Death’s Journey

Sunlight beamed into Rex’s eyes. When he tried to cover his face, his wounds screamed at him to stop. Instead, he just groaned, grabbed his side and turned onto his shoulder. Hay poked into his face and mouth as he did, and wooden wheels creaked as they bumped over soft ground.

“How was the nap, Steelbrite?” A stern voice outside the wooden cart.

Rex searched in the bundle of hay, looking for a weapon.

A curious snout poked over with two paws. “Be at ease. Get too excited, and you’ll sneeze.” it whispered.

Rex flinched from the talking snout, and one of the strands of hay poked his nose and triggered a sneeze. He grabbed his side; as if he was being burned from the inside.

“Kano, you’re the one startling him,” the voice said, “it’s your turn to carry anyways.”

The cart declined and the two Bramphians swapped places; they walked upright on their back-paws. Kano picked up the cart, wagging his tail while he did so.

“Where am… I?” Rex managed to say.

The other bramphian walked beside the cart. “The edge of Kington. We’re heading to Soneley.”

“Why?”

“Reve and I smell war,” Kano said.

Reve sighed with embarrassment. “Yes. All the runners do, we’re heading over to prepare.”

“Shone.” Rex said, struggling per word.

“That’s right, I forgot, Neoreus is almost as informed as us,” Kano said, smiling to himself.

“Certain…” Rex paused.“…death.”

“It is,” Kano replied. He stared at the road as he walked. It was quiet for a few minutes. “If Soneley is captured, what will happen to Bramphia?” He looked at Rex, and waited for a response. But Rex only struggled for air. “Sorry, save your breath.”

It was quiet once more. If it were autumn, the skies weren’t told. Clouds dissipated to make way for a calming blue sky. Rex watched as birds flew in the opposite direction of their path with the wind guiding them.

Kano sang along to the wind with a soft voice.

Nothing waits in our journey beyond.

No-one hears the steps that I make.

I heal my broken promises with song.

Tell me once more; it won’t be long.

“Pretty…” Rex said.

Kano nodded, “Yes—”

“— Grim,” Rex continued.

Reve laughed a little. “It’s a Bramphian song. Kano was a tunnel digger. He’s been like this ever since.”

“Can… fight?” Rex asked, pointing back at Reve.

Reve smiled, “I can fix or build the cart if it breaks.” He lifted his head proudly, “quickly too.”

Rex closed his eyes, certain that death enjoyed playing with him.

The cart declined again. There was a small shack beside the road, surrounding it were plains of grain that reached the horizon. A wooden sign swung with the wind. Most of it was painted over, and the word Waypoint hid underneath as a pentimento.

Rex blinked with confusion. “Where?”

“Healmaster,” Kano said, and tucked his head under Rex’s arm.

Reve did the same. “She’s been a long-term friend for us. We drop off herbs, and in return, she heals us if we need it,” he said.

Reve knocked on the door.

A rancid scent filtered through the door before it opened. Rex coughed painfully as the smoke puffed into his face. Behind the smoke was an ancient woman, half the size of Rex.

She glanced at Rex’s arm. “No.”

“Healmaster, please,” Reve said, “there’s a war—”

“With Steelbrites,” she interrupted, “there’s always war.”

Kano’s eyes widened, like a child begging for desserts. “Kano’s family will die.”

“Kano, you don’t know your family,” the healmaster said.

“Kano will never know his family,” Kano whimpered.

The healmaster scoffed and began to close the door, but it stopped with Reve’s foot.

“It’s for the Runners. He’s the only hope for us.”

Her lips tightened. “Only because I hate when bramphians grovel.” She waved the three in.

“Thank you,” Reve said.

The house was cluttered with random wood carved items, and the three knocked things around as they stumbled through. A bed was placed in the center of the home, and around it were wooden tables, affixed with dried herbs.

Rex moaned in pain as they settled him in the bed.

Once she undid his blouse, her brows narrowed. “What happened?” she asked, placing her hands tenderly on the wound.

“Kano saw it. Kano saw akibon open up Steelbrite side with arm-sword,” Kano said while motioning the event.

The old-woman glanced to Reve with a puzzled look.

Reve nodded. “It’s true. We had to burn the wound to seal it.”

She shook her head, and went to the kitchen, returning with a paring knife. “You never make it easy.” Then, she brushed Rex’s hair. “I forget how young Steelbrites can be.”

Rex replied with a friendly nod—a kneejerk reaction to old mother’s sighing over their age.

The healmaster flicked her head to the bramphians. “Hold him down.”

Rex tried to protest, but the old woman had already cut into his side. He screamed—the pain was unbearable. Her knife struggled to slice through the burned ridges of his skin.

“Stop squirming,” she said flatly. “Hold him tighter.”

He writhed as she cut fully across his flesh. His nails dug into the bramphians fur, and he tried to kick away the pain, but the pain in his side became magnitudes worse with just the thought.

The healmaster grabbed a handful of crushed herbs and shoved them in his open side. Blood flicked out into her face as she did. The herbs burned as they made contact with his skin, as if she poured acid into his side.

Shortly after, the pain subsided. Reve and Kano released their hold. A warmth flooded through his side, like a warm winter breeze.

The healmaster picked up a needle and thread; she used it to seal up the wound, despite the pools of blood, she didn’t hesitate. The pain was a whisper in comparison.

The healmaster prepared another bowl, crushed some herbs to make a paste, and rubbed it against the stitches. “This stuff should work quickly.” She then grabbed a warm towel and started to clean up the blood.

As she wiped near his chest, a faint tattoo moved around with her arms. Just like the sign, burn marks painted over most of it, but Rex easily recognized it.

Rex coughed. A copper taste mixed with his breath. “You’re—”

“Yes,” the healmaster said, noticing his stare, “that was a lifetime ago.”

“What happened?”

The woman shrugged. “It’s hard to say an event that led me to be the person I am now. One thing I do know,” she said, tapping Rex’s tattoo.“Ink doesn’t wash away like blood.” The bloodied towel dropped with blood stained water as she wrung it.

“Why did you heal me?”

She sighed, and for a moment stopped wiping away at his side. “Steelbrites are like swords.” She watched the bramphians as they started to fiddle with the wooden carvings. “They’re made to hurt. But in some, rare instances, they can save.”

“But we can choose contracts. We can choose to be shields as well, or arrows, or…” Rex struggled to think of more examples.

The healmaster wrung out his blood one more time, and brushed his hair, her hands dyed with a faint pink. Her face fell into a solemn frown, and then she turned away. “Let him rest tonight. Then you can use him as you need. The aetherleaf should heal him up by tomorrow.”

“When will he be ready to fight?” Reve asked.

“A few months.” She frowned. “I’m sure you’ll need him before.”

“What else can be done?”

“Find another Steelbrite more alive than this one.” She sat down near the window and sighed. “He’ll be ready to stand once you reach Soneley. At least give him tonight for rest. You’ll want your Steelbrite sharp before the battle.”

“Humans are so flimsy.” Kano poked at the raw flesh.

Rex hissed each time.

“I guess we are,” the healmaster said with a chuckle. “Easier to fix, though. Less fur.”

A heavy wind blew against the house, and the sign outside swung with it.

The healmaster rubbed her arms. “It’s cold, isn’t it?”

“No,” the bramphians replied.

She stood and grabbed a blanket and placed it on Rex. “For us, that is. Please, start a fire. I’ve heard that part of Bramphia gets cold around this time.”

Kano’s tail wagged as he burned some kindling.

“It doesn’t snow much in Soneley,” Reve said. “But it’s been colder these past weeks.”

Kano’s paws padded together as he watched the fire grow. It licked the bottom of newly placed logs, and consumed them after the first taste.

The blanket and the fire’s heat swarmed around him. But itnever touched him as he fell asleep.