Lex rolled over and saw the sun high in his window. Before he could roll back over, his eyes snapped open; the sun was too high. Tom expected him at the forge an hour ago. A faint covering of lilac dust covered the bottom of his window. It dimmed the light before it reached him. That must have been why he hadn’t awoken. Then he smelled a sweet scent like figs.
Fully awake, he rolled off the bed, and scrambled to cover his face. He recognized the smell. If he was unlucky the invader had already spread its hallucinating dust all over his blanket. In a few minutes he wouldn’t be in his right mind.
He raised his head putting his eyes on the invader. A whirlpool was stylized on butterfly wings. He was lucky to be alive. Dizzy butterflies spread a hallucinating pollen when it fluttered its purple wings. Their dust smelled sickly sweet, but it took a large dose to induce hallucinations. One shouldn’t have been able to cover his window in dust.
He was late. That thought didn’t make him feel better as he scooted his naked ass over rough wood flooring. Lex edged towards an intricate spider web in the corner of his room. Glancing up he saw three of such butterflies struggling in Babette’s web. The running death spider had been busy. It worked frantically binding each of the deadly butterflies in place before moving on to the next one.
Lex caught his breath for a second. He’d found Babette two years ago after a fishing trip. She’d snuck into his bag. He had been terrified. One bite from her and he’d be driven run until his heart burst. Worse he’d reached into his bag several times before returning home. If she had wanted to bite him, she could have. Since then, she made herself at home in the corner of his room. The normal tricks to make a spider leave hadn’t worked on her and he didn’t have the heart to squish her. Since then, she has eaten many of the biting insects that snuck in a door opened.
A groan escaped his lips as he struggled to his feet. He held his breath and crossed the room. In a mighty clap the dizzy butterfly squished in his hands. The dust needed to be breathed in to make him hallucinate. But where there is one fully grown dizzy butterflies there was sure to be more. His whole house might soon be infested with them. Tonight, he’d search out their cocoons and get rid of them.
Babette lowered herself from the safety of her web to land on his head. If people had gods, then Babette had her ritual. She crawled a circle around his head a few times before returning to her web. It was something of a ritual she did. Ever since it had begun the worst of the hunting spiders, he’d once worried about, left him alone. One less worry out in Yellow Blood Swamp was a godsend.
He ran out the door and hoped Babette would hunt down any caterpillars in the house. Lex would have to check around his room for traces of the cocoons. He hoped he didn’t have an infestation on his hands. The last infested house had to be burned to the ground.
Lex found his club in his kitchen. The club was a long-knotted limb of willow wrapped with tanned swamp cow hide. It was heavy and a blow from it could make a gator give up the fight. He carried it with him always.
After a quick meal of dried fruits and salted nuts, he ran out the door.
At fourteen he lived alone in the house left to him by his mother. Six years ago she vanished and only he remembered her, to the villagers he’d always lived alone.
He left for Tom’s forge and locked the door. Once the old metal gate closed behind him, he broke into a sprint.
In just half an hour of jogging, he made it to Tom’s forge.
Tom made a show of being the gruff blacksmith with his crossed arms and silent glare. None of the intimidation was lost even though Tom stood about 10cm shorter than Lex. Surely the man made up for it with bulk and attitude. His once red beard had turned grey early and like most men had shaved his head. Most of the time the man wore a heavy leather apron. Tom broke the silence when a hint of humor appeared in his eyes. “Maybe Anna should court Trent’s boy instead. A carpenter can always provide shelter.” Tom said with a smile.
Lex reviewed his options and went on the attack. “Ent couldn’t build a bird house with help from the Seraphs. Trent won’t suffer his son to work with him. That should tell you something.” Lex said and felt rather pleased with himself. He delivered an insult implied proof and sent his potential father-in-law into the defensive. Then a thought occurred to him. Why was Ent Tom’s next choice? “Why didn’t you mention Robert? He’s a successful carpenter and closer to Anna’s age.”
Tom frowned and shook his head. “Damn, I hoped you’d found out already. Robert is dead. He was found this morning in his bed.” Tom said.
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The words felt like a blow to his chest. Robert was a cheerful older boy who loved fishing and his craft. He was sweet on Anna before the Emily. Robert had built stables for Emily’s father as part of the dowry. “We were close before Robert’s trade took all his time. How is Anna taking the news?” Lex asked.
“She hasn’t left her room since she heard. We live in a dangerous land. Any number of Yellow Blood Swamps horrors could kill a man. But Robert’s death was sudden. There are no wounds. Do you remember Michael the coroner?” Tom asked.
Brief memories of a happily drunken man who loved to tell detailed stories at the ale house came to mind. It was hard to connect the smiling happy drunk to the bloody work of Faithful’s coroner. Lex had been surprised when the man mellowed out one night and told Lex of his profession. “I know who you’re talking about. Michael didn’t like to talk about his profession so, I didn’t ask. What did his investigation say?” Lex asked.
“He said it looked like a heart attack.” Tom said and Lex waited for more details, but none were forthcoming.
“That’s too blunt for Michael. Robert is only two years older than Anna and I. He’d investigate the cause of the heart attack.” Lex said.
“I asked and he just repeated that the cause of death was heart attack. He seemed distracted.” Tom shook his head. “Enough gossiping we have work to do. We have plows to straighten nails to cast. Start pumping the bellows. If you do a good job, I’ll let you help me straighten one of the plows.” Tom said.
After a hard day of helping Tom work the forge and beating a plow straight for the first time, he was dirty and exhausted. He took a bucket from their well and cleaned himself. Lex turned to see Anna sneaking up on him. She grinned knowing she’d been caught and dropped the hem of her dress.
She smiled and brushed a strand sun kissed red hair behind her ear. Her green eyes crinkled until they appeared slit like a cat and promising mischief. The freckles on her face made her even more beautiful. “Are dizzy butterflies really infesting your house or did you oversleep?”
“I wouldn’t say infested but there was one above my bed. There could be others in the house or cocoons hidden somewhere.” Lex said.
A frown marred her face. “I had hoped you were lying. It was such a beautiful house too.” Anna said.
“Its sounds like you only like me for my house.” Lex said.
Anna smiled and fluttered her eyelashes. “No, I also like the gate and stables also.” Anna said.
“I see how it is. Well would you like to take one last look of it before I burn it to the ground?” Lex said.
“I should talk to my father about finding a new apprentice. Marrying a homeless man would be scandalous maybe Ent. Surely he’d make a better blacksmith than carpenter.” Anna said.
“You might as well marry me now. Ent will make you homeless soon enough.” Lex said. It was mean spirited, and he knew it. Ent wasn’t a bad guy, but he wasn’t great with his hands. Most everything built by Ent needed to be redone by his father Trent.
The smile left her face and Lex could feel somberness radiate from her. She bit at her lip as she did when dealing with something difficult to say or math problems. Tom either hadn’t told her Lex already knew or she wanted to say it anyway. Either way she struggled with it.
“Did father tell you about Robert? Before he died, he told me that Emily went missing. Her father didn’t report it. What’s going on with our village?” Anna asked.
Lex’s eyes widened and his mind whirled with scattered thoughts. They seemed to spin in his head around a central point. A lack of details. People weren’t talking and that wasn’t normal. When yellow fleas killed six cows it was the talk of the town. Garlic was quickly added to the cow’s diet and it hadn’t been a problem since. People went missing in the swamp all the time but not residents of their village. If an alchemist had come, nosed around in the swamp, and disappeared no one would bat an eye. Emily should know the dangers. “Maybe it’s a new parasite. You should stay away from blood and boil the water before you drink it. Don’t eat anything raw either.” Lex said.
“I don’t think its something from the swamp. Robert said he saw Emily after she disappeared.” Anna said.
Lex didn’t know what to say to that. It was abnormal but he’s heard stories of parasites that manipulated their hosts. Sometimes there wasn’t much to do other than go to The Rock their town ale house and share tales of the swamp.
The more he thought about it the more confident that it was a parasite. How did it infect the host? If they could find the entry point, they could close it off. “I don’t know if it matters or not.” Lex said.
He felt something touch his foot and stared down. A yellow worm crawled over his toe grasping at his nail. Lex pulled his foot back flinging the worm off of him. On reflex he stomped it into the hard cobblestone. It smeared warm and sticky against his callused foot.
“I’ve never seen a worm like that. Is it from deeper in the swamp?” Anna asked.
Lex debated telling her he’d never seen its like either. Its bright poisonous yellow coloring and how it pulled at his toenail was strange. Yellow Blood Swamp had held many strange creatures. But that coloring wouldn’t help it blend into the almost yellow almost green swamp water. He didn’t like this at all. “Stay away from those things too if you can.”
She stepped closer and bumped into him. “Don’t worry I’ve lived here my whole life too. You aren’t the only expert on the swamp’s horrors.” Anna said.
He turned to the orange sunset. “It’ll be dark soon. You should go back inside.” Lex said.
“You should stay, it isn’t safe at night even in the village. I’ll convince father.” Anna said.
Lex shook his head. As much as he wanted to stay with her, he had an infestation to clean out. Babette couldn’t handle it alone. How could he have known this would be the last time he’d see her alive? Looking back the signs were there but could Lex in his youth have saved them. Perhaps, he had been too distracted to see the events of the day for what they were. The pieces were there, if he had only known what the puzzle made.