Chapter 048:

Another yawn escaped Anton's mouth. He tried desperately to cover and suppress it, but he could not. That night's sleep had been short and fraught with jolts that woke him every few minutes. Memories and thoughts of everything that happened in the mountain still clung at the back of his mind. And the carved apart stone door only compounded his distress. He hoped that this would not continue for much longer. If this continued he might need to ask for the sleeping herb, Hamura, that Kal said she used.

Currently he was standing, alongside Verona, outside Kal's house. She was normally waiting outside when he exited his own home, and that was before most people were awake. Today, however, she was not home or waiting. A strange feeling of dread crept up his spine. He did not want to barge in on her if she was sleeping, but if someone had decided to deal with the issue of a beast-kin living in Atros...

He knocked on the door again. Only silence came back.

“Hello?” Verona hummed through a slim gap in the door. “You there, Kal?”

There was still no sign.

“She might just be in the central plaza.” Anton offered. “I agreed to her idea of using the Kobold poison on the arrows. She might have just decided to head there and wait for us.”

Verona looked up at him, scrunching up her face. “That stuff burned for days when it got on my hands.”

“Imagine what it'll do when it's on an arrow. And in you.”

He poked her hard in the shoulder. She let out a playful laugh as she slapped his hand away. Verona contemplated it for a while. “Yeah, that would hurt. I think I would just run away if I knew it was coming.”

Anton gave one final knock before giving up. He looked around the house's entrance for any signs of a scuffle but could see nothing.

“I'm sure she's fine. If she's not here, then there's no point in waiting about for her to turn up.”

She smiled and grabbed his hand tightly, leading him towards the central plaza, saying nothing as she nearly skipped over the stone and dirt road.

Entering the central plaza he saw very few villagers present. As ever there were very few people up and about this early in the day; a few soldiers and villagers carrying crates of food wandered about, but that was all. He looked to the north of the plaza, towards the barn that stored the array of healing herbs and the Kobold poison spines, and saw two figures talking just outside. One was small and a slightly hunched elderly woman, the other was a taller woman wearing a cloak with a bow and quiver on her back.

“There she is.” Anton said. “Though, I don't remember telling Sybil about it.”

He glanced down at Verona, who shrugged.

Only one way to find out.

As they approached Kal and Sybil turned towards them.

“Good morning, Anton.” Sybil said with a warm smile.

“Good morning to both of you.” Anton said.

“We thought that something terrible might have happened to you,” Verona said, a wild smile on her face. “Though, I'm thinking that you would just be able to beat them up before they could do anything.”

A slight flush overcame Kal's face. 'I'm not that strong.” she said quietly.

Verona punched her lightly in the shoulder. “But you're quick. Moreso than any of us.”

They both chuckled. Sybil gave him an odd look before it turned into a small smile. Again, it was heartening to see Kal able to laugh with other people. Sybil was the first to break the silence.

“I caught her skulking around the barn-”

“Skulking?” Kal whimpered.

“So, I wanted to know what she was doing. I didn't think she was up to anything bad...”

She gave Kal a sly look, who glanced at Anton for help.

“But she told me that you wanted to try something with the Kobold poison.” she gave him another odd look. “As if you aren't already known for doing strange, bizarre and probably quite dangerous things in this village.”

“I try not to.” Anton replied with a shrug. “But it does seem that it's just going to happen no matter what. You all looked shocked when I said that I wanted a Goblin to experiment on. By the way, how did we go on that?”

Sybil looked back at the main hall.

“Still working on it. I don't think Dana was particularly happy with that...request, from you.”

“I bet she's not.” Anton replied softly.

“But, she's going to try.” Sybil smirked. “She told me that the only reason she'll do it is so that you can figure out better ways to kill them.”

“I hope that's the only reason you want them, Anton.” Verona said as she looked up at him.

“That Is the only reason why I want one of them.” Anton answered. “The more you know about something the easier it is to fight. According to that book of yours, we didn't even know they could live on grass.”

Sybil opened her mouth but no words came out, only a tiny crackle. “True. Do try and talk with her privately before you go to Graterious.”

Anton nodded.

“So, are we going to start with another one of your scary things?” Verona said, pulling one of the doors open.

The inside was filled with almost a hundred small wooden crates. Hanging from the walls and beams overhead were more drying healing herbs. There were quite a lot of them, Atros would not be caught in a shortage any-time soon.

“Which ones have those Kobold spines?” Verona asked, moving forward and perusing through the crates.

Sybil directed them to the specially marked crates. They did not want someone to accidently touch the spines. Anton and Verona slid the top off the crate. Inside were dozens of the Kobold spines. It had been quite a while since these had been collected, these being harvested from the first Kobold attack almost a month ago. Yet there was still a green shine on the barbed teeth at the base of the spine. Given what Verona and Kal had said about the poison it would probably still burn.

“So...What now?” Kal asked, looking at her hands. “I don't really want to touch that poison.”

“Would Zac be awake yet?” Anton asked Sybil.

“He should be. If he is, he'll be at his workshop. Why?”

“Okay, I'll be right back with a few sets of those gloves.”

---[]---

Anton returned soon afterwards with three sets of the Razor-Pig hide gloves. The outside was rough and hard, but the inside was surprisingly soft and comfortable. All the gloves were the same size. They were a bit big for Anton and it would certainly be too big for Verona but might be close to the right size for Kal. Her fingers were slightly longer than a humans and the claws at the end made them even longer. Still, they would probably be good enough for all of them to handle the poison.

They awaited him at the front of the barn, chatting amongst themselves. Verona nodded towards him as he approached.

“These look pretty good.” Verona said, taking a pair for herself.

“Is there one for me?” Sybil asked.

Anton shook his head. “Um...no. I didn't want to try and make you handle something so dangerous.”

“But you're going to have those two help?” She asked, throwing up a brow.

“Well...” Anton looked back at Verona and Kal, “Sort of.”

“Just make sure you look after them all.” she said with a sigh, looking over at the two. “How are they?”

Verona waved her gloved hands at them, a frown formed on her face.

"These are a bit big for me." Verona mumbled unhappily as she inspected the gloves more closely. On her they looked comically large and ungainly. Her fingers did not reach the end of the gloves when Anton gave them a squeeze. She groaned as she took them off, looking very disappointed.

"They're good." she said, clearly annoyed. "But I don't think I could use my spear properly if I wear these."

"They need a bit of work before you can use them. That's a shame..." Anton said aloud, turning to Sybil who was looking through one of the crates full of healing herbs. "Sybil, do you know someone that could make these gloves a little smaller?"

"How much smaller?"

Verona laid her hand over the glove. It was clearly that quite a bit would need to be removed to make it wearable.

"Shouldn't be a problem. How are you doing Kal?"

Kal wore both gloves and flexed them back and forth. From the way they moved they seemed to be the right size.

"They're very good." she said with a smile. "I didn't think they would be."

"I'll go get these made smaller. Some of the other elders are good at this sort of thing." Sybil made her way to the door. "I'll see you all in a bit. Try not to get that stuff on your skin. I've never felt something burn like that."

I guess that everyone tried to help out with trying to remove the piles of Kobolds. A mixture of rotting blood and Kobold Venom, definitely not a fun experience.

"It looks like it might just be the two of you." Verona said "It's not that I don't trust your magic..."

Anton folded his arms and held his gaze on her. "But you don't want to take that chance?"

Verona smiled sheepishly as she scratched her cheek.

"Don't you trust me?" He teased further. Verona continued to look more embarrassed.

"Absolutely!" she defiantly said. "But, while you do that I want to continue practising my magic. That will be a better help to Atros, and myself, if I continue to try and master my power."

Anton nodded.

"Okay, we'll be right here anyway. You'll want some blood, right?"

Verona smiled warmly and lowered her spear. The glowing power overcame her body. The sight of her glowing eyes and body was still a little worrying, especially after she lost herself in the trance. Still, he knew that was not the case now. She cut and drew up a tiny amount of blood before raising her spear away from him.

"Thanks." she said. "I'm going to start."

She moved close to the entrance and sat down, facing them. The blood crystallised and she began to twist and form them into different shapes. Verona gave him a quick smile and nod before focusing all he attention on the twisting shard infront of her.

“So, Kal.” Anton turned to her. “Do you know how to break these things apart to get at the poison sack?”

Kal hesitantly reached in and picked up one of the Kobold spines. Her hands crunched down on the spine but it was bone, she could not break it. One of her fingers ran along a tiny depression near the teeth end of the spine. Glancing up at him, and receiving a cursory nod from Anton, she pulled out a dagger and rammed it in. With an audible click, the dagger broke the outer bone of the spine. Kal gave another glance at Anton before she cracked it sideways. The spine broke open with some effort, and the small green venom sac was exposed to the light.

“That wasn't too bad.” Anton said.

Kal chuckled. “I was worried that it would burst. I don't want this stuff to get on my eyes, I have the feeling that I might go blind.”

“Well, that's what I'm here for.”

Kal reached down and picked up another spine, handing it to Anton. “Um...If I break these, can you deal with the poison sacks...and whatever you need to do to those?”

Anton nodded and glanced around. “I don't have anywhere to put this.”

“I've got something.” Verona said.

She stood up and took off two of the small clay pots hanging from her hips.

“I don't need all of these, so you can use them instead.”

Verona handed them to Anton, giving her a quick kiss in thanks. She giggled as she retook her position and continued her magical practice.

“Oh, Verona?”

“Yes?”

“Can I please borrow your dagger? I don't want to have to squeeze this thing open.”

Verona sighed dramatically, standing up and handing him the dagger, before returning to her practice spot again. The dagger cut through the fleshy sac and released the viscous liquid within. He squeezed the liquid into the clay pots. It took some time, and a few near misses of it running up the gloves and onto his skin, but he had almost one filled very quickly. Kal continued breaking the spines apart in silence and handing him the venom sacks.

He remembered what he had said to her the other night. She had probably already figured out that he was not from this world, her insistence the other day had just added to little things she would have noticed.

“Umm, Verona?” Anton said, stopping his handling of the spines.

“Yes?” she turned to face him. The small crystal shard hovered in between her hands.

“The other day, just before we went into the mountains, when you were taking out those Rock-Rat's guarding that entrance, Kal...”

Verona's eyes flickered towards Kal.

“Well, I think she's guessed the truth about me.”

Verona's body tensed as she looked out the door. There were still very few people in the central plaza. She stood up and checked that there was nobody lurking nearby. When she was certain there was not, she came back inside and folded her arms. She kept her blood power on, her red eyes piercing through Kal's.

“So...”

“I think that, since quite a few others know, it would be good to tell her. I trust her.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “I....Okay, I trust Kal-”

“If it's a problem with it, then you don't need to tell me.” Kal shook her hands to get him to stop.

Anton smiled. “It's not a problem. Suffice it to say, I think you know that I'm not from the world.”

Kal was silent but nodded.

“Some...Some of the things you say and do...I've never heard anyone acting like that. Especially towards someone like me.”

Verona sighed, forming the blood into liquid again and putting it into her clay pots, standing up and walking over to him.

“If you are going to tell her, we should at least sit down. It could take a while. Especially with all the questions that I'm sure she'll ask.” Verona got some of the small crates full of healing herbs and put them down in a circle. “I know I did. Besides, I like hearing about your world. I find it all so interesting.”

They took their seats, Kal looking equally nervous and excited, and Anton began to tell the story again.

---[]---

Anton gave the shortened version of his life and how he came to this world. Verona was silent, while Kal looked on in awe. It was clear on her stunned face that she had not expected his world to be so completely foreign and alien compared to their current one.

Anton gave a final clap of his hands.

“And that brings up basically to now.” Anton said. “So, you can see why people might not be ready to hear something like that. They'll probably all think that I'm crazy. They probably already do, but they haven't heard anything too crazy coming out of my mouth. At the very least they'll question everything that I do, not that they don't already. It'll just make everything a bit easier if they think I've still lost my memory.”

Kal straightened her back up. “I...I don't know what to say.”

Verona chuckled. “Neither did I. Nobody really has.”

“Well, thank you Anton.” Kal bowed her head. “I can't imagine that you would tell this story to just anyone. But, I will never repeat what you've told me to anyone.”

Anton smiled and nodded. Kal took a deep breath and slapped her legs. “I think we should keep going.”

Kal hopped up and moved back to the pile of Kobold spines. Verona smiled and stayed seated, bringing the blood back up and began to manipulate it again.

There was nothing said for some time, only Kal breaking the Kobold spines breaking the silence. Finally Kal stopped and placed both of her hands on the edge of the wooden crate. She looked like she was about to say something; she was breathing harder and more frequently as the tips of her fingers twitched. Finally she took a deep calming breath.

"Thank you for telling me your story, Anton. For trusting me with that...”

Her eyes began to water as she looked into the distance, her fingers gripping harder on the wooden crate.

“I. You don't know anything about me from Seocruia." She coughed and stared down. "It...It was the third day after I escaped my home city, or rather after my mother had thrown me from the walls, and I was almost dead. I had not eaten or drunk anything in all that time, and it was the height of summer. The small streams had run dry and all the fruit was gone. There was nothing. I could barely even think, my head was aching like it had been stabbed. No sweat came to my skin."

She stopped and looked at him. "Have you ever been so thirsty that you couldn't even take a piss? Where your mouth is nothing but sand?"

"No. I never have." Anton answered as flatly as he could.

Kal searched in his eyes for something but gave up, returning to looking at the broken spines. She picked one up and continued her work as she spoke.

"I didn't know at the time but I was heading north from the city. Not towards here or even towards Graterious. Just away from that place. I was wandering along the small animal tracks around the cities and plantations, looking desperately for something to eat and drink. I could find nothing. Just when I thought I would fall down and die on some tiny dirt track in the middle of nowhere, I stumbled upon a plantation."

She stopped and looked up at him.

"You know what a plantation is?"

"Basically a large farm, that grows one type of plant?"

Kal shrugged but also nodded. "That's basically it. Anyway, I came across a large apple plantation. Even though I could barely think straight I knew that it was a very dangerous place. That could save me. If they caught me I would end up back as a slave or they'd just kill me on the spot. But I had no choice, I was going to die if I didn't get something to eat and drink. Even if it was only a piece of fruit."

Kal smiled awkwardly.

"No beast-kin in Seocuria can travel without explicit instruction from their owner. Something told me to go to there, probably my stomach. I sneaked through the bushes surrounding the plantation and reached the edge of the apple trees. I can still remember the red fruit amongst the rustling leaves. There was a small wooden fence but that wasn't a problem for me. Thieves were never really a problem in Seocuria."

"Were they sold into slavery or something?"

Kal nodded.

"It meant they didn't have to worry about security as much. Bandits and thieves only attacked on the roads, but there were very few of them. Humans didn't want to risk being sold into slavery, even though they were willing to watch my kind...Anyway, I peered through, desperately hungry, and I saw the entire plantation was full of apples, ready for harvesting. Some had even fallen to the ground and did not look rotten. I looked around and I could not see anyone. It was a risk to head out there but I knew that if I didn't I would die. I crouched down low and ran to the nearest good apple."

She stopped and looked at him, a strange detached look of happiness.

"Nothing, nothing in my life tasted as good as that first bite. I ate the whole thing in just a few bites. Then I ate another and another. I ate my fill, I even felt ill from eating so much. I had a small cloth bag with me, so I took as many good ones as I could."

Her face darkened as she looked down at her hands.

"Then it happened. I was so distracted by having food for the first time in so long that I didn't see a ladder on the apple tree. It was on the other side. But I was so hungry that I didn't see it. I had just filled my bag when I saw him step down the ladder. A Beast-kin boy, a reed woven container on his back filled with apples. He got to the bottom and brushed off his hands. He picked up the ladder and was about to move it to my side of the tree when he stopped. He saw me."

Kal looked up and sighed.

"I still remember his face. He was a reptilian beast-kin, basically a mix of a turtle and a lizard. Far, far less human than me. I never learnt their names, I had only seen one before. And this one was a few winters younger than me. He was so young. And he just stood there, staring at me."

Her eyes started to become moist. She fought back the tears but couldn't wipe them away with her poison coated gloves.

"And then he ran, still with the container on his back, the apples flying out with every waddling frantic step. He screamed his masters name, over and over again. I...I don't even remember it now. But, I knew that if they looked for me they would find me.”

She picked up another spine and broke it with ease. There was anger in her movements, directed at herself. Anton furrowed his brows as he watched and listened in silence.

“Their kind is so much slower than mine. I ran after him. Even weakened as I was I caught up to him before he even made the next tree. He fell onto the ground, I remember the apples scattering over the grass. I don't know why I remember that. I begged him to be quiet and let me go, but he wouldn't listen. He just kept screaming his masters name over and over again.”

He could see tears starting to well in the corners of her eyes, he was not liking where this story was going. Verona had stopped using her power as well and was listening in silence.

“I don't know why I hit him, but I did. I grabbed the first thing to make him stop screaming. I though it was an apple, but it wasn't.”

Kal could barely even continue with her work.

“It was a rock, the size of my fist. I struck him in the side of his head. Bang. They have very strong bones, not that I knew that then. Blood poured from his face. I remember that look on his face. The fear. He thought I wanted to kill him. He started to take swipes at me, but his arms were too short and stubby. His claws had been clipped so he couldn't cut deep. They scratched at my arms but they couldn't do anything. His screams became even louder. More desperate. I didn’t know how big the plantation was, but I knew that someone would be coming very soon. I hit him again. And again. And again. And again.”

Her voice was nearly a whisper by the end.

“I barely even knew what I was doing, only that his screams had stopped. When I looked down I was sick.”

The tears began to flow.

“Most of the skin on his face was gone, the bloody bones of his face exposed to the air. One of his eyes was broken and the other would never work. I...I...I ruined him. And yet he still spoke. But not for his master. He wanted his mother. A soft voice, all that he could muster through his blood soaked mouth and broken teeth.”

Kal shook her head, wiping away the tears with her shoulders. Anton did not know if he should tell her to stop, but something told him to let her keep going. This was probably the first and only time she would tell this story. The only people she could tell.

“I couldn't leave him like that. He would just be killed by his master, and might be able to tell them that it was me, rather than some deranged thief or murderer. Which, even then, I knew would get a lot less attention than a loose half-breed. I stumbled off him and was sick again, even though I had almost nothing in my stomach. I got the biggest rock I could find, much larger than before and threw it down on his head. It cracked and his body went limp. I've never hated myself more than that moment.”

“After that, and I still don't know why, I dragged the body towards the bushes and covered it with as many leaves and branches as I could find. There was a trail of blood to his body, but I really couldn't think that far ahead. I took as many apples as I could and I ran away.”

She turned and looked straight at him, her slightly puffy and red eyes searching for something in his own. There was nothing she could do to hide the shaking of her hands and legs.

“I barely made it away and back to the trail when I heard a scream. A wail that pierced the air. I didn't need to go back to know what it was.”

The tears began to flow like never before. “It was his mother. She had heard him and now she found his battered corpse. She wailed and screamed, crying his name out over and over.”

In one quick motion of her hand she ripped of both of her gloves, not caring where they landed, and grabbed onto her chest above her heart and the crate to steady herself. The tears were flowing and her breath was so fast, she began to sway as she looked at him.

“Why?” she asked him desperately. “Why did I have to kill that young boy so I could live?! What did he do to deserve me?!”

Her legs began to buckle as her body slumped down. Anton, working on instinct, moved forward and caught her body before she hit her head on the crate. She kept hyperventilating as she tried desperately to calm herself down. A hand clutched at her chest, the other latched onto his arm, while her eyes wildly darted about. What surprised him most was how light she was, even after all that she had been eating and the prayer healing. Before she must have been just skin and bone.

Anton was sure that Verona might say something about him grabbing another woman, but her face was full of worry. Verona dashed forward as Anton lowered her so she could sit on the ground. He had to pull her up as she wanted to just lie down, but he did not want her to just curl up into a ball and cry.

He kept his hand on her shoulder, slowly moving it back and forward. Verona moved to the other side and did the same. Slowly it started to work, Kal's breathing slowed and she pried her hand from her chest and his other arm.

“I'm sorry.” Kal said between sniffles.

“Don't say that.” Anton said.

“But I-”

“Take a deep breath.” Verona ordered, Kal trying her best to follow. “We're your friends, so we're going to help you as best we can.”

Kal nodded furiously, holding her head down as she held back the tears.

“Let's get you a bit more of some fresh air and some light.” Anton said. “There's not much in here. I think the side of the door would be a good place.”

Verona nodded, sliding her shoulder underneath Kal's arm. Anton did the same. Together they helped, the still shaky, Kal to her feet and led her to the side of the door. Slowly and gently they lowered her so her back rested against the door and remained upright. Kal closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, the early morning sun lighting half of her face.

“Verona,” Anton began, “Could you please get some water? This isn't something that I can just use my magic on.”

Verona gave Kal a final quick pat before standing up. “Right. I'll be back soon.”

She darted off towards the main hall, leaving them alone. Kal brought her legs up and rested her head on her knees. Her fingers dug into the cloth fabric on her legs.

“Do...Do you hate me now?” she asked, not raising her head. “Because you know I killed a child younger than myself so I could live?”

Anton did not know how to answer. As the seconds dragged on in silence she slowly turned to look at him. Her eyes were red and also empty, part of her soul had just left her.

I can't just keep quiet. How does it affect me? Does it?

“Do I hate you now? No. I don't hate you.”

She kept looking at him without saying a word.

“I'm not going to pretend that I understand anything of what you've been through. True hunger, thirst and pain, I've never experienced any of it.”

Kal moved her head back to rest in on her knees. Anton moved his hand and gently placed it on her head, she flinched away, a slight recoil in her eyes as he began to slowly rub her head.

“So, I'm not going to tell you what you should or should not have done. If it was right or it was wrong. But...Kal...Thank you for telling me. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell your story.”

He did not know what he should do, other than just to be there for her. He continued to pat her head, slowly she began to cry. Not loudly or violently. Just a weak sob.

------------------

Hello Everyone.

Got Kal not waiting on other people as much, even if it's heading to one of the barns to start the day.

Anton finally told Kal his story. Imagine her surprise when Verona is silent and enjoying the story as well.

The next bit, with Kal retelling part of her past, I wasn't sure if I wanted just the story or to tell it from a very you Kal's perspective. Maybe on a re-write I'll change it. Horrific, but she had to do it to survive. One could argue it wasn't entirely necessary, but it's what happened in the heat of the moment.

That's going to be the last bit of horror from her past for some time.

So, that's that.

Thanks for reading!