Fable - Ask May the Spirits guide your Journey

[Weylin Kyrel]

The hunter frowned slightly when the orcess didn't take the items from him and said she had no candle. She asked if it would work without one. A good question. He didn't know. It wasn't as if he was an expert when it came to spirits. He was just a hunter who knew the stories and tales. Long winters stuck inside by the wind and snow lead to retelling of tales. That was were he had gotten this from. All the stories said they needed a candle and the food.

Weylin set the items on the floor between him and Zeri. Then he went back into his pack. He pulled out a small vial of oil and a ball of thread. He cut off a length of string then put the ball back up. It was the thread he used to repair his clothes. Once he was done with that he added the length of thread and vial to his little pile of objects.

"Find a small bowl. Pour the oil from this vial into it. Stick the thread in and let one end of it soak and sink. Then light it in place of a candle."

Once he was done. Weylin rested back against the wall. There went his oil for maintaining his metal tools. A small sacrifice to hopefully get them out of this situation. His eyes closed and the hunter felt he could fall back asleep at any time.

After a moment he said, "I don't know if we need a candle or light. The stories about kobolds always mentions them so better to have it than not. When they show up, if they show up, they should help. Fresh bread and cream would have been better as gifts, but all I have is hard tack and wild honey. They are spirits of homes and tunnels. Sometimes they are mean and sometimes helpful. Depends on how you treat them and if they feel you invaded their homes."

He had rambled a bit there. Not good. Was it a sign of how out of it he was? Was he out of it?

The hunter decided to stop talking and just focus on resting up. If he couldn't move when the time came then it might kill them both.

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

(he was frowning again)

Weylin went into his pack. Pulled out a few more things. Spoke to her about a possible alternative.

"Right. Okay."

Find a small bowl. Improvise a candle. She could do that. Zeri trusted that this would work, summoning the attention of those rat wizard creatures. Strange that there was, what, a small altar presumably devoted to them in this home. Maybe it was a dwarven thing.

Zeri set her spear aside and stood--not quite to her full height. She glanced around. Went to what looked like the kitchen area of the compact home. There were a number of wooden bowls on the slim counter, and Zeri furrowed her brow looking at them. She crouched down and pulled open the door under the counter and reached in and came back out with a ceramic bowl--this would do.

Weylin elaborated further on what they were trying to do. Kobolds? Those were kobolds? Zeri guessed so; they did match the descriptions she'd heard, more or less, even if they didn't match what her mind's eye had imagined them to be. Spirits though. That didn't seem right; those two she'd seen looked like creatures of flesh and blood to her. Well, so long as they helped. Hopefully the Nice One showed up. The Ugly One was mean before she had even done or said anything to him.

Zeri sat back down and arranged the makeshift candle in the bowl and placed both it and the offerings of food on the nook's shelf that Weylin had indicated. She went to her pack and pulled out her firestarter kit and took the flint and steel and hovered over the "candle" and struck a spark. Jerked back when the fire whooshed to life in the bowl and on the string. Then she put away her kit and returned to the nook.

Here goes.

"I offer these in friendship."

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The orcess seemed to understand what the human had told her as she had begun to get things set up. But he wasn't awake long enough to see her go about it. His body demanded rest and it wouldn't be denied. So he drifted into the land of dreams.

====================

As Zeri got the gifts placed and the whole bowl of oil up in flames she would find that everything was completely silent. Nothing changed. It was perfectly the same in the old abandoned dwarf home.

====================

Weylin felt something as he slept. It was something on his face. It came and went. Came and went. Over and over again repeatedly. Finally he had enough and slapped at his face to wipe it away. He hit his own face. This got his eyes to flutter open.

The sight of an ugly thing in a robe made him flinch. And the flinch made him wince from the surge of pain.

This seemed to bother the thing and it backed up before suddenly disappearing.

====================

Next to Zeri the mean kobold popped up. It looked her up and down. It looked like it was utterly confused as it looked her over. Then out of nowhere recognition filled its face.

"Bad flat girl new friend. What want? Human died. Zombie now. Friend flat girl know? Not safe!"

The nice kobold suddenly popped up eating one of the hard tack with honey all over it. It held the dry bread in one hand as it waved off the mean kobold with the other hand. After it had swallowed its last bite of bread it said, "Human not zombie. Human sleep not sleep sleep."

The nice kobold licked the extra honey off its fingers as the mean one popped over by the nook and grabbed its own bread. It went to get honey then sneered. "No honey! Bad! Bad!"

The two began to bicker extremely fast with each other in an incredible strange and alien language. After a bit the beast suddenly dropped back by the doorway and screamed. Just as before it began to claw away inside as deep into the building as it could, although never came close to the human or orcess.

Both the kobolds yelped and popped up next to the human by the far wall.

"Bad thing! Bad thing!"

"No good! No good!"

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

Noooo-wah.

Why did it have to be the Ugly One? She had said the words that needed to be said and waited for a long enough time to make her heart beat with the terrible worrying strain of What if it doesn't work, then when it did work it just had to be the Ugly One. He never promised Zeri anything. For all she knew, he'd have another fit and collapse the house down on her head. And furthermore she didn't like the way the thing looked her up and down: it was gross.

Human died? Zombie? No he didn't, and no he wasn't--Weylin was right there. Sitting against the wall. He was fine.

Then--much like Weylin had with the Ugly One--Zeri flinched when the Nice One suddenly appeared before the little nook shrine. How these creatures could do that was beyond her, but it was beside the point. The Nice One was here. The Nice One, who had given his word about clearing the path after she'd saved Weylin (maybe he already had cleared it?). Surely he would be invested in helping. It just...well, it just wouldn't make sense for them to go through all the trouble of guiding Zeri to Weylin to save him, only to have him die a couple of hours later. But who knew how these kobolds really thought--maybe it did made some kind of sense to them.

The two were bickering over the offered food, and as Zeri opened her mouth to say something, the Bat came back to the doorway. Hollering that baleful cry and thrusting a hideous clawed arm inside once again. Zeri nearly jumped out of her moccasins, but pushed away from the little shrine and half-dove, half-reached for her spear and whirled into her kneeling stance again. It still couldn't reach them, but Zeri felt safer with the spear in both hands regardless.

She looked over her shoulder at the two kobolds and Weylin, all at the far wall from the doorway, and spoke loudly enough to be heard over the Bat's noisy efforts. Said to the kobolds, "We need your help! That thing has us trapped in here! So will you? Will you help us get out of here?"

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The hunter watched the kobolds as they popped around the building and bickered with each other. They were in their own little world and didn't seem to notice him or the orcess. They were just concerned with who got what of the offerings.

Then the bat creature came back and everyone was shaken back into the same realm. The kobolds were by him now and the orcess had retreated back to her spear. She yelled at them for help, which made sense. Help was the whole reason they wanted them here. The way they were acting it might not be possible they could help them out. They seemed just as scared.

Weylin needed to think of a plan after all.

====================

The mean one began to bang his staff as he just of yelled back at the bat. The nice one just sort of cheered on the mean one as if that was helping. Clearly yelling could scare this terrifying creature away.

The mean one ran out of breath and while it got it back the nice one spoke up. "Helping now. Much helping!"

The mean one was back to yelling and banging its staff as the nice one cheered it on.

=====================

All the noise from the bat and the kobolds was annoying. It was making it hard for the hunter to think. But after a few minutes of it all he finally got the start of a plan forming. He looked over at the orcess and studied her as she was in a defensive stance with her spear. In particular he looked over her muscles and her equipment. Both would do.

Weylin did his best to yell over the idiots. "Zeri, take my bow. Shoot its good eye."

As he was speaking he got his bow and quiver ready for her to take. It hurt to move around, but he ignored it. This plan hinged on them blinding the thing. After he just hoped he could get the kobolds to listen to them.

"Please Zeri. I need your help."

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

...What?

Zeri just flatly regarded the two kobolds with an arched eyebrow and an expression that was nothing short of confused astonishment.

...Wait, no...what?

What happened? Didn't these two have magic? The Ugly One could summon blinding light and cause quakes throughout the whole of the cavern. The Nice One could actually cause a collapse of the rocky ceiling of the tunnels. They could appear wherever they wanted seemingly without limitation and seemingly breaking one of the Laws of Magic. So...why?

They were depending on them, Zeri and Weylin were. And these two kobold now appeared so inept that her former worry--that they would show up at all--paled in comparison to this, that they would not have the actual capacity to help them. Oh no. Oh gosh, no.

Zeri looked back to the Bat. To the monstrous reaching arm belonging to it, thrashing around inside the home. She could try wounding it further, try to get it to leave that way. That's what it seemed to be now: a battle of attrition. Whittle the monster down and force it to retreat before both she and Weylin died from starvation.

Weylin caught her attention. She glanced back.

Zeri, take my bow. Shoot its good eye.

She had her own bow, but simply taking his was quicker than unstrapping hers from her pack. And he had all the arrows between them too--all of hers had been destroyed by the troll. She set down her spear and crouch-walked over to Weylin and strapped on the quiver over her parka and took the bow. She reached into the quiver and took an arrow and turned to face the Bat at the doorway. Nocked the arrow and began to aim.

"Alright...alright..." she said quietly to herself. Beyond the tip of the arrow and the shaft that her eye looked down the Bat writhed and thrashed and screamed.

"Just like Pa said."

She waited, keeping the arrow ready to loose. Waited for the right opportunity.

"'Let your eye and your heart be one.'"

She waited...waited...

There.

And she loosed the arrow at the Bat.

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The kobolds were still yelling and stamping their staves (the nice one had joined in as well) when the orcess took the items from the hunter. He was happy she did. Without hesitation she got herself equipt and in a ready stance. She took aim and was saying things to herself. He couldn't hear her over the kobolds so wasn't sure what she was mumbling. Perhaps she was asking the spirits for help? She had done that before. Granted two spirits currently weren't being of much help to them so maybe not.

The bat creature's good eye was placed through the doorway and an arrow was let loose at it. The tip sunk in and just as before the bat began to scream as it tried to deal with the thing in its eye. It was now completely blind and in an amount of pain that Weylin could understand given his current state. It eventually snapped the arrow shaft in half as it had done before then took off into the air. Where is landed was unknown. They might hear a thud off in the distance as the kobolds had stopped screaming finally.

Weylin sighed with a smile. That part of the plan had worked, but the creature was more than its eyes. It likely could track them another way and if it was smart enough it might be thinking of revenge. Not a good combination. He just smiled to Zeri and said, "Thank you."

Next he looked to the kobolds. "Help me friends?"

Both of the spirits just sort of eyed the human. It was clear from their expressions they thought they already had helped by driving the bat away. It took him a moment to realize this but once he did he got into his bag and pulled out some jerky. He held it out to them and the two hungrily took the meat from his hands. They began to tear into the food like a pair of ravenous children. The hunter's food supply was getting light.

The mean one finished first. "What need?"

The nice one said after licking its fingers again. "Yes. What need?"

"Distract the bat by making noise so we can sneak out." Weylin said to them with a serious look on his face. He remembered something after a moment so added quickly, "The tunnel is clear right? You did that for Zeri yes?"

Weylin pointed over at the orcess and the kobold looked. Upon seeing her the nice one spat out, "Yes, yes! Cleared tunnel for flat girl."

The two kobold began to talk to each other in that strange, alien language of theirs as if discussing if they would offer their help or not. The human hoped they would. It was the only chance they really had to escape and they didn't have much time before the bat calmed down enough to be a problem. All he could do was wait though.

The hunter looked over at the orcess.

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

She made it. First shot. Zeri breathed a sigh of relief and gave a small smile of victory back toward Weylin. The kobolds hadn't been helpful thus far--at all--but at least Weylin and Zeri had managed between them to put out the eyes of the Bat.

As Weylin spoke to them, Zeri took off the quiver from her back and set it and the bow down and reached for her pack and threw it back on. Adjusted it. Dragged her spear across the ground a little bit closer to herself. She was more than ready to get going, to leave this place behind, and it wasn't just the menace of the Monster Bat driving her out.

Well goodness. The Nice One had already cleared the tunnel, had he? They should have just left out of here as soon as Weylin was rescued from the mushroom cave. Should have. But...gosh, it all had just gotten out of hand then. Not this time though. This time Zeri was focused. And moreover, they might not get another chance.

Zeri handed Weylin's bow and arrow back to him when he looked over to her.

"Can you run? Walk on your own? Or do you need me to help you? We'll have to g-go fast, I'm guessing. I-I don't want you to fall behind."

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The kobolds were still arguing away with each other. It seemed a disagreement had risen at some point and had gone the way one might expect from them by this point. Lots of chittering and chatting with waving hands. They were getting a bit noisy about it as well.

The hunter frowned at the pair but the orcess got his attention when she handed him his equipment back. He gave her a slight smile as he took it. At least someone was being helpful. Her questions got a frown out of him as he slung his bow over his torso.

"Can't run. Might puncture a lung. Can walk on my own. Leave me behind if you need to." Weylin said as he got his quiver fixed back into place. Things weren't looking good. The kobolds weren't showing any sign of helping like they had been asked and his condition was proving to be more and more fatal in these circumstances.

The human looked over at the kobolds again. They were still the same. No conclusion or compromise had been met. His gaze returned back to the orcess. "Don't think they will help." His thoughts raced for a moment as he paused. "Changing the plan. I'll cause the noise. You sneak out when I do."

With that said he began to try and get himself back up. It was proving difficult. The pain from his injury was as sharp and deep as always. His body also was at its limit. Little energy was left within him. He was going to be dead weight to her soon and needed to get do what he could before he collapsed. White whined as she stood by her human. She knew what was going through his head and wasn't going to let him do it alone.

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

He couldn't run. That wasn't good. That wasn't good at all. Even if they got away from the Monster Bat, what if they needed to run once they reached the surface? There were things other than all of the terrible monsters Weylin had spoken of.

And yet, just as she was thinking that they would have no option but to find some kind of shelter once on the surface, Weylin said something with such frankness that it broke her heart: Leave me behind if you need to. Yet...as awful as it was...what if it did come to that? What if the Monster Bat caught up to them and it was either Weylin, Zeri, or both of them?

Zeri's mouth moved, as if she were trying to speak, but no words were formed nor any breath exhaled. She blinked. And she--like a mirror of him, albeit with perhaps a different emotion compelling it--frowned, her bottom lip curling down slightly and there a momentary quiver of her chin.

Weylin looked to the kobolds. Zeri looked to the kobolds. Those same kobolds who were quite content to terrify her and block her way with their magic now both acting the part of the fool in a play. He was right--they were going to be of no help, the offerings to them wasted.

Changing the plan. I'll cause the noise. You sneak out when I do.

Zeri reached out. Touched his shoulder.

Nervousness shook her heart.

And she said in a way that betrayed how terribly uncertain she was, "Be careful? P-Please...?"

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

Despite the troubles in getting back onto his feet the hunter managed it. A task he wasn't sure he could manage again. But he had his pack slung over his back and the little he owned not in it or his pouches in hand. He just hoped now that he could buy the orcess enough time to flee.

She had touched his shoulder and given him her uncertain words. A slight smile was given to her in response. This was likely the last time they would ever meet again.

"FINE! FINE!"

The mean kobold just burst out yelling right after the human gave the orcess a smile. Then they both vanished as they tended to do.

The hunter was visibly confused as to what was happening. He was frozen in place as his mind raced over what happened. His gaze ventured over to the orcess for some kind of answer. No doubt she had as little idea as him. What were the kobolds up to? Where had they gone?

Perhaps a minute after they had vanished sounds began to erupt all over the empty town. Bangs like those of cauldrons hitting the stone floor. The pattering of hobnailed boots running down streets. Yells in what sounded like dwarven echoing from abandoned homes. All of them mimicking life and all of them random.

Weylin tightened his grip on his pack straps. His face became more focused. He looked to Zeri and said, "Let's go." And with that said he began to walk out into the streets. He kept his eyes on the ceiling and roof tops. It seemed the kobolds were helping after all.

===================================

The bat creature was displeased. Sight had been taken from its eyes permanently. Rage gnawed away at its sanity in equal measures as its hunger. Angry and starving it was ready to tear apart whatever it could find.... And then the sounds began.

It was first confused. These sounds were new, foreign. What did they mean? But quickly it gave up on caring. Ire and hunger were its only concerns. The sounds might sate it so it began to flap around trying to chase the sounds.

Eventually a scent found its way to the bat. It was the scent of the prey it had almost caught before its first eye had been taken from it. It was the scent of the prey that had blinded it forever. Desire swelled up from deep within its being. A savage roar filled with anguish, loathing, and starvation escaped it to fill the tomb.

Feverishly it sniffed the air and perked its ears. It needed to find the prey. It would find the prey. And when it did it would tear it apart as cruelly as it could before devouring every last bit so nothing was left of the wretched thing that dared take its sight forever more.

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

And then they were gone.

Zeri indeed glanced back to Weylin after the kobolds disappeared. She...well, she had good reason to believe that they would've been able to do something of value. So did Weylin. But this hope seemed misplaced now, and Weylin's distraction would be the only option available to them. She didn't like it, spirits, she didn't like it at all. Yet this was the track of her misadventure here in the Spine, here this past--day, two days, three days? Regardless, it was the track of things getting worse and worse.

Surprisingly though, a clamor of various noises--as if the small port town had come back to life through sound alone--came from outside the dwarven home and the open doorway. The kobolds had done something. Spared Weylin from doing what he had intended to do at least.

Let's go.

"Okay."

And Zeri gripped her spear in both hands. Followed Weylin out through the doorway. She would on occasion face about and walk backwards, keeping alert of what could be behind them. The Monster Bat had gone somewhere. Maybe, if they were lucky, it was too wounded and too confused by the sudden noises to try and pursue them.

They just had to get to the exit tunnel. Get there and get to the surface and get out of this forsaken place!

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The trip out of the abandoned home was slow going for Weylin. His body was feeling more and more sluggish with each step. No doubt he would be slowing Zeri down if she kept with him as they went. The only good news was that the kobolds seemed to be distracting the beast.

Hopefully they could get out of danger safely.

===================================

The bat creature picked up the scent it desired after having lost it for a moment in the echoing confusion of sounds. The blinder was close now. Soon. Soon it would feast on vengeance. Soon the gnawing hunger would cease and the boiling rage would cool. Then it could slumber and heal till primal needs stirred it once more.

The thing flapped from rooftop to rooftop sniffing the air. The scent grew stronger each time. Soon the soft padding of feet on stone reached its ears. But it was only for a moment. The confusing noises drowned it out. Only a moments pause had allowed it to detect the sound it desired.

Having to take a guess based on the rough spot it determined its prey to be, the creature dropped down from the roof once more as it had the first time. It roared yet again as it spread its wings out wide.... And it struck stone. The spot it had landed in was narrower than it had known. It barely had room to swing its claws, but it did have room to swing its claws.

The biggest problem was it could not sort out where exactly the prey was. Its scent filled up the area too much and it couldn't hear over the echo of its own roar and the chaos of the kobolds. So it began to probe the air in front of it cautiously with its claws like a cat's paw under a door. It was feeling for what it desired. It would have what it desired.

=======================================

Weylin froze the moment he noticed the bat thing on the rooftop above. He reached out a hand to try and stop Zeri, if she was even close enough for him to touch. Regardless when the creature landed it moved awkwardly about. It didn't seem to know exactly where they were and so was having to find them.

A lucky break for them. Trying to stay as quiet as possible he bent down and picked up a piece of debris off the floor. He tossed it down an alley off to the side of them and waited. Hopefully it took the bait and they could sneak around it as it trapped itself further.

========================================

A noise. It echoed off to the side. A sign of hope?

The bat creature pawed the air in the direction of the rock while sniffing and directing its ears towards the source of the sound. It was getting nothing. It could be nothing. It could be the prey got away. This angered the beast further.

Unsure what to do next it just stood while making angry noises where it had landed. Its paw still searched the air in the direction of the sound. Its attention seemed focused that way but it also seemed to have no intention to move yet.

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

Zeri had just turned around from one of her instances of walking backward when she felt Weylin's hand pressing into her parka. She stopped. Froze. Even held her breath in those first few seconds, this small and inconsequential thing amidst the commotion caused by the kobolds.

Then the Monster Bat dropped down in front of them in the narrow passageway, the wings jutting off of its forearms pressed into dwarven structures on either side. A yelp was caught in Zeri's throat. Caught and suppressed only by a painful exertion of will. She shoved it back down, but her eyes were no less wide and alert.

It can't see us. It can't see us. Look. There. It's unsure. Look at how its reaching out.

Weylin bent and picked up a piece of rubble, and for a crazy moment Zeri thought he meant to chuck it directly at the creature, like some last act of defiance despite the thoughts that had only just run through her mind. But he threw the rock away. And it got the Bat's attention! To an extent. Just to an extent. It didn't go barreling down the alley (if it could even fit) or anything so fortunate for her and Weylin. No, the creature stood where it had landed: directly in their path.

Quick considerations arose in Zeri's head. They could just back out the way they had come down this passageway. Find another. Oh spirits, but what if the Thing just dropped down in front of them again? Or, worse, caught them while they were in the relative open? Making a dash for the exit tunnel, say? The Bat was blind was it still had fight in it.

If the Bat was going to be this persistent, they needed to take the fight out of it. They didn't even necessarily need to kill it--just wound it enough so it either couldn't or wouldn't pursue them. This narrow passageway between buildings was an unexpected gift from the spirits, and the constant clamor throughout the cavern by the kobolds could mask the sounds Zeri and Weylin might make. This was the best chance.

Zeri came up beside Weylin. Held her spear in one hand and brushed hair away from his ear with the other. She leaned close. Close enough that the tip of her nose was pressed to his head and her lips were touching his ear. And she whispered to him, the closeness of her voice sure to be heard despite the kobold's clamor, "We can wound it here. Kill it maybe."

She drew back. Her eyes with a beseeching, Please don't argue, look to them. And she made a small motion with her hands, miming the drawing back of a bowstring. She didn't even know if he could, what with his broken ribs, but the body did gain a fire in the veins when under stress. If he could though...every little bit would help.

Zeri carefully shucked off her pack from her shoulders. Set it down gently beside the wall of one of the enclosing structures. A commitment to the plan to do such a thing, and also to alleviate the weight from her back. She wanted--needed--to be nimble. She had a spear, but the Bat still had significant reach with its claws. Until its hands (maybe even its arms too) were disabled, she couldn't risk getting anywhere close to its chest or head.

Zeri squared her stance. Clasped her spear in both hands again. Stalked forward some.

Then lunged and stabbed upward through the palm of the Bat's reaching hand, the obsidian tip penetrating just barely through the top of said hand. The Bat shrieked. Swung its injured hand in a wild arc as Zeri hopped back, missing her (even as her hair fluttered from the wind of it) and slamming the wall of the passageway, dust billowing out and blood splattering down. Zeri--almost like an aggressive mosquito pestering an apex predator--thrust her spear into the forearm above the bloodied hand, drawing more blood and skipping backward yet again.

The Bat seemed to have trouble moving its injured hand properly now, the appendage dangling limply even as the rest of the arm flailed about.

The Bat switched hands then; a squeezing shift of its shoulders to put this fresh arm and hand more forward. Quick and downward swipes, like the snapping jaws of a crocodile, as the Bat inched in the passageway toward Zeri and Weylin. Toward the source of the pain inflicted upon it.

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

Something struck it. Something made it bleed. It was responsible. First its sight and now its paw. Was it not yet satisfied? Did its lust to leave all around it crippled know no limit?

Anger. Rage. Ire. Loathing.

There was no word strong enough to describe what the creature felt for the blinder, the crippler. All it could do was try to bring safety back to the world. All it could do was tear, crush, and devour the threat whole. Not a drop of blood could be left behind. It might blind and cripple the world.

So the creature swung its only remaining claw with all the fury and fervor it could muster.

=====================================

The hunter's gambit had failed. The creature remained in its place. A surge of pain from his ribs was his reward. A reminder of his failures. He had gotten her away from the troll only to take her to this place. The spirits within this tomb tormented them. The strange nature of it brought them pain and suffering. There was no light. There was no darkness.

Had he taken them to the between place?

Words from the orcess right into his ear brought him back to the moment.

When had he slipped away?

She had a plan. A plan to injure it. To kill it. She didn't want him to argue. How could he? Her mind had stayed in the moment. She was focused and poised. What was he? Lost. Wandering. Dreaming.

Thrust. Thrust. Thrust.

The human's father would have been proud of the orcess. She was using every advantage she had against the beast while keeping it at bay. Soon she had not only blinded it but also crippled one of its paws. It was not pleased. It was in pain. But it wasn't sane. A normal creature would have retreated and given up the chase. The meal wasn't worth the risk. Every hunter knew to get a meal now shouldn't stop you from getting more in the future. Those that did died. This creature chose to die. It wasn't about to stop until the last wisp of life left its form.

Flames ate at wooden walls. Arrows were raining from the sky. A blood churning roar bellowed from a spear impaled monster in orc form. An axe was used to break the spear shafts away. Settlers left helpless as bleeding beast rush forth to slaughter until it died.

The creature lunged forward as it swiped its claw savagely through the air. It knew they were in front of it. It just needed to get closer. The orcess was in its way. The hunter didn't think. Using the last of his energy he flung himself in front of her as he drew his skinning knife.

Blood trickled down the human's face.

The blade of the knife was buried through the creature's paw. Claws had sliced open part of his forehead. Not enough to kill him. Only enough to make him bleed. It pinned the strengthless hunter to the floor as he struggled to keep it from digging claws into him with his knife. It finally had trapped something and was lunging forward to sink its fangs finally in.

Would he finally dream for eternity? Would he finally see his family again?

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

It seemed faster than a blink.

The Monster Bat swung down, drew blood from Weylin's face, and Weylin ended up pinned on the ground. He had injured the creature's once good hand with his knife, but (oh spirits!) this wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Maybe he tried to use his bow but found that he couldn't--or just knew flat out that he couldn't--and decided the only way he could help was to unsheathe his knife and wade in. It was like him to do something just like that, no matter the cost to himself. This both brave and worryingly self-destructive to Zeri, but more so impressive than either.

The raging wave of fright took primacy, though. Fright for Weylin's life. Fright for her own. The Monster Bat had suffered several injuries, was bleeding freely, and yet did not back down. With a single-minded intensity the creature was hellbent on getting them, on ending them. It was as if they were more than just mere prey. That they were hated foes. And if that was the case then this creature, this monster (did she not think of it as so?) would pursue them relentlessly if they let it. Beyond the bounds of the cave and into the shine of the sun and all throughout the range of the Spine. The option to wound it, to scare it off, was never possible. They had to kill it.

One hand and its deadly claws were disabled. The other hand Weylin pinned.

Leaving an open avenue for Zeri. She saw the small wound she had made with a stab when first the Monster Bat had appeared. There at that spot she knew she would not hit the bones of its ribcage. There she had a chance to pierce through the flesh and strike at its heart.

Zeri summoned her own bravery (and mayhap a dash of worryingly self-destructive disregard too) and charged, crying out a roar of rising ferocity.

She drove her spear deep into the old wound on the Monster Bat's chest, burying the obsidian spear-tip beneath the creature's dark flesh and plunging the shaft of the spear halfway down its length into the beast. She felt the spear-tip hit a rear rib bone at the creature's back, this hard stop after the easy give of stabbing through muscle and organs.

Then something slammed into Zeri's back.

The Monster Bat, precluded from smacking Zeri away by the narrowness of the passageway and by keeping Weylin pinned with its other arm, instead crushed Zeri into its chest with the very forearm she had injured, drawing her into a vicious and constricting bearhug. A gasp of air escaped Zeri's lungs, and so tightly was she squeezed that she had trouble drawing in more--her mouth open in a breathless and wordless scream.

Find...the heart! May the Spirits...guide my hand!

Her left arm was pinned between her body and the Monster Bat's own, but she could still move to some meager extent her right. A burst of terror-fueled adrenaline empowered her free forearm, and she jostled the shaft of her spear, trying to free the spear-tip from the bone. Black spots bubbled into her vision as her lungs craved--pleaded for--air. She tried, tried, tried to free the spear-tip. She thought her own ribs might crack and break, matching Weylin's, as the Bat pressed harder against her. A slight pulling back of the spear shaft...

And the spear-tip came loose inside the Bat's torso. A surge of excitement and frantic hope alighted in Zeri, like a flare of light against an encroachment of consuming shadow.

Zeri wrenched the spear shaft as much as she could. Blindly searching for the Monster's heart with the sharp obsidian, hearing (with her ear forcibly pressed to the Bat's chest) the wet tearing and slicing inside the torso of the beast.

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The beast had Weylin pinned. There was no chance he could get it off him. If his ribs weren't broken and energy hadn't fled his body then he might have been able to. But his state was too weak right now. There was nothing more he could do. So he continued to offer his meager struggle for life as its fang were coming to sink their way into him.

It had won....

Then it screamed. Liquid warmth rained down on him. The fury used to pin him lessened.

Zeri had stabbed it in the chest. She was aiming for its heart. But it had her now. That was were its attention had gone. He was still having trouble getting its arm off him, but there was the slightest of hope now for escape.

=====================================

White was silence. Her human had made it clear with his movements. A predator was after them. One they couldn't turn the hunt on. It was like that time with the giant humans, but she wasn't about to get fed this time after the scare.

She watched quiet as a mouse as the new thing landed near them. It was injured. Her human and the female, who she hated to give any credit to, had inflicted its wounds. Sight seemed gone from it as they were right in front of it and it couldn't see them. They were not even hiding from it. Such a poor predator.

But then the female suddenly began to try and seduce her human. How dare she! White wanted to growl at her, but silence was too important right now. Her human was injured as well and weak. He worried her deeply. Then as suddenly the female began to attack the thing.

Why did she do that?!

After a bit of hopping around it looked like the female might have been somewhat competent. Sadly she wasn't and her human had to throw himself in the way to save the female. Why couldn't she take care of herself? Her human was going to end up dying because of her!

Her human was trapped. Then the female charged and got herself trapped as well. Why?! Why was this female so useless?! Now it was all up to White to get not just her human but the worthless female out of this alive.

So little the brave, strong girl she was, White lunged forward. She sank her teeth into the creature's arm holding the female.

Her human could handle himself even if so weak and injured. He was a true hunter and this predator was now their prey. The female had proven she couldn't handle anything. She was going to need all the help she could get.

White refused to let go. She twisted her large bulk around with her back paws the only ones she could keep under her. Intense growls rolled out of her chest. She refused to let it go. It screamed. It twisted itself. It did what it thought it could. But she would never let it go. Not so long as the female and her human were pinned.

Crimson stained snow. Devotion defied vengeance. White would prove she was the top predator here.

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

The Monster Bat was screeching somewhere above her. Weylin's dog was growling somewhere behind her. And all the while the clamor of the kobolds continued.

Zeri, her chest now on fire with pain and her lungs bursting with desperation for air, fought to maneuver the spear shaft and search for the creature's heart. Her consciousness was deteriorating slowly, like a parchment whereupon scattered embers had fallen and expanding orange and black rings spread and consumed the paper.

Then, whether by White's efforts or something else, the Monster Bat's crushing embrace loosened. Just a small bit.

Enough for Zeri to get a better handle on her spear.

Enough for her to pull it back more. And she felt it as she pulled the spear backward, the ferocious beat of the Bat's heart, thundering down the shaft of the spear to her hand. She knew where it was, and her fading mind latched onto this knowledge like a shipwrecked sailor latching onto a piece of floating debris.

She pulled the spear out just a little more. Just enough so that she could feel the very tip of the weapon prick into the beating heart of the beast.

And Zeri jammed the spear violently back in. Skewering through and impaling the organ and shredding the tissue of it and slicing through veins and arteries and all things vital for its bestial life.

One last screech, spiraling abruptly down into a low growl and then to a mostly inaudible groan, as the Bat reared up in agony. A shaky step backward. The forearm which had Zeri pinned to its chest slid away, and the Bat toppled backward and came to a slow collapse in the passageway. The spear was still sticking out of its chest.

Zeri, once released, dropped down to her knees. Fell flat to the ground. Eyes wide and shocked, focused on nothing in particular, as she took large gulping breaths of air.

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

Blood flowed. A crimson river formed over cobbled stones.

Weylin could feel the beast's strength waning as it tried to continue to hold onto him and Zeri while White tore into its arm. Too many sources of pain and prey. Too many targets of its ire. It was screaming. It was angry. It was in pain.

Then everything went silent. Everything went limp and lifeless. The arm slide away from the hunter, his knife still in its hand, as it backed up only to collapse onto its back.

Courage had been surging through his veins providing strength to back his will to live. But it had slowed. He was being reminded of his own pain now. More ribs were broken now than before. The ones only cracked by the troll now fully broken by the bat. A sharp pain and warmth of blood flow on his head. Arms were shaking.

.... Weylin couldn't find the strength to get up.

So he closed his eyes and laid there.

White laid down next to her human. She began to lick at the cuts on his forehead. That would close them up. That would stop the bad things.

After a bit of being unable to stop the dog, Weylin said, "You okay? Can you stop the dog?" Hopefully Zeri could do something for him.

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

Slowly, with each breath, the flickering fire of consciousness burned strong again for Zeri.

She rolled over onto her side. Felt her chest and her abdomen with tender presses of her hands against her parka. Nothing hurt there...but she knew her back wasn't going to be so good. She rolled flat on her stomach again, placed her palms on the ground, pushed herself up--

"Ah! Ah...ow..."

And stopped. Though she could only feel the sharp course of pain that ran across it, a large bruise hidden under her parka--dark and ugly--marred her back where the bone of the Bat's forearm had roughly pressed and pinched and squeezed the flesh. It was something that would take a couple of weeks to heal naturally. Gone before her return home, yes, but something that would add a constant whisper of agony throughout most of her remaining journey.

Zeri tried again. Clenched her teeth as the tender bruise bickered again--she could almost feel a ghost of the Bat's arm crushing her still. But she got to her feet. Stumbled a little. Took a few more breaths. Glanced to Weylin and his dog.

"Yes. I'm...I'm okay."

Then she looked to the fallen Bat in the narrow passageway, and for a terrifying moment the frightful thought of It's Not Dead entered into her mind. She took a few haphazard steps, stopped herself on the beast's carcass, reached on the tips of her toes for her spear, and pulled it free. She gripped it tightly in both hands and backed up, pointing the bloodied obsidian tip toward the fallen creature as if it would only stay dead if she kept her weapon brandished so.

Then as the terror subsided and calm returned (along with the awareness of that constant whisper of pain from her big bruise), Zeri let out an exhilarated, incredulous laugh.

"We did it. I-I think we did it! I don't, I can't, ha, I, b-but, ha ha, I never would have, I-I can't, ha ha, this is..."

More laughter.

Then a sudden realization and her eyes snapped wide open with alarm.

She looked back down to Weylin, standing more or less beside him as he lay on the ground, and said, "Are you alright!? Oh my gosh, Weylin, are you alright? You're bleeding!"

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The orcess was ecstatic. The beast was dead. She had killed it. The word we was used by her, but the hunter had no desire to take any part of the kill as his own. She had done it despite his condition slowing them down. If anyone deserved some of the credit for the kill it would be White. She actually helped when he had just gotten in the way.

Laying there with a dog still licking his face with fervor, Weylin closed his eyes. His body was beyond its limit now. Too far had it been pushed down here while injured, cold, and starving. What food they had eaten together before wasn't nearly enough to make up for the exertion that dealing with the bat entailed. On top of that he had more broken ribs now as well. How long would all of this take to heal up?

Sudden awareness of his condition seemed to hit Zeri as she began to fawn over him. If it wasn't the dog it was the orcess. Ribs screaming in pain. A head wound bleeding. The muscles in his arms likely tore and fatigued. All he wanted right now was sleep. And between these two he doubted he would get any soon.

Opening his eyes back up, Weylin looked up at Zeri. "Broke more ribs. Arms very weak and very sore. Beast cut my head. Dog won't stop licking me. Can't make her stop." His stomach growled a bit. "Hungry. Very tired."

The man closed his eyes again. "Not doing good."

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

Zeri brought her left hand up to her forehead, holding the spear in one hand and letting the spear-tip clak lightly on the ground (hardly able to be heard amidst the continuation of the kobolds' commotion). And now it was back to this again, only magnified. It was the helplessness again. The return of the old specter, of being able to do nothing of substantial value to mend his wounds or assuage his suffering. And moreover, he wouldn't want her to anyway (they had been over that particular point to an exhausting degree). This especially so if he knew about the big bruise on her back; he'd insist on crawling back into the mushroom cave, dragging his shattered body inch by inch, to get another of those healing mushrooms.

His dog was doing the only thing that really could be done: cleaning his head wound. And Zeri wasn't going to try to stop her; the dog made her nervous enough as it was, and the last thing she wanted to do was get between the dog and Weylin now. Maybe there were old cloths somewhere else in the port town, to dress the wound? She'd hate to tear a strip from a cloak, but might have to.

Hungry. Despite her worry, a bitter reaction came about to this: that Weylin wouldn't be hungry now if he hadn't stupidly thought she had a fever of all things and just stayed and ate his cooked rabbit. Those rabbits--cold now--were still presumably lying on the ground back at the stone docks. And that was all Zeri had. She would have to go to the surface to hunt and forage more if the rabbits were indeed gone or no good now.

The worst of it though: more broken ribs. By the time Weylin saw the sun again, he might have a chest full of gravel. That was...yeah, that wasn't good, and he certainly wasn't doing good now, was he?

"I don't...know how if you're going to be able to walk," Zeri said, simply voicing her thoughts aloud. And, like a grim admission (despite him already knowing, already having said as much himself as early as the aftermath of the troll attack), she added, "I can't help you. I can get you some food, but I can't help you. I'm..."

She was going to say sorry, but she didn't. It wasn't helpful.

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The orcess was freaking out, again. She had offered to get him food, but seems she didn't know what she could do for him. Not much anyone could do for him right now if he was being honest. He was in a very tricky situation. But she could do more than just get him some food. She could be his arms for him while his were in such a sorry state.

"Zeri." Weylin said before having to pause. He felt like he needed to cough and just that sensation was making his chest hurt. He didn't and so continued a second after the feeling subsided. "Zeri. Get my knife for me please. Thinking how you can help."

And as he had said he was thinking over what she could do for him.

Staying here wasn't an option. The bat might be dead, but that didn't mean he was fine with staying. There might be other creatures here that would come to scavenge the corpse. Even if there wasn't anything else he didn't want to be next to the thing. It smelled rancid and the blood was slowly pooling all over.

No, he needed to get back to their little camp.

After a minute Weylin had the rough start to a plan. "Need you to help me to my feet. Get me by a wall and then lift me up gently by my shoulders. Try to get my feet under me. Use the wall as support till I'm up again. Then we walk back to camp."

Weylin opened up his eyes and looked for Zeri.

"Think that will work?"

Zeri Rekani

 

[Zeri Rekani]

It wasn't much. It wasn't even possible for it to be so. But it was something.

Zeri went to go and retrieve Weylin's knife from the corpse of the Monster Bat. She went to the body and crouched down by the bloody palm, where the weapon stuck out like a battle standard planted into the ground. Again that creeping terror, that thought of It's Not Dead festering in her mind, and the resumed incredulousness of the sheer fact that the beast lay defeated before her. She gingerly reached out her free hand toward the knife, jerked it back slightly on a wild impulse, then grabbed the knife's handle and quickly yanked it free. And she backed away from the dead Monster.

She wiped the blade on her parka (already stained with the creature's blood, it hardly made much difference). Went back to Weylin. Crouched down beside him and looked over his belt and found the sheath and slipped it back in for him.

Need you to help me to my feet...

Zeri swallowed. She hardly had enough strength to drag Weylin along in the mushroom cave. Maybe if Paola was here, she could do it--she could always lift Zeri up, carry her around on her shoulders, and Zeri could never do that for her. Paola was bigger. Taller than Weylin, maybe heavier. But Weylin was certainly heavier than Zeri.

"I...I'll try. I'm sorry, but I might need you to help as much as you can. I know that's an awful thing for me to ask right now, but I might not be able to lift you all the way."

Regardless of her stated concern, Zeri set her spear down and went around to Weylin's head and shoulders. Gripped him under the arms. Gave a small groan of effort as she dragged him. Dragged until her backside was against the nearby wall in the narrow passageway.

"Okay," she said, punctuating it with a tiny huff of exertion. "Ready? One...two...three!"

Zeri started to lift, to pull upward with all the might she could muster. She growled not only under the rigor of physical strain, but from the sparking of pain from the bruise across her back.

She could only hope it was enough for him to slid his foot under himself and stand. At least if he stumbled, he wouldn't go sprawling out on the ground. He'd (oh gosh) fall against her and the wall.

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

His knife returned back to him, the orcess began the task of helping him to his feet. There was doubt from her that she could help him but was still going to try. She likely was hurt as well. The beast had pinned her to its chest. Maybe she had suffered some cracked ribs as well? The thought motivated him to do everything he could to get his feet under him.

The hunter nodded when she asked if he was ready and then she began to lift him. All of the jerking sent rushes of pain through him, but he endured. There was no helping what must be done right now. His legs felt weak but he pushed through to get his feet under him. He felt like he was stepping on ice, but eventually found his footing.

Then the hunter went about the task of pushing up with his legs to get his own body to support itself. His legs wobbled like a new born fawn's. But he was managing it. It was taking everything he had but he was managing it!

And then his legs gave way.

Weylin tumbled forward straight into Zeri. His arms flew out in front of him instinctively. The moment they made contact with the wall on either side of the orcess the weak and damaged muscles in them instantly gave way. There would be no stopping or slowing him.

As the human fell forward, his arm having given way, it appeared that they might lock lips. The path was straight enough for it and the angle just right. But in the moment of truth instead of their lips connecting their foreheads did. A forceful headbutt was the result and his body crashing into her own body so the two hit the wall followed.

Blood from the human's head wound smeared on the orcess' forehead and hair.

But there was hope. Warmth rushed through his veins again and he was able to stabilize his footing so that he didn't fall to either side after. He was actually standing up now. They had achieved victory together yet again.

Zeri Rekani