Tash's Nightmare Chapter 11
They had been sailing for hours. Susan, exhausted and still healing with Azaroth's magic, drifted in and out of sleep, while Charlie did more or less of the same across from her, both leaning against the side of the boat as they sat on the ground. The boat creaked as it bobbed, the River Servant silently steering it across the lake of blood, and Azaroth was off taking care of "other business" (she refused to say what that entailed). At times, they slept. In fact, sleeping was what they did most of the time. Azaroth's magic had been hard at work healing them both, and they were both bruised and sore.
"Can't it work any faster?" Susan complained to her before they left the island.
"It could," the Jaguar answered, "but to do so would require the full focus of the spell. For now, it heals, and it also keeps your hunger and thirst satiated."
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked, groggily.
Azaroth turned to face them. "Did you not notice?" she asked, exasperatedly.
Susan had a confused look on her face. "Notice what?"
"You haven't consumed anything since you arrived," she explained. "That is the working of my magic—to stop that function would indeed heal you faster, but you would be malnourished by the end of it."
"Which defeats the purpose of healing," Charlie finished for her.
"Exactly," said Azaroth, and then proceeded to bound ahead of them.
So now the two humans sat, sleeping, sitting, doing plenty of nothing. It was maddening. Charlie eventually broke the silence. "Y'know, we could entertain each other," he suggested.
"How so?" asked Susan. Charlie leaned in and kissed her intently, but Susan pushed him away and slapped him.
"Ow!" Charlie's hand flew to his red and stinging cheek. "What was that for?"
"Are you sick?" she yelled, furious. "Now, of all times, you think this is a good idea? Did you forget where we are?" She angrily stuck a finger towards the River Servant. "And we're not alone, in case you've forgotten."
"You got any better ideas?" Charlie shot back defensively. "'Cause I'd gladly hear them!"
Susan slumped over the side of the boat, lazily letting her hand hang a few inches above the Lake's surface, too tired to raise her voice again. "Let's just…watch the Lake," she suggested, in a quieter and calmer tone. "Maybe we'll see something interesting."
But the lake was just red and bloody, and was totally dead; it was like a great red mirror, but with the apparitions Charlie saw earlier. For entertainment, the couple tried to study them, but the things were too bizarre and too scary, so they stopped watching. Eventually, they fell back asleep.
Charlie woke up to the crystal pulsing against his chest. Susan felt it too, as she leaned up against him while they slept with their backs against the wall. Azaroth's voice came through. You will reach land soon. An agent of mine awaits ashore. He will lead you to Tash's next game.
And sure enough, after about an hour the boat waded up to the shore, wedging partially into wet sand. Charlie fastened Liar's Laugh to his belt, then climbed out and helped Susan disembark, her rifle slung over her back. Their feet made a wet splash in the shallow water, coming up to their ankles, but they ignored the wet stickiness as they plodded on the beach.
This island was unlike the last one. They stood before a wide green valley, with emerald colored grass, ringed by heavily forested mountains all around in a wide C-shape along the horizon. Right beside the shore where the sand met the grass stood a dilapidated and burned out wooden barn. Beside it, a figure huffed and puffed, pawing his hoof anxiously against the ground. Charlie realized it was a donkey, but it looked like zombified: all over his body, the hide was falling off in patches, revealing red meat and bone. His bones were yellow where exposed, and the muscle beneath his hide was glistening and red. His belly was gone, his exposing his ribcage completely. He had only one ear, the other a bloody stump that looked as if the ear had been torn out like a weed in a garden. His nose and mouth were frothing red, drooling as well. His teeth were bloodstained, no doubt from his own necrosis about his face, and his eyes were a faded and tired yellow. He snorted.
Charlie whipped Liar's Laugh from his sheath in alarm, but Susan approached him carefully as if she recognized the donkey. "Susan!" he hissed at her, but she ignored him.
The donkey didn't move, seemingly unperturbed by the strange girl's slow and steady approach. She stopped in front of him, bent down to level her own gaze with the animal's dead face, and looked him in the eye.
"Rabadash?"
A/N: Short chapter, I know, but I felt like I needed to slow down the pace a little bit, because a lot of things happened back in Chapter 10.