Bile

Brut

He would always admire his father, the ruthless warrior who wielded a two-handed sword as if it were a mere feather. And for him, it might have been. He danced with it, and every swing sent a carcass from the light of the world. At that moment, he seemed invincible. He simply jumped from one monster to another, slashing and roaring with sweeping gestures. And then, then, then he died, and the remaining carcasses fell upon Brut. They tore his flesh from his body, disfigured his face, and had it not been for a few swings of the saber, he would have met his father and angels on the other side of the heavenly gates. Instead, he met an angel on earth. In Brut's blood-and-bile-clouded vision, her face shone with concern for his life. At that moment, he fell in love, at that moment he found the strength to continue walking in this world even without his father, without his mother, without anyone. He needed only her. Kati.

"We're really far from Fiedestala," Motremo moved his lips. Like every evening of their journey, they sat by the fire and discussed the direction of their expedition. Only Stela and Kati with Otrem were missing. "We must be close now. Probably even near the site of last year's comet impact."

"What's with the comet," Farengas muttered under his breath.

"What's with the comet? Everything, absolutely everything, because only an idiot wouldn't connect a stone falling from the sky with the carcasses."

"That's weird," Farengas picked up a twig beside the fire and began poking the smoldering embers, "really, because I'm not an idiot."

"At least you're playing one."

"Heh, maybe," Farengas laughed, and everyone around the fire fell silent and looked down, except for Brut, who stood up and grabbed his father's sword. He wanted to look for Kati, as he had finally decided to shed the burden that weighed on him and find out if Kati had any feelings for him.

"Where are you going, boy?" Motremo's voice suddenly stopped him.

"Just taking a walk," he blurted out.

"Maybe you should stay here. The carcasses might—well, not might, the carcasses are close."

"We haven't seen any for two weeks," he countered, "I'm just going to see where the others went. Nothing more." With these words, Motremo's face hardened almost as much as Speechy's and he shook his head.

"What's happening?" Brut didn't understand.

"You should stay here."

"Let him go," Farengas interjected, "let him see the world as it really is."

"You be quiet," Motremo turned to the mercenary, which Brut immediately took advantage of and disappeared into the nearest bushes. He still heard the voices of his companions for a while before he got out of their hearing range and made his way through the thick bushes and forest in complete silence. Before they dismantled the campsite, he had briefly talked with Kati. She had said she wanted to climb a nearby hill and rest for a while by watching the stars. He intended to join her, so he headed in the direction where he remembered the hill being.

For the first few minutes, he thought he was lost. In the dark, every tree and bush looked the same, and he kept tripping over roots, but he adjusted and slowed his pace. Soon, to his delight, he began to climb steeply, so he could be sure he was on Kati's trail. However, he still had a few hundred meters of difficult terrain ahead before he reached the top, where he, out of breath and with sore calves, looked around. What he saw, he hadn't expected even in his wildest dreams. The forested terrain stretched with the ancient road they had traveled for the past two weeks, and in the distance beyond another hill, a penetrating green glow shone. There was no doubt, he saw the source of the carcasses, the original place from where they spread through the endless northern forests to Fiedestala. Right to the clearing where his father had died and where he had met Kati. And as if the thought had summoned her. Kati's scream came from the other side of the hill.

Brut didn't wait or rather his legs didn't wait and ran towards his beloved through the tall bushes and grass. Kati's scream did not cease; it intensified and grew louder, and Brut's pace quickened. He wanted so desperately to arrive in time, so desperately to save her, so desperately wanted their lips to meet in a kiss, and then, and then, and then the rocky clearing opened before him, where he saw her, Kati. She was sitting with her bare chest exposed to the sky, her hands resting on a rock beneath her and something else— the night was pierced by a male voice, Otrem's voice, lying beneath Kati. Brut's heart immediately slowed, he stopped breathing regularly, and, stunned, began to retreat uncertainly. His legs lifted and sank into the tall grass, before he fully grasped what had happened, what was happening, and what would happen next. He didn't know how to deal with it, he didn't know anything, and so he started to sob. He had lost his father, he had lost his mother, he had lost Kati, and now it would be best if he lost his life too.

The sobbing mingled with Kati's moans as Brut grabbed his father's sword. It was heavy, so heavy that he could barely swing it, but he could still pierce with it. He wrapped his fingers around the hilt and began to pull it from its sheath. It took a long time, almost an eternity, before a faint crescent of the moon and Brut's scarred face was reflected in the gleaming steel. He had stared at that blade for so many hours, looking forward to finally holding it. At that time, he didn't realize that his wish could only be fulfilled with his father's death. He was so foolish. Still so foolish and foolish will die.

He tried to turn the blade towards himself or rather tried to turn it, but it wouldn't move. Despite all the time he had literally hypnotized this meter and a half long steel, he now didn't connect that he didn't have meter and a half long arms and couldn't pierce with it. He wanted to sob even more, but it was impossible now. He had found the bottom and couldn't go lower. He thought for a moment that he might fall on his father's sword or drag his wrist across its blade, but then a face appeared before him like a ghost—motionless as stone, expressionless. It was Speechy.

"What are you—" Brut mumbled before Speechy's strong arms pushed him to the ground and began to claw at his pants.