Witness to the End
Proof: Ash works. Was attacked when it was washed off. Keep applied.
Proof: Ash distills the rot. Tastes bad. No side effects.
Proof: Instructor knew something beyond us. Led us to an unknown darkness. Found a darkness god?
Proof: Instructor saved us. A living rot took him and not us. Unknown how it exists.
Proof: We are ignorant. Nobody listens... My notes are dismissed.
—Notes from Meekie, reflecting on the past that led to their fall
"We there yet?" Vence quickly forgot the trouble he'd caused before, and the quiet was short-lived.
They'd been marching for a few hours, but reaching the mountains would be challenging.
Leinaa's shame was also short-lived, but she was ignoring Vence, so that was a small victory. She was focusing heavily on Meekie, wondering if she knew anything of gossip and when this was all over, would she be joining the hunter guild.
It seemed both Vence and Leinaa agreed the night they washed, they would not be scouts—but underestimated it was not as simple as saying "I quit." Row still had a mission to do, even if he dismissed training them.
They did not understand why he did not just turn back, and he could not tell them. No matter how much he wanted to, he could not. Vence tried to give him assurances he would take the blame, but... yeah.
Hours passed, finally lulling into a calm. Row was not sure if Vence's voice gave out or he realized it would be pointless to keep asking—he stopped. Even Leinaa seemed to lose the desire to gossip. Bah... both showed signs of exhaustion.
They were finally near the base of the mountains. Not far enough from the rot for him to feel safe from more rot slugs, but since they were all covered in ash, a repeat was much less likely. Yet he could not risk it.
He went to the back of their items when they finally sat, no longer caring about the smell and rot, just thankful they'd stopped. They puzzled as he splashed ash in a large area.
"You complained I wasted it washing it off, yet you toss it as if it has no value, low-born." Vence's words were said with disdain but tired enough Row felt no malice—just an annoyed uncertainty.
"The ash on our skin keeps them off us, but we've been sweating. It does come off—"
"So what? We roll on the floor of rot and ash? This is a new lesson?"
"No."
"It's a barrier for any monster to have to cross. It gives them pause, sensing the larger spread, giving time for Leinaa to fire a shot or you all to shout for my return."
They all looked concerned. Meekie was writing. Leinaa quietly got her bow ready. But good old Vence questioned him once more, not missing a beat for his chance.
"One, low-born: Why did we not do that first night and skip spreading ash to shame us in the first place? And two: You're planning on leaving us? So this was your clever scheme—drop us at the base of a mountain far enough we can't find our way back while you abandon us?"
Sighing, not wanting to fight but needing to teach, he focused his voice and said the words needed to show them this was not a game.
"In the dark, most beasts rely on scent. Since they fear fire, they tend to avoid it unless it's a pack—hence the scent guiding them. If they smell ash, they know it burns more than the fire, so it's not worth it to most unless really desperate."
He pointed to the ash on the ground and to the clear sky. "They care less about scent, seeing flesh from more than one prey. So you need more ash to deter them."
"It won't stop them but will slow them and give pause, as it's not normal. It throws them off. Even if they can think, they will assume even the ground near you will have the ash, not just the edges. So they will weigh the risk of burning versus eating your flesh."
He waited for them to interrupt. When they did not, he finished.
"So with that delay, Leinaa will have time to get better shots. Unless desperate, it'll be enough to deter them. If not, it gives you time to call me. I will deal with whatever type shows up."
"And why do you have to leave? This still feels like a setup at our expense..." Vence wiped the sweat from his head and added more to his retort. "And could you not have found us shade? Why here?"
"Because you're too weak, and I will be climbing the mountain trying to find water you used to clean your face before."
Leinaa looked away, shamed, knowing she was part of that retort. But he cared little. It was not victory, shaming light elves. When they got back to the city, only his head would be bowed, and only he would be cowed.
The climb was less tiring than the bickering he heard as he left. It seemed Leinaa was telling Vence to give it a rest, which made him want to laugh. He'd thought they were closer than that. Funny how taking away comforts can break people apart when they'd never had to face hardships.
The path was easy enough to navigate, but the uncertainty that he would find anything was not as good. Going up was proving fruitless, so he tried picking a side—maybe left—and went from there around the edge, hoping for a sign or maybe a sight line to a pool near the ground. It was not leading to anything. He did not want to go too deep but risked shifting to another section. He knew they were close to the dwarfs' kingdom, and they had a lake. There was even a stream in the forest. So both had to be fed somewhere. The issue was "close" was not close in the sense of walking distance, nor the ability to drag kids along to find a source.
His hand was wet when he reached for a new ledge to try to pull up. He assumed the worst and thought he'd cut through his leather gloves, unsure what he'd grabbed to allow that. But he felt no pain and smiled. It was not blood from his flesh—it was water.
Renewed, he found a better path upward, hoping it wasn't seeping from within the mountain itself. The dampness along the edge was not enough to pool a drink from, but he was still hopeful. It was too much to be a fluke. Even as he climbed upward it stayed consistent, so it kept him going till he overcame a lip's edge to a sight that surprised him.
It was a jagged edge on one side with a very wet wall, but not visibly flowing water. The rest of the edges were just high walls that went deeper within, making a bowl shape, though slightly uneven, which the water pooled in at that point. And the ground shifted, becoming more raised on one side, though still a bit of flat land. He wasn't sure how deep the pool was, but he did notice and smelled rot in the water.
Bah. He was hoping for a clean stream or at the very least slightly dirty water pooled with no rot. This was going to be hard to get them to drink. He was tempted to keep climbing higher, but the jagged side seemed to be getting wider and kept going up. And the wall was wet but nothing to show there'd be a source he could trace. And even would still try even with that, but he wasn't sure how good of climbers they were. When hiking flat lands alone was killing them, this would be worse.
He'd left them alone long enough and would just have to risk getting their trust after this water. He would scout a bit in the mountains since it was harder for monsters to track, and then they could head back. It would be a little over two days passing then, and it was more plausible he'd tried and had issues training them. Maybe they would trust him alone, or he'd lose everything. He'd just have to deal with it.
Despite letting them rest at the base, that little hike of the mountain proved once more they should not have started with a mission but basic training to build endurance. Even Meekie, who had been trying to help him carry the burden, was showing fatigue. As much as he hated it, they might have to camp here tonight. Well, at least it was near water.
He did not think he would be blessed with silence since Vence kept finding ways to mock him, but dirty and fatigued seemed to finally be wearing down his spirit. Even Leinaa, who seemed to keep looking for the fun in this adventure, now started to see it as bleak. He wasn't faring much better. Watching Meekie write in her book was a small comfort. At least there'd be plenty of pages mocking his failures in detail, it seemed.
The ash was getting low. He did not ration as well as he should have, worried about leaving them behind. And the kids washing it off added to it. He'd assumed he could use the fire ash from before, and it was a series of events making this worse. But they still needed it to mark this as a new camp, so he wasted what precious little he could.
If this was a forest, foraging or even hunting game would be an option. But people underestimated how bad the rot lands could be after living a lush life in the forest. He'd heard even the human kingdom fared better, being further from the source of rot—not that anyone had seen its origin. It just got thicker the deeper you went, so people gave up knowing what to expect: more rot.
Things finally settled, and all was going well. No fighting. Vence was even talking nice, and they agreed with how he handled rations. It finally felt like a positive change—till they saw him filling the water from the rot pond.
"What are you doing, low-boy? And please don't tell me you thought me so blind I would not see what you are doing..." Vence once more defaulted back to his old ways. The kindness was short-lived, it seemed.
"We need water. This is water."
"Aha... He's gone mad. He doesn't just think us blind but stupid as well. That better be your waterskin only and not touching ours..."
He set about filling the next, not listening to his protest.
"They all need filled. You wasted too much for us to try to ration what's left and be fine. We need them filled, and this water is fine."
"IT SMELLS OF DROW PISS AND ROT! I'M NOT STUPID, LOW-BORN! I WON'T FALL FOR YOUR PLOT!"
"And what plot is that? To lead you out here to suffer and then what?"
"IF I KNEW, I WOULD NOT BE IN THIS SPOT, STUCK WITH YOU AND THIS ROT!"
"No, you'd be dead to a rot slug or lack of water, or perhaps get lost and never find home." He tossed the last waterskin, not filling it yet. "Due west, follow the setting sun. You'll hit the forest. From there, find the water. Travel upstream—you'll hit the city. If the water is rapid, you went too far north. Go south instead. It calms closer to the city."
Vence was unsure if he was joking, but he was not. You want to leave? Go. He really did not care anymore. He was tired of trying to lead this lot.
"Same offer to any of you. I may end up dead with whatever report you give, but at least you'll prove you could do better than listening to a drow."
"Is the water really safe to drink?" Leinaa asked near him, tentatively reaching for a waterskin.
"No."
"AHA! I KNEW IT! HOW EASILY HE REVEALS HIS LIE!"
He waited till Vence's laughter calmed before he went on, taking the waterskin and reaching into the pack for some ash.
"No... it's not safe yet. Part of why I hated you wasting the ash you washed off is it can be used to clean rot water. It will taste bad and like ash, but you won't get sick. Just won't enjoy the drink."
"Low-born, please. You've already buried yourself. No need for more elaborate lies." Vence was shaking his head when his face turned to shock, confusing Row, as he'd done nothing. "Are you mad?"
He looked around, wondering what prompted that, and even he had to hide his surprise. Meekie poured a little ash into the waterskin and shook it a bit, then looked at him, unsure if she was doing it right. He smiled and nodded.
"A little more ash to be safe, since I don't know how strong this strain is, but I've never had a time it did not work."
"So you're saying there's a chance this can fail?" He hated his word choice but was trying to be honest.
"There's always a chance anything we do can fail. It's why we need to adapt."
"Tastes bad." Meekie's low voice and scrunched face made him laugh before he could stop himself. He wasn't sure if he would pay for that later, but Meekie smiled, making him feel better.
So he drank to show them his trust. He'd intended to do it first, but Meekie had been a pleasant nonstop surprise. "LIGHT'S MERCY, THAT IS BAD!" He was used to the foul taste, or so he thought, but the ash mixed with a near-dead rot taste was stronger than he was used to. This definitely was a more potent pool.
Leinaa and Meekie laughed at that, even prompting him to do so once more while she took a drink, gasped, and coughed. And the laughter went on once more. Vence refused to follow their lead, vowing to make what little pure water was left last.
"Um... how will we know it worked and the rot is not killing us?" A fair question from Leinaa.
"Assuming you ever get infected with rot, the signs are easy to spot. More so with your light skin—it will be a rash that itches and won't stop. The worse the rot gets, the more it turns into a sickness, but early stages is an itch."
He looked at his arm and pulled up the leather. Smooth dark skin. "You cannot control where you get the rash, but the itch tends to be all over till it settles into a point that becomes a rash. It's harder to see in dark skin, but you will know."
"Can we cure it?" Meekie asked, hopeful.
"Yeah. Rot tends to be more an annoyance than a threat unless it's a rot slug. They seem to make the rot more a poison versus the weeds type that spreads."
The talks were going well, and they were listening, making him happy. But Leinaa's next words chilled his blood and made him know things were not going to end so easy.
"Um... does it make you see things? Because there's a really big monster over there, and I'm not sure if it's a side effect or I should be worried..."
He did not say it, but he knew: No... no, it does not make you see things. That is a very big monster, and I will have to turn and face it unprepared in a crater with this lot.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxj2XPJY8pl
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