by Eric Ugland
“If I don’t make it,” I said, “don’t eat that egg.”
He smiled, and nodded. “I will abide by your last wish, should that be it.”
I winked. “Thanks, pal. Should we, uh, like, exchange names?”
“Maybe after.”
“Let’s go.”
Chapter Fifteen
I headed to the water, walking as quietly as I could. I kept my eyes focused on the surface, looking for any sign of movement. Once a few feet away, I picked up the biggest rock I could find, which was about five pounds, ish, and chucked it in the water. I counted to three, and then bolted away.
I felt the familiar explosion of water from the lake as the glaumdrang burst forth. He was charging hard behind me.
I ducked through the slipknot and kept running, but I couldn’t help looking over my shoulder to see if our trap was working.
The glaumdrang went through the loop. Then I saw it catch on the right shoulder, then the left shoulder, and the drang was still powering forward. The noose tightened almost immediately.
For a brief moment, the glaumdrang’s eyes went bulge-y. Then there was a deafening crack, and the branch we’d tied the rope around snapped. It dropped to the ground, and all of a sudden the drang was after me again.
“Fuuuuuuuuuck!” I yelled out. I’d been eaten once before, and, frankly, that was enough. Still the worst death I’d experienced.
The glaumdrang was gaining on me. I knew because I could feel the fucker’s footsteps crashing to the ground behind me. I didn’t even need to use tremorsense —the jerk was so fucking big he couldn’t help it.
I faked left, and then darted right, moving so fast there was an actual chance Coach Miller might not have yelled at me. It wasn’t much, but it was enough so that I got all the way around and was running back toward the tree while big-boy skidded to a stop, trying to turn around. As I was running, I saw the rope next to me and the branch coming toward me, and I got an idea.
I grabbed the rope.
This probably would have been an excellent idea if the glaumdrang was running away from me. As it was, being that he was running toward me, it didn’t exactly do much. But, come on, I’m not that dumb. At least not all the time. I ran with the rope toward the huge oak tree.
“Time for you to play bait,” I shouted up at the rather stunned looking lion-man standing on a branch above me.
I didn’t see what he was going to do, but it’s not like I had much choice in the matter. I had to run. I made the first turn around the trunk, my body nearly horizontal as I tried to both run and turn at full speed. The glaumdrang ran behind me again, but he didn’t have quite the agility I had and he couldn’t make the same tight turns as I could. So when I started around the trunk, his six feet slid out from under him and he went tumbling into the little lake with a massive splash. I didn’t stop, though. I kept going around the trunk, nearly running into the lion man as I wound the rope around the trunk. As I got back around to the front, I realized two things.
One, I didn’t have enough rope to wrap it around the trunk enough times to make an effective knot.
Two, the glaumdrang was already out of the water and angry.
It snarled at me once, then lunged.
I got pulled off my feet as the rope ripped back along the trunk. Luckily it threw off the drang’s attack, so he couldn’t quite reach me.
He pulled forward, but I got my feet braced against a root, and as the giant glaumdrang tried to go one way, I pulled the other way. We were down to a battle of strength, which gave me a sense of relief.
Except this fucker was strong.
Maybe stronger than me.
I leaned back nearly far enough for the glaumdrang to grab me by the hair. My legs were locked, and I wrapped the rope around my arms in a way you definitely should not try if you want to keep your arms on your body the following day. Still, the monster inched forward.
But it all came at a cost for the beast. He was choking. That I was holding the rope that was choking him, was a nuance totally lost on him. He just saw me and wanted me to get in his belly already.
He wasn’t giving up, either. And as the glaumdrang pulled and pulled, I started to lose ground. My legs were shaking, my arms were turning an ugly shade of purple-black, and I could feel my feet starting to slip.
Then a tawny blur dropped out of the sky, and the glaumdrang stopped moving.
I fell backward as the tension on the rope disappeared. I looked up to see the lion man standing on the glaumdrang, green-tinted sword buried in the skull of the beast.
“Seems like my plan worked perfectly,” I said.
He sat down on the drang and shook his head. Then he started laughing.
Chapter Sixteen
We didn’t say much. Killing the monster had taken a lot out of us. Even though I was technically at full stamina, at least as much as I could be when I had no stamina at the same time, I felt this creeping wave of exhaustion right at the corner of my eyes.
The lion man knew his shit when it came to skinning and cleaning creatures. In this case, a creature that was nearly a hundred feet long. It was grueling work that took up the entire day. Every now and then we’d get a scare when parasites and/or worms and the like came erupting out of the glaumdrang. It resulted in a bit more fighting, but nothing spectacular or life threatening. Certainly nothing like their host.
All of the collected glaumdrang bits went into a different bag the lion man had, a dark red leather one that, according to the lion, only held unprocessed meats, furs, and other organic material. It kept them in a sort of frozen time so that nothing rotted. I was impressed.
Well after the sun went down, we climbed high into the tree and tied ourselves onto branches, sinking into a quick sleep.
I woke up in the middle of the night and looked down to see the carnage we’d made getting cleaned up by a variety of creatures. All the little things in the area were taking advantage of the unattended carcass, as well as some of the other larger animals. A few hyenas had taken up shop inside the corpse, and were busy eating their way out from the inside. There were lots of long red worms with spiked tails and big mandibles up front, and they seemed to be making quick work of all the spilled blood. And there were plenty of little rodents and birds scooping up the rest of the bit and bops left behind. I watched with mild interest, feeling rested and ready to get up, but not really wanting to disturb the scene below.
My mind wandered to the previous day, and the lion man I’d shared it with. Who was this guy? What was I going to do with him? Convince him to come to Coggeshall? He seemed like a good cat, if you can pardon the pun. He’d shown real courage and know-how, especially about monsters, or at least so it seemed. And he probably had more knowledge about Mahrduhm than anyone I knew, and given how things were shaping up politically, that might be very valuable knowledge.
There were too many questions to ask, and not enough answers, especially without knowing a damn thing about his feelings on the matter. My guess was that he’d been connected to the court in some capacity, but that there’d been a falling out with the dark queen. That could play in my favor. But then again, would bringing someone from Mahrduhm to my own court make things even more complicated? I didn’t need more complications. I’d been doing a smashing job making everything a giant mess for myself. But I had a good feeling about him. And about what he might have to offer Coggeshall.
In any case, nothing that could be answered until the morning.
When dawn came, I realized that the lion was awake, and that he’d been watching me.
“Names,” he said.
“Montana Coggeshall,” I said. “Is your name Lion’el? Or Leo?”
“No on both counts, sadly. Lion’el is a grand sounding name. I am Yuri.”
“Yuri, it’s nice to meet you.”
“You as well, though I fear we are, technically, enemies.”
“You guys are at war with the Empire, aren’t you?”
He nodded, and starte
d climbing down the tree.
I got the egg strapped onto my back, and followed.
On the ground, we stood at the lake. Yuri stared down into the deep azure.
“You know the treasures down there?” He asked.
“No.”
“There have been countless caravans that passed in this direction, but never ended up on the other side. All of their goods will be in the glaumdrang lair below.”
“Are they hoarding types?”
“Yes.”
“Like dragons?”
“Not in the slightest. Well, I suppose, in a way, the hoarding can be similar. But drangs are not majestic creatures of magic. They are base hunters with marginally above-average bestial intelligence. Your ignorance of monsters makes me question how things are in the Empire. Does the Legion truly handle all monsters as well as enemies?”
“For the most part,” I replied. It wasn’t exactly the truth, but then again, I didn’t know the truth in that particular area. I didn’t get my own Legion, and I hadn’t really been paying attention when Nikolai or Cleeve tried to teach the matter to me. Which was something I promised myself I’d get better about as soon as I got back to Coggeshall. Which, at this rate, was going to be one fucking long walk.
“Interesting.”
“Are all monsters here handled by companies such as yours?”
“No longer. It is something that has been brought under the aegis of the Queen and her daughter.”
“So what happened to your company?”
“Most were pulled into the military, compulsory service in times of war. But myself and a few others, our belongings were confiscated, and we were tossed out.”
“That doesn’t seem fair.”
“Fair and the queen are rarely in the same location.”
“Have you ever thought about moving?”
“You think I am out here for my health?”
“The sunshine is pretty magical.”
“I will certainly grant you that.”
“There is another option.”
“Cross over to the Empire?”
“Sure.”
“With you?”
“I mean, we make a terrible team, but it’s not like we’re overflowing with options here.”
He looked around, and I followed his gaze. It was nothing but grass and slight hills to the horizon. Beautiful blue skies, though, just a few happy little clouds here and there to complete the Bob Ross painting.
“I suppose there is little left for me here,” he said. “But it has been my home. Leaving is a difficult proposition.”
“I know a thing or two about that,” I said. “Sometimes the best thing you can do, though, is leave and start over somewhere. To take a chance at another life. That’s really what this can be, you know. And there are a lot of monsters where I live. I’m sure you could find plenty of work.”
“Oh?”
“Tons. Big ones. Small ones. Some really nasty ones. Have you heard of abominaballs?”
“Yes.”
“Lots of those.”
“They can be problematic. Especially if you are in a heavy snowfall zone. The town you come from, Osterstadt, does it have heavy snowfalls?”
“I think so. Thing is, I actually come from a town just a ways east. More in the mountains. With lots of snow.”
“Ah, then you will need to handle the abominaball issue quickly, before they infest the town.”
“Exactly. See? This is why you should come.”
“Is the local lord nice?”
“He’s got a few quirks, but I’d argue he’s better than most of the lords I’ve met.”
“Does he get his hands dirty?’
“It’s actually rare to see him keep his hands clean.”
“Is that a good thing? Does he not understand hygiene?”
“I think he might have some issues with hygiene.”
“Really.”
“He’s had issues with clothes in the past.”
“He sounds like a brute.”
“He is a brute. That’s rather apt. But nice. And generous. He’s, uh, providing for everyone in the holding right now.”
“What? Providing what?”
“Room and board.”
“That seems rare.”
“He’s on this idea that everyone should work together, toward something, as one.”
“Sounds like he will be assassinated if he is at all successful.”
“That’s a rather brutal assessment of the situation.”
“Do you think it incorrect?’
“No, but, damn. I suppose I should warn him.”
“You are friends with him?”
“We have a complicated relationship.”
“Lovers then?”
“I mean,” I paused, really trying to understand the best way to answer that question without lying, “No. Not that kind of complication.”
“Ah, I do not mean to pry. I have always been too curious for my own good.”
“Hey man, curiosity is a good thing. Which makes me wonder why you aren’t diving in the lake to find the treasure you’re so sure is below.”
“In order to do that, I would need to know how to swim.”
“Oh. You can’t swim?”
“Few of my kind do. We are not built for such things.”
“I can swim.”
“Humans always can.”
“Far from the truth.”
“Oh? It has always been something lorded above us by our human countrymen.”
“One, not your countryman. Two, not human.”
“Again, apologies, I did not realize—“
“It’s fine. I know how I look.”
“Wild.”
“I was going more for humanlike.”
“Ah, no.”
I started peeling off my belongings and setting them down on the bank.
“I know about the egg,” Yuri said. “Not for consumption.”
“Bingo,” I said. “You think there’s anything else in there? Also, wait, didn’t you say it was poisoned?”
“I doubt the water is poisoned any longer,” he said. Just to make sure, he knelt down, and scooped a pawful into his mouth.
“Anything?”
“Bit brackish, but there’s no notice of a poison debuff. As far as I remember about the glaumdrang, it put poison out continuously, but it doesn’t last for that long.”
I did a little stretching while I debated taking off my pants. I might go a little faster, but I’d also be completely naked in front of this stranger. Probably best to leave them on.
“Last thing,” I said, “this glaumdrang, is it an air-breather?”
Yuri nodded. “As far as I know.”
“So it’ll have a lair with air in it.”
“Likely.”
“All right,” I said, “let’s do this.”
Chapter Seventeen
The water was clear and unbelievably cold. The type of cold where your whole body clenches up and you forget how to do anything but fight for survival, and usually wind up drowning in the process. I splashed around the surface, and managed to grab hold of some grass along the edge. There was virtually no shallow area to the lake. It was more like a borehole with straight sides.
“I thought you knew how to swim,” Yuri said, kneeling next to me and smiling. “Guess you really are not human after all.”
“It’s an involuntary biological response to cold water, asshole,” I spat out at him.
A few seconds later, I was acclimated. I flipped him the bird before I dove under.
Once again, I was struck by how clear the water was. Once I got into darkvision, I felt like I could’ve seen forever. It was really deep, and even swimming at top speed, I was a little worried I’d run out of air. This was also the moment I realized I had to worry about running out of air, since I no longer had that little ring of water-breathing. It’s amazing how much I’d come to depend on magical items for little life hacks.
Still, abou
t forty or fifty feet from the bottom, I slowed down, and stopped looking at the bottom. It was something I should have been doing earlier: looking at the walls of the lake for a spot where the glaumdrang had dug its lair. I imagined it would be something along the lines of a beaver home, something dug out to make an air pocket for things like sleeping. Half-way up on the northern edge, I saw a shadowed portion of the wall, and I kicked over to it.
Sure enough, there was a good chunk missing. I swam inside, and could see the shimmering underside of a large air pocket.
I swam up to the surface, and I poked my head out carefully, just putting my eyes above first, and then the rest of my head. I’d found the glaumdrang’s lair. And it stunk. There was definitely a lack of fresh air, and so a rather heavy musk scent punctuated everything.
It was definitely bigger than I’d expected. Though in retrospect, that was foolish because the creature had been huge. Therefore, its bed would be huge. And so it was, in fact, huge. It was also full of crap.
The lair was about fifty feet wide at the front, and about two hundred feet wide at the back. It wan’t super tall though, maybe fifteen feet, max. And about a football field in length. I was a little worried about how it hadn’t collapsed in on itself. It seemed to just be dirt. But when I got out of the water and investigated more, it looked like dirt plus something else to make it more sturdy. I’d need a pickaxe or an excavator to actually dig through the walls of the lair.
I started at the front, and went through the accrued crap. Broken wagons, a massive bone pile, and other obvious trash items. The only thing of note was one large chest that hadn’t succumbed to the glaumdrang’s biting. There were plenty of teeth marks on the chest, and some other marks that made me think the drang had batted the chest around some, but it remained intact. Also locked, which kind of sucked. But, I’d always wanted to learn lock-picking.
Next was where the creature seemed to have made a bit of a pantry, and where I found the sad remains of Fritz the frog. Or, well, some of the remains of Fritz. He’d clearly made more than a single meal, and the drang had left the rest behind. I hoped Fritz had had a quick death. Finally, at the back, were the valuables. Coins arranged in haphazard piles, sparkling jewels — or at least, jewels that would have been sparkling had there been any light — and three unopened and still-locked golden chests.