Day 7

Emm returned from a hunt. Unlike Valaré he didn’t want food from the village. It was purely a matter of preference. His entire life Emm ate what he found or hunted. It kept him at the top of his game. Valaré had none of that, food was food. The more the merrier.

“Why aren’t you going to run away?”

“The tracking liquid,” Valaré replied. “It’s impossible to remove. The Red Coat would’ve found me without much problem.”

Emm’s forehead creased.

“I don’t think they’re going to keep the promise.”

“I count on that.”

Valaré’s words left Emm confused, but the young scout decided against asking any further. In days Valaré came to know the ex-bandit, he noticed that Emm kept himself away from important information. Valaré understood this very well. Knowing less was always a safer option for most people.

True to his word, Emm had some serious skills. They resumed their journey after their afternoon’s halt. An hour later, Emm came back with a startling revelation. He found the traces of the fight. They followed it with haste expecting the worst. Emm warned Valaré that dangerous animals were involved.

“If they attacked a Royalblood then I pity them,” Valaré assured the scout. Emm didn’t see it this way but he didn’t argue nor Valaré asked for more from him.

The scope of the destruction was larger than expected and…

“Grots!”

Valaré didn’t know what grots were so he took cues from Emm’s worried reaction. Furred, lizard-like creatures appeared on the trees. But their sudden appearance wasn’t what arrested Valaré’s gaze.

In the middle of the destruction stood a monstrosity. It was nothing nature could conceive and so Valaré knew that the blood of a Royalblood had to be involved. There were signs all over the creature that it’d recently bled. Valaré’s head swam with questions about the Royalblood whose blood caused the mutation.

“Forest gods…” Emm muttered. “What’s this?”

“Our blood is full of magic. Spill it and in the right circumstances, things like this may happen. I will take care of this, you find if there’s anything left of whoever had been here.”

“I don’t think it’s possible with so many grots around,” Emm said. “Grots are unlike any other animals. They’re extremely smart. We should leave them be.”

Grots had noticed them moments ago and so far only watched the two with disinterest. If the scout’s words were to be believed and Valaré didn’t see why shouldn’t they be, then grots might pose a bigger threat than Valaré expected. He didn’t fear for himself, although the mutant gave him a pause, a Royalblood had bled here.

“Okay, let’s find a way around them and see if you can find further tracks.”

*

While Emm was a talented scout, Valaré’s skill left much to desire. It surprised neither of them when Valaré stumbled upon a resting grot. It raised its head, staring hungrily at Valaré until the Royalblood decided to do what was right and punched it.

Grots were large and heavy, with thick skin and hardened bones. A body as resistant as theirs was impenetrable to commoners. A Royalblood of Valaré’s caliber was a different beast altogether. The grot’s eyes rolled over and its body smashed into a tree behind it consequently splintering it and throwing the animal into a small gorge.

“That was…” Emm muttered, staring in disbelief at the destroyed tree and the unmoving body of the beast. “Loud.”

“Yeah, it seems I went overboard. Some instincts are difficult to leave behind.”

Emm gave the Royalblood a curious look but didn’t ask any questions. It wasn’t only intimidation that he felt, but his natural tendency to not inquiry. Powerful people didn’t like when their subordinates sought answers. Valaré noticed it soon after they left the village, his companions from previous journeys had always bombarded him with questions.

The encounter with the Red Coat should’ve spurred at least some curiosity but the young scout was only interested in leading him to his ex-boss's lair.

Valaré was about to throw a nugget of information when the green wall of bushes exploded. Not waiting for the reaction of the scout who wouldn’t get a chance to hide, anyway. Valaré bolted forward, scooping his companion and burst ahead, leaving the flurry of movement behind them. Grots, whatever they were, posed no threat to the superior strength, speed, and durability of Valaré. Emm was a different matter. Valaré had a hunch that the grots wouldn’t leave the easy target alone.

Physical attributes weren’t all the advantages the Royalbloods possessed over the commoners, although these enhancements required hard work to gain. In the thick, heavy air, Valaré was able to pick threads of cooler streams that wounded through the bushes. He followed the sensations his skin was picking up, while the grots gave a chase.

He almost stumbled as an entrance to a cave rose before him. It’d kill the scout in an instant if he had to roll over. Valaré entered the cave without hesitation, de-accelerating slowly for Emm’s sake. The Royalblood was capable of killing his momentum completely with help of certain abilities. For a commoner, this kind of de-acceleration equaled a fall from a very high, a certain death. Even the Royalbloods needed to pay a price for the maneuver like this.

The moment Valaré came to a stop, he whirled ready to confront the chasing grots. None followed them inside. It seemed strange but he didn’t really care. The animals wouldn’t go past him here, leaving the scout safe.

“What’s this place?”

Emm, still on his four, was still processing what had just happened. The inhuman speed left him shaken. Valaré gave him a hand, Emm accepted it, standing up carefully.

“I have no idea,” Emm said. “We went through the hunting ground, which is the easiest way to approach Soto unnoticed. Butcher and his people don’t like to hunt and have left this territory to wildlife.”

“But aren’t like them, right? You still hunted here?”

“Yes. I’m more comfortable here than there.”

“But you have no idea where we are.”

“I know every ground around Soto better than any other bandit, including Butcher who rarely leaves his place. I’ve been here too many times to miss a cave of this size. Moreover, I don’t know where it leads and if we should go deeper,” he took a deep breath and added. “Thank you for saving me. I saw only blur and fought to not pass out. Now I feel like I should’ve let it go. My head’s still spinning.”

Valaré grinned, hearing the scout’s rambling. The young man wasn’t exactly a talker. It didn’t bother Valaré as much as he himself was used to solitude. But seeing the transformation of the young man put a smile on Valaré’s face. Emm was too serious for his age.

“Someone was here,” Emm said with urgency, watching the ground closely.

Even with enhanced perception, Valaré was at loss here.

“Grots?”

“No,” Emm said with confidence. “Animals don’t come inside.”

“How come?”

“We’d see plenty of signs left by them. However, this cave is almost sterile.”

“And that’s not normal?” Valaré asked, surprised by the scout’s extent of knowledge about caves.

Emm gave the Royalblood a curious look then reminded himself who he was speaking to and his eyes dropped to the ground.

“It isn’t. Caves in our region aren’t rare, but all of them bear marks of animal or human activity. Here, it’s different. And on top of that, someone passed through here but I can’t say when.”

“The other Royalblood perhaps?” Valaré asked.

“There’s no way to tell.”

Valaré nodded thoughtfully. If he trusted Emm’s words and he didn’t see why he shouldn’t, then the cave’s appearance was suspiciously convenient. It revealed itself to them for some reason and Valaré didn’t want to consider the means involved in this. Even alchemy had its limits. He certainly hadn’t heard about this kind of magic. Valaré’s family had knowledge, means, and connection. If anything as this was possible Valaré would’ve heard about it.

He placed his hand on the rough wall, closing his eyes, he concentrated. Not only old instincts didn’t die easy. His training was even harder to leave behind.

“What are you doing?”

Without opening his eyes, Valaré said, “I am following a hunch. Just track whoever entered it before us. Can you do it without getting caught?”

“Yes.”

“I will catch up with you later then.”

Valaré more sensed than heard Emm’s steps vanish into the belly of the cave, so quiet they were. Valaré moved his palm over the wall, suddenly getting very excited. He was a child of caves and this one sent a thrill down his spine.