Fan Fiction ❯ Jiikron: Legend of the Two ❯ Flood ( Chapter 7 )

The torment is over. ~_^ Read on and discover Vitani's fate.

 

"I've had a wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx

 

-Chapter Seven-

-Flood-

 

Voide acted immediately. Discarding his belt and shoes, he made swift work of launching himself into the water after his student. The raft was more stable than they had originally thought; it did nothing but rock gently when Voide jumped off. Somewhere in the back part of his mind, the part that wasn't panicking, Kona realized with passing exasperation that Vitani only fell in because she had been startled and lost her balance. It figured.

 

Mikona stuck the navigating branch firmly into the river bottom, holding the raft still and watching in horror as the current carried his daughter farther and farther away from him. She was screaming and sputtering in turn; the strong waters kept pulling her under. Swimming was in vain.

 

Voide moved with the tide of the river, knowing it would be easier to reach Vitani if he didn't fight it. Each time the Ynla overpowered her and she was dragged underwater, Voide told himself to remain calm and just get to her-

 

She screamed again as another wave of water crashed over her head, submersing her beneath its depths. There she came face to face with the most terrifying thing she'd ever seen. An enormous… something was in front of her. It was easily five times as big as she was. It looked like some deranged cross between a fish and a bird and glowed a luminous blue. Shiny scales and feathers adorned its entire body and a row of spiny, dangerous looking spikes stood up all along its back. Sharp teeth that were twice as long as one of Vitani's arms stuck up from its bottom lip. Its eyes were entirely black and at the moment were looking at her like a tasty morsel.

 

She screamed, quite forgetting that she was under water, and thrashed wildly as liquid rushed to fill her lungs where oxygen ought to be. Just before she blacked out, a blinding light flashed before her eyes and something closed around her wrist. The last thing she remembered later was wondering what being eaten alive would feel like.

 

~@%%@%%@%%@~

 

It wasn't until many weeks later that his sister's rescue would make any sense to Kona. Just as he and Mikona heard her scream from beneath the water, Voide reached her and grabbed a hold of her arm, pulling her swiftly up to the surface of the river. In one quick, indiscernible movement, he also dispatched the horrifying creature that was about to make Vitani its supper. He told them later that he had kicked the thing on its head, but Kona wasn't really sure if he believed that.

 

As master and pupil were being carried downstream, Voide caught sight of a low hanging tree branch that somehow bore both of their water logged weights. With that he managed to haul them ashore. Vitani lay unconscious by his side, and he wasted no time in resuscitating her. She coughed up mouthfuls of water when she came to, and then was left shaking violently as the cold from her wet clothes began to sink in.

 

Mikona dislodged the navigating branch from the muck of the river bed and used it to steer himself and his son back towards the land from which they had originally launched themselves. Once there, the two of them jumped hastily from the raft and pulled it onto the bank before rushing to Vitani's side. Her lips were blue and her face was pale. Gooseflesh covered every visible inch of her skin.

 

“Hurry and grab the blankets,” Voide commanded. He was also soaked to the bone and shivering, but not as fiercely as Vitani was. Kona and his father ran back to their secured packs on the raft and returned soon after with all of the blankets in their arms. Voide wrapped them each around his student's body, until she resembled something like a giant fuzzy caterpillar.

 

The three men took turns vigorously rubbing Vitani's arms and shoulders and legs until the color finally filtered back into her face and the shivering became nothing but a slight tremble. Voide wanted to make her eat something immediately and regain her strength, but she was far too exhausted. Grudgingly, he let her lie down and sleep after forcing her to change into some dry clothes.

 

After he had seen that she was comfortable enough and had a decent fire beside her, he redressed as well and gathered round another smaller fire with Mikona and Kona. The latter was staring gravely into the flames, chin rested on his pulled up knees. The merry blaze danced before him and was reflected in his amber gaze. He sat that way for a long while, and then, without warning, spoke.

 

“What was that thing, Voide?” His voice was tainted with fear and weariness, and even trace amounts of suspicion.

 

“They're called kimeras. A water being bred from a fish and a bird.”

 

Mikona looked somewhat repulsed. “Where did you learn that?”

 

“I teach mythology, stories from the past. To understand the past, we must know the present. And the kimera is a beast of legend. I've heard rumors that they were real, but I never thought I'd ever see one.”

 

Kona cast a glance at his sister who was sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the unpleasant conversation being had. “And… It would have eaten her?”

 

“If the old tales are true, yes.”

 

Despite the heat from the fire, neither father nor son could keep from shivering.

 

Later that night, well after they had laid down to rest, Kona awoke and found that Voide was nowhere to be seen.

 

~@%%@%%@%%@~

 

Andsaca was bent over a large gray stone basin whose contents looked like water, but instead of his reflection they bore the scene of three men gathered around a pale young woman who looked very cold and very wet.

 

“She nearly drowned today, my lord.” A voice from behind him spoke.

 

“She should have. I didn't want any survivors.”

 

“I know, sire, but-“

 

“No, Kisra! She should not be alive. Had you killed her when you had the chance, I would not have to endure this tedious situation.”

 

The man called Kisra bowed his head to his master. “I apologize, my lord.”

 

Andsaca snorted. “My trust in you is waning. First the poison escapade, and now this. The next time a chance arises, kill her, or I will kill you.”

 

The servant bowed even lower, hiding his face from the Lord of Darkness. “Yes, my lord. Consider it done.”

 

~@%%@%%@%%@~

 

When Voide crept silently back to his makeshift bed, Kona was waiting for him. He estimated it had only been about fifteen minutes since he had waken up to find the other man gone.

 

“Where were you?”

 

The older twin's softly spoken question startled Voide; he was not expecting anyone to be up. But his shock didn't last long. “I was relieving myself. Must've swallowed too much water in the river.” With that he smiled at Kona and laid down, not uttering a single sound or moving the rest of the night.

 

~@%%@%%@%%@~

 

Raizo found he could always count on his body to recover quickly. When he fell out of a tree at the age of eight and broke his ankle, he was back on his feet and running around in a mere three weeks.

 

Now, though his throat was still painful and raw and his stomach still rejected most of the food he swallowed, he discovered that his legs were able to support him again. It would still be several weeks before he was able to stand without getting dizzy immediately after, but any progress was welcome in his eyes.

 

The old man, who eventually revealed himself as Erfin, periodically disappeared for hours at a time and returned with armfuls of food while he was caring for Raizo. Where the old codger found so much to eat was a mystery to the younger man, but he didn't care, as long as there was something for him to survive off of.

 

Erfin came back one night carrying a little fawn. He had already cleaned it entirely. Raizo thought briefly that it was amazing how much weight the frail looking old man could hold. The latter knelt on the ground with the animal and commenced with starting a fire and hanging the uncooked meat over it on a stick.

 

“Yer gettin' better awful quick like,” Erfin commented as he watched a careful Raizo pick at his meal and swallow small bits of it at a time. “Guess you'll be goin' back ter yer home soon, eh?”

 

At the mention of home, Raizo almost coughed up the bit of venison he'd just consumed. He had tried not to think of how Lasah must look now. People had already been lying dead in the streets when he had fled. He couldn't imagine returning there to live by himself, assuming he was the only survivor. Just the thought that everyone he knew was dead and gone made him shudder in disgust.

 

“I… I don't think I'll be going back.”

 

Erfin raised one bushy gray eyebrow. “Oh?”

 

Raizo nodded.

 

“Well then,” the old man said. “How `bout ya come wit' me?”

 

This idea was almost as strange and unwelcome as returning to Lasah. But, Raizo thought with a grimace, where else had he to go? Erfin was smiling at him, the few teeth he had shining yellow in the firelight.

 

The rest of his life with Erfin…? Raizo could only imagine.

 

~@%%@%%@%%@~

 

I heart Erfin. That is all.

 

Thank you:

Dice - Mrs. Brewer - Brittany

 

Disclaimer: This story is a product of my imagination. Any and all similarities between real people/places and those in the fiction are purely coincidental.

 

~ The Neko Kami of the Fruit Loops