He chuckled as he imagined her waking up and see that he was gone. It wouldn’t even be the first time. It was too dark to really search for clues but if he knew her at all, she would be too upset to think that trough.

He had walked away as soon as LaFleche fell asleep. And at the darkest hours of the night, he climbed in a tree and dozed off. He woke up again at dawn.

There was this nagging feeling that the lost family would be where he wanted to go the least. Near the swamps.

‘No use in avoiding that one,’ he said aloud. He had this habit of speaking aloud for years, he kind of missed it since he found Garvin. It’s like he reconnected to a friend of old.

‘Now, a family got lost, which is weird because you’d follow the paved road. This means they were taken. Now, by humans or something else? Humans would steal and not kill without a reason. That leaves the monsters. What do you find around swamps?’ he asked aloud.

‘No idea please tell me,’ he answered himself.

‘Well, Garvin I will tell you right away. Stuff that you don’t wanna know about!’

‘Oh thank you for not telling me, my hero. Now I can live at ease!’

‘No worries, friend.’

He stopped talking, walking and breathing. Did he just say friend? Garvin really was his protege, right? Except for the time he saved his life, he acted like one.

Yet there was this feeling that nagged while he thought about him. Why was he really sticking around? What did he really want? But that wasn’t what bothered him.

‘Garvin is a little boy who believes in fantasies, like he believes his parents are cabbage merchants, ha!’ he said aloud. He bowed his head down and continued in silence.

‘Shit, you know what really bothers me about you?’ a squirrel didn’t wait for the answer. It jumped across the branches high above his head, minding his own business.

He smirked and continued in silence. Never finishing what he meant to say.

By the time he arrived at the end of the forest, the sun was at his highest. Whatever attacked the people must have come from the swamps. He just knew. He remembered the times he had hunted for crick crabs to make soup out of them. It was a weird thought that most of the people saw this desolate place as one of the black taints of Ar’Moor. For him it was home. Even after all those year that he didn’t smell the stench or saw the sad, grey landscape. Somewhere was his house, the one he still dreamed of even now. A lot had changed since he ran away. And a lot more had changed coming back.

‘No time for this bullshit! Buckle up, dude!’ He scanned the water and continued travelling deeper and deeper into the muck. What nobody really knew was that some of these pools were actually filled tunnels. He remembered asking his mom about the place after he almost drowned in one. She said that rocks had fallen from the sky and had pierced the soft ground. He never asked more. But now it came in useful. But what creature would lurk in the water and be strong enough to dispatch a whole family, miles away? Something just didn’t make sense yet. The answer was there, just outside his reach. A simple question he did not ask himself yet.

‘What do you think, Garvin?’ he said. ‘Eh, I don’t know, I didn’t read about monsters that lived underwater, except for the kraken.’ Somehow doing this felt quite relaxing.

‘Nobody cares about the books you read, dude.’

He coughed, it was hard to do Garvin’s high pitched voice for more than two words.

‘You know what bothers me about you, dude?’ the fact that you do care!’ unwittingly he had yelled these words. He sighed. ‘You care, buddy, you bloody care.’

Screw this quest, he thought. LaFleche could win this for all he cared. It was time for him to go back. He slowly made his way back, when he noticed her in the distance. It reminded him when he was doing the same thing, though less agile. He waited and watched for a moment, smiling as he saw her loose her balance. The trick of the swamp really was experience, spending enough time to notice the patterns and know how to move about. He started to move towards her, waiting for her to notice. But she didn’t she was concentrated at what happened right in front of her.

That’s when he saw her turn around. And then, in the blink of an eye, an enormous shadowbeast emerged, by far the largest he’d ever seen. The sun reflected of its sickeningly pale skin. Immediately the Dragonslayer blocked his ears and ran forward. From far away it was the most ridiculous charge anyone had ever seen, but it might keep him alive.

He saw the woman crawl away as the beast lunged out of the water and landed on top of her. It stabbed her with a sharp leg. He could see thick, red blood squirt out like a fountain. It almost made him gag. The Dragonslayer rushed forth, jumping over the smaller ponds and wading trough others that seemed shallow enough. He was closing in, but would he arrive on time to make a difference? He slipped and fell, but he kept his eyes at LaFleche as he janked his leg from the mud and got up. She screamed as a slaughtered pig whilst the shadowbeast pierced her shoulder. He covered his ears again and moved forwards.

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‘Hold on!’ he yelled. He saw the shimmer of a blade and the beast stammered back for a moment. His four legs moving back gave him the chills. But there was no place for thoughts or feeligns. The Dragonslayer unsheathed his sword and closed the last yards.

‘Back!’ LaFleche yelled while waving the knife like a drunkard.

The beast brought an arm up as one would throw a spear. In a moment it would bash its arm trough her chest. The Dragonslayer pushed himself to his limits. He ran and jumped, and slashed the beast right in his joint. The monster screamed, and fell trough one leg. He didn’t wait for it to get back up. With all his might he sliced the shadowbeast again at its joint. The monster began to tilt backwards, the Dragonslayer pushed his sword in its stomach, the weakest spot.

He screamed as he pushed the sword deeper inside. The shadowbeast screamed and kicked him in the gut. By the sheer brute force he flew backwards and landed heavy on his back.

Without a sword he ran back towards the beast. LaFleche was bleeding heavily. This startled him.

‘No,’ he just uttered. How could one loose so much blood? That’s when he noticed the knife still in her hand.

He charged forward and grabbed it from her wear hand. Her eyes stared at him without any focus, he tried to smile. The shadowbeast moved around in utter chaotic movement of four independent legs. It screeched again and regained his posture. The monster got low, ready for a final jump. He got low. With terrible speed it charged towards them. The sharp legs bore through the mud. The Dragonslayer could see two black eyes stare at him, becoming larger and larger. Then he threw the knife. It turned and turned. For all he cared, the knife turned endlessly around, like the wheel of fortune waiting to decide his fate. Then, the next moment it bore itself trough the eyes of the beast.

With the momentum it had created it didn’t even stop after it’s brain was turned into jelly. The shadowbeast bashed against his chest and he toppled. One second he was in midair, pouring out all the air he had inside, the next he hit the water. He tried to move but the weight of the monster dragged him down. Deeper and deeper he fell into utter darkness. With a loud thud he hit the bottom. The last bit of air escaped his mouth. He swallowed the brown water and coughed. He started to kick his legs. His head started to feel light. He kicked again. And again. A weight fell off his chest. He pushed himself upward and clawed away at the water. His heart was pounding slower and slower.

Mom, look I found two crick crabs! What do I do now?

Now, you wake up. Boy! Wake up!

He came above water. Mud dripped into his mouth as he gasped for air.

He coughed and coughed. With the very last bit of his strength he held on to some roots. He tried to pull himself up but couldn’t. He coughed and panted for a long time. When he noticed a tiny red steam. He followed it to the source. LaFleche was lying there, torn open. But in a way, serene.

‘No!’ he yelled. ‘No!’

A scream so deeply felt It made his chest vibrate. He almost lost conscience again.

The Dragonslayer was too broken to continue. ‘Aigle.. I am.. I’m.. I’m sorry!’

He was finally able to pull himself up, as much as his clothes pulled him down. He crawled out of the water and passed out.

One day I will be as great as those! He said waving with a book in his hands.

You think you can? You think the world needs you?

But mom, I want to be like them.

How about me? You never think about what I want. I need you too.

Yes mother.

Give me the book.

But..

Boy!

Yes, mom.

The only people that need you are the ones that cant give. You need people that give and take, like I do. Now give-

‘You’re wrong,’ he groaned.

He got up and stared defeated at LaFleche. He grabbed her by the legs and dragged her lifeless body trough the marshes.

‘It used to be you who pulled me out of the shit, remember? Those were the days.’

He dragged her all the way out of the swamp, as night fell. He was cold and clam and a soft wind blew. Yet he did not falter. Once he was by the forest, he placed her as good as he could. It got too dark to see so he made a simple fire. He crossed his legs and waited for the night to end.

When daylight appeared once more, he gathered stones and flowers in the nearby woods. He covered her body as good as he could. In one of her pockets he found widowbranch. He gobbed it down, exhausted as he was.

‘I eh, know you love flowers so I thought why not bring ‘em. They smell funny, by the way. Like you smell funny. I always enjoyed our banter, and I admit you’re better than me. In every possible way. Have a nice sleep and kind dreams, LaFleche.

The only thing he didn’t know was what to do with her bow. Eventually he placed it at the foot of the stony grave.

He walked away and looked back after every step. Yet he never stopped walking.