Chaos Converged

Dunmouth’s forest leaves fell like unfletched arrows; a cascade of erratic specks of brown and orange lulled Taliesin into a daydream. Just in the past few days, the air had become crisp. Back in Dunmouth, the inn’s fire called for him.

Leiren tapped his foot with hers, giving a faint smile when he turned.

He reciprocated with a tap.“ Sorry, I know. It’s not glorious work, but… ” he said, bending to pluck an herb. The edges of its leaves were spiked. Both the edge and its midrib were a subtle pink, forming an outline of an oval. “At least we can breathe now,” he said, showing Leiren the aetherleaf.

Varith came out of a patch of bushes holding random shrubs. “Rotten luck with the missing apothecary,” he said. “But, it’s coin, I suppose.”

“Firstly,” she swatted the herbs out of his hands, “that’s not what we’re looking for.” She smiled after seeing his disappointment. “Secondly, we need to stay vigilant. People just don’t go missing.”

“You didn’t have to sw—”

“Hush!” Leiren put a finger against her lips.

Just beyond two trees, branches snapped and rebounded. Varith swiveled to check out the noise, and Leiren ducked into the woods, “It’s probably just karevets or some other—” he spun back around. “Where’d she go?”

“Varith,” Taliesin whispered, “run.” He sprinted in the opposite direction of the noise.

Varith followed close. “What’s going on?”

A dagger pierced through the forest and impaled Varith’s right leg. He yelped, and Taliesin caught his arm before he hit the ground.

“Hold on,” Taliesin grunted, pivoting Varith’s weight on his back.

He continued his sprint, but Dunmouth could take an hour to reach at this pace. Even if it were closer, he’d only be able to carry Varith for ten minutes. His eyes bounced around, desperate for a solution.

A cave; the entrance opened into the ground with the top of it reaching Taliesin’s hip. Without more consideration, he dove inside, pulling Varith with him.

Varith whimpered in pain.

“Sorry,” Taliesin said, and continued to pull him through.

“Don’t be, you’re saving me.”

“Let’s hope so,” he replied.

The cave gave enough space for standing, and its small entrance only allowed for a single beam of light.

“Here,” Varith coughed. He pulled out his necklace, at the end was a small jar of crushed light-emitting crystals. “Birani crystals or something, Elias gave it to me a few years back, I’ve been holding onto it since.”

The greenish light from the crystals revealed the rest of the cave. Only a few feet to hide within. A large rock sat at the far end, giving them hope of a possible hiding spot.

Taliesin pulled Varith to the farthest end and knelt on one leg. He then pulled a knife and used it to strip cloth away from Varith’s trousers.

“I’m such a-an idiot,” Varith said, “I should’ve stayed.” He shoved a palm onto his forehead, “if I don’t make it, tell Elias- I was wrong.”

Taliesin wrapped the fabric above the impaled knife and used a nearby stick to tighten its pressure.

Varith didn’t even wince at the pain, “Tell him,” he whimpered.

Footsteps crescendoed into the cave before he could finish. Taliesin put a hand on Varith’s mouth, and covered the Birani light with his other hand.

Rocks struck together; light from one of the rocks flickered, then reflected off the steel of their blades. A bald Steelbrite carried the lightstone, and the others found the pair as light revealed them.

They spread around the cave like a net. Their eyes dilated as if the cave’s shadows devoured them, waitng for right moment to pounce.

The bandits huddled in the corner, hunched over each other behind a rock. They acted like rats; their stare pierced back, and the flickering daylight gave them illusory fangs.

Rex took the right side, and the other two steered left.

Wind blew over the entrance of the cave, but underneath the wind, footsteps shuffled outside. Daylight flashed as another bandit slid in the cave.

Tricky little rat.

Rex spun around to slash at the sound, but only caught air. Before he centered himself for another strike, the bandit tossed dirt into his eyes. While blinded, a force knocked his blade away, and he was forced onto the ground by the bandit’s body. She had mounted him, and her body rose for a killing blow.

By instinct, he caught her wrist. The tip of her blade stabbed into his chest, but not deep enough to seriously harm. He planted his feet, knocking her to the side with a hip twist.

As she hit the ground, her strength waned and Rex used his other hand to reverse the blade. He pivoted his weight until he had a solid foundation against her. By this time, his vision had cleared, but the stinging remained. Between blinks, he caught glimpses of her face.

Tears.

When he blinked again, she raised her hand and chomped onto his arm. Her teeth tore through his flesh, forcing him to weaken his grip. But before he lost complete control of the blade, he pressed his chest against it. His opponent muffled a whimper, and the serrated edges of the blade rippled through her chest. A few pounds more until her bite loosened. A few pounds more until her strength dissolved. The blade slid deeper until the hilt bottomed on her chest.

She coughed blood onto his eyes, and he rubbed it off with his shoulder, continuing to keep pressure. She kept a pinched expression with a faint rattle in her throat.

Then, the bandit coughed more blood onto Rex’s face, her fingertips lingering on the blade. He twisted the blade, forcing it through any bones that would’ve stopped it. Her snarled expression mellowed into a solemn gaze. It rested on her companion, and her last word was buried within drowning breath, “please,” she gurgled.

When he finally loosened his hold against her, her arm fell to the side, and light outside of the cave revealed a C branded on the inside of her wrist.

For a moment, the cave was silent. Glass shattered, and a glimmer of green bounced in the cave until a shadow snuffed out the new light.

Rex turned.

Gil stared back at Rex, eyes unblinking; the skin on his neck was twisted, and his body still faced his opponent. His legs buckled under the weightless corpse.

Dust picked up and circled around the last bandit. A dark mist oozed from where he was first stabbed. Within moments, his body vanished, and the dust settled back into the ground.

Nar recovered her blade from the other lifeless bandit, then squatted into a defensive stance. Silence fell on the two Steelbrites. Their eyes danced around the room. Dust and surrounding mist stirred around, whipping against Rex. Eventually, the mist and dust-cloud compressed into each other and hardened back into a body. The same shape as the bandit, but its skin was transparent. Flecks of light illuminated the innards of its body, like a constantly shifting night sky.

Rex lunged for his blade, still embedded in the woman’s chest. Before he reached it, the dustform grabbed his neck and pinned him to the wall. The dustform’s other arm hardened into a blade, and ripped into his side. The chokehold stifled Rex’s screaming.

A sword punctured the dustform’s chest. Pools of darkened stars emitted from the wound, and a painful howl followed. Rex began to crawl away, as the dustform turned to its new prey.

Pain trailed every movement, and the control over his body became thin. Crackling echoed in the cave, like the crunch of a million tiny insects. Following the sound, Nar’s voice screamed in anguish, until it was snuffed into silence.

As he passed the exit, he gathered enough momentum to start limping away. He cradled his side; blood spewed over his hands, and the strength in his legs faltered.

A branch caught his foot, and he fell to the ground. He continued with a single-armed crawl, until a river blocked his path. He got halfway through until his vision wavered.

Then the stream began to carry him; the water could’ve been warm, yet an icy sensation washed over him.

His arm was the last to be carried away from the dirt. His bracelet now drenched in blood, as it seeped into the grain. Blood tainted the R, and it traveled through the wood’s cracks like a creak to the L.

With his senses depleting, he mouthed a final wish, “Please.”