Sand & Stone

Chapter 12: The Night

"No comment."

-Vice Principate Yan when asked about taking Empire bribes

I eyed the City and the lake warily as I sat beside Brutus, he was still unconscious. It had been a couple hours but no sand-walker had shown up, the ones in the City were afraid of the one in the Lake and the one in the Lake... Gods what was that?

When I closed my eyes I could still feel its beady eyestalk taking me in scanning me over. I shook my head checking on Brutus once more, leaning my head over his face, he was still breathing. I had managed to take off his helmet with great effort, the thing must have weighed as much as a fully grown pig, underneath that same grizzled face had met me, ugly, like a bad experiment. He had blood dripping from his ears and mouth and his breathing had been ragged earlier but it seemed better now. Already his crumpled chest-piece was slowly regaining its shape, I just hoped his body was too. It even seemed as if the purple veins I had seen before were fading but it might have been the lighting.

Nonetheless, he wasn't awake yet. So I sat back waiting, there was nothing I could do for now but wait, it made me feel powerless to be without the tools I had grown to use, people, soldiers, rumors... Chunnly. My face scrunched up as I remembered that bastard Reji and the Empire agent Anna. Had the Empire finally finished their westward expansion? Had they solidified their rule over conquered nations and were turning their every hungry gaze East? It was hard to know, the City didn't have much in terms of foreign spies, all intrigue was used within the City to see what bastard Merchant was out to kill you and maybe which one you could get away with killing. And that sly dog Reji had decided the entire City was worth selling, if only he could be King for a moment, but in the end I couldn't blame him. It was generation after generation of the City eating itself alive that had made this generation of Merchants, of Kings and Queens, the City was filled with rot.

I sighed, rubbing my face. We needed to get out of here.

I heard a shuffle and felt my heart begin to thump but let out a relieved breath when I saw it was only Brutus stirring. Brutus groaned, his eyes fluttering open, they were bloodshot. He tried to sit up, but immediately fell back against the ground, wincing in pain. I quickly reached down to help him, but he waved me away.

"No," he muttered, still trying to find the strength to sit up. "Just... just give me a second."

I stood back and watched as he slowly sat up, his body shaking with effort. When he finally made it upright, he let out a long sigh of relief. He turned to look at me, and I could see the confusion in his eyes.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice still hoarse from nearly being turned into Brutus jelly.

"The sand-walkers all ran away after that thing came out of the water, they haven't come back." I said.

Brutus nodded slowly, his mind going through an influx of emotions as he began to remember the events prior, he reached down feeling the dented armor of his chest-piece wincing slightly at the action.

"That armor you have, it's fixing itself. It's incredible." I said and Brutus snorted, "It has its drawbacks." He reached out, grabbing his helmet, slipping it on then struggling to his feet. "You don't want to rest?" I asked.

"There's no time," he said while trying out walking. It seems he found it acceptable because he motioned for me to follow. I was preparing for a harsh march like Brutus had put me through getting here, but I found it was easy to keep up. Brutus was walking slower, each step heavy. "You sure you're alright?" I asked. He only grunted in reply.