Strangers in a Strange Land
Arslan by holyflpncows
The path is steep and rocky.
My feet skid on the loose gravel more than a few times in the hours it takes to descend. Or it at least feels like hours. When we finally reach the bottom, exhaustion washes over me. “Kobold tracks,” Zyon calls from the front of the line. I look up, hands resting on my knees, as the party continues to trudge forward. I take a deep breath in. It’s been a while since I've traveled so quickly. After some time, we come to another stop. Apparently, the tracks split, with east and west being our options to follow. No one even needs to say anything; we follow the tracks that head east. As we leave the edges of the mountains, the grass gets taller and taller. Within minutes it’s up to my waist. And then there’s an awful smell. A smell I'm familiar with; death and decay. But the current stench in my nose is somehow a little worse. Sure enough, Feng Da spots feet poking out onto the narrow dirt path we’ve been following. While Feng Da and Fwip investigate the corpse, I work with Shen Po and Wen to clear out a campsite a little further down the path. As we work, Wen asks Shen Po about the goddess Lune. Wen must be something like his student then. Shen Po sounds tired as he answers questions, and Wen looks to be concentrating, but also… bitter? He seems a bit young to have already grown bitter about anything. I shrug. It doesn’t take much to make one resentful.I wake in a panic, the emotions of some strange dream pumping my adrenaline. Commotion from outside my tent grabs my focus and I shake off the strange feeling. Reaching for my sword and dagger beside me, I exit my tent, tense. A blast of magic soars near me, from Arslan's direction. I scowl, but besides that, there are no other sounds to be heard. Everyone else looks around, wary. Nothing happens. I return to bed for what little remaining time I have until my watch. It’s difficult to fall asleep. I try to take comfort in the fact that everyone is actually on guard and assure myself that these people can watch my back. Assuming they learn how to tell the difference between a threat and the wind rustling the grass.
Before I know it, I’m woken up for my watch. I shake the sleep from my body and head out to keep watch with Fwip. Hours pass with no conversation. Even if there was anything to say, it would be a pain to try and talk to a kenku. The sound of horse clops gets our attention in the silence. We stay alert, ready. Nothing comes. Fwip investigates, but dawn arrives before long and no one shows up to antagonize us. We break camp and walk for mile after uneventful mile until dusk finally arrives and we settle in for the night. Again, I feel a panic in my sleep and swear I hear Wen’s voice in my dreams. Then I hear Shen Po snarl out “Scarlet whore!” and I fully wake. Shen Po’s voice is mixed with the sounds of growling and barks. I scramble out of my bedroll and grab my saber and dagger. I emerge and my nostrils are filled with the smell of rotting meat. I spot several wargs illuminated by the flickering campfire, but growls come from all around our camp. As I run to join Shen Po and Wen, Feng Da emerges from his tent, nearly naked. My eyes linger for a moment, and when I look back a warg near Wen is taken out by a black-feathered arrow: Fwip’s handy work. She must be in the brush nearby. Arslan joins the fight, immediately shaking off a warg that tried to latch onto his large arms. I take a swipe at it, but it moves further back away from us. Another warg attempts to go for Shen Po, but a summoned orb around him intercepts the beast. Shen Po works his hand into a furious gesture, and a ray of intense silver light falls upon the warg. I take a breath. It’s amazing to see moonlight bent into such forms. I take another swipe at one of the two remaining wargs—and connect. As soon as I lame it, Feng Da sweeps in with a warpick and embeds it into the creature’s skull. The last one comes to close in on Feng Da and me. And then from our left, a slash of dark energy pushes it to the side. I move quickly to maim one of its legs and finish it off. I can hear a snarl from the grass, but it recedes; one ran away, then. “Well. Wargs,” I say. “That’s exciting.” I get leers and looks from the rest of them. “Wake me for my watch.” I wave my hand in dismissal.
The grass begins to shorten the next day. Around noon, we see a black stone in the distance. As we approach, I notice it's not just a black stone, but a tower. Or at least what used to be a tower. Stretching north and south from the tower are the remains of a wall, going as far as I can see. The path opens up more, closer to a road now. And right on this road are the remains of a second tower, crumbled, with a man sitting on one of the stones.
by holyflpncows
The next day passes with small talk and other chatter. I learn that Wen comes from extreme poverty, though that was easy to guess from his clothes, posture, and way he squirrels food. I grew up playing with kids like him, though my parents never really approved. Arslan prattles on about “the wisest Chuluun.” I don’t recall ever hearing about this man, so he must be really local to Arslan’s monastery. I tune in and out of what Arslan is talking about and my own thoughts. But then I hear him mention his sword being cursed and turn my attention to him. A very young man, goliath or no, with a cursed weapon hardly ever ends well. I feel a wave of concern rise, but I push it away. Just because he’s young doesn’t mean he can’t handle himself.
The next morning, as dawn draws close, Fwip and I feel the ground shake. It doesn't take much effort to notice the nearby hill giant, picking its way through the rubble. It hasn’t seemed to notice our camp and looks to be examining the stones. “Ardenti harenae!” I hiss. “Fwip, help me wake everyone up.” We quickly and quietly rouse everyone. We nearly have everything packed when the screeching sound of metal scraping across metal rings. I snap my head towards the sound. Feng Da is standing there, his sword half sheathed, his eyes closed and lips pursed shut in guilt. I groan; the giant’s attention focuses on the camp. Feng Da sighs and pulls his sword back out, readying to charge towards the oncoming giant. Arslan calls out to the giant in its native tongue. The beast responds by picking up a large rock, pulling it back and chucking it at us. Feng Da charges, going for the giant’s foot, but hardly seems to do any damage before the giant raises its foot and knocks Feng Da down. He stirs but doesn't get back up, or out of the way of the giant's stride. I take a steady breath in, feeling some magic gather around me. “Viske!” I utter out in a whisper, pushing the power at the giant. The giant’s face contorts in pain and it backs away several paces as the invisible force from my spell assaults his mind. With my left hand, I pull out my saber and quickly pull my dagger into my right hand. The giant recovers and steps back toward us, Feng Da still in its path. Arslan steps past me, swinging his sword and unleashing dark energy from it. The wave of energy slams into the giant, pushing it back several feet. Wen and Shen Po manage to reach Feng Da and work to protect him as he recovers. I take a few steps forward, breathing in energy again. I see cuts on the giant from Zyon's daggers, black arrows protruding from its flesh, Spark aiming at the monster's eyes with her darts. “Viske!” I release the power in a whisper and the giant roars in pain, but this time it doesn’t balk. My jaw clenches. We’re all in serious trouble if we can’t keep it off us. Suddenly, a bright light bursts from Wen’s hands. An intense ray of moonlight knocks the giant back, and it stumbles. The ground shakes with its fall, and there is an audible crack. Blood pools around the giant's head and the cracked stones beneath. Feng Da approaches the giant’s face and begins to carve out its eyes. Sickened, I turn away back towards camp. He may have a nice body, but he’s definitely got something loose in his head. Unfortunate.
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