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Champion & Harbinger
Act 2 Chapter 21

Act 2 Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

“It’s not possible…”

Those were the first words Brooke had spoken all day, elicited from the scene playing out on the distant horizon. Birdie turned to her in surprise, briefly catching Ventas’s eye as the two looked at the girl between them.

“How can they be following us?” She cried, “We are inside the border!”

“I don’t know.” Birdie lied, dropping her circled hands and releasing the spell of distant sight. Even without the magic she could see traces of them in the distance, and Birdie felt nostalgic fear churning within her as she fought to keep a deceitful brave face.

About a mile and a half northwest from where they stood, a small plum of dust rose like a snake into the sky where it coiled too and fro, tossed by the commotion of its creators and burnished by the same heavy winds that sent Birdie’s hair dancing on end.

Clear as day. They were the symptoms of another pack of mageaters headed their way, unfettered by fatigue and against all odds, within the confines of divine domain. Birdie felt like she was going to be sick as she stood transfixed by the sight. In her mind’s eye she saw a similar fictitious scene from the past, and allowed it to flow in sequence through her head. Had her mother seen this ten years ago when monsters stormed their city? Birdie was too young to remember and too distracted to see the signs of destruction that immediately followed the fall of Coastlund’s divine boundary, but seeing the plume made her wonder if her people had the same warning she saw now. Did they see a kicked up tower of dust rising beyond the horizon, tall enough to dwarf the Champion Keep’s spire? In a moment of sick recollection, she wondered whether or not anyone recognized it for what it was back then… perhaps if they had, someone might have had time to run…

“That’s it. We have got to go back!” Brooke cried, breaking Birdie out of her chasm of thought.

“Listen Brooke-”

“No Birdie! You listen! I promised Ammi that I would protect you and this is me keeping that promise- we are going back. I understand that you made a deal with the divine but this is taking it too far! We need to go home!”

Birdie looked around Brooke to Ventas, trying to meet his eyes and elicit some help, but he was still watching the horizon, and there was trouble in his face. He wore a thin band of leather around his head, with an eye-patch pulled up over his right brow. He’d fashioned it in the night, saying it would make aiming at the monsters easier. Besides that explanation, he too had been strangely quiet all morning, although Birdie tasted magic enough to know that Epictus was talking up a storm. She should have been grateful to be spared the divine’s rambling, but something about the look on Ventas’s face, and the way she kept catching him looking at her, made Birdie think that the two were talking about her…

“Brooke is right,” Ventas said suddenly. “We need to turn back.”

Birdie gawked in betrayal, “And just give up?”

“That’s not what I-”

“Birdie! Please!” Brooke interrupted, “Listen to him! It’s not worth dying over! And I can’t keep going like this- I am running out of power. Once I can’t help you fight, it’s only a matter of time before we run out of luck. You’re no use to the divine dead! We can’t keep having days like yesterday- if the mageaters don’t get to you exhaustion will!”

“We can’t just abandon Gabriel!” Birdie shouted in frustration. Hot tears pricked in corner of her eyes and she scowled to keep them down.

“If we don’t do this, his divine is going to use him to destroy us all! We. Cannot. go back!”

“Listen to Ventas for a moment would you?” Epictus whined in her ear.

“What?” She snapped, rounding on the hunter who still stood transfixed by the distant dust plume.

He sighed.

“The divine and I were talking last night… If we head south from here, we will reach the boundary in about four hours. Another three through the wilds will take us to the edge of his domain where we will be safe.”

Birdie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“So that's it, is it? You want us to give up?” She asked defiantly to the air around them, spreading her arms wide. “You send us out here only to call us back!”

“I want you to leave Brooke with me.” Epictus supplied.

She stopped and considered, feeling her pride fizzle away at the divine’s offer to take her from them. Traveling with two would be quicker. She and Ventas would have to split the responsibilities, but with less people, it would be harder for the mageaters to find them. And, she admitted to herself, leaving Brooke would mean cutting down their friction. But losing an entire day to backtracking? That would hurt. And what would Brooke think?

Birdie sighed in defeat.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

“Finally!” Brooke snatched her pack from the ground and began hiking off to the south with more purpose than she’d had the entire week.

Birdie shared a significant look with Ventas before the two fell into step behind her. She wouldn’t tell Brooke they were leaving her. That would be the divine’s job once they were back under his jurisdiction. Until then, the least they could do was move on without any more complaints to slow them down. Birdie decided that living with the guilt of abandoning the girl would be much easier than trying to live with the guilt of losing her to the wilds.

Despite the strange relief that came with their secret mission, Birdie soon found that more than just guilty tension and a pack of monsters stood to impede their progress.

The heavy wind that kicked up the mageater’s dust wasn’t just sweeping aimlessly about the hilly planes without purpose anymore. They hadn’t been moving for more than an hour before a dark shadow pulled across the sun with a bank of towering clouds. High in the sky before them, Birdie could see streaks of darkness where distant rainfall pelted under the thunder-head’s foot, and met the seam of the horizon like a blur of water color. It was frighteningly beautiful, and reminded her of the storms that pulled in from the sea back in Coastlund. With it came the rich smell of wet dust that wafted on every gust of wind, so heavily saturated that Birdie wondered if it was going to stick to her clothes. If it wasn’t precursing a vicious storm, she would have enjoyed the scent, as it was strong enough to overpower the bitter taste of magic that always hung around whenever Epictus spoke.

“I hope that’s not coming for us…” Ventas piped up from the back of their marching order, his hair tousled from the incessant and earthy wind that hit them full force where they hiked along the ridge.

“Hmmm…. It’s not looking good. I give it an hour tops before you’re in the thick of it.”

Epictus was right. Before they knew it, the three of them were bent double as they pressed against the wind, and cold precipitation began to slam down upon them in icy sheets that seemed to soak through every layer. Birdie’s feet quickly became caked in sticky mud, and each step felt like a slog as they fought against the storm. The strength of the summer heat succumbed to the strange cold storm, and soon their determined trek south seemed to grind to a crawling pace/

“You three need to find shelter!”

After an hour of toil, Epictus rang in her ear, barely audible over the rip of the wind and splash of rain.

“The worst of those clouds hasn’t even reached you yet!”

“But what about the mageaters?” Ventas shouted from beside her, slipping gently in the sloping mess of mud, “We can’t see their dust trail anymore, if we stop we might get caught!”

“They will hide away in their holes until this lets up!”

“Then shouldn’t we try to get ahead of them?” Birdie called.

“Pointless! Traveling in this mess might be just as dangerous!”

At that moment, Birdie placed her foot on a clump of earth that gave way beneath her. If not for Brook’s quick reaction, she would have slid down the hill in a stream of mud and liquid earth. That was enough to convince her that the divine was right.

Once again, they turned east, doing their best to keep the wind at their backs as they fought to outrun the building storm in search of some sort of shelter. They suffered on for almost two hours under the rain before they finally gave up and sat huddled together under Ventas’s big green cloak at the crest of a hill, their shoulders pressed together as they sat side by side in silence and waited while the relentless beat of the rain pushed them close to misery.

This was a disaster. Birdie couldn’t help but feel wholly responsible for the entirety of their suffering, and she did her best not to look at the stricken faces of her travel companions. Brook was sniffing loudly from beside her, and shivering so hard Birdie worried she would shake her skin off. The poor girl somehow looked worse than before. Her eyes and nose were red from the cold and exertion, and her typically thick and coily hair sat plastered to her face and stuck out in odd messiness from rain and sweat. Ventas was equally soaked, and he still had that far away look in his eyes that he’s had since the mageater attack the day before. All three of them were caked in mud from the thigh down, and Birdie was pretty sure that everything in her pack was probably waterlogged by now. They were exhausted, filthy, wounded in Ventas’s case, and drowning in the weather. Some leader she had turned out to be. In a moment of desperate pessimism, Birdie wondered if Ventas would decide to stay behind in Epictus’s woods as well, and leave her to find the northern divine alone… She wouldn’t blame him if he chose to stay. But she was surprised to find herself worried about losing him as a companion. She didn’t need him by any means, but she imagined herself shivering alone on this hill, and the thought made her want to cry.

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Maybe Brooke is right. Maybe Epictus bet on the wrong girl. She thought bitterly as she shivered.

“Hey!”

Birdie jumped, looking up from her lap and squinting out into the downpour passed streaks of rain and cloud.

“Hey!”

Ventas stiffened, “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah.” Birdie nodded, pulling her head out from under Ventas’s cloak as her heart began to flutter nervously.

“Is it more monsters?” Brooke asked from under the cover.

Birdie sat forward on her knees and scanned the hillside, searching for the source of the voice, wondering if she was going mad. Or maybe the mageaters could speak…

The thought was almost enough to bring her to surrender right then and there. But before she could join Brooke in hysteria, Ventas grabbed her shoulder and pointed eastward down the hill.

Standing at the base of a fissure grove was a tall figure wrapped in a long green cloak. Birdie blinked and rubbed the rain from her eyes. The person was carrying a bow and a small game sack over his shoulder, and his face was indiscernible under the shadow of his hood, but he was definitely looking up at them.

“By the divines,” Epictus whispered in her mind. “It’s a man!”

“Put your eye covering down!” She warned Ventas, realizing that friend or foe- nothing would react well to seeing his weird mismatched eye popping in and out of existence should the divine choose to speak.

He pulled it low, and then did a double take.

“It’s a Hunter!” Ventas exclaimed in relief.

“A Hunter?” Brooke asked in surprise, getting to her feet to join them. “All the way out here?”

“I’m sure of it, look at his cloak! Hey!” He waved his arms in greeting, but Birdie grabbed him before he could take off down the hill.

“We don’t know that!” She rebuked, “It could be a trick!”

“A trick? Birdie mageaters can’t use magic, they just eat it.”

“Remember what Epictus said?” She hissed at him so Brooke couldn’t hear.

“The divine here can’t be trusted! There is no way he doesn’t know we are here- he might be trying to trick us! Or it might be Gabriel! He still has one of your Hunters with him…”

“She’s right,” The divine warned, “Be wary…”

“Hey! Come here!”

She and Ventas turned to see the hunter beckoning them down in a frantic gesture. He looked like he was ready to flee, and he kept glancing over his shoulders in a twitchy, paranoid way.

“Look at his hand,” Ventas whispered, “The hunter Gabriel took has the complexion of a cloud. This is someone different.”

“You’re going to trust a total stranger?” She shot back.

“If it gets us out of the rain and away from the mageaters then I’ll take the bait.”

Ventas shook her hand away and turned to go, with Brooke close behind him. Birdie groaned in frustration, wiping the streams of rain from either side of her nose before she gave in and followed, determined not to let them get into trouble without her.

The three of them began the treacherous descent towards the man, but it proved difficult as the sloppy hillside was practically running with mud and ready to give out underneath them.

“Careful!” The hunter called from below.

Birdie reached the bottom first, and she splashed down in the small stream that had formed in the crevice between hills and looked to the stranger in suspicion. Up close she could see that he wasn’t a clever illusion or the missing Hunter from the City of Trees. He was a tall and well built elf with skin and eyes the same shade of rich brown. If Birdie hadn’t known any better, she might have thought he was some distant relation to Shields, as the two’s similarities extended beyond their skin tone. He too had a stubbly shadow of facial hair, sprinkled with gray and black. Streaks of white sprouted from his temples, and the crease between his brow was disturbingly reminiscent of the face of her head Champion. He was an elf, but he had the tired look of a human, and it threw Birdie for a loop as she stood in suspicious scrutiny.

Ventas was helping to steady Brooke when the two splashed down next to her and reminded her that she needed to be on alert. Her hand went cautiously towards the hilt of her sword as Ventas stepped around her and regarded the hunter with a face of relief. But when he opened his mouth to speak, the man walked straight passed the two of them to Brooke. Birdie realized that Ventas hadn’t taken his cloak from her, and Brooke didn’t have time to react before the stranger took her green hood in his hand and pulled it back, revealing soaked curls and her rounded human ears sticking out through the curtains of hair.

“Hey!” Brooke complained. She went to brush his hand away but the man sprang back. Birdie’s grip tightened on her sword as the hunter retreaded away and drew his bow, aiming an arrow directly at the Champion.

“Hey!” Brooke jumped back and held her hands up defensively, “Put the bow down!”

“Who are you!” He shouted, keeping his arrow trained steadily on Brooke.

“We’re just passing through!” Birdie explained, raising her own hands and looking at Ventas with a scowl.

“Her ears- Is she a Champion?” He asked, jerking his head towards Brooke.

“I am! But I mean you no harm!” She squeaked.

Birdie tasted a sharp tick of magic, and realized that Brooke must have been gathering power into her hands as she stood in placating desperation. Birdie did the same, doing her best to keep from over-doing it as her panic rose.

“Then why do you wear the Hunter’s cloak?” the stranger asked.

“It’s mine!” Ventas rushed forward, pulling the long green cloak from the girl and wrapping it around himself.

“She was just using it- I’m the Hunter!”

He put himself between Brooke and the stranger.

“My name is Ventas! This is Birdie, she’s an elf too. And Brooke is a Champion but she is our companion. Please, lower your weapon! We are just travelers!”

The hunter considered them for a moment, still aiming his arrow at Brooke through Ventas.

“Why would a Hunter, a Champion, and an elf decide to leave the safety of their domain, and enter ours at great risk to themselves?”

“Uh-” Ventas shot Birdie a look, but her mind was racing just as his was. What was their excuse? They hadn’t thought about coming up with a cover story for their journey.

In a desperate move of amicability, Ventas raised his right hand to his covered eye and bowed forward in a low respectful Hunter’s salute. He remained prostrate, speaking loudly over the splashing of the relentless rain.

“Please! We have been traveling for days! There are monsters on our tail and we could use your help finding shelter! We are not here to stay!”

The man didn’t budge, but looked between the three of them helplessly. Birdie thought he looked a lot like a cornered animal, and she could tell by the way that he was inching backwards that he was just as terrified as they were.

“Birdie, tell him Ventas is an untouchable!” Epictus whispered quickly in her mind.

“He’s an untouchable!” Birdie shouted, her heart pounding as she struggled to get the words out fast enough.

“His uncle is the Grand Hunter back in our city, and we are traveling under his command! Please lower your weapon!”

The seconds ticked by in excruciating slowness, and none of the four dared to move. Ventas remained bowed, but Birdie watched his fingers curl into a fist as they waited for the stranger to judge their story.

The man shifted uncomfortably as his dark eyes flicked between Ventas, Brook and Birdie’s desperate drenched faces. After what seemed like forever, he released the tension on his bow and stowed his arrow, the look of worry replaced by begrudging suspicion. Brooke let out an audible sigh of relief, and the strong taste of magic faded from Birdie's mouth.

“You’re untouchable?”

“Yes.” Ventas confirmed, standing upright as he finished fastening the tie of his cloak around his neck.

“Who is your lineage through?”

“My mother. She is descended from a member of the ancient Tribe of the Wood. Our blessed relic has an inscription depicting the gods of the forests.”

“Hmm…” The Hunter’s stare was still suspicious, but Birdie detected a little less hostility as he considered Ventas.

“Well, even if you are untouchable, your companion certainly is not. If you mean to survive the night, then you need to follow me, Hunter. It is not safe here for anyone.”

“The rain isn’t bothering us.” Birdie said defensively, desperate to take control of the situation. “And we are not spending the night here. We are trying to make it to the border. A little rain doesn’t bother us.”

“The rain was not what I was referring to, girl.” the Hunter argued patiently.

“The mageaters will be here in moments- and worse things will follow them. Unless you wish to be destroyed, you need to hide.”

“But we are inside your divine’s boundary! The mageaters can’t follow us!” Brooke asked hopelessly. The Hunter eyed her in suspicion, but favored her with an answer anyways.

“I do not know what protections your demon affords his subjects, but out here we fend for ourselves. The mageaters in the boundary will not stop due to weather or distance. They will follow you until you drop, and pick you off in your sleep. But if you follow me I can take you somewhere safe. But she,”

He pointed a finger at Brooke, whose face ran pale.

“She must be blindfolded.”

“What!?” Brooke looked desperately at Birdie, but she ignored her wide-eyed pleading and instead squinted at the Hunter.

“Why?”

“Because Champions are the reason this land is not safe in the first place, and we will not risk her divulging our location.”

“But I’m not one of your divine’s Champions! I’m good!” Brooke squeaked, and Birdie tasted another waft of magic as the girl began summoning power. She fought the impulse to do the same. What was going on here? The more this stranger spoke, the stranger the situation became.

“What demon you serve makes no difference to us.” He stated in stone-cold defiance, “Take our offer or leave it, but choose quickly. We must leave before the beasts reach us, and that will only take a matter of minutes.”

“Birdie…” She turned to see Ventas staring at her, his one visible eye drawn in silent persuasion, as if pressuring her to consider the truths that only the two of them knew.

“What is the harm in accepting their help?” He whispered, “We need to get out of this weather, and we are in no shape to fight another hoard.”

“But Brooke-”

“We will protect her. But we can’t do that out here in this rain.”

Birdie felt almost more frantic now than she did facing the mageaters. There were too many variables, but Ventas was right. What choice did they have? They were in unfamiliar land, being chased by enemies that defied every rule they were supposed to be bound under.

“Fine. We will go with you.” She relented, much to the horror of Brooke.

“Good.” The stranger nodded, stringing his bow over his shoulder and pulling his hood back up over his head.

“Follow me. My companion will lead the Champion, and if we move swiftly we should not need to fight the beasts.”

“Companion? What companion?” Birdie didn’t finish her question before a splash echoed behind them, making her jump. She whirled around to see a second figure standing upstream behind them. Another Hunter. This one also wore the green cloak, but his face was mostly covered by a dark wrapped scarf, and he apparently hadn’t dispelled enough suspicion to lower his weapon, because he held his bow at the ready, one draw and release away from dropping Brooke where she stood.

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