle to adjust a loose strap and screamed.
“Get it off! Get it off of me!” She wailed frantically as she shook her leg.
The others gathered quickly to see a black, slimy leech, the size of a grown man’s hand, attached to Arianna’s leg. Another, slightly smaller one, was feeding on the woman’s other ankle. Dalia was quick to suggest a fire and Flade was quicker to start one. It was not easy with the damp foliage, but he managed. They used the flames to sear the parasites, causing them to drop back into the muddy waters at their feet.
“Good thinking, my lady,” Flade smiled at Dalia.
“It was just something I had learned of once in school,” the lady replied.
“Everyone check yourselves! There may be more,” Flade warned as he began his own hunt across his body.
A thorough search revealed three more of the slimy creatures. Petre had two on him and Jillian had one. “Those things are disgusting!” Jillian squealed when it fell from her body to slip away into the water.
Petre shook in an uncontrolled fit and groaned. “I can’t think about them.” He rubbed the spots where they were attached as if trying to make the red marks disappear. “Those things were feeding on our blood,” he winced. “I’ve seen leeches before, but those are gigantic! This swamp is foul. First giant frogs and now giant leeches, what’s next?”
“Stop right there!” Jillian punched the boy in his arm. “I don’t want anything to be next so don’t you dare jinx us!”
“They must have come from the deep water we waded through earlier,” Flade reasoned. “We’ll have to avoid that from now on.”
Arianna wanted to cry. This was just too much for the delicate priestess. She thought the forest was bad enough with all of its scratching branches and noisy animals scuttling about, but the swamp was horrible. She swatted a large insect that was trying to land on her arm. It took the blow in stride and flew away to find an easier victim. Everything here wanted to suck out your blood. She looked to Dalia and noticed that the lady had not changed her demeanor at all. She was still her cool and collected practical self. Coming from the pampered life of nobility, she would expect the lady to be as uncomfortable in these surroundings, if not more so.
“How do you remain so calm and controlled?” Arianna asked casually as they walked side by side. “I can barely keep from jumping at every squirmy, six-legged thing the wriggles by.”
“I do not know. I suppose I was raised that way,” the lady replied after some thought. “My mother was the same way. Perhaps it is part of my heritage,” Dalia concluded.
“I often wish I could find your strength,” Arianna sighed.
“And I your freedom …We each want what we do not have, I suppose,” Dalia whispered.
A slight movement in the underbrush caught Dalia’s attention. Though she could see nothing definite, she knew they were being watched. The lady reached out with her mind and alerted Flade to their situation. She was relieved finally to be able to do that. It was so much more practical than shouting out her thoughts and alerting everyone, including the watcher. Unfortunately, Flade had not been able to grasp the talent himself. The ranger fell back to walk beside the lady.
“What did you see,” he whispered.
“Just shifting shadows,” she replied quietly, “but I can feel them watching us. Someone or something is out there.”
“I don’t doubt it. I’ve crossed several sets of tracks. I recognize none of them. Keep your guard up and I’ll inform the others to do the same.” Dalia nodded, and the ranger dropped back to casually inform the others.
Arianna mainly kept her eyes on the ground. Whatever was watching them was an unknown horror. She preferred to focus on the current horrors. She was afraid she might accidentally step on a snake, or one of the ridiculously large spiders she had seen scuttling about. She really hated spiders. Dalia and Jillian kept a calm eye to their surroundings, as did Flade. Petre, however, was quite obvious. The boy had no sense of subtlety. He watched everything around them suspiciously and gave a start at every new noise. He could not stand things that sneaked up on you, and the swamp seemed to be full of them. He much preferred a straight-up fight. These hidden creatures made his skin crawl. Goblins and their kin were not such a bad thing to run into after all, he thought to himself.
By the time they settled down to camp, Flade was fairly sure their watchers were gone. Once, during the day, he spotted one of the timid creatures. He sat at the campfire and shared his findings with the group.
“So they’re humanoid?” Jillian asked for clarification.
“Yes, but they aren’t like us, they appear very primitive,” Flade continued.
“You do think that they are intelligent and non-threatening, though?” Dalia concluded.
“I think they are just curious about us, nothing more,” the ranger explained. “We are strange visitors to their territory after all.”
“What do you mean primitive? Are they people like us, or people like elves, or goblin kin, or what?” Petre was curious. He would feel better if he could put a face on these mystery spies.
“Depending on your point of view, goblin kin are people, too,” Flade chuckled to himself. How sheltered these youngsters were. They knew very little about the world around them. “These creatures are timid from what I could tell, and smaller than humans. I believe I saw a grown male and he was no larger than the Lady Dalia or Jillian. Of course, I could be wrong, and that could have just been a young one. They have greenish fur-covered bodies with camouflaging patterns that let them hide in the foliage. Their faces are hairless with the look of an animal and human mix. The fur also seemed to shift hues to help blend with their surroundings.”
“Are these more naked people?” Jillian asked sourly.
Flade chuckled. “No, they wear simple clothing from what I could tell. The one I spotted wore a loincloth but nothing more. I didn’t even see any weapons on him.”
“And you believe we have nothing to fear from these beast-men?” Arianna added.
“He had kind eyes. I think that if we leave them alone, they will leave us alone.”
“As would most nonviolent, intelligent, beings,” Dalia voiced the ranger’s thought.
“Do you think they might know anything about your friend?” Jillian asked for no other reason than to have a little conversation. She was tired of listening to the croaking of frogs and squeaks of only the gods knew what.
“It’s possible,” Flade agreed. He had not considered that.
“I doubt they do. In my dreams I saw lizard men,” Arianna mumbled distractedly.
“Lizard men live here, too? I’ve not heard anything good about that lot,” Petre grumbled. “There are small patches of swampland near my home village in Drackmoore. The lizard men that live in that swamp are vicious, or so everybody says.”
“Lizard men, well that would explain some of the tracks I found. Let’s hope we can avoid them then,” Flade grinned. He was a little curious. He really did not know much about the reptilian race.
* * * * * * * * * *
The next couple of days were hard traveling, but uneventful. They avoided the larger bodies of water, which they soon found out contained not only leeches and snakes, but alligators as well. Flade decided he had definitely spotted several lizard man tracks. He had seen another set that he suspected belonged to a lone beast-man. The party was navigating a particularly muddy section of land, when a crude javelin struck the ground near Petre.
“Take cover! We’re under attack!” The boy shouted as he struggled through the thick muck to reach a set of trees. His sword and shield were out and ready.
The others did likewise as several more javelins rained down around the
m. Luckily, no one had been hit. The enemy attacked from hiding, and had yet to reveal themselves.
“We are under assault by lizard men!” Dalia called out as she opened her eyes and removed her hand from her temple. “Several of them, it looks to be some sort of hunting party.”
“Keep your guard up and your wits about you everyone. We are in their terrain. They have the advantage here,” Flade announced. The ranger’s blades were twirling through his fingers. Now he regretted wanting to meet one of the reptilian humanoids.
Two arrows to the chest greeted the first reptilian man to spring from the brush. “That’s one down!” Jillian called out proudly from the rear of the group. She fought to hide the fear running through her veins at the sight of the hissing cold-blooded humanoids.
Arianna found her own movement to be severely limited in the deep mud and a thought came to her. She prayed for a simple blessing from her goddess and cast it over herself, Dalia, and Flade. The two happened to be close. Suddenly, they all moved without hindrance. The mud no longer slowed their actions.
“That’s a handy trick, thanks!” Flade shot the priestess a wink as he dashed off to engage the enemy. Dalia was close behind him.
The lizard men came from several angles, having fanned out to surround them. There were about seven of them still coming. Three more arrows put down another one. Jillian got excited until she was forced to drop her bow and draw the sword Petre had given her, when one of the reptilians engaged her in close quarters.
Petre dove into the two creatures headed his way with his customary reckless abandon. His sword was slashing and his shield was deflecting the claws coming at him. Not too far away, Flade shot his special dagger into one of the advancing creature’s legs to slow it down. He then called it back to his hand in time to engage a second one.
“I really do love that,” he mumbled under his breath as he dove in to attack.
Dalia was battling another of the scaly creatures nearby. The lady was nearly overwhelmed by the teeth, claws, and tail all flying at her from different angles. She focused on defense and did her best. She was actually surprised at how much she had learned about real combat since leaving her homeland far behind. Battle was much different from training.
Petre sank his sword deeply into the first enemy, and slammed his shield into the snapping jaws of the second one, sending it stumbling away. The lizard men were strong and slightly larger than the boy was in height. They were much larger in girth and length. He had his work cut out for him, if he did not want to be ripped to pieces by those sharp claws. Another well placed slash from his sword dug into the same injured lizard man’s arm. That arm was knocked aside, but the second clawed hand came in hard. It ripped a jagged line across Petre’s shoulder, and it hurt badly. Luckily, his shirt of chain-link armor kept the attack from being life threatening. The boy followed the scratch with a shield to the face, knocking the creature off him. Unfortunately, the second lizard man was already on him. He managed to block its attacks nicely, ignoring the pain of his wounds. It was the tail swipe that caught him off guard. The thick tail swung around behind him, while he faced the lizard man. Its strength was surprising as it knocked his legs out from under him. The boy fell back into the mud and his attacker was already springing for him. More sneaky tactics he thought as he lay in the mud -- why could they not just fight fair? Petre rolled awkwardly in the muck, but managed to avoid the sharp teeth and claws with the help of his dented shield. He could not imagine fighting without a shield. How did the others do it?
Dalia stayed at a distance. She dodged carefully around the reptilian‘s attacks. The lady kept her enchanted blade weaving a pattern before her. She could see how the reptilian men fought with a combination of their clawed hands, teeth, and tail. They were like animals. Once they got a hold on you, they would be difficult to get off. She decided that her best chance was to play defense and land a blow when it presented itself. So far, she was doing well. Her opponent bled in several places and she was unharmed. Flade fought near her. The ranger had his hands full with two of the creatures. As always, they had a hard time landing a hit on the agile man. He sprang this way and tumbled that way, always finding time to lash out with his two blades. He was a true swashbuckler and got a thrill out of the combat.
They all heard Jillian’s screams from behind them. Unfortunately, they were pretty busy themselves. The girl was using the sword as best she could, but her skills were lacking. The lizard man was bigger, stronger, and faster, especially in the mud.
“Ouch! Keep your nasty paws off of me!” She screamed out angrily as it landed another scratch. She was nimble, but with her steps slowed, the archer found herself at a huge disadvantage. “I think I need some help!” The girl called out reluctantly as she batted away another claw swipe. It took a lot for her to admit it. She did not want to be the weak link in the group but the weak link was better than the dead link.
When the slim cudgel cracked into the back of the reptilian’s head, he was taken by surprise. Arianna stood just behind him, with her weapon gripped tightly in both hands. The expression on her face was one of uncertainty. The thing hissed at her and whipped its tail around taking the priestess’ legs out from under her. She screamed as she fell back into the mud and struggled to stand again. The angry lizard man leapt upon the tall woman, slamming her back down, face first, into the thick mud. Jillian was a quick thinker. She did not waste the chance for a free shot. The girl sank her sword into the lizard man’s back with all the strength she could muster. The thing’s heavy body collapsed atop the prone priestess pushing her deeper into the muck.
Petre was now in a half retreat, or so his opponents thought. They came at him fast, and the boy reacted just as fast. His sword came up from under the nearest creature to stab into its extended jaw. The thing was trying to bite him. Basically, the sword pinned its mouth shut and pierced its brain. The dead lizard man tumbled to the ground. The boy had not neglected the second enemy, who was now upon him. He again used his shield to knock it backwards. He heard knuckles crack as the creature’s hand slammed into the dented metal tool. The thing pulled back and hissed at him. It then took a moment to scan the battle. The lizard man quickly realized that he was the only one left. The ranger was putting the finishing jabs on the last standing member of his hunting party. Knowing that his time was growing short if he stayed, the scaly humanoid bolted and disappeared into the underbrush. Petre was too tired to give chase.
Flade took stock of the group. Petre was hurt, but standing. Dalia seemed fine. Jillian was a little scraped up, but she was well enough to help the mud-drenched priestess crawl from beneath the lizard man’s heavy corpse. Arianna looked to be limping and upset, but otherwise stable.
“I told you they were trouble,” Petre grimaced as he tried to stop his bleeding.
Dalia moved to tend to the injury. “You both did well!” The lady congratulated the young ones. “It would seem we make a fine team.”
Arianna wiped mud from her face and then called upon healing prayers for Jillian and herself. “Have I mentioned that I really hate the swamp?” She grumbled as she flexed her bruised ankle.
She pulled her small mirror out and tried to take a look at herself. It was hard to clean the polished surface when everything she carried was covered in mud. The usually stunning woman was a mess. She was shaking like a wet dog, just trying to get some of the muck off her. The sight brought a smile to all their lips.
“Let’s not do that again,” Jillian sighed. “Those overgrown lizards are as fierce as the water snakes back home, and their claws hurt something terrible!” She gently touched her freshly healed wounds.
“You got that right!” Petre seconded. The boy was working the kinks out of his newly repaired shoulder.
“We’ll have to keep a sharp eye out for them. They blend pretty well with the surroundings,” Flade noted.
“More hidden creatures -- great,” Petre huffed.
“Do you think that the survivor will retu
rn with reinforcements?” Dalia looked to Flade.
“It’s hard to say. Let us hope he has seen enough to spread the word that we are not to be toyed with,” Flade replied softly.
“Are we just going to wait here and see?” Jillian stood with her hands on her hips and an expectant look on her face.
“No,” Flade chuckled, “of course not.”
The ranger took to the lead again. The faster they moved; the faster they would find Tark and be done with these putrid marshes.
* * * * * * * * * *
The night came and was accompanied by a light shower. It was getting a lot cooler as the seasons moved towards winter. The group managed to find a decent camping spot and made the most of their situation. Everyone was dead tired from the long day of hiking and fighting. Though they spotted no one, Dalia got the distinct feeling that they were being watched again. She warned Flade, but neither of them could locate anything substantial. Basically, it just kept them from getting any solid sleep. The next day came and another shower left their path mud filled.
“Is it always so dismal in this place?” Arianna grumbled as she trudged along.
“It is called the Acid Swamps,” Petre grinned. “What would you expect?”