A Mirage Of Milk And Honey

Chapter 7 - The Rotten Fruits of Labour

The creature was large; taller than two men, it towered above the ground as it bounded through the snow filled woods. Its hind legs were short whereas its front ones were long as it sprinted after Aedis on all fours, its body covered in dark fur. It came at him with ape-like movements, smashing its fists into the frozen earth and kicking up snow.

The creature's head was but a deer skull, eyes hollow and dead but Honey could see its gaze focused on its target.

"Aedis!" Honey yelled helplessly as the creature reached a giant, clawed hand towards the general.

Before it managed to swipe at him, however, Aedis had vanished into thin air.

"Wh– What?" Honey whispered breathlessly, scanning the surroundings.

Just as soon as he'd vanished, Aedis was reappearing behind the creature, a cristeel blade in hand. He swiped it at the creature's heel, cutting the tendon and leaving it to collapse in the snow.

The Myf let out a disturbing gurgling noise, before turning to swipe at its assailant.

The impact of the Myfs fist sent Aedis flying, his body slamming into one of the birch trees and disturbing the layers of snow that rested on its branches.

Honey covered her mouth at the sight of the limp body in the snow.

The Myf crawled towards Aedis, its hind leg dragging dirty brown—almost black—blood through the snow. As it reached a giant hand towards him, Aedis struck it once more, his sword slicing effortlessly through the beast's wrists, leaving its hand to hang limp. The strength behind the blow left bone and sinew exposed.

The creature let out another pained growl, reaching an arm above its head, preparing to slam it down on Aedis.

Before the creature could land the blow, Quartz began moving.

Honey startled, tearing her eyes from the fight to see one of Twelf Post's guards grasping her horse's reins and directing her through the gates, urgency setting his eyes ablaze. She could hear shouting distantly, voices yelling orders, the clanking of armour as people ran, but it all sounded muddled and confusing, and Honey's mind was focused on the fight outside.

The rest had already dismounted their horses, and stood in the courtyard. As soon as Honey passed the threshold of the fort, the large oak door and iron grate were being lowered once more.

"Wait!" Honey yelled, "What about Aedis!"

"I'm here." A voice rasped. Honey once again spun round, stumbling off her horse at the sight of Aedis.

His cloak was missing, leaving him in a black long sleeved top which did little to stave off the chill. His cheek was battered and bruised, a drop of deep red blood at the corner of his mouth.

"Are you alright?!" She exclaimed, awkwardly stopping before him.

Aedis let out a chuff like laugh, "You've very little faith in me, it seems." He said, but his humour didn't match the grim expression on his face as his chest rose and fell.

"You took longer than expected." Zemira said, "You're getting old."

"Ha ha," Aedis replied sarcastically, wincing at the light punch Zemira placed on his arm. "I'll have you know, it was very difficult to capture its attention."

Chip frowned, "That's strange..." he said, sharing a look with Zemira, who's eyes suddenly widened.

"Wait a minute!" She then yelled, loud enough to catch the attention of all in the courtyard. Everyone froze at her outburst, eyes darting around in panic. She glared at one footsoldier, a comical frown on her face, "You!" She said, pointing a finger at him.