The Ashes Wake

Chapter 20: Trifica

TRIFICA
"Fifty more Infirmatur bodies washed onto the shore of the Corpse Sea this morning. It is suspected they had been dead before entering the water, most likely dumped by the owners of the Isle of Infirmaturs. The King and Queen have yet to comment on this information."

Newspaper Clipping from The Public Insider
4029 Year, Frigus Season

-

The shoutings and pantings were close behind Trifica as she led Raiden through the thicket of creatures. Yet as they ran, she couldn't help but savor the adrenaline that coursed through her veins like liquid bliss. Her lungs screamed with use, her heart was alive and lit.

"Where are we going?" Raiden shouted.

She didn't answer. She was too busy praying to the Mother Dragon that her plan would work.

Trifica risked a glance behind her and saw three figures in evident chase. Two were Zycanths, their taloned fingers gleaming sharp and promising pain. The other, the female, must've been a Valkyrie. She had many weapons adorning her body and a grin that only those born with fighting blood bore. She was holding a sharpened disk in one hand while gripping an axe firmly in the other. Trifica could spot at least six other sheaths that held certainly awful weapons-three along her curvy waist, one attached to each leather boot she wore, and the last was massive, peeking out from behind her back.

The sight of it brought her exhilaration down a bit.

Trifica whipped her head back around just in time to nearly crash into a jewelry cart. In a fluid motion, she pushed the cart on its side while grabbing necklaces and rings with raw-cut gems, surely worth plenty denari. The Half-pixie cart owner threw curses at her, but Trifica had no plans of selling them as she launched them over her shoulder with a speed that surprised herself.

"Duck!" She shouted.

Raiden had fast reflexes, but their pursuers weren't as fortunate. One ring with a large gem clubbed the taller, black-haired Zycanth in the eye, while a heavy golden necklace struck the Valkyrie across her forehead. Trifica heard their roars of anger and laughed despite the situation.

"Something's not right about you," Raiden said from beside her. "But good throw."

She grinned at him. As their steps pounded the pavement, other creatures screamed as they whipped in and out of traffic. Trifica saw Raiden fumble with his knife, then turn and release it from his fingers. It struck the shorter Zycanth square in the chest, hilt to the flesh.

Trifica had seen a lot in her years. The uglier side of creaturekind-the lustful, the hungry, the dirty, the poor. She'd even just been attacked in her small, quiet home village, but the image of the Zycanth's body crumpling she knew would stay with her forever. It was as if the creature had hit a brick wall-one minute it was running full speed and the next it tumbled into the road, blood slightly spraying into the air.

Its two comrades didn't look back, but their gazes turned more menacing and they sped up their pace.

Raiden glanced at her from this side, his face still clear of any sweat, though he was breathing heavy.

Damn him to the void, she thought. He's perfect.

"We can't run like this forever," he said. "You'll never beat them in a long distance footrace, and that Valkyrie will skewer us with weapons. Dragon fire fry me-if only I had my-"

Trifica yanked his hand, cutting off his sentence. In the distance she saw what she'd been hoping-praying-would be there. They'd passed it on the way in, but while Raiden had been so intent on getting to the market, her eyes had taken in everything in amazement. They painstakingly crossed the road, managing not to push over any more carts. The sounds of annoyed shouts flew into her ears as she ran to the stables, the Wendigos looking peaceful in their pens.