Iron God Chapter 44 [Kolo]
After a loud and busy but very filling supper, Kolo had no trouble sleeping through the night. However, her back was horribly sore and stiff the next morning. She opened her eyes and saw Azvalath coming down the stairs with Dras.
“Kolo, you didn’t have to sleep in my armchair.” Dras sounded concerned. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and his freckled cheeks were flushed a rosy pink. “There’s a guest room upstairs.”
She shrugged. “Didn’t mean to. It just happened that way.”
Azvalath rubbed his eyes. “Go put a shirt on, will you? And a coat while you’re at it. It’s freezing outside.”
“Old news.” Dras shrugged and ran back upstairs.
Azvalath pulled a stool up next to the armchair and sat down. “Kolo, I need to talk to you.” His voice dropped close to a whisper. “It’s about Dras. He’s…”
“You’re not talking about me behind my back, are you?”
Kolo jumped out of the chair. Dras was right behind her. She gawked. “Weren’t you just upstairs? When did you come back down?”
“I was telling Kolo you’re like us.” Azvalath forced a smile. “You have a unique ability too.”
“Yeah, I sure do.” Dras beamed. “Got a shirt, back in a snap.” He snapped his fingers for emphasis. “Though it’s usually not something I show off. People like us, we really can’t be flaunting our gifts.”
“Hm.” Kolo crossed her arms. “Why not?”
He looked down. “Ferash Therall always hunt the showoffs first.”
She and Azvalath exchanged a mortified look.
“You know, Talin thinks that holf might be like us too. If the holf has some kind of power, maybe that’s why it’s better at killing people than an ordinary one.” Dras scratched his blond head. “Maybe I wouldn’t be so upset about Ferash Therall coming for a holf that’s eating my neighbors, but it’s only a matter of time before they come for us, then, isn’t it?”
“Dras…” Kolo started speaking, then Azvalath interrupted.
“We’re decently experienced dealing with Ferash Therall.” He spoke with a sudden feigned confidence. “Have there been any around here lately?”
“Well, not that I know of, but the thought of getting hunted down and stabbed if I leave my house at night gives me nightmares.” Dras grimaced. “Though I don't know which would be worse – dying when that happens, or spending the rest of my life on the other end of that blade, serving their bloodthirsty god that…for all I know, might not even exist. And if he does exist, then I can’t imagine him bringing anything but pain.”
Kolo hoped no one else could see the butterflies in her stomach. She straightened her white hair and struggled to find a balance between averting her eyes and staring.
“You’re older, aren’t you, Azvalath?” the younger man asked. “How have you made it so long?”
“I…” Azvalath hesitated, then looked at Kolo. “I didn’t do it alone.”
Kolo yawned and stretched. “Aza, you’re horrible at this.” She smacked his arm as she made her way to the back door. “Weren’t for me, then you’d be ancient history.” She slammed the door a bit too hard after stepping out onto the porch.
The butterflies in her stomach refused to calm down even when Dras was out of sight. She fought an urge to laugh at how absurd the whole situation was. They had two targets now – a puppy-eyed village cook and a bloodthirsty unseen predator. Somehow the former seemed even harder to tackle than the latter. She leaned on the deck’s rail and chuckled at their terrible luck.
Azvalath came out a few minutes later. “Did you really have to insult me like that?” He didn’t sound all that offended, which surprised her. “Dras is right back to his kitchen. No surprise.”
“You’re even more of a soft kitty than I thought.” Kolo turned around to face him. “Whatever happened to the sword-slashing masked monster I spent months fleeing for my life from? Just do it, damn you.”
Azvalath cringed. “We’re really going to talk about this now?”
“Mm-hm.” Kolo crossed her arms. “I think you’re full of more shit than a latrine pit if you suddenly can’t do your thing because a caterpillar’s too cute to step on.”
“Yeah, and who’s going to tell him?” Azvalath gestured to the door. “Who’s going to shove a blade into him after how kind he’s been to us?”
Kolo burst out laughing. “Are you serious? That should make you happy, Aza. He’d never even see it coming.” She took a deep breath. “Anyway, he’d become one of our order, right? You could fool around with him every night.”
“What?” Azvalath looked stunned. “How did you know we…?”
“Thin walls.” Kolo smirked. “Anyway, what’s the big deal? Why can’t you do it?”
The warrior sighed. “I hate betraying people.”
“Very well,” she sneered. “Guess I’ll have to do it, then.”
“No, Kolo, we can’t –” Azvalath faltered mid-sentence. “You know how a lot of Ferash Therall don’t survive their second ascensions?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
His voice dropped to a whisper. “A lot don’t even survive their first ascensions, Kolo.” His eyes darted left and right before focusing back on her. “I’m not ready to take that risk quite yet.”
“You took the risk with me, though.” She scoffed. “You’re not a compelling hypocrite in the slightest.”
“It’s not like that,” Azvalath snapped. “You were…a very high-stakes target. High priority. High value. If you hadn’t survived, I might’ve been executed.”
“You’re so dramatic.” Kolo chuckled and then realized he wasn’t making a joke. “Wait, are you serious?”
Immediately, Azvalath changed the subject. “We’ve got a holf to hunt before anything else. We should be ready.” Before she could question his previous remark any further, he went back inside.
“You evasive weasel,” Kolo grumbled, then followed him. When the door didn’t close with her first attempt, she slammed it shut as hard as she could.
“Hey, don’t be slamming doors in here,” Dras called from the kitchen. “There’s no need.”
Kolo seethed. “There’s also no need for you to comment!” She was irritable after that talk with Aza and every little minor annoyance was like rubbing up against stinging nettles. Perhaps that was why, without even thinking about it, she kicked the badger halfway across the room when he slipped an inch too close to her feet.
“Hey!” Talin snapped at her. “What was that for?”
She turned her head and ignored him.
“You seem upset.” Talin came back toward her. “Maybe help Azvalath and Dras finish up breakfast?”
She looked toward the kitchen where they’d both absorbed themselves. “Not in a million years.” She flopped back into Dras’s armchair and stared at the ceiling. “Or until Aza gets a grip, whichever happens first.”
“I’ll admit, I’m of the Iron God’s descent too, but I’m not a Ferash Therall.” Talin climbed up the back of the chair and positioned himself atop the backrest. “Xigon and I go way back, though, and I’ll help his young’uns whenever they come by.”
Kolo crossed her arms and scowled.
“What’s he doing these days, really?” the badger asked.
“Brooding in his study.” She smoothed her white hair. “I wonder if this is some kind of payback for humiliating him during my ceremony. Anyway.” She cleared her throat. “What do you know about holves?”
“They’re big but virtually invisible predators who lure their prey in with sounds. Though, from what Azvalath described yesterday, there’s more to this holf than a tempting sound.” Talin’s claws dug into the back of the chair. “The gravebirds call him Slaaek. They sometimes go to feast on what little he leaves of his victims, the closest any will get to a funeral.”
“Slaaek.” Kolo repeated the name. It sounded ugly. “So we know Slaaek makes you see and hear things, you can’t see him, and there’s little to salvage of his victims. What else?”
“Slaaek’s a greater holf. The bigger kind. A greater holf’s bite can kill a grown bear in a fraction of a second, so I imagine getting within striking range is a bad idea.” Talin sounded worried all of a sudden. “Thing is, you wouldn’t even know he’s right there until he’s struck, and then you’re dead anyway, right?”
“Striking range. Hm.” Kolo stretched her arms, then closed her eyes and extended an invisible hand. She stretched it as far as she could and felt around the room. Door. Wall. Stairs. A window, cold beneath the phantom fingers. Then she reached around the back of the chair and grabbed Talin.
The badger yelped.
Kolo bolted up, yelling without meaning to. “Talin, that’s it! I’ve got it! Thank you!”
“What…you’re welcome? What are you doing?” he grunted.
She lifted him off the back of the chair and held him in the air in front of her for a second. “I’m saving our skins in advance. Yes! What does a holf feel like?”
“Hell if I know!” Talin squirmed. “Put me down!”
Kolo flung him onto the chair. He thudded against the cushions. “I can make…hang on a second.” She extended another phantom arm, then another, then another, and so on. “Huh, I can make six of ‘em now. Guess I’m getting better at this.” She pulled them all back in. “I can hold up to five people in one spot and use the last one to – yes! Slaaek won’t even know what hit him!”
The smell of boiled eggs drew her attention toward the kitchen. Dras came out with breakfast in hand and a stunned look on his face. “What’s going on here?”
“A plan of attack.” Kolo grinned. “We’ve got a holf to catch.”
“Back up.” Azvalath came up behind Dras. “Start from the beginning.”
Kolo spewed her ideas with explosive excitement. “I can restrain up to five people from getting too close to the mouth. Hopefully it’ll pick one of you to make you see things, not me, so that way it won’t matter what you see, you can’t get too close while the rest of us –”
Azvalath raised one finger. “Hope is not a strategy, Kolo.”
Kolo tapped her foot. “What’s your idea?”
“Well, I agree with needing more hands on the hunt.” He looked at Dras. “Dras, would you be willing to help us? Or do you know anyone else who might?”
“Wymer’s really familiar with the woods. I’ll run over to his place and ask.” The freckled man bolted up. “See you in a few.”
He darted out. The front door opened and shut before anyone could say so much as a goodbye.
Dras was back barely three minutes later. He blurred into the room with Wymer clinging to him for dear life. The older man huffed to catch his breath. Then he looked at Azvalath and Kolo. “Dras is really fast, you know.”
“I know.” Azvalath nodded. “It’s impressive.”
“Whew.” Dras unhooked Wymer’s arm from his shoulders. “Wait, hang on, I left the door open.” He raced over to shut it, then yelped.
Azvalath looked over his shoulder. “Don’t scream, let her in.”
Jai-Lag bounded up to Azvalath a second later and nearly flattened him, grabbing his shoulders under her heavy front paws. He sank to the floor, laughing. Everyone else exchanged looks that ranged from amused to horrified.
“Jai-Lag can track even the faintest scent. She can tell us where the beast is,” Aza suggested. The sabretooth cat rubbed her head against his, frizzing his brown hair.
“Dras, you’re extremely fast and you can take another person with you.” Kolo turned to him. “Maybe you could –”
“Be bait?” he scoffed.
“ – be the only one who could possibly get the holf’s attention without getting hurt,” Kolo corrected. “Seriously, you’re probably faster than that thing.”
Dras gave a nervous chuckle. “I like that better.”
“Don’t worry.” Wymer patted Dras on the back. “No forest fiend’s ever gotten through me, Dras. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Respectfully, I don’t think I can be of much help.” Talin got down from the chair. “But I wish you all the very best of luck.”
They spent the rest of the morning preparing themselves. Kolo was far more excited than fearful, to her own surprise. She had two of Dras’s boiled eggs, and they hardly felt like a possible last meal. The early half of the day felt more like a lucid dream than reality, a lucid dream where she could warp the world to her liking and the power was intoxicating.
Oh, what happy dreams came of not knowing better.
1 note
·
View note