Chapter 12

Answers

"Why am I coming along for this? I gave you the directions you so kindly asked for." Peppir pouted as she followed behind Ferjis. The Lion had been silent for the past few minutes as they passed through the forest. It was a relatively dense forest, as most of the runoff from the Rapture Mountains made its way into the soil. That's not to mention the tropical storms that the Drench Gulf would produce every other day.

"Because you might be wrong. Then we'll need more suggestions." Ferjis finally spoke, looking over his shoulder briskly. His eyes were tantalizing, as much as she hated to admit it. But he was still much too brutish for her liking. The kind of man that thinks all flowers give the same impression when gifted. And they most certainly did not.

"I could be back at the tavern thinking up many brilliant suggestions! Dredging through a wet, itchy forest isn't helping me think, I can tell you that." Peppir flicked off a pine needle resting on her shoulder.

"Not a fan of nature, I take it?" Ferjis smiled behind his helmet. Having spent an entire season out in the forest of Glydin, he had grown accustomed to it. Most forests all held the same beat, playing the same rhythm. It all came down to sound, opening your ears and isolating each and every twitch of nature, creature or not.

"Not a fan of things that can kill me." Peppir rebuked

"Oh, please. This is probably the safest forest in Everdale." The Lion ignored the fact that a few moments ago he could've sworn he'd seen a massive green blur dash through the forest. He knew better than to trust his eyes completely. It wasn't uncommon for one's brain to play tricks on them, especially at night.

"It's funny you should say that, considering I know it's not. Pebbleroot is known for strange anomalies, and unexplainable creatures. It's been written about for hundreds of years."

"And let me guess, you've read everything there is about it?"

"Yes! And I'd appreciate not being made to feel ridiculous about it. Do you want my expertise or not?" Peppir caught up to the Lion, pushing her shoulder into his arm. She frowned when he didn't even so much as budge.

"Of course. I'm just trying to figure out how you have all that time to read so many books. I mean, don't you have a job?" Ferjis saw one of the cabins come into view, though just barely as there didn't seem to be any light coming from it.

"Well, I read faster than the average person. Much faster. And my job is quite literally to tell people things they want to hear. It's not like I live here, I travel all around Hyvak." Peppir froze as she noticed the cabin as well. And more notably, how the door was wide open. Ferjis must've caught that detail at the same time, as he quickly reached out and pulled them both down behind a shrub.

Peppir didn't need to be told to keep quiet. A loud shuffling noise could be made from inside it, with the occasional thump. It sounded as if something heavy was moving around in there, something that barely even fit the cabin itself.

The mylian looked to Peppir for comfort, but was disappointed to see his eyes equally wide in surprise.

"What the hell is in there?" Peppir hissed quietly, earning a twitch from the Lion who immediately shook his head.

"A bear, perhaps. The fool left their door open."

"Maybe it just barged in..." Peppir squeaked.

"We'd better hope not. They wanted her alive." The Lion frowned, before slowly rising from his hiding spot. Peppir hesitated, but after looking behind her into the ever growing darkness of the forest, she quickly followed. They could only hope the darkness provided them with an advantage as they stepped closer into the open.

The wind whipped the trees wrapped around the cabin, shaking them violently and sending leaves scattering over the roof. The low sound of guttural gargling could be heard spilling out of the cabin. Before they knew it, they were standing at the entrance, only a glimmer of light leaking inside.

But a flash of lightning revealed something in the farthest reach of the cabin. Standing just by the fireplace, was a massive green beast. Like an alligator the size of a bear, only just as slender and much more humanoid in shape. Still, its body consumed the empty space of the room, its back almost pressing against the ceiling. Clutched in its hands was a young man. His lower half had been pulled free from his torso, his innards stringing about and hanging from the mouth of the creature.

Though Ferjis was blinded with fear and confusion, Peppir knew instantly what it was that stood before them. A creature that should no longer exist. The remnants of a war that had long since ended. A Jorinian. One of the savage beasts of the Green War. And all that Peppir could manage to say before the creature laid eyes on them was:

"They dug down…" Ferjis twisted on his heels and grabbed Peppir by her waist. In one swift motion he threw her over his shoulder and began sprinting into the forest. The beast tossed the body to the ground as it whipped its head to the side. Shoving both of its massive claws into the floorboards, it throttled itself forward so hard it blew through the door frame, tearing it out of the wall with it.

Ferjis could hear the footfalls of the Jorinian as it barreled its way toward them. A primal fear arose in his chest, and his legs began to move faster than they ever had. He wasn't sure how he was moving as swiftly as he was in his heavy armor, but he was thankful for the unforeseen agility nonetheless.

Peppir, on the other hand, watched in terror as the beast ran on all fours through the forest behind them. Its claws struck angrily at any branch getting in its way, tearing bushes apart as it glided through them. At one point its shoulder collided with a tree, but the creature seemed to push into it and tear its roots out from the ground, knocking the tree to the side. It was then that Peppir finally allowed herself to scream.

"It's close!" She yelped before being thrown forward and into a collection of bushes. Ferjis grinded his feet into the ground as he twisted on his axis, tearing his claymore out from his sheathe. The Jorinian hadn't been expecting it, and was still maintaining its speed. Winding back, the Lion released a mighty swing just as the Jorinian reached out its claws in a forward leap.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The sword connected with the neck of the Jorinian, but instead of decapitating it, it simply sent the lizard spiraling off course and into a tree. Sure enough, there was a massive gash along its neck, and it profusely began to bleed. But Ferjis couldn't help but blink in shock, having been confident it would've cleaved the creature's head clean off.

Reaching to its neck, it grabbed its wound, blood pooling between its scaly fingers. And with an almost human expression, it looked to Ferjis with an aura of betrayal and hatred. Hissing loudly, it coughed up a ball of blood before scampering off into the forest still gripping its open cut. Ordinarily Ferjis would've believed the creature would bleed out in only a few minutes, but his expectations had no doubt been shaken.

"What the hell was that?" Ferjis spat as he threw his helmet down beside his feet. His head and face were wet, and the cloth beneath damp. Peppir struggled but eventually dug herself out of the bushes, pulling leaves out of her hair.

"Do you seriously not know what that was?" Peppir said shakily, stepping closer to the Lion than she ever had so far. Ferjis only looked at the younger lady and shook his head, still trying to catch his breath from his sprint. Not to mention, his wrists felt as if they'd shattered when impacting the Jorinian. It was by no means a smart move attacking as he had against something so massive. He was surprised it hadn't torn his arms off. More so he was confused on how he managed to send the thing flying. Where had this untethered strength and speed come from?

"That was a Green Beast. A real Jorinian. One of the Scaled Servants!"

"Yes, many names, I'm aware. But what the hell was it doing here?" Ferjis coughed, his lungs suddenly feeling as though they would explode, or collapse. Perhaps both at once.

"They're beginning to dig their way back up." Peppir blinked, walking carefully over to where the Jorinian had fallen. Blood sprinkled the grass and tree. It was a deeper red than most blood, and the sight of it made her nauseous. But she didn't know when she'd have a chance like this again, and quickly began to jot something down in her journal.

"We…we don't have time for this. We need to go back and search the cabin." Ferjis urged, picking his helmet back up.

"Are you kidding me? Ferjis, this is a one of a kind discovery here! We might be one of the first people to have found…and possibly have killed a Jorinian in over two hundred years!" Peppir looked back at the Lion, but he seemed entirely uninterested, and more so worried. Perhaps she should have been more worried too, but she also knew if a Jorinian wanted to keep fighting it would have. Throughout all of recorded history of the Green War, there was one common factor among the Jorinian. Fight until death, or run away. But never did one run off just to come back only a few moments later. It simply wasn't in their blood.

"Do you want to outlive your usefulness?" Ferjis grew stern, the implications of what he'd said hitting Peppir like an arrow. She opened her mouth to speak, but slowly closed it. Huffing to herself she stood back up, brushing the grass off her knees. It seemed the Lion realized what he'd said, and his expression grew soft, almost remorseful.

"I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's fine. Let's get back to that cabin." Peppir interjected before pushing past the Lion and toward the direction they'd come from. Whispering curses to himself, Ferjis suddenly found himself following her instead.

"I'm guessing this isn't your Raynn Mirthorn?" Peppir stood by the door, but didn't dare look inside. She'd already had her fill of gore today. Stepping carefully inside, Ferjis examined the body after lighting a candle.

"No. It's the runt we sent to capture her. From the looks of it, he was already dead. There's several knife wounds in his side and he's already pale as marble." Stepping back, he looked around the room more. A scene began to playout in his head as he studied the blood splatters.

"Looks like our target is a bit more dangerous than we thought. Though she's still rather inexperienced. I'd even wager this was her first real fight..." Ferjis muttered as he ran his fingers along the blood that slathered a table. "It doesn't look like she suffered any wounds. At least, she wasn't bleeding."

"How can you possibly tell the difference?" Peppir quirked, daring to look inside but quickly pulling her head back around.

"Elves bleed brighter blood, almost an orange." The answer became obvious to her as he said it, and she couldn't help but feel silly. Sighing to herself, she tried her best to keep under the protruding roof and out of the rain.

"So what do we do with this information, exactly?"

"Well, I think she was carried off. There are tracks but her horses and carriage are still here." Ferjis stepped outside, the sound of rain hitting his armor reverberating in his head.

"Could've just been from another time she left, dork." Peppir rolled her eyes.

"Maybe. But the wheels are different, look." Ferjis pointed to the tracks further down the road, and then to the ones leading to the stable. One of them was a good bit wider. Peppir hated being wrong, but had learned to accept when she was.

"I suppose it's as simple as following those tracks then?" She wondered, looking at the road that was almost completely obscured by trees dropping over. Branches laid shattered about from carriages riding through them.

"At least until we hit a busy road." Ferjis shrugged, before taking off down the path. The mylian was growing tired, and wet, and was beginning to wonder how she'd ended up in this mess to begin with. But the cryys jingling around in her satchel was a good reminder. And though the event had been terrifying, seeing a Jorinian in person was certainly worth the trouble. But of course, the sight of one brought upon a whole new wave of problems, and questions.

"Where's your buddy Thalam?" Peppir inquired as she jotted beside him. They hadn't seen the boy since they'd left the docks. The younger lion had been at a dead sprint toward the forest when they'd left, one could only guess how far along he'd gotten.

"Off doing his job, if he's smart. But eventually he'll find out he doesn't have the right cabins and wander back to the ship. Probably rather disappointed too." Ferjis had watched Thalam grow as a soldier, and a Lion. He was full of spirit and vigor, but lacked an aura of common sense. Something that would no doubt get him killed if he didn't put a muzzle on it.

"What if that Jorinian finds him?" The question brought them both to a standstill. But Ferjis simply shook his head before continuing onward.

"It's off licking its wounds, I doubt it's looking to pick another fight."

"They will if they feel threatened enough." Peppir noted.

"Thalam is many things, threatening is not one of them." Ferjis scoffed, batting away a half broken branch.

"Think maybe we should go find him then? If this Raynn is slaughtering messengers we might need the help." Peppir looked behind her, still anxious of the off chance that the Jorinian wanted its revenge sooner rather than later.

"Like I said, she's no killer. She fought for her life, admirably, albeit. But the bastard wasn't supposed to attack her to begin with. He was supposed to corral her onto the boat." Ferjis scowled behind his helm. He, and Taravar, had been rather skeptical of using the messenger that Jevsarra had provided. But she insisted that after having caught him herself, he was the perfect tool to bait her into her grasp. It seemed the two Lions should've gone with their gut.

"How do you know she didn't attack first then?" Peppir added.

"Are you going to continue to question my every judgment? Have I done that to you so far? If I say she didn't attack first, she didn't." The obvious frustration made Peppir toss her hands to the air and shrug.

"I'm just saying! You've never met her. I happen to know she did take a little bit of sword practice according to records. As most noble family children do, including the daughters. At least in Torchill." Her studying had almost always brought her around to the topic of Torchill. It had been the center point for some of the most important events the world had ever seen. Some positive, but most negative.

“I’ve been training my entire life. This girl would not best me if it came to that.” Ferjis dismissed before falling silent once again. This time, she let the silence be, and simply walked behind him. She couldn’t help but twitch at the noises springing up around them though.