by Rosie Scott
“You are all friends?” Druhv asked, next.
“Yes,” I said. “I tried to make that clear to all the soldiers here today, because I don't want them to fear us or be afraid to approach us for anything. We will treat you all as we treat each other.”
Druhv nodded. “We appreciate that. At least, I do, and I believe I speak for the rest.” The older man looked out over the others. During his silence, a nearby hyena chuckled low. “Many of the soldiers have no pride in what they do, but many here today are pleased to be on this mission with you.”
“Why's that?” I pondered.
“Well, first, you are a god, and they are awed by you, regardless of your refusal to talk at length over it. Secondly, the soldiers revere Hasani. We all hope we can find him and bring him back to us.”
“Would you prefer Hasani's rule over King Adar's?” I questioned.
Druhv laughed nervously. “Oh, Miss Sera, I don't know I would go that far. You are allied with our king—surely, you understand he has his strengths and weaknesses. Hasani will one day rule over Nahara upon King Adar's death, assuming we find him. That day will come. Our opinions do not sway politics in this country.”
I had patiently watched the man ramble on, and now I called him out on his ambiguity. “I am allied with your king, Druhv, but that does not mean I am his eyes and ears. Tell me your concerns about King Adar, and I may find the time to voice them to him.”
Druhv shook his head, unconvinced. “It is not my place to gossip, Miss Sera.”
“Call me Kai,” I replied, before looking away, into the fire. Across it, Anto and Jakan cuddled together much like Cerin and I, and Theron shared some of his beef jerky with Nyx after some incessant pleading from the Alderi. Being here with my companions like this was comforting. Somehow, we had built a group of mismatched people who all got along and worked well together. As long as we were together, I felt little fear for the mission ahead.
“Where is Nen?” Cerin asked, beside me, when the silence had stretched on.
“At this point, it is directly to the south of us now, in a break in the canyons,” Druhv replied, looking off to the southern sands. “That is where they felt the tremors.”
“That was over a season ago,” Theron pointed out, jumping into the conversation from across the campfire. “Are we sure Nen is still on the map?”
Druhv nodded. “It is. They felt the tremors, so Hasani's unit was sent out the 54th of High Star. The tremors have since ceased in Nen, and runners were there just a fortnight ago. The village is safe.”
“So...” Nyx trailed off, looking confused. “Nen's the reason he was sent at all. Now he and his army are missing, and the village is safe? How does that make sense?”
“Is it possible they succeeded in killing the beast?” Anto asked next.
Druhv shrugged. “If they succeeded, we expected them to return. As for why the tremors ceased, we don't know. Some beasts have been known to wander past the wall, just to retreat back into the beastlands.”
“Are they migrating?” Theron pondered.
“We don't know for certain,” Druhv said. “Some have speculated the weather of the deserts affects their behavior, but we can't be sure, for we have never been able to send researchers far enough into the beastlands to study them.”
“How could weather affect the beasts?” I asked. “It is cooling to the north right now, in Chairel, but you would barely know it here in Nahara. The weather does not change as much here.”
“The weather can affect the tides, though,” Druhv pointed out. “When the water levels lower along the coast of the beastlands, it tends to coincide with the presence of beasts. It is why Jaalam was so quick to fall, for it sat at the end of a river. At least, that is what we suspect.”
Theron nodded from where he sat, swallowing a bite of jerky before explaining, “Essentially, he's saying that the beasts rely on the water underground to survive. As sea levels lower with the cooling weather, there is less groundwater to feed upon, so they move farther inland to other sources of water.” Raising his eyebrows at Druhv, the ranger asked, “Did I get that right?”
Druhv nodded in agreement. “Yes, that is what we are figuring. And unfortunately, all of Nahara's villages and cities sit alongside some source of water.”
Theron shrugged. “That's how it is anywhere. Water's a necessity for civilization. It's probably why you guys can't catch a break. Your land is low on water as it is, so you are leading the beasts directly to your people by simply existing next to water sources.”
“It is an endless cycle,” Druhv agreed.
“Perhaps whatever beast is responsible for the tremors in Nen has retreated back into the beastlands,” Cerin commented. “It is possible we will not have to fight at all, as long as we can find some evidence of what happened to Hasani out here.”
I raised my eyebrows at that, but said nothing. It would be nice if that were the case, but as I was used to finding out, things were rarely as simple as I would have liked them to be.
Nineteen
It was only the second night out of three on our trip to Jaalam, and already misfortune had befallen us. It was a few hours into the night, and the camp was mostly silent. Cerin and I were still awake, talking quietly in our tent. We had just successfully tested our theory that we could continue our active sex life while traveling amongst the others if we could keep it quiet enough to remain unnoticed. It was a good thing we had picked such a night, for we were aware enough to snap to attention when we heard the scream.
The scream was so screeching and bloodcurdling that it barely sounded as if it had come from a man. Even as Cerin and I scrambled to pull our armor on and gather our gear, I could hear the clash of metal ringing out from somewhere off to the south. I was uncertain as to why there were soldiers that far away from camp, but it didn't really matter why, for someone was in trouble. Then, I heard a shriek from someone else that caused me to move even quicker.
“Shit!” Nyx.
“What the hell is she doing out there?” I gasped, hurrying from the front of the tent, leaving my boots behind. Cerin scrambled out behind me, and as my eyes darted around for my best friend, I noticed the commotion was waking the others, and both friends and soldiers were preparing for battle.
I didn't wait for answers. I dashed off into the darkness, following the sounds of battle, my eyes having a hard time separating shadows from objects. The starry night sky above did little to light my path. I heard others running behind me, attempting to join the battle as well.
Shing! Kcck! I heard a man gurgling for air, before what sounded like a body collapsing to the sands.
“Nyx!” I screamed, continuing to rush into the blackness. Within my left hand, I built life energy, preparing to heal.
“Kai! Over here!” Her voice directed me to the left, where I saw the sheen of metal reflecting the dim lights of the stars above. I heard her grunts as she fended off an enemy I still could not see, metal clashing against metal. Nearby, a male soldier was also fighting.
“What is going on—” I cut my question short, the life energy still hovering above my palm. Before me, the sands began to build upward beneath the pale moonlight, darkening and taking shape into a humanoid form. I was still with fear, my mind attempting to both understand what I was seeing as I also tried to decide how to combat it. I watched the sands build until the presence stood almost eight feet tall. Before my very eyes, the sands melded together into a flesh as black as the voids of hell, as if Hades himself was creating a living, breathing creature out of simple granules.
I shook in fear as I watched it fully form. Before me stood a monstrosity that could not be of the living, but neither was it of the dead. It had the long snout and face of a jackal, with two piercing golden eyes which betrayed too much intelligence for a mere mammal. It towered above me on two long, muscular canine legs, the knees backward much like the gladiator Rhona when she had turned into a werewolf. Its hands were oddly human, with long claws as sharp as bl
ades, each hand grasping the handle of a golden sickle that pleaded for blood.
I still stared at it, even as hundreds of black tendrils slithered across the sands around me, probably from Cerin's necromancy. My right hand shook, forming fire, the flames jerking from my fear. The creature stared back, before its jaws separated, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth. Raising its head to the skies, it released a roar which mimicked a tortured soul screaming for mercy from eternal pain, the edges of the scream wheezing and demonic.
“Anubites!” Jakan's scream echoed from behind me. “Kai, run!”
I could not run. My body wouldn't let me. I stumbled backwards from the monstrosity, my mind fumbling for answers to explain what stood before me. I realized only when I tried to use the magic that my spells were no longer in my hands; in my fear, I must have dispelled them.
The anubite I watched form did not appear interested in me. It bared its teeth and started to swing its dual sickles, and only when I saw Cerin rush past me to clash with it did I realize its intended victim. Seeing the necromancer in peril was enough to refresh my mind, and I reformed my previous fire spell, thrusting the element at the anubite, and lighting the creature aflame. All around us, in hundreds of places, skeletons once lost to the sand began to rise. The dead was plentiful here; the anubites had claimed many victims.
“It's no use fighting!” Anto shouted, from to my left, even as he attempted to fend them off. It was my first time seeing the orc fight, and I realized now why people had paid good money to see him. He had both arm blades attached to his forearms, the long blades connected via thick leather straps which secured them alongside the exteriors of his arms. The steel of the blade was sharp and prepared for blood from his elbows to past his hands, where they extended a couple of extra inches. His thick hands held onto handles that came inward from the tips of the blades, allowing him extra control over the weapons and keeping them from splitting in half from the pressure if he used one end of the blade over the other.
Anto fought as if these blades were parts of his own arms, twirling into the enemies, the steel fanning out from his muscular body like the sideways blades of a demented, possessed windmill. The man fought like a machine, raw energy funneling through his weapons and into the faux flesh of the anubites, exploding the creatures into black ash. The smell of sulfur began to wade through the air with the defeat of the creatures.
“They will keep coming!” Jakan screamed again, as a warning, even as he took on one of the creatures himself, using the bladed shield of his crossbow for protection, and slicing through the arm of the anubite before him with his scimitar.
I turned toward the camp, where soldiers were watching us fight, unwilling to come farther. I couldn't blame them. I'd remembered Jakan and Theron telling us about the anubites, and how they would never cease coming. I needed to keep as many of these people alive as I could.
“Everyone, back!” I screamed across the sands, ensuring my voice was heard by all. I knew the anubites were said to be protectors of the ruins. Given they were appearing to the south of camp, it was clear to me there were ruins in this direction. If we headed back to camp, surely we would be safe.
“Back to camp!” Jakan yelled behind him, still clashing with one of the creatures as he backed over the sands.
My eyes darted around for Nyx, and I found her in the midst of dodging hits from an anubite, scurrying backwards toward the camp. She was only partially dressed. Looking farther south, I saw her torso armor lying in the sands, amongst the blood of two nearby, fallen soldiers. I realized then why she had been out this far and this late. I resisted the urge to curse her out right now, in front of the others. I was relieved she was safe, but if she was the reason some of the men were dead, I wasn't going to be happy.
The soldiers and my friends that had been fighting were trying to retreat, leaving the anubites to their ruins. Above, in the dark night sky, I heard the roars of even more. They formed in the sands ahead in the darkness, probably near where the ancient ruins were that we could not even see. With grunts of animalistic effort, they launched themselves into the skies from their muscled haunches, jumping so far into the air toward us that the black forms of their elongated bodies blackened out parts of the small moon of Eran.
Cerin was still holding his own against one anubite, his scythe working as both a weapon and as a shield, working double time to fend off both sickles of the dual wielding foe. Metallic screeching was prevalent in the sands before us, where his hundreds of skeletons were at war, keeping the majority of the anubites busy so we could retreat. I released air magic into the skies ahead, and they darkened even further, blocking out the lights of the stars and the moon. We were in pitch darkness for a moment, before a distant rumbling rolled toward us from the heavens.
Sss-crack! A white hot, purplish surge of electricity funneled from the sky, zapping one of the anubites ahead, where it growled evilly before bursting into a cloud of black ash. Though each anubite held two sickles which were as metal as any other weapon, there were no signs of the fallen blades on the battlefield. Whatever was building these creatures out of the sands also built their weapons, for each monstrosity that fell left no proof of its prior existence. The air spell continued to rain down from the skies, exploding anubites into ash and sometimes veining over to Cerin's skeletons, causing them to burst into piles of mismatched bones.
The skeletons and the lightning storm were the distractions we needed. Cerin, Nyx, and Anto were still fighting anubites in melee, while Jakan shot bolts into the crowd of them, but the other enemies made no move to follow us closer to camp. Once these last few creatures were defeated, I figured we would be safe.
Nyx was having trouble fending hers off, though. Her daggers did little to block the hits of the sickles, and both of her hands were bleeding from defensive wounds. She was better suited for dodging, not blocking, and she was becoming fatigued from her constant battle with the creatures. She had been fighting since before we were dressed, after all.
Though I was angry with her for being the cause of this battle, I ran to her. She was my best friend, and despite her flaws, I needed to protect her. I held life energy in both palms; in my left, I prepared a shield, and in my right, I prepared healing. I watched, helplessly, as Nyx blocked a hit from the anubite with a dagger, though her strength faltered. The sickle pressed up against her blade, the pressure caving in toward the Alderi's body. Nyx yelped from exhaustion and fear, her dagger slipping from fatigued weakness, dropping from protecting herself with a screech as the blade scraped by the metal of the other weapon. Now, without barriers, the sickle slipped toward her body, the sharp blade cutting straight through the armor and extra fat at her left hip until I heard the grind of metal against bone.
“No!” My legs were already running as fast as they could take me, and I was still too late. I watched as my best friend fell backwards to the sands, gravity pulling her body off of the long sickle, leaving a few feet of blood splatter in her wake. She scrambled backwards from the anubite, pained mumbles sounding out from a voice which was normally so happy and confident. The anubite took a step toward its victim and lifted both sickles into the air, prepared to skewer her to the sands and finish her off.
I was still feet away, so I did all I could. I directed the shield toward her, even as I dived to land on top of her. I wasn't thinking of dying. I was only thinking of protecting someone I loved, and in my desperation, I reasoned with myself that it would be harder for the anubite to kill me than it would be to kill her. She was already hurt, and perhaps my blood would give me more strength against the coming blows. But I did not have a leeching high; I, too, could be easily killed.
Nyx exhaled in a huff as I landed on top of her, my body crisscrossed over hers. I braced with fear for the stabs of the sickles I knew were coming, and even still, I shielded her. My mind was going a mile a minute, so I did not think to shield myself with my remaining hand. The metallic stench of her blood was heavy in my nostrils, and the liquid aud
ibly trickled out of her hip and to the sands, possibly even moreso now that I applied pressure to her body. But still, I did not move. I would rather she be injured if it meant she would live.
Seconds passed, each one tortuously slow. Finally, I turned my head, finding the anubite still standing there, though its sickles were at its sides, like it was thinking twice about killing me. I was left flustered and confused. It had been willing to kill her, just seconds ago. And now...
There was a whizzing sound of metal through air, and I saw a glint of silver flash out toward the creature. It burst into black ash, the pieces of it fluttering to the sands below, as Anto finished his spin and stood over us.
“Are you all right?” The orc asked, breathing laboriously as he stood against the night sky.
“N-no,” I stammered, confused, glaring around me to find that the rest of the anubites near us were gone, having given up their fight because we'd retreated far enough. Ahead, the creatures still clashed with skeletons which were too close to the ruins. Cerin was running toward us from where he'd defeated his own foe. The long, curved silver blade of his scythe was dusted with ash.
I scrambled off of Nyx, who laid back on the sands, breathing heavily from both pain and fatigue. Her left hand covered the deep wound at her hip, and the sands below were saturated with her blood. She still only wore an undershirt over her torso. It was a wonder she was only scraped along her arms, for the lack of armor could have killed her.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I breathed, my anger coming through with a tinge of sadness. Even as I whispered the immunity spell over her hip, tears welled in my eyes from the thought that I nearly lost her.
She breathed heavily, her eyes still closed. “I'm sorry, Kai.”
My nostrils flared, and I tried to ignore the hot streaks which ran down my face, keeping the sobs held within myself. A glowing white energy slowly siphoned between my palms and her hip as I started to heal her.