The Lost Eight by Duron Crejaro (read me a book .TXT) 📕

"So they’re agents of this, Belladria?" Creolis continued to stare at the lifeless form, a strange feeling of sympathy forming in his gut as Elris related his small tale.

"Of course, no doubt her people roam the countryside. Surely they spotted us and no doubt they recognized me right away."

Nodding Creolis continued, "One got away, I only caught him with a glancing blow."

"Then we should make haste. He will spread word of us. More will come looking. I had thought to skirt the roads and head to Amlily as directly as we could. After this though," He motioned at the body. "I think we should continue east, into the Reastro swamps."

A laughed echoed from Creolis, obviously not taking Elris seriously, "I'm not sure that is a good idea. The Broslak control that wretched place."

Nodding slowly, "I'm aware, but we can keep to the game trails and make for the Reastro River, then follow it south into Amlily. We shouldn't be in their territory for more then a couple of days. A week at most." he volunteered, "Unless you'd rather deal with more of these soon."

A shrug was the only answer Creolis had for him. Either way was likely to be dangerous, but being out in the open, waiting daily for ambush seemed to him, the greater of two evils. So together in the darkness, they broke camp, and began their eastward march.

They traveled as quickly and lightly as possible. The two remained ever vigilant for signs of new or renewed pursuit. Running themselves ragged, they pushed on, stopping only when absolutely necessary. They continued to sleep in shifts, not wanting to be caught unawares. Their hunting was cut to a minimum, just enough to keep the pangs of hunger away. The weather took a dramatic change. Bitter winds from the west overtook them. They traveled at night, mostly by moonlight. Not only to avoid being spotted again, but also so they could sleep during what little warmth the daylight would offer. More then once, one or the other would awaken in the freezing temperatures to find that small icy clumps hung about their lashes.

It went like this for what seemed like weeks to Creolis. The same daily routine was tiresome, but he could see that they were making progress. Slowly but surely, the browning winter grasses began to give way to sod-like wet grasses. The weather even began to grow milder, Reastro being fed warmer northern winds, rather than the cold winds coming out of the Qemara Mountains to the west. As the terrain shifted, they encountered their first sinkhole. Creolis was shuffling along quickly, and took a step onto what looked like solid ground. He learned otherwise as his heavy booted foot sank through a soupy mess of reeds and other vegetation. His entire body following with a loud mushy splash as he quickly began to sink. Elris laughed loudly as he urgently searched for something to help pull him out with. It took no time to find a long waterlogged branch. He held it out to Creolis, using it to pull him from the mess. Creolis sank down on the edge of the pool, his entire form drenched as Elris leaned back a second wave of laughter overcoming him.

They paused for a while after this, managing, despite the wetness, to make a small fire so Creolis could dry himself. A sullen Creolis sat wrapped in a dry cloak. The one he had been wearing they had wrung out as best they could and now hung on a nearby branch drying. Elris was busy skinning a large constrictor he had managed to trap, preparing it for what would probably be the best food they had eaten in a while. He had gathered some of the local edible flora and was in the process of making skewer sticks for them both.

"This wetness is miserable. I can't tell half the time, where the plants end and the water begins,” grumbled Creolis, rubbing his arms to increase circulation against the cold.

"Yes, I always hated coming here. I've avoided it for decades." he said offhandedly pushing large chunks of vegetables on the shaved sticks, along with sizeable morsels of snake.

Creolis gazed at him oddly, thinking to himself that Elris was only maybe his father’s age. "At least there has been no sign of the Broslak." A shudder ran through him. He had heard plenty of stories of the Broslak. A race of mysterious lizard like creatures, which controlled the swamps of Reastro. Speculation abounded as to where they came from. Some said they were a result of magic’s unleashed during the War of Eight. Others that they were created by the gods, or the result of some mutation. No one really knew. Most people tended to avoid the area, except for the SaltSteel dwarves that used its twisted waterways to travel for trading in Amlily. The swamp itself was dangerous enough with its sinkholes and carnivorous wildlife, without adding the Broslak into the mix.

"With a little luck we'll get out of here without ever seeing any of them." Elris turned the skewers over, the smell of sizzling fat wafting through the air.

"We could sure use a little luck,” he said taking a deep breath. "That sure smells delicious. I don't think I can remember the last time I had to eat snake." a small chuckle escaping him.

Elris shrugged with a smile, "It could be worse, lets just hope that the smell doesn't bring anything bigger along."

This caused Creolis to look around dubiously. His knowledge of the swamplands was limited. He was not even sure what else out here could be bigger. The snake Elris had caught had already surprised him as the biggest snake he had ever seen. "What else is out here that's bigger?"

   Elris laughed, leaning into the damp tree at his back. "You'll know if you see one."

He gulped audibly, leering around the overly quiet swamps. Late afternoon had come and gone and darkness was beginning creep its way through the lush dampness. Food that evening was plentiful. After eating, they smothered the fire making sure that it did not continue to smoke, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to themselves. Afterwards, they decided to just go ahead and call it a night. They already had lost several hours due to his unforeseen accident. Neither of them voiced their opinion that they would rather not go traipsing about in the swamps in the dark.

A dull gray overcast sky is what Creolis awoke to, Elris having taken the last watch. Breakfast consisted of little more then bread and water. Their supplies had begun to dwindle and they were rationing where they could. It would not be long before they would be living entirely off the land itself. Not an entirely pleasant thought to either of them. The rain started about noon. Creolis groaned loudly when the first few drops hit him. As if it was not already wet enough around here he thought. He pulled his hood over his head, sparing a glance to the dark gray clouds overhead. The trails had virtually vanished in the half submerged trees and masses of vines and reeds that were suffocating the land. Already several times they were forced to backtrack, the waters becoming so deep that progress became impossible.

Elris seemed sure that the Reastro River could not be much farther away. Creolis though was rather skeptical. Without the sun to gauge time, he was unsure about how long they had been moving that day. Sometimes he was not even sure which direction they were going. A few times, he swore they were passing a group of trees that he thought they had already passed. Elris assured him that this was not the case. Eventually the sky began to darken further. At first Creolis thought, it was because the storm was growing worse, but the steady flow of rain remained unchanged. Then it dawned on him that it was because they had been walking all day and night was fast approaching. He sighed, no wonder he felt worn down, and still it seemed they were no closer to their destination.

He started to yell at Elris that maybe they should find a place to camp for the night. He never got the chance; movement in his peripheral vision catching his attention. He knew it was to late before he turned. There was not even enough time to cry out a warning to Elris. The Broslak had caught them. He started to go for his sword, glancing towards Elris and thought better of it. The creature before him was huge, standing very near seven feet in height. It was hairless, covered head to toe in dark ebony scales that glistened as they shed any water that touched them. It had what seemed unusually large yellow slited eyes. Its head was almost humanlike; the ears however flattened and turned in. Vaguely reminding Creolis of a cobra he had seen at market when he was younger. Otherwise, the form was very humanoid except for the thick tail hanging about his backside. The creature carried no weapon Creolis noticed. Upon further inspection he realized it was carrying nothing man made at least. Its taloned hands and feet and razor sharp teeth were more then capable of shredding anything it came across limb from limb.

Glancing about it became quickly apparent that though he saw only a couple of them, they were indeed surrounded. Figures moved in-between trees making no noise, perfectly camouflaged in the shadows of twilight. He was unsure of what to do. They had offered them no violence. In fact, they just seemed to be watching them. Not wanting to take his eyes off the creature before him, he was conflicted. Finally, he figured that if they had meant to kill them, it would have already happened. He looked at Elris several yards away for some indication of what they should do. Elris gave no visible signs; he stood impassively staring at them, standing in a completely neutral posture.

"Come with us." The creature spoke in a clear concise, and just slightly aggressive voice.

He turned back to it looking rather shocked that it had spoken to him, and a little disappointed, he had envisioned the creature having a hiss to his voice. The tension in the air palpable enough to be smothering, and easily recognizable as he spoke, "And where would you have us go?" he retuned.

"We take you to Chief. We follow you two days now. He will want to know why you in Broslak realm." His common language came across slightly broken, as though it was seldom used and unpracticed.

"We are just