Watching for the Truth
Note: Instructor is lesser birth. Seems observant. Follow lead.
Others carefree. Be mindful not to get too close. Bad habits forming.
Prepare ahead. Talk assumes this can be dangerous. More notes needed.
Remember father's words: Even the lowest snake can bite and kill. Always be mindful of unseen threats.
Ensure I carry supplies. Cannot risk instructor having the burden, and others cannot be trusted.
—Notes from first meeting, by Meekie
They were at the forest edge, and with it so were his nerves. This was not the first time going to the rot lands, but it was the first time he did so with intent to hunt an unknown darkness—not randomly leading overseers in culling beasts.
Barren lands as far as the eye could see, a stark contrast to their lush forest. Even the atmosphere had a tint of stench that never left, compared to the rich earth and wood smell they were used to. Even the mourning fields with ash-washed smells were better than this.
"Goddess, so help me if this dirt stains I will beat someone's hide..." Row looked to the voice—a newly made scout that did not like getting dirty. And for some reason chose all-white clothes and kept trying to avoid the dirt they walked upon. "And the smell! Who walks among this place?"
He tried ignoring his rant and his clothing, which was an odd choice. How do you scout and avoid touching anything that could soil your clothes?
"Should've worn leather like us. You knew what we were doing..." Leinaa retorted to Vence, which was how Row found his name on the trip here. There were four of them total, but he was the only drow and second-class, and allegedly the instructor trying to guide these misfits.
He focused on the last person—Meekie. She was carrying most of the supplies, which still surprised him. And even more so, when they did stop she took notes or doodled—he wasn't sure. He did not press or stare too close, trying to keep order where he could. Yet she was the one who listened to him the most.
She wasn't meek but did not talk much and did not like help from others, wanting to learn hands-on. Vence saw it as an insult that Row wasn't carrying supplies or doing everything, and while Leinaa agreed with his view, what little Meekie spoke she insisted she was fine and for them to focus on tracking.
Which was a bit of a farce in itself.
None of them had really tracked before in any form—hence the training. Meekie, when she spoke of her past, said she loved hiking and wanted to try being a scout. Vence knew nothing, assumed it would be free pay from his status. And Leinaa was closest to a real scout in a sense of hunting before, but she confessed she was more the hunter side and enjoyed shooting than scouting, and she said she was a skilled shot. Though no beast came for them to test that.
He was used to working alone, and it was clear they did not like working with him. But all agreed he had a rep as a tracker and for leading, marking maps from what little briefing they were given before, so they followed his lead since none could make him follow them or have them go anywhere beyond the city border.
Sadly, he had to deal with Vence trying twice to lead before they left the city, and he was forced to follow both times before Vence realized despite his desire, they still had to leave the city. And he still needed Row to teach.
"Meekie, please get the pouch of ash out." She did, handing it to him as he spread it on himself.
"ARE YOU MAD?" Vence shouted, which Row expected and was prepared for. That's why he'd waited before saying the next part.
"Everyone else, please spread this on yourselves too." He handed it back to Meekie, who spread it on her skin without question. Her smooth, light skin now marred by ash, but never once did he see doubt in her eyes, which he was grateful for.
However, Leinaa and Vence kept sneering, refusing to move.
"The rot lands spread just by touch. The ash kills it long before it can take hold. It also repels most beasts by scent. Any that risk striking us anyway will be a new test—they'll die if it happens and we can't avoid it."
"Say whatever lies you wish, low-born, but smearing ash on us won't make us your equal nor lessen the shame you're trying to smear upon us..." Vence held his ground, but thankfully Leinaa relented and did add ash, albeit very lightly. It would have to be enough.
The complaining did not stop, and seeing the sweat pour from Vence surprised him. He looked healthy and Row assumed fit, but he was suffering much more than the others. There was a chance it was the rot sickening him, but the effect would be more mild. No, he was probably stressed and overworked. We need to stop for the night.
He checked the sky. They still had daylight he wished to use to scout, but they set camp instead, and everyone seemed in good spirits minus the pissy attitude about the rot and dirt. He made sure to tell them to keep the campfire ash when they were done to add to their supply, since the trees tended to be infused with nature magic, and while not as potent as pre-made ash with magic infused, it was still effective.
When things settled a bit—Vence and Leinaa gossiping and Meekie with her book—he tried to set watches and teach them what to watch for. But he feared none were listening between the gossip. Well, besides Meekie. The fact she kept opening that book while he talked made him believe it wasn't just drawing, as she seemed to be listening.
"Vence, you need to do first watch."
"And watch what? It's a land of dirt. My clothes are already ruined. What more can happen out here worse than that?" He ignored Row even as he told him more than once what—monsters would come, assuming any were out here. But it had been a while since they'd last scouted for them, Light champion or not.
"The ash deters monsters, not stops them. Flatlands work in our favor—it's hard for them to blind rush us—but they tend not to make a sound till striking. It's also good practice if we go to a mountain area or forest area to be watching for movement."
"I'll keep watch," Leinaa tried helping, showing at least a little understanding.
"No," Row said flatly, and the shock on her face would have been priceless joy if it did not involve their lives.
Vence took that chance to remind him where he stood. "Are you talking back to your betters, low-born?"
"I'm teaching as I was instructed." He stared him down, and Vence did not flinch—not that Row expected him to—as he focused on Leinaa. "Roof taught you to hunt, correct?"
The shift between shock and defiance was clear on her face, but she was getting his point. Low-born he may be, but he was teaching.
"Vence, first shift till nightfall. Leinaa and Meekie, next watch." He went to the bag and drew a log. "When this burns down on your shift, wake me. I will wake you all after that for morning scouting as we start the next day."
Vence laughed. "How is a log a measurement of time? How long will that even last?"
"I never had to use them for time myself, but I know the length of time they tend to burn—always two to three hours. Plenty of time for you all to get sleep, and it gives me a few hours of rest without needing to always be awake watching over you."
He wanted to oversee things more. Instead, he got a cloth and put it over his eyes and lay down to sleep.
"Goddess help me, what are you doing, low-born?" Row could not believe Vence still needed to ask.
"Trying to sleep. And you're supposed to be watching for beasts, not me."
There was low laughter after that. He wasn't sure if it was at his expense or Vence's, nor did he care. This was going to be a long week, assuming it lasted that long. The supplies, if rationed, could hold for that, but they'd see if they got to that.
A gentle brush on his shoulder awoke Row. He was dreaming of Ash, and at first thought it was her pushing him playfully. But the touch was too light, and the voice that followed reminded him this was not a place he wanted to be, no matter how oppressive the alternative place was.
"Instructor, your shift." It was Meekie. He removed the cloth from his eyes and was just greeted with more darkness. Though the sky was clear and sight easy to see to a point, it was still a sea of darkness—too easy for anything wishing to hunt to get easy prey.
"Thank you, Meekie. Get some sleep. Tomorrow, I fear, will be a longer day."
He checked the fire. It was low. It seemed they did not feed the flame, which was good—it saved their supplies. But they had some to spare, and most beasts feared the idea of the flame more than it could harm them, so he threw in another log to be safe while he scouted a bit before his watch.
The shift was uneventful, and he was happy to be proven wrong that anything bad could happen. That was until, with the morning light, as he was waking the trainees, he noticed an odd sight.
Meekie was still covered in ash, which was needed and what he expected to see. But both Leinaa and Vence were clean-faced, and even their hair seemed washed?
He checked their supplies, and sure enough, they had less than half their water left. It was enough to last them all a week if rationed, three days if carefree. Now? Worst case, a day—and maybe three if they stretched it with best case. And that assumed a lot.
Even the food, which he had planned in rations, was consumed. That was less an issue since water would kill them first.
He'd planned to wake them earlier to scout, but now waited instead. This mission to him was already a bust. They'd set him up to fail by having two impossible tasks: babysit overgrown children AND find an unknown threat which could kill said children. No matter what he did, he would be deemed a failure—perhaps not once but twice for not doing the unchallengeable more than once.
Time passed slowly as he watched the fire die to low embers. He would have spared water before to reuse the ash and help them long-term, but now it would be more a liability than gain of asset.
Meekie was first to wake, confused why he did not wake them or have new tasks, but she would know soon. Even as she wrote in her book, he said nothing till the other two slowly roused and started laughing with banter, wondering if he'd made food to eat.
"You washed," he said flatly.
Vence smirked, half-asleep and proud. "Of course. You did not expect us to sleep in that filth. It was insult enough I even listened before to smear it and share your shame of lesser color."
"You used our limited water, costing us days of scouting depending on how we travel," Row said coolly, hating how stupid they were. "Also, the ash prevents the rot as I told you before. And worse—you've scrubbed away the ash that also keeps monsters at bay. They smell flesh."
A slight breeze blew, and with it a cold fear distracted him from the rant that Vence was using to justify his view. It was a dead mold mixed into the rot, and it tended to follow only the slug rot types.
Tsk. He was not allowed a weapon in hunts—even now they saw it as a threat.
"We're under attack because of your stupidity."
Before Vence could snap back, the ground shuddered with a wet slap. Then another. Row's eyes caught movement: a black, glistening mass sliding fast across the surface of the dirt, a smear of living tar. Tendrils slapped the earth, pulling it forward with sickening ease.
"Rot slug." Row already knew, but it slipped his lips, knowing he needed to act fast. It was dangerous, but he could use his body as a weapon thanks to the ash he'd left on his skin and in his leather.
A small blessing: It wasn't a full-grown one—about the size of a dog—and seemed desperate if it was willing to attack even knowing there was ash that tended to repel them, unless it was too young to learn that yet.
The biggest advantage of it being young was no spore attacks, no cloud of choking death. Just the raw, clumsy body of something still learning to kill. Its body could still be deadly to their flesh, but the ash tended to prevent even that. Even so, the time it took for him to gather his thoughts and ready a counter, it already had its target locked, aiming straight for the fool whose smell had caught its attention.
Vence, noticing he was the focus of its ire, screamed and tried to scatter. Leinaa was seeking her bow and fumbling, trying to gather an arrow for a shot. Meekie was safe near Row as its focus was on those without ash. Her wide eyes did not show panic but a dazed, unsure-how-to-act look.
The rot slug slammed near Vence even as he ran farther away. It was clumsy despite its speed—lacked finesse to be more of a threat with its muck form—as it rammed the earth repeatedly, assuming it got its prey stuck. Only after feeling with its vine arms did it know it was just earth.
Row darted in, kicking at its flank. The blow, while blunted, still burned its flesh due to the ash, but only made the creature reel back with a furious hiss. It wasn't clever enough to retreat, it seemed, nor use its vines properly, or it would be striking back at him. Instead, it tried—just another blind rush, another ram.
That stupidity saved them. As Leinaa finally proved she was a skilled shot—Vence had run too far for Row to cover him, and the slug was once more seeking him since he was away from them—the strike was true and pierced through its flesh. The arrow itself was blessed, and that was what wounded it enough. Even left alone, it would die soon enough. It finally tried retreating, but its fate was sealed. Even if they did nothing, yet calmly Leinaa fired once more, striking it as it popped into a puddle, leaving only its slime burning into the dirt.
Row stood panting. His eyes turned, slow and deliberate, to the dirt-streaked, ashless, panicked Vence, who seemed to have fumbled in his dash away into the dirt and rot.
"That," he said calmly despite the rage that simmered, "was a child. The real rot slugs deal poison rot, not blind strikes, and are twice as big. And there are other things worse than them that don't announce their presence and kill with claws and teeth."
Staring at them watching him, a mix of awe and shame marred their faces, but he cared not.
"WEAR... THE... ASH..."
And with that, the first night and start of a new day began. Where it led them, only the Light knew, and he hated he was there to find out.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8S146itIvT
and then Add to home screen.