Chapter 11

The fall was not as fatal as one would have thought from looking down in the dark. Next to the rock shelf was steep but not sheer which meant a hard landing and a wild tumble down the slope. Unfortunately it was rocky and rough to the point that each impact felt like a dozen thick, dull knives were jabbing into flesh. Ag rolled briefly before leaving the ground, the moment of weightlessness lasted only as long as the roll before he hit the ground and repeated the process.

His blade had pulled free and he clutched it to himself in a death grip, maybe not the wisest thing as a bad impact might jam it into him but he wasn’t thinking that clearly. He heard the others falling, rolling and impacting around him, their grunts and yells drowned out by the intermittent chitters and screams of the monster they had fallen with. At some point it must have hit a larger rock and gone diagonally from them as the sounds faded somewhat before their final hard impact with the ground.

Ag hit a rock and was sure he’d at least bruised his ribs as the breath was knocked out of him. He heard two wet splats as the others landed in the mire that was the valley floor. When he’d managed to gasp enough air into his lungs to stop panicking, Ag hauled himself to his feet. As he did his booted foot slipped off the rock and into the stinking mud that surrounded him.

He looked around, too dazed to really understand what he was seeing. Someone called his name, or he thought he heard that, he wasn’t sure. “Aguerus!” The shout and someone shaking him snapped his mind free of the haze and his gaze snapped onto Marus.

The man was already splattered with black mud and the wild look in his eyes told him the danger was far from over and the man was hurting from the fall. “I’m here.” He managed to stammer out.

He made to push Marus’s arms away but the man pulled them back. “Careful with that.” He snapped and Ag realized he was still holding his weapon.

“Sorry, sorry.” He muttered, then, more clearly. “Where’s Martine?”

They both looked around and for the first time took in their surroundings. Stretching before them was a sea of mud and pools of brackish water. A few skeletons of trees jutted out of the mire and a heavy fog seemed to shroud the area. A patch of mud shifted and they both rushed over to find Martine struggling to pull himself free. They each hooked an arm and hauled him to his feet, giving him a shake to dislodge some of the mud.

“You madman.” Ag said with a faltering laugh. “What in the hells were you thinking jumping at that monster like that?”

“I wasn’t.” The younger man replied, wiping mud from his eyes. “Thinking that is. It just seemed like the right thing to do.”

Marus gave him a pat on the back. “Badly planned but bravely executed.” He said then they all took a moment to catch their breath.

A deep, clicking call rose up a few dozen yards to their left and it was answered from deeper in the fog shrouded bog. “Looks like the big one isn’t dead yet.” Ag growled.

“That means we need to make ourselves scarce while we can.” Marus chimed in. “If I’m remembering right, that sewer entrance is close to the path we were taking.”

“I don’t know if you noticed but that thing is between us and it.” Ag replied.

“So we’ll give him a wide berth.” Marus snapped. “Whether we have to go through him or not I’m not waiting down here for a pack of stone skins to rip me limb from limb.”

“A fair point.” Ag conceded. “Are you well enough to walk?” This was directed at Martine who nodded shakily.

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They let him go and set off at a squelching trot through the mud. They did their best to be quiet but the mud and pools of still water seemed bent on giving away their position. As they moved into the fog shrouded bag a smell greeted them of rotten flesh and festering pools. Ag nearly gagged as it hit, almost overwhelming in its potency. They slogged on, doggedly making their way towards where they hoped their salvation lay.

Without realizing when it had happened, they became aware that all sound had ceased, the chorus of chitters and clicks that had surrounded them had faded to nothing. They froze, the sound of them pulling their feet from the sucking mud suddenly loud in their ears with nothing to hide it. Ag’s grip on his weapon tightened, his eyes scanning the swirling mist that surrounded them. What was a stone skin stalking them and what was the fog drifting as hard to tell. Though there was no sound, Ag was sure something was waiting, just beyond their field of view, it was just a question of whether or not it knew they were there.

Martine, stupid, well meaning boy that he was, took a step. The sucking sound of his boot coming free of the mud and the splat as it landed again seemed deafening. For the barest moment there was nothing, no retaliation, no call, and Ag thought they might have just avoided death. The pause was nothing more than breath before a stone skin lept from the fog and tackled Martine to the ground. Ag was on it in a second, his blade punching through its throat, cutting off the wet, clicking scream it let loose in Martine’s face. The creature gagged as its too red blood spilling out onto Martine.

Ag had only just begun to haul the boy to his feet when another hit him in the side. He went sprawling, the creature's claws digging into his arm as they slipped to the side in the mud. Momentum carried them to a rotting tree that nearly gave way as they hit it. Ag got his right arm free and stabbed the thing in the side. It answered by clawing at the leather over his mail, scoring grooves in the mud covered armor. He pushed it away before coming to one knee and with a mighty swing taking the things head off.

Another had jumped out, its snapping jaws held back by Marus’s knife in its mouth. He jabbed it again and again in the stomach before cutting its throat. Others were chittering all around them, a chorus that had gone silent just long enough to find its prey.

“Move!” Marus bellowed. “We need to find that sewer!”

Neither Ag nor Martine needed to be told twice. In a moment they were off, slipping and sliding and sinking in the mud. Shapes moved all around them, hunters closing in on their prey. Another stone skin lept out but it was ill timed. Ag slipped, falling to one knee and it missed him, only carving a small groove on the side of his face. A mightier call echoed out, spurring them to run even faster.

The cliff wall was coming into view, at least it looked like it and Ag pushed harder. A yell from behind made him spin on his heel. Martine had been grabbed, a stone skin buried to its chest in the black mud had latched onto his leg and was pulling him closer. Ag ran back, not thinking about what was the smart decision and behind him he heard Marus turn as well.

A massive shape emerged from the fog, its large foot stamping down on the head of the stone skin in the mud. The huge stone skin from the cliff had arrived and it reached down and plucked Martine from the mud before sinking its teeth into his shoulder. The boy yelled in pain but his right arm was free and he was conscious enough to pull his belt knife and began stabbing at the things neck. It roared in anger, dropping him just as Ag came sliding in, his blade cutting through the back of its knee.

The creature's leg gave out and it fell to one knee. Marus came flying in, somehow finding enough grip to jump at the monster, his knife sinking into its eye. Another roar sounded and it flung Marus off its face. Ag ducked as the man went flying by but didn’t slow his charge. It reached for him, too quick for anything that size but Ag had been trained by the wilds. He sidestepped the grab and cut three fingers from the meaty hand before speeding down the length of its arm to stab it in the armpit.

Hot red blood gushed out, making the already slick mud even worse. The monster fell onto its back, throwing Ag off but Martine was there to finish it. The boy came out of nowhere, his still bloody knife in hand. He went for the throat once more, punching the knife in one side before bracing against the things head and pulling. From one end of the monster's throat to the other was split and spurts and waves of blood fountained out. The thing tried to scream but all that escaped was a gurgle as its life blood drained from it.

It spasmed, its body losing control of itself. Arms flailed out wildly, its legs kicked before it finally went still. Marus squelched up beside Ag, one side of his face covered in mud.

“The sewer is over there.” He said into the silence. “I nearly got thrown in.”

Ag nodded but didn't move. “Are you alright Martine?”

The boy nodded, holding his shoulder. “I’ll be fine, let’s just get to that damn sewer.”

With that they were off, the calls of the smaller stone skin echoing behind them the whole way there.