mindcracklove | Residual (Chapter Thirteen)

Here we go, a bit of a break from the sad and melancholy feel of the last three chapters. There's some concerning stuff in here, though, plus some stuff with a cat.

Also an assload of teasing the Veylian. I'm a dick. Love you guys. <3

Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Monstrous-Residual-map-526465833
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yvK6D0XzgjhMNjblFFQaAeJ7JkzdidaLJux1S8qsSUA/edit#gid=1227692709

Chapter Thirteen

Ashwatch, Minecraftia. September 19, year 373. Time instance 483Z.

Blame paused on the top of the hill on their way out of Ashwatch. He looked over his shoulder, back down at the valley that was his childhood home. He sighed quietly before looking forward again, beginning to go down the hill on the other side.

It wouldn’t help to look back. He couldn’t gain anything from it. He trailed along behind his friends, clearly not wanting to talk or to be disturbed. A couple yards ahead of him walked Vechs and Aureylian (they usually liked to walk in the back, for reasons unknown) and, as usual, ahead of them were Pause, Zisteau, and Paul leading with the map.

Aureylian and Vechs were walking much closer than usual, Aureylian seeming jumpy and inching closer to Vechs whenever he strayed. Vechs figured that this was because she was just worried about him- he had almost died back there when he touched that wall. He was still musing over the possible reasons for his similarities to Iilthrid, but he couldn’t come up with anything viable.

It bothered him.

Aureylian seemed to sense his mood and thus didn’t speak to him, letting him think; perhaps this was also because of the solemn nature of the trip, and what they had witnessed not two hours ago. They had gone to take pictures of the starcharts and then packed up camp before leaving Ashwatch. Vechs couldn’t say that he minded her proximity, though.

He sighed quietly. He had it bad. He itched to say or do something, but didn’t. He didn’t want to break the silence or screw up somewhere. He decided to focus on walking.

They needed to head pretty far south in order to get past the mountains, but once they did, they could head west and then north again to get to the Vicious Wilds. Blame estimated that it would take them four days to get there- it was slightly less distance than between Sunspire and Ashwatch, and Blame was capable of moving at a decent pace now.

After about two hours, Pause finally broke the silence. “Okay, this is killing me. Can we please talk about something?”

Blame grunted from the back of the group. Vechs was surprised he was even listening.

“To be honest the silence is bothering me as well.” Zisteau admitted. “What do you want to talk about?”
“I don’t know! Something. Anything.”

“There’s a cat over there.” Paul said without looking up from the map.

Everyone looked up to where Paul had indicated. Even Blame’s head snapped up.

There was indeed a cat- a large tortoiseshell cat, sitting at the base of a tree and watching them curiously. It had been washing behind its ears but was now interested more in them.

A smile lit up Vechs’s face.

“No, no.” Zisteau grabbed his arm when he started forward. “Are you forgetting that you’re allergic to cats?”

“I don’t care.”

“Vechs-“

“You’re allergic to cats?” Aureylian interrupted. “Really? You were telling me that you used to have a cat when you were a kid.”

Vechs turned to look at her. “Yep.”

“You were allergic to it then?”

“Yep.”

“Why did you have a cat, then?”

“Because I love them and I couldn’t just leave him all alone.”

Vechs turned back to look at the cat and was surprised at what he saw.

Blame had somehow managed to silently dart his way over there without them noticing and pick up the cat. He was holding the cat and petting it as he hugged it close, eyes closed as he pressed his face into the cat’s fur. He looked quite happy and they could hear the cat purring.

“I have one question and that question is what the fuck.” Pause said after a moment of stunned silence.

“I’m wondering how.” Zisteau mumbled. “How did we not notice him? And how did he move that quickly?”

Vechs pulled away from Zisteau and walked forward until he was only a few feet away from Blame.

“Can I-“

“No.”

“Are you-“

“This is my cat now.”

“Blame, you can’t just-“

“I will fight you.”

“What?”

“I will fight you for this cat.” Blame informed him. “And I will win.”

“I just-“

“Vechs I’m not kidding.”

Vechs, confused and slightly concerned, went back to the others.

“He says it’s his cat now.”

They all exchanged glances and shrugged.

~~~

After some arguing and convincing, they set off again, Blame still holding the cat. Eventually it struggled free and he was forced to put it down, but it cheerfully followed them, pouncing at any bugs or small animals it came across.

“How did you do that?” Vechs finally asked him.

“Do what?”

“Pick it up and convince it to follow you.”

Blame shrugged. “She liked me is all.”

Helpful.

Vechs frowned at Blame’s dissatisfactory explanation but let it slide. He moved to walk by Aureylian again, smiling a little when she gently nudged him with her shoulder.

Ohhh boy.

~~~

The relative silence of their walk was broken when a roar shattered the air and one of the Hostiles swooped down from the sky.

“Finally.” Blame growled, drawing his sword. “I was wondering when one of these assholes would show up.”
The orange snake-man landed several yards away, wings folding along his back as he drew his double blades.
“Kormaeix.” Vechs growled.

“You remember me. Good. You’ll know my name when you die. You could not hide forever, as you can see- wherever you went, we have found you now.”

They exchanged glances. “Ashwatch.” Aureylian realized. “Did Vallor’roth hide us?” Blame simply nodded, no doubt in his mind that’s what happened.

Kormaeix wasted no time in shooting an arc of fire at the group, making them dodge, roll, and, in Pause’s case, scream and duck. Blame charged in slashed at the snakeman, but he parried with his glowing white blades. Clearly they were enchanted, as Blame’s sword didn’t cut through them. Fangs extended from the roof of Kormaeix’s mouth and he struck at the Skullblade’s face…

…hurting himself in the process as his fangs struck solid bone on Blame’s mask. Blame drew back to let Zisteau in with his diamond sword, and then went back on the attack.

The others hovered around uncertainly, knowing that they were incapable of doing anything. They were forced to watch as Zisteau and Blame alone took on the Hostile.

Kormaeix’s wings suddenly flared, a spike at the end of one of the riblines catching Blame below the jaw and scratching his face until it caught on his mask. It yanked at the mask briefly but the wing itself knocked Blame back before it could be pulled off.

A close call.

He fell onto his back and fixed his mask before starting to get back up. He needed to parry the blow from Kormaeix first, though, and did so, barely preventing his head from being separated from his body. Zisteau’s diamond sword struck Kormaeix’s back, causing the snakeman to scream. He panicked, transforming his body into flame and vanishing, leaving only a stick in his place.

The group blinked in confusion as the fire dissipated. They remained on guard for about a minute before realizing he was gone. Blame got to his feet and kicked at the stick.

“Of course he would leave behind a stick when he teleports. Why wouldn’t he?” Vechs grumbled, going over to pick it up.

“Don’t!” Zisteau warned. “What if it’s-“

“It’s a diamond sword hilt.” Vechs protested. “It’s a regular stick.”

“Please just put it down.” Paul mumbled.

He sighed and tossed it away. “Fair enough. He might be able to return to it at any point.”

“Why the stick?” Aureylian asked.

“It’s…a trolly thing I did in Legendary. It’s hard to explain.”

“Legendary?”

“One of the maps I made. That’s the name of it.” Vechs explained.

Blame seemed unconcerned about the cut on his face (it was a minor injury and likely wouldn’t even scar) and was more worried about getting his cat down from the tree. It took a few minutes to coax her down and then they set off again, towards the Wilds with the cat in Blame’s arms. He let Paul clean the wound on his face and bandage it with only token protest.

~~~

It was about an hour before the dragon dropped out of the sky.

The dark-scaled dragon swooped down and landed before them, scaring them all shitless and shaking the ground. Vechs at first had the sudden thought that it was a valk’vanor like the ones from the carvings that had landed before him, but when he looked closer, he saw the scattered starlike scales.

“Aoxdorren?” he asked, shocked. Was it really…

“Yes. I must hurry as I need to return to the Dragonlands soon. Nebris and the others arrived in the Dragonlands late the day before last, on the seventeenth. He wanted me to tell you that some kind of red light rose in the sky last night and-“

“The Bloodshadow.” Blame interrupted. “The final gift left to the world by Vallor’roth. One of his brood will be hatching at some point- I need to talk to Kurt to find out when. I can’t read the sky.”

Aoxdorren relaxed somewhat. “That is good. This is a positive thing, I assume?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. We were concerned, as none of us knew its meaning. Last time that red light rose in the sky was over six hundred years ago, and only Halran remembers that. It was a dark time.”

Blame frowned. “What do you mean?”

“It is not important. I am here to inform you that your friend Etho is badly injured and on the verge of death- he was in a coma when I left. Last night we were all distracted by the red light so one of your…Hostiles, were they called?...managed to slip in and stab him. He’s resilient and his reflexes saved him from having his heart pierced, but he is in critical condition.”

The six stared at her, shocked. Etho? He was among the least likely of them to fall.

A dark message.

“I was informed that you need to get to the Vicious Wilds and would likely be there by now- I did not expect to find you here. Klericae! You are needed back at your base as soon as possible, Nebris told us. What has delayed you?”

“We needed to stop in Ashwatch.” Vechs informed her quickly before Blame could speak. “It was important.”
“Vallon wevii. Very well. Is it imperative for you to reach the Wilds?”

Vechs hesitated, then nodded. He felt like he had to investigate. Anyone that could get into his dreams needed to be known about- mystery women who could reach into his mind were dangerous.
“Bec shun kerr nai’var tiilbonvar. I will take you to the edge, but no further. Even dragons are wary of the Wilds.”

“You will?” Pause sounded surprised.

“You are needed to stop the Hostiles, I have been told.”

“Yes. We killed one earlier, leaving only twenty.” Paul informed her.

“Excellent.” She bent down to let them climb on- many of the group were familiar with riding on her back, but still struggled to scramble on over her slick scales. The cat didn’t seem to mind the dragon, but didn’t seem to have any intent to leave Blame’s arms as he struggled to get on Aoxdorren’s back.
“Thank you.” Vechs said, patting her neck.

“You mortals are lucky that you are trustworthy. Something about you tells me that you would never bring this world into ruin.” Aoxdorren spread her wings once they were all seated on her back.

“We never would.” Aureylian assured her, and they took off.

Not intentionally. Vechs thought glumly, remembering the horrors he had unleashed and how they had injured Etho.

He pushed the thoughts away and concentrated on Aureylian holding onto him as Aoxdorren flew, focusing on the happiness she brought.

At least that made him feel better. A slight smile tugged at his face as the landscape flew by.

It wouldn’t be long until they reached the Wilds, and with Aureylian behind him, it would be an enjoyable flight.