Chapter 24 - The Long Road Home

Blood and guts sprayed about in the air to land in a messy pile on the cold dirt below, which greedily sucked the liquid until it became tinged with an ugly reddish hue.

Heedless of anything but the absolute need for haste, Skyle used the knife he had found earlier to seesaw its edge against the ragged flap of flesh he was working at. All the while, he couldn’t help but think of the knife his father had given him, the one the enemy commander had taken away. Skyle couldn’t recall any time when he’d found that knife’s edge dull. It had always maintained its sharpness, easily cutting through anything he applied its cold edge to.

The knife in his hands, on the other hand, was struggling to cut through the thick leather and underlying tendons of the beast he was working on. It was only thanks to the huge tear already in place in its flank that Skyle was able to work his knife into the tenacious flesh at all, enlarging the existing wound with maddening sluggishness. Still, the only other weapon Skyle had was Moonshadow, and the bow was simply not suited to this kind of task.

Briefly risking a sideways glance, Skyle was relieved to see Leon making much better progress from his own end of things. The bigger boy was working with his proportionately bigger blade from the opposite end of the same gash Skyle was trying to enlarge. With swift, vigorous motions, Leon grunted with the effort as he pushed his blade in, then retracted it with similar vigor.

“Mind your own end, farmboy,” Leon breathed harshly, his face red from his exertions, yet not daring to stop nor taking his eyes away from the bloody sword in his hands.

Skyle didn’t waste his breath to answer either, as he knew haste was essential for their survival. The twelve fearsome beasts whose silhouettes he’d managed to distinguish were not rushing yet, which meant they had only caught a hint of an unfamiliar scent but hadn’t sighted their prey yet. Which was just fine by him, since in this case the prey would be two lame and helpless boys who wouldn’t even have time to squeak before they were torn to pieces.

The scent of blood and feces had struck Skyle as very important as soon as he’d entered the scene of this carnage. One might assume that this smell was from the blood and feces released from the dead beasts, but that would be the dead wrong.

From his lessons in hunting, Skyle knew that predators with strong territorial instincts marked their boundaries with their own feces, particularly so with large cats. Since these lesser beasts had intruded upon their territory, it was logical to assume that the more dominant beasts had slain them, then marked them. If so, Skyle thought to use this scent to his advantage.

It was their only chance, as they definitely would not be able to outrun the beasts now that they had caught their scents. Skyle had been hoping to spot them ahead of time and lead them towards their enemies, but clearly he had underestimated just how acute their sense of smell was. Now, it was about whether they would be able to fool them for just long enough to survive.

More guts and blood gushed forth from the hideous wound as both boys worked frantically in order to enlarge it, red liquid splashing on top of their faces and dripping down their shoulders. Still, they did not let up and instead renewed their efforts with even more desperation. Seeing just how difficult it was to merely cut through the thick hide and muscles, Skyle had to wonder at the sharpness and strength behind the beasts who had inflicted these wounds.

“Done!” Leon cried out, then Skyle felt hands hastily pushing him aside.

Skyle let Leon take his place, and Leon did not hesitate at all as he plunged both arms deep into the wound on the dead beast’s flank. Growling deep within his throat, Leon’s jaw tightened as his arms retracted with a handful of sinewy, fleshy ropes along with a new torrent of blood.

Steaming entrails splattered wetly at his feet, but Skyle didn’t pay it any mind as he swiftly pulled on the guts, uncoiling even more from within the dead beast’s abdominal cavity. Then he risked a glance over his shoulder, focusing his True Sight into a cone that traveled 100 meters into the distance.

“No time! It’s now or never!” Skyle called out hastily, and Leon wordlessly pulled aside the flaps of skin, then nodded to the other boy.

Skyle took a deep breath, closing his eyes, then plunged into the cavity. Leon took one last glance over his shoulder before following suit. It was disconcertingly warm and dark inside, with a strong stench of blood and a sour scent. As Skyle pushed further in to make room for Leon, he could feel spongy tissues giving way under him with a mushy sound, and he nearly threw up then and there. Also, hard objects would poke into his body from time to time. Reaching behind his back, Skyle tried to shuffle one such object and winced as he felt a strange numbing sensation. As he rapidly drew his hand back, something nearby ruptured and spilled a fresh wave of pungent liquid all over his back.

“You mind?” Leon growled softly in his throat, but didn’t seem to pay much attention to his surroundings as he was busy pulling as much of the intestines as he could back into the wound. After forming a gruesome wall with them, Leon took hold of the open flaps of skin and drew them closed, leaving only the smallest of openings to breathe through.

Then there was only a disturbing silence, punctuated by the rhythmic breathing of both boys echoing within the small cavity. They didn’t dare move at all, even as the weight of the dead flesh slowly began to shift on its own and press more heavily upon them, sending more liquid gushing over their bodies. At least they were able to keep their faces clear and close to the small gap they were using as a breathing hole.

Seconds ticked on by in this uncomfortable silence, until at last it was broken by the smallest of sounds. It was a light rustling sound, as though a soft cloth had just brushed across some pebbles. Still, the sounds began to grow more distinct as they slowly drew closer. Then a huge shadow covered the small flap the boys were using to breathe, and Skyle’s heart nearly stuttered to a stop when he heard a loud, distinctive sound of inhaled air from outside.

As both boys held their breaths, the dead body trembled and a heavy impact was felt through the many layers of flesh. A slow, distinct tearing sound could be heard, like a sharp knife cutting through cloth. Then Skyle froze completely as he saw three claws matching the size of his own dagger easily slicing open the flesh just above his face. They moved unbearably slow, parting skin and tendon as easily as a hot knife through butter. As they drew nearer to Skyle’s face, the boy had to squeeze his eyes shut, not daring to move back to avoid the claws and fiercely determined not to cry out even if the claws tore into his own face.

Just as the claws were about to reach his face, a small mass of entrails suddenly uncoiled from above his head, spilling out through the new tear in the dead beast’s skin. The terrifying claw stopped a mere couple inches from Skyle’s face, then withdrew. Gushing sounds could be heard as though a heavy object were kneading wet flesh, then a deep, rumbling growl could be felt even through the walls of flesh separating Skyle from the outside.

What followed were more sounds of light claws padding across soft soil, then simple, blessed silence. Skyle was breathing raggedly through the small air hole, not daring to take a deep breath though his lungs were desperately aching to.

It was a long moment before Skyle even dared to turn his head in order to use his True Sight and scan the surrounding area. The monsters were moving away, the last of their auras rapidly drawing father away in his vision. It was then that Skyle detected a peculiar aura he hadn’t noticed before, just off to his side. Turning his head, he saw a small, fingernail sized globe of glowing elemental essence. It was compressed so tightly that it veritably glowed in his True Sight, churning slowly with a deep brown aura. As he extended his hand to catch hold of it, his fingers felt a jolt of energy as soon as they touched it, but it was cool to the touch.

Leon noticed Skyle’s movement and whispered in between mouthfuls of gore and blood, “We clear?”

“Yeah,” Skyle replied absently as he stared at the small sphere of elemental essence within his grasp. It was the same hard object he had shuffled to one side before.

With a muffled thump and a great sloshing sound, Leon let go of the skin flaps and both boys crawled out of the nightmarish cage of flesh and blood.

Skyle glanced at Leon’s figure kneeling next to him, taking great gulps of air through a face that was completely bathed in blood. Figuring he wouldn’t be looking any better himself, Skyle swiped a hand across his eyes in vain, leaving even more streaks of red across his vision for all his troubles.

Returning his gaze to the object in his hand, Skyle could now see that it was a red crystal the size of a small pebble, rounded and smooth in all sides. It looked like a raw gemstone one would find near riverbanks, though its surface was much clearer. Inside, small sparks could be seen flashing intermittently.

“Where did you find that?” Leon asked, staring at the stone.

Skyle motioned with his head towards the dead beast behind them. “You know what it is?”

“It could be a power crystal. They’re found in higher level beasts, after they’ve condensed their elemental power for a long time. That’s a huge crystal though, I wouldn’t expect something of that size from anything other than a master ranked beast.”

“Can you use it?” Skyle immediately asked, pressing the stone into Leon’s hands.

Leon closed his eyes, concentrating, and a red hot glow could be briefly glimpsed around the hand holding the stone. When he opened his eyes a moment later, they were glowing with excitement, and brief sparks of crimson light could be seen dancing within.

“Hell yes, finally! It’s not a fire elemental crystal, but it’s still got a little that I draw from!” Leon cried out joyfully.

“Then let’s search these other corpses and see if there are any other power crystals,” Skyle suggested.

“What about the big scary cats?” Leon asked, looking around.

“They left following the scent of our trail,” Skyle murmured, trying not to think about the substance caking every bit of his body at the moment. Thankfully, his sense of smell had already shorted out while inside the awful hiding place they’d fashioned. “At this rate, they will hopefully run right into our pursuers and either scatter them, or at least slow them down dramatically.”

Leon only nodded, immediately turning to the beasts’ bodies. Clutching one hand to the crystal, and the other to his sword, slowly a fine crimson edge began to form on the blade’s edge. When Leon pushed the red-hot blade into the side of the body of another of the beasts, there was a brief hiss as it easily pierced the thick hide, then began to part the flesh underneath as though tearing through paper.

As the smell of burned flesh assaulted his nostrils, Skyle sighed with a helpless expression on his face. Glancing down at his dagger, he sighed again as he sheathed it, then squatted down next to Leon. “You cut, I’ll dig the crystals out. I’d rather be away from here sooner than later.”

In the end, it took them only a couple minutes to search the 6 bodies around them. What shocked Leon was the fact that all six bodies had power crystals in them, and they were all just as big as the first one they’d found.

Not only would power crystals accumulate elemental essence slowly, but only powerful beasts of a very high level would be able to form them at all. Usually, power crystal hunting parties would have to take down a dozen powerful beasts or more to find a single crystal. Furthermore, most crystals Leon had seen before were the size of a pea. Only the rich and powerful would have access to bigger crystals.

Leon stared numbly at the six crystals lying on the palm of his hand, unable to believe how easily they’d stumbled upon such treasures. They were easily the size of large grapes. Such crystals could command staggering prices in the market, and would be difficult to find unless one had the necessary connections.

“What’s wrong?” Skyle asked in a flat tone.

Leon looked up and found he lacked the words to explain all this. Instead, he stared at the other boy. Why had he given all the crystals away so easily? Why wasn’t he keeping a few for his own elemental reserves? Even Leon, as proud as he was, couldn’t help but want to madly clutch these precious stones to his chest. Finally, he could access his elemental power! Though he couldn’t absorb the elemental energies from the world, he could use the energy contained within these crystals.

“You should keep a couple of these,” Leon began once more, but Skyle firmly cut him off.

“No need, let’s keep moving.”

Leon shook his head, bewildered, but stopped insisting.

Taking a deep breath, Skyle unsteadily rose to his feet and began to scan his surroundings, trying to discern the best route to escape the beasts’ territory. “I think we should move this way, as it is the shortest route towards the direction we were headed in before. Leon?”

Skyle turned around with a puzzled expression, when he saw Leon blinking his eyes and staring stupidly at the trees around them, as though he couldn’t believe what his eyes were showing him.

“Leon? Are you alright? Are you wounded?”

“It’s beautiful,” was all Leon murmured, his eyes still roving all about the clearing.

Skyle rocked back on his feet, staring at Leon. “You can see now?”

The question didn’t need to be any more specific, since they both understood its meaning.

Leon nodded absently, his gaze still exploring the edges of the forest which his eyes were showing him.

It was not unexpected, this reaction. After all, Skyle could remember the night and day difference in his own perception of this realm before and after receiving the True Sight. Dark, ominous clouds had turned into beautiful skies painted with a myriad different colors. Soldiers with demonic faces had turned into regular human features. The forest around them was filled with danger, but also with an alien, almost primeval beauty that captivated the senses. If not for the danger all around them, Skyle could not have denied the startling beauty of the massive trees and colorful plants growing all around them.

Skyle swiftly recalled his own experience when he had received the True Sight. Thinking back on it, hadn’t he also been choking on the blood of the soldier he had just killed. Did blood have something to do with the ability to gain the True Sight?

“Can you see the auras as well?” Skyle asked anxiously.

Leon frowned for a moment, then shook his head disappointedly. “No auras, no spirit vision. All I can see is the true shape of the trees. I had no idea they were so beautiful. Same goes for this beast. It was a grotesque monster filled with bizarre tentacles, but now I see it as an oversized boar, no more.”

“Strange,” Skyle muttered to himself. “Was it the power crystals, or the blood?”

Leon turned to look at Skyle with worried eyes. “What are you talking about?”

Skyle quickly shook his head, “No matter, let’s get going. I’m not sure if the beasts following our trail will actually encounter our pursuers or not, but we’ve done our best. Now lets get out of here before more of them come.”

“Wait, now that I have some elemental essence, I can treat our wounds. It’s not my specialty, but I should be able to speed the recovery process,” Leon murmured, closing his eyes and waving his hands while a red glow began to emanate from them.

In the True Sight, Skyle was fascinated to see several strands of red elemental essence forming strange patterns in the air between Leon’s hands. They grew in complexity as they turned in the air and merged together, before slowly dissolving into several strands of energy that flowed into Leon’s body. As the wounded areas absorbed these energies, their auras surged momentarily with life and brilliance, before slowly dimming down. However, they had a much healthier glow now!

Leon let out a pleased sigh, then opened his eyes and turned his attention to Skyle. “It’s just a simple purification and elemental strengthening prism, but now that I’ve seen that it actually works as intended, it ought to help you as well.”

Skyle nodded with a small smile, indicating his thanks.

Leon began to move his hands in the same gestures he had used before, and in Skyle’s True Sight the complex patterns began to take shape again. As Leon finished the process and gestured to Skyle, the patterns slowly dissolved into streams of light that landed upon the many wounds. However, this time something unexpected happened.

Instead of merging with the wounds and healing them, the strands of light seemed to falter for a moment, before being quickly absorbed into Skyle body and disappearing altogether. His wounds didn’t look any better, and instead Skyle felt a momentary spell of dizziness assault him.

Leon stared for a moment with a surprised expression, before jumping forward and leaning closer to support the swaying boy. “You alright?”

“Yes, just give me a moment.”

“I don’t understand,” Leon muttered. “It worked just fine on me. Did I mess up the spell prism somehow?”

“No, it’s not your fault,” Skyle shook his head, not understanding what had happened to those strands of energy, but the complex patterns themselves had been executed flawlessly. “Let’s just move along, we’ve wasted enough time here. I’ve also got things to tell you on the way.”

As Leon carried Skyle on his back, Skyle recounted his experience in acquiring the True Sight after choking on the soldier’s blood. They speculated on the fact that perhaps there was a connection between the blood of creatures in this realm and the ability to see through the strange illusions, though they allowed that perhaps it had been the power crystal instead. He also explained what he had found about Fierro Latimus and his journal, though he kept the hidden parts of it to himself.

“So, Fierro was a peak expert from another realm?” Leon breathed, as though he couldn’t believe it. “In the end, he died such a sad death, in this terrible place.”

“Deadly, maybe. But terrible?” Skyle mused, his eyes taking in the beauty of the woods around them.

“I suppose you’re right. I really wonder what this place is,” Leon muttered. “I’ve never seen a more breathtaking sky, or a more beautiful patch of forest, yet it is also filled with a wildness that seems to defy any attempts to trespass upon its confines. You sure you didn’t find anything else about this realm from Fierro’s journal?”

“I didn’t have time to study it in detail, but I will do so as soon as we can afford to stop,” Skyle called out. “First, let’s get to a safe distance. Then we need to find some water and food.”

Leon wrinkled his nose. “I wouldn’t mind a wash, either. All this blood on us is bound to attract unwanted attention from the beasts of the forest.”

“Not necessarily. We are covered in blood and cat feces. The cat feces will likely act as a good deterrent, at least while we’re still near their territory,” Skyle shrugged.

“And here I thought blood was bad enough. If only my seneschal could see me, all covered in cat excrement. You know, this one time the old fool tried to convince me to put rose-petals and lilac in my bath water? ‘Good for the young Lord’s complexion’, he said with a completely straight face,” Leon chuckled, imitating a stiff, thick voice.

Skyle grinned despite himself. “Kass - my little sister - will absolutely refuse to share the bath water with anyone else. Says we are all a bunch of unwashed, malodorous miscreants.”

Leon laughed softly at that. “Sounds like she’s a little lady of discriminating tastes.”

“The little lady still sneaks into the bed of this here unwashed, malodorous miscreant at least once every week because she’s scared of the dark, though she’ll die before she admits it,” Skyle said with a wistful smile. “And smell be damned.”

“At least she has someone to go to,” Leon spoke softly, almost as though to himself. “My third brother is still convalescing from the near-fatal attempt on his life a few months back.”

"Sorry to hear that," Skyle murmured.

"My sixth brother was even sorrier, trust me. He was the one who sent the assassins," Leon snorted coldly.

A long moment of silence ensued, while Leon resolutely moved forward and Skyle found himself at a loss for words.

“Let’s go back, Skyle Farrow. You must return home, to watch over little Kass and ward off her imagined monsters.”

Here Leon paused for a moment, taking a long, deep breath before finishing with steely determination.

“As for me, I must return to the intrigues and deadly plots of the great and lofty House of Draxas, where the real monsters await.”

Skyle couldn’t find anything to say still, so he simply lay a hand upon his friend’s shoulder, and said nothing at all.

Still, it was enough.