And helped me gain some self-belief
As they left the scene of the monster's demise Iearnen picked up his pace. Legacy supposed it was as much a desire to stretch his legs as a wish to get out of the area. The pace they'd been taking hadn't been one that would challenge the companion. She had a feeling that was going to change. She looked at Camon's bleeding right hand clenched into a fist.
"Camon, Iearnen, stop for a minute." As they halted she dismounted and searched through the packs she'd removed from Nacheth's body. "C'mere. That hand should be bandaged now." Camon dismounted. She gently used a damp, clean cloth to remove the dried blood and open his hand. As she did, she saw that he was shaking. From his own stories she knew that he'd been sheltered most of his life. If she didn't do something he could have a panic attack.
"Well, that could have gone better. Could have gone a lot worse too. I'm fine and you've just got a scraped hand. Poor Nacheth. I'll miss him." She was careful to keep her tone light."I should have known it was there. I should have sensed it." Camon whispered, mostly to himself.
"Nonsense." Legacy said firmly. "That thing was totally invisible to earth sense, and good at hiding physically as well. I'll bet it burrowed under the road and sprang up at us. No way anyone who didn't have Foresight could have seen it." She had to make any self blame sound foolish and unwarranted.
"But. . .Nothing is invisible to earth-sense. It's not possible."
"Oh yes it is." She laughed. Keep the mood light. "I should know better than most. I'm doing the exact same thing myself now. It just takes more energy than I had earlier." Camon seemed to focus on her.
"That's right, there used to be a sort of hole where you were, but now it's gone. I didn't think anything of it."
"You should have. A normal human doesn't leave holes in the energy field." She considered a moment "Well, maybe an experienced Journeyman would be able to. A mage or adept would have richer energy sources available."
"What you did back there was a lot more than Journeyman level."
"Never said I was one. What I am is an energy creature. I have to have it to live. Most of the time I just soak it up out of the air, but I can pull it out of a creature like I did back there." Be matter-of-fact.
"So. . .You ate the monster?"
"Yep. I swear to you though, that I've never done that to anything that wasn't already a food animal or trying to kill me." Camon slowly nodded as she splinted his wrist and bandaged his hand.
"I suppose it's no worse than killing it and roasting a bit for dinner."
"Exactly." She relaxed. Together they remounted and continued on their way.
Camon was slightly in shock. First the attack, and now this. He felt strained and off balance. He reached for Iearnen mentally. The wave of love and approval he felt settled him as always.
:So, do you think I did the right thing?:
:Ahum?:
:During the fight?:
:Hurm: Okay, but not great.
:About Chesh?:
:Ushum!: Definitely.
:I hope I never have to go through something like that again:
:Corrinkk!: Fat Chance.
:What should I do?:
:Frrnik: Ask Chesh.
"Iearnen says I should ask you about the fight."
"Smart horse."
:ORINK!:
"Sorry, Companion."
"You can hear him?" Chesh frowned.
"Vaguely, and not really in words. Not earlier either, just when I called him a horse."
"Um. Do you have any advice about the fight earlier?"
"Actually, I have quite a lot. Imagine for a minute that I hadn't been there, just you and a pack horse. The monster attacks, kills the horse. What do you do?" There was a pause. "Let me rephrase that. What could you do?"
"Attack it like I did."
"What else? Try to remember what the monster looked like."
"I could have used arrows on it. It had fur, not scales. It hardly had any legs, so even if I wasn't on Iearnen, I could have stayed out of reach."
"Why would you want to dismount?"
"Iearnen could fight separately from me. While I distracted it, he could kick it."
"Certainly an option. Why is that a bad one?"
"Um, because even though it couldn't walk fast it's arms were quick?"
"Exactly. You saw how fast it hit Nacheth. We barely saw it move. That isn't to say that your plan is useless, just more of a desperation ploy. A good idea when. . ."
"When there's someone within the monster's reach and we have to kill it quickly."
"Precisely. If the only one within range is a dead pack horse, there's no need to close with the beast. Stay back and shoot it. So what would be a good reason for separating?"
"So Iearnen could get reinforcements."
"Yes. That would work better in Valdemar, but it might work here too."
Chesh continued to drill Camon in monster tactics. When she exhausted the previous encounter, she changed the situation, adding bystanders, an injured herald, an extra companion and more. They stopped briefly at a town to let the guard there know about the dead horse and monster's remains, so they could be properly disposed of. It was not something that would have occurred to Camon, but on reflection it seemed a good idea. By the time they reached their stopping point Camon's head was whirling with tactics, and Chesh parted for the night with these words;
"The smartest thing you can do in a fight where you're outmatched is wait two seconds, and plan your attack. The second smartest thing is not blaming yourself for not thinking of a better plan. Analysing how you did and blaming yourself are not the same thing. We'll start tomorrow with different monsters."