CH. 2 Journey
Hours of walking had, more or less, gotten her nowhere. The once-fertile hills were now a desolate wasteland with only the dunes remaining along the ocean. Relm found very little life on the plain, even the grass only remained in sparse patches. The lack of life seemed eerie, but she was thankful that there were no monsters to contend with.
Relm was tired and getting very hungry. Food options seemed very meager on the plain, so she crossed the white dunes to walk by the shore. Walking was harder in the shifting sands, but at least she could look in tidal pools for fish that were trapped by the receding water.
Before long, she came upon a rocky area with a large pool of knee-deep water. She could see several fish swimming around the pool looking for a way back to the deeper ocean. Relm took off her cap and slowly waded into the pool. As she stood still waiting for the fish to become accustomed to her presence, she thought how ironic it was that her grandfather used to take her to the beach near Thamasa to catch fish for fun and now her very life depended on it.
She eased the cap into the waters and waited for a fish to swim beneath it. After only a few moments, one of the smaller ones swam close by. With lightning quick reflexes, she pushed the cap down, pinning the fish to the rocky bottom. She wrapped the cap around the fish, brought it up out of the water, and carried it away from the pool. Laying the fish on a smooth rock, she pulled her fire rod out of her pack and began the incantation that brought fire out of the stick.
When her eyes readjusted, Relm saw a sooty outline around the charred remains of the fish. After realizing what she had done, she threw the rod to the ground and cursed all the way back to the pool. "Might be a good idea to stand back a little further next time", she said bitterly to herself. "Well, at least there's no one to stand around and laugh at the 'little girl'," she said out loud. But before she even finished the words, she was already wishing, with all her heart, that someone else were there.
Three trips later, Relm had gotten the hang of cooking with the fire rod. She had eaten her fill and was now looking for a place to lie down and sleep for the night. She didn't relish lying in the sand, but thought that it would be better than using a rock for a bed. She left the remains of her dinner and walked to a sandy spot a few feet away. Pulling a drop cloth from her bag, she spread it over the ground. The smell of the old paint on the cloth helped put her at ease as she drifted off into a fitful sleep.
Hours flew by like minutes and Relm woke to a crunching sound. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that she forgot to dispose of the remains of her dinner. The smell had, no doubt, attracted some wild animal. She slowly eased onto her side to get a look at the beast that was finishing off her scraps of fish.
Clinging to a rock four feet away was the largest scorpion Relm had ever seen. It looked to be about half as big as her. The moonlight glinted off of its black carapace as its long curved tail swayed back and forth. The wicked looking barb on the end of the tail seemed to bob with the rhythm of its crunching jaws. In its left claw it held the last of the fish scraps, and Relm watched as the beast put it in its mouth and quickly finished it off.
The creature crawled down the opposite face of the rock and began looking around the base for any more tasty remains. Relm got to her feet, pulled her rod out of her pack, and began to back away from the monster. As the scorpion rounded the rock, it saw the girl for the first time. For a short moment, the two stood like frozen ice sculptures, each sizing up the other and waiting for the first move to be made.
Finished with the waiting game, the scorpion raised its pincers and charged forward coiling its tail and readying for a strike. Two feet from its intended target, the world erupted in flame. The monster screamed and tried to sidestep the flame, but the fire continued to follow it. Finally, the scorpion was able to back away from the inferno and reconsider its prey.
Minutes seemed to pass as the two waited for their eyes to adjust to the night sky and then without warning, the scorpion leapt forward and with a large claw flung sand into the face of the young girl. Relm nearly dropped the rod as she franticly tried to wipe the sand from her eyes. She began wildly casting the fire spell as she fell to her right. Brushing her sleeve across her face while scooting backwards, Relm was able to recover her sight. Not a moment too soon as she rolled to her left to narrowly avoid being pinned down by the barbed tail.
Unfortunately, the scorpion was now close enough to grab her with a pincer, and it held her tightly by the ankle. Relm batted multiple tail strikes away with her rod, but knew that she couldn't keep it up forever. If she cast another fire spell at this range, she'd be hit with it too. There was only one option left. As she batted away another strike, Relm thrust the rod forward into the scorpions open mouth. Releasing the power of the rod into the scorpion, she incinerated its insides. As effective as the move was, it had cost her. In the time it took her to perform the maneuver, the scorpion had managed to graze her arm and infect her with its poison.
Relm freed herself from the grip of the dead creature and hobbled over to her pack. Quickly storing her drop cloth, she gathered her fire rod and headed off down the beach. It was still dark, but she knew she had to find help somewhere. She could still use cure spells to keep herself alive, but sooner or later she would become too exhausted to cast anymore and would then run the risk of dying in her sleep.
As dawn broke, she could make out the form of fishing boats on the beach. Men were at the shoreline gathering their nets in preparation for the days work. Relm quickened her pace to reach the fishermen before they launched their boats, and a cry of surprise rang out as she stumbled into their camp.
"Just who do you think you are running into camp like that when it's still dark," yelled one of the fishermen.
"Stung….scorpion…..…so..sleepy," she mumbled. And with that Relm's vision faded away as she crumpled in a heap on the sand.
"She's been poisoned," shouted the leader. "Get her in the cart. If we can get her back to town, maybe Doc Brownfield can do something for her.
"Maybe so," said another. "But we gotta' hurry. Her entire arm is black, it's a miracle she ain't dead yet."
