20. Chapter 20
Josiah
After yet another group meeting discussing my brother's latest vision, we agreed that a meeting with the Council and the other members still on Salioes was necessary.
Jerrod insisted that we keep our location secret from the other members, though I didn't fully understand the secrecy on his end.
The meeting went pretty normal from what I could tell, but Jerrod seemed on edge through the meeting and asked some very unusual and even vague questions.
I wasn't sure how long we would stay on Taylagonia, but the Council had mentioned us stopping on Salioes before we tried to deal with Kyril back on Earth.
I wasn't sure that was actually a good idea, because I knew we were running out of time.
If I had assumed correctly on the time frame, Athia and Kyril had likely already infected a small portion of Earth—most of which were people in high power positions around the world.
Giving him more access to more unwilling hosts to revive the other Gilarian.
The more time we stayed here, the more I wondered how we could possibly fight the inevitable.
I spent most of my time with Veshkru. I had always liked being around him, but after the loss of his planet, he was quiet and angry.
This made it easier for me to do the same and also, the training was even more exciting than usual.
I was fairly certain that if given the opportunity, he would probably knock my block off.
He never outright said it, but there was a bit of resentment toward me and it was pretty obvious that he blamed me for his planets fate.
Our skill level was so similar though, that we were consistently pushing each other forward rather than back.
Since he was in such a state, he tended to be more reckless and less easy to read than usual.
When he excelled, my skill did too and the same applied to him.
We fed off of the situation pushing harder each sparring session.
When we weren't training, we disappeared in the wilderness to find the next meal.
We all had to eat and all of the training meant we needed more than usual, especially if we wanted to build muscle.
We had both decided to take on the role of hunter, mostly so we could get away for hours at a time and not have to make excuses.
I may have accepted what happened with Camille, especially more after seeing her suffering, but it didn't make seeing her with my brother any easier.
I felt bad running away from her every time she got close to me, but I just couldn't take the pain I felt in my chest when I was near her anymore.
"—be miserable in this life," Veshkru said as I slowly came back to the conversation.
I had completely missed everything else he had previously said.
"Sorry… I'll be honest… I have no idea what you just said," I admitted with a small chuckle.
"You should probably keep your senses on the task at hand. I mean… I guess it wouldn't be that bad to be eaten by—" he suddenly stopped, eyes wide, looking ahead.
I stopped abruptly, listening for what had put him on such high alert.
We both crouched, listening intently to our surroundings, when I heard the sound of snapping wood coming from somewhere close.
I whipped my head toward the noise, only to be blindsided by a large body slamming into my own.
I didn't even have a second to react before my body was slamming onto the ground.
I hit my head so hard on the firm soil below, that I was momentarily disoriented by the force of the impact.
My vision immediately blurred and distorted.
Whatever had blown me over was still on top of my body.
It snarled above me, but I was seeing multiples in my daze.
I heard a sharp spirited shriek from above me as the weight of the beast was removed from above my body.
I took in a deep breath and shook my head, trying to regain my composure.
I sat up slightly dizzy still and saw Veshkru slicing into the animal like a feral beast himself.
We had finally found the Riloush we had heard the first day.
It was far bigger than I had expected it to be.
Veshkru was straddling the animal, screaming like a man possessed.
The beast's black inky skin was covered in a slimy substance.
Its eyes were a blood red with black snake-like slits.
The face was so similar to a cat, but the snout was more elongated with several rows of razor-sharp teeth protruding out every which way.
Veshkru had his left hand wrapped around the animal's neck trying to hold it down, the slimy substance making it much harder to keep a grip on it, but the beast still attempted to snap up its head to bite into his flesh.
Usually, Veshkru was extremely even tempered in a battle, but I could see the emotions he had been holding in, spilling over the surface in his movements.
His face was contorted in rage, and he screamed in agony, stabbing the animal through the eye.
I thought this would be the end of it as the Riloush took its last breath, but he continued stabbing repeatedly, the odd green blood of the animal splattering up all over his face.
I shakily got up from the ground, still slightly disoriented.
I staggered over to him quietly. He was still screaming, lost in the pain of loss, destroying what was left of the large cat.
He was covered from head to toe with black slime and green blood.
I walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder softly.
He slowly faced me; his expression mortified at the loss of composure.
"It's okay, my friend. The animal is no more," I said gingerly.
"They are all gone," he cried out. "Every last one of them is gone."
"I am eternally sorry, Veshkru," I said. "It is my fault that you are experiencing this anguish. My reckless behavior led to this situation. I am to blame, and I deserve every bit of the torment I am experiencing now."
He looked up at me with an appearance of surprise, "We couldn't have possibly known any of this would happen.
If anything, hubris probably ended my people.
I guarantee that Vina never saw her demise in that battle.
From the look of that battlefield, none of them did.
I'm not even sure they were able to fight at all. "
"I think you're probably right about that and honestly, I think that just makes it that much worse," I admitted. "How is Kresh coping with all of this?"
"I am not sure. He is very quiet and withdrawn since leaving our home."
"I noticed," I said weakly.
Veshkru got off of the beast and sat on the ground next to the body. I sat next to him, and we sat in silence for several moments before I went to get up.
"We should probably get back. We don't want to worry anyone," I said as I began to shift on to my feet to stand.
He pulled me back down, knocking me off balance. I looked at him in question.
"Answer me just one question before we go," Veshkru said in a serious tone.
"Okay? What is your question?" I responded.
"You do know we can't win, don't you?"
I looked at him in surprise and tilted my head sideways at his blunt question. "That's not really a fair question, is it? It's a bit leading, no?"
"Answer the question, Josiah. I want to hear your honest answer. No embellishing, no sugar-coating, just simple truth," he demanded.
I sighed, long and unhurried. I didn't really want to answer the question, at least not truthfully.
My eyes slowly found his and I felt my skin tighten as the goosebumps spread over my flesh.
We all knew what was coming. Camille and Jerrod's visions were the end.
There was no way around what was ultimately inevitable.
There was no happy ending for us. I could only hope that whatever my brother was hiding from us all, that it was for a good purpose.
"I do know," I finally admitted.