In addition to having lost another
crew member to the sea beast, the day after Coranna's trip to the
island, the party who had gone to fetch water was attacked by the
rat-thing at the lake and Gorlab had his leg mangled from the knee
down. The others were only able to heft his bulk through the swamp
with the greatest difficulty and, without fail, they dropped him
several times, completely fouling the wound with the putrid water.
By the next morning he had developed filth fever and was raving to
such a degree that they had to restrain him with some of the few
still unrotted ropes they had left.
“This can't go on,” Dorgon said
grimly after binding his comrade. “The leg will almost certainly
have to come off, if he even lives, and, at this rate, we soon won't
have enough able bodied men left to send out large enough foraging
parties.”
“And what do you suggest we do about
it?” Charash snarled. He had been leading the group where Gorlab
was attacked and saw this as criticism of himself, probably because
he felt a certain amount of guilt and responsibility as well, that he
did not want to admit to, even to himself.
“He's right,” said Coranna
wearily. “The thing can keep picking us off one at a time, until
there aren't enough of us left to effectively defend ourselves.”
style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> “Don't you start too.” Charash
looked like he wanted to say more but Dorgon cut him off.
“Kill it,” he cried. “Kill it
now, while there are still enough of us left that we can.” He was
breathing hard and his bared teeth were white in the dim light, a man
reaching the end of his endurance, on the brink of cracking.
“I think he's right.” Coranna
retained a calm exterior even as her mind raced internally. This
would be a deadly mission indeed, to corner the creature in its lair,
for so it must be done. Any time they had managed to get the better
of it in the open, it had escaped into the trees and vanished, and
held at bay it would be far more ferocious. But, in one way, Dorgon
was wrong. In this undertaking, numbers could not aid them for, in
the close passages under the waterfall, where they had determined the
lair must be, they could easily be a hindrance to one another. “We
will hunt the beast,” she declared aloud, “and those who go will
not return until it is dead or they.” Charash scowled while Dorgon
stood tall, a twisted grin on his face, then turned on Charash, eyes
blazing. Whatever emnity was between those two Coranna did not care
to know but she knew it must be put down quickly.
“Who will go?” asked Charash
sourly. “Are you planning to ask for volunteers for this suicide
mission?”
“No,” she replied. “Who stays
and who goes must be chosen carefully to give the best odds of
survival to the most people. I will lead and will take only a few
with me. For the others I will have to give some thought but Dorgon
should certainly be one,” at which she had the bitter pleasure of
seeing the grin grow rigid on his face and his cheeks go pale under
the flush of anger. As eager as he had been to set the hunt in
motion, he was less eager to go on it himself, especially when he saw
that there would be only a few others. In the surging, raging mob he
had imagined, there was less chance of the thing locking on to him as
prey and Coranna felt no sympathy. In this, as in much of what she
did, cold courage only would serve. But she gave no more thought to
him now for there was much else to do before the expedition.
Three days later, all was ready and
Coranna and her chosen companions set out on what was like to be
their last foray. The party was grimly silent as they made their way
through the swamp, towards the central lake. The sounds of splashing
water and the squelching of swamp muck sounded loud as a trampling
herd and Coranna thought sourly that there was no chance of catching
the creature by surprise. Not that that would have been likely in
any case with the superior senses that it, like most stealthy
hunters, must possess. Even if it was away and they were able to
stage an ambush in its lair, it would probably scent or hear them as
it approached. She had chosen a small group: Nemid, Ayad, and
Dorgon, not even the their best fighters. Charash, for one, had been
left in charge of the camp. If things went badly and the entire
foray was wiped out, someone needed to be left to protect the
survivors. Probably the most nervous member of the expedition was
Kolin who wasn't even coming into the cave with them. He was there
to climb trees to find the way in order to spare the strength of the
fighters for the coming battle and then hide near the cave to observe
and take word if the others were all killed or bring help if they
were victorious but too wounded to travel back through the swamp. At
least the contrary mood he has suffered after Melthas died seemed to
have lifted and he was eager to cooperate despite his fear, revived
through renewed hope and the chance for vengeance. At last the trees
thinned out and they stumbled onto firm ground. As they approached
the lake, the presence of the squirrel creatures told them that the
beast was either out hunting or laying up in its lair but there was
no telling how long it would remain so and thus, though they were all
weary from their trek through the swamp, she allowed them only a
brief rest to quench their thirst at the lake before moving on.
Eagerly, they drank down handfuls of the cool water and some even
waded out a short way and splashed their bodies or dunked their
head's under, washing away the hot, clinging air of the swamp. Then
they went on along the shore, saving the wading until the last to
preserve their strength.
The central rock never joined the
shore though there was a point about half way around the lake where
it drew closer and there was a line of tumbled boulders that made a
rough path from the shore to the rock in the center, still underwater
but much more shallow than elsewhere. From past observation, they
knew this was the route the creature used to travel to and from the
waterfall, flying along it like a black shadow until it vanished into
the glare of the the light glinting off the falling water. They had
circled the entire lake and found no sign of a cave or opening, so,
most likely, the entrance to the lair lay behind the curtain of water
itself and this was the mark they now aimed for, picking their way
cautiously along the rough rocks, knowing that at any moment, the
beast could come springing out at them...or return from hunting and
leap on them from behind. Ayad, who was hindmost, kept half an eye
over his shoulder at all times despite their difficult footing. It
might have been an easier fight here in the open, even knee deep in
the water with sharp stones underfoot, rather than trying to face the
thing on slippery rocks in narrow tunnels where it would have the
desperate ferocity of a beast at bay. Coranna reminded herself the
additional hazard was needed for, if it were not cornered, it might
flee. Indeed, if it came on them from behind, it almost certainly
would flee the moment the fight turned against it and all their
efforts would have been in vain. She kept her ears peeled but, over
the sound of the falling water and the sloshing and splashing from
their own steps, it was impossible to hear much. Certainly, there
was no chance of catching he creature unaware.
As they drew near, a cool refreshing
mist began to drift out to them from the icy ribbon of the falls and
the surface of the rock rose before them, dark and wetly gleaming.
There was more loud sounds of scrabbling and cursing as they
struggled to climb onto the slick surface of the rock and, before
they had succeeded, Kolin lost his footing and went sliding back into
the lake with an involuntary cry. He landed hard on his seat and was
not much hurt but the sound his flailing arms made as they struck the
water seemed loud as a great whip cracking. In the silence that
followed, it was as if they could hear the pounding of their own
hearts even over the noise of the fall, but nothing happened and soon
they went on again, using one hand against the rough damp stone to
steady themselves as they felt their way along the curved and slanted
surface of the stone with difficulty.
As they drew near the stream of water
plunging down the surface of the rock, they could see there was
indeed a dark space behind it, making the deep gray of the
surrounding stone look pale in comparison. While the size of the
creature itself meant the entrance to its lair would have to be large
enough for them to fit through with relative ease, it was low enough
that they had to crawl to enter and this combined with the rank
animal musk and odor of rotten meat that emanated from the opening
were enough to deter even brave men. Nemid had gone pale and he was
muttering something incomprehensible, probably a prayer to Nuen the
Lord of Beasts, the other son of Torash. Kolin's hands were
twitching erratically and his eyes darted about for a place nearby to
hide until they returned. Coranna was very glad she was not bringing
him inside as his nerves were plainly in too bad a state to be of any
use. The others, more hardened to fear and danger, needed only a
sharp word to set them back on their mission, especially as she made
it clear she would lead them by going first.
©Amanda Hamlin 2025
