Hopeless Liberation Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Dante
** ** We set out the next morning after dinning on a particularly gaunt wild rabbit. Since it had stopped raining sometime during the night while Peter and I slept, I now wore my cloak, which Peter had relinquished when he discovered, upon waking up, that the clouds had ceased throwing their liquid javelins upon us. I had also taken Peter's parka back and put it in my knapsack.
The sea of dead leaves and drying mud slid out from beneath our boots as we walked. Meanwhile, the clouds from last night still hung above the trees like wooly curtains, which made me fear that we had not seen the last of the rain. Although, despite its queer nature, I still preferred the coldness of the June rain to the ever-growing warmth of the days, which had greatly thinned my coat of fur. A few days after I had killed Osric, I noticed small patches of fur on the ground around me when I awoke in the morning. The last time this occurred was about four days ago. Since then, my shedding had ceased, but the heat never seemed to, until the clouds rolled in and rained the night before.
Perhaps that was why I had given Peter my cloak. Maybe I just wanted to feel the cool raindrops against my body, making me forget about the heat of the past couple of days. No. I knew that wasn't the only reason I had given him my cloak. Peter was very small and had a thinner coat of fur than I did. He also wasn't able to wear a disguise anymore because I had destroyed his makeup jars, which put him in serious danger. If only I hadn't lost my temper on the night of Esme's death and thrown my previous knapsack against a tree, smashing the jars inside of it. And there was something else, too. I felt responsible for Peter, as though his safety was my duty. This emotion first became evident to me after our first sword practice together. He hung on every word I said and always tried to impress me by giving his best effort, which greatly moved me. Was this how Esme felt when she taught me how to hunt and fight? If so, her last words about thinking of me as a son were now much more understandable.
Shouts came from my left and I immediately clutched the grip of my rapier, turning to face whatever danger had discovered us. Yet, I was only met with trees, bushes and rocks.
Peter, who had been walking to my right, took a step forward. His hand firmly clutched the grip of his longsword. "Should we check it out?"
"It could be the Talth," I said, searching for any movement between the trees ahead.
"If it is the Talth, then some traveler's in danger," Peter said, examining the forest as well. "We should help,"
"We've been lucky to have evaded them for this long. If one of them gets away, more could show up and come look for us,"
Without offering a rebuttal, Peter drew his sword and hurried through the woods, not even looking back to see if I was following.
Cursing under my breath as Peter swiftly vanished between some trees, I lifted my arm and drew my bow, readying an arrow on its string just before dashing after the otter prince. Better not use my gun in case there are Talth nearby.
_ _ Eventually, after tailing Peter for a few moments, I burst out from the shelter of the trees and stood next to the prince, facing south on the main road that stretched through all of the Alpis Kingdoms. Lofty elms stood on both sides of the road like sentries, swinging the emerald-colored leaves that covered their branches as though they were polished swords.
Further down the road and not more than thirty paces away, there were two Talth. One was a tiger and the other was a lemur, both of whom were pointing the tips of their blades at a young skunk, whose back was pressed against the side of a wooden cart that had been filled with turnips, lettuce heads, carrots, apples and corn. The wagon itself was tied to a tamed chestnut colored horse, which stood still as it faced south, appearing utterly oblivious to the situation. The skunk's probably the son of some farmer. I wouldn't be surprised if he was planning on traveling into Sleeping Sun to sell his crops.
_ _ Peter and I hastily strode down the road as the blood-red hydras on the Talth's yellow armbands became more visible with every step.
As we walked further along the road to help the farm boy, I caught a glimpse of sunlight that bounced off of Peter's sword, reminding me that he was armed. "Don't use your sword unless you have to. You aren't ready to be in a real fight,"
Before Peter could reply, the two Talth and the skunk all turned their heads to acknowledge our presence.
Cockily, the lemur took a step up the road and in our direction, brushing past his partner and the farm boy. "Looks like we've got two heroes,"
"Shit, Oswald!" the tiger said, his fur bristling. "The wolf's got a bow. Let's leave!"
Peter and I stopped walking. We then silently stood in the center of the road as we awaited the lemur's decision, all while I aimed my arrow at him.
"Please," the lemur sneered, "these two don't know their asses from their cocks. Look at the way the otter's holding that sword. He doesn't know how to use it. Hell, the wolf probably doesn't even have the balls to-"
I released my arrow, which burrowed its head through the lemur's left cheek, spilling blood down onto the front of his tunic. He grasped the arrow, awkwardly feeling it with his hand as though he were a blind man. The Talth's stubby black fingers then wrapped around the arrow's shaft and tried heaving it out of his cheek, causing him to scream as the wound tore and bled more furiously. His pain soon became short lived when I fired a second arrow that dug into the center of his forehead, which cracked as loudly as a whip. Blood from my second arrow oozed down over his eyes and into his gaping mouth, covering his face almost entirely in red before he fell onto the gravel of the road and stained the rocks with the liquid essence of his death.
"Fuck this," the tiger muttered and turned to sprint down the road.
I drew a third arrow and was able to fire it after the tiger had taken a few steps, piercing the space between his shoulder blades and possibly severing his spine. However, instead of immediately dying, the tiger collapsed on the road face-first, his sword flying off to the right, and he began to try crawling away as blood poured down the sides of his back.
After tying my bow back onto my quiver, I walked towards the bleeding tiger, who was now sobbing as he continued to sluggishly slither away.
I unsheathed my rapier and stood over the Talth, now able to clearly see the blood as it bubbled out from where my arrow was still buried inside of him. "Eighth circle. Seventh Malebolge,"
I raised my rapier and glided it through the back of the tiger's throat, flooding the ground in a bright shade of scarlet that would have made roses wither with shame.
In mere seconds, the tiger's head lowered onto the road, his right cheek dipping into his own blood, and he lay still.
Once I withdrew my sword from the tiger's neck and saw that the metal now glowed like a ruby, I cleaned the blade on the tiger's right sleeve.
After my rapier was free of blood, I sheathed it and removed my arrows from both of the dead Talth. Then, after cleaning the blood from the arrows and placing them back into my quiver, I paced over to the farm boy, who now stood adjacent to Peter.
As I drew close enough to examine the skunk's face, I realized that he was only sixteen. His young brown eyes gazed up at me with sheer horror and his slender body shook while his tail ducked between his short legs. I then began to smell a stench that reminded me off rotten eggs. Skunks certainly are a smelly lot. The boy's fear came as no surprise to me. I was a tall gray wolf who had just killed two men before him. He, on the other hand, was slim and even shorter than Peter, making him seem all the more impuissant in that moment.
"Do you have any weapons?" I asked, doubting that the skunk did, since the front seat of his wagon was bare and his belt didn't have a scabbard to hold a blade.
"N-No," the timid boy squeaked.
"You shouldn't travel without one," I advised him. "Those Talth probably would have raped and killed you,"
It was a harsh thing to say, but it was the truth. He needed to know of the dangers that lay on the road so he could better prepare himself for the future.
The skunk's gaze shifted from me to Peter, eventually falling on Peter's drawn sword. He then looked back up at me, his hands trembling at his sides. "Take whatever you want! Just don't hurt me or Mary,"
"Mary?" Peter asked, sheathing his sword. "Who's that?"
"M-M-My horse," the boy said. "She and Jackson are the only horses we have. Jackson plows the fields and Mary pulls our wagon. If we lost either of them, we'd probably stave. We hardly make enough gold to eat and we can't buy other horses,"
"We won't take your horse," I assured the boy, attempting to sound soothing. "My friend and I heard you scream and only wanted to help,"
The skunk's hands finally ceased their quivering. "Really?"
"Really," Peter said.
"Oh, thank you!" the boy said, a smile blooming on his face like a flower in spring. "I don't know how to repay you,"
"That won't be necessary," I said. "We're just glad you're safe,"
"Please!" the boy begged. "You saved my life. At least let me give you some carrots and potatoes,"
Peter shot me a look and shrugged. "We could use the food,"
Before I could remind Peter that I was able hunt for our food, the skunk climbed onto the back of his cart. "Great! How much do you want?"
I didn't want to take the skunk's crops, especially since he just confessed that his family was not financially well off, but I also didn't want to hurt the boy's feelings by turning down his generous offer. So, I decided to ask for a small amount of his produce. "Four carrots and three potatoes,"
"That's all?" the farmer boy asked, digging through the various vegetables he had in his wagon.
"That'll be fine," Peter assured him.
The boy soon lifted his arms, which held a few carrots and potatoes in them, and he hopped down onto the road. He then held the vegetables out towards me. "Here,"
I didn't take the food, since I counted as many as nine carrots and six potatoes in the boy's arms. "I can't possibly take that much from you. You're family needs the gold more than I-"
"Please take it," the boy implored. "You saved me and my family a lot of trouble. If it weren't for you, those two would have taken everything. And I'm sure I'll still make plenty of gold in Sleeping Sun,"
"What makes you so sure?" Peter asked. "There are probably a hundred other farmers selling food in the City,"
"The war's coming," the boy explained. "Food's gonna be hard to buy soon, so everybody'll be buying as much as they can,"
"So it finally pays to be a farmer," I said, feeling a little more open to accepting the boy's kind gift.
"Yes, sir!" the boy said with a grin. "So please take these. I'm sure you'll need them for wherever you're going,"
I warily stared down at the food in the boy's arms, as if I were a superstitious man who was afraid to be struck by a curse. Then, to appease the boy, I reached out my arms and took the vegetables. "Thank you,"
"You're welcome," the boy said, allowing the food to slip out of his arms and into mine.
I turned my head towards Peter and said, "Get my purse out of my knapsack,"
As I got down on one knee, Peter obediently walked up behind me and began to untie my knapsack.
"You don't need to pay for the food, sir," the boy said. "It's a gift!"
Peter, after fumbling through the contents of my knapsack, walked around and held my purse in front of me.
"Give him thirty coins," I ordered the prince.
Peter shot me a questioning glance, but began to untie my purse.
"You don't have to pay me, sir," the boy persisted. "I wasn't expecting you to-"
"It's not for the carrots and potatoes," I said, as Peter began plucking a few coins out of my purse. "You should buy a knife. If you're going to be traveling on the main road, you need to be able to protect yourself,"
I then motioned my head to the left, towards the dead tiger. "Or you'll end up like that,"
Peter, now with a handful of coins, turned and held out the gold to the skunk.
"Thank you, sir!" the boy said, as Peter poured the gold into his now outstretched hand.
"You're welcome," I told the boy, as Peter tied my purse closed and walked behind me to drop it into my knapsack.
Once my knapsack was tied closed and I stood up, the skunk slid the gold into the left pocket of his trousers. He then sprang onto the front seat of his wagon and stared down at me. "Are you heading to Sleeping Sun? I could give you two a ride. You'll have to sit in the back with the food. There's not enough room up front,"
"That's quite all right," I answered. "We prefer to travel off the main road. That way, we don't run into much trouble,"
"Smart," the boy said. "If I didn't have this wagon, that's probably what I'd do,"
"Good luck," Peter told the skunk.
"And good luck to you," the skunk wished us, before picking up the reigns of his tamed horse and flicking them in one quick motion. "Let's go, Mary,"
The horse slowly but surely began to strut down the road, causing the gravel beneath its almost gentle hooves to shift.
"I hope you realize you only have four coins left in your purse," Peter said, once the boy was out of earshot.
"I know. But he needs the gold more than I do,"
"Yeah. Plus, you're going to get plenty of gold once we get to Lowpive anyways,"
"Could you hold these for a moment?" I asked, extending the carrots and potatoes towards the prince.
"Sure," the otter said, taking the food into his gloved hands.
Once Peter held all of the food, I took off my knapsack and opened it. I then pulled the flap back and held my knapsack out to Peter. "Okay. Shove them inside,"
Peter grinned as he stepped forward. "Aren't you supposed to buy someone a drink before you ask that?"
"Just put the food in," I said, smiling at the joke.
"Sure thing," Peter replied, holding his hands forward and allowing the vegetables to disappear inside my bag.
After re-tying my knapsack, I put it back onto myself. "All right. Let's get moving,"
Peter and I walked back into the forest, leaving the main road behind us.