Chapter 3
Ro
Our little traveling gang of a human, a dragon, and a horse rode throughout the night as best we could.
By midday, we neared the five-mile point which placed us within Argora Vale’s boundaries, so I dismounted Asperion and told him to keep alert.
The big lunkhead told me to hurry, and that he was nervous.
Evident by his peeing all over the ground.
A regal specimen if there ever was one.
With an arrow nocked, I moved forward as silently as I was able against the wild spring growth.
Tall grass softened my steps, and I actively avoided fallen branches or flimsy roots that would snap.
Muffled voices echoed from all types of creatures, but I’d learned when to tune them out.
Ants were the loudest, since they all chanted the same phrases for whatever task they dealt with.
Even now, if I paid close enough attention, the resounding echo of “dig, dig, dig” would be clear as day.
A fresh plume of smoke above the leafy treetops hinted at where I most likely needed to go.
“Scout the perimeter for me?” I asked Braxius. My friend launched from my shoulder, racing into the forest.
With Asperion long behind me, crisp voices came into earshot. Pleading voices.
Veiled among the trees, I deciphered the unfolding situation and compartmentalized the fear nipping at my spine.
A group from The Cursed Kingdom making their way south to Rahana, ensnared by the two ogres that tainted these lower woods.
Rumor said there used to be more, but since the old curse began spreading again, they’d vanished, likely felled by the dark magic that’d morphed their ancestors a century ago. Apparently, they used to be frogs.
Every week now, Rahana received more and more wielders due to the worsening conditions in the north.
Among the panicked bunch, red apple hair stood bright against the rest. A trap had been laid, using thin branches and long weeds to create a net-like contraption.
The seven or so travelers’ feet were woven into it, as if they all stepped perfectly inside before it tightened.
My heart only had time to quicken for one beat before instincts took over. “I would stop there, Ogre,” I shouted internally, rounding their fire and aiming straight for the green oaf who attended it.
The other spun around from assessing their catch, and straightened to his full, menacing height to address me. “I don’t think I shall, tiny arrow holder. You cannot fell us,” he grumbled through those bottom teeth curving upward.
Braxius returned, keeping out of sight among the treetops. “There’s no one else.”
I addressed the ogres, “That’s a bet I would take.” I adjusted my aim for their viewing benefit, string still pulled taut beside my cheek, aim steady.
“I think I’ll start with y—wait.” He took a barefooted step forward, branch weapon in hand, but paused.
The other ceased stoking the growing flame to stare at me.
“You understood me?” Confusion mottled his fat creased brow bone speckled with brown dots across his green skin.
The one time Tio referenced the freckled similarity between the ogres and me, I’d knocked him flat on his ass.
“Just as you understand me. Time to let the good people go,” I said, louder, hoping maybe volume would be the key to their persuasion.
He roared his head back and laughed toward the sky, spittle flying waywardly in stringy lines. I frowned at the sight.
“You can ask me kindly all you like, puny human, but it’ll take more than t—”
My arrow flew true, lodging in his shoulder joint. He wobbled on his feet, looking at the pierced weapon.
“Ow!” he grumbled, bringing his disproportionately large hands to snap the tail off, though the barbed head remained inside.
“Do you think—” the menace in his voice rose, and I preferred he got on board quickly, releasing another arrow into the joint of his knee.
Only a perfectly lodged arrow to the chest or the brain would actually kill him, but that wasn’t my goal.
I never killed, only subdued. Life was too precious to slay on a whim.
He cried out louder this time, knee buckling as he stumbled.
His raging mud colored eyes flared, his giant nostrils doing the same. My next arrow was already pointed at the other knee.
“Now, Ogre, I could fire this shot. I’m guessing by now you realize that I’m rather quite skilled.
Once I do, you would have no ability to walk, not until you take plenty of time to rest and heal.
I also have five additional in my quiver here, meant for your buddy who is biding his time since seeing me fire that first shot. Aren’t you, Ogre’s friend?”
“Yes,” a nasally, high-pitched voice called from beside the fire.
“So, let us return to our previous agreement. You let these fine people go, and my arrows remain with me, and not in your bones. Does that sound like a more reasonable offer?”
The one with protruding arrows like a pin cushion seethed, steamy air puffing out of his nose. Or his breath was just so moist I could see the particles. Gross. Through gritted teeth, he agreed. I sheathed my arrow, standing tall with a smile. “Excellent.”
Keeping a wide berth between us, I made quick work to cut away the ends of the quilted forest bits until it gave, dropping to the ground where the trapped citizens wasted no time freeing themselves.
They’d heard none of the exchange, but the stunned faces didn’t question their rescue.
I remained back while they funneled out of the area until only I remained with the cursed beasts.
“You know, you really give yourselves a bad reputation,” I said, surveying the setup they’d created.
The one working out the arrow head groaned. “Reputation only matters when there are others around to know it.” His voice held a cadence of sorrow, not from losing their meal ticket just now, but from something troubling his heart.
“I’m around to know it,” I offered.
He flicked the bloody arrowhead onto the ground and pinned me with his stare. “When you remain standing after everyone you love has been taken from you, you tell me how much you’ll care about ‘precious reputation’.” He spat the words, like they tasted vile on his tongue.
The question worked its way to a fear I kept buried deep inside, refusing to let it out and overtake me.
Dark magic that had been dormant for decades seemed to be stirring, awoken by something calling them forward.
Stopping the corrupted commander in Highcrest had been a victory against one kind of evil, but I sensed that another remained.
Pondering on it too long would only feed my worry and distract me from what I was in control of.
Every day, there was a task to accomplish, and beyond that was unimportant.
Radhak bestowed that philosophy on our camp over and over until we all clung to that belief.
It helped us avoid being consumed by hypothetical scenarios, or let fear deter our ability to accomplish something good.
My next task: accompany Mira and the rest of the crew to base camp.
At the front of the group, we led the way. “No big beastie to escort you all, this time?” I nudged Mira’s shoulder with my own.
“He and Jasper were concerned with rumors spreading from near Witches Pass. We gathered up everyone from Devera, the small village closest to the curse now, and since we’ve taken this route so many times, we thought it would be fine.
” She shrugged, her vibrant red curls bouncing with every trudging step through the spring brush.
The roots of her hair started coming in darker.
Since her blessing had broken, no more magic coursed through her, leaving it to revert to its natural color.
I would have assumed she’d be a natural redhead like me, but she was more brunette.
How life had changed from our first run-in at the castle.
“What happened to tracking the ogre’s movements?” I queried, interested to know how to avoid this next time.
“Before, they were easier to predict. Now they’re constantly on the move.
Dante says creatures scatter when they’re scared, so I don’t know if it’s because they’re spooked by the curse spreading, or dwindling resources.
In any case, our best guesses regarding their patterns haven’t been very accurate.
Which only adds to the stress of fleeing.
” She gestured to the party now moving with us.
Men, women, and children who’d resided in Argora Vale until all this shit started making a mess of everything.
“How many more remain in the kingdom?” This lot would put us over capacity. We’d expected migrants, but not at this rate, which only heightened Radhak’s stress.
“A couple hundred, I think. But they’re the ones further north who’ve started migrating west instead of south for fear of backlash in Highcrest.”
“If they think Argora Vale’s land has become unsustainable, they’re going to be sadly surprised when they hit the marshlands.”
“Dante told them the same, but I think they don’t believe the curse will spread that far.
I think they hope to remain in the kingdom they’ve known all their lives, and I can’t really blame them.
I just hope it all turns out okay. And I hope we’re not putting you out too much.
I know we didn’t discuss new travelers weekly, but things are becoming tense. ”
Braxius shifted at my neck, a tiny message that said, ‘told ya,’.
“Yeah, yeah,” I tutted. He’d told me for a couple weeks that there’d been a shift, but couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Like the very world whispered a warning, he’d said.
“Braxius feels it too?” Mira asked, catching the interaction.
The little blue dude popped out of my hair at the mention of his name and flew straight from my shoulder to Mira’s, lapping at her cheek with his forked tongue. She laughed into the air, and his reptilian tail wagged like a dog.