M.J. Markgraf
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Kingdom of Rust Chapter 33
🕑 Added 2022-05-03 12:00:04 +0000 UTCHolton was shameless as he sidled his horse next to mine as we rode toward the east.
“So, out and about again. Missed the action didn’t you,” he chuckled. “I wonder just how far you’ve taken your gift since last we met. Gravity was it?” he asked.
I didn’t answer, ignoring the man’s probing questions.
“No, not gravity,” he said, rubbing his chin in thought as he ignored my silence. “Oh, maybe the twins got ya, nothing like a threesome,” he burst out in laughter, making my cheeks redden at his vulgarity.
Master Mgumba coughed politely. “Perhaps we can save your jocular speculation for a time when we aren’t in mortal danger from the Father’s minions?”
Holton sighed, “fine, we can discuss this later,” he smiled and I groaned, failing to suppress my dislike of that idea.
How Holton had avoided all the monsters on his way here was a surprise as it wasn’t more than a few miles later that we ran across a group of five infected animals.
“If you don’t mind, I would like to take these,” Holton stated as he urged his horse forward towards the monsters as they tore across the open ground toward us.
Master halted his horse and I trotted up next to him to watch and be ready. If I was a more vengeful man, I might hope that Holton fell to these beasts but with my luck, that would only turn him into one of those things and I did not want to fight a corrupted Holton Aloo.
Holton began to belt out a jaunty tune as he pulled his sword from its sheath in the same fluid motion as he dismounted from his horse. Soon I could see his blade glowing as he nonchalantly moved toward the monsters. The one in front leaped at him and Holton exploded into motion.
I had to blink my eyes in astonishment. The five animals were all dead in the space of three seconds. The man had moved like a blur… like fire itself.
“You see why you should keep training with him,” Master stated quietly before urging his horse into a trot.
I numbly followed behind. I knew Holton was holding back when he trained me but I had no idea just how much. I was also aware that I was only alive now due to some random twist of fate. If Holton had used those moves on me back at the mine, my little knife trick wouldn’t have meant shit. The thought made me shiver.
“Just base monsters,” Holton spat as he got back on his horse. “We need to find the originator if we want to stop the spread.”
“I am aware,” Master stated. “We have two other teams scouring north and south. But we have yet to come across any infected humans. So my guess is the source is still in the city.”
Holton’s gaze flicked to me, then back to Master. “Does the boy know what we might have to do?”
Master nodded, “we discussed it.”
“So essentially, no,” Holton responded.
“I will do what needs to be done!” I replied in anger, earning an amused huff from the man.
“We shall see,” he said simply before turning his horse so we could continue.
That’s when I realized his horse hadn’t been tied up or hobbled during that battle and the thing just stood there, waiting. All the times that Holton had threatened me about making sure his horse was secure and couldn’t run off was just him being a dick to me.
Instead of dwelling on those uncomfortable memories, I turned to Master Mgumba. “What did he mean by base monsters?”
“Monsters without gifts, still tainted but easy to kill as they are only mad animals. The originators are the terrifying ones, the Father gifts them a twisted blessing of his children.”
I nodded, “like fire breath or the ability to melt flesh?”
“Precisely. But without the Mother smothering their full power in the city, the escaped monsters can exhibit many more gifts. If we come across it, do not get near, you will die. Let me and Master Holton deal with it.”
I had no issues with that. Having experienced more than one of those gifted monsters, I wasn’t keen on seeing what an unleashed one was capable of.
“Did you experience the same thing when Master Holton killed these creatures?” Master’s question caught me off guard.
It took me a moment to feel the energy inside me and it was the same as before. “No, seems that it only comes if I kill the monster.”
Master nodded, “I thought as much. Holton is aware of parts of your gift. This might be the perfect opportunity to use that to practice as you can recover the energy with the kill.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” I asked, nodding toward Holton. The man was riding about twenty feet ahead, singing some sort of drinking song. It was weird seeing the man so animated as opposed to the dour and strict demeanor he showed when I was his mentee.
“It’s not going to expose anything he hasn’t already seen and you need the practice.”
I was about to respond when Holton cut in.
“You two done whispering back there? I think we got company.”
I was going to say I didn’t sense anything but I caught myself. What came down the road was a group of terrified people. They were running flat out, giving frightened looks behind them. Then I felt the monsters pursuing them.
“Old man, we gotta contain them, we can check them after.”
Master frowned at Holton’s words. “Fine, take Bakus with you and deal with the monsters pursuing them, I will gather the civilians.”
“Sounds like a party, come on boy, let's see if you remembered anything I taught you.”
Holton rode past the frightened civilians, scattering them off the road to screams of fear and outrage. He didn’t bother slowing though as we could now see the horde of twenty or so red-eyed monsters running down the road.
“Try not to die, kid!” Holton yelled happily as he leaped from his horse into the first of the monsters.
This time his horse did rear back and flee. A few of the tainted animals broke off to chase it but I had no time to spare for the terrified animal as seven of the monsters came at me.
Time seemed to slow as my heartbeat sped up and I put all my energy into pulling from that internal reservoir of power. Everything took on a strange clarity and I could ‘sense’ what the monsters were going to do.
My sword leaped from its scabbard and rammed itself up to the hilt in the nearest monster's skull, making it collapse and trip up another. With a mental yank, I ripped the sword free and sent it spinning into another creature's neck. This one jumped away avoiding a deadly blow and I called my sword back into my hand. Those two attacks had drained my energy almost completely and if I hadn’t gotten that first kill to recover the initial use, I would be without my sword now.
That was a stupid idea that I wouldn’t be attempting again.
I dismounted and slapped my hose, making it flee back down the road and out of danger. A snarling jackrabbit lunged for me, cracking the ground with abnormal strength. Even then, my reaction speed was enough that I twisted to avoid its bite while whipping my sword up to sever its head.
It was not a good sign that these creatures were already starting to show gifts. From what Master said, it should take months for these cursed gifts to appear, which was half the reason to stomp them out quickly.
My buckler came up to block a wildcat, its claws shrieking across the metal surface. I flung my arm out, trying to dislodge the cat but its teeth gripped the wooden edge, almost pulling me off balance. I rolled, crushing the cat under my shield as I avoided the teeth of a corrupted dog by the barest of margins.
The cat was still alive though and tearing at my shield. I cut the arm restraint on the buckler and threw it at the dog to gain some space. Instead of throwing my sword, I reached out to the small rocks in my vicinity and made a small handful shoot forward with an audible crack. Three of the creatures dropped as the rocks tore through them but that attack left me feeling light-headed and drained.
My moment of weakness was capitalized upon by the cat I crushed under my shield. I felt the fangs of the animal tear into my calf and I screamed and stumbled forward. Terror filled my eyes as I saw the jaws of the wolf lunging for my face. The only thing I could think of at the moment was wanting the wolf to miss its mark. I felt my power ignite and the wolf’s aim was shoved to the side.
He still plowed into me, knocking me back but his bite had missed. I swung my sword up, cutting through the creature's spine, then I stabbed it down on the cat that was still latched to my leg with its teeth. I used my power to extract the teeth from my flesh and the decapitated head fell to the ground. The monsters attacking me were dead and Holton was just finishing up killing his. That left the two chasing after his horse but I could see the beast circling back toward us with the two monsters in tow.
I didn’t know if my power had a range limit, but this seemed like a good time to find out. I picked up two rocks about the size of a walnut. I cocked my arm back and threw the first one while activating my power on it.
The rock streaked through the air with a crack, missing the first monster by a few feet. I cursed and aimed the second rock, this time after activating my power, I tried to remain in control. It was hard but I managed to adjust the aim just enough. The wolf exploded into a pink shower as the rock impacted it. I went to pick up another rock but a bolt of fire tore across the distance and the last wolf dropped.
When I turned toward Holston, he was smirking at me, like see, I can do that too. I just shook my head and hobbled over to a fallen log to inspect my wound.
I was surprised to see blood had already stopped flowing from it and I could visibly see a scab forming. I knew we healed faster, but this seemed beyond excessive. The only conclusion I could come to was the overabundance of energy that was rapidly bleeding from my reserve. It seemed it had to go somewhere.
“Well,” Holton said, mosying up to me, “seems you learned a bit since we last saw each other. Good thing too, otherwise I doubt you would have survived. It’s a good thing we are now immune to the Father’s taint, otherwise, I would have to put you down over those little puncture wounds.”
“How would you know we are immune?”
Holton laughed, “didn’t get to that revelation yet did ya. Where do you think our powers come from? The Mother? No, boyo, the Mother only gives us a way to survive and use his curse to our advantage. Do you remember the sickness you faced in the city? Any wound from a Father’s minion is enough to curse a person, it's what makes it so dangerous. Not everyone has the luxury of walking through the gate to remove the taint though. Makes the next bit… necessary.”
“What next bit?” I demanded.
He shrugged, nodding toward Master Mgumba who was approaching on his horse, with mine in tow. I saw Master shake his head, then I heard Holton sigh. “More innocents lost to the Father’s will. May they rest easier in the Mother’s loving embrace.”
My head snapped back and forth between Master and Holton until I came to the sick realization that there was no mention of the fleeing civilians. Master’s grim look was what tipped me off and I looked back down the road. All I saw was a disturbed area or dirt. There hadn’t even been a scream, Master had snuffed their lives out for the sake of the many.
The realization made me sick to my stomach and I wanted to sink to my knees in despair at the deaths of innocents. But we weren’t done yet, I now knew more people were going to die and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Saving them from the visions and pain as well as becoming another source of the Father’s taint was the only thing that kept me going.
