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Part III

Morning of Denuo, Third Day of Autumnmoon


Gnostic Knights trained as wilderness experts. This prepared them for the kinds of deep-stealth missions necessary to subvert the advance of the enemy, and it included how to hunt and track. Bram used these skills to find his missing companion, as he followed the footprints of her captor down the rocky mountain path.

Based on his assessment, he tracked a creature known as a scraag. These were bipedal predators sometimes mistaken as spawn, except that they were far more intelligent and cunning. They were tall and lanky, with tight leathery skin stretched across hideous human-like faces. Usually, they refrained from attacking anything they deemed as a threat. Even as they kidnapped Bram's defenseless companion, they had left him sleeping undisturbed.

Most scraag never ventured to the surface, preferring instead to stay close to their subterranean lairs. However, an increasing number of them had been sighted in recent years near human settlements. Bram hoped the creatures would keep the child alive long enough for him to reach her.

He determined the prints were from a lone scout. The creature was male, measured approximately seven feet tall, and carried a mass that roughly matched the weight of the missing child. Bram followed quickly down the sloped path, leaping over depressions and ducking under branches. At the lower elevations, shrubs became more abundant, but on this side of the mountain, the soil was gritty and the flora was scarce. Farther past the base, he would find himself at the edge of the Saladina Desert, a desolate wasteland that stretched for more than a hundred leagues to the north.

Many caves populated the landscape close to the desert. Any one of them could be home to a sleuth of scraag and their hapless prisoner. Bram had to rely on his training to follow the trail to the right one. His search continued along rocky ground, forcing him to look for subtle disruptions, such as scraped surfaces and disturbed debris—anything that would point him in the right direction. He needed to be certain, but he also knew that time worked against him.

The trail led him to a crack in the side of the mountain, which offered enough space for several scraag to take up residence. Bram hoped his skills had led him to the right location, since there was no telling how much longer they would keep the child alive. The interior was dark, and he had no torch or luminess to light his path. Instead, he used another technique from his wilderness training.

As he entered the narrow cavern, he closed his eyes and opened his mind to his other senses. He detected the faint smell of charcoal, and felt a draft brush against his face. Further inside, his ears caught the sound of movement. Waving his sword along the ground as a guide, he slowly made his way through the twists and turns of the cavern.

At last, his ears detected the soft, guttural language of the scraag. Two of the creatures spoke, but Bram knew a third would be close by. The interesting twist to the scraag race was that they were trisexual, requiring three scraag to procreate. Besides the male and female, the third sex—called the catalyst—was born without reproductive organs. Instead, it had the ability to secrete an enzyme that the egg and seed needed to fertilize. Even without this third sex, a male and female could exchange genetic information, but the combined cell would remain dormant until the enzyme was applied. Thus, while someone might find two scraag together, they rarely traveled without a third.

He remained focused and alert as he crept along the shadows, approaching the heart of the cave. In the center burned a fire. It cast just enough light for him to see the child from Ur on a bed of dead leaves in the corner. He also saw two scraag, one leaning over another, speaking in low tones. The second looked ill, laying bloated and motionless on the ground.

Neither of the scraag were male, but Bram knew one would be nearby. He turned around to get a better view of his surroundings, and sure enough, caught a hint of movement. It was just in time to dodge the impact of a large blunt object thrust toward his skull. The male scraag had apparently attempted to surprise its unexpected guest, but Bram was never one to let down his guard. The weapon was a tree branch, which it readied for a second swing. Bram leapt to the side, using his advantage in agility to overcome his oversized opponent.

Now that he had his bearings, he struck upward with his sword, slicing the male across the side. Any normal blade would have barely grazed the surface of a scraag's tough hide, but Bram's enchantments rent the flesh wide open, sending the scraag back into the shadows. The wound was mortal, but Bram remained alert, knowing the danger was not over.

He turned around to face the female, who had joined the fray with a burning branch from the fire pit. She swung it quickly, before he had a chance to leap out of the way. Fortunately, the enchanted plates of his armor absorbed much of the damage, but it left him cornered and facing an angrier and more aggressive male. Despite the mortal wound, it attacked with renewed strength.

With scraag on both sides, Bram chanced a more offensive stance, swinging his blade in a wide arc. It held the male at bay, but the female evaded his attack and returned with a swipe that hit him squarely across the face. His helm softened the blow, but it still sent reverberating pain throughout his body. He blinked to clear the stars from his eyes, and at the same time, plunged his sword toward the male.

The scraag was unprepared for the counter-strike, and had no room in the cave's cramped interior to fall further back. Bram's blade made its way through the thick skin covering its gut. He then withdrew the sword and pierced it again through its chest to finish the job. Though the creature had been his enemy, Bram usually made every effort to spare his victims the lasting pain of his sword's venom.

He turned to confront the female, but saw that she had instead retreated to the main chamber, where her hostage still lay in the corner. Bram followed her inside. Nearby, he saw the catalyst laying still on the floor, breathing heavily. It was suffering from some kind of sickness, and in no condition to fight. Satisfied that a third attacker would not challenge him, he turned his attention toward the female. She had her arms curled around the young girl from Ur. Bram tensed, fearing it might try to harm the defenseless child. Instead, it cowered over her, almost as if trying to protect her. The behavior seemed almost human in nature.

Bram relaxed his sword to see if the scraag would accept it as a peaceful gesture. Instead, it lunged forward, baring its sharp teeth. Bram pulled up on his blade, allowing the scraag's momentum to impale itself. He was glad he had not let his guard down completely. Using his steel boot and a bit of force, he pried the blade free. He then turned toward the catalyst, and having pity on it, took its life as well. The blow was painless, and at least it would not suffer from lack of food or care while its mates rotted beside it.

He took the unconscious child in his arms once more, and was filled with relief to find that she was uninjured and sleeping peacefully. He carried her out of the cave and looked northward, toward the Saladina desert. He had to make a choice; either make his way to Kitezh and warn them of Angkor's ambitions, or find an alternative.

The desert was brutal, and without appropriate clothing or water, he was risking his own life, as well as that of the child. Even if he made it as far as Kitezh, he would still need to face his homeland. Angkor—the world's most powerful country—would become his enemy, and they would have the unimaginable power of the sunstones at their disposal. If he were ever captured and brought before his king's judgment, his life would be forfeit.

As he thought it through, his worries shifted to Rosa, and what his kingdom might do to her as leverage against him. Of course, returning to his homeland was utterly unthinkable. Richard would quickly have him marked a traitor, drawn and quartered at the first opportunity. Bram had to hope that Rosa was resourceful enough to stay out of trouble, and that his enemies would not think to pursue a quarreling couple.

And then there was the life of the child to consider. Richard had already ordered the genocide of her entire tribe, and there was no reason to think he would relent once he learned of her existence. Bram still did not understand the full extent of Richard's reasoning. His methods were extreme, if the only motive was protection from a future potential threat.

Either way, Bram realized he had just one path forward. He had to rely on his training to cross the desert. He knew there were periodic oases for travelers, but the trick was in finding one before the sun's heat overtook him. If he could reach the desert city of Saladin, he could plan his next move. He heaved a sigh of submission, fully conscious of the dangers ahead of him. But with a path now set, he slowly marched forward.