The Slave Knight Part 1: The Dagon

Chapter Twelve: No Room for Mistakes

They began to traverse through highway one and five, upward toward the city of Newbrit, and through the remaining marshes. Luckily, Durug had mentally mapped out paths that were far above the water levels and that none had issue with. The slave knights, to their relief, were able to walk on dry ground for some time, and could not thank Durug enough. Many of the slave knights were overjoyed with this stroke of luck and were ready to proceed onward and quickly. Moreover, the rain had slowly, but surely abated. They were dry, and they were on their way through this horrid place.

Sir Yashua was as happy as any of the other slave knights, and rejoiced in the grace and favor God had shown his warband and the Wenches. He was happy to be rid of this God forsaken and blighted place. He could smell the stain of blood and excrement that was left by the merz and knew that there was no God here. No God of my liking or knowing. God could be here, God could ravish this place with splendor, yet merz have corrupted it somehow. Not beyond repair, but close to it. Sir Yashua, not a fearful man by any means, felt a sort of unease in this place since the sole of his boot touched these fetid waters.

The water seeped into his armor and even though he felt no ill effects, he knew that the water was poisoned somehow. Poisoned by these abominations. Poisoned by death. Poisoned by everything that was bad in this world. What Sir Yashua did not understand is that the co-mingling of certain elements, both naturally and unnaturally occuring, that had seeped into these and other waters, had birthed the merz and other, similar, creatures. Creatures that had no reason to exist, but for the ill-effects of the such that permeated the grounds below and the skies above. Surely abominations, yet Sir Yashua would appreciate the fact that God had allowed these things to subsist and be created. Without that underlying factor none of the marshes would truly be possible.

Regardless of Sir Yashua's misgivings about this place, he attempted to find some beauty in it. There is beauty in all of God's creation I suppose. There is nothing that God would not have truly approved of or allowed had it not been his will. Had it not been his way. So Sir Yashua looked fervently for something of beauty. Luckily, they were confined to a smaller strip of road that was dressed with much woods and vegetation, albeit mostly barren, and in all that Sir Yashua looked. He saw bulbous frogs, twice the size of the normal ones, adorned with as many shades of green that vomit and shit would allow. He saw massive flies, black and bespeckled with hair and a thousand beady red eyes. He saw slugs, massive in girth and length,gelatinous and slow moving, with not a care in the world or for what was above or below them, just that the slime that let them slip on. He saw humongous snakes and worms, that kept their distance, but had hard and wet scales of ten different shades of bile brine, as thick as your arm and ten times as long. He saw none of the clouds, just the dark shades of the willow trees, wilting slowly, but surely, bobbing with the slow wind that carressed its leaves. He saw shrubs that were dying and dead, despite the seemingly copious amounts of great nutrients around them. Waterfalls rose and fell around, currents rushed below them, streams beeded out into highway one and fifteen that the warbands had to ford, and Sir Yashua could find no beauty in it all.

But there has to be beauty somewhere? Yet from what he could see there was nothing he could truly classify as beautiful. At least in his own opinion. Even the smell is putrid, he mused internally, as his nose wrinkled and he tried to shake the stench from his visor. Yet in the face of the massive ugliness and the horrid image, there was somewhat of a peace that was abounding. The chitter of the animals, the flush of the water, the rustle in the wind. Nothing more and nothing less. A wonderful sound, at peace with all of the universe. Sir Yashua smiled at that though and looked happily toward the sky, gray and white as ever, and He had found the beauty and peace that God had ordained in this place. He revelled in all that he saw and felt. All is good, except for that incessant chopping.