The Rainlands: Grand Delusion

Chapter 28: Men

"Levi, come here! Something's happening!"

Though he no doubt dreamed of her voice, he also woke to it. Jasmine called for him and for a second, he had trouble telling the dreams from reality.

"Levi, come here! Something's happening!" She said, and Levi swiveled his head up, over the tarp. He saw her outside, a few feet away in the dark. It was still nighttime. Only the moon and stars lit her mask. She was crouching, looking at something in the water. He couldn't tell if the storm had been another Shatterstorm for the water appeared normal, but perhaps it had been and the shimmer had just faded. "This is bizarre, I've never seen anything like this before!" Levi groaned, he had been so comfortable, but Jasmine was growing impatient so he got out carefully, stepping over the edge of the tarp and walked over.

"What is it?" He asked, the grumble in his voice a clear sign that he wished he was still in the tarp right now. "Another Shatterstorm?"

"Yes! But look at this!" She pointed at something in the dirt. "It's...it's doing something. Changing!" Levi grew curious, and for some reason, fear began to sprout in his stomach at her words. It's changing? What's changing? He stumbled closer, his boots splashing on the muddy ground. Then he saw it.

"Is that? Was that? Huh?" He lost his words as he stared down at the ground. It was a caterpillar. Or at least he thought it had to have been. The little green segmented joints were not so little now. As a matter of fact, the caterpillar was almost as big as his finger, writhing in knots and as he watched, the hairs on its body twisted and curled as it began to make a terrible little shrieking noise. It sounds...almost human.

"I've been watching it change." Jasmine's voice was soft, some of the excitement fading. "It's growing. It wasn't this big a few minutes ago. And...other things are happening. I think it's in pain. Look at the way it's moving, that doesn't look fun." She said it dispassionately, but Levi didn't know how as he was thoroughly creeped out. "Well, this explains the thing that attacked you at least." She finished.

"What?" Levi asked. Jasmine glanced at him before scanning the forest.

"It was the storm Levi. Remember that spider in your shirt? It must have been on you before the rain hit. But when the water touched it, it grew. And mutated. Look, see, this thing's doing it too." Jasmine explained and Levi glanced down at the caterpillar. Sure enough, it was curled up into a ball. Dozens of little legs seemed to be sprouting until it looked more like a centipede than a caterpillar. He shivered as he remembered how the spider had been on his back. If I hadn't gotten out of the rain fast enough, would this have happened to me too?

"I see." Levi whispered solemnly.

"Yes, whatever attacked you, it was probably a regular animal, or some kind of native monster to the forest that was caught out in the open during the Shatterstorm. Then it changed, and killed those Direwolves. We need to be careful Levi." She grew quieter, seemingly even more uneasy. Levi shuddered as he imagined how it must feel, to be forced to grow, to change unwillingly in the course of minutes or seconds.

"Why?" He asked. "We have the tarps? We can avoid the rain."

"Not that, I doubt a little bit of the rain will kill us, or humanity wouldn't have survived the Calamity to begin with. But there could be other beasts like that thing out there. Maybe bigger ones, or more dangerous ones. These woods might just be more dangerous than the cities right now, even if men are hunting us." Jasmine's words stirred fear in Levi's heart. When he had fallen asleep, he had been over the moon, but now he felt boxed in, caged inside a wild jungle where everything was trying to eat him. He went back to his tarp, buckled on his sword. From now on, I'm sleeping with this. Then he went back outside. Jasmine stomped on the caterpillar, snuffing out its shrieks. When he looked at her, she just shrugged.

"Don't want to know what it was changing into." She explained, wiping her boot off in the slick grass. "I need to sleep. Wake me when the sun comes up." After she went into her tent, Levi had nothing to do. He took to pacing in circles in the dark, trying not to imagine that something was watching them. It was hard though. His mind almost seemed to want to scare him. Every shadow became a demon in the corner of his eye, and when he turned, he swore he saw monsters. But it was all in his head for now, and nothing came to bother them. Until first light.

Levi was still tired. It was exhausting keeping watch all night, and perhaps he had put too much strain on himself. Jasmine had moaned a bit in her sleep, but nothing too bad, and he hoped that she was finally getting some rest. He kicked a rock accidentally while wandering. It clattered a few feet away.

Clack!

What was that?!

Levi whipped around. He heard another rock fall. Immediately he ran to Jasmine's tarp. Someone's here! Please wake up this time Jasmine! She was tumbling around, but when he touched her shoulder she woke with a gasp. He clapped his hand to her mask, covering her mouth.

"Wha-" She quieted as Levi placed a finger to his lips and let her rise.

"Someone's on the trail. I heard horses." He quietly whispered. Slowly, they both rose outside the tarps. Good thing we didn't sleep on the trail. Jasmine nudged Levi's arm, leaning in close. He wondered how she could still smell good after so much rough traveling.

"Minimum three horses. Armored. We need to let them pass." She whispered. "Unless you can fry them like yesterday? They're wearing metal armor. You could probably cook them..."

Levi looked down at his hands, but shook his head.

"I don't know how I did it. We should hide." He stayed put, drawing his sword. Then the horses started to get closer. It was agonizing, waiting for them to pass. The riders were traveling at a slow trot, and each clink of their armor shaking sent waves of adrenaline through Levi as he wondered if they would turn off the trail and charge them. However, seconds later, they passed by without noticing anything. Jasmine dared to peek her head up to catch a glimpse of the rider's backs.

"Not men from the Deathless City. Has to be more of my Sibling's work." She said quietly. Levi began to pack up his tarp.

"Which one do you think it is?" He asked. Jasmine didn't seem particularly disturbed when talking about which of her siblings were trying to kill her.

"Hard to say. My father has had plenty of children over the years. But if I had to venture a guess, it'll be one of the older ones. The younger ones are too far from the throne to try something like this." She said it nonchalantly, Levi was pretty sure she used the same tone to discuss the weather. Like sibling's assassinating each other was a fact of life. Well to be fair, the weather might be just as dangerous right now. After they repacked the tarps and got back on the trail, Levi was on edge. We'd hear them coming, right? Despite how he tried to convince himself, he continuously looked over his shoulder every few minutes. While he walked, he started to practice lunging again, amazed that he could actually do so with only minor pain from his injuries. Checking under his bandages, he saw that what had been deep punctures, and jagged stitches were now almost completely regrown into healthy, clean pink scar tissue. I don't understand...it's only been a night.