The Count of Castle Rock

Chapter XXXIV- Home of The Free Dancers

"To arms!" Captain Carlos shouts, grabbing a saber from the equipment littered ground.

Leesa grabs a hatchet from the ground and the knife she'd kept in her hidden sheath. Hans stands beside her, speechless as the monster sucks dry the trampled guardsman with two pulls. She shoves the hatchet into his hands and moves in front of him.

"Stay behind me," she says. She's forced to back up when the blue giant steps in front of her. "Okay, we'll stay behind him."

At Lieutenant Juanita's orders, the guardsmen create a circle around the feeding monstrosity. Its dark purple segments bunch together and relax as it looks from side to side. It moves forward, crushing what remained of its dead victim and the line widens. No one is eager to be the creature's next meal.

"Steady," Captain Carlos calls. Raising his saber high.

The Pharaoh Leech turns on him, shrieking as its hood opens once more. From her angle Leesa can see its slimy folds peel back to reveal scores of blade-like teeth, the largest one is hollow and still stained with blood. It lunges forward, faster than something its size deserves to be, and Carlos dodges aside. At the same time, Luis steps in and hacks downward with his ax. The creature cries out and recoils, slime and blood spraying everywhere.

"Now!" Juanita shouts, striking at the monster's rear.

Guards rush in, hacking and slashing. Most of their sword blows glance harmlessly off of the creature's slimy exterior, but those with axes bite deep. It makes another attempt at Carlos, swiping its tail end across the ground. Two guards go down, but the captain manages to stay out of range.

Olivia creeps over to Leesa and the others, shy like a stray puppy. She watches them from the partial cover of a tree. Leesa wants to be mad at the half-elf for all of the mayhem she causes, but she'd overheard what she'd said to Hans. It broke some of the ice around her heart that had formed in regard to the strange woman. Leesa gestures for Olivia to come join them and, while the guards chop away like firewood at the dying monster, she helps the mad half-elf secure the cloak around herself.

With the enormous leech slain, the expedition focuses on getting the guardswoman out of the tree, tending to their myriad of wounds sustained by the fall, and gathering their scattered belongings. Juanita and Luis tend to the dead guards. One man's stomach cavity crawls with viper worm larvae. He was lucky to have died from the impact of his fall. The guard killed by the pharaoh leech resembles an ashen husk, his skin already drying from the lack of moisture.

Leesa can't bear to look at them, remembering their smiling and singing faces just the night before.

"I'm sorry," Olivia whispers. "I play rough, but I never mean to kill anyone. I didn't mean to kill anyone, Red- I mean Leesa."

"I don't think anyone blames you." Leesa takes her hand, unsure why. "We know it was an accident."

Two holes are dug and the guards are lowered into the earth. Captain Carlos speaks a prayer to Trayvon, Protector of the Gods, and Leviathan, Great God of the Crossing, then dirt is piled on top. They're returned to the earth and whatever afterlife awaits them. The damned go to The Breadmaker's ovens where torment is never ending and all others go to The Swan's Domain.

Leesa sheds tears for men she never got to know while the expedition brakes camp. Flies and ants lay claim to the corpse of the pharaoh leech before they set off. The morning heat is already building and they still have some distance to cover before they reach the hunter's encampment.

The sixth day in the Felah Forest is the hottest thus far. Food isn't an issue, as they've brought an ample supply, but water proves to be a close thing. Captain Carlos sets Luis to the task of finding a water source. Luis and the guardswoman from the tree, Alice, set out with all the extra canteens and waterskins. To conserve water and energy, Carlos halts the expedition's march in an area providing shade and a light but consistent breeze.