The Deepcombers

Chapter Thirteen

After some time, the birds dissipated and Jarl shrugged off Clyde and Tharus to walk on his own two feet. The crew crossed another stony plain and everything looked the same until they spotted a split rail fence. 

When they came to the feigor-made boundary, Lon admired how evenly the wood was severed. He bent over the rails and sniffed the bark before deciding it was pine and some of the cleanest timber he'd ever seen. The trees certainly didn't grow anywhere near this place as the ground under their feet was solid rock. These rails had to be hauled here by someone who lived deeper inland.

"Ssomebody livess up here," Tharus pointed out the obvious as he slithered under the well-built fence. The barrier stretched from cliff to cliff with an opening beside the river gorge.

"What are they fencing-in?" Jarl wondered, "or what are they trying to keep out?"

"And what shape are these animals?" Clyde easily slipped his girth between the top and bottom rails. Lon followed him but he had to take it slow with his deadly cargo. He crawled through the defense work and found a dirt path on the other side of the barricade. Now it felt like they were trespassing, although there was no way around.

The crew sauntered through some spectacular scenery as more fertile soil returned to the ground under their feet. Shrubs grew by the river. A sizable mountain stream on the western slope created a mesmerizing cascade that tumbled down and melted into the mainline crevice. The trail they hiked snaked through broken terrain but was flat and always led north. The peaks of the mountains that surrounded them disappeared into the clouds.  

"Lon look," Clyde pointed at fresh boot prints on the muddy ground and the white-haired lad crouched to inspect the tracks. Jarl also hobbled close and peered over the clues.

Tharus walked ahead to crest the hillock and see what lay behind the rise. "Over here!" He cried.

When the others climbed the mound they saw a dead Crol stretched on the ground in a wide messy blood puddle. The bounty-hunter's corpse was cut with parts missing. He'd been an elite guard once; he still wore a mangled cuirass. His armour had been cut away and his body had been eviscerated by something with really sharp claws. One foot was missing entirely and the blade had traveled clean through the bone; the top half of his leather boot remained on his leg stump.

"Bird got him?" Tharus guessed at the manner of death. Jarl turned and stared at him incredulously. Then he shook his head no and offered more learned analysis.

"Cut apart like butchers' meat," the veteran pointed at the strange footprints in the soil. "Something else... really strong, very sharp blades..." he mumbled, and his voice trailed off ominously as he studied the footprints. 

There was evidence of a struggle as the Crols must have tried to defend themselves.  A small tree beside the gorge was splintered.  The sapling's freshly shattered trunk looked like it'd been struck with a heavy stone and its top was gone. Lon wondered if he'd seen the branches go over the waterfalls a few hours ago.

There were blood pools on the ground and not just around the body; there were deep footprints and red puddles everywhere. Clyde pointed to a broken javelin with its bright metal point pushed flat. The weapon's shaft was splintered the same way the crab had done. It takes tremendous strength to snap an oak pole like that and so Lon knew the monster was huge. The dead soldier had been savagely mauled, but he wasn't the only victim. Blood trails marked where at least two other companions had run-off or been carried away.  There was only one body here and a quick search revealed nothing useful. His armor was ruined and even his boot was damaged.

"Come on," Lon led his companions forward again. They followed the blood trail until faded. Either the sufferer's wounds had dried or the soldiers had died or they'd tried to cross the river. The dead Crol depressed him, not because he mourned the death, but because of what the corpse represented. The fresh cadaver meant they hadn't outrun their pursuers, and worse, an enemy force now waited ahead. It also meant something else. A  monster lived here and it hunted all feigorin regardless of their flag.