These Old Bones

12-1

12

Part of the roof had caved in, covering Brorzjav and Tiera with wooden tiles, and almost the entire front of the cabin had collapsed. Pushing the debris from his body, Brorzjav yowled in pain as he looked across towards Tiera. A piece of wood from the front wall, or the door, or the roof, almost a foot long, poked out from his leg. Grasping it, he jerked it free and that caused even more pain, but the wound didn't bleed as much as he feared. It hadn't embedded itself in anything dangerous.

Tiera lifted herself up, another cut to her face on the other side of her head, but otherwise unhurt. Brorzjav saw Notch to the side and grabbed his faithful companion, feeling confident again with it in his hand. Hobbling to his feet, he headed for the front of the cabin, now a collapsed hole, held up only by its rotted wooden nails. He needed to find Viriili. He pushed several joists aside as he made his way outside and saw the girl laid upon the ground, the body of the creature that attacked them laying half in, half out of the swamp waters.

As he neared the girl, he saw the tendrils, or vines, of the creature stir.

"Grey! It's not dead!" Tiera had seen the movement, also, and she raced to his side, brandishing her sword, ready to continue the battle.

He set his jaw and moved forward, placing himself between Viriili and the monstrous creature that even now began to stir. He couldn't see anything upon the creature's body that he could call 'eyes', but he felt a sense that, however it saw things, it now looked at him. Notch felt good in his hands. This was a good way for him to die, fighting a great foe, in defence of the helpless. A good death that he didn't deserve, but deserving something had little to do with gaining it.

The creature lurched, rearing up before him, and he caught a look at it. Seeming made from a collection of vines all twisting and mixing together, knotting and writhing, the creature continued to rise, looming above him, showing him how small and pitiful he was.

Something sped past him. A blinding flash of orange and red, embedding itself into the creature and a strange, keening, screeching sound emerged from its maw. Then another and another flashed over him and past the other side of him. Arrows. Flaming arrows, thudding into the creature's body, causing it to thrash and screech. Still more arrows flew from beyond his eyesight, hitting the creature in several places, setting it afire. With one last screech, the creature thrashed in wild abandon, and then began to slither away, back into the swamp waters. As more arrows flew towards it, the thing disappeared beneath the waters, its tendrils curling up and following the beast beneath the water, leaving only ripples upon the surface.

Brorzjav didn't bother to look to their saviours, instead dropping to his knees beside Viriili, checking her pulse and her breathing. As before, the emergence of her 'invisible hand' had exhausted her, but she lived and she breathed and that was all that mattered.

"You are brave to face the Marsh Beast without fire as an ally." A voice, distorted and muffled, spoke to him from behind. "And strong to have held Gruck-Ngull off as long as you did."

"To have known we held the thing off for so long, you must've watched for just as long." Brorzjav still did not turn, lifting Viriili's head onto his lap, holding her while she recovered from her exertion. "Why attack it at all if you didn't think it worth saving our lives in the first place?"

"Because of her." A pair of legs, wearing tough, thick leather, of a kind he had not seen before, appeared at the corner of his eye. A spear lowered, passing in front of his face, pointing at Viriili. "That girl has power."

He looked up at the newcomer, then over his shoulder to see Tiera stood with several strange looking humanoids pointing spears at her. She didn't seem concerned, but had dropped her sword to the ground before her.