//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Dead on Arrival // Story: Banished // by Sixpence //------------------------------// I loved the sea. The flapping of the sail when the wind let us race over the foam tipped valleys of water always gave me a feeling of exhilaration, of freedom. Though, I prefered it when the chief wanted to trade more south. Standing in the middle of one of the worst storms I’ve been in while sleet covered the deck and frost grew in my beard wasn’t all that great. There had been better trips. But the ship was holding, and we were making good time for the northern part of England. Our longship was one of the fastest in the trading fleet, and it cut through the foaming water like hot steel through butter. So fast that the last we had seen of them were two days ago, when the storm started. Now the sea was frothing like a wild animal, and the sail was snapping like a whip. “Lower the sails!” The chief yelled, his voice barely audible over the roar of the wind. The ship was rocking wildly, and the footing was unsure. Even without the sleet covering, the trip to the mast was a treacherous one. A wave rolled over the deck, only the rope binding me to the hull prevented me from being dragged to sea. The wind howled furiously, and in the end we had no choice but to cut the sail and hope for the best. The only warning I got was a loud crack. I turned in time to see the mast, still with the tatters of the sail flapping from the top, fall towards me. The deck had torn, and the entire ship was squealing and breaking around the mast. It missed me by a hairs breadth and I breathed a sigh of relief. Looking around, I saw that despite major damage to the hull the ship was still intact, and nobody had been unfortunate enough to be beneath the mast when it fell. People were yelling, frustration and panic evident in their voices as the ship continued to roll in the treacherous waves. I heard a yell of warning from behind me, and then I was in the water. The freezing waters of the north sea surrounded me on all sides except up, where the deck of the ship bobbed in the waves. We had keeled over, the churning of the water around me making it impossible to see if anyone else was still underneath the ship. And I was still tied to the hull. My knife wasn’t there. My lungs burned as I thrashed in panic, trying to get loose. I tried to breathe in, but all I got was a lungfull of freezing water. My whole body burned, and my vision started to fade. Lights swam before my eyes. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. --- We parted ways with Valiant when the road deviated from the river and began going up the valley. “Well.” I said with a slightly forced smile. “It has been great Valiant, but I guess this is where we part ways.” To be honest, I felt relieved that we were finally leaving the talkative river-serpent behind. Even if his presence kept the other creatures of the vale at bay. The guy could talk, and talk. I think even Chrysalis was relieved. I could feel her exhale against my neck and sag a little in the harness. We never got any closer to naming me either, which was starting to frustrate Chrysalis more than she would show. Most of the names they suggested revolved around the staff, though even the scraggly beard clinging to my chin wasn’t left in peace in the struggle to find something to call me. “You’re leaving already?” Valiant sagged a bit in the water, looking forlorn. “Can’t you stay for lunch at least? I could catch some fish?” “I’d love to, mate. But we should really get going.” I said, still forcing the smile. Valiant pouted and did a surprisingly good puppy-dog expression for such a hideous creature. “Aw, why the hurry? You won’t miss much if you stay for lunch?” He pleaded, and I felt a pang of sympathy. Valiant probably didn’t get many chances to talk to people, being this far from anyone had to be lonely. I tried to look remorseful and started on a reply when Chrysalis cut me off. “We’re sorry Vali, but we’ve got a really long journey ahead.” She bit her lip masterfully and looked truly sorry. “I have to get back to the hive before it devolves into full on chaos... The drones really don’t know what to do with themselves without me.” She smiled wistfully at him. “Oh well. I guess it can’t be helped then.” Valiant smiled sorrowfully back at us and I hefted Chrysalis a bit further up on my back. “Promise me you’ll write?” I started walking and gave the serpent a last glance and a wave. “Sure, mate. Until we meet again!” “Bye Vali!” Chrysalis waved enthusiastically back at him. “Fare well, friends!” Then he was gone, sunken back into the murky depths of the river, leaving me and Chrysalis alone once more. I sighed heavily in relief and started up the side of the valley and into the sunlight for the first time in days, the only sounds being the crunch of rock beneath my bare feet. --- The next three days were uneventful to say the least. Before us was nothing but the grey and barren landscape of the wastes. Only a few trees clung to life on the side of the patchy road we were following. The road itself was hard to follow, at times it would just disappear without warning, only to re-emerge a mile or so later. It made me wonder what this place must have looked like in the past. I could imagine the hills being filled with trees and lush grass covering the ground. People driving their carts over the well paved road going from place to place, trading, travelling or just enjoying themselves. My thoughts were interrupted by a crow’s call on the side of the road. In a spindly old tree sat a single crow, and in it’s claws were something dark with a slight green tinge to it. The crow cawed again and picked at whatever it held, I dismissed it and kept walking. On my back Chrysalis was sound asleep, her head rested peacefully on my shoulder. She snored softly, and honestly it was adorable, even coming from a creature such as her. For two more hours we walked in silence, the only change being the steadily building number of crows in the landscape around us. Their voices eventually woke Chrysalis from her slumber, and she blearily looked around us at the rather unsettling amount of crows. All of them either fighting over a scrap of something dark and green, or devouring small pieces in silence. “What’s going on?” She asked, her voice slightly slurred from sleep. “Bloody crows, that’s what’s going on.” I grumbled. I never liked crows, they were never a good sign. This many of them could only mean one thing. “Why are there so many of them?” Chrysalis looked around us, and the countryside was blanketed in a shroud of black forms, the air filled with their incessant caws. “What are they eating? It almost looks like...” She fell silent. “What? Do you recognize that stuff?” I asked. “Yes...” She whispered, her voice tight, almost choked. A small group of crows were fighting over a shred of the dark material in the middle of the road before us. I took hold of my staff and handed the bag to my passenger. “Hold on.” I said and charged at the murder of crows. They scattered like waves before the prow of a ship, cawing in irritation and offense. One of them tried to carry away the slab of what looked like meat, but it was too large to be carried by a single crow. I batted the crow away, and it dropped the piece of meat. One side of the ‘morsel’ was hard and shell like, and I heard Chrysalis whimper on my back. “Chrysalis... Is this...” I let the words trail off as I turned the piece of meat and a drop of green blood ran down my hand. It looked eerily familiar, the texture something I had felt before. I fell silent and let the changeling flesh fall to the cobblestones. It made a soft ‘clack’ when the hard part hit the ground. “I’m sorry.” I mumbled and stepped over the slab of meat. It was not long before we came upon a larger tree. Its branches were so filled with crows that it looked like it had gained black foliage. Beneath it the ground was green with ichor, and I felt anger rise in my chest. I undid the knots on the harness that bound Chrysalis to my back and lowered her carefully to the ground. She looked up at me, bewilderment and tears in her eyes. “Why are we stopping?” The changeling glanced at the dried pool of blood beneath the tree. Her eyes widened, then her face changed from sadness to anger. I could hear her growl, it was a deep and primal sound. She climbed out of the harness, her ruined wings were standing almost straight up, and her muzzle was baring a full set of fangs. “How dare they!” I put a hand on her shoulder, and I could feel her shaking with rage. “Take it easy. I’ll fix this.” The crows didn’t give us a sidelong glance when we approached the blood-soaked tree. Their cries sounded more like a continuous roar beneath it, and I felt apprehensive. A single crow could not harm us, but if this many decided to aim their beaks at us the situation would turn dangerous. I rose the staff above my head, and started shouting and waving at the crow-filled tree to no effect. I could almost imagine the creatures rolling their eyes before continuing their feast. They didn’t even spare me a glance as I continued my attempt at scaring them off. “Well, that didn’t work...” I let my arms fall to my sides in defeat, when a flash of green at my side startled me into falling flat on my ass. Where Chrysalis had once stood, there now was a three limbed lion. It’s eyes flashed green before settling into the glare of a predator eyeing its prey. Beside the missing limb, it looked exactly like what I would expect a lion to look like, brown mane, tan fur, vicious claws and an impressive set of teeth. It inhaled, and roared. The large murder of crows leapt into the air, as startled as I was. It rose from the branches like a dark cloud, revealing the thick limbed grey husk of what had once been a majestic leviathan of a tree. It would have awed me, if I had not been busy crawling away from the lion in fear for my life. Or at least fear for my health. The only thing that stopped me from backing away into the horizon was a rock the size of a small house. In fear I leapt to my feet and tried to climb the shear surface. All it gained me was several cracked nails and cuts that disappeared almost as fast as they were inflicted. Suddenly the three-limbed lion was consumed in green fire before my eyes. When the brief flame died down, the familiar form of my companion revealed itself. “What the hell?!” I shouted, still backed up against the rock. “What the hell was that?” Chrysalis glanced at me and sneered before hobbling over to the tree. She put her good hoof on the tree’s trunk and scanned the branches. My rapid breathing started to calm, and I took a few deep breaths while clutching my chest. I could feel my heart racing beneath my hands, the mild panic slowly subsiding to allow confusion and concern to replace it. I approached the tree slowly, still feeling trepidation towards the changeling now standing at its base. “Chrysalis?” I asked tentatively. Then my voice rose in pitch and volume. “What the hell was that?!” The mare huffed out a breath in consternation and gave me a brief look that spoke volumes. “Not now. Later.” “Fine!” I threw my hands in the air and looked up into the branches of the tree. From our location it was impossible to see if anything had been stuck further up. I placed the staff on the ground and leapt for the closest branch, hoisting myself up on it. The entire tree creaked and popped as I settled. For a moment I feared that the entire husk of the gargantuan tree would fall with me in it, but nothing happened. “Can you see anything?” I heard from below. I looked down at my friend below, her fierce expression turned to one of... fear? Sadness? “Not yet.” I replied and started climbing slowly and carefully upwards, testing every branch on the way. I almost slipped and fell twice when the branch I reached for turned out to be covered in green blood. I didn’t have to climb far before I came upon the first body. It was startlingly similar to Chrysalis, only significantly smaller, and large chunks of it were missing. The head was grotesque, the eyes had been picked clean, and most of the chitin covering was gone, revealing gleaming white bone beneath. The scientific part of my mind noted that there actually was a skeleton beneath the exoskeleton. I dismissed the thought and let my eyes roam further down the changeling’s body. Its midsection had been crushed when it impacted the branch it now lay on, and I knew that it couldn’t have died immediately. My face scrunched up in sympathy for the poor thing, imagining the pain of its last moments. I shook my head and tried to spot Chrysalis on the ground through the cluster of branches. “Found one!” I yelled down. “I’m going to see if there’s more!” No reply. I continued scaling the tree, careful to avoid stepping on the branch the changeling lay on. I spotted a limb sticking out from another branch and started towards it. This changeling had been skewered by several thick branches. One of them went through an eye-socket and out through the back of its head. I couldn’t help but feel thankful that this one had died instantly, not sharing the agony of the one further down the tree. After almost ten minutes of searching I could not find any more bodies. My stomach was in turmoil from the blood and gore covering the corpses, but I fought it down and pried the changeling that had been turned into a morbid pin-cushion from the branches that held it. I clutched the corpse beneath my arm and started making my way towards the one further down the tree. The climb was treacherous with only one hand free, and my luck ran out faster than I would have liked. When I reached for a handhold, my hand grasped nothing but empty air, and I fell. My hold on the changeling corpse slipped when I hit a branch, and I heard a wet squelch as it hit another dry sprig beneath me. Then there was an ominous cracking sound, and I could feel the entire tree shudder. “Watch out!” I tried to yell, but it came out as a croak. The wind had been blown out of me when I hit the branch. The dry old tree shuddered, and I could hear several cracks and snaps coming from the trunk. With a creak that sounded more like distant thunder, it began toppling over.