Of The Sea : John Murphy

Cliffhanger

I heaved and pushed myself away from the tree. I was dumbfounded. Where did they go? I knew that they had found their way to a Tricru camp but then later left without entering along with what seemed to be an unconscious body based on the drag marks in the soil.

My instinct was to cover them up, if no one had followed them up to this point, no one was about to under my eye.

But they disappeared quickly, not a sign of struggle anywhere. Perhaps I was missing something, a body couldn't disappear out of no where. I looked up and around at the trees but saw no signs of a body or large object.

I bent down carefully, hoping not to snap any stitches and observed the leafy ground carefully. Perhaps they didn't disappear completely.

I brushed some leaves aside and felt my fingers graze a smooth surface.

Splendid.

I swiped them away and revealed a metal door. However the fact that it was covered suggested that they may have left already, but I needed some kind of indication of where they might be headed considering I was slowly losing track of them. I opened the latch and set my staff aside before climbing down, instantly catching the scent of iron. Iron of blood.

I turned around and saw a paled body of a Tricru and crept closer slowly, keeping my eyes peeled for anyone else that may be hiding in the underground room.

I got close and I could see the hole blown clean through the side of his head. It was by no doubt, them. I grabbed the deceased man by the dreads to get a better look at him, he wasn't like the other warriors from around here. Something was different about him but I couldn't tell what.

The scent of death wasn't on him just yet, his body was a luke warm so he hadn't been dead for too long.

I turned away and found a small knife left on the side and grabbed it, pocketing it immediately. I scrounged around until I found a wearable shirt, considering I was wearing nothing but a loosely bound corset and the short legged pants that I had cut previously.

There was unfortunately nothing to help my naked feet but I could deal with that for the moment.

With nothing for me to find or observe, I departed, banging the side of my head against the exit. I growled with annoyance but pulled myself out, returning the hatch to its previous state, with leaves concealing it.

"Why can't they just slow down for one second?" I groaned to myself, my steps now more confident and I no longer had to rely on the staff as support but now as more of a weapon.

A fowl stench of death lingered in the air as I trekked through the forest. I could hear a commotion in the distance and picked up the pace, jogging towards what seemed to be a light.

I found a man perched up in a tree and he did not notice my presence. I launched my only knife at him and hit him square in the neck though I was aiming for his head, his body fell limp and dropped to the ground with a thump.

I took his blade before running out to what he was targeting. Just outside the clearing I could hear panicked yelling, my heart dropped when I recognised one of the voices.

"Murphy!" I breathed.

A loud horn blew and the arrows stopped firing, the trees above rustled, not noticing my presence. There was an acid fog approaching.

I ran out into the open, the direct light shining off the hot, dusty ground blinded me momentarily. The scent of death intensified as I neared and soon it became apparent that it was the bodies that littered the scene that produced such a foul smell.