Part 10: Upon the Fens
A thick, ethereal mist setting on a marshland, making the ground ahead nigh invisible. Thick, freezing water that seeps to your bones despite being only ankle deep in it. Thick grass, somehow blowing in the windless air, scratching at your legs in spite of its softness. All of it complimented by an overcast sky; hanging in it a sun without lustre concealed behind grey clouds, and intermittent bird-song, no less comforting than a death knell. For four travellers in the region of Albion, the sights – or lack thereof – of this land were becoming evermore familiar as they continued to traverse them for hours on end.
"You'd really think Æthelred would've given us something easier after we handed his sorry ass to him in that last battle." Lord Fret complained, sick of endless sickly-saturated trees and marshes being all he had to look forward to on this long journey.
"Now now, Lord Fret, he has already relinquished many of his best troops to our land. You know that–"
"'–in the interests of good future relations with Albion my communicative style demanded a deal be brokered to ensure that no more harm would come to the people of both nations.' I know, Princess."
"Oh. Very well." Nagi was slightly perturbed that Lord Fret had become able to complete her own thoughts with frightening accuracy, though she had done enough complaining over these past days and held her tongue from delivering more. She had discarded her usual robe for attire more befitting that of a traditional Yamato archer, though the greaves weren't doing a good job of keeping out water from the occasional marshland they had to cross over while in this seemingly endless expanse. Funnily enough, as on most days, her traditional dress clashed with the clothing of her comrades. Next to her, Tomonami brooded and Lord Rindo carried a lantern on a pole – their solitary source of light while on the moor. He refused to use his light magic, as even the act of summoning a light source was draining, but this was the next best thing. The desire for conversation had long since passed, with the travelling taking a toll on even Tomonami, who described the weather of Albion as "hostile" and "absolute trash". Lord Fret was only pushing ahead in front of the group as he agreed to be their spotter in case an Albion ambush were to occur in retaliation for their loss at Yamato's Great Bay. So far all that had happened is he had strained his eyes struggling to both keep awake and keep watch ahead at the same time. That same tiredness was manifesting itself in the four travellers, their brains as foggy as the horizon in front of them. No machismo from Tomonami. No sarky comments from Lord Fret. No complaints or motivation from Lord Rindo. Truly the situation was dire if all they could afford to listen to was the sound of their own boots splashing in the murky water beneath them.
"Did he ever mention what this… thing was, Princess?" Rindo murmured from next to her.
"Nay, just that we would know its form once we entered the cottage it called home." Nagi said back, despondently.
"Well that little worm didn't mention we'd be trekking the whole country before we ever reached the enemy." Tomonami grunted, the first words he'd said in many, many hours.
"Do you reckon it's responsible for all this?" Lord Fret called from in front of the group. "The weird, gloomy weather and depressing atmosphere, I mean."
"I think that's just what this godforsaken country has to offer us." Tomonami said back.
"According the map we have been so graciously provided with, there should be an area sunken into the earth that houses this creature. We must continue due north."
"We've been continuing 'due north' for two days in this godawful place. Can't it just end already?"
"Ah, the classic 'are we there yet', Rindude." Fret jested.
"I am so not in the mood for your shit today, man." Rindo said, "Or any day."
"I don't even have a witty comeback. I'm so drained…" And so they continued pressing on in silence.
"It's… getting kinda dark, dontcha think?" Fret cried out from in front of the group, the first bit of conversation for many hours. He could barely be seen between the mist and the layer of darkness that was quickly enveloping the landscape, only his back and the equipment carried on it being bathed in the orange glow of Rindo's lantern.
"Nagi, we're on good land and I don't think it's too wet. Are you alright to set up camp here for the night?" Rindo looked at her with sunken eyes, practically pleading her to answer yes.
"Your Radiance?" Nagi turned to Lord Tomonami.
"You're the authority figure here, Princess. Say the word and it'll be done." He said.
"Very well. Lord Fret, halt your advance! We shall prepare our camp here for the night." Fret stopped in his tracks and, seemingly gaining some form of energy from this news, dashed towards the group proper.
"Finally! Ugh, what a goddamn bore that was. I can finally get some rest…" He slung the bag containing the four-person tent, generously provided to them by Æthelred, off his back.
"You two! Get to work. I need a word with the princess." Tomonami, also seemingly having gained some of his usual bravado back, snatched the lantern off Rindo and drove it intro the ground with a single movement.
"Sir yes sir, Mister Tomonami!" Fret grabbed Rindo by the arm, the other being too exhausted to complain, and got about setting up their accommodation for the night.
"You wished to speak to me, Your Radiance?" The two had stepped away from the light of the lantern, now cloaked completely in darkness, shadows against the black of the night that choked the region with its umbral grip.
"I'll cut to the chase. As your protector," whenever Tomonami described himself as such, the Princess always felt her heart skip a beat, "and as someone decidedly more trained in the art of the hunt than our two allies over there," He gestured at Rindo and Fret – now working hard on ensuring the pegs for the tent were driven firmly into the earth – "I'm beginning to think we're being stalked."
"However do you mean?" Princess Nagi questioned.
"I see you didn't notice it either. Hmph. Not so predictable, coming from you, but I'll choose to assume weariness played some part. And, even though it's a simple hypothesis, my calculations are rarely ever incorrect."
"So what is it you noticed?" Princess Nagi questioned, as Tomonami shot two looks over his shoulders to scan the environment behind them.
"Impossible shadows at the edge of the fog. Something with inhumanly long… appendages, if I had to call them something, observing us from behind trees. An extra step of footsteps, their splashes echoing through the mist. Add it all together and there's only one result – our target knows it's being hunted. And now it wants to become the hunter." Nagi had gone even paler than usual. She trusted Tomonami's judgements entirely, perhaps a bit too much, and the tale he spun about the being stalking them just outside of their peripheral vision made her blood run cold.
"And… what do you propose should be done about it?"
"Simple. Stay quiet tonight. No fire to cook our meal on. We extinguish our lantern. We eat the pre-cooked rations to sustain ourselves for the final stage of the hunt tomorrow. If those two want to complain about them being cold, let them. Every action we take from now on will tilt the ratio of the hunt for Æthelred's creature one way to either side." With that, Tomonami left the Princess's side and began to make his way out to the camp. Nagi now had an unfettered view of the endless night in front her, covering the flat grounds. She swore she could almost see a silhouette streak across the horizon, causing her to shudder and quickly dash back to camp.
"So… eating cold meat in total darkness. And no explanation for why you're making us do this. This things we do to serve, Princess." Fret said, chewing on a particularly tough bit of lamb.
"Hush. The mercenary life isn't known for its luxurious traits, as I'm sure you're aware." Despite being a four-person tent, the space inside was still quite cramped and the sounds of strained chewing could be heard constantly. Sometimes, when someone would drop a utensil, the zip to the tent was opened slightly and a match quickly lit so they could find it, before darkness fell upon the interior again.
"How's your lamb, Rindude?" Fret's voice spoke, but no face could be put to it – the tent itself was so dark Nagi couldn't see even a few centimetres in front of her, only knowing everyone was there as both Rindo and Tomonami's legs touched hers, their futons being the only barrier (thankfully) preventing skin-to-skin contact.
"Awful, thanks for asking." Rindo replied. Nagi heard the sound of cutlery being placed inside a container and said container hitting the floor of the tent with a soft 'thump'.
"I've finished my meal and I suggest you all finish yours soon. I'm going to rest now." Tomonami's head fell onto his futon with a thud.
"Goodnight, Your Radiance." Nagi whispered to him, though Tomonami had the inhuman ability to fall asleep as soon as he felt it necessary, so she doubted he heard. For the next few minutes, only chewing and occasional sighs of discontent could be heard before another container was placed on the ground and another head hit a futon. "'Night, Na– Princess. 'Night, Fret." Rindo's tired voice whispered out.
"'Night, man. Thanks for carrying that stupid lantern again today." Fret said. Rindo's breathing could be heard quite loudly, for a few minutes in the tent before it slowly decreased in volume and eventually it seemed he had fallen sound asleep.
"Not quite finished with your meal yet, Lord Fret?" Nagi dabbed the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief, quite kindly provided to her by a lady of the court and one of her best friends, before preparing to sleep.
"Oh, nah, I was done around the same time Rindude was."
"Then…" She began.
"How come I'm still awake? I have trouble sleeping, 's all. You?"
"Huh?"
"Sleeping, how come you're not doing it?" Nagi didn't have the courage to admit she was terrified of the idea that a long-limbed, inhuman creature was stalking them upon the moors – she hadn't the nerves of steel the Lord she admired so did.
"Issues with insomnia, I fear." This comment caused Fret to laugh.
"Yeah, right. Scared of the dark, boss?" She could almost feel his annoying smirk despite the fact he was a futon apart from her.
"Such insolence shall be met with appropriate punishment once we return home." She cautioned him.
"Heheheh. So you are scared."
"I shall speak of this no further." Nagi could feel her cheeks burning.
"What? Aw, come on. It's kinda cute!" She shot him an angry glance he was unable to see, but she hoped would feel.
"You may choose your execution date right this minute, if you so desire."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to decline. I'm too hot to die." The ridiculousness of it all was enough to make the two break out in a small fit of laughter, perhaps from delirious exhaustion. After years of formality and respect due to her position in society, Princess Nagi was glad that someone had the guts to even try and speak back to or challenge her. It was a shame he was so glib and annoying at times, but better someone come along sooner rather than later.
"Lord Fret, I beli–"
"Tosai."
"Hm?"
"It's Tosai. My name. Probably only telling you cause I'm so tired, putting that out there."
"O-Oh." His voice had taken on that same sombre tone she had heard once before from him, when they had first met before the Battle of the Great Bay. "Very well. Lord Tosai, I believe it is time we rested."
"Hmph. And I was having such a nice conversation with y–" Outside, something snapped. The temperature of the air in the tent dropped a few degrees almost immediately, as did the temperature of the blood in her veins.
"What… was… that?" Fret's voice was attempting to stay in the range between inaudible and slight whisper.
"Shh!" Was all she could respond. Any more and the chattering of her teeth would become apparent, belying her fear.
"Could just be like, I dunno, a wolf or something!" He whispered. However, the noise of something knocking against wood soon became apparent. It was drawing closer to the tent. A dull, rhythmic 'clink' every few seconds that became slightly louder each time it rang out. "Never mind. Definitely not a wolf. Actually, have we even seen animals out here?"
"S-Stop talking!" Nagi was worried that whatever it was it was tracking their voices, slowly inching closing with each whisper. In the darkness of the tent all she could hear was her own pounding heart ringing in her ears. She pushed herself against Lord Tomonami and slid inside her futon, desperate to cling onto the protection His Radiance offered. She could hear Lord Tosai slide into his too, their breaths shaky and shallow, attempting not to make any noise. She closed her eyes and kept them tightly clamped shut, praying in her head for Lord Tomonami to save her. Her mouth was dry and a knot of dread had formed in her stomach and throat, making swallowing down her fear difficult. The 'clink' was still drawing closer, with each ring of it causing her to attempt to shut her eyes tighter and tighter until eventually she could not cause them to be sealed any further. All she could do now was pray. But the noise was right outside, causing fear to wash over her, sending her mind into a frenzy. Despite the terror of the situation, she felt a bizarre compulsion to open her eyes, to see if maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. Slowly, despite internally telling herself not to, they began to loosen and open. If she were to look, it would just be for a second. Just to see if her fear was justified. But as soon as her eyes finally opened and she looked up, she found herself unable to close them again.
It was a great, inhuman thing, its misshapen silhouette visible against the thin tent walls despite the darkness. In one long, impossibly thin arm the shadow carried the snapped half of the lantern that was set outside the tent – not with fingers, but as if a hole existed in its flesh and the pole had sunk into it, allowing the wood to hang limply from this creature's arm. Equally thin legs, bent backwards at the knee like some animal's, supported an ill-defined but malnourished looking body, with juts where its ribs should be. It was too tall to see anything beyond its shoulders. Before Nagi could cry out, a hand clasped itself around her mouth. Tomonami's. Though it nearly caused her to die of fright at first, she was glad he had intervened when he did. The pounding of her heart nearly overpowered the now audible footsteps outside as the monster shuffled about. By now, tears were welling up in Nagi's eyes, the mixture of fear and pressure proving too much. She was shivering, even though Tomonami held her in his grasp. For what felt like eternity, but in reality was likely only a few minutes, Nagi simply listened the sounds of her own body dealing with fear, alongside the thing outside prodding the tent with its lantern, each tap against the nylon causing her heart rate to spike. She had not known terror like this before. Before long, the creature began to slowly grow disinterested and the 'clink' of the lantern began again, this time growing further and further away. Nagi dared not relax until it was out of earshot. When she finally did, a fear gave way to fatigue and she collapsed.
When she next opened her eyes, what felt like only a brief moment later, she had awoken to daylight illuminating the interior of their tent and Lord Tomonami and Lord Tosai's futons empty. She quickly slipped out of her own and stepped outside to the same grey, misty and cold weather she had come to expect on the moors. Fret and Tomonami sat in front of a fire, not speaking, cooking rations for breakfast. "Did that brain-dead King have to only provide meat rations? Next time I see that guy's smug face, I'll–"
"Calm it, dude." Fret sat hunched over the fire, cooking the meat with all the energy of a reanimated corpse. When he heard Nagi's footsteps, he jolted his head quickly and seemed ready to attack, however quickly calmed himself upon noticing it was just the princess.
"Hey, boss. Hell of a night, huh? Bacon?" Tosai passed a pan and fork over to her and she silently began her meal. The three all sat there without a word passing between them, clearly all focused on what had just happened. Nagi swallowed the last of her meal and cleared her throat.
"I can see why General Æthelred wants whatever it is that creature is gone, at the very least."
"Yep." Fret placed the final slices of their rations on the pan and set it on the makeshift stone pedestal above the fire to cook. "Kept me awake… all night. And now we probably have to fight that thing. Great. Just… fantastic." More footsteps from behind them. Lord Rindo, most likely, but yet again Lord Tosai looked ready to fight before disarming himself. "Your food's cooking now, man. Come sit with us."
"You sound tired and upset. Bad dream or something?" Rindo sat himself on the uncomfortable rock seating provided next to Fret.
"Worse." Tomonami explained the situation that had happened, and berated him for sleeping through it all.
"Oh, uh… that really happened? Sounds… creepy."
"It was the single most terrifying experience of my young life so far. I hardly think 'creepy' even begins to the depth of it."
"Well… we gotta erase this thing, right? No use being scared of it."
"Easy for you to say, man, you didn't see it lurking outside our tent!" Fret pointed towards the splintered piece of wood that once made up the lantern-bearing staff to illustrate his point.
"…We've fought harder battles before." Rindo said.
"Yeah, against people!" Fret retorted.
"Both you, shut it. I brought you to the attention of the princess because I believed you had what it takes. Last night we were unarmed and our chances of winning was in the negatives. Today, we take the fight to it and reduce it down to size." Neither dared answered back to Tomonami and Rindo simply turned to grab the pan and start eating. Tomonami made a gesture with his hands and Fret joined him in beginning to pack the futons and tent away.
"Was it really that bad?" Rindo asked between mouthfuls.
"I dare not think on it any longer, lest my heart stop." Nagi said, "Though I am sure we can hunt it successfully."
"Y'know what?" Rindo stood up, having finished his food surprisingly quick, "I agree." He gave her a self-assured smile and went to go help the other two.
While Nagi waited for her three Lords to finish with their packing away, she decided to observe the horizon – or what was visible of it through the fog – paranoid that figure may emerge from it any second now. There was nothing. Just greyness and wind, mist and an overwhelming sense that everything was how it had been. It made her miserable. She longed for the silhouette of that creature to dance across the fog and strike fear into her yet again. It would be preferable to staring into the eternal, boring expanse. Three pairs of footsteps walking up to her from behind her back signalled it was time to leave.
Within a few hours, they had reached a sight that finally broke the monotony of the marshland trek they had been experiencing the past few days. A large, sloping basin, flanked by green hills on either side and with mist pouring into it unfurled itself before them. It wasn't too deep but compared to the flat, unchanging landscape they had waded through it was visually interesting at least. At the centre of the basin lay a solitary cottage, a crude, stone structure with white walls and a thatch roof.
"There's our destination." Tomonami pointed at it. "That creature lives in there. And judging by the fact I've not seen it out and around today, I think somebody's home." He smirked. "You two! Go on ahead."
"Yes sir!" The two mercenaries yelled in unison. They began sliding down the slope, Fret seemingly pretending he was snowboarding, but giving up the act once he nearly fell flat on his face.
"Okay, good. If that thing attacked based on proximity, those two would've proved useful in luring it out. Now…" His Radiance got on one knee and outstretched his arms.
"O-Oh." Nagi could feel herself beginning to swoon. She had always dreamed of falling into Tomonami's arms. Now she was literally doing it. He hoisted her up into a bridal carry and began sliding downhill himself as Nagi's cheeks burned and she closed her eyes to avoid meeting his hypnotic gaze.
When they had reached the bottom, Nagi dismounted and took stock of the situation. The house in front of them appeared even more dilapidated up close than it had from a distance. It had no windows and the thatching on the roof was patchy. The stone it was constructed from was weathered and cracks, some incredibly deep, were spread throughout it. Rindo and Fret flanked either side of the door, both forgoing weapons this time around for magic.
"Give us the word, Tomonami." Fret told him.
"It's all up to her," Tomonami responded, pointing to Nagi. She stared for a while at the house in front of her. Would opening that small wooden door cause it to collapse, she wondered?
"Open the door, Lord Tosai."
"Got it, boss." Fret made his way to the front of the door, rubbed his hands together, psyched himself up a bit and then kicked open the door with an almighty slam, causing Nagi to jump. Bursts of lightning magic coiled down his arm like a snake, but there was no attack upon him. Instead, the only thing opening the entrance had done was expose a deep, black vortex that served as the interior of the house.
"…Hey, Blondie. Cast your light magic." Tomonami squinted into the dark and slowly gave the instruction, himself ready to attack at any moment.
"Will do." Rindo held his palm facing skyward and curled his fingertips, causing a large, luminous orb to take form, floating about his hand. It was something truly radiant, but all it shone on was empty and filthy tiled interior.
"Let us proceed forth," Nagi stated, as Tomonami positioned himself next to Fret and behind Rindo.
"Stay behind me." He instructed her. She was more than willing to oblige.
Rindo took a few steps into the house and soon they all were submerged in the darkness, his great orb being the only thing to dispel it. They all remained silent – Rindo by now had heard the tale of how this thing had heard their whispers and stalked them due to it. So far, the cottage was empty, inhabited only by dust and the sound of their footsteps slowly inching forward around the room. There wasn't much place to hide here, surely? That question would soon be answered. Rindo's light shone on something in the back corner of the room.
It was the same great, inhuman thing. It had ghastly pale skin the shade of dirty snow, with flesh that clung to every bone on its deformed body, tightly bound to it as if was vacuum-sealed to every bone, joint and tendon. It had remnants of some vague humanity plastered on itself – stumps for arms, like an amputee's, with odd, writhing fleshy appendages that seemed to be its hands. Its backwards legs still jutted out in that distinctly uncomfortable, triangular shape. There was no hair on the head that quickly snapped around with a cracking noise to meet their fearful gazes, nor was there a mouth – just a thin layer of that same sickly white skin covering an endless black void, visible through its translucency. There was no nose either. It still had eyes, however, eyes that were closed shut – at least until they slowly opened, impossibly warped and elongated at their peak, creating a hill-like shape that could hardly be called an 'eye', more a gross mockery of one.
But Nagi knew they were eyes. She couldn't deny it. After all, those disturbing, long, disfigured eyes that stared back at her own, brimming with fear, were familiar. They were her eyes, after all.
Nagi's eyes shot open as she felt something on her cheek and, instead of that cottage with the creature inside, she found herself back inside the train carriage. What she felt was Fret's hand pinching at her face. Still getting used to reality, she slapped it away and stretched out.
"Did we… defeat it, Lord Tosai?"
"Defeat what? Exhaustion? You, maybe, but I've been stuck on this EleStra mission for the last half an hour and I'm getting kinda sick of it."
"Oh, right…" Nagi was glad to be out of whatever that nightmare was. It felt like it had gone on for days but, as Fret informed her, it had lasted about an hour and a half, as they were five minutes away from their stop.
"You look kind of out of it, boss." Fret said.
"It's merely my just having woken up combined with a bizarre dream. Pay it no mind."
"Bizarre… how?" Nagi peered out of the window, half expecting those misshapen eyes to peer back at her from behind the alleyways between buildings they passed. She thought about telling Fret, though wondered if she'd be unable to, as with her nightmares.
"Well, it began in Albion." Her thoughts seemed to be able to emerge from her mouth.
"Like… EleStra Albion?"
"Yes, for you see…" Nagi was confident she'd be able to tell him everything this time. And so her recounting of the hunt upon the Fens began.