Chapter 15

  The Night

  Even in the heart of summer, the night air of the Drakmor Mountains sent a cold chill through Yan. She pulled her coat tighter and slunk along the road. The ingredient she needed to make an antidote for Hyato still eluded her. Of course it wouldn't be easy to find. She hoped Michael would be okay.

  The mountains sang in the stillness of the night, a haunting sound carried on the breeze. The creatures of the mountains hid in their burrows, and the weaker Zori crawled into their pits. Clouds dotted the skies, and only a faint light reached the roads in patches.

  Yan crept along the path, checking behind bushes and on the cliffside for the elusive plant she sought. When she finished checking one path she moved to another, scouring the area for her quarry.

  As she crossed to another new path as the night grew longer. She started to scour the path when an ominous chill fell over her. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Icy fingers ran along her cheeks, but nothing was behind her.

  Heart leaping into her throat she looked all around. Behind? Above? Yan didn't see any sign of anyone around. Was someone near? Was something?

  She clutched at her chest and forced herself to exhale. Fear wouldn't help her now. She felt her heart beat creep slower until it returned to normal. Yan checked around her again, but she was alone. That worked for her. Something was out tonight, and this night grew too fast. Yan focused on her breathing, channeled energy through her muscles, and merged into shadow.

  Yan slipped along the road once more, alert for danger this time. She hadn’t really become darkness or anything, but it looked close enough. Yan wasn’t worried about using her family's techniques, since no one was with her.

  The cloud cover grew more complete soon, and Yan could not see as far as before. It was time to make a decision. The peak of the mountain loomed above, blacker than the sky. This mountain may not reach above the clouds, but many others did. Yan set off towards the peak, the ingredient she was after might grow better up there.

  As the paths got steeper, there were fewer plants around. And fewer places to hide. Yan moved at a slow pace, careful not to reveal herself. The sound of stones further ahead made her freeze, and stay pressed against the mountain. Her heart raced as it came into view.

  A massive slender arm appeared from around a corner, gripping a crag for balance. From around the corner a long leg stepped out, carrying a tall creature with it. The being could have been a Zori or just some odd creature, but there was no point in risking it.

  It’s face was distended and stretched too thin over its pale flesh. It walked along the path with slow strides that moved yards at a time. As if passed by Yan, she must only have come up to it's knee in height.

  Yan remained still, focused on being silent as the thing passed. She had always been told there were things out at night, things you did not want to cross. The Night Being passed and Yan took a breath, relieved.

  The Night Being stilled, looking back with a sharp glance! Yan’s eyes widened, heart racing. Had she given herself away? Would she have to fight it? Could it be fought? Could she run?

  The Night Being was motionless, not even breathing, looking Yan’s way. There was no helping it then. She could dive over the side of the cliff, she was agile enough to find her way down. But without that flower, there’d be no point. If she didn’t keep climbing, how could she make an antidote for Hyato? He might need it to survive, or at least to move ahead in a reasonable time.

  She couldn’t run. Could she fight? The thing was huge and mysterious, but she might be able to beat it. It continued to look in her direction, frozen like a statue. Maybe she could beat it. But it might not be alone. Battle could attract something worse, something she couldn’t handle. Running uphill would be dangerous, her stealth would be broken.

  That would be her only option then. She’d have to keep up the search. Yan calmed her heart, and began to summon her courage.

  The Night Being looked away, and continued down the mountain. Its strides carried it far, and in moments it was out of view. Yan blinked, then continued to climb the mountain. Luck favored her this time, she wouldn’t waste it.

  At the guidance of Sebastian, Kyria jump kicked a target. When she landed she flexed energy through her legs and repeated the attack. Hyato, weary as was from poisoning himself, couldn’t keep his eyes closed. Hyato watched the training. He wasn’t the only one.

  “This should loosen your muscles for your real battles.” Sebastian said, observing the training.

  “You already said that.” Kyria said with a giggle. She launched herself up and at a target once more, focusing on the speed and angle, rather than power. The kick connected and Kyria had little difficulty landing.

  “Perhaps we should make the training more challenging.” Sebastian said.

  “How do you wanna do that?” Kyria asked.

  Sebastian stroked his chin, but before he spoke another voice interjected. “I’ll do it!” Kyria and Sebastian turned to see Michael, standing up. He swayed from left to right, still ‘Drunk’ from the poison. He raised his arms before him, almost forming fists... but not quite.

  “Michael, you should lay down.” Sebastian said. “You could injure yourself.”

  Michael staggered forward and threw a palm strike at Kyria, which she dodged. Then he started to fall! Kyria went to catch him, but he recovered and hit her in the chin with an uppercut.

  Kyria staggered back and rubbed her chin. “Okay, you’re on!” She took the jumping stance that Sebastian showed her and jumped! She kicked Michael in the back of the shoulders, knocking him to the ground! Michael rolled with the attack and regained his feet, in an awkward crouch that looked unstable, his arms at odd defensive angles.

  Sebastian sighed and walked over to Michael. “At least fix your stance. Focus on your target, and try to copy her moves.” Sebastian guided Michael a little, and the drunk man nodded. Sebastian stepped back, “Okay... fight!”

  Michael moved first, jumping at Kyria. She saw him coming and grabbed his leg out of the air, swinging him to the ground. Michael created a flex of energy around his arms and blocked the ground, rolling out of Kyria’s grip.

  Kyria followed up with a jump strike of her own, missing Michael by an inch as he swayed to the side in his drunken haze. Kyria recovered from her jump and struck at Michael with a palm strike infused with energy. Michael took the attack without attempting to dodge, Kyria’s eyes widened as Michael gripped her arm with both hands. He lifted her up and flipped her into the air, tossing her into a wall. Michael’s arms were coated in the half flexed energy, which flowed off of him like wind, but didn’t quite burst as a surge.

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  Sebastian watched Kyria spin to her feet, and then looked over at Michael. “Michael, how are you doing that?”

  Michael looked at his own arms. “I tried to bursht it, but it didn’t go.” The energy remained around his arms like oversized bracers. He swung a few punches to test them, and they dragged along like nebulous weights.

  Kyria flexed energy around her arms and burst it, then tried again. Both times the energy discharged around her arms like static, but wouldn’t linger. “Guess I gotta get some experience.” Kyria rushed forth and punched Michael, who blocked with his forearm. She egged him on to punch and he did, which she parried with her forearm.

  “You must be joking...” Sebastian said, as he watched the Drunk Michael and the Combative Kyria exchange punches and parries. Michael struck Kyria in the face, she hit him back in the gut, and both continued to beat on one another as Sebastian watched. The ruins around them absorbed the noise as they trained in a brutal fashion.

  And otherwise, the night was silent.

  The creeping sensation of danger crawled along the hillsides, clutching at the hearts of those within. In the night, there were only monsters... and their prey. Yan tried to push that thought aside, but it loomed in the back of her head as she climbed the mountain further.

  Several paths had been shaken down for any sign of the elusive ingredient, but Yan had not been lucky so far. Not as far as foraging went. In terms of survival, Yan felt lucky. The Zori that moved about at night were not as friendly as the ones out in daylight. Yan peered around a corner.

  And froze.

  One of the most dangerous Zori known to adventurers, was the Rasha. A monster cloaked in sharp erratic shadows, it was similar in form to a Valon in energy state, but made of oppressive darkness. Despite being bipedal, it crouched like a wild beast, moving with all four limbs in aggressive haste. Its arms carried long serrated claws instead of hands, and its eyes blazed with fury from beneath a haze of barbed shadow. A Rasha, one of the most dangerous Elazori on Iagorothi, stood crouched in the middle of a stone clearing surrounded by stubborn brush. It’s head snapped to the left, right, up, back, as it twitched and looked around.

  A stone fell from a nearby cliff, and the Rasha vanished in a puff of umbral smoke. It appeared a heartbeat later at the rock, having slashed it in half with an impatient strike. The Rasha twitched, looked up, to the left, then to the right. When it moved it was like a snap in a new direction, but when it stopped the Rasha didn’t move at all. Its gaze was fixed, though the darkness of its body shifted constantly.

  The Rasha’s gaze made Yan’s heart beat faster. Was she imagining it, or was it looking right at her? Yan imagined herself to be stone, still as a Kuldo. She daren’t breathe. Nor even think such thoughts. She couldn’t fight this thing?

  Or could she?

  The Rasha twitched and looked away, then warped out of sight. Yan held still for another minute, then let herself breath, falling to the ground near some brush. She controlled her breath to mitigate sound, but felt relief at having narrowly avoided a challenging battle for survival. Rasha could be beaten. She knew of several people who had done so. Yan would rather not have to try to fight one alone, in the dark, unprepared for such a battle. They were known for their speed, and their ability to warp without getting fatigued.

  Yan caught her breath, and then froze again, for a much better reason. There it was! Nestled behind the brush she had collapsed near, growing from the stone, the ingredient she needed. Yan moved closer and sat by it, pleased she had finally found what she needed to help Hyato.

  Yan grabbed the stem of the plant and tugged. The whole thing would be needed, including the roots, to maximize effectiveness. Yan pulled it out and placed it into her bag, sealing it shut.

  The loosened stones that held the final ingredient shifted as Yan closed her pack. Yan saw as one of the fist sized stones fell two feet from the side of the wall where it had been, and clattered along the ground.

  A sharp quick screech sounded just above Yan, and she saw the Rasha materialize from its warp. It stood crouched above her, inches from her hunched over form. The sound of its barbed shadow cloak writhing around dominated her hearing as the Rasha loomed. Yan turned her head just the barest hint to one side and looked up.

  It’s face looked stretched and dark, no features visible to her. Yan noticed that one of the Rasha’s claws was right near her head, bigger than her whole head. The Rasha’s intense eyes had three individual pupils, and it's gaze was fixed on the clattering stone as it skidded to a stop. Yan felt her heart in her throat.

  It hadn’t seen her.

  The Rasha watched for another dozen moments, an eternity of heartbeats, then vanished once more. Yan waited for a moment, picked up a stone, and threw it in the direction she no longer needed. She waited until she heard a distant clattering, then fled with all haste. She moved as silent as she had ever done, forcing her years of silent training into her movements.

  Yan fled the mountainside, away from the night.

  After brutal blows had been exchanged for nearly an hour, Michael collapsed into his bedroll at last. Kyria panted as she sat down, sweating all over. “Oh man... what a brawl.”

  “Indeed.” Sebastian said, joining her at her side. “I suppose that will be suitable for a strength training exercise.”

  “Yeah. I think that works.” Kyria said, grinning. “And you making us change stances and fight in different ways the whole time. That really helped.”

  “I try to lend assistance. After all, I was asked to.” Sebastian said, “But the night has probably gone on long enough.”

  “Yeah, we should hit the hay soon.” Kyria said.

  “About that. You up for a bit of stamina training?” Sebastian asked.

  “Maybe. But I need to rest for a bit. And we need to make sure your other companion, that girl Yan, gets back safely.”

  Sebastian nodded. “I have faith in Yan’s abilities. But yes, we should wait.”

  “I’m gonna go check.” Kyria got up and went to the entrance of the ruin. She looked around the dark terrain, straining her eyes to see if anything was moving out there.

  “What’s all the fuss?” Kyria blinked and looked back to see Yan entering the ruin.

  Yan walked over to Hyato and got out a small mortar and pestle. “You doing okay Hyato?” Yan asked.

  “Been better.” Hyato groaned. “I’m fine.”

  “Don’t lie.” Yan said. She got out a bunch of herbs that the boys collected earlier. “I have the last ingredient.”

  “You do?” Hyato sat up a little.

  Yan nodded, pulling out the flower she had spent so long looking for. It had wavy blue petals. Hyato closed his eyes and lay back down, letting out a long pained groan. “Don’t worry bud.” Yan said. “It won't take long to make the antidote.” Yan felt a bit sore from her little outing, and her heart had only just calmed from the close encounters.

  Hyato sat in silence, and decided not to mention how they’d passed over an identical flower just before ingesting the poison. “Sorry, Yan.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Yan said. She continued making the antidote, mixing it into some water to make a drinkable medicine. It only took her a few minutes to administer the draught to Hyato, who drank the strange concoction without complaint, despite the gritty taste. “Sleep.” Yan said, “You should feel better by morning.”

  Yan yawned and got her bedroll out, waving goodnight to Sebastian as she nestled in a soft corner of the ruin.

  Kyria stretched and put away her gear. “You’re all here. Time to get some rest.” She said.

  “Yes.” Sebastian agreed. “Sleep is important.”

  “What was that other training you mentioned?” Kyria asked.

  Sebastian flashed her a smile and raised his eyebrows. “How about I join you in your tent and show you?”

  Kyria blushed, but smirked. “Oh. That’s what you mean.”

  “Well?” Sebastian asked. Kyria made a show of looking him over, then grabbed him by the collar and walked to her tent. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Sebastian said. Kyria chuckled, and they disappeared inside the tent.

  Hyato felt a little dizzy for a few minutes, then the world seemed to settle down. He pulled the bedroll closer to himself, trying not to breathe too hard. He wondered how long he would sleep this time.

  The next morning began like most others. Michael woke first and took care of his own business. The others were all asleep still, despite the suns rising on the distant horizon. Michael walked out of the ruins up a short path to get a better look at the sunrise. The brilliant light cast over the sky as the morning hues began the shift to blue. Michael saw dozens of mountains ahead, and felt a sense of satisfaction as he looked forward to their journey.

  Michael noticed that he wasn’t alone anymore, and looked back to see Hyato walking up the path to him. Hyato stopped a few feet away, his brown hair hanging loose around his neck, as he hadn’t tied it up yet. “Michael.” Hyato said. “I need to tell you something.”