Blood of the Sea, Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter 25: Hemorrhage

Vance

The cart bobbed along for the full first day, unbothered by the condition of the road they traveled. The second day, however, the road, though well-trod and clearly worn by cart tracks and boot prints alike, is more rurally located, weaving through a forest, and rutted by rain and the general wear of time. Maintenance was clearly a concept that was taken into the hands of those who traveled the road the most; holes were filled with dirt and packed down, or broken up bits of rock that might turn a wheel, or the occasional plank of wood tossed over a hole. Shoddily done, but it would work for a time.

Rattling along, the wheels squeaking in protest after hitting a particularly rough rock covered up by loosely packed dirt, they find themselves crossing a river: the wooden bridge in better repair than the road surrounding it. Vance is surveying the surrounding woods, the odd bird-calls strange to him, when the cart rolls to a stop. The kid hops down and moves around to the back of the cart, pawing through the bag he brought.

“What are you doing?”

The kid doesn’t respond, beginning to hum under his breath.

“Hey, kid.”

The kid pulls out a round object, taking a bite out of the red flesh with a crunch, revealing a white center. He rounds the cart again, another of the edible things in his other hand, and offers it to the creature pulling the cart. A threskel. I should try to remember these things if we are to stay here for long.

Vance frowns, “Let’s get a move on.”

“You said you would hunt.”

“Right. Do you see any creatures around here?” Vance rolls his eyes but the kid points past Vance’s shoulder, along the riverbank. Turning, Vance spots a large, stocky creature staring at him from the river. It’s head is decorated in thick rolls of stiff skin which points toward the sky in a sort of fan shape. A curved set of horns protrudes from its forehead, or what he thinks is its forehead, and the creature snorts in their direction, its head raising as it trumpets, the sound rolling through the trees. Vance cringes, seeing how the waterline only comes up to its knees.

“That’s an elvryx.”

“You’re telling me you want me to hunt and kill that?”

“You don’t have to do much hunting. It’s right there,” the kid points out. He shrugs, “You said you’d do it.”

“You didn’t tell me how big they are.” Vance places a hand on the hilt of his sword, fingers clasped tightly. He doesn’t know if he wants to use the sword against the cart or the creature staring him down in the water.

“The cart doesn’t move until it’s dead.”

Vance scowls, “What do you get out of this?”

“Elvryx hide and horns can be good to trade. It’s hard for us to get a hold of one.” the kid clears his throat, “Additionally, it’ll feed Kildangan if we can dry the meat properly.”

“Get your people to kill it then.”

“You said you would hunt,” the kid folds his arms over his chest. “Are you going back on your word?”

“What do you expect me to do against that? By myself?” Vance eyes the elvryx sniffing the air from where it wades in the water. The sound of the river tells him it’s deeper than the creature is making it seem. I could kill it if S’dai was with me. He takes a moment to picture his reddish ‘urga, her teeth sharp and jagged, eyes bright as she moves in for a kill. He shakes himself. 

“You can take your time.”

“I want to get a move on, not deal with this.”

“Told you. Cart won’t move till it’s dead.” The kid climbs back up onto the cart in the back, settling in amongst the bags, hands clasped behind his head.

Should’ve never agreed to this. Vance seethes. There must have been a more reasonable cart driver to negotiate with. He glares at the elvryx, who shakes its head and stomps a foot in the water, causing it to splash up against its chest. Vance’s fingers twitch and his anger melts away slowly, realization taking its place.

Releasing his tight grip on the sword, he lifts both of his hands, the water in the river resisting at first, but he scoops his magic under the current and tugs, merging with the river. The water scampers up the elvryx’s legs, causing it to stomp and shuffle, swinging its head at the rising water as others behind it squeal and thunder away from the banks, into the trees. The large, horned elvryx begins following suit, climbing part of the way out of the river before Vance throws his hands forward and curls his fingers. The river responds, a lash of water surging into the creature’s mouth and nose. Vance pushes, and the tide responds from further away. Water rushes along the path of his magic, more and more disappearing down the creature’s throat. It thrashes, but makes no sound. Energy saps from its lumbering form and it staggers back toward the river, the water level falling as more and more of it circles around the creature. The elvryx stumbles, falling to its knees, and thumping into the river, its eyes going glassy and dull as it drowns on the water choking the life from its lungs.

Vance smirks, satisfaction curling through him. Hunt an elvryx? Done. He turns back to the kid, who is staring at the fallen elvryx with wide eyes, mouth hinged open. The kid slowly turns his shock upon Vance, flinching when he sees Vance’s smile.

“It’s… dead?”

Vance uses the water to curl around the elvryx’s body, pushing it out of the water and onto the bank. He releases his hold over the river and it sloshes back into place. Pulling out his sword, he hops down from the cart and rolls his wrist, the blade flicking sunlight in different directions as the blade redirects it. Kicking the dead elvryx, Vance plants a foot on its body and plunges down with his sword, blood splattering along the blade and pouring onto the ground. Turning back to the kid, the threskel hitched to the cart shifting nervously as the scent of blood fills the air, Vance announces, “Do what you will with it. Then you will take me to Seyune.”