One-Armed Beasthunter, page 20
It wouldn’t do any harm to the soil, but as he spread the spicy dust around the farm, all the way down to where the path met the slightly wider road through the valley, he couldn’t help but grin at how painful a snout full would be to a Beast trying to track the injured party by scent. That should throw it off the trail.
Fer was gasping a little as he made his way back to the farm house, the carefully resealed jar clutched in one hand. He left his gloves outside until he could clean any remaining oil from them. Only once had he not remembered to wash his hands after handling peppers with bare skin. He’d darn near gone blind. Fortunately, Lisbeth had helped him rinse his eyes before she’d laughed at him.
Things were much the same when Ferren stepped back inside the farm house as when he’d left, though between Ayana and Sun Yi they’d managed to peel open the massive suit of armor, confirming Ferren’s suspicions that there was, in fact, a person inside there.
The woman’s dark skin was almost gray with pain, her breath hissing out between her teeth in sharp huffs. Fer took one look at the left side of her body, and nearly threw up.
It looked like she’d been burned and crushed at the same time, her arm an ugly mass of ruined skin with bone peeking out. Her hand was almost pulped, and her ribs on that side didn’t look much better.
Ayana hovered around her like a bee, her face pinched at the corners with something close to fury. She tore through her rucksack, finally pulling out a little glass bottle stoppered with wax, and broke the seal. The liquid inside looked like milk when she tipped it into the other woman’s mouth, white and viscous. After a few more agonizing moments, the dark-skinned woman’s eyes drooped, her breathing evening out as she seemed to fall asleep.
“I don’t know how to help her,” Ayana said, her voice tight with strain. “That was poppy I gave her. She’ll sleep for a while, but the damage…” She made a little sound of frustration in her throat, tugging on the end of her braid. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Fer watched the way her hands tightened, the shadow of her bones standing out underneath pale skin, and realized that Ayana wore her concern as fury. He probably shouldn’t have found that as endearing as he did.
Sun Yi gave her an awkward nod of gratitude. “That is more than any of us could do for her. If Yasmine had not taken that blow for me…” He trailed off, his dark eyes haunted before he shook himself. “If you can keep her alive until Clara has recovered, then she can be healed.”
Ayana glanced at the woman with the head wound laid out carefully on Fer’s parents’ bed, at the clasped white hands of Mercy on her robes. “She’s a Cleric?”
“A god-touched soul,” Sun Yi corrected. “Unfortunately, she was downed early on in the fight. It was almost as if the creature targeted her specifically.”
“The creature,” Fer cut in. “You were ambushed?”
Leola came to stand with them, her eyes shadowed, clutching her cup of tea like a lifeline. “Ambushed, yes. We managed to get away, but it followed us. It wouldn’t let us rest at all. It’s been tracking us for days through the wilds. If we hadn’t found this place, I don’t know what we would have done.”
“Well, you’re safe now,” Ayana said, giving Ferren a telling look, like she was demanding he make that statement true. “I need to take a look at your friend over there. Anything I should know about his… ah, sparks?”
“Oh.” Leola turned, her eyes not fully focused. It reminded Fer of the look on the faces of the prisoners he’d rescued from the Rathbone mine, the dazed expression like they weren’t really seeing what was in front of them anymore. “I can shield you.”
Ayana gave a brisk nod, gathering up her bag. “I’d appreciate it.”
The two women hurried over to the white-haired man, where Leola took up position behind Ayana, resting her hands on the healer’s shoulders.
Fer dragged a chair closer to Sun Yi, and nudged a bowl of soup in the Blade Cultivator’s direction. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Sun Yi blinked, coming back to himself enough to properly look at Fer. “I know you,” he said with some surprise. “The pike bearer, from the canyon.”
His dark eyes flickered to Ferren’s right arm, and widened in surprise.
Fer rubbed his wrist, feeling self-conscious. “Ah, yes. I’ve gotten better, since then.”
He cleared his throat before the man could ask any of the questions Fer could see in his face. “What is it that brought all of you out here, anyways?”
Sun Yi blinked at him, then down at the bowl in his hands as if he had no idea how it had gotten there. He took a tentative spoonful, and paused at the flavor before taking a larger second bite. Some of the color came back to his face, making him look less like a corpse laid out in dress armor for burial.
“We were sent out by King Collem’s command to recall all the citizens of the borderlands. The tide of Beasts is worse even than the Sages predicted, and resources are stretched too thin for the guard to properly protect the families out here,” he said, sounding more aware than he had since he stepped through the door.
Ferren stared, taken aback. “Recall us?”
What did that mean? His family had worked this plot of land since before he was born. He’d grown up on the edge of the wilds. The only times he’d been away from the valley for any length of time was when he’d been training with the army.
What would that look like, just packing up and leaving? Walking away from their land, their lives?
Unaware of Ferren’s thoughts, Sun Yi nodded. “It will be much easier to protect everyone if they’re closer to the heart of the kingdom. There is a place set aside for each family, land to work, at least until this wave ends.”
Well, Ferren thought, relaxing. That didn’t sound so bad. Less an abandoning of their way of life, and more a strategic retreat. And if they spent a couple seasons working distant land, then that was alright. How different could it be? He might have to learn new crops. He’d heard that closer to the heart of the kingdom the land grew green and gold, with rolling waves of wheat and whole forests of trees. That might be worth seeing.
And when the tide of Beasts turned, they could come home again. He’d be able to teach his siblings about the strange beauty of the wild scrublands, with their jewel bright lizards and shy snakes, the sand cats, and the little golden foxes. About how to harvest fruit and water from cacti, while dodging their spines. To smell a storm on the air, and rest in the shade of a juniper tree while the setting sun painted the land scarlet and gold.
Sun Yi was quiet until his spoon scraped the bottom of his bowl. Fer took it wordlessly and ladled out another serving before handing it back. The Blade Cultivator hesitated, but took the food with a nod of thanks.
“We’d heard rumors of a Beast plaguing some of the farms out here, and went to track it down,” he said between mouthfuls of soup. “But once we were out in the wilds, we never even got close to its lair before it ambushed us instead.” His eyes took on the distant look of a man seeing something far away. “I’ve never met anything like it.”
Fer’s brow wrinkled up, concerned. “Was it big?” Some of the Beasts he’d been dealing with lately had been distressingly large. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see anything that could put that kind of look on Sun Yi’s face. The man had always seemed so unflappable, so in his element whether he was on the training ground or facing down a monster.
“Large, yes, but there was more.” Sun Yi shook his head and swallowed another spoonful before continuing. “It was fast. Brutally so. And I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I thought it targeted Clara first on purpose. I think it was watching us. Learning us. It might have followed us for days before it attacked.”
The back of Ferren’s neck prickled. “You think it went after your healer first to cripple the party?”
Sun Yi’s mouth tightened, but he gave a short nod. “Clara first, and then it went after me, but Yasmine got in between us. The blow it landed was devastating. Without her artificer’s armor, I don’t think she would have survived. I’m not sure I would have if she hadn’t taken the blow for me.”
He took a long breath, as though he were forcing down some emotion. The look Sun Yi cast over the unconscious Yasmine was complicated, regret and frustration and gratitude. It made Ferren uncomfortable to see it, like he was intruding on something.
Fer kept quiet for a moment, not wanting to disturb the man’s thoughts, but eventually he couldn’t hold back his questions anymore. “So, all that crushing damage, that was from a single blow?”
“Yes.” Sun Yi turned back, hands clenching on the empty bowl. “I think it made the creature angry, that she’d interrupted its attack. She was already down when it spat up acid on her. It felt spiteful.”
Before he’d made Saer’s acquaintance, Fer might have never believed that a Beast was capable of spite. He’d considered them all big, dumb, murderous eating machines. And while that might be true for a great many Beasts, it was clear that Saer had a human-level intelligence, if not a human mind. The idea of a Beast that would stalk and learn and plan and be vindictive wasn’t exactly shocking to Fer anymore, but it was still horrifying.
Sun Yi set his bowl on the table, and eagerly accepted a clay mug of tea when Fer pushed it towards him. He didn’t even flinch at the bitter taste of the willow bark Ayana had included.
When he’d finished his drink, the Blade Master continued. “After that, it was a blood bath. Targeted strikes to take everyone down. I managed to hold it off temporarily, to keep it from going after the injured. But I couldn’t kill it.”
Fer recognized the tightness in the man’s voice. When he’d fought the great worm out at Rathbone, he hadn’t thought he could win. But he knew the moment he fell, the worm would turn on the brigands’ prisoners. They’d have had no way to defend themselves once Ferren was gone. He couldn’t imagine standing alone between a monster and your companions, people you’d fought with, worked together with for however long, knowing that without you, they would die.
“How did you get away?” It sounded rather bleak to Fer.
Sun Yi tilted his head towards the corner, where Ayana was seeing to the hole torn in the white-haired man’s side. Arcs of energy crackled over her body, but Leola stood behind the healer, hands on her shoulders, and the sparks of lightning sank harmlessly into the ground at the Druid’s direction.
“Leola. She managed to summon a sand storm for cover, and we took our injured and ran.” Sun Yi’s fist clenched so hard one of the knuckles made an audible pop. “It hunted us though, harried us for days. Any time we tried to rest, eat, see to our wounded, it would find us and attack again. It’s been days, and we were unsure how much longer we could survive when we caught sight of this house.”
The Blade Master met Ferren’s eyes, and grimaced. “We’ve put you and your family at risk, coming here. I apologize.”
“No, no,” Fer hastened to assure him. “I’m glad you came here, that we could help. I hope that the wards and protections will slow it down in finding you, but if it does come here, we need to be ready for it. What can you tell me about the Beast?”
Sun Yi watched Ferren for a moment, scanning dark eyes over his face. It took everything in Fer not to squirm under the intense scrutiny. It felt like he was being weighed or measured somehow, and he rather desperately hoped not to be found wanting. Eventually, the Blade Cultivator gave a decisive nod.
“It was large, but not the largest I’ve met. Fast. Four legs with deadly claws. Heavy tail built like a club, ridged with bone spines. Long muzzle, like a crocodile.”
Fer didn’t know what a crocodile was, but he nodded anyways. “Where did the melting attack come from?” Something that made metal run like liquid wasn’t something Ferren wanted to be caught off guard by.
“Its breath. Once Yasmine was down, it breathed out this noxious vapor that rolled across the ground. Some of it landed on her injured side, and you’ve seen the result.” Sun Yi made a sweeping gesture towards the unconscious Yasmine, her beautiful armor looking tarnished in the corner, metal carved into rivulets.
Fer fought back a wince at the sight. In a way, it was good news. An exhaled cloud sounded a little more manageable than, say, a spray. He’d seen vultures use that trick when predators got a little pushy about carcasses found in the desert. A vomited-up bellyful of stomach juice and rotting meat tended to deter even the most persistent predators. It wasn’t something he ever wanted to be on the receiving end of.
“And you think it’s still following you?” Fer wasn’t thrilled about the risk to his family, but they still had a chance to plan and prepare for the worst.
“I do. It sometimes showed hints of itself. Nothing we could act on, but enough to remind us that we were being hunted. I think it wanted us to panic, to run. It seemed to be enjoying the chase.”
Ferren frowned, gut twisting uncomfortably. All the Beasts he’d encountered were deadly predators, that was unquestionable. But they acted as exactly that: predators.
Most animals that hunted didn’t like to draw things out. It took too much energy to find food as it was. They wanted the hunt over and done with efficiently. They didn’t toy with prey, tormenting it for days. They just wanted to eat. It wasn’t personal to them.
Even Saer, as clearly intelligent as they were, seemed fairly methodical about their hunting practices. They even admitted that most of the reason they lingered around Ferren was because it made it easier to hunt impressive prey.
So, a Beast that tracked and terrorized a group, seeming to draw out the entire ordeal for its own enjoyment? That was a very worrying idea. Beasts were deadly enough without having some of them develop a kind of sadism.
A worse thought occurred to him, and Fer’s skin went cold.
“I’ve been talking to some people,” he began slowly, careful not to specify ‘human’. “And there’s this rumor kind of going around. That the reason behind this wave of Beasts is because there’s something driving them out of the Wastes. And since Beasts happily eat each other, it would have to be something pretty dangerous to make them clear out in such large numbers.”
Fer risked a glance at Sun Yi’s face, and almost faltered at the expression on the other man’s face. But he pressed on.
“I suppose what I’m wondering, or worrying, is that this Beast that you encountered might be part of this… new type of Beast? Not just hungry, not just deadly, but… evil.”
Sun Yi swallowed carefully, his throat bobbing with the motion as he gazed down at his hands. “That would be something to discuss with the Sages. They would be able to intuit more than I can. But if you are correct, then this will only get worse.”
Fer clenched his hands in his lap, tanned skin against silver and violet scales. “I’m not spreading it around. No need to worry people. A Beast is a Beast, after all.” It didn’t really matter in the end what something’s motivation for killing you was, be it survival or entertainment. “But if I’m right, then these new Beasts are going to become a lot more of a problem as their favored prey starts flooding human lands instead.”
Sun Yi actually cursed, rubbing his eyes. “We need to get someone back to the capitol. We need to warn the King, come up with a plan of attack.”
“There’s a storm coming,” Fer said quickly, trying to reassure the other man. “There’s always one brewing this time of year. With any luck, it won’t be able to track you after all traces are washed away. We can get you patched up and back to the capitol.”
From outside the farmhouse came a sound like thunder. A deep, echoing rumble that rose into a dish-rattling roar.
Everyone went still, afraid to breathe too loudly.
“Too late,” Sun Yi said, grimly. His hand dropped to the hilt of his sword. “It’s found us.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The Blade Master strode for the door, Leola at his heels.
“You two, stay put! You are in no shape to go out there,” Ayana barked, holding the Knight-Enchanter and the white-haired man down with a hand on either of their shoulders. The fact that she could do it at all was likely testament to her being right.
Fer shot a glance to his family, pale-faced and wide-eyed. “Stay inside. Get everyone into the shelter if you have to.”
He bolted outside, his mother’s cry of protest cut off by the door slamming shut.
Leola was once again encased in her armor of tree bark, but it looked gray, and brittle. Like wood weathered under the sun for too long. Fer worried that she was still too exhausted from three days of no rest to be in a fight.
Not that Sun Yi was faring much better, but he hid it well. If Fer hadn’t seen the bone-deep weariness in the other man’s face, the shadows in his eyes, he might have been fooled by the light grip the Blade Cultivator had on the hilt of his sword, or the thrum of pale blue energy running down its edge.
Fer slid to a stop at his first sight of the Beast, mouth dry and pulse rabbit quick.
Most times, Fer could look and recognize the parts that made up a Beast’s form. He could see the pieces that had fit before nature had been twisted wildly off course, by magic or by some forgotten deity’s spite. Saer was a perfect example; spines, skin color, disturbingly long tongue and intelligence aside, it was easy to see the wolf in them. The long-faced ape Beast that had attacked the caravan, even the snake creature that had savaged him so long ago. There was at least a part of them that fit with what Fer could understand.
The only thing Fer could recognize about the Beast that stood at the edge of his family’s property, was that it had been born to kill.
Sun Yi was right; compared to the Beasts Fer had fought in the past, the creature wasn’t all that big. Maybe half Saer’s size. In relation to the winged creature, or the worm at Rathbone, it wasn’t very impressive in mass. But the Blade Master’s description hadn’t lived up in any other way.
Heavy scales the color of rotting blood covered thick slabs of muscle over the creature’s back and shoulders. The top of its head, neck and spine were covered in thick spikes bigger around than Fer’s wrist.
