The Second Moonrise Part 12: Legion
Ergi.
The word rang through my head. It was a word that I'd heard many times in my past. As the cursed vine's victims picked their way across the waters of the Flooded Forest, the word morphed and echoed. Ergi. Unmanliness. Cowardice. Regret. Self-loathing. Inadequacy. Powerlessness.
My hands placed the stones of a cairn, as they had so many times before. Another death. Another failure. First, it had been her name. Now, there were too many names to inscribe.
I place the next stone, leaving a bloody hand print on it. As I bring my hand up to my face, more blood drips onto it. I realize I'm crying.
"Ergi." I muttered it under my breath. I unsheathed my bow.
Too many names to inscribe. But I would inscribe them all the same. The chisel I brought with me had long since broken. I was on my fourth rock now. Soil had left me in the cold. It didn't matter. I was long past feeling cold anymore.
I stood up and pulled an arrow from my quiver. I had many more than ten, higher than I could count. One for each cairn. Each was prepared with moonflower toxin. Each was ready to send another soul off to a blissful death.
Soil and the owl were talking. About what, I didn't care.
The rattling of chains accompanied me. Two arrows were all I needed. The monster that had tormented me lay on the ground, gibbering its last arcane thoughts. To its last moment, it refused to acknowledge my presence. As I raised my third arrow to eye level, the familiar purple glow of the Salamander's fire shown in his eyes. The chains grew closer behind me, and I was wrapped in an embrace. "We need to leave." And so we did. We left the divine inferno behind. My hands ran red with blood.
Cicero looked across the Flooded Forest. Pathways were forming across the water. "We need to leave." The statement was a fact.
"No."
Soil looked at me. Her silver eyes actually focused on me. The same eyes her father had. The same eyes that had never seen me, even in the last seconds of his death. She looked... frightened. I met her gaze. For once, she had no quip to answer.
I watched the Campgrounds below. I saw the gods talking, flapping their jaws. That cursed owl, chatting it up. "You're going to kill a god." It'd said nothing about making a demon.
The owl stared at me. "What is that I see in you Bjorn? What are you going to do?" Its eyes were wide, just like they had been on the night he had come to me.
Just like they had been when he added yet another regret.
"Go. If you're not ready to stand and fight, then I want you gone."
"You're going to fight them off alone?" The landvættir piped up. Her horns were still covered in frost, causing them to glisten in the moonlight from above. "You can't do this without my hel--"
"You cannot!" The owl interrupted her. "I did not do all this so you can...." It stalled. Its beak opened and closed for a few moments. "There is danger if you stay. To more than just you. To the Salamander and the Dark Forest as a whole."
A little bit of the cow's bravado returned. "Danger? Oh no, I guess I'd better pack up. I clearly can't take care of myself. Better listen to uncle Cicero. Since when did you start using that name? I can take care of my fucking self! Or do you not see that." She points to the moon as the stupid, insufferable grin returns, all sharp teeth and no thought. The same grin of a wolf about to bite into a sheep's neck, with little idea of the hunts that will come after.
Cicero's taloned hands flexed. "That is exactly what I'm scared of! Have you not you been listening to me? That moon is your doom, not your enemies! If she wakes up, there's no telling what could happen to you!" Cicero's voice was a shrill screech now, practically screaming. Its flung its hands at the sky, its chains rattling all the while. "If you use that power again, all of what I have done to help you could be--" It cut itself off abruptly, took a deep breath, and repeated, "We need to leave."
"We need to leave? Or I need to leave?"
"I want you both gone." I spoke up. "If you stay, you're both in danger. And with all of this yelling, you'll attract even more problems." I glared around the Campgrounds, at the various piles of firewood that had yet to ignite. Vili and Ve were both sitting around the fire, looking at me expectantly. "Take the twins. They'll keep you safe." My gaze focused squarely on the cow. "And I don't think you're listening to him. This isn't about you. This is about the safety of all of," I raised my hands to encompass the Campgrounds, the Forest, the Salamander "this. Today we discovered that there was at least one community of survivors we didn't know about. Are you really so selfish as to sacrifice them for a chance to fight?"
The cow actually shut her mouth at that. For the second time today, she had no rebuke.
That was confirmation enough. I turned back towards the threat. "Go." Before I add your name to the stones.
Soil hesitantly looked at me, then at the slowly advancing army of vinebound. For a moment I remembered Helga, looking across out at the shoreline back at home. "Are you sure you can take all of that on you're own?"
"Yes," I lied. I was done being a coward. This was my fault. All of the people that monster had claimed could have lived if Zephnos had never died. The wave of vinebound was finally approaching my range. "Now go." I turned my back towards the two and let out a long, slow breath. I could feel the heat of the Salamander's fire behind me. Was it watching me? Did it understand what was going on?
I heard them mounting my bears. I didn't turn around as they began to move off into the Flooded Forest. I heard no splash, but when I turned around I saw that Soil and Cicero had gone. The Forest had done what it does best, and made them disappear.
I listened to the sounds of the Forest for a while. I listened to my own thoughts. Why was I doing this? A single word ran through my head, answering my question. Ergi.
I had been fighting the vinebound for what felt like a few hours, but was likely only a couple of minutes. There numbers had by far exceeded my ability to count them. Some of them hadn't been killed, only rendered helpless by the arrows' poison, making them slump against the tree roots and vine hammocks they were using as bridges. Another arrow found its mark, just below the collarbone. The vinebound stumbled and fell into the water. They had started shouting at me, pleading with me to stop. "You're one of us! Why can't you just let us out?" I gritted my teeth. They aren't human anymore. They couldn't be trusted. Just like the rest of the damn Forest, they were another trap. "Have you seen my son? Where's Howie? What have you done with him? My daughter too?" This was coming from a middle-aged man with black hair. No, not a man. From a vinebound. The kids' father? My blood ran cold. I wouldn't allow that. I pulled out another arrow and aimed at the vinebound's head. There was only a small patch of water left between us and the incoming horde. It was an easy shot. I closed my eyes and let the arrow fly. I heard the thunk as the arrow found home, and the splash as the body fell into the pools of the Flooded Forest. That was one trap that wouldn't claim any more victims. And so it had been going. It was pathetic, like spearing a grounded seal. The vinebound weren't even trying to avoid my arrows, and the only thing that slowed them down was the water. Its sizzled and popped as they fell in. The vines connecting them didn't like the water itself. I could see them writhing as their host dragged the connected umbilical deeper into the depths. The lucky ones got snatched up by one of the Flooded Forest's many aquatic denizens. The rest thrashed and screamed as water killed off both the parasite and the host. And still they came. "Bjorn? Why did you stay?" I looked back. The Salamander was watching the oncoming assault. "A better question is, why aren't you trying to defend yourself? You're so much more powerful than this. I've seen you incinerate hordes of enemies during the Month of Madness, and fight back monsters that make the earth shake with each step. Why are you just letting them approach?" I let another arrow go. One more vinebound was put to rest. The final bridge was forming, with the smoldering vine wrapping around itself. I knew better than to try to knock it off our platform of roots. If that vine touched me, I'd become just another walking corpse. "In a way, I was hoping something like this would happen. I can't hurt the Ashvine, but I can absorb its fire. Everything here is my smoke. It's all nearly fireproof. Everything except the guardians. But the Ashvine wasn't ever a guardian. It wasn't intended to become a monster. It was the background. It's resistant to the fire that created it, just like the rest of the greenery here." The Salamander paused. "I can stop it, but I need to let it reach me." I turned back towards the Salamander. It was looking past me, at the attackers. "What will happen once you absorb the fire? Will they go back to normal?" It shook its head. "I don't know. This is the first time I've tried it." It lowered its head into the ash. "But... I know that fire. It's the same spark that Zephnos stole. You created it by accident didn't you? When you killed him?" There wasn't even a hint of accusation in the Salamander's voice, just a deep mourning. I knew that mourning. It was the same grief of a parent for its child. Or a husband for his wife. I lowered my bow and walked over the Salamander. Its eyes followed mine as I sat down next to it. Behind me, the wailing of the vinebound army continued. I glanced back and saw the bridge was nearly complete. Some of the vines were beginning to inch into the Campgrounds, and the vinebound themselves were taking their first steps onto the bridge. We had lost. You never had a chance to begin with. How could you fight back a Cinder? You don't have any powers, like she does. You don't have Cicero's artifacts. You don't have the Salamander's fire. You're just human. I gritted my teeth. The one time I decided not to run from a fight, the one time it really mattered... I couldn't have won anyway. I stared into the Salamander's eyes. I knew it saw what I'd done. My past. Her death. My regrets. And I could see that it had accepted its fate. To Hel with that. "Forgive me." I thrust my hand into the purple fire, grasping at a glowing ember. I NEED FUEL. I heard the voice pounding in my head. Each syllable was like a hammer blow to my skull, over and over. You don't need fuel. You need direction. Just like me. But I can give you that direction. I AM THE PRIMORDIAL FLAME, THE STORIED FIRE, THE BURNER OF MEMORIES, THE CRADLE OF GODS. I AM THE SALAMANDER FLAME. WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO COMMAND ME? Through the pain, I let out a raucous laugh. I was vaguely aware of the Salamander shouting something at me. I am Bjorn Eskildsen, and I protect the Salamander. The flame had reached my face now. I was vaguely aware of the pelts burning away. I tore them off and cast them aside. The Salamander was still shouting at me. I couldn't hear it over the omnipresent voice in my head. AND WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE? I fight the Ashvine. I fix my mistake. YOU WOULD USE ME AS A TOOL? The fire flared around me, and the heat redoubled. YOU WOULD USE ME TO FIX YOUR MISTAKE? TO FURTHER YOUR OWN SELFISH IDEALS? The hammer blows were now complemented with nails. If it wasn't mad before, it was now. You need a purpose, and I need to save the Salamander. I am offering my body to you. Take it, or die. The fire faltered immediately. It understood something in what I had said. VERY WELL. And the fire went out. The pain did not. My skin began to peel away. No, not my skin... my very being. I was being flayed by an invisible razor, parts of me drifting away and burning up. Finally, I heard what the Salamander was yelling. "It cannot be trusted! It will take everything from you!" I looked at my hands. The skin was unraveling from them, exposing the ligaments and muscles and veins beneath. It was a gruesome display of power. Purple fire pulsed in my blood, and it was consuming from the inside out. I could feel a warm coldness, like the sea breeze in the morning. The same sensation that confirms you're still alive. What was left of my face focused on the Salamander. "This is my decision to make, not yours." I stumbled, falling to the ground. My stump legs were disintegrating, and I could see the bloodless truncations of my arms. "You always seemed so lonely." I reached towards the Salamander. It didn't move, just staring, wordlessly. I was able to see it. HOW was I able to see it? My eyes were gone, lost to the fire. Wait... where was the fire? I looked down, and saw my body, slumped on the ground, now just an amputated torso. I could move. The pain was still there, but it was deadened. The chill that I'd felt before had amplified. Now it felt like the frostbite I'd had before the captain took me in. Ergi. Within me, I could feel the fire, but something had happened to it. It burned, but I didn't know what it burned. The voice that had echoed in my head was no longer present, but a passion was there. It wanted to move. I turned my incorporeal gaze towards the Ashvine assault. And moved. My new body drifted across the Ashvine bridge, back and forth, mimicking the movements of the snowflakes I remembered from my youth. I was just a small flurry, but so is every new storm. As I moved, the fire in the Ashvine recoiled. The vines curled away from me, trying to stay away from the freezing flame. My invisible arms reached out and wrapped the bridge in a spiral of ice. The water of the Flooded Forest began to freeze. It reminded me of my... what did it remind me of? The fire abandoned the vine, but was sucked towards my incorporeal fire. A shard of ice began to grow, defying to the gravity that laid claim to it. It was so beautiful... Just like the crystals she and I went looking for in the cave. Who was she? There was something important. Something I wasn't remembering. "Who is she?!" Cold air exploded from the center of my clouded being, and my arms reached towards the fleeing vinebound. They must know. They had to know. But as my arms touched their bodies, the fire that was animating them fled on its own, leaving them to slump, with patches of frost growing on their clothes. Snow began to fall, and the waters of the Flooded Forest ceased to be water, and became only ice. "Tell me who she is! I NEED TO KNOW!" I moved faster. In the center of my being, the fire blazed within the chunk of ice at my heart. I was no longer a flurry, but a blizzard. I charged out across the Forest, hunting down the vinebound. It had to know. It wouldn't be running if it didn't know. It had taken her from me. "YOU'LL NEVER ESCAPE ME!" My voice was the howling of all of the storms I had ever experienced. Deep inside, I could heard my own voice, sheathed in the power of the squall. Farther and farther I followed the vine into the Forest. The flooded sections were left behind. "YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM A WINTER STORM." Finally I was able to catch one of the vines. It froze instantly, and fire flowed into my own. I pulled and pulled as memories came with it. The vine withered as more of its animating presence was absorbed. But it wasn't enough. None of these memories had what I wanted! I still didn't know WHO SHE WAS. I tried to move, but the crystal around the fire had become too large to float. It had dropped to the ground. Frost spread around it. I howled with the intensity of a whirling hurricane, and the world around me responded only with frigid silence. Stumps began to form from the heart of ice, and as I concentrated they formed into legs. If I focused, I could move. Memories from my past life poured into the new form, and it developed claws, feathers, antlers and teeth. I roared into the sky, and the moon caught my roar and echoed it. I was Bjorn Eskildsen. Now, my name is Vinterdyret. I would find what I had lost, and the Ashvine would pay.
I had been fighting the vinebound for what felt like a few hours, but was likely only a couple of minutes. There numbers had by far exceeded my ability to count them. Some of them hadn't been killed, only rendered helpless by the arrows' poison, making them slump against the tree roots and vine hammocks they were using as bridges. Another arrow found its mark, just below the collarbone. The vinebound stumbled and fell into the water. They had started shouting at me, pleading with me to stop. "You're one of us! Why can't you just let us out?" I gritted my teeth. They aren't human anymore. They couldn't be trusted. Just like the rest of the damn Forest, they were another trap. "Have you seen my son? Where's Howie? What have you done with him? My daughter too?" This was coming from a middle-aged man with black hair. No, not a man. From a vinebound. The kids' father? My blood ran cold. I wouldn't allow that. I pulled out another arrow and aimed at the vinebound's head. There was only a small patch of water left between us and the incoming horde. It was an easy shot. I closed my eyes and let the arrow fly. I heard the thunk as the arrow found home, and the splash as the body fell into the pools of the Flooded Forest. That was one trap that wouldn't claim any more victims. And so it had been going. It was pathetic, like spearing a grounded seal. The vinebound weren't even trying to avoid my arrows, and the only thing that slowed them down was the water. Its sizzled and popped as they fell in. The vines connecting them didn't like the water itself. I could see them writhing as their host dragged the connected umbilical deeper into the depths. The lucky ones got snatched up by one of the Flooded Forest's many aquatic denizens. The rest thrashed and screamed as water killed off both the parasite and the host. And still they came. "Bjorn? Why did you stay?" I looked back. The Salamander was watching the oncoming assault. "A better question is, why aren't you trying to defend yourself? You're so much more powerful than this. I've seen you incinerate hordes of enemies during the Month of Madness, and fight back monsters that make the earth shake with each step. Why are you just letting them approach?" I let another arrow go. One more vinebound was put to rest. The final bridge was forming, with the smoldering vine wrapping around itself. I knew better than to try to knock it off our platform of roots. If that vine touched me, I'd become just another walking corpse. "In a way, I was hoping something like this would happen. I can't hurt the Ashvine, but I can absorb its fire. Everything here is my smoke. It's all nearly fireproof. Everything except the guardians. But the Ashvine wasn't ever a guardian. It wasn't intended to become a monster. It was the background. It's resistant to the fire that created it, just like the rest of the greenery here." The Salamander paused. "I can stop it, but I need to let it reach me." I turned back towards the Salamander. It was looking past me, at the attackers. "What will happen once you absorb the fire? Will they go back to normal?" It shook its head. "I don't know. This is the first time I've tried it." It lowered its head into the ash. "But... I know that fire. It's the same spark that Zephnos stole. You created it by accident didn't you? When you killed him?" There wasn't even a hint of accusation in the Salamander's voice, just a deep mourning. I knew that mourning. It was the same grief of a parent for its child. Or a husband for his wife. I lowered my bow and walked over the Salamander. Its eyes followed mine as I sat down next to it. Behind me, the wailing of the vinebound army continued. I glanced back and saw the bridge was nearly complete. Some of the vines were beginning to inch into the Campgrounds, and the vinebound themselves were taking their first steps onto the bridge. We had lost. You never had a chance to begin with. How could you fight back a Cinder? You don't have any powers, like she does. You don't have Cicero's artifacts. You don't have the Salamander's fire. You're just human. I gritted my teeth. The one time I decided not to run from a fight, the one time it really mattered... I couldn't have won anyway. I stared into the Salamander's eyes. I knew it saw what I'd done. My past. Her death. My regrets. And I could see that it had accepted its fate. To Hel with that. "Forgive me." I thrust my hand into the purple fire, grasping at a glowing ember. I NEED FUEL. I heard the voice pounding in my head. Each syllable was like a hammer blow to my skull, over and over. You don't need fuel. You need direction. Just like me. But I can give you that direction. I AM THE PRIMORDIAL FLAME, THE STORIED FIRE, THE BURNER OF MEMORIES, THE CRADLE OF GODS. I AM THE SALAMANDER FLAME. WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO COMMAND ME? Through the pain, I let out a raucous laugh. I was vaguely aware of the Salamander shouting something at me. I am Bjorn Eskildsen, and I protect the Salamander. The flame had reached my face now. I was vaguely aware of the pelts burning away. I tore them off and cast them aside. The Salamander was still shouting at me. I couldn't hear it over the omnipresent voice in my head. AND WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE? I fight the Ashvine. I fix my mistake. YOU WOULD USE ME AS A TOOL? The fire flared around me, and the heat redoubled. YOU WOULD USE ME TO FIX YOUR MISTAKE? TO FURTHER YOUR OWN SELFISH IDEALS? The hammer blows were now complemented with nails. If it wasn't mad before, it was now. You need a purpose, and I need to save the Salamander. I am offering my body to you. Take it, or die. The fire faltered immediately. It understood something in what I had said. VERY WELL. And the fire went out. The pain did not. My skin began to peel away. No, not my skin... my very being. I was being flayed by an invisible razor, parts of me drifting away and burning up. Finally, I heard what the Salamander was yelling. "It cannot be trusted! It will take everything from you!" I looked at my hands. The skin was unraveling from them, exposing the ligaments and muscles and veins beneath. It was a gruesome display of power. Purple fire pulsed in my blood, and it was consuming from the inside out. I could feel a warm coldness, like the sea breeze in the morning. The same sensation that confirms you're still alive. What was left of my face focused on the Salamander. "This is my decision to make, not yours." I stumbled, falling to the ground. My stump legs were disintegrating, and I could see the bloodless truncations of my arms. "You always seemed so lonely." I reached towards the Salamander. It didn't move, just staring, wordlessly. I was able to see it. HOW was I able to see it? My eyes were gone, lost to the fire. Wait... where was the fire? I looked down, and saw my body, slumped on the ground, now just an amputated torso. I could move. The pain was still there, but it was deadened. The chill that I'd felt before had amplified. Now it felt like the frostbite I'd had before the captain took me in. Ergi. Within me, I could feel the fire, but something had happened to it. It burned, but I didn't know what it burned. The voice that had echoed in my head was no longer present, but a passion was there. It wanted to move. I turned my incorporeal gaze towards the Ashvine assault. And moved. My new body drifted across the Ashvine bridge, back and forth, mimicking the movements of the snowflakes I remembered from my youth. I was just a small flurry, but so is every new storm. As I moved, the fire in the Ashvine recoiled. The vines curled away from me, trying to stay away from the freezing flame. My invisible arms reached out and wrapped the bridge in a spiral of ice. The water of the Flooded Forest began to freeze. It reminded me of my... what did it remind me of? The fire abandoned the vine, but was sucked towards my incorporeal fire. A shard of ice began to grow, defying to the gravity that laid claim to it. It was so beautiful... Just like the crystals she and I went looking for in the cave. Who was she? There was something important. Something I wasn't remembering. "Who is she?!" Cold air exploded from the center of my clouded being, and my arms reached towards the fleeing vinebound. They must know. They had to know. But as my arms touched their bodies, the fire that was animating them fled on its own, leaving them to slump, with patches of frost growing on their clothes. Snow began to fall, and the waters of the Flooded Forest ceased to be water, and became only ice. "Tell me who she is! I NEED TO KNOW!" I moved faster. In the center of my being, the fire blazed within the chunk of ice at my heart. I was no longer a flurry, but a blizzard. I charged out across the Forest, hunting down the vinebound. It had to know. It wouldn't be running if it didn't know. It had taken her from me. "YOU'LL NEVER ESCAPE ME!" My voice was the howling of all of the storms I had ever experienced. Deep inside, I could heard my own voice, sheathed in the power of the squall. Farther and farther I followed the vine into the Forest. The flooded sections were left behind. "YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM A WINTER STORM." Finally I was able to catch one of the vines. It froze instantly, and fire flowed into my own. I pulled and pulled as memories came with it. The vine withered as more of its animating presence was absorbed. But it wasn't enough. None of these memories had what I wanted! I still didn't know WHO SHE WAS. I tried to move, but the crystal around the fire had become too large to float. It had dropped to the ground. Frost spread around it. I howled with the intensity of a whirling hurricane, and the world around me responded only with frigid silence. Stumps began to form from the heart of ice, and as I concentrated they formed into legs. If I focused, I could move. Memories from my past life poured into the new form, and it developed claws, feathers, antlers and teeth. I roared into the sky, and the moon caught my roar and echoed it. I was Bjorn Eskildsen. Now, my name is Vinterdyret. I would find what I had lost, and the Ashvine would pay.
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