Chapter Six

She couldn't shake that awful feeling she was being watched. LiXue seemed to feel the same, because she spent half of her time walking backwards, watching their backs. The warmer temperature meant the ground was devoid of any snow, which, while making walking easier, made checking to see if someone was tracking them difficult as well.

Even Min seemed nervous, although he wasn't nearly as observant as his female companions. He nearly walked right into LiXue's back when she stopped suddenly, making a shushing gesture with one small hand. Frost crept up to her and tried to follow the shorter woman's line of sight but saw nothing. There was no overt movement, but that could just mean they had been spotted as well.

She felt a nudge in her side and realized the other woman was poking her. Once she looked over, LiXue pointed deliberately to her ear and then out towards the rocky outcropping not far ahead. Despite the language barrier, the meaning was crystal clear. Frost nodded in return and slunk forward quickly as best she could on the open ground.

Voices were coming form the other side of the rocks, gravelly voices that sounded deep and male. They certainly weren't speaking English, or any of the few tongues she could understand a little of in this realm. There was a slight mumble to them, like they were trying to talk around a mouthful of food. She listened at the base of the outcropping, waiting to at least see how many individuals she could identify even if she couldn't understand what was being said.

The speech sounded very harsh to her ears, and she wondered briefly if Min could translate it. On the other hand, somehow they didn't sound like the type of beings you'd want to ask directions from. Their voices sounded angry, but without any kind of translation she couldn't tell if they were fighting, or if it was just the language.

She thought she identified three voices, although there might have been others not taking part in the conversation. There weren't the other noises a crowd would produce, however. A slight scraping indicated LiXue had joined her, and she held up three fingers to indicate what she found, to which LiXue nodded in turn. The petite warrior brought her spear to bear and Frost followed suit, sensing a fight in the near future.

Like a human explosion, LiXue burst out from behind the stones and drove her spear through the spine of the ugliest creature Frost had ever seen. The action was completed before Frost even realized what was going on, and she charged around the corner belatedly. The remaining two bared mouths full of pointed teeth and unsheathed twin blades from their forearms as she watched in horror. Whatever they were, they belonged in a sideshow.

She ducked as one took a wild swing at her head, and she drove the butt end of the spear down hard into its kneecap with no visible result. She was forced to dive to the side to dodge a blow from the other blade. When she tried to roll to her feet, she was met with the other blade blocking her path.

The beast-man was relentless and kept pressing the attack. All she could do was duck and dodge his wild swings. She tried to block with the spear, but the creature broke it in half with a single swipe, knocking her completely off balance. Before she could regain her footing, he swung at her again, driving her back. She threw the blunt half down in disbelief and tried to recover before she literally lost her head.

LiXue seemed to be having similar difficulties, but she couldn't afford the time to pay attention to anything but the gleaming blades threatening to cut her to pieces. Now would be a good time for my kori powers to come back, she thought bitterly, having to jump back again to avoid a strike that would have gutted her like a fish.

All she could hope for was for the creature to make a small mistake and give her an opening. It was going to be a single chance because even if she went on the offensive those blades were still dangerous, and a miss or block could cost her an arm and a leg. The trick was to pick the perfect moment, and so she watched the shift of his hips carefully, waiting for him to feint.

The creature wasn't tiring at all, despite its barrage, and in comparison the lack of sleep was hindering her fighting ability, as was her missing kori power. It felt a bit like fighting with one hand tied behind her back, she couldn't rely on anything but her seriously flagging fighting skills. Her reflexes were sluggish from the sleepiness, and they both knew it.

The adrenaline flowing through her system did nothing to help; just made her heart feel like it was pounding in her ears. Her breath was coming in big gasps, but she thankfully wasn't out of wind yet. It felt like her lungs were trying to draw all their oxygen in now for fear of her drawing her last breath. She could keep time by her heartbeats; each thump was one moment closer to having her heart stop forever.

And then it felt like time itself was slowing, and the creature's movements slowed to a crawl. She watched incredulously as the creature swung at her so slowly she would have to stand still for ten seconds to not avoid it. Each swing of the blades became an easily dissected arc to dodge, each shift of its way giving her a clear indication of the direction of its attack.

After ducking under a high, slow swing, she plunged the broken, bladed end of the spear into its stomach, gutting it in slow motion. The intestines spilled out slowly, like a bad horror film as she watched absentmindedly still confused as to what had happened. When she looked up, LiXue's opponent lay on the ground, half of its face missing and its brains splattered across the rocks.

Then, as fast as the first sensation had come, it felt like reality snapped nearly back into place and the creatures blood was spurting out at a rapid pace, soaking the toes and soles of her boots. She stared incredulously down at the corpse, then at LiXue who was calmly wiping her spear off on a piece of the creature's clothes.

"What the hell was that?"

Min rounded the outcropping and grimaced at the sight. He had to be one of the most squeamish people she'd ever seen. "Those have got to be the ugliest things I have ever seen!"

"Nice of you to join us," Frost greeted him sarcastically. "We could have used some help."

"Believe me, you don't want me to 'help' in a fight," he protested. "Unless all you want is some sort of diversion. Besides, it looks like you handled it just fine." He walked over to her with a look of complete disgust twisting his features. "That's a face only a blind mother could love," he said examining the face still frozen in death in a feral grin. He touched a fang gingerly, prying the mouth open.

"What the hell is it?" she asked.

"I've never seen a picture of them before, but I've read a few scrolls describing beasts with natural blades in their arms. I think these guys were Tarkata." Min didn't look too sure of his answer.

"Tarkata?"

"Yes, they are native to Outworld, I think, and live in the Wastelands."

Frost examined the bleak surroundings. " I think we know where we are then."

There was a great deal of scuffing and scraping behind them, and they turned in time to see the first Tarkata that had been stabbed during the battle being dragged into a sitting position by a smug LiXue. Its hands were bound tightly behind it, rendering its blades useless, and its legs sagged limply. Frost reasoned it must have had its spinal cord severed, because it did not try to rise when they closed in. It still hissed angrily at LiXue, snapping at her whenever her fingers got too close to its face.

"Brave fellow, isn't he?" Min said, a twinge of sarcasm present in his voice. "I wonder if he understands us?"

"You're the translator, why don't you try to talk to him?" She gestured towards the thing and LiXue seemed to pick up on the discussion because she nodded eagerly. The smaller warrior seemed to understand a lot more than she let others know.

He tried at least five languages before he figured out that the thing understood English, surprising them all completely-but understanding and being willing to speak are two very different things. The beast kept its tongue firmly between its teeth, glaring at them with a challenge in its yellow eyes.

Frost was growing quite impatient with the whole situation. "Try a little percussive persuasion," she insisted to Min.

"Percussive persuasion?" Min asked.

"Beat the crap out of him until he says something," she replied, smacking one fist into her palm to illustrate her idea to LiXue. LiXue grinned in return and reached for the whip looped in her waistband menacingly. Frost had to admit she liked the way the warrior woman thought sometimes. At least she wasn't some sort of priss.

The beast didn't even flinch-if anything, it seemed to smile, if such a thing was possible with its grotesque features. Nothing they tried could make it talk, it just sat watching them resentfully. It didn't look like they would be getting any information from this creature. LiXue looked disturbingly disappointed that she wasn't going to have the chance to display her skills.

They left the creature bleeding its life out from its slit throat, wishing they had some place to stash the corpses. There was no cover, no place to dig in the dusty, rocky ground. Their only hope was for whoever found the bodies to blame the slashing wounds on other Tarkata, and that they wouldn't see the human-size tracks they left.

The argument still raged on where they should head next as they left the scene. "I can't see how marching into what could possibly be a landscape filled with those things is a good idea." Min protested loudly. He may have been the smartest of the three of them, but he was also the biggest coward.

"Where do you want to go then, back to the village?" Frost screamed back. She didn't like the idea very much either, but it didn't seem like there was much of a choice. "We're going to have to cross this eventually."

LiXue merely watched them yelling at each other with affected curiosity. She pretended to sharpen her spearhead at first, but eventually just gave up as the argument progressed and stared shamelessly. Her head turned to each one like she was watching a game of ping pong until Min asked her what she thought. She shrugged and merely pointed ahead, much to Frost's delight.

"I still don't think this is a good idea…" Min pouted.

"No one says it is, it's just a necessary evil." Frost was trying very hard not to gloat. Traveling was hard enough without having to deal with a sullen companion.

"I should have known better than to travel with two women," Min muttered under his breath.

No one was comfortable with traveling through the Wastelands. LiXue was twice as diligent as before, practically walking circles around them as they marched, trying to see everything at once. Every little noise was making Frost jump, and whenever she startled, LiXue had to go check it out. Min was practically clinging to her, glancing nervously around as if he expected the Tarkata to just spring up out of the ground.

It was a great relief when they finally found a plateau with a decent sized indentation in the bottom. Hidden in their tiny cave, they continued to debate the merits of their decision to travel through the Wastelands. But Min's protests got weaker as he realized neither woman would change her mind.

Frost sat staring at the broken halves of her spear, wondering how she could possibly get it back into something resembling a useful weapon. It was not like they had any tape or glue, and that wouldn't be strong enough to hold together in a fight. Her best thought was to separate the spearhead entirely and use it as a sort of awkward knife. It still hurt that she couldn't just make a weapon with a simple thought–to her, it was almost like a part of her was missing.

Her thoughts were broken by Min handing her another bit of dried meat.

"I don't think it's wise to start a fire tonight," he said, glaring at

his own piece like he was hoping it would turn into something he liked better.

"I think you are quite right." She stared at the dried meat with distaste. "The first thing I'm going to do when we get to Earthrealm is order some Chinese. And a pizza. And get some chocolate."

"Just think, I've been eating this stuff all of my life," Min said.

"I'll have to take you out on a food tour then. You've been missing a lot." Frost's mouth started watering as she thought of all the food she wanted.

"I'm sure I have." Min didn't sound quite as excited at the thought.

"And then you can go on a bookstore tour and get all sorts of books to read. And you won't have to deal with scrolls anymore." Frost was really getting into it now. The journey didn't seem as bad when she thought of things she could do when they arrived home.

"Sounds good to me." Min gave her a look that made her blush.

It will be like when my cousins came over from China and I got to show them around..." she suddenly didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"You have family in China?" Min asked.

"My dad lived there most of his childhood before my grandparents immigrated."

Min stared off into the distance, seemingly contemplating all that could happen to him in Earthrealm. "I wonder if I have any family left there."

"With all the technology they have today, I'm sure you'll be able to use it to find them if you have any."

"I wonder what LiXue thinks of all this," Min said, attempting to change the subject.

"You could ask her, you know. You do speak her language."

"I know, it's just…I feel awkward around her for some reason. Even though we came from the same village, it doesn't mean that we are automatically friends. She's only on this trip because her father sent her."

"Wait, wait, wait… her father sent her out here? Who the hell is her father?" Frost couldn't imagine anyone's father purposely sending his daughter out into danger.

"Wei." Min said simply.

"Wei is her father? How did the head honcho's daughter get sent out on a shitty mission like this?" Most of the high-class girls she knew got coddled, not sent out into the Wastelands to be chased by creatures out of somebody's nightmares.

"I get the impression that it's sort of a punishment for not being a good little girl and marrying one of the neighborhood boys." Min said, with a hint of disgust.

"Well, that explains why she acts like there's a stick up her ass." She stopped to think. She was beginning to like the village less and less.