The One that Got Away

514SaOnGoAw

The river was quiet as it bubbled over the rocks and around the logs as it carried on downstream. The large and sturdy rods stood out against the brushes and the reeds defiantly as the water pulled their packages of bait-disguised hooks down the torrent. They had been fishing reasonably successfully for most of the morning and the smell of grilling fish wafted throughout the branches and brush.

It had been quiet for a little bit so they had decided to cast a net woven from sturdy webbing from a breed of spider a nearby village farmed. The way of life and people were vastly different from their own but they both traded well for what each other needed – a sustainable way of getting meat and the tools to get it.

As they pulled in the net with a few small fish caught between the fine threads they saw one of their rod twitch. Something was investigating the bait. As one of them dashed to grab the rod the other hauled on the net with renewed vigour anxious to bring it in before their own rod was discovered. As the rod was grabbed the fisherfolk realised their bait had moved into a deeper part of the river where a smaller stream joined with the main one.

As they pulled the fish on the other end reacted immediately causing the rod to bend nearly in half. The sturdy fibres of the rod groaned with the effort as the the mans feet dug into the ground form the power of the fish. ‘I need help!’ the man called out as their fellow fisher hauled in the remaining part of the net, well what remained of it. A large patch of it was missing as if something had cut or burned its way through the fibres.

As they discarded the net onto the bank, where the fish could not escape, they rushed towards the man battling the powerful catch. As both of them hauled on the rod in unified strength a large disturbance was seen at the surface of the deep water. ‘It’s massive!’ called the other fisher as they continued to battle against their catch.

But soon the next sign of danger came when their combined strength was not able to start hauling the catch in. The length of sturdy thread that connected the bait and hook to the rod strained under the effort of both fish and fisherfolk battling against each other. Then a decisive explosion of effort saw the fisherfolk being dragged, sinking into the soil and stones as the fish decided it had had enough.

Leaning back with all their might the fisherfolk refused to give, their muscles bulging from the effort to keep the beast on line. However a loud crack heralded their doom as the rod exploded in half with the fish taking the line and top section of the rod deeper into the water. The fisherfolk landed heavily on top of each other in the mud with the remains of their reinforced rod.

The two of them look at their rod in disbelief before pulling their remaining rod in, grabbing the remains of their net and the few fish they had managed to catch so fat. Something was odd and they would not be beaten by the one that got away.

Rats in the Pantry

513SaRaPa

The kitchen was silent this time of the night after the chaos of dinner service and the clean up had finished. The staff had gone to bed after preparing some of the food they would need for breakfast in the morning. It was the perfect time to be rats in the pantry.

As they lifted up the latch for the door, which was never locked, they quietly lowered it again before pushing it slowly inwards. They knew just where to stop the door before it would let out a screech from the ungreased hinges – this wasn’t the first time they were stealing from The Hooting Owl tavern.

As slunk through the half-open door they looked at the fruits, the bread and the cheese that was resting on the large counter in the middle of the room, a wide selection for them to choose what they wanted to eat that night. As the smallest one moved forward towards the bread and cheese she reached out and grabbed a small roll. The hard part wasn’t getting to the foot it was taking just enough that there wouldn’t be guards searching for them in the morning.

A small roll, a hunk of cheese and an apple to share will get them through the day. As they compared their choice bits and discussed if they would have to worry about the guards tomorrow they heard a noise, a small dragging sound from the pantry. Thinking it was a trap laid by the cook they quickly rushed towards the door and hastily out into the streets. It wasn’t until they had stopped their flight that they realised that they had lost one of their own, the smallest and youngest of the children.

The next morning The cook came in to find the door to the streets open and evidence that a something had taken food from the preparation table. Looking for evidence, a trail of crumbs led her to the stairs. ‘Rats. Again… Best get a quest posted.’

But as she closed the door and moved away from the stairs malevolent eyes stared at her from the darkness beyond. The child it had caught was asleep nearby, its dreams and fears sustaining the creature much more than the foodstuffs that it had been carrying. Soon there would be more coming into the storage room under the tavern. More food for it and for its brothers and sisters who slumbered still until there was enough food to sustain them.

The River Tanzee

511SaRiTa

The river was cloudy with silt, which according to the locals meant that the next spring would bring a good harvest. The river Tanzee was the life blood for the area as it provided not just the life-giving silt from the river but also the bounty of food from its murky waters.

Fish, crustaceans, reptiles and amphibians called these waters home and the people of the land and river made a great deal of use out of the bounty from it. But as the party plunged the large poles in deep into the silty water and pushed their raft further down the river they couldn’t help but edge further away from the rafts edge when they could afford to let the rudimentary vessel drift down along the current instead.

A few times they had plunged the deep poles into the water below only to feel it connect with something more solid than the thick mud and silt that formed a blanket on the river bottom. As the poles connected with the solid mass it would move off quickly as if disturbed from a slumber and a disturbance on the rivers surface was all that could be seen.

However, as disturbing as that tyle of encounter with creatures was it was nothing compared to when they had one of their poles ripped from their hand and dragged under the water. The shattered and chomped remains floated back to the surface revealing that there was more under the surface of the water than what they were led to believe when they agreed to this route.

As they moved further downstream large birds flew overhead the raft hoping they were a fishing vessel, or, waiting for them to be the next meal. Large fish could be seen moving beneath the surface of the river as they moved next the reeds which caused a flurry of motion from the smaller fish caused the birds to dart down to snatch up the smaller fish. As a large narrow beaked bird dove into the water to snap up a fish the snap of its jaws was overshadowed by the crunch of a second set of jaws that ruptured out of the water.

A large toothed reptile erupted from the water, snapping up the bird in its jaws causing it to release the fish and try to fly out of the mouth of the large creature. Unsurprisingly, it was of little use as the bird was dragged under water within seconds.

More aware of the creatures that called this river home the party withdrew further to the centre of the raft and waited for the feeding frenzy to die down.

30 Minute Writing Challenge – Hard edition

509Sa30ChallengeHard

The party had not been through the Kace jungle before and they found the dense vegetation, weird fauna and flora more than off putting. This jungle had not been touched by humans from the outside world before, to their knowledge, and the wildlife was evident of this.

The prey animals were not fearful of the people walking through and several striped mammals chewed on some fermenting beans as they past by. Their weird jaws seemed to bisect their heads completely enabling them to scoop great sloughs of rotting bean bods into their mouths before cracking it open with large tusk like molars.

However it quickly became apparent that their employer, the Scholar simply named ‘Moth’ was not cut out for traveling through the jungle. ‘Dearest friends,’ he wheezed, ‘can we have that break now?’ he pleaded. The party had agreed to rest at midday after a few hours of travel and when the sun would be at its hottest. However, Moth was struggling to keep up with a few more hours to go. The nagging and pleading had increased over the last hour and the deeper in the jungle they went the harder it would be to avoid larger predators with the noise that the man made.

Reluctantly they agreed to have a short break, to let the scholar rest up and to give their cartographer enough time to update the map. The break however did not see Moth slow down in his speech or questions. ‘You lot came with high expectations I must let you know. And so far you are exceeding them. “Ruthless, efficient and able to get the job done” that’s what they said you were and look at how far we have come.’ he paused to marvel at the jungle around them. ‘To think I am the first known scholar to set foot inside this forest to study and begin to map it out. Fascinating stuff really. If we keep on this course we will reach the mountains we were able to see from outside the forest looking inwards…’ he continued.

The party were still on high alert despite the constant distraction and a good thing they were. ‘The colours on the plumage were just daz…’ Moth began before a gloved covered hand pressed over his mouth. ‘Trouble’ is all that was said as they all prepared for what was to come.

The fight was quick and brutal with large feline like predators with an extra set of legs had lunged from the brush. Despite being large and powerful it was no match for the party who dispatched it swiftly and cleanly – much to Moth’s delight. As they were assisting the scholar in turning the beast over onto its side they notice that it had a large painted handprint on its shoulder. A marking of a clan no doubt.

‘If there are clans nearby, maybe they can help our next part of the journey.’ Moth offered to the group. However, with a sinking feeling in the party realised that either they had either just killed the tribes lost hunting beast or, they were being hunted with the beast being the first to appear.

The signal to continue received loud and clear the party packed up after this short break and left the dead animal behind. As they moved through the forest after that incident they looked for traces of the clans folk nearby but whether a good or ill omen they were unable to find any sign either way.

Deeper they went, making for the mountains and finally they found a clue of what they were dealing with. Although it was not what they were hoping for. Skeletons of people were tied to trees by their ankles and suspended above the ground. A large spear plunged into the wood beyond which would have effectively pinned the victims to the bark.

For the first time since they left the city of Grenor they had quiet from Moth who looked at the symbolic display with open horror. ‘I think we’ve had quite enough of this forest now. Much more of the research can be done from inside the academy. ‘ He said trough rapid breathes.

Yet, it was too late for them to leave. The party watched as half a dozen warriors and their large cat like beasts all arrived as if on queue. Surrounded the party waited until a smaller man, with a face filled with hurt and rage approached them, speaking in broken common language.

‘You are trespassing on Honuki lands. You must leave now after paying tribute or join the wall of warning where we put the rest of those who defile our land.’ he said as he gestured at the tied and impaled skeletons on the trees.

‘However,’ he added with a renewed look of hurt. ‘You took one of our tribe from us, so we demand you leave one behind. Pick or we will take all.’